They're here!

The age markers and tags and ribbons are your download today! Saving the best for last!



Question....anyone not see my banner up there? Anita told me that since I changed my blog, she can't see my banner...hmmmm. It's there when I use Yahoo, AOL or Firefox. Just wondering if anybody else can't see it.



Gail...I am moving to Canada! That was for the initial consultation with the whole work-up and blood work and stuff. But, you are right! $400 is steep! But, this is the USA where health care is only for the rich and famous! DO NOT get me started on health care and insurance....it is criminal what they do to us!



Last night I made Bacon Cheeseburgers for supper. Now, (and I think you can all relate to this) food always tasted better when someone else does the cooking, right?), they tasted so GOOD! didn't do any different than I always do but for some reason, they tasted great! My daughter who usually only eats one had me up making her another! Not the most earth shattering revelation, but, OMG, these were delicious! Then she proceeded to give me a menu of things she has been craving...monster French Toast (french toast made with Texas toast) and lasagna. Thinks she is learning from her brother? I love not having to think about what to make!



I spent the night last night doing tutorials! Learned so much...thank goodness there are people out there that write tuts for us! So much to learn...so little time! I need a maid and a cook so I can spend more time PSP'ing! Got some projects in the works that I think you are going to like. And some of you have emailed me with suggestions...keep 'em coning! Can't promise that they will happen but they do get written down and you never can tell when an inspiration may slap me upside the head!



My DH finished wallpapering my Mom's kitchen yesterday and then I helped her get it back together. Gorgeous! LOL! The only thing she makes in her kitchen now is coffee in the morning so it should stay pristine forever! We live in a 2 family house and after my Dad passed away, she eats supper with us every night. So much easier than trying to cook for one person and I am sure that she eats! She comes down and sets the table and little things but she always hated to cook. Don't know how she got to be a good cook since she does hate doing it but, she "has lost her touch" as she puts it. At her age she is entitled!



So, onto the download....Here's the preview...................

Download no longer available...sorry!

Have a great day!

Lazy Sunday

well, not actually. Trying to get some progress made in cleaning the house but decided to take a break. Have to pace myself otherwise I get pooped out and disinterested in actually getting anything accomplished. And, I was dusting around the computer and, I swear, I heard it talking to me, "Blog, blog, blog!"! Really, I swear it was!



I downloaded a free trial of PS CS2 and I am lost! I only have it for 30 days and I don't think I am going to be able to really decide if I can do it in the short of time! I love PSP but there are so many actions for PhotoShop that are not available for PSP so I thought I would give it a try. Geez...it makes me feel sooooo stupid! This could either be a very LONG 30 days or a very Short 30 days!



I am usually pretty good at figuring out programs. My last job, I lied and said I knew PowerPoint. Well, it wasn't a complete lie. I knew a program called PowerPoint existed! Considering my job was primarily putting together presentations for the VP of Marketing, I would go home at night, figure out what I had to do the next day and then go in and appear to know what I was doing! But within a year, I was doing training seminars for the Connecticut and Florida locations and did all the presentations for the Executive Board. Even put together an interactive training CD! My boss eventually told me that he knew I had lied but was very impressed with how fast I caught on. So, why does PSCS2 stymie me so much????? I am trying to think back when I was learning PSP and I guess it was just as difficult!



Thank you for all the well wishes for my friend. She actually came home from the hospital yesterday. Initially, she was to go to a rehab but they did not have a bed. So they are arranging for the therapists to come into her home. She is amazed at how much better it is everyday.



I have not heard from Betty so I cannot give you an update. My heart goes out to her. Such a difficult situation to go through.



My stimulator is still zapping me. The headache is some better...wish I could say the same about the pain! I have lived with this for 30 years and I would just like to get to the point of feeling like doing something instead of forcing myself to do something. So many of you are dealing with chronic pain, too. Don't you wish you could have just ONE morning when you felt like getting out of bed? I think I would think I had died and went to Heaven! I did check in to the Bowen Therapy (sorry, I forget who mentioned it, sigh) and there is someone about 5 minutes from my house that does it. I had called her before for an appointment for Naturopathic Treatment but my insurance will not cover it and the initial visit is $4oo...little steep when you are on disability! But, I think I am going to give it another try and see if there is something I can work out. I finally got myself off most of the medication the Pain Center had me on since I was a walking zombie but then the pain increases. LOL! Let's see, increased pain vs. going through life like the walking dead.....hmmmmmm, tough call! Oh, well, such is life and I am thankful that at least I can still move!



Quick note...I will be removing the older kits within the next couple of days since I am again running out of room on 4Shared, so if you want them, grab them! Once they are gone, they will probably not be back!



Okay....on to the next part of "Just Being a Kid!" Today, we have Embellishments! Can't have enough of them, can we? The preview is just a sampling, you get so much more!

Download no longer available...sorry!

and remember, if you download to leave a little love! The comment percentage is getting a little off kilter again!! Same names keep showing up!

*can't think of any title*

Eeeewww..rainy weather again! I swear I am beginning to see rust spots on my skin! Just the other day on the news they were issuing a forest fire alert and flood warnings! Now does that make sense to anyone!

I turned my stimulator on again yesterday in hopes that it would help with some of this joint pain but so far nothing. That sounds dirty doesn't it! Actually it is a device that they implanted under my scalp that sends electrical impulses to the brain and somehow it is supposed to help with chronic pain. The wires run down along the spine and then there is a rechargeable battery implanted in my butt. Just call me the Bionic Woman! I had this second one put in last December but it never seemed to help. Went through this surgery twice and no real relief! My friend that just had her knee operated on has one and it works beautifully but for me, not so much. But, since I have this technology and I am just sitting on it, I thought I would try it again. But so far all I have is a headache from the constant pulsing in my head! You do eventually get used to it but since it has been so long since I had it turned on it is all new again and will have to get used to it. I hate to have it taken out in case they find out why it didn't work for me but somehow I don't think having a battery in your butt just sitting there can be too good for you. I have visions of it corroding and leaking....oh, the joys of crumby joints!

My daughter is looking for an apartment closer to her new job. She has a horrible commute! I can sympathize with her since I drove the same route for over a year before I decided that spending 4 hours everyday stuck in traffic was not a good thing! Where she works is in the richer section of the state and apartments are pretty expensive but her roommate from college is teaching in the area and they will room together. I love that she is independent and has a good head on her shoulders but I am not liking this growing up and leaving business. I am very supportive and give advice but inside a little part of me is already lonely for her! But she loves her job and is already being talked to about a promotion. My son loves living in Rhode Island and I doubt that he will come home after he graduates in September. Even though they are not far away, it still is so quiet when they are not here! All I can hope for is that their stomachs get the best of them and they keep coming home to eat!

