TGIF!!

Man what a long week! I'm so thankful it's Friday.

The weather is still messed up here. It's cold and mostly cloudy today. I saw a few rays of sunshine on my way in to work this morning and I was so excited. Then the clouds crept back in.

I wanted to do some digital scrapping this week but just didn't get to it. I did however sew a shrug last night and finish a couple of clipboards for some friends. The pocket will hold recipe cards. The second picture shows the "recipe for a happy home" card that goes with it. I hope they like them.



Nothing really major planned for this weekend. I think we're going to take an old beat up couch to the dump. Maybe buy some paint for the upstairs living room. Maybe just watch a movie. We haven't been to the show in a long, long time, and I'd kind of like to go check out a show.

Speaking of checking things out, if you get a chance, go check out my friend Amy's blog - http://digitallydesigned.blogspot.com/. She does incredible digital work, I think you'll enjoy her blog.

TGIF!!

First day of spring

First day of spring? What a joke! I woke to 36 degrees and buckets of rain. 36 degrees! Is it no wonder I feel like crap today?

I really need to hit the powerball....I'd love to be a SAH.....uh, wife....but unless we hit the lotto, that won't be happening any time soon. It was all I could do to get up this morning and drag my sorry rear end to work. I kept thinking, just 5 more mins, just 5 more minutes. *sigh*

I'm searching for a crochet pattern for a shrug or bolero. I love the look of these, unfortunately they don't seem to make them in plus sizes. I'm hoping I can make one and pass it off as store bought. My sewing and crocheting skills aren't the best, but hey, I enjoy it. Usually. LOL!

Someone please pass quitting time....this weather is killing my head!

Quick layout

This is a quick layout of our puppy. She's not a puppy any more, she'll be 12 in August. But this was right after we rescued her from the pound. The kit elements are from JPotts.....I'm sorry I didn't take better notes to give more proper credit.

Pretty lazy Sunday. I worked my behind off yesterday. We watched A History of Violence. Very graphic movie, but very good. Stephen is grilling, I've popped some potatoes in the microwave to go with the Hawaii ribs and chicken breasts he's making. He didn't get home from work last night til midnight, so we're both pretty beat. Dreading going back to work tomorrow.

Wednesday stuff

sudoko - a friend directed me to a sudoko website. I've always been intrigued by these puzzles, but never been able to figure it out on paper. The website makes it so easy for some reason.

digital stuff - are you gals buying kits or relying on the freebies? I'm soooo tempted to buy a few things that are out there right now, I'll not find a place to stop! LOLAS!

rude people - what is it with rude people? I swear Monday at work, every person I spoke to on the phone was in a bad mood or just plain rude. I hate rude people. And people who lie. Seems like more and more people are lying these days. Oh how I long for a simpler time when a person's "word" meant something.

traffic devices - but when did stop signs and red lights become a suggestion instead of a law? Seems like every stop sign or red light I approach - someone is running it. Are we ALL really in that big of a hurry?

tax time

Man, do I hate tax season. I have to start working on taxes for the office in January. I have to go to the account for the office in February because the corporate tax filing deadline is March 15th. Our normally fast accountant didn't get ours done as quick as he usually does. He called me yesterday saying he still needed info from me.....info that I emailed him on February 8th.....and that he'd try his best to finish them in time for the filing deadline. Ugh!!

I found out last week that the guy who does our personal taxes wouldn't do ours this year because he was "closing his tax business early". Excuse me? He won't return our phone calls for two weeks and now we've called too late? Now our personal taxes aren't that hard, it's just worth the $35 we pay him to have his name at the bottom of our return - just in case. So, Friday night I sat down with the forms I downloaded from the web and figured our taxes. Then I bought a piece of tax software to double check myself. I am very happy to say this is the first time in 12 yrs of marriage that we don't OWE! What a relief. Of course when you hold out almost double with amount the withholding table tells you to, you'd better not owe!!

