Wacky Wednesday!

Have a wonderful, safe Halloween!

MIsc pics

Just some of my photos I've been looking at and need to play with some more.
Barn wood: I loved the design around the attic window - I need to crop and play with this a little more

DD's hands:

Look....

I digi-scrapped...amazing!

This is for my brother - they recently had to put Tinka to sleep. Finally getting a few baby pictures done...

Thanks for looking!

It's Friday!

I hope you all have a great weekend - plenty of plans here again. {insert eye roll & sigh}
I truly hope I can get a little scrapping done...wishful thinking, I'm sure....

HUGS and have a super weekend!

Thursday thought

"Nothing is impossible. Some things are just less likely than others."
Jonathan Winters

Warm fuzzies!

In our area, there was an "animal crises" - a woman was hoarding dogs, cats & birds in her home. TERRIBLE!!!!!! (I won't go into all the details) Most of the dogs are still getting used to grass and being walked on a leash.

Yesterday, myself and 2 other ladies from our office went to the shelter where they are keeping these animals while the legal mumbo jumbo is being sorted out. We walked dogs for 2 hours. It was FANTASTIC! I have never owned a dog but have been wanting one. I fell in love with a little dauschund. I man!

It felt wonderful to get out and do something to help the community and the animals. They were so happy for the human contact.

Maybe we'll get a dog...

WHOA!

I seriously can not believe this week is over! I had out of town training 2 days this week, so that always seems to drain time away. Between the kids schedules and activities, work, trying to sleep a little, I don't know where the time went...

Again, another week without any scrapping. sigh... One of these days, I'll actually get some time in. (Yes, I'm laughing hysterically while I type that)

Hope you all had a good weekend and wonderful weekend!
HUGS!

Monday, Monday....

can't trust that day. (You know the song - Mama and Papas, come on...)

I really do not enjoy Mondays. They never seem to go well. (Raising my coffee cup!) So, here's to hopefully a good Monday. Cheers!

I did some book research yesterday and my "to read" list increased considerably! YEA!!!! I just know I will never run out of books to read!

DD has a horrible cough right now so I've been up with her off & on the past couple of nights. She climbed in our bed last night, so DH & I didn't sleep a whole lot but she seemed to sleep quite peacefully.

DH & DS went to the Bears game yesterday. We really thought they were going to pull it out, but alas, no such luck.... It was sad!

I did not do much scrapping this weekend, so I do not have anything to share. Hopefully as the week goes on, I can get a couple of layouts done.

I wish you all a very happy Monday and a wonderful week!
HUGS!

What are clothes without....

PURSES AND SHOES???????!!!!!!!!!!
(Yes, I am a purse junkie!)

Clothes

I do NOT consider myself fashionable! Not even close. But after reading a friend's blog post about some clothes she had found that she liked, I decided to go "e-window shopping". These are some of the things that I found that I liked....

This was my favorite - too bad I don't have anywhere to wear it and that the price tag doesn't fit the budget.

TGIF!

Just wanted to wish my readers a HAPPY FRIDAY and I hope you have a GREAT weekend!!!!!

I hope to post some scrappings here this weekend and visit my blogroll.

HUGS!

BOOKS!!!!!

Yes, books will be the subject of today's post.

I love books!

Reading started at an early age. My mom read to us almost every night then taught us to read. I was reading before I went to kindergarten. I loved books. I would read anything.

I'm still like that. I love books! I work part-time at our public library - talk about an enabler! I am surrounded by them... The only things I have found that I just can't read are sci fi and true crime. I have a real hard time with those. I LOVE a good mystery (kind of fluffy, though - not too gory)! My "to read" list is neverending! Seriously!

I hope that my kids feel the same way about reading that I do. I know they both like going to the library...

What have you read lately?

Small town

Yes, that's right - I hear John Melloncamp's song in the back of my mind...

I got this as an e-mail and as I read it, I was dying laughing because all but probably 2 of them apply to my life as I was growing up...


