Trip down memory lane

I found the cookbook I learned to cook "the american way" with when I first hit the States. And no, nowhere in it does it state that brownies are NOT a breakfast item! LOL. That must be one of the unwritten rules only natives know about so they can make fun of unexpecting foreigners :-) Anyway, I was thumbing thru it, and found a recipe I had all but forgotten..... the sweet memories came streaming in, and made me homesick. (I know I'm considered home, it just doesn't feel that way much.) The recipe was for "sunshine muffins". I used to make these and blueberry muffins if we were going away for a daytrip or camping, to eat on the way. I'm going to bake some, as soon as the stores open after the holiday and I can get some flour. I used to make batter for a dozen, split it up into 2 batches before adding the berries and pineapple, so we would have 6 of each...... And after a couple of times doing this, I made a full batch of each, and kept 2 each out and froze it for breakfast on Mike's day off, usually known as "sun up at Tahoe". We would get up at about 2 in the morning, because we has a 2 hour drive, and would be perched on the water, on a rock, with a cup of coffee and a muffin before the sun came up..... The quiet and beauty were amazing. We would pick a big flat rock, and I would sit in a bearhug, just enjoying eachothers company and the surroundings. Depending on the week we'd had, we would either spend the day in the area, or get breakfast at a casino around 10, drive home and crash for a couple of hours, before getting the groceries in for de week. I though I share this with you, maybe inspire you to check out some recipe you haven't made in a while..... I hope you are enjoying your weekend, and don't forget to hug that loved one!

Perfect day......

 Last Saturday was World Tai Chi Day and it was celebrated 30 minutes away in Heerlen, among A LOT of other places.

I thought I had taped the form we are learning, as well as the warm up excercises but I guess I should have figured out HOW to, instead of just knowing that the camera could... I have exactly one second of each! Bummer. I took a bunch of pictures, including some of my teacher while he was performing different ways of TaiChi. 

I learned a lot. Some I knew, but didn't understand, until talking to people who have been doing TaiChi for a lot longer than I have, but also that there are a whole bunch of different "forms" besides the one we are learning, which is the basic of all others and is called, oddly enough, 24 :-)

Besides ours, all the different forms/excercises are also done with swords (straight and broad) and with fans..... and that's just what they showed Saturday!

There is also a less "restful" version of TaiChi, which is called the Shao-Lin. This really shows a lot more of the energy, power, and the combat character of Tai Chi. I don't care for it much, because it is a lot less smooth in movement, but I can see it being very effective :-)

China, is still available at The Studio.
I used the alphabet, clusters, masks and kit.
They're still available as a bundle or separate.

I've loved Boo's designs long before I became a "Blossom", and the kit CHINA was part of a buy-my-store from 2010 over at The Studio. I loved the colors of it, and the fact that I could use it to scrap our pictures from our trip to Singapore to visit my sister..... well, THAT hasn't happened (yet) but I found a way to use the kit ...... :-)

Also, Boo is Featured Designer over at The Studio this month! Go take a look at her special kit called MAY DAYS.......

I have finally remembered to put my Point in Time challenge up for the month......

I used Boolands kit "ILLUSION"

OH, before I forget again.... International Scrap Book Day is this weekend..... Keep an eye on your favorite shops.... There's usually A LOT of goodies around this time of year .....

Don't forget to hug a loved one :-)

OH BOY, OH BOY, OH BOY!!!!!

My head is spinning.....
I made a plan, shit happened, I made a new plan, the fan received more stuff, and here I am, on my 3rd plan for the week, and it's only wednesday!!!!!!

I will not bore you with the first 2 plans, but the third plan is..... making a schedule and sticking to it, if it kills me!

