Snew

It snewed and snewed, and when it could snew no more, it snewed some more!

Yippee! We got another 10 inches of snow! Let me see. 18+10 = 28 INCHES OF SNOW! In just the last couple days! Horrible!

The flakes coming down were SO big this morning, I thought they were gonna put my eye out!

Greg ran out with Joe to help plow snow. I probably won't see him until late tonight as it is STILL coming down.

In other news, Greg got a second gallon of milk down at Little Town Market that was soured before the "sell-by-date"; so I called a very nice woman at the FDA to lodge a complaint. Camille was very nice and took my information. We chatted on the phone for a while like old friends. She was going to call the store, and the distributor-Western Family. Ugh. Twice in the last 2 days, I have drunk sour milk. I can't scrape that taste off my tongue with a bristle brush. I get nauseated even thinking about it.

Last night, while sleeping on his left side, he got a Wedgie --

We got another 6 inches of snow today. In addition to the 9 inches we got on Sunday and the 3 inches we got Sunday morning, that is a grand total of 18 inches.

I have been dreaming of the warmth of a desert island where all I wear is a tan.

So if the sun will come out to melt the ice & snow...then I will be happy.

Eddie Fisher & Friends

Our fat little girl fish got green slimy algae in her mouth and throughout her gills, so when I went out to feed them this morning, I was shocked to find that even though she normally was at the bottom of the tank, she was now at the very top.

So after returning from A-town to pick up lattes & milk...Greg assisted me in helping clean out the fish tank. Which was NOT a fun thing to do today. We had gotten another 9 inches of snow last night and as we cleaned out the tank, Joe stopped by to plow our driveway. He came up on the deck to see the snails that I have in the tank. There are now over 10 snails overall.

Greg thoroughly cleaned all the green gunk from our fish, then returned them all to the clean, fresh tank. Hopefully this will last for a while. Usually, the fish can last the winter before I clean them out in the spring, but this winter has been worse and more snow is on the way. Tonight before going to bed, we looked outside to find we had another 3 inches of snow. The forecast is for more snow every day through Friday. How depressing. That damned Groundhog must have been wrong.

And all I see in the news is more info about how a MAJOR snowstorm is about to dump on the East. For gosh sakes' - what the heck? Didn't we just get a major snowstorm and we don't get the national news coverage like they do. Put on your big boy panties, East Coast and learn to live with winter!

Carabiner Freebie

These came to me out of the blue the other day. I thought...how unusual. So after much design and thought, I bring you CARABINERS. (not for climbing)

These will come in very hand with all those Mt. Everest photos! LOL.

You can get them HERE. Have lots of fun with them.

Yakking

Boring day. Cloudy...cold.

<---- Isn't this pretty?

*No, Kelsey. I was neither drunk nor drugged when I made this. I am designing some Alphas and this will be the basis on which they are made. Kinda colorful and spring-like.

Greg ran around with Joe today (it seems to be a "guy" thing to have to run around with a buddy! They ran down to Bayview where Isabelle got to play with another dog...and Joe had to give a heavy equipment work bid for some people who live down there. Greg stopped in Spirit Lake to pick up the parts to repair the dryer as the vent had become dislodged and was spewing dryer fuzz everywhere in the laundry room.

While they were gone, I moved the washer & dryer out, and cleaned the vent along with everything around the dryer. Then...vacuumed and wiped/scrubbed everything down. What a mess. But it is cleaner than clean now! When he returned home from getting the dryer parts, Greg then repaired the dryer vent that had become smashed and was exhausting all the mess into the room. Now I can sleep at night without being afraid that it would catch on fire. What a load of worry off my mind.

The dryer is already running quieter and hopefully the clothes will dryer much more quickly.

We watched CSI NY and Criminal Minds tonight.

Greg was feeling a little bit better. He has not taken a pain pill for his back lately. But he did have difficulty getting to sleep last night and kept me awake until 3AM with his chatter.

Spr-ing Flowers Freebie

It was so exciting to see how these turned out.

You can see how I used some of the flowers in my blog header.

