Nick Had A Great Day

Yes, you saw it first. Nicholas had a great day in school yesterday and got all of his work finished in school. That is his first totally good day in school in weeks. We are hoping for another today, but I must say he was rather crabby when he left for school, so that does not bode well. It has been suggested tyo us that he may possibly have some sort of mood disorder. We will talk to his psychiatrist about this when we see him next week. Nick's skill builder, Ken, came yesterday after school and they went up to "High Hurtles", which is where Nick went last November for therapeutic horseback riding. We have signed both Brad and Nick up for 6 weeks of therapeutic horseback riding beginning April 8th. This date is also highlighted on my calendar because it is the day my brother Joe is turning 50. Joe and I are only 10 1/2 months apart in age so from April 8th until May 26th we are the same age. Needless to say it is a great feeling that I won't be alone now being 50! LOL

The virtual magazine I mentioned yesterday, which features all kinds of recycled items notified me that my "Spring Break" bag was one of todays featured recycled items. Here is the addy if you would like to take a peek. There are some really clever items featured on there. The one that impressed me the most was the bag made out of orange construction fencing which was recovered from fields and abandoned buildings. Take a look. http://www.artsyrubbish.com/

It must be my day to get some of my work featured, because I noticed that the CABTeam featured "Blimey Limey" items today. Two of my bags were featured today in this catagory. There are other really cute lime colored bags and pouches featured in this post. http://www.carriedawayteam.blogspot.com/

I wonder if any of my readers have been watching the new t.v. show "Castle" which is on ABC on Monday nights at 10 pm. We have been faithfully watching it and really enjoying it. It is about a famous mystery author who has teamed up with the police to gather information for his next book. His presence in not appreciated by the women detective he is shadowing. Castle jumps in and helps solve the cases. Very good show. If you haven't seen it, you might want to watch it next week. :o)

Tired

Just let me begin this post by saying that it is not a great idea to stay up until after 1 am reading a book, no matter how good the book is, when you have to get up at a little after 6 am. Ugh, boy am I tired. LOL

Rachel decided to head back to college this morning in time for her first class. I was wrong by the way, the ice cream place does not open on April 1st like I stated in a another post, I think it is the 18th. Anyway, Rachel won't be home this weekend because she has to work at Old Navy. I think she got some hours at the day care this week too.

I got an interesting e-mail this morning from someone who has a virtual, magazine publication devoted to recycling. She wanted to know if she could have my permission to put one of my creations in her magazine. I told her I would be honored to have the "Spring Break" bag viewed in her publication.

Nick had quite a few melt downs yesterday. I sure wish we could figure out why he goes off the deep end so easily. Today is the second day in a row that Brad has not earned Game Boy time. Some days he can keep it together and other days he just doesn't. I am looking forward to starting "The Ticket Game", with the boys. We are still working out the details plus we forgot to buy a roll of tickets when we were at Walmart. Other families who have used this game have said it is the best behavior modification tool they have ever used and how well it works. We have to pick about three target areas that each boy needs to work on. We decide ahead of time how many tickets each skill is worth. If Bradly gets 5 tickets for instance on Monday for bringing home his agenda from school with the correct signatures and assignments and he forgets on Tues., then he owes us 5 tickets. We will have a chart featuring what can be purchased with the tickets they will be saving. It can be things like so many tickets to pick and watch a movie, or so much time on a video game, or a trip to the dollar store to make 1 puchase or even an hour at the park, ect. Each child will have a contract to sign and have imput into what behaviors we chose to target. As they achieve control in some areas we can add another. Steve and I have to be totally dedicated to this plan too and be sure to carry through. We are hoping the tickets and prizes will be enough to get some of the negative behavior under control.

As I mentioned yesterday, we were shopping around for a game system so we could get a Guitar Hero" game for the kids to play (maybe us too). We got a great deal on Ebay yesterday and purchased a brand new Wii which comes with 2 controllerS and 2 numchucks which normally only comes with one of each. This bundle has the console, plus the 5 sports games (bowling, tennis ect), as well as the 9 game disc and the Wii fit package. It also has a Mario game with 2 wheels. We are quite excited about getting this and plan on setting it up in our spare downstairs bedroom. We are hoping that earning tickets to play on the Wii will be a very positive incentive for the boys. Rachel is quite psyched about the Wii fit program and I am going to try to do some of the exercises too. I think this will be something nice for the whole family. When everyone is home for holidays and such, they will have a lot of fun playing "Guitar Hero" I am sure. :o)

The Glasses are a Battle

Well, the novelty has worn off and we are having problems getting Nick to wear his glasses. He gets mad and doesn't treat them very well. If he breaks them I fear I will really come unglued..LOL He is wearing them now and sad to say I had to bribe him with gummies and the promise of more later if he keeps them on. That probably makes me a bad mother, but I am hoping the more he wears them he will get used to them and we won't have these problems.

I am shopping around for a WII or an Xbox 360. Yes, I have surprised myself, but I would love to get "Guitar Hero" for the family. I started thinking about how much the boys would love it, and truthfully Steve and I would probably have fun with it too. Rachel plays alot with her friends and Megan and Scott love playing it too. If we got a WII we would also be able to do other things like bowling ect, which would be good excercise. Mmm...decisions, decisions. Anybody have any thoughts on this, I would love some imput from those who have either of these game systems.

Puppy potty training is not going well. Yesterday she didn't have many accidents, but already this morning she has had quite a few. It is depressing. The trainer where Megan works says they should be pretty well trained by 14 weeks with just a few minor accidents. She is now 12 weeks, so we keep telling her she only has two weeks left to get her act together..LOL

We are having strip steak and a large chef salad for dinner. For breakfast we had vanilla yogurt sweetened with Splenda and I added some banana slices and slivered almonds. Following this eating plan has really become a way of life, but I do not fool myself about how easy it would be to fall off the wagon considering how many times that has happened int he past. :o)

Up Early

Can you believe that it is the weekend and both boys are still sound asleep, but I am up at a little after 7 am because the puppy wanted to get up and whined until she got to get up. Now maybe some of my readers (like my mother) think that staying in bed until 7 am is sleeping in, but I do not. It doesn't seem like Saturday unless I get to stay in bed until at least 8 am. Oh well, at least all this peace and quiet is very nice.

Yesterday I did finish the custom order I was working on and I must say it turned out really cute. I sent a pic to the customer and she loves it. I hope to be shipping that purse out today, plus the second place winner of the "Big Bag of Luck Giveaway", has chosen my shop to pick her prize from. She has to let me know what she wants and I will ship her bag out today too.

