Meow

Good Bye 2011, I hate/love you

2012-01-02T00:59:00.000-06:00

A video my niece made! <3

New Years Day!

2012-01-01T22:40:00.000-06:00

The new year has started out with family and friends! I was happy this year that I didn't have to work New Year Eve or New Years day. One of the cons of being a nurse is having to worry about being off the holidays.

Last night I went to my sisters and we hung out together. Our plan was to dance to Just Dance, Michael Jackson Experience and do some Zumba. My niece and cousin was chatting online with people from other countries. Then my sister ended up falling asleep on the couch! I have picked up learning how to knit again and brought a project I had recently started. It was 1am before I knew it! I was ready to leave about 0130 and my niece told me I couldn't leave! They did get Just Dance Summer Party out and they did some dancing. Then I decided to leave after 0200 as I wanted to have some sleep! I didn't last long when I got home.

I slept today until 1430! I woke up to 4 texts on my phone which the last one getting me up. My sister texted me asking if I wanted to come to dinner. I went to dinner at my sisters. She had also invited our parents. It was a fun family evening! I also made plans with my nieces later in the week for some afternoon vintage fun!

I am bummed that I have to work tomorrow but then I get a couple of days off. I do enjoy working 12 hours shifts and having more days off in the week. It helps keep me sane!

Till next time . . . .

Happy New Year!!

2011-12-31T18:45:00.000-06:00

It has been a while. I have really slacked at blogging this year but hoping to pick it back up next year. I am thinking of doing Project Life next year and this is a good tool to assist with journaling.

I had an interesting night/morning! I had suspected that I had a mouse in my cabinet near the stove. I am unsure how but there must be a hold somehow and they are getting in from the crawl space. Felix was really watching something but I went on with my business. Later I am in bed and I can hear a commotion coming from the kitchen! This went on for about 30 minutes till I got up to check it out. I put my shoes on just in case but I didn't see anything but the cats had things out of place! There had been a chase. I am guessing the mouse was hiding in between my recycling sacks. I went back to bed and went to sleep as it was 3am at this point. This morning, I walking into my dining room to HALF a mouse!!! The rest of the mouse was mutilated in the kitchen. YUCK!!!! I disinfected the floor this morning.

I have had some type of shoe on today just in case! The cats keep hanging out in the kitchen like they hear something. I wonder if they mouse came out because I had noticed last week my popcorn kernels were made into corn meal. The mouse had also tried to eat Phoebe's dog treats! I removed anything edible from that area. The mouse came out to possibly find food not realizing it was going to be food!!!

I am going to celebrate the new year with my sister and one of my nieces. The youngest niece has plans tonight. I need to find a veggie tray for some healthy snacks!

Happy New Year!!!

Changes . . . .

2011-10-09T20:51:00.000-05:00

I have been wanting to do the Fit Life program at the fitness center most of the year. I was waiting till I saved some extra money to do this. Since getting a newer car, that has been harder to do. Just a few days after buying my newer car, I found out I was going to have hand surgery. I ended up being off work for 5 weeks which wasn't easy on the finances but I survived. I was glad that finally on September 7, I was able to start this program at the fitness center.

My goal was to get off this diuretic my doctor put me on in August. He told me that I was starting to develop venous insufficiency (occupational hazard?) and put me on a diuretic to help with the edema. I also have compression stockings to wear to help. I am actually officially off the medication as I started having dizziness with it from possibly pulling off to much fluid. The swelling of my legs have improved and hasn't gotten any worse since stopping the medication almost a month ago. :-)

Fit Life is a 12 week program which you meet with a nurse, trainer & dietician. The dietician said he wanted me to eat 1400 calories a day. He told me about an iPhone app, Nutrition Menu, and I started using it to track my calories. The first week I lost 5 lbs.! That gave me the motivation to keep up with the changes. So far, I have lost a total of 11 lbs.

I have a goal of doing 3 cardio workouts a week. I have been doing water aerobics as I feel like I get a full body workout. I love it!! Then I am also trying to do 3 weight training days as well. I love doing weight lifting and could see me being like the women on Muscle and Fitness Hers! I love that magazine! It reminds when I used to workout hardcore with a personal trainer 3 days a week. <3 I really want to be strong and fit as I was in 2003-2004. I need to find pictures of me when I went to Cancun. I do have a goal of being that fit in the next couple of years as I plan to go St. Lucia to hike and bike in the rainforest. :-)

I have found that my biggest struggle has been finding time to workout. Since I work the night shift, I am tired most of the time. I wasn't doing as well getting workouts in the beginning but then decided to do them after work. That is doing a little better but yet at the same time, I am tired when I am finished. I am doing better with getting 2-3 workouts in a week but want to make it 3 days at least. Then I might start increasing it to 5 days a week.

Till next time . . . . . .

I am still here

2011-07-24T22:32:00.000-05:00

I was off work for about 5 weeks as I had surgery on my left pinky to have a cyst removed. Since returning to work almost a month ago, it has been busy!! My summer schedule isn't good the way my work schedule ended up. I really like my days together so I can group my days off but it didn't work out that way except the week I have vacation. In less than one week I will be on vacation! I am looking forward to it.

I need to gather the pictures I took of my finger as it was healing. I was using Instagram on my iphone to document the healing process. I need to share them in a post and share my Michael Jackson experience I had during surgery!! It wasn't very funny at the moment but I have to kinda laugh now.

I have been sleeping to much on my days I get off and 0700 and I am off that night. Then I am not sleeping as well at night and then need a nap during the day. I was hoping to nap at Moonshine Beach today but I slept to late at home and my towels were still drying and needed another hour of drying time. I decided to just hang out at the Mudhouse instead. Prior to coming to the coffee shop, I went to the Bistro Market for a veggie grill sandwich. I had this sandwich before and loved it. This time it wasn't so good. It actually cost $1.00 more than the turkey burger I enjoy and it was horrible. I had a couple of tomato slices, 3 cucumber slices, humus, basil mayo and leaves (aka field greens). I hate leaves! They have never made it this way before. Yuck-o! I was a disappointment today and I won't order that again. My veggie sandwiches are much better.

I am going to do some scrappy blog searching for a bit and then it will be time soon for the Mudhouse to close.

Camera Critters!

2011-06-04T21:12:00.000-05:00

Last night, my sister and I took our dogs to a pet stroll on C-street. My dog, Phoebe, cracks me up! She is an a/c dog for sure!! :)

Phoebe was drinking from the water dish then sat down and leaned against the planter! I think she was telling me it was to hot for a pet stroll. :-)

Blog Love

2011-06-04T12:40:00.002-05:00

Follow my blog with Bloglovin

Artsy Weekend!

2011-05-08T22:15:00.000-05:00

It has a busy but fun weekend! I always enjoy the first weekend of May for Artfest on Walnut St.! Friday night was the Downtown First Friday Art Walk the the weekend was the Artfest. Also on Saturday was National Scrapbook Day (NSD).

My sister and I went downtown and checked out a few venues full of art. It was really busy so it was hard to see all the art. Parking is always an issue downtown. There are no cruising signs up every where but I am waiting for the day that I get stopped for cruising when I am only trying to find a place to park my car! It makes me wish I was able to push a button in my car like George Jetson. He turns his car into his briefcase. I never understood why he was always trying to find where he parked though. Shouldn't he just have a button in his briefcase to turn it back into his car? I didn't notice that till I was older and watching The Jetson's one day when my nieces were younger.

Saturday I went to the LSS to celebrate NSD. I attended Super Saver Scrapbooking, did the make-n-takes and then did a little shopping. I almost over slept as I decided to take a nap and slept through my alarm. I am glad that I woke up and made it to my class!

After my scrappy fun, I went home to pick up my dog and went to Artfest! It was a fun adventure but Phoebe always gets so hot! She makes me nervous since pugs can't tolerate heat well. I was glad that various artist had bowls of water out for the dogs. I will often buy bottled water and make sure she gets lots to drink. We will also sit in the shade and just enjoy the people and music! Phoebe just loves adventures!

Then we went home to chill for a bit and then I took Phoebe to the park. We just walked around and I was noticing some areas to do some photography someday. Since we have had a lot of rain, the ground was quite soggy! Here is a picture of Phoebe in my car. She gave it her pug approval! :-)

Finally after 10 years . . . . .

2011-05-07T08:19:00.000-05:00

I have been busy with work and also a little vacation in April.

While i was on vacation in April, the car I had for 10 years irritated me. I had just went to Sam's, had a trunk full of various items including perishable items. I get home and the trunk on my car decides to not open! The release button sounded like the motor was stuck. GRRR!!!! I had a hatchback so I was able to crawl into the back seat and lower the seats to get my items out. I worked with my key some more after getting my items out and figured out a way to get the trunk open. Phew! It was annoying and inconvenient.

Then a few days later, I was heading to St. Louis. I just hoped my trunk release behaved and didn't go out anymore than it already had. I have been told by people that I needed a new car. This Integra had been the best car I had owned. I also like the fact that it was paid for!

When I got back from St. Louis, I decided to at least look at used cars at Acura. I wanted another Acura as they have been good cars for me. I had an '86 Integra prior to my "98 Integra. When I looked at the cars, they had gotten bigger and more expensive in the last 10 years. After talking with a salesman, I test drove an Acura TSX. It had all the luxury features like seat warmers, leather seats, bluetooth and more. It was nice but I just wasn't in love. It was too much car for me. I was more curious about seeing an Acura RSX but they don't make them anymore. They didn't have one on the lot. I was content with not coming back and just keeping my car for another 10 years that day.

A few days later, the car salesman calls me to tell me they had an RSX on the lot!! Someone had traded one in. I was excited to see this car and was able to the next day. The car was very sharp and had been taken car of. I liked how it drove. After talking and doing some dealing with interest rates and my payment options I asked If I could take the car out again but without a salesman. I wanted to make sure this was what I wanted before making a final decision. I drove it around and even took it over to my parents house so they could see it. They thought it was a nice car. I was pretty sure I was going to buy the car at this point.

I went back to the car lot and said I would buy the car since they were giving me the interest rate and working with me on my payment. I was trading in my old car for a down payment. They only gave me $1000 for my old car but it had a few exterior blemishes that needed repair. Like the power antenna, trunk release, side view mirror was busted, the misting on the windshield wipers was wimping out. It was otherwise in good shape. I signed all the papers that night but I had to take my old car home because they hadn't had time to detail the car for me. I got to pick it up two days later.

As I was driving my Integra home after driving the RSX all day, I could tell that the RSX drove better. I am not excited about having payments again but I like the fact that everything that wasn't working as well in my old car, worked in this car. I will miss my '98 Integra as has been the best car with minimal repairs. I just hope my new car treats me the same.

I keep checking to see where my old car has ended up. I have noticed that Acura hasn't listed my Integra. I have been doing searches on cars.com. This morning I have been up since my pup woke me up and checked cars.com and found my old car!! I can tell it is mine for the dent above the rear passenger side wheel. I had a little mishap backing into my garage one day quite a few years ago. Oops! I can tell from the pictures, they fixed the side view mirror. It looks great!! I am just curious who will end up buying it. I miss my Integra but love my RSX!

Shattered dreams . . .

2011-03-18T22:41:00.003-05:00

The day the registration for the Camp Shutter Sisters opened up, it was in the middle of my sleep. I had to work that night and really needed to get some sleep. I decided to wake up in the afternoon to register for Camp Shutter Sisters. My dreams were broken when I saw that registration was full.

It is time to make new dreams that include photography, friends and the ocean! ♥

Dreaming . . . .

2011-03-14T23:06:00.020-05:00

camp shuttersisters from xanthe berkeley on Vimeo.

I am dreaming of attending Camp Shutter Sisters! It is going to be on the coast of California. Not only would this trip let me meet new friends with the love of photography, it would also help fulfill my love of the ocean. ♥

I hate nursing!

2011-03-02T23:49:00.000-06:00

I can't believe the last time I blogged was in November! Yikes! After I returned to work after my vacation in November, I was busy with the holidays. Then after Christmas, I got sick with respiratory stuff. I finally got over that and then got food poisoning! I finally got over that and a week later ended up with sinus problems. Ohhhh! I am tired of being sick! I have been slacking in my water aerobics I enjoy. I hope to be able to get back into the groove soon!

I just had to say how much I hate nursing! Another nurse I work with suggested I google, "I hate nursing". I have found lots of post of other nurses that feel the same way I do! I have to say I enjoy being a nurse but it has changed and I am not liking how things are going. I have about 30 years till I can retire so I need to renew my spirit in nursing!! I am sure it is only going to get worse instead of better. I do my best to make sure my patients are taken care of and hope they are appreciative of what I am doing for them. Some are and some aren't no matter what you do!

I am hanging out downtown at my fave coffee shop to destress a little. I am off to google about art journals and read about photography! My hobbies keep me sane. I am looking forward to another vacation later this month for a much needed vacation!

I hope it won't be so long before another post.

Scrappy Fun!

2010-11-07T21:26:00.003-06:00

I am sad that my vacation from work is about over. Only 2 days left. :-( I didn't do everything I was planning because the weather has turned cooler. We have been getting in the 30's at night! Yikes! I really dislike winter.

Saturday was my LSS's 6th b-day celebration. It was a great time as it always is at my LSS. :-) They were opening at 9am which is quite early in my book! The first 350 people got a number as you walked in the door which got you a tote bag. The first 200 got more free stuff and then the next 150 got a little less. I wasn't feeling very good when I woke up so I was being a little sluggish getting ready. My plan was to be their around 0830. I ended up showing up at 0905 and was number 203. I was just glad that I was one of the first 350 people! :-)

Then I walked into the store and you could hardly move! I saw my friends car parked outside so I was trying to locate her. All the LSS regulars that I am used to seeing were their. One told me where i needed to go to get my Fiskateers goodies. Then I stood in line for the make-n-take with the fiskateer ladies. The make-n-take book was cute and used the unibind system. I would love to have the unibind system. My friend had done some shopping and was in line. I went to go talk to her for a bit and then I went back outside where it was calmer! Since they handed out numbers, I was able to come back and shop later. I ended up storing my number in my bra! I about lost it with it being in my pocket. It was in a safe place then!

Afterwards, I ran back home real quick. I realized I had forgotten to put my watch on and it was bugging me. Then I went to a friends house as a bunch of us was meeting up to scrapbook the day away! Their was 7 of us all together. I was the only one who got into a class at the LSS for that day. I tried to get into the class when they first opened up registration. Working nights, by the time I woke up and realized registration was open, it was to late. I was added to a waiting list. I was surprised that they called me in October for a spot in the class! I originally turned it down as my friends were all going to an all day scrap event and I signed up too. It got cancelled so I was lucky that I got a spot!

The store was much calmer when I went back. I did a little shopping and then went to my class. I got some fun goodies in my tote bag! Then after my class, I went back to my friends house and scrapbooked a little longer. We ended up wrapping the night up around 8pm. We have talked about getting together more often and scrapping.

I meet all the ladies I scrapped with at an all day crop. I went to the crop by myself and I was seated with these ladies. It turned out we work for the same hospital. One of the girls, I kept running into at various scrapbooking & photography events. I have gained more friends since I started scrapbooking! I just love it.

First class drawings

2010-11-05T22:40:00.000-05:00

I wanted to post my drawings from my first class. She had us draw a face and our hand before giving us any instructions. It took me forever to draw my face it seemed. I kept erasing and redrawing! These might be hard to see since the drawings are in pencil.

Then she gave us some instruction and then told us to do blind contour. We were to draw our hand but couldn't look at our paper!

Then after doing this exercise, we did modified contour which we could look at our paper 10% of the time. I kept moving my hand and then I didn't get it back in the original position. My hand looks a little off for that reason!

Then she got out a photo of an eye and had us draw the outline and then we added shading. Shading really is what makes the picture. I feel like I need to work more on shading. I didn't like how I did my eyelashes. This isn't bad for my first try!

Then class was over. :-( I hope to be able to go back in the next week or so and learn more! :-)

A rare moment!

2010-11-05T18:46:00.001-05:00

Ever since getting my pug, Phoebe, the cats haven't been happy with me. It did disrupt our routine a bit. I think finally after 2 1/2 years, they might be getting along better. Or the colder weather is just making them tolerate each other! LOL! They all love my waterbed and I walked in last night to this:

Chloe is kinda hidden. She is near my pillow at the head of my bed. She is a lion kitty once again and she is directly on the bed to get warmth! Here is a close up of her:

Then this morning after taking my shower, I came out to this:

Aren't they adorable! :-)

Phoebe loves getting under the covers and she pops her head out at me when I enter the room.

She is just too cute!!

The day I took Chloe to get her lion kitty cut, I was for sure they were going to sedate her. I told them I would prefer her not to be sedated but I didn't want them to get bit either. When I went to pick her up that afternoon, I found out that they didn't sedate her. They said did hiss and didn't like it. They told me she is dehydrated and was afraid to sedate her. :-( She showed me how her skin tents up. It takes about 5 seconds for it to go back to normal. I see her drink water all the time. I have been changing the water more than twice a day to make sure it is fresh. I have also put out another water bowl for them. I have also feed her some moist food to see if that helps. I don't want her to eat that to make sure her teeth stay healthy. The tenting is better but still not where it should be. I was told that if it didn't get better, I needed to bring her in for lab work. Poor kitty! I wouldn't have known this if I hadn't gotten her shaved.

I am getting ready to check out the art walk. It is in the 40's outside so I am sure I won't stay very long!

