Things I have been up to lately

I haven't had a chance to put my pics on my computer from my camera till the other day. Here is a picture loaded blog of what I have been up to lately.

A friend at work needed a card holder for her granddaughters graduation so she ask me to come up with something. Here is what I came up with. It has a slot in the back to put the cards in and the bottom comes undone so that you can get the cards out. She really liked it.
I have been working on the BOM Christmas squares. I have these done so far. I still have the 6th one in my bag to do, just haven't had time to work on it. I believe there are 9 blocks. I haven't decided what material I am going to use for the borders around each one. But I have time for that.

A friend had a baby recently and I made this for her to hang in the baby's room. She really liked and took a picture of me holding it so she could put it in her baby book. I am not a fan of having my picture taken but oh well sometimes you have to bite the bullet and just smile.

I went to another NASCAR race June 14th with my mother and daughter in Michigan and we are going back again in August. The MC for this race was Kid Rock. He was the one who said "Gentlemen start your engines" and rode in the pace car at the start of the race. We sit in the front rows on start finish line. This was the view we had from our seats of him on the track before race started.

Here is another pic of him from our seats. I am not a fan of his but it was cool seeing him in person. We saw him walking around in the merchandise area but you couldn't get close because of all the people trying to get his autograph. I settled for a pic from my seat.

They had this cool skydiving team before the race started. This was the last one that came down. This is what I saw above my head from my seat. They were really cool.

Last weekend was Relay for Life here in LaPorte. I am with a team with some coworkers. The theme this year was Holidays. Our team chose St. Patricks Day. I was in charge of making the crazy hat for the contest. Here is what I came up with. It was time consuming but lots of fun to make. I glued these little 1" squares to make the rainbow. I didn't think I would ever get done. I did both sides of the rainbow. There were 3 little pots of gold filled with gold coins at the end of the rainbow. I put these 3 green mugs with four leaf clover coins on the other side. It turned out cute. We didn't win :( but it was still fun.

Here is a picture of me wearing the hat. I also had these green mug glasses as part of the costume. The pic is hard to see as it was dark and it was taken at 3a. It rained again this year, well rather it stormed. Thunderstormed! We had lightening and they made everyone go to the barns for protection. Some of the teams tents got blown down and some broke and blew away. Our team faired pretty good. We had enough coverage and was held down pretty good. All in all even though it was a very wet long night (5p-8a) we had a fun time. Can't wait to see what next year brings. Its all for a good cause.

Well I hope you enjoyed the pics of what I have been up to lately. Between work, sleep, daily duties, and of course family my time is very busy. Take care and hope you enjoy your day.

I WANT TO SCREAM!!!!

I need to vent, major VENT!!!! A little background information first...In the last 3-4 mail days I have received approximately 12 pieces of mail for a man who does not live here, never lived here, have no clue as to who he is. We have the same last name but that is the only similarity. I didn't think to much of one or two pieces of mail, but 12...I decided I needed to open some of these and see what was going on. Some felt like they had credit cards in them. Well they did. There was also a bill from a store with over $900 worth of merchandise charged on it in a 2 day period. All high end clothing. There were credit denials from credit cards, stores, etc. I started calling all these places to make sure my SS# was not linked to any of these. Thankfully it wasn't. But here is the reason I want and feel the need to VENT. YOU CAN NOT TALK TO A LIVE PERSON ANYMORE WITHOUT GOING THROUGH A 30 MINUTE OF PRESS THIS AND THAT. SOMETIMES NO MATTER HOW MANY TIMES YOU PRESS THROUGH THE MENU YOU STILL CAN'T TALK TO A LIVE PERSON AND THE CALL ENDS. WHAT IS WRONG WITH THIS WORLD THAT WE CAN'T GET TO SPEAK TO A LIVE PERSON. AND ONE WHO SPEAKS ENGLISH!!!!!!!! It was suggested I contact one of the major credit report companies and put an alert on my report for someone using my address. Well 30 min later I never did get to talk to anyone and got hung up on 3x. I pressed everything pertinent to what I wanted done, including pressing 0 and # in hopes the system would somehow put me through to a LIVE person. But to no avail. I even tried the websites that was suggested but trying to navigate around those is just as bad. Why does everything have to be so high tech. What are people afraid to actually speak to others? I got some good responses to some of the places I called and they were very thankful that I called and that I was an honest person and reported this. Shoot I have 5 credit cards right in front of me right now that all I have to do is call to activate them and I can have a ball if I was a dishonest person, which I am not. I am going to run them through the shredder so no one can use them. I don't know if this person whos name is on the cards is a victim also, or what exactly is going on. But come on people what can we do. I know everyone seems to think that automation is the way to go, and for the most part on any normal circumstance it is, BUT THERE ARE TIMES WHEN PRESSING 1,2, 3 OR 4 DOES NOT TAKE CARE OF WHAT YOU NEED DONE.

