Saturday, October 31, 2009

Ok so the reason I needed a dose of funny regarding the H1N1 (swine flu)

Oh my what a week of battles I have had with Rory over this terrible flu.

I am not one to play into paranoia over anything and as such although aware and an active participant in the steps to prevent getting the flu I do not prescribe to overreaction. Honestly I believe we have been surrounded by overreaction and it is driving me crazy!

I can't tell you how sorry I am to hear of kids and adults dying of this (and yes the speed in which this is occurring does scare me) but I also take a step back and realize that the numbers just don't warrant the reaction.

First argument.....my MIL, who was never a real fan of Halloween, was trying to convince my husband (also never a fan of the holiday) to cancel trick or treating because of all the germs. Now if you did this I can't say I understand but your decision to make. It definitely wasn't mine, hence the fight :)

Second argument.....my sister as I had posted yesterday caught the flu. She is fine but housebound for 7 days as per the directions of her doctor. As it turns out the day she went to the doctor her boyfriend was not there and my Mom took her. That same night my Mom was supposed to come for dinner and discuss some plans she needed help with. Well.....when Rory found out that my Mom was in the same vehicle as my sick sister he banned my Mom from coming to our house. Ummmmmmmm I DON'T think so, nobody bans my Mom but ME (never have, can't imagine I ever will) You see he called a local hotline we have here for the flu and they told him that because she was exposed that we shouldn't be around her for 7 days as well. Seriously people my sister had a towel over her face on the way to the doctor and a mask on at the doctors, and my Mom wiped down her car with alcohol wipes after my sister returned home.
So we weren't on good terms over this, I did concede that one after speaking to my Mom because we realized that nothing we would say would ease his panic over this. Rory isn't scared so much that he will get it but he is scared for the boys.

Rory sent me that picture with piglet I think as a gesture to let me know that even he knows he is acting crazy but he just can't get past it (one of the many issues he has had since the car accident, irrational thoughts). I have asked that as soon as he hears mention of the flu he turns off the t.v. or radio, maybe that will help us all get back to a bit of normal!!!!

Not sure though because only minutes ago he suggested we toss all the boys candy and buy replacements because of the potential germs....oh dear God please get me through flu season with sanity!!!! :)

Cheers

Swine Flu funny


Now I hope nobody finds this offensive because I know a lot of people have become ill with this flu (my sister, and two niece's included), but after I post in more detail tomorrow you will understand why this picture is a dose of funny during a very draining week.

Cheers

Monday, October 26, 2009

If you are 30 or older you will think this is hilarious!!!!

I was sent this today at work and just had to share it, I did find it hilarious.

When I was a kid, adults used to bore me to tears with their tedious diatribes about how hard things were when they were growing up; what with walking twenty-five miles to school every morning .. Uphill BOTH ways ...
through year 'round blizzards. Carrying their younger Siblings on their backs ... to their one-room schoolhouse, where they maintained a Straight-A average, despite their full-time, after-school job At the local textile mill ... where they worked for 35 cents an hour just to help keep their family from starving to death! And I remember promising myself that when I grew up, there was no way in hell I was going to lay a bunch of crap like that on kids about how hard I had it and How easy they've got it!


But now that...I'm over the ripe old age of thirty, I can't help but look Around and notice the youth of today. You've got it so easy! I mean, Compared to my childhood, you live in a damn Utopia! And I hate to say it but You kids today you don't know how good you've got it! I mean, when I was A kid we didn't have The Internet. If we wanted to know something, we had to go to the damn library and look it up ourselves, in the card catalog!!

There was no email! We had to actually write somebody a letter....
With a pen!

Then you had to walk all the way across the street and put it in the mailbox and it would take like a week to get there!

There were no MP3's or Napsters! You wanted to steal music, You had to hitchhike to the damn record store and shoplift it yourself! Or You had to wait around all day to tape it off the radio and the DJ'd usually talk over the beginning and messed it all up!

We didn't have fancy crap like Call Waiting! If you were on the phone and somebody else called they got a busy signal, that's it! And we didn't have fancy Caller ID Boxes either! When the phone rang, you Had no idea who it was! It could be your school, your mom, your boss, your bookie, your drug dealer, a collections agent, you just didn't know!!!
You had to pick it up and take your chances, mister!