Today I want to get some cleaning done and I am hoping it will be nice enough to take the kids outside for awhile. Yesterday was beautiful and it sure would be nice if today would follow suit. We got a note from Nick's teacher that he did get angry and threw his new glasses across the room a couple of times yesterday. The glasses are fine, but we need to get him to leave the glasses out of his anger issues since we really can't afford to have to buy him another pair. I let him leave them off after school because he said his ears were a little sore from the glasses. I know it will take a while to get used to them.

Rachel got home from Megan's house a little before 10 pm last night. They had a great time together. Now Rachel is here until Sunday evening or Monday morning at which time she has to go back to school. She will be done in May, but she will be home weekends from now to then as "SMILES" ice cream shop is opening April 1st. She has committed to work there 40 hours a week this summer and weekends until she is done with school. Rachel started working at "SMILES" when she was still in high school. The owners love her and visa versa, so they are always thrilled when she says yes to working for them another summer. We enjoy taking the boys and getting a treat while she is working. This won't interfer with our diet as they sell sugar free ice cream and toppings. By the way, I lost another pound yesterday when I weighed. :o)

The Weekend is Upon us

It would be wonderful to have a good weekend with the kids. Today was "Career Day" for Bradly so he had to dress up for school today. Thankfully his dress pants and sweater vest still fit him. He did have to wear his sneakers though because his dress shoes were too small. He looked quite nice when he left for school today. This is Nick's first day at school wearing his glasses. I did some pre-teaching this morning concerning what will he do if someone makes fun of him or if someone gives him a compliment. We practiced because I would hate for him to have one of his melt downs if some child makes fun of him as kids love to do. Both boys got to take ice cream money today. Friday is the only day that the teacher allows Nick's class to buy ice cream.

I got my new bag listed last night. I just love this smaller size of the same bag that I made for myself. I like the smaller version better. Hmm....maybe I should have 2 purses for Spring..LOL Anyway, I am going to get my custom order done today and hopefully get it shipped tomorrow. I find it quite relaxing to work in my studio.

Rachel will be returning from Megan's tonight. I talked to both girls last night and it sounds like they have been having a nice time together. It makes me so happy that our kids are close, and I hope they will always stay that way. We talked to Steven and he has a new job. He is working for Customs unloading trucks. He sounded quite tired and said he was unloading 40 pound boxes of pineapple onto pallets as well as boxes of tuna and many other things. It was hard on the back, but it is a good paying job and he is hoping that down the road it could work into a better job with Customs. A new job will postpone the trip home he was planning for the middle of April. I told him I would love to come and see him but I can't even imagine a road trip that long with the boys. Steven said it would be great because we could see him and Uncle Eric and Aunt Kathleen and then we could swing through South Dakota on the way back and visit Uncle Joe and his family. It sounds like a great plan, but doubtful it will happen. :o)

Ugh...Mud and Rain

I am in need of more sunshine!! This rain is so depressing and the mud is awful. I hate when the kids and the dog trail mud into the house. Well, I guess it could be worse and be snow. At least the rain and mud mean that we may get some Spring weather soon.

Nick got the cutest glasses. He looks adorable in them. I hope that he will be able to read and write better and that school becomes less frustrating for him. We are just hoping and praying he doesn't break them during one of his meltdowns. He is so excited about them and he picked the glass case he wanted. He says he will take very good care of them....I sure hope he does.

I finally worked in my studio today. I got the cutest purple, turquoise and black skull purse finished. I will probably list it later tonight. This is smaller than the others of the same basic pattern. A customer wanted one of these bags, but made smaller. This was my practice one and I think it turned out so cute. I figured a way to add a closure to this one. I love my bag that is like this, but wish it had a way to stay closed. I think I am going to do this same procedure and add one to my bag. Hopefully I get to work on the custom order tomorrow and get it shipped on Saturday.

I need to go make a cottage cheese salad for dinner. This is a "South Beach" friendly version of a recipe that my Aunt had when I was growing up. I converted it and it is healthy and delicious, but you feel like you are having something you shouldn't have. To make this salad just take 16 oz container of 1% cottage cheese, 1 3oz. pkg. sugar free dry jello (we like orange), and a 12 oz. tub of light coolwhip. Just mix it up and store in fridge until ready to eat. This is the only way I like cottage cheese, unless it has pineapple in it. :o)

Busy Couple of Days

Nick's appointment at the eye doctor was quite revealing. It seems that Nicholas does not see good close up at all, and he sees far away better, but not as well as he should. We have a prescription for glasses that he has to wear all day and an appointment for three months to go back to the eye doctor. I guess with kids they start with a prescription only half as strong as they need. The doctor said that if they were the right strength the kids would probably fall on the floor when he wore them and never wear them again. This way it is a gradual increase and easier for them to get used to. We are hoping that once he can see properly, he will have less frustration doing school work and therefore less behavioral problems.

Today we went to Red Lobster for lunch and used our Christmas gift certificates. Rachel went also as she was headed to Canada to spend a couple of days with Megan and Scott. We really splurged and got the "Ultimate Feast", which consisted of a small Maine lobster tail, crab legs, shrimp scampi and deep fried shrimp. I got asparagus instead of baked potato and I had a garden salad (and didn't eat even one crouton :o)). We each ate the one cheesy garlic roll that we had agreed we could eat. It was an awesome meal and we really enjoyed it. Rachel got the same thing she has gotten since she was like 6 or 7 years old. She got popcorn shrimp and french fries and a garden salad. We had a great time. From there Rachel went to a few stores and then headed north. We headed to Joann Fabrics. :o) :o) Steve found the cutest fabric with little wiener dogs and it was on sale 50% off....I couldn't resist since the little dogs looked just like Karli. The notions wall was 40% off so I go some new pins and some magnetic purse closers plus I got some thread. And yes, I got some other fabric that was on sale.. When you can get half off from fabric, that is the time to buy. I really didn't intend to buy fabric, but what can I say...I am a bit addicted to fabric :o)

Coffee

Well, I am sitting here sipping a cup of coffee. I know I said I am off coffee, but today I am so tired I have to have some caffeine to wake me up. We have to take Nick to the eye doctor and he is already having a rough day and it is only 9 am. I imagine he will need eye drops for his exam and I can only imagine how that is going to go over. He just had a meltdown because I won't let him wear a white wife beater over the top of his shirt. Oh, and he had a camo bandanna tied around his head. I informed him I was not taking him anywhere dressed like that, and that he could dress like that after we got home if he wanted. He was convinced he looked like a cool basketball player. He is now fine and has apologized to Steve and I for the mean things he said to us. I wish we could get him back to how good he was doing in January.

