I DO Still Scrap!

It's been a LONG time since I actually sat down & scrapped, so the other day, I decided to just take the time & do some scrapping. And boy, did that feel good! All of the layouts I did are for the Design Team at the Scrapbook Zone. In the above layout, I used the new Daisy D's pattern paper & diecuts along with some Imaginisce Flowers, 7 Gypsies Brads, Bazzill, Hambly transparency & AC Thickers. I love these pictures I took of my son & granddaughter taking a walk one day, holding hands.....this is what it's all about!

The layout below is a 2 pager of my granddaughter eating Oreos :) When it was time for them to leave, she didn't want to go, so I gave her an Oreo, but she didn't want just one....she wanted the whole bag! For this layout, I used Cosmo Cricket paper & alphabet stickers, Bazzill, AC Thickers, Queen & Co Felt Ribbon & brads.











Then I did a layout of Jim & his sister. When we went to Indianapolis back in July, it was easy to see how the two of them are related.....same silly sense of humor & personalities! I told them to give each other a hug & they just looked at each other like "Yuck!" LOL Yep, they're related!

I don't particularly care for these pictures of me, but since I don't see my granddaughter very often, I scrap every picture I do have of her :) Here she was being silly & was trying to hide from getting her picture taken by Grandpa. She calls me "Gamma", hence the title :) More Cosmo Cricket papers, Bazzill, Queen & Co Felt Ribbon, Fancy Pants Felt Shapes, AC Thickers & brads.

Last night, I taught my Crafty Caddy Class at the Zone & had a blast! Everyone picked out their own papers & colors, so it was really neat to see all the different caddies.

Today when Jim gets home from work, we're going back to the old house to get everything set up for the yard sale we're having tomorrow. Whatever doesn't sell, we're going to donate. I just want to get it all done & over with & get out of the house once & for all! Wish us luck!

Have a great weekend,
Benita

Church & a Fire

For the past couple of weeks, Jim & I have been attending the Oakland Christian Church with some friends of our, Joe & Val, who are members of the Church. It has truly been an enlightening experience as well as very uplifting. And today was no exception. The pastor's son just returned from Hiati on a mission & today he preached about the healing powers of God. The pastor told everyone to turn to the person next to you & say a prayer for them. In front of Jim was a very tall, nice-looking black man that prayed for Jim. I had no clue who he was, but then Jim turned to me afterwards & said "I think that was Herman Moore, the former wide receiver for the Detroit Lions." And sure enough, Val confirmed that it was. After the service, we went out into the front of the Church & I thanked Herman for praying for us. It was truly a pleasure meeting him & shaking his hand.

Today, Jim & I get to go to Home Depot to purchase a new stove for the house.....fun, fun! Yes, we're just renting this house & the owners just put all new appliances in back in June, so you may be wondering why we're purchasing a new stove, right? Well, let me tell you, it wasn't planned! Last Friday, Jim & I were starting dinner & I turned on the stove to preheat it. He then went into the living room & I went upstairs to finish drying my hair. When I returned less than 5 minutes later, I saw smoke coming out of the vent of the stove. The night before, Jim put the plastic box that had the rest of my birthday cake inside the stove & forgot about it being in there. When we opened the door to the oven, Jim was able to get the cake & rack out of the stove & took it outside, but there was a small fire inside the stove. Needless to say, I panicked, having been through an apartment fire several years ago where I lost everything I owned! I remembered that I saw a fire extinquisher outside in the garage, so I ran out to get it & called 911. The lady was very calm & walked us through using the fire extinquisher, since neither Jim nor I have ever used one before. We got the fire out, so we didn't need them to send any fire trucks thank God. But in the process, we found out that we've basically ruined the stove because the fire extinquisher that we used was an ABC extinquisher & apparently, the A chemical will corrode things & can also contaminate your food. And even though we cleaned the stove as much as we could, there is still some of the powder from the extinquisher in the cracks of the stove that we can't get out :( Yes, we could probably pay an appliance repair person to come out & look at it, but they charge you an arm & a leg just for the service call! And that's no guarantee that they can even do anything with it! Yesterday, we decided to turn the oven on just to see if anything would happen. After less than a minute, it started smoking like crazy & smelled really bad! Sooooo......that's why we're buying a new stove today. Like I said, fun, fun! NOT! Ah well, live & learn, I guess. And now we also need to buy a new fire extinquisher, but it won't be an ABC one!

