A Second Blog?!

I now have a second blog! It's over at Gotta Pixel! Check it out!
Angel's Blog
Is that cool, or what? :-)

I'm sitting here today listening to it storming outside. It's really going to it out there! My poor doggie is all upset. He's sticking to me like glue. Poor baby.
It's a good thing we didn't have any plans today--with the weather, and all. DH is sleeping, and the dog and I are here in my craft room. Yep--we're party animals. ROFL I just hope that the power doesn't go out!

Tonight we're making super jumbo beef hotdogs with bacon, sauteed onions, and cheese on hoagie rolls for dinner. Yum!

Well--maybe I'll see if I can actually get some scrapping done today. Ya think? :-7 We'll see.

I'm off!

Hugs, Angel

It’s Getting Closer!

My son is getting married in Boston in 28 days! Every thought is geared toward our trip up there, and all the wedding stuff.
We're driving up, so we'll be planning for that, too.
I don't even have my dress, yet. :blush: I need to get my nice mother-of-the-Groom dress, with probably matching shoes, and purse? I never dress up. I don't even own any dresses, or skirts that fit me. I haven't worn them in years--I hate them. I wear slacks. Argh. the sacrifices that we make for our kids. LOL
We have the tuxedo fitting for DH on that Thursday, the rehearsal dinner at the bride's parents' house that Friday, then, the wedding the next day. If I can only make it through those two days!
The big problem is trying to do all of this long-distance. We’re in Florida, my son and his fiancee live in South Carolina, and the wedding is going to be in Massachusetts! Fortunately, the bride’s mother is making all the arrangements up there. It’s going to be beautiful.
Then, they’ll be honeymooning on the “Mexican Riviera”—on the coast of the Yucatan Peninsula. My son said he’s “turning off his cell phone, and taking the batteries out of his beeper”. Can’t really blame him, now, can we? LOL

Now, guess what came today? A summons for jury duty that’s supposed to start that Monday after the Saturday wedding. I don’t think so! Now, I have to mail it right back in to ask for an exception, as we’ll still be on the road somewhere.
If I just don’t show up for the jury duty, it’s considered “contempt of court”. I can get a $100 fine, and they can even arrest me, and bring me to jail! They actually did that to a doctor who, as it turns out, was in surgery at the time. They’re cracking down on people, and I guess wanted to make him an example. Good grief.
It used to be that they took the jury pool from the voter registrations, but people wouldn’t register to vote to avoid jury duty. So—they now take it from the drivers licenses list.
Yes, it’s our “civic duty”, but it’s a royal pain. It really disrupts your life for a time. Oh well. I’d better mail back that exception request. Either that, or stay out-of-state. I’d have to be “on-the-lam”. :-O LOL

I wish that I could get my days and nights turned around. I was staying up later, and later to the point that I’m totally turned around. It doesn’t help to be menopausal with the hot flashes, and insomnia. Ugh. “Hot flashes”? It’s more like heat waves that go on for hours that make me feel like I’m burning alive. I never laid down until 9 AM today! That was a record. :-7
My doctor was encouraging—he said that it could go on for years. Great.
The only thing that helps me is the ambient temperature. I have to have the house ice cold—much to DH’s chagrin. He’s always freezing. LOL Well—he’s just going to have to deal with it.

Last Sunday night we went out to “Five Guys”. They have hamburgers, hotdogs, and french fries—that’s it. It a neat place—like from the 50’s. They play the oldies all the time over the speakers. Really good food, and a relaxed atmosphere. I told my hubby—“Gee—in the ‘old days’ they’d be serving us on roller skates”. LOL It’s fun.

If you get a chance—stop over to Gotta Pixel and see what’s new. They are attracting so many designers, and are stocking the coolest digikits in their store! I’m like a kid in a candy store! LOL

Everyone have a great weekend!

Hugs, Angel

Catching Up

Sunday, August 05, 2007

My how time flies. I’ve sadly neglected my blog. For months. So much to do, so little time.
I need to keep my friends, and family updated.

