I just spent a lot of time typing a whole blog post and just when I was almost ready to post it. Poof! It disappeared. This happens to me all the time. It's very frustrating and it keeps me from wanting to blog as much as I used to. I think it's the laptop I'm on. I'll just be typing along and then in the middle of typing EVERYTHING just deletes to a blank page. So I will try one more time. Grrrr...
We had a nice Christmas and I participated in my very first Christmas card exchange online. It was supposed to be handmade cards but you could send store-bought ones instead if you chose to. I did handmade ones and enjoyed receiving all the different cards from all over during the holidays. Mind you now that I am not a big cardmaker. So coming up with a design that I could duplicate 30-some times took me awhile...
I was running out of room to display all the cards I was getting in the mail from this exchange, so I picked up this Martha Stewart card holder on clearance at Penney's....
It worked perfectly....
I also participated in an ornament exchange during the holidays. This is the one I sent....
I also made a card for B.'s best friend for her birthday last month. She loves hedgehogs and this one turned out super cute...
There hasn't been a full week of school since before Christmas break. It's been a frigidly cold winter with temps as low as -40 degrees below zero at times. School was cancelled again today and yesterday and now all the snow days have been used up. They get five "free" snow days and three Blizzard Bag days where they do their schoolwork on the computer for the State. All of those days have been used up and tomorrow will be #10 this year. Yep, they just cancelled school early this evening for tomorrow. Three days in a row just like the week of Jan.6th. It's been a bad winter so far. I guess the Farmer's Almanac was right when they said we would have a rough winter this year.
On Monday, January 13th, poor B. slammed her finger in a big heavy door at school on the HINGE side. The teachers keep their doors closed and she was trying to get in the door with her books and her big, heavy bell kit for band and her finger got caught in the door. I got a call from the school and I went to pick her up but didn't realize that her finger was broken. Just for peace of mind, I took her to the Med Express and they did an x-ray which showed that it is definitely broken and gave her a finger splint to wear which wasn't the greatest. No doctors in our area would even see her because it's her finger and the nearest finger/hand specialist is up in Pittsburgh. They told us we'd have to go to Children's Hospital so we were up there in the ER for three hours. They didn't do much besides confirm that it was broken and referred us to a hand specialist up there in Pittsburgh. In the meantime, I got B. a better finger splint with velcro straps on it for the first week until her doctor's appointment with the hand/finger specialist. The one from Med Express had no straps and it kept falling off and she had to keep adjusting it. We went to the hand specialist last week and B. had a custom hand splint made for her that she'll have to wear at least a couple more weeks along with gauze between her index and middle fingers and medical tape at the tips to help straighten out the broken finger. We are really hoping this works. She broke it just right past that first knuckle and it's a tad bit crooked now. :(
This is the third time B. has broken something on her left arm..... In 2nd grade she broke her left wrist when a girl pulled her down by her coat on the playground, then back in May she broke both bones in her lower left arm when she bounced out of one of those stupid blow-up water slides over at the neighbors a week after school let out for the summer. She spent six weeks in a full-arm cast and it took 12 weeks to completely heal. And now... her left index finger. Poor kid. :(
Our poor little dog hasn't been feeling well and has been sick with vomiting and diarrhea since Friday evening. I took him to the vet yesterday afternoon and he's on a couple different meds now. I hope he starts feeling better real soon and I wish I knew what it was that made him so sick. :( I've been giving him boiled chicken and rice for his tummy. If he doesn't start doing better in the next day or two, we'll have to take him back to the vet. Hopefully he'll get better though. We were concerned that maybe it's the food he's been eating - Pedigree Small Breed because he started getting really sick not long after we opened this new bag. We started reading up online this evening about any complaints and the one recent one where someone's dog died ate food from the same dog food and the number on their bag was just one digit off from ours which is 343F1KKM04 (the one we read about online started with 342 but everything else was the same). We are not taking any chances and so we are done with Pedigree dog food. DH is out now buying new dog food in a different brand.
I am doing Project Life this year for the first time. I enjoy doing a Dec Daily so much, that I figure it would be cool to document the whole year like that. It's just a different way of scrapbooking that involves pocket pages. It will help me to document some of the everyday stuff that wouldn't make it into a scrapbook album otherwise. I'm not worried about taking pictures everyday though. I got this "honey" core kit during the holidays from my DH from a somewhat local craft store....
I am also participating in a 50 Week Layout Challenge. There's over 30 of us doing the challenge and we each put in $15 to participate. We have to post a layout every week until the end of the year and then there will be a drawing for all the money that was put in. It gives me an incentive to create at least one layout a week plus it keeps my scrappy mojo going throughout the year. Plus there will be drawings for prizes during some of the weeks throughout the year. I will be providing the prize during one of the weeks this summer. We are on Week 2 and it's been fun so far.
I also participated in my very first online crop ever this past week. I entered quite a few different challenges and made SIX layouts this past week, plus a card. That's really good for me considering I usually never scrapbook that much in a short period of time.....
This last one was for a challenge to scrapbook about a favorite "thing". It couldn't be a person or pet. I probably would have never thought to scrapbook about my phone if it weren't for this challenge. It ended up being a fun layout to create and I enjoyed the online crop and the camaderie amoungst the members on the forum.
Here's my journaling for my last layout:
For the longest time, I had a simple flip phone and thought there
was no need for all the features that a smartphone offers. I mean,
who needs a camera on their phone?? My way of thinking changed
when my husband decided it was time to get me a nicer phone.
It arrived on Sept. 12, 2012 and I have loved it ever since.
It arrived on Sept. 12, 2012 and I have loved it ever since.
It is with me wherever I go. I’m able to stay in touch with my family
through texting and pictures throughout the day. I love getting
pictures of my nephews and of other family members. I take it to the
gym and use the music app for when I’m on the elliptical or other
cardio machines. It has replaced my alarm clock. I use the calendar
feature for reminders for appointments or things I need to do. It helps
me to pass the time at the doctor’s or while waiting for B. to get out
of school. That’s when I’ll often play Words With Friends with my
husband or play Bejeweled Blitz or get on Pinterest or the internet to
read stuff. And one of the most used features of my iPhone is my camera.
I use it all. the. time. And I’m so glad that I’ve had it with me to take
pictures that I otherwise would have missed out on. Needless to say,
there’s no way I’d ever go back to a basic flip phone again. LOL!
husband or play Bejeweled Blitz or get on Pinterest or the internet to
read stuff. And one of the most used features of my iPhone is my camera.
I use it all. the. time. And I’m so glad that I’ve had it with me to take
pictures that I otherwise would have missed out on. Needless to say,
there’s no way I’d ever go back to a basic flip phone again. LOL!
Journaling: Monday, January 27, 2014.
Well this should bring my blog pretty much up-to-date. Thanks for stopping by and try to keep warm. brrrrr!!!!
