Thought for the Day

"The only thing necessary for evil to succeed is that good men do nothing."

---Edmund Burke---

Some Day I'm Gonna...

go right through the phone line and attack that machine at the other end that says to me..."If you want to continue this call in English, press one.". Grrrr....of course I want to continue this in English...this is America and we speak English in this country!!! What is with this??? Duh.

Now I have no problem if they ask if I want to continue this call in Spanish, French, or Mati Ke! Just don't ask me if I want to continue in the language which we speak in this country!! It makes me CRAZY!!!! Why would one even ask that???

I have absolutely no problem with addressing the languages of other people...but I should not have to tell you to speak to me in English!!! This is a wonderful country and one which we openly welcome those from other countries. That is what has made this country what it is. That does not however, change the fact that the language of our country is...ENGLISH!

This past weekend we were out of our city...less than 50 miles from home...and I am the passenger in the car so I am enjoying the scenery. I was looking around while we were stopped at a traffic light and low and behold...a billboard. I look at it. It isn't making any sense to me. Well golly, I know why...it is in another language. Spanish I believe. I have a smattering of Spanish and I did recognize some of the words. Then I have also been in McDonalds that have had two menus on the wall. English and Spanish. We speak English. What's with the Spanish? So let's welcome our new citizens and legal aliens with open arms, but let's do it in English. Let's help them learn the language. By the way...the billboard was not about classes being offered for free English classes...what a concept that would be!!!

Learning English is not easy and I know that. But I work with many people from Mexico and they work very hard at learning English. They even turn their TV on with Spanish caption so they can try to put our language together with theirs. They always are asking me how to say things. And on the other hand they try to help me learn their language. My beautician is Vietnamese. She spoke no English when she arrived. She has beautiful English now. Another I know from Croatia spoke no English....now perfect English!

But...that really isn't the point of it all. Most people that come to this country learn the language of this country. I am just asking these companies that I have to deal with daily to please go easy on this old lady. Please, won't you please change your recorded message so it won't ask me if I want to continue this call in my own country's language? Plain old English!! It would sure make my day! Who knows...might even put a smile on my face!!!

My thought for this day.

Enjoy...

Thought for the Day

If there were no one to watch them drive by, how many people would buy a Mercedes?

---Unknown---

Longing for Home

I have this very nice courier fellow that delivers packages for one of the top delivery companies. He was a little hard to warm up to; he was foreign...I forget what country and it doesn't matter anyway. He was somewhat hard to understand; I think that was why he didn't talk much.

But being the yacker I am I didn't give up on him...and as he saw that I didn't care that he had somewhat a hard time speaking this "great" American language, he slowly openend up and we began to know each other.

One day in our chatting somehow the conversation lead back to before he came to America. He said things in my country are so different than in America. My parents earned a living, nothing big but a living. My father would go to work every morning and be home by 3:00 in the afternoon. He and my mother would have a drink and then go out together. We kids would stay home and do what we were supposed to do. Then my parents would return home and the family would be together. We all had time to do things together. It was nice.

But now...I come to America to get the dream. I want to make money and have everything! The great American dream. I want to have money so I can have everything he said as he was grabbing with his hands. But no...not so. Everyone is so money hungry here. Work all the time. No time for each other. We really have nothing. Shaking his head he said...so sad.

I could really see in his whole body what he was feeling. He missed what he had grown up with. While he was probably making much more money than what his father had back in his homeland...he was wondering if the trade-off was really worth it. He said it is just so different here. There isn't real happiness. Even though we had less than what I have here...there was happiness. I think I know what he was meaning.

You might have needed to be here to fully understand. I often think of what I think he was trying to say. It is just one of those things that is very hard to put into words. It's more of a feeling. Wanting more than what you can hold in your hands. More than something others can see you have. Something that lives inside you...and makes you feel warm and cozy inside.

Running in search of...That is sort of what we do now, isn't it? We are running in search of what is missing. We have no dreams. You know...dreams are a good thing!! But we rarely have them anymore. We go and fulfill everyone of our dreams. Want a new car? Go trade in the perfectly good one you have for a newer nicer-looking one. Want to move...go do it...no problem. Want a new dress or whatever...like we don't have more clothes to wear than we will ever need! Do you get my point? We are searching for our real happiness...but perhaps we are looking in all the wrong places. I am sure it is something I want to think about.

.......My delivery person was back in the other day and I told him I had been thinking about our conversation. He looked at me and shook his head. He said...I miss it. Thought things would be different.

I felt sad...not only for him...........

My thought for today.

Thought for the Day

Know that although in the eternal scheme of things, you are small, you are also unique and irreplaceable, as are all your fellow humans everywhere in the world.

---Margaret Laurence---

In The End...What Do We Have???

It is a beautiful morning here in Tampa Bay today. Already 83 at 9:00 in the morning. And it is Finally Friday! I don't want to give the impression that the week was no good...but in Florida, well, probably lots of places, we definitely live for the weekends. However they are calling for rain...but there is still plenty to do here even when it rains!!

As you know from the earlier blog, I have started to make the trek into learning digital scrapbooking. I was so reluctant to venture into this area. I don't know...maybe I sort of knew I would love it because I love to play with software! Combine that with scrapbooking and I probably thought I saw a sure addiction...which I was right.

Scrapbooking in general has been a blast! I found the absolute best forum, Memory Makers Magazine Forum, where I have met the most wonderful people in the world. Now I have started the digi classes and am finding another fabulous group of people. Makes one stop and think.

I don't even know if I can put this all into words so that it is really what I am meaning. So I hope you get it...if not...think about it for a while!! We all have so many things in our lives. Family responsibilities, work, our cars, houses and all our other toys. We become so involved in the things of our lives. But...

