WOW!!

So, it's been a very long, yet exciting week so far. I started a new job on Monday; Mark had emergency surgery Monday afternoon; got him home Tuesday just in time to drive like a mad woman to get to Ryan's district final game in Spencer by 7 (i made it) and then back to Carroll to get Mark's car at the hospital and home by midnight and back to work at 8 this morning. I am looking forward to sleeping past 7am tomorrow morning. I have to go to work at 1 until 8 both Thursday and Friday. I have Saturday off from work but we are going to Fort Dodge to watch the Okoboji Pioneers take on St. Edmonds of Fort Dodge in the sub-state final for the right to go to the boys state tournament in Des Moines. Oh, did I forget to mention that Ryan's team BEAT East Sac County 53-50. It was one of the best games I have seen in a while at least the second half. I am so excited for Ryan. He works so hard and wants this so badly for his guys that I hope it goes well Saturday night. I work on Sunday from 9-4. I can't remember my schedule for next week but I'm pretty sure it's every night, but I can't remember. WOW, going from no schedule to a crazy schedule is catching up with me. I'll let you know later. I hope to get back downstairs either tonight or tomorrow before work. I will post some more photos then.... Take care!!

What a day!

So here was how my Monday went...first I was still awake at 2:30 this morning and my alarm went off at 6:40am. I left home at 7:30 this morning to head to Atlantic. I had First Aid and CPR from 8 till 12. Then my lunch, which I dumped my french fries on the floor of my car. They gave me the wrong salad and it tasted awful. I went back into the office for a little more info and that's when I got a phone call on the office phone. That was really strange, I thought. The coordinator said it was Sheila, she's my best friend. I had already talked to her twice so I picked up the phone and that's when she said it "Mark called me and he is at the hospital and he is having surgery at 4:30". That's when I said "What?" Mark's incision site had been red and a little warm over the last week or so. I thought it looked infected but what do I know. They had been really watching it at physical therapy and today, the lead therapist said she thought it needed to be looked at. Her mom works for the surgeon that did his surgery and so he got in. They tried to squeeze out the infection but to no avail. They needed to reopen the incision and do some exploratory surgery to see what was going on. I left Atlantic at 3:05, stopped at home and feed Gracie and headed to Carroll to the hospital. I got there an hour and fifteen minutes later and headed to same day surgery. I'd been there before... and I found Mark ready to go into surgery. The bad news is he had to stay overnight and get pumped full of antibiotics. He came through surgery just fine. The infection was contained to a nickel size area at the bottom of the incision under the skin. They scraped it out and closed it with four more stitches. He should get out of the hospital tomorrow about 5pm. Still not sure if we can make the trip to Spencer for Ryan's game or not. We'll just wait and see how he feels and whether he wants to make the trip or not. I got home at 8:30 and am ready to crash. So no progress on the studio but I did work on some of the inspiration wall.... I framed the photos I wanted and got a rug so maybe by Wednesday I will get some new photos. Well, I'm going to bed... I can't wait to see what tomorrow holds.

Promised updates

So here they are, at least a few photos of the progress. The table is the secondary table. My revolution and quickutz dies are over there along with my collections of Basic Grey paper. I love this paper and want it to be accessible at all times. There will be some tweeking done over here yet. I have some photos for inspiration that will go above it but I need to enlarge and frame them first. I also have sorted brads and some bling so they are easier to find ywhen I start to scrap again. I still say by June I should be ready to scrap.

I went to Des Moines with my friend Sheila on Friday night. We hit most of the favorite haunts, enjoying a free make and take at Memory Bound and meeting Addie. We had supper at Cheddars and enjoyed the time together. We haven't seen much of each other lately even though we live 4 houses from each other.

I have been working in the basement for the last few days and Mark came down and said that he could really see the difference and also said that he could see that it was more organized. YEA! I now have my stamping station set up and ready to go and the cutting table is ready to go...just need to get the cricuts ready to go down there. I have the backup table for my quickutz set up to go so now its time for the scrapbook table and the tool closet to get finished. Besides seeing the floor and finding the couch, the basement is coming around. So other than that, not much else is going on. Mark is "enjoying" physical therapy Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays. He also has ventured out to ball games on his own last week. I think he has really missed that fellowship with the other officials so it's nice for him to go and watch even though he'd rather be on the floor himself. Next year will be here before he knows it.

