And the boxes are rolling in!

Christmas time is when I get to know my UPS, FedEx, DHL, and USPS carriers. After a few years  now I guess it's getting to know them better. They all laugh at the packages coming in and wait until a few days before Christmas to bid Christmas cheer. One woman said 'Oh, I'll see you again,' she knew I'd be getting more packages after I said 'in case I don't see you before Christmas'. Today especially had some great treats for my daughter and myself.  I splurged on goodies as my present to me and got some terrific craft tools and paints and waxes and on and on ... that I'd been coveting for so long! I can't wait to get them out of the box. Best of all the same box contains my dd's big presents. Her birthday is 8 days before Christmas, which leaves her a little short shrifted if I'm not careful. This year she will get one big gift for her birthday, with another piece added at Christmas. She wanted them so bad but I told her they weren't necessary and very costly for us. So yes, I told a little white lie. As parents, don't we all for these kinds of things?

To Albuquerque we will go ...

Well, another long day that ends with a long night. Lots of phone calls but I couldn't see Ayiana. She has some problems again today. I am doing all I can reasonably to have her out of that RTC ASAP!

On the bright side, whenever I come up here I get to go to Whole Foods. I finally found the purse I've wanted for ages. It wasn't expensive, it's just right in size and I love the design. What more can I ask for. I also found lots of good food! I had a gourmet meal consisting of a basil, tomato, and tofu salad for a beginning course, followed by a humongo piece of artichoke, black olive, and spinach pizza (to die for!) and as a final course, a large square of Tiramisu, of which there is half in the fridge for tomorrow.

Our meeting is not until 1:00 so I will have plenty of time for iced coffee and tiramisu perhaps? LOL, no I got my favorite bagel which I was there also.

I'm getting tired and I'd like to finish a few more layouts while I am awake. Thanks for reading my no news post.

An Odd Name but Cool Effect

This photo of my 10yo dd was put through a filter called "lomography". (Dumpr) At first I wasn't sure I liked it, but I saw the potential after staring at it for a while. That's my philosophy, btw, if you don't get it, stare at it a while. And here is the original photo for comparison. I love finding tools like this available freely on the internet. They do have service with an annual fee with some other options, but the free ones are good for now. I want to try out all of them first. Here is another take on the same photo. They are loading out of order but you get the idea. This is the Rubik's cube option. So easy and a lot of fun. I can imagine all kind of possibilities...

And back to Truth or Consequences ... the game show blah blah

After three more visits before leaving the hotel room this morning, Ayiana and I had a very good Family Session then had a couple hour pass for fun. Time has never flown that fast.[img]http://e.deviantart.com/emoticons/h/highfive.gif[/img] We ended up eating our Subway's in the lobby before I left. When I got home I realized I had several of the items she had wanted, including her origami paper. Nothing like anticipation to make something more exquisite once received! What a sweety she is. Time for Mom to head to the bedroom. I am very tired but want to get things done. Oh well, the vote definitely goes to tired tonight. [img]http://img52.exs.cx/img52/8605/h9yboredom.gif[/img] Tomorrow will bring excitement, I'm sure ...

I Believe!

I got a call in the middle of the day Wednesday. It was Ayiana telling me she was getting a 12 hour pass on Easter Sunday to come home for part of the day. I was elated and worried all at once. No time to prepare. Driving 6 or 8 hours in one day??? No can do. Who can help? Ayiana home! Even for a visit! No time to prepare. So today when I called tx she said we need more time to prepare. Aha! Yes, I agreed. Maybe 2 weeks ahead, yes. And Easter egg hunt may disrupt pass time, I think on Saturday, but who knows til Saturday. It's the nature of the business. I know. It's my business, too. Ayiana is doing very well. She has no problem with redirection. New female for her to make friends. No phone calls, her choice. It will work itself out. I Believe. :) I Believe. :)

Home again, home again, jiggety jog ...

I am in such a state I don't know a word for it. I know I am physically and mentally exhausted. The drive home wasn't as bad as usual. Ayiana and I had a wonderful time together on Saturday. She even made oatmeal and toast for dinner for us, and it was very good! She is such a darling. She fell asleep today while we were meeting. lol with her coat over her face. Got a new picture too. I'll get it posted soon. Soon as I find my camera. I'm trying to catch up on emails. I'm about 3 days behind so I'm not sure I'll make it completely today. I am excited to announce that I have been invited to, and accepted joining Nicecrane ~ a Designer on Digitalscrapbookpages.com ~ his Creative Team. I can't wait to work with his exceptional, original products. Be sure to check out my Crafts blog to see what has been posted recently. I should have some layouts using products by Nicecrane up this week. If you want to see some of his products now, here is a link: Nicecrane Designs. A few weeks ago, no CT, now 3 CT. I'm full. lol Off to ....