I have a confession to make. I never made it to my studio yesterday. I had such good intentions, but then I started reading while Steve took a shower, intending to jump in as soon as he got out. Well.......it seems this book was just so good I couldn't stop reading it. Well, then I decided I would read until lunch and then go down and work. Hmm...by the time we finished lunch there was only about 40 minutes until Brad's skill builder was going to be here. I thought I would wait for her and then leave them doing their thing and go down and work. Well, they were erupting the volcano they had been building and I wanted to take pics, and yes, in between I was reading..LOL The skill builder wanted to talk to us about "The Ticket Game" and that took until almost dinner time. The game is a fun way to modify your kids behavior and it should eliminated much of the power struggle. I think we are going to see about designing one for our kids. I will explain more about it once we get it all figured out. Other families have been using it and it is helping immensely. So, back to my point, I never worked a lick in my studio yesterday, and I need to get busy on the custom order I have. I did however finish my book and it was really GOOD!! LOL

Steven had an awesome time on his camping/fishing trip on the Gulf coast. He caught a black tipped shark as well as an over 40 pound red fish. The very unfortunate part of the whole thing is that he didn't know how improtant it was to tag his fish, and he ended up with a ticket, which could end up costing $300 he found out. All I can say is I hope that fish is really delicious. I guess him and his friends are making fish fry later this week with it. He said he went out knee deep to let the shark go, and when he let it loose it swam about 3 feet away and turned around and tried to attack him. He beat feet and got out of the water very quickly. I said, "well, that is gratitude for you". He bought Brad and Nick shark tee shirts and some shark teeth and mailed them yesterday. Nick will be so excited. He made a wish with a penny at the fountain where we take the boys for counseling. One of the things he wished for was a shark tooth, so this will be a huge thing for him.

Time to do hair and makeup. Nick is on a rampage again...he thought he was going to use beads and string and make a cool necklace before we left. Ugh..there seems to be no end to his good ideas this morning. :o)

Off to Work I Go!!

Well, the kids are back in school after a rough weekend. At least it had its rough patches. The good news is that even though he was a bit contrary about doing the work, Bradly is 100% caught up on all his back school work. He had darned well better keep it that way too!!! We are trying Nick with no Dexedrine at all in school today to see if that is what is making him so agitated. I am hoping he has a great day.

So anyway, I am planning on spending most of the day in my studio. I am going to try out the pattern I reduced for a special order, on some other fabric. The order is for the tattoo fabric, but I only have enough for one bag, so I figured I had better make one out of a different fabric first. It would not do to end up with a bag that is not the dimensions the customer requested, and have no more fabric.

Tomorrow we are off to Warsaw to University Eye Specialists, so Nick can get a thorough eye examination. When we were at the Dr. a couple of weeks ago, he thought Nick's eyes looked funny. Nick does have kind of droopy eye lids which is an hereditary trait from his birth father. Considering he is having trouble reading, and makes his letters quite large when he writes, we thought a good examination to rule out any problems would be just the ticket. I am just hoping that Nick will be receptive to the exam. We found out that my Mom and Dad also have appointments at the same place tomorrow. They have appointments for 10 and 10:30 am. Nick's appointment is at 10:40. We couldn't have planned that better..LOL

I would like to send out "Happy Birthday" wishes to two very special people in my life. The first is my sister-in-law, Denise, who has always been so much more than a sister-in-law to me. I won't mention which number this year is for her, except to say she is way behind me. :o) The other birthday wish goes out to my niece, Amy, who not too long ago, gave birth to a beautiful little boy. This darling baby boy made my brother and his wife (Denise), Grandparents for the first time. He also made me a great auntie, which of course I have always been LOL, this just made it official. Amy is about 4 months older than our twins, so she is turning 22 today. I hope they both have the best day ever. :o)

Sunday is off to a Good Start

I am feeling rested and calm after rising a bit before 10 am. It felt so great to know that Steve was handling the boys who are always a handful in the morning and taking care of our little darling puppy, Karli. Speaking of Karli, I guess she has already played so hard with the cats and Nick that she is ready for one of her power naps.

Bradly made great headway on catching up on back homework yesterday. He also got his two book reports completed that were due in January. He read the books and didn't fill out the book report form. How silly is that?? So anyway, today he has two ELA papers to do which will require some reading and I think I saw a couple of essay type questions. That will not go over well, but it must be done. Writing is not Brad's forte', but it is so much a part of the work he will be doing in high school, that he really needs to be more comfortable writing essay type answers. He needs to finish "Holes", one of the books he is reading for March reading requirements. He doesn't get why I am pushing him to get it finished, but he has to have one more book read by the end of the month. He has 33 pages to go on "Holes", and I would like to see him complete that by tomorrow. We shall see.

Nick has been out of sorts all week. No one can figure out what is going on with him. His behavior is not good and he is so frustrated and easily angered. His meltdowns are more frequent and he is more out of control that usual. We did not give him his dexadrine today in an attemp to find out if the addition of this med at school upset the delicate balance. So far we don't see much difference, but lets see how the day goes.

I was right!! My parents did go out for prime rib for their anniversary. They were married 40 years yesterday. In case some of you are wondering why I am 50 and they have only been married 40 years, I have an explanation!! My mom and dad were divorced when I was 7 years old. My mom met and married my wonderful step-dad when I was 10. I have always called him dad becuase he is more like a dad than a step-dad. :o)

Custom Order

I had someone e-mail me yesterday asking me if I could make a smaller version of the tattoo bag with the navy blue canvas. I wrote back and told her I thought it wouldn't be a problem to alter the pattern to the dimensions she required, but I was unsure whether or not I had enough of the tattoo fabric left to make it. After checking on the fabric, I found I had enough for another bag, but only enough for a smaller one, not one the original size. I went to work and reduced the pattern the size I needed. I contacted the customer and let her know it was a go if she was sure. She was quite happy and confirmed her custom order. I am excited about starting it, but it may not be until Monday as I don't spend a lot of time in my studio when the boys are home.

Today is my parents wedding anniversary. I am not sure exactly how many years it has been, only that it is quite a few. LOL I would guess they are going out for prime rib tonight. Mmmm. I haven't had that in years, and I do love it. Of course, it is good I haven't been eating prime rib, especially since it isn't a very healthy choice of meat. Does that mean I will never have it again...no way!! LOL

My hubby made breakfast for supper last night. It is great that on the South Beach diet you are allowed buckwheat pancakes. The interesting thing I have dicovered is that "buckwheat" is not wheat at all. Here is the dictionary definition of Buckwheat.

