Kindness

Like many crafters, I enjoy sharing what I make with others.  I recently made paper bag albums with a Halloween theme for two little girls I know. I sent them in the mail, so they would get happy mail.  One arrived one day and the other the next day.  Next time I need plan a little better. Kids get a little disappointed when one receives something and they don't.  

Now Jennifer McGuire has started a Share Handmade Kindness campaign. Encouraging everyone to make something and share it with others. It can be a card, a baked item, a letter, anything handmade. Last night I came across this Riley Funny Bones sentiment stamp that Mitchell encouraged me to buy quite awhile ago. Suddenly I was inspired to create a card using the Pebbles Happy Day paper and the coffee cup die I got a few months ago.  Here  is  the card I  came up with last night. Isn't this a great sentiment ?  So perfect for your coffee and wine drinking friends!  

I  will be linking this to Jennifer  McGuire's share handmade kindness challenge  and then sending it out to a friend who will get a big smile when  receiving this fun card.

Oh and I just have to share the Halloween albums, here the larger one is still in progress, I did add more ribbon. :)

Thanks  for stopping  by, I  hope  you take some time to share a little  kindness today. 💜💚💙💛

POD 4 & 5

Yesterday the heat was so stifling that I did not go out much. I do have photos of fun and I know one that would make an awesome "floor" photo.   So here goes...

One of my favorite fun things to do is get together with family. I hadn't seen my nephew and great nephew in about 7 years.  They visited my brother in March. March was unseasonably warm, so of course we grilled out and played outside!

Love getting together with family - my nephew, great nephew, et al

Another March photo.  This one is downtown by the river.  Love being by water and this labyrinth is pretty cool!

Labyrinth at Phoenix park in Eau Claire, WI

Thanks for taking the time to stop by and check out my POD photos.

Happy Easter! and a couple of layouts

Hope you had a wonderful Holiday, whichever way you celebrate it.

As you can see from my previous post I got a chance to spend time with family a few weeks ago. I hadn't seen my nephew and great nephew in years.  It was so nice to see them and get to spend time with them. I only wish that my two could have been there too.  Of course when you haven't seen someone in a long time you get as many photos as you can.  Josh was 2 the last time I got photos of him and he'll be 9 in July.  

I won some BoBunny Ad Lib at my LSS Picture This a week prior to getting together with family.  With the colors in the photos it was easy to use Ad Lib for the layouts I did. I only wish it wasn't discontinued.  I will have to see if I can find some online when pay day rolls around.  I like the wording of document everyday, celebrate life, etc.  I think too often we only take photos and scrap special occasions.  When we should also let our future generations know what everyday life was like too.  I enjoy history, so it was easy for me to think that way. I always enjoyed reading the post cards and cards my grandmother saved from family and friends.  I remember she kept them in a wooden box.  I enjoyed getting a little peek into their life.  Well enough of my jibber jabber. Here are a couple of layouts I came up with. I was inspired by PageMaps (March Maps) for the layouts below. I really enjoy that site, Becky Fleck is so very talented. I was so lucky to have a friend loan me her cricut so I was able to cut the title for the Siblings layout below. 

Four Generations of Olson Men Sam, Jayson, Josh and Dad

Me, my brother Sam and my sister Kim

 I am entering the Four Generations layout in the Here Comes the Boys Anything but a Card challenge.  I found the challenge listed on Feline Playful. You can click the graphic to the right to find challenges for scrapbooking, cardmaking and altered art.  I'm trying to find more masculine challenges since as you can see there are quite a few men in my family.  Smiles.

Thanks for stopping by! Sure hope your holiday weekend was wonderful!!!

Have a Ghoulishly Happy Halloween!

 
I just thought I'd drop by and wish all my friends, family and followers a Happy Halloween! I really feel for those of you in the Northeast that do not have power.  Actually I am hoping that by now you do have power and that your Halloween activities are back on again!