I don't have an answer to this problem, and I will continue to call each and every place I get a piece of mail from for this person. In hopes that I will get it taken care of and keep trying to get a live person. I know the economy is bad and I am sure that has a lot to do with what is happening with this and why I am getting so many things, but you could put some of these people to work actually ANSWERING THE PHONE. That alone would create a lot of jobs!!!!!!!!

Ok I feel a little better, Not completly but its better then yelling, screaming, stomping my feet and turning red.

Have a wonderful day and enjoy this weather.

Oh the rain, must it keep coming?

Now don't get me wrong, rain is a good thing. But in moderation. Yes its great for the plants, grass, lakes, etc. But...come on pretty much everyday, this is getting crazy. I just hope it gets it all out of its system before Sunday. My favorite pastime is watching Nascar racing and this weekend I am going to the race in Brooklyn, MI. I really don't go many places. Between my work and trying to get some sleep there just doesn't seem to be any time to take off for any length of time to go anywhere. But I do come heck or high water go to 2 Nascar races a year. Both of them up in Michigan. Its about a 3hr drive from here. The track is about an hour south of Detroit. A girl has to get some excitement in her life and Nascar happens to be mine. My granddaughter calls me a nerd. She thinks its crazy to go. Thats ok, I will be a nerd, I don't mind. Come on rain, GO AWAY!!!!!


Speaking of my granddaughter, Morgyn, she is officially a senior in high school now that school is out for the year. I can't believe it. Seems only yesterday she was this little toddler running around hanging on to my leg. Now she is driving, working, off with her friends, going to prom, growing up. It happened in a blink of an eye. Her and my grandson, Kharson, are the love of my life.

They really do both make me so proud. I just wish I saw my grandson. I just keep praying that he remains safe and the day comes where I can see him on a regular basis. Ok don't want to get all emotional here. I pray that God will work it all out for whats best for him.

Today I have some crafts I need to get done. I am making a graduation cap card box for a lady at work and I need to make the crazy hat for Relay for Life. The theme this year is holidays and our team picked St Patty Day. Its always fun to see what people come up with. Relay is next weekend. Hard to believe its already here. And 4th of July is right around the corner. This year is going by so fast. I have been working on some embroidery and cross stitch things. I need to download them to my computer so that I can post them. I will be taking pics of the box and hat when I am done. Crafts keep me out of trouble...LOL of course thats another thing that my granddaughter just laughs and says I need to get a life. Hey this is my life. I am not complaining. I do things that make me happy and thats what counts. Morgyn and I went shoe shopping the other day. I wanted to find some summer sandals. I found a couple pair I really liked and of course she had to make a comment. "Those look like grandma shoes" I just looked at her and said "well then that works out because I am a grandma". There was this other customer in the same aisle and she just started laughing and I thought she was going to pee her pants as much as she was laughing and holding her stomach. She told me "that was a good one and I will have to remember that next time my grandkids say something to me" I just smiled.

Well I need to get going and get my day started. I have so many things on my list to accomplish for today. Take care and hope you enjoyed reading. Have a wonderful day and don't forget to stop and smell the flowers.

They Grow up so Fast!!!!

My granddaughter Morgyn went to her Jr Prom last night. Its hard to believe she is old enough to be doing things like this. Kids grow up so fast. Here are a few pictures we took before she left. These are the flowers that my mother made for her. Morgyn decided she wanted to have silk flowers because they would last. And she wanted the flowers to always look pretty not all dried up like real flowers get.

We went to my mothers to take the pictures so that they didn't have to go to a bunch of houses to have everyone see her. She went with her good friend Brian. He is a nice gentleman. She looks so grownup.

