Flowers, Flowers, Freebies

Aren't they beautiful? David stopped to pick up a few grocery items, including a special holiday traditional treat for me, on the way home Friday. When he came in he presented me with a bouquet of bright Christmas-colored flowers! He hasn't brought me flowers in the long time. I hadn't been feeling like a Neil Diamond song or anything, but they sure make me smile every time I look at them!

Getting flowers is a nice introduction to me giving flowers to all of my digital scrapbooking friends! I might have mentioned when I released Christmas Cocoa for Worldwide Christmas Scrapbooking Freebies on December 1 that I thought it needed flowers and maybe something else.

Here are the flowers and a few leaves to add to this month's freebie kit!

Christmas Cocoa Flowers

Click on preview to download at MediaFire

The Christmas Cocoa kit is here,

 I hope you enjoy Christmas Cocoa. Stay tuned! I may yet have something else to add to this kit.

Kicking Off The Holidays

The holiday season has officially kicked off. We went to Michigan the Sunday before Thanksgiving to have our Thanksgiving dinner would Pop and Aunt Judy. Thursday was a Play football day at home with David. Thursday night I started my Christmas holiday shopping. Even for a homebody who does most of my shopping online, Black Friday sales were abundant.

Today I watched Rudolph The Red Nosed Reindeer while David was at work, making the Christmas season official for my inner child. David is not a Rudolf fan at all, so Rudolph, however necessary, is a solo event for me.

The other thing that I did today was this scrapbook page:

Credits: Christmas Cocoa buy Digitalegacies Designs

He1he… my fellow scrappers can sleep on that. Christmas Cocoa Will be released tomorrow morning as my contribution to Worldwide Christmas Scrapbooking Freebies this year!

More in the morning…

Checking In

There has been so, so, so much going on! Don't worry, I am NOT “hanging in the balance" or anything like that, but I can say that I much prefer going to the local hospital during the day when the good coffee bar is open. There're a few things coming up in my too many doctors world that should make the future much more bright. In the meantime I'll be using the last month of the year to really plan for getting my act together next year. I just have to remember “baby steps."

I will, or won’t, share more details about hospitals later. The only thing I'll say now about hospitals is ladies, make sure you get your mammograms! Do it for yourself. Do it for the people who love you. And for those of us older ladies, yeah, every year. This is why the quality of the coffee at the hospital you choose is so important. After a mammogram I've EARNED a real latte and one of the BEST banana muffins in the world!

I'm getting ready to start work on my Worldwide Christmas Scrapbooking Freebies gift for this year. I'm not totally sure what it will be yet but it will be available here on December 1.

In the meantime, I stumbled upon a set of templates in my hard drive. These were in my Scrap Bird Store in 2009. It took me a minute to remember to them! It's a simple set of templates that is now on my MediaFire Account to share!

click on image to go to MediaFire

I hope you enjoy the templates. I'll be back soon!

Hello Blogland!!!!!

My signature for July at GingerScraps

Long time no see, right? I got my new wheelchair just a little after Memorial Day. If anyone wants to grouch along with me, that’s just over a year after I was originally measured and an order put together for a new chair. But I have the new chair. Now I’m about the task of relearning how to have an actual life. That’s kept me busy and tired every day.

My phrase for the beginning of my 50th year is “baby steps.” My friend and former coworker, Mary, put that gentle and valuable bit of coaching in my head when we worked together. You don’t reach goals if you can’t appreciate the little victories. At that time it was just her telling us to take it easy if we felt frustration at work, but now when I sarcastically cheer myself because I made my own salad, I hear her voice in my mind and, with a smile, I do recognize the little victories. I might not walk, but I’m gonna rock that chair and what are the little victories now will be everyday no big deals.

Hey, yeah, 50th year. Nanifest L starts next Friday! My fiftieth birthday is on a Friday, so the festival is on weekend rules; if my birthday is on a Friday,Saturday or Sunday, the festival runs from 5:00pm the Friday before until midnight the Sunday after, two weeks and three weekends. I think I probably would have extended 50 for the extra week anyway. More about the festival coming very soon!

Before I sign off, I’ll share the scrap-page I did for last year when the van we call “The Blue Meanie” came home. Right now it means David and I can go places to photograph trains, see baseball games or even visit my dad in the Motherland!

Credits: Off Roadin’ by Little Rad Trio, template by Digitalegacies Designs

Of course “template by Digitalegacies Designs” means a freebie! Call it my reopening of my cyber coffee shop gift. Click on the preview to download the template at Mediafire.

