HAPPY HALLOWEEN

In case you've been missing me, we've been on vacation and it was really hard for me to get to the computer, so I haven't been able to update. Starting tomorrow, I'll start posting pics. I've missed everyone terribly. I've felt so "out-of-the-loop". Charlie says I'm just plain "loopy" anyway!!!
And hop over to see Audrey at Small Creations and wish her a Happy Birthday!

Hope everyone has a
Hauntingly Happy Halloween!!!!

100th Post & A New Banner

Couldn't sleep, so I decided to get enough courage to try to make my own banner, and it worked!! (after 2 hours of html and almost 10 tabs open at the same time :0) And for my 100th post at that!! Ain't life grand? ;0)
I have to say a big "Thank you" to my dad for letting me use his photo for the banner. If you look back a few post, you'll see the original hanging on the wall above a Halloween vignette. I might to beg for some more when we go home for vacation. He's got some really wonderful pieces.
So, tell me how you like the banner. That means Leave A Comment !!! Ya know we all need comments in our lives to know that we are loved!!
Okay, I guess I need some sleep now....
Ciao peeps!

The Diva Lounge

Look at all my goodies!! Thanks to Evelyn Louise-my Diva buddy(from Paperback Swap) for October! She put together an absolutely awesome package.
1) A Haunted House tart burned
2) Six different tart scents plus a package of votives
3) "Altered Book Collage" by Barbara Matthiessen
4) Halloween pair of sock with kitty jingle bells
5) Disney ornaments: Lady & The Tramp
6) hot pink book light
I lit one of the tarts-Chestnut & Brown Sugar-and when Charlie came home from work, he thought I was baking a cake. He was really upset to find out it was a candle & he wasn't having cake :0)

Thank you Evelyn Louise

Pumpkin Pete

I finally finished!! This was so much fun to do. The fabric is dyed with coffee. I added a few of my own changes-his pants were a denium blue-but I wanted some green ones. And I added seed beads for the kittys eyes' and Pete's buttons. Also, the border was supposed to be solid brick red, but I blended the red with a sweet potatoe orange. I really like how it turned out. Now I need to get the rest of the set. There is a snowman, an Easter bunny & one more.

Well, off to have lunch with my hubby-Enjoy the day
{{HUGS}}

Here's "Inking" At You

This is Dane trying to "ink" at ca' !!! And the part that you can't see is that he scrunches up his nose while his doing all this. It's just too funny. I think I see another scrapbook layout evolving :0) I guess it's things like this that we need to hold on to.
Before we know it, he'll be 16 with a cute, little cheerleader sitting beside him & they will be holding hands (to say the least).
Yes, he is growing up too fast...Yesterday he came running into the house holding a lizard by his tail. He said Sasha had bitten it. The lizard wasn't moving, so I layed it down on the table. Then I noticed it take a breathe. So we kept an eye on. I am not trained in the art of CPR on reptiles, but I did my best. He hung on for awhile, but then I noticed he wasn't breathing anymore. After Dane woke from his nap, he asked about it. I told him the lizard didn't make it. So we went outside & buried him in the flower bed. After that it was back to the Power Rangers, life was good.

For those of you that love Halloween as much as I do, I found a fun site for making some Halloween goodies. There are some cute ideas in there.
Here is another site, good for the kids.Ideas & coloring pages you can print out.

I have alot of things to get checked off my to-do list today, so I better get started. I need to finish a Halloween cross-stitch piece, make some more recipe pages & make some atc's. Plus we need to go grocery shopping today & I need to run to Big Lots. And I've only had one cup of coffee so far. So, SEE YA!!!!

Yard Sale Goodies

Some goodies that I picked up yesterday.

1. A fall wreath

2. 3 loaf pans

3. a pair of pink
shoes

4. fall-colored skirt

5. 2 Mad Libs bks

6. Black House by Stephen King & Peter Straub

7. Gray sweatpants w/ sequins

8. set of ice cream spoons

9. Pair of wine goblet tea light for outside

10. small LOVE pillow-for MIL

11. Blk & pink purse w/ "A" -for SIL

12. And the best find of the day: A 23 pc set of Franciscan dishes.

All of this for:
$21.50 !!!!!

