away I go again...

Yep, today I'm packing for yet another trip. This time I'm going out to my mom's in Madison for a week. Just me. Chris will be home holding down the fort. I'm flying, of course. You know, I used to LOVE to fly. I remember back when people actually used to get dressed up to fly. These days, you might as well dress comfortably because they're gonna squeeze you into that plane like a sardine. Not to mention you better wear shoes that come off and on easily, because you're gonna have to take them off to get through security. And, now that I have a hip replacement, I get the pleasure of being set off to the side and "wanded" each and every time I fly. They don't feed you a crumb and on some flights you even have to pay for a drink - of any kind. Oy. Nope, it ain't fun anymore at all. It's just transportation. I try to always get an aisle seat as close to the front as possible so I can 1) stretch out at least one leg and 2) get up and OUT asap after we land. But still, I do try to make the best out of the situation and look at it as at least some free time to read if nothing else.

My week home between trips has been pretty busy. We got home late day Monday and on the next Tuesday I had a hair and pedi appointment as well as a visit to my chiropractor and a trip to the grocery store. It made for a long day. Wednesday was all about cleaning up the house because I hosted our women's bible study that night. Just before the study began, we found out that Emily was going to the ER and didn't want to take the baby and could we come and babysit the girls. Time is suspended in the ER, you know, so we knew that meant pretty much an over-nighter and then getting Eva off to school the next day because Dustin had to work at 6:30 a.m. So Chris headed down and as soon as my study was over, I went down to relieve him since he had to work the next day. Dustin was working late and I wanted to stay so he could get some sleep before heading out so early the next day. I slept on the couch and tuned in to the baby. I hadn't seen Maggie for about 3 weeks (that's another story) so at least I had LOTS of sweet Maggie time. Emily got in around 5 a.m. and, of course, wanted to go straight to bed. Gary came over to help get Eva off since Dustin had to leave so early. After Eva left, I got Maggie back to sleep and grabbed another hour of sleep myself. Dustin got home around 2 p.m. and I stayed until around 4 p.m. so he could go get some food and pick up Eva from school and etc.

So - that was my Wednesday night and pretty much all day Thursday. Since I wasn't able to do my church and personal financial stuff on Thursday as I usually do, I had to do it all on Friday. And, believe me, after being gone for 9 days, doing 2 weeks of finances for both the church and myself is a huge task. But, I got 'er done and Chris and I were able to eat out (at Joy Thai - YUM!) and then see a really good movie - "Away We Go". Loved it.

Saturday, I had to run some more errands and get the song service for Sunday ready and then Chris brought Eva home and she spent the night and went to church with us Sunday. After church, we took her to get some new sneakers and a few other things we wanted to stock up for her at our house. We wanted to bestow our Vineyard gifts on D&E when we took Eva home, but Dustin was working and Emily, who had been out with Deborah wasn't home. We waited about 45 minutes and by the time she got there we couldn't stay long because we had a business meeting at church. M&M came over after that for a much-needed time of relaxation and spades (in which we, ahem, killed 'em).

Monday, yesterday, I hosted our monthly card "club" - we play pinochle - so I had a bunch of cleaning and prep to do for that. But Emily asked me if I could come and watch the girls while Dustin took her to an early (and I mean EARLY) dr.s appt. So I got up at 6:30 a.m., got down there at 7:20 p.m. and stayed til around 10 a.m. Chris did come down and help with Eva, so I wouldn't have to wake Maggie to take Eva to school. By the time I got home I was so tired. I did squeeze a little nap in between all my cleaning - which I did a lot of. There were some things that just really needed deep cleaning. And then I had a great time with my card gals.

So, today, I must do the church finances before I leave again tomorrow. And pay a few of our own bills so nothing is late. And then, I have to pack because we'll be leaving around 8:30 a.m. in the morning for the airport in H-burg. Chris is going to drive me so I don't have to leave the car there and pay for that and deal with the shuttle. And I have to get to the office so Chris can adjust me. He says he might be able to do something for my hip which has just been killing me lately. Especially when I'm in bed (trying to sleep). That will be later, then I anticipate some crash time in front of the tube this evening.

Maybe it's a good thing I am going away tomorrow. Because maybe I'll get some rest! After this trip, the only other trip we have scheduled is our little get-away to Cedar Run in October for 2 nights and 3 days. And that is always like a big, collective sigh of relaxation.

We've had some gorgeous weather this week. Very fall-like with chilly temps at night and only reaching the lower 70's (if that) during the day. But beautifully sunny with those gorgeous blue skies. When Eva came Saturday, she had spied the little squirt gun that I'd been using to keep the kitty off the counter and she wanted to play with that so I sent her out the back door to sneak up on Chris and squirt him. Which she did with GREAT delight! And, of course, Chris - who can't do anything half way (remember, Mr. "Invincible"?) got out the super soakers and filled up a bucket and they went at it with each other. I just love hearing Eva's squeals of laughter. It was kind of chilly out, but that didn't stop them from completely soaking each other. Afterwards, we plopped into the freshly cleaned hot tub and she loved that, too.

