For a Friend

This comfort afghan is being sent to the mother of a dear friend. Her mother was recently diagnosed with breast cancer. I wish them both all of the best during this difficult time.

Calling in to work

Can I call in uninterested? How about just an I don't want to work today day? I know it wouldn't fly, but I really do understand why they say so many people lie and call in sick when they aren't. Sometimes, more than others, a person just really doesn't want to go. I am mentally stomping my feet and throwing a big ol' temper tantrum. Of course, my clothes are all out and the shower is warming up so obviously I am going. I just plain don't want to. I know I can't be the only one with days like this........................

Happy Valentine's Day!

The prelude to mine, wasn't as uneventful as I would have liked. DH called me from a basketball game and asked me to get a bucket of ice water ready and see if I could get some crutches rented from the pharmacy. When he got home, his ankle looked like this only even more swollen. After a few minutes in the ice water his foot started to swell and I told him we were headed to the ER. He didn't put up much of fight so anyone who knows my DH realizes he was in a LOT of pain.
After several hours, the end result is a really bad sprain with follow up in a week'ish to be certain there isn't a stress fracture or ligament damage. Everyone, including the nurse, was surprised that the x-rays didn't show a break.
After we got home, about midnight, I was turning off lights and closing up the house for the night. I came into the bedroom and there was a Valentine's card waiting for me on my pillow. Despite what we had just been through, he surprised me with the card. He typically hides them someplace for me to find in the morning, but decided that he might have a hard time accomplishing that this year :) I think I'll keep him.

Significant moment - ?

I was with my teenage son the other night at a department store. I witnessed his debate about which of two items he was going to purchase since he could only afford one. After much debate and walking around the store with both in his hand he decided on the one I would not have guessed. The Sports Illus. Swimsuit Calendar won out over the video game. Guess this is one of those growing up moments? It was a bit tough on Mom regardless :)

In Honor of Blake C. Stephens

This OPH Comfortghan is being sent to the parents of Army Sgt. Blake C. Stephens (25).

CALGON, TAKE ME AWAY!!!

'nough said.

New Year - Yadda, yadda

You are getting short and sweet from me. I have given it a lot of thought the last couple of days and decided that my plans for the new year really need to include revisiting/reviving a previous one. I am going to attempt to do at least one (and preferably three) things each day that I have been procrastinating. This post is today's :).
The other thing I would like to do is start a "thankful journal". I want to take the time each and every week to list 5-10 things I am thankful for. I hope it will serve as a reminder of how blessed my life truly is. Sometimes it is so easy to get wrapped up in the day to day and forget how awesome the big picture is!

Comfortghan for a dear friend

This comfortghan is being sent to a wonderful woman who is dealing with one thing after another at the moment. She has always been extremely kind and generous whenever I have dealt with her and it breaks my heart to think of her in pain. I hope this helps her through this difficult time.

Withdrawals, ideas and pay it forward

It never fails. At this time of year, my scrapbook things get put up. There just is not enough room in our house for my obsession AND a Christmas tree. Yes, the tree wins. I am in scrapping withdrawals! I have all these ideas running through my head and want to scrap pictures. NOW! I could pull out a kit or two and work with just what is in my tool bag, and I will this next week, but I am longing for a full out crop!
I recently found Tim Holtz BLOG. For those of you who have not seen it before, the inspiration and ideas are WONDERFUL! I just look and need to play with ink, or paint, or paper, or something!! I hope you enjoy it as well.

Pay it forward. Not only is it a movie that makes me bawl, but it is just a wonderful thing. I was reading Lila's BLOG and she offered to send a little something to the first 3 people to leave a comment and post on their own BLOG the same offer to pay it forward. Well, here we are :). The first 3 to leave a comment and commit to PAY IT FORWARD - your participation is to post on your blog a PAY IT FORWARD notice and send something (I know we all have extra cards, bookmarks, or projects just begging to be sent to a new home) to three people. Leave in your comment PAY IT FORWARD and I will email you for your address (be sure your email is available to me).

Have a great week!!! The baking is done at our house :)

Joys of Christmas

One of my very favorite things about Christmas is all the baking I get to do. A few years ago I began baking several different kinds of cookies and packaging them up in tins to give to friends and neighbors. It has now become somewhat of a tradition in our house. One that I LOVE.
There are times when I want to just enjoy the process of baking, by myself. This rarely happens. My youngest loves to bake as much as I do so always wants to help. I have given up on trying to sneak it in and am learning to enjoy sharing the process. He is old enough now that he can help read the recipe and hold the mixer in addition to dumping items in.
Last night both boys helped me make gingerbread cookies. It isn't necessarily the fastest to have them cut the cookies out, but it certainly created memories. That really is what it is all about. :)

Comfort Afghan ready to send

This comfortghan will be going out in tomorrow's mail. I hope it does the work we intend and brings the recipient great comfort and peace!

In Honor of Dane R. Balcon

This comfortghan is being sent to the mother of Army Pfc. Dane R. Balcon (19).
I hope this is helpful during a time of year that probably only serves to make things more difficult.

