Dear Mr. Horton

I appreciate your team members' efforts in getting the most bang for my $1.58 buck on today's large coffee...however, there is a point where it gets TOO FULL. Shall I send you the bill for my dry-cleaning? What about a copy of the receipt for getting my car detailed?

Back to Busy-ness

Well whaddya know it's now Tuesday and I'm just getting 'round to updating. So the weekend was busy. I didn't complete all I wanted to, of course...I wonder if I would have accomplished more if I felt better?

Here's a run down:
-Friday night I met with Angela for munchies (Brandi couldn't attend), then onward to Michaels to take advantage of their 'Friday only' coupons. From there, we then went back to her place and I attempted some card crafting for my next BR card class (Dec 1). Creativity failed me, and I only managed to do 2 cards and headed home to the comfort of my bed.
-Saturday I got up early (well, early for a Saturday), and continued with the cards, and ended up with a total of 5 (pics to follow). They're not stellar, but they're completed. From there, I headed to BR to post them, and was extremely disappointed to find that there was only one piece left of one of the pattern papers that I had chosen to make said cards (there had been a ton, of course, the day I took it off though). Based on the 'interest' as of late, there shouldn't be a problem, however. After BR I headed out on a bit of a shopping spree, stopping at 4-5 places and picking up a few items for Christmas (can't elaborate because that would give some of my readership a one-up on some surprises, and I'm just not cool with that). After my shopping spree I came home, crafted up a birthday card for Todd, wrapped his present, finished a small item for my aunt and sister to add to their presents, started Jackson's, then had to leave to go to visit Todd for his birthday. Upon returning home, I went right back at crafting...this time starting my 'homemade' craft for my scrappy girl Xmas swap...and at 3am I finally finished one of them.
-Sunday I worked on the homemade craft all day...they're cute, but the amount of effort I put into them totally doesn't reflect in their outward appearance.
-Back to work, time to make the donuts...yadda....working nights this week, which undoubtably will decrease any possibility of productivity Monday-Friday. I'd totally be happy with putting a hold on Christmas for a few weeks.

And how was YOUR weekend?

Talking Cats

Happy Sunday folks. BUSY weekend - I'll fill you all in about it tomorrow. In the meantime, enjoy the talking cats:

http://www.break.com/index/talking-cats.html

I totally think it's a close look at what goes on when there's no humans home at my place.

Cause and effect

So I think I know what caused Wednesday's "vertigo"...upon waking today and still feeling like poo I also noticed that both of my ears felt 'full' and they were starting to get sore, so an inner ear infection seemed to be the likely cause. Luckily I was able to get in to see my doctor at a moment's notice and he confirmed my suspicions, writing up a prescription for an antibiotic and a nose spray. I'd so prefer to be in my bed, waiting for the drugs to kick in, but there's too much to do...I'm meeting up with Angela & Brandi after work for half-price apps at ESM's, then to Michaels to use our coupon (girl math), then on to Angela's to get crafting. I have a number of things that have to be done before the end of the month so I can get them shipped out with Mummy's. I have to get my next batch of cards done by tomorrow for my next Saturday class, and I have to finish making my own Christmas cards so that I can get a start on them too...None of this is inspiring me though....and I still yearn for the comfort of my bed :S. I still feel like poo...and did I mention there's a full moon tomorrow night so that's just the 'explanation' for the way the rest of my day is going?

If you think you're day is bad, watch this

Seeing as I feel like poo, I thought I would post something that at least makes me feel like 'things could be worse':

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GjxOt2u2BGM

I don't even want to surmise what happened to this girl or where, at whatever time in her life she had a pickle stuck.

The cold chills have started. But I'm not getting sick. I don't have time to be sick.

Blarg.

Damn you, vertigo!

Greetings...no post yesterday because I was flat on my back all day yesterday...doing absolutely nothing other than sleep. It was a sick day, and I'm reconsidering my decision to come to work today, too, as the morning progresses. I simply cannot be sick...I do not have time...this weekend alone I have a list of things as long as my arm that need to be done - by the end of the weekend. Yesterday morning I woke up through the early morning hours (4:30am) and the bed was spinning...when my alarm went off my bed was still spinning...so I got up, peed, walked sideways back to bed, and attempted to get back to sleep, and then when Chris' alarm went off got back up, walked sideways to the phone to call in sick, and then went back to bed. I slept on and off all day; the dizziness finally subsided mid-afternoon, but I still felt blah. The dizziness has been replaced by a full-throttle headache, my whole body aches...and I'm beginning to wish for my bed......But I'm not sick. I can't be sick. I do not have time to be sick.

