Treasured Gift

I blogged last night about receiving the antique silver cake server that's been passed down to me from my maternal grandmother. I guess I was too lazy to get a photo of it so I'm including it with this post.Click on the picture to enlarge it so you can read the note; it is so sweet!

Had a good 1st day back at work after the holidays. The 'crud' is going around the office but I think I had my worst days with it last week. My supervisor, Debbie, felt lousy today. We tried to get her to go home starting at 1:00 but she's hard-headed and didn't leave til 4:30. Christy, if you read this you can fuss at your Mama!

I'm a devoted reader of James Patterson's Alex Cross novels. I just finished 'I, Alex Cross' and it is FANTASTIC! I've never read a Cross novel that was bad but this one is exceptionally good. I only wish Mr. Patterson wrote as fast as I read LOL! Here's a pic of the book below. If you like to read mystery novels, this will not disappoint you.

I usually wait and buy the paperbook editions but I wanted to read this one so much I splurged and bought the hardback. I read the books that I really like many, many times so I want to start getting them in hardback so they'll last forever. I've got quite a few books in my collection but 99% of them are paperback. Some of my favorites have been read a dozen times or more.

Hope everyone has a wonderful Tuesday and God Bless You!

My bustle is hustled out!

All the Christmas get-togethers are done as of today. We all ate too much and got some great gifts. Most importantly, we spent loads of time with family and everyone seemed to have a wonderful time. I didn't get many 'Christmas' photos but got some good pics of family that I'll share here. First one above is my sister, Annette and her husband, Gary.







Next is my brother, Jerry and his wife, Angela.

Then I HAVE to show the picture of my brother (above) with his first harvested deer. He's only been hunting for the last 2 or 3 years and he finally got a deer. A 6 point buck at that. He was so excited he was bubbling. He's got a fantastic fun-loving personality anyway and it was pure joy to see how excited he was to get his first deer. This next picture may be too graphic for some to view so consider yourselves warned. This is just a part of life in the South and Yes, we do eat the meat :-)

We don't go all out with gifts at Christmas anymore. The kids are grown so we give them money usually so they can choose what they want. Nelson got me a beautiful Elgin watch that I really needed. I had not had a 'good' watch in a long time and he did a fantastic job choosing which style to get me. My mom gave me a Swiffer Wet Jet that I'd been considering buying for myself. She loves hers and I'm hearing the same comment from other SWJ owners as well. I haven't tried it yet because my floors today needed much more than a Swiffer to be cleaned up. (They were pretty gross!) Nelson got them with the mop before our guests got here. My back doesn't let me do too much heavy cleaning so I'm usually the one dusting and putting clutter back in its place. He does the heavy stuff normally and lets me do the laundry. System works well for us :-)

My favorite gift this year is an antique cake server that my Mom passed down to me from my grandmother (Nanny). Mom said Nanny only had 2 pieces of real silver and Mom passed one of them to me. Mom presented it to me with the most beautiful note that explained the background of the piece along with a notation that she knows I will treasure it. She is SO right; I was immeasurably touched and grateful to receive something so precious.

Nelson and I had talked about getting a new flat panel television for our Christmas gift to each other. Now we're debating between the television and a new sofa/loveseat for the living room. The sofa we have is so soft that noone wants to sit on it because it's so hard to get up from haha  And the two recliners in there are very old and look pretty tacky. They're comfortable and in good mechanical shape though. I doubt they're worth paying someone to recover them and I sure don't know how to do that. So now Nelson and I have to decide between the television or the furniture. We certainly don't NEED the tv and we could use nicer furniture for those times when we have guests. Decisions, decisions ;-)

I spent all day Saturday with my almost-14 year old niece, Kristina. She loves art and is beginning to dabble in collage which is my favorite thing to play with too. She and I spent several hours in Wal Mart yesterday looking at art supplies (and everything else in the store). I enjoyed spending time with her so much and hope we get to do it more regularly.  I've had a cold since Christmas Eve and didn't feel much like playing with any of my art projects when I actually had a stretch of time that I could have. Thankfully the worst part of the cold was over before any of our get-togethers were scheduled. I just hope I didn't pass it on to everyone I came in contact with over the last few days.

Enough rambling. Christmas at our house was wonderful. We have all been blessed far more than we deserve and several family members made the comment this year that we are grateful for what we have and really couldn't think of another thing we actually need. We all know people who are dealing with critical illness or recent losses of loved ones at this time of year and our hearts and prayers go out to them.

I hope everyone had a great Christmas with lots of love and laughter. God Bless You!

And the winner is.....

It's been a good week so far. I haven't blogged much this week because all I could think about was the drawing to be held tonight for my box of goodies. I've been doing lots of reading and my new Somerset Studio magazine came in Monday so that has kept me occupied for many wonderful hours.

Our office Christmas party is coming up this Friday night and I'm looking forward to that. There will be alot of people there and we always have a great time. This year we're actually having it at our dealership rather than one of the others as in past years. The 'cook' responsible for the steaks works at our dealership so we get to host it. Fine with me; we won't have to go far to party.

This week started out with warm, almost hot, weather and it's now turned off really cold. This type of weather seems to keep people in this area sick with sinus infections or some other crud. Or maybe the sickness would be here regardless of the weather, who knows?!

I really don't have much to say and no pictures to post so this will be a short one. I feel like I'm forgetting something though.....hmmmmmm.....

OH! Did I not tell who the winner is?! *big smiles* I used random.org to select a number between 1 and 40 (that's how many possible winning entries I had to pick from). AND.....drumroll......

random.org chose......

#40 (can you believe it?! I don't have a screen print function so I can't show you *bummer*)

Well, #40 had been randomly assigned to......

Jeanette Janson!!!

I've been following her blog for a while and it is great so please hop over there and check it out. Congratulations to Jeanette!!

Thanks to everyone for participating. Stay tuned because I will be hosting more giveaways for sure; I have had so much fun getting stuff together for this one. And getting such wonderful participation has been great. I'm meeting new bloggers and I love doing that. There are so many great blogs out there. It's so easy for me to get so engrossed in visiting blogs that I lose all sense of time.

Have a great Thursday and God Bless You!

So happy and giveaway reminder

I've had a great response to the blog giveaway so far and I am so glad. Now I know how these other blog owners feel when they get so many comments on their posts. That's my goal...to have an interesting enough blog that people feel led to comment on the posts. It's a thrill every time I check in and see another comment; love, love, love it!!!

To enter the giveaway to be held on December 16th, go here and comment. Read the post from December 9th to get the ins and outs of entering. Note that there's an opportunity to have your name entered more than once!

Great day today in cold Mississippi! I'm usually very hot-natured when at work; I'm the one with the desk fan blowing while the other girls are hugging their mini-heaters. Well, not today! I was cold ALL DAY LONG. What a change from my usual state. It was in the low 40's (Fahrenheit) outside today which isn't all that cold really. It's just a big dip in a short amount of time for this area and my bones couldn't shake the chill today.

