Happy New Year 2016

 Happy New Year Everyone,

 I do hope that your New Years will be special in every way! I hope that you have a safe New Year's Eve and if you are planning on having some New Year's drinks to celebrate please have a designated driver, take public transportation or even a taxi. Your Lives are very important to take chances with. None the less, Happy New Year 2016!!!!!

 Ok so I still have a million and 1 things to do but I just had to stop and take a breather. Part 1 of the newsletter is out.  Due to some technical difficulties (Not On My End) well maybe one part of my end, there will be a part 2 sometime tomorrow. I am really tired right now... I can sure say that. But here is the link that should take you to the blog.

http://audrajscrapsdesigns.blogspot.co.uk/

Keep in mind that this is the work of an amateur. I haven't published a newsletter in 21 years of this variety. I did do a few here and there but the format has changed as well as the subjects. Especially the format. I had easy templates to use way back in the day. They all had little square boxes that you typed and actually pasted photographs into and then they were printed out. The digital age has really come a long long way. In some ways for people like me, I am still stuck in the dark ages!

 Something is smelling in the fridge... so I need to figure out what that is.... (Don't Want To) but it needs to be taken care of. I just cannot imagine what it could be tho.

 Cisco is not eating his doggy food. He doesn't like this brand and I am sorry for that but it is what it is. He will eat when he gets hungry enough.

 Since I am a night owl I plan to do my big stuff tonight. I am really mind exhausted at the moment. I ordered dinner out tonight. I am too tired to try cooking or anything. I am going to nap for a bit tho and then get with it... Y'all be safe and have fun.... See you next year! BB

I Have Been Playing!

 Hi Everyone,

 I sure hope that this finds everyone doing well. It is a bit nippy here tonight and even tho it is 47 degrees here it felt much colder. Now 47 degrees is a bit nippy for me, but I put on my robe and was still really chilled. I thought that something just wasn't right so I went to check the heat and someone... Not naming names but one of my sons, the youngest one had accidentally turned on the air and not the heat. So now the heat is on, the room is nice and cozy and I am not shivering any longer.

 It is late here but it is one of those nights that sleep is elusive so I have been scrapping. This page is a bit different for me but I really had fun making it. I got these kits from Salt Town Studio. I mixed and matched but didn't it turn out pretty. The glitter sparkles is the only thing that I added from my stash of bling.

 I am really in the mood for dancing. Tomorrow night if all goes well then I am going with my friend Erica to a New Years Eve party. We have to wait and see tho because she might be called into work. She is a Police Dispatcher and sometimes they become short handed. I of course will totally understand if we cannot go but until the final word I am thinking about it.

 This is a page that I have done with my new coloring book called Fanciful Faces that Miss Edna sent to me. I did this one on a 12x12 size page so it came out a little fuller than the original but I liked the effect. I did a lot of shadowing on this page. I also did a lot of blending and with shades of blues and grays and purples with a touch of red. I loved this page because it was just a half face. I thought that it brought out a lot of character in the photo. I didn't highlight with black or even shadow with the black. It looks like it in some places but that is a dark blue actually. All in all I have had a wonderful time coloring and scrapping.

 I cleaned house today. Wore me out and I think that is why I am so wound up because I did so much in order to get my house in order for my brother and sister in law but they did not come. They were tired from the long drive so they stopped for the night about an hour away. Traffic was getting heavy as well so they called with their apologies. Maybe I will get to see them next time.

 I am still having problems with the size of the paper for the Newsletter for our new site. I may have to just use a regular blog post for the first time around. Tomorrow I am going to try for a different way and if that doesn't work then I will just use a regular blog post and do my best with that.
 I tried to set up a website today. What a nightmare that turned out to be. I will work on it again tomorrow as well.

 In the mean time it is nearly 2 in the morning and I am falling asleep here at the computer so I will say goodnight.... Be Happy and Safe my friends, until tomorrow.... BB

A Little Catching Up!

Hi Everyone,

 Playing a little catch up here. Not much to say as I have been feeling rather sick to my stomach and not doing so great in the depression department either. I am not going into details over it but let's just say that sometimes people can be cruel.

 We have big dinner plans for New Years and my brother and his wife will be spending the night tomorrow night so I am looking forward to that! That means tomorrow I need to get my butt in gear and do a few things. I planned on putting the Christmas things away but it didn't happen.

 Stomach is rolling along so I am getting off and laying down.... Indulge in something special this New Years just for you.... Let's make this a very good year! BB

Lost My Post

 Hi everyone,
 Well I lost my first post. Thankfully I wasn't very far into it. I don't know why blogger does this. One button hit will cost the entire post to disappear. It drives me nuts. I had misspelled a word and was trying to fix it thru spell checker and it was gone!

 This page is not mine. It belongs to Maureen Anderson, one of our fantastic Creative Team members for Audrajscrapsanddesigns.com
 Maureen will be featured in our first newsletter in January along with a few of her layouts. This is one of my favorite New Year 2016 pages. She is an awesome lady and I am honored that she accepted my request to be featured in the newsletter.
 Our newsletter will also have a freebie included for the month with information on upcoming events and sales. I hope that you will also join us and see what we are all about. Everyone is welcome.

 Christmas was really nice. In spite of the boys choosing to stay at home, Karyn and I went over to Carol and Barbara's house. Turkey, stuffing, desserts, green bean casserole, and the works. It was awesome and we had a blast. The weather was gorgeous. The entire day was lovely. Then I came home and crashed.
 New Years Karyn and I are making Green Chili enchiladas with guacamole, rice and beans and she is going to make a dessert.

 Here are some pics to share. They are so hiding from the camera....

 Well these are some of the pics.

 Karyn and Matt was like No No.... but I had them taken anyway. Can you see the gray in my hair? Everyone says it is the lights... Yeah right! Time for a color... and I need to get my hair cut too.

