It's Been A Long Couple Of Days

The viewing for Jason's Gram was on Sunday and then the funeral was on Monday. It was a very nice service. Jason has never bought a suit, so on Saturday night we went to JC Penny's to try to find him one. Thankfully, the salesman knew (and cared) about what we needed and was very eager to help (I'm assuming he worked on commission, but whatever, he was helpful!). As always, money is tight, so we searched for the best deal. Jason got a $300 suit for $99.99! I was thrilled! It was so nice. Then we picked out a dress shirt and tie (I was really pulling for the purple), the salesman showed us a red shirt with a matching tie (a person could wear a different tie everyday of their life and still never touch the selection of men's ties at Penny's, it was unbelievable), but in the end Jason did go for a plum colored shirt and tie (close enough to purple). As it turns out, purple seemed to be the manly color at the service because he was one of many that sported the color! I thought he looked great:




Oh, and by the way, Jason tied his own tie for the first time in his life (can you tell we don't work in offices!!). With a little help from the handy dandy Internet, he had his tie tied in no time (well, actually, it did take quite a few times, but....) and he was very proud of himself!


After a long day, Mason was antsy and wanted to goof off a little, so here are some pics from that:




So, things should get back to normal and I will be posting some more things that I have done.

Later.

[Sad Day]

Today Jason's Grandmother died. She was in declining health and had been in a nursing home. Jason said that ever since she had gone there she was different. She was. She wasn't at home, that is the only place that she wanted to be. It's really sad. I'm sure she knew that she would never see home again. When Jason and I first started dating we would always go over to her house to eat! Back then she used to have these huge Thursday night dinners and big Sunday lunches and there was always food left over. Being a vegetarian, it was not always a feast for me, but she always made separate tomato sauce for me to eat. She also used to buy frozen cheese pizzas for me when we would come over for leftovers, I'd eat the pizzas and Jason would (usually) finish up the leftovers! She always had enough food for everyone. If you left her house hungry, it was your own fault!

She played a very important role in raising Jason. All the stories that I have heard over the years always included her in one way or another. When we first had Mason, she would watch him a lot so that we could have a break. Funeral arrangements are going to be next week. It will be a sad day. She will be missed.

My Story About Chili's

On our very rare 'let's-not-eat-at-Subway' weekend we decided to go to Chili's. Most of you know that Chili's is your typical bar and grill/meat-eaters kind of place, so I don't exactly know why I have been to this place more than once, but....So in a desperate attempt to 'please everyone', Chili's has added a black bean burger to their menu. I have gotten this numerous times (it's THE only thing on the menu that I will eat) and with a few special requests (cook in the microwave, not on the grill with the other burgers, no fat free ranch dressing because it contains gelatin, you know, simple (yet crazy) requests). So, we waited and waited and waited for our food. It finally arrived. As I was ready to dig in, I pulled it apart to make sure that there was no ranch dressing. There was. So since our waitress was MIA I decided to only eat the black bean burger with one half of a bun. I was fine with that. Then, just as I was ready to bite in, I touched the burger with my finger. Then I proceeded to snap it in half because apparently it had been cooked in the microwave for 10 minutes and had become rock hard. Good thing I didn't bite into it, because I would have probably looked like a toothless woman from an episode of COPS! Gross. So when our waitress finally came back we explained the situation and then the manager came to talk and it was promptly removed from our bill. So, long story short, it will be awhile before I make my way back into that restaurant.

Hands Down...

THE funniest cake I've ever seen!!








This cake is so wrong in so many ways and you can get the full story here on CakeWrecks. Her blog has to be one of the best foodie-type blogs around! Not only does she pick out the best cakes to feature on a daily basis, but her writing skills are just as funny as the cakes! If you haven't yet checked out CakeWrecks (you must be living under a rock) do it now. You won't be sorry!

}Altered Planters{

There is this local surplus store that I just love. You really never know what they are going to have in, so frequent stops are the way to go. It's strange that the only department in the store that the stuff never sells is the scrapbooking/crafty stuff. So, there is always plenty to choose from, even if I did buy 10 boxes of 'Prima look-a-like' flowers for fifty cents the week before, it doesn't stop me from buying 10 more! One can never have too many paper flowers. I have also found a nice selection of clear stamps for .75 cents each, and that really knocks my socks off (!!) because these things go for A LOT more than that at a regular store. But I had some extra time while I was at the store last week and I discovered these:



I bought 3 because I like to buy things in odd numbers for some reason (a touch of OCD?) for .50 each. I thought the pattern was ugly, and they had this really weird metal flower piece that slides into a slot on the front that is removable (thank goodness), but it could become something. Then we went to Michael's on Friday night after our dinner at Panera and I got these ADORABLE stickers from the 'Friendly Forest' line of (I seem to forget the name of the company that makes them at the moment) scrapbooking stuff. I just LOVE it! I figured I wouldn't really have a picture to scrap with the theme 'Friendly Forest', so I decided to use them for this 'planter project'. I think they look fabulous!! Here they are:










First, I spray painted them black as a base coat and then I used Tim Holtz crackle paint on all four sides of each and then distressed them using a nail file (Emory board, this has to be one of my fav tools!) and then I placed the stickers on and added some rhinestones. Finally I used some grungeboard letters that were inked and crackle finished to make the letters. Hope you liked them, too!