I'm off all weekend and I am sooooo glad. I'm ready for an entire weekend to do some things around the house. Hopefully some of it will be fun stuff while I get caught up on laundry and *shudder* cleaning house. I wish I had the funds to hire a maid for one day a week. Of course, I'd wear myself out cleaning before she got here so she wouldn't see how bad it was LOL!!! Guess I'll save my maid money and just do it myself. One of these days :-)

My remarks about a messy craft room drew some sympathetic comments. Now we know we're not alone if our craft rooms are too stacked up to work in. Apparently it's a problem that plagues many of us. When I was working on the decorations for Mom & Dad's 50th wedding anniversary party a couple of months ago...I had to move the needed supplies to the dining room table so I'd have room to work. And you know what?  Some of that stuff is STILL THERE *embarrassed giggle* I know; I'm hopeless.

It's just NOT FUN to clean up so I never finish the entire job once I do get started on it. I get sidetracked so easily...by the phone, the television, finding an embellishment or art supply I'm suddenly inspired by. Those sidetrack roads are just too numerous and call too loudly for me to ignore.

It's a good thing I'm married to the most patient man in the world. He's a true sweetheart and never complains about all the stuff. I do keep it out of his way for the most part. And if I ask him to help me clean up or get organized, he's always willing to tackle any job with me. I'm blessed and I know it!

Here's a picture of my father, Clyde aka Granddaddy B,  when he was in the military many years ago. The resolution is too low for it to be used in any art pieces so please don't try...for looking only :-)  I just want y'all to 'meet' my Daddy. Isn't he dreamy? LOL!!  Mom said he was always told he looked like the movie star Tab Hunter.

Have a great weekend and don't forget to enter the giveaway at the original post from December 9th !!

God Bless You

100th Post Giveaway and New Blog Design

So glad to be back in blogland! Well, I've been visiting blogs pretty regularly but wanted to post my official 100th blog post when the blog update was complete.  

Susie Jefferson at http://1stfloorflatblogology.blogspot.com/ created this beautiful set of blogwear just for me. AND she corrected that horrible glitch that wouldn't let some people post comments. I LOVE and CRAVE comments so I was thrilled with that fix. Please go check out Susie's multiple blogs and see for yourself how great of a designer she is. She's got some great freebies and shares tons of blogger how-to's; so talented and SUPER to work with.

So...this is the official 100th blog post and as promised, I'm hosting a GIVEAWAY!  I'll pick a winner using the random number generator thingy before midnight on Wednesday, December 16th which gives me a week to advertise the giveaway. I'd love to pick up some new blog buddies along the way but mainly I'm just glad to give back to the art community that's given me so much joy along with knowledge.The picture here shows just a PALTRY FEW of the goodies that the lucky winner will receive.

There's a box of decoupage sheets with a Victorian theme, a ready-to-alter photo frame with heart-shaped cutout for the photo, some mini-playing cards that are so CUTE, a brand new mini alphabet stamp set (never opened) and lots of other neat stuff and things that any artist can use (or use to barter with other artists). I've had so much fun tossing things in the box for this giveaway that I know I'll be having more giveaways in the future.

I saw on someone's blog that they'd hosted a 'clean up the craft room' giveaway. They basically cleaned up in their craft room and gave away some great stuff. I could definitely have AT LEAST one giveaway just to do that as is evidenced in the photo below.

 So THIS is why I can never get anything done. I've been complaining that I don't have enough time but now y'all know the REAL reason...I can't get to my craft table for the STUFF!!! I have always been a packrat but since I've started making collages and artist trading cards, it's really become ridiculous! Anyway, as soon as I can clear off a space I'll be making some more stuff (and adding to another box for the next giveaway :-) I really could use more time though LOL

So, leave a comment on this post and your name will be assigned a number and added to the giveaway one time. If you become or are already a follower of this blog, your name will be assigned a different number and be added to the giveaway a 2nd time. If you post on your own blog about this giveaway and direct people to this post to enter themselves (and let me know where to find your referral post)  I'll assign you a 3rd number for the giveaway. On giveaway day, I'll use http://random.org to choose one number and whomever has been assigned that number will be the winner! (Being my first giveaway, I sure hope everything goes as planned and I haven't forgotten anything LOL)

Thanks for reading my ramblings and for the sweet comments all of you have left. I am so blessed to have great family and friends, including blog friends. Y'all have a great Thursday and God Bless You!

2nd test - update

Not an official post as I don't want it to count and ruin my 100th post giveaway LOL! Just letting everyone know I'm still around. Susie's still working on the blog re-design and I'll be back with good stuff when it's all done. Shouldn't be too long before all is back to normal. Have a great day

comments can be left on new posts now! (YAY and THANKS to Susie Jefferson!!!)

Still here

I am still around but not much going on lately. I'm still working on the giveaway for my 100th post which will be the very next post I make (after this one :-) I am also having a custom blog designed and it will be revealed at my 100th blog post as well. I have the comment glitch that I've never been able to figure out so I have someone working on it while they design my new blog bling. Susie at 1st Floor Flat Blogology is working on the new design for me and I am so excited that I'll have my very own blog bling!

I also want to give some blog love to the customer service at Provocraft. I bought a Cricut machine a few months ago and when I got it home, the cartridge wasn't packed in the box. It had to have been an oversight at the factory because the box was sealed with tape with the Cricut logo printed on it. I contacted their customer service department, emailed them a copy of the receipt and they sent me the cartridge right away. Fantastic customer service and I will definitely give them more of my business.

Please bear with me as I get the new site design implemented and all the glitches worked out. I'll be back very soon with the actual giveaway announcement and photos of the goodies to be sent out to the winner.

My son is coming in to visit and to go deer hunting with my husband. I'm excited to see him; it's been a few months since he was home last. As a Marine currently stationed in North Carolina he doesn't make it home very often.

I hope everyone has a wonderful Thanksgiving or if it's not a holiday you celebrate, have a fantastic day! God Bless You

Please click on the date/time to leave a comment. It sometimes works and sometimes doesn't. A Blogger 'glitch' that I won't have to put up with for too much longer, YAY!! :-) Just in case, my email is theresainms (at) hotmail (dot) com

Wonderful news about my husband

After 42 years of smoking, he has officially quit! He hasn't had a cigarette in over 2 weeks and I am so proud of him. He is using the Chantix and it REALLY works. It's rather expensive but not as expensive as cigarettes would be for the same amount of time. AND there's a website he checks into every day plus he gets an automated phone call every night that's interactive. There's also a number he can call and talk to an actual person if he needs extra support. I'm so grateful he's quit and so very proud of him!

Well, I'm coming up on my 100th blog post and I'm getting the craft goodies together for a giveaway. Due to postage costs I'm not sure if I'll have to limit it to the continental United States or not. I've got friends all over the globe and I don't want to leave anyone out. I've got to think on that a bit more.

Before I sign off for tonight, here's a great site with some really good recipes. The link here is for Slow Cooker recipes but there are tons more recipes at this site too if you just look around. My aunt sent me this link and these dishes sound wonderful. I have a really good slow cooker that doesn't get used enough.

Have a great Friday/Saturday everyone!! God Bless You

Please click on the date/time to leave a comment. A Blogger 'glitch' :-)

Believe

Believe
Originally uploaded by theresa_a

All rights reserved. Please do not copy, print or download, in whole or in part.

