Flying...

I've been working hard--

just not at scrapbooking or stamping at the moment...

I've been on the FLYLADY bandwagon again

and have most of the house straightened up

so this week-end

ahhh----a FOUR DAY WEEK-END at that--

I can tackle my craft room

that I've not gotten round to in forever...

as the picture a few posts back showed!

And

I am anxiously awaiting my Close to My Heart order

that has the new papers and embellishments

for our next TWO classes I will teach-

and drumroll please

the new CRICUT CARTRIDGE

exclusive to CTMH

that matches a number of stamp sets in the new catalog!

I can't wait!!!
The tracking orders sez

SATURDAY...

but my favorite Fed-Ex guy is on vacation

(I happen to know that as I just had lunch with his wife...)

so hopefully it will happen as planned...

we'll see!
Want your own Close to My Heart catalog?

Or Cricut cartridge (that comes with lots and lots of goodies?

Just let me know

and I will be glad to help you out!

Until next time, happy stamping and scrapping!
Blessings,

Going for the TIMER...

I am feeling overwhelmed with what needs to be done--

what all I hadn't "gottenroundtoit"

before the storm...

and now what needs to be done after...

I am tired and sore and whiney!

So...

I am going to set my TIMER

for 15 minutes...

and go for it!

Flylady says...

you can do ANYTHING for 15 minutes...

and that's how I am going to get through

this overwhelmed feeling today.

Tomorrow...will take care of itself.

We're safe-we're beyond the storm

WE ARE BLESSED.

Until next time, happy stamping and scrapping!

Blessings,



Praise God...

We are back home--

safe and sound with NO DAMAGE (not even a missing shingle!)

 from Hurricane Irene!

The sun is even shining at the moment.

There's lots of water between the first row homes and the dune

so at some point it appears the ocean came over

but no damage or water standing beyond that space.

Now its time to put things away again

while praying for our family & friends still in her path.

Many thanks to Ms. Wall who gave us shelter in the storm--

her home is ground level and more inland

and I slept well not rocking and rolling from the wind.

Thanks for all the good thoughts and prayers!

Until next time, happy stamping and scrapping!

Blessings,

 

GOOD-NIGHT, Irene, GOOD-NIGHT!

that title should read

Good-Night

GO AWAY,  IRENE---GO AWAY!!!

Sigh.

As I sit here typing

hubby is downstairs running the saw

to cut the plywood

to screw to the front and back doors

as we exit for

Operation Irene Evac.

You see

we are second-row ocean front

on a lovely island-

most of the time.

These are the times

when it's not so lovely to live here.

Our house

has survived category 1-2

and I think before my time a 3...

We will evacuate to a home inland on the ground

if it doesn't look bad.

At a 4 or 5, we will pack us up

(translate: 2 adults, and FOUR CATS)

and leave.

WWW. FLYLADY.COM

had my evac checklist.

I printed it out at the office today

and promptly left it on my desk.

Never fear-I FOUND my "control journal"

and all the items on the check list are a go.

It's all packed and ready.

My conundrum is

scrapbooks.

Do I pack them and take them to our neighbors

to have with me and risk losing them

or

pack them my beloved Crop In Style,

put them in the interior closet

and risk losing them?

Decisions, decisions.

I did do some scrapping the other day-

I've inherited the preschool scrapbook

a mom started...'nough said...

and I will finish.

Took some pics but need to edit and that's not really a priority right now.

I am trying not to stress-

thinking about cats, scrapbooks, the brand new bed

that isn't even paid for

sitting in the FRONT bedroom...

sigh.

Off to check the weather channel...

again.

Until next time, happy stamping and scrapping.

Blessings,

Uh-Oh...

I had good intentions of getting some housework done today

by choice...

but hubby went to take a nap

and I felt like I needed to be quiet...

so blog hopping kinda took over...

oh well-it's Sunday...

time to rest.

The housework will wait.

While looking at AOL home page, however

I came across this little tidbit...

what-the-location-of-your-mess-says-about-you

hmmm....

oh my!

Interesting...but

they don't mention this room, however...

um, it's my so-called CRAFT ROOM.

So what does this mess say about me?!

Hmm....

well, for one,

health issues kinda took over the majority of my summer

and when I did feel crafty--

it was all I could do to do that--

and clean up just never happened.

