Sweatheart Day is Coming...eventually!

Sorry it's sort of washed out... but you get it?!

Upcoming New Year...and ugh! Resolutions!

I know a lot of people can set their minds on goals/resolutions and keep them.
I am not one of them to be brutally honest. I eventually started the mantra that my resolution is to not make resolutions...and I'm GOOD at it!!

I do, however, keep a list on-going of things I "want" to do...a bucket list if you will.
A few of these are:
learn how to use my camera better (since Santa or the BFG simply refuses to bring me a new one)
create more artwork and share it (no matter how tired at night I am, of course matching colors and papers aside)
keep up with laundry better (nevermind the fact someone else in the house is home 24/7 and COULD do it)

So if you're out there (*tap*tap is this thing on?) share with me what some of your bucket lists or resolutions are this coming new year.

and if you're still with me reading this instead of just looking for artwork...there could be a drawing involved here.

Cheers to you and yours this Holiday Season

Happy, Merry Ho Ho...

378 gifts wrapped, tagged and bagged! Whew! THAT was the best power shopping evah, man!
No...not really all for me or my family (don't YOU wish, family...)
This is an annual event where our local sheriff's volunteers and officers collect toys for needy families in the community. Then they put out the call for volunteer wrappers, too.
In a former life and many double-digit years ago, I was a professional gift wrapper at a dept. store.
I was shocked when on Saturday all they handed me was a pair of scissors, no ribbon and NO bows!
AND did I mention we were outside???!!

 

Being the planner at heart that I am, I passed on the word to our local high school counselor for some volunteers, too. (ie; required community service hours to graduate!)
So we had the young...

and old(er) alike...

(I think they came for the donuts...but nonetheless...)

 

But mission accomplished!

Then I drove like a crazy woman into town to do some shopping of my own because the guilt was just killin' me, man!

This is what it's about...this is the kind of photo that gives you the warm and fuzzies, and you think you see sparkles, but they are really embers from a warm winter fire...one  that will remind you year after year that it's not what you receive, but you you give, and  if this doesn't force the holly, jolly spirit down your throat...well I don't know what would.

 

OOPS! wrong warm and fuzzie....

It's THESE kind of warm and fuzzies people...really the spirit of the Holidays.

Can I get an AMEN?

 

Santa Sightings!

Forget plastic goodie bags...

Along with my good friend the Cricut cutting machine and the Plantin Schoolbook Cartridge,

I dug deep into my brain for an quickie goodie bag for some co-workers to hold "just a little sumthin" for the holidays.

It's Beginning to Look A Lot like Christmas....somewhere!

Don't you just love a small neighborhood parade to get you into the Holiday spirit?
I sure do...frosty noses, fingers and toes remind me that the chill in the air means Winter and that means CHRISTMAS!!!
We journeyed out to the home of the Chicken Festival, old towne Fair Oaks, CA.
As we started out I saw these cute little girls trying to maintain their grown-up dignity until they saw my camera...I'm partial to the one up front...she had some really cute frames on.

Then of course the parade began...oh it had it's usual bands, dancers, antique cars (whew! grateful for those stupid smog laws now!) and beauty queens who threw candy at our feet like the Royalty of olden days use to throw gold coins at the peasants (I'd rather have the gold coins thankyouverymuch)...

but when I saw these darling sleighs, I knew who was coming next and it sent my heart to fluttering.

 

Let's just zoon in on those faces...."you lookin' at me?"

yea... I guess I am. Smile and wave boys.

Then...wait...where's Santa's sleigh? OhMyGod...noooooooooo!

(please ignore the woman with the weird hat on that looks like a chimney with legs sticking out)

WHAT ON EARTH?....a Cadillac? Ok, it's white, it's old, it's sleek but come ON....dude! Ya should have been pulled by the llamas...on a SLEIGH for heaven sakes!

And then there was the crowd...lots and lots of fellow chicken lovers who came to see the wonderful tree, the chickens and the other festivities to be had.

 These three were my favorites, of course.

Who doesn't like to wear Red and Purple during the Holidays?

Bargain Central!

$2 Stamps sets? Really.

http://www.indahood.myctmh.com/

Come and Get It!!!!

Hope your family comes runnin' when the meal is ready this week!

Count your blessings...and your silverware this Holiday Week.

RaNdOm

THIS is what I saw this am looking out a window....

Holiday Cards for '09

Did you think I was kidding?

In between loads of laundry, vaccumming up webs and silt dust, I managed to start my Holiday Cards.

And with the Creative Basics "Jingle" Kit, it was a snap!

I have to admit that Hollyhock and Juniper weren't my first choice for holiday colors, but this kit made it so easy that they are my LAST choice!