 I received some lovely gifts, Thank You Edna for the beautiful neck warmer, Everyone has fell in love with it. 2 coloring books.... YaY... The Goddess and Faces... many hours of peace there. The coffee and sweetener, and Cisco loves his treats from Pogo! Pots and plants, flowers and candy (Sugar Free) and Jonathan gave me a reindeer cup and Texas Pecan coffee which I am drinking now. So awesome! I can't think of everything that I received but I love them all and of course being with the family and friends was a very added boost to an already lovely day.

 I had no problems sleeping last night. I had my Cisco next to me and we cuddled and slept like babies. Just having a time waking up right now. Oh and before I forget, thank you all so very much for the calls, texts and emails.... I love all of you too.... and I hope that your Christmas was as wonderful as mine was.

 I am off of here for now. I have somethings that need to be done and it is already after 9:00 am so I better get to doing them..... Have a wonderful day. BB

It Felt Like Monday All Over Again

 Hi,

 It is Wednesday morning, but technically since I have yet to go to bed it is still Tuesday night if that makes any sense.

 We have been without water.... All day Monday. We got it back on Hooray sometime around 3:00am only to have it shut off at 9:00am. I was not happy. Not happy to Not be able to shower, do dishes, cook or even flush the toilets.
 The one bright spot was that my son brought us over a gallon of water which I used to make coffee for this morning.
 Just as I was fixing to get into the shower Jonathan texted me. Another water break... water turned off at 9:00 am.... Yeah it was like 9:05 and no water. Fast forward to a supper of scrambled eggs and gravy and biscuits. (Not Bad At All) but at 10:00 pm I had had enough. I was threatening to go to a Hotel/Motel and charge it to the apartment complex when seconds later Nathan came in to say... We have water...
 Well first things first... Dishwasher has been ready to go for a while now so I made sure the lines were open and flushed and turned that on. It is going to be done soon and I am going to have a shower and hit the hay as they say.

 I wrote a long post this morning and went to enter a link and lost my post. I was ready to spit fire! Attempted to re-write it but by that time I had little energy and had to do some pages for the sites and so I played around with that, did a couple of pages, Frosty above is one of them. The others are of my great niece and another of my sister in law's great grand kids and emailed those out, and tonight I got some new pictures of Celeste so I did a page for her.

 My birds are back so I am happy. I even saw a squirrel scampering about. My cat has become totally finiky and is not eating what I am giving her. She turns up her tail and walks away with her nose in the air.... Ok so obviously she is not as hungry as she claims to be!

 Cisco is fine. Thankfully he is returning to his old self. I am so relieved. And he is looking at me now as if to say "Mom it's time for bed". And he is right... But first there is a matter of a hot shower!

 BB everyone....

 Hi Everyone,

 I am back. It is now 3:00 am and I am still awake. At 2:00 am Cisco was miserable so I had Nathan to give him a bath since he was up with me. He has such dry skin. He didn't like it but you know what, he is sleeping like a baby right now. Plus he just gets dirty like we all do. He goes out and he gets dirt under his nails and then he scratches and that deposits the dirt into his fur and it makes him itch. But he is having a good sleep now. I wish that I was....

 But here I am and I am going to post some pictures that I have been meaning to put on my blog of my Christmas Table. It is fuller now with more gifts and Christmas cards and a few goodies that have been dropped off here and there but these were taken the first day after we shampooed the carpets and set the table by the windows.

That empty spot to the right is now filled with some of the most beautiful Christmas cards that I have received in quiet sometime.

 This is a long view of our bar. I have several small Christmas trees as well as my Angels, and shelf sitters.

 And this is a front shot of the bar. Also now added is candles that I found and some candy canes for the kiddos... So I may not have had a Traditional Christmas Tree this year but I am happy with what I have. I want to get a small tree for next year. Maybe a snow white one or a green flocked one. If I see a Fiber Optic I might even get one of those since I love watching the lights change colors. Perhaps for my room.

 Now I really like this one.. Not everyday that you see a tree like this... Isn't it just gorgeous? Well I think so. And it would be something that if I lived in my own home that I would keep up year around, perhaps just change out the ornaments every once in a while, like hearts for Valentines, and red white and blue for the 4th of July.... Just a thought...

 Now this last photo is from a program on my tablet that lets me color. I color in my book that Edna sent me for my birthday, but at night in bed I color sometimes to help me fall asleep. I thank you so much Edna for re-introducing me to the magic of coloring....

 Isn't this pretty...? Right now in my coloring book I am working on an owl. He is going to be really pretty when I am finished. I did him in shades of gray, brown and blue.

 Now these next set of pictures might take some of you way back... They took me on a trip down memory lane with my grandmother... See if you can guess what they are.....

Can you see what they are? Well it is a little difficult with out any clues so I will give you one more just to help you out.... Gosh I wish with all my heart that they still made these today but my Mother would disagree..... LOL.... but she would have had fond memories of these images.

 If you guessed Flour sacks then you would be correct! My grandmother use to make me the cutest sundresses from them when I was little. I use to have several of them when  I was a teenager, but we lost our home in a tornado when I was 12 or 13 and they were lost, but I can still remember them...
 And I suppose that this ends my trip into the past one more time. I hope that you enjoyed these pictures as much as I have in sharing them. Now I can clean out my folder that I have had them stored in to make room for new memories from long ago or a couple of funnies to share.

 How do you plan on celebrating New Years Eve? I have been invited to ring in the New Year with a friend of mine at a party at her church... food, music and fellowship. We will be home around 1:00 am or so, and it is close by so we will not have far to go.
 Now these plans are tentative. She works for the Police Department and could be called into work if an emergency arrives. But we went ahead and made these plans and we will just have to wait and see what the night brings. It will be fun to get out and socialize with new people. Me and my New Wheels are ready to go.
 Also she and I are planning to go downtown to the Capital after the first of the year. She is usually off on Tuesday and Wednesdays so we are making plans. Her name is Erica so you will probably hear me speak of her often.
 In fact let me share one of my favorite scrap pages with you that I did of her. What an awesome lady!

This is my friend Erica who doesn't weigh more than 100 pounds soaking wet with a pocket full of rocks... She is such a tiny little thing. 

She lives here in my apartment complex and she would walk her dog and we would say hello to each other on occassion. 