I *usually* know where its all at-

even in the chaos.

But there's a lot here that doesn't need to be, too

and since I am feeling better

(two for two on sleeping through the night!

GO SLEEPNUMBER!)

it's time for a major overhaul in there. I think...it needs a wee bit of attention...

but not today, Scarlett!

Gotta change out laundry and then theres the small matter of

the usual week-end boat ride, swim, sunset picnic supper with a little lesurily reading thrown in...

housework will wait!

(I used to get crazy with having to clean it all on the week-end

no time to relax until I did...and it never ALL got done...

my late husband's cancer taught me--although sometimes I do forget...

that there are other things more important

than housework...

when I need to refocus...I go back to

Flylady

her tips, tricks and routines...

15 minutes at a time.

As for the NEW bed...and napping...

I think the cats are enjoying  it, too

as this is where everyone ended up

PC seems to be giving it 4 paws up...and Bad Cat is yawning...

PC (the one with 4 paws up...) likes being read to.

We have a night-time ritual.

I have a favorite child' story we've read together for the last month...

we stretch out on the love seat, he curls up on my tummy and listens.

This book is delightful....check it out hereand the illustrations...are AWESOME

(I particularly like the lightening bugs!)

Yeah, I know-

crazy cat lady comes to mind.

I need grandchildren....but that doesn't seem to be happening

so, in the meantime, PC will have to do!

(Although...Bad Cat and Inky aren't usually to far away, either!)

Better go get that laundry...

Until next time, happy stamping and scrapping!

Blessings,

..

I Did It By The Number!

The SLEEP NUMBER that is!!!

I slept...ALL NIGHT

without meds (or even a rum drink!)

for the first time in I can't even remember how long!

And---better yet

I woke up

and my first thought(s) weren't

"OHDEARGODIHURT!!!!"

Thank you, JESUS...

Thank you, my dear husband...

thank you SLEEP NUMBER bed!

It arrived right on time yesterday afternoon

The "Sleep Number Swat Team"

(4 guys total-I think-they were a blur or activity, motion and orders!)

descended upon our house

with lots and lots of little boxes and packages.

Huh?

Where's the big huge heavy king size mattress...?

"In the box-in the bag, Ma'am!"

Why oh why I didn't take photos of the assembly process

is beyond me-I was amazed!

The "box springs"---are these heavy duty

(although light weight) panels that click together

and then  get a cover

and then bits and pieces of foam and covers

go together to make the  border of the mattress--
the mattress itself-is an huge air chamber that inflates--
or deflates--
so you can adjust how soft or how firm it is
well, BY THE NUMBER!

It was amazing to see (I know-I said that already)!

I don't know what I expected-but it wasn't that!

The entire process-

from bringing it in, setting it up, hauling the old set off

didn't take over 1/2 hour!

And I slept.  All. Night. Long.

Today

I got up, sat up, and jumped out of bed---

(well, almost--it's a lot higher than our old one...

shorty here needs to use the stepstool)

but there was no 10 minutes of trying to figure out how to move

through the pain.

I fed the cats, got my coffee and then

Hubby said he was taking his surf board to the beach

and I went, too!

Could not have done this even yesterday!!!

It was taking at least an hour-hour 1/2 before I could think about

getting ready to do anything.

Seriously.

If you are suffering from fibromyalgia pain

try a SLEEP NUMBER BED.

Today...

my blog-hopping will suffer greatly.

I have a page I want to scrap,

some things I want to finish for an up-coming craft show

housework I WANT to get done...

the list goes on...

our usual boat ride, swim and sunset picnic supper...

I cannot believe the difference

one GOOD NIGHT'S worth of sleep

can make.

So--

if I can get some "cropping help" on this photo...

(the child in the red jacket needs to come out...

and I don't quite know how to do that...)

I want to work on a layout similar to the one in the

Close to My Heart catalog on pg. 112...

it's a fall theme...

and I've been admiring it for sometime now...

and it will mix nicely with another layout in the diva's book...

For now---like the baby (aka kitten, Inky...)

Gotta go...too much energy...too much I want to do...

as the song goes I FEEL GOOD

and am going to make the best of that today!

Until next time, happy stamping and scrapping!

Blessings,

I can't do it all...