My son Mitch works as a cashier at Goodwill.  Of course as such he is able to dress up for Halloween.  He also gets to dress/decorate the mannequins (which are just wire) weekly.  He had them pink for Breast Cancer Awareness, 80's for Footloose and now of course for Halloween.  As I'm sure you know well, Goodwill stores get very busy this time of the year.  Here are a few pix of his creativity.  

 I asked him how he got so talented when he was getting ready one morning.  He's like umm you!

Of course, I can't leave you without pix of the other child.  He didn't get dressed up, but he and his girlfriend are proud parents of a mouse. So here is baby Cotton.  

 

And just for fun and old times sake here is a pic of me from 30+ yrs ago. I was maybe 18?? I recently found some long lost friends on Facebook.  Really am enjoying catching up after all these years!  Hi Dan, Hi Scott.

That's it for now!  I'll be back to post some creations soon, I promise.  Hope you have a wonderful Halloween night and a great rest of the week!!

Time to get back into the swing of things?

I guess I should let you know what I've been up to while absent from blogging. On May 24, I lost my sweetheart. The cancer finally won. Tim tried coming home from the hospital on May 17 and it was not be. He went back to the hospital within an hour or so of coming home. While going through this I was called about a job I applied and interviewed for. I was to start work at the end of the month and I started to become very concerned about who would take care of Tim. I had heard from a nurse that Tim was considering hospice. I hadn't even been thinking that and so I was thrown a bit. I had emailed his oncologist at Karmanos Cancer Center to see if that was the best choice and that there was nothing else she could do, she emailed me back and said that's what would be best. I wanted to make sure every avenue was covered before talking to him about it. I really didn't talk to him about it as one of the doctor's from his primary doctor's group mentioned to Tim and he said he hadn't decided but was interested in receiving information. Later a person from the hospice came to talk to us about it, but Tim slept through the whole meeting. As I see it, God took over from there. For all the resumes I sent out while unemployed and didn't get a job, I believe it was because God wanted me to be there for Tim. Here is an old layout I made in May of 2008 using What Cancer Cannot Do poem.

So I've started my job and am working on getting everything else figured out. There are times I still cry, a certain memory, song or even a movie. I stopped by a friend's house and they had on Aeon Flux. That was a movie I saw with Tim, his friend and his friend's wife. We saw it when I visited Tim here in Toledo before moving here.

We'll be staying here as long as we can. Noah doesn't want to leave his high school and Mitch started at the community college taking a summer class. He will be full time in the fall.

It is so heartwarming to see Tim's Facebook page and all the wonderful condolences, thoughts and memories that friends and coworkers have posted. I've had some wonderful friends and family members pull me through and I am so very thankful.

Happy Birthday!

I really should have posted this earlier today, but have been really dead tired. 17 years ago today I had a little (11lbs 3 1/2 oz YIKES I know) red-headed boy! Above is his school pic for this year and below are some pix of Noah over the years. Happy Birthday Noah!

Noah at about 5 or 6, age 9 and age 12

Mitch and Noah Christmas 1994 Mitch 5 Noah 19 mos

Grandpa David and Noah - summer 1994 and Mitch and Noah Oct of 1994

Busy Busy Busy

Just like the wonderful Busy Beauties Boutique digi stamps - life has been rather busy lately. Thanksgiving is one week away, then Mitch turns 20 on Dec. 4th and Tim's birthday is Dec.7th. Somewhere in there is the end of the semester, soon I'll be choosing new classes to take. Then it's my sister's birthday on Dec. 15, Christmas and New Year's, then my mom's birthday on Jan. 4th. The only thing is they live in NW Wisconsin so it's not like we'll be running around like some people do for the holidays and birthdays. I miss that, I really do! I like getting together for family occasions and just visiting with family. We do things like play cards, board games or watch movies.

