Dog Days of Summer Crop at Scrapadilly

Well, just because I haven't been scrapping much lately doesn't mean I'm not still hanging around Scrapadilly . . . and amazingly enough,  it's already the 3rd week of the month and time for another crop. Unfortunately, my schedule is such that yet again I won't be able to participate, but even if I can't take part, rest assured that Drea will be coming up with plenty of awesome challenges to inspire the rest of you.  Hey, you don't have to take my word for it - come Friday morning at 9:00, go here & check it out for yourself!!

Birthday Gift Ideas

Well, for those of you who keep asking me what to get Boyo for his birthday, I've been doing some thinking . . . certainly he'll love anything he gets - particularly if it comes from YOU! However, I thought that if I showed some of his current favorites, it just might generate some ideas for you.

As you can imagine, Ben has plenty of toys to play with, but - just like any other normal kid, the things he seems to like most are more along the lines of . . .

any of Pop's ties or, preferably, the green pen he keeps in his pocket -

Tags, tags & more tags . . . any empty container like a water bottle, part of a toothbrush holder, or various pieces of old plastic cookware.  Or Belle!

Oh, I almost forgot YARN!  I can't imagine where he developed his love for yarn (lol!), but he likes it in all sizes & weights & colors & "flavors"  - just about any yarn will do.

Last, but not least, this is his Go To fav - regardless of what's in or around it at any given time.  And No . . .  despite the name, it was a gift from Pops - not Michael & Erin:

Ben's Big-Ass Orange Bucket Toy Box:

So, I've done my part . . . the rest is up to you :-)  Go to the garage or closet shelf - or even an old junk drawer - I have no doubt that you'll be able to come up with something that he'll be delighted to add to his stash!!

Flowers, Anyone?

I'm just sort of ranting here about something that happened a few months ago, but I was reminded of it yesterday when I thought about sending flowers to cheer up a friend.  Now, over the years I have sent beaucoup bouquets for pick-me-ups, special occasions, etc. - but except for the blessedly infrequent funeral, I've never actually SEEN what I paid for.  

That all changed back in April, when Lara's mom had back surgery & Ben really wanted to send her some flowers.  I generally use 1-800-FLOWERS, but for some reason decided to go with FTD.com instead - I'll never make THAT mistake again, believe me!  Lara was at the hospital when the arrangement arrived & sent me a picture so I could show Ben what he sent his Grammy Sue. (Remember, it was springtime & the flowers were supposed to be cheerful!!)  

Here's what she got:

Here's what I ordered:

So, call me picky, but the only resemblance to what I ordered & what arrived was the vase & a couple of the roses!  I was soooo disappointed that I even called to complain . . . something I just don't do as a general rule.  The folks at FTD.com were very nice & apologetic, but they didn't offer to refund my money . . . the said they'd send a "generous gift" to compensate me instead. Their idea of generous isn't the same as mine, though . . . their $15 gift certificate off of my next order with them (gimme a break!) got thrown in the trash as soon as it arrived.

So, for now I'm a little gun-shy about the whole long-distance flowers thing & won't be doing that again for a loooooong time unless absolutely necessary.  You can rest assured, too, that when it ultimately happens, I won't be placing my order with FTD.com!!

Shout-Out & More Pics

First off, a couple of folks whom I love dearly have some heavy-duty "schtuff" happening this week . . . just wanted to give them a shout-out & remind them that I will be saying plenty of prayers on their behalf & sending positive thoughts their way.  You know if you fall into this category - please know also how much I care!!  ♥ ♥ ♥


Also, I still haven't gotten around to all of them (yes, there are literally thousands!), but I've gotten some more pics downloaded from various cameras to the computer . . . so I did a couple more collages of Ben.  I am chomping at the bit to scrap some of these - but on the rare occasions when I have the time, I don't have the necessary inspiration.  Someday I'll get my act together & just do it (seems like I've made that promise before, eh?) . . . in the meantime, here goes:

Happy Birthday, Pitty Pat!

