Thursday, February 27, 2014

Ok, maybe not ALL the way.....

Last week Thursday, I get a call that my brother in law is in the ICU, he has had a severe heart attack, and the 5 stents he already had were clogged completely, so they put 2 more in. There is talk about an open heart surgery but in the same breath, it is stated, that he does not want it, and he does not want to be revived. Can you imagine everything that went thru me at that time? My oldest sister, has had a rough time of it, and I just couldn't begin to think what she would be going thru.  Needless to say, sleep was eluding me that night, and every night since.

Friday, I get a call that he has had another heart attack, and they DID shock him and performed heart massage, but he was awake, be it disoriented, and they were going to do the surgery Monday. It would take anywhere from 4 to 6 hours and they would start between noon and 2. Later it turned out to be an arithmia, but even so.... more stress on his body before a surgery that is not at all without risk.

So......My sister doesn't want anybody there during the surgery, so I'm at home, burning candles, mumbling to myself and in general going nuts! Mondaynight at 8 I still haven't heard anything, and I'm climbing the wall. Turns out, happily, that surgery was over and done with by 5, he's in recovery, and he will be woken up over the course of the night. If he breathes on his own, and his heart beats without help, he can start healing. But the next 48 hours will be critical.

That's the last I heard, so I'm assuming, all is going well..... My assessment of life going to hell in a handbasket, was a little premature. Thankfully!

The downside is, that I haven't slept more than 5 hours since last week, and I'm feeling it. I can't think, when I sit down, I nod off, but when I go to bed, I'm wide awake, and tomorrow, I'm going to have to catch a train at 9, with a stop at base on the way, to get train fare LOL. The good thing is, it's for Sisterday. Nicky and I are going to spend some quality time in front of the fireplace, catching up with eachother. The last time I saw her was around Christmas, and that is way too long! Maybe I will sleep tomorrow :-) and I can get back to what I need to do by saturday.... Keeping my fingers crossed while typing that one! LOL.  I hope to get thru all the emails and snailmail by Sunday, and get caught up with everything else I've been neglecting by Wednesday, and than I should be back to following my schedule of chores, courses and scrapping.......

I'm going to say "nighty night" and set the alarm for 2.30. I don't want to sleep thru Heritage Chat over at Ivy again...... I feel like I have been "phoning in" all my duties with Ivy, Boo, PattyB and Emst. I will get life straightened out, someday, I promise! LOL 

So, don't forget to hug that/those special someone(s) extra tight?

Tuesday, February 25, 2014

life went to hell again

I will fill you in at a later date. Everybody is fine but I will be Awoll for a couple of days

Found this one on Pinterest a while ago, and today just seemed like a good day to pull it out in the open......

 

Wednesday, February 19, 2014

Almost back to normal......



Well, as normal as our life will be, I guess LOL.

I'm a little worried about my sister in law. We haven't heard from her in a while, and she hasn't visited the blog and doesn't respond to emails.... So Kim, let us know what's going on in your neck of the woods?

StarSongStudio's announced her retirement from designing at the end of this month.... I'm bummed, but I understand. She has to do what is good for her, but I will so miss her talent! I'm hoping she'll miss designing so much, that she'll be back in no-time, but  you really can't tell how life is going, as we have found out over the last couple of years. Sometimes, something just "gotta give" to allow some breathing room. I wish her all the peace she and her family needs, and we promised we'll stay in touch!
If you had any thoughts of "later" on any of her beautiful kits, please visit her stores before they close on February 28th!!!!



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I don't think there was one kit of hers I didn't love, but there's always a couple that stand out (Usually the ones with the pages that came out better than I could imagine... LOL) and some that were much better than my talent for showing them off, and for that I apologize!
It was a fun ride Ann. Thank you so much for trusting me with your creations!


Here are some of my favorite pages/kits/memories put to paper, in no particular order.