Well enough of chit chat. I have a sneak peek for you. Busy Beauties Boutique will be coming out with a new release of digi stamps on Dec. 3rd. Just in time for you to get those last minute cards and gifts done. The other day Carolyn sent us a few of the images that were done. In it was this cute Gingerbread Girl. Once I had her and the boy colored I thought of what I could create. This time I thought I had the perfect idea. I have kept some phone refill cards to see what I might make them into. Well with the holidays right around the corner I thought a gift card holder would be nice. I covered the refill card, then added the pocket. I put a little piece of foam tape at the top of each pocket edge, to create a little more space for a card to slide into the pocket. Added some Doodlebug velvet brads (before attaching pocket to base), added the GB Girl, doodling and a chenille fiber for hanging on the tree. I think I need to make a little to and from tag to hang from the hanger. So then the gift card holder can be reused. Recycle, re-purpose, upcycle and reuse. All good things right? So there it is what do you think?
Oh and be sure to be on the look out for a Blog Hop to showcase the new Busy Beauties release! There is sure to be some sort of giveaway. So check back every now and then to see new sneak peeks. Check out the Busy Beauties Brigade to see what the other Beauties create. Their blog links are on my side bar.

Back to School...

I have decided to go back to school. I've been considering this for awhile now. My brother informed me about a week and 1/2 or two weeks ago that he's going to school to be a motorcycle mechanic. He did not graduate high school and has his GED. So if he can go back to school after all these years I can go back for my third time around. I'm really happy for him and only am sad that he'll be much further away. He'll be going to school in Phoenix AZ. I haven't seen him in nearly three years since I moved to Toledo. That year he moved to NW Wisconsin by my parents as did my sister and her hubby. I told Sam that he'll probably stay in AZ after he graduates. His schooling is 62 weeks I think?? He said he didn't think he'd be able to stand the heat and that he'd be back. You can see a pic of us here in 2006 at the end of my farewell party. I am on the right and Sam is on the left. So wish me luck! I hope I can start with the summer session. I still need to fill out FAFSA and see if I can get financial aid, that's the only way I can go back. When I went back 12 yrs ago it was through NAFTA/TRA/Unemployment. I had to have the instructors sign a paper weekly so I could get unemployment. It also paid for my schooling, my books and any necessary school related items. I sent for my transcripts from the previous two colleges I've attended. I really should call a counselor/advisor to see what else I need to get. Tim does not have chemo tomorrow so we'll get a few errand ran and I'll call to see about an appt with an advisor.

The other day I mentioned that I would post a couple more layouts. I did some more of Noah skateboarding. These are of Parmelee park in Lambertville, MI. For Scrappin in Toledo Yahoo group we have a Saturday Sketch challenge every week. I used that sketch to create this layout. I love the photo Noah took of himself. I printed it in Sepia.


Well that's it for today. Hopefully I can create some more tonight. We'll see how things go. Hope your Wednesday was super nice!

BRRRRR--House Mouse Challenge #20

Okay so it's soooo cold today that we've spent the whole day inside. I've actually been creative I finally finished up my House Mouse Monday Challenge. Which was to create an ATC. I've done ATC's for the Yahoo group Scrappin In Toledo that I belong to for the past year. Never did them before last year. Last year when I started I used an HM stamp and this year again I turned to House Mouse. I will have to make another one for SIT because the ATC's creator needs to be secret so it's not a popularity contest but voting on how well you like the ATC. My ATC is a shaker ATC I'm not sure you can see the clear beads in the window. The pp is KI Memories, I used the nestabilities label punch to die cut the window. I used an Inkadinkado clear stamp for the hearts. You may not see it but some of the little hearts are filled in with glitter. The cardstock is SU and I colored in Monica with Prisma pencils and OMS. I popped up Monica with pop dots.Today I created a pocket card to enter in the Hero Arts weekly contest they hold on their blog. I only have a few HA stamps so I had to do a little thinking before getting the card all together. Today Shari Carroll posted some pocket cards with the pockets on the inside. I thought I'd give that a try since it was different then what I've seen. I made a bookmark for the inside and am using this as a Secret Sis card, hopefully she doesn't come to my blog!