I have been totally into my scrapbooking, and trying to get the house organized. I was sick through the holidays, so I didn’t get many LO’s done—well—none, actually. Well, no paper ones-all digital. LOL
I was really sick for weeks, and just sat in the chair, and played on the computer. I started teaching myself PS7. I got really into digital scrapbooking. I love it. I haven’t been able to give up my paper, though—I still paper scrap, too. LOL Another fun thing is hybrid scrapping. You get the best of both worlds!
Now, I’m using my PSCS. I had started out with HP Creative Scrapbook Assistant, and Creating Keepsakes Scrapbook Designer Deluxe. But—I couldn’t use templates. That’s what made me try the PS7 that I was so afraid of. LOL Once I learned to do the templates with it, I was hooked. I could do drop shadows, and everything! Now, there’s no going back.

However—you do have to be very careful with graphics. Just over 3 weeks ago—Friday the 13th—my 500 GB Western Digital My Book Essential external harddrive quit on me. I have done eveything I could, researched about it, talked to computer geeks, cried—nothing has worked to bring back my 2 1/2 years of kits, and graphics. The computer won’t even recognize that it exists. The only thing I can do is pay hundreds of dollars and hour to hire someone to do a data recovery. Um—no. I don’t have that kind of money to spend. Grrrr. I’m re-downloading everything that I can to try to recover what I lost, but I’ll never get it all. Live, and learn, right?

And—in case you’re wondering, I did do a backup. I had backed up the drive onto disks, but didn’t check the disks. Big mistake. The backup had kicked out not even halfway, and I did the rest of the file manually.
But—I did not know that when the computer copies a file, it starts at the bottom, and works its way up to the top. So, if you have a digital kit folder with sub-folders A-Z, it starts at Z, and copies up to A. Argh.
When I finished the copying when it kicked out, I started where it left off, and went down! I ended up with two copies of P-Z—and not even all the P’s. L
I should have checked the disks to make sure it was all there. Backup, and check your backups!

So—life goes on. It’s a hot summer here in Florida, as usual. I’m hibernating in here in the air conditioning. With the humidity and heat, it’s hard to even breathe outside. Yuck. I’m so ready for Fall, and Winter. Bring on that cooler weather. LOL
I’m hoping that when my hubby retires we can move north—maybe to western North Carolina. Cooler weather, a change of seasons, and away from the hurricanes. It’ll be closer to the kids, and grandkids, too.

Well, that’s all for now. I’ll try to stay more updated. Have a great day!

My Gazebo, and Rock Fountain

Well--Blogger wouldn't let me upload more than one photo earlier. It said they were, but it lied. LOL So--I thought that I would try a separate post.

DH is going to set the arbor at the entrance to the gazebo in cement. It's just setting there, for now. That's why it has the wood on each side to hold it together temporarily. He'll paint the trim by the roof after his broken toe heals, so that he can climb a ladder. Poor guy.

The picture of the fountain was taken before we painted the house. That wall behind it is pure white, now.

Here are pics of the house all painted, and the new roof, of course.

It feels really good to be finally getting the house fixed up. Mostly minor stuff left.

Up and Downs

So many ups and downs in life. I just shared some wonderful news, and then, I received some tragic news last Sunday.
Our nephew--my husband's youngest sister's youngest son--was hit and killed by a hit and run driver. So tragic.
Not only were they buying a house, and going to get married--his girlfriend was due to give birth to their daughter--their first child--any day.
So senseless. They still haven't found the person who hit him, and ran like a coward. The family is devastated. Life can turn on us so quickly. So sad.

When some of these things happen, they have a way of making you appreciate the little things in life--the simple pleasures that we take for granted.

I love a nice hot, soothing cup of coffee in the morning. It just sets my day off right. MUST have that coffee. LOL We just got a brand-new Starbucks in town--our first one!

I love to sit out in our gazebo in the backyard. The weather is getting just right, now. Nice, and cool with a nice breeze. It's so peaceful. We have a rock fountain that lights up. I love the sound of the trickling water. It's nice to just sit, and watch the fountain.

I like to enjoy the company of friends and family. Just sitting, and talking. It's nice to just chat, connect, and share each others lives--with my online friends, or offline.

I like to go down to the beach, and watch the ocean. It's really nice to go early in the morning, and watch the sunrise at the oceanfront. You can sit on a park bench, drink a nice cup of coffee, watch the seagulls and the water, and watch the sun come up. The beach is only 5 minutes away, yet I rarely go appreciate it.

