December Time Capsule

1) A gift you gave: Harry Potter Chamber of Secrets Legos
2) Something you apologized for: being crabby
3) The last person you thanked: Nancy, for supper
4) The last movie you watched: I didn't really watch "Nightmare before Christmas", but it was playing and I sang along...
5) The best food you ate this month: Dinner at Chateau Lamothe
6) The last place you ate out: Chateau Lamothe
7) Something that made you cry: a toast to Gary
8) Something that made you laugh: hanging out with Kei
9) The last person you talked to on the phone: Christy
10) Someone you're thinking about today: Tami
11) What have you created this month that you are proud of: 2 Christmas ornaments
12) What is your mood today: Lazy
13) What is today's weather: Light Snow. High 20F. Winds WNW at 10 to 15 mph.
14) Something you are thinking about: Birthday parties

This feature wasn't at the Messiah that we saw...

But it's really funny!

We Can't Help it, We're Gorgeous!

Last night, Minda & I went to Handel's Messiah, performed by the Minnesota Orchestra and Chorale, at the Minneapolis Basilica. Wow. I'm still amazed. The music and the atmosphere were exquisite. And we were no slouches either!

Remembering

Lots of remembering this week....

December!

Outside the house:

Inside the house:


It sure makes it easier to do overtime when you can work from home, and when it's a day that begs "don't leave the house!" Our previous snow this season was big puffy fluffy goosefeather stuff. This snow is the nasty little ice ball kind. The kind that stings when it hits your skin. The kind that makes me happy that I can stay home today if I choose.

Ok, back to work!

How can you not adore him?

I still think I should have adopted him.

November Time Capsule

1) A gift you gave: a Harley Davidson hat
2) Something you apologized for: having to change plans
3) The last person you thanked: Scott, for playing dominoes
4) The last movie you watched: Shrek 3
5) The best food you ate this month: Thanksgiving dinner
6) The last place you ate out: Wendy's
7) Something that made you cry: an argument
8) Something that made you laugh: hanging out with Kei
9) The last person you talked to on the phone: Leigh
10) Someone you're thinking about today: Dave
11) What have you created this month that you are proud of: Thanksgiving dinner!
12) What is your mood today: optimistic
13) What is today's weather: Sunny. High 25F. NNW winds shifting to E at 10 to 15 mph.
14) Something you are thinking about: Running errands

Happy Thanksgiving

Who Knew?

Steve and Barry's.

I'm not sure why I stopped being a shopper... (oh yeah, new house!) But what an odd little retail clothing store. Some things were not my taste, but they had a lot of other things that I did like. And cheap! They seem to still be trying to get off the ground (or at least that's the impression the store gave) but I hope they stick around for a little while at least. I got embroidered U of Wisconsin Badgers(yes, official licensed apparel) T-shirts for Dave, 2 for $15. I am intrigued...

And, who knew... I'm in total denial about Thanksgiving, Christmas, and winter in general! Heck, I might grab my camping chair and book (and my parka) and go to the beach! (before the sun sets at 4:30...)

You Should Be Here!

Happiness, Forgiveness and the Universe

"I am absorbed with a delicate thought..."
--Edgar Allen Poe, Letters, 1831

A week and a half ago, at women's bible study, Debbie said a very profound thing, that sometimes we get into habits of "excusing" a person rather than forgiving a person, when that person wrongs you. I've been mulling that over ever since.

Today I've been thinking also about happiness, and that each person, and no one else, owns their own happiness. And that is something that is ours to control, with the help of God. I know very well that environment and my own body can make happiness seem out of reach. But where this culture tells us to say, "you made me unhappy because...", I want to instead say, "I felt unhappy, because...", In that case, neither burying the injury OR placing blame. But it's a very hard thing.

I'm still thinking it all over...

The Ultimate Gift

Tonight I watched the movie, "The Ultimate Gift". It was adapted from a book by the same name written by Jim Stovall. I haven't read the book, but I really enjoyed the movie so I might see if the library has it. It's a tear-jerker, so you're warned. It's also a decent PG movie, which aren't always easy to find. I really loved the actors in it. Abigail Breslin plays an outspoken little girl that develops an important relationship with the main character, Jason. When I saw Jay Leno live last January, she was one of the guests. She is really a talented kid.

