Mr. Flu

Mr. Flu bug stopped by my cozy cottage for a visit. If you know me, I don’t always welcome unannounced visitors with open arms. I much prefer that they call first. Mr. Flu did not take my preference into consideration.

It all started on Saturday morning. I had some congestion and a scratchy throat. I wanted to stay in bed so bad, no makeup, no fixing hair…I bet that’s a visual you could have done without. Hey, I’m a very visual gal and I believe that a picture is worth a thousand words. Anyway, back to the story. My parents were flying home from a week long visit with my baby brother in San Antonio. I was their chauffeur. I reluctantly dragged myself out of bed, showered, and fixed my face and hair.

My sister-in-law, her children and I headed to the airport to fetch my parents. When we had collected the parents and their belongings, we headed to my parent’s favorite eating establishment in the big city…Golden Corral. We could eat anywhere; but my daddy loves The Golden Corral. He says that everyone can get what they like…lol. As we left The Golden Corral, I commented that my body ached. It actually felt like I had been in a fight and someone stomped my chest; not that I would know what it would feel like for someone to stomp my chest, I’m just saying I hurt.

We arrived back at my place. I might have been a teensy, weensy bit anxious for everyone to transfer their belongings from one vehicle to the other and be on their way. My dad was somewhat confused, because earlier in the week I had whined that they (my parents) never come and stay with me for a whole week, it must be nice to be the baby. You know how it goes. Being the oldest is not always that much fun; even if it requires being the bossiest at all times.

Finally, Sophie and I could take some Advil and rest. No, I didn’t give Sophie Advil. Later I would learn that Advil was the strongest medication (over the counter or prescribed) in the house. Over the course of Saturday night, Sunday and Sunday night, I scoured the bathroom cabinet for Benadryl or something stronger with an expiration date of at least 2008. Not one Benadryl in the whole entire house; everything else in the medicine cabinet (if you call it that) had an expiration date of around 2006. When I used the last tissue on Sunday night and resorted to blowing my nose on Quilted Northern, I knew I must see my kind young doctor if at all possible on Monday.

The doctor asked me how long I had been running a fever. Fever? I have a fever? Oh that explains why, I would dose off to sleep, only to be awakened fifteen minutes later drenched in sweat. Did the fever cause the really weird dreams, too? Yes, I own a thermometer. A digital ear one. No, I had not used it.

I am grateful to my awesome PCP. He prescribed me a strong antibiotic and a cough pill. Today I began to breathe through my nose again and the cough is practically gone. Modern medicine rocks! I actually stood at my back door this afternoon and soaked in some awesome sunshine. This is quite the accomplishment; as I have not had the energy to lift my head off the pillow in three days.

Notes to self:

1. Buy tissues with lotion. There is a difference.
2. Keep a supply of Benadryl and Tums.
3. Stock freezer with frozen juice, ginger ale and ice.
4. Stock pantry with items other than Rotel, green chili’s, microwave popcorn, caramel sauce and Starburst Jelly Beans.
5. Buy lots of Lysol - the big cans.
6. Check the dates on items in the bathroom cabinet, the pantry, the refrigerator. Most items have expiration dates!

Be Blessed!

Bag Woman

It is so hard for me to pass up cute tote bags. I have a bunch and I love them. I found a cute one on clearance at Ross a couple of weeks ago for $2.97. Did I need it? No. Could I pass up such a great deal? No. I can’t help it.

I recently bought a laptop. When I bought the laptop, I did not think it would be difficult to find a cute bag to carry it in. Mind you, I did not want a plain old practical black bag. I wanted a CUTE bag. So I headed out to Ross in Lubbock in search for a bag. No luck. They had some cute bags, but not one in which my new purchase would fit. Bummer! Oh well, I was headed to El Paso, surely there would be a cute laptop bag with my name on it in El Paso.