Those who grew up in small towns will laugh when they read this.Those who didn't will be in disbelief and won't understand how true it is.
1) You can name everyone you graduated with.
2) You know what 4-H means.
3) You went to parties at a pasture, barn, gravel pit, or in the middle of a dirt road. On Monday you could always tell who was at the party because of the scratches on their legs from running through the woods when the party was busted. (See #6.)
4) You used to'drag'Main
5) Most people went by a nickname.
6) You scheduled parties around the schedules of different police officers, because you knew which ones would bust you and which ones wouldn't.
7) You could never buy cigarettes because all the store clerks knew how old you were (and if you were old enough, they'd tell your parents anyhow.) Besides, where would you get the money?
8) When you did find somebody old enough and brave enough to buy cigarettes, you still had to go out into the country and drive on back roads to smoke them.
9) You knew which section of the ditch you would find the beer your buyer dropped off.
10) It was cool to date somebody from the neighboring town.
11) The whole school went to the same party after graduation.
12) You didn't give directions by street names but rather by references. Turn by Nelson's house, go 2 blocks to Anderson's, and it's four houses left of the track field.
13) The golf course had only 9 holes.
14) You couldn't help but date a friend's ex-boyfriend/girlfriend.
15) Your car stayed filthy because of the dirt roads, and you will never own a dark vehicle for this reason.
16) The town next to you was considered 'trashy' or 'snooty,' but was actually just like your town.
17) You referred to anyone with a house newer then 1955 as the 'rich' people.
18) The people in the 'big city' dressed funny, and then you picked up the trend 2 years later.
19) Anyone you wanted could be found at the local gas station or the dairybar.
20) You saw at least one friend a week driving a tractor through town or one of your friends driving a grain truck to school occasionally.
21) The gym teacher suggested you haul hay for the summer to get stronger.
22) Directions were given using THE stop light as a reference.
23) When you decided to walk somewhere for exercise, 5 people would pull over and ask if you wanted a ride.
24) Your teachers called you by your older siblings' names.
25) Your teachers remembered when they taught your parents.
26) You could charge at any local store or write checks without any ID.
27) There was no McDonalds.
28) The closest mall was over an hour away.
29) It was normal to see an old man riding through town on a riding lawn mower.
30) You've pee'd in a cornfield.
31) You laughed your butt off reading this because you know it is true, and you forward it to everyone who may have lived in a small town.I would not have wanted to have been raised any other way!!!!

Tough times don't last... Tough people do

All I have to say is, if you ask questions-you probably won't get a straight answer!

Tuesday talkin'

Hello!

I wanted to let you know that Pink Ink Studios has lots of goodies for my photographer/scrapper friends. http://pinkinkstudios.com/shoppe/index.php?main_page Stop by and check it out!!!! Also, scrapping friends, http://www.mydigitalmuse.com is having grab bags this Friday and Saturday. There's lots of fun stuff in them. My friend, Andie designs for both places - please check out her stuff.

Hope you're having a great week!
HUGS!

Tuesday talkin'

Another baseball post...

Chicago Cubs, the tribe has spoken.... (actually the Diamondbacks decided)





YOU'RE DONE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

UGH! It was pitiful! Just pitiful!!!!!! Seriously, the first pitch of the game was a home run by Young. It just went downhill from there. They left the bases loaded in the bottom of the 5th... just....just.... yeah.

So, in the time honored tradition, I will say:

Wait 'til next year!

On the bright side, our seats were pretty good. We could see the whole field and our section was VERY entertaining! The beer was flowing and the crowd was hilarious! After the 7th inning, I think most people had given up cheering, so we were just watching, half-heartedly clapping and watching everything going on around us. A couple rows down, a group of guys was acting out scenes from different baseball movies - they were hilarious! I wondered a few times if candid camera was there.

I would also like to say that the 5 Marines who presented the colors were walking through the concourse before the game and they got a huge ovation. It was very heartwarming and I got a little emotional. As I was waiting for my hot dog, Scott Eyre (Cubs pitcher) walked through the concourse behind me. I did a double take and he smiled at me, said "Enjoy the game." I told him "Good luck". I thought it was pretty brave of him to walk through there with the fans milling around.

And I swear I almost cried when I was walking up the steps to my seat. It hit me I was about to watch a playoff game and I felt quite overwhelmed. I don't know why but I was very teary eyed and tried to take it all in.

So, our baseball season is officially over and now I will have to wait until February. (And yes, you will probably hear me whine about this all winter...)