I used:
HA Love Message Borders & HA Snowflake stamp Basic Grey Sultry paper
Fiskars Treading Water punch
dotted organdy ribbon & jute
Nestabilities scalloped circle
SU Cardstock & SU Ink Chocolate Chip
Distress Ink - Vintage photo

This is how it came out:

I found out yesterday that I did not make the DT for Bombshell Stamps, however, I think their stamps are so unique that I posted a banner for them here on my blog. I liked some of the other banners better, but I like the Craft with Attitude phrase. I also ordered my first Bombshell stamp set today. I look forward to receiving it in the mail hopefully next week!

It's been quite a week here or actually two since I've had Mitchell stay here. He did not find a place to live in Milwaukee, so I told him he needed to stay here. I feel bad about him not finishing at MHSA, but now I'm sure he's fed well, clothed and has a roof over his head. Yesterday we tried to enroll him in a school that is online. It is more difficult than you think. So we won't know anything until Jan. 27 when he meets with the vice principal. I found out when there will be auditions for Cedar Point amusement park and hopefully we can get him to auditions and hopefully they'll like him. I read him the qualifications and needed items and he said it was like auditioning for Julliard! Noah and Mitch bicker a lot and it's getting on our nerves! I do love you two, but you need to give it a rest.

I think tomorrow even if it snows we will get out of here for a bit. Well for sure when we pick up our Angel food we will. I am supposed to go to workout tomorow with a trainer, we'll see how that goes. I had to cancel because of the snow on Weds. I even asked Tim to find a ride home from work that day because it was so slippery and such low visibility. Right now it is -4 degrees and -20 with the windchill!!

I hope you all have a wonderful weekend!

HM Polka Dots & Thankful

I wanted to create a non-traditional looking Christmas card for last week's HM challenge. I worked on this card on Sat and took photos yesterday. I didn't have a chance to add the photo in time for the challenge. I was quite surprised to see that HM Challenge today is Polka Dots. Well guess what I used to make my non-traditional looking Christmas card? The paper is called Mistletoe Polka Dot!!! I was also lucky that my secret pal sent me this awesome HM stamp last week. TY TY TY!!!!! I wasn't sure I liked this card, but I think it is growing on me.

With Thanksgiving only about 2 days away and me needing to remember what I'm thankful for I decided to post a list here. We are having Thanksgiving here and it's the first time for Tim's family to come to a holiday at our home. I'm feeling a bit stressed because everyone seems to be making this more difficult than it needs to be...so instead of venting here I'd like to list what I'm thankful for. A much better choice don't you think?

• I am thankful that cancer is treatable and that chemotherapy is working.
• I am so very thankful that Tim is able to work while getting chemotherapy treatments our income would be so much more stressed if he could not.
• I am thankful for Tim's love and support. It's so cool that he doesn't mind going to LSS's & craft stores.
• I am thankful for family and friends who are a great support system.
• I am also thankful for online friends who stop by and ask how we're doing, leave comments and just generally spread happiness.
• I am thankful for my two boys even though at times they drive me nuts, I can say I am truly thankful for them and love them both deeply.
• Even though I would rather be working so our money situation would be less stressful I am thankful for this time of unemployment, I am able to get meals on the table earlier, I can plan a meal and try new recipes, I can bake, I can clean the house during the day instead of on weekends and I can fit in being creative - which can be so therapeutic.

Graphics found here: http://www.patswebgraphics.com


PS I've actually created a floral arrangement in a pumpkin for Thanksgiving at my mom and dad's a few years ago. I'll have to search for a photo and post it.

Have a Blessed Thanksgiving Everyone!

Happy 4th!

I just love finding graphics. It took me awhile to find this one.

