I have been unbelievably busy the past three weeks, yesterday morning I thought my head was about to explode - seriously! I'm now onto my latest task and that's taxes. Ugggh. Oh how I hate them so. We own our own business so the process is so much more taxing - LOL! (Sorry couldn't resist). Here's what it looked like last year about this time:

This year the messy part is a bit less - why that is I don't know but I'm thankful for it. We have a home office and I'm sure your wondering why I would be working in our family room and kitchen. I spend 90% of my waking time in our home office. The first step (and it's a time consuming one!) is sorting receipts and compiling data. I use this time to actually sit in front of the TV and watch movie marathons and fun shows. I worked all weekend sorting and was able to watch Drumline, Celestine Prophecy, Cribs (really love that show), some movie with Meg Ryan and Matthew Brodderick and parts of many other shows. Usually TBS is very good for days like this. I generally keep that station on when I'm scrapbooking (something by the way I haven't done in a LONG TIME). The boys (dh included) are very accomodating because I tend to get a bit crabby at times when doing this process. Luckily this weekend was beautiful and they worked in the yard and the garage most of the time. When they were inside they just went to other parts of the house.



I'm fast tracking taxes this year. It usually takes me over a week to complete the whole process. This week I'm trying to do it under a week. My list of TO DO's is very long and everything is a priority so I must finish this asap. I'm on the tailend of the sorting/compiling process - it appears it's going to take about 3 1/2 days to complete. I will then move to the home office and begin the input, praying all the way that we don't owe more then I have saved. I'm sure God gets a lot of extra attention this time of year!



I'll leave you with one last picture - it's of one of my helpers. Again this was last year but she isn't far from me again this year.

Isn't she so cute?! I just love my Zoe.

My baby is now 11. How does that happen? Do you think Oscar can get any closer to him?

Chad had 5 friends spend the night last night and it was driving Oscar crazy. He wanted so badly to join in all the fun in the basement. He kept sticking his head through the cat door and one of those time when he pulled his head back out, this is was happened. LOL! I think it's time I permanently attach the thing to the door. The boys thought this was the funniest thing!

Here's a couple photos of Oscar and Alex playing together (and yes Oscar did contribute to the hole in Alex's pants!):

Oscars doing awesome although he is noisier then ever lately. I'm really worried about the summer heat and how that is going to work. Bulldogs cannot go outside and play during the summer heat. He LOVES going outside to play with the boys and ride (or try to eat) his skateboard. I'm going to feel bad not allowing him outside until the evenings to hang out but it's for his own good. He'll just have to stand at the front door and watch.

It's field trip time - to Junior Achievement Enterprise Village. I used to volunteer for every school function but now I have to be more selective given my work schedule. As soon as I found out about this one I signed up. I did this a couple of years ago with Alex and now it's Chad's turn. So much fun! They prepare for this adventure for weeks leading up to going. I had to attend an 1 1/2 hour training class today and will have to be there a total of 4 1/2 hours the actual day the kids all go.

So what is Enterprise Village? Well, it's a mini village or town that the kids participate in. They make it come to life! And when I say mini town it truely is that. There is a City Hall building, a bank, a tv station, a radio station, a restaurant, a financial district, a print shop, a children's hospital, a business district, retail stores (sports store, build-a-bear store, cingular), a realtor, utility companies and a warehouse. Prior to showing up the students have all already been assigned jobs. Earlier this month they had to review job descriptions and submit applications. The teachers reviewed all of the students applications and decide who will work where. They have been busy learning how to write checks and deposit slips. They will go to work and take breaks to run to the bank and shop. It's so much fun!

Although the kids do everything, they do require volunteers in each area to help keep the kids on task and help the kids with anything they might need. I got my assignment today when I went and it's so cool - I'm going to be in Build-A-Bear! And guess what - - - they have a real bear stuffing machine! Now, I did find out that for this they normally have a JA worker handling the stuffing machine because she said it gets to be a bit much doing it all. But, those who know me know I'm going to have to get my hands on the stuffing machine and do at least one myself!! I'll take pictures because you really won't believe this. It looks like an actual Build-A-Bear store. LOL! In our shop we have a Business Manager, a Bookkeeper and a couple of Sales Associates. Each has their own job responsiblities and it's all very serious! The bookkeeper has to write the first checks out for the phone bill because a phone installer comes to collect the money and install the phone. Someone from the electric company will stop by and check on the furnace filter, the realtor needs to collect rent checks. This is only a small part of what goes on!

So Chad comes home today and I knew he was assigned jobs today. He got Financial Advisor! How cool is that?! (His dad is one!) They call it Financial Consultant but I told him was an Advisor! He will sell stocks. LOL! I think he gets to wear a tie also - they provide the shirts and stuff.

I'll take lots of pictures to share. It's such a neat experience.

Here are some photos I shot of my little goalie tonight. Taking photos in the hockey rink painfully remind me how I don't have a clue what I'm doing. I was having difficulty with the settings on my camera and finally decided to just go with what I had. The outcome was a lot of blurry photos but some neat effects. This photo is our favorite. The second photo is another favorite of mine. Yes, it's blurry but it's in the moment and has a nice effect!


I liked this next one because it emphasizes the fact that HE stopped the puck!


This one was cool also. I like the blurred effect for the other players.


Fun times had by all.

In the spirit of Donna Downey's recent posts over the past week I'm feeling a bit of the ick. Can't put my finger on it but I think I've run myself down. Been working really hard this past week and not getting a lot of sleep. The past couple of days haven't felt quite right. Not super ick but ick-ish. I'm trying to ignore it because my life and activities must continue. Next thing on my list is getting ready for a party for a neighbor who is moving. Just got back from the g-store and HomeGoods where I picked up a wonderful frame that I will modify as a gift for our moving neighbors. We are going to take a culd-e-sac photo of everyone (including them) in front of their house and our gift to them will be the framed photo. Will post the final outcome for the fun of it.

No photos to share at this time. Haven't had my camera out all week! Sorry.

