Happy Birthday, Baby!

Today this beautiful granddaughter of mine turns 5 years old. Can you believe it? 5?!? Wow! Either I'm getting old.....or time is just going by way too fast! Or both! May 31, 2004 this beautiful girl was born. And she just keeps getting cuter every single day! Although I haven't seen her since Christmas :(
Which is when this picture above was taken. Shawn promised me that he's going to bring her to see me tomorrow......all I gotta say is he had better keep this promise, especially since I got someone to cover my shift at work. Once again, I didn't get invited to her birthday party today :( Seeing as she lives over an hour away, I guess Toni just had the party at her new boyfriend's house. I swear, it sucks not being able to see this little girl more often & give her hugs & kisses & take her picture 10,000 times! Which reminds me......I need to go charge my camera battery for tomorrow. So hopefully the next time I blog, I'll have some new pictures to post :)

Off to watch the hockey game.....GOOO RED WINGS! GOOO PENQUINS! ;)
Benita

I've Been A Bad Girl!

The past 8 days I've neglected myself....I didn't go to the gym at all during those 8 days. Bad Benita......BAD!!! But in my defense, I still managed to get some exercising in......lots & lots & LOTS of gardening, walks, etc. But I still feel bad. So I finally got my butt back in there on Thursday night & boy, it really made me realize how much I need the gym! And how much I missed it! I guess it's official.....I'm a gym rat :)
Over Memorial Day weekend, we made a trip (actually 2 trips) to Ikea for 2 more Expedit bookcases. They had an awesome sale on them ($49.00, regularly $89.99), so I couldn't pass that up, could I? Jim & I actually drove out there Friday night after I got off work & bought 2 of them at the regular price, then we took the receipts back on Sunday to get a price adjustment......sneaky, huh? :) At least we didn't have to wait in the extremely long line to get them! Little did I know that we would end up having to go back there anyway as one of them had some damaged boards that we needed to exchange.

I'm using one of them to store all of my pattern paper & cardstock.....I just hope it can take the weight! That paper is heavy! I weighed just one of my Cropper Hopper paper holders & it weighed 10 pounds! Yeowch! The other expedit I turned on it's side & I'm using it sorta like a sofa table in between the 2 windows in my scraproom......I really like it that way. And can you see what's on top of it....in the one corner? This:
I finally found an old typewriter! Jim & I went to the Salvation Army store the other day & I couldn't believe it when I saw it, but then I saw the price.....$39.99. I really didn't want to pay that much for one, but I know they're hard to find. So I left it there & proceeded to the checkout with some other great finds (I forgot to post pics of them). While checking out, I noticed their sales were posted on a board & one of them was to pick one item of your choice for 50% off. Well....you guessed it.....back to get that typewriter! Woohoo! I got it for $20.00! And the best part is.....it works! Okay, so it needs a new ribbon to really work as the one that's in it is broken, but I may try to fix it. If not, does anyone know where you can buy ribbons for old typewriters? I checked some websites & from what I can tell, this one was made in 1951. I would loved to have an even older one, but I'm not gonna be picky :)

Well, I better get to bed as I have to work my new shift tomorrow from 10:00 am to 3:00 pm. Next time I blog, I'll post some pics of my flower beds & gardening that we've been doing.