Sweet Rememberance
Berries and Cream

I know this is made with Anns kits, but I cannot find it in my stash. I want to say it was Tangerine dream.........
Winter Symphony
Raspberry Truffle
DecemberDawn
Bright Blooms
Passionata
Rosy Dawn
Enchanted
Nymphea
Autumn Prelude
Sea Bundle (Sea Passage, Sea Journal, Sea Scapes, Sea Side
Lavendar Dreams
Nostalgia
Mountain Whispers 
Atumn Reflections
Autumn Reflections
Frosted
Painted Ladies
Teacup Garden
Wildflower Symphony
Lady Steampunk
Remember this day
Time for Tea
Sea Passage
A moment in Time
Lavendar Dreams
Toys in the Attic
Winter Wonderland
Sea Side Christmas
DogTales
Winter Ruins
Nouveau Nostalgia
Forest Fantasy
Even Tide
Blue Poppies

Tuesday, February 11, 2014

Just a quicky,

a couple of things, and "sign of life" LOL.
Yes, I'm still around, no I haven't been visiting with you much, but it's nothing personal.... Just life setting its own schedule, no matter what my dayrunner sais.

The POINT IN TIME challenge is up in The Studio:


I used the newest kit from OVER THE FENCE DESIGNS for the announcement. The only thing not from the kit is the glitter used for the month.


Boos new kit Peaceful Moments hit the stores last week. And before I even saw what was in it, I had the picture picked out. It's Perky (what else is new, right?) sleeping on the MyHealth. He can be on the other side of the house, and the minute I turn in on, he comes running. It's amazing, so after I'm done with mine and Mike's sessions, I put it on the internal peace setting, and put it on the floor next to him. Within a minute his head is on it, and within a couple more, he's out like a light.


A while back, ALL the way in January LOL, I had posted this page in de galleries, but not here yet. 

The template is from the double page template set that Boo just released a couple of weeks ago. The kit used was


The pictures are from the Bask black wolf enclosure in Gaia Zoo. In the newsletter the other day, they were explaining that there will be another pack of European Grey wolves coming, with a viewing gallery at eye level.... That will be something to see. Can't wait! They're in a building frenzy at the zoo right now, so it will be time for me to snoop around, one of these days, when I can walk for longer than an hour..... I over did it a bit a week or so ago, and I'm still paying LOL. Did I have fun? MOST definatly! Would I do it again? YUP!  

This reminds me of a picture of a T-shirt Mike lovingly sent my way from www.roadkillshirts.com......



I went to the Den Bosch archives on Thursday, and on Friday I decided I really needed out of the house again, so Mike and I went back and did part of the city walk. I had found out at the archives, that my grandpa was baptized in the cathedral there, and I also found a couple of the addresses, but...... I forgot to bring them with us. No harm done though. We're going back when the weather is a little less BRRRR :-) The sun was shining, so that was ok, but in the narrow streets, the wind was rather frigid at times. Add to that that Mike ran a splinter thru his foot at work, and was hobbeling worse than I was, so we didn't spend as much time as we wanted, but that just leaves more fun for next time. 

I will go back to do some research too, all I have to do is find discount train tickets LOL. When they have those, it costs about 15 to 18 Euro's (depending on the offer) to travel, by train, all day. For me to go to the archives without that discount, it takes 46.......... So, on discount tickets, that would be at least 2 trips for the price of 1. Were we to take the car, the parking would run into the 20's for all day, plus the gas, so unless you go with more than two, train-with-discount is the way to go :-)     I even have an alert set up on the computer for several chain stores that offer these tickets, to give me a buzz if they're having a sale, and hopefully, when they do, we have the spare-cash to use them LOL.

I found a couple more pages I should have posted a while ago :-(
I'm starting to like the double pages though, they're just a little tricky to show off here, or in the galleries......





AND.........!!!!
I've been hooked on getting into web-design ever since I hit the wrong button on Frontpage a couple of years ago, and saw the coding, so I started a course in "getting to know how it works"..... If nothing else, I will learn something, and either find out if it looks more fun than it is, or if I can make it work as a business, so I can work from home :-)

Currently, I'm starting the 3rd lesson, and I'm still hooked, and tempted to "read ahead" and see what's next, but I'm being a good girl, and going one step/lesson at a time. LOL  Just got done with a little bit of the history of websites, domains and hosting and now starting on design-tools.... YEAH!!!!!
I may have to break down, and join the cloud though, since Adobe doesn't sell the programs anymore, just cloud-subscriptions........ That's a bit of a downer, but it may work out ok. I can do my classes, and if I decide it's not for me, I cancel, and not have a couple of grand in programs sitting idle..... But I'm so excited to do this! 

So, I think you're all caught up on my shenanigans...... I will go pick up the house, clean the carpet (Perky is in between winter and summer coat, with the inevitable hairballs, even with the special food) and than, oh chucks :-), it's back to class! LOL

Don't forget to "Love a Hugged One" :-)