So, apparently you like this kit! I am so glad...you never know how a kit is going to go over when you are doing it! So many comments on the "age markers"! I really don't know how I thought of them but I am glad I did. The next download are the papers and overlays, and the frames. You get all the solid colors seen in the preview plus 2 coordinating plaids. There are 2 circle overlays and then the two "kid" overlays. A little difficult to see in the preview but I think you will have a lot of fun playing with them!

Download no longer available...sorry!

You gals have not wasted any time in downloading the quickpages! Gee! I haven't even started! Diana and I did not get to check each page to check the resolution but the ones I did check were all right. We have some very talented readers, don't you think?

If you are looking for 2 great freebie listings, check out Digi Debz and Selena's . Both these gals do a super job of searching out freebies and what I like about them is that they do not list the same blogs over and over. I have found some blogs that I had never been to before through these 2 hard working gals! But, do they stop at just Freebie Listings...no way! Go check them out! Thanks to both of them for all their hard work!

Well, going to call it a night. Have a wonderful weekend in case I don't get back to you!

Just when you think you are done downloading...

I am posting this tonight because I hope to spend most of the day with my best friend who is in the hospital after having a total knee replacement on Wednesday. She is pretty miserable and depressed and with everyone else working during the day...well, you get what I mean.

I heard from Betty tonight and if you could do a little 'prayer overtime' for her I am sure she would appreciate it. Her husband is in the hospital and despite treatment, the cancer is spreading. She appreciates all the thoughts and prayers that have been sent her way.

I still am waiting to hear from a few that their email came back as undeliverable but I think things went pretty smoothly considering the number of pages that were sent in. I have uploaded a couple of more and am still waiting for a link to another so I don't know how you are keeping track of what you downloaded but you may want to check back in a couple of days! I am waiting for a nasty-gram from 4Shared! I will probably get another one about copyrighted files since there have been so many downloads! Thank you all, on my behalf and Diana's, for the nice comments! Everyone did a wonderful job! I expect to see a lot more LO's being submitted to me so I can have a great slide show!

So are you ready for another kit? Enough with the pretty...let's get a little cutesy, all right? This kit is called "Just Being a Kid!" and it is for both girls and boys. It has tons of stuff in it! I am starting you off with the quickpages so you get an idea of what you will be getting because I don't have any previews made up yet and I am feeling a little lazy! I will try to get them done but if not, you are just going to have to take my word that it is CUTE! You get tags, and ribbons, and stickers, and crayons, and what do you do with broken crayons, hang tags from them, of course, and arrows, and papers, and bandaides, and overlays, and more!

I did something a little different. Call them 'age markers', I guess. A close up is below and you get the crayons and circles so you can mark off the child's age. Cute, huh? Well, I thought so. You get 5 quickpages...the 1st one pictured is of my son just so I could show you the "age marker" in use.

Ages 1-7 is a hopscotch and 8-12 is a ruler.

Download no longer available...sorry!

Have a great day and I will talk to you over the weekend, hopefully.

Garden Party Quickpages

As I promised, I am back with the final upload of Garden Party.

But before I get to that, how are you liking the Blue Latte quickpages? "Gee, I'm new at this." "I don't know how to do one." "I don't think anyone will like mine." Yadda, yadda, yadda...all I can say is phooey! You guys blew this away!

I did get a couple of emails today from gals that sent in pages that were not uploaded so there may be some you missed since I just uploaded them this afternoon.

The next kit we do this with is going to be butt ugly and then maybe it will be more manageable! LOL! Only kidding! But, it will be a while before we do another since there is no room to upload another whole exchange!

I would like to set up a slide show of your LO's though. Some of you have sent me some but unfortunately when I had computer problems, I lost them. Please if you use any of my kits, please send me the file or a link.

So, here are the quickpages:

Download no longer available...sorry!

Blue Latte Quickpage Exchange

I have just sent out the email with the link and password. When you get the link, please check to make sure your file is there. And, If you did not get the email and you did send in a page, please contact me at jand97sc@yahoo.com putting "missing link" in the subject line. I did get back several as "undeliverable" so...let me know!

As you will see the response was huge! and although Diana and I were trying to be very careful, we are human! I will post again later with a freebie for you so check back!

Thank You! Thank You! Thank You! Thank You! Thank You! Thank You!

Today is the 25th!!!

Let me just insert a portion of an email I got from Diana here for you:

"Lordy, lordy. This insanity has to stop. lololol. I think I uploaded the 100th page tonight. This is absolutely hysterical. I did not even have a clue we would get this many."

I have renamed Diana...Saint Diana! I am still getting emails saying that some just read about this and promise to get their pages in today. So here is the drill....sometime after midnight to night and, please, be patient, you will receive the link and password from either Diana or me. Some sent to Diana, some to me. This was confusing and we have learned a lot and will do it a little different the next time. When you get the link, please check that your page is there. Also, if you do not get the link, please send me an email! We think we have every one's addies but like I said, this response was overwhelming and mistakes do happen. I was going to try to upload a preview of every one's page in addition to the zipped file but, again, the response was overwhelming! But, the link and files will remain active for long enough for everyone to get them and I will not remove the files unless I post it here. You will be downloading for a LONG time!

This has been a unique experience. It has been so nice to see how many of you really liked this kit, how many responded and did a page, and as a "designer" it is so nice to see people use your kit! And, I thank you for that! Comments and this kind of interaction is such nice payment!

My apologies to Elaine...didn't mean to drag up old rivalries between you and Pat! LOL! I have a brother like that...always got me in trouble when I was nothing short of angelic!! LOL!

Now on to Garden Party...I think this is the last of it except for the Quickpages but with the way my mind is lately, I will double check. I am calling these papers "solid" although they are not really, but they are not Print so...

Download no longer available...sorry!

Download no longer available...sorry!

Well, off to get to the grocery store and then to pull a few more weeds! Have I told you how much I love this weather????

The Thinking Blogger

WooHoo! I got an award! The “Thinking Blogger Award”! I didn’t even know anything about it until Candee posted a comment here and told me to check out her blog! Gee, it’s nice to get something because someone thinks enough of you to think you deserve it…thank you Candee!

Here’s how it works: All you have to do is tag 5 blogs for the award-state them on your blog with links and why you give them the award and then let them know they've been tagged so they can carry on the process too! You can't tag someone whose already been tagged.

