Fun with Family

Missy drove home Monday night and brought her roomie Matt with her, so that we could all go to see a school performance in a nearby town of The Wizard of Oz. We had members from both sides of our family performing: my oldest nephew, who had a supporting song-and-dance role, and youngest niece, who was a munchkin. The show was absolutely awesome. They had a real, live Toto dog in the opening scene on the Gale farm with caged baby chicks to boot! (The poor dog barked hilariously nonstop at them, too, which was why he was only in the opening scene...Dorothy held a stuffed animal after that.) When the tornado hit, the little farmhouse twirled around on wheels and the wood trees and fence were all picked up by black-clad prop people and twirled while a light show and sound made it as realistic as could be. A boy! played the Wicked Witch fabulously.

Everyone was fabulous. Hubs (who has to get up at 4 a.m. every workday and was awake way past his bedtime) even said it was the fastest 2 hours he'd ever spent (which means he enjoyed it). My nephew is growing up so fast and will be 16 in March. It was great getting to see him and his family (my brother). You know I'd have had photos, except that school district is uber-strict about no photos or video, darnit. That was the only thing wrong with the whole evening. Family memories get no respect, I tellya!

On the shopping front, I found me a few good little bargains online after Christmas. I should add, I found tons of fantastic bargains and they are still coming. It's been tough not to snatch up more of them, but this is one time my K-marty frugality comes in handy, LOL.

When I got my fantastic fur-lined Crocs that I still love, I immediately threw out my old crappy terry cloth slides that were more than past their prime, but I did need to replace those. The tootsies need to breathe sometimes, even in winter.

So, I found some perfect ones for $2.99 at Carol Wright Gifts.


Now, I did not need a new purse, but if you have boobs and a v-j-j, you know that doesn't matter.

And when I saw this purse on sale for $4.99, I added it to my order so that my new terry slides wouldn't feel alone in the box. Isn't it a great winter purse? I have developed a sizeable crush on snowflakes, so the design lets me indulge for a little longer. (The white soft fleece scarf is an Old Navy hand-me-down from Missy).

And of course, no blog entry of mine is complete without a little good eats photo. :-)))

Do you tend to eat more hot soup during the colder months? I sure do. But when I need a little somethin-somethin in the bowl to give more staying power, I add a torn-up biscuit. After I eat a buttered one, of course. LOL No really, this works great for soups that would taste great with dumplings in them, like beef barley and of course, chicken noodle. Saltine crackers will work in a pinch, but not nearly as good. Keep a can of store-brand biscuits in your fridge and try it sometime.

the day after the day before! it's here!

hehe...



this was after our christmas eve "just-us" family celebration last night. notice the time on the clock on the wall. hilarious, huh? both of them, out cold. missy slept 12 hours, straight thru. dang, i think she's been partying just a tad too heartily. (her excuse? she got her grades for this fall semester and all a's and one b, dean's list again, so we can't really blame her for celebrating a bit.)

here is my present from missy: a really soft chenille/velour robe, something she knew i would like but don't ever buy for myself.



and hubs surprised the crap out of me by giving me some fur-lined crocs:



i haven't had them off my feet since i opened the package, lol.

our lunch with the relatives turned out to be very nice. i was treated wonderfully and i even got something close to an apology for being manipulated! i'll gladly take it! plus, none of the family members i had issues with behaved in the ways i don't like. everyone played nice. i did begin my visit kind of aloof, but once i saw it was going to be a good visit, i chimed right in the convos. the only disapointment of the day was that my parents didn't really want their present i'd sent (a digital phone system that was too technical for them, but my dad is going to think about keeping it for a few days).

since i always love to look at snow photos, here is another one of our december 10th snowfall. this one is what the pasture behind our house looked like. it was just the most gorgeous thing...



i am hoping everyone i know out in cyberland had a wonderful day in at least some small way.

it's really the night before!

i promised to share some photos from our snowfall on dec. 10th. here are 5 that really show it. it even lasted overnight and part of the next day, too.

see the snow drift forming against our pumpkin-colored fence?

hubs looking out from the storm door

one side of the front yard

and the other side of the front yard

the back yard deck - check out the back fence (it's leaning cuz it got damaged during ike)...

tomorrow will be christmas day. amazing. where does all that time go, exactly? i could have sworn thanksgiving was just a few days ago.