Remove all these "things" from your life and what do you have left? Each other. I have been seeing this more and more as I have been "maturing"! Doesn't that sound so much better than aging or getting older?? LOL Things don't really matter. Look at all the people who have lost every possession they had in the floods and fires which we read about with such heartache. When you see them on the news reports they say...but we have each other.

These last few months I have needed so much help with things and someone has always been there to help. My darling daughter has bailed Mom out so many times...friends on the forum...helping out with problems and giving tips for things...Terry of Terry's Tales...giving so much help with my digi classes...Family and friends. Not being there just to help when you need it...but just being there, period.

I don't know...but the way I see it, while there is much to be said of the material things in our lives...who of us doesn't enjoy them??...I am just saying that in the end...what do we have??...

...we have each other. Isn't that what life is really all about?

My thought for today.

Enjoy...

Thought for the Day

Happiness is not so much in having as sharing. We make a living by what we get, but we make a life by what we give.

---Norman Macewan---

I Need to Calm Down!!!

Oh my golly. What a twenty-four hours I have had!! I just really need to take a chill pill!!

I had decided to take an online digital class with Paula Gilarde at NYC Scraps. By the way, this is an awesome class. I am one day into it and already have learned so much...I am serious...not to mention how nice Paula is about helping. You need to check out the site and get in on some of the classes. Anyway...I had been wanting to learn digital for a while and was being coerced by some dear friends to give it a try. So I thought, oh, why not. So off I go to the site...whose link for the class just "happened" to show up in my email sent by Terry of Terry's Tales, who just happens to be the ring leader in getting me to try digi...and who just happens to be a phenomenal digi scrapper!!

Well as I am reading the requirements for class I see that the version of Photoshop I have is not on the list of what is needed for the class. So I email to make sure it would work. Yep. No problem, things will just be worded differently and so forth. OK. That is good enough for me! So I sign up. Biting at the bit to get going, the days pass slowly even though it was less than a week before the class should start!

The day arrives! Yea!!!!! I am ready to go. Psyched to the max. I love computers and have seen digi scrapbooking done on the scrapbook show I watch on TV and I mean I am excited!! My heart is pounding with enthusiasm!

So Monday comes...the first day of class and the information needed will be up by about 9:00! And it was. I was so happy. I printed off the PDF and read it. Looks fine! But of course I don't want to download till I get home. I am watching the site all day and people are saying how much fun it is and starting to upload their work. There had been a few questions but nothing earth-shaking. There I sat and couldn't do anything till I got home. *sigh*

Got home and had so many things like grocery and dinner to do, that it was 10:00 before I even got a chance to do anything on it!! Then there were problems...like my WINZIP said my trial had run out. I never had a trial of WINZIP run out! Great. Had to fix that. Finally got into the site and Oh No! I couldn't understand a thing. Nothing was going right for me. I was getting in a stew. I guess I always did do that but now that I have entered...um...the "mature group" shall we say!!!!...it has gotten progressively worse. I want things to work now!!! I think in actuality I was tired. I was up at 4:40 and after a full day at work and the stuff after I got home I was just too tired and excited to comprehend new things! So I wrote the forum where they were going to answer questions...I emailed my darling web-design daughter you all know...AND I emailed darling Terry that got me in this class!!! HELP!! I need HELP" Note: Heart still pounding but for other reasons.

Ahh...the dawn of a new morning. Did you ever notice how things don't seem so bad at the start of a new day. New days...a blessing from God!! Help came, and it came in bucketsful. Paula had an email ready for me when I opened the sight...bright and early in the morning...reassuring me that all would be fine (I think that meant chill out!!!) and we would take it one step at a time. She would walk me through it! Whew! Just that made everything OK. I thought I would be left out in left field with no help around!!! Not so. Paula was going to see to it I got through this! Then darling daughter was on instant messenger...what's wrong? We will work it out!!! Calm down she said!!! LOL She's so sweet! And Terry...right there when I need her...and this lady is sooo busy!...yet she says make sure you have what you need and I will walk you through. Do you know what it is to have people to depend on? Humml...I see another post coming!!! LOL

Now to the clincher. After the help of Paula...and darling daughter...and Terry...I got my first digital layout done!! Da Da!! And it wasn't bad at all. I had a ball!! I really did just have to calm down. Everything went just fine once I started taking one thing at a time.

It was just like Paula said. I had what I needed...it was just worded differently. In fact once I got going, I saw these really cool letters in the kit they give you for the class. I tried everything to use them and couldn't get them to work. So I of course wrote Paula and asked her. She immediately wrote back...if you are talking about the letters in the kit...those are in the next lesson...LOL LOL I guess once I got on a roll I just kept rolling!!!!!

Well what do you thing of my first digital layout?

I care what you think...but you won't change my mind even if you don't like it!! I love it...and I am so proud!!! It was a real labor to get that done...but so worth the effort! I hope I didn't drive too many people crazy in the process. Please, leave me a comment and let me know what you think!

I urge you all to take a peak into digi scrapbooking. Even if you do not plan on doing it much...or maybe you would do hybrid. It is something that is really intriguing. Go on over to NYC Scraps and take a look around. Sign up for the newsletter so you can get in on the next class. I know you will love it. I am only one day into the class...and I am hooked. Not that I will do it solely...but I will be doing it for sure...you can count on it!

That's my thought for today.

Enjoy...

Thought for the Day

"A picture is worth a thousand words, but a scrapbook page is worth a million memories..."

---Remedios Lina C. Villarosa-Garcia---

What Has This Done to My Life???

My life has changed so much in the last year and a half! I can't believe it. What did I do with all the time that is now filled with my deepest passion of scrapbooking? Who did I ever converse with before I got all my scrapper friends? I guess even a bigger question...what did I spend all my darling husband's money on before I was known at the local scrapbook stores by my first name???

I have done many many crafts and hobbies before in my life of sixty-one years but have never been so consumed as I have by this thing that has become so much a part of my life that I can't look at anything without it having a connection to this consuming hobby...or art...or whatever we choose to call it!

