It's all Good!

So...It seems to be all good!

I can finally start posting some photo's!

I'm going to start with a couple of before and after bathroom pictures.

You have all heard me go on for months now about our bathroom remodel.

Here is a before and after photo of our tub area (which also moved from one wall to another), and of a beautiful stained glass light fixture created by a very talented friend of mine!

The old and new vanity are pictured as well! You can see why we are so excited!

I promise not to bore you with any further bathroom photo's!

Hopefully, from now on, my uploads will all be of my paper addiction!

I want to take just a moment to thank my few readers for being patient, and to wish you all a very blessed, safe, and healthy holiday. Enjoy every single moment with your family members, and...

Cherish each precious day!

Merry Christmas, and God Bless

Patti J.

I'm sorry, so sorry....

Gosh, did I sound anything like Patsy Cline? Lol... Just a note to apologize for vanishing off the face of the earth. We are down to just finishing some plumbing and electrical glitches in the new bath, and we will be able to breathe sighs of relief. However, one thing has lead to another (including moving my craft area - yikes!), and I've been very busy again this week. Finishing the bathroom has created the desire to update several other areas of the house, so things are in boxes and bags everywhere, including every one of my precious stamps!!! Egads, whatever shall I do?

My manley Stanley and one of his employees are going to move oodles of furniture on Friday, and make a few trips to the dump. I'm now up to 2 full 35 gallong plastic tubs, just full of things to get rid of, plus a few trash bags.

Jenny B., if you happen to be reading, I have a large bag of 'goodies' for you, and will have at least one more large bag or box as I put things back together in my new 'home'.

The change will be good - we will have our workplaces together - side by side, so Stan the Man can keep up with paperwork, and I can keep up with swaps, gift making, class planning, etc. It will be so good to have things put back together when the weekend is passed!!!

Hope this finds you all well! All 40 invitations were very well liked, and as soon as I can find the camera again (tee hee), you will all be bored with photo's of the invitations, as well as my last swap. It turned out cute as well. The theme was snowmen/women, etc., and you know I just have to be different - instead of shades of blues, or whites, my card is hot pink and black!

Please be patient with me!

Hugs to you all - chat dump girl - we WILL do Thai very soon - I promise - my treat!!!

~What's the use of happiness? It can't buy you money! ~Henny Youngman

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

Another one bites the dust....

Wow - another September come and gone! Where does the time go?

It's amazing how good a little bit of physical labor feels after you have been at a desk job all day!

I am very much enjoying my 'bathroom' time this week! I can't believe how many things that I think about while I am peeling tiny bits and pieces of paint off the walls. I think about the Wall Street fiasco, and the upcoming election. I think about how our 'freedom of the press' often is such a misnomer! Many times, I will hear a clip from a candidate, and stand back and shake my head, or get angry or sad. Then a bit later, I read the entire article on-line, or in the paper, and the clip means absolutely nothing like what the TV reporter made it sound. I was thinking tonight, how close we are to another Christmas! (And ice and snow!!!). I think about my BF who is going through some very serious and trying family issues right now, and pray for peace and good health for her and her family.

Mostly, I think about how blessed I am that I have such wonderful family and friends. There are times that I will, for just a split second, think, "gee, how would things have been different if I'd been a doctor"?, and then oh so quickly, I think, "gosh, I'm so glad that I'm just a simple secretary, and had time to be a good mom and hopefully, a good wife"! I don't know what I ever did to deserve such riches, but I sure am glad I did whatever it was!!!

Good night all - too tired to make any sense!

It takes courage to grow up and become who you really are. ~e.e. cummings

Beauty is only skin deep...

So!

We have found out that when they say "Beauty is only skin deep", they must be talking about semi-gloss paint!

The newest adventure in the Gilliam bathroom remodel, is that it seems that the paint is determined to peel off the walls. This being said, today's job for PJ has been peeling paint! (After monthly reports were caught up!) It's not too bad, except for the places that have to be 'tweezered' off - lol. Most of it seems to be coming off in sections of inch by inch or two. If you lose me in a crowd this week, I'll be the one with the sore fingertips! Actually, I tried a heat gun, and it pretty much just gunkies the paint, so my preference so far has been just trying to peel.

My main man, Stan, has worked his little fingers to the bones! Quite literally, as he seems to have cuts and scratches nearly everywhere! He's been trying to get the subfloor up, which turns out to be a nasty particle board that is crumbling, and which they nailed down, (what's up with that? folks never heard of screws???) and of course, every nail is imbedded into the wood, making it necessary to utilize, hammer, nail board thingy's, prybars, you name it.

Oh well, if we have to get dirty and dusty, we may as well have an adventure while we are at it! In the meantime, in an effort to get the bathtub off the sunporch (lol), we now have a toilet and a vanity and HEAPS of drywall, 2 x 4's, subfloor, etc., out on the driveway - lookout Mr. Foxworthy - you and your redneck friends have competition!