 One day I was really worried about my incision. This is before the visiting nurses came along and I knew that I needed some help in covering the wound. It was draining really badly and I was out front and she came around the corner. 

Something told me to just ask her to help me and I did and she said "Mam you have been on my mind for several days. Of course I will help you". And just like that, we hit it off and try to get together for a little while one day a week that she is off. One day she invited me over for Chicken and Dumplings and last week I took her a bowl of chili and she was like... "Oh your not going to believe this" and she pulled out a can of chili... "This is what I was going to eat." Funny how things happen and they really seem to happen to both Erica and I frequently. I will be thinking of her and the phone rings and it is her. Or she has a feeling that I need to talk to her and she will send me a text saying,  "Are you alright"?  Anyway I did these pages for her and it is funny how that happend. She wanted to know about my scrapbooking and I showed her a couple of pages and she was very interested in learning how to do them. I took her into my bathroom and took 2 pictures of her. She had big time doubts that I could do anything with those 2 ratty pictures as she liked to call them....  Ha... she has shown everyone these scrap book pages that I made of her and even sent them to her fiance. LOL.. 

Well this post just seemed to grow out of no where and now I suppose that I really should get off the computer and try to get some kind of sleep. I have to start a rough draft of the newsletter for Audrajscraps tomorrow and get that out of the way and then email it to her. Or try. Her computer bit the dust today. Oddly both of my designers lost their computers today. Lins has a computer tech trying to rescue her data from her hard drive. The good news there is that if not then everything is already in the stores and I think that she has the cloud as a back up as well, but she needs data for her game that she is playing. I know what it is like to lose everything.  And Heather... well her computer just up and died... So very strange that it happened to 2 designers on the very same night. I thought that perhaps they were hacked but both of them told me that it was past time that they needed to be replaced. It is just a really hard time of the year right at Christmas for both of them to come up with the extra money. 

 Anyway I have work for them to do tomorrow so I will say goodnight/good morning to everyone. Stay safe, stay happy and stay well. BB

Hello and Good Cheer

Hello,

 I cannot believe that it is so close to Christmas. I am really anxious for it to be over with in the scrapping world anyway. We are not having Christmas for the grand kids until January so that will work out just great. 

 I don't have much time tonight.  I am working on adding a friend to my blog and it is not working. I am not sure what is going on.

 Cisco is fine. The boys so far are doing well and I am hungry. I must find some food!

 Hugs everyone.... BB

I Can't Sleep

 Hi Everyone,

  I can't sleep so I thought that I would do a little page for a challenge called Red. I don't expect to win because the pages that are entered are just fabulous but who knows. I just keep up with it and see so many of the same people win all of the time so I am not really in their clique so I do not get my hopes up but from time to time I actually see a challenge that interests me and red seems to be the color of the season so red it is.

 I had a very busy day. I went grocery shopping and actually treated myself to 2 things. One I almost put back when I saw the price.... Big fat juicy red grapes..... $7.29  worth.... but I indulged and the next thing that I bought was a box of Queen Anne Chocolate Covered Cherries. I only buy them once a year and just one box and they are one of my favorites. I shared tho. I shared with Barbara and her aunt Carol and Nathan and Jonathan and by that time the box was gone but it was fine! Sharing is what Christmas should be about.

 I received my Christmas box from Miss Edna and tomorrow I will take a picture of everything on the table that is decorated. I didn't have much light tonight and even with the flash the pictures turned out dark so I will take one again tomorrow as we moved the living room around today when Carol steam cleaned my carpets... (My Christmas Present) and she hung a couple of pictures for me that I had in the back of my closet and I wanted to hang.
 She and I share so much in common. Especially Wicca so we had a lot to talk about. We both enjoy Garage Sales and plan on going to a flea market down in New Braunfels in January or February and may just spend the night somewhere, treat ourselves to a mini vacation.
 It was funny actually as Barbara was all for going and suggesting what we all could do and Carol and I looked at her at the same time. "Really? I thought that you was going to be with Matthew in Wisconsin.:
 "Ohhh Yeah.... I forgot." she said and we roared with laughter at her. We told her that we would do Girl Stuff when she got back home. For some reason after giving her the choice of hanging out with us two girls or going with Matthew... Matt won out.... We figured as much lol...

 Thank you Edna for the gifts.... I think Cisco knew right away his gift. Of course he had his nose in the box and pawed at it but I put it on the table with the rest of the presents. Edna, have you received your Christmas card? I mailed them out the same day but only 1 person has gotten theirs. I have another stack to mail out tomorrow. And then I am done with my cards. One to each of my grand children, and 2 more to friends and 1 to my sister that I had to call and get her address for. I can never remember her address and I know I have it in my address book but couldn't find it so I thought... You know it would be simpler just to call her so I did. She and I haven't really been able to touch base since Deborah passed away. She has been working a lot and she works nights and sleeps during the day so I had to wait to call her.

 I really need to try and get some sleep so I will close for now and say goodnight. Stay safe and until tomorrow... BB

 

Blessings Of The Most Unexpected Kind....

Hi Everyone,

 I am not sure if I had posted this page or not but I found it in my stash and thought that I would post it and hope that it is not a repeat!

 Ok today's blog is really going to be emotional for me. And I have to go back into the past of about 14 or 15 years.

 In 1991 there were two very special little boys born that year. My son Nathaniel and a little boy named Derek. From birth these two little boys were practically inseparable. Derek's mom and I were best friends. Derek was like my own child. As the boys grew Derek was such a part of my family that he was always at my house.
 One night his mom Theresa called me. "Derek is missing." Police were called, a search party was in effect. I and everyone else  was searching everywhere, but he was no where to be found. At one point we didn't know if this was a stranger abduction or what. I was one of the searchers. And while I was out I begin to think of my own kids and had to go home to check on them. I entered the boys bedroom. There was a window open. My heart stopped at that point because not only was the window open the screen was off. I flipped on the light and I saw that my boys were in their beds. As I reached to close the window, I saw my precious Derek with a blanket and pillow on the floor. Sound asleep.  You cannot imagine the relief. I am sure that you can if you ever had to deal with a missing child.