I don't feel like coming up with creative paragraphs of prose; here's some point-form:

-Christmas is 33 more sleeps away. Holy crap. Can we just put a hold on it for a few weeks so I can get stuff done??
-If Dad was still with us, he and Mom would be celebrating 49 years today.
-the coffee was much better this morning; I ground it a lot finer.
-my ears are doing much better now with the gold sleepers in...virtually infection-free, I'm thinking.
-my envelopes arrived for my Christmas cards. Too bad I'm not finished the cards yet.
-I think my car 'heard' me when I was considering a swap out for a new model...the auto-pop button for my trunk no longer works.
-my baby brother turns 33 on Saturday. That makes me even closer to 36. Boo on that. Happy (early) Birthday Toddles.
-Do people who laugh hard enough to snort actually snort on purpose or is it involuntary?
-I have to do a 'homemade craft' for my scrappy pals, as well as *bake* for them as well, with a craft/bake swap party planned for Dec 16. Please send me all of your easy, peasy dessert recipes...keep in mind I do not own a blender, a mixer, or a food processor. I do however, own a few wooden spoons and a whisk. As for the craft thing, the girls are going to have to look at my grade-school-like Christmas craft and pretend to love it.

Slight relief

I took the earrings out completely.

I dislike pain.

Guess I'll try the 10K gold earrings again...way back in the day, that's all I could wear anyway.

Running on fumes.....

Well I'm reciting the Serenity Prayer today to get me through...I'm soooooo tired......Chris' bladder called him at 3:30 am last night...and I guess the cats figured it was 'morning' with the stir...so commenced their play hour...from 3:30 to 4:30 am. Just as I started to drift back to sleep they took the horseplay into the bedroom and started 'fighting' on top of me. I was sooo unimpressed. Yeah. So. Rough start this morning. To add to it, I eff'd up the coffee this morning...toooo weak. Our new beans are a lighter roast and I didn't grind them enough....course I didn't see the difference until I went to make my coffee and saw how quickly she changed color when I poured the cream. Gonna be a long day.

So I've been neglecting a 'real post' it seems...not intentional, but so busy lately! Lemme see if I can backtrack a bit...
-after about a week-long period of utter mental turmoil, I've decided to buy my own car out when the lease finishes up in February. The tempation to swap it with a brand new car was very very very very tempting...and I almost signed on the dotted line, but my primary goal was lowered monthly payments, and with the buy-out stretched out over a 5 year term, it works out to be $250/mo, and a new car payment just can't get as low as that *(please please don't do the math...I KNOW I paid more than I should...I KNOW I shouldn't have leased. I've learned...). The intent is to put new tires on it, eventually get the bumper fixed, drive it thru the winter (it has a starter on it, after all!), and then try to sell it for profit as the summer approaches, and then go in with a bit of a down-payment for a new car purchase. Wish me luck.
-I did have my card class on Saturday. Thanks to Theresa, the one sole sign up. It was great meeting a new 'scrapper' though...and I hope she comes back for future classes! Heather takes the reigns for this coming Saturday, and then I have one more card class for the following Saturday. Pics to come (when I actually get the cards done).
-I got a meager start on my Christmas shopping...emphasis on the 'meager'. I also have 4 projects to finish before the end of the month because they're the gifts that need to be mailed out. When I say 'projects to finish' I also mean 'projects to start and finish'... Belinda, Fred & Kaitlyn are coming to PEI for Christmas, so at least I can put their gifts on the back burner til the other 4 are completed. Guess what I'll be doing this weekend??
-I'm pretty sure I made a new hole where my earring once was on my right ear yesterday....I had only had my earrings out a few days...could I really have started to 'grow over' the hole that quickly?? Seriously. It took some jamming in for sure, and now it huuuuurts so bad :(. I did get the hoop in yesterday but when I went to turn it, well,...it was stuck. Ewwie-oooow.