Saturday Salad Bar

I did some Halloween decorating this week. I love this little vignette. The garland I purchased from a craft fair many years back. The witch came from Target awhile back, and the black & white photo above is an original from my father.




Talk about weird sleeping habits!! I found Dane asleep on the sofa like this yesterday :0)

















I sent out a reminder email for the Halloween Swap but I'll post a reminder here too:

HALLOWEEN SWAP 2006
All atc's are due this Friday, October the 13th. I'm so excited. I've received a few already & everyone did an outstanding job!

Well, off to hunt down some bargains. Ciao for now!

Dogs, Venting & Halloween

I read this the other day, and thought I would pass it on to all the people who have pets or if you know of someone who has a pet. Especially with the holidays coming up & alot of people baking.

NEW YORK (Sept. 30) - Keep those sugarless treats out of Fido's reach. Veterinarians warned on Friday that a commonly used sweetener might cause liver failure in dogs, and perhaps even kill them.
Their report in the Journal of the American Veterinary Medical Association appears to strengthen the suspected link between the sugar substitute xylitol, thought to make dogs sick, and possible liver failure.
Xylitol, a naturally occurring product, is found in many sugar-free chewing gums, candies, baked goods and toothpastes.
Researchers Sharon Gwaltney-Brant and Eric Dunayer with staff at a poison unit of the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals in Urbana, Illinois, gathered information on eight dogs treated between 2003 and 2005 after eating products containing xylitol.
Each dog became ill, and five died or had to be put down because of liver failure, possibly from ingesting xylitol.
Gwaltney-Brant said for dogs, ingesting even a small amount of xylitol can trigger significant insulin release, which drops their blood sugar and can be fatal.
"A 22-pound dog who consumes one gram of xylitol should be treated," she said, adding that further studies were needed to definitely establish a cause-and-effect relationship.

After reading this, I now discovered that the yummy Trident gum I've been using has xylitol in it. No, I've never given it to my dogs, but if a piece had dropped on the floor, I would have let them have, not thinking anything about it. I know our dogs love sweets, so every now & then I give them something. Sasha loves Hot Tamales!!!

And now the vent of the day. As you might know, I quit my job in February & since that time our family hasn't had insurance. For Charlie to get it would be $1200 per month. Crazy. So we've done without & been fine. Then 3 weeks ago, my foot became swollen. It's still swollen & painful. So I finally made an appointment yesterday at a clinic that I had already been to. Spent 2 hours in there with Dane (he was being so good) taking x-rays & a preg test ($25!!!! just had my period 3 days ago) & they tell me they don't know, I'll have to go see another doctor!! $180 of I Don't Know!!!! I just feel like they send us running around, telling us "I'm not sure, go see this person" while each one is still raking in money. And people wonder why insurance is so high??!! I had so many other things going on yesterday, I didn't get a chance to call the other place yet, I want to find out first how much everything will be. We are going on vacation at the end of the month & I don't want to spend alot. At the clinic, I should have asked about a payment plan, but none was offered & I was so upset that they couldn't tell me what was wrong, plus Dane was starting to get cranky, I just whipped out the debit card & paid. And the $25 for the preg test really made me mad when I can go to Dollar Tree & buy one for $1!!!!! AGHHHHHHH!!!!!!
O-Kay, I'm done.



On a happier note, I'm planning on decorating for Halloween today. Charlie has to drive to Tampa for a mgr's meeting. So I want to get it all done before he comes home tomorrow. I really want to make an outdoor scene, something with some bales of hay & maybe a scarecrow. I don't think anyone else on the street will do much if anything. I saw some sunflower plants at Wally World yesterday. And there is a church that has a pumpkin patch that I want to take Dane to & pick out a pumpkin.