I like to close myself off from the world, and spend time in my scraproom creating. I can lose myself for hours. It's so relaxing.

I like to sit in bed late at night reading scrap mags, and watching TV.

I like spending time with my hubby. I like playing with my dog. I like talking to my grown children, spoiling my grandchildren, and playing my piano.

There are so many simple pleasures. Take time to stop, and smell the roses. Life is so short.

I'm Back!

I've been shamed into updating my blog by she who shall remain nameless. LOL :)

I'm afraid that it's been a wild few months. Life has a habit of getting in the way of things, I'm afraid. But--moving on--it's time to update with the latest news.

My first born--my son--asked his girlfriend to marry him last night. He has been quite excited as he planned the entire night for quite some time. There were a few glitches--things didn't go as perfectly as he'd planned. But--everything worked out, and she said, "Yes!".
They are now officially engaged, and in the process of looking for a house. I'm so happy for them.

They also recently bought a pure-bred female Golden Retriever puppy, and named her Kiley. She has grown very quickly! She's not a little puppy, anymore!
This is Adam's fiancee Larissa at home with Kiley:















This is a sweet picture of my son Adam with Kiley out on the patio. I love this photo. :-)





















I can't believe that it's almost the holidays, already! Where does the time go? I'm glad that we got our house all painted. Adam plans on coming home for Christmas. I'm so happy! :-) I want everything to look nice when he gets here.

I also have been given a blog challenge to name 5 things that I want to accomplish before the end of the year. Hmmmmm--I'm not a big goal person, but here goes:

1. Achieve, or surpass my scrapping goal of 60 LO's for the year.
2. Get a good start on eating healthier.
3. Be more productive. I need to get the house in shape--purge, organize, and clean.
4. Push myself to try some different things in my crafting--more techniques that I haven't done, yet.
5. Work on keeping in contact with friends, and family more.

Whew! That was tough for me. LOL I'm not used to thinking of goals. I guess I should push myself more. :-)

Tonight we're going to BBQ a couple of boneless, skinless chicken breast on the grill. They're marinating in Teriyaki sauce, right now. We'll have a nice salad, and a green vegetable with them.

Have a great Sunday everyone!

Somebody Stop Me!

I've now gotten hooked on those ATC's. I have so much else to do, and I'm thinking of my next ATC design.
I did one for a challenge, and was told that they could be very addictive. I can see that, now.
These pictures don't do the cards justice--they're much clearer, and more colorful in-person. But--it's the best I could do with pics. My scanner is making shadows for some reason, but that's another story.

I need to finish getting my photos in order, and file all the patterned paper I just bought on sale at Michael's. I have that 3-Day crop next weekend at Timeless Inspirations, and I need all the "ammunition" I can get!
We're going to be broken into two teams, and I want everything in "apple pie order", and ready to go before Friday.
I get soooo much done at those crops! It's amazing. And, we have so much fun! It really gets me pumped, and gives me the motivation I need! LOL :-)



I hope you enjoyed the ATC's. I'll see you online!

Storage!

I have some new storage for my scrappin' stuff. The two problems were all the scissors, and ink pads. How do you accomodate them, and keep them handy at the same time? You custom-make what you need, if necessary!
We cut a piece of plywood to size, painted it sunny yellow, and--Voila! Hang it, attach some hooks, and you're all set. (I would have chosen a pegboard, but hey--we already had the wood.
Then, I took a wooden box that had been sitting around for years--pounded some small nails for shelf brackets, cut up some balsa wood--and, Voila!, again! Instant ink pad shelves. Easy.
















If you don't want your shelves to move, you can just dab a dot of glue where the nail meets the wooden shelf.
Also pictured, you can see my Xyron machines I got as gifts. I am so happy. They make things so much easier!
Coming to this station is a new ATC. It's being worked on, and will appear hopefully sooner, rather than later. I think that it's going to come out great.
You can sign up at Timeless Inspirations.com, and you'll be in time for the Family Feud Crop. It's 3 days--March 17-19th. It's going to be a blast! That's where I'll be.
Y'all come back, now!