Thanks for visiting again!!

http://www.mediafire.com/download/a5fbz0i5z8h1f7v/digitalegacies_July16Template.zip

Worldwide Christmas Scrapbooking Freebies 2015

Welcome to this year’s Worldwide Christmas Scrapbooking Freebies blog train! This year’s freebie from Digitalegacies Designs is a mini kit called Christmas Confetti. I used a classic Christmas palette and a few elements that include a couple of my favorites, I love journal cards and coffee cups, with tress and confetti spill to coordinate with the printed papers. I hope you can use it for a layout of as part of your scrapping stash!

Click the preview to download at MediaFire

Be sure to visit the Christmas Around The World home page to see all the free gifts previewed and links to those designers’ pages to download.

Thanks for stopping by. Merry Christmas!

Vacation Time Woes

David and I were supposed to leave on our June vacation Saturday morning but we are still in Toledo. There are lots of issues from a rainy forecast to a 911 call, or two.

The really rainy forecast means the natural light won’t be good for train photographs, there is a higher possibility minor league games would be rained out or delayed and my barometric body will ache more! That’s not such a matter because after a couple of failed attempts at getting in the shower last weekend. One of the EMTs was there for both the call where the transfer chair broke and I needed help transferring to my manual wheelchair Friday night and then on Sunday when I actually belly flopped in the hallway getting up that last step. He mentioned an Aunt with knee problems that mimic the hyperextension and foot drop I have and commented that our stairs and bathroom setup was dangerous. After Sunday he also suggested that we should give up the thought of me being upstairs at all. He’s right, but the shower is upstairs!

My dad started the plan to turn the extra room off our kitchen, that we use for mostly storage now, into an accessible bathroom with a roll-in shower in March. That’s still a couplafew months in the future and it’s not my intention to wait that long for a shower!! We went to a local hotel with a good roll-in for a night and I got a good shower, but I really had to admit that the hotel bed lacked the back support for a decent night’s sleep and I dreaded the thought of folding into the car all week.

So here’s the deal: The bad weather means David got to go play in a couple of poker tournaments at the local casino. That’s something he’s wanted to do and he figured out that it was about even cost to traveling for a day (except that traveling doesn’t have a chance of winning the money back!) I’m staying home this trip and I moved my appointment at The Ability Center up. I hope they can steer me in the right direction for a hospital or nursing facility that will do an assisted shower on an appointment basis until our renovated bathroom is done. I’m also seeing about a home health aide to help me with some things while David is at work, including using that shower when it’s done. David will be going on at least the last half of our vacation because the time and place choice was to attend our niece’s high school graduation. Emma’s been legally my niece for 6-12 years but David’s niece her entire life! Even if I can't go, he needs to. I feel bad that I won’t be able to go. I’ve been to Tori’s and Rina’s ceremony in 2012 and Ben’s in 2013 and I was really looking forward to being at Emma’s too.

Looking ahead, we’ve stepped up looking at used vans for a second car. Something I can drive the power chair into the passenger’s side and not have to climb in the car to travel would help beyond telling! If the upgrades my therapist wants on my chair happen, combining it with a van will make traveling comfortable again. Keeping my fingers crossed!


When I haven’t been waiting for paramedics and crying in frustration in the past couple of weeks I’ve been working on my scrapping and reading goals. I’m close to finished with “Chasing The Scream” which is nonfiction about the war on drugs history and future. It’s a great book that really makes you think. I’ll be doing my book review soon as I’m close to the end of a fairly long book and I’ll give some of my thoughts in that review. After such a serious read, look for my next book to be a fiction thriller again.

Last month was a banner month for my page-a-day scrap goal! I’m ahead again this month too. I’ve been a little creativity-taxed the past couple days, so I used templates for three layouts Saturday and one Sunday morning.


I’ve done some more Art Journaling, my scrap poetry and therapy.

Credits: I’m Your Biggest Fan by Seatrout Scraps, 

Hope Floats by Pixelily Designs, inspired by the song Hero by Loma Vista

Credits: Twilight by Red Dog Designs, Distressed by Created by Jill Designs, 

Alpha from Secret Agent by Just For Fun Designs

Remember the therapy pages are to get the negativity OUT of me and into pixels! It’s not like I’m going to cut off my ear or anything.

And with that comment my mother is looking down at me and I can hear the heavenly echoes telling me Andy Warhol’s work is "an inspired stock boy." :) We always had a fun running argument about the quality of Van Gogh vs Warhol.


Here’s a recent one that’s not so dark! It was for the template challenge at Gotta Pixel:

Credits: Kitty Love by Kristmess Designs, challenge template by Lindsay Jane

And here are this year’s crocuses that I scrapped Sunday morning:

Credits: Signs of Spring Monthly Mix by Gingerbread Ladies, 

“Selfie” hop template by Dear Friends Designs

I didn’t use a template for this one a while back, but I ended up creating a template based on it!

Credits: I’m Your Biggest Fan by Seatrout Scraps, 

Template by Digitalegacies Designs

Of course, if I made a template, there is a freebie!