Today I'm mailing off all the taxes, for work and for us and I couldn't be happier. It's like a weight has been lifted off me. For the first time in almost 3 months I don't have that hanging over my head. I'm not tense about the taxes, I'm not stressed, I'm not in a panic that the account won't get them to us in time, I'm done, done, DONE! YEAH!!!

Can you tell, I hate tax time? :)

second digital layout

So this is my second digital layout. This kit was from RakScraps - part of their July Mega Kit last year. These particular elements were from KJenson. Many thanks for the great kit.

We decided to have Stephen's family over for the Fourth for the fireworks display and some burgers for supper. Stephen did a fantastic job grilling and it was nice to eat out on the deck. I couldn't resist the cake from Wal-Mart. Who can bake something that nice for that little money?

spring storms

It hailed last night. Being in the insurance business, I panic every time it storms or hails. Thankfully, while it was a lot of hail, it was about the size of a green pea, so it didn't do any damage. It could have been so much worse. A tornado supposedly touched down in a neighboring county. We've had some reports of shingles blown off roofs, but we were so very, very lucky. Every time we come through a storm without severe damage I'm so grateful.

But, I didn't sleep last night. I was worried that maybe the hail was bigger in other parts of the county. That maybe the wind was worse than at our house. So I'm dog tired today. I could use a nap so bad. And the day isn't even half over yet. *sigh*

I hope this spring is a mild one. I hope this was our only big storm of the season. I'm not holding my breath tho.

dreary

Well, it's dreary here today. Rain, storms, some bad storms maybe. Suits my mood perfectly. Wish I was home in bed asleep. Or scrapping. Or reading. Or just any where but at work. And the day is dragging soooooo slow.....I feel like I've been here three days just since 8am. *sigh* Worse still, they're saying rain and storms all through the weekend. *double sigh*

I've been downloading some digital kits and elements. I hope to try another layout tonight. I need to find a way to get my digital stuff organized. Right now it's just kind of all over the place - some on a cd here, some on a dvd archive, some buried in folders inside of folders inside of folders inside of....well, you get the idea. I need to get organized. And I need to get to scrapping. The last layout I did of 2005 was of the roses Stephen got me for Valentine's day. Now that's a long time ago.

my first digital layout

This is my first attempt at a digital layout. I can't remember if I bought this kit or if it was a free download, so I apologize in advance, but I can't give the creator of the elements credit for it.

I just loved this picture of Annabelle. She may be an old, grey dog, but she still loves her treats and gets excited when she hears the plastic rattle.

on grilling, being lazy, and warm, cozy fires with blankets

Boy, the weekends just seem to fly by. Seems like I was just getting home at 5, just changing clothes, just starting supper and wham, now it's Monday again. Saturday was the first dry, winds-less-than-20 mph weekend day we'd had in two months. So I took advantage of it and fired up the grill. Now I'm not a great griller, in fact, Stephen would tell you I stink at it. But I gave it a shot. He wasn't feeling well and I'd been itching for a grilled chicken breast, so I tried it. It's only the second time I've grilled on my own. The first ended in disaster, which to be fair wasn't entirely my fault! Last fall I decided to grill. It was 97 degrees out and so humid I couldn't get the charcol to light. It was a mess, but lesson learned, you can't grill in 98% humidity.

So I grilled - burgers with bbq sauce, chicken breasts with Emeril's chicken rub seasoning and bbq sauce, steak for Stephen, and a preseasoned turkey breast. The only trouble I ran in to this time was the turkey was frozen and took forever to grill. But man, was it good. Plus I have enough left overs for at least 3 meals this week, and we've already eaten off it twice! :)

Lazy, that was me this weekend. I didn't want to do much of any thing. I should have worked in the flower beds since it was nice. They'll get out of control in no time at all. Stephen would love to dig them up, but I can't bear to part with them, not yet anyway. So I scrapped a little (I almost have a layout done, very simple, but my first layout in MONTHS!), did laundry, stripped the bed, and watched a dvd. Walk the Line. Now I'm not a country music fan and I've never cared for Johnny Cash. But Joaquin Phoenix was completely believable. I was shocked at how much I liked this movie. And I'm also not a Reece Witherspoon fan either.