So, back to Martha's Vineyard... We all decided to take a lovely stroll down the beach - we were at Abel's Hill Beach this day - practically all by ourselves. It was fabulous. The surf was fantastic. Well, for boogie-boarding, anyway. I would stand at the edge of the water and when a wave came in, it just pulled the sand out from under my feet. So, we were all walking along quite a ways down beach from where we had set up our chairs and stuff and Katy (Martha's mom) sees something get washed onto the shore, so she picked it up. It just happened to be a watch. Chris's watch, in fact, that he had lost into the ocean about an hour earlier and that we never thought we'd see again. And we wouldn't have, had we not been walking by that particular spot at that particular moment, because it would have been washed right back out again... Amazing!

Okay, so I'm off to do that banking stuff. And pack. See ya on the other side! :)

to Martha's Vineyard and back

Chris and Martha and Matthew and I headed to Martha's Vineyard (to stay with Martha's mom, Katy) for 9 days. And I do feel like we had a proper farewell to summer. We had four beach days, three of them just stellar. And I even can say that I got me a pretty nice tan. Yeah, so it's already starting to fade. But I know it's there and that's all that matters. Geesh. I don't even know what that means.

First things first. I was just barely able to complete a digi layout for One Little Word's current prompt: invincible. Even though we were gone and I've been crazily getting caught up since our return Monday night, I really wanted to do this layout. Because invincible just makes me think of Chris and how he's always doing crazy fun stuff - or just plain crazy stuff. In this case, I just happened to catch a photo of him boogie-boarding while on the Vineyard, so I just thought it all tied in so well - and what a great memory to save, too. Here's the layout:


As always, you can click on the image to make it larger. Credits: Patterned paper by Patricia Christensen; Fonts – Tiza (title); Century Gothic (subtitle and journaling); Wave, stitched frame by Audrey Neal; Swirl stitching by Kristen Cronin-Barrow; Stitched journaling strips by Katie Pertiet; Swirls paper by Gina Marie Huff


Here's the original photo and a few others from the trip - and I mean just a few - I took over 250 pics. And I apologize to Matthew for cutting him out of the photo on the layout. He's pretty invincible, too. But not as much as Chris! :)

This old boat was "parked" just down the road a bit from Katy's house. I thought it looked so cool sitting there in the field amongst the wildflowers.

This is the lighthouse at Gay Head on the east end of the island.

And these last two are on the beach at Gay Head. I'd have to say it was one of the most beautiful beaches I've ever seen.

We had a great 9 days. We ate a ton of seafood, pretty much drove from one end of the island to the other, played some games, relaxed, read, did a little shopping and had a lot of laughs.

I've had a lot going on this week as well including hosting our women's fellowship, appointments to keep, babies to watch and cuddle and 2 weeks worth of church and personal bill-paying and checkbook balancing to catch up on - and I'm only halfway through my week home before I head out for another week to visit my mom in Madison.

It's late. I'll try to post again before I leave. I have more to say. But I'm too tired to say it right now...

I just want to share a couple new layouts. The first one was a sketch challenge by my totally lovable FGirl friend Angie at SIStv. She gave us the basic sketch design and then added five things we needed to include on the layout. Here's the thread with her challenge. And here's the layout I made:


In addition to the basic design, we were to have a stamped image (I stamped the script words onto the yellow circle), the word "live", the color yellow somewhere, a monochromatic patterend paper (see the dots on the yellow circle?) and a flower somewhere.

I totally love a challenge like that because it gives you the parameters of a layout, narrowing the gazillion of possibilities available to you. For me, this is good. Scrapbooking - especially in my very well-stocked scrap room - is like going into a retaurant that has an extensive menu. I find that overwhelming sometimes because it's really hard to choose what to have. So, with a sketch and defined elements, it really helps me to focus rather than to slip into a mindless, glazed-over stupor, just staring at my desk with drool dripping out my mouth. Know what I mean? :)

And here's my latest digi for One Little Word's 59th prompt: beauty.

I love to use a play on words for my titles. The page credits can be found here. If you click on the image (as always) you can read the journaling a little better.

