A Weekend Get-Away

So, I found out that I am not good luck to "my" team the Chicago Cubs. My Mom and I went to Houston this past weekend to go to see the Cubbies play the Astros on Saturday night. We flew in on Friday, went to the game on Saturday night and left on Sunday morning. Coincidence that the Cubs lost on Friday and Saturday nights but won yesterday afternoon after we were back in Chicago?

Below are pics from the trip. I don't know why I do it but I take pics of the rooms that I stay in. So, here is our room, the view from our room and the view from our seats at the ballpark. Some of the ballpark shots have been zoomed.

This trip to Texas marks my 20th state since I started my quest to see and do something in each of the 50 states. I made this quest on my 40th birthday and have been working on it a little at a time. "Doing something" is more than just driving through a state. I have alot of states to go but feel that I have made a decent dent in the list in 8 years.



























Image zoomed

Random Stuff

I don't know about anyone else who's crafty, but do you ever get a vision of a certain way that you want a card or a layout to be and know that you have all of the elements to make it that way but you just can't put your fingers on the stuff when you need it? Or, is that my problem because I am not that organized? Well, I am working on a birthday (belated of course) card for my great nephew but need a specific patterned paper to make it like I envisioned it. So, in the meantime I leave you with pics of my kids, my flowers and the project that is going on in the backyard. Hope you enjoy!





Just sharing a chew with my friend.


What.....I'm NOT spoiled!!!


Last year I planted three hollyhock plants. They grew about three feet and never bloomed. This year I know that one for sure did not make it through the winter. They or it (one or two) are growing like crazy. Well, I was VERY excited to see my very first hollyhock bloom. I can see that there are more just waiting to shout out their beauty and I think that one of the blooms will be a red hue.


When I bought this canna this year I thought based on the color of the leaves that the blooms were going to be red. You can imagine my surprise to see these brilliant orange blooms. Lovin' em!


So, my brother Rick (who lives with me) has taken on another large backyard project this summer. He has already completed the painting of the garage and shed. He has been doing general cleaning of the yard and garage but this undertaking is quite large. He is expanding our patio area. I forgot to take pictures before this stage, yes it was WAY worse than now. These are the last two days (see date on pic) of his progress. I will remember to take pictures tonight. I wish I had the money for a new concrete patio but alas some of my income tax money is going for new gutters. WOOOO HOOOO, it's not every day that you can get brand spanking new white, don't have to paint gutters.

The Winner Is....

Drum roll please.......

Baaaa rummmmmmmmmmmmm

The winner of the two stamps and lipstick brads is Joanne!!!

Joanne, please send me an e-mail with your address and I will get the items out to you.
konnie1960@yahoo.com

Thank you to everyone who left a comment. Please stick around for more give aways as I get into cleaning/organizing the craft cellar.

Flowers and Freebies

Before we get to the freebies, you have to view my flowers.










While working down in the craft cellar this past weekend I discovered that I have duplicates of two stamps. Up for grabs are the two stamps and six lipstick brads.
All you have to do is leave a comment and I will do the names in a hat drawing thing. Deadline to participate is Sunday, July 13th.


The large Valentine stamp is from Paper Inspirations and the small words next to the vertical word Valentine are: I love you for all you are and for all we are together.
The small Merry Christmas stamp is from Studio G.

I Did Some Crafting & New Flowers

The orange lilies on the east side of the yard bloomed.



I signed up for a swap at Splitcoast and here is my card.
The swap required that you use at least one button on the card.
Mine are on the wheels and the small white ones are brads.
I think that the image is from High Hopes.

A Totally Freaky Thing

For those of you who have been reading this blog, you are aware that I "have put myself out there" on four online dating sites. For the most part there are a variety of people from all walks of life and who come in all different shapes and sizes.

Recently I had a total freak out when I opened up one of the dating sites to find my matches. Now I must put a disclaimer on this site. This is the site that brought me the man that I actually met for lunch before going on vacation. (Update on that later). My profile is normal (I had to go check). So without any further explanation I will write down the information as it appeared on the site.

Are You Looking for Someone Really Different?

