3 months to the day!

since my last blog post!  what's with that?  I wonder, do I suddenly have nothing to talk about?  wait, me not talk, now that's funny! perhaps it is just that there are not enough hours in the day!!!  yep, that is the story I'm going with!

sitting at home this Friday morning, waiting for an electrician.  we are starting to replace the light fixtures in the house.  they are ALL gold, gold, and more gold.  which, to be honest, not my thing.  lots of work going on out in the yard. this girl bought herself a chainsaw, even if it is a small electric girly one, it still works, and truthfully, anything with more power would probably be a danger to me and the neighborhood!  I am excited to get my new light fixtures in, and about all the things we (read me there) have planned to do to the house !!

we've spent a lot of time outside this summer with the cupcake in the pool! she loves it, and I really think could stay in all weekend.  she doesn't even care when the water is a bit on the cold side!

 

 

just a few pictures from summer.  that's Jessica and Brett in the picture with Evelyn, Jessica flopping off Brett's legs into the pool, and us celebrating Matt's birthday last month.  been a busy summer so far, but one full of great memories! 

find myself

 

in a bit of a quandary, and I don't like it.  I'm a talker.  as if some of you didn't know that.  I can talk all day long, if I'm in the mood.  talking is good for the soul, the brain, and the heart.  oh and your nerves too!  there is a person, that while I don't see them often, our lives are connected. this person does not like me. period! I'm not sure why, I think I know why, but most likely they would tell me I've got it wrong, if they would talk to me! I've tried. I've reached out. I've made gestures. nothing, I get nothing back, except ignored. ok fine, you don't like me, that is ok, but could we at least try and be civil to each other!!! I think if we could just communicate a little, get things out in the open, we might find it was just a huge misunderstanding. she still doesn't have to like me, but she could sure be a grownup about it!  I know I just need to pray about it, and let go of it!

 

A bit of good news!!  Everyone remember Jan 2013, when David was suddenly let go from his job, after the dealerships were bought out and the new owner was cleaning house??  David was let go, because they didn't like him! (what is with people not liking us??)  anyway, that guy who bought the dealership, well he was using company/investor money, to buy and furnish his home. take his large family to Disney World. he and his wife took a few vacations.  in 8 months he about had them all bankrupt. it was a mess!  the dealership sold again, a few months ago. the new owners called David. he starts back next week.  do you all know what that means???? it means he will be home before 7pm at night, way before, AND, he will be cooking dinner again, not me!  can I get a woohoo!!  it's really great news for us. there are plans for him to step into an upper management role, and I can't even begin to tell you how much he is looking forward to it.  

 

and now, a few pictures from a couple weekends ago.  went out with Matt, Kristin, and the cupcake.

the pictures I really really wanted, it just didn't work, the cupcake needed a nap and was cranky! when she gets her stubborn on, it's just not going to happen.  always another day, and my camera isn't going anywhere!

 

 

 

do you....

snapchat?  cause if you don't, you should!  it is like one of the greatest things out there today!  my kids will send me a picture on snapchat, and you have to look quick, because it's gone, forever, in 10 seconds or less! they will make silly, crazy faces.  or sing to me.  or write me sill notes. and I do it back, and I love it! 

 

there is dance dance Monday! I have a friend (I know, shocking) that on Monday's will video herself dancing and send it to me through snapchat! I've even done it back a time or two.

 

snapchat is all about letting your silly side come out, and sharing it with someone, who will never be able to use it against you cause it's gone in 10 seconds. so you can bump and grind to Pour Some Sugar on Me, send it out to 12 of your closest friends, and go to sleep that night knowing it will not be up on youtube tomorrow!

 

only problem, when your friend ties a plastic bag on their head and dances with a broom, you can't use it against them either. or when your son sends a darling picture of your cupcake, it's gone in ten seconds.

 

we just got with the smart phone world about 7 weeks ago, so it's been a little slow going for us.  but now, I snapchat!  my husband loves getting snapchats of me singing!!!!  I instagram! I don't twitter yet, but there is always tomorrow! need to make changes to your fantasy baseball team and forgot, no problem... use the smart phone!

 

so how about you? do you snapchat??

 

 

I am loving circles on my layouts right now.  we might be seeing a lot of them over then next month or so.  good thing I bounce around from album to album, so when I get into one of these phases all the pages don't look alike in one album.