Have a great weekend!
Benita

Nothing To Talk About

Wow, I really am a bad blogger! I just realized that it's been 10 days since my last update. And I have no excuses.....really, I don't. I just haven't had much to talk about. Can you believe that? Me?? Nothing to talk about??? Okay, okay.....watch it.....I know what you're thinking! ;) Seriously, though.....since my last post was on Mother's Day.....which basically sucked.....both of my kids forgot about it :( Well, my 22 year old son sent me a text! A text??? What the h*ll!!! You can't even CALL me??? H-E-L-L-O! He never came to see me like he said he would, the brat! Yes, I dare call him a brat because he's my kid! Seriously.....if there are any kids out there reading this, take it from me just how important Mother's Day is & make sure you do something special for your Mom.....if not on any other day of the year, do it on Mother's Day! The one good thing that happened on Mother's Day was I got to talk to my Mom on the phone & we actually laughed & cried together. And my dh bought me a beautiful rose bush, so he got extra brownie points for that :)
I spoke to my sister Barb yesterday & she just found out that her mammogram came back abnormal :( So please keep her in your prayers for me. I'm also calling this morning to schedule mine as I admit, I've been putting it off. I know, shame on me! I definitely know better!
On the job front, Jim passed the test he took, so now we're just waiting to see if he gets an interview. I guess they don't interview everyone that passed, which makes no sense, so keep your fingers crossed that he gets one. As of right now, he's still working, but that could change at any given moment.

Both Jim & I have been struggling with our weightloss :( We're still exercising like crazy, but for some reason, the pounds just don't want to come off anymore. I've lost a few more, but then I'll gain a pound or two back & it just seems like I'm not getting anywhere. So frustrating! But I asked myself the other day if I would be happy with myself where I am now.....I'm still waiting for myself to answer me, lol. I mean, I'm down 67 pounds & 10 sizes, which is a huge accomplishment, but is that enough?? I just don't know what else to do. It seems like the closer I get to my goal, the harder it is......why is that? I also just started taking an herbal medication for my Osteoarthritis called Aquamin Sea Minerals as I've read that it's supposed to help, but now it's making me wonder if that may have something to do with this.....can it be causing me to be stuck? Probably not, but it makes me wonder. Plus I got a protein shake mix from a trainer at the gym called "Muscle Provider" that I've been drinking after my workouts, but it states right on the container "Use this product as a food supplement only. Do not use for weight reduction." So maybe it's this that's making me stuck.....or maybe I'm just battling against being peri-menopausal? ARGH!

Okay, my rant is over. See, maybe now you're glad that I haven't been blogging so much :) Ah well.....I'm off to enjoy this absolutely, gorgeous day we're having as the temps are supposed to get into the low 80's today & tomorrow! YAY!

Until next time.....whenever that is,
Benita

Happy Mommy's Day!

Happy Mommy's Day to all of my blogging friends out there! I hope you get spoiled on your special day!

I know I posted this picture of my Mom & I a couple of weeks ago, but wanted to post it again as my Mom is so special to me! I just wish I could be with her today :( I hate living so far away!

In other news, Jim had to take a test on Friday in Indiana for a position that he applied for, so say some prayers that it all works out if this is the route that we're supposed to take.

I did a garage sale this weekend & I'm proud to say, I did pretty good.....$362 worth of good :) That more than made up for the money I spent at the Mega Meet on Thursday!

Well, I'm off to the gym, then I have a ton of laundry to do. Shawn may be coming by for dinner tonight, so that'll be nice to see him.

Have a wonderful Mother's Day!

Benita

Happy NSD

Today is National Scrapbook Day. YAY! Us scrapbookers now have a day made especially for us :) How cool is that!?! And since it's NSD, I decided to share a layout that I did a few weeks ago. This is for the album I'm doing for my dh of his parents wedding (click on image to enlarge). I'm using the new DCWV La Creme line for this album as well as lots of Primas, rhinestones & pearls. I have 2 more pages in progress that I'm hoping to finish up today & also start some more.....afterall, it's NSD so hopefully I'll have lots & lots of "mojo", as scrappers call it :)

I may also have to take a drive out to the Zone today as I have a 50% off coupon for NSD......gotta love those coupons! Thanks Kelley :) Now that I've started this album for Jim, I need to find an album to use for it, lol. I may just end up getting an American Crafts one & decorating it with the same papers.

Thanks for all the compliments on my last post regarding my weight loss.....you made my day :)

Have a wonderful NSD.....I'd love to know how you all celebrated it!

Till next time,

Benita