I just had to...

Yeah. I couldn't stop myself...Damn the Basic Grey!

Greenish Thumb

I am pretty good with plants. I can grow them indoors (some of mine I've had for 10+ years) and can grow flowers outdoors with ease (as long as I water them).

What has always eluded me is veggies. Dh and I tried them the first couple of summers we were in our house. We never wanted to commit to a full vegetable garden, but tried a number of container gardens. The most we got were a couple of small, rotten green peppers. We stopped trying veggies for a number of years.

For some reason, I decided to make a go at it again this year. This time, only two pots, with green peppers (dh's favorite) and tomatoes (my favorite). They are on the deck, so I can see when they need watering. So far - so good! I have three peppers and a bunch of flowers on the one, and a ton of flowers on the tomato plant!

Don't you love my rain gauge! My mom kept bugging us about how much water we've gotten. I found this cute one from Seasons of Cannon Falls in a cute little store in Spooner, WI. I loved it so much, I had to have it! It'll look even cuter when the tomatoes come in. Now we know exactly how much rain we've gotten - or haven't gotten in the past couple of weeks!

Oh, and ignore the grass behind the plant - we're letting it go for the most part. This heat has been too much to keep up with watering!

I had to do this one!

I hate doing double posts in one day, but I had to do it! You all needed a weekend update and I had to show you this:

My kit from Kristina Contes came in today!! I've always been inspired by her stuff, even though her style is much different from mine, and when she came out with a kit - I had to get it! It's so cute!

Now for a couple of close ups of my favorite bits - love the custom stamps - love the sequins! Okay, I love everything!

And how cute is this card? I have no idea what to do with it, but I'm sure something will come to me! It's definitely inspiring! I'll have to post when I do something with it, which probably won't be for awhile since I have to work on an album for my Great Aunt and Uncle's 65th wedding anniversary first. First the pay, then the play!

7 years...

It was Dh's and my 7th wedding anniversary on Sunday. We always joke that we got married in 2000 so Dh could remember how many years we've been married! We started dating in 1996, when I was only 18 and he was 21. We were 23 and 25 when we got married. We went out with my brother and his wife on Saturday night. They were celebrating 10 years on the 21st. It was so much fun to hang out with them and answer all of my brother's stupid "What are your top 5 songs, movies, etc." We had a great time!
This is a picture from our wedding. Digital wasn't big then and this is the only CD I have with pics on it. I would scan a better picture, but my scanner isn't working right now. My Aunt made the cake and all of the desserts at the dessert table. She's a caterer and a really good one at that!
We spent the weekend at the cabin with my family - mom, dad, brother, sil, niece and nephew. It was really hot outside, so we were able to swim a lot. Here's a pic of my niece playing in the dogs' water bowl. That's her new puppy playing with her hair and one of my dogs panting to the side (you can only see his nose and tongue!).

This is my brother throwing my niece up in the air. She had so much fun!!
My nephew spent most of the time with his dog looking for minnows. His best line of the weekend? "I'm going to let my minnow dry out so it doesn't flop around so much!" Um...yeah....
Here's my parents. They look pretty good for almost 61.
Even without a new swimsuit - I had a great weekend! Now I'm not feeling so hot, but that's typical for me!

To Whom it May Concern

Dear Target,

I am a big fan. I've spent many hours and dollars at your store. I love that everything is a little more high-end, but that I don't feel like I'm paying high-end prices. You rarely fail me. However, I do have to say that I am VERY disappointed with your plus-size swimsuit selection this year. I realize that I've been in a bad mood this week, and maybe I shouldn't have even been shopping for a swimsuit, but it should be very warm this weekend and we'll be at the cabin. Nevertheless, I found your plus-size suits very hard to find. They were crammed on a back wall by the door to your back room. But here was the kicker for me, do we really need to only carry tankinis? I understand that a lot of people like them, but me, not so much. Maybe I haven't found one to fit me quite yet, and believe me, yours didn't either. No one in their right mind wants to see my midsection. I don't want to either. But in your tankini, there it was, in all it's pale, flabby glory. Even the pictures on your website show a bit of skin showing between the tank and the "ini". Do you not realize that we're plus size? There should be no middle showing. If this was a good thing, we'd all just wear bikinis. Oh, and those two full suits you had there? I'm fat, not fifty. So, I shall be heading to the lake in a stretched out suit from Sam's Club a couple years back. You can thank yourself for that one.

Your poorly suited friend,
Nicole

Candle Power

I'm not a huge fan of the dark, so when weather is approaching, like it is tonight, I always go around the house and light candles. This is in my bathroom and the bottom picture is on top of the TV in the living room. I'd rather enjoy candles for the night than have the power go out and be stuck in the dark trying to find matches to light one. I'm hoping we get rain, but not hail. We've already dealt with that 2 years ago. Have a good night and enjoy your candles!