as far as exchanging gifts with the relatives, we are having an austere christmas this year like most other people i know. just a few good things, and no excess fluff. hubs and i gave both our parents the same one thing, and every child is getting one gift card. this means it was a very manageable buying chore for me. i went to kroger one low-traffic afternoon and got all of the gift cards at once, and then i ordered everything else online.

i don't do well in the holiday shopping crowds at all. it's stressful and exhausting, but i don't rebound well and i usually get pain flares for all my trouble. i do miss the feel and atmosphere of it occasionally, but i really fell out of love with it around the same time i quit trying to get missy the "in" "hot" toy (the last one i moved mountains to get her was a life-size barbie...quite a long time ago, maybe 15 years ago).

as for gift-giving between hubs, missy and me, hubs and i usually don't buy stuff for each other unless we know the other one really wants it. and then half the time, we just buy it for ourselves. we probably wouldn't even buy anything during the holidays except to get a sales price.

it's been hard not to buy everything in sight this year because of the great prices. we've been good. but i confess it's because we both are betting that those sales prices are going to last and last. maybe even get better. just a hunch. anyway, hubs really wanted the sham-wow rags this year. he also wanted a new recliner and got that earlier this month. he had been wanting a sleep number bed, but then decided he did not. so i got him the sham-wows and a wall calendar.

because missy's been in college, she knows not to expect lots of little things like when she was younger. we have been giving her one big thing and some money for a while now. this year the one big thing was some expensive adobe software for her new imac (that she bought for herself). it's called in design and she uses it all the time for her advertising classes.

as for moi, hubs asked what i wanted and i said that i want him to take me to ikea in west houston next week while he is off. and i want to buy an expedit bookcase...not for my scrap room, but for books in the family room. and he's putting it together for me. that's my present.

when hubs picked up the other recliner this morning, he talked to the store owner about an adjustable bed for me (the kind where you can elevate the head and the knees and feet...like a hospital bed). so that looks promising. i may eventually get a full night's sleep in one place yet! lol

tomorrow's the big day - a very merry merry and happy happy, ya'll

the day before the day before...

a random photo of Reggie getting his occasional treat -- salisbury steak!:

he is such a sucker for anything with gravy, lol.

and, sometimes he does eat the carrots if i butter them.

##

here is one of our new recliners:

i got down on the floor for the first shot, trying to make the photo more interesting. can i just say...not worth the pain that caused!
and, another "normal" shot, more close-up:


i could only fit one of them into my honda crv, so hubs is picking the other one up in the morning...because he is off work, yay! well, yay for now. he doesn't go back until jan. 5th and i will be climbing the walls having him under foot by next week, trust me. but anyway, back to the recliners. this is a champaigne gold color, i think that's what they called it. i arrived there this afternoon at 5:15 by the car clock, and i was back onto the highway at 5:27. yep, that's gotta be a record for choosing a piece of furniture AND getting it loaded into your car, huh? that's why i shop there, cuz if i can't choose and be done with it, i end up not being able to make a decision at all.

##

and, a shot of our bare white christmas tree...nothing but lights this year:

basically, i first decided to go "bare" because with hubs working so much and me dependent upon him getting the decorations down from the attic, i didn't even ask him to do it. of course, this meant that i had to improvise a skirt (a leopard print throw) and live without a tree topper, so i decided to treat the tree as just another light source in the room. it has added an understated and unexpectedly elegant touch. we're enjoying it.

##

ok, so i had a few rough moments today giving in to my real feelings about being with the relatives on christmas day. trepidation, mostly. i will be trying to hide some not-so-nice feelings, so i figured i needed some kind of gameplan with at least a few specifics. maybe reading an advice column could help, so I googled and got this:http://www.thedailybeast.com/blogs-and-stories/2008-12-23/how-to-uh-talk-to-people/2/
it was mainly advice on how to chit chat effectively at holiday parties, but would have been great help. except that when i read the comments to the article, i found myself agreeing to them more. and then i realized that i really don't much care about convincing anyone of my sincerity...i'm really looking for a way to sort of diss a few folks, but in a way that leaves them confused until 3 hours later after i'm long gone and they realize it.

hehe. no small order. guess i'm out of luck of making that happen, since the most i can come up with is to act disinterested yet pleasant. like, if one of them talks to me, act like i'm hard of hearing, make them repeat it, answer really ambiguously, that kind of thing. yeah, leave them wondering.

meh. i am not good at faking stuff. i would much rather address the issue head on and let the facts stand in my defense, maybe even resolve something, but manipulators don't play that game, so i would have to force the issue and create a scene in order to have that opportunity. and i am trying not to do that, as that just plays into the manipulator's hands, so Thursday should be interesting.
##
finally uploaded my photos from the snowfall we had a couple weeks ago, and i will try to show those tomorrow. every time i look at them, it puts me in a wonderment mood.