Now the tough part is, I don’t do a lot of blog hopping and Candee already nominated Anita and PillowGirl has already been nominated and those are two that I would definitely pick but here goes:

Joanne from “Pocket Angel” because she definitely is an angel in my book. She is always there when you need support and is always willing to help you whenever you ask. Plus, I think she is very talented and shares so freely. Not just her finished designs but her knowledge as well.

Beth from “Moodee Beth” for much of the same reason. Seems to be a trend of how I pick my friends, eh? Beth is amazing! Her designs are awesome and realistic. You can tell just by reading her blog that you could sit down and have a cup of coffee with her and feel right at home. http://members.aol.com/moodeebeth/moodeebeth.html

Dorothy from "Dorothy’s Creations" and Scraps2Design Yahoo Group. Dorothy not only is talented but she gives so much back. She runs a great group with lots of challenges and also gives classes but most of all, is very encouraging.

Rina Kroes from "Reluctant Recluse". I am sure Rina does not know me from a hole in the wall but, I have asked her a few questions through groups and she was always so kind and willing to answer not only me but anyone else that posed a question. Her blog is diverse with freebies, LO's and spotlighting others. Nice and talented…wonderful combination.

And, last but not least, An from "An’s Little Place". Another lady that I know through Yahoo Groups that is a share-aholic. And just all around nice person!

There are so many wonderful blogs out there. And, so many other scrap-people that I think should be recognized but they don’t have blogs. We certainly are very fortunate to receive so much from all the designers and from others that search and share!.

But, I have to say, if there was a way to give all the readers an award, MY readers would get the Gold Medal! So strut down that Red Carpet and give yourselves a round of applause cuz you're the BEST! LOL!

Oh, what a beautiful morning!

Although it is afternoon, now! I got up and took my coffee outside and enjoyed the sun and birds and thought about how much work there was to do inside and out and said " The heck with it!" and just sat and enjoyed! Getting to the age when I realize, very few appreciate a clean house...as long as they can walk through it and find what they want, they do not notice the little dust in the corners and such!



Spent a rather strange evening last night with my daughter. She started off asking if I had a "design of kinda a scrolly claddagh with shamrocks". She was a little shocked when I asked her, why are you trying to come up with a tattoo? She thought I would be very against it but as long as it is not in a place where others can see it on a daily basis and it is tasteful, I don't have a problem with it. when I was younger, I always wanted to get a little rosebud on my boob. but after working in nursing and with the geriatric crowd, I thought about how that little rosebud would someday probably stretch to be a long stem rose, I changed my mind! I could just imaging those nurses and nurses aides saying, " what was this old lady thinking????" Anyway, my DH will probably have a lot to say about it but then again my daughter has him wrapped right around her little finger and will do what she wants anyway. So we sat down and designed her tattoo! She wants it on her lower back and about 4 inches wide so it is not like she will look like a biker chick. I love tattoos as long as you are not covered with them. I watch Inked Miami Ink on TV and think about getting one a lot so this did not come as a big shock to me!



Today, the download (and I think I did this one right!) is some misc. elements and journaling blocks.

Download no longer available...sorry!

Elaine, I believed, asked if we were going to do an exchange for this kit......whoa! Have we really unleashed the monster in you all? I think Diana and I need to recover a little from the one that is still going on!

Remember, tomorrow is the FINAL DAY....no exceptions! Gotta be tough on this one so please do not get offended. The response has been overwhelming and it was alot of uploading.

OOOPPSS!

OOPPSS! I thought I had zipped them both together but sometimes what I think I do and what I actually do are two separate things. You can get the gold scroll HERE

Happy Monday!

I am going to make this quick since Yahoo keeps shutting down on me and I have lost this post 4 times so far!



Today's part is the flowers and a gold version of the scroll from the Battenburg Lace.

Download no longer available...sorry!

Spring has FINALLY arrived!

Since 4Shared was being a butt yesterday I decided to head outdoors and do a little work in my gardens. It was gorgeous outside! Didn't get a lot done since I did not want to overdo it but so far it looks like so many of my bulbs and plants did survive this strange winter we had! Filled up 2 huge lawn and leaf bags with dead stuff and only got 1 1/2 flower beds done! Tons more to do but unfortunately the body gives out before the mind so, it will take awhile! Then, with the way the weather has been, we will probably get another frost or snow so....crazy weather!



Here is the next part of Garden Party...the buttons and bows! The flower buttons are tied with a little ribbon for you already and there should be enough ribbons and bows to you to have lots of fun mixing and matching!



So, enjoy....keeping this short so I can get outside again! Have a wonderful Spring Day!

Download no longer available...sorry!

Still at the Garden Party!

Today's download is a little hard to picture but it is 2 pieces of green tissue paper. Ya know the kind of paper you get wrapped around flowers? Tried to make it look like I smoothed it out but the edges are still crumpled and curled. I think it came out pretty good. Also, a nice piece of vellum with the flower print on it. The papers I used in the preview are part of this kit also, you will get them soon!

Download no longer available...sorry!


An update on the Quickpage Exchange! Diana sent me an email that she, so far, has about 67 pages uploaded and more are coming in! Wow! and WOW! I never dreamed the response would be so incredible! Many of you are first timers and have said that you think I have now created a monster! LOL! Gee, you say that like it's a bad thing! I am sure that many of you have found out things that you never knew, which has taught you more about the program you are using, you have come out of your shells a little and shared your creativity (so glad you felt comfortable doing this through my blog!) and gee, the good things just make this fun all around!



I was working on a quickpage last night and realized that there are so many things that I take for granted that maybe some of you that were having trouble with the picture "hole" may not know so here goes....



-When you start your page and pull a background up to be the base of your page, make sure you go to layers/promote background layer. If you do not do this, when you delete a selection from this, it will stay black or white or whatever color. Promoted to a layer, the deleted selection will become transparent.



-A very good habit to get into, and you will read this in almost an tutorial, is do not use your original image. ALWAYS make a copy, then close your original! Many files have been lost to saving it as something else and once saved, you cannot retrieve it!



-Many of you are surprised that saving a PSP image as a png merges it to one layer. That is what a png is! As far as I know, (and I am by no means an expert), PSP is the only program that recognizes layers. PhotoShop and the like do not ,which is why when sharing to a diverse group, files should be in png format. Oops! Nope, not true....I have been informed that PS does use layers but with psd files. Told you....not an expert and know nothing of the other programs! LOL! But, they cannot break apart a PSP image, right? So elements cannot be overlapping because then they cannot be broken apart. So, PSP users...once your page is complete and you have deleted any places you want transparent and you have checked your resolution to make sure that it is the size and ppi/ppc that you want, I go to layers/merge visible, make sure I am happy with it, then edit/copy/paste as new image. Then save as/png. I make a copy to save as a psp image "just in case". You can always delete it later when you are cleaning up the folder.



