Scrappin' and Yappin'

2009-11-22T08:45:00.002-05:00

Here it is!

A website that has all of the Black Friday ads!

For all of you BF shoppers, now you don't have to wait until Thanksgiving to make your game plans!

Scrappers - check out the Wal-mart ad for cheap Cricut stuff!

Expression is now in colors at Wal-mart and ChEaP!!

http://www.black-friday.net/

Ready ~ Set ~ Shop!

2009-11-20T22:55:00.002-05:00

Here are the Michaels & Joann's ads for Thanksgiving Weekend shopping. Michaels has Cricut carts on sale for 27.99 and the newer ones will be 35.99

http://www.black-friday.net/michaels-ad-scan.html

http://www.black-friday.net/joann-ad-scan.html

Anyone do shopping on Black Friday? I've never done that, Friday is usually my Christmas decorating day.

I did it all by myself!

2009-10-21T18:46:00.004-04:00

What to do when you don't have tools or anyone to read the directions and assemble something you bought? You buy a cool set of screwdrivers (in black n gold of course, go STEELERS) and you spread it all out and build it yourself! This was the first time I've bought something that came all flat in a box and I was determined to get it done! Gotta love IKEA for storage! Shelley has her stamps stored in built in cabinets similar to this. I L-O-V-E my new stamp cabinet but I think I might need another one... or sell some stamps sets! :D

ps: The directions were pictures only, now they don't have to print them in several different languages, every screw and part was used and EVERY HOLE WAS LINED UP PERFECTLY! GO IKEA!

Rookie crashed the Greyhound party!

2009-10-19T22:53:00.006-04:00

Rookie crashed the Greyhound Rescue "Yappy Hour" on Saturday night. She was so well behaved I was shocked. Greyhounds are the perfect friends for her because they are so mellow. Not one bark or growl came from them. They were dressed up like "The King", Zoro , cowboys, etc and didn't care at all. I've never see such big dogs in Halloween costumes before!

Rookie was the hit of the party. Everyone came over to pet her, especially the guys! She is a guy magnet, not sure if it's because she is a hunting dog or what. A couple guys even kissed her!

Rookie & Harley.

Rookie, just one of the gang.

Diceman aka"The King" & Rookie

Shelley & Elsie

I want a red flashing light on my car

2009-10-16T19:51:00.004-04:00

Tonight while driving behind a local Hillsborough County Deputy I noticed that he didn't obey any of the traffic laws, if he doesn't have to why do I?

He was driving in a 45 mph construction zone REALLY fast. And NO he wasn't on a call. He stopped at the next light in front of me. He was laughing and having a good time with his buddy in the car.

Stopped in 2 intersections at the light on the wrong side of the white line.

Changed lanes about 5 times, no turn signal

Made 3 turns, no turn signal

Just slowly rolled through a stop sign.

This is the reason I want a red flashing light on my car too!

Back yard wildlife

2009-09-28T10:13:00.004-04:00

This morning while looking out of my bathroom window this is what I saw.

We have a reflective film on the windows so he was watching himself :)

My last post was July 2nd...continues

2009-09-27T01:27:00.006-04:00

Mary Ann Cappo Vestrand

7/13/28 - 7/11/09

I just read my last post on July 2nd and it made me cry.

I so wish I could have my Mom back with me.

To continue from July 2nd, I was saying about my Mom not being happy at the Hospice home. I took her back home that day, the nurses told me she had too much spunk left in her to die anytime soon. But she continued to decline daily and on July 9th in the afternoon, we decided it was time for her to go back to the Hospice house. I stayed with her until 9pm and was giving her a hug goodbye, told her I was going home to sleep and I'd be back first thing in the morning. She said, Ok lets go! I tried to explain that she was staying there so the nurses could take care of her while I got some sleep. But she wouldn't let go, so I spent the night there in her room with her.

The next day she slept a lot. We all were there for her, when she opened her eyes we would try to get her to talk but she didn't say too much. That night I went home because she was sleeping so much and they called at 2:30 AM and said she was failing and that we should come right away. John, Stan and I threw on our clothes, rushed out, picked up Jessica and made it there by 3:15 and but she was already gone. We each got to see her though and say our last goodbyes.