 As the years passed and we would wake up many many many times over those years to discover Derek asleep on the sofa or in with the boys. When his mom would call and say "Derek is not here" I would go and check and say "He's here." The thing with Derek is that he is so smart. At 3 years old he tested out at 6th grade level math. He was reading before he was 3 and would hold in depth conversations about the extinction of Dinosaurs and he soaked up knowledge like a sponge. I always hoped that some of that would rub off on Nathan but ohhhh well.... lol.

 What really drove Derek to my home more often than not was the fact that his mom and dad would get into these horrible fights. She wanted total control of everything. His father was what you would call a functioning alcoholic. He was a beer drinker from the time that he came home from work to the time that he went back to work. Teresa would hide his beer and the fights would start and she was famous for the words "I don't have to take your abuse." Never mind that she was also dishing our her own version of abuse as well. One thing that they never did to my knowledge was physically abuse Derek. Because I would ask him. He would just say mom and dad are busy abusing each other. This came from a child of 4. The next 6 years would find Derek with me on a daily basis. He was as much my child as theirs. When we went to the movies and out to eat, so did Derek. When we had Christmas and birthday parties Derek was right in the mix. Theresa would have Christmas Eve with Derek but he always sneaked out of the house and was at ours Christmas morning. I took him to school and picked him up every day. From Friday to Monday morning I had Derek. I had him before school and after, and so I thought of him as MY Child in every way that mattered.
 Theresa made sure that Derek had the best of clothes, and toys and what she could afford. She always gave me money for what he needed as well.

 The year that Derek was 10 our whole world changed. Mom and Dad had another big fight and as they were nose to nose pointing fingers at each other dads finger poked mom in her eye. She had to go to the hospital because it was an eye injury. Not bad enough really for the hospital but she went anyway. Derek went to school on Monday and when the teacher asked what they did over the weekend he said my mom had to go to the hospital because my dad abused her and she said that I was abused too.

 Child Protective Services snatched him out of that house in a blink of an eye. They told Theresa that they were setting her up with a safety net. She could stay in the house and the dad could leave but Theresa said no she would leave. During this time they told her not to go back to the house for anything. If she needed anything then they would arrange the police to go with her to get what she needed. But being the control freak that she was she did what she wanted. She would take Derek to the house in the mornings to get clothes or what ever. His dad was home one particular morning and she went in, dressed Derek in some clothes and took him to school. As it would happen CPS happened to come in and talk to Derek and he didn't lie to them when they asked if he had been home. Derek did not know how to lie. He just told them yes and yes he saw his father and yes his mom told him not to tell.

 They took Derek and placed him in foster care 2 hours from where we lived. During this time I was undergoing tests to find out what was wrong with my kidney. They wouldn't place him with me because I lived to close to him and since it was a small town they were afraid that I couldn't protect him from his mom and dad and they were aware of my own medical needs at that time and I cried but they knew that it was in Dereks best interest. Me and the kids could go and visit Derek twice a week when they scheduled parental visitations and would bring Derek back to our county. We were not under the same supervised visits as his parents so we could go to the park or McDonald's or where ever. The social worker always allowed us privacy although she would accompany us where ever we had to go.
 Then later on the Foster Family would invite us for a day to their home or what ever activity that they had Derek in and he bloomed and blossomed and thrived under their care. They were awesome people and they loved him too. In fact so much that they wanted to adopt him if that time ever came.

 CPS ordered a lot of criteria to be met if they wanted Derek back. Parental classes, Anger management and counseling and several other things. The dad did everything that the court ordered. He joined AA and went on medication for the drinking, he went into therapy, took every class they ordered. In fact he went over and beyond what was expected.
 Theresa was defiant. No way was they going to tell her what she had to do. She refused Al Anon, Parental classes, anger management and counseling and in fact did not attend a single one. She was not going to be controlled, not even to get Derek back. Instead she hired a high priced attorney and the legal battle begin.

 Our friendship started dying a slow death. I was convinced if they wanted her to jump thru hoops of a ring of fire that she needed to do it. And we begin to argue as well because she was upset that I and the kids could go and spend hours with Derek when we could and she would say to me... You know where my son is and you will not tell me. How can you be my friend? But I knew if she knew where he was then CPS would move him and revoke my privileges with him. No I was not going to tell her where he was and then she started questioning my kids on the sly. So the Foster Parents and I came up with a plan that I not tell the kids that we were going to see Derek and we would meet closer to home or in a different town, that way my kids would not be caught up in accidentally  giving away Dereks location. He was safe.

 Even tho the dad was doing what he was supposed to do he and Theresa would make it a point to harass each other. She would follow him home from work, and finally he moved out of the house and she moved back in. Still she would hire people to follow him. She would call and scream at him and say that this was all of his fault. Every time they appeared before the Judge she would argue until the Judge threatened to incarcerate her for contempt of court. That got her attention, barely.

 The last time that I saw her she came over and she asked to borrow a blouse to wear to court. She said that things were going in her favor and that she was probably going to get Derek back the next day. She promised to come over as soon as she could. Well I didn't hear from her and I couldn't get in touch with anyone and finally I called her work which I did several times when I had Derek in the years before and it was not a problem but this night they said... "I will have to let you talk to my supervisor."  I was told that Theresa was on life support and that I needed to contact the hospital. I did and was put in touch with a family member who told me that the judge had terminated Theresa's parental rights and she started crying, and cried so hard that she had an asthma attack. She had asthma really bad. On the way out of the courthouse she fell and hit her head. They were just waiting for the family to be flown in to take her off life support.

 There is a lot more to this story but I cannot go into it all because it is just so long but I of course seen Derek at his mothers memorial service and then they flew her body to Michigan for burial and his sisters began seeking custody of Derek. Derek was in Michigan for a long while but finally he wanted to come home and so he went back to his Foster Family. I was undergoing serious amounts of testing and surgeries on my kidney. I made the trip one last time to see Derek with his foster family and then I had my big surgery and was in and out of the hospitals for the next year and could no longer even drive. By this time Karyn had her drivers license and took over many of our own responsibilities and when I had my final big kidney surgery I made a promise that if I lived thru it I was going to be happy. When I could I started packing and I rented a storage unit and I left my husband and moved. I kept up with Derek thru letters and phone calls and then I got the word that Derek went home with his dad.