We didn't have any fancy Sony Playstation video games with high-resolution 3-D graphics! We had the Atari 2600! With games like "Space Invaders" and "Asteroids" and the graphics sucked !
Your guy was a little square! You actually had to use your imagination! And there were no multiple levels or screens, it was just one screen forever! And you could never win. The game just kept getting harder and Harder and faster and faster until you died! ... Just like LIFE!

When you went to the movie theater there no such thing as stadium seating!
All the seats were the same height! If a tall guy or some old broad with a hat sat in front of you and you couldn't see, you Were just screwed! Sure, we had cable television, but back then that was only like 15 channels and there was no onscreen menu and no remote control! You Had to use a little book called a TV Guide to find out what was on!

You were screwed when it came to channel surfing! You had to get off your ass and walk over to the TV to change the channel and there was no Cartoon Network either! You could only get cartoons on Saturday Morning.

Do You hear what I'm saying!?! We had to wait ALL WEEK for cartoons, you spoiled little bastards!

And we didn't have microwaves, if we wanted to heat something up....
We had to use the stove or go build a frigging fire . imagine that! If we wanted popcorn, we had to use that stupid Jiffy Pop thing and Shake it over the stove forever like an idiot.

That's exactly what I'm Talking about! You kids today have got it too easy.
You're spoiled.
You guys wouldn't have lasted five minutes back in 1980!
And because we didn't have all those things, we went out and invented them.

Saturday, October 24, 2009

Wow, what an extra hour can do!!!!

Last week because I had some tests and appointments to complete I decided to make up the time at work rather than losing a holiday day. Instead of starting at 8 each morning I have been going in at 7. Should be no big deal! I mean I used to start work at 6:30 and have to commute approx. an hour to get there by then. Well I was terribly wrong, not sure if it's just that I am getting older or if my body is just used to that extra hour of sleep but I have been a mess this week! All I want to do when I get home is sleep, absolutely no energy. I'm not sick but I feel as ragged as if I were!




Speaking of sick, I am having a terrible internal debate regarding the H1N1 vaccination. It becomes available to us in B.C. on Monday and they (the government) are rolling it out in stages. My youngest (Brendan) is in the first stage, next is Trevor, and then Rory and I. I believe we will just wait for the final stage to get the entire family done in one appointment, that is if we actually decide to get the vaccination. This is my debate, do I vaccinate my children with something that I am not 100% confident in for the off chance they do get sick with something they could have easily fought off, BUT what if do not vaccinate them and God forbid they are the 1 in a million that does get really sick, oh I just don't know! If you have any thoughts either way I would love to hear them

Anyway busy weekend ahead ( I need to find my energy), all my boys have a dentist appointment (Dad included) today (my turn is next week, ick!), then off the pumpkin patch between rainstorms (oh I can already feel the gushing mud under my shoes, again ick!) and finally decorate the house for Halloween. In the midst of all this I must find some time to get ready for the upcoming craft fair in November.

Cheers

Tuesday, October 20, 2009

20 page custom scrapbook listing

I have again listed on ebay a 20 page custom scrapbook listing.
If you have tons of photos but no time to put your books together then take a look at this ebay listing (starting at just 0.99 cents).
This would also make a great Christmas gift or a perfect baby shower gift.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=370278051407

Here are examples of some of my past completed layouts:

Photobucket

Photobucket

Cheers

Monday, October 19, 2009

Stocking Stuffers - $5 and under feature

So I know I just finished a post on Halloween and not 24 hours later I am starting a stocking stuffer feature, but really, can you ever be too early getting ready for Christmas.

What I plan to put together over the next couple of weeks are stocking stuffer features. $5 and under, $10 and under, $15 and under, and last but not least $25 and under.

So here is the first of the bunch.