Tim had his second week of chemo in this round of the chemo. He seems to be doing okay so far, although he had some cramping during the chemo and they gave him another drug to help with that.

Noah's girlfriend decided to break up with him. Her only excuse was that Noah was hanging out too much with her brother. He always included her so he is kind of surprised. Her mom isn't really happy with her and told Noah he's welcome to still go to Cedar Point with them on the 14th. He says he wants to go, so he'll probably hang out with Tyler. It's nice when the parents really like him and are concerned enough about him to call and see how he's doing.

Last week I got the Cogsmo paper line from Cosmo Cricket, it was 1/2 off and I love their paper, it seems to create layouts all by itself. LMAO To tell the truth though, I've already done three layouts and they went together so quickly. I entered the Cosmo Cricket DT call and even thought I didn't make it they sent a $5 gift certificate to Miss Paper Jane. So I ordered a few items and got them yesterday. I had not posted the layouts because I wanted to see if I could use any of the items ordered for embellishing a bit more. I did use the Cogsmo rubons on the two fishing layouts. I thought it still needed a little more so I doodled on them too.

Fishing at Uncle John and Aunt Betty's cottage in Montello, WI


I did this layout for Noah, he found this picture and wished life was still like that. I guess his teenage angst is too much for him. I said it's great to look back at photos when things were different, but you have to grow and move on. So behind the picture is some hidden journaling reminding that we grow and change all the time.



I also made some cards for challenges on the Yahoo group I belong to. Every month we have a Artist of the Month contest. You are to create an ATC with whatever theme is posted by the previous winner. Then during the last week or so of the month there is a poll and members vote on their favorite. Mine won this month and is posted on the group's home page for the month.



My winning ATC

I've been trying to post this blog with pictures since last night. Finally blogger let me get all the photos on here today!

This week we watched two good movies, The Bucket List and PS I Love You. I liked them both and they both ran along the same vein for being about terminal illness. If you haven't seen them yet, I'd recommend giving them a peek.


Oh here is a cute email I read this week and thought I would repost to share with my friends and family. I found this on mixonthememories sb.com blog. Too cute! Hope you get a smile from it.

God's thoughts on lawns

GOD: Frank, you know all about gardens and nature. What in the world is going on down there on the planet? What happened to the dandelions, violets, thistle and stuff I started eons ago? I had a perfect no-maintenance garden plan. Those plants grow in any type of soil, withstand drought and multiply with abandon. The nectar from the long-lasting blossoms attracts butterflies, honeybees and flocks of songbirds. I expected to see a vast garden of colors by now. But, all I see are these green rectangles.

St. FRANCIS: It's the tribes that settled there, Lord. The Suburbanites. They started calling your flowers "weeds" and went to great lengths to kill them and replace them with grass.
GOD: Grass? But, it's so boring. It's not colorful. It doesn't attract butterflies, birds and bees; only grubs and sod worms. It's sensitive to temperatures. Do these Sub urbanites really want all that grass growing there?

ST. FRANCIS: Apparently so, Lord. They go to great pains to grow it and keep it green. They begin each spring by fertilizing grass and poisoning any other plant that crops up in the lawn.
GOD: The spring rains and warm weather probably make grass grow really fast. That must make the Suburbanites happy.

ST. FRANCIS: Apparently not, Lord. As soon as it grows a little, they cut it-sometimes twice a week. GOD: They cut it? Do they then bale it like hay?

ST. FRANCIS: Not exactly, Lord. Most of them rake it up and put it in bags. GOD: They bag it? Why? Is it a cash crop? Do they sell it?

ST. FRANCIS: No, Sir, just the opposite. They pay to throw it away.
GOD: Now, let me get this straight. They fertilize grass so it will grow. And, when it does grow, they cut it off and pay to throw it away?

ST. FRANCIS: Yes, Sir. GOD: These Suburbanites must be relieved in the summer when we cut back on the rain and turn up the heat. That surely slows the growth and saves them a lot of work.