My very first posted ATC - this one was made as a gift for my lovely niece, Kristina. The lettering, viewfinder and all the borders are from a Tumblefish Studio collage sheet. The card background was 'polka-dotted' using brush tip markers.

Shopping trip with Mom and giveaway preliminaries

Had a fantastic day with my Mom. I have to say she's my best friend and we never get tired of hanging out. We shopped a bit and talked a lot! She is retired and doesn't go too many places during the normal course of her days. She and I always have a great time no matter what we do.

I found 2 blouses and a pair of jeans that made their way home with me. Mom was more successful at resisting the 'buying bug'. I could've bought tons more but made myself stop by not going into any more stores haha I have been searching for some ankle boots that I like but have not yet found 'the perfect pair'. Oh well, I've got enough shoes already. More than enough if you listen to my husband.

I have done nothing artistic today other than view other people's work. I get so inspired by viewing blogs and flickr photostreams. There are some truly gifted artists out there and I am so glad they post their creations on the web.

I added a list of image freebie sites to my sidebar tonight. I will update the list as I find new sites as well but there's enough there already to give anyone several days of web time. I LOVE image freebies and the list I added tonight never disappoints. I hope you enjoy it and please leave some blog love comments for these selfless artists.

I am swiftly coming up on my 100th blog post and I am planning a giveaway. Not of digital images but of 'real' stuff that I've collected from here and there. This is a good way of doing something fun on my blog, giving back to my readers, hopefully stirring up more interest in my blog and the best part, cleaning some things out of my craft room LOL! I promise that the giveaway won't be just stuff I no longer want; it will have some cool things and be a sampling of more than one genre of craft products. No junk either (unless it's of the artistic variety) . More on the giveaway in the upcoming posts.

Have a great weekend and God Bless You!

Please click on the date/time to leave a comment. A Blogger 'glitch' :-)

Week 60 Crowabout Challenge

week 60 crowabout collage
Originally uploaded by theresaashmore

This week was a real struggle for me to come up with something to create. The images are great but the mojo just wasn't working. I've been working on this in fits and starts for 3 nights. I've changed my mind about being finished or not finished at least a dozen times. I now declare that it is officially finished! It's as good as it's gonna get.

I hope all the text is readable. I finally came up with the theme 'Fairytale Facts of Life'. The text above the wolf reads 'beware of cross dressing wolves with big lungs'. That's the extent of my humor for this piece haha

I am learning more and more as I participate in this challenge every week. The other ladies in the group are absolutely fantastic. The level of talent I'm surrounded with is incredible. I plan on learning more from them for a long, long time.

Long week this week and will be a longer one next week. My supervisor is on vacation, a well-deserved one, and I'll be handling some of her duties. I'll be resting up this weekend LOL!

Have a great weekend and God Bless You!

An award and a rant

First for the good news, I won my very first blog award. Woo hoo!!
It's from Spyder's Corner which is a really nice place to visit so please check out her blog. As I read her blog, I imagine her speaking in an English accent (since she lives 'over there'). If you like, y'all can imagine me speaking in a slow 'suthern drawwwl' and it will give you an idea of my speaking voice.

Now for the rant. I know that we did without computers for many years. I vaguely remember keeping books without the aid of a computer. I remember updating receivable accounts by hand and sending out statements by hand. So how can it be that an entire car dealership is totally *screwed* if the computer goes down. Not even all the way down; just can't communicate with Ford. Internet works, main accounting software works but can't order parts, can't send financial statements, can't send warranty information for payment approval. This has been going on since Friday of last week.

Now, I'm the accounts payable/title clerk for this dealership. I am not nor have never been an IT person. The only qualification I have for being involved in this problem is that I have been using a computer for several years and I was the one who answered the phone when the calls started coming in. I could go on about that unfortunate happening but I won't. Not tonight anyway. I'm exhausted.

The best part of the afternoon was when our IT person made the mistake of walking into the office. I immediately (with absolutely no guilt) passed the phone to him. I mean, I'd been on the phone for TWO HOURS and all I'd determined was that the ISP technician and the router manufacturer technician were blaming it on each other's equipment. I actually could've kissed our IT guy, Brandon, when I saw him walk in if it wouldn't have scared him to death.

So, all that junk was to get you up to date since I haven't posted in quite a while. I really wanted to work on my piece for the Crowabout group tonight but am just too tired. Dancing With the Stars comes on tonight and normally hubby and I would watch that. I really don't think I'll last through all of it tonight though. My brain is just too blitzed to take in too much more information. I need to do something totally brainless. Like this blog post that I hope makes some sense.

I certainly hope y'all's day went better than mine. At least I can laugh about it now which is always a positive sign. Better to laugh than cry, right?!

Big hugs and much love to all!!

Please click on the date/time to leave a comment. A Blogger 'glitch' :-)

week 59 crowabout challenge

week 59 crowabout challenge
Originally uploaded by theresaashmore

My contribution to the Week 59 Crowabout Challenge at Flickr. Great group and I have so much fun creating these pieces. This is all digital. One day soon I'll actually create one with paper images. Right now though, digital is just too convenient :-) Happy Tuesday everyone!!

I won a Blog giveaway!!

I am so excited! I actually won a blog giveaway at Tumblefish Studio. Marsha Jorgensen is the absolute greatest and I've sung her praises before. Here's the excerpt from the Marsha's announcement at her blog explaining the prize:

"There are more winners! For the rest of you, I have drawn six other names to complete my part of two very special prizes I won earlier this year. One from Terri of Pringle Hill and one from Cathy of Reflections of a Ramblin' Girl. Both of these talented ladies had a drawing to win a surprise piece of art sometime in the year after the drawing. The recipients of the prizes had to also promise to pay it forward and send three more pieces of art to three other people. So, the six of you listed below need to send me your addresses as well so that I can truly surprise you sometime in the next 12 months with a piece of art from little ol' me. You may receive a set of limited edition prints, several ATC's or a larger original piece - time will tell and you will just have to wait and see. I may contact you just before mailing so you know to look for it in your mailbox. Now, you were not given the opportunity to enter into this drawing and may not wish to participate by sending on three pieces yourself. In this case, I say you can fudge if you promise to do three random acts of kindness in whatever way you can, whether it is sending art or doing something special for someone who needs it. I leave it up to you."

Isn't that the coolest?! It's just what my motivation and inspiration needed; to be asked to 'pay it forward' by giving away 3 pieces of art or doing a random act of kindness for someone who needs it. I can hardly wait.

I'll soon have my 100th blog post and in blogland, that is a big deal. I'd been wondering how to mark the event and now I know. I'll come up with some way to choose a winner and be thinking of some sort of prize that will be worth winning. Maybe a collage or maybe a few vintage images from my stash. I'll try to think of what I'd like to be surprised with and do something along those lines.

It will be an honor to participate in my own giveaway; I've had so much help from selfless souls who have been so patient with my questions. If I can brighten someone's day for even 5 minutes I'll be delighted knowing I did even that. My family and I have been so blessed with good health and loyal family and friends; it's truly a privilege to simply be able to 'be nice' to someone just because I want to.