Ok, I've been down on Walmart since moving back home. The one by us was horrible and we just quit going. I had heard a new one opened up somewhat close to us (a bit out of the way) but I hadn't had a chance to go there just yet. Actually, never remembered it was there. Today was different. I worked all weekend and finally just hit the wall. Had a not good moment and decided to leave the house to pick up some zippers I need for some pillows I want to make. (When I'll have time to actually figure out how to sew them is totally another question). None-the-less, I needed zippers as the last piece for the pillows. Unfortunately there isn't a sewing notions store anywhere close - or was there? I suddenly remember the new Super Walmart. I had heard rumors that it was decent, not like the other one. Off I went. Got into my super cool speedy little car, ready to escape my dungon home office and off I went - to find zippers.

As I got closer I kept remembering what it was like to go to Walmart in IN when I did my grocery shopping there. I remembered back then thinking how odd it was (and not quite right) to be doing grocery shopping at Walmart. But, it was so convenient and the food was just fine. I didn't always shop there but if I needed more items (other then groceries) it became a very convenient place to go. As I continued to drive and think about the past good feelings started filtering in. Feelings of being independent and grown-up. Feeling like I could be who I wanted to be or find who I was because we had no pre-conceived notions of who we were anymore having left home and not knowing anyone. (I know all of this just going to pick up zippers - go figure!)

Then I was there. It's jam packed - after all it's the weekend. My normal senses would have prevented me from attempting this on a weekend but I had to get out of the house so this wasn't a bad thing. I walked in and immediately felt a tad bit better - because of the greeter. He made a point of looking me in the eye - actually following my eye as I walked past - to say this very long but nice greeting to me. Something normally I wouldn't have paid much attention to but quite honestly needed it at that very moment (sad I know - LOL!). I felt a little better but then decided that was quite silly afterall this was just Walmart. People hate them afterall. So I continued. I grabbed a kart all the while noticing how this was a pretty nice Walmart. Didn't look dirty and questionable people there. The items were looking pretty up to date. What's up with this Walmart? I realized at that moment that it's been A LONG TIME since I've been to one.

To make a could be very long story short, I had a very pleasant experience there. I will be back. I will buy groceries there. I won't go all the time but I definately will go a lot. The key I believe is the Super part of Walmart, and that it's NEW. AWESOME.

I've been working for 12 hours straight. I did take a small breaks to break up the boys from breaking the house. LOL! We've had a house full of boys today. Lots of fun. I really want to keep working but my brain is about to turn to mush. Going to stop soon; have a glass of wine, watch a movie with the boys and eat some ravioli's (and I wonder why I keep gaining weight). Anyway... still a good day.

Change is good. Yes, it can be scary but change often results in some very good things especially with a positive attitude! To honor all the changes in my life that continues to go on, I found some inspiring quotes to share (no particular order):

To exist is to change; to change is to mature; to mature is to go on creating oneself endlessly.
Henri Bergson, philosopher

If not now, then when?
The Talmud

Everything is connected... no one thing can change by itself.
Paul Hawken, Environmentalist and author

It takes a lot of courage to release the familiar and seemingly secure, to embrace the new. But there is no real security in what is no longer meaningful. There is more security in the adventurous and exciting, for in movement there is life, and in change there is power.
Alan Cohen

Life is a process of becoming, a combination of states we have to go through. Where people fail is that they wish to elect a state and remain in it. This is a kind of death.
Anais Nin

There came a time when the risk to remain tight in the bud was more painful than the risk it took to blossom.
Anais Nin

If you have always done it that way, it is probably wrong.
Charles Kettering

I cannot say whether things will get better if we change; what I can say is they must change if they are to get better.
Georg C. Lichtenberg

The first problem for all of us, men and women, is not to learn, but to unlearn.
Gloria Steinem

If the shoe doesn't fit, must we change the foot?
Gloria Steinem

Just because everything is different doesn't mean that everything has changed.
Irene Peter

The most successful people are those who are good at plan B.
James Yorke

Change is the law of life. And those who look only to the past or present are certain to miss the future.
John F. Kennedy

Getting ready to go out of town for a rare out-of-town work meeting. Excited about this because it's going to be a big step to some really good things. But, aggrevated because anytime we go out of town (for any amount of time) there is a lot to do. I'm back to making sure our boys are well taken care of and this leads me to the photo below:



This is Alex's insulin pump. We just received a replacement pump in the mail because this one is beginning to act up. The buttons are not always acknowledging the input - not a good thing! Although the warranty is up in just a few months at which time we will be getting a much awaited new sleek pump such as this one or maybe this one. We can't go a few months with a pump that is not working properly.

I just completed inputting Alex's current basal rates and settings from the old pump into the replacement pump so he would be all set while we are gone. I popped the old pump into the return envelope while thinking about the next thing I need to do. Right as I was closing it a sudden wave of emotion came over me. I quickly realized what was going on, taking the pump back out of the package. I held it in my hands, my eyes filled with tears. This little item, this very one, has kept my son alive since he was diagnosed. It's not an attractive pump (sorry Animas!), it doesn't have all the bells and whistles that I think Alex could benefit from but it does a lot. It's held up to a lot and it's kept my son alive. To that, I thank Animas and I thank this little pump. Although you will be gone, you will never be forgotten! This quick snapshot is one proof of that!

Ok, time to pull myself together. My To Do list is still awfully long!

It's a new car. I got a Nissan Murano and I LOVE IT! It's awesome! Only problem are the seats are slippery and when I wear my silky type sweat pants I slide into the steering wheel when I stop. Seriously. I'm hoping this is just a product of a new car with really clean seats and will wear off soon.


The first funny photo is the dash of the car. When I put it in reverse it shows me what is behind me. Chad had his face REALLY close to the camera. LOL! Sooooo funny. Here is a better picture of him:




It's an awesome feature of the car. I'm having so much fun with it it's crazy. I feel like I'm 16 again and can't wait to go anywhere. I was driving down the highway to go to a Mall that I don't normally go to and I ended up missing the exit because I was having so much fun. I also forgot my cell phone and to take something I needed to return - all because I was so excited to get in the car and go.

