Tuesday

I had a busy week-end. Sunday we attended church with our daughter, Joy, and the family. Joy played a special offertory song. She did a great job as always. We went and had dinner with them. A quick stop at WalMart was in order for my trip north. I met my brother, Bill and his wife, to head up north for an overnight visit with my folks.

Monday I went to funeral for my Aunt on my dad's side of the family. She was 83. My dad is the last one left of that generation in his family. My aunt and uncle had 7 kids. It had been 9 years since I saw any of my cousins. What a shame there is not a family reunion on that side of the family. I didn't know but 1 of them and none of the spouses or kids. We used to have such a great time going to Bad Axe in the summer. We spent many hours at the lake swimming, playing on the beach, getting sunburned...eating, laughing...what fond wonderful memories. The other thing about my Aunt Bertha I remember was her homemade bread. Oh my was it good. She made 7 or 8 loaves a day. I don't remember Aunt Bertha ever being rattled with her 7 kids, us 5 kids, Uncle Mike's and Aunt Marian's 4 kids. That was 16 kids we had running around at the lake and park, or visiting at someone's house. What a testimony. My cousin Roger is a minister and had part of the funeral. My cousin, Barb's son, is also a minister and the prayer he prayed at the graveside was so moving. If you can have a good day being at a funeral, I did. It was a long tiring day for my folks but I am glad I went.

Another thing that happened Monday in Bad Axe was a trip to Murphy's bakery. It is a family owned business that was there when my dad was a kid. Dad told me they used to go there to buy day old bread to feed their animals. The lady would always put fresh stuff in the top of the bag for the them. My dad lost his mom when he was really young so I think it was nice for the bakery lady to do that for them kids. My dad still remembered that and he is 83.

I would like to take a trip over that way next summer. I found out yesterday that my paternal grandparents, and my dad's younger siblings that died are buried right there in Bad Axe at the same cemetary where my Aunt's funeral was buried.

I spent last night with my folks. Mom is sick with a terrible cold or bronchitis or something. I hope she is better soon. Dennis (my DH) came after me today. We got back from up there about 4 this afternoon. I still haven't unpacked. I figured I have all day tomorrow to do that.

Friday

I had a good day today. Joy came down and we went and looked for a doggy for her. There is a no kill shelter near here that Jo knew about and Jo knows about doggys. She found Miriam for us. I don't know if they are going to adopt one or not. They may go look again. They did have a lot of nice kittys there - more than doggys. Then Joy had to go to the store because she needed to pick up somethings to make an appetizer for tonight. She made spanish rice for me for lunch. It was sooooo goooood. We ate the whole batch without any left over. She makes a appetizer out of water chestnuts, bacon and a bbq type sauce. They are really good.

Tonight we went to dinner with the Bobo's at Applebees. I can tell you the company was better than the dinner. For some reason neither Dennis or I like their food that much.

I spent an hour or so on YouTube today listening to quartet music. It was good to hear those old songs again.

I am going to try something here so lets see if it works.


This is one of my favorite songs. Especially the verse about no more pain. On days like this where I am hurting all over I long to be free of pain. And that is not going to happen until I am at home with Him.

New Card

This is the card I was trying to post yesterday when I was having all the problems. It is an anniversary card that I made for my niece. It turned out ok but it was a hurry up and get it in the mail type thing. Oops it looks crooked in the picture but the real thing was straight I think. The centerpiece on this card is layered onto a dark purple (Elegant Eggplant). It looks black in this photo but it is not.

Some people...

are so giving of themselves to help others. We have a few friends like that. Last night, my son was having friends over to paint things for their hobby. One of them, Mike, is a computer person that works at EMU (go Eagles) and goes to our church. I was having some issues on two of the computers that we have in the house. I have the old church computer and I was sure it was still usable but it wouldn't connect to the internet. I wanted to be able to do that for two reasons. The first is I would like my DH to be able to set up his fantasy football. I would also like him to be able to learn email to stay connected to his friends. The old computer would be perfect. I also wanted my grandgirls, Hannah and Lilli, to be able to go to the net and play on their websites. Since the computer is so old there were some real issues with getting it on-line. Mike succeeded last night. I am so THANKFUL. I feel bad because he came over to paint for his hobby and hang out with my son and another friend. I don't know if he was able to paint or not. He was still here when I went to be at 11.