-My settings: File/Prefeneces/File format Preferences/PNG/Load and save transparency to/ from layer transparency

-The default resolution for PSP is 72 something. This resolution not suitable for printing and it is the reason that when you open a new file and try to use some kits, the elements are just huge. Go to file/preferences/general progam prefeneces/units/and change your resolution to at least 200 pixels per inch. There is the great debate of 200 vs. 300 so I will just leave it up to you. I create at 200, before packaging to share, I resize to 300. After certain period of time I changed it all back to 200 since it takes up so much less space on my harddrive. For those of you that 12x12 pages the difference in creating in 200 is amazing. You can go here and read all about this and download a script that will convert your pngs and jpg to 200ppi all in one step. http://www.dizteq.com/scrapstuff/scrap200.html


-There are tons of tutorials out there. I find that even just reading through them, you find out a wealth of information about functions you were not aware of. These programs can do so much, that I am sure there are few people that know and remember EVERYTHING about them so take advantage of the information that others so freely offer. Just do a Google search for tutorials for what you are looking for and I am sure that you will find them to be more helpful than me! I am not a tut writer since sometimes I forget steps that I have taken. A good tut writer is very detail oriented and precise. I tend to fly by the seat of my pants a lot of the time!


Hope this helps. And, please, no more apologies about asking questions! I have enjoyed "helping" where I can and it has been a learning experience for me as well. Your response to this kit and to this exchange has been thanks enough! It is a nice feeling to know that I may have un-caged so many "monsters"!



I keep thinking that there is something else I mean to tell you...this old mind is slipping. Oh, well, good thing there is an edit button!



Have a great day! And, remember, only 5 days left to get your pages in!

More Garden Party

Gee, I don't know if it's me or what but I am having problems with Blogger

AND 4Shared! Tend to think it's me but hard to admit that! I cannot seem to get Blogger to upload my pics so had to upload to photobucket and link from there. And, it took me 5 tries to get the file uploaded to 4Shared! Argh!

Not much to chat about today so do you want to hear me complain about the weather? It's DAMN cold! I want to be outside puttering in my gardens! I want the warmth of the sun heating up theses old bones! I want to Stop shivering! I want! I want! I want!

Bought some Lily of the Valley yesterday. I have some under a tree in out backyard that my sweet little lady neighbor gave to me years ago but it didn't spread like she said it would. I just love them...such a perfect little flower and I love the smell. Some of my daffodils are up...some have already died off when they bloomed during that warm spell we had in the winter. Last year I planted about 250 bulbs...tulips, anemones, lilies, daffs and I forget what else. LOL! Couldn't stand upright for days after that! So, I am curious to see how they make out! I have lots of those tulips that are multi-petalled and look like peonies. They are beautiful, I just wish they lasted longer when in bloom! My goal is to have ALL bulbs and perennials so that I can just go out and enjoy and not have to plant every year! But it get so expensive so I just wait until they are big enough to divide so that the flower beds will be filled to capacity!

Looks like I will have to put Bogie under the same security as Officer Goodbody! He is such a sweetie. His name was actually given to him at the dog shelter. But, when I was a freshman in high school my parents went away for the weekend and left me money to buy food for an overnight trip I was taking with the drum corp I was in. Instead of food, I bought a dog! At the time I was into Humphrey Bogart so I named him Bogie. He was the love of my life and was such a good friend for 17 years. Years later, I wanted to get a dog and went to my favorite animal shelter looking for a dog. I had been thinking about a Beagle since they stay pretty small and when I walked in and asked for a young dog, that stayed relatively small, the girl said "How about a Beagle?". He had been found in the blizzard we had just had that year, and was scared to death. Extremely timid and just trembling. She said that, "we named him Bogie". Well, that was enough of a "meant to be" for me and I brought him home! He still is timid and fearful...doesn't like new things or things to be out of place. If I move furniture around it takes him days to walk into that room again!

So, here is your freebie for the day. Four "battenburg" type semi-transparent overlays and a full size 8x8 floral rub-on. The battenburg are almost 8x8 so you can use them to cover almost the whole page or slide them over to create a side border.

Download no longer available...sorry!

I just realized that this file is pretty big so if you absolutely need me to, I will divide it and make it smaller. I am almost out of space again on 4shared so it is time to delete some files again!!

Have a sparkling day!

Late post

Sorry for posting so late today...more wallpaper shopping and then we had to go to a wake this evening. Finally found a wallpaper that would go but now have to wait 2 weeks for it to be delivered. Hopefully, the rest of the room will take that long to do so it doesn't seem like we just get the mess cleaned up just to get it messy again!

You know, I haven't posted anything about the tragedy in Virginia. Not because it has not been on my mind but I am just having such a hard time wrapping my mind around it. I try very hard not to be too over protective with my kids (although they would probably disagree) but you do have to let them go and spread their wings. Letting them go away to college should be "a little flutter" since you think you are sending them some place safe and to something that will prepare them for the future. When Jess was in school, she and her friends would go out to some of the clubs in Rhode Island. I would always tell her to be careful, she always promised that they would have a designated driver, the whole "I-am-your-parent-and-it-is-my-job-to-worry" verbiage. When it came on the news that a club had burned in Rhode Island and all those people had died, we frantically tried to call her and wouldn't be able to get through to her until the next evening. We had called the State Police in Rhode Island, we had called the school, we called everyone we could think of. She was so, almost, irritated that we were so upset. She had just slept over at a friend's house and she had forgotten her phone. Told us that we needed to "chill" and realize that we were no longer in control of her every move and that at her age, she didn't think she should have to call us to let us know that she was going out. True but...

So, I can imagine the panic, the fear, the dread that all the parents and families were going through but, hopefully, I will never know, first hand, the grief that the victims' families will live with for the rest of their lives. I find that every time it comes on the news, I am in tears. I simply just cannot imagine or understand.

Today's Freebie
Preview Not Available (preview is uploaded to 4shared though)

Download no longer available...sorry!

For some reason, blogger will not upload the jpg. It is the Alphas. Two Capital sets and one Small alpha with numbers and punctuation marks (and the ALL important &....just a little poke at Cindell!) But you can see it on the tag on the papers that says Garden Party. One Capital set has the stamp and one is Plain. Sorry.