Lessons in Safe Computing, Part 2

And now, the conclusion to the long, laborious and boring saga of my latest computer travails...

I am now waiting with bated breath for the arrival of my new Gateway Laptop computer, an external hard drive enclosure case, and a replacement power supply and graphics card, all courtesy of Amazon.com, whom I love deeply and loyally. Yes, you can even buy a power supply for your computer model, or atleast I did. Isn't online shopping wonderful? Here's the official photo and stats of my new baby:



*Color: Slate Grey Ridgeview™

*Intel® Core™2 Duo Processor1 T5750 (2.00GHz, 667MHz, 2MB L2 cache)

*Genuine Microsoft® Windows Vista® Home Premium (64-bit) SP1

*Operating System Backup Media: Microsoft® Windows Vista® Home Premium Media (64-bit)

*RAM: 4096MB 667MHz DDR2 SDRAM (2-2048MB modules) (Memory Capacity Maximum 4GB)

*HARD DRIVE STORAGE: 320GB 5400RPM Serial ATA II hard drive with 8MB cache (1-320GB)5

*External Ports: (3) USB 2.0 Ports, VGA Connector

*Expansion Slots: One ExpressCard™ Type 54 Expansion Slot

*Display: 15.4" WXGA Ultrabright TFT Active Matrix (1280 x 800 max. resolution)

*Integrated Intel® Graphics Media Accelerator X3100 with up to 384MB of Dynamic Video Memory and Intel® GM965 chipset

*Optical Drive 8x Multi-Format Dual Layer DVDRW with DVD-RAM featuring Labelflash™ Technology6

*Backup Media: Cyberlink Power2Go with Cyberlink Label Printer for Windows Vista

*Wireless Network: Integrated Intel® 802.11a/b/g/Draft-N Wireless Networking

*PAN (personal area network): Bluetooth® 2.0+EDR

*Integrated Modem: 56k ITU v.92 ready Fax/Modem (RJ-11 port)

*Integrated Network: 10/100 Mbps Ethernet LAN (RJ-45 port)

*Integrated Keyboard and Mouse: Full-Size Keyboard, Touchpad with Vertical Scroll Pointing Device and Dedicated Multimedia Panel

*Finished Goods: Brushed-metal precision-touch multimedia control panel, featuring smooth-cut keys and touch-sensitive volume adjustment.

*Web Camera: Integrated 1.3 Megapixel Web Cam

*Digital Media Manager: 5-in-1 Digital Media Manager (Memory Stick™ (MS), Memory Stick™ Pro, Multi Media Card™ (MMC), Secure Digital™ (SD), xD-Picture Card)
Dimensions (Box) 17" (H) x 13" (W) x 6" (D) or 432mm (H) x 330mm (W) x 152mm (D)
Dimensions (System) 1.1"-1.50" (H) x 14" (W) x 10" (D) or 28-38mm (H) x 356mm (W) x 254mm (D)10

*Battery: Primary 6 Cell Lithium Ion battery w/ 1 Yr. limited battery warranty

*65 Watt AC Adapter

*Software: Microsoft® Works 9.0, Microsoft® Money Essentials

*Warranty: 1 Year Parts and Labor Limited Warranty9

*Weights: 6.29 lbs. (2.85 kg) system unit only / 10.28 lbs. (4.66 kg.) box11

l) the Intel logo, Intel Core, and Core Inside are trademarks of Intel Corporation in the U.S. and other countries.
2) Windows Vista® 64-bit versions are intended to work with 64-bit drivers and peripherals. Windows Vista® 32-bit compatible applications work in Windows Vista® 64-bit versions. Visit Microsoft's page on 32-bit and 64-bit Windows for more information on upgrading 32-bit applications and hardware.
3) HD requires ATSC digital antenna (not included). HD signal reception depends on multiple factors.
4) Intel, the Intel logo, Centrino and Centrino Inside are trademarks of Intel Corporation in the U.S. and other countries.