Fun artsy stuff!

2010-11-04T19:21:00.004-05:00

I signed up for the Sketchbook Project and got my book this week! I am sad that I won't get my book back. I liked the idea of it traveling to different cities and then being in the Brooklyn Art Library. I even have a log in to see who has viewed my book. So, I have 2 months to get this done! Yikes!!! I just wish it was coming to a city near me. I would love to see the other sketchbooks also! I took a picture to post here and Felix decided to help me!

Felix loves helping me! :-)

The other night, I remembered that I had ordered a book about keeping an art journal earlier in the year. I didn't remember where I had put it. I hunted and after getting my extra bedroom more organized, searching upstairs and in the living room, I finally found it in my bedroom! I have ran out of book cases and have some books in a rubbermaid container. I either need to get rid of some books or get a new book case! This book is giving me more ideas and inspiration.

Since wanting to do the sketchbook project, I have wanted to take a class at Hobby Lobby to learn how to draw. I finally had my first class today and it was fun. I just didn't have the correct supplies. I had bought a small drawing pad and brought a #2 pencil from home. She told me I needed a bigger drawing pad. After we got started, I could see how a bigger drawing pad was better. After class today, I bought me the supplies I needed.

When I told her I thought I missed something in art class at school, she said I didn't. She explained that most likely they didn't teach me how to draw, just asked us to draw. She was teaching us the concept on drawing from the right side of the brain. She has us start out drawing a face and then our hand. Then she asked us what we were thinking as we were drawing. Then she explained a little more and then had us do more exercises. It was fun and the time flew by! By the end of the class, we draw a picture of an eye. I feel like I need work on shading but it isn't to bad. I felt like I did go a little far with the eyelashes. It was a fun learning experience and I hope to go back soon to learn more!

I will have to take pictures or scan what I have done so far.

Zombie love!!!

2010-10-31T21:50:00.003-05:00

I have a small love of zombies. It started when I began playing zombie farm on my iphone. I like making comments about our IV pumps we have. We need a "brain" to attach the module to so the IV fluids will run. One day, I got told they couldn't find any brains. I had to comment, "Did all the zombies eat them?". Then we couldn't stop laughing!

So yesterday, I got home about 4pm and checked my twitter account. I saw a post from someone saying that zombies were going to invade C-street and dance to Michael Jackson's thriller at 5pm!! I called my sister to see if she wanted to go. Silly girl already knew about it and was planning to go. I need to tell me sister to remember to let me know of things like this ahead of time! I was glad I had read about this on twitter and did more searching online to find out details.

I arrived and got my spot. No one was standing in this area then all of a sudden people kept standing in front of me. Then about 5 young boys kept screaming and yelling next to me. Ohy!! I got back in front so I could get some good pictures. Here is a picture of the crowd waiting on the edge of the street for zombies!!!!

Then zombies started coming out and would walk into the crowd and then lay down on the street. This took close to 10 minutes or more as their were about 200 zombies. :-)

Then they all started getting up after the guy dressed as MJ came out to start dancing to Thriller!

It was an awesome performance!!! It has increased my love for zombies. So now, I want to be a zombie nurse. I think that is appropriate since I do work the night shift! :-) Isn't that when the zombies come out?

Her are a few close-ups I got of some zombies:

This zombie came up behind my sister and scared her!

This was my halloween fun! I also found a link of a video and posted it here if anyone wants to watch the dance. :-)

Buzzing around C-street!

2010-10-23T20:52:00.003-05:00

Today was Pets & Pumpkins on C-street! I have been looking forward to this event for a long time. Last year I had to work and missed it. The year before I was in Europe. I was excited that finally it worked into my schedule. :-) I just wish the weather would have cooperated better.

I had to get some sleep since I had worked all night. I made sure to set 2 alarms so I would get up in time. My sister, nieces and their dog came too. It helped that my sister texted me to see if I was up! It had been raining so things were a little wet. We got their just in time for the parade. I didn't know the in's and out's of how everything worked. They asked me if I wanted to be in the parade but I wanted to find my sister. I didn't realize I needed a number. I think that is how you got in the contest. I missed out on that. It was still fun seeing all the other dogs and the costumes! Then it started to rain. My sisters dog has long hair so he was soaked. The main festivities were over by then so we walked back to our cars.

About 1 1/2 years ago I fell in love with a Boxer named Alice. She is with the schnauzer/boxer rescue group. She is the sweetest dog! I said hi to Alice and she jumped on my lap to get a hug! When I go to doggie events, I always hope to see Alice! I have been able to the last few events. :-)

My hand is looking better but still sore. The more I use it, the more it hurts. I have a fluid like spot where I was bit. I hope it goes away. I didn't realize how bad cat bites can be! I have been running temps and having some muscle aches. That has gotten better now that the antibiotics have kicked in. I just hope that the antibiotics kill all the icky kitty germs!

I am spending an evening at Barnes & Noble. They have rearranged everything so I have to look or ask where something is. I accidentally ran across the photography section and found a book about the Lensbaby. I have used mine some but this book seems to have good ideas! It also makes me want some of the attachments. I might add some of them to my Christmas list!

Moleskine love!!

2010-10-18T22:38:00.001-05:00

I have fallen in love with the little moleskine books. I went to an art shop this morning and found some of the different moleskine books I found on the website. I did get me a few more blank sketchbooks to recover. I ordered some fat quarters on etsy.com that I can't wait to receive! I keep searching blogs in regards to the sketchbook project. I have found some neat journals! I found this tonight on how to unbind and rebind your sketchbook. The paper in the sketchbook is thin and some people have been putting their own paper for different media. I might use these instructions and make my own journal.

I went to the doctor this morning in regards to my cat bite. I have left hand/forearm cellulitis. I really think the swelling was down a little bit. I was actually able to kinda see a knuckle. He did put me on antibiotics and updated my tetanus shot since it was 5 years old. The more I do with my hand, the more it aches. He told me to use ice to help and it has. I just hope my hand continues to get better.

I called my vets office this morning to make an appointment for Chloe to get groomed. I am not going to finish what I started since she got so mad at me. It will be a couple of weeks for her appointment. I have a feeling she might end up getting shaved again. I like my kitty being fluffy but I wish she liked being groomed. I had Chloe shaved last in early 2009. This is a picture of her after her hair had grown for a couple of months. It takes so long to grow! I wish they were able to just shorten her hair instead of just shaving it. They said they don't have clippers that will do that. :-(

I have been catching up on my DVR tonight as I organize some papers. I will be caught up on Grey's Anatomy tonight! Just taking it easy!

Crazy cat incident

2010-10-17T20:02:00.000-05:00

Isn't this a cute kitty?

She has long beautiful hair but comes with a bit of a temper if you have to brush her. Normally she just meows or will hiss a little when being groomed. Last night, she went to far! (or maybe I did!)

Chloe's hair seems to get tangled easily. I try to keep up with her hair but sometimes I am unable to keep up with it. I just untangled all her hair over a week ago. I had noticed that she was getting badly tangled so I decided to work on her hair last night. I took her to the bathroom and had her on the counter. We were doing good and I was able to get some of the tangles out. She meowed nothing much. Then I had my dog barking at her and then my other cat Felix was on the counter. Felix walked up to Chloe and smacker her! I had to get him down. They were not helping the situation!! Chloe wasn't a happy camper at this point. Shortly after that, she bit my arm! It didn't look like she broke the skin but I am bruised in that area. I should have stopped at that point but was getting close to being done. I actually start trying to cut this tangle out since she didn't like me working it out. Then I tried to brush what I cut out and she bit my hand in between my index and middle finger! She clamped onto my hand and then I had blood running down my hand. I gave up at that point. I washed my puncture wound out and put some antibiotic ointment on it. I also applied a 2x2 to keep dirt from getting in my hand. It hurt but I was okay.

I was working on cleaning and organizing last night. I found my moleskine books and material I had bought earlier in the year. I even got on etsy.com last night to find a few fat quarters to make some other books. :-) I have to say, my kitchen and dining room look clean! At least I had gotten most of it done before Chloe bit me. I noticed that my hand was a little swollen but it was localized to the area. I finished cleaning and finally went to bed about 0330.

When I woke up this morning, my hand was all swollen! Ugh. I am a little freaked out about how my hand looks. I can't bend my fingers all the way without pain. I think Chloe was won a trip to the vet and I am going to have them finish what I started. I got a lot of the tangles out but on her belly. The spot that I did cut out is a little to noticeable. I can usually cut a little and you can't notice it. I didn't do a very good job this time! She might be a lion kitty again but the only good thing about that is no tangles! I also need to make a doctor's appointment. I have seem to many people come into the hospital with cat bites and ended up having surgery to have the wound cleaned out.

But besides the cat drama, today has been a good day! I went and saw my cousin play hockey today and her team won the tournament! Here is the trophy picture:

She is an awesome hockey player and she can skate!! The last game was a little tough but they won 2-1. I was a fun afternoon.

I am at the Mudhouse but typing is bothering my hand. I am looking forward to watching Dexter tonight and to also write down some ideas I have for the sketchbook project I want to do. My sister knows how to draw and she has a book that she thinks will help me. I can't wait to read it! :-)

Creative thoughts!

2010-10-16T22:37:00.000-05:00

Earlier this year Elsie Flannigan had a DIY post on her blog on covering moleskine books. Since finding about the sketchbook project, I am wanting to finally complete this project. I found the adhesive I had bought for this project but now can't find the moleskine books & material I bought for it. I need to look a little more and I am sure I will find them!

There are so many styles of the moleskine books that I didn't know existed. I found one on the moleskin website for a wellness journal. I need this! Then I also saw one called a Japanese moleskine that folds out. Pretty cool if you want to have it like a book but yet you can open it up for one big scene. I think I need to fill up the one I bought before getting any new ones. :-)

The more and more I think about the sketchbook project, the more I think I might need to give it a try! It would be cool to have one of my sketchbooks travel the world. To bad I wasn't going with it! I went to Hobby Lobby today and bought me a book about drawing 3D. I liked doing perspective drawing in school but when it came to drawing a still life, it was a no go! When I looked at other drawing books, it seemed more for someone who already knew the basics. I thought I might check out the local library on some drawing books. I also found out when they have the drawing class at HL. I need to check my work schedule and then sign up for one! I think working with someone first hand will be helpful. The before and after pics of what the students can draw gives me hope! :-)

The one thing that bothers me about the sketchbook project is you don't get your book back. You can pay an extra $20 for them to digitize it and it might show up on the Brooklyn Art Library website. I thought I might try to scan or take pictures of my book myself. If I do this, I might just make it a feature on my blog of the trials and tribulations of making my first sketch book!

I am off to get in my PJ's and hunt for my moleskine books I bought earlier this year.

The Sketchbook Project

2010-10-15T22:35:00.001-05:00

I was reading a few scrappy blogs one day and saw a link to the sketchbook project. I was curious and clicked on it. The site has inspired me!! You pick a theme and you fill the sketchbook up with art. When I learned that I wouldn't get my book back, I wasn't sure I wanted to do it. I thought I could make my own book! I saw a you tube video that also gave me some inspiration about her sketchbook.

I also enjoy reading Donna Downey's blog as she has Inspiration Wednesday. Since she started posting this every Wednesday, it has made me want to make one too. For Christmas one year, I got one of those suitcase of art media/supplies. I have never really used it that much but I think this project will inspire me to use it. I also have some acrylic paints that I bought a while back. Donna always post the media she uses to make the pages in her art journal. I enjoy watching her videos and learning the techniques she uses.

Hobby Lobby has drawing classes that I have wanted to take for quite some time. I might have to finally get enrolled in one. I have never been much of a drawer like my sister & mom. That might give me the assistance to help me with being able to draw.

I went to Borders tonight and got me a moleskine sketchbook. I am looking forward in getting started! I need to get my scrap table cleared off for some sketchbook inspiration!

People are crazy!!

2010-10-10T22:04:00.000-05:00

This little incident is blog worthy that happened to me yesterday morning!

I had worked all night and was so glad to leave work. It was another marathon nursing night! They are getting a little too close together for my taste. I don't mind being busy but this kind of busy wears a person out!!

I left work and was going to head to Wal-mart on my way home. I get to the stoplight and I had pulled up behind a lady in a black car. As soon as I got stopped, she got out of her car and walked to the front of my car. I had no clue what she had done at that moment. I wasn't about to get out of my car to find out. She rushed back to her car and tried to drive off in park. I had my window rolled down and could hear her engine rev. I wanted to laugh at that! I was following behind her and she pulled into the Wal-mart parking lot. I decided to go straight. She was obviously crazy so I didn't want to have a confrontation with her. I stopped at a gas station as I need to get gas and was wanting to see what she had done to my car. When I checked the front of my car, she bent my license plate all the way up!!! I wasn't very happy when I saw this as I just got new plates in July as my front plate before was all bent up from someone backing into my car trying to parallel park. GGRRRRR!!!!!!!! I have no idea what prompted her to do this.

That night at work, a co-worker showed me how to listen to the local police station with 5-0 radio. I went home to listen to it that morning. I was hearing about a lady fitting the description of the car she was driving causing trouble. She had hit another persons car and got in a fight with them. She had told the cops she was having a mental breakdown. Then she drove away from the scene. The cops were following her and finally stopped her. I really think it was the same lady as the descriptions they gave were to close. It wasn't long after she had done that to me and also in the same area. I believe she needs a visit to the psych ward!

I have been listening to the police scanner now to see what is going on in my town. I have also listened to other towns and you can even listen to scanners overseas! I was listening to London, England the other day. It is interesting hearing what is going on in the city and other cities.

Loft walk fun!

2010-09-26T18:42:00.003-05:00

I am behind in blogging again. It doesn't surprise me! I used to be so good at blogging but I am tired a lot and I think my cute pug contributes to it! Phoebe woke me up with puppy kisses at 0630 today!

I have had a great day! I did take a nap this morning after being woken up by the cutest pug! After she eats, she is ready to go snuggle again! After my nap, I got up to have some loft walk fun! I ended up connecting with a friend from work on facebook and him and one of his friends meet up with me. It made it more fun! Then we ended up running into someone else we work with.

One loft had a Persian cat and it made me think of my cat Chloe. She is part Persian but doesn't have the flat face. I got a picture of this cat! The quality of the picture isn't the best as I was trying not to use my flash and had to turn my ISO up. The cat finally let me pet it a little! I am a cat/pug lover!

The weather has turned rather chilly here. I was outside with Phoebe before leaving and it was cooler but not to bad. By the time I got to C-street, it was cloudy and misty! It was cold!!!! I was glad that I did wear jeans as I was going to wear my Capris & flip-flops! I had wished I had brought my jacket. It would warm up a little then start getting cool and misty again. At least we were walking in and out of warm lofts!

I always love attending the loft walks and seeing the different way people decorate. It always gives me good ideas. I have come to the conclusion that I need an IKEA catalog! A few lofts were decorated with stuff from IKEA and I was in love! I have never been able to visit the store since it is quite a few hours away from me.

I am excited about Dexter tonight! It is the opening of season 5!

I ♥ downtown!!

2010-08-21T21:26:00.000-05:00

I have always enjoyed going downtown for my fave coffee shop, The Mudhouse. Now we have a cupcake shop and Bistro Market. :-)

A few years ago, a petition was put up to get a Trader Joe's in downtown. I signed it as I thought it would be a good thing to have downtown. We have never had a Trader Joe's and I was curious about what they had. When I went to St. Louis earlier this year, I visited one. It was a grocery store with more whole foods. I try to eat more whole foods so I can see that I would like one in my town. I guess the petition fell through.

Just last Friday, a grocery store chain opened up a Bistro Market in the downtown area. I have been excited about this! They have fresh fish which has never been frozen. That made me think how does it get to the midwest without going bad? I am sure they have other ways of keeping fish fresh as it is being transported. They have more whole foods & have local farmers produce. Bulk grains, cereals. I even noticed you can make fresh cashew, almond or peanut butter! I haven't tried that yet but want to soon! Then they have have a hot food bar and a salad bar open with an eatery area. They also have a gelato bar! I haven't tried gelato yet but I plan too soon! They even have a Starbucks inside but I prefer The Mudhouse! I visited the first time today and got me a few groceries. It has been packed since it opened! I hope that it continues to be popular!

It was a year ago when I was in St. Louis that I wanted to visit a cupcake shop. We didn't have any in my area at the time and wanted to experience it! I searched the internet and found one. I didn't go as I was going to visit on my way back home which was a Sunday. I found out they are closed on Sundays. In July, I was at a sub shop downtown and I noticed nearby was a cupcake shop getting ready to open up in a couple of weeks downtown! It happens to be a branch of the one I wanted to visit in St. Louis! It is called The Cup. I was excited and finally made it tonight. I decided to get the Italian Creme cupcake and it was yummy!!! I found out that Monday they are going to have a Triple Key Lime cupcake so I have to go back!!

Then someone on the sidewalk did some chalk art! I had never seen this before and they did a good job!!

That was my excitement tonight! :-)

What a summer!

2010-08-17T01:22:00.000-05:00

I am so behind in keeping my blog up-to-date that I am not sure where to start!

I have had an emotional summer. In June, my Grandma passed away. She had been ill for awhile and was under hospice care. Even with her being ill, she was doing alright till she had difficulty breathing and was gone. This all happened the day before my birthday. I have to say, that has been the worst birthday of my life and I sure hope nothing else will top that. I was on vacation from work so had extra time off. I was glad to have extra time off from work and spend time with family.