Quickie post today

Just a quick post but I have got a couple of things for you! Gotta go help my Mom pick out some wallpaper for her kitchen and THAT should be an all afternoon job!

Thanks for the comments on my babies! Love them to bits...unconditional love, no expectations, just basic needs...wish a knew a man like that!!!

First, was gonna give you more papers for Garden Party but, everyone loves elements, right? So, I thought I would start you off with some frames. 2 frames and kinda a rub-on thingy that you can use as a frame or whatever! I think this kit is done but you never can tell. Sometimes in doing quickpages...something else comes up and gets added.

Download no longer available...sorry!

Um, speaking of quickpages........... LOL! Think I have nagged you enough and I think Diana has been glued to her computer uploading sine Friday! Tons of pages! Always room for more though, so come on!

Second, another challenge for Scraps2Design...love that group! Dorothy and team are always putting out challenges and tuts challenges! This week was a kid's note paper challenge and this is what I came up with and thought I would share. Hint....shhhhh....got a kit coming down the road that this will work great with! Shhhhh!

Yep! That's Bogie! Pretending to be a helicopter! Such a talented dog!

LOL! Couldn't find a pic of my kids doing anything quite as impressive!

Sorry...this download has been removed

My fur babies!

Just finished these for a challenge for Scrap2Design and I thought I would share my fur babies with y'all.

Bogie, the beagle, is mine. He is such a lovey and is never far from my side. Quite a couch potato and expects to be petted 24/7. Bonnie, the Jack Rat, is Jessica's. She is none stop energy! Quite the opposite of Bogey and that does present some problems.

Then, there is Lola...self proclaimed Queen! She is actually my son's cat and supposedly just on loan until he moves somewhere that allows pets! She takes aloof and independent to an all time high! Can you tell Bonnie is my daughter's? The dog has a more extensive wardrobe than I do! We tried dressing the cat....still got the scars to prove it!

The alpha on Lola's page is from Tracie Sims Blog Freebie from quite some time ago.

I went to a garden party

"To reminisce with my old friends...A chance to share old memories..."

take some pictures and go home and scrap them!

Oh, I think you are going to like this one!

Download no longer available...sorry!

The storm has finally passed but today is very cold and damp. We lost power twice yesterday, once because of the storm and once because 2 transformers blew up. A total of 6 hours without power! Just when we thought we could get back to normal...nay! nay! In the dark again! We finally had supper at about 8:30 PM. I was going to just fix sammies at that point but I had my mouth all set for what I originally planned. I tried Paula Dean's recipe for Southern Fried Chicken and, OMG, it was so-o-o-o-o good! Every one's cholesterol probably went up but I think it was worth it! Mmmmmm! Made extra so I would be sure there were leftovers! I have a real hard time making the right amount of food since I am still subconsciously thinking that my son is here. But, what I did was buy a bunch of those divided containers and the leftovers get packed up right away in those and popped in the freezer. He still gets some home cookin' and it saves on his grocery bill. It is so expensive to buy for one person who is trying to cook for one person! He is a good cook but doesn't always feel like cooking just for himself. He ends up cooking for the 5 roommates and THAT gets a little expensive! He has finally started to ask them to go buy the groceries and he will do the cooking. Much smarter...glad he finally learned! My tuition dollars at work!

Showing our ages!

Yes, Beth was right....Garden Party sung by the oh, so dreamy Ricky Nelson! Boy, can I remember watching that show and just wishing I could meet him! And, oh, how I wanted my parents to be like Ozzie and Harriet! I took me growing up to realize my parents were great parents!

So, now I have to find a prize for "Smartie Pants" Beth! It thought I was being very vague with my hint but I guess not! Thanks, Betty for getting the words...funny you can sing along with a song when it is playing but when you try to think of the words later, you can't!

I forgot to say something before in my long-winded chat...Blanche's grandson continues to improve but he will be needing a transplant in the near future. She is asking for any information about grants, or assistance of any kind so if you know of any, please forward the info to me and I will make sure that she gets it. The family is struggling financially because of all the medical bills and time off from work to be with little Jacob.

Well, here is a quick page from Garden Party. Still working on it but I thought I would just give you a sneak preview! ( No, there is no download yet!)

What a dreary day!

Are any of y'all from Texas? Although I feel for you with the tornadoes that you had a few days back...you could have sent this storm system out to sea and NOT to New England! It is COLD, rainy, snowy, windy and, need I remind you, it is April 15th!

No freebie today but thought I would just chat...I have a new kit in the making. I was working on it, agonizing over a name. I am beginning to think that naming kits has become worse than the packaging and uploading! I am going to take a tip from Anita and post it and let you guys pick a name! I told her she was cheating but, gee, names are so hard to come by!

I digress, so I was sitting in front of Nell (my computer, since it is a Dell...figured I should name it since we spend so much time together) working on this kit, racking my brain for a name. Reminds me of a garden...Spring Blooms? Glorious Garden? Forever Flowers? Just a few that I immediately tossed aside. Then, a song came on the radio! Any guesses? Give you a hint...the singer has since passed away and the song has something to do with garden! Come on put your thinking caps on. A prize MAY be awarded if I don't have to give you too many hints!!

The Exchange...OMG! I NEVER want to hear the NEWBIE weeny whining again! For all the nay sayers...you have come through! See? Told you that you could do it! And, I don't mind the questions at all! I wish that I had asked more questions when I was learning, maybe I wouldn't still be doing things the hard way! But, some of you have really challenged me. I have only ever used PSP so as far as the other programs, I can only guess. But post questions here and somebody may be able to help if I can't.

Some of you are still having trouble with the picture opening. One thing that I do (and I am not sure this is the expert way, but) I have my file settings set like:

File/Preferences/File preferences/PNG and then check load and save transparency to/from layer transparency

this keeps what you want transparent to stay transparent when you save it.

Also, please check that your pages are 300 ppi. Some have come through as 72 which is PSP default. You need to change that to at least 200ppi and in most groups, they insist upon 300 ppi. Between 72 and 200/300 is a MAJOR difference in print quality.

Now some general chit-chat:
Christeph...don't know if he has a brother or sister!?!?! Just tell your other half, if he is smart and wants supper, to be thankful for you and not be asking! You on the other hand are free to fantasize all you want!

Betty...you are not blaming me for getting you hooked are you? Make me sound like a pusher! LOL! Yes, it is a good thing...not expensive, it is enjoyable and you get to meet lots of people!