DH has 'the crud'. That's what we've always called it in our house; it covers a cold, flu, bronchitis, whatever we happen to have. This is his 2nd round with it and I certainly hope he kicks it soon. AND I hope I don't get it again; I'm getting over my mild case finally. I'm trying to stay away from him but that's kinda tough to do.

Well, I'm off to think of what I can do for my 1st giveaway and to mark my 100th blog post coming up very soon. Happy Tuesday!!

Please click on the date/time to leave a comment. A Blogger 'glitch' :-)

Not exactly a race fan yet, but...

I did enjoy going to the race and having that experience. I may never do it again but I did have a good time. I really felt crappy the entire trip there; this cold that's hanging on. I was afraid a couple of times I was going to have to ask DH to stop and pull over for a while. I made it though and after getting outside and walking around some I felt alot better.

The race was loud, colorful, fast, dull at times, filled with a lot of wrecks, oh, did I saw LOUD!! I had earmuff type ear protectors and they helped a lot. Truth is, they were off more than on. Every 10 or so laps there would be a wreck so the next few laps would be fairly slow til they got the track cleaned off. DH's man, Kyle Busch, came in 2nd place and he was fairly happy with that. We didn't stay for the Bucky Covington concert afterward but headed on home.

Of course, I HAD to get him to take me to the bookstore when we went thru Southaven and just HAD to get two of my favorite Stampington magazines; got the newest Digital Studio and the latest Somerset Memories. I get Somerset Studio by subscription now so I got out of there with only two. I wanted to buy a couple more but held myself back. I wish we had a big bookstore in town but it may be a good thing that we don't. I probably couldn't resist.

DH is getting a cold now and I'm not totally over mine yet. I'm saying it's a cold because I don't want to call it the flu. I did miss work Wednesday and am definitely better but not well yet. Of course, sitting out in the grandstands at the race in the heat and then walking in a cool wind about a mile back to the vehicle probably didn't help. Ah well, we only live once. At least my back and fibro have been better.

Happy week!!

Please click on the date/time to leave a comment. A Blogger 'glitch' :-)

week 58 Crowabout challenge

week 58 Crowabout ATC jpg
Originally uploaded by theresaashmore

My 1st entry in Crowabout's Weekly Challenge at Flickr.com. This is my first time to join a challenge group and I thought about a lot of them before deciding I'd like this one. I've admired many of the artists who already participate for a long time. I hope I learn a lot just by being in closer proximity to these wonderful creative souls. My greatest wish is to grow and learn and create more and more and at a much more frequent pace.

A giveaway from Collage Visions

If you like collage sheets then you've gotta check out this blog:

http://collagevisions.blogspot.com/2009/10/blog-candy-chance-to-5-digital-collage.html

She has an Etsy shop with some fantastic digital collage sheets and she's got a contest going with the grand prize of 5 free collage sheets. I love looking at her blog and her sheets. Very inspiring. Check out this generous offer for yourself; good luck!!

Husband and I are going to the NASCAR race in Memphis tomorrow. It's a Nationwide series race (whatever that means). My first race and he is so excited about us going. I'm happy to be going to something that makes him happy; we'll leave it at that LOL!

Happy weekend!!

Please click on the date/time to leave a comment. A Blogger 'glitch' :-)

Party update

The anniversary party was a big success; a good time was had by all. We had between 70 and 80 people and ALOT of food. I took over 100 pictures and DH got quite a few on his camera too. I did end up with a family photo; Mom and Dad and their 3 kids. I'm the oldest with a sister younger by 3 years and a brother 7 years younger than me.

Please click on the date/time to leave a comment. A Blogger 'glitch' :-)

Sisters - free for personal use vintage photo

Here's a vintage photo from my personal collection. This is my sister and I. Photo taken around 1966, '67 or so. Free for personal use only; please do not add to a free or for-profit collage sheet and please do not offer 'as is'. A link back to me is appreciated. I'd love to see how you use it if you choose to.

Hope everyone is having a good weekend; I'm working on photos for the anniversary party for Mom and Dad that's coming up next Saturday. I can hardly believe it's only a week away now! Everything is pretty much set other than printing out photos to use for decorations on the tables. And of course, I've got to cook/assemble whatever food items I'm contributing to the feast. DH is a good cook and I may put my delegating hat on along with 'that look' and a big fat 'Please, baby' :-) Works almost every time LOL!

Have a blessed and safe Sunday!!

Please click on the date/time to leave a comment. A Blogger 'glitch' :-)

Freebie vintage image

Second image of Martha Vance. Apparently she was not the owner of the old photo album I bought but she must have known the owner quite well. Enjoy this image with my compliments. I'd appreciate acknowledgment as the owner and would love to see how it's used. Have a great Tuesday!!

Please click on the date/time to leave a comment. A Blogger 'glitch' :-)

Free to use vintage image

I bought an old photo album at a local antique/junk shop and it had several photos in it. I'll scan and share them here. This image is free to use in your art in any way you see fit. The note with the image states that her name is Martha Vance and it was taken in 1945. I'd appreciate credit for the image if used and I'd love to see what you do with it.

I cleaned and rearranged in my craft room all day today. It's finally to a point that I can actually work in there. I have way too much stuff. I'm tossing a bunch of stuff in a box that I plan to get rid of in one way or another.

Enjoy the image! God Bless You :-)

Please click on the date/time to leave a comment. (A Blogger 'glitch' :-)

Dull days

Nothing to blog about. No photos. Hope everyone enjoyed the hummingbird videos from the last day or so. They're still here drinking up the sugar water. We've had better luck making our own rather than the stuff you buy. The birds like our recipe better.

The weather has been gorgeous the last couple of days. I'd much rather have been outside, maybe in the boat fishing, than be at work behind a desk. I wish it could be this temperature year-round. I love it when it's cool at night, in the high 40's, and then gets to about 78 during the day. Perfect, perfect weather.

Maybe inspiration will strike and I'll have something fantastic to post next time. Anyway, life is great; go out and enjoy it!

Please click on the date/time to leave a comment. A Blogger 'glitch' :-)

Hummer video #2 - Sept 28, 2009

Hummer video #2
Originally uploaded by theresaashmore

Nelson's best video of tonight with alot of hummers playing around. They jump on each other's backs and push each other off the perches; just incredible footage. He's patient enough and stays on the back deck smoking enough that the hummers have gotten used to him being there. They're not scared of him at all and they let him get really close.

closeup #1 - Sept. 28, 2009

closeup #1
Originally uploaded by theresaashmore

Nelson took this photo tonight, along with some videos. The videos are really incredible. At least 20 birds and maybe more just buzzing around and knocking each other off the feeder perches. We love watching them!

A border freebie

I have had so much fun visiting blogs and lifting freebies from sooo many talented people. Here is my first freebie that was personally created by me from start to finish. Just playing around with PSE and finding out just what it will do if you work at it long enough. I've still got a lot to learn about it but the process is certainly fascinating. Enjoy it with my compliments. Click on the image to upload the full size version. It's 2400x2400 pixels and 818 kb in size. I created these borders with ATC's or small canvases in mind; created on an 8x8 image. Please let me see what you create with it; that would really make my day for someone to actually use something I made :-)



Please click on the date/time and leave a comment. Some sort of blogger blooper. God Bless You!

