You could win this

But to be honest I hope you don't, cuz that would mean that I didn't - and I WANT IT!!! I have been looking at these for a while now and almost bought myself one for Christmas, but I held myself in check. Why? Because at this point I could not justify spending this kind of money on just me, and not something that Trav could use too. So if I could win it...that would be too kewl! There is one in the downstairs breakroom where I work and I love how easy and consistant it is to use, and it makes an excellent cup of coffee! Anyway, I get 5 extra entries by blogging about it, so I am. Thanks all

giveaway

Christmas Mini Album

This is a really neat post, you need to go check it out...you most probably will enjoy working along with her on this one, I know I am going to... Christmas Mini Album

I am absolutely positively NOT ready for this holiday! No matter what I do I cannot seem to get time to go into the craft room and get some real work done! I'm STRESSING HERE!!! sigh, thanks, I needed to vent. ;o)

Long weekend

ain't it great? I love long weekends..I love December...loads of days off and good food everywhere you look...hmm that doesn't really go good for the diet (that I've been off of for months), but still...long weekends. Enjoy yours!

Happy Thanksgiving

Well? did you have a great Thanksgiving? Did you eat till your feet fell off? Were you too stuffed to go shopping yesterday? I HOPE SO!!! I know we had a wonderful Thanksgiving. We have everything we could ever hope for and then some. We are SO blessed that we cannot even begin to express our Gratitude to the Lord in his generosity. And we still want MORE!! I guess that is the nature of the beast, no matter what we have, there is always going to be something else to strive for (nice way to express greed, isn't it?)
We had dinner with Trav's family, at his sisters house, and you should have seen that table! It was incredibly beautiful, she did a Splendid job on the decorations and place settings. And she MADE THEM!! Her talent is awesome. It didn't stop there, the turkey could have been featured in Martha's magazine...it was beautiful, perfectly browned and sitting there like a beauty queen just waiting to be crowned. The really good part about that is how good it tasted! Then there was the bread that the soon to be family member made, sour dough from brand new starter, so not too sour yet, with some flavorings mixed to give it added Umph! Then there were two types of squash made by her fiance, not bad for a food I hate! Next came the home made creamed corn and brushsetta and mashed potatoes that we brought, pretty good, if I do say so myself. The sweet potatoes that his mom made were definitely up to her usual standards, even if she did make them in the slow cooker for the first time ever, yum! And of course we mustn't forget the pies! His other sister made 3 kinds, pumpkin, mincemeat and a pink confection that I can't for the life of me name right now, but they were all delicious. Then his niece's chocolate, pecan, cheesecake conglomerate, that was rather unusual, but beautiful and tasty. Over all, there wasn't anything we could have added to that meal to make it any better then it already was. And we all ate til we were as stuffed as that turkey had been. Thank you to each of you for your hard work in making that a success! And also a big Thank you to A & J for sharing your home with us as well as feeding us, we enjoyed ourselves. The family time aside from the meal was enjoyed as well, great day all around. As I said earlier, WE ARE BLESSED. Thank you God for all your gifts, but most especially for your gift of family, whether born to, or adopted to, or married to, there is nothing more wonderful then this.

5 minutes for mom giveaway

drop on over and see what they have, it's ginormous!

Free Sample

Free 1 Oz. Sample Tube of Revitacil Wrinkle and Eye Cream ($19.95 value)

go here

Marie-Therese Gown GIVEAWAY !!!!!!!

Marie-Therese Gown GIVEAWAY !!!!!!!

Blogathon

There is a Blogathon going on over at The Secret is in the Sauce...you really need to go check it out! They are giving away a prize an hour!!!

I just started visiting this blog earlier this week and I am amazed at the community feel it has, I think that it has helped me see the opportunities that blogging gives me. Here are five blogs that I have found thru the SITStahood!


Keeping up with yesterday

American in Norway

Eat your veggies

Cherrys Jubilee

Not so SAHM

There you have it folks, hop on over there and enjoy!

Halloween is Coming!!

This is really my favorite holiday...Christmas is next - as a holiday - but 10-31 is my best. I get to be what ever or who ever my little brain can dream up and I get to dress up. There are people who know me well who have not recognized me in costume! I count this as a success. I won all but one year at work (that means 4 out of 5 lol) for best costume and if you check back to last year you will have to laugh at me...I had SO much fun.

Right now we are not sure about all the details, but I have a couple people at work who are going to help out...we will be dead this time...and Vicki and I are getting married with a flower girl, a best man and a maid of honor, so far - going for my fitting tonight, as a matter of fact - lol! I'll let you know more as the plans develop.

Tata for now!

The Secret is in the Sauce

The Secret is in the Sauce is hosting a giveaway, Photoshop Elements 7!
Hop on over there and have a look

Told you he wanted a bigger one!

so what do you think we did Saturday? we went and looked at another boat! this one is a 12" jon boat with a trolling motor. nice boat, nice price, he bought it! so, guess what we did Sunday? yep you got it, took the new boat out, on the Waccasassa river for a couple of hours. It was nice and relaxing, as this pic shows lol





I don't blame him tho, the pedal boat is nice, but it's really kinda small and there isn't any place to put stuff...and while this is also a small boat, it is more open and there is room to move around - not so confining. So I think he will be content with this one for a couple of months...hopefully. After that, we'll see.

Hope you had a nice weekend too.

Later...

More blog candy

stop by over here and wish her a happy birthday!

Money Book

This has got to be one of the coolest little books I've seen in a long time! I am going to have to figure out a time that I will make one, cuz I really want to make one!!

Blog Candy Alert

Here is a blog that is nearing a record number of hits (for her) and is celebrating by giving away some blog candy....go check it out!

http://bargman.blogspot.com/

Free music

sadly

I have come to the conclusion that no one really reads these posts...no one comments or makes any suggestions or even booos. not sure if I am going to continue writing. you folks obviously do not care one way or the other, so why bother. sigh...what a waste.

Maiden Voyage

We haven't named her yet...poor thing, but we will, once we know her a little better...we are back from the pedal boats maiden voyage, whew, that was fun...a bit more work than I am used to, but fun...he wants a bigger boat already!!! He said he enjoyed this very much, spending time out side with me by his side on the water with no deadlines or agendas that were not our own. but....you knew there had to be one didn't you? that boat isn't that easy for one person to pedal...when we were both pedaling it went along quite nicely, but if it was just one, boy oh boy did we get tired really quick. So he doesn't believe that it will do what he wants for the purpose of photography. For fun it's great tho, he liked it. The lake wasn't very busy at all and we spent about an hour on the water...it's a little awkward to load and unload as it has a drop down rudder and a paddle wheel underneath the front, but it's small enough that we worked it out. All in all a successful boating voyage, fun, easy and safe. Will most assuredly do it again. talk to ya later!!

Ok THAT was FUN

The High Kings concert last nite was Awesome!! My hands are SO sore right now, from clapping! We sang every song, probably drove the people around us nuts lol but we have listened to their CD so many times that we know them all by heart. They added a few new ones, but they were great folk tunes, which means that after about 30 seconds you could sing along with very few stumbles. They are great performers....and give the impression that they truly love and enjoy what they are doing. They talk to each other and to the audience and pick on other also makes it fun. I would go to see them again in a heartbeat and would recommend them to any and everyone. I hope that we get a chance to go again some time in the future.

We started this great nite out by meeting Althea and Jesse at panera's for dinner. As usual I really like that, love their onion soup. Then we went to the Phillips center and listened to the piper play in the lobby, very very nice. We hung out and talked until we could go up to our seats. I led the way, and about 15 minutes after we sat down, found out that I led the way to THE WRONG SEATS!!!! We had to move over one section lol. no biggie...the new seats were better ones, so that made me even happier - oh well, not such a bad thing right?

