Pocket Page

This is the 12 X 12 scrapbook pocket page we made at the retreat.

 You need:

• four 12 X 12 coordinating papers, at least 1 should be cardstock weight

I'll try to explain it....I used an embossed wedding paper (white layer) for the base (I'll never use it so this was perfect).  Cut the 2nd layer to 11 X 11. Then we used the Creative Memories cutting system to cut 2 hexagons from the remaining papers. The top hexagon should be heavier, because it holds the brochures, etc and will get more use. Fold back a portion of the top piece and glue down. Run a thin strip of adhesive around the edges to make your hexagon pocket and glue it to your base pages. You can round the corners on the 2nd layer, add a fancy border at the bottom, add decorative papers on the pocket front, embellish as you wish. If you don't have the hexagon shape (I don't) I'm sure you can come up with some shape for the pocket. I really, really like this! Hope you do too!

Snow Day

It seems like no one knew we were going to get so much snow today....but we did! Almost everything is closed, or at least opening late. 

Hubby was out REALLY early clearing the driveway and our 2 sidewalks, we live on a corner. 

 I have never seen such big drifts in our back yard in the 23 years I have lived in this house. Hubby posing above to show how high the snow bank is. 

 It was snowing and blowing. When I got out of the shower this morning there was a phone message saying I didn't need to come in to work until 9:30, but to call first to see how the roads are. Hubby went in 1-1/2 hours late. 

 He had to wait until the road on the driveway side was plowed, then he had to clear that snow bank, and then he was able to get out and leave for work. I have to leave in an hour...wish me luck!

 It might be the 4th of July by the time all of this melts.

 Pretty tho......

By the front door.

Scrapbooking Weekend

This past weekend my friend and I attended a scrapbooking weekend at Pine Lake Camp , a rural location 2 hours away from us. We woke up to several inches of snow and windy conditions. Should we go or stay home? That was my dilemma because I was driving............after pressuring hubby for an answer he said we should probably not go. So I looked up road conditions on the internet (gotta love it!) and listed to the weather report. My 'educated' guess was to go: it was going to stop snowing by the time we planned to leave, the plows would be out, and the road conditions were only snow covered, no mention of slippery and no accidents had been reported. And I really wanted to go, I hate changing my plans. We left on schedule with several people saying "You're nuts!" Sheesh, people, it's winter in Wisconsin. The road conditions were not bad but I drove slower than I would normally, did not utilize cruise control, and stayed mainly in the driving lane. There was only one incident on the country road where I fishtailed for a bit....and it was my fault because I was fiddling with the radio and strayed a bit from the main trail on the road. I just let the car get straightened out by itself and that was that!  Five minutes later we were there! To all the naysayers "I told ya so!"

 The chapel is beautiful.  I've been to several camps in northern WI, but not this one. We were the first to arrive, that was our plan. We wanted to stop at a couple of thrift stores on the way, but with the weather the way it was we decided to drive straight through and maybe stop in the town nearby the camp. We did stop at Goodwill and for lunch before heading to the camp.

The view as we left our building for the short walk to the cafeteria....where FABULOUS food was served. It was nice to get out in the fresh air, temps were in the 30's and that was our only get away from hunching over our scrapbooking tables.We received an upgrade therefore we slept in 'real' beds with bedding and towels provided. It seemed luxurious! Several bedrooms surround the main room where we did our scrapbooking. The event was hosted by a Creative Memories consultant who had several tools there for us to use. I used the Cricut a little bit, but to be honest, it's too much work for me. Yes, you can create some wonderful things for your scrapbook, but first you have to search to find what you want to use, then you have to cut it out, including all the different layers. Maybe I'm lazy, but I'll just buy stickers! Another gal at the retreat feels the same way I do.

I love going to camp!

• no cooking & the food served is WONDERFUL
• no make up
• no hair do
• no jeans
• no bedtime
• no household tasks
• no set schedule (except for meals)
• new friends
• it's just relaxing :-)

I finished my St Louis scrapbook, except for some journaling I will add. I started writing a couple of things about my mom that I want to add to a scrapbook I have for her. We made a wonderful pocket page (I'll post that soon). There were drawings for prizes, I didn't win but my bff won a big prize.