New place for gorgeous digital collage sheets

I could spend HOURS cruising through Itkupilli's shop blog . It is incredible and she is so very talented. Check out her site and see her fantastic images. Her imagination is far greater than mine.

Am looking forward more and more to my parents' 50th anniversary party next month. The invitations go out tomorrow if all works out as planned. Now to finish up the decorating elements and figure out what to have the cake 'say'. Not sure if there is proper etiquette for an anniversary party but we'll figure it out.

Super slow at work right now. Since the 'Cash for Clunkers' program has phased out, business has slowed down to a crawl. I hate to be at work and not be busy. The time just drags.

Running errands and getting hair cut and colored tomorrow. Then, hopefully, if I'm very lucky, I can FINALLY do some art stuff! It's been so long. Too long!

Hope everyone has a great weekend!!

If you don't see the link below to post a comment, please click on the date/time to go to this post's single page to leave a comment. A Blogger 'problem' that I can't seem to fix :-) Thanks for leaving a comment so I can come visit you and leave some blog love! God Bless You!

My first Blog Hop Contest

I've never participated in a blog hop until now. I came across this one earlier today and thought it sounded like fun. Plus, I'm sure I'll find some new artists' blogs to visit. The blog hop rules are at Pro Marker Challenge so 'hop' over there and get started. Have a good time but I really hope I win because I could really, really use those markers. LOL!!

God Bless You!

Please click on the date/time to go to the single post page and leave a comment. Some sort of blogger thingy and I can't figure out how to fix it :-)

Monday again!

Work was a drag today for some reason. Still having rainy weather and it has me in a weird mood. Just don't feel like doing much of anything. I did go to Mom's and we worked on the anniversary party stuff some more. She printed out the invitations and they look pretty good. We couldn't get them centered exactly which drives my anal-retentive side nuts! But they still look good and they'll get the job done.

Hope y'all had a better day and that tomorrow will be fantastic! I'll be posting much more interesting posts as soon as I get this party behind me. At least I intend to :-)

God bless you!!

Please click on the date/time to go to the single post page and leave a comment. Some sort of blogger thingy and I can't figure out how to fix it :-)

Rainy Sunday

I'm working on Anniversary party stuff for next month and have no time to play with any of my art supplies. Unless it's for decorations for the party anyway. Today it's rainy and nasty outside so I'm working on pictures that I'll reprint and scatter along the tables in the reception hall. I'll sprinkle gold and black curly ribbon along with the photos to keep the decor simple but quietly elegant at the same time. Color theme is black and white with a few splashes of gold to tie in with the Golden anniversary theme.

Blake decided to stay at Ole Miss this weekend so it's been really quiet here at home. Guess the 'empty nest' syndrome should be kicking in about now haha

I'll share a picture that I really love. This is my parents in much younger years. I'm not even sure if it was before or after they'd married; probably after. I imagine I wasn't even a glimmer in their eyes at this point :-) I'm the oldest so it was less than 2 years after this was taken that I was born. I am pretty sure of that at least. I couldn't remember how to make the copyright symbol so it's not on here but I did post the copyright info. I really don't want to see this photo spread all over the web. I believe that run-down building on the left is an outhouse but I'm not entirely sure of that :-) I hope you enjoy it and it brings back happy memories for you too.

Who doesn't love a give-away?!!

While reading through some of my favorite blogs tonight, I ran across the one at Carol Anne's Boutique. She's having a give-away and you've got to go check out the neat photos of goodies up for grabs. While you're there, look around and enjoy lots of cool eye candy!

Long, tiring day today and hoping for an easy morning at work tomorrow so I can catch up on some things. Said goodbye to a dear co-worker who left us this week. I had started feeling like S. was one of my own kids and it's hard to see him go. My prayers are with him as he goes on with his life; I wish him all the best.

My prayers are also with all those with loved ones who lost their lives on 9/11/01. What a tragic day for our country! I remember exactly where I was when I heard the news. My oldest son is a Marine and it took me HOURS to get in touch with him that day. Perfectly understandable as the military was on standby to be ready for anything. But that doesn't matter when a 'Mama' wants to talk to her baby. Didn't matter to me at the time anyway. I am so proud of our service men and women who work selflessly to ensure our safety. That includes active military as well as any person in law enforcement or in public service. Love each and every one of you!

Hope everyone has a fun and safe weekend!

My first Etsy order arrived!

I ordered a print from Tumble Fish Studio a couple of days ago and it arrived today. It is gorgeous!!!! I absolutely love Marsha, the creator of all the wonderful art and owner of Tumble Fish Studio. She is beautiful, smart, witty and ultra-talented. I have admired her art since my first glimpse of it. I started following her blog and that's when I fell in love with her personality. Her art is my kind of quirky and every one of her pieces speaks to me in some fashion. It's very hard for me to choose just one piece to purchase but I had to start somewhere :-)



Please forgive the quality of the photo; I should have taken more time with it. I was trying to do too many things at one time, as usual. The print I ordered is the girl holding wings at the bottom of the stack. The text reads 'Just Imagine'. I love it!!! The other 4 images are postcards that Marsha threw in as a surprise freebie. I love them as much as the print and hate the thought of using them as actual postcards. I think I'll frame them as well; in a collage frame most likely.

Go check out Marsha's site at the links in the first paragraph. I can't imagine you'll be disappointed.

God Bless You

Having trouble sleeping

I can't seem to get to sleep tonight so I've been surfing and reading blogs. I want to share a copy of an invitation I'm designing for my parents' 50th wedding anniversary party. I've got the front designed so far and haven't decided if this is the final version or not. I do like the way it's turning out though. My aunt and my sister voted that it doesn't need anything else. I did go in and add one more image after their approval came through. I've read several times that a basic design element is to always use an odd number of items. There are 5 vintage images used on top of the texture image to create this card.



I used a texture from flickr but I can't remember whose photostream I found it on. I apologize for that and will try to find the creator of the image to give proper credit. The images are all personal family heirlooms. I'm not entirely thrilled with the spacing of the text but I played with it a long time and this is the best view that doesn't cover up a vital part of an image. The size of the finished invitation is 5x7 inches it and will be sent as a postcard most likely. The particulars will be on the back of the card along with the address area. I use Photoshop Elements 5 to create everything.

I plan to use these same photos as well as others and create several 8x10 prints that will be displayed on a foamcore base and set on small easels around the reception hall.

Mom is so excited! (This is not a surprise party.) I know she's about to pop wanting to help with everything because she loves decorating and planning parties, etc. But, she's letting me and my brother and sister handle it. It's about a month away so we've got a lot to do in a short time. The invites will go out next week (one way or the other). I think we'll be sending out about 100 invitations. I just hope we haven't forgotten someone who'll be offended to be left out. It's very difficult to think back over 50 years of relationships to create a manageable invitation list. I have picked Mom's brain for menu ideas because she's done snack type foods for tons of events. I've done a few but always seem to fall back on the old standards of brownies or spinach dip haha

My husband was very impressed when I showed him the invitation sample. He couldn't believe I had used a computer to create something that looks like this. I guess I'd never showed him a finished image that had much manipulating in it other than repaired photos. I think I surprised him a bit with my 'creative ability'. I'm quick to tell him or anyone else that PSE 5 will do amazing things if I can just figure out how to get it to work right LOL!

