Halloween ~ My Favorite Holiday to Decorate For

(OK, the Title ends in a preposition, but it’s Sunday, so the grammar police aren’t around today, right?;))

I had signed up for a class at Scrapbook 911 about a month ago, and was unable to attend because of my back, but I did get my class kit anyway. And despite my back screaming at me, I put this puppy together! Yummy Halloween Goodness!

Scrapbook 911 Class Sample:

And here’s my (Awww – her’s so cute!!!) version:

There is a little light bulb inside the house that shines through the windows. Do you see the little ghosties in the windows??? And the bats over the chimney??? The “yard” does look a bit naked, so I’ll be hunting down some little tomb stones, or spiders or something to put around there.

I finished knitting another washcloth yesterday, and cast yet another on. I’m finding it’s a great way to learn different stitches and it’s great practice on knowing where I am on a charted pattern as well as picking up dropped stitches and really knowing where I am in a row. It sounds a lot easier than it is in the beginning!

Here’s a quick rundown of some of our other recent happenings:

• The new rec room furniture arrived yesterday. Sooo comfy! Yea!
• Ed has installed the new fridge, double ovens and dishwasher. Only the cooktop to go, and that has to wait until the granite is installed!
• We finally found a sink we liked that would fit, only to find out when we got it home that it probably won’t fit because of the little corner support thingies. Crud~!
• I had another MRI Friday. Seeing the neurosurgeon Tuesday for the follow-up. Still waiting to see what will happen…
• We have several toads in the back yard that CoCo keeps trying to “make friends” with. Making friends is comprised of barking at and mouthing the little guys. Of course, the toads respond by peeing in/on her, causing her to foam at the mouth and bark at them more. Their latest means of escape has become jumping in the pool! I have several pics of them in the pool. There were 3 there Friday night. hee hee hee
• Nick has been applying for jobs – Best Buy, GameStop, etc. Something up his alley!
• Nick still has his heart set on going to the U of W. We shall see how that works out… He is registered for the SAT in December.
• Ed’s working nice and close to home. He’s been a real sweetie and has been taking me to all of my MD appts. It’s really nice to have his support through all of this.
• Little Puddin’ has himself a little eye infection or injury. I guess I’ll be calling the vet tomorrow to get him in to get it checked out. He was “winky” on Friday and I can tell it’s bothered him all weekend. I figure it’s a scratch on his eye or a little infection.
• Been logging onto Ravelry regularly. There is so much inspiration in there. What beautiful work and diversity in designs!! I highly recommend it.

Thanks for stopping by!
Bets

 

My Sweet 16 Quilt

When i turned 16, my maternal grandmother, GiGi, presented a gorgeous quilt to me. She had it made by a woman in Stanwood in 1979 especially for me! I was thrilled then, even though at the time I wasn’t into quilting. Over the years I came to appreciate it *so* much, and it has always provided me comfort. As you can see from the pictures below, it has been a bit “over-loved”.

It is showing a lot of wear and tear!! I’ve wanted to have it repaired, or do it myself, for years now. The back is is even worse shape. It’s really, really worn and falling to pieces!! Today, I decided to dig it out of the box it’s been sitting in since we moved to San Antonio. The quilt has no binding, so I simply began to remove the seams around the outside. Something different about this quilt is that there is a layer of cheesecloth between the top and the batting. I’ve never seen that construction method before, but I have heard that it is done sometimes to prevent the batting from “bearding” through to the front.

The second step in the deconstruction for repair was to remove the lovely kermit green yarn that was used to tie the quilt. Now the top and the back are in the laundry room with a fresh bottle of Dreft, ready for a good soak and rinse. I’ve got some calico and tiny print fabrics in the same tones picked out of my stash. I haven’t decided if I’ll remove the blocks or not, or maybe fuse some fabric to what is there. I’m also going to add an outside border to help with the blocks wearing along the edges, and also to increase the size. And I’ll add a nice double binding, also to preserve it from too much wear and tear. Hopefully once I get it fixed, I can get another 28-30 years out of it!

(L to R: Jake’s bum, Seamus, Zoe Dante and Abbey)

Ed went up to College Station to see Big Todd yesterday. Big Todd is a firefighter at the oil refinery in Anacortes and came to College Station for a week of training. On Ed’s way home today, he picked up a new mattress at Costco. Mmmmmm. Memory Foam! I can hardly wait to go to bed tonight and try it out! Of course the cats were intrigued with the mattress that we had taken out. I was amazed to get all of them in one shot together! That’s never happened before!

Have a great week!