Well...until later....

Yep... it's 5 hours and another victory!!!!

So we went back to Milford tonight and yes.. we watched another victory! Yeah Pioneers!!

This was a hard fought win against Spirit Lake, their northern rivals. It was a big win and now they play in Spencer against East Sac County. (Wall Lake, Lake View, Auburn and Sac City) We will be heading up to Spencer on Tuesday night and hope to watch another victory. So I am going to work downstairs tomorrow... so I will have photos up tomorrow night. Take care...

Scrap room progress

I know I promised to post some updated photos but I still don't have anything photo worthy yet. Last night I sorted acrylic stamps and put the alphabets on the top of my clip it up. I thought that I would fill both tiers but that thing is amazing. It holds so much. I put words and sayings on the bottom and am no where close to filling it. I have only 6 clips left and I have 80% of the bottom to fill. I also realized that I have to use my stamps more often... i also found some duplicates. I have begun to set up some of my work space, FINALLY! I might be done by June or July. Well, I will take a photo or two tomorrow... Take care....Does anyone want to go to HuHot maybe next week?????

5 Hours in the Car and a VICTORY!

Well, as you can see.. this is where I was on Monday night. At Okoboji High School watching Ryan coach a wonderful group of seniors to a VICTORY!!!!! Yeah, Boji. The played Pocahantas Area Community... and won 71-59. The first half of the game definately was going the PAC Indians way... but after half time, the Pioneers stepped it up and played their game. I have really enjoyed watching this group of young men mature into a fine ball club. Tonight was nerve racking for awhile but in the end, it went Okoboji's way. So Thursday night, they will play Spirit Lake. Ryan's good friend coaches the boys and Okoboji beat them earlier in the season 54-50 so it will be exciting.

Before the game, I did get to give Brody and Griffin their Valentine's gifts and Brody opened his birthday presents. He was most excited over the John Deere gummi treats and the kite. Who knew it could be so easy...I think he will enjoy his I Spy game and other little gifts eventually! So that's my day...5 hours in the car and a victory! Gotta love it!!

Brody, the Ham

Yep, this guy is now 4 and we are going to see him tonight. We have his birthday presents and his Valentine's Day treat to take up. We didn't go to his birthday party in Spencer. It was too hard to make 2 trips in less than 36 hours. Mark has physical therapy in Carroll at 12:30 so we are going up from Carroll. Ryan's basketball team plays in Milford tonight and we are going to it too. I can't wait to see this little ham and Griffin. Ryan and Robyn are the bonuses so I won't be working in the studio so no new pictures of the progress until maybe Tuesday...until then...

NASCAR Begins

Today is the day...the one I've been waiting for for 3 1/2 months... NASCAR Sprint Cup begins. I know it's cars driving in circles, wrecks, fights, the speed, but exactly. That's part of why I love it. I think the drivers are adorable, the races are jam-packed, the fans are the best and I enjoy all of it! There are times when I fall asleep during the races and days I listen to it in the car but I thoroughly enjoy it. That's what I am doing today. I should be downstairs, but I really wanted to watch this one. Maybe later, I will go down there and work some more. Well, I neeed to go to Subway this week and pick up a gift card...I made a bet with Steve, my step-dad, he picked Tony Stewart (who I can't stand) and I chose Jeff Gordon. Tony finished 8th and Jeff finished 13th... Mom thought I should send send a sandwich instead of the card... I better send the card, don't you think?!? Until later....

Happy Valentine's Day!