Click image to go to download

Keeping Very Busy

Are there any statistics on how soon people break resolutions? Now, I don’t do resolutions, it’s projects and goals for me; it leaves room to do many at once and catch up things that fall behind.

So there are a few things I’m behind on. Blog reading and writing is one of those things, Much of my online “work” has been distracted. If you noticed there is a GoFundMe link in my side bar. My good friend, Sheri, spent 10 days of the beginning of this year in the hospital. She went home Thursday night and hopefully goes back to work Monday. Sheri lives alone so she is the only breadwinner in her home. She’s been stressing and I’ve stressed for he too. The bills don’t go away and the biggest bill is waiting in the wings. Where her normal budget is based on mandatory overtime at the job she’s had many years, now she’s used all her sick time for the ear and has about a week on disability that’s less than half her non-OT paycheck. So she has all her regular bills plus a giant bill for the deductible and out of pocket limit for the year all at once coming from the hospital. See a reason for stress?

I’d write her a check for everything she needs to stay afloat if I wasn’t sure my check would bounce higher than a 10-cent superball. What I could do for her was set up the fundraiser. I realize that dedicating my time to this for Sheri will eat into what I can earn for Walk MS but my disease will earn tens of thousands of dollars this year. That makes me happy, really it does, but Sheri will get buried by the financial rubble a hospital stay drops on someone. She is a friend that makes the trip from Michigan to visit me when she is on vacation. She pushes my wheelchair when we’re someplace I can’t get to with the power chair. If my fundraising can make me rise from this chair this year but Sheri will be going without to pay the monthly bills to the hospital without ruining her credit, well, I think I’d rather have her okay and stable to push my chair. So, while I have my page done for Walk, I’m encouraging everyone to donate to helping one person at a time this year. I’d rather be okay with the people I call mine than great alone. Remember I started 2013 in the hospital? I’m not trying to keep a roof over my own head, but I don’t let David pay my medical copays. I have three payments left on that bill. Out of pocket limit all at once when you still have other bills (office visits and prescriptions aren’t part of that limit) is HUGE.

I’ve had some other friends who are dealing with issues and making sure I have time for them comes before blogging, scrapping and working on ways to make the house more accessible!

Credits:P52 Basic Blocking Templates by Digitalegacies Designs, All That Glitters is Snow, Begin Again, My Favorite Brew and Nite At Grandma’s by Aprilisa Designs; When Skies Are Gray by Gingerbread Ladies; Smooches Cardstock by Digital Scrapbooking Studio; Let It Snow and In Then Kitchen – Cooking by Little Rad Trio; Important To Me byu Simple Girl; Chocolicious by Magical Scraps Galore; Journal Cards by A Little Grace and Mercy; Jilbert’s Bits of Bytes; Kimeric Kreations; and Connie Prince

I am a few layouts behind on the page-a-day goal, but only a few and my Project 52 is current! I’ve finished the layouts for weeks one and two. I did week one like I did last year’s layouts , in quadrants. I’m mixing things up a little thus year. Week two has a little different base.

Credits: P52 Basic Blocking Templates by Digitalegacies Designs, Afternoon With Grandma by Little Rad Trio, Attitude Adjustment by Inspired Designs, Better Days Ahead by Aprilisa Designs, Chill In The Air Ginerscraps Monthly Mix, Distressed 1&2 by Created by Jill Scraps, Falling 4 U by Keystone Scraps, Good Reads by Aprilisa Designs, I’ll Be There by Trixie Scraps, Owie by Blue Hearts Scraps & Luv Ewe Designs, Rainy Days by Ginger Bread Ladies, Journal Cards from Doctor’s Orders by Studio Meagan’s Creations and Second Chances by Mad Genius Designs

After 53 weeks of the quadrants it was a little uncomfortable ding it that way. I think I’ll probably do mostly quadrants but mix it up with a different base template here and there. I’ve also been making an effort to use journal cards, like would be used for pocket scrapping.. I have a bunch of them that are in kits or were freebies but I’m also making my own. I don’t think the journal cards are a huge difference from the mostly translucent mats I used last year, but I do see it as a way 2015 is unique from 2014. I’m not looking to reinvent the wheel here, I just watched a video about Project 52 scrapping and it prompted me to look at the pages from 2012, the only other year I’ve actually competed this project and really see what aspects I liked most of each.

I really had fun last year with this cupcake:

It didn’t appear for the first time until the second quarter of the year, but it appears in the 2014 book 7 times. A recurring element was fun! This year’s element has already made its premier appearance. It’s not due to return for a few weeks now.

I made a full set of four templates for bases for the 2-page weekly spreads. You might recognize the first two from the layouts I’ve shown above. The second two are created to work for my dally bocks, but they are also great for pocket scrapping or a blocked scrapbook page. Clicking the preview will take you to the download page. Look for more Project 52 things as the year progresses!