This weekend we had a fire in the fireplace. Probably the last one before spring officially gets here. It was cold in the house and damp outside. There's nothing quite like a roaring fire to warm the body and soul. I love watching the flames, feeling the heat. Our den is fairly small, so a fire makes it really warm and cozy. Curl up with a blanket, the fire and a good book - can't beat that.


sussann

on screaming kids, Dairy Queen, and date night

This morning a young mother came in to the office with her cute little daughter, probably 2 yrs old. Suddenly, out of nowhere she starts screaming her head off. She's in such a fit that she's arched back over her mother's arm, head pointed straight to the ground, screaming til her face is white. The mother didn't do anything......nothing....nada.....zip....zilch......I wanted so bad to go to the mother and ask if the child was ill. Then I wanted to smack the mother and tell her that she needed to re-evaluate her child-rearing skills because doing nothing, ignoring her bleach-white-no-blood-left-in-her-face, tear-stained daughter wasn't getting it done. Might want to rethink that idea.

Dairy Queen. Love it! I can drive by and add 5 lbs to my waist line. We live in a town where our DQ closes during the winter. So when the last of February rolls around, the air starts buzzing - is it March 1st yet? Are you going the first day it opens? What are you going to get? Our DQ only serves hotdogs and ice cream. I wish they served burgers. I used to work at a DQ Brazier store forever and a day ago. I well remember the blizzards, floats, hard served ice cream, even the breeze (the blizzard made from yogart). I almost always worked the night shift til closing. I had to wash dishes and mop the floors. I hated that. Every one else would break down the machines and drop them at my sink to clean up. I was always the last one to leave because they had already done their part. I remember hot summer nights, driving home at midnight, the windows down to try to cool off (no A/C in my old 1979 Monte Carlo) and stay awake all at the same time. Ah, DQ.....

Tuesday night was Date Night. We hadn't done that in ages. I thought it would be nice to have a special evening either watching a movie or maybe playing a game. Stephen agreed. But after supper, he was too tired to watch the movie. I was crushed. I don't know why I had looked forward to it so much, didn't even realize I was looking forward to it so much, until it fell apart. I felt like I'd been stood up. I don't know why it hurt me so bad, but it did. I was sad for two days. I don't think I'll suggest date night again any time soon.

sussann

oh and can someone tell me why

I can't remember to change the title before I publish? And why can't I change the title AFTER I publish?! Ugh!!

putting away Christmas, finally!

Okay, so I'm really getting in to this now. Two, yes TWO! blog posts in one day. Don't faint!

I came home and decided that I was sick and tired of walking around the Christmas trees and ornament boxes in the dining room and the hall way. Stephen has promised me for two MONTHS that he'd put them away. Has he yet? Noooo, and if I ask him about it? He's tired, he's hurting, he'll do it tomorrow, he'll do it this weekend. Well you know what? Tomorrow is today!

Soooo, I felt so good today I decided I'd do it no matter what the heck happened. I came home, put the Christmas wreath in the attic, put away a couple of rolls of wrapping paper, grabbed a box, couldn't get it up the teeny tiny stairs/opening to the attic. Hmmm, how did I ever get it DOWN from there? Grabbed a tree bag. Couldn't pick it up, but it had a handle in the end, so I dragged it up the attic steps. Yup, dragged. It was so freakin' heavy I could barely move it (and no, I'm not a weakling when it comes to lifting stuff) but I dragged it up and shoved it on a bare spot. Tried to pick up the second tree. Could pick it up, but no handle to PULL it up the stairs. So I tried to carry it up. I couldn't lift it high enough to climb the stairs with it. Soooo, back up and punt.

I searched around and found room in the garage for the tree and the one ornament box that never should have fit in the attic in the first place. Carried the tree all the way down the side of the hill (we have a walkout basement house and the garage is detached), almost in the garage when a bird sh*t in my hair. Huge amount of it......

....if I could have killed that bird I would have made it the most painful, slow death imagineable......

Sooooo, I got the tree in the garage, moved the ornament box, came in, washed my hair not once but TWICE and put a pot of water on to boil for spaghetti. Thank goodness my day started out so nicely because it sure ended in sh*t.


sussann

coffee!