Afterwards we went to a local coffee cafe and had a treat before heading for home. We sat and talked for almost an hour before we left. I must say that the entire evening was enjoyable, from beginning to end. I do so enjoy their company and chatting with them. It is never boring or uncomfortable.

There it is folks, the joy of culture!

ok, once we get on the way today, we are going to the lake, and I will report on that as soon as possible - later

The High Kings

I’m so excited!!! We are going to see the High Kings!! Finally. We bought the tickets back in March for a May 7th concert and then they postponed all their concerts so that they could tour with the Celtic Woman! We were SO upset…it seems like FOREVER that we have been waiting ;o( but it is HERE!!! NOW!!! TONIGHT!!!! WOOO HOO!! Trav’s sister and brother in law are going too, we are all going out to eat first then going from there. It is going to be so much fun….I’ll probably say that a few times – lol I’m listening to their CD right now, just to get in the mood. Have you heard them yet? Oh my, you have to hear them! Here is a link to their web page. I am bouncing with anticipation lol silly Yelowflower


I'll come back either later tonight or in the morning to tell you how it went...probably tomorrow, it will be late when we get home...but well worth it.

Tomorrow we are taking our new baby boat out for her maiden voyage, wish us luck!!

A real tragedy

Yesterday something happened that should never happen. A child was killed and more were injured. By a careless act of an adult. A tractor trailer driver, on his cell phone, not really paying attention to where he was going, slammed into the back of a stopped school bus. He hit that bus so hard that it skidded over 250 feet before they stopped and burst into flames. People are wont to say that vehicles really don't explode anywhere but on TV unless you MAKE them do it, but these did. And although several people stopped and helped to evacuate the students and the driver from the bus and the students remained calm and did everything right, one young girl, 13 years old, was trapped and unable to be rescued. She died. And those Good Samaritans that stopped to help? they are beating themselves up because they couldn't save her.

Her name is Frances Margay Schee, she went by Margay. Her family will never be able to understand why this had to happen, and most likely they will have nightmares about what their daughter went through before she died. Just as an aside, the dad is awaiting a heart transplant, sometimes life really really sucks.


You can read the entire story here, but the bottom line is, someone was careless and a child died.

A boat

Trav has been talking about buying a small boat so that he can take pictures on the water. He was discussing a canoe or a jon boat. I was a bit nervous about the tendency of small boats to flip/ capsize and dump the people in the water. Not because he can't swim, but because his CAMERA can't swim!

I think that the prices that are being asked for small boats are simply too much. These are small watercraft, not gold encrusted luxury liners for heaven's sake! So we figured we would have to really save up to find something for next year...then he was perusing Craig's list and found a little pedal boat for a reasonable price. He emailed back and forth a few times with the seller and we went to look at it. We bought it - half the retail for a boat that's only been in the water a few times. and it would take a major event to sink or capsize this baby! I think his camera will be safe. And we can get some exersise mixed in there too. Wish us luck, I almost guarentee that we will be on the water somewhere this coming weekend lol

here is a link to one like it... boat

Talk Like a Pirate Day

Well, Tomorrow is the Annual Talk Like a Pirate day and I am SO looking forward to it!!! I love this day, it makes grownups act almost as strange as Halloween does!!! ARRRGGHH Matey!

quoted from their website "Talk Like A Pirate Day is an original concept created in a moment of temporary insanity by John Baur and Mark Summers."

go here to find out more and enjoy the day http://www.talklikeapirate.com/piratehome.html

Ride to Provide was a success!!

Thanks to all who participated in whatever capacity...you are all winners!!!!!

in the end there were 250 bikes registered and a number of folks seemed to sort of just join in as the ride progressed, including a couple of SUVs lol. We do not really know how many people there were, but we do know that there were a lot! and we raised $9000!!!!! It was a lot of work and a lot of uncertainty, but in the end LARC has won the day!!! Thank you thank you thank you!

There will be pictures and hopefully some video up on the site soon...takes a little time to get them all sorted out and put up there, but they will be. http://ridetoprovide.net/ Unfortunately the bi-plane didn't start so there are no aerial shots, but there are lots of others. We had a lot of help in that arena, Jesse, Althea and Kaleb were wonderful photographers and did an excellent job of capturing the essence of the ride and the riders, we thank them for their assistance.

I hope everyone who attended this year is planning on attending next year and I also hope that they are going to bring a friend or two.!!!

And on another note, I wanted to mention something that happened on Friday night that reminded Trav and me that this is a really really small world after all....

On the way home from work, we came upon a minor accident, a motorcycle vs an SUV...minor injuries (minor but there, she was bleeding and sore, but in the end not bad at all, thank God) but they were on the end of the exit ramp from I75---we stopped and Trav got out to assess the situation and lend a hand if needed in moving the vehicles. I stayed in the truck with the flashers on in an effort to safeguard them as much as possible. The young lady who was riding the bike made a comment to Trav that she "hoped the bike was ok because she was riding in a benefit tomorrow''. he looked at her and said "Ride to Provide?" and she said "Yes" and he said "Well, then we will see you tomorrow". lol I ran into her at LARC and introduced myself and helped her locate Trav as she wanted to thank him for his help. The next thing we find out is that we know her dad!!! Have known him for a really long time lol...talk about a small world? maybe I'll post a pic when I remember.

So that just goes to show you, what goes around comes around...she was one of the wonderful people who helped raise all that money for LARC...God looks out for his angels, and each and every one of you that helped can be called one of God's Angels. Thank you.

It's Monday on Tuesday

yep that's exactly what it feels like too, Monday - even tho it is Tuesday. Sometimes having a long relaxing enjoyable weekend makes it twice as hard to go back out into the real world on Monday/Tuesday.
And it WAS a wonderful weekend. Trav did the laundry for me on Friday so I didn't have to worry about it. We got our groceries early and the rest of the weekend was pure relaxation. Well, except for mowing the lawn. And falling. Other than that it was great! what? huh? oh, mowing the lawn takes up a few hours...it's not all that big really, just lots of trees, a hitching post, and of course the drive and the sides of the road (the county doesn't maintain our roads back here, we are the red headed step child). So I ran the poor mower smack out of gas! Thought I had broken it, again. lol

hmm? what's that? oh, you want to know what I mean 'falling'? I mean I fell down. No big deal...got a bump and a bruise. That's it. How you ask? well, we were coming in the front door and the next thing I knew I was yelping and trying to catch anything in reach to keep my footing. Don't know for sure what happened, but think that the strap on my bag caught on the door knob and yanked me backward just as the dogs went by me, so I stumbled off the the threshold - then I was reeling towards the cement steps and just knew I was going to break myself. Next thing I knew I had bounced off the railing and was falling backwards, when my hand was almost yanked off my arm!! That same bag that tripped me up saved my bacon. It was still caught on the doorknob and snatched my hand and held me on the porch. That hurt! But a lot less than falling down the steps would have. lol. I have a few bruises and this morning my back was giving me a bit of a fit from the twisting and hitting the cement porch so hard, but otherwise, I'm just dandy. Spilled my tea :o( but didn't drop my PDA lol and my leftovers were still in my hand when the dust settled. God was looking out for me, let me tell you!!! Trav was a bit upset, he turned around when I yelped but it was happening too fast and he was too far away to prevent it, he agreed that he thought I was going down those steps! But I didn't and I'm fine and he got over the scare. but like I said, other than that it was a great weekend. Finished up 4 Ride to Provide paper bag albums for door prizes and made an accordion fold file box from scratch, looks pretty good. Messed with the KNK and almost got the flowers to cut out right lol and spent time cuddlin....one of Trav's favorite pastimes (I like it too, but don't tell Trav (g))

Now we are just watching the weather and hoping and praying that the storms don't interfere with the Ride Saturday - we have at least 100 people signed up on line already and expect more to show up at the registration table on Saturday morning...it looks to be a huge success, as long as the rain holds off. Pray with us???? Please?