My camera is still dead and I can't take a new picture of it. Will do so ASAP.

I love buttons!! Here's another clue (see previous post):



This is not going to count towards my Photo of the Day, but my actual photo may be delayed because my camera needs to be charged.

Have you checked out my Photo of the Day yet? -----------------------> I am laughing WAY TO HARD. LOL!!!!! Can you guess what this is? More clues to follow.


Just in case you aren't sure which photo I'm talking about (because I'm still trying to figure out how to label each of them) I'm posting it below (LOL - I think I'm going to pee in my pants - LOL!!):

I have a good photo of the day idea but can't take the actual photo now - you will understand later. I'm thinking (Patti and Tammy) that for the weekends we could have a photo of the weekend, instead of each day. What do you think?

Hope everyone is having a great weekend. Ours has been so far. Will share soon.

Didn't take a photo today for the photo of the day challenge. Did end up taking a long nap instead - LOL! This happens only once in a great while so I'll give up the photo for the day for that. This evening tried playing around again with my blog and am trying to find a photo hosting site that I can display the photos in a manner similar to Typepad. You know click on one photo and up pops a clean page of all the photos in that album. Typepad hosts their own photos so it's easy. Blogger doesn't. Ugggh!
EDITED: Appears I may have figured out at least how to show an album.

Way to go Alex! He got accepted to take a 3-week college course this summer at the age of 13. This is something he really wanted to do. The application process has been lengthy and required him to take the ACT back in December with the high-schoolers. We've been waiting, and waiting, and waiting to get the letter. Today it arrived! Now I have to start to wrap my head around the fact he is going to be gone for 3-weeks!

Patti, Tammy and I are doing a photo-a-day challange. (Check out their blogs - links listed ------>). My first photo is not too exciting but a real one none-the-less. This photo represents my evening. Guitar lessons for my son - 8:30 at night - a Starbucks Pumpkin Frappuccino and a stack of magazines (7 in total) that I thought I would be able to read in the car while waiting for my son. Well, I drank over half of my drink, made it through a 1/2 of only ONE magazine and the caffeine in the frappuccino is directly responsible for the funky border on this photo as it gave me energy to mess around with Photoshop.

Happy Monday everyone. Today is President's Day so the kids are off school - again. Although today I don't think I'm going to get much actual work done I do have a nice sized list of personal things I must get done, like bills! Uggh!! I also have to run out and pick up some Zoe food. She is letting me know she isn't happy that she doesn't have any. Poor Zoe baby.

Didn't get a lot accomplished this past weekend. Been feeling like I'm running in circles lately. Focus, I've got to focus! We went and looked at new cars on Saturday after Chad's hockey game - which they won by the way! My little goalie is doing so good. Didn't get one though, still processing. I'm considering going from a Yukon XL to a Nissan Murano. Significant size difference and although I'm excited about the possibilities I'm worried where my crown molding will go. I've always had a car I could put just about anything in. Makes me nervous that I now have to plan and possibly borrow someone or yikes have to pay someone to deliver something. I'm getting the itching to work around the house again and yes, put up some crown molding. If I have the Murano, how exactly will I bring it home?

Yesterday was the Nascar equivilent of the Superbowl. DH and his dad and uncle watched it from our house with John's new toy, TrackPass PitCommand. This was his Valentine's present which he really liked (he had given me a hint whether he knew it or not). I made them White Chicken Chili and then went upstairs and dabbled with design ideas for our Study. I'm so frustrated with this whole process. I'm not going to pay for what I really want but if I don't get something that will work I will regret it. The cabinets I can live with don't come in the depth I really need so I need to go back to the store and take a closer look at their next line up. Of course that will mean more money and if I'm going to pay more money shouldn't I get something I really like? Then there is the flooring. If I do this I really need to get different flooring. But, I'm not in the market for flooring. Eventually I want hard wood through the whole first floor. If I get it for the study now and flooring for the rest of the first floor later I run the risk of it not matching and that could be a problem. Am I over thinking all of this? So, I'm in the same place I have been for the last couple of months - sitting in the study with no cabinets. Uggh. When will the maddness end?! LOL!

Oh, I did order a poster sized print of my boys so I can cut it down and place in my 10"x10" mat. I'm so excited! I ordered it from Walgreens.com. I did make a decision to finish my shelving of photos. I will post a picture of this when I'm done - hopefully by the end of this week. Still searching for photos to fill a couple more frames. It's looking good so far though.

First post for February, 2007. Where has the time gone?

Decided today to create my own sixdegrees.com charity banner for my blog. Check it out ---------------------------------------------------------->.

Such a good idea! (Wish I had thought of it!)

Baaaad blogger I know! Here's some of what I've been up to:



Yes I did get my little Crackberry - oops, Blackberry. It truely is addicting! I totally don't mind being hung up in traffic, long lines at events, waiting for my boys hockey games to start... Anytime there is downtime I can surf. It takes a little bit of getting used to but it's awesome! I was so enjoying waiting forever to get my oil changed at Firestone the other day. No problem, I think I'll check out Two Peas message boards. I've set Google as my homepage because I love them - everything about them. Have you ever checked out their employment page to see behind the scenes of what they do and how they treat their staff. It's great!

I've been scrapbooking a lot (for me anyway) lately. I would like to finish our New York album sooner then later. This first photo is of course of the Statue of Liberty. She is so beautiful and amazing to look at. I was surprised by how special she would feel to me. What she stands for gives me goose bumps and looking at all the details, the folds in the material... it's just perfect. That's why I titled that page "It's all in the details" I tried to draw your eye into the details causing one to look a little bit closer by stacking a smaller photo on top of the larger one. Eventually I will go back and reprint the one photo that is a little bit darker then the rest - so those details don't get lost. But, by the time I finished this up I wasn't in the mood to do further tweaking.