In other news, Matthew and Martha went camping - finally (and maybe for the last time this summer!) - yesterday. We drove down and sat around the campfire at their very scenic campsite overlooking Lake Jean at Rickett's Glen State Park. We doggie-sat Taco, so they came back today to pick him up. They had picked a ton of wild blueberries, so I whipped up a "Huckleberry" Buckle, as Chris's mom used to call it. YUM! Chris made Shrimp fraDiavolo for supper. It was a great meal. And there was, of course, a game of spades afterwards. Dang, it was close, but they beat us. That's three times in the last couple months. Maybe they're finally figuring out how to play this game! ;P

Tina and I have a lunch date tomorrow. We're going up to Eagle's Mere (to the Sweet Shoppe) and will do a little shopping and maybe even hiking. I'm hoping for a few photo-ops, too.

It sure feels like fall out. It's going to get into the upper 70's this week (they say), but the nighttime temps are chilly! It was in the upper 40's this a.m. when I got up! Yowser. I'm just so not ready for that yet. I guess it's because summer really only just got going. On the other hand, it will make walking outside so much easier when it's not as warm. (And the lower humidity makes the body aches subside, too.) We do have a trip to Martha's Vineyard coming up at the end of the week, though, so I really do hope the warm weather makes at least a temporary return appearance.

With that, I'm off to bed. The chilly temps do make for cozy sleeping!

It's every grandmother's dream when she's called into active duty. And, today, I was. Little Maggie's been fussy and - believe me, I remember how this is - Eva tends to act up when mommy needs to give the baby lots of attention. So I went down to play with Eva and do any baby holding needed. Or ANYthing needed. Eva and I played and colored. Emily brought the baby down after she had nursed well and handed her off to me. Chris came over after work and took Eva to the library and then put in a movie for her when they got back. I was able to let the baby snuggle in for a long nap on my nice, cushion-y body bed while Emily took a much needed nap herself. Bliss. Maggie would wake up every now and then, look around, smile a little and then fuss a bit and I would switch her position and walk her a little bit and then she'd fall back to sleep. Yeah. Pure bliss. :) I was able to help in the kitchen a wee little and then Chris and Eva and I took Maggie for a walk in her stroller while Emily grabbed a shower. It was heaven. Heaven, I tell you! And, obviously, I was able to snap a few sweet photos, too. Maggie's 7-1/2 weeks now. Hard to believe! That just doesn't even sound right!

So, we brought Eva home with us and left Emily and Maggie by themselves for the two hours before Dustin came home. And Eva will go to church with us tomorrow.

Martha's bringing Taco over in the morning, too, because she and Matthew are going camping (finally - they've been trying to get there all summer). And then we may be granddaughter sitting again tomorrow afternoon/evening a little - as Maggie will allow - because it's Dustin and Emily's 1st wedding anniversary and they want to go out alone to celebrate at least a little. And we want to help them do that however we can.

It's so freaking wonderful to be completely free to be able to help out. What a blessing that I'm not exhausted by a job. And that Chris is so available to help, too. Because he totally wants to. That's what grandparenting is all about - being that support system. Helping your kids to succeed and to be happy. What a privilege. Sigh...

Oh. Chris saw Maggie smile for the first time today. I don't quite know how he's missed it before. My first time was at the reunion. It was...well, I can't even explain it. But now Chris knows why I'm always trying to get her to smile. It's completely captivating. And it was fun seeing (and hearing) Chris go ga-ga over her darling smile, too. Yeah. We've got it BAD!

The Difference a Week Makes

There's the latest digi I did for One Little Word.

And here are the credits:

Template, staple by Katie Pertiet
Papers, twine by Gina Marie Huff
Charm by Little Dreamer Designs
Heavy stitch by Patricia Christensen
Stripe clusters by Heidi Williams
Fonts: Courier (journaling); 28 Days Later (“Play”); Jefferson (“Passion”)

The photos are from the reunion. I so love to hear (both of) my son(s) play music. One of the great blessings of my life.

The very night that I last posted, our little Maggie Monet was hospitalized. She is home safe and sound now and, without going into all the details of her experience, suffice it to say that in the end she just had a virus. Of course, there was lots of probably unecessary invasion to her little body, but once you're "in the system", so to speak, it's really hard to have a voice, much less use it. There are so many unknowns with newborns. I mean, they just can't tell you what's wrong and, as new parents, you definitely do not want to mess around with guessing when your child is presenting out of control symptoms.

We're just glad she's home without any horrible diagnosis to have to deal with. On the other hand, coming home with no definite answers is a bit unsettling. And then you begin to question every pain, every discomfort, every fever, every blotch.

We were at Dustin and Emily's for dinner last night (and a game of spades which we couldn't finish because of the time, but that the outcome of was pretty set in stone...we were killin' 'em!) and Maggie was a bit fussy. She didn't want to nurse when Emily thought she may have been hungry, but, overall, just appeared to be going through a bit of a fussy time as so many newborns do - especially at that particular hour - 7-10 p.m. ish.

While I don't for a second want Maggie to grow up any faster than she must, at the same time I do hope she passes through this fussy stage soon so that Dustin and Emily can relax, get some much needed rest and be more free to also interact with Eva, who has just started kindergarten.