That’s all for now; reading time!

Sharing

Flair from Rainy Days by Ginger Bread Ladies

Can anyone use some rain water? I can start by sharing that; I can wring a gallon out of my coat!

I had an appointment this afternoon and it was raining, I mean it was RAINING. I don’t think I’ve ever actually been in rain that hard. And it was a cold rain too. Imagine if you will that you are in a wheelchair in rain that heavy. Think about the difference between sitting and standing and how much of you is exposed to the rain. When it’s raining that hard an umbrella doesn’t do much either. Your entire front is basically collecting the rain and when you lean forward to close the door, well when it’s raining that heavily it doesn’t take long for your entire back side to catch-up in the wetness.

After a wet afternoon at my appointment and then waiting for the bus I’m home now, bundled up and I had some soup and the rest of the sleeve of crackers David left out for lunch. But the sniffles from my cold that were almost gone this morning are back. So if anyone would like a cold to go with the rainwater I’ll throw it in for free!

All right, all right, enough of cranky Nani, right? How about I share something better?

This morning I finished a scrapbook page that’s my first Ginger Scraps challenge this month. It’s for the Mini Kit Challenge. Cherekaye Designs shared a sweet mini kit called Okay Doaky:

I shared Marco’s morning with the cable guys when they came in to replace the box and fix up some connections so we’d be good to go for Opening Day. Well, sure there are other things on TV, Information Discovery for instance; Nani needs her real-crime shows. But the timing that made it important to get it done last month was all about baseball. Marco loves it when people visit to deliver or fix things so he was all over checking out everything they were doing and even if they couldn’t play, he did get a visit before they left.

Credits: Okay Dokay by Cherekaye Designs, Template by Digitalegacies Designs

And now the BEST sharing! If I share a layout on my blog made with a Digitalegacies Designs template, you know it because I’m sharing the template!

Click on image to download

Of course if you use this template, I’d love it if you share your creation too!

Now I think it’s time to share some time with the Keurig maker to make a cup of cocoa to take the rainy chill down a notch. You don’t have to share the icky stuff, but enjoy the template!

It's A Candy Cane Christmas!

I love this time of year!  Not the snow or cold, I really DO NOT like the snow or cold and I especially dislike, no hate, the ice.  But I love twinkling lights, the smiles that are so easy to bring out in other people, children seeing Santa for the second time (they always cry the first time, the second time they "get it" and are ready to see him!), Peppermint Mocha and scarves. I don't like the cold, but I love scarves almost as much as bracelets!  Oh there are dozens of things I love about December.  I could easily add how much I love giving gifts and the joy when I see those candies that remind me of the special people who I've been blessed to hold in my heart through wonderful memories and Christmases past.

Candy and how making sure certain candies are in my Christmas candy bowl was the inspiration for my Worldwide Christmas Freebies mini kit; Candy Cane Christmas.  The color combination comes from three Christmas ornaments from last year that have been in the Digitalegacies Designs ideas folder all year waiting for the rest of the Christmas inspiration to come.

The candy canes are for me; I love them and have since the candy canes Santa gave me as a kid and now watching them melt into my hot cocoa at home.  I give you Candy Cane Christmas!

Click preview to go to download

Enjoy more Christmas scrapbooking freebies at Worldwide Christmas Freebies!

 

I hope you enjoy all the freebies!

Have a VERY Merry Christmas!

Coming Soon: One Big Happy Blog

Happy Columbus Day, to all those who celebrate it. Which means if you work in a bank, the post office or for the government happy day off. ;-)

So everybody say hello to Puff! No, scratch that. If we all say hello to Puff he’ll type “you will will will you you will.” That’s what Puff types if the microphone is on, David’s home and there’s a ballgame on TV. Too much input makes Puff stutter incoherently. Just know that Puff is here, but don’t talk to him.

The first couple games of the ALCS have been exciting. I think the series being tied 1-1 is a good representation of how the teams match up. Of course I’ll tell you the Tigers are just a little better but David (and Edna & Seamhead Gypsy) will tell you I have no clue what I’m talking about. That's pots calling sweet little truth-speaking kettle black. I’m just looking forward to one more live game before the season is over! SQUEE!!! I’m also in search of Detroit Tigers earmuffs.

I’d kinda like to see a replay of 2006 but this time we win. But if the Red Sox take the series they’ll have my loyalty in the World Series. My Cardinals fan friends know this will happen. They’re even okay with it.