I searched every Ross and Marshall’s that I found in El Paso, still no bag. I proclaimed my disappointment to my brother, telling him that I didn’t want some practical black computer bag; I wanted a cute bag. Now being the typical man that he is, I could tell he was ready to move away from this conversation when he stated that it wasn’t a purse; it didn’t necessarily need to be cute. Ughh…

One of my students always arrived to class early. One day she arrived with an awesome RED bag on her shoulder. She stated that she had heard me say that I was looking for a computer bag. She thought she would bring it to show me as her laptop is the same size as mine and it fit in this bag. I knew immediately that this was the bag I had been searching for. She said her husband gave it to her for Christmas, and he had purchased it at none other than J.C. Penney. I asked if she would mind if I copied her and bought the same bag. She told me of course not. So that afternoon after work, I found the closest J.C. Penney. No bag. I stopped at J.C. Penney at the mall. No bag. I was somewhat disappointed.

I returned home the next evening. While running some errands on Saturday morning, I stopped at J.C. Penney. They had the larger computer bags grouped together on a table. Hanging there on that table was ONE lone bag in the style I was searching for. I was excited, except that the bag was BLACK. I wanted RED. I took the bag off the hook and began to inspect it. Then I began to casually walk though the area, looking at the other purses and bags. Guess what? There on the bottom shelf all by itself was my RED bag. I could not believe my luck. I was holding the only two bags in this style in the store, one black and one red.

Now if you know me at all, you know that I could not decide which color to get. One of the bags had a sale price on the tag; the other had the regular price. I headed over to the counter for a price check. The sweet little sales clerk check the price…both bags were on sale…75% off. Oh how I love a bargain! One of these bags was meant to be mine, but which one?

Here is my new bag. What do you think? I LOVE it!

I’m traveling to Austin this morning for a week of meetings and training. Hopefully, I will be able to squeeze in some fun.

Blessings,

Charlotte

Mom

My sweet mom is seventy years young today. Mom is such a kind and giving person. She has always been my biggest supporter. I talk with my parents, especially my mom, every day. Not that I am partial to mom, I love both my parents dearly, but my dad doesn’t talk much. Oh, he will answer the phone if mom is not home and sometimes he might answer when she is at home, if he actually hears it ring, but if mom is available he usually passes the phone to her after just a few words. Anyway, mom and I had a conversation earlier this week regarding her birthday. She informed me that she did not receive a birthday card from me last year and she would really like to get one this year. I tried to remember if I sent her a birthday card last year.

I usually make everyone in my family a handmade birthday card. However, last year was a difficult year for me. Although I tried to remember birthdays and at least buy cards, I don’t remember sending mom a card. She remembered. I gave her a gift, but no card. I didn’t realize that a card would mean so much to her.

Mom quilted when we were growing up. She and my grandmother had wooden quilting frames that hung from the ceiling. I decided to use a stamp set from Papertrey Ink called Quilter’s Sampler to make mom’s birthday card. When talking to mom on the phone, I asked her what her favorite color is. She told me she didn’t know, she doesn’t have a favorite color. How can someone not have a favorite color? I finally asked her if I were making her a quilt, what color would she want it to be. After much deliberation, she stated sky blue. So here is her card. Happy Birthday Mom, I love you.

I finished the card late Thursday night, so the picture is not that great (no natural light). I also had to trim the quilt blocks with scissors because the square punches that I have are bigger than the blocks. Lucky for me, PTI has a square punch just the right size.

Many Blessings!

Charlotte

Catching Up

It’s hard for me to believe that it is the middle of February. The first six weeks of 2009 passed in a flash!

I worked in El Paso from December 29 through January 16. I’m blessed that I was allowed to travel home each weekend, but the time at home was short…just enough time to do laundry, pack and head back to the airport. There is only one direct flight from Lubbock to El Paso each day. When I fly on Sunday, I elect not to take the direct flight as it leaves at 9:30a. I take a later flight which takes me to Dallas then to El Paso. I’m not complaining; I would rather fly than drive. Can you imagine driving from Lubbock to El Paso…alone????

On January 21, I met my dear friend, Raquel, in Houston. We had a great time, just hanging out, catching up and attending the Proverbs 31 Girls Night Out. The GNO was hosted by KSBJ, a Houston Christian radio station. Lysa TerKeurst and Renee Swope from Proverbs 31 were there, along with Kate Gosselin and Aiyesha Woods. The event was sold out…4,000 women. Lisa and Kate even signed our books.

