Back Home & a MAJOR TooT!

The trip to Pennsylvania was wonderful! Cindy & I had a great time while we were there. And I really think she enjoyed the scenery of the beautiful PA mountains as much as I always do. We left Friday morning around 9:30 a.m. & made really good timing going home. My sister Barb called us along the way & said that part of I-80 was closed down due to 4 inches of ice on the roads, but luckily, it was all west of where we were going. Apparently, there were several overturned trucks along I-80 & I-81. We saw 6 trucks in the median along I-80 that had flipped.....very scary!

When we arrived in Williamsport, we checked into the hotel & then went to the nursing home to visit my Mom. She would disown me if she knew I was posting this picture of her! She wasn't in any mood to have her picture taken, but I took one anyway. Now she's having some swelling in her other foot, which is NOT what I wanted to hear :( But for the most part, she was very happy to see me & I'm so glad that I went home to see her!

After the visit with Mom, we met Barb, Kyle (her son) & Doyle at Red Lobster for dinner since Kyle's 15th birthday was on Saturday. And no, I don't eat seafood, but they made me a killer pizza from their appetizer menu.....instead of all the seafood on it, I just got cheese & it was so good :) After dinner, Cindy & I went back to the hotel & relaxed in the whirlpool......I ended up sleeping like a baby after that. On Saturday, Cindy & I went to ACMoore......twice. I think she really liked that store :) Then we went out for dinner & went to visit my Mom again. Sunday, we went to the mall with Barb & Doyle & then Cindy wanted to go back to the hotel room. Barb, Doyle & I visited with Mom before going out to dinner with Dad at Crippled Bear (a bar/restaurant). They had the Nascar race on while we were there & boy, what a wild race it was! As soon as the checkered flag was waved, I got my cell phone out & started to call Jim, but he beat me to it & called me first, lol. He was so happy that his driver won, but Barb was routing for Mark to win.

On Monday, it was time to head back home, but I was actually sad to leave :( Before we got on the road, I went to visit my Mom again to say goodbye. She thought I was staying until Tuesday, but I told her I had to get home since Cassandra had to go back to school. I just stood there, holding her hand & started crying because I just hate seeing her like that, laying in a bed or sitting in a wheel chair all day. God, I wish there was something I could do! If I could bring her back home with me, I would! I love you, Mom!

Here are some scenic photos that Cindy & I took on the way home (you can click on each photo for a better view):

The mountains along I-80 are just gorgeous!

When we got to Ohio, we decided to make a pit stop at a Cord Camera store in Warren. Talk about a cool store! They definitely need to put a store in Michigan (but then again, maybe not because I'd really be broke!). They had a bunch of stuff on clearance.....some of the Making Memories home decor items, which I bought a bunch of, along with lots of other Making Memories items. Cindy & I ended up spending over 2 hours in that store & if we wouldn't have still had 4 hours of driving to do, we probably would have stayed even longer :) But it was time to get back on the road, which we almost didn't do. After we left Cord Camera, I stopped to get gas & as I was waiting to pull out of the gas station, a car wanted to pull in, so they motioned for me to go first. I had to make somewhat of a sharp turn due to the snow banks & when I did, I almost got hit by a car that was in the next lane over. TOO close for comfort! I didn't see the other car because the SUV that was letting me pull out was blocking my view. Luckily, Cindy calmed me down & we got back on the road again.

And just in time to capture this beautiful sunset!

Now for my TooT! Before I left for PA, I dropped off my application at The Scrapbook Zone for their Design Team & I just found out yesterday that I made the team! YAY!!! I am SO super excited & honored to be a part of their team! My first LSS Design Team gig! Thank-you Kelley & Kevin for giving me this awesome opportunity! I can't wait to get started & work with the other DT members!

Today, I'm going to go apply for a job at a car dealership & then Cindy is going to come over this afternoon to scrap. But right now it's snowing, so I don't know if those plans will change or not.

Until next time, have a great day,

Benita

Pennsylvania Bound

But first, I just received my Kodak Book of Fast & Easy Scrapbook Pages from Cantata yesterday with my published layout in it :)
Here's the layout that I've been waiting patiently to share. It's titled "Crawling Circles Around Grandma." The colors of the layout in the book aren't as true as they are in real life, though.....it's done in a much brighter green. Don't know why it's so dark in the book.