Chris got to put Eva to bed last night. And little Maggie quit fussing rather quickly (at least for a while) when I put her on her belly on my knees and "rocked" her back and forth. I offered our nightly services... ;) My philosophy when I had little ones - the one that kept me from pretty much freaking out all the time - was that my child would not be doing - whatEVER - by the time they were 18. In other words, this is a phase and it will pass - it's not forever. That's hard to understand when you're in it, but, oh, so true.

My favorite point in the evening was when I was holding Maggie and Eva was saying her good-nights and she came and hugged my neck and said, "we're your two favorite girls in the world, right?". (This is something she's heard me say before...) Of course, I heartily agreed with her!

We're hosting a little dinner party for a dear friend tomorrow evening. And in the morning, it looks like we're making another run up to NY state because the same dealer we got the Matrix at has found us a great deal on a used truck. Chris has been searching and searching (granted, for only a couple weeks), but last night he/we decided to just try to patiently wait for what he really wants instead of tending to jump on what he's finding "out there" and usually giving up in his hastiness a feature or 2 that he really does want. This morning Simmons Rockwell called about a truck that is exactly what Chris wants and it's not even on the lot yet. It's a great deal so, off we go. This time, hopefully, we'll be in and out because the whole "cash for clunkers" thing is not going on. And, now we WILL be able to give the old truck to Matthew and Martha if they want it.

Blackwell and Beyond

Wow. It's the 19th already. Holy moley. How did that happen? Well, I guess I find myself saying that a little too much on here lately. That is going to change - but probably not until about October. Until then, my posts will be only occasional - as in when I can find the time. And I want to take the time today, even though the day already isn't going quite as planned. But that's okay.

I spent the morning preparing for a bible study/fellowship time I'm hosting tonight. We're studying a book called "You Matter More Than You Think" by Dr. Leslie Parrott. I just finished reading the book and our women's group has the study books as well as the videos. It's really a nice study with an important message to women who probably don't realize the difference that they make in other's lives just by the love they naturally show.

My plan for the day included dusting the first floor and cleaning the bathroom while Chris did the vacuuming (our agreed-upon arrangement). Chris also had reviews to work on this a.m. and then was to take the new car (did I mention we got a "new" car? New to us, anyway - a 2006 Toyota Matrix) up for a free inspection this afternoon and then come home to cook supper (also the agreed-upon plan). All this and then have myself and the kitchen all cleaned up before the women come over. And all in the stinkin' hot, humid weather. Whew!

But Emily called this morning - as I have encouraged her to do many times - asking if we might be able to have Eva come up because the baby was fussing and she thought Eva could use more attention than she was able to give her. So, even though our day was thoroughly planned (our "Plan A"), we are adjusting to God's "Plan B". And that's the way I see it. Rather than an intrusion or distraction from what we had planned, it's a way that we can help Emily and encourage her to call on us. I see it - just as my bible study was pointing out - as a way to make a difference in someone's life by showing love.

In other news, Chris and I have had our week in Blackwell which was punctuated with the Barlow family reunion. I think we would have come away with more of a feeling of relaxation if we had planned our week together to come after the reunion rather than before. Because the reunion does tend to be a little chaotic. And then there's the horrible day of cleaning and packing up at the end. Ugh. Unfortunately (or, perhaps, fortunately if I think about it...) I put my back out BADly the day before the reunion. I was relegated to pretty much sitting around the whole time - no biking, hiking or swimming for me. I tried to go for a walk, but it ended up being a bad idea. But, that meant there was also no cleaning up and lifting and etc. It took a full week to get me straightened out. Chris did take me to a nearby chiropractor's office the day after it happened so he (Chris) could adjust me, but the tables were ancient and the adjustment was not a very good one. I needed to get home and get treated at Chris's office.

But, all in all, it was a great time. We had a few storms, but it was sunny enough for people to get in the water most every day, although the water was quite high and "fast" at times - and quite cold! Between us, there were 3 bear sightings and we saw a Bald Eagle almost every day.

Here a just a few of the many photos from our time in Blackwell:

That's Eva and Nicholas playing a game outside on the deck.

And there's Ryan taking (most of) the kids for a ride in the "community" boat.

Taco, not being a "water" dog, was tied while Matthew was in swimming and he pined for his beloved master the whole time. I just love that photo...

And Chris snapped this photo of a bunch of us enjoying ice cream at the Cedar Run General Store. My back didn't stop me from doing that! :)

And, finally, there was a LOT of baby-holding going on at the reunion. We had three babies. I got some great shots, but I though I'd just share this one of Emily and Maggie - aren't they both SO beautiful?