She died on July 11th, 2 days before her 4-6 week diagnosis was up and 2 days before her 81st birthday.

Her funeral was in PA and everything went well. My Mom made the arrangements for her funeral when my dad died, all we had to do was a few last minute things. What a blessing that was, she had everything picked out down to her outfit.

Hardly an hour goes by that I don't think about her and wish I still had just a little more time to spend with her. But the 6 weeks that she lived with us was wonderful. I spent the majority of my time with her, we talked about everything, went through all of the old pictures, etc. The kids were here a lot too. We all knew our time was limited and we wanted to spend as much time with her as we could.

My Mom requested that a dove release be done after her burial. I never heard of this before but I must say, it was THE most beautiful experience. Wind beneath my wings was playing and the gentleman with the doves let us all pet the beautiful white dove first. There wasn't a dry eye there. It was so wonderful to take the time to let everyone pet her and be involved. Before he was going to set her free he asked Jessica and I if we wanted a feather. He gave us one and then handed the dove to me release. Jessica helped me throw it up into the air and he released others at the same time.

My wonderful children, I don't know what I would do without them.

My beautiful family!

Jeremy, Jessica, Jason & Justin,

Watching Mom Sleep

2009-07-02T20:05:00.002-04:00

Watching my Mom sleep is something I'm not getting tired of. I keep watching her wondering how many more days I will be able to just sit, hold her hand and love looking at her.

On Tuesday we passed 4 weeks already since her diagnosis of only having 4-6 weeks left. She has been steadily declining. It's really hard to see this strong muscular women shrivel down to just skin and bones. Last year at this time she was carrying bags of mulch and planting flowers in her yard. Of course I didn't allow her to do this, but she would sneak over to Lowes and do it anyway. "Stubborn" has always been my Mom's middle name, no matter what you told her she couldn't do, it made her want to do it more than ever!

Yesterday we moved Mom over to the Hospice House in Sun City. She was getting up at night to go to the bathroom and falling. We had it worked out that she would call my cell phone when she needed to go and I would wake and take her. But the last few days she didn't have enough strength to even press the 2 numbers on the phone so "Stubborn" as she still is, she would just try and get up on her own and we would find her on the floor. The last time she hit the foot board on the bed and bruised herself up.

The next day the visiting nurse she said it was time to move her over to the Hospice House. When my Mom was first put under Hospice care 4 weeks ago, I discussed with her nurse that I didn't want my Mom to pass away at home. But I wanted to keep her home with me as long as possible. She told me she would monitor her and let me know when it was time to move her. When she told me yesterday it was time for the move I was so upset but they made everything very easy and moved her by non-emergency ambulance.

This morning I decided to go to work at ECHO since I haven't been able to get there for awhile. On my way at 8:30am Hospice called me and said my Mom was being very combative and wouldn't eat, drink or take her medications until I came and took her home. So I turned around and went straight there. Yes my Mom was living up to her middle name again! But I got her to calm down and take the meds, etc. We've had someone with her all day and she slept pretty much the whole time. I'm sitting here now wondering if I should go home or spend the night here with her. I don't want her to get upset in the morning again. Who knows, maybe if she is "stubborn" enough she might just be coming back home with me tomorrow.

Young Love

2009-06-29T14:46:00.002-04:00

I'm sure hearts are breaking all over the world today as Ace Young announces his engagement to Allison Fischer.

I'm so happy that they found each other at Rydell High ... the cutest guys always get the cheerleaders! :)

Congrats to you both, I hope you have lots of happy years together! {{hugs}}

And Ace, we will all be expecting you to release some new beautiful love songs! ;-)

Mom Update

2009-06-20T22:39:00.003-04:00

May 30th we received the news that my Mom has incurable small cell lung and liver cancer. Her oncologist explained that this was a fast spreading cancer and it had already entered her bloodstream. He also said she only had 4-6 weeks left unless she did chemo, then she would probably make it about 9 months. After much discussion, her changing her mind several times, she decided she didn't want the chemo and wanted God to take her when it was time.