1. 1. An annual Asian plant (Fagopyrum esculentum) having clusters of small whitish or pinkish flowers and small, seedlike, triangular fruits.
   2. The edible fruits of this plant, used either whole or ground into flour.

I don't know about you, but before I started eating healthy, I thought buckwheat was what its name indicated..Wheat!! I am sure this would be a great way for people with wheat gluten allergies to enjoy pancakes. So, back to what I was saying about dinner last night, which was breakfast..it was delicious. Steve made Bob Evans sausage and fried eggs along with the buckwheat pancakes and sugar free syrup. It was great and a meal the boys love also.

I have a good news update on Bradly and his school difficulties. First of all, the school finally got to the bottom of who it was that gave Brad the black eye. I contacted his teacher, and she didn't know all the details, other than they found out who did it, his parents were called and she thinks he got two days of detention. Best of all, the bullies have left him alone for the last couple of days. Another good thing is that Bradly brought home everything he was told to bring home yesterday. He had neglected to bring home the rest of his makeup work that he was given on Wed. He was told if he didn't bring home everything that he was told to, that he was grounded for the weekend. At our house, that means no television, computer or Gameboy. After giving that ultimatum, I was sweating bullets yesterday for fear I would have to ground him all weekend, which is essentially a major punishment for us. I was so happy when he brought everything home. I guess the threat of missing all of those priviledges for the entire weekend worked. :o)

Friday has Arrived

It is always nice when Friday gets here. Some weeks it seems to get here quicker than other weeks. This has been a really rough week with the boys. Bradly is pushing all my buttons on purpose while doing homework, because he doesn't want to have to do it, he is missing t.v., blah, blah, blah. He is doing things like, doing homework without reading the material or even trying to get the right answers. His one math problem he wrote as an answer, " I don't know so I guessed at the answer". And he didn't even spell it correctly. He has worked four days on his spelling workbook and when I tested him last night on the 20 words, he got 4 correct. I accused him of not even trying, and he agreed. How in the world do you give a kid the "Want to" to do a good job and be successful? I keep patiently and sometimes not so patiently, reminding him that having all this extra work to do, is a direct result of the choice he made to not do his homework in two subjects for the month of February. So, I am glad it is the weekend, but I am hoping we can get through it without all the attitude. Brad keeps not bringing home some of the makeup work he has, and if that happens for the third day, he knows he is grounded over the weekend. If he doesn't bring it home and I have to carry out those consequences, I can guarantee it won't be a good weekend. :o(

Nick starts having a one-on-one aide today. We are hoping and praying that this will help him to get back on track. If it doesn't help, we were told yesterday by our Waiver worker that we may have to request a different placement for him. Unfortunately that would mean having him bussed to Buffalo to attend the "Stanely Faulk" school for behavioraly challenged children. It is a good school from what I understand, but it an hour away and we would really prefer him to be able to attend school in our own school district. To say I am stressed out is an understatement.

Megan has started a blog. Anyone interested in keeping up with her daily life can find her blog here. I know she would love to have you follow her. www.zoev81.blogspot.com

We are having computer problems. I am having to use Internet Explorer to access many of my sites, or I cannot navigate very well and certain things are missing. It is frustrating, expecially since I have my bookmarks on Google and this opens with Yahoo. I am hoping today we can figure out the problem.

Nick just got up 40 minutes early so I need to get him his medication and start getting him ready for school. I hope everyone has a great Friday and a great weekend. :o)

Goals

Another fairly warm and sunny day here. I love it. It seems that I always feel more energetic when the sun is shining. Steve and Rachel are off taking little Karli to the vet for her second round of shots. No way I could go....imagine how bad I was when my kids had to get shots. I will always remember when our twins were about three years old and had to have their shots. Rachel wasn't bothered at all but Reid was really scared and crying. We thought if we had Rachel go first and he could see that she wasn't crying it would work out better. Well, guess what!! Reid cried all through Rachel getting her shots (she didn't cry) and then through his own. Needless to say I always dreaded any of my kids getting shots.

The tragic news of Natasha Richardsons death has greatly saddened us. It seemed like we knew her a bit because we own the movie "Parent Trap" , and our kids love it. We have watched it over and over. She was also very good in her role in "Maid in Manhatten", although not as likeable of a character, she did a great job. I feel bad for her sons and of course her husband who certainly has always seemed to be devoted to her and visa versa. Her family needs our prayers as surely as any family would that wasn't famous. Being famous certainly does not reduce the pain they are feeling, but it does mean they aren't allowed much privacy during a time they really need it.

I titled this blog post "Goals". The reason behind that title is that I have decided that I need to focus a bit more on my second shop. I made a sale today of a toothfairy pillow. I have about 5 more half finished and have not worked on them for months. I also have a few more children's aprons all cut out and not finished. So, my goal is that before I will let myself work on any other creations, I need to finish up all these things that are unfinished and get them listed. It is true that toothfairy pillows are only $5.00, which may not seem like much, but they have pretty much been a consitent seller. I have been focusing so much on my bag shop that I feel I have neglected my other one a bit. So, watch for some new listings soon in my second shop.
www.ArelelDesigns2.etsy.com

Good news on the weight loss front. I have lost another 2 pounds. That is so exciting. I have noticed that I have better losses when I haven't eaten nuts the day before for a snack. This is partly due to the fact that I know they are a legal snack, so I figure it is ok to overindulge a bit. Another thing that helps to to have a day where I do not eat any bread. Even though we are allowed whole grain bread, it is still a carb. Rachel also had a loss today and she had no bread yesterday. We think there is a definite correlation. I am going to try a couple days a week to do without the bread. Usually once or twice a week, Steve and I like to share a sub from "Subway". We really like their tuna on whole wheat with spinach, cucumbers, tomato, onion, cheese and light mayo with olive oil. Mmmm :o)

My Creative Juices are Flowing

I have been having a lot of fun experimenting with different designs and techniques in my studio. I listed a corduroy wristlet this morning. I have had this piece of corduroy for quite some time. I cut this fabric of the bottom of a pr. of pants that needed hemming. I think it is very original looking and hopefully it attract someone's interest. :o)

Nick had a VERY rough day at school yesterday. We had to pick him up early because he was so out of control. The teacher said she has never seen him like quite like this. He started taking his ADHD medication at noon instead of just in the morning. He has been on it since Friday with no problems. The teacher wondered if that had anything to do with why the afternoon fell apart. The morning had been awesome. If it happens again we might have to stop that dose. Monday the teacher reported a huge improvement in his focus and concentration in the afternoon....nothing is ever cut and dried. I just hope he won't have any more of these problems. His new one-on-one aide is starting on Friday. Today the boys have counseling appointments.