When I see colors...I think about what a neat color combination that would make on a page layout...when I see people doing things I think oh my golly that would scrap so cute!...when I look at magazines and books and ads...I think about the way pages are laid out and think wow that would nice to use on a layout or on a card! What oh what has happened? I don't know but I do think it is a good thing.

The older I get the more I am aware of the fact that everyone...young and old...needs to have something special in their lives that drives them. Drives them beyond the norm of their everyday requirements that pull on their lives. We all have things we must do in out lives to just survive. We have jobs, we have family, we have responsibilities of cleaning the house and keeping the yard up. It can never be denied that any of these are not a driving force in your life. And these are forces that still...at least most times...gives us much pleasure...even though all of us complain and complain about the burdens they put on us. Still we would not want to give them up for anything. They really are a very important need in our lives...and we do love them.

But I am talking about the something in our lives that is always in the back of our minds...something that propels us through all the mundane things we are forced to face day after day...something that makes us know, that as soon as I get done with these things that have to be done...I can...do whatever it is that is your driving passion.!!

For me it is my scrapbooking. I remember the day at work when a co-worker brought in his wife's vacation scrapbook and I was so impressed with what she had done. And to be honest...while it was a super scrapbook...it is nothing compared to what I know is being done in the world of scrapbooking. It was then that I was bitten by that infectious bug. I guess because I have a lowered immune system with my muscle disease...I really got the bug! LOL

This hobby has changed my life completely. I had been feeling pretty down because of my myasthenia gravis. It means extreme muscle weakness. It changes your life a lot but it is quite manageable. It just takes some willingness to learn how to change your life so that you conserve as much energy as you can. Besides being weak, you don't have much stamina. So the normal things I was used to doing...cooking, cleaning, laundry...that kind of stuff my darling husband took over. Not that I could not do it but he chose to do it and save me the draw on my strength... he liked doing it, and said I had done it for him for thirty years, let me do it for you for the next thirty. So that is how it is now. But that also made a change in my life. It took away a lot of the driving force within me. What do I do with all this time? It even took away a lot of "brain thinking" time. As most who run a household...you think all the time about what needs to be done...when it needs done...when it needs to be stared to get done in time...how it will get done. There is a lot of brain time in running a household! How will I fill this time??

I don't think it was an accident that I saw that scrapbook that day. God sent it my way. Thank you very much for that! I somehow got on the Internet and found the Memory Makers Magazine site. Humm...looked good to me

I spent a long time perusing that site. I went out and got things to start scrapping and got going on it. So much fun. I loved everything about scrapping! My mind was starting to be occupied with this wonderful hobby.

After a few weeks of watching the Memory Makers site I started reading the forum. I read it for what seemed like a long time...but I can't actually remember how long. I wanted to join in but hesitated...not having ever done anything like that and figuring I wouldn't be accepted because everyone seemed so close in that group. But something kept at me and I finally became a registered member of Memory Makers and posted my first post on the forum.

That post has changed my life! This group welcomed me with open arms. I was instantly part of their group. As I started writing I was learning so much about scraping. They knew I was a "newbie" as we call them to the world of scrapbooking and were so helpful in telling about what products would help me and gave me tips on how to do things. But more than that...they became my friends. Friends in the truest sense of the word.

The people on this forum are the closest knit group of people I have ever met. We laugh and we cry with each other. We share the pains in our lives and we share all the joys! When one rejoices we all rejoice. When one hurts...we all hurt. We are family. We love each other.

There is nothing more exciting than after all the months...and years...of corresponding both in print and by phone with each other, to get the opportunity to meet each other in person as we travel to different areas of the country. It is always a top priority to make a connection with whoever lives in the part of the country we are visiting. I recently had the opportunity to meet up with lizardsmom from Kentucky with her darling husband and daughter when they visited Florida. I just had to make a scrapbook page to give to her when we met!! I think at first our husbands were a little reserved about doing this. But when we met we all had such a wonderful time. Even the guys bonded and it was just a beautiful experience. It is something we will never forget and plan on continuing our new found family friendship.

This is what has been done to my life. Scrapbooking has made a tremendous change in my life...but it has been a wonderful change. Not only do I get to preserve memories for my family and friends using my love of art and crafts, I get to have a driving force that propels me through all the mundane things that face not only me but all of us! I want to learn new techniques, I want to make scrapbook pages and homemade cards but most of all I have a wonderful group of new-found friends that I wouldn't trade for all the tea in China!!

If you are not already doing so, why don't you take a trip to the Memory Makers Magazine site and have a look around? Join the forum and start a new journey in scrapbooking and also to a most wonderful group of friends!! Come along...we would love to have you!! Give it a try.

Scrapbooking. What a wonderful thing it has done to my life!

My thought for today.

Enjoy...

Thought for the Day

How can a society that exists on instant mashed potatoes, packaged cake mixes, frozen dinners and instant cameras teach patience to its young?

---Paul Sweeny---

It Doesn't Sound Nice...But It's All About Me!!!

I know it doesn't sound very nice. I see "It's All About Me" on t-shirts and I think wow, a little conceited aren't you? But this is not where this is going for sure!

I was looking through YouTube the other day and I happened across this video about this web site and I have to tell you I haven't been this excited about something in scrapbooking in a long time. I think this is what so many of us need. Well at least I know I need it...very much.

We all scrap about people and things that are important in our lives but as often has been said we are the ones missing in the pictures or on the scrapbook pages! We journal about all the kids, the husbands, the parents, the nieces and nephews, so that the future generations will know all about them and remember them, what they did, what they looked like, what their personality was...but what are we sharing about ourselves with the future generation? Are we going to be forgotten?

And yet as I was looking at this wonderful site I am also wondering...what do I really know about myself? I don't think I really do know myself as well as I think I do.