 By this time I had moved to Nevada and that in it's self is a story for another day, but we lost touch. Not a day went by tho that he was not in my thoughts and prayers. My letters would come back to me so I lost touch with him.

 Fast forward .... Last night as I had my hands deep in to making dinner my phone rang. I was racing for my phone because I was expecting a call.... It was not the one that I was expecting. I said Hello... and silence... then as I was about to hang up I heard a voice on the other end... "Mom? It's Derek..... Ohhhh I am crying now...

 We spent over an hour talking. We were both crying and laughing and Oh I cannot tell you the joy that was spilling out over the phone. It was a surprise... Matthew my son found a way to get in touch with him. Accidentally actually. He gave Derek my phone number and promised not to tell me that he had seen Derek and so it was a BIG surprise to get that phone call.... and we are going to meet soon. He is working out west but is home now caring for his dad and he said he will see me soon. He will be taking time off work and he said Mom I might be there for Christmas.... Sooooooooo that is my big news........ This is what happens when you Believe in Miracles and know that God does hear our prayers...

 Be Blessed everyone, reach out to those that you have lost contact with.... BB

A Productive Day

Hello Everyone,

 It is a cold night at 47 degrees here. I am loving this snuggle weather with my sweet cuddle buddy Cisco. We have had a time of it today too.

 After a long and sleepless night due to the storms that whipped thru the area, and sadly tornadoes were a major part of that. Not where I live now but close to where I use to live, a lot of damage was done. I have not heard of anything here other than some high winds and heavy rain, but in Lufkin which is in East Texas a straight line wind knocked down sever train rail cars. 64 of them at the last count that I had off of an over pass. Thankfully no one was injured and the train cars were empty and I am assuming from what the news is reporting it happened when there was no traffic as it was an early Sunday morning. I am so thankful for that.
 Then a tornado in the same area tore up a restaurant and destroyed a lot of homes but once again no injuries so I am thankful for that as well. These cold fronts coming in and hitting the heat really makes the storms so bad and scary.

 So Cisco and I snuggled a little this morning and then Jonathan, Nathan and I started watching a series on Netflix called ZOO and we really got caught up in that. It is really good. Jonathan had to leave and go and get his hair cut and then he stopped and picked up my meds and some groceries and while he was gone Nathan moved everything out of the living room and we sprayed and cleaned and washed down some hard to get to spots. Actually I say we but it was really Nathan that did all of that. I started a couple of loads of laundry. Then he vacuumed the house and I was really proud of the effort that he put in. Then Jonathan came home and we resumed watching ZOO. We are into episode 6 of season 1.
 Oh and Cisco got a bath... I cheated this time around and did not use doggie flea and tick shampoo... I used Jonathan's Old Spice body wash! Oh Cisco smelled so manly!!!! After he dried he and I cuddled on the sofa while watching our show. So we had a cuddle day and it was really nice.
 The only draw back was one of the new meds that the doctor ordered for me for pain really made me sick to my stomach. Jonathan cooked dinner, a pot roast but I just couldn't eat any of it. Instead I came to my room and scrapped some pages.

 The one that I did tonight for my blog is from a new kit from Pink Paradox Productions. The same place as the one that I did last night just a different freebie, This one is called Geraldine's Winter. The only thing that I added was the little vintage people that I had gotten from another freebie site a while back. I thought that they fit in really well.

 Tomorrow is going to be a busy day. Barbara is coming over and she is bringing her sister for me to meet and also she is going to steam clean my carpets! Yay for that and is bringing me some more yarn to see if I would like any of it. Then if the high winds that we are expecting do not happen we are going over to her aunts house and have an all girl party! We will see. Who knows what we will end up doing.

 One of my friends is really depressed. She lost her father this time a couple of years ago. She asked for privacy for this weekend so we all stayed off of the group and let her have her time. Also she worked really hard all day Friday and into the late night doing some overlays and someone insulted her work which only added to her depression. She sent me a quick message and I responded that they were just jealous of her beautiful work and not to pay attention to the rude remarks.... I sent her a long distance hug and told her that I loved her and I was here if she needed me.
 I know that the holidays can be so hard for a lot of people. My mom died December 16th so I know how hard that can be. It will be hard for me as well.

 Well I am headed to bed,,,,,I am feeling sleepy... so until later you all have a great time doing what ever you want to do Hugs!!!BB

Wishing You A Merry Christmas!

 Hi Everyone,

 Well Christmas is coming way to fast for me in one respect and damn it not fast enough in another. I am getting a little tired now all of these Christmas pages, but this one I did for fun. It is a kit that my Sister In Law sent me a link to called Pink Paradox Productions. It is  a free kit and she sent me the link so I went and had a look at it and thought... hmmm I think that I will sit down and do something with this and so here you have it. Click to enlarge as always! Oh the Angel is from Purple Folie. They have some great tubes over there too.

 I am a bit aggravated tonight. I talked with Barbara and she said that she is going to fly out Sunday after next with Matthew and I guess that they will be gone about 6 weeks this time around. I am upset with Matthew because he should be saving money to try and get a place of his own for his son. He seems to do just the opposite of anything that I suggest so I told Barbara tonight to tell him that I am done offering advice that he is not going to take. It is a waste of my breath to keep advising him on what he should do in regards of having a stable home for Alex... For Pete's sake we have been around this issue now for 5 years. It is time that he does something about it.
 I do not volunteer this information. He calls and says "Mom what should I do?" and I am not the only one that is fed up with giving advice. Jon and Karyn and Laurie have all said... "We give him good advice and he will not take it so why does he keep asking?" So with this latest episode we are all just done. We love him and have always bailed him out when things got rough, but obviously he is going to be just fine making his own mistakes.
 Do I sound Pissy? Well I am.
 The whole reason that Alex's mom will not let him come for summers and such is because Matthew does not have a stable place to live. We are deprived of being in Alex's life because of this. We cannot be with him. I certainly cannot afford to fly out to Nevada and such. Jonathan and Karyn never have even seen him, Laurie was there when he was born but hasn't seen him since he was a month old and trust me, there will come a time when Matthew will need to provide a home for him. And Matthew is well aware of the seriousness of this situation.
 But as always he just goes his own way and so be it... I can't help him anymore. We have all just kind of given up. He makes good money but instead of getting a place to live and a car, he rents a car every time he comes home and he blows all his money and goes back to work eating soup if that.