The weather has been VERY warm here! Nineties....hmmm....did anyone tell Mother Nature that it's October? Not complaining but I just don't want to go fromt his to 30 degrees. That's just cruel!

Hope you're all having a good weekend!

Deep breath, aaaannnndd....

here we go!

The Cubs HAVE to win tonight. HAVE TO!!!!!!!!!! It's do or die! Literally. I will be cheering them on and praying that maybe "their" crowd will help pull them through.

Crossing my fingers and hoping the Diamondbacks have a BAD game!

Zoo fun!

My brother's girlfriend works at the zoo and said she could get us "behind the scenes" of some things. When he told me she was working with the Okapi. I said, "O - whatee?"

An okapi: Ryan meets the okapi:

Sara meets the okapi:

The okapi "ham it up" for the camera:

Warthogs - the "babies" are: Luke, Bo & Daisy - yep, the Dukes of Hazard! :)Sara meets Daddy Warthog

She also got to feed a dyIker:

Brown Bear, Brown Bear, what do you see?

Playtime for the polar bear:

Lunch time for the grizzlyl bear:

Giraffe

Camel

Thank you for a GREAT day!

These were taken with our new camera so they aren't all what I wanted...

Thursday Thoughts

Prepare for lots of randomness today...

Still waiting for computer time at home to load my zoo pictures...

Well, the Cubs lost last night. Sigh... I'm just hoping I don't watch them lose the series on Saturday. THAT would be sad!

ALOHA!!!!!!!!!!! We leave in 1 month and 5 days for San Fran/Hawaii. I am SO excited!

Dear Library Patron:
If your book is involved in the flood from 6 weeks ago and you've just unpacked it from its box, please do not bring it into the library with dripping pages. It is disgusting and who knows what kind of diseases it carries. Fortunately, our employees are "up" on the tetnus shots. We will send you your bill.
Sincerely,
Your local library

I am the proud owner of my very own snorkel set. Sorry, Andie, I haven't tried it out...yet....

The trees are really turning and they look fantastic!

Why is it that I can think of a FANTASTIC blog post as I'm drifting off to sleep? Word for word - it's GREAT in my head but I sit down to type it and it's like kryptonite to Superman?

Have a GREAT day!
HUGS!

Wednesday already...

Ok, so this week is going fast!
We had a GREAT day at the zoo on Sunday. (Pictures to come...) We didn't get to feed the giraffes but we got to pet the okapi and the warthogs. The kids thought that was really cool! We got to see the new polar bear playing. The weather was PERFECT!!!! Sunny - 80s. However, my husband & I have different ideas of "what not too far way" is. His apparently is about 45 minutes, mine - maximum 15 minutes...

Monday....what was Monday???? It must not have been too exciting.

We took Ryan shopping for something to wear to the homecoming dance this Saturday, last night. I was reminded once again, why I hate shopping! I don't have the patience for it. Plus, trying to find pants for a 5'9", 110 pound kid is NOT easy! We found a pair and they aren't too bad, with a belt, I think he'll look fine.

I got my ticket today for the Cubs game on Saturday night. I can not even begin to tell you just how excited I am about them being in the playoffs, let alone that I am getting to go!

Other than that, not much else is going on.

It's Sunday!

Fall may be upon now. The days are gorgeous and the nights are cool. I am happy and hope it stays like this for a while!

I hope you're all having a good weekend. We're off to the zoo today. We wanted to go while we had an available day and before they started shipping the animals off for the winter.

Have a great day!

Good Saturday morning!

It's sinking in that the Cubs are going to the playoffs...



I had a crop last night and got to meet one of my on-line friends in persons - Monica. We started e-mailing about a year ago. She's so sweet, fun and easy to talk to! I had a great time and am so glad I got to meet her and hope we can get together again soon!



I actually got quite a few cards made and did a few layouts. Here's a collage that I did this morning:

I'll get some of my other creations posted soon.

I hope you all have a great weekend! HUGS!!!

YES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

They did it! They did it!!!!!! Thank you, San Diego Padres!

My Cubbies are going to the playoffs!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

TGIF!!!!!