Take a look at this video that I found.

I thought that was great. Not only do I think it a wonderful thing to leave heritage about ourselves...I think that scrapping our feelings and who we are is great therapy!

Did you hear about the kits that are available? That is so wonderful. I went to the website and I think the kit is absolutely fantastic. I have been wanting to get into kits but have not been able to find one that I really like. I think I am going to try this one kit at a time for now...even though there is a savings on purchasing a subscription for 3 or 6 months...and see if I like it as much as I think I will. Also on the website, there is great inspiration of all kinds as aids to inspire you for the theme for the month.

Go to the site and have a look around. Scrapping From the Inside Out. I am sure you will be as impressed as I am.

I have signed up to take a digi class online from Paula Gilarde mainly due to the urging of Terry aka beehive on Memory Makers. I am looking forward to it with some nervous anticipation. I don't know why, because computers don't scare me as far as using them. I guess I need to just chill out!! LOL

Speaking of chilling...I am definitely not chilling with the company that hosts my signature at the bottom of my post. It has been down an entire day and I find that unacceptable. But, can't tell them that...since their site is down. Bummer. Going to practice chilling...at least until I can get a hold of them!!!

I still have other things to accomplish yet and the night is no longer young. I need to move on for now.

This is my thought for now.

Enjoy...

Thought for the Day

Marriage is that relation between man and woman in which the independence is equal, the dependence mutual and the obligation reciprocal.

---Louis K. Anspacher---

Our Special Day!

Wow! This is just a special day for my wonderful husband and I. It is out 43rd wedding anniversary!! Yea!! What a wonderful journey it has been.

Our journey has been a wonderful one. Having gotten married at 18 and 19 I know many people thought for sure it would never last...and that was a real possibility. It was really going against the odds that it would be a long marriage. I know how I look at "kids" I see getting married at that age. Well, I guess not really 'getting married'...because that seems not to be the way to do it anymore. It is more a case of 'moving in'!

Anyone who has been married for a relatively long time knows that it just didn't happen. It is hard work. You have to work at having a good marriage. You have to both decide that it is something you want.

I think the major problems in a marriage are just because of selfishness. If you want that marriage to work you must always put the other person first. I know that sounds rough and it is at first. But you will soon find out that when you put the other person first you will soon find that they are putting you first and both of you end up getting exactly what you want out of your marriage.

I am asked often how we get along so well. Made me stop and think. The first is of course...putting the other person first. Then there is my other favorite...never ever go to bed mad OR upset with each other; that just makes things worse. And it sure does cut down on the disagreements if you know you have to make up before you go to bed!!! What fun is it that if you can't "show" them you can be nastier then them!!! LOL

There are two other things we feel are really important. We practiced them for years but didn't really have a name for them. One was put in words by Dr. Phil..."How much fun are you to live with?". Everyone wants to have a good time...so...work at having a good time!!! LOL The other one is...KJJ...Keep the Journey Joyous! It makes a big difference in how you react to things. Sort of like don't sweat the little things. Life is hard enough without doing that. Be joyous...be glad you are together. Keep that feeling that you 'can't wait to see each other at the end of the day' alive. (Remember that feeling?)

Anyway...today is Our Special Day. For this special day we give thanks...to God...our wonderful children...and our loving parents, who have all been a part in making our marriage very, very special! To them all...we say thanks!

My thought for this day.

Enjoy...

Thought for the Day

"The brain is a wonderful organ; it starts working the moment you get up in the morning & does not stop until you get into the office."

---Robert Frost---

How Was Your Day Plugged In?

I have always said that mothers set the mood for the entire day. But now, with the blessing of freedom of choice when it comes to defining roles, I guess I need to revise that to...whoever wakes the family up...sets the the mood for the entire day for their family...for the entire world, really.

I have noticed this with me when my children were just starting school. If I was in a good mood when I woke them up...they started their day in a good mood, also. If I crabbed at them, yelled at them yada yada yada...their moods were rotten. Aha!!! I was beginning to see that if I wanted everyone in the house to wake up in a good mood...it was basically me that was able to do that! I was the one who plugged that family in each morning. If I plugged them into the right socket...they woke in a good mood and their day went a lot smoother...but boy oh boy...let me plug them into the socket that had a short in it and they lit up and took off like a rocket!!! LOL LOL It was like watch out world here I come!! Yowser!! Bad Mood. Bad Mood!! Usually for the entire day. It was then I realized that I had a lot of influence in my family's life just by the way I woke them.

You know, I don't mean it to sound like if we wake up in a good mood we will have just wonderful wonderful days...but I do know that if you walk out into the world with an already bad attitude...a chip on your shoulder...you are shot in the foot before you even begin. I try always to remember that when I call my darling husband in the morning!! He is NOT a morning person, so he doesn't want to get up in the first place!!

Due to the fact that yesterday the vet came to our house to check our dog and cat for their exams and vaccinations...yes our vet comes to our house...how nice is that? He is a mobile vet! Anyway when he comes he usually stays a couple of hours because he chats while he is working...which we love...due to that, not much scrapping went on last night at my house!!! BUT as I said yesterday...because everything was out and available I did get some work done. Hope to have more fun tonight. I am going to try to scrap and watch Paperclipping Live at the same time. Don't know how that will work out since I don't know how I can work and watch the chat at the same time. We will see about that I guess!!! LOL

If you don't know what Paperclipping Live is...it is a live scrapbooking video with Noell Hyman which is on Tuesdays at 6:30 MT. It has a live chat room and you may also call in or use your webcam and audio to be on the show! It is a fun time. Try it. You can tune in by going to Papaerclipping.com and clicking on Paperclipping Live at the left.

Better be calling it a day. That's my thought for this day.

Enjoy...

Thought for the Day

Be faithful in small things because it is in them that your strength lies.

