Road Test

Today my baby takes his driving (or is that driver's) test. Yikes. On the one (selfish) hand, it will be nice for him to drive himself to his various social functions. Not to mention back and forth to school. We've never had the luxury of a big yellow bus to transport him. On the other (maternal) hand, this is just another thing for me to worry about. Seems like every time I'm behind the wheel I see at least one, and often more, close calls. People are so distracted these days.

He spent quite a while yesterday, cleaning out the car. He requests no dogs ride in it until after the test. He's a good kid. I know in my bones he will be careful.

ACK...!!

Weird title for a post, but it fits.

It's been an interesting couple of weeks around here. But first, we had a very nice Christmas, albeit an odd one. For example, Christmas Eve dinner was Subway. And Christmas Day, late afternoon, found me in a shopping center parking lot with a very flat tire thanks to some enormous bolt in the road. It may sound corny, but any day with my husband and son and doggies is a good day. As Barney would say: I love you, you love me, we're a happy family. Alrighty then.

Santa brought me a Big Shot. He also brought me a Cinch. Santa is one fantastic guy.

It seems that in addition to my messed up shoulder and neck, I also have blood sugar issues. I began taking a new medication 10 days ago and it's made me rather, ah...spacey? Yep, spacey is the word. It has also completely taken away my appetite. I forget to eat and my blood sugar tanks. This medication will take some tweaking.

It's cold and rainy and damp. By George, it's Washington! Wow, that was really clever. I remember in my 20's and 30's, hearing old folks talk about how they felt the weather in their bones. Seemed like such a strange concept, but it's true. The right side of my body is just fine. But the left side - man oh man. It's three times as bad in this weather. So....ACK! The ironic part is winter was always my favorite season. I counted the days until winter. Not anymore.

I closed my eBay store for a few days, because I am behind with orders. I will probably get low marks from unhappy buyers, and deservedly so. However, in the grand scheme of things my eBay feedback is not a major player. I will continue to do excellent work, and that means a lot.

Thursday begins our major room swap. The master bedroom is being repainted and cleaned out. My office (aka third bedroom) will move to the master and I will create for hubby a man cave in my current office. A great deal of the office is actually an art room and I have outgrown my current space. The hubs and I have very different sleep habits and separate rooms will be best. We're fine though, as I tell my son - no one is getting divorced...LOL.

And that's the news from here. Hi Mom :).

What I Do In My "Spare" Time

Here are 24 ceramic knobs, in the Waverly Jamestown blue toile design. They left a couple days ago, traveling "across the pond" to their new home in Great Britain. I don't usually photograph my knobs prior to their departure. But the new owner was getting a tad antsy so I wanted to show him I did actually make his knobs. This is a very time consuming design, due to the large surface area. They look awesome though, and little touches like knobs make an amazing difference in a room.

My turtle candy mold arrived already!! Remember a few posts down I was talking about sellers who ship next day? And how I don't, but so many do. I admire those sellers, in much the same way as I admire women who shave their legs every day (i.e., kudos to you, now go away). After I ask Tracy a few more (sorry) questions, the turtle production line will be ready to rock and roll.

My Kit Club Heaven

I joined the Kit Swap Club over at Your Paper Pantry. I made four kits (they can be identical) and sent them to a very nice lady named Cari. Here are the four kits I got back. To say I was excited does not describe it. My son said, "gee Mom, this is really your passion isn't it?" Yep, it is. The amazing thing is I did not have ANY of the 6x6 papers I received. A great majority of the embellishments are new to me as well.

If you double click on the photos they will open much larger in a new window.

Kit #1

Love the red and green bow ornaments, the bells and the other mini ornaments too!

Are those Tim Holtz reindeer and ornament dies? The reindeer made me squeal like a piggie.

Kit #2

Took four photos to capture all the goodies in this kit. Thank you Loretta!!

She sent a lot of extra paper - gorgeous paper!

And even MORE paper. Textured, very high quality stuff.

Kit #3

Super cute Got Milk tag

Can't wait till I get a Big Shot so I can emboss papers like these.

Kit #4

Great embellishments :)

Love the stamps and the mega-snowflake!

~ ** ~

The kit club appeals to the practical, frugal side of me. I spent $4.95 to mail my kits, and another $4.95 to have the kits sent to me. I bought a few things to include in my kits. I spent maybe $8.00. That's a lot of crafty goodness for under $20.00 don't cha think? Now if only I could turn the clock back....to August.

A Little Album

Here is a mini album I made for my Mom's BFF ~ Betty. Betty is in her mid-80's but looks 20 years younger. She is as kind and gracious a lady as you'll ever find. Her faith has always been an inspiration to me. Back in the day, when it was just Jacob and I here, things occasionally got a bit dicey, finances wise. Betty would often send me checks so I could pay Jacob's tuition. You never forget a kindness like that.

This was supposed to be in Betty's hands before Thanksgiving. Of course, it wasn't. My intention was to make more tags and do a bit more embellishing, but I wanted her to have it before Christmas! The B on the cover is an old pin, part of one of the lots of costume jewelry I've purchased on eBay. The flower is huge I know. I like it though.

Betty called to say thank you, and hearing the happiness in her voice made my day! Made my week actually. Come to find out her favorite colors are the golds and browns and oranges. I had no idea. Such an awesome feeling to create something and have someone truly love it.

Amazed ~ Caramel Apples

I happened upon a company that sells caramel apples. They also sell other things covered in caramel, but those things did not amaze me. Apparently this company does 70% of their yearly business during the last two weeks of December. Their signature apple is a biggie. A Granny Smith standing about 4-1/2 inches tall. They say an apple with all the toppings weighs close to two pounds and will feed eight to 10 people.

This company is based on Illinois. I was born in Illinois. This company buys the biggest and best apples from Washington State. I live in Washington State. Do these facts add to my amazement? Not really.

You can buy ONE....1.....uno apple for $22.95. It is presented beautifully in purple and gold packaging, with an ornament or little stuffed animal on top of the box. Packaging is extremely important, and these folks are pros. So you buy your one apple. Then you gotta pay to have it delivered. That's another $10.95. Grand total for one giant apple and shipping is $33.90. AMAZING. Want three apples? That's close to $50.00, before shipping.

That's what amazed me today.