See ya peeps!!!!

Saturday Salad Bar

Some more recipe pages. I really enjoy making these. Charlie said I should sell them!! I don't know to whom, but I thought it was funny. I guess that was his way of saying he liked them!


And now for the funny & bizarre-This week was my week for the monthly thing. Yeah, I know. NOT what you needed to know, but wait, I'm getting to the point. As I was getting ready to use my pad w/ "wings", I looked down, and there, on the sticky paper is a message. Yeap, a message that reads "Have a Happy Period". I had to read it twice. I couldn't believe it. Even to my best friend, I wouldn't tell her to "Have a happy period". What the hey!!!! But just knowing that someone, somewhere is wanting me to have a "Happy Period" makes all the cramping better. Don't you agree?

I'm not going to spoil it, but I've already received two of the swap entries. And they are just GREAT!!! Thanks to Joy Eliz & Marcy.

Have a great weekend everybody :0)

Scrapbook Layout & Recipe Page

Here is a scrapbook layout I did of Dane.I haven't done a lo in a long time, and I had come across this picture and just left it sitting on my desk. I loved the look on his face, plus the fact that it's a little blurry. The background paper-a napkin from the $1 bins at Michael's! I used my stamps for the corners & my own handwriting on each corner. I'm still not happy with my style yet, but I fell like it's getting there.


This is a recipe page I did for my recipe book. I'm also making a book for my mother for her birthday next month so it's given me inspiration to make some more pages. She's always asking me to give her the recipe for this or that, so I decided to buy her a book the same size as mine (it's a K&Co. 8.5 X 8.5) then I'll make a color copy of my page. I want to have at least 12 pages in her book when I give it to her, then I'll just keep adding pages to hers whenever I add to mine.
We are going home next month for a week of vacation & I am so excited! We've been going home the last few weekends, but we don't get to leave Tallahassee until Saturday afternoon & then come home Sunday evening (it's a 3.5 hr drive). So everthing is so rushed. I 'm looking forward to enjoying everyone & not feeling so rushed. All of our family lives in Mobile, so when we go, we have to see EVERYBODY or else someone feels left out! But the week that we are going is also the week of the State Fair! I (heart) the fair. Something about all the rides and the smells. The smell of candy apples & cotton candy. Of all the animals, hay, polish sausage with peppers & onions, diesel fuel to run the generators. And you have to go at night. It just not the same in the daytime.
Dane went for the first time last year (which I need to make a lo for :0) I'm so glad we get to go again this year. Can't wait!!!!!

More Bookmarks

Another set of bookmarks I made. It's about the only thing I've made lately. I'm still working on my cross-stitch piece. Almost done with it. I'm very excited. It's the largest piece I've ever done. It seems that when I got this "allergy" bug, it has just done me in. I'm finally starting to feel like my old self. I've got alot of things I need to get caught up on. And now DH is taking us to Mobile for the weekend. I'm excited, but it's just such a long drive.

So what are your plans for Autumn/Fall? I Love Halloween! Can't wait. We are going on vacation the week before, but I'm going to start decorating next week. Have you seen the current copy of Mary Engelbreit's Home Companion? The Halloween article is fab! Lots of yummy goodies to see! Found a few websites I want to check out.

Also, have you seen that Hallmark has a new magazine out? I got an invitaion to receive a free copy. I wasn't expecting much, but after it arrived, I am really impressed! I even made two new dishes last night for dinner from the mag, & DH ate his dinner plus all the leftovers! It's loaded with lots of great articles and wonderful pictures. Good ideas and recipes. You should check it out.

Well, I'm going to try & make something today :0) Besides a mess LOL.

Hope everyone has a wonderful "First Day of Autumn"!

Yummy Yummy

Even though I was feeling bad yesterday, I had a craving for some really good chicken salad. So, guess what I made. And it was G-O-O-D!! Another recipeI get to add to my book.

Thanks for everybody who played tag.

Ciao for now!