Fishy Soap for Kids
http://www.soapwerks.etsy.com/





Bath Lollybombs
http://www.sinfullysweetsoap.etsy.com/






Candy Gift Bags
http://www.shannondean4.etsy.com/






Magnet
http://www.mudhutt.etsy.com/


Coin Pouch
http://www.momof3monkeys.etsy.com/































Mouse Ear Beaded Girly socks
http://www.girlysocksandmore.etsy.com/







All of these great items can be found from Etsy shops and are no more than $5.00.

How Halloween has changed (for the better I think)

Last night I was at my Mom's for dinner and a there were houses in her neighborhood fully decorated for Halloween.
My sister had made a comment that she doesn't remember this (decorating for Halloween weeks in advance) when we were kids. After thinking about it I think she was right.

We always had the Halloween class party and decorated the school but houses in the neighborhood didn't really start showing signs of Halloween until the day before or the day of. Now, in our neck of the woods anyway, houses are starting to decorate for Halloween in mid September. I know the media has been stating that this is the fastest growing holiday market and that is really becoming obvious looking at all the houses around.


My concern this year is annual pumpkin patch trek. We had a very unusually warm summer and as such apparently the pumpkins came into season about a month too early for Halloween. I am going to do some research this week to see which patches are open and hopefully we can find a pumpkin or two for the kids to take home. Brendan is at the age this year that I think it will be a blast for him so we have to give it a shot.

This weekend coming up we will decorate outside, with the new house we have to figure out where everything will go which should be fun. Oh and Trevor is trying to convince me to go and purchase a witch we came across the other day. It is a life-size witch that is so incredibly life like it is scary (appropriate for the holiday eh?), the only issue is the cost of the witch, $300...sorry Trevor don't think it's happening :)

Friday, October 16, 2009

My scare!!!

I had put together a post for yesterday about Flat Stanley and Trevors experience with it but I didn't get as far as posting it. I came home from work yesterday to find out Rory had spoken with my doctor. Last Friday I went for an ultrasound because I had been having some stomach pain, I didn't hear back on Tuesday or Wednesday so I thought all was good. Not! They found some cysts, now I know this is a very common experience for women but because of my family history (a lot of cancer, my Mom is a breast cancer survivor, but not all members in my family have been so lucky) I was a total mess last night.

I should back track a little, you see for the last month and a half for unknown reasons I have had this nagging feeling that something just isn't right, so when I heard the doctor wanted to see me about these results, well let's just say I visualized every possible scenario.

As it turns out I have a type of cyst that is only cancerous 2% of the time so I am not as worried now as I was yesterday. The doctor still wants me to go for an MRI to ensure everything is ok but for now I am going to squash the nagging feeling and just move forward with life.

I did think that Rory was going to shoot the doctor today though. For the last year he and my Mom have been nagging at me to get a mammogram, I have just nodded and said I would. So today when I brought it up with my doctor and he told me he didn't think I needed one, well to say Rory became a bit upset is a definite understatement, never mess with an Irish man with a brain injury :) Rory and my Mom are right and the doctor really wasn't thinking, considering my Mom was only 44 when diagnosed I think it's time I stop nodding and get it done!!



Anyway here is the Flat Stanley post I was going to do yesterday:




Yesterday Trevor had his Flat Stanley send off at school. It was quite sweet. The class had a big pancake breakfast and then put their packages together. Trevor's Flat Stanley is on his way to Ireland. It was cool because the Flat Stanley was holding an Olympic flag and I believe they included some Olympic themed items with the packages, only 119 days to go till the big event.

I had never heard of the Flat Stanley project (http://www.flatstanleyproject.com/) until my cousins son was in second grade a few years ago, I think it is an incredible way to teach the kids about different countries and cultures. I was just saying to Rory last night that kids today have such a global opportunity with education, if utilized correctly it can make learning that much more fun and interesting.
I am a big fan of learning through experience (don't get me wrong I understand the importance of learning the fundamentals as well) , can you imagine the life lessons you could teach while travelling to different countries and experiencing life as they live it. It has always been my dream to give my kids a globe, have them spin and point at it. Where it lands is where we go. That will never happen though as Rory isn't a risk taker, he likes his traditional vacation spots :)

If given the opportunity and money wasn't a factor where would you go and why?