Diversification & Consolidation

I’ve been giving some thought to the blogs I keep up, or haven’t been keeping up. The Chronicles of Nani has two sub-blogs, three if you count Behind Orange Eyes. There is one blog specifically for recipes (Simply Davlicious Recipes) and one that specifically documents my life with MS (It’s About What I CAN Do) and both of those blogs are badly in need of updates. Behind Orange Eyes has been idle for a while too. I think it’s a good time to do some consolidation. I’m going to post my occasional MS entries here with the label Want_I_CAN_Do and link to this blog from the MS blog. I plan to slowly import the recipes back here using the label Davlicious_Recipes that already exists. I’ll be making some other minor changes in the bulletin board at the top of the blog and maybe design a new header by the end of the year. (Don’t hold me to that new header idea; this or something better, remember?)

I’ll be talking to the cats about doing guest posts on The Chronicles rather than us fighting over the computer. That also means Marco will get to do an entry every now and then; Kaline and Carla won’t let him have the password to join the writing team.



Last but not least for now a FREEBIE! While going through my blogger’s block I still created a few freebie things, I just didn’t package or post them. I did this layout in July for the trip we took with Rina in 2008 to Altoona, PA, for Railfest.

Credits: On The Right Track by Keystone Scraps

The free Digitalegacies Designs template is in psd and tif files and offers 16 spaces for photos, paper or elements.

Click preview to go to download

That’s it for now, enjoy the rest of your Monday. GO TIGERS!
(Red Sox fans you know I love you…next week.)

Bats, Cats and a Freebie

Yesterday the bus picked me up just as the Tigers game was starting. Talk about nerve racking! I was at a support group meeting at the MS society local office. That was planned way in advance and since it was a group thing it wasn’t flexible for the baseball schedule. David called while I was waiting for the bus to take me home and gave me an update on the game. I got home in time to see the last out and smile knowing there would be one more game in Oakland Thursday night. I was practically falling asleep as I watched the end of the Red Sox game, but Boston will be in the ALCS. Now we just need, I mean NEED, a Tigers win to set next week for us.

In September I made my bold, not fan “homer,” predictions about baseball in October. I’m sad that I was right about the Reds and puzzled that I got the Indians and Devil Rays so wrong. I really thought there was some stubborn chemistry
in Cleveland, especially at the end of things. Now my sad World Series prediction, sad because it isn’t so much as I’d write it; In mid-September I predicted the World Series would be Los Angeles and Boston. That’s actually still a possibility. I’d still love to be wrong and it’s Detroit and either St. Louis or Pittsburgh. Fate will soon enough show us what will be.


Kaline seems to be feeling a little better after her shot last Saturday. There’s been less bad behavior and she seems to hiss at Macro only a little more than Carla does. The difference is that Marco is afraid of Kaline. In his play time crazies, he jumps Carla a lot more than he does Kaline because when she growls at him he stops cold and retreats to spread his havoc someplace else.

But when Marco is calmer, near naptime, lookie what sometimes happens:

When Marco is getting sleepy, they can replace growl-hiss-smash with a calming chorus or two of Katbaya!


I made a template last month for the birthday template swap at Digital Scrapbooking Studio. Here is the layout I based the template on:

Credits: Pieces from Amy Sumerall, Simple Girl, Jen Yurko, Digitalegacies Designs.

It’s the Paws and Whiskers event last fall selling books, crafts and baked goods to support the shelter. I made a few dozen Mr. Goodcookies in half dozen bags for the bake sale. I didn’t bake this year because we had plans to be out of town but next year I want to not only bake again but go to the event.

I wanted to wait until after the birthday celebration in September was over before I offered the template here.

Click image to go to download

As always if you use my scrapbooking freebies I’d love to see anything you make if you’d like to share!

I have other things to show, tell and share, but I’ll save them for another post. Have a great midweek!

Freebie Repost

This is repeated because the freebie site picked up the wrong image for yesterday's freebie. I did tag the preview, but their software seemed to fail me!

If you're visiting because the actual preview was more interesting than the box in a box that started yesterday's entry, click here to go to the entry with the freebie. If you already saw yesterday's entry, nothing new here. Click here for today's Hodge Podge!

Thanks!

All Boxed Up

Shadowbox created by Digitalegacies Designs

Trinket box from web

Remember yesterday I told you about having a plan for the last February page from 2012 but I didn’t actually have the item I needed in my stash. My answer, after searching to find the item I needed ended up with the answer being to make it myself.

My vision for the last February folder was to put the photos in a cardboard shadow box frame. I hadn’t done anything with a lot of even blocking or in a box of any type for February in 2012, so it was time for one. I like doing shadowbox and quilt style layouts so I try to be careful that I don’t overdo it, but there was definitely room to do it without being repetitious in the 2012 book, I envisioned a 9-opening cardboard box. I thought I already had one, but when I discovered that I did not actually have just what I needed I figured it wouldn’t be hard to find. WRONG!

Since I didn’t want to pay for the more expensive commercial use items for one layout and an item I might use once a year, maybe, I decided I create my own box.