We left around noon and found a new liquidator to stop at in Waupaca where we picked up some inexpensive scrapbooking supplies. If you are not a scrapbooker you need to know that most scrapbookers LOVE paper. We had a late lunch at Olive Garden in Appleton and then stopped at Goodwill so bff could return some jeans that she bought on friday but didn't try on. Of course we each found a few things there to bring home.

After I hauled all my stuff in I read my mail and decided to sort my background papers by color. I need to buy something to store them in so I now have stacks of paper all over my living room (until I can get to Hobby Lobby tomorrow).

It was a great weekend! We are already planning on going to one in the fall.

Thoughts on Thursday

I know I have been MIA of late, but we were thrown for a loop recently (with my mother's passing-read my previous post).

• Even though life is returning to 'normal', and my mother was not nearby, nor did I speak to her everyday, there is still a sadness in knowing I can't call her or visit her anymore. I know I will be reunited with her and other immediate family members one day.
• My house needs attention SO BADLY but I am going on a weekend scrapbooking retreat. I was anxious to get a lot of scrapping done but now I just want to get away.
• My bff and I are leaving mid-morning tomorrow, it's a 2 hour drive and we plan to make a couple of stops along the way. One to 3" of snow is predicted for the drive....but I guess I can handle it....after all, I do live in WI. Earlier this week we had ice, ice is NOT good :-(
• God gave us good roads to travel on when we went to see my mom in the hospital :-)

Hopefully I will have some scrapbook pages to share when I get back and my energy will return.

Dolly

This is a tribute to Dolly. Dolly is my mother's nick name. She doesn't like being in the limelight or having a big 'to do' made over her, she doesn't want an obituary printed or a funeral when she passes. But I am her first-born and she often called me her thoroughbred.  (from Wikipedia: "Thoroughbreds ..... known for their agility, speed and spirit.") I believe she was referring to my spirited 'I'll do what I want and do it my way' attitude, or maybe my quick tongue (when I was a teen). She loved horses and any other animals so that term makes sense. Well, mom....I'm doin' what I want my way today....that's my M.O.

My mother passed away early Tuesday  morning after a hasty battle with pneumonia,  dehydration, and acute renal failure. The previous Tuesday my sister took her to the DR because she hadn't been feeling well. In-spite of the fact that she did have 2 pneumonia vaccinations she had pneumonia and was given meds. The next day my sister checked on her and she seemed better. Wednesday night she had fallen twice and was found by an aide on the floor next to her sink.  The van for the assisted living residence that she lived at took her to the Dr and my sister met her there. Sandy lives 8 miles away and I am 78 miles away so she does all the running with mom. 

Things just went downhill from there. Mom was rushed to the hospital via ambulance; she needed an IV and they had a hard time finding a vein. Friday morning when I was getting ready to drive to the hospital I received a call from my sister stating that mom's BP was 85/37. You can imagine where my thoughts went....I immediately called my hubby at work and he said he'd be home to go with me. As I waited for him I made calls to my children. When we got there she had several visitors already. Most of the time she was sleeping, but once in a while she'd try to talk....it was so hard to understand her. I did catch a few words though. It was so hard to sit there and watch her jerking body motions. The DR said her kidneys had shut down.

When I walked into her hospital room I asked "What's with the Holly & Molly?" Actually I thought it said holey moley. (on the whiteboard). Those were the names of  her nurses for the day. It was Holly, Molly, & Dolly........we all had to smile. Someone asked how Dolly came from her name Adeline. I wasn't quite sure but my daughter, Amy, told us the story. It's nice that the young have good memories! Mom told Amy that she was such a tiny baby that she fit in a shoe-box, just like a dolly, hence she was her papa's little Dolly. 