Monday, October 12, 2009

Our Thanksgiving weekend

We decided this year to spend Thanksgiving with my extended family about 3 hours away. As a child we almost always spent the holidays (all the major ones anyway) with my Aunts, Uncles, and cousins but have not done so in many many years so this was a lot of fun.


We didn't have anyone to watch the dog so we weren't able to leave on Saturday as the rest of my family (Mom and Sis) did, but we did leave early on Sunday morning.


It is a very long and boring ride. My kids have taken road trips to San Francisco and Disneyland, which are like 13 and 20 hour drives very patiently, this road trip though I must have heard "are we there yet?" about 50 times!


When we arrived we found that the weather had changed and I wasn't aware that this was to happen. No snow but cold cold weather. I sort of felt pretty bad for my kids with their spring/fall jackets in minus zero weather, we did all survive.


It was a quick trip, but very rewarding. To see the next generation of kids get along so great and enjoy themselves as we did as kids was awesome!! Oh and the food was great too, still stuffed!!!


Ever wonder what a school field would look like if the weather suddenly dropped below zero and someone forgot to turn off the automatic sprinklers over a long weekend? Well wonder no more, this was quite a sight!












Cheers

Thursday, October 8, 2009

Orange is the feature today

Here is another color feature. I have decided to do orange, figured it was a good choice with Halloween just around the corner.


If you see something you like (I think they are all wonderful items) be sure to follow the link to these Etsy seller shops.

















http://www.littleoddforest.etsy.com/


http://www.jollyjennifer.etsy.com/



http://www.gush4plush.etsy.com/



http://www.dandelionseeddesign.etsy.com/






http://www.creativekiwi.etsy.com/

Cheers :)

Wednesday, October 7, 2009

I am a paper piecer at heart so I am not sure why I have stayed away from stamping, maybe it's the cost, or the space needed....that is until now!

I am probably way behind but I have just discovered digital stamping. What a brilliant idea. No storage issues, they can be filed in little folders to be easily found on the computer, resized and re-shaped if so desired.

So now the challenge is to find the best suppliers of these images, I am on the hunt!!
If you use any such suppliers that you can recommend please let me know.

As mentioned in a previous post I will be participating in a local craft show called Christmas in Cloverdale so my cardmaking and layouts will be in high gear over the next few weeks. I also have a few more tricks up my sleeve that I am going to give a try but I will not mention them till I see if they work. I had quite the experience late last night. I had purchased some beads that I had planned to glue into the shape of mini Christmas trees, along with the beads I picked up some glue, the container had a fine tip so I thought it would be perfect, wrong, nope, nada!!!! When I tipped over the container the glue came pouring out, all over the beads, all over the paper and my hands. It claimed that it bonded in less than 2 seconds, guess what?, that's correct!!! I couldn't get my fingers apart. So here I am at just past midnight with ruined beads and fingers stuck together, I was quite the sight ;)

So until I know I won't go through any other such fiascos I think I will keep these little projects quiet until I can at least see that they work.

Finally planning to head north to my Aunts this weekend for Thanksgiving (Canadian). This will be the first time in about 15 years that my Moms side of the family is getting together, considering we used to do it every year when I was young I am really looking forward to it .


It has been absolutely glorious for the last few days, temps still in the 70's , so I am crossing my fingers that there isn't a change because I don't want to be driving in the snow through the mountains.

Cheers for now.

Monday, October 5, 2009

Christmas cards and more Christmas cards

I have been busy over the last little bit listing more and more Christmas cards. These cards are well below retail and very unique designs.

You can view all listings here:
KriskropMemories

Here are some pics of the most recent listings:








Cheers

Saturday, October 3, 2009

World Cardmaking Day



Hello everyone, today is World Cardmaking Day, and I have to say that I am busy making cards, I guess this means I am celebrating this day correctly :)

Actually we just returned from a walk at a local park. I love this time of year with the colored leaves and just that smell of fall, however as I watch the dragonflies and butterflies continue to fly around I realize that summer is taking it's time leaving, not such a bad thing I guess.

Off to make some more cards and scrapbook layouts.

Cheers