This pictures I am not that fond of. I thought I had it set for a more closeup picture but I didn't. Oh well that happens sometimes. Her dress was a light yellow halter with silver sparkles on the overlay of the dress. It was very pretty and very flattering on her.

I tried to zoom in a little better this time. Not much better but you get the idea.

Here is a closeup of her heels. They were 3 in sandals with clear bottoms and heels. I have no idea how she was going to walk in these let alone dance. But she assured me she would be fine. She said they were comfortable. Will be interesting to find out today just how comfortable they were after being in them for the night.

I hope she had fun and she will have lots of great memories. Won't be able to talk to her till later on today to find out how it all went. Hope you enjoyed my Kodak moments.

Up & running and Vera Bradley sale

I am finally up and running with my new Internet provider. I got a lot of things accomplished while taking a somewhat computer break. But its nice to be able to check things on my own computer when I want to, not on someone else schedule.

Yesterday my mom, sister, daughter and myself went to Fort Wayne, IN to the Vera Bradley purse sale. Not sure if you are familiar with these type of purses but they are wonderful. So many styles, so many colors, so roomy, so many accessories to put in the purses. If you haven't heard of these purses you should check out their website. They are a little on the pricey side if you buy them retail but they last forever. You can throw them in the washing machine when dirty and they come out looking like new.

Once a year they have a big sale with the retired colors and styles. The factory is in Fort Wayne and her main store. This sale was held at the Fort Wayne Colisium which is a huge place. I thought I took a picture of the outside of the place but when I got home I realized I didn't. It took us 2hrs to get there. Mom, my daughter Amanda and I had never been to this sale before but my sister Lisa had. She went last year and was saying it was fun and the group she went with went in and got their purchases and checked out. Didn't take too long. WELL...this year was a mad house. First off when we paid to park they told us it would be at least a 2 hr delay just to get in. We saw the lines and were stunned. There were lines wrapped around 4 rows of cars on the side of the building. Here is a little bit of the line on the side.
Here is the picture of the line when it came around the front of the building and you can't even see the doors yet. There was maybe another 2 blocks to go just to get to the doors. All in all we waited about 1hr 45 min just to get into the doors.

This is what we saw when we finally got into the main area where the sale was going on. It was like a feeding frenzy. LOL I could not believe it. I was not prepared for this. They gave you this big pink plastic garbage bag and off you went. You pretty much just had to put things in your bag you liked as you saw them and then decide later if you wanted them or not. Things were going fast.

Here is my sister and daughter (in middle of pic, blue shirt to the right of lady in white sweater) my daughter was going through one of the numerous piles on the floor that people had put their unwanted items. They had bins all over the place with discarded items that you could go through and hopefully find what you were looking for.

Here is a pile of wallets on one of the tables. They kept things well stocked up throughout the day. And they emptied out quickly.

Here is a table with some boxes of pajama pants and in the background you can see people waiting in line to checkout in the next room. The line to checkout had started over behind the wallet table above that was 5 rows back.

We walked out into the lobby area and then into another room to checkout. I about dropped my jaw when I saw this. This room was as big as the sale room and they had 13 rows of people waiting to checkout. This picture is just going into the room we hadn't even gotten into line. Now mind you we had already stood in line to get in, shopped for about 2hrs, then walked into this.

Here we are in line in the first of 13 rows. I could not believe the amount of bags some people had and the many ingenious ways people were pulling, carrying, tugging their bags. Some had extra bags tied together and then around their bags so they could pull them. Some had stuff in boxes and were shoving or pulling them. Some even had brough rope to tie their bags together and were pulling them through the lines. I had to chuckle.

I didn't get a chance to take a picture of the checkouts. They were trying to get people moving through as quickly as possible which was good. But not enough time to take any pictures. There were approximatly 60 registers. Everyone was really nice and friendly. I never saw anyone with a frown on their face. This sale had been going on since last Wednesday. I can't even fathom the amount of people, merchandise and money that flowed through that place.