Fingers Crossed

Good luck tomorrow, LG. I know you'll get it!

Father's Day Weekend

This weekend has been another good one. Saturday, dh and I went to my brother's house to see their new puppy. She's a Springer Spaniel and her name is Pearl. She wouldn't stay still very long, so I didn't get a great picture of her. She's really cute though!

My nephew was playing with the hose with their other dog, Rusty. She would try and eat the water - it was pretty funny. He was having such a good time squirting the dog!

My niece was adorable as usual. I love her hair like this! She then tried to climb into the pool, shoes and all. They finally had to strip her down and just put her in!
Saturday night, dh and I went to my cousin's 40th birthday party. It was a surprise - and she definitely didn't know anything about it! My other cousin had made t-shirts with terrible pictures of the birthday girl on them. This is everyone in thier t-shirts.
My other cousin's daughter was trying to play pool. It was so cute - she's only 5 1/2. She almost ripped the felt a couple times, but she did hit the cue ball into a pocket eventually!
Today we spent at the inlaws. We had a good time grilling a bunch of veggies and chicken. Another good weekend in the bag - now back to work!

Cool Things from Today

I was bored at work today, so I surfed the Internet and found some cool stuff while at 2peas.

First was this:

Trash This Dress - This is where Brides wear their wedding dresses in cool pictures (of course after they're married in them) like in water, or stuff like that. This was probably my favorite picture. It's just cool to do something artistic with your dress after your done with it. I can't fit into mine any more, otherwise it would be something I'd consider.

Next was this - Thong Cookies - Someone wanted a dessert for a lingerie party. I thought these were damn cute and funny!

And finally - the new Basic Grey that is coming out soon! I so love Basic Grey, and it's coming out with a winner again! I can't wait for this!

And, of course, the stuff that comes with it! Love the new font for the mini alphabet - love the diecut shapes! CAN'T WAIT, CAN'T WAIT, CAN'T WAIT! If anyone knows where you can pre-order this, I'd appreciate you telling me!

Then, after all that, I did some work. :) Hehehe!

Mr. Wizard Died!

I loved this show as a kid! I can't believe he died! And I can't believe he's from MN.

LOS ANGELES - Don Herbert, who as television's "Mr. Wizard" introduced generations of young viewers to the joys of science, died Tuesday. He was 89. Herbert, who had bone cancer, died at his suburban Bell Canyon home, said his son-in-law, Tom Nikosey.

"He really taught kids how to use the thinking skills of a scientist," said former colleague Steve Jacobs. He worked with Herbert on a 1980s show that echoed the original 1950s "Watch Mr. Wizard" series, which became a fond baby boomer memory.

In "Watch Mr. Wizard," which was produced from 1951 to 1964 and received a Peabody Award in 1954, Herbert turned TV into an entertaining classroom. On a simple, workshop-like set, he demonstrated experiments using household items.

"He modeled how to predict and measure and analyze. ... The show today might seem slow but it was in-depth and forced you to think along," Jacobs said. "You were learning about the forces of nature."

Herbert encouraged children to duplicate experiments at home, said Jacobs, who recounted serving as a behind-the-scenes "science sidekick" to Herbert on the '80s "Mr. Wizard's World" that aired on the Nickelodeon channel.

When Jacobs would reach for beakers and flasks, Herbert would remind him that science didn't require special tools.

"'You could use a mayonnaise jar for that,'" Jacobs recalled being chided by Herbert. "He tried to bust the image of scientists and that science wasn't just for special people and places."

Herbert's place in TV history was acknowledged by later stars. When "Late Night with David Letterman" debuted in 1982, Herbert was among the first-night guests.

Born in Waconia, Minn., Herbert was a 1940 graduate of LaCrosse State Teachers College and served as a U.S. Army Air Corps pilot during World War II. He worked as an actor, model and radio writer before starting "Watch Mr. Wizard" in Chicago on NBC.

The show moved to New York after several years.

He is survived by six children and stepchildren and by his second wife, Norma, his son-in-law said. A private funeral service was planned.

My Weekend was All Wet

This weekend started off good. Friday night, I went and got my flowers for the outside of the house. I also went to the grocery store and got a bunch of goodies. I made a dessert (Jello Oreo Pudding Pie) which dh liked so much he said I should make it my signature dessert. I also watched The Holiday. So good so far.

Saturday I got up and did some weeding around the house. Dh's sister and bf came over - the guys went fishing and SIL and I weeded my perennial garden. It started to rain, so we went shopping. :) Hehehe! Dh was coming home when we were leaving. SIL, MIL and I went shopping and were back about an hour later.