Perky went to the vet yesterday, and I thought he had lost weight, but he's turning into me.... He needs exercise and a better diet. He also received stuff to help him get rid of hairballs.... Believe me when I say that this is a good thing... there's just nothing that brings home that point better than stumbling to the bathroom in the middle of the night, and stepping in it! LOL.
His fur turns out to be extremely long for a siamese, even a mix, and with the weather.... well, lets just say, we have the heater on one day, and the windows open the next. I can dust-mop followed by vacuming followed by, wet-mopping every inch of the house and 2 hours from now, there's clumps of hair in pretty much every corner, but he's not going bald, so he replaces as much as he looses..... 
Ive' been taking him for short walks , and he has his Ivans he runs in the middle of the night, or late evening, depending on how many hours he napped in the daytime, and since he's real finicky when it comes to food, we pretty much let him eat when/how much he wants....... some days that's almost nothing, and some days he keeps his bowl pretty empty, no matter how many times we fill it up. Obviously, the snacking still outweighs the moving. The walks will get longer, playtime will be twice a day and his snacks will be diluted with "weight management" food..... He's had it before, you know, one of those little snackbags you get when you buy a big one, and he liked it, so.... that's one hurdle taken. Vet said he's not FAT, but just a little overweight, and it is a good time to start keeping him trim, and a lot easier than losing the weight if it goes up a lot..... just like me... Only, I'm in charge of my own food bowl/shopping, and there in lies the rub! LOL.

Mike is on full duty, and he is soooooooo tired when he gets home. I usually don't catch him walking up to the house, just hear the door, but yesterday I did.... He walks like every bone and muscle in his body hurts. Around the house I don't notice it much, since I try to have him sit down as much as he'll let me, and we haven't really been going out on his days off, so I haven't watched him walk more than a couple of steps..... I feel so bad, I can't do anything for him. The chiropractor we found seems to relieve the pain in his back only temporarily, so far, so I'm hoping for the longterm benefits to start kicking in soon.  Meanwhile, I'm taking him off the "I cook, he does the dishes" chore division, which prompted me to make my third plan of the week.

So, since today is a total waste, between taking him to chiro (poor guy couldn't even move enough to get his shoes tied this morning), dropping him off at work, do groceries so he won't have to, coming home, doing chores, go back and pick him up, I decided to take the "doing chores" time and decide on what things need to be done, when/how often, how long it takes to do, what I want to do except the "have to's" and put it all in a time schedule, leaving a little room for incidentals like last minute, "crap I ran out of food" moments LOL. Right now, I'm at lunch :-)

Just wanted to share..... thanks for listening!

Hug a loved one sometime today. Life is short, and you never know what tomorrow rolls your way :-)

PHFEW!

Life can return to normal again... well, as normal as our life gets, that is.

I had my bloodtest last Monday. I'm always worried, but this time I was in an actual panic. I haven't been feeling right, but can't put my finger on it. No pain, nothing that should give me an idea that the cancer was back... just tired (but not sleeping), frantic, short tempered and in general "a royal pain". Combine that with absent minded and scatter brained, and you'll understand why Mike might be happy he's back at work! LOL. When we got to the doctor for the results, he did something he has never done before.... he checked my bloodpressure, temperature and heart rate. I almost lost it at that point, thinking that all my fears I had been telling myself were rubbish, were founded in truth...... He proceded to tell me that my blood was perfect and that he wanted to see me in 6 months. WHOOHOO!!! So, now I can get my head back where it belongs, I hope. But my laments is not why you're here, so on to more interesting news, I just had to share with you why I have been in such a muddle these last couple of weeks.

Mike has been easing back into work, and started alternating days this week, and will go fulltime next week. We went yesterday morning to get his release to do "his" job, not the light duty they have him on. He can't wait. He doesn't mind working the register, but he has a hard time being in one spot all day. He needs to move, and next week, he gets his wish.

I also have other news, that I think is downright awesome!!!. Since the beginning of this month, I am part of Boo's Blossoms. Not our Boo, but Booland Designs. She had a CT call over at The Studio and since I love her stuff, I put in for it. I have to say, I didn't think I stood a chance, but she thought differently, and here I am :-) I could not believe my eyes when I got THAT email!  To be able to play with all the new kits she has coming out..... B L I S S !!!!!