Check out the website Ride To Provide
and wish us luck! Thanks, later all.

Ride To Provide

I haven’t really blogged about this yet, wonder why? Too busy getting stuff done for it I guess. Anyways, next Saturday, September 6 is the 3^rd annual Ride to Provide for Levy ARC. This is an 88 mile motorcycle ride thru Levy County to help raise money for this very worthy cause.

Trav is supposed to be going up in a Bi-Plane to take pictures and video – he is rather excited about that! I will be on the ground taking pictures and video as well. Thought I was going to be all alone, but then we got this Great Idea! Ask Kaleb if he wanted to help. So, I called the nephew last nite and asked if he would like to have a paying gig (he’s 12) and he jumped at the chance. Then asked, doing what? Lol

He is going to be my photographers assistant for the RTP next Saturday – he takes some really good pics and I will need more than one camera to cover it all til Trav gets there.

(I will most likely talk some more about this again but for now, I wanted to make you aware of this event.)

So, please go to the RTP website and consider either joining us or donating something to help them out. They deserve better than they are getting and we are determined to make up for that in some small measure. Thank you.

It's My "P"day

Ain't it great??!!?? A really long time ago my sweet sweet hubby changed birthday to "P" day...and said we don't count the years anymore, we just count the presents!! lol So I look forward to this day Big time! I don't get any real presents, I mean, no one hands me gifts that I can hold or put on a shelf...but I get lots of love and attention...what else do I need? That's it. So everyone, how bout wishing me a happy "P"day? It would be sweet if you did. lol

Later

Vanilla Joy

can't remember how to make a sidebar blinkie right off hand, so I am posting the pic with the link. so if this works right, just click on the picture. later!

Happy Anniversary Trav

Today is a special day ya know…it is our 15^th Wedding Anniversary. I feel so Blessed. We have had our ups and downs thru the years, but it has finally started to come together. We are a team and although we still have rough spots, I have to say, I am Happy. I do not know what else I could want in a partner – he is kind, sweet, romantic, computer literate, quite a handyman, does dishes and cooks, likes animals and is cute to boot.

I just wanted to share my joy. Thank you Trav, for giving me my life back and for making it worth living. I love you.

Vanilla Joy Giveaway

Today is the first day of the Giveaways at Vanilla Joy's blog...she is giving away some Really great prizes, go see her and enter to win!!

She has a great blog, even when she is not giving anything away lol lot's of family fun type things, like kids face painting and discipline for children

so Check it out and enjoy her blog, she's great!!

It's raining

and it is a beautiful sound. I love the sound of rain on the roof. I slept better last nite than I have in a very long time. I told you, I feel safe in a hurricane/tropical storm. I grew up with them and they are not an unknown to me. The things that can happen are myriad, but most of them don't happen if you are prepared. We just went out and walked around the property and checked the out buildings, and every thing seems fine...there are some branches down, but nothing that is worrisome. It has been raining pretty non-stop for hours now, and we have standing water around here, that doesn't happen too often...we are in the sand hills and the water drains pretty fast. The University is closed for the day, in an abundance of caution, in hopes that no one will get hurt. So we are not at work - we are home - enjoying the weather. Trav seems to like this as much as I do. I like that in a man lol.

I've been working on cards. Made a little bet with my self that I could get at least one card a nite and see how that helps me prepare for unexpected occasions. I have done pretty good for about a week now..got two done last nite for Trav and two others to have on hand. Have finished one so far today and am mostly done with a second.

I love this weather!!!

Tropical Storm Fay

EDIT: FAY is getting worse and we are going to stay home tomorrow!!! I'm lovin'it!!! I LOVE YOU FAY!!! lol

They got our hopes up and then they were dashed again...she is here, but is really just a fitful thunderstorm. I am so bummed. I was really hoping that she would be nicer to me lol.

Blog candy

Be sure to stop over at Debbies blog, she has hit a milestone and is celebrating with some blog candy!!

Hurricane Fay - 8-19-08

Ok, here I sit, bemoaning the fact that Fay is not heading towards us any longer…I know, that makes me a bit weird, but I LIKE hurricanes!!! I grew up in Miami with parents that knew how to prepare and deal with the awesome storms. I always felt safe and protected as a child and the wildness of nature was always so breathtaking. I LOVED it. Now, as an adult, I am not feeling quite as safe, but my fascination with them hasn’t changed. I know they are dangerous, and I know that they are a real inconvenience to most people, loosing power and missed work, as well as damage to property….I know all that. But I STILL love them. Back during the season with Charlie and Jeanne we lost power and all our food and had to take showers at my DH’s place of work, but I still loved it. I am bummed, Fay is disappointing me, sigh. Maybe next time.

(still holding out a tad bit of hope that she will turn left sometime tonight) lol

The Dentist

As Trav waits with sure trepidation for the dentist to call him back for his treatment, I cower out here in the truck. I am dentist phobic…I’m sure that there is a name for this phobia, but I never bothered to look it up. I just know that I cannot spend time in a dentist office without some major panic attack symptoms. This is in part, I am sure, due to the difficulties I had as a child with bad teeth. My mom was anemic when she was carrying me so they gave her iron supplements. These supplements caused my teeth to have to problems, one was a yellowish cast that never really looked quite right and the other was that the insides of my teeth sorta never developed correctly. By that I mean that if I got a minor cavity or a scratch on the surface enamel then the inside would just go away and the tooth would be just a shell. The next thing to happen would be that the tooth would either get infected because the nerve ended up exposed or the tooth would simply break. One dentist told me that I needed to come in as soon as something happened because if they filled it soon enough it would prevent the problem….nope, didn’t work, filling fell right out. So it turns out that when my parents took me to the dentist for routine cleanings, they were actually – inadvertently – contributing to the problem. They used metal instruments for cleaning and they would leave minute scratches or etches in the enamel…which in turn became breaches that evolved into cavities at the gum line. So guess where the tooth would break? You got it! So anyways, I am dental phobic. Which brings us back to Trav. Poor baby, he has a tooth that he has had trouble with for quite some time and instead of being a simple filling or extraction has become rather complicated. You see, he has a tooth under the gumline, one that never completely erupted so they are going to have to remove the problem tooth…this will leave a rather large breach in his jaw bone…which will make it difficult if not impossible to do implants should he choose to do that later, and will make his jaw unstable….a ‘glass jaw’ if you will. So when they extract those two teeth they are going to do a bone graft. Ugh!!! Makes me shudder just to think of it! He seems fine with it, a little nervous, but not really bad. He is so glad to be getting this tooth taken care of that the nerves thing is falling by the way side. The dentist told him that it would be a fairly simple procedure – despite what it sounds like – and that he will be able to go home and be pretty comfortable afterward. They did tell him not to go back to work tho, so it won’t be THAT simple. So I took the day off to take him to the dentist. He understood at the time that I am a terrible wife and I would NOT be sitting in the dentist office waiting with him or for him. I’ll let you know how it turns out.

Ok, well, we are home now and he is sleeping. He says it wasn’t to bad, after she got the tooth out. She had to break it into several different pieces!!!!! Ugh. He said the hardest part was keeping his mouth open that far for that long. Poor baby.

Well, just wanted you to know he is ok.