When she left the hospital she moved in with us. She has been getting weaker and skinner by the day. On Tuesday it will be 3 weeks. I'm doing my best to care for her with the help of Jessica and John. The Hospice nurse comes out twice a week however they are available 24/7 for questions or if we need anything.

Eventually we'll move her to the Hospice House to spend her last days, but until then I'll continue to care for her and spend as much time with her as I can.

So please, if you pray, keep us in your prayers.

A BIG thank you to all who have called, emailed and helped me cope with everything going on in my life.

Love ya all!!

2009-05-30T23:04:00.002-04:00

As most of you know my Mom is a 34yr Breast Cancer survivor.

Unfortunately we received news today that we didn't want to hear. My Mom has been diagnosed with Lung Cancer. We have a meeting on Monday with her Doctors to see what our options are but it will only prolong her life, not cure her cancer.

Please keep us in your prayers.

Scrapbooking is a sport!

2009-05-02T09:46:00.004-04:00

Wow it seems I start out almost ever post by saying I'm sorry it's been so long since I blogged. I just looked and it's been 3 weeks since my last blog.

Life has thrown me a few curve balls, however hopefully things will start to get better and I'll be able to blog and share more with everyone.

Today is National Scrapbooking Day! I want to make sure I finish a page today, I think last year I worked on cards. But I started a page the other night and was just waiting on some cutter files from Chris and it will hopefully be done today. When I make something I try to include one of her files since I'm on her design team + I LOVE HER FILES! Have you checked out her website yet? She also has a great forum going too. Here is a link to her store: http://www.visualdesignsbychris.com/store/home.php

So according to the above picture, Scrapbookin' is now a sport! Wonder when it will show up in the Olympics?

Hope all of my crafty friends get time today to cut and glue something :)

Sign sign everywhere a sign...

2009-04-09T21:25:00.003-04:00

But can you read them?

Every Thursday when I arrive at ECHO I find this in the parking lot! What is wrong with people? Are they trying to donate that crap? I'm going to forward these pictures to the Tampa Tribune to see if they will do a story about it. It's a shame that ECHO has to pay someone to haul this garbage to the dump every week.

Ace Young and Terry Fator in Vegas!

2009-03-23T23:10:00.003-04:00

American Idol Season 5 semifinalist Ace Young was called up onstage by singing ventriloquist Terry Fator at his show in The Mirage. Ace had such a great time that he decided to stay and perform the rest of the week. Ace sang “Father Figure” and “Dream On,” and Terry, who duplicated Ace’s voice after a couple of nights, insisted that Ace join him after each show for autograph and photo sessions with the audience.

Way to go Ace! I'm so proud of you!!

Who doesn't love Stickles?

2009-03-22T11:27:00.003-04:00

L-O-V-E

Stickles

There, I said it! Seems every page or card I make has to have that extra little shimmer. So my collection has been growing! (I know you find that hard to believe). I've been keeping them in a drawer, however I noticed when I stored one upside down it was easier to use, I didn't have to shake it a bunch of times to get the glitters to come out. I read a few blogs about Stickles storage and none of them were right for me.

So I forced myself to go shopping (sounds good right?) to find a storage solution for them so they were hanging upside down.

Yesterday at Wal-mart I found the perfect thing and it was only $4! Here is a picture of all of my Stickles happy in their new home. Looks like I need to buy more though, look at all of those empty spaces ha ha

Craig's List, ya never know what you'll find!

2009-03-21T00:26:00.004-04:00

I was looking around Craigs list tonight and found an area that I never saw before. It's called " Missed Connections" under the personals section. Here are some examples of what crazy people post:

GIB TOWN WALMART - m4w - 19 (gibsonton)saw a cute girl at walmart. by the soda machine and then at the gas station.. but you saw me. and i saw you.

PUBLIX IN WESTCHASE - m4w (westchase) we made eye contact and smiled as we were leaving publix. You had just gotten off the scale...I was on the phone

Man walking at Madiera beach - m4m - 38 (largo)You were walking on Madiera beach one day this week. YOu were wearing a speedo. You are 50 + sexy , nice legs. I am 6ft 225 muscular. Moved here recently. If this is you or describes an interest ..hit me back. Nothing sexier than a daddy in a speedo on the beach.