I don’t think it looks too bad! The layout was a longer production than usual because I had to create the boxes from scratch, but here is the last February 2012 cat layout:

Shadowboxes by Digitalegacies Designs

Additional cat elements created by Jen Yurko

I did the freebie with one each of the square box and a rectangle box. The rectangle is roughly 4”X6” and the square is 8”x8”, both are 300dpi. In addition to the two boxes, the download also has the templates for both, co you can add papers and customize your boxes to suit your needs. One thing I did discover is that using prints on the sides will distort your box, so a print will need to be distorted to fit the perspective of coming up from the back of the box. Or, you can just use solids for the box fronts. I chose to just line the backs it papers and left the sides bare.

Click preview to download at MediaFire

I hope you can use the boxes! If you use them for scrapbooking or blog logos, etc... I’d love to see what you did! Send a link in comments or to chroniclesofnani@gmail.com.


Please enjoy the boxes for your personal use. The terms of use page is not a commercial use license. If you’d like to use the boxes for scrapbooking freebies, just drop me an email and I’ll write up a commercial use for freebies license for you. If you’d like to use them for profit, contact me and we can negotiate compensation.

Long Time So Brief

Some of you may be thinking I’ve been away from the blog world for so long, but to me the past week just flew by! Kelly got here last Saturday and she stayed until Friday afternoon. I’ve been trying to take it easy this weekend. One; to be safe because until late tonight, I’m writing on Sunday evening, I’m home alone. David was in West Virginia last I talked to him. He called about UTZ product at Sheetz; he’s bringing me home a small bag of Maryland Crab seasoned chips and a bag of pumpernickel pretzels! The other reason is to recover. I only have to clear and wipe the desk and my office/craft room; the Woman Cave will be a functional room! By the end of the week Kelly and I were both exhausted with aches on top of aches. For me, walking and even typing on my right side is very weak and stiff. I’d quit the med that was supposed to make movement easier for me because I didn’t think it was really working and it was the highest copay of all my meds. I think I’m, going to start it again because I can feel that I’m not taking it.

I called Scotty Wednesday morning to see if he would meet us for lunch on Thursday. He couldn’t he’s in the hospital! I didn’t gripe at him for not calling me this time. You don’t get any time to let people know you’re going to be in the hospital when you get the call he did Monday night; we have a donor! Scotty was in surgery early Tuesday morning and when I called on Wednesday he was bonding with his new kidney and pancreas! He’s been doing well, but Jill, his sister, one of the biological ones, says the doctors have him on antibiotics because they fear he may have an infection, so it set his original release date of Sunday back a few days. If everyone could please utter a prayer or good thought for my big brother, I’d be eternally grateful! I want the rest of his recovery to be textbook.

Kelly and I made all of our plans for our “Friendship Smash Books.” I have my binder and selected the first two papers and some of the items I want to use. The binder I have right now is my book. Kelly will start her book. What we’ll do is smash the title page and the first two actual pages. Then the books have to be in the mail by December 8. Kelly will get my book with the first two pages done and I’ll get hers. Then we do the next two pages in each other’s books with a January 8 deadline for mailing them back. We’re going to mail them back and forth doing 2 pages a month for a year. When the books are done we’ll both have a book that we half did ourselves and half done by our best friend. We’re going to add a little to the covers as we go and those will be done at the end of the year too. This will truly be a special and fun project.

Before I get on to the Monday Quiz About Me, I want to share this trip's mug. You’ll recall that last week I mentioned that Kelly and I have a mug tradition when we get together. This was a shoestring budget trip. Neither of us had the cash for a nice dinner out and even the coffee cup tradition was threatened. Except for the box I brought home from the storage!

I have no memory of when I bought this mug. But it was on s closeout sale, probably about 20 years ago according to the other items in the box. I showed it to Kelly and she loved it! Guess what? On this low funds weekend, the coffee mug from 20 years ago was not alone! There were two boxes with the identical mug! I’d already given Kelly the box with the other mug and saucer but I suggested we’d make that our mug for this trip. Her job now is to find two identical mugs that are older than half of our friendship to be the mugs for next time. This sounds like a fun thrift store challenge!


This afternoon I did this scrapbook layout:

Pumpkin Enabler

Credits: We Are Thankful by Colie’s Corner, word art by Digitalegacies

I love word art like that one. I have a few cups with word art like that, including the several types of coffee and several fonts on that 20-year old mug and saucer set! I decided that it was time I custom created my word art in that style and that’s the source of the Pumpkin Spice word art!

Of course, how could I not share??

 

Click on the preview to go to download.

As usual, I’d love to see any scrapbook or craft project you do with it!


Okay, NOW we move on the The Monday Quiz About Me, hosted by Heather at Acting Balanced and Wayne at Touristic.