 

 

 

I really like the layering here.  not sure you can tell, but I did some stitching too.  it was in the middle of the afternoon, harsh lighting, when I took these photos, so some of the detail was lost.

this layout holds a special place in my heart, and my scraproom!

 

it's back to work now.  wishing you a wonderful day!

always be my mother

texting conversation with Matthew yesterday... 4/7/14


Matt: we are heading to the city soon as K is off to shop.

Me:  OHMYGOSH, your baby is about to be one!!!

Matt: Yes she is, crazy how 1 year has went by in a snap.

Me:  Crazy how almost 27 and 25 years have gone by.  (that's how old he and Jessica are going to be)

Me:  Did you ever think you could love someone as much as you love that little girl?

Matt: Nope! Thought my mother would always be it.


Yep! right there, I got tears in my eyes! Love that boy!!  and yes, even if he is almost 27 and has a child of his own, he is still a boy to me!!


and because I have to have pictures when I post..... an afternoon at the farm!

A year already??

 

Really hard to believe that this little bundle of energy will be a year old in 3 days!

She doesn't miss much, always on the go, and by the time she goes home on Sunday, I am seriously tired!! I can't seem to get in my scraproom, not sure how I'm going to work in the yard, the house is a mess and laundry needs to be done, but we sure have fun!!

She is watching a little Saturday morning cartoons here, while she has some cereal.  As you can see, the tv had her attention. (for all of about 6 seconds)

 

 

 

She sure does love her Papaw!  David had come home from golf, when he came in the garage door she looked up, got a grin on her face, went toddling over to him. He picked her up to hug her and it was just so stinking adorable, I had to get my camera! 

 

First she hugs him.

Then she looks up at him.

And then she would start this process all over again.  Hug, look up, hug, look up... she must have done that half a dozen times!  And if you were wondering, her Papaw sure does love her back!!

 

I've signed up for another go around in Karen Russell's photography workshop.  This time I am auditing it, and already I'm so enjoying it.  She has come out with a new Make The Shot issue, this one about focus, which I'm needing.  I'm telling you guys, I am going to get good at this photography thing before much longer!  I am I am!!!!

 

Wishing you all a sun filled week and many blessings!!

not an ordinary week...

 

my momma, she is young in this photo below, but I do like it.  I am thinking early 20's here, and could have been a model!  except she is short. 

 

 

it all started on Fri, Feb 28th.  my daddy called about noon, and handed her the phone.  they were admitting her to the local hospital with what they thought was diverticulitis. I went down, and stayed for a bit. after a few hours, in true mother fashion, she was telling me I needed to get on the road and get home before dark.... "so I didn't hit a deer".  talked to her the next morning, she was getting released.  talked with my brother, all was good.  then they were drawing her blood again because the first results looked funny and the dr thought they got mixed up, so she wanted to recheck.  got the second results, they did a CT Scan and then the dr called me.  said they were transferring her out because the radiologist saw what appeared to be a mass in her stomach area. while I was talking with the dr, my daddy called. while I was talking to him, my brother called. while I was talking to my brother, my aunt called.  everyone needed answers, myself included, and there were none yet.  so I grabbed some clothes and headed to Texas.  I did forget important pieces of clothing, including but not limited to a coat and boots.  it was 80 degrees when I left and by morning, it was 30, for the high!

 

after getting to the hospital I go in search of her room, only to be more than a little alarmed to discover they have admitted her to ICU.  I even asked the nurse, is this really ICU?  yes he said.  is it because all the other beds in the hospital are full????  no he said, as he gave me a reassuring look.  I was more than a little freaked by this discovery, thinking to myself something is going on that no one is telling me.  within the next couple of hours, a couple of drs came in, still no answers, including the fact that no one had told me as of yet why she was in ICU.  I did find out before leaving for the night that the reason she was in ICU was due to blood loss, and they had started giving her blood.

 

I don't know, maybe I was a little in shock over it all, it had happened rather fast, and honestly, I hadn't even had time to process what was going on.  my phone kept ringing, everyone was scared, myself included.  when they say there is a mass, it's not good.  mom kept telling the drs it was because she'd been taking so many ibuprofen. the plan was to do a scope in the morning, go take a look at it, and get a biopsy.  permits were signed.  Jessica and I arrived at 8:30 on the dot, that is what time they would let us in.  they were all set up in her room for the scope.  had the people there, the machine there, just waiting on the dr.  suddenly, a surgeon calls up and says STOP. do not do it. now we are really freaked out. within a short period of time the surgeon come up, says she believes it is a tear in a artery an that what they are seeing is not a mass, but a pool of blood instead, which would explain the blood loss.  that sounds better, right, a tear in the artery can be repaired.  so, instead they will do an angiogram to see if they can repair it.  and then we saw more drs.  they all agreed with Dr. Rizzo, which was reassuring.  she believed that possibly there had been a aneurysm in one of her arteries around the stomach area.  and then we waited, for the radiologist to come in.  it wasn't an emergency, it was Sunday, and there was snow and sleet out.  then all hell broke loose.