ST. FRANCIS: You aren't going to believe this, Lord. When the grass stops growing so fast, they drag out hoses and pay more money to water it so they can continue to mow it and pay to get rid of it.
GOD: What nonsense. At least they kept some of the trees. That was a sheer stroke of genius, if I do say so myself. The trees grow leaves in the spring to provide beauty and shade in the summer. In the autumn, they fall to the ground and form a natural blanket to keep moisture in the soil and protect the trees and bushes. It's a natural cycle of life.

ST. FRANCIS: You better sit down, Lord. The Suburbanites have drawn a new circle. As soon as the leaves fall, they rake them into great piles and pay to have them hauled away.
GOD: No. What do they do to protect the shrub and tree roots in the winter to keep the soil moist and loose?

ST. FRANCIS: After throwing away the leaves, they go out and buy something which they call mulch. They haul it home and spread it around in place of the leaves. GOD: And where do they get this mulch?

ST. FRANCIS: They cut down trees and grind them up to make the mulch.
GOD: Enough! I don't want to think about this anymore. St. Catherine, you're in charge of the arts. What movie have you scheduled for us tonight?

ST. CATHERINE: "Dumb and Dumber", Lord. It's a story about....

GOD: Never mind, I think I just heard the whole story from St. Francis.

Penny

Today's BBC prompt is about animals so I want to tell you about my favorite pet as a kid. Penny was a black labrador. We got her as a puppy in 1973. I was 12 years old and was one of the first ones home from school that day so I got to sit in on the naming of her. My dad kept saying if someone doesn't come up with a name soon I'm going to call her Blackie. Mom and I didn't think that was very creative. We agreed on Penny and a middle name as Ante. So Penny Ante it was. Heck we had a Chihuahua and her name was Tina Marie! Penny was the best dog ever! She was friendly and often smiled. People thought she was growling until they looked at her tail and it was wagging to beat the band! Dad also had her count and even do multiplication... for a treat of course. We had an empty lot across the street and often ran with her out there. I remember one snowy winter day running around with her out there and she thought she'd be funny and try and hide by crouching really low. It was like hey Penny you're a black dog trying to hide amongst white snow. My brother slept on a waterbed and Penny wanted to sleep with him, but wasn't sure she liked a bed that moved so much. But being with him must've outweighed her fears as she soon began sleeping on the waterbed with Sam. Soon us kids were getting older I went away to college and would only come home a few times a year and for the summer. Penny would be there to greet me, sometimes she had me against the house with her paws over my shoulders. I'm 5'11" so that was always fun. One May I arrived back home from college with all my stuff in my aunt's 2 door car. I was in the back seat and she couldn't wait for me to get out she had to try and crawl in the back seat with me. I hope someday in the near future to live in a place where I can have pets and hopefully have a dog that was as friendly and fun as Penny was. Here are a few pix of her.



1974 with Kim and our chihuahua

New house - Approx 1978

New house 1978 w/Sam

Treats & Me

This week I made a banana cake and it's nearly gone, but that's one of the treats I can say I made. I used a recipe that is in our Olson Cookbook that my cousin, Tim and I put together last year for the Olson family reunion.

Another treat is Potato Salad. I'm always afraid of making potato salad, because I feel my mom makes the best potato salad. Today we are going over to a friend's to cookout and hangout. So I told her I would make potato salad as I had all the ingredients for it. I just love potato salad so I feel it's a treat.


So that's it for the treats. Sorry I didn't post a blog yesterday. I tried it and it just wasn't coming I guess I find it difficult to talk about myself. Also yesterday I had an interview and was in a time crunch, later when I got back I called a friend and went and hung out with her for a bit. Today Tim and I are both going over to visit and cookout.

A little about me: I am a highly sensitive person. I feel I am a moderate to low on the scale of highly sensitive, but if you'd like to see what I'm talking about you can go to www.hsperson.com It sure helped me understand myself and my boys.