I personally spent a total of $15. And those were for gifts which are not shown here. This picture is of my new items that my daughter bought for me. I had planned on buying these but while going through the checkout lines my daughter ask if I minded if she paid for them and they could be my Mother's Day gift. I didn't mind at all and she is so sweet and does things like that all the time. She is so good to me. My things cost $118 and when we got home we added up what it would have cost retail and mine would have come to $695. So I did alright. My daughter spent about $250 for her items and it would have come to $960. My granddaughter now has a couple of these purses too. We picked her up some things. My mom spent $175 and my sister spent $200. They both also had picked up some things for other people that was included in their total.

All in all it was a wonderful day. Tiring and we all were sore and could barely move to get out of the car when we stopped to get something to eat. We walked and walked and stood in line so much yesterday. I know when I got home and put my things away I got in my pj's and sat in the recliner with some iced tea and passed out. My body ached but feels better this morning. Even though it was a long day we all are looking forward to going back next year. You can't beat the prices.

I know this was long but I hope you enjoyed the pics. I need to finish up going through my container of purses and get rid of the ones I don't use anymore so I can put my new things in it. Now I just have to decide which purse I want to use this week. I have a tendency to change purses all the time. And I also picked up a backpack which is in the above pic top left, I am going to use that for work to carry my things I need in it. Oh and I just realized I forgot to add the insulated lunch bag that I also got. It's really nice and will come in handy taking things to work.

I hope everyone has a wonderful rest of the day. Its sunny here today and about 65 so going to open up the windows and let some fresh air in. Take care and be safe.

Spring is here or at least I hope so

This past weekend was beautiful. Nice warm weater, sun shining, able to have the windows open in the house, house smells so nice and fresh. I hope spring is here to stay. But living in northern Indiana I know that we can be in for a rude awakening and find snow on the ground. But I am keeping my fingers crossed. We mowed our yard on Saturday and got out all the lawn furniture. In hopes that we will now be able to use it very very soon. Keeping our fingers crossed.
Only about 10 more days or so and I will be hooked back up to the internet at my house. I miss not being able to just get on my computer when I want and be able to go to the sites that I have saved whenever I want. Not that I can't use my daughters computer whenever I want, its just more convenient at home. I have been able to get some things done around my home that I have wanted to do. Took a big box to GW the other day and took some clothes my daughter didn't want anymore to work for some of the girl residents that don't have much to wear. We get girls in all the time that come in some pretty raggedy clothing and you ask the parents to bring in some clothes for them to wear so they can go to school and they never show up. There always is some excuse or another. I could really go off on a tangent and get up on my soapbox but I won't. I will just do what I can and let it go at that.
I have been looking for some spring ideas to make lately. Really not much out there for embroidery or cross stitch. I have started on some 4th of July items so I will be ready. Guess I will just have to be imaginative and go from there.
I hope everyone has had a nice Easter and enjoying some spring weather. Please stay safe and enjoy life. Will be up and running soon. WooHoo

Still having issues and updates

I am still having issues with my internet provider and have now decided to change providers. I won't be up and running till the end of the month but thats ok. By going with this new provider my daughter and I can have our computers hooked up to the same acct and this way we can split the bill. This in the long run will work out best for both of us as we will both save about $40 a month from what we are paying now. So that it is a good thing. So maybe this was the way it was all suppose to work out anyway. In this economy its good to save money wherever you can.
This weather has been crazy around here. It snowed Sunday night and it got really cold. The snow was all gone by noon the next day but sure can't tell its spring that is for sure. My granddaughter is in Georgia visiting relatives for spring break and she said the weather has been sunny and in the 80's. I told her to pack some of that nice warm weather in her suitcase and bring it back home with her. We could sure use it. Its been quiet around here without her. I miss her. Yes she can be a pain the .... like most teenagers can but it doesn't change the fact that you still miss them.
I am still trying to figure out the best sleeping pattern for me. I am not having any trouble staying awake working this midnight shift. But pretty much surviving on maybe 4-5hrs of sleep a day just doesn't cut it. Sometimes I swear my mind is a jumbled up mess. You would think after working this shift almost a year (in July will be a year) I would get used to it and be able to sleep better, but so far no go. Oh well at least I am gettig some crafts done and that is a good thing.
I have some Easter decorations up around my house but can't post any pictures because I am not on my computer. I can't post any of the new craft items I have made either. Oh well you take the good with the bad. Will post when I get my computer all up and running. It will be a little past the holidays but sometimes things happen.
I hope everyone has a nice Easter. Be safe and enjoy yourself.