---Mother Teresa---

Busy Busy Weekend!

Golly it was a busy weekend for me this weekend! I got so much accomplished. Nothing that was earth shaking mind you but just those little things that keep pestering your to get them done!!

And oh...the most important thing is I got some good scrapping time. Oh yes!! It felt so good. I got a good start on my altered book for my darling grandson and also got things ready to go to try using my brayer on some kaleidoscope ink pads!

I love having my big desk in the living room. And I am so happy I have decided to listen to my husband when he told me to stop putting everything away each time after I was done. He said I was spending all my time getting things out and then putting them away! It still is a little difficult for me to leave it out...but how nice it is to just start to scrap when the desire hits!!!

I was watching Scrapbook Memories this weekend and Stacy Julian was on. First of all...I love Stacy!! She has so many great ideas. But on her segment she was promoting one of her books, which sorry to say...I am going to have to go back to the Tivo and play again because I can't remember the title! What struck me was what she had to say...as usual. She was explaining about setting up your scrap area.

In essence she said we need to set up our scrapping space, be it a separate room, a table in the kitchen or just a closet so that we can be able to scrap even ten minutes when we get the time. We are only fooling ourselves if we think we should have a block of three or four hours at a time to scrap. That just isn't reasonable...won't happen!

I am seeing that I am getting so much more done by being able just to sit for even ten minutes while I am waiting on my husband or for something to finish cooking or whatever. What a difference in my scrapping! I love it! Hope you can achieve this also. I didn't know I was using up so much scrapping time by getting out and putting away. Wow! This is great! Hope you can try it!

But let's not forget...I will take four hours straight whenever I can get it!!LOL LOL

Evening is fast approaching and some rain, too, I think! Everyone have a great night and get scrappin'!

Enjoy...

Thought for the Day

"Gently accept and embrace the richness of this moment that is now.
Give sweet expression to the unique voice living within you."

---Ralph Marston---

Invalid Password????

Right. I know I have not used an invalid password!

Everyone has seen this stupid screen at one time or another...usually at the worst possible moment...like when you absolutely need to get a payment made on a credit card before the 3:00 cut-off! (Why do they make the cut off at such a ridiculous time anyway? Have they ever been told the day ends at midnight???) And by the way, I wouldn't be making this rush payment if they would accept a payment any day, but because of a holiday, I have to make it like "four hundred days" ahead of when it is actually due in order to get it there on time!!!

By the way...have you ever noticed that the credit card companies will make your payment due on a Saturday, Sunday or holiday...BUT they DO NOT accept payments on Saturday, Sunday or holidays??? What is it with that? Do they not know they can set the computer to set the due dates so they do not fall on a Saturday, Sunday or holidays??? Can they not use some of the money they are earning from us to have decent software so that can happen??? Come on!!!

I know that I typed the right password. I did it again...being "very careful" that I typed the correct password. Still...INVALID PASSWORD!!!

OK. Let's try this again!! Humf! Still the same response. Once again...same thing. Over and over I try what I know is the right password with them telling me it is the wrong password as if I think if I keep at them long enough they will give in and change their mind and let me in MY account!!!

You see, here I am at work, wanting to pay my bill like I said I would when I acquired the bill and now they won't let me pay it!! I know this security stuff is all for my benefit but sometimes I think they get carried away. Like why can't the government do something about these passwords?? I mean really...they regulate everything else??? I wouldn't be having this problem if password requirements were all the same. But no...I have to have six letters only for this password...no caps...over eight letters for this one...you can have caps...but remember passwords are case sensitive!!! This one you can have letters but you also have to have digits...and this one you have to have at least two digits! On and on...how am I possibly going to remember all these passwords? Why can't we say...OK...for passwords you have to have this format and EVERYONE has to use it? How simple would that be? All we would have to do is memorize OUR password! We would use it every time for everything! OK. Maybe not that secure but for sanity I could live with it!!!

Well you say, why don't you write them in a secure place so you could find them? I did. Only you see...I put them in my electronic organizer which is passworded! Oh oh you are saying...she forgot her password! Wrong. You see there is another screen we have all seen. The one where after thousands of times of trying the INVALID PASSWORD they give you the option of changing your password. I don't want to change my password. My DH knows the password (I am saying I know it, too, however we seem to be in disagreement here...) and I don't want to mess him up and change it. Then he will see this stupid screen when he tires to log-in!

So...seeing that it is now 2:30 and I have to have this payment in by the end of they day which they say is 3:00...I consent to changing the password. After only twenty-five minutes of trying to find a password they will agree fits their requirements I sneak the payment in and make the cut-off by just a couple of minutes!! Mission accomplished!!...Sort of!!

You see, by this time I am pretty frustrated and just want to close the site down and forget about this whole past what seems like four hours!! I do remember to stick one of those post-it-notes to my little pill timer case (I have to take medicine every 3-1/2 hours so I have to carry a timer) so I am sure to tell DH the new password...which I did, and changed it on the master-security-sheet at home,too! Pretty good, right?

But low and behold...through my own error...when I go to rush a payment in again...when I have to get it in way ahead of the due date due to it being due on a Saturday, Sunday or holiday...I am again at work...the end of the day time of 3:00 is fast approaching...and I get the same INVALID PASSWORD screen again.........because in my frustration...I forgot to change the password in my electronic organizer!!! The beat goes on and on and on!! *sigh*

I still refuse to take credit for this failure of forgetting to put the new password in my organizer BECAUSE none of this would have happened if they would not have made the due date on a Saturday, Sunday or holiday or if they had not made the day end at 3:00 in the afternoon! If those two things didn't happen I would have been at home on the day that the payment is usually made to have it post on time paying it before the end of the day which, 'in the eyes of a reasonable man' as they say, is midnight!!! Case closed!!! Their fault!!! However...I am frustrated and they are not! So I guess I had just better calm down and take it all in stride. This will never change so I guess the change has to come with me. What a bummer!

