Read here to join the party.

I was finally brave enough to join the Digishoptalk Gallery. I do belong to other forums but I'm often afraid to post my work after seeing some of the other layouts!

I can't resist this though, Digital Scrapbooking Day is on November 3! How could I possibly resist that. Not only do I really like digital scrapbooking (okay I'm addicted lol) but Digital Scrapbooking Day is on my birthday! Whoo Hoo what a great way to celebrate!

Anway, I found out about the Tailgate Party at Hummies Blog. She has such a wonderful blog just chock full of info, tips, freebies. I love it ! I thought I would join in on the party as is sounds like a blast. Now to just summon up the courage to start talking to others.

I did make a heritage layout and I'm posting it here. I hope you all like it! It's a picture of my Mom when she was about 2 years old. I have very, very few photos of my parents and grandparents. During a move several years ago someone decided to pilfer nearly all of my photos of them. PO'd is an understatement!

I did this in PSE3 using the following:

Template: Mrs Wresh Template 14; roh_blogparty_paper4 (Randi Oh); EHI_SSTools_Styles_Vellum (Scrap Girls); Mcy-BlogParty-Flower-01

It was suggested that we share something if posted on our blog. Since I'm no where near good enough yet to provide a freebie for digi layouts, I thought I would share a cookie recipe that I just did a layout of. I hope you like it!

Well, I think I'll post more later on. I'm pooped and I still have to clean. Actually I haven't even had dinner yet and it's already after 9:00 p.m.!

Tired of Whining!

Okay, I'm tired of whining and complaining, it gives me a headache and I get on my own nerves! Besides who wants to read a blog of someone having a pity party. Pity party is now over.
I was going through some of my old pictures of my 2 sons and having a good laugh at some of them and remembering some of the times I didn't have a camera handy. Or rather, didn't even think of having one handy with some of their stunts! I made a layout when I first started scrapping of my son Buddy who cleaned his room all by himself when he was 5. I'm not thrilled with the layout and am thinking of doing another with the same picture.
The story behind the picture is what is so funny though. Buddy was so proud of himself for cleaning his room all by himself. He picked up all his toys, made his bed, used the sweeper we had for the carpet and even washed his windows! Now the washing the windows is the funny part. Buddy knew that I cleaned my windows with a solution of vinegar and water. (You just may have an inkling where this is going!) I kept the bottle of vinegar solution under the kitchen sink though and he couldn't get to it because it was locked to keep little hands away from the other more dangerous cleaners. Well, he must have rummaged around in the bathroom (you catch on yet?). Smarty pants Buddy could read quite well at 5-years old and found a box that said vinegar and water on it. I had to walk out of his room when he showed me what he cleaned his windows with! He had taken the box of Massengil disposable douches and used one! OMG, I never laughed so hard in all my life. He did complain though it would squirt on the window like my spray bottle I normally used did, he just squeezed the vingegar onto a cloth. I made his father explain just what it was he used and what it was for. I was listening from the other room and heard Buddy say, "She does what with it?, Grosss. Dad I'm glad I'm a boy."
I remember times like these with my granddaughter running around now. My daughter never seemed to get into a lot of mischief like my boys did. Although, trust me my daughter could come up with some whoppers when it came to mispronouncing words. Imagine having your child run down the street and jump trying to say Geronimo! Only it came out Vaginimo!
Now the fun of waiting to see just what this Mom-Mom's little lady is going to come up with because she's a cross between all 3 of my kids! Oh my, we are in for a wild ride!

My Cable Company IS A NIGHTMARE!