Underwear vs Socks

(not sure how I managed a double post, but I am sorry about that)

Somehow I never thought I would be blogging about undergarments!!! But it seems that my DH and a male co-worker are having some form of mild disagreement over which is more important. One says underwear and the other says socks....well to be more precise....the discussion is over which should be purchased first when both are needed...one says UW and the other Socks. Now, every mother knows the answer to this question....UW. Remember your mom telling you to always wear clean ones in case you get in an accident and they have to take you to the hospital...so I told my DH that and he agrees that it could effect your level of care if the entire ER/ED is laughing at your old ratty UW...whereas they would just as soon not notice your socks and might just say that holey socks are just an effort to ventilate your toes so they don't smell so bad! lol

what do you think?

I was just informed that the word Underwear encompasses socks britches and under shirts - I beg to differ - I believe that under GARMENTS handles all those critters and under WEAR is what covers ones arse!!! lol

Underwear vs Socks

Somehow I never thought I would be blogging about undergarments!!! But it seems that my DH and a male co-worker are having some form of mild disagreement over which is more important. One says underwear and the other says socks....well to be more precise....the discussion is over which should be purchased first when both are needed...one says UW and the other Socks. Now, every mother knows the answer to this question....UW. Remember your mom telling you to always wear clean ones in case you get in an accident and they have to take you to the hospital...so I told my DH that and he agrees that it could effect your level of care if the entire ER/ED is laughing at your old ratty UW...whereas they would just as soon not notice your socks and might just say that holey socks are just an effort to ventilate your toes so they don't smell so bad! lol

what do you think?

I WON!!

Yelowflower, you are the Nana's Box giveaway WINNER!! Please send me an email and let me know where to send your gift!
Thank you so much for entering our giveaway and for visiting our blog!
"Together We Can Cure Cancer!"

This is the comment that was awaiting me the other morning when I checked this blog! Isn't it exciting? I was SO hyped! Pop on over to her blog and check it out...what she is doing is extreemly important and very much worth your time.

Thank you Angie for the great opportunity to win and to spread the word about your great work!

"My New Wallet" By Traveler

Please hop on over to Travs Tales and read this post by Traveler. I think it is very good, quite insightful and a tad bit sad. Thanks.

Hancock

We went to see Hancock Wednesday night after work. It was a really silly movie with a bit of a twist at the end. I know most folks are panning it, but we liked it. Made us laugh and we even had a moment or two to think serious thoughts about life, love and the pursuit of happiness! As usual Will Smith played his part extremely well and the rest of the cast did a great job. We would recommend this movie as well as the idea of going to the movies on Wednesday night after work.

Pics of the Memorial

Cpl. David Wayne Moss E.O.W. 7-30-88

David in his Dolphin colors - boy was he ever a fan!



Ok, well I did say I would add some pics and as soon as the other puter boots up I'll do that. I wanted to give a brief run down on yesterdays Memorial...

David Wayne Moss Memorial Service:

It started with the bagpipes, Robert (Robin) Hendrickson, Alachua County Fire Rescue was gracious enough to play for us - I love bagpipes - they have such a haunting flavor, and he played them very very well. As he was, playing Chief Davis escorted me out to the Memorial. The wreath was then placed right in front of where we were standing, it was beautiful (as were the flowers that they gave me prior to the ceremony).


The Marion County Sheriff's Office Color Guard preformed the lowering of the flag and Chief presented it to me. Then the Color Guard raised the new flag and lowered it to half mast. And then played Taps.

After this a member of the Color Guard came up and read, then presented me, with a Remembrance Certificate from the United States Air Force. I found that to be a very sweet thing to do...he was, after all, a member of the Air Force, & even if we were not at war, he still did his duty.



Chief Daniel M. Davis made the opening remarks and gave a general overview of what happened that day. Reverend Dave Methany lead us in prayer.

Then there were several folks who had something to say or Chief invited them up to say a few words, the first of which was Gene Hartman. Gene was the Chief at the time that David was killed.


Next came Lt. Clay Connolly, a very good friend to David and I. He has remained at the department and risen thru the ranks, I'm so Proud. He has been a good friend to Trav and I as well. He explained why Trav was going to be telling the details of that fateful night this time, instead of him or Bruce.

Next Trav comes up and makes some comments and requests that all LEOs remember David and how that hot July night became David's last night with us. First tho, he presented Chief with a copy of our book...they came in on time and look really good, he did Such a good job with that. Trav read the details right from the pages of that book.


Then Chief asked Mayor Heathcoat to read the resolution naming SW Main Street "Cpl. David Wayne Moss Street" Gerald addressed some very nice comments to me regarding the time he knew David.


I think it looks just wonderful, don't you?


Then it was my turn to say a few words. I'm not much in the public speaking department so I basically read from my index cards and tried not to stumble too much. If you are wondering why we keep calling it a Memorial...it's because a few years ago Chief had a plaque made and if you look really close you can see it to the far right of the above picture.

and this is what that plaque looks like, they planted a magnolia tree there and keep it beautiful with flowers.

After all the remarks, we held the closing prayer and Robin played Amazing Grace as Chief walked me back into the station. It was an absolutely beautiful ceremony and I was truly honored by the care they took to make it so. I deeply appreciate their efforts.

Then it was time for the 'interview' that made me almost as nervous as my speech -

but it seemed to go well

here I am holding the microphone so that she could set the white balance, but it looks like IT's MINE!! lol


Here is the actual interview taking place.

I think that remembering people is the only way to keep them alive...if we forget, then they are gone forever. Every time a Police Officer is killed the other officers rally around the family and make sure they are treated with respect and caring. All of Law Enforcement keeps those survivors in a special place as a way to honor their fallen brother or sister. They cannot dwell on the deaths or the possibility of their own death, but they do remember it, always.

Thank you All, you have done David Proud!

Cpl. David Wayne Moss Street

Wow, I am So amazed...yesterday went exceedingly well. I was so pleased with the memorial and the naming, the folks that organized this did a Splendid job. Thank you. I will get some pictures up tonight, as well as some more content, but in the meantime, if you are interested, here are the links to the media coverage. WCJB Channel 20. The Gainesville Sun. (just click on the names)

David on The Other Florida

here is the link to the little write up on The Other Florida, go check it out. Thanks

20 Year Anniversary Memorial

Ok, looks like it's all going as planned. The council did indeed vote to name the street and I now have a framed copy of the resolution which Debra read at the meeting. The time and date are set - 9am on the 30th at the PD. The books are showing delivered at 3:02 today - we will have them when we get home. I LOVE it when a plan comes together!!! lol

David's Memorial Update

Well, next week is the memorial…it looks like they are going to follow thru and name a street after David. I think that is a really nice gesture. I’m not sure at this juncture, just what is going to be going on that day – 7/30 – but I believe it will be at 9am at the Police Department, probably by the flag. We will have a piper present; I’m pretty sure, courtesy of the Alachua County Fire Rescue. Beyond that I haven’t a clue…hopefully Trav can figure out a way to tape/photograph it and I can add a snippet or two here. I think the book will be here by then, we got the first drafts last week and ended up sending it back for revision…not a big surprise, but a little stressful as there is so little time left and anything can happen during shipping…but I have faith and I will relax and let God lead the way. I think it’s kinda kewl – and I am excited to see the final product and peoples reactions, and to hear their thoughts on all the hard work he put in on that book…I’m SO proud of him!!!



Anyway, I’ll update when they come in and as we get more info…

SheetLoad Mini

Here is the blog entry for today...these sheets are a great boone to those of us who are trying to use as much of our paper as possible. I love them...please visit them.

"The July issue of SheetLoad Mini, our first Mini issue ever, is ready to download.

This month's mini features; appropriately enough, a mini card sketch and cutting diagrams! You will be able to create 6 - 3" square cards using just a few sheets of paper.