Pesto and Oscar

After crawling home from Socorro with my car on my back this evening, I don't think I'll be cleaning the windows tomorrow. Okay, yeah, I'm kidding about the crawling with the car on my back, but that's how I feel tonight. I felt like I'd never get home. The highway kept getting longer. I looked around thinking, 'I don't remember seeing this before'. Other than the long drive home, it was a fantabulous weekend. Ayiana and I went to the grocery store then to my hotel for a pass. We ate chips and a new bean/cheese dip that was yummy, then quiche lorraine, then we ate out entrees, then desert candy. Then a little surfing on the computer, pampering Ayiana with a little trim to her hair, some mousse and gentle brushing by mom. I even gave her a mini pedicure, which she really appreciated. We were both bushed by the time she got back for the night. Today was similar. We ate lunch - I'm picking up on a theme here - then we sat outside for a bit, enjoying the breeze, and of course, some rock hunting. Unfortunately I missed the cyber baby shower for Stacey, owner and designer at Digital Scrapbook Pages. She's due in about a week, I believe. And it sounds like they had a great time in the chat. And now, I'm due to finish dinner - yes, eating again - and tuck myself in for a long winter's nap. See you in the morning . . .

Albuquerque and back

Another weekend up to ABQ to spend time with my daughter. It's very lonely and quiet when I come home, at least the first night. It's a bit more peaceful, as she is still rather roudy sometimes. I hope she can finish up this program before we are too far into summer. I'd love to spend time doing summer outdoor activities with her, especially since we missed last summer.

Merry Christmas

Bummed about losing posts

I guess I lost all the posts I had before switching to the Christmas background. I thought I had it backed up, but, uh, I can't find it right now. It's gotta be here somewhere, right? I'll stumble across it before too long. In the meantime, have you seen all the Christmas Scrapbook blog trains going around? I've seen them with as many as 80 separate participants. My fav so far is the Christmas Around the World train as it has a color focus of blue this year. There are so many on that train it's next to impossible to download them all even with a whole month to do it in. I have to finish up our cards and get them in the mail tomorrow. I can't believe Christmas has crept up on me again this year. Ayiana chose the picture we'll put on the cards. She is such a sweety. I won't put up the picture until after Christmas in case anyone is snooping, but it's a photo to melt a mother's heart. At least people should still get them before Christmas. I've only gotten a couple myself so maybe people aren't sending them like in previous years. The economy is hitting hard in even the smallest ways. And from what I hear, most likely we won't be pulling out of this until 2010. Somehow I feel insulated here in New Mexico. Small towns don't see the unemployment quite as bad because we are already pretty self sufficient. Having the Walmart finally forces the other stores to become competitive or go out of business. I don't go out to eat much anyway, so that won't change my lifestyle. I have my warm bungalow next to the Rio Grande, my two girls doing well, a reliable car, even I am able to work pt faculty, one class per semester. That is something to be grateful for. That gives me an idea. I'll have to work on this and get back to you. But do come back. I should have more time to focus on putting my blog in order between semesters, so I can't wait to get to it. In the meantime, time for a good night's rest. Til tomorrow.

I almost forgot ....

that I even had a blog. I've been busy with quite a few different projects, but they are all moving ahead. Life keeps improving in many ways. I can't mention most of them right now due to potentially peeping eyes, but I will share one day. I am excited that I finally found the photos I needed for my dear friend Diane's 6yo dd's birthday present that was due like 2 months ago. bad .. bad! But it's going to be so cool, a Bratz shadow box to match her room. She is actually a sophisticated little one (hard to believe at that age, but true) so she will truly appreciate it. I can't wait to get it done. I'm thinking that will be one project for this weekend. Another one is the challenges at Digital Scrapbook Pages. I'm starting to get smoother at creating pages so I signed up for a bunch of them this month. If you create 12 of the 19 or so challenges, you earn a huge mega kit. There's a different kit each month and they are all really well made. Quality control at Digitals is really sharp. (I didn't know such a thing existed in scrapbooking until I learned about how much is done at Digitals.) Here's the link in case you want to check out the challenges. Digitals Forums Scroll down to the challenges category and check them out! They have been a great way for me to practice and learn digi. And it's encouraging because you get a prize of a mini kit or something like it for posting the challenge. And check out the new blog roll down the sidebar. It's all the Digitals Designers blogs. Most are updated frequently, many daily, and many have freebies. So go surfing, dudettes! Ayiana starts 4th grade on Monday. Hard to believe. She is growing up, and I finally know what that really means, maturing. Not only is she taller, she thinks differently, has different needs and interests. But she is still a barrell of fun! Nothing better than a good tickle fight between us. LOL Okay, well maybe a good hug is a bit better. Anyway, dinner time. I'll try and check in more often. Maybe I'll have some layouts to post this weekend.