I received a comment from Hummie (and thank you so very much) that moving is too much work. Oh you're not kidding! My cable company is driving me absolutely insane. First of all it took 3 attempts to get someone to properly transfer my service. For purposes of telling the story I'll make up apartment numbers (even I'm not dumb enough to give out my real one). Let's say my new apartment number is 345Z and my old one was 354Y. Now the first time the cable tech came out he want to my old apartment, 354Y. Instead of being told he went to the wrong address my appointment kept get pushed off and rescheduled with no explanation. After pitching a fit and threatening to go elsewhere (this after a week of phone calls) I got an appointment for the next day.
Now I'm sitting in work and get a call on my cell phone that the tech is knocking at my door and no one is home. Impossible I say because I just spoke to my daughter who is sitting at home waiting. Well they idiots sent the tech to 345Y, which just happens to be where my son John lived up until 6 months ago. This is important to remember as it plays a critical role here that is going to send me over the edge.
I tell the tech he's at the wrong apartment and go up to the second floor to 345Z. Okay now my service is finally on but I'm still po'd and need to call the sales rep back I talked to. The competition is offering a 1 year deal for Digital Cable, Internet and Telepone (with 5 calling features) for $99.00 a month. Well, silly me I think all is settled and I just have to call back now and get a better deal with my company.
WRONG! My son just called me and his poor fiance is having a fit. My son just received MY cable bill at his address; which by the way is in another town!!! I can't call the cable company, they're offices are closed at 5 p.m. Sooo... I sent them a nice little e-mail. I didn't use any obscenties (although I would have loved to) although I did ask where their staff came from and what schools they went to. I would really like this information so that when my 17-month old granddaughter is ready to attend to school I can make sure she NEVER sets foot in one them. I explained what has happened and that I want the situation remedied IMMEDIATELY. We'll see if I really get a phone call tomorrow.
You want to know the really sad part... the electric company did the same mistakes except for the billing address. It took a full 2 weeks before I finally had the gas turned on for my stove. Let me tell you, I don't mind using the microwave once in a while but I got sick and tired of it real quick. I had electric but needed someone to come in for the gas range.
Now, I have moved many, many times. Mostly as a young girl as growing up very poor we moved quite a bit (in the 5th grade I went to 3 different schools). By the time I was in my early 30's I had moved 33 times! I've only moved twice since my 30's and well you can tell why, I hate it. I have never ever been through something like this.
Oh it's not been a good day. But, my daughter finally found work and started today so it's not all bad. It's a McDonald's at not much but it's something for while she gets her GED. I told her I'm going to go there and take her picture so I can scap it with the title "Want fries with that?" LOL Fortunately she knows I'm laughing with her not at her. I did my time years ago working for Dunkin' Donuts and putting up with "Time to make the donuts!" Well, if anything at least I can get a funny picture to scrap. As my Gram used to say when she would start getting aggravated, "Laugh, mother, laugh." I can either laugh or go crazy... hmmm should I say crazier? LOL. I think I'll go find something funny and laugh.

The Adventures of Anna!

Well, I stayed up until 3 a.m. finishing up with this move. I scrubbed the old apartment from top to bottom and the only things left are a lamp I need to bring up and a bag of trash to throw out. Boy do I hurt today, it feels like someone is sticking hot needles into my upper back, neck, elbows and knees. LOL I just generally hurt all over! Of course from trying to get everything done now my new apartment is messy and needs picking up. It's amazing what can happen in just 2 days when I'm busy. I think my granddaughter Anna was trying to tell me the apartment needs cleaning. She walked over to the closet, pulled out the broom and started sweeping! You know it's time to clean up when a 17-month old says so! She's so funny sometimes.

Which brings me to the following two pictures that was snapped of my little lady getting into mischief. I swear this girl reminds me so much of my son John when he was little. That boy somehow even managed to pull his crib apart and once climbed out of his bedroom window onto the kitchen roof! (We actually super glued the screen down after that incident.) Ohhh, I can see we're in for a wild ride with Anna!

Here is what happens when Anna is supposed to be napping and decides she's not tired:

Thank goodness it was the nightstand she decided to sit in. She sees my little Tenshi do this all the time. He loves opening drawers and sleeping in them.

In this one my dd ran to the bathroom and came back and found this!

I really think my granddaughter needs to stop watching the cats! They both like laying in the middle of the table and I guess Anna thought it was also a good idea. I've even seen this child try to leap head first off of the furniture like the cats do. Oh my goodness, I think Anna thinks she's a cat!

Thank goodness she starts daycare Monday! My daughter finally found work and starts tomorrow. We have a friend watching Anna until daycare starts Monday. My daughter took Anna to the daycare today to check everything out and Anna loved it. They let Anna go in with the other children her age for an hour or so to play and my daughter said she had a ball.

I really think daycare is going to do a lot of good for Anna. She's extremely active and loves being around other children, but there aren't any kids her age living here. The poor kid has been staying cooped up in the apartment most of the time, except to go to the playground once in a while. My dd does not go out often. Personally I think my dd lets Anna watch too much television, so getting into daycare will give her the opportunity to learn, have fun and socialize with other children.

Well, enough rambling. I feel like scrapping, just haven't decided whether it's going to be paper or digi yet. Hmm... paper will have to wait until the little lady is in bed. So I'll do digi then paper! Besides I'm quite sad because the monthly kit is out at Scrap Girls and I have to wait until Thursday to get it after I get paid. Daycare is expensive! But that's another ramble.