The artist for July is Ann Seleshanko. Make sure to check out her blog for more of her work."

Hanglar Stanglar

Wanna win some Hanglar Stanglar stamped images?!

Okay, I know there are lots of us who are jealous that we can't buy Hanglar Stanglar stamps. Here is your chance to win a whole bag full of stamped images!

Go check out Maya's blog for more info!

just scroll down, she does tell you in english what to do...lol

One more time - a giveaway

Like a warm cup of coffee is giving away a really nice vacuum cleaner, you can go here to see the details and enter. good luck.

Pink Christmas again lol

Yesterday I posted a short on Pink Christmas...guess I should have elaborated just a bit, but I figured if I knew what it was YOU would know, kinda silly, but true....so...here is a little more, taken from their blog -

Pink Christmas - What is it?


Pink Christmas is a annual Girlfriend Give and Get. You make a handmade Christmas Gift(or you can purchase a handmade gift from one of our sponsors if you want to join but don't think you are crafty) for a mystery girlfriend around the world and another girlfriend will be making something for you - only to opened on Christmas morning.

It is only a $15.00 donation to sign up. Sign up fee is donated to the Pink Christmas Family or individual for 2008.

Each year the funds collected for sign ups are given to a family to give them a "Pink Christmas"

Do you want to be a Pink Christmas Sponsor? Sponsorship is $30.00 and 100% of your sponsorship goes to pay for every one's awesome Pink Envelope that everyone will get in the mail revealing to them their Girlfriend for Christmas. In that envelope you will be able to send ANYTHING that fits in a large envelope to promote your company - coupons, free shipping a sampling of your product - get creative because that Pink Envelope is like early Christmas for all who sign up. You will also be added to the sidebar of Pink Christmas and gets lots of bragging on this blog and my personal blog. if you want to be a sponsor email us at apinkchristmas@yahoo.com and write sponsor in the subject line

Sign ups will open at 8:00 am on July 1st and run through July 31th. So tell your friends.
You will also get the new 2008 graphic "Last year my Christmas was Pink" to put on your side bar. Or you can get the cute new line of T-shirts coming out this fall.
Make this Christmas special by making a handmade gift and donating a small amount of money to really make someones Christmas special.

so, visit their blog and read all about it - then sign up and lets have some fun!!!

go HERE

Pink Christmas for 2008

Pink Christmas Swap & Charity


The sign ups for Pink Christmas have begun! You can sign up to participate anytime from July 1-31st. Come celebrate Christmas, have a little fun, meet new friends but most importantly.. benefit a family in need.

Pink Christmas is a fun gift swap that is organized by Kristi and Everything Pink. You do not have to have a blog to join.



Click here to sign up!

Third of July

Here in the beautiful city of Williston, we celebrate the Fourth of July on the 3rd. This has been going on for a long long time now, and most folks are pretty used to it by now. Normally we do not go to the parade or the fireworks, partly cuz we are anti social and partly cuz we work full time lol. This year we made it to both...but not as spectators...we were there in the capacity of volunteers for the Williston Police Department. Helping out with keeping folks off the street during the parade and then helping to direct the traffic out of the Horseman's park after it was all over. I don't know about you, but I think it's fun to do stuff like that...it gets me out of the office/and the house, I get to play with some really cool toys and Everyone gets to say Hi. Kinda nice change of pace...good thing it only happens once a year!!!!

Hope your Fourth was happy and safe. And a Great Big THANK YOU to all of you who help(ed) make this a free country and are keeping it that way.

Later

Pictures

ok, here they are - to most of you this will still look like a disaster in the making, but to those that know me - it will look like paradise lol.

and of course, I could never feel completely comfortable without a companion, and here you see Lover Boy, he has been our friend for over 15 years now, and we are SO blessed to be able to share our lives with him.

Update on craft room

I managed to get my lazy butt into the craft room last night and got a lot done. I think that I will take some pictures tonight and share them with you. I know there are no 'before' shots, never did get there, but, the 'after' ones will be good enough to give you an idea of the space and how I have finally got it set up to actually get some work done in there. It isn't done, it may Never be done...but it is really far into 'on it's way'. I'll post pics tonight. Thanks for joining me on this journey into the land of semi-organization, hope you had fun!!! lol

and Another giveaway

ok, somehow I am managing to come across a number of blog giveaways this week, so I am posting the ones I find..hope you enjoy them.


Very Mary is giving away a flat rate box of 'stuff' from her attic.

http://www.averymarydesign.blogspot.com/

Another giveaway

Another blog giveaway...this one is a trifle different as it involves praying/worship. That is not something I talk about much on here, most people think of me as someone to read to get a good laugh, or groan as the case may be, but there is more to it then that. If you read back thru this blog you will find a couple of posts that reveal the depth of my belief. You might not have seen it as that, but if you stop and think about the stuff that has happened, you will realize that I could not have made it thru those alone. They take a great deal of strength and that is a strength that I do not possess - I just borrow it - and who else would I get it from? Exactly!! God is my trainer and he has built up my spiritual muscles over the years with strenuous exercises in reliance and submission. Anyways, this is just to let you know about a giveaway here and to encourage you to go check it out. Personally I don't want you to, cuz then you will enter and my chances of winning go down proportionally, but, HE wants me to send you there, so, guess who wins? You got it!!! So GO!!! lol

20 day giveaway

this looks like it will be a lot of fun, go check it out!
It's a great blog - loads of wonderful useful tips!

I'm BBBAACCKK - again lol

wow, hadn’t realized that it had been that long since I posted last….I’m sorry…been a little down lately and have really had nothing much to say.

my new toy is harder to use than I thought it would be, but I think I am getting a handle on the program, just a little. Have made a couple of things, but am not really satisfied with my creations yet. Will get there soon.
hhmm, let’s see, what has happened since I talked to you last? not much..that’s bad, nothing to write about?
Trav is getting down to the wire with the David Book, should be done really really soon, I know he will be happy to have that finished. He has been spending every spare moment, when not trying to finish the book, setting up his new Online Magazine…it is really really kewl!!!! Go visit and see what YOU think…let us know what you would like to see and maybe he can do it, he’s pretty good ya know.

Watched Water Horse last nite, pretty good movie, I think Trav is going to review it on his site….

boy that was short and sweet wasn’t it? sorry, will do better next time, must be out of practice.

Cop for a day

this is just way too funny not to share....

http://www.baltimorepolice.org/join-the-team/media-center/cop-for-a-day

First Klic-N-Kut Project

Here is the first project I have made with my new toy that I think is good enough to share. Hope you like it, I posted it on my new message board as well - drop by and take a look.

My New Toy - part 3 (Klic-N-Kut)

Well, I think I overestimated my computer abilities here…this is an EXTENSIVE program and a very professional machine. NOT a plug and play, that’s for sure.

I spent some time on it this weekend and I am just now starting to get comfortable enough to start cutting things out. And then you know what happened?

The Power went OUT!!! and when it finally came back up…my computer wouldn’t boot up!!!!! So I cannot play with it at ALL!!!!

I guess when I can, I will post some more, :o( sniff sniff…until then….take care.


This ends my multi day post, I hope you enjoyed it...be sure to stop by Trav's Online General Interest Magazine and check out all the things he's been doing. Bye for now.

