Cannot tell a lie...

Okay, so I cannot tell a lie! Above is a five minute card. Really. Five minutes - actually, maybe not quite that long! I folded my cardstock into a card, did a little minor distressing along the edges, cut & adhered a piece of already patterned already embellished card stock to fit, and stamped "You're Invited" at the bottom. Voila - done!

It's Saturday in Missouri! That means a trip to Lowe's to pick up things we need to work our little fingers to the bones in the bathroom! I think first on today's list is a corner strip for the drywall corner. It is so hard to be patient! Kind of like that silly prayer, "God, please give me patience, and give it to me NOW"! My personal bathroom goal today is to finish the scraping!

We had to take a rather long drive yesterday, and the tree colors were like a patchwork quilt. It was amazing to see how the leaves have changed so quickly, when we are still having temps fo 40-80 degrees. It's not dropped toward freezing or frost yet at all.

Well, I'm signing off for now. Need to make a Wal-Mart run before they get too much busier, and get back here to start on scraping. I hope that you all have a wonder"fall" day. Melissa, hopefully your piano lessons will go well, and that Monday will be the beginning of better work days for you. John, I just pray you have a good weekend and that Monday is the beginning of a better work week for YOU! Tami, wherever you are today, know that my thoughts and prayers are with you 100fold. I cannot believe that all of this is happening to you, and not only happening, but happening AGAIN! My big prayer for you this week is that you win the lottery and don't have to 'move' again on Monday. I'm so sorry girl...

Take care everyone! PJ

Only your real friends will tell you when your face is dirty. ~Sicilian Proverb

Help!

Okay, so this computer lingo challenged woman needs some help! I've had some folks tell me that they can't access this blog. Does anyone know if you must be a gmailer to access it? One of the ladies is a net-zero subsciber, and says she can't get it to open up.

I'd love to have advice from some of you blogging pro's!

Thanks - have a great day!

PJ

"Try to learn something about everything and everything about something."
- Thomas Henry Huxley (1825-1895)

p.s. the card above is another that I had published in the "Just Invitations", and the cute little guy is also stamped with TAC stamps.

Wonder"fall" weather...

What a glorious day in Missouri! It was in the mid 60's today, and it just felt totally wonder"fall" when I walked out of work. There were three deer standing out in the field to the side of the building, just grazing and enjoying the day. I couldn't help but think about it being a great day to be alive! It's very hard to realize that the snow could fall in 30 days or so!!!! (Speaking of snow, below is a photo of winter in Missouri)

I made it to the dentist today, and guess what - I survived! (so far - the night is still young!). I am such a sissy about dentists! I'm sure that our kids never knew it, but I always hated taking them to their appointments. Sort of a traitor-ish feel! I knew that even a gentle cleaning is uncomfortable, at best, and yet, had to take them AND convince them that it was good to go there. lol



Yikes, I understand from one of my readers that I really goofed yesterday! Must be the blonde pores eeking out! (is that a word?) What I did, was call one of my very good friends ( the TAC lady - Shirley), a BF. I was naive enough to think that if BFF is best friend forever, that BF must be best friend! OOPS! I was informed by this special reader that in computer lingo, BF means boyfriend. And if that wasn't bad enough, I followed up the paragraph about my BF with a paragraph about girl toys. So..... I took a lot of ribbing last night! Oh, well, hope it made you all smile! Shirley, if you are reading, you are now my other BFF!!!!!



Have I mentioned that I am missing baseball terribly? Not all baseball, but certainly the Cardinal's! I try really hard to enjoy Mizzou or the Rams, but baseball just wins over football every time. Hopefully, the Cards will have a great winter, and will come back for the 2009 season pumped up and ready to win every game! My dh and ds (that really IS dear hubby and dear son!), went to Jupiter, Fla. last year for spring training. They very much enjoyed their week together, and got to see lots of baseball.



Well, am going to go work on my Christmas card swap, and bathroom scraping - blessings to you all!



Patti J.



Remember, we all stumble, every one of us. That's why it's a comfort to go hand in hand. ~Emily Kimbrough

The purpose of life...

Robert Byrne once said that "the purpose of life, is a life of purpose". Well...here I am at 54+ years young, wondering just what my purpose is supposed to be! I sure hope I figure it out while there is still time to do or be 'it', whatever 'it' is!

I am going to attempt to insert a couple more of the photo's from the "Just Invitations" issue. Some of you have already seen them, but I have them uploaded already, so you just have to bear with me and see them again! The card is using one of my favorite stamp sets from The Angel Company (TAC). One of my BF's sells their line, and I am utterly and hopelessly addicted. Sigh... we gals can never have enough toys!

This is the card on the outside. Isn't she adorable? I paper pieced her dress & shoes, and used my Tombow markers to color her dress, bag, etc. Don't you just want to stamp her on everything? lol

Shown below is the inside of the card. The flowers are added

with pop-dots to make them irrisistably cute! Hope you like it!