This is my two-page spread on Ellis Island. I used an Ali Edwards two-page spread as inspiration for this. I wanted to break out of my box like layouts which I have done on a few other pages. I wanted something linear but something I could still use several photos on. I love having a printer that I can quickly print multiple size photos on. I find I'm using less and less 4.6 photos. I'm still working on using my computer for journaling. I'm from the old Creative Memories days (used to be a consultant) where journaling in your own handwriting is important. I agree with the importance of that but I'm really ok with more computer jouranling. It's cleaner looking and quicker for me to do.




This is the last page I finished last night. All the photos were dark but bright colors pop throughout because of all the neon lights. New York is filled with neon lights! The picture in the center opens up where it lists the description of each photo. I stamped the corresponding number on each photo. I'm going to put a clip with a ribbon on it to use as the page turner for the center photo but I didn't want the page/book to get too bulky. I'm using embellishments carefully because I don't want bulky albums - if I can help it. It will be fun to see if this changes.

As you can tell I really like using multiple photos on my pages. Although I am setting aside individual photos that I really like that I will use to create special pages, some which I've already used. I'm finding I can look at one photo and have it generate different feelings. Hmmmm, my wheels are spinning...

I LOVE having my own room to create. I realize now one of the reasons I never got anything done was because by the time I got everything out it was time to leave to do something. The stuff would lay where ever (dining room table or worse the kitchen table) for a couple weeks until I couldn't stand it there anymore. Then I'd pack it all back up and the cycle would continue until I just never took anything out anymore. This way when I have a spare minute or at night when everyone is snuggled in bed I can quickly go in there and get some things done. When I have to stop I can just leave everything there and close the door. Plus, I love knowing where everything is. I just LOVE it.

Good as new!


Oscar had his eye surgery this past Friday. He was supposed to have it on Tuesday but mom forgot to tell Alex he wasn't supposed to feed him the morning of the surgery so we had to postphone until Friday. The surgery went really well and he was all cheerful when we picked him up Friday afternoon. Apparently he had been playing all afternoon with the staff at Animal Docs. He said goodbye to his favorite doctor and off we went. Dr. Hammerle told us that only 5% of cherry eye comes back, and if it was going to come back it would do so within a couple of weeks. I told her then we would be back for follow-up surgery because our family (Oscar included) always falls in that low category. We got home and an hour later there it was! An hour later! I immediately called the office and I was told that it could just be the swelling and we were to monitor it over the weekend and call this morning. Friday evening - it was showing. All day Saturday it was showing until Saturday night - it went away. All day yesterday it was showing. Today, totally gone. We are supposed to monitor it until Wednesday. If it comes back he is going to have to go back in for examination and possibly more surgery. But, we are all keeping our fingers crossed that it truely was only swelling. Today his eye looks beautiful! Oddly, his left eye looks more blood shot then the right one. It was the right one that had the surgery.

... if you plan to have a long wait and take a bunch of really good magazines that you've been wanting to read with you, the ones that you really can't wait to dive into, the wait will be very short. This theory has been put to the test many times over the past week and it's worked everytime. My stack still has not been read - I'm bummed!

Oscar update:
Oscar has to have surgery! Now, don't fret, I've been assured it will not be lengthy or a big deal. He has developed "cherry eye" which apparently is common in bulldogs and other select breeds. We are trying eye drops for over the weekend but if it doesn't work (which is likely) he will be scheduled for outpatient surgery next week sometime. He doesn't know so don't tell him.

Tonight is his first next level obedience class. Only thing I'm dreading is putting him in and out of the car. He's very heavy (44.4 lbs) and is hard to pick up. Unfortunately he can't get in himself.

eBay:
Gotta love eBay! I spent the weekend trying for a Blackberry 8700c and was shut out about 15 times - yes at least 15 times! Almost had one twice but was sniped last minute. Mind you, I was also trying to snipe but I never succeeded. Fun trying though! I came to the realization the price I was willing to pay was not the going eBay price - so I had a decision to make, up the price a bit or not get one. I decided on the first and got one. It's been shipped - I can't wait! My daytimer (that I posted about a lot initially in my blog) still has it problems. You need to carry it around and actually open it for it to work properly. I know I posted about my love for the iPhone but it's not coming out until June and the price I'm sure will be more then I want to pay. I'll hold out but will eventually get one. They are awesome!

Past weekend:
Got a lot accomplished, although not what I initially thought I would do if I had free time. I could have prepped for tax season, or worked on some additional insurance stuff but instead I played in "my room" (really need an official name for it) all weekend. Much more fun! I continued working on our NY album and got along pretty well until I needed journaling and decided to try my hand at computer journaling and that led me down another path... We had an extra computer that was running Microsoft ME on it - one I had put in "my room" a few weeks earlier. As much as we wanted it to be it was not built as a gaming computer therefore it rejected just about every computer game we threw at it. As a result it wasn't be used. Unfortunately, one of the programs I really wanted also didn't work on it - because it wanted Windows XP. Then I remembered I had a fully licensed copy downstairs that was purchased a couple years ago for a defunked laptop. Only problem, I had to reformat the harddrive to get it to work. I had done that before several times, but never own my own without the intense guidenance from a technical expert. I decided to give it a try - worse case the computer would be messed up for good. I googled reformatting instructions for guidence and completed the task. We now have a "new" computer and all my programs work on it. I'm going to use it for photo editing tasks which require lots of space. Still won't work as a gaming computer but at least it's useable now!

If I understand things correctly, those that know Patti will understand how funny this photo really is. Oscar is growing up and being more responsible (translation - he is ringing the bell more and more to go outside to go Potty). As a result, we are giving him more freedom. He is drawn to our office and one of his favorite spots is sitting (just as you see here) right next to Patti! I try to limit the amount of time he is in here with us, especially when he insists on being Patti's best bud but sometimes I just have to let him stay. How could I not - look at this face?



