A Quick One: CHA Day 2

Yesterday, the exhibit hall opened, and, Wow.
My Mind's Eye, Basic Grey, Stamping Station, Foo-Fa-La, Fancy Pants, Paper Element, Trace Industries, Cosmo Cricket, and Rusty Pickle all had things that caught my eye. Bird is still the word. (sad...) A lot of people are copying a lot of other people. If they do it well, we forgive them, but if they don't, well...

Here is a picture of the things I made in my classes on Saturday.

CHA: Day One

Well, I made it to California. My flight was good. I got to the hotel last night about 1 AM, and went right to sleep. Patti and I each had classes at 8 this morning.

My class this morning was for the Epson Storyteller program. (Did you have any doubt that I'm Too's official computer geek?) I'm pretty excited about it... more on that later! In 20 minutes, I'm off to a class, making a mini book with Fancy Pants paper. Love it!

Amen, Brother!

I appreciated The Coconut Commando's post about the recent media circus....

I want to go....

Last night after working at Too, I went to Minda's to scrap with her and Erin. Are you tired of hearing me say how much I enjoy watching them create? Too bad...
At work I was thinking about something I wanted to document, and this came to me. Cosmo Cricket is one of my top five favorite paper companies!

I replaced the picture.. the quality of the first pic bugged me...

Look at this!

All modesty aside, because this is my blog and it's all about me...
.




Dave found an Iraqi artist through one of the translators, and he commissioned these paintings. They're from the photo shoot I had done for Dave last summer.

Tomorrow I'm going to a spa with a friend, and then Friday night I'm off to California!!

Quite Remarkable

Over the weekend, I was inspired to make a page for my dear friend Minda. Saturday night, I brought it to her house. SHE had in turn been inspired to make a page for me. Here is the page that she made.

Doin' The Dishes

Three weeks ago, Carrie took me out for my anniversary. We went to "Doin' The Dishes" in Minneapolis and painted pottery. Even Julia painted a little dish. Tonight Carrie brought the platter that I made.
Here it is:


The verse says:

Love feels no burden,
thinks nothing of trouble,
attempts what is above it's strength,
pleads no excuse of impossibility.
It is therefore able to undertake all things.
--St Thomas Aquinas

Ow, my brain.

from www.intelihealth.com:
A migraine usually is a throbbing headache that occurs on one or both sides of the head. The headache typically is accompanied by nausea, vomiting or loss of appetite. Activity, bright light or loud noises can make the headache worse, so someone having a migraine often seeks out a cool, dark, quiet place. Most migraines last from 4 to 12 hours, although they can be shorter or much longer. One unique feature of migraines is an unusual sensation that a migraine is about to occur. This sensation is called a prodrome. Prodrome symptoms can include fatigue, hunger and nervousness. Migraines also have typical aftereffects, such as a feeling of exhaustion that lasts a day or two after a severe migraine headache has faded. Not all people who get migraines have prodromes or aftereffects.

Another unique feature of migraines is an aura. In a typical aura, a person suddenly will develop blurry or distorted vision or will see pulsating lights. These changes in vision will come and go over 15 to 30 minutes and alert someone that a headache is about to begin. Sometimes, auras affect the sense of hearing, smell or taste. Only some people who get migraines have auras, and they don't accompany every headache. An aura also can occur without being followed by a headache. Rarely, migraines can cause unusual neurological symptoms such as dizziness, loss of vision, passing out, numbness, weakness or tingling.

Migraines can be triggered by certain activities, foods, smells or emotions. Some people are more likely to experience migraines when they are under stress.

I woke up this morning, and worked for a few hours before I noticed that my excel spreadsheet was suddenly too shiny to read. I took medicine and laid down right away, hoping and praying that it wasn't what I thought it was. Within 20 minutes, yep, there it was. I couldn't feel my right hand or the right side of my face. That symptom got better as the migraine came on full force. I alternated between dozing, throwing up, and wishing for death over the next 3 hours. And then the worst of it passed, as quickly as it came. I finished working and went to work at Too.