1. How often do you shop for groceries? Do you shop in one place or many?

David picks up things that need to be fresh; meat, apples and bananas, salad, carrots, ice cream, in between trips, but we do our big shopping trip about once a month.

We usually shop at the Kroger a little over a block away, but we also shop at Meijer, because he likes their steak better and I like their hummus selection and Giant Eagle for special items.


2. How old were you when you had your first taste of alcohol?

LOL… 2.

Mom, Dad, Grandma and Papa each had a different mixed drink and were talking in the living room at Grandma and Papa’s house. I was quietly “making the rounds” taking a small sip out of the glass…each glass. Two years old and a sip of scotch, a sip of bourbon, a sip of rum and a sip of Seagram’s Seven. Of course I don’t remember this, but each of the adults involved enjoyed telling me the story when I was older. I was walking a little strange and acting a little zoned. Each one in turn said, “She only took a little taste of my drink.” Times four! They watched me closer after that and “little Daynonna wasn’t allowed to taste the grownup drinks anymore.”

Having taught the lesson, this never happened with my brother and he drinks a lot more than I do now. Hmmm…


3. How much TV do you watch?

Well, the picture quality on FOX is so poor I’m not even watching he baseball game tonight, watching the pitch by pitch on mlb.com. So, I last had the TV on Friday night when I decided that the bad picture and all the political ads were more than I wanted to deal with. It’ll probably be on again if David turns it on when he gets home or in the morning. I don’t watch a lot.


4. How do you relieve stress?

I write in my personal journal or meditate myself into a relaxing nap.



And don't forget to add a 5th Question on your own blog so we can answer as we hop around!


5. What is your favorite food to snack on while you’re reading/writing blogs?

Usually popcorn, air popped and hot with nothing on it or carrots. But…I also keep a candy jar filed if I’m in the mood for something sweet. I’m usually pretty good about the candy, keeping count and behaving, but tonight I’m a little lonely as I reach the end of the days between Kelly leaving and David getting home, so it’s just me and the Pumpkin Spice or Air kisses.

A Freebie, Really?

Journal 366, Week 4

Credits A Book of Me by Aprilisa Designs

Okay, so it’s been a while. My biggest headache with my freebies has been switching over my hosts. I wanted to get away from 4-Shared because of the wait time to download. I discovered Minus thanks to Su’s downloads at A Lady In Florida for the monthly kits she and Edna do and I liked it as a downloader, so I’m giving it a try. Please leave a comment and let me know what you think of Minus.

I’m doing Project 365, er, Project 366, a little different this year. I’m doing Journal 366 and actually doing much better making sure I have a comment or two about the day instead of trying to get a meaningful photo every day. In my layouts I use photos if I have them, elements and clip art to complement the journaling. The pages have been turning out pretty sweet. I haven't decided if I'm going to add the pages to my regular scrapbooks or print them as a separate book.   I'm leaning towards seeing if I can find a place to get them printed as a 10" soft cover.  I started with the Project 52/365 challenge at Ginger Scraps in mid-March, so I’m catching up the first couple months which is why the sample on the template in July is week 4!

Sometimes I do my week’s journaling on one journal mat.

Journal 366, Week 19

Credits: Boo-Boos and Band Aids by Twin Mom Scraps

And sometimes each day’s journaling has its own block.

Journal 366, Week 25

Credits: Some Like It Hot by Connie Prince

It’s the ones where the journaling is broken up into days that I can use or create the same templates as I’d use for a photo a day layouts, like week 4. That’s the template I’m sharing today!

Click on preview to download at Minus

I hope you get good use out of the template and please let me know what you think of Minus!

Blog Defragging

Digitalegacies Designs’ One Step At A Time was inspired by the Jordin Sparks song

Last night I started putting this post together with the intent of scheduling it to post at 6 AM, which is usually right before I wake up anyway, even though my alarm is set for 7:05. The last couple of days I’ve been waking up around 7:30! It’s more sleep than I usually need, but if the body says “hit the snooze,” I’m going to give the body what it needs if I don’t have a pressing reason to be up earlier.

Yesterday was a weather mess! There were tornadoes up in Michigan and flash flood warnings all over. We had "take your pick” lighting; gray clouds, but give it a minute, look, sun! Unseasonably warm and just as you opened the windows, rumble.4rumble,” says the sky. Seriously, I heard ominous rumbling that shook the house with bright sunlight washing our street! All that sound and fury was going on in the afternoon and it didn’t rain until almost 10:30PM! Last night was a weather mess. It rained like the dickens, lots of rain, thunder, lightning and a little hail. The day in our part of Toledo started and ended with hail. Hmmm.

So far today the radar is clear and there is a little glint of sun showing, but that is scheduled to change this afternoon and become cloudy. We’ll see. I’ve come to think of weather as a gamble based on science rather than an actual science!