Happy Valentine's Day to all of you! On this day all about LOVE I thought I would share alittle story about marriage proposals. My proposal was simple and it was 20 years ago today. No bells and whistles but the same outcome. Mark and I will celebrate 20 years of marriage in July but it isn't about me this time. This one is about Ryan and Robyn's proposal. His was wonderful... he'd planned it all out.. romantic and sweet. They had gone out for a romantic supper and a very nice restaurant in Waterloo. Then they went for a walk around a lake... it was one where they walked for awhile and then turned around and went back. There was a piece of paper wadded up on the ground. Ryan asked what it was and Robyn bent down to pick it up. She opened up the paper and it said "Turn around". Robyn did and Ryan was down on bended knee with the ring box open. Can you say "romantic"? I guess since it's Valentine's Day I'm feeling all lovey dovey and romantic. So for all those in love...congratulations! Enjoy it! Cherish it! This photo is about some of the loves in my life! Just what everyone needs.

February Snow

This was the view outside my back door this morning. Isn't it pretty!! Almost like a Christmas card.... the chairs are Mark's idea of a snow fence. I saw them yesterday and didn't get them picked up and put by the garage. Sometimes when you see something everyday, you forget that it's there... until I took this picture I kind of forgot about them. In the lower right hand corner of the picture is Mark's work car. Believe me, it looks better buried in snow. We start it every couple of days and let it run for awhile but it isn't going to get driven for quite sometime. We have had a quiet day, you can't really go anywhere when it is snowing 2" an hour. I think we ended up with 6-7 inches of the fluffy white stuff. Our friend Terry showed up tonight to shovel our driveway. It ended up being a "party"... Mark, Terry and I each with a shovel and the snow moved onto the yard. I am pretty sure that Terry worked the hardest out of all of us. We invited him in to eat supper and have a beer. It was Mark's first real company since his surgery. Terry had tried to come down to see him numerous times but Mark didn't really feel up to it so Terry came unannounced tonight. Mark is listening to Ryan's game on the internet and I am making my post for the day and then Gracie and I are going back downstairs to work on that studio. I got a reprieve on my done due date. I now have until March 6th. The original agreement was that the basement would be finished when Mark got out of his sling. After seeing the dr. last week, he will be in the sling until March 6th, so Mark gave me until then. He told me that while we were shoveling the driveway. I think he sees that I am trying so YEAH!!!! More time to go through things to give away.... anybody looking for things I may have. Just drop me a line and I will save them for you. Well... I'm in the mood to sort so until later...Tomorrow I will post some more updated studio photos. It's getting there!!

Time

Does anyone know how to change the time on these posts? It is really off and I can't figure out how to change it.

Mark's Owie

So here is Mark's owie. He gets to take his arm out of the sling a little at home so I snapped a couple of pictures of scar. After 3 weeks, it looks so good!!! The sterile strips will come off on their own, so they say. He's really doing good. He drove to physical therapy today all by himself. I wanted to work downstairs and I haven't felt that great the past couple of days so he went to Carroll without me. It was the first time he drove a car since his surgery too. Milestones all around.
Brody turns FOUR today... the 13th. Henry Helgesen's first birthday is today too. Happy Birthday Brody and Henry!!! I hope you both get everything you wish for. Have a really big piece of cake for me... get the piece with the most frosting too. It's always the best!!
I worked downstairs again today, sorting more and more patterned paper. I outgrew the shelves so I had to add more wires cubes and shelves. I think by Saturday I should be done sorting that paper :o)
I am waiting for all the snow to come... I don't know if it will be 2 inches or 8. One forecast says we will get 2-4 another 1-3 and if the path goes just a little north, maybe 4-8. I decided that we should be ready for 1-8 inches. That way I won't be disappointed. I'm hoping for a smaller amount so I don't have as much to shovel.
So until later.... have a great day!!!

Will I ever finish this?????

Sometimes, I wonder how I ever managed to scrapbook without all of these supplies. When I started scrapping years ago, I kept my stickers, embellishments, brads, ribbon, chipboard, flowers, you name it, in themes, all in quart sized ziploc bags. Eventually, I upgraded to gallon sized bags and now.... 37.5 quart tubs. The funny thing is there is the ribbon, flowers, brads and chipboard aren't in the tubs. They are in other containers... will I ever use all this? Want to know something else, I have 4 tubs that aren't even in the photo. How crazy is that? I spent last night sorting more paper. In yesterday's photo of the paper racks, the one on the right is now full of patterned paper and I have more to sort. My brilliant storage solution now has to be revamped. I have an idea so you will have to wait and see how I fix this problem. I have a constant companion when I am in the basement too. Gracie Lu really likes the basement. I don't know why because she will disappear for periods of time and I move to pick up more supplies to put away and she bounds out from underneath tables, chairs, tablecloths, I've found her sleeping in tubs under tables and curled up on Romanoff tubs. She's funny and makes me laugh alot! I guess with the mess I have I need to find humor wherever I can. So, the deadline is approaching for the completion of the basement... one week from Friday. I'm getting a little nervous. I don't know if I can do it... It sounded so plausible a month ago when I made the deal with Mark, but as the days go by and I don't see as much progress as there needs to be. Well, I better go get some rest.... my creativity is screaming to get out and scrap.... that's all the motivation I need...Till tomorrow

Updated photo of studio...in progress

Well, you can see the floor and that's a start!! I have a couple more photos if I can get it to upload them. Yesterday it was 61 degrees and today it 31 with lots of wind. There is a chance for THUNDERSNOW on Friday. That could mean we could end up with a foot of the white stuff. Hopefully, if that happens, I can spend my time in the "studio" organizing paper by color and manufacturer. I have 3 stacks about 18" high yet to sort and then I might be done... with paper that is. I think by summer I may be ready to scrapbook in the basement...aka studio again.

Well, if I don't get downstairs, I may never get to scrap again so I will sign off for now. Have a wonderful evening... Anyone for HuHot!!!! I'm getting hungry just thinking about it.....

Scrapbook Studio Before photo

Here is one of the before shots... I still can't believe all the stuff down there... but rest assured... I have made progress and many trips up the steps and to the garbage can. I have boxes of products; stickers, paper, chipboard, embellishments, albums, idea books, magazines, oh the list goes on and on and on. I feel like there could be a light at the end of a dark tunnel... especially now that I can see the floor which you will see in the next pictures I will post later tonight. (my battery was dead in my camera so I have to charge before I can take any of the studio the way it is now...) So until later....

Day #2

After Mark's surgery, I have my sleeping schedule all mixed up. I want to sleep in all the time and stay up all night. What's funny is that I woke up at 5:30 this morning thinking about what I was going to tell all of you. Mark will get a kick out of that because it takes an army to get me up and going in the morning. So, what to tell you today..... I have been working for weeks on my scrapbook studio. I call it that because it sounds more creative than "cleaning the basement". I have sorted scrapbook supplies and can I say "I don't need to buy anymore for at least 3 years!!!" Of course that won't happen but I can say it, right?! Anyway, I have enough "crap" to share with all my friends and will if they post a comment. How's that for a bribe. Seriously, I have more stuff than most small scrapbook stores. I have sorted embellishments into categories and paper into patterned and solids and subcategorized them by color. All my adhesives are in drawers and sorted by wet vs. dry as well as by manufacturer. Flowers have been dumped out of their cute glass jars and into plastic jars and so have the buttons. Ribbon is off the roll and into color-coded jars too. I have sorted brads by color... I don't think I will use all of these in my lifetime or my grandsons' either. I have sorted, re-sorted and sorted some more. All I really want to do is scrapbook!!! I made a deal with myself that I wouldn't scrap at home until my "studio" was done but.... it may never be done. I also see that Mark has posted on his calendar that the 20th of February is when I said I would be done with the basement. Now, a month ago when I said that I would be finished down there, it seemed like a plausible plan... but I think now, it was just a dream!!! Granted, you can walk and he says I am making progress, but finished in just 10 days...I don't know. I get my mojo going and it's gone before I get out of bed. So, I have rambled on long enough. I will post a photo or two of the progress later... until then ...

My First Time

Here it is... my first post in my own blog. Don't get me wrong... I'm pretty excited about this cause I never thought I had anything to say or anything anyone wanted to read about. I am not sure that I will have any followers but at least I can post for myself and a few family members.
Here are some of the things I hope I will accomplish with my blog:
1. Keep family up-to-date on what is going on with Mark and me.
2. Post projects I am working on.
3. Keep friends up-to-date on life's joys.

So, here we go... a new adventure