Joys of the South

Along with the scorching sun and stiffiling humidity we also have to deal with the wonderful seasonal allergies. And I have done some suffering. It started out innocent enough. But yesterday, it really kicked my bu-tay. After taking my temp (100.4), at 9 pm last night, I crawled into bed wearing socks, flannel pj pants, a long-sleeve tshirt under a short-sleeve and an extra quilt on the bed!!! Around 4 am, I woke up alittle confused where I was, but there it all finally sank in and I realized that the fever had broken. I'm felling a little better now, but I'm going to take it easy today.

I received an email this morning from my friend Christie. I may have done something like this a long time ago, but because it was so long ago and I still have the lingering effects of a fever, this sounds like something I can do right now.

So here goes:
4 Things about Me...

Things you may not have know about me...and you have not have even wondered...

Four jobs I have had in my life...
1) Sam's Club 18 years
2) Video store (p/t)
3) receptionist for a hair salon
4)

Four movies I have watched over & over...
1) Indian Jones-Raiders of the Lost Ark
2) Finding Nemo
3) Alien
4) Sweet Home Alabama

Four places I have lived...
1) Mobile, Al
2) Biloxi, MS
3) Pensacola, Fl
4) Longview, TX

Four tv shows I like to watch...
1) Supernatural
2) Rockstar-Supernova
3) Ultimate Fighter
4) Gene Simmons' Family Jewels

Four places I have been on vacation...
1) Orlando, Fl
2) Mexico
3) Jamacia
4) Ontario, Canada


Four blogs/web-sites I visit lately....
1) A Life Unrehearsed
2) Small Creations
3) Paperback Swap
4) Maigirlz Madness

Four of my favorite foods...
1) Lasagna
2) fried dill pickles
3) cheesecake
4) sweet potato casserole

Four places I'd rather be right now...
1) back home in Alabama
2) "NOT" sick :0)
3) Italy!!!!
4) Cabo San Lucas

Four people I will tag...
1) Bonnie Rose-A life Unrehearsed
2) Audrey-Small Creations
3) Maija-Maigirlz Madness
4) Laura

Hope ya'll have fun!!

Saturday Salad Bar 9-9-06

These are some lovely postcards I ordered off ebay. There is a story about the kiss for Charlie & I, so I try to collect "kisses" whenever I can. And to make it even better, after I received them, I noticed on the back that they were made in Italy!! As for the 1913, as soon as I saw this card, I had to purchase it. My grandmother, Gigi (pronunced gege) was born in 1913! It is postmarked on the back 1912, written in French, but I believe it is wishing a Happy New Year for 1913! I'm going to make a card for her using this scene.


Charlie stopped
so Dane could pet
some horse ,
but I think Charlie
was just as happy
as Dane was :0)








Have you ever seen one of these? It's a velvet ant aka Cow Killer. And get this, it's not really on ant. It's a wingless wasp. Not the thing you want to step on with bare feet.

















SOUP OF THE DAY:
If you help others, you will be helped, perhaps tomorrow, perhaps in one hundred years, but you will be helped. Nature must pay off the debt...It is a mathematical law & all life is mathematics.
~Gurdjieff
DESSERT OF THE DAY:
Be who you are and be that well.
~St. Francis de Sales

Weekly Recap

Hello All! Again, I haven't been a good blogger and haven't posted very much the last couple of weeks. I have started too many projects and have gotten in way over my head. But I have prioritized and am hoping to get a handle on everything. But this doesn't mean I will stop adding to my list! I've already added jewelry making. I've seen some really cool items and I just have to try making them.


I hope everyone had a safe and happy Labor Day weekend. My DH had to work Monday. But he was off Tueasday and will be off Thursday. We went out to eat on Mondayand last night we went to Osaka-Japanese hibachi. Always a treat. Dane loves the fire!