I was quite upset yesterday when Bradly came home from school with a black eye. He is in 5th grade and is having a problem with kids bullying him because he is short. Evidently he was taking a shower after swimming in gym class yesterday, when a boy came in and wanted his spot, so he shoved him into a wall. Then another kid picked him up and dropped him. He has been tripped several times, had his glasses thrown across the room, had his book bag dumped as well as his desk. I have lost track of how many times he has been kicked. Can Brad be irritating?? Most definitely...but he has the right to go to school and not be hurt or humiliated. I talked to his teacher and the assistant principal. It is being dealt with today. I guess he is not the only short kid being bullied. I think they should come down hard on these bullies so others see that there are stiff consequences for this behavior. The most amazing thing is that Brad loves school despite all the bullying, but how long is that going to last if this treatment is allowed to continue. His teacher is wonderful and actually got the ball rolling to get this incident investigated. She took him to the school nurse so she could document his injury and reported it to the assistant principal. I want to see this resolved and I want my son to be able to attend school without the fear of being hurt and intimidated. Brad is doing a great job getting his back work caught up, and he has not been enjoying it. He isn't going to get behind again.

Rachel ended up being able to come home last night. Reid is home until tomorrow as he has to go back to work. We are going to have our corned beef dinner tonight since they will both be here. Mmm....we are doing ours with cabbage and rutabaga...no potato for us unless we make a sweet potato. Rachel has been following South Beach also which makes it nice when she is home that she eats the same way we are. I don't know how much she has lost, but Steve and I both noticed she has lost weight when we saw her last night. I would love to be small enough that 25 pounds of weight loss would show on me, but unfortunately, I need to lose a good 50 lbs. before it is very noticable. I am not letting that deter me because the important thing is I feel better and I can feel the difference. Another plus of course is that we are eating healthy. :o)

Top of the Morning to You

Happy St. Patric's Day. Our family loves the traditional corned beef. We are not going to have ours today, we are waiting until the end of the week when Rachel is home because she loves it. I felt bad, the boys didn't really have anything green to wear to school today, although Brad did have green in his sweatshirt.

Bradly had a good day in school yesterday and earned a smiley face which signifies that he kept his behavior under control. Nick also had a good day. His teacher said his afternoon was much better. He started taking his ADHD medication at lunch time in school yesterday. He takes it in the morning at home, but afternoons were a total waste as Nick just could not focus enough to do any work. Between this and getting a one-on-one aide, we hope to see significant improvement in school. We are also taking him for a complete eye exam on Friday. The Dr. commented last week that his eyes looked funny, and it might be a good idea to get them checked.

I couldn't resist, I jumped on the scales again this morning. It may not be much, but I was down another 1/2 lb. I will take it. It is still a loss and not a gain. I have to say I feel much better since I have been eating right. Last night we had tacos for dinner. Steve and I eat our tacos on whole grain shells which are delicious. We rinse the hamburger 2 or 3 times before adding the seasoning just to be sure we have most of the fat out of it. We use light sour cream and lots of vegies, so with the addition of the whole grain shells, they are quite healthy.

I have good news concerning my buisiness. Yesterday I sent out three packages. That was a great feeling. I have to get another shamrock hidden in one of my listings as I sold the bag that had the shamrock. Since hiding the shamrock is one thing I do not know how to do, Megan is going to do it from her computer after work today. I hope everyone has entered to win a prize on the "Big Bag of Luck Giveaway". :o)

College Break

My hubby and I are very much looking forward to our 21 year old twins being home on break from college. Reid attends SUNY at Brockport and Rachel is at D'youville in Buffalo. Unfortunately they have different weeks off from school, so they will probably not see each other, but we will get to see them both. :o) Reid is arriving today and is planning to stay a few days as he has a job he has to return for before break is over. Rachel is on break next week, but her schedule is such that she can come home Thurs. evening and be here for most of the following week until she goes to visit her sister in Hamilton, Ontario. Our younger, adopted sons, Bradly and Nicholas love when the older kids are home.

It was my morning to get up early with Bradly. Not a perfect morning by any stretch, but it was horrible either. It is only 7:15 now and my hubby doesn't have to get up until 8 with Nick, but I just heard him up with puppy, who has decide that she should get up between 7:15 and 7:30 am. She woke up Nick, so now he is up nice and early too. Hopefully he won't be a grump today. :o(

I was quite happy to have had a sale yesterday in my second shop. I keep hoping business will pick up, but with the economy the way it is, that is doubtful. I am looking forward to working in my studio today as I have had some ideas floating around in my head over the weekend that I would like to work on. I am going to try a process I have been doing a little research on. It is a great way to upcycle. I am going to fuse plastic grocery bags together with my iron (about 8 layers), and it creates a material you can sew into various items. It is great for beach bags or shopping bags as it is waterproof. I saw someone actually made their daughter an awesome raincoat from this material. Incredible I think. I have a few ideas I want to try, so today I experiment with the fusing process. The bags are ironed between layers of parchment paper. Tomorrow I will let you know how this went. :o)

Nice Start to the Day

It was my day to sleep in and Steve got up with the puppy and the boys. I slept until 9 am and wow, did it ever feel great!!! The kids are watching "High School Musical 3", Steve is engrossed in the Sunday paper, and I am sipping some apple spiced green tea and spending some time on the computer.

My scales registered a drop into the next category...finally! That put a smile on my face. I know I really need to add more exercise if I want the scales to move faster. Guess I will make that a goal for this week and see what happens at my next weigh in.

I joined an independent art and design community yesterday. It is called "Indiepublic". It is another way to get to know other artists and promote my business and my creations. The other artists have been very friendly and I think I am going to enjoy being a member. While I am on the subject of my business, I want to remind anyone who hasn't checked out the "Big Bag of Luck Giveaway", sponsored by the CABTeam, that you have until March 23rd to get your entries in. I decided to run a sale during this same time. All wallets in my shop are 20% off until March 23rd also.

Bradly got all of his English homework caught up finally. He now has to get 6 missing assignments done for Social Studies. It is hard to believe that he thought he could just chose not to do the homework in these two subjects. His other 3 subjects with a different teacher, he is carrying 80's and 90's. Go figure. I set up a system with his teachers that will ensure that he is writing his assignments in his agenda each day. The teachers will sign when he has the assignments written correctly. I then will sign the agenda when he completes an assignment. Anything the teachers need me to know will be written in the agenda also, considering that the missing assignment sheets that were given to him to bring home to us were found crammed into his locker with the plan to throw them away. He has not really enjoyed making up all this work and having the consequence of no t.v. for the lies he has been telling. I am hoping we have him back on track and he stays there. :o)

It Has to be a Better Day!