In the last couple of weeks, a co-worker that I have worked with for about 3 years is moving to another state. It makes me sad she is leaving. I will miss her!! We had a lot in common and enjoyed working with her. We had her going away party at a Mexican restaurant. It was a fun but sad evening at the same time. I might have to make a road trip someday to visit her!

I have had some fun days with my nieces! I always enjoy those. I haven't gotten to spend as much time with them as I had hoped because of my work schedule & their schedule! We are all getting together this weekend to grill pizza! We did that last year and it was fun! Grilled pizza is sooo yummy! Then we are going to tie dye. I have had a white apron that I have never done anything with. So, I am going to see what I can do with it. I might have to see if I can find some white T-shirts at Wal-mart.

I will have to slowly update of significant things over the last few months and mix in current events. I have a list of blog ideas that I made earlier this year and have been adding to it tonight. I hope to get back in the swing of blogging again! Till then, enjoy a little video of my pug dreaming!

Friday Fill-ins

2010-06-25T13:42:00.002-05:00

I have been a little busy and haven't taken time to blog. I thought doing the Friday Fill-ins would be a good start!

1. On vacation, I like _relax on the beach__.
2. _I have learned not to put your rental car keys in your swimsuit or they will end up_ in the ocean.
3. One of my favorite vacation spots _Cancun, Mexico_.
4. _The patients go crazy during the_ full moon.
5. Up, up and away _in a hot air ballon like in Up_.
6. Bananas _I stay away from since I am allergic_.
7. And as for the weekend, tonight I'm looking forward to _relaxing, getting ready for an all day crop_, tomorrow my plans include _attending an all day crop with a friend_ and Sunday, I want to _relax, go to my fave coffee shop to hang out _!

Fire alarm incident

2010-04-30T23:59:00.003-05:00

Last Tuesday I had a little bit of excitement at my house. I have a ADT security system in my home and it also includes the fire alarm. I have had several incidents that have set off the fire alarm. It is outside my bathroom door so if you open the door and the bathroom is steamy, it sets if off. I have learned to turn the exhaust fan on and not open the door right away and I haven't had it go off for about 1 1/2 years. The last time it went off my Mom accidentally set it off while I was in London.

When it gets warmer outside, I often will take a shower with the door open. It was rather chilly in my house that day but I decided to take a shower with the door open. As I was trying to rinse shampoo out of my hair, the fire alarm went off! I try to get the excess water out of my hair before walking to the kitchen to grab the phone. They always call to make sure it is a true fire or not before calling the fire department. I got the phone and no phone call. I waited and then realized I had a voicemail from ADT. Then they call me again and I explain that everything was fine. They told me that they had notified the fire department since I didn't answer the phone! I told them to please cancel the fire department but they said it was up to the fire department to make that decision.

I jump back in the shower since I had to be at work. I had to rush just in case the fire department did come. I didn't want them breaking my door down and me naked in the shower!! I get out of the shower and walk down the hallway to see that the fire truck is in front of my house! 4 fire men are walking towards my door and giving my house a look over. I was in a towel and didn't really want to answer the door but I did. I told them I was sorry that they came out but their wasn't a fire and I tried to tell that to ADT. I was embarrassed! Phoebe was so excited that people had come to our house. Silly pup! Then I was rushing to get ready for work! I was able to make it to work without being late.

I just hope that I don't set the fire alarm off again like that!

Scrappy Goodness!

2010-04-04T20:43:00.006-05:00

This morning I was woke up early by Miss Phoebe. Not unusual but I decided to just stay awake since I have been trying to be "normal" since I am on vacation. I spent the morning venturing on 2peas and found the cutest coffee cup album! It is actually a digital file that you print out and put together. I have printed it out and going to work on printing photos and gathering embellishments! I have an idea of what photos I want to use. I just hope I can find them. I am going to work on this tomorrow at my scrapbook meetup group! :-)

The weather has been nice but windy today. I have had a hard time staying awake! I did lay down for a bit but it didn't help. Being on a normal schedule is difficult when you work the night shift. I hope I will be able to sleep good tonight and wake up refreshed tomorrow! It always takes me a few days to get back on track.

I took Phoebe for a walk around the neighborhood. I thought it would help wake me up and she just loves taking walks! When it starts getting hot outside, I don't take her for walks since pugs get overheated easily. We need to enjoy it while we can! I have been taking her on longer walks than I normally do. She starts out not wanting to heel and halfway through, she is heeling walking like she is ready to be done!

I am chilling at the Mudhouse. I didn't think they would be open since it is Easter. I remember in the past them being closed. I was happy when I found out they were open. I figured they wouldn't be that busy and they are packed!

Vacation time!

2010-04-03T11:25:00.003-05:00

I am ready! I have about 1 1/2 weeks off from work and hoping to reconnect with my camera, scrapbook and do a little traveling. The main reason for my vacation is for CKC-St. Louis which is next weekend! I am meeting up with friends in St. Louis to scrap for 3 days and to attend a few classes and shop at CKC. I can't wait!

It appears that the weather is going to be a little rainy when I am off. The first day of my vacation it rained all day. I really think mother nature has my schedule and that is the days the weather turns icky. I haven't been awake all day yet and enjoy the outdoors. The weather does seem to be cooperating better today but I also have to much stuff going on!

I actually need to start getting ready for adventure #1 which includes scrapbooking! I am going to the LSS for super saver scrapbooking. It is always a fun time but I need to finish getting ready and get supplies together.

Camera Club Competition

2010-03-26T22:50:00.003-05:00

This is the photo I entered in the 1st quarter camera club competition. I took this photo in Eureka Springs at a nature shoot I went to. I had been anxious to here what the judges were going to say about my photo. I even had dreams (more like nightmares) about the results. I was glad when I finally got to here the results!

The judges said that the exposure was correct. The photo was lacking a focal point. I thought the bench/platform on the lake was my focal point. They said I should of had someone sit on the bench. I should have also played a little more with the composition. I ended up with a score of 231 out of 300.

There is many talented photographers and once I saw the other prints, I was in awwww!!! One guy took a macro shot of a spider in a flower. You could see the spiders eyes and little hairs! It was a great picture and even won a ribbon. It will be posted on the camera club site. As of the day I posted this, the 1st quarter winners weren't posted yet.

I am anxious to enter the 2nd quarter and see what the judges say. I am thinking of entering a picture I took of the Eiffel Tower. My Mom thought this picture was a postcard I had bought. I am also taking Picture Spring at Big Picture Scrapbooking to motivate me to take more pictures. I hope to have lots of great pictures to choose from!

Spring? Where did you go?

2010-03-21T20:42:00.002-05:00

It is freezing outside for the first full day of Spring. It has been snowing, sleeting & freezing rain since yesterday. The ground is covered hopefully for the last time. So far if I have been at work, the weather is nice. If I don't work, the weather has been icky. I have the end of this week off so I hope that luck changes! Here is a picture of my flowers:

I don't think my Daffodils are going to make it after this. :-( I still need to finish mulching my flower garden. The weather has been icky for me to finish that project.

This weekend I have been trying to stay awake for the crop at The Mosy Scrapper. I haven't done a very good job. I slept most of yesterday, got up for a bit and joined in some of the fun but ended up falling asleep again! Then today I slept through my alarm and woke up around 2pm! Ugh!! I checked in & was able to play a little Bingo and then ended up falling asleep again. Then I woke up with an ugly headache. The Advil didn't help so I have taken Extra Strength Excedrin. It is a little better but I still have a mild headache. My weekend of fun scrapbooking has been spoiled.

I am chilling at the Mudhouse currently for my weekly dose of frozen coffee. Maybe I can go home soon and do a little bit for the crop. I did enjoy playing bingo and the photo scavenger hunt! Of course, the chatting!

Online Crop!

2010-03-15T20:54:00.003-05:00

This weekend is the second anniversary crop at The Mosy Scrapper! On March 20-21 come join in on the fun! Their will be a ton of challenges for all types of scrappers! You can check out the sponsors for the crop on The Mosy Scrapper blog. I hope to see you there!

Phoebe's Birthday Celebration

2010-03-14T20:02:00.002-05:00

Today is Phoebe's birthday so I had to have a little party! Last year on her first birthday, I wanted to have a celebration but everyone was busy. :-( This year it worked out that we were able to get together. :-) This year my sister has a dog so Baby got to attend.

I found this hat at Three Dog Bakery and had to get it! Phoebe didn't really care for the hat but she wore it. She occasionally would try to eat it! I need to put it in a safe place for future birthdays.

I made pupcakes for the people to eat! I have a Martha Stewart cupcake book that I got this idea from. There are lots of cute cupcakes in the book. I want to make some Spring cupcakes next!

I had gotten a couple of treats from the Three Dog Bakery yesterday. I got a Drooly dream bar and Lickity Split ice cream. I split that between Baby and Phoebe. Phoebe inhaled hers! At least this year she didn't grab it and run like last year. Phoebe had hers gone in no time. Baby was more calm about her treats and then Phoebe wanted to help her finish!

Then here are a few other pictures I had taken:

The look on Baby's face and Phoebe's is too funny in this picture!

My sister & nieces brought Phoebe a bone from the Three Dog Bakery! I gave her one and she went crazy! She was running through the house with it and if I got near her, she growled at me! It must be a good bone. She finally got on my bed and was chewing away! I was wanting to head to the Mudhouse so I picked her up and she put her paws on the bone and growled at me! She finally dropped the bone and got in her crate for me!

We had a fun afternoon celebrating Phoebe's birthday!

Sick day

2010-03-12T23:03:00.003-06:00

I haven't been feeling very good this week. Monday evening I started feeling light headed. I woke up Tuesday around 3am and was so dizzy I couldn't walk! I have never been that dizzy before. I could lay in bed and eventually the spinning would stop. I didn't want to get up again after that. By morning I was still pretty dizzy but I got out of bed slower and did a little better. I couldn't figure out why I was so dizzy. I had to work that night so I stayed in bed till 3pm. I was still dizzy when I got up but it got better the longer I stayed up. I went ahead and went to work.

I made it through the night but I was dizzy. I had to be cautious on how I turned or I would lose my balance. I got home that morning and made an appointment with my doctor. When I woke up that evening, I felt better and wasn't dizzy. I went ahead and went to work and didn't feel too bad. When I got off work, I went to my doctor appointment and my temp was 100.3! I didn't feel like I was running a temp. He didn't have anything to say about my dizziness. I was told I might have some fluid in my right ear so maybe that is what was causing my dizziness. He also told me the headaches I have been having sound more like migraines. Blah! I don't need anything else. I did have a sinus infection. I am now on antibiotics. He told me I wasn't going to work on Friday and I couldn't return to work till I have been fever free for 24 hours. I don't like calling into work. I believe the last time I called in was 2003.

This morning when I woke up, I was dizzy again! I was still running a fever so I called into work. :-( I messed up my perfect attendance. I think I needed the rest so I can get better. I ended up staying in bed most of the morning but by afternoon I moved to the living room to catch up on my DVR. I sat in the floor and went through piles of paper I have wanted to shred or file. I was glad to get that done. I stayed in my PJ's all day. My fever was better this evening after being on the antibiotics over 24 hours. I just hope it continues!

Unusual day . . .

2010-02-26T12:21:00.002-06:00

I say it is unusual because I was up and dressed by 0815 and out the door by 0820! I had to have my cat Pandora at the vets before 0900 to get her teeth cleaned. Pandora wasn't very happy with me this morning since she wasn't allowed to eat or drink. Poor thing kept meowing at me, during the car ride and even at the vets! She was saying feed me!! My mom didn't!!! :-)

I thought since I was up that early, I would get a few errands done. I was really hoping to get my allergy shots but I had them check my temp. since my throat is red but not sore. I am also all stuffy. It was 99.9! I didn't really think I was running a temp. but I got sent away. I hope that this isn't the start of a sinus infection. I have some saline sinus lavage so I need to learn how to do this to see if it will help. Then I made a couple of other stops and back home. I still have more errands to run and got home and remembered! Oh well!

I am really enjoying my Gypsy!! I have been designing while in my warm cozy bed. Today I have been making cards from the Wild Card cartridge. My Cricut Expression is supposed to be delivered today and I am excited to try it out! I realized I was limited with my baby bug and the Wild Card cartridge. I can't wait to get it and finally cut my first full size card and envelope! My Grandma's birthday is next week so I hope to get her a card made with this cartridge.

Last night I went to Wal-mart to look at different sewing kits they have. You can make bags, aprons or PJ's. They have all the material & instructions you need so I thought I would try one. I finally choose an apron to try to make. I got a sewing machine for Christmas and have yet to figure out how to use it. I thought this would give me something to make! I just wonder what it will look like when I am done!

After Christmas, I had gotten this magazine called Stitch. It has some really cute things to sew! I have a little list of things I want to make. I hope if my apron goes well, I am going to buy some material and figure out how to sew from a pattern. I remember when I was a teenager, I decided to sew a dress for a doll. I ended up sewing the parts on crooked so it didn't look very good. I am sure with a little practice, I will do fine.

The swatches of material in the picture I had got to cut into hearts and sew onto a plain apron I have. I hope I get inspired to try all these things soon! One problem I have is a table big enough to set all this up on. Someday I am going to get my extra bedroom cleaned out and set up a table to do crafty things at!

I believe it is time for my yummy energy drink and hopefully the UPS man will be here soon! :-)

Gypsy Love!

2010-02-21T10:07:00.005-06:00

The first thing that comes to mind when I hear the word Gypsy is my Great Grandma. My Great Grandma was born in 1900 and she always had wonderful stories to tell us of when she was growing up. One I remember was the day the Gypsies came to town. She was terrified! When she told the story, she even reacted like it was actually happening and trying to hide from them. It was a story I will always remember.

Then the Gypsy came along for my Cricut! It isn't scary like the gypsies in my Great Grandma's story! I received my Gypsy in the mail on Wednesday and had to work the next 3 nights. Why is it that I always get something fun when I have to work the next few days! :-) Thursday morning when I got home, I turned it on and clicked on things. Friday morning, I took time to hook it to my Mac and get all the updates. Saturday morning, I took time to link all my cartridges to it. Now I need to take the time to watch some videos on the website to learn more! I haven't hooked it up to my Cricut as of yet. That might happen today! I have ordered me a Cricut Expression and anxiously waiting its arrival! I found a good deal on Oh My Crafts for the Expression. I have gotten a couple of cartridges that I am limited on what I can do because of my baby bug. One cartridge that I got that I can't wait to try is Winter Wonderland. You can make 3D houses! I need the bigger bug to cut a big house. I am wondering if I could make a glitter house from that. We will see!!

Celebrity Pug!!

2010-02-19T09:39:00.001-06:00

A little over a year ago, I took Phoebe for a pet modeling session. The photographer was planning to take the pictures she got to sell as stock photography. I signed a release for her to do so. If she found out if Phoebe's pic was going to be used, she would notify me.

Wednesday before heading to work, I checked my email on my phone and had an email that Phoebe's picture from her pet modeling session was chosen for the cover of a book! I was soo excited! It is a book of inspiring stories about pugs. The book is still being developed but I am going to get one as soon as it is available. Check it out here!

I now call Phoebe a celebrity! :-) She is going to have to sign my book for me when I get it! :-)

Sleep is optional

2010-02-16T21:23:00.004-06:00

That is how I feel lately. I have had such a hard time sleeping at night and my body wants to sleep during the day! I have worked the night shift too long. I do prefer nights as I am more of a night person.

I hardly got any sleep and had a meeting at work at 1300. I had fallen asleep for a couple of hours during the night but then woke up about 0500. I couldn't get back to sleep till 1000. I needed to get up about 1100 - 1130 to get ready for my meeting but I woke up at 1145! I was rushing around to get ready and arrived in the parking lot at 1300. I was a little late in coming in for the meeting. Surely I will be able to sleep tonight. I do have to work Wednesday night so I need to stay up for a bit longer if I can.

I remember the days before I got my dog that I could sleep longer. Phoebe will often sleep with me and she is so snuggly! It has helped me with being able to sleep a little longer but when she decides it is time to eat, she is a wild pup!

In my lack of sleep this morning, I was searching ebay for a Cricut Expression. I had found a few from the same seller with free shipping but they didn't come with cartridges. I thought if I could get the Expression for under $200 that would be okay. I never did win any of the auctions. They all seemed to go for about $200. Then I checked out Oh My Crafts! to learn with my coupon code I had I could get an Expression for about $200 with cartridges! I finally did order one. I am eagerly waiting for it to ship! It will be like Christmas soon. I ordered a couple of books, the Gypsy & Cricut Expression.

Puppies are cute!

2010-02-14T23:11:00.000-06:00

My sister, nieces got a dog! He is a bichon/shitzu mix that they named Baby. I had been wanting to meet the newest addition to the family and my sister stopped by this morning with Baby! He is adorable and so calm compared to my pup!

I wanted to get pictures of Baby & Phoebe together but it was difficult! Phoebe was jumping and being a little rough with Baby so we were holding them to great each other. Phoebe was super excited to see a new dog! I hope we can take them to the dog park to play when it gets warmer.