Dominos Delivery Guy - m4m (Clearwater)You delivered a pizza to my apartment. Around 7:20pm tonight. Just wanted to say you were hot and well worth the tip.

And my WINNER for the most desperate person in Florida is (pictures included):

I SAW YOU AT THE SPRING HILL GOODWILL TUESDAY YOUR DARK AND HANDSOME - 42 (SPRINGHILL) YOU WERE WEARING BLACK SHORTS WITH A BLACK AND WHITE STRIPED SHIRT, AROUND 2 IN THE AFTERNOON, LOOKED AT YOU A COUPLE OF TIMES BUT I WAS TOO SHY TO SAY ANYTHING, WOULD HAVE LOVED TO DROP TO MY KNEES AND SERVICE YOU RIGHT THERE IF I COULD HAVE......WANNA HAVE SOME FUN PLEASE?

Life on the Lake

2009-03-17T17:46:00.003-04:00

St Patty's day isn't a happy day for my Mom. My brother passed away 3 years ago at the age of 52 on this day and she really has never recovered from losing her son. So I tried to keep her involved in some outdoor life today. We watched birds feeding their young ones, White Pelicans coming in for landings and hunting for dinner and just enjoying the nature around us.

My Mom was hospitalized on Jan 18th with pneumonia and spent 17 days there. She was been staying with us since then, she is still not up to going home and living by herself yet. She lost all of her muscle and fat in the last 4 months and is down to 100lbs. But she hasn't given up. She does her rehab exercises everyday and has been eating well. But she isn't getting any stronger. We have another dr visit on Thursday. She is also on oxygen 24/7 which makes it hard too.

Here are few pictures I thought I would share of the beautiful White Pelicans and some pics I just took from across the lake.

Hope everyone gets a chance to have a green beer today!

Challenge #2 ~ Music page layouts!

2009-03-16T15:53:00.002-04:00

Well the winner is... WAIT... no one entered so there is not a winner. I thought this would be a fun challenge since most of my friends are involved in someway with the love of music and concerts. So what can we do for the next challenge that everyone will like? Send me your ideas!

Got The Digital Camera Battery Blues?

2009-03-16T15:35:00.003-04:00

What kind of batteries last the longest? Well I found out not the most expensive kind that you get at the camera stores!! I was buying those for my camera because I was convinced by the sales guy they were SO MUCH BETTER.... NOT! I ran out of batteries and actually used the FREE batteries that came with camera. These were Panasonic LR6-AA Industrial Alkaline batteries. I figured they would get me through the pinch until I could get back to the camera store. Well...let me tell you THESE WERE THE LONGEST LASTING BATTERIES I've ever used! Printed on the side is not for retail trade. Why? Because they last too long?

See Ace on TV for 10 Weeks!

2009-03-09T19:58:00.002-04:00

http://www.foxreality.com/aie/

Yes you heard it right! Ace Young will be co-hosting the Fox Reality show Idol Extra! So starting March 26th, you will be up close and personal with Ace interviewing the Idol contestant that is voted off. Set your DVR's now so you don't miss an episode!

Ok... who is ready for another challenge?

2009-03-01T14:35:00.003-05:00

This weeks challenge will be for scrapbook pages, sorry card makers... but I know you have the ability to make a scrapbook page too so just get workin' on it!

I'm challenging everyone to make either a single or double page design of a music concert you've seen or one that you were in yourself. That is the only rule... music concert. It can be any size or colors and you won't get preferred voting status for using pictures of Ace ;-)

I know everyone has been to something... a rock show, country show, high school band, chorus, etc. Just has to be music related.

Deadline is Monday morning March 9th.

Ok, run and get your paper and scissors and knock my socks off with awesome designs!

We Have a Winner!

2009-02-27T10:42:00.007-05:00

A BIG Congratulations to Linda from NY!