I will show you some of the pages I made for her sofar in a little bit, and, as required, do a little advertising for her as well. I hope you don't mind, but that's part of the CT bit. You receive awesome kits, play a little, and hopefully pay back with sales for the designers you CT for.

This maxes me out on commitments though. I am CT for 3 designers, host the Point in Time heritage challenge over at The Studio, signed up to help index the 1940 Iowa Census, AND started fixing up the computer room, so I have a little spot all to myself with the computer, my aquarium-in-waiting my genealogy research... and I'm going to be looking for a job on the economy after all, so I also contacted the Lymphoma society here because, as it turned out that even though I couldn't be happier about it, being a cancer survivor is NOT looked on as a good thing if you're trying to find a job... There's all kinds of pitfalls. If you DON'T tell, you can get fired for withholding information, if you DO tell, you don't get hired, because they don't want the risk of it coming back..... Meanwhile,we have bills that are in desperate need of sorting out as well as the need to feel useful. I found the lymphoma site by accident, and it has a whole section on working after cancer, as well as possible ways to go back to school for retraining, if you're not able to do your old job. Since my occupation the last 20 years or so has been data entry, and I can't use my hands longer than 20 minutes at a time (yup, they ARE gettting better) I think I may qualify.

Once I go back to work, or school, depending on what happens, I may have to slow down, but for now... I'm going to be as busy as I can be. I need to get my brain back, the use of my hands and some kind of schedule. Mike will have his schedule at least 3 weeks in advance, so we know what we are looking at there, and I have to get started to make this house we are renting a proper home with whatever energy I have, when ever I have it.

Ann from StarSongStudio has a couple of new kits, since I last posted here, so I'll be doing a little bit of bragging for her also. She's been very patient with me, and really a great "boss". She doesn't like it when I call her that, but.... she is :-) so when I feel like teasing her, I email her with "hi boss" She takes it in the spirit it is intended, lucky for me, otherwise I would be out of a job LOL.

Last but not least... IvyScraps has a new Mega out. Bon Voyage. You would think it is right up our alley, since we seem to be either packing or unpacking... but oddly enough... There's not a whole lot of pictures of it. I made a double page for my LifeBook with it though, and it was my turn to put out the Bingo page, so I did my bit for them. I had every intention of doing some challenges, but haven't been able yet. Hopefully before the end of the month, I'll have some luck in that department. LOL Meanwhile, I'll show you some stuff  (except the Bingo page) on the bottom as well.

I have been so freaked out about things, that I completely spaced putting a challenge up over at The Studio, but it's on the calendar for next week. It IS good to have a schedule, and hopefully  not too many things happen, so I can actually stick to it. I still have to set up a cleaning schedule for the house, set some time aside for the family tree (research and inputting into the computer, again) as well as working out and menu planning.

So, first up is the "advertising" followed by the pages.

STAR SONG STUDIO:

APRIL PROMISE

You've already seen the pages for the kit, but here is my favorite again:-)

SHE HAS A RAK OVER AT DIGISHOPTALK FOR HER CIRCUS KIT.......

She's also part of the blogtrain over at CoolScrapDigital........

There's still a couple of days to go visit the blogs

BOOLAND DESIGNS

I have loved her stuff for so long, and I am SOO completely floored that I'm part of her CT Team. I have realized over the last couple of weeks, that I have to step it up. She creates at breakneck speeds, and I'm happy that not every kit is mandatory to work with! Like with Ann, it's VERY hard to say "NO" to a kit! LOL

Here are the pages for her latest kits, with a view of the kits themselves. All pages are made with stuff from the kit only.

SPRINGS DESIRE

SPRINGS HOPE

SPRINGS BREEZE

SPRINGS BRIDE

 

SPRINGS PROMISE

Well, I think you're all "up to date" on my CT things.

Still working on 2 new kits coming up, but I'll post those when they premier in the stores of Ann and Boo.......

Sorry for the onslaught of things, but I've been running so far behind that I had to do something. Still have to post and post the links, but I'll do that another day.

I hope you're having a great weekend, and as always..... don't forget to hug that loved one! :-)

Quick Page Challenge

time again over at CoolScrapDigital......