The Spr-ing Flowers can be picked up HERE. Thank you for visiting my blog. Have fun with them and feel free to drop me an email which can be found in the Terms Of Use if you use them in a layout. I would love to see how my freebies are used.

With doing these simple projects, I am easily able to understand how designers push actual scrapping Layouts to the side. You can get carried away with doing just one thing...and forget about everything else.

So I have been trying to peek in at NDISB to read the Forums and visit the newly re-designed Gallery. It is so great to see this site blossom.

Hope your spring looks better than mine. The clouds are dark and dreary here; and it looks like more snow is on the way.

Wons

Wons is Snow backwards.

Which is what is going on right now. About 6 inches fell today and then the rain came. And then the melting. This was the heaviest snow I have ever seen. The winds are starting to blow and it is beastly cold out right now.

I remember watching a snow movie that was incredibly interesting...a suspense thriller called Smilla's Sense of Snow starring Julia Ormond, dishy Gabriel Byrne (he was excellent in The Usual Suspects) and Richard Harris even guest stars. If you ever get the chance to rent this...please do. It is a great movie.

Went into town today and got my nails done. It is so uber convenient to find a nail place "Happy Nails" that is here instead of way over in Spoky-Jo. Then we nipped over to the Wally-World and picked up some groceries.

We saw some sweetly wonderful Easter dresses for babies, that I almost bought because they were only $8.96. But Greg looked at me as if I was out of my ever-living mind. Yeah. We have no grandkids. And the dress would have hung in the closet 4-ever...but it was just SO devine!

Afterwards, we stopped at Wendy's for cheeseburgers for Isabelle (the dog) and then took Greg to Physical Therapy. I am happy to let everyone know that he is feeling much better. He has actually made it through THREE DAYS without pain meds! Whoopie! Celebrate! So the shot did help. He has another shot in his L6 disc on March 29. Then hopefully will return to work on April 2? It is so nice to see him without physical pain. A friend of ours stopped by the other day that has not seen him since November. She said that she could see the changes wrought in his face by being in pain all the time. He is greyer, with more age lines. The pain has settled into his whole demeanour. It is difficult to comprehend that pain takes over your whole psyche.

While I live with him everyday and don't notice the daily changes, it has made me so happy that I have definitely seen the evidence that he is walking better, sitting better, and is in a better frame of mind.

So when we came home, I worked a little bit on a new freebie I have been thinking about. It will be fun to do. I think I will give another freebie away on Wednesday.

By the way...my Wire Mesh Heart freebie was mentioned on the "Scrapping With Ikea Goddess" blogspot. Kinda made me feel all gushy in the heart. So sweet.

Watched CSI Miami with the hubby tonight after I had done 1 hour on the elliptical. Boy, am I going to be in great bikini shape this summer.

I am terribly tired and will be going to bed soon.

Wire Mesh Heart Freebie

Beautiful and delicate- these wire mesh hearts were so fun to make.

You can pick them up free here. Gold Mesh Hearts

Spam

The Spam in my email has risen exponentially. Each day adds more that I need to dispose of into the trash. It started just after the first of February.

It has been a boring few days here since Valentine's day; I finished up designing some more freebies that I will donate and yesterday started on some beautiful wire freebies.

Greg has been in an extensive amount of pain since his last injection. This is entirely normal, but should even out after today. Hopefully he will find that his back is doing better.

The new Roomba worked its little wheels off yesterday. It is SO entertaining to just stand there and watch the little robot run around the floor. He is pretty quiet.

When I talked to my daughter on the day after her birthday, she told me that her computer had crashed on her birthday. How horrible. Of all days to die...she will not be able to scrap, has lost many pictures, and is unable to blog. So until she gets it working again, I will just have to call her. With her computer on the fritz, we are unable to communicate electronically. No MSN Messenger, No E-mail, No Blog, No Video-Cam. No Hello.We are stuck with phone or letter. Just like in the vintage days before the advent of computers.

Perhaps it is the depressing time of February, post Valentine's day, post the Amazing Digi Scrapping Race, post Christmas...that I find I am in a rut of digital scrapping. Yesterday was warm and the sun was shining, but there was still no inspiration.