At some point I  *think* (dangerous---very, very dangerous!)

that I posted that I was DETERMINED

to "catch up" my goddaughter's scrapbook.

Having "gaps" in her photos

from times that they had lived away from the beach

(they're now back--thankfully!)

I called her mother and asked if I could come over

and peruse their photos-scan what I wanted...

and she said sure.

When I got there she said

"On second thought-just take them!"

GASP!

She handed me 6-8 boxes of photos

just like that!

I had the child's entire life in photos

in my hands!

Talk about nervous!!!

Well, after I sent 1/2 of them home...

I discovered my computer

had not saved what I had scanned...

(insert wordy-durds here).

They will be coming back

along with the child who will hopefully help me

with this project.

Last night I went through the 3 boxes I do have...

and the stack--no STACKS of photos keep growing...

The child is only 11...soon to be 12

(going on 25...)

I am on book 2

and that's without filling in the gaps.

Sigh.

I was feeling a wee bit overwhelmed

and thinking

"I need more family pics..." or "I didn't take that one to scan..."

and wondering how I was going to do it all...

and God tapped me on the shoulder

Yep, it was HIM.

He said,

"You can't do it all.

If you do...

what is SHE going to do?"

Hmmm...good point.

His usually are!

Ya see,

I started this child stamping at 2 1/2

she LOVED it

no paper and crayons for her---

it HAD to be stamps, ink, paper.

We've progressed to scrapbooking.

She's done (mini) books with me

she's done pages on her own.

She comes to my classes

and we've gone to a crop...or two?

I can't tell her whole life story.

She will have to pick up the slack.

After all,

she has to have something to scrapbook too.

But ya can see my dilemma...

with picture such as these...

what's a scrapbooker to do?

Each one...

is worthy of it's own page!

And this is only one-maybe two or 3 years?!

Sigh.

So that's what I've been up to.

Sorting photos.

Making TOUGH decisions!

There is hope, however!

Close to My Heart

makes these great pages-

they hold SIX PHOTOS

either vertically or horizontally

and then there are these things called FLIP FLAPS

that you can find here

and don't forget the EXTENDER POSTS

while you're there---you'll need them, trust me

even if you aren't (related to) moi-the POP-DOT QUEEN!

What else?

Oh!

Sizzix

is sending me a NEW BIG SHOT!

I found my receipt-it's still under warranty---

THANK YOU, GOD--

so I have a new one on the way.

And...drum roll please

THE BED is coming

TODAY.

Once it's set up

I am getting in it.

For a good long while.

Better go get out of my jammies

don't want to scare the delivery men away!

Until next time, happy stamping and scrapping!

Blessings,

DANGER: AVOID INSIGHT FAMILY HEALTH and I have not abandoned my blog...

or my followers!

I have, instead, been trying to deal with the so-called medical profession.

Unsuccessfully.

Back when I still had my gall bladder

and was trying to avoid surgery

my then acupuncturist sent me for food allergy testing.

One thing at that office led to another and, thankfully,

for a few short months, I found some relief from perimenopause.

Oh-and discovered---I can eat CORN again! (BIIIIIIGGGG SMILE)

Then, when I said I was down to one---just one--bad day a month

the practitioner looked at me a said, "you don't even need that!"

And she tweaked things.

I didn't listen to the little voice in the back of my head that was really SCREAMING

"don't mess with a good thing!"

I had gone from 4-out of 4 bad weeks a month

to one bad day. Why mess with it.

I didn't listen.

And I had gall bladder surgery.

And everything went to hell in a handbasket (forgive my word choice.)

My hormones are all out of whack

and the stressors of surgery coupled with weeks of rain

and probably the medicines from the surgery

sent my fibromyalgia into a raging flareup like I've never experienced.

FINALLY

 I got an appointment with my practitioner. Had to wait 3 painful weeks.

When I got there, she had not reviewed the notes I had sent her---

despite my having said numerous times "Since the surgery this, that and the other...."

at the end of the visit she asks me....

"did you ever see Dr. Bebb (surgeon)?"

Breathing.

She also changed my entire protocol.

This was on a Thursday.

She isn't in on Fri and of course they are closed on Sat. and Sunday.

I had significant adverse issues with two of the meds I did try.