I was hoping to stay awake all day but I decided to lay down for a nap about noon. I forgot to set my alarm and half way woke up about 1630 but felt so tired that I fell back to sleep and finally got up about 2030! I didn't mean to sleep my day away so I decided to have some tacos at Qdoba and then head to the Mudhouse. While I was sleeping, we had more snow! The snow wasn't much so I thought the roads would be fine. I was wrong!! i made it to Qdoba but it was slow. Then while heading to the Mudhouse, my car slide all over at an intersection. I was glad that no one was there! I made it to the Mudhouse finally but they were going to be closing in 30 minutes. Then I returned home safely. I have said it before but I am ready for warmer weather!! ;-)

Snow!!

2010-02-13T10:48:00.006-06:00

I was quite surprised at some snow we got this morning that was short lived. There were large snowflakes falling so I went outside with Phoebe and my camera. The snowflakes were big enough that Phoebe was trying to catch them to eat. The first photo is an action photo of her running around eating the snowflakes!

Here you can see the snowflakes sitting on her back:

Various pictures of the snow:

We have had too much snow for my taste this winter. I am ready for Spring! It was fun to be able to take a few pictures of the snow.

Camera Club fun!

2010-02-07T22:09:00.004-06:00

I have had a fun day even with little sleep! I finally did fall back asleep about 0800 and slept till noon. I kept hitting snooze till about 1300. I needed to get up if I was going to meet up with the camera club! I ended up finishing my scarf last night and starting on my third pomp-a-doodle scarf! I might be able to meet my goal for V-day! :-)

The camera club meet up at a garden to take pictures. I was thinking we would be outside a lot but actually we were inside the greenhouses. It was a little warm and humid. It was a nice change from being outside but I was getting a little hot! I took about 200 pictures. I did take a few with my Lensbaby. I am still trying to figure it out but it was fun to play around with it today. I need to start just going out and taking pictures more often like this. It was a fun afternoon activity!

Here are a couple of Lensbaby photos:

A few more pictures with a regular lens:

I also found out today that the president of the camera club knows my Dad! They work together and have went on float trips together. It is a small world! I enjoy getting to know more of the members of the camera club and have enjoyed it so far. It has been almost a year since I went to my first meeting. I am planning to join the competitions this year. I am curious what the judges will say about my photos. I need to get my first photo printed! I have been printing some of my photos and putting them in frames. I am unsure where to hang them but I will have to find a spot!

I hope to be able to do more field trips with the camera club. It helps encourage me to take pictures something I haven't been doing enough of.

After I got done with the camera club, I went to the superbowl sale at the LSS! I bought too much paper but I tried to buy papers that coordinate together for a LO. I need to sort the paper and have sketches in mind for them. :-) I will have something else to do tonight if I can't sleep!

I am chilling at the Mudhouse. I finally took time to change the look of my blog. I have been wanting to do that for a long time! This background and header gives a more spring look! I am ready for Spring!

Why am I awake?

2010-02-07T03:58:00.004-06:00

I woke up about 2am and still awake! I couldn't keep my eyes open last night and went to bed about 2130. I had also taken some Advil and Benadryl to help with my sinus headache/allergies. I slept good for about 5 hours and wish I could sleep more! I am up watching Laverne & Shirley DVD's and working on another pomp-a-doodle scarf. :-)

I had a busy week with work. Then after working a 12 hour shift, I went to a 1/2 Trauma seminar. I know have my trauma hours for the year! It was a good seminar but I was fading the last hour from lack of sleep. I had one stop to make on my way home but then I was heading home to go to bed! I ended up sleeping most of the afternoon and night. I was still quite tired when I woke up Saturday morning.

I went to the LSS for super saver scrapbooking and it was fun as usual! The LO's we did were to cute! They required lots of cutting so they took longer than usual. We get 1 1/2 hours per session but the next session didn't have to many so I was able to stay to get most of them done. I still have a small amount to finish but I thought I would do that once I get pictures placed.

After super saver scrapbooking, I went to Hobby Lobby to get a few Copic markers. I have bought 2 black and skin white. I can't play with them as much so I got me 4 different colors. I need to use some of my flower acrylic stamps and play! Even with the 30% discount, they are a little pricey. I only got 4. My fave website to get Cricut supplies now is selling Copic markers! I will have to order some with them too.

I am going to go back to working on my scarf! I hope to get some sleep soon!

My second knitting project!

2010-02-02T03:40:00.003-06:00

I have been enjoying knitting! I still have lots to learn though! I can't wait to learn more. :-)

I had found Pomp-a-Doddle yarn and got me a skein. I have been lurking a couple of knitting websites and someone posted a video on how to knit with it. I have made a scarf for my second project and it is soft! Here is the video I found:

I have a hard time getting Phoebe to leave this yarn alone. She tends to like her soft, plush dog toys. I can see her liking a small doggie blanket out of this yarn! Here she is in action playing with my yarn!

I casted on 12 stitches and it seemed to be fast knitting with the yarn. I had this done in a few days and could get it done in a day if I could just work on it through out the day. Here is my finished project:

The mannequin I bought for my photography is going to serve a second purpose! I have found a pattern for this yarn to make a hat. That might be a little more advanced for me at the moment. I love this scarf so much that I bought me more in different colors!

I might make these as Valentines gifts for family! I need to get busy knitting! :-)

Blog Sneeze!

2010-02-01T04:05:00.003-06:00

I have had several post saved since November that I wanted to add pictures too. I was behind on uploading pictures because of my Project 365. I had finished uploading these pics the beginning of January but just now getting around to finishing up the saved post. I didn't have anything saved for December so I might just have to do a summary of what happened that month once I get caught up with posting!

It is about 4am now and I need to get some sleep. I will have to pursue this project later. I can't seem to post without a picture!

This picture I took on December 30th as part of my Project 365. When I was growing up, we had a wonderful Cocker Spaniel named Brandy. I love Cocker Spaniels and played with this one at Petland! He is so adorable! I would have double trouble if I got me a second dog!

Hopefully, later today I will finish this project. Be on the look out for older, new post!

Snowy, Scrappy weekend!

2010-01-31T22:04:00.002-06:00

I have had a fun last few days! I have 5 days off and it happened when we had a big snow storm coming. I can enjoy it snowing and not have to get out if I didn't want to. I did and it was adventurous!

Friday I was planning on attending a crop with a friend at the LSS. I got a phone call that it was being cancelled because of the snow storm. The later my friend called me and invited me to scrap at her house. I thought it would be fun! When I left my house, it was snowing hard again. I was meeting her near her house and then following her. I made it to where we were meeting okay. But when we were leaving, my car wouldn't go up the hill! I thought that I was stuck in a snow rut but I got out of my car and I was on packed down snow. It must have just been slippery enough that I couldn't get traction. I kept working on it and finally I got up the hill! I slide just a small amount but the rest of the way was alright. I had a fun time scrapping that evening. The snow made it more adventurous! I am glad that I made it to and from in one piece.

Then Saturday, we meet up at the LSS for sketch sessions. We went to the last class which I have never done. We got to stay till we were done. It was only 1, 2 page LO and it took me about 2 hours to complete. It makes me wonder how I can get 3, 2 page LO's done when I do the super saver class! It was a fun time.

Here is the LO that we made:

Then after the class, i went to get my nails done. I went to one of the nail places in the mall and English is a second language for them. Well, the lady doing my nails and two of the other technicians were all talking in another language and looking at there arms. Then the lady doing my nails told me that I had hairy arms and that she doesn't. I just laughed about it but I knew they were talking about my hairy arms at that point! It just irritated me that they were talking about me in there language. They don't have prices posted and it seemed to be a little more expensive than other places I have been. I think I will start going somewhere else. I actually don't get manicures very often.

I have had a fun weekend so far and I am going scrapbooking with more friends on Monday!

Sedated kitty

2010-01-28T22:04:00.001-06:00

This morning, I dropped my cat Chloe off to get her teeth cleaned. She was started to get tarter build up and needed to get this taken care of. I had a cat that his teeth was to far gone from eating moist food and not getting proper cleaning. My cats now don't get to eat moist food and only get dry food. That has helped save their teeth.

Since Chloe is almost 10, she had to have lab work done. I was happy that her labs were all okay. Last year her liver enzymes were too high and she had to be on medicine for a month. I am glad that they are staying down after a year. :-) Then she was cleared for dentistry. She has to be sedated for the procedure so it took all day.

We have been expecting a snow storm this week so I decided to pick her up that evening. I was going to have her spend the night so I didn't have to fight my dog and care for a sedated cat. The weather hadn't started that evening so I decided I had better get her while I could! She was able to lift her head but that was about it when I picked her up. I was told to keep her warm. I was planning to attend the camera club meeting so I went home and set Chloe up in a box with blankets.

Phoebe was driving me crazy and wouldn't leave Chloe alone. Chloe couldn't defend herself very well since she was still sedated. I did catch a picture of Phoebe actually sitting staring at Chloe!

When I returned from the camera club meeting, Chloe was trying to walk around the house. Her balance wasn't very good and would fall over walking. I had Phoebe sleep in her crate all night so Chloe could wonder the house and not get attacked by the dog. When I woke up in the morning about 0500 to check on her, she was sleeping on the bottom of her scratching post she tends to sleep on. Then when I woke up later in the day, she was on top of the scratching post and acting like her normal self! I was glad that her sedation had worn off.

Pandora is the next one to get her teeth cleaned the end of February.

Learning to knit

2010-01-23T20:50:00.002-06:00

I have wanted to learn how to knit for quite a few years now. I had gotten a book over 5 years ago and tried to teach myself. I would get stuck after I got my yarn casted on and didn't understand the instructions that I had. One day I was driving through a parking lot and saw a yarn store. I took down the name and called them to see if they teach knitting. I was excited that they did! Last week I finally had time to meet with someone to learn how to knit.

I felt real slow at it but was getting the hang of it. I was holding on to the knitting needles to tight which made my hands go numb. I also have some carpel tunnel so I am sure that wasn't helping! For my first project I was knitting a dish cloth. I was going to knit a scarf but thought that would take longer.

Here is my knitting in progress:

Somehow along the way, I added stitches! I am not really sure how I did that!!

I finally got my dish cloth to where I wanted it and went back to the store to learn how to cast-off. I also learned that I had twisted my stitches. I was going clockwise when I should have been going counter-clockwise. I have been practicing to knit the correct way!

Here is a close-up of my knitting so I can look back on this and see how I have improved.

Then the finished project!

The girl that has been teaching me to knit told me about a great website called Knitting Help. It has videos that has helped me when I get stuck. Then one of my scrapbooking MB friends told me about raverly that I have loved searching for patterns on. I still don't really understand how to read the patterns yet. I hope to someday learn how to knit socks!

I showed her one pattern of another dishcloth that has a flower design in it but I need to learn how to purl next. Then I should be able to try to knit that dishcloth. I have been enjoying knitting so far!

Scrap-a-Palooza!

2010-01-17T00:30:00.001-06:00

I had a fun day getting to scrapbook and hang out with friends! I look forward to the Scrap-a-Palooza events. I got kits with pictures all together so I could accomplish scrapping all day. Then everyone else at the table was working on the sketch contest so I ended up deciding to work on the contest too. Here is the LO I made for the sketch contest:

Phoebe

Some of my other creations I completed that day were:

Ozark Empire Fair 2009

Autumn leaves with some pictures of Fall in London

Roman Baths in England

I might have gotten more done if I hadn't decided to work on the sketch contest. I did go to a class but I haven't added pictures to that LO. I still need to finish the stitching. I will have to post when I get it done! It has flowers but the petals are made out of hearts. I enjoy scrappy days!

Happy New Year!!

2010-01-15T09:46:00.003-06:00

Wow! I didn't realize how long it has been since I had blogged! I have had a whirlwind end of the year.

I rung in the New Year with friends. I had a great time, had yummy potato soup and enjoyed my fave wine!

I hope everyone has a Happy New Year!!!

Puppy Drama!

2009-11-24T08:22:00.002-06:00

Sunday I had dropped my car off to get repaired and my Mom brought me back to my house. I was doing some things upstairs and Phoebe was playing downstairs. I came downstairs and found a chewed Clorox pen on my bed!!! Why does she have to do stuff like this when I don't have a car??!?!?! By this time, it was 2330. She had chewed a whole in the pen but it was still pretty full. I didn't think she had gotten to much but didn't know how much was too much for my little dog. I read the back of the pen and it said to push fluids. She didn't want to drink. I decided to just watch her for any abnormal activity.

The evidence:

I went to bed and let Phoebe sleep with me. She seemed to be acting fine. Then about 0500 she woke me up vomiting on my bed! She thought she was in trouble for making a mess on my bed and started running from me. Poor pup!

She finally let me get near her and she just gave me puppy dog eyes. I started to get a worried and started googling about dogs and clorox bleach. I didn't really find anything but found a ASPCA phone number. They wanted $65 just to consult. I thought that was too much so I didn't continue. When the vets opened, I called them and they suggested I call the number on the back of the Clorox pen. I did and they transferred me to a toxicology vet and paid the fees associated with the phone call. They told me since she was acting better since vomiting to just watch her. She never did have any more vomiting episodes and has done fine since. Phew!

I think the cats were blotting to kill the dog! :-) I had the Clorox Pen on my kitchen table so they had to have knocked it on the floor and the dog found it. I no longer own a Clorox Pen and if I do, I need to hide it better!

A day off, but only one!

2009-11-19T21:18:00.007-06:00

I worked last night and it ended up being a good night to charge. I wonder if the hospital is slowing down a bit for the holiday next week. Whatever it is, I am liking it.

I didn't feel like I got adequate sleep today. Mainly it is because I have been letting my pup stay out of her crate and play while I sleep. She wants to be near me so she was bouncing around me while I try to sleep. I kept catching her doing stuff that she shouldn't be doing. Then after I relocated whatever she had her eye one, she decided that she would curl up next to me for a while. That didn't last long! I finally woke up and noticed that I had "legs" at the foot of my bed. I later learned that they were cricket legs. The body was not to far under a cover. Oh my! So I disposed of the body.

Since she kept bouncing on me, I finally got up and was able to cook dinner, take a shower and leave the house in time for my Camera Club meeting! I was quite impressed that I did all this in a 2 hour time frame. A phone call from my Mom was in the middle of all this. Know if I could have that kind of initiative everyday!

I have been enjoying chinese box dinner kits. My two favorites is Cashew Chicken & Garlic Chicken. So yummy! I just wish it came with brown rice instead just to be a little healthier.

I arrived at the Camera Club meeting and it was packed! I was glad that I arrived a bit early. The meeting was a slide show of a trip that some of the members took in about 4 canyon national parks. It made me want to just travel and take pictures! If I could only find me a job that would let me do that. I need to plan me a photography trip but a tropical one! :-)

I am hoping to stay up and get a few things accomplished tonight but I am sure I will fizzle out early. I hope that means that Phoebe will be tired tonight since she pounced on me all day! :-)

I am at Borders using the free wifi and have a few photography magazines I want to look at. I also want to do a little work on my Project 365 pictures. I am behind on posting them and need to get up-to-date! Later!

Car issues . . . .

2009-11-17T22:04:00.003-06:00

I have had my car for about 9 years. It has actually been the best car I have owned compared to all the repairs I have had in previous cars. That is one reason I have kept it for so long. The second, I love not having a car payment.

Last week I had gotten off work only to find that my car wouldn't start. When I got in my car to head to work it didn't want to start but finally did. I even said at work that my car was going to die on my soon. I didn't realize it was going to be that morning! I called security to jump start my car only to find out that my battery had a crack in it. He said he could attempt to jump start my car but there was a risk for my battery exploding. So, I opted not to have it jump started. I was going to call my Mom to come pick me up and possibly have my car towed. When I called my Dad answered the phone which I wasn't expecting. It turned out he was off work because it was a holiday. My Dad came and picked me up and we got a new battery and installed it in the parking lot. I was happy that I didn't have to have my car towed. It turned out the battery was 6 years old! It was time for a new one.

I was told about 50,000 miles ago that I should have the timing belt and water pump changed. If the timing belt broke, it could damage the engine. I sure don't want that! It is an expensive repair. So I have finally saved up enough money to get these repairs done. Then I also need to have my muffler checked as it is loud and rattles a little. Next week I am having the big repairs done and then hopefully I will be able to get my muffler checked. It will be a lot quieter driving in my car when I get that fixed!

I have been really tired today as my allergies got crazy last night! I couldn't stop sneezing. I was glad that I woke up to no more sneezing but just have difficulty breathing. I didn't want to get up and do anything today but I had to be at work for a meeting. If it wasn't for that I would have stayed in bed longer! :-)

I have been trying to learn more about the Photography Society of America that I joined. I am currently taking a course to help teach me more about photography. I have taken some non-credit courses and learned lots from them. I just want to reinforce and build on what I have learned. i can't wait to finish my first lesson!

I am actually going to see what organizing I can do in my scrap room till I am ready for bed!

Grandma's and Birthday celebrations!

2009-11-17T00:15:00.002-06:00

I was on vacation for 11 days from work the beginning of November. The first day of my vacation, my Grandma was admitted to the hospital. She was diagnosed with lung cancer in July and it is advanced. The oncologist believe that this started from her breast cancer she had years ago. She had been doing pretty good up to then but having problems with being short of breath. She finally got to go home 10 days after she was admitted but with oxygen. She is now adjusting to having oxygen at all times.

Over the weekend we had a birthday celebration for my Aunt, my Grandma's sister that has been staying with her. It was a nice family get together.