Raquel wanted to visit family in Austin before returning to Virginia. On Friday afternoon I took her back to IAH so that she could pick up her rental car and she headed to Austin. I shopped at Sam Moon (for the second time this trip...it was so close to the airport) then headed to Archiver’s my favorite scrapbook store. I returned home on Saturday very refreshed. It was a great trip, relaxing and insightful.

When I travel, my parents keep my baby, Sophie (a red Pomeranian). Because I travel so much for work, Sophie stays with mom and dad a lot. They spoil her terribly and I sometimes wonder if she thinks she belongs to them. My parents know that I miss her, so they brought her to see me on January 31. Sophie still knew who I was…I was thrilled. She does not like to have her picture taken. She runs in the opposite direction when she sees the camera (yes she knows what the camera is when she sees it). I never get very good pics of her. Here is one of the better ones.



My one and only niece (I have three nephews) also spent the night. She wanted to use my scrapbook supplies and stamps to work on a heart Valentine’s coloring contest. She did a great job on her project. I also promised that she could come back next Saturday and I would help her make her valentines. On Sunday, I headed to El Paso…again.

I arrived home late on February 6. Saturday morning, I ran errands. That afternoon my niece came over to make valentines. We die cut some hearts, she glittered and glued, stamped the sentiment and she had some cute, sweet cards. FYI…I now have glitter everywhere. Oh well, as long as she had fun. She had been to the hair stylist before coming to my house. We had to take a few quick pictures of her new do.

I dropped her off at her house on Sunday and headed back to the airport…back to El Paso for my final week. I arrived back home on Friday, February 13…I was exhausted and so thankful to be HOME. I have rested the past two days and I’m excited that tomorrow is a holiday.

I know this was a LONG post, thanks for your patience. The good news is, I finally bought a laptop…Whoo Hoo!! I am so excited. My goal is to post something at least once a week, maybe more...I may even post daily...

Have a blessed evening.

Charlotte

Joy

Here is the Christmas card I sent this year. I used my Cuttlebug and the snowflake embossing folder. I stamped the snowflake and sentiment using Papertrey Ink's Snowflake Serenade stamp set. I was pleased with the way they turned out.

Advent Calendars

I know. I haven’t posted anything in awhile. I worked in Austin for three weeks in October. Although I have a work laptop, I am not allowed to use it to update this blog. I was home for one week; then taught a class at my office headquarters. The class ended on November 21. I was pooped!

I get Thanksgiving day and the day after Thanksgiving as holidays. I look vacation leave on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday before Thanksgiving because I needed to chill. My favorite way to chill is to play with my stamps, paper, etc.

I had seen some cute altered advent calendars in a magazine. Right away, I knew I wanted to alter me a calendar. While in Austin I made my way to Archiver’s. If you are not familiar with paper crafts or scrapbooking, Archiver’s is an awesome scrapbook store, where I can easily spend hours. I found some alterable calendars there, but they were not exactly what I was looking for. You see, I had in my mind that I wanted a wooden calendar. Now all I had to do was find one.

One day while browsing through Target, imagine my surprise when I stumbled upon, none other than wooden advent calendars. I was so excited. I also had a crazy idea to alter not only one for myself, but one for my parents and each of my brothers.

I was ready…I had a project to complete. First I painted the calendars with Folkart Apple Spice paint; I added my favorite Basic Grey paper, embellishments and number stickers to the door fronts; then I put a small surprise behind each door. I was pleased with how they turned out.

Here are some pictures:

I started out with this.



Here is my version:

Happy Holidays!

Charlotte

Glittered Pumpkins

I love fall, the crisp morning air, the pumpkins, scarecrows, and hay bales. So, when a friend told me about some beautiful glittered pumpkins that she had seen on Martha Stewart, I just had to make some. Of course, I now have glitter everywhere! Even though they were a little messy to make, I think the end result was worth it. Maybe I will be inspired to drag out the rest of my fall decor. Happy Fall......