Hi, my name is Lorelei and I am a CD/TV. If you don't know what those initials mean, then I am probably not for you. I am a male who likes to crossdress and go out to accepting clubs and restaurants. I love to do karaoke, even if I don't have a great voice. I am looking for someone who will accept me in male mode or female mode, who is willing to go out with me when I am dressed up and to be with friends who have similar tastes. You don't have to like to sing at karaoke, but you must like to come with me and listen...if you do sing that would be a bonus. I am very affectionate in both modes and expect my partner to be the same way. If you are non-judgemental and willing to try something just a little different, you might find it is lots of fun.

There were five photos attached. One of him dressed as a male and four of him dressed like a woman.

I found that I AM JUDGEMENTAL. The freaky-ness of that just gave me the heebie jeebies. I took pictures of his photos as they appeared on the computer screen to show my family. Some have thought that I should meet him/her so that I could have a good story to tell. Sorry readers, you will just have to live with my currently boring stories and forget about the titillating (pun intended)cross-dresser story.

If I thought that I could post his pictures from my camera without getting into some kind of trouble I would.

I guess the best way to sum up the experience:
Different strokes for different folks.

Voo Doo

This little lovely is tacked to the side of my cubicle at work. It doesn't hurt to scare some of the people that bother me with silly stuff every once in a while. In fact when recently asked by a "high maintenance" salesman what it was there for, my reply was:
It is an authentic voo-doo doll from New Orleans and I told him that I was going to put all of the sales rep's names on the wall and whomever "wins" for that day has their name put on the doll. You should have seen his face, it was priceless!!! I was kidding, but I think that he, to this day thinks I was serious.

For those of you who know that I am having a problem with my lower back and knee, yes, I checked to make sure that no pins are in that area of my buddy.

Do They Get Along

These pictures taken recently should answer the question of whether Maggie (white choodle) has fit into the household and if she get along with Gidget (chihuahua).

Odd But True

I found this link on a blog that I visit Pretty In The City.

It's kinda freaky!


Kissing with Ross

Swap Card

Well my swaps are in the mail.

Here is the card that I did for the adult male. I am not really excited about it but needed to get something done and out in the mail.

Cards

Well the doctor came through and I now have some medicine for my back and knee. I am beginning to feel better and hope soon that I will be moving without pain all of the time. I plan to do a little work and alot of relaxing this weekend. Hope everyone else has a great weekend.


My sister Cindy was kind enough to get this card back to me so that I could take a picture of it. This is the card that I made for my nephew and forgot to take a picture of it.


Am I the only one that waits until the last minute to do things?
I signed up for a swap over at Splitcoast and had more than a month to get my cards done. I signed up for juvenile girl and adult male. I am still working on the adult male and will finish them tonight. The cards are due 7/1, talk about being a last minute Minnie!!! Yikes!


Here is the card that I came up with for the juvenile girl swap.

Some Vacation Pics

There were 10 of us that flew to Wally World on Sunday, June 15th.
We met the 4 who flew in on another flight and the 4 who drove later that morning.


Cousin Ricky resting his eyes.


Cousin Alison resting while we wait to board our 8:00am flight.


The weather started out that morning all clear and nice and turned stormy.
We ended up boarding the plane only to sit for an hour waiting for the storm to pass and the ground crew to come back out and finish loading the luggage on to the plane. We were finally in the air just about an hour after our scheduled departure.


Cousin Sue and husband Rick on the Disney bus taking us to our resort (Old Key West).

So Very Far Behind

I love taking vacation but HATE the work that sits and waits to get done upon my return. I am swamped right now.

My vacation was great from the aspect of being able to spend time with 17 of my family members.

My vacation was the worst because I hurt my back and knee and had difficulty walking. I was not able to enjoy Wally World and spent most of my time in the pool. One good result from that is that I have a very nice tan. I only made it to two of the parks and didn't get to go on many of the rides.

So, it was the Best and the Worst vacation.

Pictures to come later.
Have a great Tuesday.

Back From Vacation

Just a brief update.
I am back from vacation.

It was the BEST and the WORST vacation I have ever taken.

More to come later.

Just Hours Away

I will be taking a blog break.

In less than 24 hours I will officially be on vacation and not near a computer. I hope to have some great pictures when I return.

Holy cannoli, I just realized that I haven't gotten the pictures from my last vacation printed yet. YIKERS!!! Talk about being behind. I hope everyone has a great week, I KNOW that I will, NAH, NAH!!! :-)

A Rose By Any Other Name

I am working on a card and should have it for tomorrow (keeping my fingers crossed).
In the meantime, the rose bush that I thought that I had killed has grown and bloomed. Enjoy your Thursday.