2 Movies in 1 Weekend??

Yep! We saw this movie last night:





This was a great movie. I have to admit that I don't really think that I've ever seen a Clint Eastwood movie. Perhaps I have, but I don't recall. I've never been into the western type movies, (at least I think that's the old movies that he's in!) but this was, overall, a great movie. I recommend it. However, if you don't like a lot of bad language (not that I LIKE it, but it doesn't bother me in movies for the most part) than you might want to pass.

Today I am going to spend most of the afternoon working on some crafty stuff. Then I am (hopefully) going to catch up on emailing, then by that time it will probably be time for the Celebrity Apprentice!




I am really hooked on this stupid show! Joan Rivers looks like a piece of plastic, her daughter is not much better! Then Dennis Rodman apparently goes crazy tonight (not that he isn't already) but it should be a great episode! Mason had a fantastic weekend at Grandma and Grandpa's! He swam, went to Slinky Action Zone, went out to dinner, played games, watched TV, played on the computer, the list goes on. All in all it was a great weekend for all of us!

Finally Friday!

This weekend is our anniversary weekend! On Monday we will be married for 7 years! Mason has been so excited to spend this weekend with my Mom and Dad, he has it written on his calendar and everything! He is going to get a lot of swimming in, I'm sure. So tonight it's dinner and a movie for Jason and I. Should be fun!

Yesterday was also my Dad's birthday. I made him his favorite: Chocolate cake with peanut butter frosting. I made cupcakes instead of a whole cake:



Here is the card that I made for him:



I got this awesome Tim Holtz crackle paint that I used on the chipboard star. I can't wait to experiment more with this stuff. I love distressed look, if it weren't for the distressing technique, I don't think I would do half of the projects that I do!

Finally, I planted some cat grass and boy, was it a hit! Here is my Newsie Bear chewing on some of it:



She's the best cat in the world!

I actually started this blog at around noon today and then I had to go back to work, then rush home to get Mason together for the weekend, then go over to my Mom and Dad's to give my Dad his birthday present, went out to eat at Panera, went to the movie theater and here I am now at 10 o'clock! The movie was really good. VERY graphic. But it was not a waste of $$ even though I think $17.50 for 2 tickets is outrageous.

[Beautiful Day]

Oh, it's so beautiful outside today, I don't want to spend too much time at the computer. I had to make a delivery to David's Bridal today. Oh My Gosh, it made me want to get married all over again! They had the most beautiful dresses that I had ever seen! It makes me wish that I would have looked around more for my dress at the time, not that my dress wasn't beautiful (and we didn't even have a David's Bridal around me at the time) but these were drop-dead gorgeous. I'm sure the price tag reflected that also! Perhaps someday we will have a wedding all over again.

So, here is a project that I worked on awhile ago.



Finished project:



I love how it turned out! I was planning on doing something with the inside, but I think I'm going to leave it as is, it has two compartments for for pictures. I liked the red so much (maybe because it's my favorite color...) that I kept it and just distressed it a little. The butterfly turned out awesome! They are Heidi Swapp and it was hot pink felt. I inked them with a little alcohol ink and then painted over top of them with clear glitter nail polish. Then added some crystals. The blue background was wallpaper from a press kit that Aunt Gwen had given to me, it was so pretty, I would have loved to have an entire room covered in it. It has tiny glass beads on it! I would like to put 'legs' on it so that it can set up off of the table. I plan on getting faux crystal cabinet door knobs and screw them on all four corners. I got this box from the Goodwill for $1.99. Pay no attention to the condition of my craft table, it takes a beating, let me tell you!

I'll leave you with a pic of my cat, Raven. He has become ultra friendly since we moved into our house. He was never really unfriendly, but he kind of just kept to himself a lot. Nowadays he can be found on the arm rest of the recliner, right next to me anytime I am sitting down to watch TV!



That's it for today!

[Happy St. Patrick's Day]

Happy St. Patty's Day, everyone! Today I will not be:

1. Wearing anything green
2. Drinking anything green
3. Eating anything that is not naturally green

Last year I went all out and had a 'special' green dinner where I used almost an entire bottle of green food coloring, but this year, I'll just let that slide! I did find a green shirt for Mason to wear to school today--so there, I AM in the spirit. As I was working today I passed a house that had a life-size Leprechaun on the front porch and WOW, I think if I would have stared at it any longer it would have given me nightmares! So, enjoy your 'green-filled holiday' today even if it means sitting on the couch!

