PAPERLICIOUS

Need a Mother's Day Gift? Try Global Giving

One of my friends is affiliated with this group called Global Giving.  An awesome idea for a gift for someone who really doesn't need a thing!  Or for someone who would appreciate this type of gift. 

Awards, Tags, and a Card

Over the past several months I've been tagged and given a few blog awards by my fellow bloggers.  I kept a pile of these notices and then, of course, lost the pile!  I appreciate every one of them and apologize if I did not fallow through and acknowledge them.

So, here are a few that I remember and cherish.

Mary, at It's About the Journey, tagged me.  I can't remember why! Isn't that awful?  But I appreciate it nonetheless.  I love Mary.  She is one of the nicest stampers I know.  Can't wait to meet her some day. 

Then, Etha of More Green Wool gave me a This Blog is Rated Excellent award.  If you don't know Etha, please check out her blog as she knits and stamps and is a pro with clear stamps. 

Finally, Becky at Hemidemisemiquiver gave me an award the other day -- I cheer her up!  I love that!  I can't believe she even reads my blog!!

I'm always amazed when ANYone reads this blog, never mind gives me an award.  I LOVE awards, talking through this blog, validation, the whole nine yards  -- and don't mind admitting it!  So -- thanks to these stampers and to anyone else I overlooked....   

****
About the card --  Is this the perfect sentiment for life or what?  I finally found Verve Visual this week and wow do they deliver with lightening speed.  I have a tendency to shop when feeling stressed.  I must have been really stressed as I purchased 4 of their awesome sets.  Sadly, Mike picked up the mail today!  I hate Saturday deliveries! LOL  I love these stamps.  Great quality. Great service. Beautiful designs. I'm happy!!

Supplies:  Stamps:  sentiment from Serenity set by Verve Visual, the flower underneath the sentiment is from Stampin Up's Embrace Life, and the strip under the sentiment is stamped with Faux Ribbon by Papertreyink; Paper: all Stampin Up:  Ruby Red, River Rock, and Naturals White (if you are looking for a stiffer base, which is not as pure white as Papertreyink's Stamper Select, this is pretty good stuff!) and Ginger Blossom Designer Paper; Inks:  Versamark and Ruby Red; Green Dew Drops; SU Ticket Corner Punch.  Oh, and various adhesives!

****

I've made a ginormous mess the last few weeks.  I've given up making believe I will ever be neat and organized.  It just isn't going to happen!  I've managed to get stamping supplies in my stamp room, the computer room, my Mom's room, the kitchen and the dining room. Oh, and our bed is covered with different shades of white paper -- It appears I've run out of vellum!  I see more shopping this week...

Oh, things are going better with my Mom.  My strategy (patent #2456789) is working. More details to come!

And so it goes...

Yesterday was so much fun.  My husband called me mid day to say "I think the guy who owns Splitcoast left both of us a message on your blog."  I had to wait until I got home to check and sure enough, DAVEN was there, cracking me up.  We had a brief email exchange and he is so funny!! Thanks, Daven, you totally made my day!

Speaking of making my day...

The social worker (discharge planning) also called me mid day yesterday to ask where my Mom was going after discharge from the hospital.  For a split second, I was going to say "do I have a choice?" but I realized that my sense of humor does not translate well with total strangers.  Grandma is back home, with -- as I expected -- no diagnosis.

After 6 days in the hospital with lots of tests, she was feeling very weak, but otherwise fine.  Hadn't felt nauseous for 4 days.  However, 2 hours back home and she was nauseous again.  I've come to the conclusion that she feels safer in the hospital and her nausea is produced by anxiety.  We discussed this, and the suggestion of a psychiatrist, but so far all I got was "I'm really sick."  I'm not sure she gets the mind body connection.

I have no control over this.  I can make offers but I cannot let this dominate my life the way it has.  I have a near full time job, a teenager, and a husband who is as weary as I am.  I can keep her as safe and healthy as possible, but cannot guarantee results!  It is time for me to move to a different approach. 

I'll let you know how it goes.

Blog Candy Winner is...

BETH MACK.

email me please with your name and address and I'll get the box of stamping stuff out to you.

Everyone else -- if you haven't already, please take the time to read the comments on folks' favorite charities.  Heartwarming indeed! 

The Value of Communication

It's Mom vs. Teen once again!

Here's an actual conversation spoken out loud and the inside the brain translation:

Me:  Why did you get a [fill in the grade] on your history test?
(Are you nuts???  I pay all this money for private school and in your Junior year when colleges will be looking at your grades with a microscope, you decide to take a vacation?  You want us to spend money to take you to look at colleges in California??  How about studying instead of reading Anime all the time????   And quit looking like you want to run away.  We've given you everything and this is the thanks we get??)

Teenager:  I did?
(Get off my back.)

Me:  Yes, I saw the grade on the computer.
(You know as well as I did what your grade is.  Think I'm a total moron??? I did Junior year already and guess what?  I got ALL As!  I studied my brains out every night. I know the value of an education.  Do you want to end up like [fill in the blank] with menial jobs and no money?  And what about your retirement?  Don't expect me to support you then!  And take that insolent look off your face while we are at it.)

Teenager:  Oh, I'll have to ask my teacher what's going on.
(Get off my back.)

Me:  Weren't you THERE? Why do you have to ask your teacher?
(Good grief. This Eddie Haskell crap is too much.  Ask your teacher?  How about using the brain God gave you and study once in a while.  I'm not paying $50,000 to send you to some fru fru college if you can't even study for a stupid history test.  Go to community college, or better yet. How about getting a real job and see how much Anime you can buy on minimum wage??)

Teenager:  Well, maybe I can get some ideas on how to improve.
(Get off my back.)