Emily and Eva and Maggie met us over at Kellie's pool a couple times this week and we "dipped" Maggie for the first time. Emily also expressed some breast milk and I got to feed Maggie a bottle. Sooooo sweet! And Chris got the burp out of her. If you're not a grandparent, it's hard to understand just how thrilling these little things are. ;)

Well, Eva is watching a video and eating peaches, watermelon, yogurt and Kashi "heart" cereal. Then we're gonna squirt each other with squirt guns. Chris took the car up to get inspected and when he comes back he's going to take Eva to see a movie at the theatre and then take her out for supper. When he takes her home Dustin will have been home for a while and he and Emily and Maggie will have had some "alone" time. And, by Chris taking Eva out, I will have time to get the rest of the housework done and myself ready with plenty of time to spare.

God's Plan B is all good! :)

New Month, New Decisions

Well, here we are at a new month. And I've made a new decision. It has been on my mind for quite some time now, actually. I've tossed it around, gone back and forth, changed my mind and, finally, settled on what I want - what I need - to do. It is with a heart full of gratitude and appreciation that I have decided to step down as a Fashionista (i.e. a Design Team member for Scrap In Style TV). Sigh. This was something that I wanted sooooo badly. And when the opportunity came up about 8 or 9 months after I'd become quite active in the SIStv community, well, I held my breath, prayed and hoped that I would be chosen for the team. And I was! Wonder of wonders I was! And it has absolutely been everything that I'd hoped and dreamed it would be. I found it artistically challenging and fulfilling for sure. It was so fun to give other members (SISters) of the website a thrill by choosing a favorite layout each week. I so enjoyed being in the position to be an encouragement to others, maybe even a mentor of sorts. But the absolute best part has been getting to know Jeanette (the owner of the site) and the other Fashionistas. I expected that this would happen, but I never realized what an absolute blessing it would be to me. These women are amazing - every one of them. And they accepted me (being a slight bit - ahem - older - than them) and befriended me and made me feel so welcome. We've laughed together, cried together and have totally gotten silly together. We've worked hard together, have had virtual parties and actual slumber parties, have eaten together and have scrapped and taught side by side. It's been an amazing and wonderful year. So what the heck am I doing stepping down?

It's all about time. For me, time is EVERYthing. And I think the older I get, (even though I don't necessarily feel older) I feel my time on this earth slipping away. And as much as I love these women and this web site I have just had to ask myself if I really want to be spending so MUCH time on the computer. Being a Fashionista has meant spending hours and hours on the computer each week. I needed to look at layouts and leave comments in addition to being a presence on the message boards. In order for me to do my job to the best of my abilities - which I was whole-heartedly committed to doing - this simply required putting in time on the computer. In addition, I was working with the collections and occasionally preparing tutorials and contributing in an assortment of other ways. This all takes time. I think I realized how much time when for a couple of months, we didn't get a collection to design for and all of a sudden I actually had time to work on some projects of my own with some of the extensive stash of product I've collected over the years.

Not only that, but I just have felt this nudging, so to speak, that there are people right around me that perhaps I should be giving more of my time to. I'm intimately related to some of those people - like my children and grandchildren and I just want to be available to them. I just keep thinking that I may not always be as healthy and energetic as I am now and I want to be free to do whatever my heart desires - in my own neck of the woods - while I can.

I will most definitely still be an active participant in the SIStv community. I have no intention of giving that up. But I will log on when I feel like I have the time, at my leisure. And if I feel like I want to stay off the computer for a whole week (not bloody likely) then I will. I can just pop in to the website for a few minutes instead of an hour if I want.

I have sooooo many scrapping projects I want to do. And a beautiful scrap room just full of supplies. I love being able to go in there when I want and then, when I've had my fill, I can get up and shut the door behind me and come back some other time. LOVE that!

I'm only one hour and forty minutes into my "new" life and already I'm feeling, well, not a "relief", but a sense of release. Release to be free again with no constraints on my time. Free to choose how to spend my day without that pull to the computer. So far - it feels good. (Even though right now I'm ON the computer! But now I'll even have more time to blog.)

I really do plan to continue my friendships that I've made on SIStv - and there's no reason that I can't do that without the little red star by my name. :)

In other news - we've got some new pets around here. Just what we needed. Oy. We have THREE hermit crabs. Chris and Eva picked them out at the pet store and then came home and prepared a glass tank for them. In the photo below, Eva is very proudly showing me her dirty little feet after finishing this project. I don't think the dirty feet had anything to do with the project in particular. She just happened to think it was a good time to show them off to me!