Betsy

 

Meet {Puddin’ Pop}!

A computer desktop sized layout I I put together tonight for my new laptop. Please let me introduce little Seamus! Our little rescue kitty, a.k.a, Puddin’ Pop, Orange Kitty, Red Kitty, Little Buddy!
Title font is Baveuse, all items are from Mindy Terasawa’s Crazy Beautiful kit at Designer Digitals.
This is my second digi layout – so I haven’t done any mixing and matching from different kits yet. I’m still figuring out how to crop, select irregular shapes and get the layers right! lol
TFL!

 

The Variety Post

Well, there’s been a lot going on, as usual. The most significant news is that my Dad had a heart attack about 10 days ago. The pain woke him up in the middle of the night. He thought it was indigestion, took some Tums and that did not help. He drank some water and that did not help. Then the pain was radiating down his left arm, so he woke up my step-mom to take him to the hospital. They went to Port Charlotte Regional Medical Center and were well taken care of. Once they verified that he was having a heart attack, they tried angioplasty (the balloon thing into the artery to try to open things up) but that did not work. So they ended up placing at least one stent. I’m still not positive exactly what they did for him. But he said he finally started feeling some relief after they finished one of the procedures. He did not have to have bypass surgery, thank goodness. He’s got like 6 new pills per day, and his endocrinologist did not have hosp priviledges there, so another endocrinologist changed his whole insulin routine. His blood sugars are still running on the high side, but hopefully that will be resolved at one of his follow-up appts here very soon.

I love you so much, Dad. I hope you feel better and better every single day until you’re better than ever!! (Dad’s the cute one on the left!)

Bill, Nick, Garrett, Sandy, Kevin, Peter, Susan
The Dobbins place up-country NH, summer of 07.

Since I posted last, I was in Phoenix last week, was on vacation the week before, and in Indianapolis the week before that. I’ll be taking off for Houston tomorrow, so that I can be in that office bright and early Monday morning!

Here’s a shot of the place I stayed in Phoenix:

And a bitty picture of the resort itself. It was meticulously manicured and such a beautiful setting. Lots of quail running around and making little quail noises.

The whole Walgreen’s acquisition is complete, and now it’s “hurry up and wait” time, so that we’ll know more of the details. Everything is in committees now and being researched, compared, contrasted, evaluated, etc. How fun!

I’ve got a couple of wool bowls knitted up and ready to be felted. I did them in Cascade 220 yarn in a really nice burgundy color. I think they will go nicely in the family room on one of the shelves. While I was in Phoenix I also started knitting with size 5 pearl cotton to knit a bracelet. It’s coming out really cute so far. Hopefully I can get the lace pattern down and not confuse myself!

My back is still bothering me a LOT. See the MD on the 17th and maybe he’ll have some ideas for me. I had a steroid injection into the epidural space while Garrett was here from NH, and I got some relief for a couple of days. I think I just aggravate that poor disc so much though that it can’t really heal up well. Owie.

Well – catch ya soon! Have a great week (or two??)

 

Cupcake Love!

I finally finished my little knitted cupcake. I’d actually like to put a couple of buttons or beads or something on top of the “frosted” part, but nothing in my stash really goes with it. I’ll have to hunt around at Michael’s and see what I can find!

Voila!

 

Hanging Out

Well what’s new with you? I drove over to Houston Tuesday morning, and took the Nickster with me so that he could drive me home. I also had an ulterior motive. I wanted him to setup some of the PC’s over there. Tuesday afternoon was wonderfully productive for both of us! I had a room booked at the Sheraton over by the Galleria.

It was a very nice hotel, great size room. The only bummer was that Nick got the pull-out sofa and the mattress was wafer thin! Not a good thing for a 6′2″ growing young man!

We decided to have some dinner brought in via TakeoutTaxi. Nick is really into that whole “bring me really good food” thing right now. We’re all sick of our same-old, same-old meals or fast food. And I couldn’t talk him into going out to dinner. He was tired from all that riding in the passenger seat and stuff, right? (Well, he really did dismantle 9 old PC’s and setup 9 new ones…) So we order Italian, eat a yummy dinner and then whammo – I’m sick. Really sick. Down for the count, miserable all night long. I’ve done Takeout Taxi in Chicago, Los Angeles and Chico and never had a problem. But Houston – not so much. Ouch. Eww. So, I called the GM in the Houston office, explained the sitch to her and apologized. Then laid down for a couple of hours, packed and hit the road for home.

Nick’s driving has definitely improved!

(This was his first drive ever!)