What a Saturday! Two great ones in a row!!

My first activity Saturday was a scrapbooking crop/class with Melody Ross, the founder of Chatterbox. I had an absolutely fantastic time and am soooooooooooooo glad I decided
to go. It turned out to be a small group and it was even more personal than I expected. When I arrived Melody welcomed me and had me sit next to her at the table and we began by doing some gathering things with create paper. She then previewed her new Christmas Quick Pages and we each got a packet. We also got the matching stickers, alpha stickers in 3 matching
colors, tacks, a ribbon roll with several different ribbons and a beautiful 12 x 12 red album for it all.

There were several Chatterbox employees there. The graphic designer had done a Christmas card and conducted a class where we all made one. Lots of fun and at the beginning when Melody was introducing him she teased that he had "lost his man card" a long time ago :).

The next class was taught by Melody's sister (btw- she is one of 9 children!) who was probably one of the most immediately genuine people I have ever met. We used the new Christmas line - LOVE IT - and made a tree with paper loops as a decoration.

Our next class was taught by another Chatterbox employee who's name a can't remember (and feel terrible because she was very nice!) and we made super cute ornaments.

We all spent a lot of time just chatting and laughing. It was a great group of people.

I can tell you that Melody was very friendly and humble. I got the feeling it is difficult for her to be thought of as a scrapping celebrity. She just sees herself as a working mom.

The card on the left shown on the site is the one we made
http://www.chatterboxinc.com/home/DefaultHomePage

Holly who hosted the event is a very sweet person and I really admire what she is doing. The work she is putting into the fund raising and preparing to run a half marathon is amazing.

Anyway, it was a great way to spend half my day and I would do it again in a heartbeat!!!


In the evening my DH and attended a work party. This is a Harvest Festival instead of the usual Christmas party because everyone is just so busy that time of year. Now, I know that for most people this would be an obligation type of thing. However, not for us. I truly enjoy several of the people he works with and their spouses so it was a good time. It also was nice for DH and I to have a night out together.

What an AMAZING weekend

I spent this past weekend at a Charity Crop. This is an annual event that is put on by the local scrapbooking group I am part of. As a group we nominate and then vote on which charity will be the recipient of the money we raise. This year it was the Idaho Special Olympics.
We all make items to donate to the silent auction portion. Then we all get to bid :). As usual there were some truly amazing things and I know more than one person got some Christmas shopping done!
There is also a raffle portion. Several LSS and many members donate items to the raffle. They are then bundled into assorted baskets and winners drawn from the purchased tickets. One of our LSS - World Class Scrappers- donated a seperate top secret Grand Prize. The owner of WCS is a member of our group and one of the most generous people I know. She has done this the last few years and the prize is always AWESOME! The Grand Prize has a seperate raffle to purchase tickets for.
I WON THE GRAND PRIZE AND IT WAS A QUICKUTZ SILHOUETTE!!!!!
Wooooooooooooooooooooooooo Hoooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo!
As a group this year we were able to raise almost $3000 for the Idaho Special Olympics. What a wonderful and giving group of women I have the honor of associating with!

In Honor of Bradly Conner

This OPH comfort afghan is being sent to the parents of Sgt. Maj. Bradly D. Conner. It is being sent with honor and respect as have all the others.

delivery of comfort afghan

I was able to deliver the completed comfort afghan to my SIL yesterday. She was involved in an auto accident and is going to be recovering for quite some time.

In Honor of Erik R. Heldt

This OPH comfort afghan is being sent to the young daughter of Marine Lance Cpl. Erik R. Heldt. I am honored to assemble this for her and many thanks to all who donated such beautiful squares!

In Honor of Jeremy E. King

This OPH comfort afghan is being sent to the mother of Army Sgt. Jeremy E. King. I hope it will provide some small measure of comfort with regard to the loss of her son.

In Honor of Michael S. Zyla

This is the OPH comfort afghan that is being sent to the mother and stepfather of Army Staff Sgt Michael S. Zyla. I do hope it provides them with some comfort and the knowledge that others care for them.

Update

I have to tell everyone that I am married to the most amazing man. He is truly a phenomenal person. For a little over a week he has quite literally waited on me hand and foot and taken care of everything in our home and with our family. He has driven me to and from my therapy appts. , made certain we have had meals, my ice machine is ready and that the meds are close at hand. He has done all of this without a single complaint, mumble or grumble. I could not have survived this without him.

The surgery ended up being a bit more than originally anticipated. It also didn't help that the graft was too long and so the way they had to anchor it is different so requires I wear an immobilizer for some time.

I am still not very mobile. At therapy today I experienced some of the worst pain I have EVER felt in my life. The good news is that it faded after being iced and I actually was able to do some things I haven't been able to since the surgery, even if it did hurt. I am starting to see some progress. My fondest hope is that I will be able to work a clutch soon so that some of the presure on my DH to drive me around is relieved. That will also allow me to return to work even if for a few hours at a time. Daytime television is really lame, even on pain meds :).