My Mom had a hard time choosing a winner too but she kept going back to the box saying she liked it a lot. So Linda your prize box will be mailed out on Monday!

YELLOW BONUS

And since it was hard to pick a winner, I'm going to send each contestant a little thanks for participating in my first challenge!

You guys ROCK!

Follow the Yellow Brick Road...

2009-02-25T21:19:00.006-05:00

Finally all of the "yellow" challenge designs have been submitted. A few more are still working on it however I've already extended the deadline by 2 days so they will have to miss this chance at a prize. But I will post their designs for all to see when I get them.

I'm going to let my Mom pick her favorite. She will enjoy looking at them and since she doesn't know who submitted them, I thought that would be fair. I'm glad I'm not judging because I love them all!

THE BEAUTIFUL YELLOW CREATIONS

Card by Monica/FL

Double Scrapbook page by Christy/FL

Scrapbook page by Bridget/PA

Fold out card in a gift box by Linda/NY

Tag card by Linda/NY

SIZE DOES MATTER!

2009-02-24T21:17:00.001-05:00

Our little group of scrappin' friends have a joke about if size matters... ya know like is there a difference between 6x6, 12x12, etc *wink*

I just had to share with you today's featured card on Dirty Shanks!

So there ya have it... SIZE DOES MATTER! LOL

Last Call

2009-02-22T21:01:00.002-05:00

Ok guys and girls... it's last call for all "yellow" challenges! They are due to me by tomorrow so please email me as soon as you are done.

I've got a couple of great projects to share with you tomorrow night!

Another "yellow" challenge

2009-02-20T14:19:00.001-05:00

I just saw this on the cuttlebug challenge blog! So if you are making something in yellow for my challenge and you have a cuttlebug, might as well enter it in both challenges! :)

http://cuttlebugchallenge.blogspot.com/2009/02/cuttlebug-mellow-yellow-rendezvous.html

Lots of interest in my challenge!

2009-02-20T11:50:00.003-05:00

Just a "yellow" reminder to work on your projects this weekend... the prize package will have lots of goodies :)

Who wants a challenge?

2009-02-19T00:11:00.003-05:00

I need to get some scrappin' done ... it's been months since I've made anything for myself. So I decided to offer a challenge with a prize! I know you all love prizes!

Hopefully this will help to motivate me plus clean out of some of my extra stuff!

I'm going to try and do this once a week, so make sure you keep checking back for the newest challenge.

This weeks challenge is to make something using yellow. It can be a card, scrapbook page, whatever you want to make. It doesn't have to be all yellow, but the major color needs to be yellow. Email me a picture of your designs by Monday night and I'll post them all on Tuesday with the winner.

Good luck everyone!

Idols, Idols and more Idols!

2009-02-17T06:55:00.009-05:00

Jessica and I went to Hollywood Studios on Thursday to the grand opening of the Idol Experience. We weren't allowed to go in because the public grand opening wasn't until Saturday, this day was for former Idols/family and invited media. But we did get to attend the Idol parade, that was very cool to see 27 former American Idols in one place! Here's some pictures to enjoy!

First time all 7 Idol winners were ever together!

Do you recognize this guy?

We were able to see Ace a couple of times after the parade :)

Michael Johns, his accent is so cool!

Look how wonderful Mandisa looks!

She just lost 70lbs!

I'm Going to Disney World!

2009-02-11T23:49:00.002-05:00

I haven't blogged in a long time...sorry about that. But I will play catch up soon. In the mean time, just wanted to let you know that tomorrow, Thursday, Hollywood Studios (MGM) is having a big Idol party. There are going to be 25+ former American Idols there to celebrate the opening of The Idol Experience. I've been waiting for this to open for 6 months now knowing a lot of idols would be visiting. I had no idea they would bring this many in at once. Hopefully I'll have some good pictures to share :)

Here is the list of who is attending:
Paula Abdu,l David Archuleta, Fantasia Barrino, Bo Bice, Jason Castro David Cook, Bucky Covington, Diana DeGarmo, Melinda Doolittle, Simon Fuller (Idol Creator), Josh Gracin, Justin Guarini, Taylor Hicks, Michael Johns, LaKisha Jones, Kimberley Locke, Sanjaya Malakar, Mandisa, Syesha Mercado, Ryan Seacrest, Chris Sligh, Carly Smithson, Jordin Sparks, Phil Stacey, Ruben Studdard, Carrie Underwood, Brooke White & Ace Young

Just gotta laugh..