October's Time Capsule

1) A gift you gave: a scrapbook page
2) Something you apologized for: using someone else's things
3) The last person you thanked: Paul at work
4) The last movie you watched: Dark Victory
5) The best food you ate this month: Teppanyaki at the Japanese restaurant in Apple Valley. (who knew?)
6) The last place you ate out: Manhattan's after seeing "Jerry Springer the Opera"
7) Something that made you cry: a scrapbook page I made
8) Something that made you laugh: Andrew being Andrew
9) The last person you talked to on the phone: Leigh
10) Someone you're thinking about today: Minda
11) What have you created this month that you are proud of: a page about depression
12) What is your mood today: restless
13) What is today's weather: Sunny. High 57F. Winds from SSE at 9 mph.
14) Something you are thinking about: Supper

So Proud of Him

Still Raining. Have a Laugh.

On a gloomy day, have a laugh for free. You may or may not want "this" laugh. It's long but funny!

Rain?

"You're old enough some people say
To read the signs and walk away.
It's only time that heals the pain
And makes the sun come out again.
It's raining again..."

"I'm singing in the rain
Just singing in the rain
What a glorious feelin'
I'm happy again
I'm laughing at clouds
So dark up above
The sun's in my heart
And I'm ready for love..."

"I'm only happy when it rains
I'm only happy when it's complicated
And though I know you can't appreciate it
I'm only happy when it rains
You know I love it when the news is bad
Why it feels so good to feel so sad
I'm only happy when it rains..."

"Why does the sun always shine
On the other side, on the other side
Why does it always have to be
Oh raining
Always raining on me?..."

Three Dog Night

It's fall... the leaves are turning, the winds are brisk, the husband is hunting. Last night I had been planning on scrapbooking, but I ended up staying home and watching TV. Me & the girls curled up in bed and watched Gilmore Girls and went to sleep early.

September's Time Capsule

1) A gift you gave: A coffee mug for Minda (hey, Again!)
2) Something you apologized for: being disorganized
3) The last person you thanked: Minda
4) The last movie you watched: Bourne Supremacy
5) The best food you ate this month: Dinners in Boston and New Hampshire
6) The last place you ate out: Au Bon Pain, at the Airport
7) Something that made you cry: Laughing at a book
8) Something that made you laugh: Tally Scrappers
9) The last person you talked to on the phone: Dave
10) Someone you're thinking about today: Jen
11) What have you created this month that you are proud of: a Christmas scrapbook page
12) What is your mood today: Better than yesterday
13) What is today's weather: Mostly sunny. High 70F. Winds SSW 10 - 15 mph.
14) Something you are thinking about: Creating a survey for work.

What a slacker!

Wow, it's almost the end of September! Where have I been??

Well....

Columbus, Ohio... Sept 8 - 12, for a few days in the office with my team, (and a few days with Stacy just for fun!)

Boston, Mass... Sept 20 & 21, with Minda, where we met Chris and Tami, two of our Tally Scrapper friends.

Meredith, New Hampshire... September 22 & 23, to stay at Tami's sister's beautiful rental home and meet Jen D.

Now, I'm going to plant myself at home for a while.

My Happy Place

Loving my scrap space!!

August's Time Capsule

1) A gift you gave: A coffee mug for Minda
2) Something you apologized for: so many things!
3) The last person you thanked: Dave
4) The last movie you watched: haven't watched any movies...
5) The best food you ate this month: Birthday dinner at Rudy's Redeye
6) The last place you ate out: McDonalds
7) Something that made you cry: Rufus again
8) Something that made you laugh: playing darts with Dave & Tom
9) The last person you talked to on the phone: Minda
10) Someone you're thinking about today: Sandy
11) What have you created this month that you are proud of: a beef roast
12) What is your mood today: Sleepy
13) What is today's weather: AM Showers. High 80F. Winds WSW 7 mph.
14) Something you are thinking about: working at the store.

Birthday Fun

It was a very fun birthday. I met Carrie, Minda, & her cousin Emily at the beach, and we had a great time chatting and letting the kids play. Then last night, we went out for dinner with Scott & Minda.

Say, who is that strange man sitting next to me? It's my husband! Yes, he's home!

Pay It Forward - Scrapping Style

I got this from Lisa Marie's blog and I must say that it is a great idea.

"The whole idea is paying it forward, just like the movie Pay it Forward. Only we are doing this scrapping style.

What happens in the first 3 people to comment in this thread will receive a RAK from me of a small scrapbooking embelishment. Then you promise to blog about it too and then do the same thing to the first 3 people that leave a message for you and so on and so on."

Been Scrappin', part II

I emptied my pockets to do laundry, and found my memory card. So here are those pictures!

Been Scrappin'

Ok, I did two different layouts about family today. I intended to post them here, but the full sized files are on my camera which is conveniently at Minda's house.

Be Nice

Today is my parents 39th Anniversary! Love you both.

I got this yesterday:

First, I would like to say that I have a bizarre sense of pride about my blood donating skills. (Skills? HA!) When I got there, already in the chairs were a lady police officer, and a big tough looking guy. I did the thing, read my book as I gave blood, got up and went over to get some juice. The tough guy was going through the steps to keep him from fainting, and the lady cop was too woozy to stand. Now, in any other test of strength or general studliness, I would SO lose. But by some total fluke of fate and body chemistry, I AM a blood donating queen! What a stupid thing to feel pride in. But I admit it, I do.

Another thing I realized while I was at the blood bank; Here are another group of AMAZING heroes. If you know anyone who works for the Red Cross or a blood bank, give them a hug. Bake them a pie. They are working overtime to make sure that everyone who wants to give and everyone who needs to receive are being accounted for.

Out and About

Last night I took Missy to Lebanon Hills around 8 pm. We walked about a mile, and the weather was just perfect. It was my first time taking Missy solo there with the retractable leash, and it went absolutely great. I plan on making that a habit. Today I met Carrie & the girls at Hyland Park in Bloomington, and we checked out the Nature Center and had a picnic lunch. We were going to walk on the trails, but we had so much fun in the Nature Center, and it was hot by the time we would have started walking, so we're saving that for another time.

After we cooled off with some Jamba Juice, the girls headed home and I stopped off at Scott & Minda's. We played games, which was another perfect thing to do.

I still want to take a road trip to Pine City, and I'm hoping to get a trip to Ohio planned soon. This fall I'll also be going to Madison, and in February, I'm going to Wisconsin Dells.

Throw in a camping trip somewhere, and maybe a trip to Florida next winter, and I might have this Wanderlust thing beaten down into submission.

She Lives!

Didn't sleep very well last night, but other than that I'm feeling okay. I got to eat chocolate ice cream, custard, potato soup, and butterscotch pudding yesterday. My parents came up to drive me to the oral surgeon and took good care of me. Last night the oral surgeon even called to ask how I was doing. That was very kind.
But it's now 6:30, just about time for a nap!

Less Wisdom?

Ok, I'll admit it, my tooth was bothering me before I went on vacation at the beginning of the month. But I chalked it up to stress and got on with it. One might question the wisdom of having a small pain and ignoring it, but not me.

Anyway, I've known for a bit that my upper right wisdom tooth was broken, but I decided to wait until this morning when I was in AGONY to go see a dentist about it. (stubborn, lazy and dento-phobic, that's me) He said the words that I was expecting to hear-- the wisdom tooth must come out. And while we're at it, its twin on the other side should go as well. Sigh. I was hoping he would do some absolutely painless dental magic... Ok, no I never really thought I could get away without some kind of dental agony. So Friday morning, I go under the knife. Or the giant, scary-looking dental pliers. Don't know. Don't care. I will be blissfully asleep, I'm hoping for 48 hours or so. But probably just during the procedure.

Sigh. I want to go back to being boring. I liked that.

July's Time Capsule

1) A gift you gave: A scrapbook page for a customer at the store
2) Something you apologized for: Misspeaking
3) The last person you thanked: Susan, while working
4) The last movie you watched: Harry Potter & the Order of the Phoenix
5) The best food you ate this month: It's a toss-up between a few places in Georgia, but probably the Chateau Elan's Versailles Room was the best.
6) The last place you ate out: Chipotle
7) Something that made you cry: Remembering a moment with Rufus
8) Something that made you laugh: The spontaneous road trip
9) The last person you talked to on the phone: Dave, last night before bed
10) Someone you're thinking about today: Stacy
11) What have you created this month that you are proud of: The pages in the Georgia scrapbook
12) What is your mood today: Restless
13) What is today's weather: Sunny to partly cloudy. High 82F. Winds ESE at 5 to 10 mph.
14) Something you are thinking about: getting a filling replaced

CREATE Challenge

Last month at the scrapbook group, I challenged the group to use a piece of CREATE paper and document things about how they create. It was very cool to see the different directions everyone took.