 Ok well it is time for me to change the subject because the more I think about it the more angry I become. Not at him but for the situation he puts himself in if that makes sense.

 Not sure what is going on with Karyn. She was supposed to have come and changed my bandage but she didn't so I took it off when I showered yesterday. I have called and text her and have not heard a word from her. So I don't need her to come over here and do it tomorrow either. The packing came out when I took off the bandage. It will be closed up by Monday and I really hope that it has healed enough. I could see fresh skin growing over the incision. I don't need for it to build up fluid inside but she is not going to be able to get into it to pack it since skin is now growing over the top of it.No reason for her to come and try and pack it so IF she calls I am going to tell her not to bother. I am so Pissy DONE! I know that it was a little time consuming coming over Tuesdays and Thursdays and on the weekends. I get that. But at least she could call me and say Hey Mom I can't come. Or answer her damn phone. What if I needed her for an emergency?
 And I am going to have to get someone else to handle my paperwork for me. I am getting hospital bills for the last 4 months that she has promised to take care of. My insurance is supposed to cover these bills. She is my authorized representative. She is on all of my paperwork to take care of things. She is the one to be notified of an emergency and yet she never has her phone on. She turns it off and I can never get a hold of her. So I have to get this taken care of. Even if it is an emergency the hospital cannot get in touch with her so what is the point of having her as my emergency contact?
 Jonathan is to far away to get to me in an emergency unless he is at home. He is an hour away during the day and some Saturdays.. She is 10 minutes away. That is why we decided that she should take care of this for me and because Jonathan works in a different office doing different paperwork and is not on top of this as she is at her job. I can't help but to feel that if this was Joe's mom she would be rushing right on over to help. Is that crappy of me? I suppose it is but at the same time I have been put on the back burner a lot. I should never have moved here. I feel that I am a problem to them. Good to cook a meal, clean the house, do the dishes and laundry but not fricking good enough to pick up the phone and say hi mom how are you? do you need anything? Or not even that. Just to say Hello.

 Cisco is throwing up again. Not food really. It is like he is having an asthma attack. I called the vet because I was scared that he was going to quit breathing. The vet said it is  Allergies... Give him a benadryl and it has seemed to work. Maybe it is just allergies. He seems ok today. Nothing has slowed him down. He has been on the go all day!

 My bedding is washed and in the dryer. I had to wash it all because we have gotten rain and Mr. Cisco decided to walk in the mud and then roll all over my bed.... Rotten dog! A sweet Rotten dog but still Rotten!

 Guess that my rant is over for awhile. I don't mean to be this way but sometimes I just can take so much and I have reached my limit today. I am tired and that always makes me cranky. I have to get to Wal-Mart tomorrow and pick up some of my meds. I have discovered that I am out of one of mine. How did that happen? I could have sworn that I had a 3 month supply. So tomorrow it is time for me to go and get that taken care of.

 Y'all have a Blessed Day or Evening. I am going to close for now and go and watch something on Netflix. Maybe a Christmas movie or maybe not. I will be glad when the holidays are over this time around. Other than a few people that I really want to spend the holidays with and a few friends that share my spirit is the only part of the holidays that I am looking forward too. Just really tired lately.

 Love to all... (I mean that).... BB

Two New Pages Just For You

North Pole By Lins_Creations available here:
http://berryapplicious.com/store/index.php…
http://wilma4ever.com/index.php…
http://www.mymemories.com/store/designers/Lins_Creations


 Hi Everyone,

 My post last night was a little short so I wanted to tell you what I had the chance to do yesterday that I didn't get a chance to  share with you.

 I have the most wonderful driver. He is really a great companion to me when I have to go to the doctor and we talk about a lot of things. One of the things that we have in common that we like to talk about is animals. So yesterday on the way home from the podiatrist the interstate was overly crowded so we took a back way and he took me by one of the state parks and for the likes of me I cannot remember the name so I had to ask Jonathan. It is called Mount McKinney State Park. Not much of a mount but it is really pretty and then he drove me by a Wildlife Reserve/Refuge. I was able to see an Ostrich, Emu's, Antelope and Deer and a Gazelle...
 It was such fun. I wanted to get out to take pictures but because of my foot I thought that it would be best to just watch from afar. I tried to get my camera in on the action but everything came out blurry so maybe next time I will have better luck. So I wanted to share that with you.

 I also have two new pages that I did this afternoon from Lins kit called North Pole. I will work again on a couple of pages tomorrow from Santas House. I didn't upload these to the group or facebook yet. I wanted to space them out a bit. I will put them up sometime tomorrow if I get time. I have found so much to keep me busy today.

 We now have a clean fireplace and chimney and he moved out my dryer and cleaned behind all of that too. Now if I can get my carpets cleaned again and the air ducts I think that I can be satisfied for a bit with the apartment.

My toe feels much better today but I am wearing flip flops.... It is just a bit tender but I am glad that he took care of the problem. I sure do not want problems with my feet.

 Went Christmas shopping for Miss Edna and Master Pogo.... Of course they did not have what I wanted but I finally did settle on something. Now to get it wrapped and to the post office to be shipped off! Hopefully Barbara will be able to come over tomorrow so we can go and do that. If not then it will be Monday.

 Last of all I have some yarn that Barbara gave to me. It is just one skein of blue and a variegated pink. Not a complete skein but I will later on get  some girly colors and make her a real throw, but this is going to be a blanket for her baby dolls for my granddaughter Cathy. I have always wanted to learn to quilt and I have thought about it but have since changed my mind. I am not good with a needle and thread. Never have been so I will stick to what I do know that I can do. I am out of practice but I will get the hang of it again.