I do have a few funny stories. On Saturday, we went to see the movie "Invincible" with Mark Wahlberg ( my sweet hubby knows I could look at Mark all day :0) It was a really great movie. As usual, we bought all the goodies: popcorn,cokes & candy and had been muching through out the movie. About half way through, Dane starts to get a little wiggly. We keep telling him to be quite and watch the movie. At one point, he's sitting in his chair being quite and during a quite part of the movie too, he just toots. Yeap, he lets one rip. Charlie & I both look at him and start laughing. Then the couple behind us start laughing. And Dane laughs too. He's too young to really understand being embarrassed. We all got a good chuckle out of that one.
Then on Sunday, Dane & I went grocery shopping. After hubby got home from work and we ate dinner, he was wanting a snack. So he gradded some Jell-o pudding out of the frig. Well Dane saw him eating it and come up to me and said "Mommy, I want some black yogurt." (It was chocolate). Of course, I had to look at him for a few seconds to understand what the heck he was talking about! When it finally downed on me, I started laughing. Chocolate pudding sounds yummy, black yogurt not so yummy.

Some bookmarks I made yesterday. I have two more books to mail for Paperback Swap and I thought I'd surprise each person with a bookmark. (I actually like how they turned out, I was thinking of keeping them :0) The hardest part was finding the words. I cut all of them from old magazines. The background paper on the Red Magic is also from a magazine. They were fun. I guess I'll make myself one some day.
SOUP OF THE DAY:
Shall we make a new rule of life from tonight: always to try to be a little kinder than is necessary.
~Sir James M. Barrie
DESSERT OF THE DAY:
When I give, I give myself.
~Walt Whitman

Saturday Salad Bar 9-2-2006

Some goodies I received this week.
The book is from Paperback Swap. I had read a condensed version and really loved it. So I wanted to read the whole thing. I've already sent out 4 books and had another email this morning for another one. Yeah!!
The cross-stitch pattern is from my friend Roz on ebay. If you are ever looking for anything dealing w/ x-stitch, she can help. The pattern is called Pumpkin Pete. It reads:
Pumpkin Pete picked patchwork pants puttering in the patch to peruse plump pumpkins with this playful pet Penelope.
There is actually a tongue twister for each season. I might have to do all of them ;0)
I received the Mame Wanko book from Blair. She let me purchase her copy. I love dogs and I have to see if I can make these.
And last, I got a cute little ATC from Lin via postcardx. I love postcardx. It's so interesting. I've been really lazy this week (my monthly visitor)but I did sit down one morning and make almost 15 postcards. I try to send out 5 RAK's a week. Even if it's a simple "Have a nice day". I think it's nice to open the mailbox and see something besides bills!! Plus, postage is only .24. I'm going to make some nice bookmarks to put in my PBS books that I mail. Again, something to just say "Hi".

I also received my cards from the ATC swap I was in. Instead of showing you mine, take a look at Audrey's blog. She uploaded everyones' and is it a sight to behold! All of them are simply to die for. I think it took her three days to get everyone's pictures uploaded. She had almost 45 people participate. You should really take a look.

So, what are your plans for the weekend? I hope everyone has a safe and happy one. Be careful.

SOUP OF THE DAY:
Just living is not enough...One must have sunshine, freedom, and a little flower.
~Hans Christian Anderson

DESSERT OF THE DAY:
Don't hurry ,Don't worry. You're only here for a short visit. So be sure to stop and small the flowers.
~Walter C. Hagen

Saturday Salad Bar

What not to let your husband and son do on a Sunday afternoon after watching the NASCAR race!



This was a lightning storm we had one night a couple of weeks ago. Yeah, I know, not the smartest thing to do. But it was more like heat lightning. And it just keep going. I've never seen it lightning so many times! It was so beautiful. The whole nighttime sky would be lit up like daytime. This picture was taken at about 10 pm.



This is Dane & Alichia last weekend in Mobile. If you read a previous post about all of us staying with my best friend Rachel aka: Martha Stewart, then you will understand why Alichia is already being the perfect little hostess!