The kit is so much fun! Go over and take a look, maybe enter and share, but for sure, go snag some of the pages. There are only a couple in the gallery so far, but I think there are over 50 sign ups... so that should make for one heck of an album, if you pick up all of them. When you download, leave some love, and if you enter the challenge.... have fun, and good luck on the voting :-)

Download  

The contest thread is here: 

if you wanna visit the zoo......

I don't know where everybody is from where we are, but we have a zoo about 10 minutes away by car, and, as I have found out, quite a bit longer on foot! LOL. Mind you, if you're looking for a zoo like Artis, Emmen, Antwerpen and the like, I think you may be dissapointed. It's nothing like it. As a matter of fact GAIA ZOO is only 5 years old! It started out as Gaia Park, but I think it was decided that it didn't give the idea that there were animals there... so it was changed somewhere last year, beginning of this year. BUT, to me, it's great. It's easy to get to, there's enough animals to keep it interesting, even after 3 trips (and planning a 4rth one and renewing my annual membership) but it is smallish. The animals are mostly NOT in cages, but that makes them more fun to watch. They're rebuilding some of the "older" areas to optimize viewing of the animals as well as trading animals with other zoo's, so there's lots of things changing between visits. They have an aviary show, which I YET have to catch, but they were practicing with the bald eagle last time I was there, so I'll make sure to catch it soon.

BUT the reason I'm mentioning it now, is that there is another IKEA family night coming up on June 1st from 19.00 to 22.00. For 8 euro's per person, max 4 to a card, with voucher, to be picked up at the Heerlen Ikea, or 10 Euro's for non voucher holders you can visit with the animals. The whole zoo was accessible last year, including the restaurant...... So, if you are in the neighborhood around that time, check it out for yourself.

I know, I'm shamelessly advertising for them, but I think it is such a cool place to spend a couple of hours!

Hope you can find the time!

Hugs,
Pauli

I'm reposting a page I made from when my sister and I went this winter. I haven't had the inspirations to work on the pictures I took when I went last month :-)

wishing for you and all you hold dear.......

That said.... I want to share with you a couple of pages I have made over the last couple of weeks. 

I finished the Bingo page over at Ivy, so if you want to see what it looks like, you'll have to play LOL. I also am finished with the pages with the Mega BON VOYAGE.......

I made these for the LifeBook project I've been working on. Putting to paper how many times as well as how long we were at each place kinda showed me that I'm not totally crazy when I feel like we've been packing and unpacking for the last 20 years LOL.

I made a page with Boolands newest kit. SpringBlossoms  

This page came to pass a little bit by accident. I had the page in my head, but couldn't find the picture I wanted. Than, I realised I still wanted a page to separate the cemetery section from the rest of the family tree in the album I eventually want to put together..... and I came up with the rest of the page.... I just realised something.... the picture and mask are backwards!! I must have gotten sidetracked while saving it, and NOT saved it before I saved as a JPG... Oh well :-)

Ann, from Star Song Studio, also has a new kit coming out..... It will be called Circus, and it is SOOOOOO much fun and it's coming out Friday the 13th of April, so only one short week away.....

There's also another kit, that's already out....... BLUE POPPIES. The colors are so incredibly vibrant! Go check it out. It is being sold at: 

DigiDesignResort

Escapesandscraps

CoolScrapDigital

HeritageScraps

I also managed to finish, at last, a page from "lammetjes dag", otherwise known, as my trip to the sheep farm, and the zoo. Sofar I only made a page with my favorite pictures of the farm. Still thinking on the zoo pages though :-)

Don't these little guys just look like ultra mini cows?
I want to take a couple of pictures of them in the meadow, but sofar, they haven't been outside......

And I also just realized something.... I never posted my Ivy Pages with last months Mega!!!!

OMG I think I'm completely losing it......

Here are the pages I made....

The kit can be found HERE

I am SOOOOO going to pay for this....

But I had a blast today!

