Sometimes AOL drives me NUTS!

Last night, I had an entire post all typed up & just as I was getting ready to publish it, BAM! AOL decides that it wanted to shut down on me! No warning, no notice, no goodbye, nothing! So, of course, I lost the entire post in the process & was too tired to retype it all. So now you're getting the condensed version as I have to get ready for work this morning & don't have much time.

It's been a week since I updated because I've just been really busy. I worked last Tuesday, Wednesday & Thursday, then went to pick up my paycheck on Friday & did some shopping with Jim & Cassie. Saturday, the weather was absolutely gorgeous & you would think I'd go out & enjoy it, right? Nope, not me. I stayed inside all day & had every window open & just enjoyed the nice breeze. I even got some much-needed cleaning done, including completely cleaning out our pantry.

Sunday, I had to work all day & we had a Crop Till You Drop weekend, so I was in charge of doing a Make & Take for the croppers. I'll admit, I was a little nervous at first, not knowing whether or not anyone would like my page. But surprisingly, everyone that did it LOVED it :) That really made my day! Here is the page I did:

Afterwords, I helped sell quite a few bottles of Stickles & a bunch of Dollar Zone Buttons ;)

Yesterday, Jim, Cassie & I went to see the movie Evan Almighty. Jim & Cassie said they liked the first one better, but I really enjoyed this one, too. It had some really cute parts to it & at times, really got you to think.

Gotta go jump in the shower & get ready for work. Have a great day!

Benita

Nascar & Scrapbooking

Jim & Shawn had a fabulous time at the Nascar race yesterday. But I'll admit, I was a little disappointed that I didn't go after seeing that Carl Edwards won. I would have loved to see him do his backflip in person! Although I'm not a huge fan of Carl's, he is a good driver (and cute! lol) & I was really glad that he won being that it was his 100th start & his very first start was at MIS. Cool, huh?

Jim did take some pretty cool pics for me. Above is him standing next to his favorite driver's souvenir trailer.

Here's Shawn standing next to a display car of his favorite driver (GAG ME! LOL). Sorry Shawn, but you know I'll NEVER like Gordon!
Jim next to a purple 1970 Dodge Challenger Convertible! Oh, how I would LOVE to own that car!!!

A Kasey Kahne stand-up. I asked Jim why he didn't bring it home with him ;)

A new "wall" at MIS displaying all the Champions that have won there over the years. Wish I could remove that guy in the picture. Why is it, that everytime you go to take a picture, someone has to walk in front of you???

Love this picture Jim took of all the teams lined up for the National Anthem.

And they're off!

Jim's favorite driver.

My favorite driver :) Yeah, he's having a very bad year this year, but I know he'll make a comeback!
Since I didn't go to the race, I decided to scrapbook & clean my scraproom. Above is a layout I did using the Zone's Design Team kit for this month. I gotta admit, I wasn't too thrilled with the papers I got this month by Luxe Designs, but I'm very happy with how this layout turned out :) (click on image to view larger) Supplies used: Bazzill, Luxe Designs PP, Pressed Petals Chip Chatter Fuzzy Chipboard Alphabet, AC Thickers, Deluxe Designs Plain Janes Chipboard Swirls, MM paints, Primas & rhinestones. I also started 3 other layouts, but I got stumped on them, so I set them aside & cleaned my room instead.

Time to get off this computer & see what Cassie wants to do today since school's officially out for the summer (her last day was last Thursday) & I'm off from work today, but then I have to work the next 3 days.

Have a great week, since I probably won't be able to update my blog again for a few days,

Benita

Happy Father's Day

Happy Father's Day to 2 of the best Dad's in the world......mine & my husband :) My Dad taught me through the years to be a strong person & how to be yourself. He taught me that money doesn't give you happiness.....family does! He taught me that no matter how rough things get in your life, that there's always going to be a positive side. Up until almost 3 years ago, my Dad & I didn't have the closest relationship in the world, but when we lost Karen & Jimmy, all of that changed! He told me after the funeral, that he lost one daughter, but hopes he gained another one back. I reassured him that he did. Love you, Dad!

Right now, my other favorite father (although he's not my father, lol) is at MIS enjoying the beautiful day with his son waiting for the Nascar race to start. I was supposed to go with him, but with the stomach problems I've been having, I just wasn't feeling good enough to be out in the heat all day. So yesterday, we called Shawn & asked him if he wanted to go to the race. He was so excited & this is exactly what Jim & Shawn need.....a whole day together.....something they haven't done in a very long time!

I was attempting to take some new pictures of Jim & I together the other night & just like usual, Jim was being silly again :) Yep, I love that man! Even with all his silliness. It's his wonderful sense of humor that gets me through each day. Happy Father's Day, Jim.....I hope you have a wonderful time at the race! You deserve it!

Update on me: I went in for a CAT Scan on Friday of my abdomen because they still haven't found out what's wrong.....the ultrasound didn't really show anything, so my doctor ordered the CAT Scan. He should have the results back on Monday. If that doesn't show anything, then it's time for another Colonoscopy.....fun, fun! I haven't had one of those done since 2000, but I guess the preparation for them is easier nowadays.....I could either take a laxative or pills. I think I'll opt for the pills :)

Happy Father's Day to all the father's in your life. And.......GOOOO KASEY! :) Just had to throw that in there since both my Dad & I are HUGE Kasey Kahne fans, although he's not doing very good this year :(

Benita

Wonderful Weekend

Just a quick glimse of a mini album I finished recently using the newest Bo Bunny papers, chipboard & rub-ons plus, of course, some Prima flowers, ribbons & rhinestones. I was going to try to do this album as a class, but unfortunately, I didn't get it in the schedule on time for the next quarter :( Ah well, I'm still very happy with how it turned out.