 

Jessica and I were in the waiting room, the radiologist comes in and says he was not able to repair the artery, and we know this will mean surgery, probably tomorrow.  Jess and I head back to mom's room in ICU, and discover a new dr in there, trying to find out why she is hurting so bad.  she is talking to us, they send her down for a cat scan, and when she comes back, 10 minutes later, she is not conscious.  nurses are scrambling, drs are rushing in.  it was instant! Jess and I stepped into the hall as they wheeled her in from the cat scan, everyone was running and yelling.  while they didn't come say anything to us at first, we heard a lot. too much.  you know the ICU rooms are not very private, and standing in the hall you can see in and hear all.  and they are yelling for blood, and more blood.  and more blood.

 

to be honest, I don't remember much now.  I think I blocked a lot of it out.  I did what I needed to do, talked to drs, signed surgical permits, stood by and waited, and the big one, I called my daddy and my brother to tell them they needed to get there, and get there now.  Thank God for Jessica, because I really had a couple of meltdowns, out in the hall.  I remember crying, the drs rubbing my shoulder and saying we are going to do what we can for her.  not everything is going to be ok, or we've got this, we'll fix it, just quietly, we will do everything we can for her. 

 

I had talked to so many drs my head was spinning!  the general surgeon, (who I swear saved her life!), vascular surgeon, lung specialist, kidney specialist, gastro dr, anesthesiologist.  I know there were 4 surgeons along with the vascular surgeons team in there, and that is a lot of people!  and still, we don't really know what happened, what went wrong, or what is going on.

 

by now mom is in surgery, and Jess and I are literally pacing the floor.  not only are we worried about mom, but daddy and Jeff haven't arrived yet, and there is ice on the roads. I'm not sure which was worse, being worried about my momma, wondering if my daddy and brother were safe on the ice, or watching my daddy worry about mom. they told us the surgery would take at least 2 hours from the time they got started.  I don't remember what time they took her back, but I do know it was 7:43 when Dr. Rizzo was finally able to come talk to us.

 

as it turns out, she did have a aneurysm burst, in her artery that supplies the blood to the spleen. when they did the angiogram, there was a clot, and I think they told us the wire pushed the small clot free, which then opened up the blood to flow/gush from the tear caused by the aneurysm.  she is so very lucky and blessed that is where the aneurysm was at.  because the artery went to her spleen, they were able to remove it, along with her spleen.  did you know the spleen is what helps your immune system??? I didn't.  I know people live without them, but didn't know what their function was.

 

mom told me today that not only will she need a flu shot each year, which Dr. Rizzo had already told us, but that I will too. WHAT?  this girl doesn't get shots, until now. 

 

while my story has a happy ending, I know so many do not.  so, if you still have your parents or parent with you, take a few minutes, spend some time together, and make a memory.  you will be glad you did!

 

 

and to end on a happy note, here are a couple of layouts, (with really bad sucky lighting during photography cause someone was in a huge hurry) from our time in KY last year.  yes, that is me in the top photo, in the top layout, hugging a tree like we are close!

 

and Sondra! she is so much fun!  love-love-love her!

I've got layout supply info somewhere, but didn't care to locate it this morning when I loaded the photos.  if you really want it, send me a email! 

 

blessings everyone!!

How Lisa Got Her Groove Back!

 

let me just say that while I am not opposed to change, not at all, adjusting to it is an entirely different story!  and some changes are bigger than others!  no seriously, they are.

 

I can not begin to tell you how much I love our cupcake, there are just no words to describe it.  you know you love your kids, but just wait until one of them has a child.  I don't know if it's because there hasn't been a little one in the house in 20 years, or if it's that she is my child's child, but the love is so intense.