Hope you are sleeping tonight (if it's time to sleep in your area of the globe). God Bless You

Shopping trip and have a safe, fun Labor Day weekend!

Went shopping in Tupelo, MS today with Nelson and Blake and we had a great time. Went to Hobby Lobby and got everything on my wish list by way of some compromises. I had listed Caran d'Ache water soluble crayons but after seeing the price, I got a different brand instead :-) I'm just not artistically developed enough to justify (to myself) paying alot of money for supplies. Best find of the day was that they had rubber stamps (wood-handled variety) on sale at 50% off!! My definition of good news as I'd been wanting to add to my rubber stamp collection. I got 3 that I will definitely use and you will be seeing used in the future.

Of course, my favorite part of any shopping trip is the bookstore visit. And a jaunt to Tupelo nets not one, but 2, bookstores. There's a Books-a-Million 2 doors down from Hobby Lobby and there's a Barnes and Noble in the mall. Blake likes the bookstore as much as I do; he and I could happily spend HOURS, if not DAYS, exploring every corner of one. I really like used bookstores too. They're always a treasure trove of inspiration and creativity prompts.

We are off Monday for Labor Day and I am so glad to have a long weekend. I have so many things I want to get done. Blake is out of school Monday too and he and I will be competing for the laundry room Sunday and Monday. At least he does his own laundry and doesn't drag it home for me to take care of. He's loving Ole Miss; he says 'college is great, too bad classes get in the way'. I raised a smart-a**.

Enjoy your Labor Day weekend and God Bless You

Free for use

The image below is a close-up of three vintage products that I found at the junk shop. You are welcome to use this image for use in your artwork if you choose. I'd love to see what someone could create with this. I have some ideas myself but will have to jot down the idea for another time.

I'm working on addresses for Mom & Dad's anniversary party this weekend. I need to get a number for guests for my Aunt Kathleen as she's ordering the cake. Enough of my boring chat; here's the image:



Have a great weekend and God Bless You

Silent Secretary

Here's a close-up view of one of my junk finds from this past weekend. It's called a silent secretary; really a daily planner. The book is dated for 1961 but it appears that the previous owner used it for 1964 and 1965. At first glance, entries are not in any particular order.



Below is a close-up of script inside the front cover. It seems the owner was describing symptoms of "intestinal gas, belching, bloating and flatulence". YUCK! I hope they found something to help :-)



What I found really cool about stumbling across this book is that I was born in 1961, the year the book was printed for. Neat, huh?! I love coincidences like that. Always makes me feel the presence of God even stronger. I know, I know, I have an off-center way of looking at things sometimes.

Hope you enjoyed the images; there will be more soon.

Have a great Friday and God Bless You!

Junk Finds

Went junkin' last Saturday and found quite a few good items; all bought for less than $15! I can hardly wait to get some time to work on some ideas using these goodies. I'll post a big photo of all I got today and then post close-ups of individual items with detailed info in days to come.

Left to right: old newspapers, spools of thread (mostly wooden), old theater program, Father's Day card with personal message intact, metal bird, old report cards, vintage advertisement, a typed play [pageant] written in 1947, old tape measure, various product containers, bingo numbers and wooden checkers, wire egg cup (?), plastic baby ornament, spice rack.

I have found so many fantastic ideas and images on the web and now I want to give back to the web community as well. I also want to share some of my art too. I've done more collecting than creating lately and I want to change that.

My sister, brother and I are hosting a 50th anniversary party for my parents in October. That will keep me fully occupied until it's over and there probably won't be much time for creating. I hope to at least complete a few small items and get them posted. I've been putting it off for alot of reasons but I'm hoping if I get a few things completed and posted that it will unleash a torrent of creativity from me. Maybe this weekend I can get at least ONE thing done and posted :-)

Cash for Clunkers is over as far as anything we can do at this point. All we need now is for the gov't to issue some funds. Hopefully it won't be the nightmare some are predicting it will be. I'm just glad we're aren't as busy as we were. We've had a couple of days that we could actually get some 'normal' work done.

Nelson and I moved Blake into Ole Miss this past Sunday. I talked to him a few minutes tonight and he sounds so happy. He had found some guys to hang out with and had spent some time in 'The Grove' playing frisbee and just having a good time. I imagine he's got many more good times ahead. Especially since Ole Miss is known as 'the party school' LOL

Have a wonderful Thursday and God Bless You

Turning into my mother

I have the best mother in the world; she's wise, loving, understanding and a true vision of grace and beauty. I don't mind that I look exactly like her and I can only hope and pray that I age as gracefully and kindly as she has. I catch myself saying things or thinking things and then immediately thinking 'Oops, guess I'm showing my age' or 'Gosh, that sounds like something Mom would say'.

The event that brought on all this introspection is the glut of sex-themed content on television. I mean, it's bad enough that most of the so-called 'acting' on television is centered on sex. When I say 'acting', I mean the actual programs that aren't REALITY TV. I watch tv to get AWAY from reality most of the time, not see more of it! :-)

Is it just me or doesn't it seem that 90% of the commercials are using sex to sell everything from deodorant to vehicles? I don't think I'm a prude and I TRY to be 'cool' and not too 'old school'. I guess I've finally hit the point, however, that I'm just tired of being constantly shown half-naked, sweaty people jumping at each other in a commercial to sell a simple product like blue jeans.

I often think of my grandchildren and wonder how much they'll actually be exposed to in their young lives? How much of what they see and accept as 'the norm' would have shocked my parents speechless if it were aired when I was a child? Even the so-called 'children's channels' are showing content that I really don't want my grandchildren exposed to.

I fear for my great-grandchildren. With all that is allowed to be shown on television today, it won't surprise me a bit if there is no such thing as privacy or respect for a couple's intimate lives during their lifetime. It is my belief that the more we are exposed to subjects that 'push the envelope', the more accepting we become of yet a little more than our parents were comfortable with. This is a continuous journey that inevitably will end badly. The line between public acts and private ones seems to be fading too quickly.

Just my opinion and rambling thoughts on this Wednesday evening. Have a wonderful Thursday and God Bless You.

Forgot to post my progress!

How could I forget that? I weigh on Monday mornings and my 1st week I've lost 4 pounds. That's with no exercise (not proud of that fact). I have not been hungry and have snacked on low-fat munchies when I wanted something. This is definitely doable and I am so excited. I just want to stay motivated. Enjoying Jamie as my FIT buddy and posting my intentions and progress online will help too.

Since 'FIT' is a becoming theme for me and Jamie, maybe I need to start a free image habit too. I'll have to think about that since I don't have that many vintage images to post. Hmmm, wonder how I could manage something like that to keep the FIT theme going; maybe a free image on Thursdays? Something for me to think about and figure out if I want to work on.

Thanks for reading!

New friend

It is so gratifying to find a new friend and when you connect with someone on the web, it's even more miraculous. If not for blogging and cruising artists' sites, I would not have 'met' Jamie at Art-e-ology. She is so sweet and she and I are now buddies! When I blogged about getting fit and healthy she contacted me and now we are encouraging each other and having such a great time getting to know each other. We live several states away from each other but that just gives us more to talk about. I can hardly wait to check my email now in hopes of finding something new from my friend. Ironically, a feature on her site is 'FIT' or 'Free Image Tuesday' and now she and I are getting 'fit' together; life is strange, huh? I love it!!