And speaking of pets, just look at these two. How cute are they? That Beatrix is such a wild woman. She is keeping Rocky on his toes! She has zero fear of him. She drives him crazy jumping all over him and just annoying the heck out of him (which he takes quite in stride). And then, when she's exhausted herself, she decides that he'd also make a good pillow. And, again, he doesn't mind at all. "Ho hum" is pretty much the constant look on his face. She's a riot to watch and perhaps has rejeuvenated his old bones a bit. He is 15 after all. I wonder how much all of this will change when she gets spayed next month. We'll see.

Finally, here's a photo of Chris's that he took when we went out in the kayaks last week. We finally had a lovely, sunny, not-too-chilly morning, so we (meaning he) packed them up and headed to Rose Valley Lake for a little paddle. It was so relaxing and peaceful. I'm looking forward to more of that.

So, tomorrow when Chris is done at work, we head north to Pine Creek. Blackwell, PA, specifically, where we'll rent out little green cabin again and sit on the front porch every morning with out coffee watching the ducks swim by in the creek and the fishermen come by and try to get some of those very smart fish out of there. Where we'll pack up our breakfast and bike up into the PA Grand Canyon and watch for Bald Eagles as we enjoy our little picnic. Where we'll whack around a badminton shuttlecock to work up a good sweat so we can jump in the fabulous swimming hole just 20 feet in front of our cabin. Where we'll enjoy ice cream at the Cedar Run General Store for lunch whenever we can and dinner al fresco every night unless we're dining at the Cedar Run Inn or the Manor Hotel. Where we'll play cards or read or sit by a fire. Where the phone won't disturb and the computer won't connect. Ahhhhhhhhhh yes. Tomorrow we go on vacation!

The Barlow family reunion will cut short our usual week up there. But the good news is that we won't have to pack up to attend - because it's right there in the same place. Sweet.

So, it's over and out and I'll be back when the month is almost half over! Sayonara....

Here are a couple new layouts. I can't even tell you how precious is was to watch Eva meeting her new little sister for the first time. I just had to make a layout with the darling photos. Little Maggie is really blessed for having Eva as a big sister. I also finally cut into these beautiful papers designed by fellow Fashionista Lucy Folch from Brazil. I just adore her bright, whimsical scrap-art. I love her! :) So. There's my two favorite girls, right there in that layout.

I "got" to take Emily to the dentist/oral surgeon - an hour and a half away - last week. Not only was I the "designated driver", but I was also the "designated holder" of little Maggie while Emily was getting her tooth most horribly yanked out. Yes, it was a tough job, but - sigh - someone had to do it! She was just an angel. I had to change her little diaper and she had her eyes open and was looking all around, just calmly and sweetly. Oh, wow. She only made the tiniest brief peeps in the car - as soon as we would slow down at our destinations - and otherwise she slept the whole time. Emily had ample time to nurse her before and after her procedure.

I don't ever want it to sound like I love one grandchild more than the other. I really don't think that's possible. I totally am going through "Maggie withdrawal", though, when I don't get to see her. And I haven't been able to see her as much as I'd like. I'm just trying to be respectful of their privacy and home time - I don't want to be the barging-in, interfering mother-in-law, ya know. But I really, really would like to see more of her... At least I can be thankful that they only live 15 minutes away instead of hours... I can't bear the thought of that and it gives me a whole new appreciation of how hard it must be for far-away grandparents.

The layout below is for the latest round of One Little Word, the word being "why". I'm not a person that questions "why" that much. I believe God is in control and, for the most part, I don't question that. So this one was a bit of a challenge for me in a certain respect. But, since Chris and I seem to have had this conversation several times lately, I thought it would be a good one to document. It was very gratifying finding out from my online friends (you can see their comments on the link coming up) that I'm not alone in my little neurosis! ;) The credits - and story - for the page can be found here.

Even though it started out looking like rain, it's turning out to be a gorgeous (albeit hot and humid) day in PA. Hoooooo boy, do I ever hope that holds out for our vacay to Blackwell next week. If there's anywhere we want it to be hot and humid, it's there, because we have such a fantastic natural swimming hole about 20 feet in front of the cabin we rent.

For some odd reason, I got up early-ish, for me, (7:30) so I decided to have my first cup of coffee and then head out for a walk while it was still somewhat cool. About 1/2 down my (1/4 mile long) driveway, I heard the "beep. beep. beep" of construction vehicles and here, they were doing something in a long line coming up the road. I circled around the cemetary and then came back home. At least I got 20 minutes in. When I got home I finally, finally, got back to my Wii Sports Active 30-day challenge I was almost done with right before I went to TN at the end of June. I had gotten sick, then I went away for the long weekend and then didn't get back to it when I came back. Until now. I think I have 4 more workouts to do and then I'll have finished it! Awesome. Yeah, it was a little harder this morning. The program has been really great - it builds up in intensity over the 30 days and, so here I am, coming back after 5 (wow! FIVE!) weeks off and, well, let's just say it wasn't quite as easy as it had been. I'm sure my thighs will be screaming tomorrow (can we say "squats"?). But that's okay. I really want to get it done. So, if I do it every day this week, I'll finish and then I can start another one after I get back from Blackwell. They're really fun and I like that you're doing something different all the time.