I sent another fax with 6 questions at 9 AM on Monday...no repsonse.

At 9 AM on Tuesday I am totally nauseous and calling again.

At 10:30 I get a phone call from an assistant.

"I don't have your chart-tell me what's going on?"

Breathing.

So I told the entire story----again.

She asks, "What upset your stomach?"

How should I know? She changed everything so I have 5-6 new supplements

(this is a homeopathic practice combined with traditional medicine)

so HOW DO I KNOW which one upset me?

At 4 PM --after I had to leave work and spend the day in bed I was so sick

the phone rings.  It's the assistant.

My pain level is beyond her scope. I need to go to a pain management clinic.

Ok. Fine. I fully expected that was coming.

But what do I do with the other issues?

Her (the tech's) answer?

"I don't know."

By this time I lost it. 

I told her I needed to know how to come off the bioidentical hormones the practitioner had me on.

Ok. I have to call you back. 

And she does.  Are you ready? She asks me

"How much are you on a day?"

Nope. Not kidding. 

NO ONE EVEN LOOKED AT MY CHART!

I am a natural red head.  I have a temper.

I DID GET AN ANSWER!!!

My guess is---what happened is she told me to stop some things cold turkey

that I should have tapered off of. And she has no clue how to deal with it.
So--for locals
DO NOT GET SUCKED INTO

INSIGHT FAMILY HEALTH

in Wilmington, NC.

I did-and I am regretting every minute of it today.

Yeah, I know-I had 1-2 months of relief somewhere in there

but that doesn't help the misery I am in today...

Let's compare my experience with  Insight Family Health

to my experience in this same time frame with our sick cat and vet's office.

On Friday night my husband tells me our oldest cat, Bad Cat, has been sick since Tuesday.

Not eating. Choking. Not meowing. Listless.

Thankfully, our vet works every 2nd and 4th Sat. and we hit the right week-end.
I left a voicemail message.

By 9:10 Sat. AM I had an appointment lined up. Hubby made the vet run.

Came home with meds and a good prognosis-nothing serious.

Monday afternoon...the vet tech calls me to check on the cat!!!

I had a question for the vet. She called back at 6:20 PM that same night.

The cat's practiotioner CARES!!! The cat..gets better care than Momma...

and yes, I HAVE considered pasting on a tail and walking on all 4's!

Kudos to RIVER ROAD ANIMAL HOSPITAL---Dr. Travis is awesome!

As for me...

here I sit in t-total misery with no clue what to do or who to see.

I am totally disillusioned with ALL of the so-called medical professions

I have respect for a total of two physicians

and neither one are accessible to me. 

Sigh.

I will probably start another blog

on dealing with perimenopause and fibromyalgia.

There's got to be answers somewhere...and a better quality of life

and if someone else might benefit from my trials and errors and

HOPEFULLY successes...so be it.

It will be a journey...

The good news is...the bed is coming on Friday---please God.

I won't have anything crafty probably until the week-end.

Don't give up on me!

Until next time, happy stamping and scrapping.

August pages & The Bed is Coming! The Bed is Coming!

Our "groupies" met Tues. night

and we learned to "read the recipe"!

Using the One-Way Mirror layout in the

Close to My Heart Magic book

we first went "shopping" to choose papers

(I had a selection for them to choose from so all the pages were a wee bit different depending on what designer paper they chose--all the papers coordinated of course

so it was easy-peasy).

Then we put the pages together following the cutting diagrams.

It was a good way to get the basics of seeing and constructing a page down

and I think we'll be doing a little more of that kind of thing.

The theme was JUST BEACHY

Here's what mine look like:

I absolutely adore this little crab running off with the "y"!

He's a stamp by Stamp It! that I've had for years and is well-used & loved!

The papers are from CTMH and are the MIRACLE paper packs.

I embossed (using a rolling pin and counter top since my big shot died...)

the Cricut cut letter with the Swiss Dot embossing folder

and then sanded them

(CTMH papers have a white core-so you really get a two-for-one:

the solid color as well as the white center--a "two-fer"!)

And speaking of Cricut...

next month's class is going to be on just that-how to use your Cricut.

And Close to My Heart has an August special going from the 15th-31st...

buy the new Cricut cartridge for $99 (which comes with lots of extra goodies)

and get the August Stamp of the Month for $ 5.00

and two FREE stamps sets!