My New Toy - part 2 (Klic-N-Kut)

My New Toy - part 2 (Klic-N-Kut)


We ordered the Klic-N-Kut on Wednesday, June 4th – and when I got the tracking info was astonished that it was going to be delivered on Thursday, June 5th!!! I eagerly watched the computer, waiting to see it changed from “out for delivery” to “delivered”. Imagine my dismay when it changed, not to “delivered” but to “Delivery exception” Customer not available or business closed

I was very upset! What did THAT mean? We have a signature on file, so that when we are at work they can still deliver!! So I went to the FedEx site and started looking around. Did you know that if the insured value of a shipment is over a specific amount, then a real live human being MUST sign for it? And if no one does after 3 tries it will be returned to sender!

Oh NO! That would be unacceptable! So, Trav called the 800 number and arranged for them to hold the package at the Ocala warehouse the next morning and we would drive over and pick it up after work. Still disappointing that I couldn’t have it that night, but better than being sent back.

On Friday morning I pulled up the tracking screen and watched to see if it would say what it should say…and it did NOT!!! At 7:01am it stated “On FedEx vehicle for delivery”! We got the number to the ware house and they said that they had not received a hold for that package.

They were kind enough to give me the drivers cell number tho, and suggested that we call him and see what we could arrange. Trav called around and found someone in town willing to sign for and hold it for us, then he called the driver and he agreed to change the delivery location. At 10:20am, Friday I saw that exciting word on the FedEx Site “DELIVERED” !!! We planned on picking it up on the way home. That would give me the whole weekend to play with my new toy.

My New Toy – part 1 (Klic N Kut)

(this is going to be a multi day post as well as appearing on Trav’s online magazine…I am going to be his first guest writier!!! Go here to check it out, it's kewl!)



I’m not sure if I have written on here yet about my die cutting machine journey…I don’t think so.

Back at Thanksgiving we bit the bullet and purchased a Cricut Expression electronic die cutting machine to use with my card making and scrapbooking. It is a pretty awesome machine and really does a wonderful job.
However, it is constrained by the requirement of cartridges in order to cut things…if it’s not on the cartridge that you own, you have to buy the one it IS on….and at anywhere from $50 to $90 a cartridge, that gets expensive fast!!! They do have a program that allows you to do more, ($89) but it will only allow you to cut what you have cartridges for, no matter that it allows you to design with ALL of them on the screen. Limiting again.
Trav and I did a lot of research and decided to sell the expression and upgrade to a Craft Robo. This machine was a bit more expensive, but it allows you to cut designs from your computer, and is only limited by your imagination. It is said to cut vellum, paper, cardstock and other materials of similar thickness.
This interested us quite a bit…so we did a little more research…and discovered that although it cuts a large number of materials, it was limited in the thickness and would not cut something like chipboard, mat board or similar items. This was disappointing as we do have a photography business and cutting photo mats would be really helpful. So, back to the research.
Guess what we found? It’s called a Klic-n-Kut and yes, it Does cost more, but…it will cut MATBOARD!!! and vinyl, and chipboard, and vellum and will etch metal and emboss and score and draw pretty much anything else we have been able to think of. So, we sold the Cricut and ordered the Klic-n-Kut (KNK). Boy was I excited!! My thought was “This is going to be SO much FUN!!”

Mornings

Sometimes I wake up Happy - but usually I try to let him sleep!
Trav is a morning person...he sings, he talks, he whistles - I think he would even dance a jig if he thought I wouldn't throw something at him! I am a night person - mornings are an abomination to me, truly distasteful. There is a song out there from a long time ago with the phrase "breaking up is hard to do" I have changed that to "Waking up is hard on you". I think that we should write a law that says that morning people have to be silent for the first hour of a night person's day! NO SINGING!! DON'T talk to me! Do NOT ask me any important questions! Just give me something to drink, water, coffee, tea, what ever...let me sit hunched up in front of my computer, keep the critters away until I become human...or relatively less homicidal. I know, I know, you morning people just don't understand what could possibly be so horrible about mornings, they are great for you. You wake up ready to face the day, the sun is shining, the birds are singing, all is right with the world. We wake up to clouds and croaking toads...but...when you are done for the day, ready to hit the hay, so tired your eyelids are falling of their own accord, WE are coming into our own...WE are bouncy, cheerful, all geared up and ready to go - the whole world and you are going to go to sleep now. NO you MUST stay awake and be TORMENTED by my cheerful happy mood!!!! It's only fair!

Always remember and never forget...NO SINGING IN THE MORNING!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

And it's Tuesday again

and I missed blogging on Monday....bad bad YF. I think I'll change my resolution to at least three or four days a week and take some of the pressure off...maybe - maybe not...I don't know yet.

Well Sunday was a normal day for us - right up til the STORM!!! lol It was a doozie too...we needed rain, but I think it might have been better if it had maybe slowed down just a trifle and then hung around a little longer, but I'm begging, so I won't be that choosy. The hail was fun to watch tho lol
Then the power went out at about 4. ho boy...I still have THREE loads of laundry pending!!! one in the washer...so, go open the door (so they don't smell) and sat back to listen to the UPS scream. Usually they quit after about 20 minutes, but not that one...it was still screaming 2 hours later. And Yes, we were still without power then. I convinced him about then that we needed to go out to dinner cuz -you know - how could we cook with no power? We have a gas stove, but no water, so anyways...he aquiessed and that is how we found BubbaQues in Bronson...(GO SEE HIS BLOG FOR DETAILS!!!!! http://travelerstales.wordpress.com/ )
We followed the power lines all the way out and didn't see anyone or anything that might have caused an outage of that length...well, we still didn't have power when we got back! So Trav called them again, and asked that they please call us and let us know what was going on as he needed power for his CPAP. No call...so he goes out looking to see if any of our neighbors had power...while he was gone it came back on!!! :YYYEEEAAAAYYYY Got to blow out all the oil lamps as it was well past 9 by now and a little bit dark. So, alls well that ends well, right? Oh yeah, they did have their little robot system call to see if the power was on...joy.

anyways...talk at ya tomorrow - maybe lol

Sunday night

How did it get to be Sunday night already? What happened to the week end? Spent 6 hours at Althea's yesterday...I had a really good time, and I hope she did too. Debi and Donna went round and round for quite some time, but Althea and I just kept right on keepin on and got our project finished. I enjoyed the creativity involved.

Then today I worked a little in the yard - planted a couple of things, watered everything, just spent a little time outside, that was nice.

Then there was a major rainstorm!!! complete with marble size hail!! I got the Cricut sold and was packing it up when the storm hit...had to go out on the porch and watch the hail bounce around...then the wind changed direction and the hail was hitting up on the porch where we were!!! lol so I came back in and was about to print the packing slips so I could seal up the box, and the power went off. That was at 4:07 pm...it just came back on at 9:24 pm...we had to call twice - I HATE when that happens. But it's on now and I'm going to print that right now before something else happens....lol

I also have to work on a wedding invitation keepsake, and a charity ride logo...gonna be a busy week.

Talk at ya tomorrow!

Things to do today

LOADS!!!

Sorry I missed ya yesterday, too busy to think of something to write!
Still working in the Craft Room! You are about tired of hearing that aren't you? I know I would be lol

Going to Althea's house today to work on some projects...that should be lots of fun, she is SUCH a talented lady....it's a joy to watch her create things...and she is starting to get really involved in scrapbooking. Today I get to see some of that first hand and I am excited!

Trav is off trying to interview someone for David's book, haven't been able to get with this person even tho they say they want to talk about him, they have not made themselves available...this is the last chance.

My sister Annilee, sent me an email with some of her recollections - Trav will work on that tonight. Not everyone who is contributing will be named personally in the book, but we really appreciate any and all who have helped us out with it...this is a real important project - to us definitely - and we HOPE to others as well.

Well, that's my post for today..gotta get busy putting stuff together to take with me. Talk at ya tomorrow.