Follow Friday Four Fill in Fun Blog Hop

Every week Hilary at Feeling Beachie hosts the Friday Fill-Ins. This week’s co-host is Boca Frau who added the last two fill-ins.

This week’s statements:
1. I get my best ideas_____
2. When I am ___ I ___
3. When I have a cold, I like to_____
4. Watching a ____ move, can be ______.


My finished statements:

1. I get my best ideas when I’m trying to get a great idea. Seriously, I’m what I call a linear rather than lyrical creative. My best stuff comes from needing a great idea. Even my best scrapbooking ideas come while I’m working on a page and I just can’t put a page together unless I have the photos and journaling done first.

2. When I am bored I watch TV. I don’t watch a lot of TV! :)

3. When I have a cold, I like to drink regular Coke heated up in the microwave. A cup of Coke zapped for 60 seconds makes it sweet and warm with a fine fizz that massages the throat. For me with a cold it’s the ultimate comfort drink.


4. Watching a windmill move, can be very calming. Even the less classic looking wind turbines have a soothing effect on me.


Join us! It takes a few minutes to do the fill-in and a couple more to read the other blogs and see who thinks like you and who reads the fill-ins way different! It’s fun!

Friday Fragments

Mrs. 4444 at Half Past Kissin’ Time hosts Friday Fragments, a chance to defrag your blog by emptying those short things from your “To Blog” folder. I can’t be the only one that has a To Blog on my desktop. It’s an opportunity to post those things that are worth blogging, but just not big enough for a whole post. If your blog could use some weekly defragging, why not join us?


** Grandma crocheted mini afghans for the family cats. I have a bunch of squares she crocheted that I need to put together to make one for Carla. Grandma didn’t meet Carla but she saw pictures and said, “Guess I need to make another kitty afghan.” So, it seems appropriate that I use her squares to make one for Carla


** I was treading Ronalyn’s blog, The Adventures of Esa and Zed, last week. Zed lost his collar, his Washington Capitals collar. It was a big deal because his Capitals collar had his tags on it. When Ronalyn found the collar, Zed had located it and was sniffing it as if to say, “Mom, over here!”

Before she got sick, Azzie wore a collar with a bell and even a bow at Christmastime. I took the collar off for good when she got her paw caught in it when she had a seizure. I worried that it could have broken her front leg. But Az loved her collar and even the bow.

Years before when I had gotten Ritchie, a black cat, his red collar with the rhinestones on it, he strutted around with his head up and showed it off to everyone. I think it was his badge of “I’m not an alleycat anymore; I’m a loved housecat now! When Ritchie died and Pop buried him, he took his collar off and gave it to me to remember him. It’s still in my box with memorial prayer cards and keepsakes.

When Kaline was a kitten, I got a less expensive collar without a bell in blue for her as a “training collar.” I planned to move to a nice navy blue collar, so with her orange coat she’d sport Detroit Tigers colors, with rhinestones and a bell when she was adult size. She hated the collar with a passion unknown to any cat before her. She unhooked the collar numerous times before it was finally lost for good. I think she hid it in the basement somewhere. She won. When we moved to Toledo and Chester and Baggle didn’t wear collars, I knew our sweet baby girl would never wear accessories. She’s 6-1/2 now and has never worn a collar since she was a kitten. And she really never wore that one either.


** We had an issue Sunday about warm vs. hot and iced vs. hot coffee. David got me an iced coffee because I “usually have iced coffee when it’s warm.” Huh? It was in the 60s Sunday. NOT iced coffee weather! I love that he remembered that I sometimes go iced in the summer, but I only have iced coffee for my first coffee of the day if wake-up temperature is near 80! I even have hot coffee with breakfast on days that hit the 90s if they start off at 75 or below. Any other coffee drinkers want to chime in? What time of day or time of year is iced coffee time?


** I’ve been in a bit of a cooking mood lately. Thursday dinner was Froot Loop Chicken. Moms, Grandmas, this is a simple recipe that is a good kid idea! I used chicken cutlets, but chicken strips work too. Dip them in egg or egg substitute, the coat them with Froot Loops that have been ground into crumbs in a food processor. I use my little 2-cup chopper. Bake for 20 minutes at 400. Tasty and fun!

Froot Loop Chicken -

(Don't be concerned, the salad and raw carrots had a separate plate!)

I got the idea from the fried Captain Crunch chicken strips at Planet Hollywood about 15 years ago. Froot Loops are similar in taste and just more fun!


** New music ot The Chronicles of Nani includes some more upbeat, springy stuff, including One Step At A Time by Jordin Sparks. No question that since hearing that one the first time it easily rates in my top songs of all-time list! I just love it from the lyrics to the feel of the melody to that incredible dress she wears in the video! It’s an all around total package of great music!


Okay, blog defragged for another week! :)