I've met several people over the years through the internet and am really blessed to be able to call them friends. I met Lynette from Australia and she and I have had many interesting conversations both by email and by phone. I always learn something from her; she's one of the most intelligent people I've ever met. I love her Aussie accent and she loves my Mississippi twang :-)

I met Aimee from Hawaii through a fibromyalgia website and she had a tremendous impact on my life. She introduced me to many sites that gave me the information necessary to educate myself about fibromyalgia. More importantly, she helped me learn how to live with the condition and also to work while handling the symptoms of fibro. I will always have a special spot in my life for her; she's given me more than she'll ever know. She and I have lost contact with each other over the years but I will never forget her.

There have been others that I've developed friendships with and really enjoyed our time we had together but have since lost contact. I think people come into our lives for specific reasons; some will continue on with us as we journey through life and others will impact us in great ways but not end up being life-long contacts. While I would love to stay in contact with everyone I've ever met and developed a friendly relationship with, it's just not feasible. Not for me anyway.

Life is so full and so widespread that it's inevitable that we lose touch with some of our acquaintances. I've always been the type to have a small circle of very close friends and lots of 'casual' friends. My best friend, or BFF, is Linda who lives pretty close. She and I used to get together quite often but lately it's been longer and longer between visits. She and I have been through ALOT together and I do not know where I'd be today without her love, friendship and most of all her wisdom. At first glance, she and I are so different but once you dig just a bit deeper we're very much alike. She and I have a 'date' to get together next weekend.

Jamie and I are just beginning our friendship journey together and I am so grateful that we found each other. She has already brought joy and sunshine into my days and we have more good things to look forward to in the days ahead. She and I are both doing well on our get healthy quest and her encouragement is precious to me.

Treasure your friends; there are some people who have none.

God Bless You!

Cash for Clunkers

Oh my; I'm simply too tired to put into words how much work this government program to help car buyers has turned into. Cash for Clunkers is the program that the government came up with where if you trade in a gas guzzler for a new vehicle that gets better mileage, the government will allow you money towards that purchase. That's a very simplified description and of course there are a TON of hoops for the dealership to jump through since it's a government program. I'm sure it's a great deal for the buyer and we have sold quite a few vehicles but since I'm on the paperwork end of all these sales, it's had me in a bit of a 'tizzy' today haha!!

Just popping in to record my status with my 'Fit by 50' quest; so far so good. Yep, it's only been 3 days in all but that's 3 days that I was good rather than bad. I have not done any kind of exercise yet and with all that's going on at work, it may be a bit before I can. Stress of any kind, physical or mental, always hits me in my lower back. Guess that's where my weak spot is. After all the back problems I've had I'm not surprised. It sure does get old dealing with it though.

Actually I did have a great day and have been surfing a few blogs tonight. There is so much incredible talent out there; I'm just in awe of the beautiful art that's to be found on the web. I LOVE cruising around blogs I've heard about and then seeing what blogs they follow to find even more fabulous eye candy. Here's one I found tonight; hope you enjoy Nancy Baumiller's blog as much as I do.

Here's hoping you have a wonderful Wednesday and God Bless You!

OK, no more excuses!

I am starting today, not tomorrow, but TODAY! I am going to eat healthy and get fit. I am going to lose weight and get in shape. I will be 50 in two years and I want very badly to be FIT BY 50!! I just want to feel better and do as much as I can to stay healthy. I have 5 beautiful grandchildren that I want to be around to watch them grow up. I want to see their grandchildren graduate! Ok, that may be pushing it but I do want to be healthy and feel better. I want to not be so tired all the time. So, wish me luck and pray for me. I'm sure praying for myself and all the others out there trying to get healthy.

I've been blog surfing alot lately and if you have any time at all, you've just gotta check out Tumblefish Studio. Marsha is the most amazing artist and just the sweetest lady! Her post from today has a giveaway listed at Val Zdero Art. I am going to add her to my 'follow' list because she makes jewelry and just the type I like too. Good luck in the giveaway (but I really want to be the one to win haha)

Have a great week and God Bless You!

This Quote Makes Me Think

12 of {21}
Originally uploaded by fourfiftythree

I found this while cruising thru flickr and the quote is so powerful. Read it and really think about what it says. I want to write this down somewhere I can see it all the time; remind me to not over-stress about a situation. Just work it out. Pray about it.

Reminds me of another quote I picked up somewhere. Everything works out in the end or it's not yet the end.
That one's a real thinking prompt huh? I pondered on that one for a long time when I first heard it.

Like the Garth Brooks song 'Unanswered Prayers'. While our troubles, concerns, problems, what-have-you may not work out like we wanted or even like we thought, they still work out in some way or other eventually. Kinda makes it seem crazy to worry so much, doesn't it?

Just me rambling.

Has this ever happened to you?

Yesterday and today have had some weird happenings. Someone called my office yesterday and when they gave me their name it startled me for a moment. She said her name is 'Theresa Boyette'. Well, that is my maiden name. I was actually struck speechless for a moment. (Rare occurrence) Before she hung up I told her of the coincidence and she and I both got a chuckle out of it.

Later last night I was reading one of the 'Ya Ya Sisterhood' novels and the name 'Boyette' is used for one of the background characters. This had me thinking if the name is actually of French heritage like I've heard from distant family members. Louisiana Cajun country is the setting for the Ya Ya novels so it's quite possible.

THEN TODAY, I was cruising some of my favorite blogs when I stumbled across someone with the last name 'Boyett' which is the spelling most of my family actually uses. We use the 'e' at the end because my Dad stumbled across his birth certificate when I was around 11 years old and he noticed that his name did indeed have an 'e' at the end; we ended up changing the spelling of our last name when I was almost a teenager. Enough to confuse anyone, huh? :-)

It's almost a deja vu feeling for me to run across an unusual name like that 3 times in just a short time; less than 48 hours. Not really deja vu but I don't know what other word would describe it. A definite coincidence or is it? I've had similar experiences before though not with my name. It makes me wonder if there's something God's trying to tell me or bring my attention to. I have been extra-sensitive to the little happenings today; trying to figure out if there's a message not immediately apparent.

I even felt my stomach flutter when I ran across the blog comment of the woman who shares my last name. I left a comment at her blog just to say hello and tell her of our shared name. Are we connected by a bloodline? Who knows. I just know it's not a very common name; not in this area at least. It's always been a name I'm proud of even though some of my relatives may not be the type you would drag around with you to show off to those you want to impress. LOL I'm sure there are relatives who feel the same about me :-)

Have a great weekend and God Bless You

Weird creatures

I don't know if the South is the only habitat of these insects or if they thrive all over the place but these have got to be one of the strangest creatures on the face of this earth. It's extremely difficult to catch one in a position where I can actually get photos but we got lucky with this one. People probably walk right over or right by them most of the time because they look exactly like a stick. I'm posting two photos here; the first one shows my husband pointing out the back end of the bug and the other pic shows the antennae better.