 

anyway, so we all agree that I love her like crazy, right, but.... she has turned my world upside down and inside out, and talk about a change in the house!! nothing is as it was, nothing! I will say though, that we've gotten into a routine now, and it sure helps.  no longer do I have her after work a few nights, along with some on the weekend, but now just only on the weekend.  she usually gets here Sat afternoon and then leaves Sunday night. so I've had to adjust, adjust when I do laundry and clean house.  adjust when I watch tv and read, and lets not even talk about scrapbooking.  no more do we spend all weekend playing with paper.  but, I don't mind... because she is only little once.  yes, I know, there will probably be a few more that come along just like her, but it's ok! I'll adjust!

 

and adjust I have.  instead of hours spent in my little world, it's minutes.  I've found though, I seem to accomplish more with less time.  seems I know I've only got five minutes and instead of spending my time pushing paper here and there and being indecisive about what to use, I slap it down and call it done!  plus, I have to say, I'm a PRO at mulit-tasking!!  

 

so, with 10 mins before work, 15 mins at lunch, 20 mins before dinner, and if I'm not too tired, 10-20 mins before bed, I've managed to get some creating done, and complete several layouts! I'm not even going to ask how long it might last... I'm just going to roll with it. 

 

and that is how I got my groove back!  one minute at a time!

 

now if I can just manage to get some blogging time in there too....

 

 

here lately, I've been using white as a background, and I'm loving it!  this layout is for Kristin's book.  it's the day our little cupcake was born.  Matt had come out to the waiting room to update us and he sat down for a few minutes to chat.  this picture was taken just a couple hours before he became a daddy, and I have to say, he has done a fine job!  

 

and, can you believe that in 6 weeks she will be a year old!  how did that happen!!

I think it's back......

my mojo!!!  I'm feeling the desire to be creative again!  and it feels good!  I've completed one layout this week already, and have another half done, with a third in the wings.  and it makes me smile!  the layouts are not elaborate, and I may only be getting in there 15 to 30 minutes at a time, but that is ok!  soooooo, I should be posting some on here soon!   yay me!  wonder if this has anything to do with Winter CHA being this past weekend?

 

in other news..... the cupcake turned 9 months old this past Sat, and took her first steps on Fri.  By the time we got her on Sat, she was standing up and walking 10 - 12 steps at a time before plopping down.  she will be running in a month.  thinking this may just be the exercise I need!

 

here are a couple of pictures from Thanksgiving of the cupcake!  I swear, I could buy 20 tutus for her, and still not have enough!  now that she can stand alone, I'm going to need one in every shade of every color.   

 

 

 

 

and that folks is about all the pictures I managed to get... because I was too busy cooking! 

Ready for 2014!

Oh my goodness!  Another year has flashed by.... and in a hurry. 

 

I'm already planning for 2014 to be a great year!

 

This Little Cupcake will turn one in a few months!

 

 

 

 

 

I've no doubt she will be walking soon.  She stands all by herself, will take a couple steps before tumbling, and is showing of some very entertaining dance moves! Has 6 teeth already, and knows what food is!

 

I've picked my one little word of the year.  Focus.  It's going to be a big word this year!

I will hit the big 50 this year.  Not sure when that happened, but, I do know that I am still wearing capris, jeggings and leggings, and I'm not cutting my hair!  Matter of fact, I may put a blue streak in it next time!

This year may be the year I jump of the diving board.  I really do need to do that. hahaha I've only been saying this for what, 4 years now? I think I really only say it to give David hope that it will happen

Going to work more on my photography, because for the last 2 or 3 months, I've not been liking what I'm seeing come out of my camera.  Hmmmm, wonder if that means I should be a little less critical of what I'm snapping.

Seriously wanting  this little baby, but not sure I need it.

 

I plan to do lots of experimenting with cooking this year.  I'm going to learn to chop onions like a pro and flip items in the skillet just by using my wrist... AND, not get burned or cut any body parts off in the process!   Seriously though, I'm going to broaden my cooking skills! 

 

Mainly though, I'm going to find some kind of time to carve out for myself.  I seemed to have lost that this past year, with someone needing something from me on a pretty regular basis.  I had enough of that, and 2014, the year I turn 50, it's my year!   (and that starts next week, just as soon as I finish everything on my honey do/momma do list!)

 

 

and now, a few pictures from Christmas Eve.

 

she was thinking she was going to take her Santa hat off.  I was thinking she wasn't.  She won.

 

 

I really am so very proud of the daddy he is.  He is so in love with her.

    

                             They really are fun, and I think maybe big things are in store for them

                                    She seriously has her Aunt J wrapped around her little finger

 

                                                           Love her facial expressions

Now, let's make 2014 a most fabulous year!