Yesterday turned out to be not so great. Our problems with Bradly and school compounded after our parent/teacher conference. Turns out, on top of blowing off homework in two subjects, he has reverted to some unsavory behavior. He is having trouble with honesty again and we are trying really hard to get him back on track. The last thing I want to happen is for him to revert back to how he was before his hospitalization. The great thing is that he has a skill builder who works with him once a week. Trouble is, she came yesterday and he managed to lie to her too. I just hope and pray we can get things turned back around!!

Nick had a rough morning, but he turned it around and was great the rest of the day yesterday. Actually, the boys played really well with their tents and pretend camping stuff for hours and they did it with hardly any squabbling. That was great.

I hope all of you are planning to participate in the "Big Bag of Luck Giveaway". To get the rules and list of participating shops, just double click on the image to the left. I would love some feedback if you do check it out. :o)

p.s. Karli is being an extreme pill this morning..plus she got me up on false pretenses...I thought she had to potty, and she really just wanted to get up. Of course that woke up Nick, thus started my day. LOL

BIG BAG OF LUCK GIVEAWAY

Ok everyone. Today begins the CABTeam, "Big Bag of Luck Giveaway". Double click on the image to the left and it will take you directly to The CABTeam blog. This is where all the rules are and the list of participating shops . I am sure you will be impressed with the prizes we are giving away. You do not have to purchase anything to get a chance to win, just find the shamrocks. What a purchase does is it gives you more entries to win. Best of luck to each of you!!

I have to say, it is interesting trying to type as Karli just decided I should hold her. Her tummy is full and she has played til she tired herself out. She certainly is active. She does love when Grandma Hubbard comes to visit. My mother who isn't really an animal person, loves to hold Karli while she is here.

The kids have a day off from school today and we have a Parent/Teacher conference at noon. It sounds like the weather this weekend is supposed to be nice. I am thinking maybe we will all take Karli for a walk. It probably won't be a long one, seeing as how we are not in great shape. I will say we are much healthier than we were a couple of months ago before we started the South Beach Diet. It seems normal now to eat this way. I am looking forward to my next blood test to see what my sugar numbers are. Eating this way is so good for controlling blood sugar. I am hoping eventually to be able to go off my diabetis medication. :o)

BIG BAG OF LUCK GIVEAWAY

Here is the information about the great giveaway that the "Carried Away Bag Makers Team" is sponsoring. The contest begins tomorrow, March 13th and runs until March 23rd, which by the way is already a special day as it is my sister-in-laws and my nieces birthday. :o) Enjoy the fun and good luck to each of you. :o)

Join us for Carried Away: The Big Bag of Luck Giveaway
March 13-23rd, 2009

The giveaway is pretty simple, just hunt through all of our SHAMROCK SHOPS to find the hidden clover or the words "bag of luck" in the item description and you could win the grand prize, valued at over $100(US!). There are many smaller prizes as well.

MAKING A PURCHASE ABSOLUTELY INCREASES YOUR CHANCES OF WINNING!
If you've been thinking about snapping up a handbag or other great handmade delight from our team mates, the giveaway week is the perfect time! Browse through our team member shops (a full list is at the bottom of the blog) and mark your favorites. Come back during the giveaway and make a purchase of just $10 for ANY team shop to earn five entries for FIRST PLACE (value+/- $60 (US!). Purchase just $25 from any SHAMROCK SHOP and get 5 extra entries towards the GRAND PRIZE !

This promotion is available to worldwide and many of the prizes include free shipping.

Two More Days

Only two days until the start of the CABTeam St. Patrick's Day give-a-way begins. I will be posting the details tomorrow, so be sure to check in. The actual contest starts on the 13th. There are lots of prizes and I would love for one of my readers to win one of them.

Wow, I just noticed that the sun is actually shining. How nice is that? The clouds and rain and mud do get tiresome after awhile. Seems a bit windy though. I am so ready for Spring!!

Brad has had a bit of a setback. It seems that he has actually had homework in two subjects that he denied having homework in. A little chat with his teacher yesterday brought this to light. It seems that he also had a whole packet of back work to get done. The teacher asked him where it was and he told her he threw it away. He then quickly told her no, he didn't throw it away, he told her it was home in his bedroom. That was another big lie. He told me it is in his locker. Needless to say, he was grounded from t.v., computer and Gameboy yesterday. Today he gets to tell the teacher the truth and get all of his makeup work and bring it home. He is not a happy camper, but then again, neither am I. I just hope he can get through this without losing focus. I don't want this to be the start of a lot of problems in school. I am not sure where he got the idea that he could pick and chose which homework assignments he wants to do. He needs to get it together, he knows we have a parent-teacher conference scheduled for Friday.

I think maybe Karli is ADHD. LOL She was so hyper last night, she just ran, and jumped, and got into anything she could. We were exhausted by the time she finally fell asleep. She is getting a bath today. It is her first one, and I am using a dishpan. Hopefully she will like it and I won't get too wet. :o)

My Early Morning

Well, since Steve and I take turns getting up at 6:15 am on school morning to get Bradly off to school, and since it was Steve's turn yesterday, that left me to get up nice and early this morning. As much as I do not enjoy rising at such an hour, I do in fact, enjoy the solitude that getting up at this hour offers. That is, after the bus arrives and Brad leaves. Mornings have always been difficult for Brad, at least until his ADHD medication kicks in. I have to say however, that our incentive program consisting of earning Game Boy and computer time on the days he has successful mornings, is finally starting to pay off. He now has more good mornings that bad ones. He has come a long way and we are proud of him. We are not having very many honesty issues, which used to be a major problem. All in all, things are going well with him and I sure hope it lasts.

I have good news!! Our meeting at school yesterday for Nicholas was successful. He should have a one-on-one aide working with him within two weeks. This should better enable him to stay on task and get his school work done, and hopefully keep his behavior in check. He is in an 8-1-1 classroom with only 6 kids at the moment, but since his class size went from 4 to 6, there just isn't enough manpower to give him the time he needs, so we are very excited about this addition to his I.E.P.

Today I am drinking orange spice green tea. I ordered a 75 pack sampler pack from "Teaman" on Etsy. This pack consists of 15 different flavors, 5 of each flavor. I am enjoying such a nice selection. I even have Earl Gray now for when our daughter and son-in-law visit from Canada.