My Aunt and her birthday cake:

My fave is a picture of my Aunt and Grandma:

I have a page kit I bought from the LSS a week ago about sisters. I was planning on making it for my sister and I but know I think I am going to combine it with a generation of sisters. My Grandma & Aunt, my nieces and my sister and I. I need to get this kit out and start planning my other pictures. :-)

I have been trying to get my scraproom organized so I will feel like being more creative. Also being able to find things would be great! I hope to be able to slowly work on this. Tonight the allergies are starting to bother me and it will have to wait till tomorrow.

Michael Jackson

2009-11-05T18:53:00.001-06:00

Photography love!

2009-10-19T01:02:00.007-05:00

I have a great love for photography! I have taken all the non-credit courses at a local college and feel like I have learned a lot! I took a class over the weekend at the local photography store about exposure. I enjoyed it and hope to take the class on composition and lighting when they fit with my schedule.

This video I have had saved for some time and hope to take the time to learn how to TTV some photos!

DIY: How to fake TTV from Joe Philipson on Vimeo.

In June I joined Photographic Society of America and need to start taking advantage of some of the benefits. I also enjoy JPG magazine which is currently online. They now have digital subscription available.

Camera Critters!

2009-10-19T00:44:00.003-05:00

I woke up this morning with Phoebe have fun playing some of her toys on my bed. I like it when she plays happily on my bed and lets me get some sleep!

Ice Hockey!

2009-10-10T23:56:00.004-05:00

I had a fun day!! I ended up sleeping with Phoebe last night which she sleeps as close to me as she can get! I was so tired that I didn't even notice it till 0730 this morning! I had went to bed about 2200. I was tired! I thought that was good so I could get up and get ready for the day! The coldness in my house was making it difficult. It was 60 degrees in my house and I finally turned on the heat. After I got out of my shower, I was cold so I went to my warm waterbed only to fall asleep again! That was a mistake. I was hoping to be at my Grandma's between 1230-1300 and didn't make it till 1415!!

We all gathered at my Grandma's before the hockey game. Then we all headed off to see my cousin play ice hockey! I have never gotten to see her play before as she used to live in Seattle and play ice hockey there. She lives closer now and she was playing on a team that just happened to be playing here! It was exciting seeing her play. She is pretty good!! Her team won 2-0!

Then after the game I went home for a bit but then we meet up and had dinner together. We ended up eating at the Outback. It was good!

I love weekends like this!

Cold, jam packed day!

2009-10-09T21:35:00.005-05:00

I hate the cooler weather we are having. We went from being warm to cold. I like a nice subtle introduction to the cold. All the rain we have had has made it cold! The only good thing out of this will be the killing of the pollen! I need that to be done badly!

I am tired as I didn't get my nap today! I got up early and was actually dressed at 0945! That doesn't happen very often. I decided since i was going to be gone all day to have Phoebe in Doggie Day Camp at Petsmart. I had a free coupon and I was able to get her in today on such a short notice! Phoebe was soo excited when we got there. You can watch them in the play room and Phoebe was greeted by all the other dogs sniffing her! It was funny and I am not sure she knew what to think about it. She didn't care about me standing outside the glass so I left.

I went and got my allergy shots, had a little lunch, mailed rolodex cards and then was off to Branson! I had signed up to get a free Chicago vacation a year ago by listening to a timeshare presentation. It was about to expire so I finally got scheduled to get my vacation.

I finally get to the place in time for my appointment. The lady at the desk told me I would have to wait for an hour!! I told her that I was on a time schedule and I had a 1330 appointment and can't stick around if I had to wait. She got on the phone and had someone to start this presentation. The guy happened to own a bar in my town and I had been to it before. I remember this particular band that I went to see and so we got to talking about that band. I loved Dead Eye Dick back in the day and still have there CD somewhere! I need to find it now.

The presentation was looonnnggggg. I was told it would take 90 minutes but it took 2 1/2 hours! Kinda cut into my plans a little. It was interesting listening to the timeshare and wasn't sure what to think about it. I would love to be a world traveler more than I am now and I felt like this would help me accomplish this. I didn't understand the "owning" your vacation vs. "renting" your vacation. It is still money I won't see again and I didn't understand where the equity part of this came into play. I was tempted but I knew I couldn't afford another monthly payment plus I wanted to understand it better. Since I decided not to do this I had to sign a waiver that I wouldn't be eligible for the Platinum package as it was for first time customers. If I can see in the future if this would work for me I am just out of luck. I guess it just wasn't meant to be but I do have a vacation to Chicago to use in the next year. I need to figure out when I can use it!

Then I went to the scrapbook store and then did a fast job through Branson Landing. It was too cold to enjoy Branson Landing plus I need to get back home to pick up Phoebe before Petsmart closed. I was able to accomplish what I wanted to and then I headed home.

Now Phoebe and I are tired! Phoebe is actually napping on my bed with me. She normally is chasing the cats! My plan of having a tired puppy with putting her in Doggie Day Camp has worked!! I actually might go to bed early tonight too. I got up way to early this morning!

I have another full day again tomorrow! :-)

This is a test . . .

2009-09-28T02:14:00.001-05:00

I downloaded BlogPress for my iPhone and trying it out.

I have been watching Dexter Season 1 on netflix instant watch feature. It is interesting. I don't get Showtime so I will have to wait for each season to be released on DVD.

I have been doing some filing, cleaning and organizing while watching Dexter.

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Long time no post

2009-09-27T20:50:00.005-05:00

I have kept myself too busy lately. Between work and everything else going on, I just haven't taken the time to keep my blog up.

This month has been filled with all kinds of activities! I went to an all day scrapbooking event, family reunion, Cider days, C-street loft walk, Dog Fest, and my employee picnic! Then next weekend I am celebrating world card day, and scrapbooking with my sister. I am also going to visit my Grandma with my pup Phoebe.

I am still loving having a Mac! I have slowly gotten programs in Mac format that I like on my PC by shopping at ebay. I was able to get them cheaper. I would like to have Photoshop elements but have recently learned that version 8.0 is coming out. I hope that means Mac will too. I haven't taken the leap into upgrading to Snow Leopard yet. I have Photoshop Lightroom and CS4 and have heard of incompatibilities. I am hoping to wait till updates can be made for these programs before updating.

I am currently sitting in the Mudhouse to have a relaxing evening. Since the college students have been back in town, it has been busier here!

I have gotten myself behind in updating my Project 365 on flickr. I have been keeping a log of what photo I took on what day for my Project 365. I hope to be able to sit down and get that all updated soon. I am still learning the differences of Photoshop on a Mac and how to save things. It's also a little confusing that I will use 3 different cameras - my big DSLR, my point & shoot and iphone.

I have always been a fan of Macy Gray. Someone at work knew this and told me that she was going to be on Dancing with the Stars! I had to watch! I am sad that she was the first to get voted off. :-( She didn't dance very good but she did spice it up a bit! I was looking forward to seeing her on the show. Now I think I am going to have to watch to see Kelly Osborne. She did a great job!

A scrappy weekend!

2009-08-10T14:37:00.007-05:00

My fun weekend started on Friday as I traveled to St. Louis to meet up with friends and scrapbook for 3 days!! It was a great weekend and hope to do this again in the future!

Here is my luggage & scrappy supplies:

Friday night was the arrival for the Scrapology event. I drove and I am not used to all the highways that St. Louis has but I did okay this time! One of the girls I meet up with lives in the area which is a big help with finding things! I also use my GPS system which I am not sure how I traveled and found things before getting it! After we all arrived, we scrapped for awhile and then went to dinner together. We had Mexican and it was good! I can't remember the name of the place though! Then back to the hotel for a night of scrapping!!

The crop room:

Our table:

Saturday we scrapped the day away but had a late lunch/early dinner to Fritz's! They make root beer and it was sooo good! It was a fun place to go. I have a big camera so I didn't bring it with me so I have no pics. ;-( I need me a good point and shoot camera to keep in my purse for times like this!

My plan for the weekend was to add pictures to the LO's I had done at the LSS. I was having a hard time getting pictures to fit the way they had them planned on the LO. I got pictures on a few of them but I was hoping to get the whole album done! I really need to sit down at my computer and be able to resize and print. I also brought a bunch of page kits and did scrap some of my Paris/London pics. I am slowly getting this album done! I didn't get as much done as I was hoping but I enjoyed the company I had!

I was proud of myself that I didn't go shopping at the vendors at the crop and I didn't sign up for any classes. I normally have a weakness for these things but was strong!! When I was getting ready for Scrapology, I have to many kits to put together at home. I need to start using more of my stash. But I did have to go to Archivers while I was in St. Louis as there isn't one in my town. St. Louis one is the closest to me which is a few hours away! It is always fun to visit that store!

Sunday, my roomie and I slept in a little. We finally got to the crop about 11am and ended up leaving about 2pm. Not much scrapping on Sunday. I was feeling tired even after having about 8 hours of sleep! Then we did do the Archivers shopping then we headed home.

What I got done on Sunday:

It was the tax free weekend so I have been wanting a MacBook for quite some time. After my PC laptop troubles in May and talking at length with someone about what an apple would do, I really wanted one!! I called Best Buy in my town to see if they were having any special financing and they were!!! 18 months with 0% interest!! They even had extended hours so I was able to get back in time to get me my new toy!! I have a 13" MacBook Pro and trying to figure it out!! I am sooo excited about the battery power - I have been on here for about 1 hour and I have 7 hours of battery life still!! My laptop would be dead by now. I have Photoshop CS3 on my PC laptop and need to figure out what to do about that. I might need to search ebay to see if I can find it cheap!

There are little things I am so used to on my PC that doesn't work on my Mac. I saw on the apple website that I can take tutorials to help me learn my Mac. I am happy I saw that!! I am looking forward to learn more and fall in love with a Mac!

My new computer!

I got a hot pink cover for my Mac and love it!!

I have lots of updating to do on my blog of some events that have happened in the last couple of weeks. Some sad and some fun stuff! I am going to be working tonight with no sleep. I usually will take the day off after traveling but I didn't this time. I needed to go pick up my pup from being kenneled at the vets so it messed up my day sleep schedule. I just hope it is a good night!!

I ♥ faces! - Feet

2009-07-20T08:35:00.005-05:00

This is for the feet photo challenge at I ♥ faces! This is a picture I took at the dog park last November. I wish I had some summer feet pictures but I can't find any. :-( I need to do better at tagging all my pictures so they will be easier to find! This is my pup Phoebe and my nieces feet. Her boots have fuzzy balls on them but Phoebe kept playing with them so they are hidden inside her boots!

Lazy weekend . . .

2009-07-20T08:34:00.006-05:00

Saturday morning I got off from work and I went and visited my Grandma in the hospital. She told me she was feeling better but she seemed short of breath to me. I didn't really think much of it since she has pneumonia. On Sunday she had a chest xray to see if her pneumonia had improved and she has fluid on her lungs. That explains why she may have been short of breath also. I hope and pray for her to get better. This is her second episode of pneumonia this year. :-( Earlier this month she lost her voice and they haven't been able to figure out what has caused this. At least she is keeping a positive attitude through all this.

I was playing around one night while waiting at a stop light and got this picture:

Also Saturday morning was Scott Kelby's Worldwide Photowalk. I really wanted to go but by the time I found out about it, it was full. :-( I thought about showing up anyway to see if I could participate but I decided visiting my Grandma was more important. Plus I had worked all night and needed sleep! I am going to have to get my nieces together and we will have to make our own photo walk! I follow the blog of the person who was leading the photowalk in our area and saw some pictures. I had meet him while talking a portrait photography class last year. I have noticed that he is in the camera club that I have been getting involved with. I ♥ photography!

On Saturday, I was pretty tired and just couldn't wake up till 2100! I was hoping to get my bike tire changed and ride my bike since the weather has been so nice. I thought I would do that on Sunday but it just didn't work out. I hope the temps cooperate this week and I can get this accomplished!

Sunday I went to one of the scrapbook stores to attend an Intermediate Design Studio class. It was fun and I have learned some new things! I had taken a nap in the afternoon before going so I thought I would be able to stay up later than what I was able to. I was hoping to play more and make something creative.

After the class, I went to the Mudhouse to chill. I just enjoy being able to relax and attempt to learn more from the web in relation to Photoshop and photography. I ended up cruising the web, looking at pictures and reading MB and didn't get everything done that I wanted. When I was getting involved in listening to a video about some photo editing, a guy decided to sit at my table. ????? I was sitting next to the bathrooms and so he decided to wait at my table. He didn't smell the greatest and I actually ignored the fact that he was at my table. I thought once the person got out of the bathroom, he would leave. The person was taking a long time so he started yelling and cussing. I was still trying to ignore it. Then an employee came by and asked what he was doing and he said he wanted to use the bathroom. He was told it was for customers only and that he had to leave. He fought for a bit and he was asked to leave and told where the door was. I had lost all concentration in learning about photo editing at this point! He finally did leave and the people at the table in front of me turned around and thought I knew this guy which I didn't. Then the employee that told him to leave came to my table to tell me that he had been bothering people in the coffee shop so he decided he needed to leave since he wasn't a customer. I was ready to leave at the point but then stayed a little longer afraid that this guy would be sitting in front of the coffee shop. When I did leave, he was no where in sight.

I did a little grocery shopping and then returned home. I decided to watch Harper's Island once I got settled at home and it started to get real interesting! I was starting to fall asleep and went to bed. Phoebe was being calm and laid down with me but then I woke up about 0600 with her jumping and playing around me! My pup recharges to quickly! She is quite adorable!

It is Monday now and I am watching more of Harpers Island but plan to go back to bed soon. I need to get more sleep to work all night. I just hope it is a good one! I have woke up feeling like I am getting a cold. I hope that isn't true!! I am sure my allergies are to blame for some of this.

I ♥ faces!

2009-07-13T01:14:00.006-05:00

My adorable pug puppy, Phoebe. This is her favorite bone but it is getting a bit worn now. This is for the pet photo contest at I ♥ faces!

Friends, Photography & Scrapbooking

2009-07-12T22:18:00.006-05:00

I have had a busy last 5 days off from work. On Wednesday night I went and had dinner with some friends and then we ended up hanging out at a few places. I got home about 0100. It was a fun evening. One of my friends is moving an hour away.

Thursday, I ended up sleeping most of the day. I was supposed to go to a charge nurse meeting and slept through my alarm! I did wake up in time to get ready to attend the Southwest MO Camera Club. I really enjoyed this meeting and got to interact with more of the members. I was planning on joining and still plan to but there was a lot of people around the person who does new memberships. I thought I would do it after the meeting but the meeting went longer than normal and he left before it was over. I am going to miss the next meeting because I am working. :-( I hopefully will be able to make it to next month's meetings and attend some field trips in the future.

Friday, I went to a crop at the LSS. I always enjoy going to crops and meeting new people. I did get a few things done but I need to print pictures for some of the LO's I did.

Saturday, I met up with some friends from work and we went bowling. I hadn't been bowling in a long time! It was fun and my highest score was 104! The other two games weren't that good. My total for all 3 games was 229. ♥ Then afterword we went to on of the girl's house and hung out. We ended up staying till 3am! We had a fun evening but I paid for it on Sunday!

I was looking forward to Sunday as I didn't have anything planned. I was soo tired from going to bed so late. I had woke up around noon but was back in bed about an hour later and slept till 1830! I got ready and then headed to the Mudhouse to hang out for a bit.

My 5 day weekend has come to an end and it was a fun long weekend. I am still tired from it all! ♥

How time flies!!

2009-07-12T21:01:00.007-05:00

It has been almost a month that I have posted anything! I didn't realize it had been that long.

I guess I will do a little catching up on a few things.

The 4th of July didn't go as I had hoped. My sister, nieces and I went to the, "I Love America" celebration here in our town. It was fun as always but they had it on July 3rd. It is normally on the 4th of July so I requested July 3 & 4 off so I could be awake during the day to enjoy the day activities. Since it was July 3, I worked the night before leaving me sleeping like I have in years past. I did bring my tripod and got some good firework photos! Here is one:

So on the actual holiday my family never gets together. We all live inside the city limits so no fireworks. I was trying to get together with my sister and nieces to go swimming. It rained so that was out. Then my sister thought her husband was going to have a BBQ but that didn't happen. So, when I found out nothing was going to happen I went back to bed and just slept most of the afternoon. I had to work the next day anyway so I didn't care if I slept to much.

I hope next year it works out better! It will be on a Sunday so I can see them moving it to another day since it is a church that puts this celebration on.

Sleepless nights . . . .

2009-06-10T05:38:00.005-05:00

I have been on vacation from work since Sunday morning. I came home, got 3 hours of sleep and went to a Design Studio class at the LSS. I actually didn't feel too bad but my allergies were driving me crazy that day. That night I took some Benadryl. I ended up sleeping for 12 hours! I woke up on Monday around 11am. I wasn't able to get to bed early Monday night and ended up falling asleep about 5am.

Tuesday I was so tired from not having that much sleep that I ended up falling asleep during the day. I was falling asleep waiting for my comforter to be done in the laundry and decided to find another cover for my bed. I went to bed about 3am and have been laying in bed! I can't seem to get a good nights rest. GRRR!!!! It is currently 0540 and I decided to just get up for a while. Maybe I need more strawberry milk but I don't want to wake the puppy up!!!