I am creative I studied clothing design my first time around in college. I've always enjoyed crafts, arts, theater, sewing and now am heavily into scrapbooking and papercrafting.

I am the oldest of three I have one brother and one sister. We all moved in 2006. They moved to NW Wisconsin and are closer to our parents.

I LOVE LOVE LOVE Einstein Bagels particularly their Everything Bagel with Garden Veggie cream cheese. The closest one to Toledo is Dearborn MI. My other favorite is frozen custard. In Wisconsin it's really big especially in the Milwaukee area. Kopp's frozen custard is probably the oldest frozen custard joint in that area. You can check out Kopp's here Also, Culver's is another popular frozen custard place. Both serve food, drinks and of course what they're mainly known for frozen custard. Of course the closest Culver's is in Adrian MI which is about 45 mins north of here. Probably a good thing as I really don't need it hehehe. As you can see one of my favorite sites on the right is custardlist.com I used to use that quite often to see if I wanted to go get custard if I liked the flavor of the day.

I moved to Toledo from South Milwaukee WI in July of 2006. Tim and I had been traveling back and forth for nearly a year and I decided I wanted to make a change. So I moved here to Toledo. What a summer drive that was. The Dan Ryan in Chicago was under construction and it took us two hours to get through Chicago! It was about an 8 drive here, supposedly it's a 5.5 to 6 hr. drive. Well it was also July 1, so there was Taste of Chicago, a ballgame, and it was a holiday weekend all that added to the traffic congestion.

I enjoy cooking and baking, but like many I don't mind having a break and having someone else cook or going out to eat!

I have two teenage sons. The oldest turned 18 in December and is still living in the Milwaukee area. My youngest son is 15 and lives here in Toledo. I'm proud of both of them.

Well that's it on me for now here are a few pix.

Grateful

I am so very grateful for the love and support of friends and family. It has been just over a year since Tim was diagnosed with rectal cancer. He's had pre-surgery chemo, surgery, an ostomy put in, post surgery chemo and radiation together for preventative measure. I am grateful for everyone's thoughts and prayers. I am grateful for the anonymous benefactor who sent us a gift card to the grocery store, not once but twice! I am grateful for his dept at work that they chose us for their holiday family and we received some food and great gifts. I am grateful for the doctor's, surgeon, nurses and other health professionals involved in his care. I am grateful that he was able to return to work after all of this. Especially since I had just lost my job three weeks prior to him ending chemo and radiation. Everyone said he looked so good and so healthy, this includes his doctors, nurses and most people who know what he has been through. He has gained weight which isn't good for most of us, but I said you know for what you've been through it's much better to have extra weight then to be thin and frail. I am grateful that Tim has been able to remain positive through this whole journey. It's not to say he hasn't had his days or we haven't had our days, but all in all he's remained positive. I am grateful for Tim and his love for me, for his support of my scrap booking. He realizes that it can be great therapy and a great way to preserve memories for future generations. He went with me to a recent scrapbook convention and one of the guys in the booth said you're either in trouble or just a good guy. I turned to the man and said he's a good guy! I'm grateful to my scrapbook.com friends and to my SIT friends. Without your support and hanging out scrappin or scrap shopping I'd probably be lots less sane.

Summer Menu

My favorite summer menu item is my mom's potato salad. She never thought it was that great, but us kids grew up on it and we of course love it. Next would be almost anything cooked on a charcoal grill. I love the smell and flavor of charcoal grilling. Steaks, hamburgers, brats, hotdogs, chicken...mmmm I'm making myself hungry. Salads are so yummy too one of my favorites is Cobb salad. Pasta salad, taco salad, chicken salad, tuna salad, broccoli-raisin salad, oriental coleslaw, coleslaw and of course the above mentioned potato salad. And what makes this food so good? eating it outside! I love having cookouts, going to picnics and eating at restaurants that have an outdoor patio. The only thing that bars me from the outdoor patio eating here in Ohio is that smoking is not allowed in public buildings any longer. So now all the restaurants, bars, etc are building outdoor patios for smokers. I really do not want to eat with cigarette smoke swirling around. Well guess that's it for now. We are planning on running around so i will try and catch up with the blogs later today/tonight. Hope everyone has a fabulous weekend!