Last night I listed a wallet in my Etsy shop. I think it turned out quite nice and I am going to work on coming up with a different form of closure for the wallets today. I would like to incorporate a strap closure with velcro rather than just having the velcro on the inside of the wallet to close it. I really enjoy either making new patterns or revamping existing ones. In my opinion that is way more fun than just using a boughten pattern. :o)

Gloomy Monday

Ugh....is the rain ever going to stop?? We had thunder and lightening last night which seemed so strange. My wish for the mud to be dried up by Friday is never going to be if this keeps up..LOL

Well, an hour from now we will be at our son's CSE meeting where we will be trying to get the school district to give him a one-on-one aide. We are determined to come away from this meeting with an aide. He needs one for both behavioral and academic reasons, and this decision is paramount to his success in school.

Karli, our new puppy is making definite gains with the potty training. She also seems to be accepting "no" when told to stop a certain behavior. This is not 100% of the time, but as long as we are seeing some improvement I will be happy. I did however discover a small spot on our carpeting where she has chewed a small hole. I told my hubby, maybe I will be getting a hardwood floor sooner than we expected. LOL

Bradly has joined the newspaper club at school. He loves 5th grade and being in the middle school. There are so many extra activities for the kids to participate in. Of course, now I have to remind him that he needs to get his article written for the next edition. He is also bowling one day a week after school, and this last Thurs. he was so pleased because he scored over 100.

Steven, our oldest son, went fishing in the Gulf over the weekend. He sent us some photos via his cell phone. He sent two pics of two different jellyfish which evidently had stung him on his foot, which proceeded to swell up. He also sent a pic of him holding a small Hammerhead Shark that he had caught. Steve is such an avid fisherman, that the opportunity of living only 30 or 40 min. from the Gulf of Mexico is a wonderful opportunity for him.

Megan, our oldest daughter has been working at Pet Smart while waiting to do the nursing testing so she can work in Canada. She got bit by a German Shepard on Sat. and has quite a bruised up arm. She was just thankful that the dog didn't break the skin. :o)

Rainy Sunday

It rained off and on all night. I was thinking how muddy and gloomy it looked outside, but then I realized the bright spot. The snow is almost gone...maybe Spring really is coming. :o) I do hate mud, especially when tracked in by the kids and the dog. Maybe we will have some warm sunny weather soon and it will dry up.

I must apologize for misspelling Karli's name throughout my blog yesterday. I have no idea why I did that because I do know how we spell her name. Megan pointed my goof out to me last night, and I was really surprised to see I had done that.

Well, I got my animated graphic ad purchased from "Lilybeandesigns" on etsy. She did a wonderful job. I have spent many hours familiarizing myself with "Project Wonderful", and I actually have a few ads running on there. I am amazed at how many sites there are out there who sell advertising. There are spots that end up being free also, which is nice.

Yesterday went very well with the kids and the animals. It was quite a nice relaxing family day. I am hoping for the same today. The kids have this coming Friday off from school which gives us a three day weekend next week. Wouldn't it be nice if the weather allowed for the kids to play outside? :o)

Great to be a part of this great bag making team

Decisions

I have decided to hire an Etsy graphics designer to make me an ad to post on Project Wonderful. This site offers so many places to advertise that it is mind boggling. I keep researching and hoping I will have it all figured out by the time my ad is finished. It is actually exciting to be embarking on a new adventure and learning some new ways to advertise my shop.

Speaking of my shop, I worked yesterday on a new bag that I intended to list in my shop, but lo and behold, I liked it so much, I decided that I needed a new bag for myself. LOL I mean, after all, Spring is almost here and I wouldn't want to carry the same bag I carried all winter. And, as I continued to rationalize this decision, I was thinking that when I carry one of my bags, I am a walking advertisment, so it only makes sense that I should change bags every so often..Right..LOL

Puppy potty training is going well...thank goodness. Carli does have to get up and potty once in the early morning, but she goes right back in her crate and goes back to sleep. The problem is that taking her potty usually wakes up Nick and he thinks we should get up. :o( Carli is a riot to watch especially when she plays with our cat, Stopho. They have such a great time tumbling around. Every so often, Carli chomps Chloes tail. Now, Chloe is almost 11 in people years, so she really doesn't appreciate this attempt to get her to play. I speak from experience when I say that Carli does have some VERY sharp little teeth. Anyway, Chloe will all of a sudden decide to play with the puppy and when she does that she seems so young again. I think the puppy is good for her. She is more active with Carli here, which should help her lose some of those extra pounds she is carrying around. I know how that feels too..LOL Oh, and I will leave you with this funny idea that 7 year old Nicholas came up with yesterday. Friday is show and tell day in his classroom. He had it all planned that he could take Carli to school for show and tell in his bookbag. When we talked about it, he agreed that it wouldn't be much fun for Carli. I did talk to his teacher though, and we can bring her in for a little while whenever we want. :o)

The Weekend is Upon us

This week went fast. Hard to believe it is Friday already. Two days of not having to get up early sounds great. This morning was my day to get up and get Bradly off to school at 6:15 am. Unfortunately Nicholas and Karli (our new puppy) decided they should also get up. Nick stayed up but Karli went potty and went back to sleep. Nick is back to sleep on the couch, so that is good.

Speaking of Karli and potty....if anyone has any advise to offer on puppy potty training, we would love to hear it. When we got her, she was all paper trained. We brought her home and she went on the paper which was good, but she would only pee.....the other was where ever she felt like leaving it. :o( We have three spots with papers and now she refuses to use them at all. We keep putting her on the papers and she will walk right off and do her business somewhere else. We had decided to continue with using the paper until it warmed up outside. She is so little and she just shivers out there...so do we.. LOL. I have heard that she might be testing us, but we are doing what we are supposed to do and she isn't responding. So if any of you doggie lovers out there have a thought on this, please leave a comment. I would appreciate it.

I wanted to let every one know that the Etsy Carried Away Bag Makers team St. Patrick's day give away that was supposed to begin tomorrow has been backed up and will begin on March 13th. I will keep everyone informed and would love to see some of my blog followers win some of the prizes. :o)

Life With a Puppy

Whew, I am tired. Karli is a bundle of activity. I had forgotten that having a puppy is very much like having a baby around again...LOL It is amazing the things she finds to chew that we didn't even know we had. She also loves to chew my slippers (especially if they are on my feet), my shoe laces, our toes and socks and , well, basically everything. Our "Russian Blue" cat loves the puppy. He is twice as big as Karli, but they tussel and roll around and have a ball. He has claws, but he never uses them when they are playing. I appreciate all the comments about yesterday's blog. I have a pic of Karli and our 7 year old son on here now. Aren't they so cute?? I must say that no matter how tiring it is having her, we would not trade her for anything. She has brought even more joy to our family, and she is so good for our boys.