Ha ha Ho ho

http://www.worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=58692

Christmas trainees in Australia are being told that the "ho, ho, ho" phrase could frighten children and possibly be derogatory to women. They want to change it to "ha, ha, ha".

Beyond laughable...downright sad, if you ask me. I guess we're just waiting for the dwarfs' chant from "Snow White" to change too?

Cards

Cards...cards...cards....I'll be teaching these cards at BR tomorrow...for anyone interested. They are also posted at the store if you want a closer look. If you do go you can also see my upcoming class page scheduled for next Thursday night, a 2-page LO using new "My Minds Eye" papers...very girlie. Here's a 'close-up' view of the 5 Christmas cards for tomorrow:

Happy Birthday Dad

You would have been 71 years old today.

Even though a few years have passed not a day goes by that I don't think of you, Dad. I miss you so very much.

Happy Birthday. I'll love you forever.

And the rain, how it fell, and the winds, how they did blow...

Another weekend has come and gone...lest we forget those men who fought for our freedom, those who have given up their lives for us, and those who are still fighting today.

Full weekend; here's the highlights:

-Friday night Chris took me out to Swiss Chalet for supper after work, and then I came home and crafted up 5 cards to do for my card class next Saturday. They're cute, I guess. I don't know if anyone will sign up...Lisa had nobody this week. Sooo trying not to take it personally!
-Saturday Chris & I went for a breakfast bagel & coffee at Timothy's, and then headed to test-drive some 'cheaper' cars. With my lease on the 'Rolla coming to a close in February, I'm looking for other options...cheaper options. We drove a Hyundai Accent, a Kia Rio5 (exact same car), and ended with a VW City Golf. Hands down, the Golf tops the day. By the time we finished up at VW, it was too late to get to other dealerships. I hope to have something decided upon soon, though....my tires are in baaaaad shape, and if the weather gets colder I'm going to find myself in the ditch. I reaaaaalllly loved the Golf though....
-Saturday night another 'Nor Easter' started its way through, and it was downright nasty outside, so we stayed in, watching tv and snuggling on the couch.
-Sunday was a stay-in day...the storm continued all day....really high winds and heavy rain (had it been snow, it'd been quite the storm).
-Today I joined the scrap girlies for a day of scrapping at the Brackley Commons. It was a great little spot for us to gather for some crafting. I finished up a 2-page layout with new My Minds Eye papers for my next class attempt, and then did some Christmas cards. The cards were very basic, but as they were very basic, I got quite a few done.

Monkey Day.

G.D. Monkey Day.

Right now I'm in a public environment which limits what I can do, but inside I'm screaming my effing head off.

You spin me right round...

Some days I want to bang my head into my desk as hard as I possibly can. Today is one of those days. So, I felt a little retail therapy was needed. On my lunch break I went to Cotton Ginny and lucked out - buying a new winter jacket with a scarf and mittens to go with it, and a sweater, and all were on sale (girl math rocks once more). The jacket was 40% off, the scarf/mittens were 15% off, and the sweater was 20% off an already marked-down price. All together, the bill came to about $112. Pretty good for what I got, I think. And it certainly made me feel better. From there, I then went to the Bulk Barn and purchased some gummy bears, chocolate covered almonds and some Oriental rice cracker mix and a little bit of all of them has been my 'lunch'. AGAIN my scrap class has been cancelled for another night....finally they decided to change the night, and on the 20th the classes will be Tuesday instead of Thursday. I was inches away from just calling the whole thing off, but Lisa talked me into pulling through til the holidays are over. Maybe with the new night things might improve...maybe once the holidays are over interest will come back. I still have to try to create some smashing cards to put up for my Saturday class...here's hoping some inspiration comes to me..... Off to do laundry. Night off from class doesn't mean night off from 'home' work, unfortunately. Happy Thursday!

No hugs for you!

Detention for hugging: ...administrators in the school east of St. Louis were following policy in the student handbook. It states: “Displays of affection should not occur on the school campus at any time. It is in poor taste, reflects poor judgment, and brings discredit to the school and to the persons involved.”

Full story: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/21661718/?GT1=10547

Guess this school hasn't heard the slogan, "hugs not drugs"....completely ridiculous!