I still haven't taken time to figure out how to insert my creations - please be patient with me!

We heard from both coasts today - the kids seem to be doing well. The Cardinal's won today - wahoo! (I'm also trying to figure out a way to insert a Cardinal's 2009 countdown to baseball season - if anyone knows how to do that, let me know!)

Hope you have all had a great weekend - tomorrow is back to work for us all - sigh!

Good night - Patti J.

ewwww.....

So, tonight's 'job' was to go to the dungeon (oops, I meant the basement), and take down about 6 or 8 four by eight panels off of the ceiling to see what we are going to get into when redoing the plumbing and venting. Ewwww...... These panels have been there since about '70, and many little furry critters have apparently scurried around on them, leaving behind some unwanted souveniers. Needless to say, when Stan the Man said that I was no longer needed, the shower was next on my agenda! This new bathroom is going to be beautiful when it is finished, but God sure needs to send me some patience (NOW!) as twitching my nose like in "Bewitched" is not working! Will keep you posted as we progress!

G'night...Patti J.

~If you rest, you rust.
~Helen Hayes

Not Enough Hours in a Saturday!

I have tried and tried, but just can't seem to squeeze enough hours into a Saturday and Sunday to get everything done and still have time to be creative. If any of you have any suggestions, I am open to them!

It was a beautiful Saturday in Missouri - about 77 degrees, slight breeze, sunny - made you want to just sit on the porch with a cold glass of tea, and forget about chores, shopping, cooking, etc.

Speaking of cooking, the Lion's Club had a BBQ today, so I didn't have to cook!!! We picked up a couple of pork steak dinners, and they were very good!

I just finished a card swap, and am beginning to think about the one that is due the end of October. It will be a Christmas card swap, and I'm already anxious to see what the others do. There will be 12 of us for the Oct. swap. It's always fun to do a swap - you end up with 12 totally different techniques, colors, stamps, etc.

I also need to begin planning another class. I had to turn away about four people last time, and promised to schedule another class soon. Since we have begun this bathroom/kitchen remodel, it seems sinful to be gone on a Saturday when I should be here helping Manley Stanley in his intensive labor projects!

Today we bought the faucets, and they are SO un-us!!! I'm excited about them. They are a Tuscan look - very dark, with a trim of a coppery edging on them. We have always had silver or gold, and these are very unique. I know it's going to be many weeks before we are done, as we can only work a few hours a week, and I'm trying to be patient, but I am SO excited!

I must be signing off for now - going to work on some boards!

Have a good night - Patti J.

~Give someone a smile and a compliment today - you will make two people happy! (unknown)

Almost Friday!

Well, Thursday is much closer to Saturday than is Monday! - It is almost the weekend - hooray!

Poor Stan the man has a leak in Branson, and they have to locate and isolate it prior to his even starting the trip home. He never seems to catch a good break (no pun intended, really!). It's going to be a very late night for him. Send up a few prayers!

Meli's 'big event' that she is moderating is tonight in Brooklyn. Send up a few prayers for her as well. She seems a wee bit nervous! I'm sure that these folks would much rather see her moderate than I. lol

It really has the beginnings of a 'fall' feel here. It's still very warm, but the grasshoppers, spiders, flies, etc., all act like the weather is about to change. We (well at least one of we - the great hunter Stan) killed a ginormous black fuzzy spider on the carport on Tuesday that was probably 4" in diameter. Yuk. I have very much enjoyed driving home from work this week with the top down on the little car. Some days it is just too nice NOT to go topless!!!

I hope to figure out how to insert some of my creations into this blog. Hopefully, I'll find a few minutes to practice over the weekend in between monthly reports (egads, can't believe it's that time again!). I would love to share some things with my out of town family!

I am currently reading the newest John Grisham book, "Playing for Pizza". It's pretty fast reading, and pretty decent so far. It's about an NFL player who really botches a championship game, and ends up having to travel to Italy to play football. Apparently the football players in Italy play mostly for pizza, and rarely for money! Anyway, it's a good read so far - I'll let you know in a day or two if it's worth the purchase!

We are in the midst of a bathroom remodel, and Momma Pat is so excited! It seems almost surreal, as we have talked about it for several years, and suddenly it is beginning to happen! It's exciting, frightening, and expensive! However, I am very sure that the jets in the tub, and the ambiance of the new room will have me soon worrying less about the cost, and more about the urge to get water wrinkles!

I'm off to work in my craft room for a little while. Blessings to anyone who is bored enough and brave enough to log on and read my ramblings! I love you all!!!

pg

"Life was so much easier when your clothes didn't match and boys had cooties!" ---Unknown