On another note, I want to talk a little about how our diet is going. As most of you know, we started on the "South Beach Diet" on Jan. 20th. We have been doing great, and I am pleased to say that I weighed this morning and am down 2 more pounds. When I lose anymore I will drop into a new catagory. Truthfully, we are in the groove and don't even have to think to much about what we are doing. As I said, it really helps that we have several places where we can eat out and have what we should have. This is so important because it is enjoyable not too cook once in a while, and to be able to get a break once in a while. The more weight I drop and the longer I eat healthy, the more I actually feel like exercising. I still can't do much, but at least I am doing some. I am sure the amount of exercise I do will increase the longer I eat right and continue to lose weight. :o)

We got our Puppy!!

Yes, we did it!! We got the cutest little miniature Dachshund mixed with Jack Russel. She is the sweetest thing. Megan found her in a Kijiji ad and went to Stony Creek, which is near Hamilton. She picked her up and then drove to Buffalo where we met her. It worked out perfect that it was Megan's day off. By the time she got her to us, Megan was in love and hated to part with her. Rachel met us also and of course, she adored the puppy. We named her Karli Madison. The Madison was Reid's contribution. Karli slept all night in her crate up next to our bed. She cried out a couple of times, but then settled in and went to sleep. About 4 am though she started crying and wouldn't stop....we figured she must have to go potty. We were right. She snuggled and played a few minutes afterward, and then she went back in her crate and is actually still sleeping. Brad and Nick adore her and think she is the greatest thing ever. We met Megan at the Pet Smart by the Galaria Mall and we picked up a few things for Karli. Megan was allowed to use her employee discount, so that was nice. Megan bought her the cutest little pink sweater with a gray scarf. She really needed it yesterday as it was so cold here. The poor think just shivered when she had to go outside. Karli is a nice addition to our family. She was not intimidated in the least by Chloe. Actually within a half hour she was playing with Chloe and one of the cats. She is smaller than the cat..LOL

I don't know if anyone who reads my blog has tried the new "Natural" pizza from Pizza Hut. It is made with a delicious, whole grain crust. We decided to get one for dinner last night. It was awesome and we will surely be getting another one sometime soon. We got a medium for the 4 of us, which is another step toward healthier eating as we would normally have gotten a large. Every little bit helps. :o)

Lots to Do!!

Well, it is another super cold morning, but at least the sun is shining. Nick will be leaving for school in about 10 minutes and then I plan to jump in the shower and get ready for the day. I cut out a bag yesterday that I would like to get sewn and listed today. Business is still quite slow, but I want to keep building my stock. In a few more days the "Carried Away Bag Makers Team", an Etsy group I belong to, will start promoting a great St. Patricks Day giveaway. Keep watching because I want everyone to get a chance to win some great prizes. I believe this promotion will run from March 7th until the March 17th.

I was pleasantly surprised to step on my scales this morning and see that I was down another pound. Three more and I will drop into the next category. It seems so good to step on the scales and either stay the same or have another loss. I hiked around Walmart yesterday and then came home and exercised a bit on my machine. We have discovered a great lunch that we can have when we need to eat out. You know how hard it is sometimes to eat out and stick to your eating plan?? Yesterday we got one sub from Subway and Steve and I shared it. We get a wheat roll with either ham or tuna. Lately we have been on a tuna kick and they make it fresh everyday, and it is great. Anyway, we also get provolone cheese, onion, spinach, tomato and cucumbers. We ask for the light mayo and olive oil. It is incredibly good and we are eating healthy and within our diet guidelines. I love the weight loss, but the best part is knowing I am eating healthy and taking care of my diabetis, which I hope dissapears when my weight gets lower. :o)

Love being a member of CABTeam

Reflection

Strange how when someone you know passes away, you think about things in a different way. It seems that so often the not so great memories just disappear and the great memories bombard you. We lost a member of our family last night, pretty much through the ravages of that horrible disease "Diabetes". I would like to say that I will always remember that when I first met Steve and then his family, that I kept hearing about his cousin Sue. She was basically a family icon. Long before I met her all I heard was Sue this and Sue that. Steve's family loved her so much and respected her thoughts and opinions. Truthfully she seemed more like Steve's sister than his cousin. When I finally met her, I saw someone who worked tirelessly cleaning at the school in the afternoons My first impressions of Sue were first of all what a generous person she was, how much she loved to clean and how well she decorated her house on a shoestring budget. She helped Steve's mom a lot like washing curtains and stuff like that, and Sue and Gerry and their kids spent many a Friday night at Maxines. Over the years we had times when we didn't see see each other for long stretches of time. It always seemed that no matter how much time had passed since we had seen each other, that she always made herself available when we really needed her. The last time was when Steve's mom was sick and dying. Sue and Gerry came and sat at the hospital with us and other family members. Their presence was comforting. Gerry found us a tape with Maxine's favorite song on it which we sang as she passed from this world to God's world. Sue and her daughter Sherry were there a number of days as we began the overwhelming, daunting task of sorting and packing Maxine's apartment. More recently, despite her failing health, Sue came to Megan's wedding and reception because Megan had always had a special place in her heart. Anyway, I guess what I have realized while reflecting on Sue's life, is that the kind things you do for people through your life, does make an impression and has an influence even after you are gone from this earth. My heart is so heavy as I think of Gerry and how lonely it will be at his house....Sue was the heart of it. I know the Lord will comfort his heart as only he can.

Frustration

Ugh, I have spent half the day trying to update the photos in my slideshow by using Flickr. Many of the items pictured had already been sold. I finally figured out how to delete the unwanted pics, and then I figured out how to upload all of my new items onto Flickr. So, that being done, I redid the slideshow and not one of the thirty some pics I had uploaded were showing up. I finally decided it just might take awhile for them to stream. So, anyway I decided to write a new post. Well, it seems that in my quest to update my blog I had actived a language thing. Here I am typing away, not looking att he screen, and when I look up, everything I had written was in Hindu. I couldn't believe it. I finally found how to correct it, but when I went back and started again, it was still in Hindu. Grrrr. I went into settings one more time and that did the trick. So here I am feeling very inadequate at best.

Well, my parents just walked int he door, so I best log off. Keep checking and see if I ever figure out the slideshow. :o)