We were truly blessed this weekend with some gorgeous weather! No rain, temps in the low 80's, no humidity, windows open & a nice breeze flowing through.....what more can you ask for? And to top it all off, Jim was off from work all weekend. But unfortunately, that means that his hours got cut once again :(

We decided to go golfing yesterday since the weather was so nice & we found a cheap 9-hole golf course to go to. Needless to say, I think I forgot how to golf since I haven't done it since last year :( But I was so happy when we got to the last hole & I actually hit my ball over the green! We were looking all around for it before the green & couldn't find it anywhere, so I just figured I lost another ball (I put one in a pond earlier). But then we saw it.....right on the back side of the green, about 15 feet away......there was my pretty pink golf ball :) Dummy me forgot to take my camera with us again, so I have no pictures.....when will I learn???

Off to clean my scraproom & then I have another doctor's appointment today to discuss the results from all my tests with my doctor, but it still doesn't look like we found out the problem yet.

Have a marvelous Monday,
Benita

My "New" Wall

After seeing this idea at The Scrapbook Zone to use curtain rods & clip rings to hang layouts, I've been wanting to do this in my own home for quite a while now & finally did. And I LOVE the end result! Except now I need to paint the wall :) The stairway walls (which is where I hung these at) are about the only walls in our home that are still white, with the exception of Cassie's room because you can't see her walls anyway with all the posters on them! But what color would make these layouts pop more? Any ideas?

Right now, I'm displaying some of my absolute favorite layouts on the rods, but I'll be changing them out every so often, maybe even with the seasons or something. I turned the page protectors so that the side is at the top & the slot is on the side (hope that makes sense) plus I trimmed the holes off of the protectors where they would go into albums..... this way, it should keep dust out of them.

I even altered some wood letters for the word Create using the older Junkitz black & white papers, pink, black & white ribbons, pink Primas & rhinestones & some old metal charms I've had in my stash forever.

Just a quick post because I have a lot to do around the house today since I'm off work.


Have a Happy Hump Day,
Benita

Another Birthday To Celebrate

Today, this handsome little boy of mine (although he's far from being little now since he's taller than me!) is 21 years old! I know that I didn't always make the right decisions while I was raising him & he didn't have the best childhood in the world, but I think he's finally getting his act together & hopefully, starting to grow up. I'm sure he'll be hitting a lot of bars tonight, celebrating that he's 21......I just hope & pray that he's smart enough not to drive!

Here his is when he was just 6 months old. Oh, how I miss those days! Just look at those big, baby blue eyes & that cute smile :) See those dimples? He got them from me.

In this picture, he's almost 2 years old & since his daddy was in the Navy, I couldn't resist buying him this little uniform :) He had the brightest blond hair when he was little. Yeah, he could have used a haircut before I got this picture taken, but I didn't want to cut the little curls he had in the back ;)

Onto today's 2 Pea Challenge: "If you could redo any room in your home (money being no problem), what room would it be? Share with us what you would do to this room." In the bedroom, I'd buy a new bed (headboard & footboard, not mattress as I LOVE our mattress set!). I'd also love to have an enclosed porch in place of the deck because I hate bugs, bees & wasps!

This weekend, Jim's working, but I'm off, so I'm hoping to get some scrapping done along with some much-needed cleaning & laundry. Not my idea of fun, but oh well.....someone has to do it.

Have a great weekend & stay cool!
Benita

Perfect Ending to a Perfect Day!

Forget all about what I said yesterday about being a bad Grandma! I got a phone call from my son yesterday & he said he was going to come by my work to drop my granddaughter off so that I could spend some time with her. Those were the BEST 5 hours I've had with this little girl! As I was driving home, I heard her say "Grandma?" & boy, did that bring tears to my eyes! That is the first time she's ever called me Grandma! I was beginning to think that she didn't know what to call me! And of course, I just had to snap a bunch of pictures of her while she was here :)

After we ate dinner, we took her shopping for some birthday gifts & I let her pick out her own things since I wasn't too sure what she was into right now. She got a cute Dora The Explorer Big Sister Doll set, a Dora phone, a Spiderman Mr. Potato Head (what will they think of next?) & a few other things. Then it was time to take her back to her Mom. Her Mom told me that whenever I want to take her for a weekend to just let her know because she could 'use the break'. I'm definitely going to take advantage of that!

Here she is watching Sponge Bob with the Sponge Bob that I gave her for Christmas. She even remembered that I was the one that gave it to her :)

I was chasing her around with the camera (literally), just snapping away & caught this cute little grin behind her sippy cup :)

Here she is on the phone, pretending to talk to her Mom. Just look at that smirk on her face? Priceless!

And lastly, I couldn't resist taking a picture of her on the potty ;) She's such a big girl already!

Thank-you God for making this day a very special day & for giving me this gorgeous little girl! And thanks for all the birthday wishes for her that I received :)

Off to go garage-saling (is that a word?).

Benita