Tuesday was a productive day even though I did sleep some of it. I have been having problems with my garage door opener which I thought it was the remote. After taking my remote to the company it came from, I found out it was working okay and giving off a signal. They did adjust the signal and thought that might help. It didn't so I needed to get either a new motor unit that is more up-to-date or get a wireless transmitter. I decided to get the wireless transmitter since it was the cheaper route. He programed it for me and then I just had to install it. He made it sound easy and it actually was! It didn't take me long and everything is working again! I am so glad to have a working garage door remote/opener! I just hope it last!

I decided to take on the Geek Squad today and try to get my money back. I went in with my receipt and explained to them that the laptop is already repaired and they didn't repair it and I would like a refund. He said just a minute and walked away for a few minutes. When he came back he had all these numbers and was typing me in a refund!!!! I was so happy that I didn't have to fight about it! I was ready . . . they should have caught this the first time around anyway.

I have fallen in love with a Mac! I really hope to be able to get a Mac laptop later this year. I need to recooperate from all the home/laptop repairs I have had to do! I am glad that a new iphone is coming out and that I will be able to get one! I was originally supposed to upgrade May 18 but I had cancelled my internet in February after Phoebe chewed up my phone. That moved my upgrade date to August which now is a good thing since I will be able to get the newest model! :-)

I really hope that I can get some sleep. I don't have too much planned for today, just hanging out at the coffee shop and preparing for an all day crop this weekend!

Hopefully, I will catch some Zzzzzzzz's soon.

The rest of the computer story

2009-06-08T19:43:00.003-05:00

I am not happy how this story has ended and the money I have spent. I could have put a good down payment on a new computer. GGRRRR!!!!! I am seriously thinking about switching to a mac laptop. I already talked to someone about this and how I can get my windows version of Photoshop CS3 to work!

I love the PC vs. Mac commercials! I can so relate to them having a PC. I think this picture of the PC guy is the shape my laptop is in. I have only heard good things from people that use a Mac!

I dropped my laptop back off to the Computer Hospital the next day of picking it up. It was freezing up still and not letting me do anything. On Tuesday, I got a phone call that they thought that my anti-virus and spy sweeper was using a lot of CPU's to run. They wanted to remove them to see if that helps my situation so I told them to go ahead. I had the programs at home to be able to reload. Then I didn't hear anything.

I was getting concerned and called on Saturday. He was getting ready to call me to tell me I had a bad hard drive. I wasn't happy that Geek Squad didn't catch this as my service plan would have paid for this!!!! I was uncertain what to do but they had already did a ghost image of my old hard drive to a new one. I really thought they would call me first before doing anything like that. I said I wanted to call Best Buy since they should have caught this.

I call The Geek Squad and they told me they would have to run diagnostics to my laptop again. I told them I know what is wrong and they missed it the first time. They still had to run diagnostics. They couldn't guarantee me that they would replace the hard drive if the diagnostics came up negative again. I have been so upset in regards to my service plan this time. I will never buy one again from Best Buy!!!! I was getting the run around.

I decided to wait and call the Computer Hospital back the next day to give all this some thought. I had asked other people about this and what they would do and they weren't sure either. On Sunday, I had decided to let the Computer Hospital to go ahead and install the new hard drive and to forget the Geek Squad since they were giving me the run around. I now have my laptop back with all my old stuff on a new hard drive. It isn't freezing up!!! So nice! I am done with the Geek Squad!!

Since I paid for Geek Squad to repair my laptop and they never did, I feel like I deserve my money back. I have already asked them for my money back the day I picked up my laptop. The guy told me to figure out another way to back up my computer and I could bring it back on the 30 day guarantee for a restore. I didn't push the issue anymore. I am ready to push the issue since all this should have been covered under my service plan. I was too busy today and didn't get to pursue this. If I have to, I will file a complaint with the BBB for the service I received.

A computer story

2009-05-31T16:58:00.004-05:00

Long time no blog! I have kept myself a little busy with scrapbooking, photography and work! I have been without my laptop for about 3 weeks. I just got it back and as I typed the first couple of sentences, IE stopped responding. I logged back in using FireFox instead.

On May 10, I had woke up early that morning and was using facebook. I was in one of the apps when I saw how my friends had played this game and to try to beat their scores. Well, it was a trick. I clicked on it and started downloading this game. My antivirus program came up saying it was unsafe so I stopped the download. I had downloaded a virus to my computer!!!!! Trend Micro quarantined it, and then I deleted it. Ever since my computer had been running slow and would just freeze up on me. I was going out of town the next weekend and wanted my laptop. I would get it to work but then it would eventually freeze up.

I took it to Eureka Springs with me and I did get it to work on Saturday but it was the last time. It wouldn't let me back up files are anything. I took it to the Geek Squad on Monday. I have a service plan with them and wanted my DVD drive looked at also as it wants to work all the time!!! Plus I had the new problem with my system freezing up. I was very unhappy with them as they told me that it was going to be $130 just for them to figure out what was wrong with it. I wasn't happy with the new policies they had but if the DVD drive was something my service plan would cover, I went ahead and had them service it.

I waited, waited and waited some more for a phone call. I had stopped in the store a few days after dropping my laptop off and wanted them to also remove some programs I don't use anymore. I found out that my laptop was in the middle of the diagnosis program and that I should be getting a phone call in a day or two. After about 3 days and no phone call, I decided to call. I got told that they were running virus/spyware programs and they would call me in a day to let me know what the outcome was. After 9 days of being told a couple of days each time I was getting frustrated!! I called last Friday and they said my computer was actually ready the day before BUT they couldn't get anything done with it as it kept freezing up on them. I wanted to tell them THAT IS WHY I BROUGHT MY COMPUTER TO YOU FOR!!! The Geek Squad has my laptop for about 2 weeks and I was getting it back in the same state it was in when I dropped it off. So frustrating!!!!!!

The next day I called the Computer Hospital actually to price a backup. Geek Squad wanted $160 for anything over 9GB. My pictures alone are 12GB and I refused to pay that much money for a backup. A couple years before that it was $99 for a backup and I had my whole computer backed up! The other place I called said a back up would be $25 for the first DVD and $5 for each additional DVD. Much better pricing!!

I took it to the Computer Hospital and they were asking me about what my problems were. I ended up letting the repair it. I dropped it off on Saturday and on Sunday got a phone call of the repairs it needed and what it would cost. Very nice people and it only took them 2 hours!! They had found some various virus and spyware that my programs for some reason didn't pick up. They removed them and my laptop wasn't freezing up for them. Awesome!!!!

I actually started this blog post on Sunday and finishing it up on Monday night. My laptop did good for a while but started freezing up again. It was doing much better than before. I attempted to copy files to my desktop but my picture file is so big it eventually would freeze up. I finally gave up and called the Computer Hospital back and they told me to bring it in and it wouldn't cost me anything else since it was repaired just recently. He said that they stand behind there work and want to get it right. I am hoping to get a phone call with some good news Tuesday! I was planning to get a backup of the files I wanted and restore it. If it doesn't work this time, that is what I will do.

I have had a rough last 3 weeks with my laptop! This computer story is still in progress and hope the ending is good!

Vacation week . . . .

2009-03-28T18:39:00.007-05:00

Is about over!! I haven't kept up with my blog as I had hoped. I haven't been able to stay awake at night getting up early with the puppy. Then I don't want to be on the computer to long as to waste the day away! Here I am at the end of the week and didn't keep up with my blog as I had hoped.

It has been a good week and a nice break. I actually go back to work for 2 days and then off again for almost a week. I could get used to this!!! My Intermediate Photography class ends this Tuesday which makes me sad. Then I start up with my last photography class on Thursday which is about lighting. I finally have a flash for my camera but haven't really learned how to use it yet. I think this class is going to talk about lighting that I don't have but I am sure it will be useful for me if I do end up getting lights in the future.

I started my vacation out with scrapbooking which is always fun!! I finally got my Project 365 kit from Creating Keepsakes and was getting it caught up. I still need to print some pics and also resize some pics. I might have to get this caught up more at CKC-St. Louis next week. I have quite a few LO's I have done that need pictures. I also have some that I need to ad journaling too. I was hoping to get this done but just haven't. I need to get in a better habit of sending my pics to be printed more often. I find it difficult to go through tons of pictures! I have finally learned how to tag photos in Photoshop so that will help me some. I still have a ton of photos not tagged!

The other highlight of the week was playing with my fisheye lens and doing some photography. I have rented a fisheye lens and it has been soo fun!! It has made me really want one! They are kinda expensive. The one I have rented is cheaper but you have to manual focus the lens. I have some fun pics I took with my nieces!

I have known about a camera club here for a while but earlier in the week decided to search for the web page. I saw that they were having a meeting this week and guest were welcome to join in the meeting. It was great! I was impressed on how many people are involved and the different activities that they have. I am planning to join and hopefully be able to attend some meetings. They also talked about a photography symposium in May and it is my weekend off!!! I am going to go! I am glad to be able to get involved with this club and continue learning from other photographers.

I am going to finish editing some photos and will post them here when I get done!

*I have had this post saved since the end of March to add fisheye photos to and finally sat down and got it done today! I was renting this lens and it was a sad day when I had to return it. I really liked it! It was just fun to play around with!

Busy, Busy!!

2009-03-22T21:07:00.003-05:00

I have been a little busy lately working on my photography class and working. It has been crazy at work but I am glad to say I am on vacation at the present time! Phew! I needed a break from work for a while and hopefully I can come back feeling a little more refreshed.

I will hopefully keep things caught up here better while on vacation!

Camera Critters

2009-02-23T05:23:00.002-06:00

"What the Pug"

I was having fun today taking pictures of Phoebe and her new t-shirt! I was surprised I got her to pose like this!

Scrapbooking fun!!

2009-02-10T09:39:00.005-06:00

I had a great time at the scrapbooking meetup last night! I enjoyed being able to scrapbook and meeting new friends!

I ended up going without any pictures. I was attempted to print some photos before leaving and for some reason it was taking about 10 minutes a photo! My printer has never taken that long before. It makes me wonder if I had a different setting selected that made it so slow. I need to start printing my pictures about once a month so this isn't an issue anymore. I need to go through and find pics for the LO's I did do. I was able to get 3 page kits done that I had brought. One was a Scrapjammies kit and the other two was from Scrapbook Generation. When I got home I added photos to the SJ kit I did but still haven't done the journaling.

This is the Exuberant kit from SJ and I thought it needed pics from Paris! These are all from the Eiffel Tower. I do miss the Eiffel Tower!

This is frustrating!! I cropped this image in photobucket but it keeps showing the original. If I go to photobucket, I can see the cropped image. It is what it is! :-)

I am having a hard time typing as I have a puppy that wants my attention! She keeps digging on my legs wanting me to pick her up. Then she cuddles in my arms and lays her head down. It is a little hard to type like that! I hope the weather will hold up today for a bit so I can take Phoebe out for a walk around the neighborhood.

I am off to get ready for my day!!

Spring . . .

2009-02-09T15:51:00.005-06:00

I went outside this morning about 8am to put the trash by the street. The wind was blowing and it felt good. It wasn't to warm but wasn't too cool. It was refreshing!!! After getting the trash out, I was going inside to have some breakfast, check the MB, enjoy a Frappucino that I had in the freezer and then go back outside!! By the time I did all that, the wind had turned cooler and wasn't as refreshing as it was earlier. Clouds had moved in and I realized that it was going to rain as predicted by the weather man. Rats!! I was hoping that it was going to be nice like it was at 8am.

While I was outside, I noticed that with this warmer weather we have been having, my flowers are starting to come up. I know that it is going to get colder and they won't make it. That makes me sad. This happens every year. I made that my POTD! At least some of the flowers wait till it is really warm out and do survive! My fave is my iris. I planted a whole row and only one came up.

A nice surprise when I checked google reader this morning was that Phoebe had a blog post just about her!! I had her pictures done last month at UTurn Studios for pet modeling as she posted some of the pics on her blog. You can check them out here!

Now it is about 4pm and the rain has stopped and the outdoors has a nice welcoming feeling again. I don't have time to enjoy it as I am getting ready to head off to meet some new scrapbooking buddies through meetup.com and do a little scrapbooking. I am really enjoying going to crops and meeting new people! School was sucking the life out of me and I am enjoying doing what I want to do! :-)

Wild chewing puppy!

2009-02-08T20:14:00.003-06:00

Yesterday, Phoebe was a wild and crazy puppy! She was in trouble every time I turned around!! The biggest trouble she got in was chewing on my Blackberry Pearl! I had taken my phone with me to my bedroom and had it on my headboard. I had forgotten about it when I got up. When I went into my bedroom later, I found my phone on my bed and when I picked it up it was all chewed up and missing the back cover!! I found the back cover and was able to get it to fit again. Then the phone wouldn't unlock! I kept pushing the keys to unlock it over and over and finally it unlocked!! It appeared to be working. Phew!!

I made this my POTD for February 7.

I made a phone call on it and everything seemed to be working. I went to AT&T to find out what my options were just in case it stopped working. I am unable to change the volume on my phone. It seems to be at a good volume. If the volume gets turned down, then I would be unable to turn it up! In the store, I had opened the back of the phone to show the damage on the inside of the phone and he pointed out to me that it has had water damage. More like slobber damage!! The white sticker was now red. I have no insurance on the phone as they wouldn't let me get insurance on it. I find out yesterday that they allow insurance on my phone now but it is too late for me!! I could have upgraded but only get half the discount or I can wait till mid-May and get my full discount. Since I did get my phone to working again, I decided to wait. If for some reason the phone does quite working, I will have to go back to my old phone.

She was in a chewing mood yesterday. She got ahold of my wireless mouse and chewed on it. Now the scroll wheel seems to get stuck on something but will still turn. She loves her blue nyla bone but I couldn't find it yesterday. I finally found it late last night stuck inbetween my waterbed mattress and frame. She has been happier today with it!

It seems as today she has been making up for yesterday trying to be all cute! She does this funny thing with my covers and gets underneath them. Then she will poke her head through and lay all covered up on my bed! I was able to get a picture of it today!

I made this the POTD for February 8.

She wasn't listening to well to me today when we went to our pet training class though! I also had her nails done after class and she had a fit!!! I took her in December to have them done and she did good. This time she had a fit and they weren't going to do it. It took two of them but they did get it done. I really would like for her to let me use the pedi paws on her to save money. I have slowly been introducing her to tool but haven't worked up to actually using it on her.

I am at the Mudhouse and my allergies have decided to act up. I need to get home, relax and take some allergy medicine! :-)

Lion Kitty!!

2009-02-04T19:53:00.001-06:00

Three years ago I took Chloe to get groomed and she had some tangles in her hair. They warned me that day that they may have to shave my cat. I didn't want them to but they said it might be the only way to take care of her tangles. They said that they would try to get the tangles out but they may shave her. They called me before picking her up that they did have to shave her and that I had a lion kitty. I vowed that I was never going to have her shaved again! That was tramatic for me and her!

Well, in December she was ill and I didn't realize it. She had a UTI and eleveated liver enzymes. I had to give her medicines for a month. The antibiotic three times a day for a couple of weeks. She wasn't a very happy kitty but it was to help her. I had taken the time to get her hair all combed out about the time this all happened. In a months time, she had gotten tangled on her belly. When I took Chloe to get her check up to see if the medicine was going to work, I was told that she may have to be shaved. I was determined to get these tangles out!! I realized her tangles were a little too much and decided it was best to get her shaved again. I couldn't believe that in a month's time her hair had gotten that bad of shape. She was mad at me for giving her medicine and she didn't want to be near me. I wasn't able to keep on top of her hair and keep it tangle free.

I took her in to get her shaved - a lion kitty cut! The last time they left her tail all fluffy and forget to tell them to leave it fluffy again this time. I went to pick up my kitty and she was so tiny without all that fur!! She was pretty mad! I didn't notice her tail right away but they shaved her tail all but the very end! It is cut like a lion! I just love petting her as it feels like velvet now!

After I picked her up at the vets, I took her to Petland to get her a sweater. They were still on sale and she was going to need one with the cold weather still upon us! I had Chloe on a leash and I took my lion kitty to Petland! The girl in the boutique loved Chloe and her lion kitty cut! She seemed to be more calm and I even had a cute sweater on her.

She wiggled out of her sweater later and it has warmed up some so I haven't put the sweater back on her. She has been sleeping real close to me some nights. I feel asleep last night and woke up with Chloe on my neck! It was funny and she was just happy! I am going to do my best for this not to happen again as I like my kitty best with all her fur! The groomer did tell me that they could shave her belly as that was were she was tangled the worst and she will stillhave most of her hair. I might consider it when her hair grows back.

Pet Hotel

2009-02-01T19:38:00.002-06:00

I never made it back to talk about the Pet Hotel at Petsmart. It was interesting and I enjoying being able to tour it. I got a free overnight stay for touring it. I am going to have to try it out!

I brought Phoebe with me thinking she would get to go through the hotel but they had a room with people watching our dogs while we went through the hotel.

The cats have a room with kennels and a TV. It is a small room and I wasn't able to get a picture of it. I really like a sign they had that said "Cat Diva's". The group was moving to fast! Then we went into another room that the dogs get to stay in. Some are bigger kennels and other are smaller. I am sure Phoebe would get a smaller kennel if she stayed. I thought it was cute the telephone they have inside! They call it the Bone Booth! The picture I have isn't good but it is the best I could get!

They have play areas for them which is the doggie day care. You have to pay for them to have extra playtime. They have some play areas in the front so the people in the store can watch the dogs play. You can also purchase your dog to have a special treat. I couldn't believe the size of these treats! My pup would be in doggie heaven! She would end up being a pudgy pug if she had those treats all the time!