Patti is a real trooper! She is not a dog person, yet she is very nice to Oscar. She is watching the Dog Whisperer on TV and some of the skills she has learned has helped her bond with Oscar more and more. Maybe that's why he's such a big fan of hers. Zoe is extremely jealous of Oscars interest in Patti.

Off-topic - we got ice again! Phase 1 of 3 has come and gone. We are inside waiting for Phase 2, which I think comes later this evening or tonight. We are lucky we have power - although one of our pine trees in back is looking a bit sad:



As a result we are staying inside today and I'm making a big pot of Grandad's Stew. Also playing around on eBay and fiddling with my new Adobe Photoshop Elements 4.0 that I got with my new slide scanner for Christmas. Thinking of going upstairs and scrapbooking a bit. I'm starting to work on my New York pictures again.

Regarding Photoshop. I've always been a Paint Shop Pro user. I love PSP for graphics, making banners and web stuff but I don't do much of that anymore. I'm more into photos and everyone raves about Photoshop. So, today I installed the version I have and been playing around with it a bit. I'm quite impressed. Need to learn more!

Got to get back to eBay - an item I'm watching is ending soon. I've been shut-out on two other auctions - sniped at the last minute. Need to try again! Everyone have a good day (and weekend) and for those in St. Louis have fun staying in. We sure are!

Saturday's Post-Dispatch - Front Page:

Unbelievable. Breaking news in St. Louis. Ben Ownby disappeared this past Monday when getting off the bus. Tonight they found him in an apartment in Kirkwood with another boy, Shawn Hornbeck, who disappeared over 4 years ago! It's so emotional!

Shawns parents created a foundation for finding missing children. At a JDRF event (local walk) a little over a year ago the Hornbecks had a booth there. They were taking pictures of kids and providing free id cards. I had both my boys done, my best friend had her kids done. Shawn's parents were the ones taking the pictures, filling out the forms. We almost didn't do it - it was too difficult for both of us. We barely talked - we both had lumps in our throat. They were helping us protect our children, we couldn't do anything to help find their son. Now, tonight he has been located! I pray he is emotionally alright.

Amazing that this happened today. My 13 year old son decided to get his hair cut - from long and stringy to short and stylish. When I first saw him I almost cried. My old son was back. Although taller, my son, prior to diabetes, was back. His old look, his old mannerisms. His long(er) hair hid his features. He had lost weight from a diabetes episode last year. I hadn't noticed over the past few months that he was gaining some of his weight back - in his face. But, as soon as I saw him with his hair short I realized he was. A wave of emotion came over me. Standing in the grocery store I kept hugging and kissing him, telling him how handsome he was. He asked if I was going to cry. He didn't resist my attention (which is rare these days). My old Alex was back - life was good. Then I come home and Bec calls to tell me that not only did they find Ben Ownby but Shawn Hornbeck as well. I can't imagine the wave of emotion the Hornbecks especially are going through right now. Here I am reacting crazy over a silly hair cut. Imagine how they are feeling. They get to hug and hold their son after 4 years. Unbelievable. Unbelievable.

My thoughts and prayers are with those boys and their families. It's going to be a long road ahead but at least it's the beginning of a road back together. I'm so glad they were found!

iPhone. http://www.apple.com/iphone/

Check out Macworld San Francisco 2007 - Keynote Address:
http://events.apple.com.edgesuite.net/j47d52oo/event/

And, it's going to be with Cingular. Whooo Hoooo! I'm NOT even going to think how much this baby is going to cost. I think I need to update my wish list! ---------------------------------------------------------------------------->

Crazy day!

• Did bills in the morning (took ALL morning - YUCK!)
• Picked up Chad from school for a 12:30 am dental appointment. Got there at 12:00 am and they were waiting for us. Got him right in and was done by 12:20 am. Go figure! How many times does this happen?
• Ran to lunch and made a call to see if I could move up 3:30 pm ortho appointment for him. Success - moved it up to 1:45 pm.
• 1:45 pm appointment. Walked in, signed Chad in, went to do some paperwork (a/k/a write them a big check). Sat down in the waiting room less then 2 minutes and he was done! What is going on - should I get a lotto ticket or what?! (He just had to get spacers in. He gets BRACES next week!).
• Ran back home and worked on a report I had to finish.
• Finished it and ran out the door to take both boys to hockey practice. Alex was at 5:00 pm, Chad at 5:30 pm. Of course they are at two different rinks across town. Lucky for me John was able to meet us at rink #1 to take Chad to his practice. BUT, he had to leave for an appointment so it was my job to pick him up. Alex ended up having a 2 hour practice so I left him skating, ran to pick up Chad, came back to pick up Alex and rushed home.
• On the way home, had to run by McDonalds because it's now 7:45 pm and no one has eaten!
• Alex has now inhaled his food, is showering oh so fast and in 10 minutes we have to leave to take him to guitar lessons with his new instructor.
• In the meantime, while waiting for Alex, I inhaled my food, checked my email and updated this blog.
• I do believe while I'm waiting for Alex to finish his lesson I'm going to sneak over to Starbucks and enjoy my drink while I read the magazines I've been hauling around with me all day but haven't really had a chance to read them. Only thing is Starbucks may keep me up all night?!

Insane I tell you. Lucky for me, days this insane don't happen that often.

I've been told that I need to provide more pictures of Oscar. Kind of thinking he might need his own blog - LOL! Although that might have to wait for now I am kicking around an Oscar photo shoot. Maybe this weekend I can get him to smile for the camera.

This is a picture of Oscar trying to come out through the cat door. He knocked out the actual piece that goes in the hole and attempted to follow Zoe's lead. Obviously it didn't work! This is the door that leads to our basement. I put the litter box in the basement and the cat door works great for allowing unlimited access to her "area". You should have seen John's face when he came home and caught me cutting a hole in our new door. He had fair warning though. I just don't think he thought I'd actually ever do it.

Yesterday was a good day. Some things that have been bothering me were resolved or addressed - turned out to be alright. Today will be a good day also - because I said so.