Speaking of security. Like I said I really do appreciate and understand the need for security on the net, but sometimes I just don't get it. Like the other night I registered with a site. Got it all set and hit submit. Nothing happened. I thought I would get a confirmation or a screen that said I would get an email and have to validate or something! Nothing. So I thought...ok...I guess I can just go log-in. Wrong. Invalid password!! Do you believe this? I think maybe the password gremlins are after me!! LOL LOL So I go through the same routine again and again. Still won't let me in. Now I am thinking that maybe I didn't get submitted at all so I start to register again. Not going to happen...says that user ID is already taken. (Do you think I should stay off the Internet???) So I write to Contact Us knowing it will probably take at least a week before I hear anything. Well was I wrong. I sent the email at 2:30 a.m. and by 3:17 a.m. I had a response. Not the response I was expecting but still a response. It said they reset my password to 123456, tested it and it is now working. Sorry for any inconvenience. Please try the site and make sure it worked for me and it it did not please let them know. Wow! That was quick. I tried it and it worked!!! Great. Except what about this thing called security? I thought they would want me to reset my password but no. There is no place for you to do it!! Duh. So here I sit with the all time most difficult password in the world to remember being MY password!! Yea!! Glad this is not a site with any important information on it! Not even an address so I guess that is why they are not really concerned about it!!

Oh my. I have rambled tonight but I am sure all of you have suffered with this same thing! I guess that in the world that we live in now, this is just the way it is going to be!! I am just hoping beyond hope that you can teach old dogs new tricks!!

Enjoy...

Thought for the Day

"Life is not a matter of milestones but of moments."

---Rose Fitzgerald Kennedy---

Whoowee It's Friday!!!

I don't know about other places but in Florida Fridays are very special!! In fact most often it is called Finally Friday! We all live for our weekends. We plan all week for our weekend! And don't plan on getting anything serious done on the weekend 'cause it 'ain't gonna happen'!!! You won't go get that loan signed, see the lawyer about anything or get your sore throat looked at or your kid's teeth filled. No one works on the weekends it seems only the necessary health professionals as hospitals and nursing homes,and the other very necessary things that would only add to one's enjoyment of the weekend!!! It took a lot of getting used to when we first moved here, but now I could not imagine being able to schedule your appointments over the weekend so you don't have to miss work!! Are you kidding??? Ruin a perfectly good weekend??? Surely you jest!!!

And I really don't know when people get paid here. When you drive in to work on Fridays the roads are just about empty! Don't people go in to get their paychecks? Humm...well I feel sort of dumb right now!! I get paid on Thursdays!!! LOL Guess maybe that is what happens other places, too! Only took me seventeen years to figure that one out! Well, my darling husband has always said (jokingly by the way) that I am not dumb, which I always said I was, I am just a little slow!!! Guess I just proved him right on that one!!

I am going to get a huge chunk of scrapping in this weekend. I have been spending too much time on that new desk and I am being scrap deprived!!

I want to start on an altered book for my youngest grandson an I am biting at the bit to get going on it. Want to look around and see if I can find some gaffers tape for the binding edge. Think that would help with the wear and tear!! He loves the minis books I have done for his Mom so I just have to make him one he can have for himself!

I need to get on with the day. I could write and write today but the world beckons me. However, before I sign off for now I need to share a little sunshine your way from beautiful Florida!

Enjoy...

Thought for the Day

You can make mistakes but you aren't a failure until you start blaming others for those mistakes.

---John Wooden---

I took a picture an hour....

for one whole day! Have you ever done that? I forget anymore who had made the challenge to us...it was on a blog I was reading...it may have been Stacey Jullian but I am not that sure...but what an awesome awakening!

I was thinking about that as I was reading Terry's Tales, when she was talking about taking pictures and what inspires us to take pictures.

If you haven't tried taking a picture an hour I challenge you to do it. As I went back tonight and looked at those pictures I took that day it stirred up a lot of memories and yet it made me think of some things that I never thought about before. I must have sunk about an hour looking at those pictures and thinking. I thought...this was a good thing to do.

They were pictures of silly things at times...but you know...it was all part of my life and things that are important to me...even in a silly way. The cup of coffee I start with each morning that has a soggy napkin under it because my husband can't carry it without spilling it! Hey...he brings it to me every morning...gets my breakfast in fact...and that dog gone soggy napkin napkin is pretty important...it says so much. I love that soggy napkin!!! It keeps the coffee from dripping all over me...but I am always careful to spill half the cup before I get it to my mouth!!! LOL

A picture of a friend of the business next door to ours that stops by every morning to grab a cup of coffee with us and share a laugh or two...or three....or four!!! LOL

My boss at my desk...a favorite place for him...;

the sight from our front door at work where I have had so many thoughts I could write several books...as I watched the world go by and change...as they are widening the road! That road will never look like it used to...and I have no picture of it! *sigh*

And what seems to be a "stupid" picture of the clock on my desk...with the little 'faith' stone an old employee gave me. As I thought about it...that clock and I have a special relationship. It has guided a lot of my life! It has told me when to get to work, when to move on to something else, when to take my medicine, when to eat, when to call someone, when a storm warning was about to end, when. when. when...that clock and I have been around and around!!!! Get it? LOL I couldn't believe a picture of my clock could stir up so many memories!!!

So I guess what I am saying is that as scrapbookers we need not take just pictures of people. Sure we want pictures of our family and friends but we need to have pictures of our life!

I am going to start to take more pictures. Of everything. I am going to try to take another day of a picture every hour.

I challenge you to the same. Give it a try. It is just one day!! I am sure you will be as amazed as I am, especially when you go back several months later and take a look at them. Is the challenge on? Post your pics in the Flickr Community. I would love to see them.

Enjoy...