Thank you Jilly, for the card. I got it in the mail the other day. It really cheered me up. You are amazing for a friend I have never met, either! Hope you had a wonderful Valentine's day, too.

Valentine's Day

So Greg got a card & a latte for me when he ran into town this morning. Curt (barista) surprised him with a belated Christmas present for me...a black cooking apron with "don't MAKE me poison your dinner" on it. So Cute. Curt is a sweet guy.

Then we went into town so Greg could have another spinal injection into his L5 disc. We stopped on the way to drop off chocolates to the girls at the chiropractor's office; and after we stopped to pick up at latte in CDA and dropped off more chocolates to the girl at our favorite stand there. Kirsten was thrilled; and kept thanking us for the gift. I showed her our family picture pointing Kelsey out to her and explained that she was my Valentine's gift 22 years ago. Kirsten told me that I was "pretty" in the picture and she kept repeating it. "You're so pretty".

We then made a detour to the Safeway grocery store and picked up a huge pizza for $6.99; with a free litre of pop; and a quick stop at the Pastry & More Bakery to pick up Valentine heart cookies and cakes. (see pic). Yummy. Mine had raspberry in it; and Greg picked up one with lemon in it.

When we returned home, I did 1 1/2 hours on my elliptical and then we ate our pizza by candlelight while holding hands. What could be more romantic?

Oh. By the way. I got my Roomba. No More Vacuuming For Me!

It started snowing tonight and we have more than 1 inch already. And I am ALREADY sick and tired of hearing about poor, poor upstate New York getting over 100 inches. The first year we moved to Idaho...we got over 210 inches of snow. Yes. Two One Zero. TWO HUNDRED AND TEN INCHES OF SNOW! So quit your fucking whining already. I have NO sympathy for you at all.

I didn't get to talk to my baby today as we were at the doctor's office for over 2 hours. And got home late. I'm sorry baby. I will try to call you tomorrow.

designing on the edge & HAPPY BIRTHDAY BABY

As I am relatively lazy and don't have the design "drive" to compete with so many talented digi-designers out there...plus I don't like to spread the word-I am not into "selling"; though it is fun to create some different things.

So for fun and not profit at this time, I have designed some things. The name I came up with can be traced back to TaniaJPS - she told me I create "edgy" LOs; thus...designing on the edge.

My very first FREEBIE is in celebration of February 14; Valentine's Day. That day of the year that men dread alongside birthdays and Christmas.

These distinctive puffy hearts have a subtle pattern on them. They come in 9 different bright colors.
You can download them free here...have a heart

Today is the last day that my baby spent at 21 years old. Tomorrow, Valentine's Day, she will turn 22. Now...you have to remember...I was ONLY 4 years old when I had her! ROFL.

She is in the UK right now as her husband is stationed in the US AirForce. So I can't just nip over there to take her out to lunch. But she did get 2 boxes from us; and I gave her digi-gift certificates; plus $. Money is always good~

I LOVE YOU KELSEY. HOPE YOUR BIRTHDAY IS THE BEST YET.

Bert & the Bracelet

Bert (who is my father-in-law's girlfriend) has long out-paced my deceased mother-in-law in the MIL sweepstakes.

In the mail today, I received a absolutely beautiful bracelet from her. It is even in silver; which is my favorite metal. This is not the greatest picture, but you get the idea. Bert did not have to do this for me, but she is an absolute wonderful doll! I really enjoy visiting with her, and she makes an effort to communicate with us even though Greg's dad does not. She acts like a normal person instead of the prissy-ass stuck-up witch that Greg's mother was. I hate to speak ill of the dead; but there is not ONE pleasant moment that I remember spending with Mary. She hated her life, and she made sure that everyone else's life was ruined while she was with them.

Even though she has to go to a neighbor's home to log onto a computer and get her e-mail, Bert manages to keep in contact with us at least twice a month. She likes to call and even sent a birthday box and check to Kelsey. She keeps Marv in line...which is pretty difficult. I have NO clue where Greg got to be so easy-going...because the rest of his family is an uptight freaky mess. His dad has diabetes yet eats candy by the pound...and Greg's brother has already had 2 nervous breakdowns.