The best part is, I got ALL THAT for $780. Did you see, 4 GIGS of RAM and 350 GIGS Hard Drive? Vista Home Premium 64-BIT? Optical drive DVD BURNER? BLUETOOTH wireless personal network? Plus, the only other notebook I ever had was a Gateway back in 2000, and I LOVED it and the support. Missy got a lot of wear out of it as a hand-me-down, and we even took it to Europe with us in 2004. So, if this baby is anything like that one, I'm gonna like it a lot.

I did spend $230 more than my tentative budget of $550. But, for what I got with that extra outlay, I think it's a wise investment. I may even buy an additional 2 year service contract, because this thing's got the power to be around in 3 years...I think (who really knows?).



So, Life is looking good again. I am still going to be up to my ears in computer set-up, research, and instructions, but at least I'm travelling down the lit hallway to the end of the tunnel.

Only one mystery remains (and it's a big one, which is why I'm trying to think good thoughts): will I be able to access my hard drive data? Stay tuned for installment #3 later this weekend.

In the meantime, let's concentrate on more pleasant quandries, like this one:

I Wish

I've been thinking that a lot lately, those two little words, I wish. When I was a child, those were almost sacred words, to be used most judiciously, lest the wishes wouldn't come true. Now that I'm grown up (most of the time), I think I might want to start wishing for my desires and as many as possible.

Like, I wish we'd had these cute little cartoon graphics on sandwich baggies when I was a kid...



And I wish that every Western Gulf hurricane goes in just like Dolly...

...not that today's gonna be a walk in the park for my part of the world. Just look at that radar image, above. That's as of almost an hour ago, 5:30 a.m. See the Houston area and all the rain we are getting? It's going to be like that all day long and maybe all night. The Houston news this morning is already predicting definite street flooding for today, since Houston floods at the first sign of spit. Brownsville and Corpus are getting the hurricane, but you hide and watch, if any rain band training occurs, some areas around me will be impacted almost as badly.

There is some weird-ass "black hole" type meteorological explanation for it, but we often get pattern "grooves" like El Nino a few years back, where storm clouds travel over and then are caught up in. So, certain areas get 10x more rainfall than other areas just blocks away.



I felt the first outer bands of Dolly exactly at 3 p.m. yesterday. I was walking out the back door to go drop off some mail and a gust of wind almost pulled the door out of my hand. It was a dry very hot wind. The second I got into the car, it began to slant rain. It squalled the entire time I was travelling, and then died down the moment I pulled into the driveway. Talk about timing!

Now, as the sun is coming up, I have been up all night and am on a naturally-wired Hurricane high, even though the dang storm is going in 300 miles to my South. It never fails. I've been this way (my "hurricane high") for every storm I've lived through since my first in 1961. I'll collapse later on and sleep, no worries, but for now, I'll just be grateful that in my alert state I've decided that I want to blog, LOL.

So, I also wish I can get back into regular blogging again. It's really tough when you're out of the habit.

Hm, I wish I could continue to create like I've been recently. I'm still working on creating organization more than anything else, but I am pushing myself to do my little art like daily exercise. Sometimes I finish in a day, sometimes in 3...




The first atc with the little boy was one that Tina liked on my Flickr. Thanks for the comment, Tina! And Reba likes the Bird of Pair-a-Dice (LOL, you know how I like my puns, thank you, Reba). I made the backgrounds for all of them: 2 of them with my new crayon pastels, distress ink sponging on one, and acrylic paints on one.

As for my organizing, my little homemade Clip-It Rack is growing and filling in...



Remember the 3-ring binder spine label I made, and said I'd probably have to change it out once I found a better use for the binder? Well, haha. It happened. I just turned the label over and made a new one on the back side. Here it is:



Then, I finally found a great yahoo group to join for trading and swapping 4x6 APC's (altered post cards). That made it necessary to create a template for this new size of art, so I worked one up (got a little silly, too):





I bought one of those templates for my ATC's at European Papers, and I like it so much, I tried to replicate the idea...really helps me visualize how an image will look on smaller-sized art.