M & M are heading out to World's End State Park today. They called and invited Chris and I. (Chris is golfing right now.) I'm not sure if I'm going to venture back out today, although I can totally picture myself sitting in a lawn chair reading in the woods along the gorgeous creek. There WILL be burgers involved and, as much as we grill, we haven't done many burgers this summer and I'm really craving them... They said they were going to do the waterfall hike and, gee, I already exercised today. I don't want to become a JOCK or anything! Sitting home and reading and scrapping sounds like a great plan, too. Not sure which I'll decide to do as of yet. We'll see.

At any rate, it's already gearing up to be a great day!

Ohhhh, having a new grandbaby makes for LOTS of scrapbooking inspiration! The top photo is a digi I did for One Little Word. The next two are "regular" paper layouts. For the one just above, I used BasicGrey papers (Urban Prairie) and their July sketch. And that layout is also featured in their gallery here. Cool!

It's been wonderful having taken the month of July "off". In other words, I really kept my schedule open because I knew the baby was coming. So consequently, once I got my scraproom back together, I've really had some lovely time on my hands. In addition to being able to scrap, I've also been cooking! I've made Baked Ziti for the kids (and for us) and also my Grandmother's Chicken and Broccoli casserole. AND I even made a fresh Blueberry Cobbler - a big one for Dustin and family and a little one (one serving each) for Chris and I. Mmmmmm, add some vanilla ice cream and, man, it was GOOD!

Having said that, I've been on the computer all morning and now I need to get my banking done. So, off I go!

Maggie Monet is here!

Our sweet little Maggie Monet Barlow

Her proud (and smitten) daddy. We're so proud of HIM! ;)

Watching Eva meet her sister for the first time was incredibly sweet...

Okay, I could pretty much do THIS all day! Wow! Amazing! Look what my baby made!

Well, it's obvious we can't take our eyes off of our little Maggie Monet. I do think I'm gonna like this grandmother thing pretty well. Of course, we've been grandparents to Eva for about a year now, but when she was a baby, well, we knew her, but we didn't know we were going to be her grandparents. (If only we could turn back the clock on that one!). All these photos were taken yesterday when little Maggie was about 12 hours old.

I was able to be at the hospital all day on the historic date of 07/08/09. We were thinking about how fun it would be if the baby could have been born at 12:34:56 on 07-08-09 - or even 10:11:12. But, as it turns out, she was born at 11:01 p.m. after a long day of laboring. Emily did just beautifully. She was induced about 2-1/2 weeks before her actual due date to prevent pre-eclampsia, which can come on pretty quickly. As it turned out, Maggie weighed in at 8 lb., 11 oz.! Imagine if she'd have gone another two weeks! And both mommy and baby are doing just great.

We had Eva overnight Wednesday night and so I was able to take her down to the hospital (where everyone else was already gathered) to meet her sister for the first time. Such a sweet, sweet (and tearful) moment. I think Eva is going to be a wonderful big sister. She's already as in love with Maggie as we are!

Well, it's truly difficult for me to think beyond wanting to see Maggie again, but darn if I don't have SCHTUFF to do around this house! Like, for one, I have to finish paying the church bills and etc., since I am the treasurer. And, it would probably be a good idea for me to do my own finance stuff today as well. Usually I do that on Thursdays, but schedules have been happily rearranged lately.

And, as you can imagine, I'm just DYing to get some scrapping done! It's been a while. And, speaking of which, here's a couple pics of the newly-wood-floored scrapping room, complete with cubicle shelving from Target:

I was kind of surprised at how little I actually ended up "purging" from my room. I definitely got rid of a good amount of paper, but only a few older, out of date stickers and things that I never use went into the "get rid of" boxes. Still, everything I do have has a cleaned, if not new, home and most everything is out where I can see it. AND, best of all, I can just roll myself from one station to the other or over to pull something off a shelf. You can't see my typewriter or sewing machine in these photos, but they are just a small chair ride away...

I have a OLW digital layout to complete by midnight tonight (If I so choose...). The word this week is "joy". Hmmmmm. I wonder what I'll scrap about?

Okay, my tummy needs breakfast and then I want to get this banking done. So I'm off. The little Barlow family will return home as four this afternoon. Can't wait to visit again! :)

Post SIS Live '09

I'm baaaa-ack! Wow, it was a whirlwind weekend! My flights all went smoothly. I found rides to and from the airport and, even though I was the last one to arrive at the event, it was just a fabulous weekend. Every time I meet up with the FGirls, I'm getting to know them (and they, me) a little better. And that's SO great. I also got to see a lot of SISters that I'd met before AND it was so fun meeting so many I hadn't met before.