So I am dearly thankful for this woman. She is the mother in law that I deserved. The MIL that I should have had in the first place. The caring, sweet, wonderful woman that finds time for a family that is not even hers. She has a permanent place in my heart.

Guest Designer

Designing on the Edge is a guest designer at www.NDISB.com; as I do not wish to enter the retail sales game at this time, I am merely doing it for fun; not profit.

My pins are being given away as a promo this month.

And I am working on something fun next. I really don't think it has been done before, so I won't give you any hints at all.

It is so difficult to scrap and design at the same time. No extra time at all.

But I have ideas floating around in my head. And it will be fun to try to get them down.

Called the baby so that I could talk to her while she was still 21 years old...Her birthday is on VALENTINE'S DAY! She is getting so old that I forget what it was like holding her in my arms when she only weighed 6 pounds. While we had her on the long-distance phone call; I let her daddy talk to her, also. They yakked for quite a while.

After the phone call, I decided to exercise on the elliptical upstairs in the loft for a while. And while I was sweating, I looked out the front windows and saw...MOOSE!

Racing down the stairs, I yelled for Greg to look; and Isabelle came to the sliding glass doors to peer out with us. The moose ambled through the woods, then took her sweet time to find the salt lick. She stayed out there for over 2 hours. What a great place we live in.

Grandma Nordman

Yeah. A real german name. She died when I was just a baby. But my mother has a few pictures of my maternal grandmother holding me.

Within her momentos are some advertisements wherein she "painted" over top of them. I tried to play around with some pictures today to duplicate some of her efforts. When I was a child, I used to look at her drawings and squint. They were very beautiful. So this flower is dedicated to my Gran Nordman.

The temperature was a balmy 40 degrees here today. This is that messy time of year where everything is muddy, melting, and dirty. We ran Greg into his physical therapy today, then did a little shopping for Valentine's Day Presents for a certain someone. Hope they get to the UK in time for the 14th...

Tonight is an exciting night of television watching; Criminal Minds followed by CSI-NY!

A Chip Off The Old Block

I hope my baby grows up to be just like me!

Pinned to the Wall

I worked on some more pins today. Then had to zip them and send them.
Ugh. Over 3 hours later, I finally had them all sent.
DSL will be here in the Spring. When does Spring start?

My baby has always been very artistic. I think that she is one of those that is controlled by the right brain. Theories postulate that this side is the dominant side.
My brain is controlled by the left side...logical, precise, analytical and controlled. Well maybe not TOO controlled.

If the rodent did not see his shadow the other day and we are in for an early spring, there was no evidence of that here today. Hopefully the sun will shine tomorrow. I have not seen a weather forecast for here, I refuse to acknowledge the winter weather anymore~

I do believe that the elliptical is helping. The inches are finally coming off in a more noticeable way. Since I have jumped back into 1 hour or more per day...it is getting easier to do longer periods of time. I say...well, I have done 30 minutes, I can go 45. Then I say...I'm at 45, I might as well go for 60.

The dog threw up in the living room today. She must have had a bad tummy. She only went outside twice and hung around on her bed the balance of the afternoon. Have to watch to make sure she is better tomorrow.

Too Much Time On My Hands...Styx

Well, after finishing this WONDERFUL layout about my beautiful baby...doesn't she have the most beautiful eyes...I had some excess time on my hands. And since I just adored the pins that Cindy Simon created, I thought I could try my hand at them.

And since my BABY'S BIRTHDAY is on VALENTINE'S DAY, I am making Love oriented pins.

This is a sample.

Then I asked somebody if she would like to give a whole bunch away for FREE in a promo for Valentine's Day. She agreed; and I will give more info as I find out.. I'm just SO dimwitted about all this digi-designing stuff. So I really DON'T want to be a designer, but it was fun to create these beautiful things.