Trying to keep that resolution

Way back at the first of the year I said I wanted to try and post something every day...maybe not much, but at least something... I did ok for a while, but then missed A LOT. So I am trying again. I believe that as long as you are giving something your honest effort, that you should be given a chance to do it again. But that's just me...and maybe it's only regarding me...I would have to dig pretty deep into my phycie to see if it's true in regards to other people....I think it is.

Trav's Uncle Bill and Aunt June were visiting his folks yesterday, we got to spend a little time with them before they had to go. That was fun. They are interesting and I hope we get to go out to dinner with them in the near future.

While we were at the folks house we helped fix a couple of minor problems with their computer...Trav is the family Guru and sometimes that makes him a hero! and sometimes it doesn't :o(. oh well, can't win them all.

Tonight it's back into the craft room for an hour or so, gotta keep at it til I get it right, I really want that room to be a place that I can comfortably create & it really hasn't been up til now...so I am starting to get excited!!! Have I said that already? Probably lol

Anyway, that's about it for right now...talk at you tomorrow!!

Happy hump day ya'll

Well, here it is Wednesday again...and we are half way through another work week. Wow! isn't that just SO exciting?

I got back into the craft room last nite, Trav had to go do an interview with Sean regarding David, so I had a couple of hours without interruption - managed to get most of the paper separated and put into more useful places. Means I emptied another tote! I know, it doesn't sound like much, but it's another step in the right direction...and I need all of those I can get.

On a more creative note, I made a layout for a photo swap, here is the link if you would like to see it,
Gotta Pixel Gallery

that is always fun, it's not my photo and so I am free to interprit and create. Thanks Gotta Pixel & Tbog for hosting this swap.

Later folks, work now.

Tuesday

Is it really Tuesday already? Wow, where did that weekend go? and it was a LONG one too! Oh well,

Finally got some time to spend in the Craft room! Still not done, probably never will be, but it's further along then it was. We have my paper rack up now and all my 12 x 12 paper is in it!!! YYEEAAHH - and my filing system will now be used for the 8 1/2 x 11 and scraps, that way they are not sitting in boxes on a shelf. All my ribbons are either in the ribbon boxes or in a drawer and all my material is in a drawer as are all my fibers, I think. My books and magazines are on a shelf, in holders to keep them handy and neat. Stickers and rub ons in a drawer as are metal embellishments and then misc embellishments have their own drawer too. Pens/pencils/markers in their own drawer. Adhesives in a drawer - those that will fit anyway, the xyron and bigger/bulkier items are on a shelf. All the punches have drawers. And that is how we are organizing that room...a piece at a time. It's starting to shape up and I am starting to get just a little excited for the finished product. No telling how long it will take, but I will get it done someday and then I will share some pics with you.

Talk to you later, gotta go get some stuff done here.

Hurray- it's a long weekend

what plans do you have this weekend? family get together? short vacation? cook-out? are ya gonna go bowling? go to the water park, play in the backyard pool? take the kids to Disney? shop til you drop? wash the car? change the oil? lol

There are just SO many things that we can/have to do on a long weekend that sometimes it can seem overwhelming!! But we handle it well, we pick a couple and do those, enjoy ourselves and then lament the lack of time needed to do the rest! What a strange people we are.

Our weekend will consist of our normal grocery shopping trip to Ocala, then me back in my craft room (which I have neglected horribly as I seemed to be unable to get anywhere with the chore - kept finding projects that needed doing lol) and working on David's book. That seems kinda fitting doesn't it? It being Memorial Day and all?

Speaking of that book, it's getting down to the wire now, only about two weeks before we need to send it to the publishing company! It seems like we just started this project but when I look back, it's been a long time in the making. The time has flown by and the deadline approaches and we realize that there are SO many people that have stories & we can't find them...it saddens me. But we have done the best we could and will be proud of the end product. I am SO very proud of Trav and all the effort and artistry he has devoted to this. Once again I must say, He is the wind beneath my wings.
you can see that layout here layout

My Scrap Shop

Morning everyone,

Just wanted to make sure you all know about My Scrap Shop. This is such a fun site to visit. The people there are super friendly and fun! We just finished a round of Bingo and if you go read that thread you will understand what I mean lol

http://www.myscrapshop.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=878

go check it out.

And while you are on the site, check out the free gift for joining the forum

http://www.myscrapshop.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=1034&highlight=

what are you waiting for??? GO!!!

www.myscrapshop.com

Cottage Charm Giveaway

The Twice Remembered Cottage is hosting a Cottage Charm Giveaway. If you want to enter please go to the site for a list of participating blogs. If you are interested in being one of those giving things away, all the details are on her blog - go there and sign up!!!

It's Wednesday

And a very normal everyday boring Wednesday it is too....until the power went out at work and we spent the next hour or so socializing...then had cake for the birthdays...and now I'm just doing mainly all that non-computer stuff that never seems to get done. In between checking my email and trying to catch up all the computer things that NEED to get done lol.....oh well, nothing extraordinary about this...just blogging. See ya later!

Hello

Just popping in to say that I am still out here...going to work on that memorial post I was telling you about...need to get the pics ready to post from that too. I appreciate that you are still checking in to see if I'm talking...and I will do better, I promise!

Arabian Nights

We are here in beautiful Titusville, Florida for our annual visit to the American Police Hall of Fame…to attend the Police Memorial Ceremonies that they provide for the surviving family members, Law Enforcement and anyone else who might be interested. They have been doing this for a really long time now (since 1960) and are very good at it too. (more on this subject tomorrow)

Each year they try to do something wonderful for their guests and this year is no exception. They arranged an excursion to Arabian Nights, in Orlando, for dinner and a show. That was SO much fun! They had 4 buses here by 3:45 and over 200 survivors eagerly awaiting the trip. It was about an hour and 15 minutes to the attraction and it was rather uneventful (meaning I took a nap) and we arrived in good time to get everyone inside, seated and comfortable before the show…but not so long as to be bored by the time it started.

This is not your typical seating arrangement…instead of tables there are long benches with backs and almost a trestle type table to eat on, about 18” wide and 15 people long with a 3” raised ledge on the front portion, so you don’t accidentally send your food down the back of a diner at the ‘table’ in front of you. These tables are set up in a ‘stadium seating’ type of arrangement so all can easily view the entertainment, which takes place in the arena below. We were really excited to see this show! It is a loosely woven story of an Arabian Princess coming into her own and being introduced to her own personal Genie, who is rather inexperienced and needs the practice to protect her new mistress. In the course of this tale we are treated to a visual extravaganza of horses in various settings, the Wild West doing a square dance on horseback, the Native American with symbols painted on her steed, the chariots of yore – complete with a very competitive race in which the two sides of the arena cheer on their champion – trick riders jumping rope, jumping through flaming hoops and doing back flips – all while riding bareback on beautiful horses. And of course they evoked the Black Stallion! There was a nice mix of suspense, yearning and comedy. It was a delightful show and I would feel comfortable recommending it to you as a nice bit of light entertainment. Of course if you have a horse crazy child it might end up causing trouble as they will almost certainly want to do those things themselves and I think that might be something you would want to discourage. Lol

We were a little concerned about the quality of the meal. I’m sure you have all been to places that mass serve, and usually that means inferior quality. We had a choice of one of the following menu items…

New York strip steak

Grilled chicken breast

Certified Black Angus chopped sirloin with gravy

Children’s chicken tenders or

Primavera penne pasta bowl (vegetarian/vegan option)

Almost all the folks at our ‘table’ chose the New York Strip. When our food arrived it really didn’t look that great…the Strip was coated in pepper and looked dry, we had mashed potatoes and a broccoli/carrot mix, and a roll. I was pleasantly surprised when I took my first bite of that steak…it was tender, juicy and flavorful, despite the pepper (which I’m sure you know I DON’T DO PEPPER, so that’s a pretty high accolade from me). The vegetables were tender and with a little butter on top the potatoes were really good. It was a bit difficult to eat in the dark whilst screaming, er I mean cheering on our champions, but we managed without any mishaps. (unless you count the butter that somehow managed to fly through the air and attack Larry a row behind us) Our waitress had a great sense of humor and was really quite good even with all the people she was serving; I think she had either two or three of those long tables. The entire experience was one I would happily repeat if the opportunity arose and I hope you all get a chance to do the same.