Chinese Beef and Snow Peas

A quick little layout I did yesterday for my recipe book. "Chinese Beef and Snow Peas", it's super easy and yummy! I started working on it and remembered that I had picked up a vintage Chinese cookbook at a yard sale. That's the images of the cows in the snowpeas. It also has a section in the back with the symbols and names, so I made a little tag with the name for beef (Niu Jou) and snow peas (Wan Tou Chia). Then I
wanted to add a little fortune so I grabbed my stash of foutunes (I always keep them!) and the very first one I pulled out read: Now is the time to try something new. Thought that was perfect. As for the background paper, I played with all my pp for awhile then remembered that I had a vintage children's book about a Chinese boy. I pulled it out to look at all the pictures and this is the end covers of the book. So I stopped at Staples yesterday and made a color copy.Super easy. I can't believe I finished this so quickly. It usually takes me DAYS to finish! I'm going to try and do another one today. Dane isn't coming home until Sunday so maybe I can do one a day :0)

I have to go to the post office today. I joined a book club called Paperback Swap.I had heard of it before, and then Bonnie Rose posted it on her blog, and she got points if I joined and used her as a reference. I've already had three books requested, so I have to go to the p.o. and mail them (you pay to ship them, but when you request a book from another person, THEY pay for shipping, kinda like a wash). I've already requested one book, it should be on the way. They even have it where you can print out a shipping label for your printer and wrap it around the book and mail it!! Pretty cool ! Check it out and if you join, use me as a reference-Thanks!!!

FIrefox is Hot

The clouds this morning on my walk.
I don't know why I keep taking pictures of clouds, but I love all the different formations they make.
Every day they are different. Today, it looked as if this was the front of a line of rain clouds moving in. Very pretty.



A quick update to yesterday's post about downloading Firefox. Yesterday was DH off day, so he usually sleeps in late. After finally waking up, he was asking me what all I wanted to do (since Dane is in Mobile, we were thinking about going out to eat at a fancy resturant or a movie. Instead we stayed home, ordered a pizza and watched a DVD-man we're really living the single life !!!!) We chatted for a few minutes, then I carefully started telling him that I was still having problems w/ blogger & pics and that after searching on blogger, they too recommened Firefox. He starts to tell me to "go back" on the computer to when everything was working right & so on. So I took a deep breath and said"Well, I already downloaded Firefox." He just looked at me shaking his head. He said " I knew you were going to." Man, does that man know me or what LOL! He then just asked me if that seemed to help and I said yes. So, that went alot better then I expected. Then this morning, I received an email from FlyLady titled: What Browser are you using? We love Firefox! Can you believe that! I love it when things like that happen. Coincidences. Yea, I am easily amused.
Ciao for now...

Weekendd Recap & ATC Book #2

Another little ATC book I made. All in one afternoon. I'm sending this to my friend, Laura. Her challenge about Make, Create & Inspire prompted me to make a set of cards and I owed her an ATC anyway.

I tried all day yesterday to upload this pic, but blogger wasn't letting me do it. So I check out Firefox like Audrey said and sent a link to DH (he has forbidden me to download anything until he checks it out). Well, as I was telling him my dilemma w/ blogger he starts with " Well, you never had that problem before yada yada yada....So I went to bed. And this a.m. guess what I did...downloaded Firefox :0) Can't wait to hear it now. Can I come stay with somebody for a few days? :0) Men!!

Recap of this past weekend. We left for Mobile on Thursday night. Spent Friday visiting with my grandparents. On Saturday, My MIL & I went to an antique show. I'll post pics of my finds later. Saturday afternoon, my best friend Rachel asked us over for dinner. Both of our DH's were going out to play cards, so the girls were just going to hang out. We ended up with 7 kids and 5 adults spending the night at her house. In the morning, she fixed everybody french toast and juice. Then for lunch she fixed slow-roasted chicken on the grill with coleslaw, baked beans and macaroni & cheese (homemade). Yes, let me say now, Rachel is "da bomb". Love ya girl {{hug}}