 Guess that this wraps it up for tonight. I am more than ready to call it a night... Oh yes one more thing before I say goodnight. The visiting nurses have cut my visits down to twice a week now. It is healing fast and probably next week will be my last week for the wound to be packed... so I am so thankful to have this almost over....

 Y'all have a great night or day, where ever you are in the world.... BB

Santa's Little Helper

North Pole By Lins_Creations available here:
http://berryapplicious.com/store/index.php…
http://wilma4ever.com/index.php…
http://www.mymemories.com/store/designers/Lins_Creations

 Hi Everyone,

 Hi it has been a few days since I was able to come and say hello. It is getting to be a crazy time right now and it seems that I am going to be busy from here on out. Just as well since it is good to stay busy and I have spent some time doing a few other things that have needed to be done and some for enjoyment.

 This scrap page is the second layout that I have done for my friend Lins over at Lins_Creations. I was a little behind and now she has a brand new kit out called Santa's House. I will do the pages tomorrow and get them done. I have to play catch up so I can do some pages for fun and I want to use some of the gorgeous QP's that Edna has put on her blog and also Kyra has a few kits that I have not had a chance to use. Also I would like to do a few pages just for fun.

 I went to see the podiatrist today and he cut out the beginning of an ingrown toenail. I really didn't suspect it but my big toe was beginning to hurt so he found the problem and OMG I nearly jumped out of the chair. He said he knew that it hurt but had to come out and he was done in 5 minutes... Praise the Goddess for my blood pressure meds lol.

We have an inspection tomorrow. They are coming to sweep the chimmneys and to clean all dryer vents so I need to be up early for that tomorrow and get it cleared away. I usually keep it clear anyway but we sort of moved things around and now I have to have Nathan move them again. Glad to get it done.

 So I guess that this wraps it up for tonight... Y'all have a Blessed Day and Hugs to all.... BB

More Merry Christmas....

 Hi And Hello,

 I am sending a little more Christmas your way. Gosh I cannot believe how much I am enjoying doing these pages. I might do more so I can use all of my kits that I have and have not been able to use all of the stuff in them. It is a wonderful time of the year for me!

 So I am sending my friend Edna a message here.... "Edna my friend, I applaud you and your crocheting skills. All of the beautiful things that you make. Tonight for the first time in I am guessing 15 years I had a crochet hook and yarn in my hands. It was awesome to see how fast it all came back to me... that is the good news. The bad news is that I had to stop at a half of a row because I developed a wicked case of hand cramps....How do you do it?"
 It was so awesome tho. I was showing my hopefully new daughter in law a couple of new stitches and wow I was really into it. I think that it is time that I get me some yarn and some hooks and go for it!

Spent a quiet Sunday with my kids and just hung out. Not doing much of anything. It was nice. It was slow and easy and had some good laughs and reminisced with Karyn about her brother Matthew, looked thru all old photos and had some fun teasing him on the phone. Barbara came to spend the night with me. We are getting to know each other and she is really nice. I am enjoying getting to know her and she has helped me do a few things. She will go home tomorrow but I will see her again on Wednesday. I have to go to the dr. on Friday.

 My visiting nurse Maria will be here tomorrow. Gosh I really like her. She is fun to talk to and we have talked a few times on the phone... Somehow I feel a friendship coming on... wow.... so great to have female companionship.

 Going to close and call it a night. It is actually almost midnight. 4 minutes left until I turn back into a Pumpkin so I am going to say goodnight now and hope that everyone has a Blessed day and hope to talk to you all again soon.... BB

Weathered Christmas

Hi Everyone,

 Well for some reason I am not able to get the links to this kit tonight but it is called Weathered Christmas by Lins_Creations Across The Pond series... If you like it and want it then that is where you can pick up this gorgeous kits.
 Fur Babies In Heaven was my first kit of Lins that I ever used and I loved it. This was one that I chose with a coupon over at Berryapplicious.com. It was the first one that I ordered with my free coupons.
 I love scrapbooking. I enjoy trying my hand at new things, but lately, for the past few months really my inspiration has really been off. The Holidays are easy, I love anything to do with Christmas, it is the other things that I find hard at doing.
Ballerinas, Fantasy, and all that has just not been my cup of tea lately. I will get it back. I am sure that it has a lot to do with how I am feeling lately.
 I just contacted Lins to see if I can get the links to her store... for some odd reason FB blocked her. They said that she was over posting! Really? I know two designers that keep the scrapbooking sites HOT with post after post after post. Lins is terribly upset as she should be. She appealed it but she is blocked until the 10th of December.
 Personally I think that it is these other two designers that want most of the attention to themselves and they have lost a lot of their CT members and did it for spite seeing how several of us unfriended and unfollowed them and seen where we post for Lins. I think that they reported her for abuse and that is why she got blocked because Lins does not over post. She barely puts out a kit a week and that was just during the holiday season.
 We can upload her kits and share them but she cannot even get in to her site. Who ever did this I really think that they STINK!

 Oh well on to some other things... First of all I sent Jonathan a text after the nurse left because she really thought that I should go to the Hospital again, My wound is ok, It is my blood sugar that is the problem and my blood pressure is a bit high.
 After I had that throwing up bug yesterday I did not eat. About 9:30 last night I had Jonathan make me a bowl of soup. It was a packaged variety. Anyway I ate it and kept it down but this morning my blood sugar was 427 at 7:00am. I took my insulin and by the time that she got here at 11:30 it had only come down to 399 so she called my doctor who never called either her or myself back. At 1:30 she had me to test. It was 315 but she told me to eat and retest and call her back in 2 hours. Finally at 5:00 today they called her back and said that I should come in to their office tonight before 8:00pm. Well that was not happening. I will test again in a half hour and see where I am. But I probably will go into the ER tomorrow so that is why I wanted to write this blog post tonight.