We stayed all day and after some soul searching and talking with the nurse I decided it was OK to go home. Mom would NOT want us to sit there 24/7 and put our lives on hold. I was hungry so we stopped at Perkins on our way out of town. Before we even ordered my sister called and said that the DR took mom off the IV and antibiotic. Just as the waitress came to take our order we put the menus down and went back to the hospital. We ran up to see mom and I told Kevin that I was spending the night, he went home and told me to call the next day. I was able to grab some food from the cafe just before it closed. My sister and her boyfriend came back from their homes. Jack had to work in the morning and Sandy was tired because she had been up much earlier in the day so they went home for the 2nd time that day. 

I have never spent all night in a hospital (unless I was the one in the bed)....not fun. It's too light, noisy, and the recliner is not comfortable. I dozed for maybe 2 hours but I am so glad that I was able to be with my mother. My sister was up early saturday morning and my daughter came up later that morning. The 3 of us had such a nice visit reminiscing about mom. I wondered if the nurses thought that we had lost our minds as we laughed in the room with our dying mother. I know mom loved the good visit we had. Sandy left, Amy had to go home, Kevin came to pick me up so I said good bye and went home too. As I leaned over and kissed her I told her to give my dad, baby sister, and Sandy's dad a hug when she gets to heaven. Mom lifted her head off the pillow and tried to talk to me. She did that twice! All day she was laying in bed, sleeping quietly, not moving at all. I KNOW she heard me and was telling me she loved me too. She always said how much she loved me, especially as she got older. It makes me cry every time I tell this. 

Monday morning Sandy got an early call from the hospital and we rushed up there again. We sat with her most of the day; just holding her hands and wondering if 'that' was her last breath. A wonderful  chaplain came in and talked to us. He said a prayer (I so needed that) and we told her again that it was ok to go. No one knew how long it would go on so we said our goodbyes and went home. Sandy called me at 5AM the next day and said she was gone. So much happened in such a short time. Tell those that you love that you do love them!

Hubby drove me to the hospital every day and sat with us.

We had a small family memorial for her on Friday. My sister and I made up photo boards, we shared stories about her, and ate pizza.  My 4 year old granddaughter,  who didn't know her, came up to me and sweetly told me that she was sorry about my mom. My daughter, the oldest grandchild, wrote a BEAUTIFUL memoir about her grandma....and if it doesn't make you cry you're not human. It Even made my 7 year old grandson cry, he loved her. He often came with me to visit her.

I could go on and on about the kind of person my mother was but this post is long enough. I am sure she'll pop up again in future posts.

Thoughts on Thursday

I have just a few thoughts this week:

• I must be looking OLD.....the bagger at the grocery store on Monday asked if I needed help to the car with my bags. I said only if he'd come home and put 'em away, I detest that job. But then again maybe I don't look so old....the lady behind me in line at Shopko said I was in the wrong line for the senior day. That was nice :-)
• I think I should save empty frozen vegetable bags......I like to purchase clearance candy after a holiday and keep it in the freezer for the next time I 'need' some for the grands or Red Hats, etc.  Guess what? I, the 'chocoholic' in the family, don't even eat it. BUT, hubby has gotten into it. So, do you think if I hide the candy in a brussel sprouts bag he'll find it???

• One of my Christmas gifts was the Olay PRO X cleansing system. A friend of mine has one and she liked it, I told her I'd like one too.....so one appeared under my tree (from her). I noticed a difference almost immediately after I started using it. It seems like every week I'd have a zit on my jawline. There's been NOTHING since I started using it. I really like it! The only thing I don't like is that I have to take off eye make up separately. Usually I just wash it off with a washcloth when I was my face.
• I hate wearing glasses, mine are always dirty, no matter how much or when I clean them. One day one of the owners of the business I work at, took my glasses off my face and cleaned them for me. He said he could not stand them anymore. Sad, huh........................

Do you have any thoughts you would like to share? Be my guest!

Police Scanner Online

Back in the 70's, 80's, or 90's did you or your parents have a police scanner so you could listen to what's going on? I think my parents did, I never cared about it and still don't think much about it. As I was listening to the local radio station (as is my habit) a woman called in and said that if you have a computer, you have a scanner. Of course I had to check it out. Here's how to find out what's happening in your area: Go to Radio Reference, about 1/2 down click on the blue, Live Audio button on the right, click on your state, then on your county. Not all counties are available, ours is. When you see your state with your county hi-lighted click on the small speaker icon that reads Launch the county web player. There ya go! I tried it, it works. There's my helpful hint for the day, ya never know when it might come in handy.
Have a great week!