Visit my website and look up item X5808 and see what a bargain this Kit is for a multitude of projects!

What's New...?

There's this fabulous special goin on....!

                                                                                        www.indahood.myctmh.com

• There's also this new movie coming out that I am just over the moon about...
• 10 days and counting.
• 
  
• I have been deemed WORLD CLASS along with my Call Center (worth all the hair loss!)
• 
  
• Fall is in the air.
• 
  
• I tweet too much.
  

I'll be back in this weekend to post some holiday'ish cards!

Retirement of a King...

Last month Sacramento King's Bobby Jackson came to our campus in appreciation of our support of his  foundation in collecting school supplies.
Just the other day, he announced his retirement after 6 seasons with the Kings due to an injury to his thumb.

The injury was NOT due to signing all those autographs or posing for pictures!

                                      

HaPpy BiRtHdaY...tew Me!

Let me be the first to say it....

In case you've forgotten...i love pears, cricut green, any new, cool, trendy scrapbook tools  and yes, ok now I admit it....HaTs!

I forgot to Interrupt this Blog....

Sorry I forgot to mention that I would be out Scrapping this weekend at our Fall Stampin Memories!

I thought I'd just give you a smidge on what treats were in store for us...
I won't tell you about the Carmelized Bacon...Apple somethings with home-made Carmel sauce...cheesy shreaded potatoes (be still my thighs), the fabulous beds (with no snoring roommates), no dishes nor runny noses to wipe because that would just be mean and I'm not wired thataway.

But I WILL tell you about the fabulous home-made Scones and Rosemary New Potatoes~ 2 words;
Oh Yuuuummmmm....

 And the door prizes weren't bad either!

If you Scrapbook and just need some time away to be spoiled for a weekend...mark your calendar for the next Stampin Memories Scrapbook Getaway Feb. 12/13th 2010.

Cancer Awareness Month...

Things are pink around here....(no, not those cute puppies noses either)

It's not only my birthday month, it's also my 9th year as a BC Survivor AND also BC Awareness Month.

To interrupt the pink for one day (well, I am hoping for some PINK lemonade) please join me to participate next Saturday...here's the info;


Alex's Lemonade Stand Foundation (ALSF) emerged from the front yard lemonade stand of cancer patient Alexandra “Alex” Scott (1996-2004). At the age of 4, Alex announced that she wanted to hold a lemonade stand to raise money to help find a cure for all children with cancer. Since Alex held that first stand, the Foundation bearing her name has evolved into a national fundraising movement, complete with thousands of volunteers across the country carrying on her legacy of hope.

To date, Alex’s Lemonade Stand Foundation, a registered 501(c)3 charity, has raised more than $25 million towards fulfilling Alex’s dream of finding a cure, funding over 100 research projects nationally.

WHAT: TheTwilightBus’s Lemonade Bus Stand

WHEN: SATURDAY, OCTOBER 17, 2009
12 – 4PM
Arden Fair Mall
WHERE: 1721 Arden Way
SACRAMENTO, CA

I'm in Love...

And they called it Puppy Loooove...

Idn't this the sweetest thing you've ever seen?...nothing like puppy love and puppy breath!

Chicken Festival...cont'd

Will the Real white Chicken, please cluck?
      

Can Chickens and Mermaids be friends?

Test and another Choke story!

Really, I'm just testing how to reformat my blog posts...frustrating to say the least!

But I had to snap off some pix of how beautiful the artichoke flowers have become...

Anyone know how to preserve the purple color if I dry them?

once again, I am my Mother's Keeper

or in today's case, the driver, pack mule and photographer.
There is a community that is over run with wild chickens. These are not ordinary chickens. They are beautiful and unique. 4 years ago, the community decided to celebrate said chickens and hence The 4th Annual Chicken Festival!

Before we cut to the Queen Cluck...

I must learn all the new crappy upgrades to Blogger

Flip Mino Camcorder

"is this not the cutest thing evah?!"

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Random

In memory of Patrick Swayze who raised these little buggers on his ranch.
RIP...may you see the white light for eternity.
and
Ditto.

IF I could use my PS Elements, I could take some of the yellow reflection out and enhance the blues...
But this is the raw version peoples...

Growing Up with I Love Lucy...

for a Mother...
For those of you who know me, and even if you don't, you would know from my blog, that I really did grow up with a comical mother. She didn't have straight-from-the-bottle dyed red hair (it was many colors, but never red!)But it did range from the fabulous frosted look, to dark browns, mahogany, etc.