Gentle Hugs to All.

Almost Finished With This Move!

I'm almost there, nearly done!
I just moved from a 3-room apartment to a bigger 2 bedroom apartment. Believe me we desparately needed the space. If it weren't for the generousity of my Aunt we'd still be stuck there. She helped so much by paying for the 3-months needed to transfer.
When it was just me and my daughter living in a small 1-bedroom apartment was not the greatest but liveable. However, with the arrival of my granddaughter last year...whoaa! I had forgotten just how much stuff you have when there's a baby in the house. That and the fact that this move has shown just how much junk I had. No wonder it was impossible to keep the place clean.
I've been doing this whole move with very little help. My nephew moved the beds for me and up until today I've done all of the work. My Uncle came over today and helped toss no less than 2 dozen large green trash bags out of the window and into the dumpster! I swear I'm not lying when I tell you we actually filled a big dumpster with all the stuff that was in there. Can you imagine such a sight?? I almost never invited people over because I was so embarrassed about how it looked. Most of the stuff was my daughter's who just kept accumulating things and then tossing them aside. I am just so sick of living like that. She knows how difficult it can be for me just to do normal everyday chores, but to have to keep cleaning up after her was impossible. I would come home from work and there would be clothes all over in every room, papers from the junk mail thrown about and oh let's not forget the empty Coke cans (or rather half-full ones she didn't finish and left out.
Well NO MORE! I've had it. I'm sick and tired of having to try to keep my home clean and feeling like it's a never ending process. I have no clue of what half of what I threw out was and to be quite honest I don't care. All that junk was NOT coming to the new apartment, which is clean and organized (and staying that way!). My daughter has a choice, shape up or ship out. I'm putting my foot down and if she doesn't cooperate my foot will be somewhere else ;).
I want to be able to feel good about people coming into my home. I can understand toys being out when Anna is awake, but when she's finished pick them up and put them away for pete's sake! Actually at almost 17 months old Anna likes playing "clean up" and is almost always willing to help. She's old enough now to learn how to put something in a box (of course she often takes it back out again LOL). Heck, when I feed Anna when she's finished she likes to take a baby wipe and "clean" her table while I sing, "clean up, clean up, everybody clean up". If you make something fun for a child they will gladly do something.
I still have to go down and finish cleaning up in there but I just finished a mountain of dishes and swept and mopped the living room. I need a break!
Well, that's enough rambling time to get up off my butt and start moving again. Ughh I'll be so glad when I'm done with this move.

My First Post

Hi,

I'm new to blogging and it's going to be a bit of a challenge for me as I'm not used to talking about myself. I think though this will just be about my life in general, the adventures (or should I say misadventures!) of my granddaughter Anna and a place to post some of my scrapbook layouts.

My granddaughter as you will very quickly discover is the light of my life! I was there when she was born, along with my sister-in-law Cathy. That was one of the most beautiful experiences of my life. I'm helping my daughter raise Anna, my daughter is only 20 and single and can be very naive at times. My daughter is also bi-polar which can make for quite a roller coaster ride.

I'm addicted to caffiene in a way that has most people shake their heads in disbelief. When I say addicted it's an understatement. It's not at all unusual for me to drink 2 - 6 packs of 24 oz. bottles of Diet Pepsi a day! Oh and when you hear me complaining of insomnia, I did try eliminating caffeine. I quit both caffiene and smoking for 4 years after my bypass surgery, my insomnia got worse!

Sometimes you'll hear me whine and have a pity party for myself because on top of the heart disease (I had a triple bypass in 1998 when I was 36) I also have FMS (fibromyalgia). There are days when just sitting at the computer and typing is extremely painful. In spite of the daily unrelenting pain I still work full-time. I absolutely refuse to let FMS rule my life for the most part. There are days when just getting to work and coming home is all I have the energy and will power for. My granddaughter and kitties though can bring a smile to my face on the worst of days. That or when my pity party lasts for more than an hour or so I get on my own nerves, give myself a good swift kick in the rear, and get on with life.

I just started scrapbooking this past May so you'll see a lot of my layouts here. I do paper scrapping as well as digi. I love it! It's very relaxing and great for relieving the stresses of everday life.

Well, I think that's enough for my first post. Besides I really need to go buy more Diet Pepsi and I'm down to counting change because I spent my cigarette and soda money on scrap supplies. See, scrapbooking can also help you stay healthy!

With that I leave you with a recent digi layout I did. Thanks for listening to me ramble on and I hope you like the layout! All of the elements used here are from Scrap Girls.