And now, since I am seeing little lightning pops and hearing the rumbling of thunder, I'll close before we get any power interrupts, with a birthday photo of the most gorgeous young woman:



I am continually amazed I gave birth to this girl. Isn't she WOW to the 20th degree? Even though summer semester college algebra here at the local junior college is currently eating her lunch. Mega-homework and killer quizzes for a subject she doesn't really like and probably won't use much in advertising as a copywriter. 57 on the first quiz, yup, that's my Missy, LOL. I'm smelling a C, hopefully. Which is fine cuz the grade doesn't count, only the credit earned, if she passes. If she doesn't, she just tries again next summer. Since her aptitude in math is plenty high, having to take it a second time should be motivation enough to pass...

HAPPY NUT N HUMPY DAY! Do The Hokey-Pokey, ya'll!

~~xxxxxxxxxxxx~~

Thanks for all the sweet comments from my blog readers!

Haven't *said* that in a while and need to *say* it more often,

even though I think it all the time.

I love them.

Ya'll keep my little engine a-going, Toot Toot!

~~xxxxxxxxxxxx~~

Congrats to my girl!
~~xxxxxxxxxxxx~~

And a little birthday card to share, for an old girlfriend of mine who's turning 57 today (no names, please!):

I abuse my near-age friends nowadays, because they are the only ones I can use my new old-fart stamps on! Here I used a mix of stamps by Urban Lily, Gina K and I Brake for Stamps :

Here's a close-up of the lady I colored in with pencils, markers, gel pens and Stickles:

And now, the punch line:

Cracks me up every time, LOLOLOL.
Edited to Add: I did have this linked to a challenge, but I can't post my link to it, so I guess I am not entered in it, and so I'm sure not gonna advertise their challenge, ya know? Fix the link, guys! {pout}

~~xxxxxxxx~~

Big Red Scores Again!

Good morning. Well, today my money assignment is to watch MSNBC's key political shows and list all the advertisers. Seems there are quite a lot of folks who would like to write these companies...but let me save it for the paycheck and just say "I told you so" and get on to the art...

It may be clouding up outside my window, the economy may be heading into the nearest ditch, and the Democratic National Committee may be writing its own suicide note, but HEY! I hung onto my Big Red Sizzix instead of chucking it when I bought a Big Shot, and I am so avenged cuz I discovered that I can smash bottlecaps with it!


*******
The 3 photos above show how I did it. First, the right sandwich recipe: from bottom to top, I stacked 2 white platforms, 1 sheet of chipboard (paper pad backing), and then 2 black Sizzlets adapters. I laid the bottlecap with the inside of it up, and I made sure that the Sizzix system converter was OFF the machine. And the last photo shows the bottlecap before and after. Sweet!

I was so jazzed I grabbed my old-school Crop A Dile (it was easier to reach for than my Big Bite) to see if I could punch a hole in my bottlecap, and yes, we can (as they say in yadayada-bama land). This further excited me to the point where I quickly used a couple of smashed n punched b-caps to secure some woven ribbon onto my card box for a handle that I've been meaning to make for forever.

"Patchwork Earth" atc


"Sunflower" atc

Of course I had to make some art with my smashed caps, right? So, here are 2 of the atc's I created.

Now, why would I suddenly start using bottlecaps? (You know I'm Old-School 24/7, but still...). I should fess up: I've been really into the challenges at Bringing It Back blog. It's been fun to re-visit even more of my vast giganta scrap-stash than I've thought to use. I mean, the bottlecaps that have been sitting in my stash drawer for oh, about 2-3 years kinda frightened me. But the challenges give me courage to just experiment and play (I mean, what's the downside? This stuff is so old that if I ruined it, no loss at all. And if I don't and actually make something I like, that rocks.) And I don't have to worry about stupid peer pressure...working with materials in the BTDT category...because my "cover" is the challenge! So, hey, join us if it interests you.

Now, onto the other flowers before I get to the dirt. Been reading. A Book. Don't faint now. I do this from time to time, it's just that my tastes run towards historical and political, not Oprah-bot best sellers, so I rarely even mention them. But I want to mention 2 of them today. The one I'm reading is


Valerie Bertinelli's Losing It: And Gaining My Life Back One Pound at a Time.
It's a great read! Highly recommended, if for nothing more than all the dirt on her and Eddie. Which is pretty much why I'm reading it. I dunno though. She is brutally honest and just a nice, level-headed girl. I've always liked her and I always will. You can read a little of it at the link I provided and see for yourself.