Me:  Ugh
(Ugh)

Teenager:  I love you.
(Get off my back.)

...to be continued...

Another Box of Blog Goodies

Hmm, I'm cleaning....again.  I have another box of "stuff" I'm giving away.  Paper, stamps, embellishments (but mainly paper...).  The last 3 winners of these boxes told me that they were quite happy with their boxes, so help me clean up and get some fun stuff in exchange! 

Here is how you can win!

Post the name and website of a charity that you think deserves a donation.  That's all.  I'll let this contest run through Monday, March 10th at 5 pm (east coast time).  I never know whether to call it EST, since daylight savings kicks in this weekend, so use Washington DC time! 

I will post the winner on Tuesday, March 11th and will need the winner to email me by Thursday, March 13th or I'll go to the next winner.  If you leave contact info on the post, then I'll just email you directly.  (I know, there are so many blogs and we read them so quickly and forget to follow up.)

Due to the cost of postage, I must limit this contest to my USA and APO friends!

Fifty Years Too Late is Better Than Never

I think I blogged about my Mom and sewing, but today's adventure with the Janome Mini Sewing Machine force me to re count some memories...

The majority of the memories of my Mom center around sewing.  The sound of her machine late in the night, sewing 29 little tuxedos for one of my class plays, making Easter outfits, mother-daughter outfits, my wedding dress, cuffing pants or fixing pockets; ripping apart an entire dress she made me for my first "date" and starting all over because of some flaw; covering shoes in green velvet so they would match the sash on my prom dress; slipcovers for the sofa, curtains for the living room; coordinating bedspread and curtains for my bedroom... the list is endless. 

She was a rockin' seamstress back in the day.  I spent more time looking at patterns and helping her pick out fabric than any doing any other single thing.   I can still smell a fabric store.  (My wedding dress was a masterpiece...)

I always wanted to learn to sew, but my Mom, very much a child of the depression, and insisted that I "be the kind of person who could afford store bought clothes."  So, no sewing for Joan.  Joan read and studied and got As and went to college and law school and could afford to buy "real" clothes.  My Mom had to drop out of school after 8th grade to help support her family, so my going to law school was, to put it mildly, a major event.  Nothing like the American dream to keep me in the library and out of the fabric store!

Fast forward many decades and of course, I want to sew on my cards.  My Mom still has her 50+ years old Necchi sewing machine and a newer one, but those are in the basement and I knew she could not go down there to help me, and I KNOW I couldn't figure them out, so I whined for a Janome Mini sewing machine, and presto, Mike came through for my birthday.

This afternoon, my Mom finally got around to teaching me how to sew.  Let me tell you, even at almost 86, she is still one awful teacher!!!!  Wouldn't read the directions that Gina K provided on her blog, or the manual.  Can't hardly see, so trying to thread beige thread was probably not the best idea (the machine apparently doesn't come with a light, despite my Mom's insistence that it must have one, we couldn't find one!).  She kept grabbing everything out of my hand.  Anyway, after about an hour of teaching haranguing me, I finally produced this:

Not too shabby, huh?  I'm so excited!  I finally had the lesson I was meant to have almost 50 years ago.  The trick will be whether I can actually do this when my Mom isn't sitting there yelling talking me through it! 

I Microwaved a Bug Today

and other highlights . . .

Every have one of those crummy days?  Not the death/car accident/serious bad day, but the what else is going to annoy me to no end kind of day? Today was that kind of day!

First, my ebay auction.  10 sets and 3 backgrounds for a stinking total of $66!!!  I didn't set a minimum because I'm an idiot.  Apparently, I can give legal advice, but have no common sense. 

Second, I sold my Cricut and 6 cartridges and a bunch of assorted tools and stuff that go with it.  The woman who bought it emailed me today and it isn't working!  I swear it was nearly new and worked just fine when I put it in the box to mail it to her.  We are emailing back and forth and Pam, my super good stamping bud, is trying to assist me.  She's even calling Provo for me tomorrow. Is that not crummy or what!?   Bottom line -- I promised I'd give the buyer all her money back if she cannot get it to work.  So, I'll be out the cost of shipping it back to me if we can't get the darn bug to work!  Hey, I'm no deadbeat!

Third, the oxygen company called.  Me, of course!  Medicare covers the cost, but only if you have proper medical documentation that you really need the oxygen.  (Who would fill a house with a noisy machine and 5 billion tanks and cords, etc. unless you really needed it?  Is there a black market for oxygen supplies?).  Well, the hospital where my Mom had her oxygen test thing hasn't seen fit to mail in my Mom's medical records.  So, I either spend all day convincing the hospital to do what it is supposed to do or my Mom has to go back to her doctor and have the tests all over again (paid my Medicare again...).  Ugh.  Someone rescue me!  I need a wife!  Bureaucracies drive me buggy!

Oh, the actual bug. 

I'm microwaving leftovers tonight and I have the microwave on HIGH for 3 minutes.  I take out the container of food and there is a little bug just running all over the bottom of the inside of the machine. (Yum).   I mean really - -I'm running my own little Slow Death Chamber for Bugs!  I put him out of his misery.  No, I have NO idea where the bug came from and don't want to know.

That is it for Monday February 11th, 2008 in the life of Joanie (as my hub sometimes calls me...). 

I can't wait to see what tomorrow brings!!!! 

Happy Day

This card uses a base cardstock from Memory Box, stamps from Elzybells, and coloring by me!  (Using Copic and SU markers...).  Oh, and the dots (think snow) are from Stampin Up's Itty Bitty Backgrounds -- one of the many stamps I haven't used in a long time.      

I love the Elzybells' line of stamps.  I haven't seen anything else on the market to compete with the utter cuteness of these gals! 

Hope all of you are having a happy day.