It was the norm for me to see my mother playing jokes with our neighbors and friends in all sorts of costumes...or trying to find anyway she could to get the last laugh....or on the front page of a local newspaper.

I think she finally met her idol today...or someone who ALSO grew up Loving Lucy.
And of all places at the California State Fair.


Now not to be out-laughed, Mom's hand shot up in the air when Lucy asked for volunteers to reinact the infamous "Job Switching" episode in a Candy Factory when Ethel and Lucy took jobs.
Here are Ethel (Jeremy) and Lucy receiving instructions..."wrap the candies before they get to the end of the assembly line". Looks simple enough.
Here's the part where Ethel and Lucy turn to each other and converse...Ethel whines that she's been kicked out of 4 departments already and Lucy states that this one should be as easy as eating candy!


Oh yea...simple...just wrap and move on, wrap and move on...simple. Look how well they are doing!
uh oh...Lucy already swiped one and plopped it in her mouth...
Well! They did so well that the stupervisor says, "SPEED IT UP!"

No...ya gotta see her face close up when she says it!
Oh dear...Lucy is on her feet now...you missed the 3 candies she just dropped down her shirt.
Whoops! There goes another in her mouth...and Ethel has already got a load in her hat.
I think at this point Ethel is doing the bait and switch method...
And now they're busted...finished and probably fired again...candy filled hats, shirts and oh yea...mouths, too!
And we got the heck outta there before they asked for volunteers for the Italian Movie episode reinactment (aka grape stomping!)

ScrapHappy!

As I was putting things in a new (now discontinued) Work in Progress binder, I finished up some details of a few layouts...
This is from my trip to Long Beach last month...er now 2 months ago!
So on the left side here, we have the theme of the conference, "Own It" backdrop.
Jeanette and I...
and all the fun gals I spent time with.
This is a collection of shots all around Long Beach itself on right layout. The lower left picture just hit a funny bone with me...Canadian cigs. Who'd a thunk they cause impotency!
Centered is a 3 x 3 accordian album of, what else? Bubba Gumps!
It's tied shut with a curiously-like fish net I made with our Hemp product.
One side of the accordian book....
The flip side.
Fun times!

September and Everday Celebration Kit

It's that time of year again.....!
No not back to school as the commercials on TV would have you believe...
It's Close To My Heart's National Card Making month and the Everyday Celebration Kit!
Ya get a lot of good stuff in that thar kit...earn it free with $60 of Acrylix Stamps sets purchase or buy outright for $35.
Here's the whole kit n caboodle...That's A LOT of product for the price (or free!), eh?
4-12 x 12 B/T Duos Papers; 2 - 12 x 12 Cardstock sheets; 16-4 1/4 x 5 1/2 prescored and edged cards and envelopes
1 exclusive EveryDay Celebration Stamp set; 1 Mini Medly Accent shades of chocolate Collection; 5" Chocolate Grosgrain Ribbon; 1 each Chocolate and Dutch Blue Distressing inks; 1- 1/4 sponge AND Full color step by step Instructional Brochure

The cards on the left are straight from the instructions. The cards on the right are the exact same cut pieces using the Creative Basics Jingle Kit in the new Winter '09 Idea Book available now!
Head on over to my website and check current campaigns happenin'.

Another Ode To A Dog...

You may remember my long time neighbor Linda and her BFF, Zoe whom I did some photos of last fall for her Holiday Cards.
Zoe was the type of dog that once she smelled your crotch you were ok in her animal world.
The first time you meet her and you feel that round thing getting closer to the inside of your thigh, a natural reaction is to put your hands down there to pet or aim her nose in a different direction...maybe at your face instead?
Linda finally told me..."if you let her get your "scent" (you get my drift) she'll know you next time and won't bother you t'all!" Ok...whew THAT was strange. She was right though.

Today (the day after Linda's birthday), I had the priviledge to help Linda take Zoe for her final journey.
A few months back Zoe's diagnosis of Lymphoma came...not even a year after Linda's husband passed and 2 years after her mother's (our Postmaster) passing.

How do animals that give us such joy and companionship (ok, and once in a while a weird trait) break you into a million pieces when they are sick or hurt?
I wasn't there for Mom and C-Tong, but I sure wasn't let another human do this alone if I could help it...especially one who had endured so many deaths close to her in just a short period of time.
I was glad to be there. I wouldn't want to do it anytime again in the future, but I know it was a blessing to both; Linda and Zoe.

Then we went home, walked the path you see above where Peter's ashes (under the trees) are waiting patiently for Zoe to return to him, cracked a couple beers, had a smoke and saluted them both.

And now I'll leave you with another dog with a wierd trait...
See Grit wake up his humans every morning: