Day 58

I found my camera.

Years ago, Coke came out with Diet Vanilla Coke. I fell in love with it. Apparently, I was the only one. They stopped making it. But, Pepsi still made a diet Vanilla product. Then, it went away. I found that it was only St. Louis that didn't have Diet Vanilla Pepsi. Anytime Scott went out of town, he picked me up more DVP. When I went to visit my parents, I bought as many cases as I could find. Then, it started disappearing from other places. I thought that it was gone for good.

Imagine my joy when, while shopping at WalMart, I looked down and found this!! Diet Vanilla Pepsi is available in St. Louis!!! I'm happy again!

I can't find my camera

I took my pic of the day yesterday & now it's dissappeared. Gotta be in the house somewhere. I'll find it eventually!

Day 57

I GOT HIM!!! I've been trying to get pic of this cardinal all winter!! Everytime I move to get my camera or open the back door, he flies away. Well, I saw him when I got out of of the car today & he was still there when I grabbed my camera. When I got inside, I walked on the back deck, to see if he was there. He was. Isn't he pretty!!

Day 56

I posted this on my Facebook account & thought I'd use it for my picture of the day.

This is my "light gun". I can not toss out a $2 set of Christmas lights! I have to fix them! I had a little $3 light tester that I used but the batteries went dead. In past years, it has been cheaper & easier to replace the tester than the batteries. Well, this year I couldn't find a replacement tester so I bought this fancy pants (expensive!) thing. I thought it was a bunch of bunk!! Well, the first time I used it, IT WORKED!!!

You plug an empty light socket into the gun (just in front of the trigger) and pull the trigger. Sometimes you have to pull it a few times. Then, usually, the whole set magically lights up. Then, you can replace the burnt out bulbs & all is good. I figure it must be satan's work but dad says it's all understandable & proceeded to explain it to me. It's satan's work!! It doesn't always work (I had to toss a set of white lights that I keep on year round above my cabients earlier this week.) but it works often enough to make me happy. Plus, if this gun doesn't fix the lights, I figure I can now toss them w/o guilt!

Day 55

Scott & I got new Debit cards in the mail plus I got a new Macy's card. Hmmm, I wonder if anyone can see my card numbers & steal my identity from this pic???

Day 54

This is how I spent a good portion of my day: moving digital elements to more descriptive folder. I had previously downloaded a TON of free kits from 2Ps in the hopes of (finally) getting PhotoShop. Well, I wanted to use a brush the other day & could not find it anywhere. I have the elements arranged in complete folders; the whole kit together. So, I left that arrangement as is but I ADDED a color folder & each embellishment in it's own separate folder. That way, I can find the digital tag I want & I can also add the whole kit.

This is all if/when I ever figure the whole PSE thing out!!!

(BTW, after spending today doing this, I found an article in CK about how to organize your digital stuff. I guess I'll read that & see if I want to change the whole kit & caboodle)

Day 53

Don't it just figure??? We turned the van over to 100,000 miles today. I took a pic before we left home & was going to take a pic of 99,999 & 100,000. But, in the mean time, my kids took about 50 pics, just goofing off. When I got my camera back, at 99,997, the battery was DEAD!!! I took the pic w/my phone but I have to buy a micro SD card to get them out. I wanted to actually do a s/b page on this. And I bought a cute Changito stamp to go w/it. Oh well. Best laid plans. And, the car is ready in the next couple months.

Day 52

Woke up to SNOW this morning. I'm sure it'll all be gone by 10am. Pretty coming down tho.

Day 51

COLD has moved back into the area. The car was pretty frosted this morning (since I'm out of work, I've been taking the car to drive the kids to school. Saves a tiny bit on gas & I'm trying to save every penny until I know where my life is heading!) Scott went to pull the van out of the garage (a intricate dance if you try to keep the cat from running OUT of the garage) and he scrapped my windows for me. But, he didn't scrape the sunroof (as if I would have if I had scrapped the car. LOL). This is the veiw from the inside of the car out the sunroof. PRETTY!

Day 50

Lookie!!! A post ON TIME!!! Will wonders never cease?

My kids go to school in South Roxana IL. I never thought much about it growing up but I'm guessing not everyone had a bunch of refineries in thier back yard. The smell is not the most pleasant in the world. You'd think we'd have lower gas prices, huh?

Day 49

Homemade Coconut Cream Pie!! YUM!! I LOVE CCP. I posted a month or so ago about buying one from Josephine's. It wasn't very good. So I made my own. I think the difference is the crust. It needs a substanial crust w/enough salt to counteract the richness.

I cut the pie VERY CROOKED tonite. Oh well, since I'm the only one eating it, doesn't matter

Day 48

I LOVE popcorn!! I'll eat it anytime of the day or night. I don't love microwave popcorn! It smells good when you first pop it but tastes so icky like 2 minutes later. And your mouth feels greasy! So, we have a Stir Crazy popcorn popper. We buy loose popcorn (which is harder & harder to find anymore. For some reason, Walmart only carries it in the winter). When we go on family vacations, the popper comes with us. We even took it to the drive-in with us once. Yummy Popcorn!!