It was a great time touring the hotel. The prices are a little high compared to my vets. If I was to go out of town, I would use my vet. I might have Phoebe involved in doggie day care to some so she can play with other dogs.

What happened?

2009-02-01T11:07:00.002-06:00

I have been in a blogging hiatus! I didn't mean to be but it happened. I am also way behind on answering emails. I don't know why these things get behind anymore but they do.

Since the beginning of the year I have taken on the quest of taking a picture everyday (POTD). This has all come from Becky Higgins kit Project 365. I am still waiting on my kit but I am ready!! I have been able to keep up so far but need the kit to be able to scrap them. I had a hard time coming up with a picture yesterday and finally just took a picture of Chloe and had some fun in Photoshop with her pic. Here is the result:

I used Courtney's actions that I got off flickr and they are nostalgia and pink nostalgia. I would like to learn the different steps on how to do this myself. I have a few books on Photoshop and really would like to work through them to see what I can learn. You can also google some things and find online tutorials.

I am taking my pup Phoebe to the grand opening of the Pet Hotel at Petsmart. I am curious what it is going to be like! Phoebe has attended pet training in the new area already. I really like it. I can let Phoebe run around in the area as we are doing the training class. I plan to bring my camera to make this my POTD! I hopefully will have pics later.

I am going to get busy with my day!

A nice, relaxing warm day

2009-01-03T17:46:00.004-06:00

Today has been an awesome day! I haven't had a good day like this in a long time. I am so glad that today worked out like it did.

I was woke up early by my darling pup. I really wanted to sleep longer but I took care of the furbabies. I stayed up and was catching up on my fave MB's. I took the time to read two others that I haven't visited in a couple of weeks. It was nice reconnecting with others on those MB's today. Then while I was enjoying my chatty time on the MB's, Phoebe was downstairs destroying another box of tissues. Silly pup!

This box of tissues wasn't shredded as much as what she did a couple of weeks ago! I can't take my eyes off her for to long or she is in some kind of trouble!

I got in the shower earlier than I normally do and was ready to leave the house by 1130. Very unusual for me! I called the LSS to take a class this afternoon and made 3, 2 page LO's. They are so adorable and they always have such create ideas! I can't wait to add photos to them. I had lunch at my favorite resaurant before going scrapping also.

Then after having a relaxing time at the LSS, I went home to get Phoebe and take her to the dog park. I figured there would be someone at the dog park and there were actually lots of little dogs today! Phoebe had a blast! We even saw 3 other pugs! I believe 2 of them Phoebe has meet before. We stayed there for about an hour and went back home.

I am now enjoying frozen coffee at my fave coffee shop while cruising the internet. I am starting to feel a little tired and thinking about doing my grocery shopping and heading home for the evening.

Work has been nuts lately. Last week the census was low because of the holiday but this week we are back to normal. I ended up with a suicide/detox pt that wasn't being very nice and was difficult to deal with. I had about had it with everything! When I went back to work a day later, I had a family member be a little difficult. I have got to have a better night at work!! I really hope that the next time I work, it will be better. I am looking forward to my 4 day weekend that is in a couple of weeks! I really need it!

No sleep . . . . .

2008-12-24T14:31:00.003-06:00

Family can be so inconsiderate at times. I have always had them not call me when something is going on as they are afraid to wake me. Today, they weren't afraid to wake me!!! I lost it when they came over to my house and started tapping on my window!!!!

On Christmas Eve, we always have gotten together at my Grandma's. I seem to have to work which I do again this year. I really wanted Dec. 23 off but didn't get it so I could at least spend the afternoon at my Grandma's and then go to work. It wasn't going to happen that way this year as my family was getting together at noon. We had drew names this year and I had my cousin's name. I wasn't able to deliver the gift but just thought I would mail it. No big deal to me but my family thought they needed it . . . . . . so here are the events leading up to no sleep!

I worked all night last night and got off about 0715. I came home and let the pup play and got ready for bed. I also needed to give Chloe her meds but she was hiding. In the meantime, I finally got lights on my tree. Then she finally resurfaced and I could give her antibiotics and head to bed. By this time it was 1030. Way past my bedtime for having to return to work that night!!

Then around noon I was sleeping and the phone rang. I hadn't been alseep that long and didn't realize it was the phone, just an annoying ring!! It stopped. I got up and put my phone upstairs so I couldn't hear it anymore. I had a message but went back to bed not listening to it. About an hour later, I had barely fallen asleep and my doorbell is ringing. I wasn't going to answer it since I was trying to sleep. Then there was tapping on my window!!! I lost it . . . . I opened the door and it was my sister and just went off on how I have to work again that night and that I didn't appreciate being woke up like this. She was coming over to pick up the gift for the person's name I had. I hadn't wrapped it yet since I wasn't going to be able to make it to the gathering. It really made me mad that no one could have talked to me about picking up the gift before hand. I had talked to my Mom a few times the night before and no mention of trying to pick up the gift. They wait till I am asleep and decide to call and then stop by my house.

In the process of all this, the puppy was awake and wanted out of her crate.

I have had 1 1/2 hours of sleep and have to get up in one hour and 10 minutes to get ready for work. This is going to be a long 12 hour shift tonight!

It isn't nice to steal things that aren't yours!!

2008-12-21T17:19:00.004-06:00

I have a rude awaking today. It is Sunday and my bank is calling me to verify a charge on my debit card. It was for a large amount through a paypal account. Someone was using my debit card number in a paypal account to make purchases. I was lucky that my bank caught all this before it went through. Everything has been cancelled now. I just wish people wouldn't be mean and do things like this. This had happened to my sister a while back with her credit card. She was lucky also as her bank caught it before they went through. I hope they are able to trace who did this and get them.

Anyways, I am at the Mudhouse and a back door is open when we are having negative wind chills which is making it FREEZING in here!!! They are closing early today so they can have there annual Christmas party. I wish we could close the hospital to have a Christmas party with everyone! That will never happen! :-)

I took my furbabies to see santa at Petsmart this afternoon. It isn't easy to get 3 cats and 1 puppy loaded up and into the pet store! I did it! I got two pictures done this year. One with the cats and one with my pup. I would love to have them all together but didn't think that would work out very well. I saved santa from getting smacked by a cat!

Phoebe enjoyed santa! She instantly gave santa lots of puppy kisses! It took her a while to get calmed down to finally get the pic we got. Then she was finally sitting on santa's lap when they were printing the picture I choose!

After her picture, I took her to the grooming department and had her nails trimmed. I really didn't think she would let them but was going to try. The last time she had her nails trimmed, she acted up quite badly! I was surprised that when I got back to the grooming department after paying for the nail trim, she was done! Her nails are so much better! I need to get me the pedipaw system to learn to do this myself to help save money.

The cats weren't to thrilled about this experience. Chloe is on santa's lap and was just being calm. Pandora (the blonde kitty) was doing pretty good but could tell she wasn't to sure about this. Felix is always the one to act up which he did good but was making these low meow's to let us know he wasn't happy! He kept slipping out of santa's arm and I would have to reposition him. We finally got a pic with all of them looking! That was a task!

I am in love with the art of photography!

2008-12-05T03:30:00.009-06:00

I have really been enjoying my photography classes that I have taken so far. I am sad that next week is my last portrait photography class. I have learned so much and looking forward to taking intermediate photography and then the lighting class to learn even more!

I have also started reading Popular Photography & Shutterbug to pick up on other tips. I picked up a Digital PhotoPro magazine today as it was the masters special of great photographers. I have also been saving lots of photographers blogs to watch and learn what they are doing in poses and composition. I got some fun ideas today in class watching a video of a photographer doing a senior portrait session. I wrote down some ideas and want to take my nieces on a photo shoot now! I just wish the weather was warmer. I can't wait for Spring!

After tonights class, I came home and started to google ways to make your own lights. I ended finding not only that but how to make a ghetto photography studio from things you would find at the hardware store. I even added some of this to my Christmas list and looking forward to making my own affordable photography studio. I even have a perfect spot in my living room to set this up. WOOHOO!!!

I learned recently about bokeh. I have the perfect lens to make bokeh and learned something tonight on how be more creative with this. I have a great idea on the use of Bokeh and my puppy! I need to get all my Christmas stuff out and I can give this a try.

Today before class, I finally took time to merge three photos I took of the Diana Memorial Fountain in London, England. It turned out pretty good. I thought one part was to dark but my instructor told me that it actually matched the trees and didn't notice it till I pointed it out. Yeah!! I am glad that I thought about doing this while I was there!! I had found panorama photo paper for $3 at an office supply store just recently! I hope to print out some of my Eiffel Tower photos as panorama's! If you click on the photo, it will take you to my flickr photostream and you can see this pic in panorama. I made the photo fit my post and it is squished now!

I am going to finish watching Grey's Anatomy and then head to bed.

Tagged . . . . .

2008-12-01T05:30:00.003-06:00

I have been tagged by a couple of people for the same thing. I am going to be a rebel and just link to something a did a couple of years ago! Instead of 6 interesting facts about me you will get 100!!!!

100 things about me

Friday Fill-in

2008-11-29T22:47:00.003-06:00

1. My stomach __aches___.

2. _Stuffing__ is what I ate the most of on Thursday.

3. The yard __is full of leaves___.

4. __The beach____ is where I'd rather be at any given time.

5. The smell of __MK new perfume warm ambers____ reminds me of __sugar cookies_.

6. __To be able to keep fluids down___ is what I need right now!

7. And as for the weekend, tonight I'm looking forward to _Nothing, working__, tomorrow my plans include _sleeping but woke up and couldn't stop vomiting__ and Sunday, I want to _feel better_!

Friday Fill-Ins

2008-11-21T03:13:00.006-06:00

1. The last band I saw live was __a random band on Halloween____.

2. What I look forward to most on Thanksgiving is __taking pictures__. (if you don't celebrate thanksgiving, insert your favorite holiday)

3. My Christmas/holiday shopping is __non-existent____.

4. Thoughts of __student loans___ fill my head.

5. I wish I could wear __Sandals (I miss warm weather!)_.

6. Bagpipes __at the bridge near the London Eye/Big Ben in London__.

7. And as for the weekend, tonight I'm looking forward to _nothing, I am working____, tomorrow my plans include _going to the grand opening celebration of the dog park with my pup Phoebe___ and Sunday, I want to _not go to work___!

Sneaky Mohela

2008-11-16T21:28:00.004-06:00

A few months ago I got a letter from Mohela stating what my payments would be with different plans they offer for student loan repayment. The 10 year plan showed that my payment would be about $122. I thought not bad and decided to leave it alone and not do the other plans. I found out last week that my student loan payment is actually going to be almost $400 a month on the 10 year plan. They want the first payment in December. I am not happy with this payment that they want!! I am having to make cuts in things to be able to afford this. I only got a 50 cent raise when I graduated - not enough to compensate for a $400 student loan payment!!!

I am actually still paying for RN school. I am closer to paying that one off but I still have a payment with them. I am hoping to all Mohela tomorrow to see what is up with this and what can be done. I must have misunderstood something in that later I got a few months ago. I still have a copy of it.

I did google loan repayment for RN's and found something that should become available again at the beginning of the year. I could get 60% of my loan paid for if I agree to work where I am for 3 years. I am really considering it! I am going to see what other options are out there to see what I can do. It is time to redo the budget and cut some things that I can do without.

I was going to work on my budget while at the Mudhouse today but can't find my Quicken 2007 disk. I have it on my desktop so I will have to work on that later tonight. Instead I have been working on my photography homework. I got my wireless remote out and did some pics outside this evening. Here is my fav of me:

I was having a hard time figuring out where to stand! There were times that I was out of focus but the background was in focus. Kinda cool but not what I was going for!

Phoebe was having a blast running outside! I was running and playing with her which got her even more wild! I think she loved playing in the leaves on the ground!

Today she was going to be graduating from intermediate class. I had miss one class because of Phoebe's hip surgery and another couple have missed some too. We all decided to work on what is going to be on the test and graduate next week. I need to work with Phoebe on heeling. She does pretty good but yet she likes to take off sometimes! We have homework to do this week!

Next Saturday the dog park opens here!! I plan to go to the grand opening celebration with Phoebe. I am looking forward to see what the dog park will be like!

I am off to go home and work on my budget and things I need to get done.

Getting back into the groove!

2008-11-06T23:53:00.006-06:00

It has taken me a while to get back into the swing of daily life. As soon as I got back, I ended up sick! I had taken a few days off before having to return to work and ended up needing those days to get better. I need longer than what I had but I am finally feeling better. I had a hard time getting back on my night shift schedule and felt like I might have had jet lag all week!! I had a hard time staying awake at work and then falling asleep in my car before pulling out of the parking lot. Last week was much easier and I felt like I did before I left for vacation.

I have an update on Phoebe. I had posted a little on what happened before I left for my trip. Just two days after I picked her up from the vets, she ended up dislocating her hip again. The vet gave me two options to either do another closed reduction or to do surgery. He told me he would be unable to do a total hip replacement since Phoebe is a small dog and didn't have enough bone to work with. He suggested FHO - Femoral Head Ostectomy. I have taken care of hip pts before and know that when a hip dislocates, it is easier for it to happen again. I opted to have the FHO surgery. The vet told me that small dogs do good with this surgery and normally recover in a week. After he performed the surgery, he called me to let me know how it went. It turned out that Phoebe had actually broken the ball of her hip and this was the surgery she needed. I felt better that I made the right choice!! Other than that, she was doing good. I wouldn't be able to take her home for a few days. I have had to do Physical Therapy to her leg and she hates it! I don't blame her for not liking it. Tomorrow will be 2 weeks since the surgery and she is doing much better! I am looking forward to seeing what the vet thinks of her recovery. I hope he doesn't have to sedate her but we have had to every time so far.

Here she is holding her leg up. She is finally using her leg a little more but still favors that leg.

I can tell from this pic that some of her hair has grown back. She still has a way to go!

I hope to start updating my blog more often. I never meant to be such a blog slacker but I also don't spend as much time on the computer since I got done with school. I am loving the relaxation and free time I have on my days off though!

Back home :(

2008-10-19T10:36:00.002-05:00

I was actually sad to be leaving Paris and London to go back home. I wasn't done seeing everything I wanted. Paris and London are huge and it is hard to see everything in a few days! I really believe I need to go back and see more!! I hope that the value of the American dollar gets better. It was quite expensive. I was looking at my bank statement this morning seeing how much I actually got charged. I had an idea but the banks go off the current exchange rate. I had a pretty good idea!!

I got home last night and was looking forward to actually checking my email and my internet isn't working. My wireless router won't connect. I tried to connect directly and still couldn't get on the internet. I spent some time this morning calling tech support and finally got internet working but it isn't wireless. I need to figure out what is going on. Things were working just fine when I left. I even turned all my electrical things off. Why that has to mess everything up I have no idea!!

My flights too and from Paris and London were good. I did have a little issue with a lady on my long flight home. It was a huge plane with two seats, an isle, three seats, an isle and two more seats. I was sitting in a window seat on the way home enjoying the view. About 4 hours into the flight a lady asked the flight attendent to ask me to close my window. This lady had been asking her to close other peoples windows also. It was kinda dark in this area of the plane because of all the windows shut. The flight attendent said to me that she realized I was looking out the window but if I could shut it a little so I could still see out but then it would be darker. I did do that. Shortly after that this lady yelled at the flight attendent, "She said NO!!". I was in ear shot but sitting like I wasn't hearing anything. I heard the flight attendent tell the lady that I was wanting to be able to see out the window so she shut it halfway. This lady is sitting with a piece of paper over her face after this. I put my headphones on and started watching TV shows from my ipod touch and continued to enjoy the view from my window! I was sooo ready to get off that plane and her attitude towards me. I kept my mouth shut and didn't say anything.

Today my ears are bothering me and my allergies just a bit. I had a headache from the flight and my sinuses. I was so ready for bed last night!! I went to bed and brought my cell phone and placed on my headboard. I had forgotten that I still had it set for Paris time with the alarm set to wake me up at 7am. So at midnight my time, my alarm went off! I did get to sleep till about 0630 and I started getting ready to go pick up my puppy.

Right before I left for my trip, Phoebe dislocated her hip. I found out while I was in London that her hip was back in place and the vet only had to do a closed reduction. She keeps walking with that left up. They told me she has been doing that and it is okay. I have puppy class with her today and afraid!! They said I can walk her on a leash but she isn't to be running for at least 3 weeks. I hope we will be able to finish our intermediate class! The trainer I have been working with I won't see till next week. She has been on vacation too. Another trainer will be teaching today. I brought Phoebe home and she was soo excited!! She kept wagging her tail and looking at me! All my babies were happy for me to get home! The cats kept purring and wanting my attention last night.

I think I might need a nap! I am going to have to readjust to the time change again. I hope to be able to finish uploading pictures and adding post about my trip. It was an AWESOME trip and would do it all over again!!!

London!!

2008-10-13T14:55:00.003-05:00

I meant to make a post before I left but time got away from me. I have been in London for a few days and going to be in Paris in a couple of days. I have lots to tell but not the time to sit in an internet cafe to update my blog. I am currently in an internet cafe uploading pics. I am unsure how long this is going to take as I selected 232 MB worth of pics. I hope it doesn't take too long!