Last night I traveled to Costco and HomeGoods - what a fun time I had. At Costco I got two bottles of wine, gigantic bottle of Advil (not needed for the wine but for my neck), box of yummy encrusted tilapia and design software - Professional Home Design Suite Platinum Version 10 from Punch!. So excited about the software! I then traveled over to HomeGoods where I met up with Patti to check out some wonderful bulletin boards they had. I didn't end up getting one (they only had one in the size we liked) but I did end up picking up a fabulous leather (or is it pleather?) red file tote with some fun hanging files. I'm planning on using it for my design file - I keep pictures of things I like for that custom home we are going to have some day. I now just need to find the time to use the software and organize my design ideas. Maybe this weekend? How much of a dork would I look like if I took it and all my clippings to hockey tonight? One son has a game at 5:00pm and the other son has a game at 7:00pm. I have an hour to kill. ??? No need to answer - I already know what you are going to say. LOL!

Ouch!!! Note to self... being head butted in the shin by a rambunctious bulldog does not feel good - at all! I heard a *noise* in the other room and ran in there to see what Oscar was up to. He heard me coming and started running down the hall. He made a quick stop when he saw me but his body weight kept him coming directly at me and he ended up running into me as he slid down the hallway. It resulted in being head butted directly in the shin. OUCH! It's already starting to bruise! He's now in timeout - time to settle down.

Couldn't sleep last night so decided to do a blog makeover. Pretty pleased with it so far. I'm thinking about changing the color combinations - to make it more my own - and possibly creating a fun header. Need to think about that one for awhile to get just the right one to start out with.

Something fun I saw on TV yesterday that I thought I'd share. For a long time I've had this fascination with being able to create molds and working with polymer clay - separate thoughts. Yesterday on DIY they had an episode where a prototype toy maker used polymer clay to create a bobble head of her own and then created a mold from it to use over and over again. She then showed how to use the mold to make a resin figure of her polymer clay creation. It was AWESOME! I have no idea how I will use this information but someday I will. My wheels are a spinning! Here's a link to the show. I think I need to put Silpak silicone molding material and Bresin casting compound on my wish list - seriously.



Photo courtesy of DIY Network.

This type of thing just gets me going. I think about all the absolute cool jobs that are out there that I know nothing about. It's all so intriguing and fun to think about. I had (still do as a matter of fact) an idea for an invention which lead me to looking into creating a prototype several years ago. One of the ways to create a prototype is by creating your own mold - as explained above. It's awesome that we live in this age where technology is everywhere. Having seen this done opens up all sorts of possibilities that I was stuck in by just reading the information. It's awesome.

What happened to my blog? Why is my sidebar down at the bottom? I know HTML but this I can't figure out. Until such time I can get this fixed, please excuse the mess.

CathyZ's blog is back up and it's ironic that I should visit it this evening. Cathy's blog today was about a friend and neighbor of hers that passed away from cancer (melanoma). It's a beautiful tribute to her. I decided to visit her friends blog that is still up and was touched by reading her words and thoughts as she went through the last months of her life. It saddened me because I look at her two boys and I understand exactly what they are going through at this very moment, having lost their mom. Words absolutely cannot describe what they are feeling right now.

Same evening, few moments apart, I visit FORCE's website for our annual fundraising, awareness raising chat-a-thon. Our chat room is open and active 24 hours a day for two days straight. It's a unique and fitting event for FORCE. FORCE is a website about hereditary breast and ovarian cancer. It's for individuals that are interested in learning about how family history can play a part in breast and ovarian cancer and how there is a link between the two cancers. I'm a veteran of FORCE and have been on the board of directors of FORCE for many years now. Unfortunately I've had to take a break from active participation outside of my bod responsibilities for a couple years as my focus has had to be on our families business but I will be back in full FORCE soon enough. This evening at the chat-a-thon, conversations were being had about some dear FORCE friends who have passed and one who are currently ill. Just brings up a lot of feelings.

Ironic that two sites I go tonight are expressing those same feelings and thoughts. Of course it all makes me think of my mother, what I went through (which I will blog later about), family and friends. I've known way too many people who have been afflicted and affected by cancer; lymphoma, breast cancer, ovarian cancer, lung cancer, melanoma, throat cancer - to name only a few. Cancer is such as horrible disease. It robs people of so much. It sucks.

Ok - enough of that. To bring me back out of my zone I hear Oscar boy SNORING away LOUDLY in the other room. LOL! I have to say he makes me smile and giggle absolutely every day. He reminds me to slow down and enjoy the little moments. The way he sits on us, the way he holds his head. The way my boys (and dh) interacts with him. My dh asked Oscar to jump in his lap the other day while he was sitting in his new chair. That just doesn't happen! I just look at him and laugh. Someday I hope to capture in a picture what I see - so far I have been unable to do it. Then I move to Zoe and think just how pretty she is. Chad made a comment about how different they are and I told him we have beauty and the beast (a cute beast but one none the less). LOL! We laughed. I've always looked at my kids this way but it's fun to see animals in a new light. I'm think I'm turning into one of those crazy dog people. LOL!

I have been advised that it's time for an Oscar update so here goes:

Oscar likes to sit by our feet, to be more specific - on our feet. I'm in my craft room frantically wrapping gifts and making cards prior to Christmas and he is patiently sitting at my feet. I heard him chomping on something but didn't think to look down because I was content that he was not running around the house getting into mischief. Finally after about five minutes I couldn't take the sloppy chomping noise and decided I better check out what he is chewing on because I didn't see a bone anywhere. When I opened up his mouth he had a huge wad of gum he had gotten out of the trash can. He had been chewing on this for awhile! I couldn't help but laugh. I had to tell him firmly that if he was going to chew gum he had to use his manners and chew with his mouth closed! LOL! Too funny...

The picture above was his Christmas gift from Alex. He loves it. He can pick it up and carry it around. He gets it in the middle which is funny because he gets stuck a lot of the time.