Day 47

Scott & I had to run to his mom's. He had to move furniture for her party, I had to "fix" her computer. As we were leaving, I noticed Jack. He LOVES to sit in this window and look out on the world. I'm sure its a coincidence that most of the time, when the whole family is out, he's sitting in this window watching for us to come home. Yes, I know he's a cat & doesn't give a rip about us & couldn't care less if we were home or on the moon. BTW, if we don't leave the blinds open for him, he goes over & hits them w/his paw until someone comes & opens them for him. Or, he bends the blinds & sticks his head thru them anyway!

Day 46

I have a beautiful cardinal couple in my back yard but I can never get pics of them. As soon as they see/hear me open the door, they fly off. I really want a pic of those birds!! Anyway, as a typical Sunday morning, we were sitting in the dinning room reading he paper when the kids asked what kind of bird was out on the telephone pole. My mom insisted it was an owl but I know it was a hawk. He didn't mind getting his pic taken. In fact, after I got his front, he flew to the other pole & let me get his back. How sweet. Wonder if he caught the mole that's destroying my yard?? I hope so!!

day 45

Toilet Cake! Sounds yummy, huh?? As always, there is a story. We were playing cards w/Tim & Sarah & my parents. We used to play all the time but my parents moved so they never get to play anymore. It's Valentine's day & my dad's birthday was yesterday. So, I made a cake. For some reason, the cat was VERY interested in the cake. Scott put the cat in the laundry room to keep him away from the cake. Jack did NOT take kindly to that & whined. I moved the cake to the top of my computer desk & let Jack out. He jumped up on the desk and Scott was afraid he was going to jump up & get the cake. So, he decided to put the cake in the bathroom and close the door. Hence, toilet cake.

In retrospect, it might have made more sense to put the cake in Scott's office & close THAT door. It was yummy!!

Day 44

Friday the 13th!! My dad's 69th birthday. My parents came up (over) from Bolivar, MO to celebrate dad's birthday. We went out to dinner (reservations for 13 on the 13th?!?!) and had a whole lotta fun! I could show you pics of my dad, pics of my kids, pics of my bros but no, this is what I show you to commemorate the evening: the garnish from my plate. It was pretty. The lighting is funky but I think you get the idea :P

I have a reason for no pics

My parents are in town. Since I have no guest room, they have to stay in the basement family room. I move my computer upstairs so I would be able to play online but all my stuff to transfer pics is downstairs. Yes, I guess I could take my laptop downstairs, download the pics & make my posts but..............Uh, there is no good excuse other than, I'm lazy! LOL More pics, maybe tonite.

Day 43

The Room Princess Strikes Again! You'd have to go back to my "regular" blog to understand this. Today I had to make cookies for a special event. My boss suggested I throw some sprinkles on the sugar cookies since VD is 2 days away. (Cindi, I thought of you & your glitter comment as I sprinkled "glitter" all over these cookies.) Anyway, I thought why not make some for Sarah's class since they are room mother-less. So, I made pink & red cookies for them to have on Friday's party.

I had taken another pic for this blog. I encountered a deer while driving to work. He just sat there (or maybe it was a she?) and waited while I got my camera out, rolled down the window & took the pic. Unfortunately, this is what it looked like after it was cropped. As Erin would say, it's POOP!! SOMEONE PLEASE SHOW ME HOW TO TAKE PICS!

Day 42

Today was the 100th day of school. The kindergarten had lots of 100 projects to do. I took this pic off 100 choc chip cookies in honor of the occasion. (the cookies will actually go to the Middle School for thier ISAT kick off. Former Gov Rod stopped us from selling cookies & cakes to elementary kids 'cause they are getting too fat. So, we can sell them fruit roll ups & gushers but no cookies. Go figure!)

Day 41

Nick's last basketball game. The couch (finally??) put the "b" team players in w/the "a" team. All the boys played, played a long time & got a chance to make a basket. Unfortunately, none of them made it but I'm sure they all had a great time!

Ok, this picture shows that I clearly need help taking pics at ball games (now that VB & BB is over!) I can't get good action shots unless I use the manual setting. The problem is I can't zoom in w/o loosing clarity. I thought I'd be able to crop & zoom AFTER the pic was taken; I can't. Even the fancy pants PSE7 doesn't help. Any thoughts???

I promise!

A new post & pics will be here soon. things are little busy. They'll lighten up later today!

Day 40

Driving home from the kids' school the rain started (on my nice clean van!!) The window was so clean (and maybe even treated w/something) that the medium rain didn't even require me to use my windshield wipers. The rain just beaded up & then slid off the windshield. It was really cool to watch. These pics don't even begin to show how cool it looked but, they are still pretty nice in my opinion.

Have I mentioned I LOVE rain!! I'd move to Seattle if I liked coffee.