It's FRIDAY!!!!!!!!!!!!
I missed posting yesterday....so much for every day this week.
Not a whole lot is going on here.
Here are a couple of digital layout I've done this week.

It's Wednesday!

Yes, the week is almost half over.

The Cubs lost last night and Milwaukee won - NOT GOOD!!!!!! We now only have a 2 game lead... (sigh, bite nails) We MUST, MUST, MUST win!!!!!!!!!!

A bit of good news this morning...when I got to work, my name is #2 in the playoff ticket lottery. Now, if the Cubs go to the playoffs, I'm second in line for a ticket. Crossing fingers...

Hope you're all having a good week!
GO CUBS!!!!!!!!!!!

My week, so far....

As you know, we went to the Cubs game on Sunday. They beat the Pirates, 8 - 0. :) It was great! The energy in that park was amazing, we've been several times, but never had it been like it was on Sunday. There was a lot of scoreboard watching (Atlanta vs. Milwaukee) and lots of cheering as Atlanta won. When the game ended, no one left - it was crazy! The fans usually run for the exit but we stayed and clapped and cheered. Some of the players came back out and waved. It was just amazing!

If you want to see something funny, tell a 3 year old at a baseball game that the Pirates are on the field. She asked where the Pirates were and where their boat was. We were rolling!

Monday was a pretty ok day. You know, for a Monday... It was hot though. Who would have thought 90 degrees on September 24? Crazy...

We shall see what today brings.
Have a GREAT Tuesday!

What's your name?

1. your rock star name (first pet & first car).
Ribsy Chevrolet
2. your gansta name (fav ice cream flavor, favorite cookie).
Dulce de Luche Chocolate Chip
3. your “fly girl” name (first initial of first name, first three letters of your last name).
JMCG
4. your detective name (fav color, fav animal).
Blue Bear
5. your soap opera name (middle name, city where you were born)
Michelle DeKalb
6. your Star Wars name (first 3 letters of your last name, first 2 letters of your first).
JENMC
7. superhero name (”the” + 2nd fav color, fav drink).
The Red Water
8. nascar name (the first names of your grandfathers)
Milford William
9. stripper name ( the name of your fav perfume/cologne/scent, fav candy).
Cotton Snickers
10. witness protection name (mother’s & father’s middle names ).
Ann Leonard
11. tv weather anchor name (your 5th grade teacher’s last name, a major city that starts with the same letter).
Partridge Prescott
12. spy name (your fav season/holiday, flower).
Autumn Daisy
13. cartoon name (fav fruit, article of clothing you’re wearing right now + “ie” or “y”).
Peach Shirty
14. hippy name (what you ate for breakfast, your fav tree).
Cereal Oak
15. your rockstar tour name (”the” + your fav hobby/craft, fav weather element + “tour”).
The Scrapbook Sun Tour

How about you? I've seen a few people do this on their blogs already.

PS: The Cubs WON yesterday, but more on that in tomorrow's post - I'm still riding the happiness high.

Happy Monday!

The challenge has begun...

My friend, Andie (hi, sweetie!) has challenged us to blog EVERY DAY this week! Hopefully, I can do it!

Happy First Day of Fall!!!!! It's pretty warm here for almost the end of September but I think the cooler weather is coming... We walked around campus yesterday and a lot of the trees are getting their yellow and orange colors - I LOVE it!!!!

We're off to the Cubs game today and as we leave - here are the current NL Central standings:

Team W L PCT GB
Chi Cubs 82 73 .529 -
Milwaukee 79 75 .513 2.5
St. Louis 72 82 .468 9.5
Cincinnati 71 84 .458 11.0
Houston 68 87 .439 14.0
Pittsburgh 66 89 .426 16.0

Maybe this is the year! We're SO close!!!!!!!!!!!!!! If we can win again today and Atlanta can beat Milwaukee, it would be another game apart....

I hope you have all had a good weekend and enjoy your Sunday!

Stop the world, 8 PM

My wonderful son called me at work to tell me that his homecoming date backed out on him. Ugh...as much as I hated to see him date, I hate even more that he is nursing a wound in his pride. I feel terrible! He said another guy that she wanted to go with asked her so she told Ryan that she couldn't go with him. Man...

Stayed tuned, I'm sure there's more to come...