Thought for the Day

Live now. Make now always the most precious time. Now will never come again.

---Captain Jean-Luc Piccard, U.S.S. Enterprise---

I Bet I Can Keep Them Now!!!

I am so tired of people walking off with the extra pens that I have on my desk for other people to use. I said use...not take! Well really, I keep them there for my boss who refuses to carry a pen on him. If I give him my pen, I never see it again!

They know not to touch my personal pens! I had a lot of training to do to teach them all 'you don't want to do that'. My boss' father who is retired now used to ask them "How does she know when I have taken her pen???" It used to puzzle him big time. He never did realize that I have a certain number of pens on my desk...each writing a different color because each color means a special thing! So if one was gone I knew it right away and it was always him that was at my desk! Not hard to figure out where to go retrieve it!!! I found out if one exerts enough continual pressure long enough you can teach just about anyone anything!!! Relentlessness! A good thing! LOL

Anyway...while I was off on my long weekend I 'made' pens. I attached big flowers to stick pens and wrapped them with floral tape. Took a glass vase and filled it with green class pebbles and stuck the pens in the vase. Walla! Beautiful vase of posies AND pens that I dare a guy to walk away with!!! LOL

I had seen this done only using a terra cota pot and coffee beans which made them look like they were growing out of the ground but this looks like they are in a vase of water or growing out of the grass. Besides, I was at the dollar store and didn't want to play 'in search of' for the pot and coffee is too expensive!! LOL

Still is rainy here. I am so thankful for the rain. Things are beginning to look so pretty again. We had gone so long without rain everything was just an ugly brown and crunchy! Rain in Florida is not bad. It usually rains about four o'clock about the time everyone is on the way home, then dries up for a wonderfully humid evening!! Hope to be able to get up to the beach to watch the sunset after work again this summer. It is a very nice way to wind down after a day at work.

Enjoy...

Thought for the Day

Whatever you think that you can, or that you can't, you are usually right.

---Henry Ford---

My long weekend goes on...

because I took a day of vacation. I get one week more of vacation than my husband so I have started taking a day at a time when there is an already long weekend. It makes it like a mini vacation. I like it so far!

Got to get that cony bowl over the weekend. It was as good as I remembered! They give you these wonderful oyster crackers that are so good. They don't taste like cardboard like a lot of them do. Then the bowl of wonderful chili with little cony dogs cut up and topped with lots of cheese. It is wonderful!!! This is just plain out of this world. I know it doesn't look like anything very special but you really need to try this! It is just real comfort food. Go Skyline Chili!!!

We went to the flea market again. Still looking for little "cutsie" things to hold stuff on my desk. Didn't find anything yet! Well, you know...I have to have just the right thing. I am picky. I know!! But we did see the veggies and fruits being sold. I just love that. I know that most everything there had been shipped in but it reminds me of when I was growing up in Ohio and we used to go where the migrant workers lived and bought veggies from them that they had grown on their little plots they were given. Childhood memories. They are a good thing!!!

Did a little bit of shopping around at fun places. Went to Dollar General which gives me a real laugh because nothing much is still a dollar there. And Jim bought me the best thing ever. We found a giraffe wastebasket!!! Whoowee! Now I know that doesn't do a lot for a lot of people but for me it is true excitement!!! LOL

I love giraffes! And to be able to get a giraffe wastebasket is a wonderful thing for me!! LOL My husband is so happy that he can keep me happy for such a small amount. No diamonds and jewels for me!! Just give me a giraffe wastebasket!!! I am a happy camper!!! That baby has won a place of honor right at my feet where I sit at my scrap desk!!! Isn't it cute???

I know I live in a strange world but I am happy there and I don't cause anyone any problems...sooo....

I have not gotten nearly everything done I had wanted to today but then at least I got my Cricut software in and working! I cut a few things just to make sure. Can't wait to get at it and explore all it can do!

I got Quicken in and running and I installed this software program that makes copies of my receipts and files them according to category. It makes it really easy to find a receipt when you need it. The only problem is that the scanner that came with it doesn't work. So I have to deal with that but I am in no hurry for that. My wonderful daughter said she will help me.

Well, the afternoon is just about gone and I have much to accomplish yet. I need to scurry off. Hope you all have a wonderful evening.

Enjoy...

Thought for the Day

It's not what's happening to you now or what happened to you in the past that determines who you become. Rather it's your decisions about what to focus on, what things mean to you, and what you're going to do about them that will determine your ultimate destiny.

---Anthony Robbins---

Deciding on a late bite...

we ended up going to Steak and Shake. We left the house about 8:45 hoping the traffic wouldn't be bad and we could get into the restaurant quickly due to all the fireworks starting at 9:00.

We were right. No traffic and we were the only ones in the hamburger joint except one other couple! So we sat down and picked up the menu. Just at that time we happened to look out the huge glass window before us only the to realize we had the best seats available for the fireworks at the park!! It was the absolute best fireworks we ever saw! Comfortable seats, just the low boom boom that echoes through the air, no little children's fearful fits of crying and low and behold, no traffic jam afterwards!!! What a great time we had!!! I think we shall keep this as a secret as to not spoil it for next year. You all won't tell will you???

Yesterday turned out to be pretty much an R & R day. Nothing much happened it was just a nice restful day which I always enjoy!

Thinking today about going to a flea market up north. Swinging around and stopping at the fabulous JoAnns that has this clerk that is just so much fun...she just cannot wait to talk to you and tell the newest and "bestest" things about scrapping...and then stopping to get a coney bowl at Skyline Chili! With gas the way it is you have to plan your travel anymore. No room for extra running around with gas prices where they are.

Speaking of Skyline Coney Bowl. Have you ever had one??? On my golly. We love them. A bowl of their awesome chili with their little hot dogs cut up in it topped with just scads of the best shredded cheddar cheese. Wow...it is fabulous. We don't have one around us...well...close to us. Where we are going it is only about twenty minutes away but we just don't go that far just for a bowl of chili!! So it has become a special treat for us!! You really need to check it out if you haven't ever tried them.