Normally it doesn't effect me. I can have a couple of cups and it's not really any different than a glass of water. Caffeine just doens't normally do much for me. I've always joked I can drink a Mello Yello 5 mins before bedtime and fall right asleep.

For some reason this morning that wasn't the case. I had two cups of Cinnamon Hazelnut coffee. We had an office meeting before work, so I got up a half hour earlier than normal, put a pot of coffee on and got ready. I feel like I could push over a mountain! I feel good for the first time in.....well, in I can't remember how long. My head doesn't hurt, my sinuses aren't pounding to the beat of my heart, my back and hip aren't hurting. I feel normal, well heck, better than normal, I feel GOOD! Really good, and I don't know how to deal with it. But I sure am enjoying it......

sussann

spring in the air?

I thought I'd give this one more try. I've not been in to the whole idea of blogs, but maybe it will help me get thru the days a little easier.

I woke up this morning and, as usual, didn't want to go to work. Then I remembered it was month end, which means I have to go to work. I can't believe it's already March 1st. It seems like Christmas was just last week. I have iris leaves up in my garden and the neighbor has March flowers in bloom. Won't be long before I'll have to start mowing the grass. I like spring, the green starting to show on the trees, the warmer temps. This spring has me worried tho. We've already had 3 days of 70+ temps. It's just too warm. And worse, one day it's 70 and the next it's 30. It's no wonder my head feels like it's going to explode most days. I can't remember the last time I didn't have a headache/migraine of some sort.

You know, the more I think of it, let's skip spring and go straight on to summer!


sussann

A Fall Monday

Hard to believe another Monday has rolled around. Seems like the days are just going faster and fast. We're having a beautiful fall at least. The leaves are gorgeous and it's warmer than normal for this time of year. I don't know that we'll ever get all the leaves up out of our yard. Seems like a never ending battle.

Ever have a day that you feel that no one understands you? And worse, that no one cares to understand you? I'm having one of those. I feel so frustrated, and alone. I feel like no one cares, nor does anyone care to try to see my side of things. Maybe I just should have stayed in bed. *Ü*

Monday, Monday

So here we are again, another Monday. Gray and gloomy too. Suits my mood. Had someone key my car this weekend. Why would anyone want to do that? What did it do for them? Did it make their rotten mood better? Did it prove they were tough and could do whatever they wanted? Or was it simpler than that, was someone just bored? I guess I should be thankful, it's only going to be $300 to get the car fixed. It could have been worse. But just the idea that someone had so little respect for someone else's property. It's a sad world we live in. :(

Thursdays

Thursdays have always been a favorite day of mine - the almost-end of a school week or work week, the anticipation of a full weekend. Co-workers week long bad moods seem to lift with every passing hour, the tense atmosphere just seems to dissipate. And today, hey, today the SUN is shining! It's been dreary here all week. All last weekend too. And today the sun is out and it's not 100 degrees.....

Sure wish I could be home playing hookey!

Another day, another dollar

You know, growing up I never thought I would be where I am in life. I figured I'd be successful, a lawyer maybe, have a child, or maybe two. But here I am, stuck in a dead end job and no children. It's amazing to me how different things end up being than what we thought they would. I have a college degree, but I don't know why. I sure don't need it to do what I'm doing now. Some days it's hard to get up and drag myself in to work, knowing there's no end to this in sight. And why? So I can buy another thing, another piece of something that I don't really need, that doesn't really make me happy, that I could live without? Maybe I need to sit down and rearrange my proirities. I'm not getting any younger, my dh isn't getting any younger, and life just keeps slipping us by. I find myself wishing for Fridays, and all I'm doing is wishing my life away, a Friday at a time.

sussann's stuff

I SWORE I would never have a blog. But here I am. Mostly because I wanted to post some encouragement to a friend of mine on her blog. So we'll see it I actually post and stick with this or not.

Another dreary day here. Cloudy, depressing. But hey, at least it's not Monday, right?

sussann