Stop the world, I want to get off!

WAIT! I don't think I want to be the mom of a high schooler anymore! I have used my paper bag to breathe into so many times this week.

It's official, he has a date for homecoming. A DATE!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Wait, when did he get old enough to date? So, because neither of them or the other couple they're going with have their licenses, guess who offered to drive. YEP!!! Don't think I wasn't going to let that opportunity slip by...

Ryan truly is enjoying high school and I'm grateful for that! He likes his classes, teachers and talks about all his friends all the time. I just still can't believe he's in high school. I remember crying on his first day of kindergarten!

Okay, sorry!

A little update on Sara. The whole fixing the glasses things has become a huge ordeal! Of course... Pearle is stating that her protection plan expired in April. Hmmm...no one notified us it was expiring and when we bought it in August of 05, it was for 3 YEARS!!! Do the math. So, because the refuse to reinstate said plan, we are trying to decide whether to pay for the lens to be replaced (daycare is paying part) or just to do her eye exam and be done with all of it. Good grief!!!!!!

We are off the Cubs game on Sunday. GO CUBS!!!!!!!!!! It would be just fantastic if the Brewers would just lose all their games. Too much to ask????

Hope you all have a great weekend!
HUGS!

Movie reviews

So I've actually watched a few movies the past couple of weeks...
I was ok with this. Funny, touching, you know...until the last 5 minutes. Huh? Did you not know how to end this????

Yeah...the only 2 good things about this movie - Sandra Bullock's hair and when it ended. An hour & a half of my life I will never get back...

I have seen this one a few times and LOVE it! I could watch this movie over and over and still cry.

What movies have you seen lately?

So much for the quiet evening...

Sara took a face dive onto the blacktop at school yesterday. The quiet evening I had planned at home for tonight, will now be spent at Pearle Vision replacing the scratched lens on her glasses. Can you tell I'm excited???? She got a few little scratches on her nose and forehead and her glasses bruised the bridge of her nose but she's ok.

It was fall here but it has suddenly warmed up. Mid 80s yesterday and more of the same today. Ummm, hello? I'm ready for fall. I said FALL NOT winter!!!!!!!!!!

My Cubbies are going to give me a heart attack. I wish they would just win and win big, none of this heart attack 9th inning stuff...ugh! Milwaukee needs to lose all their games this week and the Cubs need to win all theirs. We are off to the game on Sunday and hoping for a win!

Hope you all are having a great week!
HUGS!

Hi!

WOW! What a week...
My brother was here for a visit so we spent some time with him. I had a work trip for a couple of days this week. I don't know where last week went to...
The weather is turning cool. Fall is coming! : ) Some of the trees are starting to turn.
I have been on a scrapping roll and gotten some more done.
I will try to give a bigger, rambling update soon!

Paper Scrapping

Yes, I've gotten some scrapping done lately... I went to a crop last night and got almost 10 pages done! I am at 95 paper pages for the year and I haven't kept track of my digital pages.

Digital Scrappings

August????

This August has not been like any I remember in a LONG time! It is usually hot and DRY, not this year! Our town and several others around are under water. We, fortunately, still have a dry basement and yard (as in no standing water). The river is across the street and is creeping into our neightbors' yards. It is sad to see the houses under water.

We have had about 14" of rain in the last 2 1/2 weeks. Trees are starting to fall over because the ground is so wet.

We're just hanging on for the ride and hoping it doesn't get any worse!

Chin up...

(SIGH!)
Tomorrow is the day...
One more day of parental worry...
One more day toward cutting the ties of parental control...
One more day that I have been dreading for the past 14 years...

My DS starts high school!

Do you know what is there? BIG kids! Really big kids! Maybe some of them are mean too...

Do you know what ELSE is there? GIRLS!!!! Girls who might like my baby and want to date him. Girls... (SIGH!)

Oh man! What's a mom to do, but drop him off in her mini van, wipe a tear from her eye and drive away.

Good morning!

We do have some pretty sunrises in the Midwest!

This picture was taken in Delavan, Wisconsin.

A quiet HI...

I will try to update as time permits. I won't give it up completely and I will try to visit your blogs from time to time.
I hope you're all having a great summer!
HUGS!