Strange, huh? I don't know what their proper name is but we've always called them stick bugs.

Anyone else got pics of weird or strange creatures? I'd love to see them.

Grandkids are gone and it's too quiet!

All the grandkid-lets left on Sunday and it's been so very quiet here this week. It's been rather slow at work til the last couple of days (Cash for Clunkers is CHAOS!). I've been reading blogs and envying others' way with words and their artistic abilities. Sitting in envy is not getting any crafting done at my own house either, let me tell you!

I'm reading the 'Ya-Ya' trilogy and I can't believe I've waited this long to read these books. They're wonderful! I'll definitely have to keep an eye out for Rebecca Wells' novels. My maiden name is even one of the names she uses in the 2nd book which makes me wonder if I am indeed of French heritage. I'd heard we were but noone in the family seemed to know for sure. At least noone I've ever talked with about it. Wonder if that's why I've always felt drawn to coastal Louisiana and the Cajun dialect has always held a fascination for me? If it weren't so blamed hot and humid down there I think I could be happy living down there in the N'awlins area. Not the Bourbon Street side of the city, but the old and decaying parts that reek of history and dark secrets.

I have to work tomorrow for half a day and then need to pick up some groceries. It's the 1st day of the month though which means the stores will be wild. AND to top everything off, it's no sales tax day on clothes and shoes. I don't remember ever having one of those before so that ought to be interesting. I really have no desire to fight crowds but I need to get food and STUFF.

I'm thinking of trying Alli, the fat-blocking drug that's FDA approved. I know without a doubt that if I'm taking that I will NOT over-indulge on fat because of the 'treatment effects' that may occur. They sound positively dreadful and definitely not something I want to experience while at work. I don't want to get graphic but if you want to know about Alli, go to myalli.com and read up on the program.

I have a treadmill that I haven't been on in ages which is inexcusable. It's sitting right here in the bedroom and has done nothing but accumulate dust for months, many months! Oh well, enough grousing. Before signing off I'll post some pics of the kids that were taken while they were here visiting.




Our youngest grandchild just turned 1 year old and we went to his birthday party this past weekend. Here are a couple of pics; one of Sam and one of his sister, Sara.

Found quotes I like

Catching up on blogs I follow tonight and found a new one, Art and Inspirations . It's got some amazing photos and art featured there and is well worth checking out for yourself. She has some quotes listed that really caught my attention and are now floating around in my head searching for a place to land where they'll give the most inspiration and be remembered for more than a fleeting moment.

"It is not length of life, but depth of life." ~Ralph Waldo Emerson
"Your talent is God's gift to you. What you do with it is your gift back to God." ~Leo Buscaglia
"Life is a great big canvas, and you should throw all the paint you can on it." ~ Danny Kaye

I especially like that last one and would love to get some time to do exactly that; throw some paint (or glue, or colored pencil, etc.) around. I have been talking for so long about working in collage and mixed-media but have yet to put that 'talk' into action. It seems that every single moment is taken up with something that takes priority over my crafting. I should not let that happen so often; crafting and the act of creating something, anything, feeds my soul as well as my heart. Even if whatever I'm working on turns out horribly, I still feel gratified to have made the attempt.

DH (darling husband) and I now have 2 of the other grandkids with us; we traded Payton for his older brother and younger sister. Lance and Adelyn came late yesterday afternoon with their other great-grandparents and Payton went back home with them for the rest of the kids' stay here in MS. It's good that we live close enough to each other that we're able to do that; gives all us 'grands' and 'greats' the chance to visit with all the kids.

Lance is 6 and Adelyn is 3; both of them are much more active than their 5 year old brother Payton. These 2 definitely keep us on our toes but are so much fun to spend time with. We all went to Wal-Mart to buy groceries tonight and now I'm completely worn out. Work was not all that busy today but keeping up with those 2 younguns zapped what energy I had left. I wouldn't have it any other way.

My son and his wife, the kids' parents, will be back in MS tomorrow and will be leaving with all the kids sometime on Sunday. They'll be moving to North Carolina within the month so it will most likely be a long time before we see them again. Emails and phone calls will have to suffice for a while.

Well, enough rambling. Now I'm going back to catching up on blogs while 'Wall-E' plays in the background. Lance wanted to watch it as he falls asleep. I think this makes the 3rd time we've watched it since last night :-)

God Bless You and have a great weekend!

Important Notice

zetti_piracy
Originally uploaded by theresaashmore

Due to negative actions that a friend of mine experienced, she came up with this graphic to post on blogs, etc. of artists of all types. The link information that must be posted with the graphic is important too so if you'd like to use the graphic on your blog, please get the image and accompanying link information from this flickr site. The link if you want to cut and paste it into an email, etc. is http://www.flickr.com/groups/stopartpiracycampaign .

Take a look at the other images available at the flickr site too and remember that artists work very hard on their creations. Please don't take either the image or their ideas and claim them as your own. This is very important to anyone involved in the arts no matter what form their talents take.

I'm spending time with Payton tonight; we've watched a Thumbelina movie and are now watching Arthur and the Invisibles. These children's movies are much better than anything that's been on television lately.

God Bless and have a great evening!

Grandkids are wonderful!

payton_laughing
Originally uploaded by theresaashmore

This is our 5 year old grandson, Payton. He's staying with us for a few days while his parents look for housing in North Carolina, their next duty station for the Marine Corps.

Payton is so much fun to be around. He's always happy, always laughing. I'm certainly going to miss him, his older brother and younger sister when they're in NC rather than Alabama. NC is a much longer trip from Mississippi.

God Bless You

Granddaddy B and Addy

Granddaddy B and Addy
Originally uploaded by theresaashmore

This is a pic of my Dad and my granddaughter, Adelyn. I guess men and their 'girls' have a special bond because my Dad is a different person around his granddaughters and great-granddaughters. Addy is a delight; a very good child and easy to keep entertained.

Payton is staying with us this week and we are having so much fun. He and I are watching Spider-Man right now. Of course, I'm blogging at the same time and can handle both tasks simultaneously because I've seen Spider-Man so many times already. In fact, this copy is on VHS and I have the only VHS player in the house in my bedroom so that's where we are. Hard to believe anyone even watches anything on VHS anymore but here we are :-)

Payton's laughter is something I would pay any amount I could come up with to hear. It's infectious and one of the most beautiful sounds on this planet. All 5 of our grandchildren are extra-good kids; all of them are so very well-behaved. I guess most grandparents feel that way but we really have been very blessed. I thank God that our kids and grandkids are healthy and happy.

Work was great today; I got alot done and everyone was in a pretty good mood. I am so glad that I enjoy my job; I've worked at places that I really did not enjoy my co-workers or the atmosphere and it is a miserable experience.

Payton decided he was ready to go to bed so he's gone over to my Mom's house aka Grandma B. We're letting him sleep over there so he doesn't have to get up so early with us going in to work. Mom and Dad are retired and they love having him over there with him. He's so easy to see after that he's the easiest one for them to keep. His brother and sister are more 'lively' and harder for Mom and Dad to keep up with. Hard for this 'Nana' to keep up with too lol

God Bless and have a great Tuesday!!