I LOVED meeting my secret sisters - the one I had and the one that had me. I was secret SIS to Denise and she was great. She really reminded me of my sister irl, Sue. But with lighter hair. :) I so enjoyed getting to know her a little through our "secret" emails and, even if I didn't actually make anything for her, I sure did have fun buying her little goodies for the past few months.


And the SISter who was secret SIS to me, Aimee, well, oh my gosh, I just can't believe the time and effort she put in to the gifts she made for me. Okay, she taught me what a really good secret SIS is! Thanks so much Aimee for everything!

By the time we learned who had who, it was more than halfway into Saturday and we were well-ensconced in our scrapping territory. Well, I was. I would have loved to spend a lot more time with these ladies getting to know them better and just sharing the experience a bit more. That seems to be my regret each time I get together with either the FGirls or the SISters. I wish I could have spent more time with EACH of them. But I'm really glad I had the time I did with my roomie, and with my table-mates - meaning the scrapping table, the breakfast/lunch table and the dinner table! I really had fun getting to know Diane and Marnie, who sat across from me. And Diane and Martha, who sat next to me, off and on.

Here's what the chaotic room we were scrapping in looked like:

Sunday was my birthday and I got all sorts of little gifties, and hugs and well-wishes. It was swell (though I wouldn't have minded a bit forgetting altogether that it was my birthday!). The highlight of the day was dinner with some of my FGirls. I ordered a fabulous meal and then, even though I was pretty darn full, decided that since it was my birthday, I would order dessert - key lime pie. YUM! THEN I found out that my meal was being paid for! Awwww. How totally sweet. It was SUCH a fun time.

Here are the FGirls that were at the event:

And, much to my surprise and delight, I did actually get some scrapping done! (I was determined this year!). I did the layout you see below. And I finished up my ATC's for June, which was great. Well, they're so dang quick to do. Here's the layout I made:

That's Dustin's Emily with her Aunt Mary Joe. They were so fun to watch together, not having seen each other for a while - and I love the photos I got, so wanted to scrap them. And there you have it! ;)

In other news, I had decided about a month ago that I wanted to re-do my scrap room - make it a little sleeker, a little less "cozy" by removing the carpet and laying down some durable wood flooring. I also got some cubicle-type shelving so I can have my stuff "out" where I can see it. I knew I would have to light a major fire under Chris's, um, BUTT, in order for this to happen any time within the next century. So I told him about my plan, got my shelving and then asked him to go in and make the measurements to my room while I was gone to TN.

Soooo, when he told me on the way home from the airport that it was supposed to rain on and off all week, through Friday, I grabbed ahold of the opportunity firmly with both hands and I said, "Great! You can purchase the flooring on Tuesday (with said measurements in hand), help me move out the bigger pieces of furniture and rip out the rug on Wednesday and install the flooring on Friday! Yipee!". Heh. He hedged and squirmed a bit, but after confirming for me that each of those things wouldn't take more than the day I'd designated them for, he tried to make me feel only a little guilty (which I had none of) before throwing up his hands in utter defeat and giving in. Now, I think even he would admit that this is NOT the way I normally operate. But, after 34 years of marriage (which we also just celebrated - on my birthday - "we" meaning the SISters and I because Chris wasn't exactly around) I have seen how the project timeline goes down. So, being that it's my scrapbooking stuff we're talking about being tied up for the duration, I was NOT willing to let this become a long, painfully and ridiculously drawn out process. I just couldn't because I need to be able to get at my stuff. I'm a professional, ya know? This is my job. And, well, I just want it DONE! :)

So, as we speak (so to speak), here's what my scrap room looks like:

Tomorrow he only has a few more staples to remove and then the flooring will go down. It will be up to me to go through my scrap stuff and purge as much as possible and then slap together (yeah, right - I'm well aware of how THIS usually goes) the three cubicle shelf units that I purchased. I hope beyond hope that they're not too much of a pain to assemble. I have done that stuff before, so, well, we'll see. If I can go through everything and get those shelves together so that we can move stuff back in there Monday, that would be aMAZing and wonderful! I'm not saying everything has to be perfectly in its place by Monday. I'll give myself the rest of the week to tinker away at getting everything just where I want it. But, I just can't wait. I always get so re-energized when I re-organize. And I'm just really looking forward to getting rid of the stuff I know I'll never use. (I do hope there's enough of it to make a difference. I will have to be strong.) It's true that the less stuff you have, the more the creative juices flow. Don't ask me why, but it is.

So, that's all I have for now. I'm off to bed so I can get up early enough to not hamper the beginning of the work tomorrow...(you know, hammering, pounding, noise and stuff like that...).

And, happy July!