With that...let the day begin!

Enjoy...

Thought for the Day

A man can succeed at almost anything for which he has unlimited enthusiasm.

---Charles Schwab---

Happy Fourth of July

I heard just last weekend that this is the only country founded on ideals. I am not positive about that...but I can not dispute it either. I am not up on history...but it sounds right. I am pround to be an American even with all our faults.

Not much going on today for me. Just wanted to wish everyone a happy fourth. Spend time with your loved ones. Have fun and laugh a lot! Smile...did you ever notice...it is almost impossible to say nasty things when you are smiling??? LOL

Enjoy...

Cure for Mistakes!!!

Look at this great demonstration by Christine at Scrap Time! I know I am going to have to get some of this!! I had heard about it before but thought it wasn't available anymore. But if you go to her site she has a link where you can order it! Thanks Christine!

Video courtesy of Scrap Time

Thought for the Day

The ultimate measure of a man is not where he stands in moments of comfort, but where he stands at time of challenge and controversy.

---The Reverend Martin Luther King, Jr.---

Starting a Transition?

Thought provoking to say the least. Yesterday evening at work, as Buck, the last of the guys who was still here at work, was getting ready to leave, I was going to go lock the front door ahead of him. He is usually very kind and locks it for me but I thought I would save him some time!

As I stood and went to go out between my desk and typewriter table I lost a little balance and caught myself on my desk before I started to fall. Eh..happens once in a while! I did not realize that Buck had started to come into the office from the warehouse and saw it! I just continued on and was going to go lock the door. He said "Did you just about fall?" I said no I had just lost my balance that's all. (This does happen once in a great while with my muscle disease. If I move too suddenly I can lose some equilibrium) So he said, "You sit yourself down and don't get up until your husband gets here!!" That was really sweet that he was really caring and watching out for me.

However, after he left I began to think...one should never have too much thinking time. ..at least for me...it can get me in trouble!!! I saw him caring about me as I used to with older people! It was just how I was taught! So following on in that thought mode...I am thinking perhaps I am starting into that transition when I have crossed that magical line where I am one of those which I had always been told to take care of!!! Wowser!

I guess I felt somewhat like my eldest son when he had come back from the grocery store while he was staying with us and said, "You know what? The kid at the store handed me my bag and said "There you go sir!" Sir?...He called me sir!!" So he went into the bathroom and came out and said, "Look...I'm starting to get gray here at the temples!!" LOL I guess life is just made up of ages and stages!!! (I don't think he realized that he himself had assumed his new-found stage in life when he referred to the bagger as the "kid"!!!!)

Ahh...ages and stages...life goes on. But alas...with each new stage comes a myriad of new blessings!!! Life is so good!!!


I can feel the anticipation of the long weekend here at work. Everyone was here early...as if the sooner they got here the sooner the weekend would start!

Life is a bit different here where we are in Florida than in other places. We basically live from Friday to Sunday night! On Monday at work nothing really happens. We are all talking about what happened over the weekend and trying to wind down and get into work mode! On Friday nothing ever happens because everyone is making final plans for the weekend and scurrying around trying to make up for not doing anything on Monday!!!...in an attempt to maybe leave early so they can start the weekend party time!

It is a silent given. Never call anyone for anything on Monday or Friday because whatever it is you want...won't happen. LOL I think it has something to do with the sand, white beaches and beautiful sunshine!! LOL

Well, since today is really Friday to the work week, I am going to go scurry and get done what has to be done by Friday. Wishing you all a great day! BTW...all you scrappers...I posted a thought for discussion and would love to hear your thoughts. Go to flickr and click on discussion.

Enjoy...

Another One Tank Trip!

Golly gee! I didn't know it took so many smarts to keep these blogs going the way you want...or at least for me it is a challenge!!!

There are so many things that I want to add that you have to have widgets for...just having learned that word!!! For those of you that don't know that word as I didn't...(not sure I do yet)...it is the term they use for the codes in html...which is the computer language...to get certain things into your computer...if I explained it right!!??!! (Actually widget means little unnamed device!! Guess that fits pretty well!)

Not being at all computer savy... I am having to find codes or the widgets for practically everything I want to add!! It is driving me CRAZY!! Whenever I say something is driving me crazy, my darling husband always tells me..."Another one tank trip"!!! Very funny!! Aw...I don't mind being the brunt of his humor!!! I love putting a chuckle in his heart!!!

The worst part right now is finding how to get the videos I want to post from people into the blog. One company I am checking with says...well you need our widget. Great I'm thinking...here we go again. Why couldn't they just say...well copy and paste it?....I know how to do that!!! No...I need a widget!!! Great! And then please just don't let their next sentence start with...You just have to....as if it is so so simple! Ppplllease. I am hoping that after I do this stuff I will at least be able to talk 'computerese' with my daughter! (she's the web designer/very computer literate one that doesn't have apoplexy when she hears the words...you just have to...LOL)

Anyway...I just wanted to let you know that the blog is still in its... what shall we say...creative stage? I will figure this all out some day. Please hang with me!! Stop in and see what is going on.

I posted a picture to Flickr today. It is my favorite flower. Gardenias are what my husband always ordered in all my flowers for prom and bouquets he sent me while we were dating. And he still does whenever he can find them! I hope you all will please post pics and LOs in the gallery and post a discussion topic, too. Let's get some conversation going. We can't connect thoughts if no one posts any!

I am also thinking of giving out some RAKs. So I will be letting you know about them soon, also. So much to get up and going...but all in due time I guess.

I am about to run out of gas on this one tank trip so I will leave it there for now. Need to save enough gas to get back home. Have to stop at Starbucks on the way home, too!

Enjoy...