Goodbye Friend

Rufus James
August 20, 2000 - July 10, 2007

Very Very Sick

Rufus has now been sick with canine lymphoma for a little over two weeks. In that time, he has gone from my healthy, happy boy to a very very ill dog. We tried a drug regimen but it didn't go well. So I'm very sad to say that this week it will be time to say goodbye.

Ahhh......

Vacation! Saturday afternoon we spent on Hilton Head Island, in South Carolina. It was marvelous.

If anybody is keeping score....
Lisa and her army of styling products--0
Georgia Humidity--1

Yesterday.

Yesterday
I worked crazy hours at the "real" job, working Monday instead of Friday this week. I started at 6 AM and finished at 7:30 PM, with a LOOONG lunch in the middle.

I taught a noon class at the store. It went fine. It was a computer printing and journaling class.

I had a stress headache for most of the day. Nothing could budge it. Nausea, the whole bit.

I talked to Dave, and got totally ticked by him. Hung up.

I took Rufus to the vet again. He loves it there.

I found out that Rufus is likely to have Lymphoma. We'll know on Wednesday.

Ah, my Blog!

Well, gosh, it's Friday again. I've been heavy into scrapbooking this week. My nose is doing really quite well, I did see the doctor and he thought that it looked good, all things considered. It wasn't straight before and it won't be straight now, but internally things looked ok.

In three weeks, I'll be heading to Georgia to spend 4th of July week with Dave. Before that, I'm working at the store quite a bit.

Here is a page that I made for Tom the Pirate.

How Weird is My Life?

Yeah. I worked all day, got home, let the dogs out. They were still excited and playful, so I sat down on the living room floor to wear them out a bit. Missy was tearing around like a puppy, bowling over Rufus, and, I'm not sure exactly what happened, but she ran into me and her head or her shoulder hit my nose HARD. I heard a crunch kind of sound and got up to go into the kitchen for a paper towel. My nose is bleeding, I can feel where it separated, and I'm thinking, OH CRAP, now what do I do? I'm not a fan of heading to the ER only to be given tylenol and an ice pack, but I wasn't sure if I should.... It also vaguely crossed my mind that the last time I had a facial injury, I had to submit to about a million questions to verify that I was not a victim of domestic assault.

Hey, I'm a victim of domestic assault. My dog beat me up.

Anyway, that was NOT the reason I didn't go to the emergency room, and it wasn't because I didn't want to trouble any of the kind, dear friends who would have taken me. I called my mom (the nurse) and explained, and she agreed I could stay home, and then she called a doctor that she knows, just to make sure he agreed, and she checked up on me. I made myself a lovely ice pack and had a relaxing evening.

It aches today, but doesn't look too bad. I'm guessing the bruises will come out in a day or so. Something to look forward to.

A Nice Break

Dave flew home Saturday morning, and flew back to Georgia on Tuesday afternoon. We had a good weekend. We relaxed, had nice dinners, saw friends, and he fixed my laptop (now virus free!). Before he left yesterday, we had a photo shoot with the fabulous Minda.

Now, back to work, back to life. I think Dave gave me a cold. Hard to believe it's almost June!

Yaaay!

Well, I'm not going camping in Wisconsin this weekend with Dave's family. And I'm not going camping up near Alexandria with my parents. Instead, I'm going to stay home, with my HUSBAND! Yes, he'll be home from Saturday until Tuesday.

Missy Made a Friend

Wow, this weekend went by fast. I worked Friday night and Saturday, and then Saturday night went to Scott & Minda's for general merriment. I thought we had been making progress on Andrew "getting over me", but at dinner, he gave me the eyes. Yikes. Yeah, he's still serious. Not quite sure about that boy.

Sunday, I picked up Keitaro at the MOA, and we spent the day hanging out. Nothing too exciting, but it was really fun. This morning I took him to the airport for the long trip home.

Darn Socks!

(That's a pun. I apologize. The persons responsible have been sacked.)

One baby sock down. This one didn't survive a three mile walk. Tomorrow I'm going to see if I can take him in to get his nails trimmed, that will help. I did put a shout out to a couple of friends with small children that I am on the lookout for 0-6 month baby crew socks. Preferrably dark colors. They're not expensive at Target, by any means, but, you know...

I am Amused

I was walking through Cub a bit ago, and looking for some variety of very rich, very chocolate ice cream. Preferrably one with brownie chunks. Instead I found these little fellas. I was amused. They were on sale. They came home with me. My eyes first settled on "The Gobfather": Chocolate ice cream with fudge covered almonds and nougat swirl. Yum. That will get the job done.

