OK - so I have a good excuse this time!

I know - you're thinking how much I love/hate the end of the school year....well that is true, however, I have not been on-line recently due to ....oh yeah! the end of the school year AND....are you ready?!?!? Emergency surgery! How's that for taking the cake!?!?! Yup - school was out for the kids Wednesday June 20th - teachers done at noon on Thursday the 21st! Of course, I still had a ton of crap to do in the classroom so I did not leave until 8:30 pm - I did NOT want to go back on Friday - good thing too - cuz Friday I started feeling funky, and slept a lot - had that dang back ache....and then the BAD decision....I ate the Stouffer's mac and cheese - way YUMMY- but bad for my tummy! I realized I was having that gall bladder pain - and decided to go to bed and sleep it off - yeah right! So went to bed at 11 pm woke up at 1 am -ish...called my daughter to see if she was working the ER (she is a tech - soon to be nurse) - she wasn't but was awake and came to get me and took me to the ER she works at in NJ - and at 3 am I was admitted - had a battery of tests - and bland icky food - lovely treatment though by the nurses...and after the test Monday that made me radioactive for 3 days (no really - I got a card for homeland security should I be stopped - HOLY SMOKES!) - I had surgery on Tuesday and home Wednesday evening. Totally blew all the plans I had - I was supposed to leave for Kansas City for the SkillsUSA National competition (like vocational Olympics) - and I missed it! Now if I can just stop coughing - MAN DOES THAT HURT! - I would be pretty good - oh and laughing hurts too - but not like coughing....ok - nuff whining....gotta get back in the swing of things! So - hope to be on again this weekend with some card updates! Ta ta for now!

Great End of the Year School Gift...

My girlfriend Candy just stopped by and had me photo and email these pics to her for school end of the year gifts....I thought "Great Idea!!" So I am going to have to create some for the secretaries at my school too. They were so simple to make. Again, I was inspired to recreate a model of this posted on Splitcoast Stampers, under the gallery of "nielsonfamily6". So here it is! I need to complete my new ones for the school secretaries in one of the new Stampin Up papers....ooh can't wait to create!

... a belated mother's day...

...for my mother...She wasn't home on Mother's Day and so I did not get to talk to her or see her on Mother's Day, and since she can't stay home by herself, she hasn't been around as Pop is working.... however I did finally get to see her on Memorial Day when she and my step-father came to the house for our annual picnic. It is so hard to see her these days, as her focus is minimizing every day. And I was SURE she was going to love the card I made for her...remember, mom and I used to make crafts together for as long as I can remember and she was a florist, which is where I picked up skills and techniques in floral arranging....so I picked the SAB set Big Blossoms and cased a card from an SCS stamper named "debbiedesigns" because I thought it was soooo beautiful...She SEEMED to like it - until she opened it - and she started to cry....not due to the sentiment, but because she can no longer comprehend the words and it totally confused her....but I gave her a hug and she was ok....of course I wasn't...but she did like the picture. Took me awhile to even write that and post a picture of the card, but I think I most likely better write about those moments or I may just meltdown one day....AHHHHH....... hell on earth.....definitely has to be Alzheimers...At least with Bob's 3 bouts of cancer we BOTH could feel as if we could fight it together and talk to each other and offer each other support....Alzheimers is just an evil thief that leaves you and your loved ones empty....

Guess how many parties I went to Sunday?!

OK - so the cards give me away! Olivia our granddaughter turned 3 on Sunday and my husband's second cousin's lil girl turned 2 - so we made both parties....and I almost forgot to get pictures!!! I am going to have to remake cards - as I took these two "on the run" in the car - I actually cropped out traffic! LOL But I wanted to share them with you - I LOVE cool Caribbean and will miss it - so I am using it like crazy! The whale card, I got the idea from a sideline and tried it with the diorama and I love it! Also - the raccoon card was inspired by a gifted artist on SCS - whose handle escapes me at the moment....but used my colors and "signs"....so hope you enjoy them!