Psssst . . . word on the street is that somebody in Colorado is having a birthday on Sunday . . . sure wish I could be there to share a little cake, play a round of golf, or just chill with my sweet, sweet baby brother!

I can't believe it's already been 6 years since Jann, Mary & I surprised you for your 50th - time really DOES fly, doesn't it? Besides everything else, that's way too long for me not to have been to Colorado & I guess I'm going to just have to formulate a plan to come visit :-)

Meanwhile, hope this is the most wonderful birthday ever . . . I love you to infinity & beyond!!

Where In The World Have I Been?

Yeah, well we're all going to pretend that it hasn't been OVER A YEAR (ARGH!!) since I've made a post to this blog.  All manner of excuses, of course, but two chiefly:

#1 - Some sort of Blog Poltergeist came in & messed around with the settings, and the format was all screwy, pictures were missing, etc., etc..  Despite my best efforts, I wasn't able to get it fixed back to the way I wanted it & every time I even thought about doing a post, I'd get frustrated & do something else instead.  Finally, today I decided to trash the entire thing & just go with a simple Blogger template . . . maybe someday I'll "fancy it up" a little, but for now at least I can write a little something every now & then without getting totally aggravated!

#2 - The main reason I haven't taken the time to mess with the blog is because I've been busy with more important things for most of the past year.  When I last posted, we were getting ready for the arrival of the most adorable child ever . . . and since he was born last July, I've been lucky enough to be his daycare provider :-)  I haven't even scrapped but a couple of times in over a year, but I did take time to throw together a couple of collages just to illustrate what's been occupying my time & energies lately.  Among other things, I'm woefully behind on uploading pictures to my computer - so these are just a few "older" (all from 2011) photos of His Majesty:

Yep, it's a tough job, but somebody's gotta do it . . . I'm just glad I'm the one who got elected!!

Hello, Summer!

It may be hard for some of us to believe that it hasn't been here for months already, but summer has officially arrived!  Fortunately for those of us here in North Texas, we're getting a little break to celebrate - it's not even supposed to hit 100 this week, and we actually had rain the other night . . . it's a veritable Nor'Easter!

Meanwhile, for a person with no job & no kids, I seem to be staying awfully busy . . . so much so that I've been worse than ever about not at least mentioning a couple of really important birthdays here on my blog.  So Happy Belated Birthdays to two of my amazing siblings - Joe at the end of May, and Mary last weekend . . . along with the ever-awesome Jaybird at the beginning of the month. Coming up tomorrow is the lovely Miss Kayleigh's birthday AND Mom & Dad's Anniversary - I'll be out of town (yes, again) so won't be around to send greetings . . . so please consider yourselves greeted - LOL!

I'm a little ticked right now since my CPAP's on the fritz, I dropped a 10 lb. bag of ice on my toe on Sunday, and last (but certainly not least) things aren't looking as good as I'd like for Jann to come visit soon.  I mean, if she's willing to brave this Africa Hot weather we're having, why can't the airlines just cooperate . . . what is with the airfares?! When I flew out there in April, it cost less than half what it would right now -  and it just goes against our religion to pay as much as they're asking these days.  I found one flight that I still can't believe . . . Alaska Airlines actually offers a 14 hour trip (beginning at 7:00 am), with two changes of planes, at a cost of only $1,317!!  Seriously?  I'm guessing that flight gets cancelled fairly often since there are several other options at significantly lower prices, fewer stops, and shorter travel times.  I truly don't know why they'd even put that on their schedule!!

But I know she'll get here eventually, and I'm looking forward to lots more great things this summer - beginning tomorrow when I head to East Texas for my annual scrapping retreat - WOO HOO!  Speaking of which, here are a couple of the layouts I've done recently . . . there aren't many since I've even been too busy to scrap.  But I plan to remedy that situation this weekend!

 (As always, layouts are linked to my Flickr gallery, where full credits are listed.)