Traffic

I've added a traffic tracking widget to my blog. I haven't received many comments on my blogs so I thought I'd track who is actually visiting my blog. Since I've added this tracking feature I see that I'm the only one checking out my blog. For my blog challenged family and friends you can add comments to each of my postings. At the bottom of each post is my name, time I published the blog and a link that states how many comments have been made on this blog. It's like writing a letter back and forth, but usually somewhat shorter. I also found where I can have emails sent for each new blog I publish so as of this blog some of you will be receiving an email.

OMG have you seen the prices of gas? Here in Toledo it is between $3.95-$3.99 a gal. for regular unleaded. Time to seriously consider light rail, buses, etc. That doesn't help much if you need to go to the store for something.

A friend showed me how some scrapbookers are organizing and storing their stuff. It is with towel bar like things from Ikea. So when we were up in Novi for the Mega Meet a couple of weeks ago we stopped at Ikea picked up a couple of Bygel towel bars. One is about 24" long and the other about 18". You can store your handle punches on them. Also Ikea carries cup like things with a hook on them that you can hang on this bar as well. So you can add other things and have them up off your workspace. I will include a pic if I can find one. Okay I thought I added it, but I do not see it so I will include the link Ikea Bygel series
See how cool that is? Once I get my scrap table cleaned off completely I'll take a pic and post it. It feels so good to get it organized definitely much easier to find things.

Well if you made it this far I guess I can let you know what is going on with us. Today Tim saw the chemotherapy oncologist. Tim had a PET scan last week and today we saw the oncologist and got the results. Apparently the cancer has metastasized to his lungs. When he told us about it we sat there a bit shocked. Then I said is this the node that was on his lung before? He said he'd look over the report from last time and compare with this one. He printed off the one report as he did not want to jump back and forth between screens...too confusing and he didn't want to tell us something incorrect. Last time it was just one node and it apparently wasn't Cancer this time there are several on both lungs and they're hot. So starting next week he will be back on chemotherapy. The oncologist said it will be a lower dose of the one drug that causes the cold neuropathy. Please keep Tim in your thoughts and prayers.

Noah and Kristiana are still going strong after about one month now. A few days ago he asked me to give him $30. I said for what? I want to buy Kristiana something. Not sure if he was thinking one month anniversary gift or what? I said No, I'm sorry I do not have $30 to give you. He could easily make her a card or something with all the craft stuff I've got here. I gave her one of the flip books I made. It was flowery with purple, pink and turquoise. I really have fun making those. I definitely will be doing more and they're perfect for double sided paper you get more bang for your buck. LOL. Kristiana says she likes to scrapbook, boy did she get the right boyfriend hehehe. She had never been to a scrapbook store until Noah and her went with me to pick up my page of the month contest entry. LOL can you believe it??

Me, I'm still looking for a job. There is a new Walgreens going up in Lambertville so today I applied online. I applied for Pharmacy Tech. they train and you're expected to get your degree within 18 months of hire. So we'll see how that goes. I was going to try for Pharmacy Tech 11 yrs ago. There was a waiting list at MATC and I took computer classes while waiting and discovered that I did pretty well learning new software so I switched to Administrative Asst. with of course no waiting list. I've been thinking about going back to school and may check into it. I wish I was thinking ahead more because I could've taken summer school classes and would be that much closer to a pharmacy tech or radiological tech degree/certificate.

Of course I have to end with a few things I've made. Just a couple of cards. Okay for some reason I am unable to load pix, apparently has something to do with the Ikea pic I tried to load earlier.