2009-01-25T23:48:00.003-05:00

No matter how many times over the years I've seen this picture it always makes me LAUGH OUT LOUD!

Idol Extra has a HOTT new host!

2009-01-23T21:10:00.001-05:00

Fox Reality Channel will bring back Season 5 contestant Ace Young to host this year's "American Idol Extra."Young will be joined by Fox utility player Jillian Reynolds. The fourth season of the behind-the-scenes "Idol" annex also will be shot from the "Idol" stage for the first time. Fox Reality will premiere the show Thursday, March 26, at 7 p.m., airing nine episodes leading up the broadcast network's "Idol" finale."Idol Extra" provides viewers with weekly highlights and features exclusive interviews of the contestants and their friends and family.

This is it! Today is the day!

2009-01-18T10:42:00.005-05:00

Will MY team be coming to Tampa for the SuperBowl?

(this picture was taken last Sunday at O'briens in Brandon)

2009-01-17T15:37:00.002-05:00

Hey

Goodbye

Please give a quick click to Ryan!

2009-01-15T18:38:00.001-05:00

A friend of mine is in a contest on http://feelingthevibemagazine.com/ If you would please go to this website and click on the Hit or Miss contest on the left hand side and vote for Ryan Gallagher he & I would be most appreciative. Listen to his music, hope you like it :) It only allows one vote per computer so just one click is all it takes!

How About this Ad?

2009-01-10T15:17:00.002-05:00

Sony unveils Walkman NWZ-X1000 OLED touchscreen player and check out the top album on the play list!

{and no, it's not my Sony Walkman, this is actually their ad!}

http://www.engadget.com/2009/01/07/sony-unveils-walkman-nwz-x1000-oled-touchscreen-player/?icid=200100397x1216871007x1201084845

Guns, Police & Scrappin' ... OH MY!

2009-01-10T02:03:00.001-05:00

To start out my story... I have to first tell you that I went to Ruban Rouge in Palm Harbor tonight for scrapbooking. This won't make any sense to those who don't live in Tampa, but for my local friends who know how directionally challenged I am, they will laugh. Did you know the longest way to go to RR from Brandon? Well I found out tonight... you go across the Gandy Bridge. Yes I said it, not sure how it happened since I WAS using my GPS, but I managed to make a 1 hour trip into almost 2 hrs. Then on my way home... I did a little better...but did you know that you can actually drive through Tampa Airport on the way home to Brandon? I bet no one ever did that before LOL . But the most important thing to remember, I made it to RR and back home safely. LOL

Ok on to my post about Guns, Police & Scrappin' ...OH MY!

While about 20 ladies and I were sitting in the Ruban Rouge Design Studio scrapbooking and having a good time... a young black man (maybe early 20's) opened the door and sightly out of breath asked if we saw a man running by. We all said no, he looked like he had been chasing someone so a lady by the door said, should we lock the door and he said yes and left. Then ladies a couple tables over from me saw this man pull a gun out from his waist band behind him and hold it with both hands like he had someone cornered. These ladies yell, he has a gun out, everyone down! Ok, I've never seen so many people dive to the floor before at once. I was kinda just standing there thinking ...is this for real? I couldn't see the guy outside, so I walked over to the bathroom and stood in the door way and peeked out.

Then the guy came back over to the door and was motioning for everyone to get up and he was flashing his open wallet at the lady by the door showing some kind of card. So she got up and opened the door and henshowed her up close his wallet. She said it was an Army Military Police card and he was wearing a set of military dog tags. He said everything is ok, we got him. In the meantime, a lady hiding under the table was calling 911 and reporting it and another lady was calling the store to let them know what was going on. The dispatcher on the phone with 911 told us to keep the door locked and stay under the tables until a uniformed officer arrived. By this time 1/2 of the ladies were already back to scrappin' , including me, the other half were still under the tables hiding!