Look what I found . . .

Isn't this so cool! I don't know if she would like it, ya never know from one day to the next at her age, but I think it's darling. She's even wearing her Hannah Montana hair piece she'd been wanting for ages. My sweet little cover girl.

So tired, why am I still awake ...

It never fails. I get ready to turn off the computer and head to bed when Ifind some awesome download I'm afraid I'll lose if I don't do it right away. Tonight I found a download with 48 scrappers contributing, what a collaboration! And it's the style I like, it's a playground theme. I bookmarked it but my browser has been weird with my bookmards so I'm worried. One more download and I can go to bed. Cool! It says less than 2 minutes til it's done. I talked to Ayiana today. She was all wound up. I think I talked to Terri more than her because she was working on some paper project and that's mostly what I heard, paper russelling. Anyway, it's always good to hear her voice, and hear "I love you" and "I miss you". We are getting there. Next week we have family therapy. Hey, it's done. Goodnight.

So frustrated ....

I have spent hours today trying to get a custom template for my blog. They all say they are simple but then you have to know what kind of blog you have. All I really wanted to do was widen the right side bar a bit so the whole slide show will appear. On the bright side, I worked hard and got a lot done in the house. I tried my new floor steamer, no not on the kitchen floor ~ that's just too ambitious ~ but I did the guest bathroom. I swept it first, then you put nothing more than water in the Bissell, pull a trigger and go back and forth. I wonder if I should have washed it first too, because even though I swept it was still building up little bits of dirt and leaving them here and there. Anyone who has cleaned a floor knows what I mean. I also cleaned the mat under my computer chair, probably for the first time since I put it here! lol I washed both sides of it and sanitized it with that all over sanitizer. Vacuuming under it made the biggest difference. Then I went into the den. It is my future scrapbooking room, former den complete with 15 in 1 game table, that I think I can make work as one of my desks. I totally cleaned off the single bookcase in there and mounted one of my Karen Foster Hook and Peg system boards. It's pretty simple but I am beat. I have three more to put up, then I will move the table over there and see if it works. I already measured the height so that's going to work regardless. My hands hurt from working so much. When I got up this morning my feet hurt! I haven't had that happen since my days as a cocktail waitress or bartender. Yesterday I did some yard and porch work. That's hard on my feet and knees. But I really do feel muscle developing again! That is enough to keep me going. 3 more days til I see Ayiana! I can't wait. I hope she is doing well in treatment. It's not easy for her or for me. But if we get through this year working hard, we'll be set for the rest of her growing years. I firmly believe that. And I know she is protected by Jesus and the Holy Spirit. Well I feel better now. Not so frustrated. I'll just stick with what I've got until Blogger gets off it's butt and makes some more templates or makes these more easily customized. Enjoy the day!

Slideshow anybody?

Here is my favorite picture right now. Ayiana and I got into a photo booth at the mall in Cruces last week and it was great because it made duplicates of the pictures so we both got a set. What a beautiful face. She just automatically lifted up the pics next to her face like that. I'll have to print this for her to have a copy too. I don't know what is going on with my computer. Suddenly I can't get into my Photobucket website. I can see my pics but I can't log in and my links aren't working. I want to put a slideshow on the website so I guess I'm going to start all over with a picture upload site. Otherwise, it has been a long day. I'm continuing to clean my home. The den is being tackled (sometimes literally! lol). I'll be cleaning the carpet tomorrow. I removed everything from the room and the walls, vaccuumed, and made plans to remove books from the shelving. I have a whole wall of built in shelving and I am planning to use some of those shelves to store and organize my scrapbooking supplies. At the same time, our multi-purpose game table is in there, and we still want to use that occasionally. I really don't mind these kinds of challenges. I enjoy organizing and making things work.