If you've made it this far, take it from me.....have a fire extinquisher on hand in your kitchen because you just never know when something like this could happen to you! And ALWAYS check to see if there's anything inside your oven BEFORE you turn it on! The funny part about that is, we never even used to store anything in our oven (except for maybe brownies when they were still in the pan) & now I will NEVER store anything in there again! Lesson learned! And an expensive one at that!

Have a great Sunday,
Benita

Happy Birthday, Karen

Today, my beautiful sister Karen, is celebrating her 55th birthday in Heaven. I'm not sure how old she was when the above picture was taken, but I think she looks just like an angel in it. It's a sad day for me, because I miss her so much! She was my supporter, my counselor, my friend. And now she's my angel!

It seems like every year at this time, I get really depressed (with good reason). But I know that Karen wouldn't want that.....she would want me to enjoy & treasure each day. She would tell me not to worry about the little things & things that you cannot change. The last time that I talked to her, in an email, she was having financial problems herself, but she still knew that she had to enjoy life. And the one thing that her & Jimmy enjoyed doing is what took their lives. But even now, I know she would tell me that she had no regrets because she lived! Really lived! I just hope that I'm able to do that as well!

This afternoon, Jim & I start bowling on a new league & I'm a little nervous about it. It's a UAW league that he got on through work. It's a 3-person team, so our friend Joe will be bowling with us. I've only bowled once all summer & didn't do very good, so we'll see how this goes.

That's all for now.....off to get a shower & run out to the Zone today to pick up some supplies for my upcoming classes along with my design team kit for this month.

Have a great day....and if you have a sister or even a brother, give them a hug for me today!

Benita

Finally Updating

No, I haven't forgotten about my blog. I've just been VERY busy between still moving into our new home & then going to PA last week. I debated about going due to moving & finances, but I'm so glad that I decided to go afterall! I had a really good time, just seeing my sisters, Dad & Mom. We arrived late on Tuesday because we didn't get on the road until 1:30 in the afternoon, but when we arrived, we met my Dad at a restaurant since we didn't get a chance to eat along the way (other than the snacks we brought with us). Then on Wednesday, the 29th, it was off to visit the grave. Both Linda & Donna were sick, so they didn't go :( so it was just Barb, Dad, Jim & I. We made a day of it (like we always do since it's a 2 hour drive one way), first stopping at Perkins for breakfast (love their pancakes!), then we picked up some flowers for both the grave & the crash site.
On the way back, we picked up some permanent markers for the crosses since the writing keeps fading on them & I just sat there & cried as I was writing Karen's name on the cross. We then stopped at a restaurant for Pizza & headed back to Williamsport afterwards. Thankfully, it was a gorgeous day weatherwise compared to last year when it rained all day.
On Thursday, I called Barb to ask her what she was doing for dinner & kind of invited ourselves over after she said she was having ham. I told her I'd pick up some corn on the cob to bring & then called her again & asked her if I could invite Dad & Linda. Then another call (by this time, she thought I had lost it, lol) to see if she wanted to invite Donna. She kept saying that Donna wouldn't come, but to our surprise, she did. It was so good to have all 4 of us sisters together again! We had a blast (as you can see from the picture that Kyle took) & I think for the first time in a long time, we were all able to actually laugh together again.

We left PA on Friday because we had to pick Cassie up on Saturday as she spent the last week before school in Traverse City. Sadly, my Mom isn't doing very good, so it was so hard to leave. She kept wanting me to take her to the SPCA so she could get a kitten. Then she wanted me to go get her car for her (her car was sold & Linda hasn't told her yet). I really hate seeing her just laying there in the nursing home, but there's nothing you can do for her when she won't get up & do things for herself :(

45 years ago today, at exactly 8:00 a.m., I came into this world :) When you start getting closer to 50, birthdays start being just another day. The weird thing is, I woke up at exactly 8:00 a.m. this morning, looked at the alarm clock & rolled over & went back to sleep. Every year, my Mom used to call me at exactly 8:00 a.m. to wish me a Happy Birthday, but she hasn't been able to do that for a couple of years now, so it was just weird that I woke up like that.

Nothing special planned for today except I know that Jim, Cassie & I are going to go out to dinner tonight, but other than that, I'll probably just do some more unpacking & cleaning around the house. My scraproom is almost finished (we got the shelves up & the Primas displayed), so as soon as it's done, I'll be sure to take some pics.

Have a great hump day,

Benita