He’s much more controlled now. Me being miserably ill in the car, dying to get home did make him a bit nervous, though, I think. And all the semi’s, and people with radar detectors going 180 mphscreaming up onto his bumper. That may have made him a bit nervous, too.

And he is just a ham for the camera! Oh how I miss that toothy grin of his from his younger days!

Speaking of pictures of Nick, it’s time to arrange for SENIOR PICTURES!! And I spent a bit of time browsing for a photographer, and believe I found the perfect one!! I love her photographic style! I think we’ll go for a nice outdoor location, maybe an early morning shoot so that it’s not 110 in the shade during the shoot! The photographer is Zoie Norris, of Norris Photography. Prices are comparable to others in the area, and did I mention I *love* her work??

On the work newsfront, everything is running like clockwork on the Walgreen’s acquisition of OptionCare. The current CFO for OptionCare, Paul Mastrapa, will be our new President. And it sounds like the software that I have been working with over the last few years and implementing across the country will continue to be used, and the implementations will be accelerated. So some potential job security there. (Fingers crossed!) And the really good news is that the big pile of stock options I received when I took the GM position in San Antonio will be honored. So together with the 250 options from 2002, Nick may actually get some parental assistance with college tuition! And Ed may get that riding lawn mower he’s been dreaming of! 3/4 of an acre of grass is a PITA to mow every weekend!

On the crafting front, I’ve done zippo. There was a VC last weekend at ScrapVillage, and I did some chatting and hanging out with them, but really didn’t accomplish anything. However, hold onto your hat, I cleaned my craft room! I have an entirely clear table top, as well as all my little goodies put in their place! Paper is organized, little embellishments sorted, tools all spiffied up and I’m ready to scrap, sew, quilt, knit and crochet! Now to find a little creative motivation.

And speaking of creativity, Ali Edwards has begun a “Daily Something”. I adore her work, and this idea of integrating some sort of creativity into each and every day is such an inspiration. *Love it*.

And if this overdue blog entry isn’t long enough, here are a few things I’ve been eyeing:

This is a genius ribbon storage do-hickey! It’s not yet available on the market. The company is named Your Pictured Memor-EZ. Isn’t that the greatest idea ever! More ribbon stored in less space! No tangles, all clean and tidy. Woohoo!

And how about this new Tinkering Ink Botanical Bliss paper line? Another gotta-have as soon as it’s available on the market!!

And one more – Making Memories Carousel Organizer! I had the pleasure of serving on a panel for them for a while and certainly enjoyed receiving the packages of goodies from them! Their stuff is the highest quality, and their latest organization stuff is the tops. There is also a nice wall shelf organizer thingie in a nice white beadboard that would look great in my crafting space, too! (Hmmmm. Where’s that list I’m making for Santa?)

Well, if anyone’s actually read this whole post – Congratulations! Send me your addy and I’ll send you a RAK!

xoxo

Bets

 

Houston, TX, Living Free & Work News…

Wow, I can’t believe it’s been since May since I blogged! I was doing well for a while there! Oh well, here’s what’s been happening with me.

I finished a successful implementation with the Chico office. They were SO kind, cooperative and appreciative of my knowledge and skills. It’s satisfying to feel like I’ve made a difference. We all want to feel that, don’t we? No matter if it’s family stuff or work stuff or community stuff – anything. The staff there put together a scrapbook page for me, signed by all of the staff, with gift cards to Starbuck’s

and Michael’s!!

They also included maps to each from the Houston office, knowing I’d be there the following week! How is that for a fabulous prize! I was really surprised and very thankful.

I had begun work on my next site, Houston, TX, a few weeks ago, and was there last week. Since it’s only a couple hundred miles away, I decided to drive. And since I hadn’t seen Nick for 2 solid weeks, I decided to snag him to go with me. We had planned for him to do some of the driving, too, but he had a hard time waking up Monday morning. {Hmmm, after staying up 3/4 of the night playing WOW, I wonder why he was so tired??} We hit a couple of spots of blinding downpour, so I was glad I drove anyway. Anywho – the GM in Houston worked on the i-emphsys team a couple of years back, and we really hit it off and shared a lot of knowledge during that time and developed a real mutual respect. It was great to see her and to work with her all week. She has some really dedicated and seasoned staff to work with, and a fairly large operation.

Nick and I enjoyed seeing each other over dinner each night, and just spending time together in the evening. We stayed at the Hampton Inn, and it was pleasant. Not the Taj Mahal, but very clean and easy to get in/out of, close to the office. I had the work piled up, so we didn’t squeeze in any touristy stuff. It’s so hard to fit that in when I’m traveling. I’d really like to get to the Johnson Space Center for NASA.