Oscar is awesome and (knock on wood) is doing really good with potty training. It's been 3 weeks since an accident - maybe 4 weeks. We are starting to give him more freedom in the house and so far so good.

I'll upload more pictures soon.

look what i got! it's awesome. it's a color puzzle i spotted online about a month ago. although my dh doesn't quite "get-it", i love it! as i put it together today it helped remind me about color that i learned so long ago. what i love about it is it was fun to put together, it's a learning tool, it serves as inspiration and it reminds me of my mom. all really good things. i'm going to hang it in my create room to look at all the time. i can't wait!

what a good weekend and a good day today. we are in hanging out mode this entire week. i've remained in my pj's and sat near the couch the entire day. it's going on 5:00 pm and i have to get changed because we are continuing our fun times by going out to dinner this evening with good friends and neighbors.

this has been a tough year for a lot of people we know and we've done our best to try to make this christmas 2006 a special one for each of those close to us. i hope they all know how much they mean to us and i wish nothing but the best for everyone (including us) for the upcoming 2007 year.

happy holiday and new year everyone!

My last posts showed the kids playing in the snow. The snow is long gone and I'm a bit sad. I really like the snow and I really do like snow days. It gives all of us (me especially) a built in excuse to slow down and not get everything done. It's like Gods way of making us in the Midwest take a breath. I single out the Midwest because I know my friends in Detroit the snow does not slow them down a bit. LOL! Anyway, I'm hoping for a white Christmas but I will go as far to say that I'm wishing that only at my house - so I don't interfere with any one elses holiday travel plans. Aren't I nice?!

Ok, so I really should be stressing at this point. I am no where close to being done with Christmas shopping. Seriously. But, I put in a major push at work today and I'm off now until the New Year (so I heard my dh tell his Grandpa this evening on the phone. Patti - do you really think it's true?!). I am making a full charge ahead attempt at finishing my Christmas shopping in the next three days - like I really have a choice. I'm supposed to be upstairs right now updating my Christmas shopping list but I'll admit I'm procrastinating. I really have no idea why. I started updating it but then I realized I needed my daytimer which was in the office. That led me to sitting at my desk to reach for my daytimer and I got sidetracked by my computer. It made me check some blogs I frequent, then check my personal email, then check my business email and then update my blog. Ugggh. No wonder I only have a few gifts purchased. Even with all of this procrastination, I really am not stressing. Even with the pending Christmas Eve event happening at my house where I'm cooking dinner for nine people. My house has to be clean and presentable. I absolutely refuse any longer to stress these things. It will all get done. May not be perfect but it will be great none the less. I'll let you know how it goes.

I hope anyone who reads this is leading a stress free holiday season. We all deserve it!

Happy Holidays to all. Merry Christmas!

As explained in my previous post here lies proof of the snow ball fun!



Update: Ok, so the snowball "play" ended up with less play and more hard feelings - as they usually do. Older boys were being mean, younger boys got hurt and upset. Nothing serious but still a reality check. They did have fun in the beginning!

Ok - my photos uploaded in the wrong order so pretend to read this backwards.

Oscar, the skateboarding snow dog. It's one of his favorite things but he hasn't quite figured out how to do it just yet. Too bad he can't meet up with Tyson the professional skateboarding bulldog. Maybe someday they can meet and Oscar can get a few pointers from him. Like Tyson, Oscar is drawn to the skateboard. Good thing Alex isn't interested in it anymore because Oscar now calls it his own.

What is he thinking? No one can skateboard in the backyard - let alone in the snow! These minor facts don't stop him from trying however.

Here is a better picture of him trying on the front walk. This is the first time he's been out in the snow and so far so good.

Now this is really what snow days are all about - prepping for a huge neighborhood snow ball fight (in our backyard no less). Notice the fort of protection being built on the left. I've been informed that a team of boys (7) from up the street were coming down for the action. My boys are not the only two on their team - they were however the only ones out there at the time I took this picture.

Enjoy the snow day boys - we don't get too many of these anymore!

Oh my... just saw boys from the other team walking with a saucer filled with already created snow balls. This is getting serious! I think I'm going to peek my head out there so they all see me and know I'm watching. Want them to have fun but not get crazy!

Love this picture. It shows determination, team work, tradition. Awesome. Wish the lighting would have been better but it still captures the moment.

Today is Monday. I wish I had a better grasp of what this week is going to bring. I usually like to have Mondays open so I can clearly and cleanly plan for the week. Today is going to be different. Oscar has to go to the Vet this morning. Poor dude. We found an area that needs special attention that we have overlooked - under his tail. His tail is all cork screw like and he has an infection because it wasn't dried after his baths. He is miserable and that has to be fixed immediately! After that I will get some work in but then my dh and I are taking his Aunt to the "boat". It's another tradition for her birthday we always take her. We go to lunch and then she picks a slot machine or video game of some sort and she plays and we watch. She just loves it and she is important to us so we do it. My dh likes to go once a year and this is it. We go during the day to beat the rush. You would not believe the number of people that go during the day - and you can tell they are the real deal (probably there multiple days during the week).

This weekend was good. House Christmas lights are up. Tree is up. Miscellaneous Christmas decorations and front door stuff are not done. Maybe this week. Dh's birthday - done. He got his own iPod Nano. Yeah! I spent a good amount of hours trying to load and unload his songs. Love iPod but initially it's never as easy as it should be. Watched a lot of movies; Click, The Break Up, Larry the Cable Guy Health Inspector, part of Brokeback Mountain. None I would really recommend but glad to get them off my "am interested in" list. The family liked Larry the Cable Guy Health Inspector, I did not. Rarely do I leave the room to do something else during a movie but this one I did. Brokeback Mountain only made it through maybe half. Take out the controversy, it's just a slow boring movie and disturbing. People say it's a love story. ? For the record I have seen the full movie. My dh hadn't seen it and we tried. Anyway...