It started last weekend, when we drove past the sheepfarm and there were flags and cars out front. I went online after we got home, and found out that they had "lammetjes dag" which translates into "lambs day". It happens in the spring, when the lambs are born, obviously. You get to see the new arrivals up close. Being a sucker for anything animal, and baby animals especially, I wanted to go. Mike not so much, so when he had to work today, I had him drop me off. This was the last weekend they would have it this year, so I had to! LOL

It was different. And right up front, I have to say, I will not go back next year, but I WILL see if the sheepfarm in the village that my sister lives in, is doing this, and go there, to see if they are all the same, or if this was the exception. The farm is an old 4-square. Don't envision the american 4-square homes here, but 4 buildings, some built over the course of several generations, some all built at the same time, in a square, with a courtyard. 1 part is house, and in most farms, one part would be feed/hay/straw storage, one toolshed and one barn, or 2 would be barn, depending on the stock held.

Once thru the big double door, you walked right into the barn. It was huge. I LOVED the beams in it.
(Not sure about the christmas decorations though.)

The floor was divided with makeshift cage type pens. Little ones on one side with one yew and what looked like to me, new born lambs, the other side in 4 good size pens, with feeding ally's in between them where the older lambs were kept with their moms. The feeding ally seemed to be a perfect spot for the little ones to get out of traffic too. All of them were full of lambs. (Most drops this year were twins, no triplets, like last year, and only 9 single births.)

I also watched 2 lambs be born, almost. I started watching, but the pens the mom was in was on the small side, so every time she turn she would push the baby into the wire mesh. The farmer didn't seem to mind, neither did the sheep, or the little one, but I left and played fetch with the dogs :-) When I came back, the first one already started to stand, and the second one was still being cleaned by mom. (I don't think I was gone from the stable more than 20 minutes, if that.......)

When I was ready to leave I, very briefly, debated whether to go home (one way) or to the zoo (the other way) I'm sure it will surprise absolutely no one if I say that I went to the zoo! LOL

The walk was awesome! We've looked at the tree line, but weren't aware that there was a path that went all around the backside of the meadows. I still haven't figured out if it was all bike path, part road or what. All I know that it was a wonderful walk. 

1 is the sheepfarm, the red line is the walk I took, and 2 is the entrance to the zoo.

The zoo was great, as always. The weather was A LOT better than when my sister and I went for sisterday. It was downright HOT. After my hike, I decided I needed to cool down, rest up a bit and call Mike to pick me up at the zoo before he came home, so I had a cappucino with a piece of pie, while watching the giraffes.... bliss!

Around 4 I figured I'd sit down a bit again, and when I got up, I found out I really shouldn't have. LOL. I felt like an old bear getting up after a 4 month hibernation. When I tried to get out of the car when we got home, it was worse, so I had my dinner in the chair I'm sitting in right now, and I'm not going to move until I go to bed!  Don't want to think how I feel in the morning, but it was SOOOOO worth it!

I used 3 batteries, and when I got home, and looked at the pictures I'd taken, I was floored..... 234! It took me half way thru the zoo before I found the "sports" setting on the camera, so of those 234 there are A LOT of blurry ones, but there were a couple that will be worth using in upcoming scrappages :-)

Well, I think it's time to try and see if the bones/muscles and what have you are in a position to work, and go to bed. Depending on how I feel, and Mike, we'll be either starting spring cleaning, or go for a drive. I'm not hoping to feel bad, but given the choice between cleaning house and getting out of it for while....... we'll have to see what the morning brings.

Goodnight from Holland, and don't forget to hug that loved one!

Catching up with old friends

Hiya!

Well.... got some sleep, and coffee in bed with a kitty-hug chaser, so my day is off to a blooming start!

I must have slept pretty deep, because Mike told me at one point Perky shot up, looking at the bedroom door, and Mike told him there was a bear sleeping in there....... not sure what he meant by that, not sure I want to know either! ROFL.