And I was in a HUGE hurry to get home Friday night, left Houston at 3PM , in order to get in line for an IPHONE!!!! Ed and I had discussed getting them, and once he watched the video on what you can do with one, he was sold. He wanted one, too!! He got to the Apple store at La Cantera around 6:15, stood in line for a bit and had 2 brand spanking new iPhones for us by 6:45. Which was the exact time Nick and I pulled into the mall at La Cantera. What perfect timing!!

 Saturday was a waste of a day for me. I was exhausted from being on the road for 4 weeks and running my buns off. Sunday we all went to the Palladium for a double feature, but oops – I didn’t do what I usually do and buy the tickets online before we go – and Rattatouie (spelling??) was sold out. So we just saw Live Free or Die Hard

(instead of both).Oh well – gotta love Bruce Willis. And the Mac commercials guy was a great sidekick for him. Major smart ass. It was a good movie! We’ll probably see the Rat on July 4th.

I haven’t scrapped, knit or quilted in a while. I am knitting a cupcake, but frogged the whole thing because I found a screw up in one of the previous rows and want it to be perfect. The knit cupcakes are the cutest things I’ve seen in a loooong time!

That’s it for now. We haven’t floated away yet with all of the rain! Wish us luck – it’s supposed to keep raining!
xoxo
Bets

 

Spiders and Yarn

Well, what a FUN day today. After work I went into Boerne and picked up the Nick-ster and since I had never been in the LYS there, Rosewood Yarns, I decided to make a quick stop. The woman (?the shop owner?) was super nice and helpful. I ended up spending over $100, but that includes 2 books, 8 hanks of some really lucious light yarn to knit a tank top: Berroco Touche 50/50 Cotton Rayon,

some circular needles in size 7 & 8, and 2 big hanks of some Cascade Yarns Tweed wool to felt. One hank is this fuschia color and the other is a gorgeous cerulean blue. Oh yeah – and I picked up 2 brand spankin’ new Noni Designs patterns – Cascading Fuschias Market Bag  and Just Pockets! Woohoo!

Tonight we went to see Spiderman

 in the Palladium IMAX theater. I am SO loving that this new theater is just 10 minutes or so away. It’s at the new shopping center – The Rim. That’s where the Michael’s is, plus a tons of other great stores – even a Super Target. And of course DH loves the Bass Pro Shop there. Yeah, I can drop him off there for hours. He can go do his guy thing, and I can get me some craftin’ on!!

I’m hoping to be super-productive this weekend. Have a fabulous one yourself!

Bets

 

Lovin’ me some Covent Garden Clock-age!

I picked up a cheapo clock from Staples so that I could insert a yummy “face” into it. I picked out some papers from Tinkering Ink’s Covent Garden line and I’m really happy with how it turned out (well, except for stamping the “All things grow with love” crooked!). I added some TI Finery, Heidi Swapp bling jewels, some shapes and numbers. Totally quick and easy to do! The hardest thing of all was probably tracing that circle and cutting it out! Makes me wish I had one of those groovy circle cutters!

Whadda ya think? Want one for Christmas?

 

A Productive Week in Chico, CA!

I flew into Sacramento via Phoenix on Monday to get started with them for their software implementation.  The GM and her staff are really great, so things went well. Excellent participation from everyone, the staff who were to attend one of two trainings were present and I got GREAT participation for the two presentations. How satisfying! That is how this is all supposed to work!!!!

I also searched out the local quilt shop, Honey Run Quilters, and the local scrapbooking shop, Magical Moments. I was really thrilled with both, and spent way too much money. But what’s new?

I picked up a kit for a Rolodex Card File and actually spent Wed & Thurs evening assembling that. It’s so fun to get to be creative and make somthing – even when I’m on the road. I hadn’t packed any stitching, knitting or anything, so that kit really hit the spot. Whadda ya think? Here are some of the cards…

Finally made it into San Antonio around 10:30 last night. The airport was packed. I’m not sure if that’s because of Fiesta, or because of the airport construction. I’ve arrived into SAT around 11 or 11:30 on my last few trips, so maybe it’s normally that packed at that time? They are constructing a completely new terminal, though. That should be SO nice. They are really over capacity right now. With the local economy depending so much on tourism – they better make the airport experience a positive one!

So – off to unpack and maybe assemble the flannel brights I have into a backing for Nick’s quilt. I may do the same with batting. I have several pieces I’d like to use up and may as well do it now!

Betsy