Speaking of 'toys', we have set a date for my next class, and are going to be using the Zutter Bind It All. What an awesome gadget (those of you that know me well, know that I am addicted to gadgets also!!!). It makes journals, address books, photo books, mini scrapbooks, etc., look so easy! Anyway, class is October 25th, and we will play for a few hours that day! The store owner (Tracy Kocher from The Red Rooster) also asked me if I would set up a make and take table for the annual Farmington Christmas Open House on Sat., Oct. 1st. I think I probably will, as it's something I enjoy. It is SO much fun to see these ladies come in and say "I'm not talented, I can't make that", and walk out with a beautiful item that THEY made. It's fun to see them smile, and feel proud of their accomplishment.

The bathroom is coming along slowly but surely! My main man, Stan, worked his little fingers to the bone this weekend, building a closet (it is actually a home for the vacuum cleaner!). We have made contact with the drywall men that do the special hardcoat finishes. They are supposed to come out and look the job over and tell us how soon we can get it done. After that, things will move along pretty quickly, we hope! For tonight, it's back to scraping. Hopefully, I can get that part of things finished tonight. I guess thoughts tonight will be centered on my trip to the dentist at 8 a.m. tomorrow - ugh. ugh. ugh. Sometimes I think that if it didn't mean going to a dentist, I would get all teeth pulled and get some pretty new ones! lol

Well, I guess I will sign off for tonight - I have bored you all so silly, you may never come back! It's been a long, busy, and tiring day, but what can I say? "Momma said there'd be days like this..."

Until tomorrow, remember this: A positive attitude may not solve all your problems, but it will annoy enough people to make it worth the effort. ~Herm Albright, quoted in Reader's Digest, June 1995

Patti J.

Calgon...

There are 'Calgon take me away' days, and then there are 'Calgon, get me outa here in a hurry' days. Today was one of the latter! Sheesh, I was happy to get home! The weekend is in sight - hooray!

I have been working on inserting photo's into this blog, and am going to attempt it tonight! The card above is one of my favorite patterns. It is just a rectangle with a few score lines, and lots of patterned paper. It was published in the first ever issue of "Just Invitations" last month. I'm still pinching myself over that!

Okay, so I can't figure out how to put the photo exactly where I want it! Guess I will have to keep practicing.

The next photo's are proof of my peeling career! What a mess we've made of a perfectly usable bathroom! Too late to turn back now - must move forward!

It's nice to know that if I ever decide to not be a secretary, I have something else that I excel at!

Well, Stan the Man is home from Branson, and tired. We've had a few wings and a salad, watched the debate, and are going to turn in for the night.

Hope your Friday brings you lots of blessings!

Patti J.

Be like the flowers - Turn your faces toward the sunshine.
~Kahil Gibran

How ironic...

Tonight's thoughts while I chipped, peeled, and pulled, centered on Meli, and her visit to the dentist today.

Poor girl has had a toothache since a week or two before she ever left for China (keep in mind that she was in China for a year, and she's now been in NY for a year)!

She had gone to: 1. our family dentist who has seen her since she was a baby 2. the dentist in town that takes our dentist's emergencies when he's out of town, 3. a dentist in Festus prior to leaving for New York, and 4. a dentist in NY who wanted about a quarter of a million bucks just to look in her mouth!

Finally the 5th dentist that she has been going to now since she got moved up to Brooklyn, was able to work on the tooth today. It seems that the filling was actually cracked! So, each time she bit down on something, I guess it was like sharp shards hitting things they were not supposed to hit! Now, one has to know Meli to know just how proud we are of her for going to the dentist at all, much less going to five different dentists multiple times! lol... Anyway, glad she got her tooth fixed!

but...

Back to my 'peeling' thoughts! I was actually sort of shuddering and kind of secretly being glad that I wasn't the one at the dentist today, as I would rather have another baby than get a shot in my mouth, or a filling! I quit working about 8 p.m., put my scraper down, washed up, went out to the couch to sit for a few minutes, and up comes our little furball, Flake. She is SO excited that 'mom' finally stopped what she is doing, and has sat down! She literally BOUNDS up onto the sofa, and her head clunks my chin, driving my teeth together, and... you guessed it - I broke a tooth. Sigh.

So, tomorrow's first on the agenda is to call dentist #1 for an appt. to get a tooth fixed. This is one of the teeth that badly needs a crown, so not only am I going to have to go to the dentist, but it is probably going to end up being a thousand dollar broken tooth before it's said and done. Did I say sigh??? If not, sigh...

Other than that, it's been an okay day. Weather's been beautiful - high of 67, low of 57. I got some 'peeling' done, some painting done, and even managed to load and turn on the dishwasher tonight - am I good or what?

My handsome man is going to try to be home early enough tomorrow to watch the VEEP candidates battle it out. I hope he does, so that I have someone to yell at through the debate! Poor Flake - if he doesn't get home in time, she's 'it'!!! My gut feeling is that all of the hype about Palin having to cram 24-7 since she was named is just glorified B.S. I think that it's all been a publicity farce, and that she is going to wipe up the floor with Biden. Hope not, but afraid so. We'll see!

Signing off for tonight - Blessings to all of you!!!

Patti J.
~Even a clock that does not work is right twice a day. ~Polish Proverb