WOWZER!

And...I need all my friends and fans to buy lots of these because...

drumroll please...

THE BED IS COMING! THE BED IS COMING!

Our mattress is a nightmare

it's like sleeping on concrete-only harder.

I am NOT exaggerating.

My fibromyalgia is flaring so bad

I can hardly walk when I get up in the morning.

It's t-totally miserable

and we all know---

if Momma isn't happy-NOBODY is happy

and you can't be happy when you're not sleeping

and in pain 24/7.

'nough said.

So hubby ordered The Sleep Number Bed.

Now I just have to pay for it.

I think it's going to help tremendously.

I am praying it will, anyway

since I have given up on all those in the medical field

traditional or otherwise.

My experience yesterday has led me to the conclusion

they don't listen, they don't remember what they've done/are doing

and they don't know anything.

They guess.

At our expense. Financially, physically, etc.

I can fully understand

how people opt to turn to alcohol and street drugs

for relief.

Dealing with today's medical profession will drive you to it.

Not that that's what I am going to do...

but I am ready to fire the whole slew of them.

They aren't helping. It's not working.

And my having to remind them every. single. time.

of what they have and haven't done---

well.

'NOUGH.

It just adds to my misery.

So--

I covet your prayers.

For answers. For relief.

For some peace of mind ('cause I really have none left!)

Off to prepare for the yard sale Theresa and I are doing tomorrow

hopefully

and to get ready for the arrival of the bed

(this means lots of laundry, the juggling of two big beds in our house

and finding a new dust ruffle not to mention putting up two boxes of winter clothes that haven't gone back to their storage spot yet...been sitting there since...well, spring...sigh!)

Maybe

I'll go back to bed instead!

Whatever you do, happy stamping & scrapping!

Sharon

ps/not sure where my cute signature design went?! oh well-

maybe that sneaky crab ran off with it!

One man's trash....

Great bargains!

The church I work for

holds an annual yard sale

and one the benefits of being an employee is

I get to shop early!

This bag and quilt just barely made it in the door

and I snatched it up!

The inside top part is plenty roomy

(I think the big shot would fit in it--!

if I didn't already have the doctor bag that I love!)

and the bottom...

WOW!

It's a hard bottom and room for shoes, hair dryer--whatever

and if that's not enough

there's a matching make up bag to boot!

Whoo-hoo!

The quilt

I *think* is a king size

very pretty pinks, greens and a little yellow.

All that...for a mere $ 15!

Gotta love it.

My overnighter bag

is all black...

but I have white w/ black polka dot ribbon

I was going to dress it up with...

before I found the bag!

Now for sure it will get embellished!

As they say...one man's (or woman's!)

trash

is another one' treasure! ; )

Until next time, happy stamping and scrapping!

Blessings,

Cheaters Scalloped Edge

I am getting ready for our "groupies" class on Tues. night

and am working with a layout from Close to My Heart's Magic book.

The layout I chose has a scalloped edge.

The cd that comes with the book gives you a template

to print & cut out.

I love our gals.But not enough to hand-cut 12 scalloped borders

.I've been in A LOT of pain.

My right arm and hands in particular

so hand cutting is at a minimum.

So here's what I am calling the

CHEATERS SCALLOPED EDGE...

First, I cut a strip of paper

(here I used 1"--

for our project, I tweaked it down to 1/2" inch as we'll be using 5/8" ribbon

over that sand colored strip...)

Then I used a 1 3/4" inch punch and punched out my circles...

Added adhesive to the strip

 and then started adhering my circles to the strip

being careful to make sure the sides of the circles meet

and even overlap just a smidgen...

once you have your strip complete,

 cut off the portion of the circle that overhangs the end of the strip...

 mark the middle of your strip...

and carefully cut down the center.

Wha-la!  Presto chango--

you now have 2 scalloped borders!

No hand cutting.

This is easy-peasy and I won't

have to hold up class while they try and

hand-cut the templates. Twice.

I haven't forgotten that I still owe you

the third page of the Wings paper layout...

We did Scouts, Softball...and SANCTUARY

is yet to come.

Maybe later today...or tomorrow, Scarlet.

Back to my borders...

Until next time,

happy stamping and scrapping!