I have gotten back up to 1 hour on the elliptial and I have finished with the kidney infection medication. Kelsey reminded me on a phone call the other day that the last time I had a kidney infection was while we were living in Denver. Over 15 years ago. The doctor misdiagnosed it as flu; and I was subsequently admitted to the hospital. Stayed there for 3 days while I had IVs packed full of antibiotics. I was so dehydrated and my kidneys had started to shut down. The emergency room doctor said that if I had waited 1 more hour, I probably would have been dead. There was one nurse that I was reminded of...she was probably another of those D students...she came into my room in the middle of the night, turned on the bright light above my bed, and proceeded to tell me she was there to inject more medication & pain killer into my IV. What? You wake an invalid up at 3AM to tell them this? Instead of doing it S.L.O.W.L.Y. like the other nurses; she just jammed the whole thing in there at once. I screamed in pain and then whimpered like a baby bunny the rest of the night. It had felt like my veins were being wrenched wide open and filled with liquid molten metal. I can only hope that she is lying in a gutter, begging for handouts. What goes around, comes around.

Shop Groupies

My computer has been being the stupidest poopy head for the last 2 days. It’s been overcast here. And my dumb Satellite internet is the slowest ever. I think even the dial-up was faster than what I have been experiencing.
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Its about 5-10 minutes for a page to load. Forget about downloads. I started ONE little download last night before bed. It still wasn’t finished this morning!

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The kids called TWICE today. Kelsey called once to let us know that they were OK as I had sent her an email. She hadn't blogged since Sunday and I had gotten no email from her. Then Matt called to chew the bull. It is so very nice to have a son-in-law that I am able to talk with. He doesn't stutter as if he is scared of me, he's not afraid to talk about "taboo" subjects, and he honestly has a CONVERSATION. He gives and receives input.

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I know. This is pretty pathetic. Can't go for 5 days without talking to them.

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It is SO very heartwarming that Greg has a Shop Group now. Joe brought a recliner. (kinda dumb looking, but hey! it's Greg's shop-he can do what he likes) and most of the guys stop by after work every night. Joe is our landscaper/excavator, Curt from the Latte stand, and Bruce the 5th grade teacher. What a diverse bunch of guys! They shoot the bull, work on trucks, and do whatever it is that guys do when they get together as buddies.

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Bruce kept driving by our place to and from work, he saw all the Ford oriented vehicles around the shop, so he just stopped one day. He got along with Greg and now he has been hanging around for about a year now. His wife Joanie is just a wonderful woman. Great friends. How very odd the whole world is when it comes to people & relationships.

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Greg went to his physical therapy/masseuse at 5:00 tonight. It was pretty late. He had re-arranged his whole schedule today as he was to look at a 1/2 cab Bronco in Deer Park, WA. But the old guy that was selling it called to tell Greg that he had just sold it to the neighbor even though he told Greg to come get it today. So I teased the hubby about missing the "deal of the century". Ya know. Like the little old lady that only drove the car to church and back, then ends up selling this car for $100 after her husband dies. The automotive urban myth.

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Well, Greg ended up leaving the dog at home. Boy, was she pissed off. Poor little thing. I brought her in the house after Greg came up from the shop; and she had a pig ear to eat. When she had finished snacking, she ran to the door-whining, thinking that daddy would be waiting for her.

So I let her out,

and she looked for his truck with this sad face,

and I told her "daddy left".

Isabelle was Devastated.

The look on her face was so tragic it was comical~

She then trotted down to the shop and I had to let her in about 15 minutes later. The poor dog realized that she had been abandoned.

Trudging up the stairs, you could just see the dejection in her body.

When Greg returned home, she even refused to come greet him until I cajoled her.

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Today, I finished my last LayOut for the Amazing Digi Scrapping Race at Natural Designs in Scrapbooking. http://www.ndisb.com I just don't know what I will have to look forward to in the future now.

Isn't Groundhog Just Another Name for Squirrel?

Happy G-Hog day!

Please rent the movie by the same name and watch it. Bill Murray is hilarious.

There is no way on earth that I will be able to tolerate 6 more weeks of winter. So I have put a shadow on the side of this video!

Isn't that the stupidest thing? Isn't it if he sees his shadow there are 6 more weeks of winter? That would mean that the sun would be shining. So WHY more winter? I have never understood that.