We're having corned beef and cabbage today instead of yesterday... Had to get the corned beef from base, since it is not known here, and Mike brought it home at 5... so unless we wanted to eat dinner at 3 in the morning.....  we postponed St.Patrick Days dinner. I am going to make a second attempt on the scones recipe that Helen from RetroDesign sent me while ago. Not sure if it was the cook or the oven, but the last batch didn't fare too well. Only 2 came out the way they were intended. 2 were hockey pucks and could have easily been designated "lethal-weapons-when-thrown" one was soggy, and after we found out and put it back in the oven turned out indescribable, so looking at the evidence, I really lean towards blaming the oven :-)

I got confirmed yesterday, what I had been dreading for a while now... I have sorely neglected the blog. I will try and fix that, but I cannot promise anything. Life has had a way of interfering with plans lately........

Catching up from where I left off....

Mike is back to work for 4 hours a day since Monday. He's tired when he gets home, and frustrated. He can't sit still while others work, and it bugs the bejebees out of him to sit at the register, and see everybody else unload pallets. I'm glad he sticks with the plan (so far at least) but I wonder if the frustration won't be worse than the work....... In between customers he straightens shelves and stuff so he doesn't feel totally useless. Not sure if his boss is aware of that, but I won't tell on him :-)

Ann is working on a couple of projects, so StarSongStudio's has been a little quiet lately. I did play with a couple of kits, old and new, but I have to go thru the blog to see which ones I showed already before I post any of them. The page of Jesse from yesterday was from Anns kit APRIL PROMISE that comes out, I believe, next month, as well as this one....

this one, somehow doesn't feel "done" but everything I tried to add made it look messy....
Let me know if you have any idea's?

I did get my pages done for Ivy. At least 2 of them. I have to re-read, but I think we're supposed to do 3 a month now, and 2 challenges plus visit the gallery and post there. Have to check if it's my turn to do the Bingo page again..... So I'm kinda busy with that.
The new mega is spring/flower related. Very pretty colors, lots of different things. It's HUGE.

I also made the mistake to take a look at the 1930 census..... and found Mike's stepfathers' family. This sparked a frantic search for the rest of the tree information, still securely hiding in boxes, somewhere. Mind you, the house is not huge, it's not even big for that matter, but we have at least 20 boxes still packed, and stacked taller than me......  Now I can't wait for the 1940's census to come out next month to see if John had younger siblings! I also found out that his grandparents came from Wales.

We decided we are going to strip some walls and paint them, put the "computer room" together, so I have a stationary place to do the books, scrap, research and hide when Mike watches "Mikey movies" aka, Walking Dead, Underworld, House .... that kind of stuff. Sometimes I can take it, most times I cannot, so I put my headset on and mentally vanish. Sometimes though, it's like I can't tune it out, no matter how high I turn up the volume, so it will be nice to be able to shut a door or 2 in between.

My niece gave me an aquarium. She was cleaning out her room, since she bought the swimmingpool, and asked if I wanted to have one, otherwise she was going to put it on Marktplaats (the Dutch equivalent of Craigslist) I had been thinking about it, but always put it off as, what if it doesn't work out, you spent all that money on a tank, heater, pump, fish, plants and whatever else is needed (I learned a long time that just planning on the obvious expenses usually ends up in some kind of wake up call) and you're stuck with it, with really no where to store it..... so this was kind of the answer. I'm now the proud owner of an empty tank, and a stack of library books for the beginning aquarium owner. It's fun. My niece and my sister both are very well informed about all things fish, so if I have a brain bubble, and don't quite get what I'm reading, I email them with the question and get an answer I DO get. It was funny, because when I got the tank, she asked what kind of fish I wanted, and plants, what I wanted out of the tank.... You should have seen her face when I told her that all I really wanted was fun colors and movement! LOL.
I looked at different sites and decided that Guppies were the most colorful, and the most forgiving if I screw up. Their water values are a little less precarious, their temperature range a little bigger and their overall "keep" a lot simpler than most other warm water fish. Simply put, they're great to learn to take care of more than goldfish, without putting them in danger if you do it slightly wrong.  I also want an algae eater or 2, maybe a snail and a couple of shrimp (non edible!). Nicky has a Pleco and it looks like it belongs somewhere in the mesozoic era. SOOOOOO COOL! Still trying to decide on plants, groundcover, backdrop etc... but nothing will happen until the room is done, so we don't have to move a full tank around to keep the paint fumes away from it. It's going on my desk, so I can enjoy them while I'm working.