Elaine...girl....where have you been???? Fotofusion is loaded on my computer but I can't figure it out but, gee, give it a try. The pages are great and you don't want to miss them!

Judyf...I don't know if I will preview the pages here because there are so many! And the only way you can get them is if you submit a page...sorry, but that is the whole point of the exchange.

Finally....sure! You all gave me big ones because I won't share Officer Goodbody BUT I OFFER Ben Gay and Art Ritis to you and so far NObody wants them! I see who my friends are! LOL! It could be worse... have you met this nice young man? He just calls himself "H" and he dresses real nice! I call him Preppy H! Oh, the joys of having been pregnant and then the Golden Years!

Thanks for all the comments on the new look of the blog...it was only 2 months passed Valentine's Day...thought I should change it!

Have a wonderful day. Go rest your eyes...boy! can I run off at the mouth!

I just couldn't help myself!!

Diane wrote me tonight that she had started to upload the pages. She said that she had checked them and they were great! I was going to wait and be surprised with the rest of you but, nay, nay! Couldn't help it! All I can say is..... WOW!!! It surprised me how different they all were and how creative (even you "self proclaimed" newbies) you are with the elements! The same elements seen with different eyes come out being used in unique ways!



Please...make sure you send in your pages! You are not going to want to miss these pages! So far there are about 35 or 36 pages! And that is only from 10 of you! A total of 40 sent me that they were going to do it so...that's a LOT of pages if everyone comes through!



Found a little minikit that was sitting on my harddrive so thought I would share it.

Download no longer available...sorry!

Think I am taking tomorrow off and get out of the house before the big storm hits us on Sunday. This is Spring, right?

Just some chat

WooHoo yet again! I just finished 3 more quickpages. I want to make sure that I get the link and password to get all the goodies! LOL! I have lost count of how many have sent emails to me about participating but I do know that it is over 35! Diane is going to be an uploading fool!

To answer some questions: You MUST submit at least one page to get the link and password. sorry but that is the whole point of it! I am again going to repeat...beginners are welcome!

The deadline is the 25th. when I first posted it, it gave you 15 days to get them in. Mark it on your calendars! Don't follow in my footsteps and forget to submit!

I am also going to upload for those that participate a couple of extra goodies that I made when I was doing my quickpages. So, you see, this is a Win/Win situation. You get to learn or show off your creative talents and you get lots of pages and goodies!

Let me just remind you that these pages are just for those that participate. Please do not share the link or password once the exchange is over. Sound like a mean old woman but, rules is rules!

Many have commented that you are also a very good friend of Al Zymer! Well, some spelled his name differently so maybe they are not the same person! But, like I said to Pugsli this morning, I have tossed aside Al and today am involved with Ben Gay since Art Ritis has been giving me such a workout! I will not share Officer Goodbody but any of these other gents, you are welcome to! (let's see how many of you jump at that proposal!)

Have a good evening!

Yes! I haven't lost my touch!

I can still inflict guilt by my naggin'! A couple of you late bloomers succumbed and said that you will now submit pages!! MmWwwHaHa! I am the Queen Supreme of Naggin! Don't forget to mail your pages to grindstaff@windstream.net by the 25th! After Diane gets them all uploaded, you will receive the link and password so that you can download ALL the pages! There are now over 30 participants! Remember to read the requirements HERE and if you have any questions, just ask!

So, have I just been being lazy since y'all have been busy. Nay! Nay! I have a kit for you but I do have to confess...this was done for a challenge that I missed the deadline for. Seems to be a trend with me. I get all excited about a challenge and then forget to submit it! Well, you reap the bennies of my forgetfulness! (Meet my new boyfriend: Al Zymer!) It is a mini-kit and it is for kids! I just love the shoelaces!!! Don't you? Sometimes bows are just "too too" for kids and I thought shoelaces would be fun!

Download no longer available...sorry!

I am not ignoring you....

just been busy trying to clean up some emails, get some kits finished up and packed, deleting some files, ya know, all the boring stuff!

But, you shouldn't be missing me since you are all busy working on your quickpages, right? Now I do not want to complain BUT! I still hear some grumbling about "gee, I am new so I don't know if I should, I don't think I am very good, blah, blah, blah!"

Well, I think I might have a little incentive for you...So far we have 26 people signed up to do the exchange. Even if each of those gals only does one page, that is 26 pages that you will get just for submitting one page! That is more than enough to do an album! So come on! What better place to try out creating than here! If you want "gentle critiques", just ask and if you want to ask any questions, just ask! I have seen the ones that have been turned in already and they are beautiful so if you don't play, you will be missing out big time!

Dare to be creative! Take the plunge! Everyone was a beginner at one time! The only failure is not trying! No time like the present! Ummm.....can't think of anymore except, get off your scrapping butts and.... LOL!

Big hugs!!!

Quickpage Exchange

Ladies! Ladies! Slow down! Please do not post your pages through the groups! You have to submit a page to reap the bennies! So please send your files as described below to grindstaff@windstream.net . Diana can take files up to a 20 mb attachment and then she will upload to the upload site. The cutoff date will be April 25. That gives you all 15 days to do your pages and get them to Diana. After she has got them all, you will be given the link and password and you can download all the pages!


The response is overwhelming so there will be LOTS of pages for you! Thanks for everyone's cooperation and participation! WooHoo!

Re: Trouble downloading

Thanks for letting me know you were having trouble downloading. I am thinking it is a glitch with 4shared since I can't even log into my account and through some of my groups others are complaining about 4shared right now for any link. If the problem is not resolved by tomorrow, I will upload to another site.

WooHoo! 12 people have already agreed to participate!

Final part of Blue Latte

Well, this is it....last of Blue Latte. Diana is going to help me out with the Quickpage Exchange and hopefully I will post all about it tomorrow. She is out of town right now for the funeral services for her stepfather so please be patient. I am so excited about this and cannot wait to see what you all come up with for pages! Please, please, please...do not be intimidated or afraid to submit. Everybody that digi scraps was once a beginner!

Easter was wonderful. My "wayward" son came home. For his big night on the town, well, let's just say that I had wilder times when I was younger! But everyone was safe and they had a good time and that is all that counts. My daughter had a check up on her leg today and she will be in the air cast for another month which does not make her very happy. She did a lot of damage to the soft tissue and that takes so much longer to heal than bone.

My kids gave me a combination Easter and Birthday present yesterday! A 500 gig external hard drive! Seems they were a little tired of hearing me complain about having to search through CDs to find my scrapping stuff! And now that they have seen some of the pages that I have done for albums for them, they want them finished! So, I think I have all the HD space I need, now I just need more memory! The never ending saga of an overworked computer!!