Dream Job

My nephew Brian, the graduate from Columbia College (see previous post)has landed an intership at our local NBC affiliate. You can see Brian and read his future stories here:

Brian A. Miller

Hopefully he'll land that dream job and get offered a permanent position.

Busy Weekend

It was a good although rainy weekend. Hot, sunny and very humid some of the time. Thunder, lightening and heavy rains the rest of the time.

Saturday I had a job interview: (aka 1st meeting with an online dating man).
Job applied for: Gal Pal
Place that interview was held: Olive Garden
Duration: 2 hours
Result: I have received a positive e-mail since the interview. I am going on vacation this Sunday for a week (6/15 - 6/20)so we have agreed to speak upon my return.
I'll keep you posted.

I had a high school graduation to attend on Sunday and here is the card that I made. I also made a birthday card but cannot show that one because:
a) It is for someone that visits this blog
b) I forgot to take a picture until after I sealed the envelope (I know, you can say it DUH!!!!)

So here's the card that I can show.



Outside of the card.


Inside of the card.


An old Hallmark envelope was the inspiration for this different sized card.

No Crafting

Work has been crazy. One of the workers that I supervise did not make it to work this week. Her work then becomes my work so that data gets processed. At the end of the day my brain does not want to work anymore and I just veg. Therefore, no cards this week. I will have cards soon because I have a graduation, a thank you, some birthdays, an anniversary...

I went to work yesterday and the peonies were all tight round balls. I came home to these beauties. I just love the feel of peony petals. So very soft, just like silk.

Playing in the Dirt

I played in the dirt after work today so I didn't do any crafting. Instead here are some more flower pictures.


Just got to love those "happy" daisies.


Petunias are one of my favorite garden flowers for the summer. They grow so well and really fill up pots and containers.


Over the weekend I replaced the old black rubber edging with a new red brick scalloped edge.


I am finding it difficult to keep the white tall daisies contained within the planting bed. When they go to seed they spread all over outside the bed.


The large irises are beginning to bloom. I just love those pink calla lilies.

Smile

Daisies are such cute flowers, they just make me smile.
I hope that you have a reason to smile today!

Just Another X-mas Stack Card

Just the same old envelope.

A Card, Yard Work & Two Friends

I opted to get a manicure, a pedicure and to play in the dirt this weekend because it was soooooo beautiful here in Chicago. I have the sunburn to show for the many hours spent outside. I must say that I HATE weeds, hate this ground cover weed-like plant that grows in my yard. The leaves grow to about a foot tall, easily break off but the roots (similar to a tuber or baby carrot like size with long 2 or 3 inch roots off of the tuber) are a real challenge to get out of the ground. There was a whole herd of these under the three tier planter that I had to dig up with my trusty (insert horn charge sound here) "Claw". The claw is the best yard invention that I have ever invested money in. I just clawed that area and then it was easier, though not easy to get those evil roots up. Hopefully I have cleared that area. After pruning the rose bush in the front I only have one puncture wound from a thorn, for me that is pretty good. Many of my plastic planters and clay pots have seen there last planting. They are all cracked and brittle and I have to dispose of the dirt and put them out for the garbage. I still have some of the plants to plant, hopefully this week after work.


Only one card this weekend. Made with the Itty Bitty X-mas stack that has been used in previous post.


Stampin up "Riveting" stamp set in Old Olive in.


A few years ago I saw this three tier planter and asked my brother Rick to make me one. The stair like red base is made from pvc plumbing pipe. I just bought the planters, he made it to size and it was spray painted red. I have a tendency to always plant red and white flowers in this planter and true to form, there are red and white petunias planted this year.


The daisies have begun to bloom and here are some of the pots that I planted yesterday.


I thought that I had lost my hollyhock, but it looks like it just took a bit to get started. The cool weather here didn't help.


The peonies have large round buds, pretty soon they will be blooming.



Just like kids, when it was time to work out in the yard, these two wanted to stay and rest in the house. Ahhhh, the life!

Using Up Some Supplies

Not really new, just using up more of this Christmas paper stack. The stack was purchased at Michael's and it is from Provo Craft. It is a "bitty scrap pad" and it is entitled It's Christmas


The envelope was stamped with SU "Riveting" in Old Olive ink.