{Random}

So, I was at the M & M yesterday, for anyone who doesn't know what the M & M is, imagine all the junk in the world (plus some more) and enough dirt to supply a little league field all crammed into a building the size a of house and there you've got it--the M & M. However, it is a fun place to waste some time and hope that you will find a gem (like an actual copy of the Declaration of Independence for example) for dirt cheap. There is only one thing wrong with that theory: Nothing at the M & M is dirt cheap. These people will hold out for decades until they get the price that they want (and I am serious about that). But I have really been itching to get out and look for flea market and yard sale items and surely I could find SOMETHING, right?

That I did. At the time, I had no idea what it was that I was buying, but my famous saying, "I could figure out something to do with that" always hold true. This is what I found:





Yep, I thought, since there were so many of them, I could easily decoupage them onto something. As I looked closer at them, they appeared to be coupons good for junk out of a catalog, and if you saved enough of them you could probably buy a brand new car or something. I got home and started to research what on earth 'Chesterfield' was. Well, I found a ton of info on this. They are cigarettes, perhaps I should have known this, but coming from someone who doesn't smoke and is still in their 20's I had no idea. Whoever kept these coupons (that expired in 1985-1992) no doubt had a goal in mind of purchasing that car with all these coupons. I am fairly certain that they never achieved that goal due to the lung cancer I'm pretty sure they died from. But I searched YouTube and found this commercial:



It baffles my mind to think this was an actual commercial! I found other ads that promoted cigarettes as being healthy! Boy have we come a long way! Well, I am going to have fun figuring out what to do with these old coupons, no I'm not going to try for the car!

That's all I've got today.

Just A Few Crafty Thingys...

I have a nice stash of Goodwill items ready for me to get my hands on! There is a new Goodwill store opening up near here. You should see the building! I watched, for months, this huge, state-of-the-art building being built and to my surprise (and delight) it's a Goodwill! I just love thrift stores, can you tell??

This first one was just a wooden box, nothing special, so I just did a paint treatment on the lid and added some crystals and some letters to spell out LOVE. I made this back for Valentine's Day, however, I think LOVE is something that is a year round thing, so I think I'll keep it up!! I just hung the lid up on a nail, I'm not sure what I am going to do with the actual box part yet, maybe a shadow box?





This next one, pictures don't do it justice, I feel. It looks a lot better in person. This is just strengthens my case to get a new camera!! It was an old (and I mean old) jewelry box that I found in the basement that has survived many, many moves (apparently I know that I can always do something with anything even if it's quite a few years later!). I just took out the 'handles' and replaced it with one and turned it around so that it opens up instead of out. It was fun to do.




Finished project:



Here's the inside:




That's all I've got for now, I'm heading up to read Mason a bedtime story and then, brace yourself.........








GHOST HUNTERS IS ALL NEW TONIGHT!!! I CAN'T WAIT!

Wow...Where Have I Been???

It appears that I have been out of blogland for awhile now! I can't believe that it's been so long. Not too much has been going on, as usual. We have been busy with basketball, swimming and long walks. It was so nice this past weekend that we got out on the walking trail and walked 4+ miles!

Yesterday I went to work with Jason and it was an enjoyable day. We started out in Indiana and traveled our way through Punxsutawney, the home of the most famous groundhog in the world (and the town doesn't let you forget it!). I thought it was kind of neat with all the groundhog statues and gift shops. I'm not sure if I had ever been in Punxy before but I know that I would not want to be there on February 2nd! Here are some of the statues:






Then we had lunch at Panera in State College. Then we worked our way home. It was nice to spend time together like that. Speaking of time together, our 7 year anniversary is coming up on the 23rd!! I can't believe how fast time flies. My Mom and Dad are going to take Mason for the WEEKEND!! How fun is that going to be?? Jason and I plan on going out to dinner and a movie. Of course, it has to be a horror flick! I can't wait to see the movie 'The last house on the Left'. It is supposed to be scary and I hope it lives up to it.

Today Jason is having work van troubles. It seems like every time things are going smooth, something like this has to happen. I hate having to spend so much $$ on car repairs, but I guess when you are in the delivery business, you have to expect it. So, as I type this Jason is making his way home, slowly, and I am hoping that it doesn't turn out to be an expensive repair.

I have been working on a ton of projects that I need to get posted here. I am not really liking my camera and am hoping to get a new one for my birthday. I still didn't forget about the button 'guessing' contest!! I work at my own pace, it seems!

Lastly, a picture of my little angel reading a Van Gogh art book. I made a really awesome project out of one of my favorite painting of his. Like I said, I will get them posted, I just am a little slow!!



Mason has been reading like crazy! Aunt Gwen got him a Geronimo Stilton book awhile ago and he finally got to read it (it was a little above his reading level before) and he LOVED it!! I was able to find some (about 7 of them) of those books on eBay and he has been working on them. They are really cool kid books!

That's all I've got for now, but it won't be long before I'm back!