Another thing I did this weekend was look into a new sewing machine. I can't believe how expensive these things can be. Unbelievable! One I saw was $3000. $3000. Ouch! Of course I don't need one like that but still. I need to get a new one and I've learned that I need something better then the one I got at Walmart. I'm really interested in a lower end computerized model. I've been fighting with the tension on the one I have and am very much interested in the models that set the tension automatically. They even cut the thread and thread the needle for you. Awesome! I'm a home dec sewer. I don't want to have to buy another sewing machine ever so I want to make sure I get the right one. I have made a couple quilts in the past and would like the ability to do it again in the future so I am leaning towards some of the quilting features. I did find one that was a store model - slightly used but a full warrenty. Cost is less then new since it was a floor model. More then I wanted to spend but would give me everything I want and then some - room for growth. I'm bugged that my window treatments aren't made yet but I can't finish them with the sewing machine I have. That's why the push this weekend on shopping for a new one. Holidays coming up, people coming over...

I still have to prep for the Ali class this weekend and get going on my Christmas list and shopping. So much to do - no time to do it. I can do it all, right?! Tonight my dh is taking my sons to Hockey practice so I'm focusing on my Ali class pictures. I will get it done!!!

Best wishes to everyone that you can accomplish all you have and want to this week. We can do it!

Ok, so this is NOT our Christmas tree but this is a tree that I love. It's at the Christmas tree farm that my family goes to every year to find our perfect Christmas tree. It's so beautiful and huge. My boys were so kind to agree to stand in front of it. Notice my dh was no where around. This is because he was standing guard at the tree we ended up getting. LOL! The three of us were off double checking there wasn't a better tree around.

Our tree is now up with lights and minimal oranments on it. The boy have found their old BRIO train set and have put it up around the tree. They are well above the age to get back into BRIO train set but it's cool that they found it. We are considering getting a set for the boys youngest cousins. Got to LOVE BRIO. I guess our conversation of this potential gift sparked a/some memories for them and when they were digging out our Christmas decorations and they stumbled upon their set they decide to pull it out. I told my dh it's quite interesting because when they were young they really weren't that into it. I decided to keep them for our grandkids - much in the future mind you. I'm glad they have a new life right now. It's funny how things end up.

Hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving. We did. Got to spend it with my family and my best friend. Was a lot of fun and the wine was good! Happy shopping to all!

Sorry for the delay but here's the proof of our scrapbooking weekend. What a fun time we had. The biggest challenge was hauling all our stuff in there and then trying to decide if we wanted to keep it there overnight while we slept for a few hours. Here's a link to more photos. I tried to embed the photo album here but it didn't work like I had hoped. When all else fails, create a link I say!

What's so exciting is Patti, Tammy and I have another scrapbooking adventure in a couple weeks. We are taking an Ali Edwards class in Illinois which I can't wait for. Only thing is I haven't done a thing on my homework and some of my pictures that I want to use are on slides. I need to get working on that because it may take some time to get prints from slides!

Nothing else blog worthy going on here. Starting to get geared up for Christmas. Excited about Friday because that is when we get our Christmas tree!!! Love that! Also, can't wait until tomorrow because Thanksgiving is always wonderful. Can't wait to eat some turkey and mashed potatoes and sit and talk with my family.

To everyone - have a very Happy Thanksgiving!

Sorry about that. I realize I've been a bad blogger. Although I've been very busy I don't have a lot of things I would think you would find interesting and definitely nothing that has been picture worthy. I have been multi-tasking a lot lately, with my mind going back and forth on several items:

Scrapbooking. I've been busy working on setting up my photo albums and getting ready for a going to be really fun crop this weekend - a first for me. I did finish two quick albums showcasing my youngest son's artwork from birth through fourth grade. Don't get too excited, the artwork was just placed in the albums. Little to no journaling and little to no embellishments. The purpose was to get the items from piles off my floor into albums. I also scanned approximately 150 school papers of his that I'm printing wallet sizes of and placing in 3-ring photo albums in baseball card holders. Again nothing too special added. Soon my large lingering piles will be gone and I will begin creating fun artsy pages with all of my photos. I'm hoping to begin that this weekend at the crop. FUN!

Working. Not exciting but none-the-less something that is taking up my time. It helps that I have fun while I work - thanks Patti!!!

Designing our home office. I have been given the green light to order cabinets for our home office. We are in here A LOT and I'm embarrassed to say we have piles of paper in here as well. Do you see a theme here? We all are sick and tired of it so it's time I address this issue. My dh is quite funny though because he thinks I can just go out and get some cabinets as if I were going to Target to pick up a new CD or something. This is where my designer thought process kicks in. So, I'm in the planning, design and product research phase of the project. This leads me to think about a design business for *moi*, see below:

Design business. Should I or shouldn't I? Since I'm not in a position to get or want clients now it would make sense to say no. I've decided I have a lot of behind the scenes work to do to refresh my design skills and learn the business side of design so I should focus on that first. I have begun this research and I'm finding out that more doors would open if I did have a business set-up surprisingly. I would be able to research trade only resources which is huge. The product and information available to the trade is so much more then to the average Joe. Fun!

Well that's it for now. Soon I will post some more interesting bits of information and some updated Oscar happenings. Until then, have a good day!

Happy Halloween from Mr. Santa Dude. Oscar did great, although he kept trying to sneak a sucker from the candy bowl all night. My other boys had a great time as well. I'm a bad mom though. I was a bit overwhelmed with everything and Alex got away without me getting a picture of him. As soon as he got back he stripped his costume off so it was too late. He might be recreating his costume in the next couple of days as I can't have a blank page in his album!

Last night the boys sat on the floor going through all their candy. They have decided again to donate their candy to a shelter in exchange for a thank you gift. This is something we have implemented since Alex was diagnosed with diabetes. This way he gets to still have the fun of trick-or-treating without having the lure of eating all the candy. The boys donate their candy and we take them out to buy a gift of their choosing, within a set price range. It's a good compromise for us and works well for our family.

Hope everyone had a great Halloween. Now it's time to think of Thanksgiving and Christmas. Have you started your Christmas lists yet? I have!