Then I saw it.

"Vermonty Python".

I laughed out loud. (crazy lady in isle four....) I read the description: Coffee liqueur ice cream with chocolate cookie crumb swirl and fudge cows. Fudge cows? Coffee liqueur? I'm all over it. Everything about it reminded me of a family I know.

So, now it's sitting in my freezer, waiting for me. (yes, that's my freezer, yes it's that empty, what's your point?) Maybe tomorrow I will have to see if they're as good as their marketing. 'Round about the time that I start looking for anything in my house made of chocolate.

Consumerism and gluttony? Yep, got it covered.

Wedding Pages Class

Tonight I worked on a couple of pages that I'm designing for a wedding pages class. They're really actually quite nice in person. The picture is terrible, a fuzzy mess.

But you catch the drift... it's using the new Wedding line from Reminisce, and it's purposely neutral. I have one two-page layout left to design, but for now, this is enough to show what the class is about. Which reminds me, I should put it on the website. Ah, even on my night off, always working.

Today I said something to a friend, and I'm just itching to make a page about it. In total seriousness, I said to her, "yeah, I have to do laundry.... my dog's out of clean socks." As I was making dinner (yes I cooked) I thought of that and chuckled. I think I need to take pictures of Rufus in his variety of socks. Embrace the silly.

As far as Rufus's feet go, they're pretty much the same. He had both feet bleeding over the weekend, but I got them bandaged up with the help of Mom, R.N., and they've been better since then. I've decided to push off deciding about the surgery until June, but I fear it's unavoidable.

Monday's Adventures

This morning, while I was at a doctor's appointment, I mentioned that I had gotten a couple of warts on a finger and the tip of my thumb. No problem, he says, and he comes back with a cup of liquid nitrogen. Heh. You ever hear the one, "Cure's worse than the disease"? Yeah, pretty much. Right about now, I have big, nasty blisters. Hurts like the dickens. But, it will all be worth it. I hope.

Then, this afternoon, a fabulous thing happened. We had been negotiating with Ms. Wishywashy about buying the townhouse. Over the weekend, we were stalling because there was a possible second, better offer. The offer we were waiting for never materialized, but then, out of the blue, Mr. Paycash-close-Friday arrived. Well! I'm a huge fan of him. Had no idea he existed. Can you believe it? Apparently there is a story behind it, but I don't know and I don't care. By this time Friday, the townhouse will be off our hands. Thank the Lord.

So, yeah. I'm still marveling at the offer that came in, and also being a big baby about my poor smarting hand. Life is funny sometimes.

Oh, and do you want to see the Reminisce paper that I am totally obsessed with? Here's a little snippet of it:

Is that SO me or WHAT?

Tag

I saw this on Nancy's blog a few days ago, and I thought it was fun. I decided to consider myself tagged by proxy, because I wanted to play.

I am supposed to give seven random facts or pieces of information about myself and then tag seven folks. I will follow Nancy's excellent example and NOT tag anybody, but if you want to play, then by all means...

1. I am a recovering comic book geek. I probably could still participate in a fairly lively discussion about a variety of comic book characters, and some random information about the artists and writers is probably still stuck up in my head too. Batman... Superman... oh yeah. If it happened before 2003, and it wasn't in a movie, I could probably tell you about it. But I've never watched the movies. I was a geek with standards.

2. Every night before I go to bed, I braid my hair. If it was good enough for Ma Ingalls, it's good enough for me. The real reason is that if I don't, while I'm sleeping, mischevious pixies come and tie my hair in knots. And now you know the truth.

3. I didn't do well in High School because I wouldn't "play the game". I wonder what I would have done differently if I knew then what I know now. But I wouldn't want to go back to high school. Ish.

4. If I could meet anybody, not including a dead relative, or Jesus, I'd want to meet Audrey Hepburn. I want to know if she was as cool in person as she was in the movies. I know she is long deceased. I still have a girl crush on her.

5. I absolutely love working from home. It is absolutely splendid to not have to commute and also to not deal with all of the weirdness in an office environment. But I wish I could hang out with some of my co-workers more often.

6. I DO NOT WANT THE BIG WEDDING... but I did find some paper for making invitations that I'm a smidge obsessed with. If the wedding means I can buy the paper... hm, maybe ok.