The Weekend

Waiting for news was made much better by spending the weekend with fun people. Thursday and Friday I stayed home and kept to myself. But Saturday morning, I went to my nephew's gymnastics meet in Hastings. While I was there, I got a lot more pictures for the album I'm working on from my mother-in-law. I came home and copied the pictures I needed, and then went to Minda's to scrap with her and Erin. Erin was waiting for the same news that I was, and it was good to be with somebody else that understood. Sunday morning I went back to Minda's, and the three of us went to the Bridal Fair. We went out to lunch, and then went to Erin's dress appointment. She found a dress that was absolutely perfect for her. She will be a gorgeous bride. Then it was back to Minda's for a girls night. We scrapped a little, laughed a lot, watched a movie. In the morning, we had breakfast and then I headed to meet my sister-in-law and nephew at the movie theater, where we saw Eragon. It was good. Tonight I'm kicking back and hanging out with the dogs. They missed me.

Official Word

I talked to Dave and finally got the official word, not just rumors and speculation. The deployment has been extended until August 1. For now, all schools are cancelled.

Don't Ask

Before you ask..... don't. I don't know anything, and it's frustrating not to know anything. Yesterday, it sounded like he would be leaving Iraq in 6 weeks to go to training in Pennsylvania until May. Today, I don't know if that is still the case or not. I have heard the rumors, and I have gotten confirmation on one person's deployment extension. If Dave is not extended, don't say, "oh, you must be relieved." Don't. I'm hurting so much for my friends who are either being extended, or are having their loved ones extended for an additional four months. I don't want to hear that you are frustrated with the situation. I don't want to hear that you are angry with the President. I don't want to hear that you are concerned. I don't want to talk about it. Not now. Not yet. Just don't.

New Project

This weekend I worked on an 8x8 album for Dave of the pictures of his son. I wanted to get all of the pictures he has into one book, and I'm hoping I can get more pictures from family once the word gets out that I'm working on this. I guarantee- there are no artistic breakthroughs here. This book is basic. And I like it.

This picture was taken Christmas '96.

Christmas Present!

Last night was Too's Christmas party, and we went to Buca in Burnsville. It's been 14 hours and I think I'm still full. We all brought a gift to exchange, and I got a gift from Vicki. I'm really excited about trying it out.

I can see it now.... "2007? Was that the year you painted on ALL of your scrapbook pages?"
"Yep!"

I laughed so hard!

This morning, Tom sent me a picture. He's been great about that, since he knows I'm working on a scrapbook. I expected, of course, a picture of Tom.

I laughed so hard my stomach hurt. (the bottom says, "Tom loves you too, just different".) What a fun thing on a Friday morning.

I also finally got around to looking at the Iraq slideshow on YouTube that I jotted down.. oh probably a month ago. Good stuff. Made me happy and sad to watch it. Check it out.

He Knows the Plans

I've added a new link for a friend's blog who should be arriving in Cambodia any day now for an 18-month missions project. We'll call her Madame X, because at no time will her name appear in her blog. She has been instructed that having her name linked with Christian content may prevent her from being able to work in some countries. My prayers are with her.

I've also got another thing that I am prayerfully considering. Not to worry, it's not directly about Dave; he's peachy. It could potentially be a very good thing!

He knows the plans.

Christmas Parade in Iraq

I got a couple of pictures from the Desert Bulls website of the Christmas parade. It was held on Dec 31. Enjoy!

Happy New Year!

Well, it's here! The new year, and the snow! Happy 2007 everybody. My sister-in-law had said I could come over whenever and stay as long as I'd like, so yesterday morning I packed an overnight bag, just in case. I headed to Too. (wow, what a website) Seventeen croppers were going to be working on their stuff and Sue kept the store open until 2 AM. Sometime around 2 pm, I think, the rain changed to snow. Quite a lot of big, wet snowflakes. I worked until about 6 and then I headed over to keep young Rachel entertained and away from her brother's birthday party. The roads were pretty bad, so I was glad to be going to Dave's brother's, instead of home, just because it was a little closer. Rachel had a list of activities for us to do. We colored and did a puzzle and made beaded bracelets and watched a movie. It was fun. I think I was asleep by 12:25, despite the four 10 & 11 year old boys in the next room playing video games until the wee hours. This morning, naturally, the roads have been plowed and it was smooth sailing home. Now, I must go and shovel my driveway!