I am trying to figure out what the jobmarket is all about here. There only seem to be 2 kinds of jobs available..... Cleaning, construction, or high educated ones, and I can't do any of those. The in betweens do not seem to show up in any of the jobsites I've looked at. I'm going to get together with someone from the unemployment bureau, and see how exactly you apply, what your resume should look like and how come there's no jobs advertised besides the ones I've been seeing. Hopefully I get a better answer than when I first went there... I was told that the last 24 years didn't mean a thing, because it was work that wasn't done here, and besides... nobody uses data entry people because everybody types their own stuff. Now, the last part, I can see, the first part seems a little radical. One thing I don't like, I have seen a lot... The need to attach a passport photo to the resume. Maybe it's just me, but it kinda feels like if they literally don't like the looks of you.... you don't stand a chance to get a job. I'm not 20 anymore and easy-on-the- eyes....so that makes me a little paranoid, I guess.  (Never thought that I might need cover-shots to get a job that had nothing to do with modeling.....This could be a whole new way of using photoshop! LOL.)

I think Perky is finally settled. He actually instigates playing! He has never done that before and we though he didn't know how to play..... He got play mice for Christmas from my nephew and he LOVES them! He will walk by it a couple of times and than, all of a sudden he'll pounce on it, flip it, catch it and runs off with it. Even in the middle of the night, we can hear him sliding around the corners. He so reminds me of the cartoon chases, where all 4 paws are scrambling to get traction! It's good to see, although waking up to him galloping across the bed, out butts or heads in the wee hours, is a little disconcerting....

I'm going to post the pages I've done so far, and call you "updated". I think I have everything covered that happened over the last month or so.

Page made with "Song of the Heart" by StarSongStudio
It will go on sale on the 24th.

Both pages are made with the Ivy March Mega
PLANT A FLOWER

I can't help but think I forgot something, but nothing comes to mind. IF and when I remember.... I'll let you know :-)

Don't forget to hug a loved one!

Bye Jesse....

I'm a little out of sorts this week.

Last Monday, I went to bed with a weird feeling. Part aprehension, part sad. Well, Tuesday I found out why. Jesse, my sisters dog, was put to sleep Mondaynight. She had had her 3rd stroke on saturday, but this time she didn't bounce back, like she had the other two times.

Sis slept on the couch over the weekend, keeping watch, but by Monday morning it was obvious that the time had come for the hardest decision any pet owner has to make. So the family said their goodbye's, one last walk was taken, the last hugs were given. They were all there, and she went to sleep in her own home, on her own bed, with her humans around her. When I found out, I made a page with the rainbow bridge poem for them. But that night, I still couldn't sleep. We only had Whisper for 6 weeks and I still miss her after more than 10 years. I can't imagine sharing your pet for 16, and having to say goodbye. I have this really nice picture of my sister and Jesse, in their favorite walking spot, and I couldn't help wanting to use that somehow to make a memory page for Nicky. I hope she likes it when I give it to her, and since she doesn't know about my blog, I can safely post it here until I can. :-)

I'll be back later to catch you up on how Mike is doing, what's going on and so on, but for now.... I'm going to try and catch a couple of hours of sleep. Somehow, my mind doesn't believe in shutting down, so I'm either wide awake, or having nightmares.... Either way, I hardly ever find it interesting to go to bed, but my eyes are getting heavy, my mind is fuzzy, so maybe now is a good time to give it a shot. LOL.

Until next time..... don't forget to hug a loved-one, furry or human variety!

QP challenge entry

Hi,

Today is a quicky. The Quick Page Challenge over at CoolScrapDigital is closing for the month. The kit we used is Sweetness by PokoDot. If I counted right, there are at least 30 pages in the gallery to download. One more stunning than the other. It amazes me every month how many different takes the same kit can have!  Go take a look, leave some love, and don't forget to vote for your favorite when the pol is up  :-)

The preview

My page

Download here: 

Have fun, leave some love when you download,  and don't forget to hug a loved one :-)

WHOOHOO........GIANTS !!!!!!!