7. I lived in the same house from birth to age 16. From age 16 to age 31, I lived 10 different places. When I dream, and I'm "at home", I'm either at my parent's house, or a strange conglomeration of houses and rooms I have seen before.

That's it! Now, it's up to you.

If you are inclined to say an extra prayer, please say one for Brendan and his family. Love you guys.

Scrap Club

One of last month's challenges was an old paper challenge. About 8 months ago, I went through my patterned paper and I pulled out all of the old, ugly, or just not me stuff. My intention was to give it away. Instead, I stuck it away, and lo and behold, it still is sitting there in it's little spot of shame. So, I pulled out a couple pieces that originated in "The Stack I" and "The Stack II", which, on a side note, was the height of coolness at Michaels in 2002. I do actually really like this page. The color combination is both tied into Julia's jacket, and also a nod to those crazy Red Hat ladies, like my Mom and the rest of her Rosy Redbird pals.

*Yawn!*

Last week... hmm, let's see.

Between the misadventures of Rufus, I was doing my best to shake myself out of a fog. I was sleeping well, waking up fine, but about 10 AM each day, I was becoming incredibly sleepy. That sleepy fog just got worse as the day went on. I left my Dr. a message and finally heard back that I should switch to taking my meds at night instead of in the morning. That helped a lot. By Friday, I was actually feeling like myself again.

That was a good thing, because the weekend was B-U-S-Y! Friday, after work, Jen came up for the Donna Downey event at Scrapbooks Too. I headed over to go out for supper with her and hung out at the store for a bit. It was interesting. The place was packed. Finally I headed home around 9 and headed to bed.

Saturday morning Jen & I were up bright and early, Jen brought me coffee and I opened the store at 8:30. Donna hit the ground running with her first class at 9. She impressed me with the way that she engaged everyone in her classes. I left work a little after 5 and headed over to Minda's to watch Andrew. We played games and watched cartoons. He is a dear boy. Scott & Minda came home around 10, and we chatted for a bit, and then I headed back to the store. I helped Sue do a small portion of the cleaning up, and then at midnight, Jen & I headed back home to bed.

Sunday, Jen & I went out for breakfast, and then met Carrie and her girls and did a little shopping. Everyone headed home, and I had just enough time to give the dogs some love and take a quick nap. Then I headed to Minda's, and we went to the fundraiser for Erin & Jason's uncle. The place was packed, the music was fun. It was really touching to see so many people show up to support the family.

The weekend was so busy, it's a good thing that I woke up!

Mr. Babysocks

Sunday afternoon, I went to Target and got Rufus a few more color options in baby socks. Today he is wearing gray. Last night he managed to get one of his spots bleeding, so this morning we made a quick stop at the vet's office to get bandaged up properly, and to get some antibiotics.
I think he looks pretty dignified here, in spite of the fact that his momma dresses him funny. He must not be too traumatized. It's not cutting into his ability to nap, anyway.

Trial and Error

in the ongoing saga of Rufus, the papilloma dog, I am constantly trying to find a way to keep his spots clean and dry and to keep Rufus as happy and normal as possible. The red doggie booties? They work pretty well for his front foot, but since his back feet are long and narrow, he can pull it off. The bandage alone? Works well on the back, not on the front, and over time, he works the bandage off on either foot. Yesterday morning, when we got up, he had a small surface infection on his back foot. So my next trick was to put the cone on his head. He wore the cone all day, but he struggles with stairs and eating and drinking, since his head and the cone are so low to the ground. Last night when I got home, I thought of something else to try.

I pulled a pair of pink baby socks out of a box in the crawlspace, and taped them so that they can't slip. Maybe this will work?

Call him "Lumpy"

Last fall, some of you might remember that Rufus had a little cancer scare. No, I take that back. I had a cancer scare on behalf of Rufus. Anyway, it all worked out, and I was given the warning that this type of benign tumor could possibly reoccur, and if they did, it was up to us if we wanted to have them removed, since they do no harm to him. Well, this month, he suddenly got two new spots, one on his front foot and one on his back foot.
I took him in to have the vet reassure me that it was ok to leave them alone, so long as Rufus will leave them alone. He had found the one on his front foot, and had been licking it and making it irritated. So, we went back to the booties.