Tuesday Frustration

I am so frustrated with my computer. My Internet Explorer quit working. I had downloaded a newer version it froze and when I restarted it won't load at all. I am getting around it by using the Yahoo Browser which I do not like. I have tried everything I know to fix it but nothing has worked. I have also been unable to upload photos to my gallery on SCS. I have not any idea how to fix that. I have emailed to see if I can get an answer. I only have one more card to make for October. It is special because it is for my daughter.

I just tried uploading a picture to this blog and I have the same problem as with SCS. I am ready to SCREAM.

Thanksgiving for Joy

Saturday

Today is Michigan football day. They are ahead in the first quarter 7 - 0 (Penn State). We did a little grocery shopping this morning. I guess that is necessary if you want to eat.

I actually made a cake today. It has been a long time since I baked anything. It will be time to get supper soon.

I have an earache. I have had it on and off for a week or so. I can tolerate it though. I am worried about my DH. His leg pain seems to be increasing. He can hardly walk. He doesn't complain though. He mowed the back yard when I wanted to ask our son to help out. He just won't ask for help.

I need to get an anniversary card made and get started on the family calendars. I keep putting it off. I really don't have anything else to say today.

BFF

I had my card club here at home last night. We did our card swap and a couple of us had difficulty with the sketch challenge but we managed. My friend Gail interpretated the sketch differently but I really liked how her cards turned out. She is so funny. She asks her husband how they look - that is her first mistake - never as DH about a card you have made. They generally don't care.

We learned to braid paper strips. Well, at least some of us did. I had a hard time but with it but with practice I could get it learned enough to actually use it on a card. Once I learn how to do a straight line with no wrong moves, I will attempt to make a corner. It really didn't take long to do the demo so we sat and talked. It was so good to have some time with my BFF's. I have had some emotional days this week and it was worth while to share and allow us to vent even if it was just to each other. I found out that several of us have basically the same issues with our adult children. We came to the conclusion that there is very little we can do to change things. We have to accept that the way we raised our kids was basically the same. The reason that things happen are the poor choices they are making.

It is time for me to get dressed (11:30 AM) and work on some cards. I wonder sometimes how I ever had time to work, because I can kill 4 hours and show very little for my effort.

Card Swap October

Wednesday Wisdom

I don't know why I wrote that title. I very rarely spout words of wisdom. The cards you see in this post are ones I made for a card swap club that I participate in once a month.

Now that I have that done I need to do a few things for my daughter.

I also need to do my family calendars that I do every year. I have been doing it for a long time. They have all the family birthday's and anniversaries on them. I also add some silly days on it too. Party, party date, National coffee day, grouch day, boss day (this is not the same day), french fry Friday ... you get the idea.

And finally I need to get started on my Christmas cards or they won't be finished on time. I wish I could go until midnight doing stuff. I have to admit I am very fatigued by evening. I fall asleep sitting in a chair at 7 pm . I wonder if it is the fibromyalgia playing havoc with my stamina or if it is RA and chronic pain. I don't suppose it really matters what it is it is now a part of my life.

Monkeying around

I made this cute little monkey card today. I started it last night and finished this morning. They are fun but I only have this b'day stamp set from Stampendous with Changito in it. I colored them with Prisma pencils and OMS. The base of the card is made with SU More Mustard. The blue is Brocade Blue. I also used some Sparkle on the picture frame.

My DH is off today so he has a chance to rest his leg and ankle. I just don't know if this is going to feel better before he has to make a decision about having the surgery to repair his knee replacement.

I need to go and pick up some meds for him.

Birthday Card

Here is a card I made for a friend for her birthday. I am not very good at it but I love to color. I used my new Prisma pencils with OMS to blend. The leaf brads I got at a little scrap book store in Midland MI. I really can't say where the stamp is from. I saw it, the price was right so I bought it. It was so much fun to color.