YES! We taped the Super Bowl sunday night, avoided news and internet as well as base, just in case somebody let the results slip. We were halfway to base to work out Monday morning when Mike all of a sudden said.... I'm not going! That odd statement came out of nowhere and it had me temporarily speechless. Believe me, that does NOT happen often :-)
He remembered that they have tv's all over the work out areas, and they were bound to either SHOW the game, or have the scores on one of the news casts... so we stopped in the next town and walked in the woods for an hour, went home, did chores,  baked Pizza, and sat and watched the Super Bowl.... Total bliss!

He was sooooo happy! I don't think he stopped smiling for 3 days. LOL
The downside is that it's going to be 6 months before college football starts, but it's already marked on the calender, as well as pre-season and regular season.  I can be happy for him, because he wasn't playing my Bills. But, given their record the last couple of years..... I won't have to worry about that happening any time soon :-) but I have to believe in my team. They'll get there! (I hope)

I ordered a surprise for him.... A championship T-shirt.  Check it out:

Can't wait to see his face when he gets the mail and 

what better gift could I possibly get him for our aniversary ? LOL

These pictures I got from the Giants Online Shop.

I picked this one, because it won't remind me of his team beating mine....

It has been quite weird these last couple of weeks. My grandma would say that "I lost my house" since Mike has been off work. There's no schedule to speak of, the chores get done very haphazardly, we're both bored out of our minds, but have no energy to go do something, and than there's the weather the last month or so... It turned from just being grey, to a helluva winter over night. Haven't seen Zero degrees for 3 weeks, have had freezing fog, regular fog, snow, ice and  constant winds that cut thru everything you can possible wear together. We look like Michelin men when we do go outside. (Let me illustrate how cold it has been... the clock in the car freezes and won't run until we've been driving for half hour!)
The funny thing is, that the temperatures aren't half as bad as the ones we had in Iowa, but somehow the cold chills to the bone here... Must be the proximity to the water...... Oh well.... In 4 weeks the Keukenhof opens, and that is THE sign that spring is coming LOL. Hopefully we get to go earlier this year...... But anytime is good, really. I LOVE that place!

Now I have a couple of announcements from "my" scrapsites:

StarSongStudio has a new kit out, and one coming up. Go check them out on her blog, and from there to her stores -)

DigiDesignResort, E-ScapeandScrap, CoolScrapDigital and HeritageScrap

A Moment in Time.... Released today at:

Tangerine Dreams will be released on the 26th over at 

DigiDesignResort, E-ScapeandScrap, CoolScrapDigital 

The IVY Mega is out, and on sale this month. It has my favorite colors AND my favorite subject....

Purple and pets LOL

I did the bingo page this month, but I can't show it to you. If you want to know what it is... you'll have to play :-)

Here are my lay-outs: I'm especially fond of the one with the bears. Of all the things we had to leave behind these little guys were the hardest. Every one of them had it's own story on how it became part of the "family"

 

I have no picture yet of what I call "the swimming pool", but I used the pictures she sent me  when she just started.....The greenery inside the fishbowl is extracted from one of her pictures, and not part of the kit.

This is one of the pages I made for the Template Challenge at Ivy with "Mums the word"  by Lizard Dau Designs.

I'm still trying to find the picture for the other page.....

It's just perfect, if I could only get my hands on it! LOL

This page I made for the Color Challenge

There's still time to play. The kit is absolutely gorgeous, or you can make a little kit from the colorswatch.... your choice :-)

I just know there was something else I wanted to tell you, but I'm drawing a blank. Not really very surprising, seeing that last time I saw my bed was Saturday morning........ Oh well. It will come to me, I'm sure, and I'll let you know when/if it does LOL.

Go check out the sites, leave some love, download a freebie or two and above all..... 

Don't forget to hug a loved one!