Well, off to jump in the shower, get the car loaded up & go pick up my friend Cindy for our trip to Pennsylvania. I'm hoping to be on the road between 8-8:30 a.m.. Send thoughts for good weather while we're gone. Right now, we're planning on coming back on Monday, but that could all change depending on how much fun we're having :) Cindy & I are both looking forward to swimming in the indoor heated pool at the hotel! The only part that stinks is Jim & I won't be watching the Daytona 500 together on Sunday. This will be the first time we haven't watched it together in YEARS!

Have a great weekend,

Benita

'COLD' Day & Colts WIN!!!

Current Conditions Reported from Pontiac 02/05/2007 8:53 AM EST
Temperature: -4°F -20°C
Conditions: Partly Cloudy
Winds: WSW 10 MPH WSW 16 KPH
Relative Humidity: 71%
Barometer: 30.29 Rising
Visibility: 10.00 Miles 16.09 Kilometers
Feels Like: -20°F n/a

School was cancelled today, but not because of a snow day, but a 'COLD' day! Jim was watching the news last night & told me that Cassie may not have school today. I was like, okay.....why? Well, it seems that most of the schools in the surrounding areas were closed because of the cold. And last night, at 11:29 p.m., our district announced that they would be closed as well. Needless to say, Cassie was quite happy. And I didn't mind either because I got to sleep in :)

Jim is estatic right now that the Indianapolis Colts won the Super Bowl yesterday. YAY COLTS!!! Wooo-hooo! And what a game it was! I'll admit, I was a bit scared when the Bears scored a touchdown within the first few seconds of the game. But the Colts pulled it off & WON! Wish we could go to Indianapolis to celebrate.....that would be so cool! But we'll be going there in July to visit Jims' sister & go to the Brickyard.....can't wait!

Just a quick update today. Going to finish working on my scraproom this morning & then Cassie wants to go to the mall today since she doesn't have school. At least it's not snowing.....yet!

Have a fantastic Monday & stay warm!
Benita

Happy Birthday, Dad!

Today is the birthday of a very special person in my life....my Dad. Over the years, my Dad & I didn't have the best relationship, but in the past 2 1/2 years, it has really grown. And although it took an awful tragedy to bring my Dad & I back together, we are closer today than we've ever been before. I just wish I got to see him more often than I do, but with him living over 500 miles away, it's not easy. I took this picture of him back on August 29th right after we all visited the gravesite of Karen & Jimmy. As you can see, he's a big Kasey Kahne fan just like me :)

Today is also a sad day for Jim. It was 21 years ago that his Mom passed away. Sadly, I never got to meet her, but Jim tells me all the time that we would have gotten along perfectly. He claims that his Mom would have out-shopped me, too.....hmmm.....that would be tough to do!

Right now, it's freezing in Michigan.....the temp is only 3 degrees! So we'll be staying home all day, cleaning the house, doing some laundry & watching the Super Bowl tonight. I have some baby back ribs in the crock pot simmering away & although I don't eat them, they smell soooo good! Who knows, I may just have to try them :)

Back to cleaning....have a great Sunday,

Benita

P.S. GOOOOOOO COLTS!!!!! :)

February So Fast?

I can't believe that it's February already! Wow, where did January go? I actually like February for a lot of reasons:

One, it's a short month & once it's over, I know that Spring isn't far away.

Two, Jim & I met in February.....February 18th, to be exact. This year, we'll be celebrating 18 years of knowing each other.....hard to believe it's been that long already!

Three, my Dads birthday is on the 4th of February. But sadly, the 4th is also the day that Jims Mom passed away :(

Four, Valentine's Day is in February. I'm not a major fan of Valentine's Day, though. I just love all the red & pink everywhere.

Here's a picture of a Ty Beanie Baby Frog that I bought the other day. Isn't he cute? It's not for me, though. I'll be giving it to my Dad because it shares his birthday. Hopefully he'll get a kick out of it :) I also got him a pair of Kasey Kahne floor mats for his car (just like the ones I have in my Charger). I was going to mail his package to him, but it looks like I'll be going home next week (pending the weather) to see my Mom as she hasn't been getting any better. I just talked to my sister Donna in an IM this morning & she talked to Moms doctor yesterday. He said that she has an infection in her bones & the reason why he took her off the blood thinner was because she was bleeding internally. Not good! So now she risks getting blood clots, which also isn't good! The only good thing is that her house finally sold, so now she has the money to pay the nursing home, but it's going to be so hard going home & not really going 'home', if that makes sense.

That's all for now. Hoping to head out to The Scrapbook Zone today for their Freaky Friday sale, although I really don't need anything right now. I just need to get out of the house for a while.

Have a great weekend & GOOOOOO COLTS!!!!!
Benita