During this time, someone had used the bathroom and the toilet ending up running. Not with poo and all that in it, clean water. It ran until it over flowed and no one checked on it for the hour we were gone. My FIL came outside when we got home and said that the bathroom had flooded and that the rugs are wet. I have two rugs in the bathroom, one is a couple feet from the toilet. I went in and checked it out. EVERYTHING was soaked! As I went outside to tell everyone, I noticed that the level below the bathroom was flooded too - the area with my scrapbooking stuff! It got so full that the water went down the air vent, the walls below the bathroom, and everywhere else it could go! We had water in 3 of the 4 levels of my house! I ran out and got everyone - we started pulling all of my scrapbooking stuff out into the yard, hoping it would dry off. Luckily, I do store most of my stuff in plastic. The only thing I can see that were ruined was an album I just got last weekend and some cards. It took us most of the evening to clean up. I started drinking. :) Not too much, but I needed some to take the edge off. After all that, we had dinner and played cards. Sunday, SIL and I planted my flowers and then I did nothing. Too much stress from the weekend. Everything is still in shambles in the basement, but at least we didn't loose too much. The toilet is on borrowed time - it's been a piece of crap (pun intended) since we moved in 7 1/2 years ago. We started looking for a new one and are planning how we will distroy it - I voted that we blow it up and dh wants to shoot it. I'll take pictures if we do either.

I hope everyone else had a better weekend!

Featured Employee

I was the featured employee in our newsletter this month. I hate my picture, but that's okay. I guess it could have been worse. I also hate that our receptionist, who typed this up, put scrap booker instead of scrapbooker. I don't like when it has a space! Otherwise, I think it's okay. The guys in parts said I look younger and innocent in the picture - like I look so old and deviant in person!

Stone Update

I just heard back from the nurse about my kidney stone. They think I passed one before my test on Tuesday, which would be great, because I had pain but nothing like what others have described to me. The scan showed a 4mm stone in my left kidney. That is the largest a "small" stone can be. It has a 90% chance of passing with no problems. If it was 5mm, I'd have a 50% chance. So, I was told just to drink a lot of water and if I pass it to see if I can catch it so they can figure out what caused it. "Catch" it? With what? A mitt? Others have told me about screening their pee so they can catch it, but I have no screen. Maybe I'll start peeing into nylons. That could screen it. Maybe I should go and get a net from the pet store. I'm sure dh has one he could borrow me. I'm sorry, but I'm not going to dig through my pee to see if I can get a stupid stone! Okay, I'm better now that I got that out! I'm doing pretty good for now. I'm a little scared to go anywhere, since I'm not sure when this thing will come out. I read something on the internet about people drinking olive oil and lemon juice and chasing that with a glass of water to make their stones come out faster. That doesn't sound good either. Right now I'm doing okay, so I'm not going to resort to that. Hopefully my next update will be that my stomach pain is gone and I must have passed the stone. It magically jumped out of the toilet, cleaned itself off and put itself into a container for me to bring into the Dr's office. A girl can wish, can't she?!?

Oh, I have my review at work tomorrow. The sales manager is doing the review. He asked me to give 3 of my strengths and 3 things I need to work on. One of my strengths was that I will do almost anything I'm asked to do. He laughed at that. What an idiot I am! I hate coming up with that stuff.

Name that Shed!

You remember that shed we remodeled for my Mom on Memorial Day weekend? We're trying to name it now. So far, my SIL has come up with "Garden Get-A-Way" and dh came up with "Queen of Spades". I'd like to know if any of my blog readers have any other ideas. Just post a comment with your suggestions. Maybe I'll even come up with a prize if the family picks your suggestion!

Edited to add - Mom's name is Vickie. Hope that gives you more ideas!

* FYI - No results from my test yet. I'll post something when I know.

Stones

This past weekend was great. Dh and I went to my work party Friday night. We played Family Feud and we won $100 each! So, of course, the next day I went to Crafts Direct and Scrapbooks Plus with Michelle, Shari and Suzy, and spent it! Dh and I also watched John Tucker Must Die and Accepted. Sunday we went to my brother's house. Dh helped build a dog kennel, my SIL and I went shopping. I also got to play with my nephew and niece. Great weekend.

Then, last night, I don't feel so good. I just figured that it was the bag of popcorn I had before bed. This morning, while I'm getting ready, I'm getting shooting pains in my stomach. This continues most of the day at work. I go to the doctor and she says I might have kidney stones! I've already had gall stones, which were a blast and resulted in my gall bladder being removed. So now I'm hopped up on codeine trying to forget about the pain. I go in tomorrow morning for an xray or the like to see what they can find. Until then, I'm just in pain. The nurse did say that passing a kidney stone is worse than child birth. Something to look forward to!

I hate begging for this sort of thing, but I would appreciate you all keeping me in your prayers. I've had 4 surgeries in the past 3 years and this is the last thing I need!

Long live pain killers.