Trav's Blog

Wow, Trav's really gotten on the blogger wagon big time!!! He has posted a few really good ones lately - you should head on over there and see what he's been up to...Read him with your coffee in the morning to get you ready for the day lol. here's the addy http://travstales.com/

Ya might leave him a comment to let him know that I sent you...I get points for that sorta thing - hey life's a game, even when you're married, why not have fun while you play?

Anyways, I've been totally unable to write anything more than my name lately, and I don't know why, but - that is going to change...I will be back in full force soon. We are going to Titusville next week for the Annual Police Memorial Day Ceremonies, so maybe I'll even have something to write about! There will be at least one post on the Memorial - that is a promise.

So, I'll see you soon...go see Trav!!!

Craft room update

ok, so we got some more done on the craft room this weekend…it’s not finished, but most of the construction stage is done…got new flooring down, have the shelves cut back and lined and trimmed…got most of the new under counter drawers in…have the counter installed. all that’s left now is the organized re-entry of ALL MY STUFF!!!!

That is going to be interesting…to put it mildly.

I am really excited tho, even if it IS taking a lot of time and effort…I’ll be able to find all the things I KNOW I have, but cannot locate. That will be worth a lot to me, and I can get my craft stuff off the kitchen table and counters, THAT will be worth a lot to Trav lol.

Updates to follow with a pic of the finished project.

My Craft Room

Trav and I are in a perpetual state of remodel! No wait, not US---our House!

We were supposed to be working on the back room (referenced in a previous post) but for some reason we are not. Saturday we started working on my craft room…

I want my craft room organized and neat and for it to be somewhere that I can go to relax and be creative. It is none of those things at the moment, nor has it been.

When we first discussed what we needed to do in there I envisioned a row of storage totes all labeled with craft components and just Waiting for me to drop pieces and parts into them in preparation of redoing that room. Reality once again rears it’s ugly head…somehow we ended up starting willy nilly – without a shred of organization, just jumped in and started pulling things out!!! Oh NO!!!! I am traumatized – sniff sniff - I think I’ll stop this line of self pity right here…just know that I DIDN’T LIKE IT one bit! and Trav found a way to make it a little easier on me, so…onward…

This is a room approx 8 x 6 that has shelves on both long sides, a drop down work surface on one short side and the door on the other short side. The shelves on one side are about 5 inches deep and on the other side are about 18 inches deep. We cut 3 of the wide shelves back to about 12 inches, leaving the top two for long term storage as opposed to everyday accessibility. The bottom two shelves were removed and one put back in at table top height to extend my work surface the length of the room. We are going to extend the top shelf across the short end over the work surface to give me a little more storage space. We will be putting drawers under the work surface and smaller drawers on the surface towards the back for pens and things like that. On the wall to the left of the work surface is a group of shelves that are wider than the others, just one section that is about 15” wide…we are, hopefully going to turn those into a paper rack. I would really like to see shallow shelves that are tilted to a 25 or 30 degree angle with a small lip on the outside edge and a finger notch…then put a piece of chipboard on this shelf then the paper on top of that. (Then maybe I can color coordinate my papers and cardstock and actually be able to FIND things?)

Right now it is a major disaster and I’m not able to do any crafting….hopefully we will be able to get back to it soon.

I haven’t decided what I want to put on the work surface…Formica? wall board?? or??? There is a pegboard on the short wall next to the door, and I have some components to use with that, but I really haven’t figured out the way I want to do it yet. We will be putting some form of lighting under the shelves on the long wall (over the work surface) and mostly that long desk will be used for ‘work stations’, such as my die cutter, my large trimmer and things like that.

I‘m not really sure where we are going from here…we really need to put something different on the floor or go to the bare wood look, but not just an area thing, all or nothing I think. And something easy to keep clean.

I don’t know…I’ll give you an update when we have something new going on and after we are done I will upload a pic so you can see by beautiful new crafting area!!!

Wild animal story addendum

Since I named them in yesterdays story, but didn't give you a picture to look at, Trav suggested that I add this today....hope you like them, this is Michael and Loverboy, ignoring the excitement - as usual. lol

Wild Animal Story

hhmm, I promised you a wild animal story didn’t I….guess I should tell you about it then….

Once upon a time, there was a family with 3 dogs (Micheal, a maremma, Tug, a jack russel/spitz and Spunky, a pomeranian) and a cat (domestic shorthair gray tabby, Loverboy), that lived in the woods outside of town. Every now and then different animals would wander into the yard and the dogs or cat would take after them and the family would have to go save them. Some times it would be too late, and sometimes the ending was happy. And sometimes they weren’t sure which of those it was….

Ok, so let’s just say that last Monday, the lady of the house stayed home from work to play with all the new toys she got from the Scrapbook Expo. And let’s say that first thing that morning, before she was even dressed, one of those three dogs was barking funny in the front yard. And let’s say that this lady went to the window to see what was the matter. and found….

Tug barking at a ‘possum! Ok, so it wasn’t the Biggest ‘possum in the world, but it was at least as big as Tug!

Now it is not unusual to have critters out there, but usually Trav (the man of the house) is home to handle things…not this time…he went to work. That left me….and as I mentioned above, I wasn’t exactly dressed to go wild animal taming. But something needed to be done, soon, so…in my flip flops and sleep shirt, off to the rescue I go. I grabbed the broom off the front porch on the way out and started hollering at the dog to leave it be (as I do not know the gender of our visitor I will hereafter refer to it as ‘he’ for ease of reference). Of course Tug ignored me and started really going at the attack and I was terrified that he would get hurt so I jumped right in with that broom and tried to separate them. That worked.-.sorta…every time I poked the ‘possum it

would show me ALL those teeth and gggrroowwll and that would set Tug off again!

Finally got Tug to listen a little and back off and so I started trying to herd that poor ‘possum towards the gate to get him to safety…once he figured out that I was pushing him in the direction HE wanted to go he stopped fighting me so hard and sorta ambled in that direction.

Things went quite well until….about 5 feet from the gate. At that point he decided that he wanted to go to the back yard (which is probably where he came in) NOT out the gate and turned on me….man, was THAT scary. Have you ever tried to keep an angry ‘possum at bay with a broom? and no pants on? and open toed shoes? I was feeling so exposed – more than I can remember in my whole life. But what could I do at that point? so I ran around him and opened the gate and then back to the other side to give it my best. Wasn’t enough, he managed to scoot by me and into the bush at the base of the tree that grows next to the front porch. And as soon as he did Tug went in the other side of the bush and Spunky thought it would be fun to get involved too!! I yelled at them both and Spunk backed off, Tug I had to broom again. Finally I got them to go in the house and I sorta locked us in.

I never did get that wild animal out of the yard, but by the time I allowed the dogs back out, he was gone. As far as I could determine, Tug was completely uninjured. The ‘possum had a couple of what looked like minor bite marks on his side, but nothing major that I could see.

And as far as I could tell, Michael never even woke up. Great watch dog, gotta tell ya. But given the choice of having him in that mix as well, I’ll take a grumpy sleepy mutt to an alert attack dog any day!

Did I live up to my promise?