I thought, oh, he probably can't really reach the one on his back foot, right? Ha ha ha. He's more bendy than he looks, folks. Today I came out of my office to get a glass of water, and here is Rufus, again, bleeding, he has licked the spot raw. Poor, dumb, silly puppy. Ok, collect the bandages, tape, sock, scissors, and a can of cat food. Throw it all on the counter. Open cat food. Put dog on counter. Try to bandage dog in the 30 seconds it takes him to inhale food. Tell dog not to take the cover off of the butter dish. Remember why it's nice that dogs can't go on counters.

Is it just me, or is this photo begging for a thought bubble?

Isn't it pretty?

If today was November 11, I might be amused to see the big white goosefeather flakes swirling around outside my window. But no, it's April 11, and I am SO done with the cold weather. SO over the snow. SO ready for spring.

Saaay, you know what? After a winter of parking outside, do you know where my car is? Snug in the garage. Ice and snow-free.

Let it snow.

Happy Easter

This Easter, I did NOT do this to my sweet Rufus....



There was no time this year to get out Rufus's bunny ears. Saturday morning, I got the house ready for the afternoon's festivities. My brother called, and offered me some fresh coconut. Yum. So he stopped over and we chatted for a bit. It was very nice to see him. Then, Dave's parents and older brother & family came, and Carrie and Eva. Everything came together so easily, I was impressed.

After dinner, Dave's parents, Carrie, Eva & I went to Easter Vigil. During the service, I was received into the church. What a special moment.

Sunday afternoon I went to the Crilly's for dinner and games. Such a fun night.

Company's Coming!

Today I worked, went to Good Friday mass at church with Carrie & Eva, came home and made a financial plan with DH, and then ran to the grocery and pet store.

I asked Byerly's to hold 2 "seven bone" beef roasts for me. It was the cut that my Grandma used to get. Nowdays, most grocery stores remove the bones and cut it into smaller chuck roasts, but you can get the seven bone cut if you call ahead! I'm looking forward to eating it. The in-laws are coming over for dinner tomorrow, as well as my friend (and RCIA sponsor) Carrie.

When Dave & I were discussing the budget, he had me figure out the amount I need for food, both dining in and dining out. Ok. Then, he said, what about scrapbooking, what do you spend a month? $25?

Cough. Cough. Ahem.

Anyway, we agreed I would set a budget amount of $75 a month. I think I can manage that just fine. (!?!) But the funny thing that happened then was he said, now what about entertainment? How much money do you need?

See item: "Food" and item: "Scrapbooking"

Seriously.

Ok, I do go to the theatre at least 3 times a year. And I forgot about Netflix. But I try to get my books from the library or from friends... What other entertainment expenses are there?

Oh! I did promise to take a certain young man to the Children's Museum.

0559648-04038 = Happiness

Trying something new.

Today I visited my physician and filled out questionnaires: the depression test, and the anxiety test. I didn't study or anything, but I must be naturally clever because I got high marks on both! But seriously, it was time for a change.

He asked me if there was anything in my situation going on that would have triggered this, and I said, "well, my husband is in the National Guard..." He started writing the prescription right there.

Huh.

So, I'm giving Celexa (citalopram, actually) a try. It's supposed to help with both the depression and the anxiety. We shall see.

What Goes Up...

Wanted to post Sunday... couldn't make it happen.

Posted twice on Monday... deleted them both.

Saturday? Saturday was awesome. Got my hair colored and trimmed (and washed and washed) by Erin, then we went to "mom's" for dinner and scrapbooking. It was great. Laughed til I cried. Twice. Great night.

But Sunday was different.

Monday, all I wanted to do was talk to my husband, but he called me from a restaurant where he was watching the Twins game... I couldn't hear him and he couldn't hear me. Gave up on that.

So there it is. Today I'm working and then working some more. And that's enough.

Who Knew?

Last Christmas my niece gave me tubes of silver and gold glitter glue. Very sweet. I really had no intention of using them. But wait!

Used the gold. Loved it. Who knew?

I'd post a picture but it's for a gift. So that might take a little creative editing. Anybody want to hazard a guess which paper loved gold glitter glue?

What Are We Going to Do with Uncle Arthur?

Meet Sam.


This weekend I finally put two and two together with ye old cat. Sam gets 1 tablespoon of canned food per day, and all of the dry food he wants.
He is 12, and he has been losing a lot of weight. Sam also has STINKY breath. Anybody guess where we're going here? I think Sam has bad teeth. As far as I can tell, they're pretty discolored, but, he's a cat and he isn't too willing to have his mouth examined.

So I've started Sam on a canned catfood diet. He seems to like that just fine.