The Weekend Is Over

First I want to thank you for the comments and emails. I was feeling down and like I didn't matter; I think we all feel like that at sometime(s), and maybe especially so as we get older. I could go on and on about the reason why.....who knows, it may be a future post.

Saturday I was feeling lazy and spent some time on the computer. My back started hurting so that contributed to my laziness. Our grandson came over early in the afternoon, putting the kibosh on any major project I might want to do. My back just felt worse as the day went on. I put an ice pack on it for a while and used the heating pad in bed for a short time.

I hoped it would be better in the morning, but I felt worse. Hubby took our grandson to Sunday school (my job) and grandson J was so helpful....he'd pick up things from the floor or bottom of the pantry that I couldn't get at. Even though it's Superbowl Sunday in the US we didn't have plans: 1) hubby doesn't really have close friends, nor do we as a couple and, 2) I couldn't care less about football. I think sports are great and kids should be involved in something, but it's not for me. The ice pack was my friend again today.

By mid-afternoon grandson J and I finished playing our LONG game of monopoly (my least favorite game) and my back was finally feeling better. I'm so glad, I feel like it was a totally wasted weekend and I am tried of sitting in front of the TV and computer. I didn't accomplish a single thing....unless you count playing MANY games of Words with Friends.

I have a busy week ahead:

• starting Bible study
• Red Hat meeting/dinner
• book club
• Dr appointment
• dentist appointment

It's a good thing I only work 2 days this week!

On The Serious Side

Do you ever get so disgusted with yourself that you just wanna throw up your arms and say "I quit", "I just don't care", "who cares?"? I feel that way every so often, which is one of the reasons I don't post. The other is that there's nothing happening that is worthy of sharing. I feel like I am just "letting myself go". I don't like to post depressing, whining stuff.

I'm so disgusted and sick of myself lately. As I am gathering photos for the upcoming scrap-booking retreat (which I am really looking forward to) I see how overweight I have become. I have a Dr. appointment next week and I know I've gained weight, I can feel it/see it in the way my clothes fit (or don't). I wear yoga pants at home....but don't know the first thing about yoga. My Dr. is  going to talk to me (again) about exercise.....I know exactly what she is going to say, we've had this conversation before. I hate exercise, I'd rather dig ditches. I should at least walk.....I like walking (sorta).....I could download pod-casts of the radio programs I listen to....or I could find a friend to walk with. But it's too cold now, really it is. Nine degrees is the predicted high for today. I was a skinny kid and a picky eater............why, oh why, did that change??? I like food and eat nearly anything, but I eat too much of it. I like to bake and eat that too. :-(

And I am worried about diabetes....but I am still eating WAY too much sugar and not exercising. All this week after dinner and the dishes are done I'd just grab my laptop and plop my butt in front of the TV. That's not usually me; I'm either making a mess or trying to clean one of my messes up.  I taking a supplement that is suppose to help with pre-diabetes...but pills aren't the total answer.

I need a new hairstyle. My hair is short so there aren't many choices. I was blog surfing the other day and saw the new haircut one woman had and I LOVED it....but what blog was is? I need that photo! My hair looks like crap lately and I need something that's easy and works with my naturally wavy hair. 

I do want people to like me and I don't think I am an unlikable person, but yet a couple of people (that I know of) don't care for me at all. Well, I don't like them either, but I have seriously tried to be nice and welcome them. I admit I am a loner and it's a good thing! But I do need friends too. Sad to say hubby is not my friend, not my soul mate. He's very quiet at home and sits upstairs in front of his computer or TV all day and doesn't share anything personal. He's quite friendly when he's away from home.............. That's just how he is and I don't understand one bit! The only time he tells me he loves me is when he travels for work...now you know why I like it when he's away. *smile*

Sometimes it gets depressing when you feel like you don't really matter to anyone, except your mother. No, I am not clinically depressed, just a little down today. This, too, shall pass. I have some fun things coming up and will post about them later.