Now that you have the whole kit, start getting those creative juices going! Here are some guidelines for you:

• Requirements:
  - Please send me an email saying that you are going to participate ( jand97sc@yahoo.com put Quickpage exchange in the subject line)
  - 8x8 Pages (2400pixels by 2400 pixels)
  - 300 ppi (118.110 ppc)
  - PNG format
  - You may use other elements but please be very careful with the designer’s TOU. Make sure that it can be shared and if in doubt, do not use! If it can be used please include a page (.txt file) in your file giving credit and link to their site if possible.
  - Generic pages only, make sure anyone can use. No personalization, dates, etc.
  - When naming your file please do it like this: yourname_bluelatte_quickpage1 (1,2,3 if you send additional pages)
  - You will need to send the quickpage in png format, a jpg for use as a preview and the .txt file if applicable
  - You can send as a RAR or Zip if you prefer.
  - You must submit at least one page but you can send as many as you like.
  
  
  To do a quickpage
  - Open a new file 8x8 300 ppi and create just as if you were doing a page for yourself. Choose your background, add your elements, your drops shadows, etc.
  - Some quickpages are designed so that you can place your photo on top. They are usually a little less “decorated” letting the individual decide how they want to place and accent their pic
  - If you choose to use a “frame” or cutout for the photo, after you are happy with your LO and before you merge your layers, select the area where your pic would be and delete that area so that others can just slip the pics behind. Most ot the time, I select the area and then expand the selection by a few pixels before removing it so that I am sure nothing will show that is not supposed to. Removing this area should be the last step you do before merging since you cannot move anything around after deleting without having to hit undo! Merge your layers as merge visible and save as PNG. This will insure that the cutout area will be transparent.
  - If you have any questions or if you want me to check your page before you finish, let me know. There are no stupid questions and I certainly do not claim to know all the answers but I will help if I can!
  
• One other thing, and this is optional, I used a brown for drop shadowing on this set and on most other kits that I use since it seems less harsh than black. The color I use is #57341b. So, if you are ever trying to match my shadows or if you just want a softer shadow on your LO's try this color.
  
  Most importantly, have fun, experiment and enjoy!

The preview does not come close to showing everything in the file

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Such GOOD News!

No Freebie today but I wanted to share the latest update from Blanche about her little angel, Jacob! What a wonderful way to start the day getting this in my inbox this morning!


JANNIDEE

YOU WON'T BELIEVE THIS BUT HE IS IMPROVING ONCE AGAIN. THE INFECTION WAS ECOLI AND THEY CAN NOW TREAT HIM CORRECTLY. THE DIALYSIS IS WORKING GOOD....NO FEVERS FOR TWO DAYS AND HIS LUNGS ARE BETTER. I GUESS HE'S NOT GIVING UP AND WE CERTAINLY AREN'T EITHER -LOL-- AND THE DR. HASN'T MENTIONED WHAT I THOUGHT HE WOULD SO THEY ARE NOT READY TO QUIT EITHER.

Have a Blessed Easter everyone!

Hoppy Easter!

Taking a break from the kitchen and thought I would check some emails and then the "draw of the blog" got to me and I said, "What the heck! As long as I am here checking comments, I might as well upload something!"



Still waiting to hear from my "drunken sot" of a son! I am sure he is okay. His best friend was the designated driver and I told him that since we were going to be his surrogate parents when his mother moves away, I would have every right to kill him if he neglected his duties as driver!



Thank you all for your thoughts about my uncle. My Mom also just heard yesterday that they have stopped the feeding tube on her sister-in-law out in Kansas (where my Mom is from) and that it doesn't look good. This poor woman has been fighting cancer for several years and has done very well. It had gone to her brain and did radiation for it. The radiation got rid of the cancer but caused so much damage to the brain tissue that it is like she had a stroke. Unable to really function...somehow that just seems wrong on so many levels. Beat the cancer but come out of it like this!



I did get an email from Blanche about her precious little grandson, Jacob and that family still needs our prayers. His kidneys are failing and they have called the family in. Please continue to pray strongly for this family. And, Diana lost her stepfather. Our prayer list is getting too long! I think we are all due for some good times and relief. You, my cyber family, will be in my prayers and thoughts!



Now, duh! I colored eggs like I told you. And I hard boiled some others to have with the kielbasa. I come out this morning to see my DH eating a hard boiled egg. Did he take just a plain one? (Which were marked as hard boiled in the frig) Oh, no...one of the colored ones! Happy to see that jerk-gene is alive and well and found a permanent home! DUH!



I am giving you my quickpages today. I did 3 of them and will probably do more when we do the exchange, I love working with this kit! As you can see, there are still elements that you don't have yet so there is still more to come! This kit reminds me of Frosted Windowpanes, where I had to stop myself and call it done! Ha! That one was blue also...maybe it is a color thing!

Download no longer available...sorry!

Well, the kitchen is calling...

I wish you all a wonderful Holiday. Keep safe and enjoy the love of those that surround you. May you have peace and love in your lives and know that He loves you and will guide you and carry you when you lose your way! Happy Easter, my friends

I'm late, I'm late....

too bad I don't have a very important date!

Ilona! Yes,yes, yes! It was you! I found an old email last night with your frame in it and a made a note to mention you today when I posted! Thank you for sharing how you did it!

Sorry I am so late today, been busy getting some things ready for Sunday and today has been kind of a strange day. My uncle passed away yesterday. I haven't seen him since I was about 15, and he was very old and in very poor health so although I am sad about his passing he is in a much better place. The things that are making feel upset about this are, one, he claimed to be an atheist and somehow that really bothers me. How do you go through life not believing that there is a not higher power and a better place? And, I feel so bad for my Mom. There were 9 in her family and 5 in my father's. Except for her and her sister, they are all gone now and I know she is thinking about that. Kind of a not so nice slap of reality.

So, is everybody all ready for Easter? I dyed some eggs tonight all by myself and was giggling because there was not one stain on the counter top or on my hands! My daughter came out and commented on how neat everything was and it just reminded us both of the mess there used to be when they were younger!

AND, my son turned 21 yesterday and is going out tonight for his first night out on the town! The "first legal" one that is! I wasn't born yesterday! So, between the egg discussion and him turning 21, there was another slap of reality! All this reality is not a "good thing"!

But, I tell you what is a good thing...more freebies, right? Here you go....