I have been using the London Underground the last few days and it was scary at first but not to hard now that I figured it out. The very first time I used the underground, I got on the wrong train! That is typical for me! I realized it before I got outside the zone my ticket was for! After that I learned to watch the board on where the trains was going! :-)

Then today I decided to take the red line and I had to go down 3 very STEEP and LONG escalators!! That freaked me out and realized that this train was truely underground!! I did snap a picture of the long escalators and then got told that no pictures were to be taken in the underground. Not sure what taking a picture of the stairs/escalators was going to harm. I was glad those were there or I would have passed out from climbing the stairs!

Today I started at a tube station near my hotel and got off to see the Marble Arch. I walked down Oxford street where there were tons of shops! I ended up in the Soho neighborhood with very posh stores. I went to a few stores but the prices after the exchange in US dollars wasn't worth it! Much cheaper in the US. I really enjoyed Muji which had some stationary items that would be good for altering. I did get a couple of blank notebooks for making scrapbooks out of! I asked if they had any scrapbook stores in London and I got looked at like I had three heads!! So, I have given up on that!

I have realized that sparkling water is a big hit. I have some crystal light packets with me and have always thought it would be good in a fizzy drink. They have my hotel room with sparkling water so I tried it and it was good! I don't like it plain very well though.

About 25% of my photos have uploaded. I have some already uploaded and hopefully I will get these uploaded. I am not going to take the time to describe the photo fully till I get home I believe. Takes to much time!

I am off to send some emails!

Camera Critters!

2008-10-05T13:27:00.002-05:00

This is my pup, Phoebe. She was taking a little nap on her pillow!

Rockin' Sunday!

2008-10-05T07:40:00.004-05:00

Yesterday didn't go quite as planned but it ended on a fun note!! A friend I hadn't seen in awhile called me - which I missed her first phone call. I got up early yesterday but decided to lay back down till my alarm went off at 10 am but slept through it till 1412!!! I was disappointed on seeing how late I woke up as I had a list of stuff to do. I went ahead and got showered and dressed to at least accomplish some of this list. I actually got none of it done but it was all good!!

I realized about 1600 that I had a missed call and a voice mail from my friend. I called and left her a voice mail and finished getting ready. When I was ready to leave the house, my phone rang and it was my friend! We ended up going out for a drink, dinner and a movie! She told me it was all on her as a graduation gift to me! We had drinks at Ruby Tuesday, dinner at the Olive Garden and then went and saw "Burn After Reading". That was a funny movie! Brad Pitt played an airhead guy and it cracked me up!! It was a great night!!

This morning I was woke up around 0630 as the puppy decided it was time to get up!! I got her out of her crate and put her on my bed. It was so cute as she laid on my bed wagging her tail! :-) I better not let her sleep with me too much as she will expect it! She was wanting to play! She had been sleeping longer since I got home kinda late so she had rested all she wanted! I decided I would enjoy me some Kid Rock this morning, blog and let Phoebe play! We are having a nice little morning! I don't plan to go back to bed so I can get on a somewhat normal schedule!

I would love to see Kid Rock in concert and wouldn't it be cool if he was playing in London when I was there!?!?! I saw that he is going to be in London on November 30th but I think he needs to move it up a bit!! :-)

The agenda today is to mow the yard!! I have been meaning to do this for a week! I like mowing it late at night about 1900 but it is too dark then. I can do the things I need during the day and then end it with mowing the lawn. I am going to start my day so I don't have to end it short by coming home to mow. I really hope that I don't have to mow it again till next year!

I also have intermediate puppy class today. I might fit in some shopping in between mowing and puppy class depending on what time it is. I really want to hang out at the Mudhouse today. I haven't done that in a long time! I need some time to review my paperwork for my trip as it is approaching rather quickly!! I want to make a list and a tentative schedule for myself. :-)

I am going to finish the LO I started at the crop Friday night and then it might be a better time to start mowing my yard!

I am off to enjoy the day!!!

Scrappy evening!

2008-10-04T01:13:00.002-05:00

I have been slacking in the blogging!! One reason is that it is hard to when you have a puppy eating all the paper in sight!! She is cute but oh my! She gets in trouble quickly!!

Tonight I went to a scrapbooking event with my sister. It was fun as usual. I never get that much done as they have demos and make-n-takes to do. I always have to go to all of them!! I almost got a 2 page layout done of the trip we took to Six Flags last year. I had a pic at home I wanted to add so I did everything but the pics on the 2nd page. I will have to post it later! I even won some chipboard for having a Six Flags picture!

I even learned something at one of the demos that I wouldn't have thought of. If you want photos in a smaller size but want to print other than at home, you can add them to a blank 6x4 document in photoshop. She was adding 6 photos all in 2x2 in size on a 6x4 document. Then she can upload them and have them printed for the price of a 6x4! I am going to have to try this for some small mini books!

Phoebe in September got spayed. She did great! I picked her up and she didn't even act as if she had surgery! On the ride home, she was sitting like it hurt though! It was kinda funny. I had pain medicine to give her once we got home. Once she got out of the carrier, she was chasing the cats again! She has her stitches out now and had no problems!

I took Pandora and Felix for there yearly check-ups and they did good!! Last year Felix acted up as he normally does. This year he let them do everything and the growled about it. Then when it came to vaccinations, he growled and was trying to escape! They both were champs!! Chloe will be next in a few months.

I leave for my trip in a few days!! I have been trying to decide if I want to rent a wide angle lenses. I really hoped to have one before my trip but it is a little pricey but them renting is too!! I could save the $100 and put it towards a lens. I am just trying to think what I want to do. I need to decided by tomorrow!

I did order me a crumpler camera bag and it is adorable!! I decided to get the 5 million dollar home! I already put it to use today! I hope to get more lenses someday and will need a bigger bag then. I am excited to take that on my trip!

I have lots of planning and things to do before I leave. I am glad that I have a week off before leaving so I can get these things done! I hope to be able to have computer access in the hotel. I might be updating my blog while I am gone but not sure. I won't be able to upload pics so I might wait till I get home to update!

It is late, my puppy is chewing on my chair and won't stop sooooo, it is time for bed!!

Dog Diary vs. Cat Diary

2008-09-09T21:50:00.001-05:00

I found this on a pug MB!!

DOG DIARY

8:00 am - Dog food! My favorite thing!
9:30 am - A car ride! My favorite thing!
9:40 am - A walk in the park! My favorite thing!
10:30 am - Got rubbed and petted! My favorite thing!
12:00 pm - Lunch! My favorite thing!
1:00 pm - Played in the yard! My favorite thing!
3:00 pm - Wagged my tail! My favorite thing!
5:00 pm - Milk bones! My favorite thing!
7:00 pm - Got to play ball! My favorite thing!
8:00 pm - Wow! Watched TV with the people! My favorite thing!
11:00 pm - Sleeping on the bed! My favorite thing!

CAT DIARY

Day 983 of my captivity. My captors continue to taunt me with bizarre little dangling objects. They dine lavishly on fresh meat, while the other inmates and I are fed hash or some sort of dry nuggets.

Although I make my contempt for the rations perfectly clear, I nevertheless must eat something in order to keep up my strength.

The only thing that keeps me going is my dream of escape. In an attempt to disgust them, I once again vomit on the carpet.

Today I decapitated a mouse and dropped its headless body at their feet. I had hoped this would strike fear into their hearts, since it clearly demonstrates what I am capable of. However, they merely made condescending comments about what a 'good little hunter' I am. *******s!

There was some sort of assembly of their accomplices tonight. I was placed in solitary confinement for the duration of the event. However, I could hear the noises and smell the food. I overheard that my confinement was due to the power of 'allergies.' I must learn what this means, and how to use it to my advantage.

This morning I was almost successful in an attempt to assassinate one of my tormentors by weaving around his feet as he was walking. I must try this again tomorrow -- but at the top of the stairs. I am convinced that the other prisoners here are flunkies and snitches.

The dog receives special privileges. He is regularly released - and seems to be more than willing to return. He is obviously retarded.

The bird has got to be an informant. I observe him communicate with the guards regularly. I am certain that he reports my every move. My captors have arranged protective custody for him in an elevated cell, so he is safe.
For now...

Cat

My crazy Monday

2008-08-31T18:07:00.003-05:00

I had one crazy day last Monday. I started my day waking up at 0700. I was wanting to sleep more but Phoebe needed my attention. I took care of the furbabies and then made me a smoothie and toast. I am loving these strawberry smoothies!!

Luckily, I had slept 8 hours and was going to stay up for a few hours, watch a movie, let Phoebe play and then go back to bed for a few hours till I had to get ready for work. My plans got changed at 0747 - the time on the police report of the incident. A watched a big truck drive down my street, then all of a sudden I saw blue flashes of light and a pop. I had no electricity. I step out on my front porch to figure out what just happened. I saw power lines on the ground Of course, I wasn't dressed!

I was talking to my dad on my cell phone when I stepped outside to figure out all the damage - still in my nightgown- when the police came up to me. I just saw that the main power source to my house was cut. The police took my name and told me they would be back to talk to me. I got off the phone and then got dressed!!

Then I have a guy from my electric company telling me I needed an electrician as they couldn't re-hook my service back up. My mast (or whatever that thing is called that your power is hooked to) was bent to the point it needed to be repaired. He said if he hooked my power back up it could cause a fire. So he gave me a name that he recommended. I call this company and tell them the situation and she said it was considered an emergency. I got a call back right away and they were at my house a few minutes later. He took a look at the damage and then got supplies to fix it. I was impressed that they actually got all this taken care of that quickly!!! I actually got power back at 1315.

I didn't realize that I didn't have phone service till I remembered that I still had 10 hours of dial-up service a month through AOL. I was going to pay bills online this morning and really needed to get that done. Then I didn't have enough battery power in my laptop as I forgot to turn it off after I was dealing with everyone being on my front lawn! What is a girl to do that has no internet, no TV?? She cleans!! While I was cleaning off my dining room table, I still have my old laptop there that was plugged in!! Score!!!! After I got it all hooked up, that is when I realized I had no dial tone. I started making phone calls to the phone company. I was glad that I had charged my cell phone the night before!!

After I called the phone company, they said I didn't need to be home for them to repair the line. I went ahead and got dressed for work and went to the Mudhouse. I had a little lunch, my fave frozen coffee and used the free wifi! I was able to get my bills set up on my bill pay. Phew!! When I arrived back home, the phone company was at my house and they got my phone/internet working again before I had to head to work.

I had one of my neighbors afraid I had been robbed. She came over to make sure I was okay. I am so glad that I did get 8 hours of sleep last night as I have to work my normal 12 hour shift tonight and won't get my normal nap time in.

The cop told me it was my lucky day as it just affected my house. I was glad that I was able to get everything back in working order before leaving for work. I was exhausted that night at work! I was so ready for bed when I got home the next morning.

Now, I am just waiting for the insurance company to call me. I have already notified them and they said they would be in contact. I think I need to call them this week so I can get a fax number to send them some receipts.

I had originally planned to be in Europe the week this happened and glad that I was home to take care of this situation.

I keep looking at these power lines that connect to my house that run across the street. I see big trucks drive down my street occasionally and I am puzzled on how this really happened.

Friday Fill-in

2008-08-31T17:51:00.003-05:00

It is actually Sunday, but here it goes!!

1. When I'm sick I'm _grumpy_.

2. When I take a walk, I think about __things I want to do or need to do__.

3. Money can't buy happiness but it can _make traveling the world easier__.

4. Cotton makes me _comfortable__ and leather makes me _want to hide it from my puppy_.

5. The strangest person/character I've had lewd thoughts about was __I don't know___.

6. My favorite color these days is _pink__ because _it has always been my favorite color_.

7. And as for the weekend, tonight I’m looking forward to _nothing, I had to work Friday_, tomorrow my plans include _relaxing_ and Sunday, I want to _go see a movie_!

Paris and London here I come!!!

2008-08-31T08:09:00.003-05:00

After a very wild week, I ended it with something exciting!!! I still need to share about my wild week. Maybe later today when I hang out at the coffee shop!!

After a year of talking about planning a trip to Paris and London, I finally booked my trip!! I am soooo excited! I didn't get to as many days as I wanted in Paris but I decided to take what I could get! I am spending 5 days in London and then 3 days in Paris. I was able to google my hotels I am staying at and see what they are near. I am going to start planning what I want to do in each city! If any one has tips for me, comment me!!

I also want to get me a camera bag that I can also use as a purse. I have a Canon 40D and it has to go on this trip!! I don't want to carry my purse plus my camera bag. I want to combine these!! I also can only have my carry-on and one personal item for my flight. I have thought about getting a crumpler camera bag. I can't decide from the 5 million dollar home or the 6 million dollar home. I have some research to do! I might find another camera bag that would work better but I love the looks of the crumpler bag!

My allergies have been in high gear lately. It is ragweed season and that is my worst season!! I was doing find till last night I drove with my moonroof open. Then I couldn't breathe! I still feel that way today. I have got to get my yard mowed with or without these allergies! I might have to get my mask out today.

My pup Phoebe has fallen asleep next to me! She has finally worn herself out and has decided it was nap time. She has sooo much energy and it takes her a while to poop out!

I need to take my allergy medicine, let it kick in and then start with my fun day!!

Wordless Wednesday

2008-08-27T06:19:00.002-05:00

Photo from Cowbelly Pet Photography and check out Wordless Wednesday

Lazy weekend . . .

2008-08-24T19:29:00.006-05:00

I was looking forward to my 4 days off and I really haven't accomplished much!!! Thursday I did sleep most of the day. I couldn't seem to keep my eyes open. I did get up at a decent hour on Friday and got some errands and a little shopping done. I couldn't stay awake that evening and fell asleep around 2030 in my clothes and my contacts. I woke up at 0200 and got ready for bed. I did let Phoebe play for a couple of hours before heading back to bed.

Then Saturday, I woke up around 0930 and took care of my furbabies and actually got dressed to go mow the yard. I was feeling quite sleepy so I decided to take a little nap. I should know that my naps don't turn into little naps!!! When I woke up, it was to late to mow the yard and get done the things I needed to. So, I thought I would mow the yard on Sunday.

I woke up this morning and my nose was running and I couldn't stop sneezing. Great!! My allergies are acting up. I took some Claritin and tried to get some sleep. I finally just got up as the sneezing was keeping me from sleeping. I finally took a Benadryl and that helped. I took a shower and I just had to lay down! My allergies always make me more tired and then adding my night shift sleep schedule. It just wears me out!! I ended up sleeping till about 1700 and finally got up and dressed.

I am currently at the Mudhouse just relaxing. I will be heading home soon as my furbabies will want my attention. Phoebe is slowly getting potty trained. I just wish that dogs were as easy as cats are. I have a puppy pad in my closet in my extra bedroom and she has figured out that after she gets out of her crate, that is where she is to go. She will run down the hall!! But if she is playing for a while she doesn't run to the puppy pad, she just goes where ever she is. That is where I need to work with her!!! I did get her signed up for intermediate training at Petsmart. I am looking forward to getting started with that next month.

I have been trying to get my Europe trip planned and I am a bit frustrated about that. My original plan was to spend one week in Paris and one week in London. It was getting to expensive. I moved my trip from August to October to help with the cost. Then my travel agent told me that I could decide how many days I wanted to go. I sent her an email in regards to going only 5 days in Paris and London. She gave me a price and it wasn't that much cheaper as I was hoping. Then she could only get the company to do 3 days Paris and 5 days in London. I really just want to see the Eiffel Tower and ride the London Eye. She said for me to call her and she would explain some of this better to me. I am going to call tomorrow and hopefully have a better insight on what I might do. I might just go ahead and do an 8 day trip. I just know I need to hurry up and decided as October will be here before I know it!!!

I am not looking forward to work tomorrow. I have to work with the nurse that I have take a non-liking for. I even had a fellow nurse call me to tell me that she was talking about me and what she said. It just proves my point she can't be trusted. She told me that she did leave out the part that she kept going into my patients rooms telling them that she was there and if they needed anything, let her know. It makes for a long night when I have to work with her anymore. I don't trust her as she always turns things around to make her look good. She is still trying to kiss my behind though which makes it hard to mind my own business!!

I have been having a little fun playing with the photoshop actions I downloaded a couple of weeks ago. I am loving this one pic of my nieces I took the beginning of August. I keep adding different actions to it and printing it. I might work more on that tonight or I might actually scrap!! I really need to get my pics more organized so I can find them more easily. I am learning some of the tricks of Adobe Bridge. I am excited that I ordered Adobe Lightroom 2.0! I should be getting that this week. I was able to get this at a student rate since my activation is less than a year old.

I am starting to sneeze again so I think I will head home. I will add the pics I have been playing with today!

Memories . . . .

2008-08-18T09:24:00.003-05:00

This LOL cat pic made me laugh so hard when I saw it!!! It reminds me of a friend of mine that now likes overseas. He loves Michael Jackson and would follow what he was up too. Michael Jackson actually lives in the country that my friend lives in. Or at least the last I heard he still was there. My friend would come over and would do the moon walk in my living room all the time since I have hardwood floors. He would always make me giggle! Then one morning he stopped by for a visit and we started taking pictures and he was making funny poses and one was something Michael Jackson would do! I kinda miss those fun little visits that he would make. I hope that someday he can make it back to America!!

I actually need to take some pics of the town for him to show him some of the differences in the last year since he left. I realized some of the changes that he might not be aware of. That will give me a chance to play around with my camera! I hope to do that this weekend!

I am off to the post office for a bit and then back home for a nap!