 Anyway back to Jonathan.... so I texted him and told him to pick up dinner for himself as I probably would not be home. I explained what was going on. He called me after he got off work and said Mom I will stop at Wal-Mart what can I get you? I said just get some soup and crackers... I gave him the name of the kind that I can eat so I had a half a cup of that and 4 crackers... and I told him to pick up some medicine for himself because he was sick.
 He comes home with the soup and crackers and that's it..... I said "Did you get some medicine for yourself?" and wow did he go off like a bottle rocket... He said and I quote... "Don't worry about me. I didn't have time to go and get food and meds before the bus left. I will be ok until tomorrow." It wasn't what he said, it was how he said it.
 I said... "Well Sorry" and he said, "I had a really bad day, all I want to do is just sit down and do nothing for an hour and not talk, not be on the phone and just do nothing." So I fixed my soup and came to my room. He really must have had a bad day. He hasn't moved from his chair or even turned the channel from the tv to his favorite show.

 Well he said that he was sorry for snapping at me. He said that he is just not feeling good. It is really out of character for him to snap at anyone, especially me. He is usually the most politest person that I know.

 So this is my post for now... You all have a great day and talk to you soon. BB

A Little Christmas Cheer

 Hi Everyone,
 A short post today as I slept in and I have the visiting nurse coming in less than 45 minutes and I need a shower and at least one more cup of coffee.

 This is my good friend Edna, and her little darlings come to spend some time with her and Pogo. This page was made with Kyra's beautiful Country Side Christmas kit. I will in future get a link to post when I do her kits so you can have this beautiful kit as well from her blog... or go to With A Russian/Dutch Heart and follow her bog. She is very talented and has some gorgeous kits.. Thank you ever so Much Kyra.

 I guess all is good here. At least for now... I have to get my butt moving as I have a dr. appt. today as well.... Have a good one! BB

A Tale Of A Different Kind

Good Morning Everyone,

 So this is my beautiful cousin Deborah Lucille Kelly... She passed yesterday morning at 4:47 am. Peace be with her and our family. There will not be a funeral. She is being Cremated in Dallas and her daughter will come back for her ashes and take her mama home with her out in West Texas.

 My Aunt had 8 kids. The older ones were pretty much grown by the time my Aunt started her second family as did my mom. So we all grew up together, the last 6 of us. 5 girls and 1 boy. It was me in born in 1959,My cousin Belinda in 1960. My sister Linda in 1961, My cousin Carl in 1962, My sister Susie in 1963 and my cousin Deborah in 1964. So Deborah was the baby of the 6 Muskateers. Carl being the only boy had to torment us girls...
 I would like to have posted a more recent picture of her, but the ones that we have now are not easy on the eye. Illness takes so much from you. This is Deborah in her younger years. About 12 years ago. She just turned 51 years old. So sad to know that she is gone, but at the same time, there is something to say about not living with earthly pain and illness.

 My cousin Belinda and I chatted for a long time last night. We were able to recall some memories that made us laugh, but for the most part our memories were bittersweet. We talked a little about our Grandmother and that was a little hard for me. My grandmother, (My fathers mother) was not a kind woman and she did not like me at all.
 When my mom was in a car accident in 1968 she came to care for us while mama was in the hospital.  I had just tuned 9 I think.
 My grandmother would get onto me and I begin to notice things that happened when she was mad. Pictures would suddenly fly off the wall or the crate that I was standing on doing dishes would fly out from under me. I don't remember the details but one day I flung my anger out at her. I never said a word but everything that I was feeling just flew out of me in a rage.
 She grabbed me by the arm and threw me into a chair and she said words that I didn't understand but she looked me in the eye and said.. "You remember little girl that I AM a stronger witch than you! When I told my family, like my older sister or my mom they would shrug it off and say that is not what she meant, but as I grew and started developing my own gifts, I knew exactly what she meant.
 The difference is she was a mean woman and I am nothing like her. I am the exact opposite and maybe she saw that in me when I was little and that is why she would do mean things to me. She knew I had good in me and would use what powers that I had for good. Not mean or ugly.

 When she died I took my mama and daddy to her funeral. I had not seen her since I was about 13 and I stayed away from her. I was in my early 20's when she died and I swear things was eerie at her funeral. First of all, the flowers, all of them looked wilted to me, not beautiful. The funeral hearse became lost going to the cemetery and we drove for over an hour before we finally arrived. Just as we got there the sky let loose with a horrible thunderstorm that prevented anyone from getting out of their cars, and in the end only a couple of the older cousins, my dad, aunt and uncles were the only ones who ventured out into the storm to the awning but were back rather quickly. Even more odd.... as soon as we left the cemetery the storm stopped. It was only a few years later that I really started recalling all of the odd things that happened.

 When my daddy was dying I was driving him back and forth to the VA Hospital and we stayed at my Cousins house. She showed me family albums that had pictures that should have been given to my dad. I asked for copies and she said No. If Grandma wanted you to have them she would have left them to you. Well there was only one picture that I really wanted and that was my mom and daddy's wedding picture. Mama lost almost all of our family pictures when our home was destroyed by a tornado so I really felt that she should have let me have that picture. It was an 8x10 but Barbara said no and that was the end of it.

 Daddy died in 1990. I had a blue oldsmobile. I had that car for several years. When I was pregnant with Laurie my husband started looking for us a station wagon. We didn't find one right away but right after daddy died in 1990 my husband and I found one that we liked. I had that car for quiet a while but when I got ready to sell it I was cleaning out my car. Now mind you, I had not been back to my cousins house or anywhere other than the VA Hospital. I had never gone back to my cousins house. And I had a different car then anyway. But as I was cleaning out the glove box, which I had cleaned several times and had kept all of my insurance information and etc in there locked. When I opened the glove box there was a small wallet size picture of my mom and dad, their wedding picture sitting on top of the papers in my glove box. I feel that my daddy somehow made sure that I had that picture.

I made copies of it for my mom. I still have it to this day, the original one I found in my glove box in 1997...........

 Some things that happen in our life cannot be explained. Some say fate, some say The Lord, some say that it was probably there all along (Which I know wasn't) and then some say, like me.... The power of good always over rides the intentions of meanness. What ever the case is....

 So I guess that this ends my tale of the past for at least today. You all have a blessed day always... BB