Happy Birthday Lana!!

Today is Lana's birthday. Happy birthday 'ol girl. I won't make jokes about age, because I'm right there behind her. This is a picture from Sunday's birthday supper/dessert.

Stormy weekend

So another weekend is behind us. Friday night after work I met with Ang & Brandi, and we dined on half-price apps at East Side Marios, before moving on to our Stamp Club night. It was a great time, per usual, and we made 4 lovely Christmas cards. From there, I headed on to BobbiJo's place for a nightcap and some laughs with some co-workers. It was a hoot!! Thanks ladies, I truly needed that!

Saturday I had to work at BR, and was hoping to have some time to 'create' but had to price stock instead. Oh how I *love*the grunt work. It truly makes the minimum wage worth it. I was also very disappointed to see that my papers that I had been saving for a class were put out, and some sold, so therefore I couldn't use them for the class (it was the class that ended up being cancelled for no sign-ups, but, because so many said they 'liked' the page but couldn't make it that night, I thought I'd try it again. The heck with busting my patoot off for hours to post a new page that might not go either). So I ended up taking the backing paper off of the sample, and replacing it with another paper that I had 'reserved' for yet another (yet to be) page. Arrrgh!

Saturday night I dined on a frozen dinner, and Chris on oven fries. We stayed in for the evening, awaiting the pending storm. We rented two movies to help pass the time....Transformers (I slept through the entire show, and meant to), and The Zodiac (looooong, boring movie....I fell asleep before it ended, but according to Chris I didn't miss much). If anything, I guess I got caught up on some much needed rest :).

We survived Noel - and thankfully, there were no reported injuries, and it wasn't as bad, overall, as it could have been. The wind gusts were pretty scary though - and Chris & I were sure to park our cars inbetween our house and George's rather than under the pretty tree we normally park under. Some of the gusts shook the house...and one even shook the bed (and I was in bed alone...heh). We did lose power in the morning hours of Sunday, and once it was back on, it kept flickering for a while after, which enabled the decision to leave the ominous laundry pile alone. I didn't venture outside until about 3:30pm, but Chris took off earlier in the day to survey the damage. The picture in this post is one of the ones he shot.

Sunday night, I took Lana out to Cedars for her birthday schawarma - and like always, they didn't disappoint. We dined, we laughed, we ate, and we ate some more, even ending with tea and a cheesecake dessert. It was a lovely time. You're a great date, Lana *muah*.

Trying to stay sane in an insane world

Guess I'm due an update, especially after the woe-is-me post that I did last.

Halloween night, Steve & Olivia joined us at the house and the 4 of us got suited up in our outfits to scare the local kids in the neighborhood. Chris had rigged up a black curtain on the deck, and Steve & Olivia hid behind that. Their costumes were great...decked out all in black, and their full head/face masks were skeletons with a long black wig. Chris put on his coveralls, gloves and "Candy's" wig, but backwards, so you couldn't see his face. I layered up with a blanket over my shoulders, scarf over my face, sunglasses and the big pimp wig. The idea was for me & Chris to remain as still as possible, to have people question if we were real or 'stuffed', and S&O were to pop up from behind the curtain once they were concentrating on the task of figuring out our status. Chris would also follow them, silently, and sometimes Steve would chase after them. It worked quite well...with several squeals, some even cried, and I'm pretty sure we made one pee himself...the trail on the deck being evidence of something 'liquid'! We're already scheming for next year's scare. I'll post pics as soon as I get them off my camera, so read back later to see some. (Update: et voila!)
So it's November. It totally snuck up on me. Tonight, I've got my stamp craft thing, followed by wine at Bobbi Jo's, working tomorrow at BR (if the compelling urge to quit doesn't overtake me), and then Sunday night I am taking Lana out for her birthday schawarma (honey I really didn't forget about you...the calendar screwed me over...November came too quickly and I'm totally discomboobulated). A real treat to look forward to this weekend.......clocks go behind an hour...one more glorious hour to sleep. Yeehaw! We're also on the path of Hurricane Noel...it's predicted to be downgraded to a storm by the time we get it...but it ought to be a crappy day regardless. My knee is throbbing like crazy due to the pending moisture. Have a safe weekend, everyone.