Word art...I know you all are caffeine addicts so there are some about coffee and, I don't know about you, but some of my best times are having coffee with a friend.

Download no longer available...sorry!

And Latte stuff! So you can scrap that coffee loving friend...

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Hopefully, will get to post tomorrow but in case I do not, have a wonderful Holiday for those of you that celebrate Easter! All of you will be among the blessings at my table!

Don't know about you...

but all this caffeine has me wired! Sorry about posting so late to day but I got into designing a kit last night and before I knew it, it was 3 AM! So, I slept a little late today and then had to do some running around.

Tracy, thank you for correcting me about "y'all". For some reason it did not look right when I typed it and now I know why! LOL! it is such a great word! Ummmm, Linda...Florida for a COUPLE of weeks? Without me? Elaine and Diane...great minds think alike! The wallpaper started off as a quickpage that you will get and on my desktop I used the wallpaper with a sepia toned picture of my daughter!

On a more serious side, Betty...sorry to hear things are not going well, please know that you and your husband are in my prayers. You've got my email...any time you need to chat, I am here for you. And last, a little update on Blanche's grandson...he is still fighting. They cannot seem to locate the infection to determine the best way to fight it. So, please, ladies, add these two families to your prayer lists to help them through these trying times.



Blue Latte! Today, I give you frames and mats galore!

Download no longer available...sorry!

Someone asked how the "blanket stitching" was done... a little tip that was shared by someone in one of the groups I am in and for the life of me, cannot remember who! Um, does it look like the capital letter L, real close together? Text on a circle, adjust your kerning, add dimension and texture and ta-da! Got it?

For those of you who have never done a quickpage, do not get your panties in such a twist about it! I am trying to put together a little guideline as to how to do it. It is not hard and this will be great way to learn. I am so looking forward to it! Especially all using the same kit, it will be interesting to see the different ways each of you use the elements! Will post the details after Easter and then will decide on the deadline! So don't let the stress of this project over shadow your Holiday!!! LOL!

OOPS!

I am so sorry! The felt flowers file is fixed. Somehow I had zipped my working psp file and not the png. Thanks Anon for pointing it out! The correct file has been uploaded so if you need to redownload it is ther. My apologies for any inconvenience, maybe I could say "Belated April Fools"?

Another latte, please

Got a few things for you today. I think we are going to have a quickpage exchange for this kit so get your creative juices flowing and as soon as I get all the details in place, I will get the details to you. I have already done 3 quickpages and I have to tell you, I love working with this kit!

So, I better get some pieces out to you so you can start having some fun also!

To start I did a desktop. It is in png format so you can just slip your pic behind, add whatever you want to the labels, then save as a jpg and add to your desktop.

Download no longer available...sorry!

Next, I have an Alpha. I had done this for a challenge that I missed the deadline for but the color worked with this kit so I decided to add it. I have it in a few other colors so I will probably share those at a later time. It is all caps and you also get a blank, a chain and wires with a few accent beads thrown in!

Download no longer available...sorry!

And, finally for today, some felt accent pieces and some stitching. The center of the flowers are accented with some seed beads that I lovingly stitched individually by hand on for you! (Right, like I actually LIKE to sew by hand!)

Download no longer available...sorry!

Every time I do another quickpage, I think of something else I want so this kit just keeps growing! I think this is going to be so much fun since if we get enough pages turned in, we will be able to do a whole album with this kit and I think it will be beautiful! So stayed tuned for the details and remember, if you don't play, you can't win! Oh, wait, that's for the lottery! Well, if you don't submit, you can't download the pages! And don't think that you have to be great to submit...this is for beginners to pros! It will be great to learn, share your creative skills or astonish others with your ability!!! It's all fun so come on. Let's all be design DIVAs!

Have a Wonderful, Sparkling Diva of a Day!

Care to share a Latte?

Thought I would post the first part tonight as I have been sleeping in in the mornings lately and, gee, don't want any of ya'll mad at me! I know, I know, I am a Northern Gal but ya'll is such a great word!



So, my son isn't here for supper tonight and we had Country BBQ Ribs, baked potatoes, corn, salad and a coconut cream pie. Now I ask you, how many of you think my DH is suffering? Yeah, I thought so! He can be such a jerk sometimes! Is it a special gene that they have?



Are any of you watching The Planet Earth on the Discovery Channel? Boy, this really is an amazing place, huh? Some of the camera work is just awesome! I don't think I would want to be the photographers though, I like the comforts of home and staying in Antarctica and freezing my butt off would cost them more money than they would want to pay!



So here are the papers...10 papers and then 4 overlays so you can really mix it up! These colors are just so soothing. It is not all Latte related so you will be able to use it for any of your LO's. Diana has suggested a Quickpage exchange. Not sure how that works so Diana if you could email me (jand97sc@yahoo.com), let's see if we can set it up, okay? Sounds like it could be fun!

Download no longer available...sorry!

A little tease

Thought I would post a little sample of the kit I am working on just to tease you. Ain't I mean? Blame it on the Diva! LOL! Still trying to get it finished up and packed so I will start giving it away probably tomorrow.

Yep, it is called Blue Latte and the inspiration was my cup of coffee! Got a new mug that is this nice shade of blue and when I fixed my coffee which I like 'light', I just loved the color combo! Will tell you more detail when I start posting it but designing is back to being fun, which, to quote Martha Stewart, is a "good thing".

To answer Elaine's question, Jess is still in the air cast and still complaining! She hates that she has to wear sneakers to her new job and cannot wait to get back to her high heels! She is tall, about 5'8 1/2" but she wore heels everyday and says she feels 'slumpy' in her sneakers. Still has some pain and swelling, hates being a weather barometer and, overall all, just annoyed with the whole thing. Patience is definitely NOT one of her virtues!

My son was home for the weekend so that meant lots of cooking. Told him that as a reward for the great grades he could have anything he wanted...he picks hamburgers! So we did a cook out one night, then swiss steak, and pot roast yesterday...he never forgets to tell you what a wonderful cook he thinks you are which is so nice to hear when you put the effort into making a meal, right? DH just stuffs his face and you never know if he thinks it was good or just edible! My Mom eats with us every night but she eats like a bird and Jess, well, you never know if she is going to be here for supper or even if she is, whether she is going to be eating. So, I just love to have someone to cook for that appreciates it. DH made the comment that at least we get some good food when our son is home! Do not think that this newly-found Diva let THAT comment go by without a retort! Doubt that it will make a difference but it sure felt good at the time!

Well, gotta run and get some housework finished up... Can someone explain why reorganizing makes such a mess in your whole house?