The other book is one I ordered today:

Adam Shepard's Scratch Beginnings: Me, $25, and the Search for the American Dream
I should receive this one Monday and cannot wait. It's brand new and I saw Adam interviewed on CNN. He basically took $25, his college degree and the clothes on his back and hit the road to find the American Dream by trying to build a life from scratch, to see if it could still be done. Everyone and thing in his life up til then had indicated to him that life cost so much to live that he might never be able to. He found out that old ways are still possible. It just takes saying no to all the spending, and in the bargain you learn and receive so, so much more.

Not only does that sound like my kinda story, but I want them to be Missy's, too. I plan on giving her both of these after I am through with them. Lots of great, great lessons. I probably shortchanged Valerie's book greatly, because it's biggest impact is in her learning to rely on and believe in herself and in not being tricked into not seeing yourself clearly.

Oh, been meaning to let you all know, I am continuing the RAK'ing, but I decided to do it privately. No deadlines, and from the heart. I've already contacted my next batch and totally aim to continue it cuz it makes me feel good and I want to give back. But I don't want to make a fuss over it, like it's a competition and that's how it was feeling to me. I am also preparing a box of handmade cards to send to soldiers, Mother's and Father's Day cards. It really makes me feel like I am making some little difference.

You know, we don't need any outside force or source to "give" us change and hope. It's within each one of us and only we ourselves can produce it. I am blessed to have known that my entire life, as I see an awful lot of younger people who have no clue of this truth.

Possible shoe fetish...

I really want these Keen Bali Sandals. But $60? What do you think? I don't get out much, is this the going price nowadays?

This is shaping up to be a year of omens and signs for me, I'm beginning to think. The sciatica that my f-i-l suffered from (due to the same L4/L5 degenerated disk disease he and I had in common) suddenly began afflicting me the very afternoon of his burial. Yeah. Really a huge coincidence. And, it hasn't quit. It's merely lessened in severity. Still very sore and easily triggered unless I move just right.

Well, another one of those meant-to-be coincidences occurred within minutes of me posting that I was looking for the price to drop on those border die cuts before buying. I received an email advertising them for $30 off the lowest price I'd seen.

So, three guesses what I did next. I'm now awaiting taking proud possession of them from the mailman. That was enough of a discount for me. I've begun to self-enable: I now factor in something I call a wait factor cost when supply shopping. I feel it's time. To me, not factoring that in is a bit like not counting gasoline costs when pricing goods. (Heck, what with insurance, gas and payments, transportation is expensive. Our cars are all paid off, but still.)

So, anyway, the wait cost on those borders feels like another $30 to me. I don't wanna wait anymore. LOL Perhaps I should just make the wait cost be the total price. LOL No, better to save that for something I really need to rationalize on. Yeah, knowing my own game is one thing, stopping myself is another entirely....

Today I spent almost all day uploading things I've created this year so far to my 2peas and flickr galleries, and I'm still not finished yet! I need to get that caught up. I've already almost lost one image(thanks again for saving my neck, Heather), so that kind of got me back on the task. I'm a big believer in keeping images of what I make. It really paid off for me after Diego tore up that layout. Being able to look at the image of it helps me kinda forget it's not "alive" anymore.

Anyway, even more backlogged is what I've uploaded here on the blog. So, let me work on that a bit. I am very groggy right now, so I may only get started with a few, but I'm going to upload something! LOL

Where to start? Okay, here is the handmade RAK art I made for my first 3 names I drew (Heather, Gina and Lynn). For Heather, I made this:
I love to look at that atc. It's one of my all-time top five faves.

So glad to know that Lynn is now back home after her hospital surgery. I made her this to go along with one of the Twisted Valentine atc's she had commented on:

What I sent to Gina was an atc she'd commented on from that same swap along with this card: My standards for my photos are about as low as my graphic editing skills, but even I must be truly ashamed of the colors in these photos. I tried to lighten them and instead they took on lives of their own, LOL. But, the lighting was bad to begin with so... It looked better IRL, right, Gina? LOL

Well, I think my computer is telling me I've done enough image handling tonight. Time to restart the old thing. Til next time, then....