Day 39

CLEAN!!! I finally broke down & washed the van (Scott has the car in KC, MO). It looks so pretty. It's supposed to rain tonite but, at least the top layer of crud is OFF!!

Day 38

Pre Sunset. It was overcast all day. The sun peaked out for a few minutes before noon but the temps were FABULOUS!! Of course, I spent the whole day in the house. Until I went out to get the mail & saw these cool clouds. Once again, the trees at the Holman's.

Day 37

The days are getting longer. Sunrise is earlier each day. Usually, when I leave for work, it's pitch black. Now, there's a hint of dawn in the sky. I'm weird; I LIKE leaving in the dark. Maybe I'm a vampire?? That would make Becca, the Twilight fan, happy. She wants us to move to Forks, WA. Unless you've read the books (which I haven't!) that doesn't mean anything to anyone.

Day 36

I can not keep the day # & the date straight. Would help if I would do one post a day!!

On Thursday, we still had snow. It was pretty much confined to the southern side of the house where Mr. Holman's house cast a shadow. It's supposed to get into the high 50s on Friday so, we'll see what's left.

By the way, on Monday, the StL groundhog DID see his shadow. If 50 is 6 more weeks of winter, I think at least my hubby will be happy! I'm still hoping or more snow days. We've passed the 5 day mark so all other snow days are considered an "act of God" and we don't have to make them up!!

Day 35

This picture kinda speaks for itself. FILTHY!!! It snowed here 8 days ago. I would wash it (and the van which is just as bad!) but there is still snow on the ground which means more melting (someday when it gets out of the single digits) and more ick. There is rain in the forecast in the next 5 days (the news was on in the background, I wasn't really paying attention) and we are supposed to get into the 50's?!?! From 9 on Tuesday to 50??? Really. What's wrong w/weather?

or Four, I'm an idiot!!

Ok, so I retried. While I was getting the error messages & all, I looked at my EHD where I download the pics to & the light wasn't flashing. Wait, it's not even ON! I unplugged my EHD from my comptuer yesterday when I restarted it (problems w/it rescanning the disk everytime I turn the computer on) and forgot to plug it back in. All is well, the pics are downloading & I will have post momentarily. Ever feel like a real dunderhead???

Technical Difficulties

I have pics on my camera. I went to download them this morning & I'm getting an error message. I'm afraid; VERY AFRAID. Actually, there are only about 7-8 pics but my last 2 days of 365 pics! I'm afraid that either a) the SD Card is shot (easily fixable -- can you believe how CHEAP digital media has gotten?? I remember paying over $200 for my first memory stick!) 2) the card reader in the printer is now shot (easy fix either buy a new printer (which I want anyway) and/or download via the USB cable) or III) my camera is toast (NOT A GOOD THOUGHT!!)

So, I'm going to try again in a bit (cause waiting will surely fix the problem, right?) and report back later. Hmmm, we have to drive to Edwardsville tonite for a basketball game. Best Buy is in Edwardsville. We have like 35 minutes to kill between school & the game. Things that make you got hmmmmmmm.........

Day 34

I love this pic. 'nuff said!

Day 33

This is my insane cat. He is under the stairs where I store holiday decorations. I had the door to this closet open so I could pick up the tons of plastic milk rings he plays with. They ALL seem to end up under this door (or under the couch but it's HEAVY!!) He's such a goof-ball. Cute, but a goof-ball!

Ignore the mess. It's supposed to look better than this w/all the stuff in those gray totes. But those blue boxes work so well!! The open box is my "light kit". I am insane and MUST at least attempt to repair any string of Christmas lights. Do NOT try to reason with me; I know they cost $2 but, why throw them away & waste money if they are fixable (even if it sometimes takes hours!!) I even got one of those new, fancy-pants (meaning EXPENSIVE) light fixer gun things. I'll have to post a picture of it soon.

Day 31

Long, long ago, in a galaxy not so far away, we played cards every Saturday night with Tim & Sarah. We've known them for nearly 20 years now and I really think we might be part of a dying breed of card players who play Pinochle. Scott taught me the game soon after we started dating. Let me tell you, I didn't pick up on it very quickly. We tried to teach my parents & THAT was a total disaster!!

Incidentally, we DID teach my parents the most STUPID game every created. The "real" name of it is "Oh Sh*t!" but there was no way my parents would learn a game w/that name so we changed it to "Oh Pooh Pooh!" It is sooooooo stupid but my hubby, my parents, Tim & Sarah and the kids LOVE it. I really, really hate it and would much rather play Pinochle. When my parents lived here we would play Oh Pooh Pooh w/Tim & Sarah every week. When my parents moved, we went back to playing Pinochle. Then Tim & Sarah (Hiram & Bernice as my dad liked to call them, I don't know why) got a summer "cottage" on the lake & spent every weekend there. Scott still plays cards w/his Mom, Aunt & Uncle every other weekend. We're getting back into the groove of playing w/T&S but, 4/15 the cottage will be open again.......