Finally the police arrive in FULL FORCE! There were officers everywhere, they had dogs, BIG rifles... it was crazy! A few of the officers came in and asked a few questions about what direction the guy left in, etc and off they went with the dog. And let me tell you that dog was excited! I've never seen a police dog in action before and he was ready to go find the bad guy!! So a few more officers came in and talked to everyone trying to get the story straight. Then they asked us if this guy ever pointed a gun at us, we said no, he then said were you scared? And everyone said yes... and we still had people under the tables at this point! Three officers stayed with us while the others were out hunting this guy down. I couldn't understand why the police dept didn't have a communication link with the Military Police.

They found this guy who had the gun a couple of blocks away and put him in a police car. The lady that made the 911 call had to go and ID him and they took him to the police station. His story was he was playing with a friend of his, chasing each other around and he only had a pellet gun. So who knows if we will read about this in the paper tomorrow. Of course, being the scrapper that I am, I need pictures for a scrapbook page. So here are few of our officers and a little reenactment of the crime by Liz & I. Actually Liz & I were probably the only ones who weren't on the floor hiding when all of this happened. :)

We had to each complete a victims form stating what we saw, etc. After all the "higher up" officers left we had some fun with the remaining guys who stayed to gather our paperwork. I even heard someone ask about having their picture taken with handcuffs on... LOL

Crime Reenactment

Marian, Joni & Liz ~ my first scrapbooking friends

Love you guys! :)

Liz & Officer McCloud

Ya know me, always find an opportunity have my picture taken with a guy everywhere I go! ;-)

Some of the officers that were still there...

This was probably the most fun they ever had on a call!

Is it really Jan 6th?

2009-01-06T21:20:00.003-05:00

Wow where does time go? Can't believe I haven't blogged in 2009 yet! Well I know where my time has been going...sleeping and coughing. I've been sick for 8 days and totally missed New Years Eve :( We were supposed to go with Shelley to Skippers but I was too sick. I finally went to the doctor and I have bronchitis so I now have a famous Z-Pack so hopefully in a day or two I'll feel almost normal.

So hopefully I'll be back to blogging like normal :)

Happy 2009!

Ace gives the coat off his back

2008-12-31T10:51:00.004-05:00

{photo by Howard}
This morning Ace Young was on Good Morning America and donated the leather coat he wears all of the time to Warm Coats, Warm Hearts.
What a guy! No matter what he has on his busy schedule, Ace is always doing as much as he can for charity. A truely talented man with a heart of gold!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KuJVnexziwA

I'm Still Lazy!

2008-12-30T19:57:00.002-05:00

Not sure what is going on with me but I am so damn lazy I can't stand it. I have no desire to do anything at all. I need to stop eating all of the crap in the house, I think that is my major problem. It's almost gone... but it's so good and I hate to just throw it out :) So what's everyone doing for New Years Eve? John and I are joining Shelley and a few of her friends at Skippers. They are having a big party with a few bands playing songs from 1968. Should be fun, just hope I can get my butt off the couch to go!

Lazy Day!

2008-12-26T14:35:00.002-05:00

What a lazy day I'm having! John had to work today and here it is 2:30 and I haven't even got out of my jammies yet! But the last week was so rushed and busy I'm just enjoying the down time and quiet. I even took a nap already :)

Diet on Christmas? No way!

2008-12-25T20:45:00.005-05:00

Well my diet as been on the back burner for the last 2 weeks. There is just too much good stuff around...I'm not pigging out but I am having a little of everything. Just so I don't gain any weight I'll be OK. I don't go back to get weighed until Jan 8th so after the holiday goodies are gone, I'll have a chance to get back on the program of dieting, walking and exercising like I should be.

Christmas Eve we decided to have a crab feast instead of the regular Christmasy food I usually make. It was just our family and my Mom here and we ate a lot of King crab legs! It was awesome! Plus there are still leftovers so I'm looking for some good recipes for crab meat.

We had a really nice evening! After dinner was gift time... and I got lots of nice things. John paid for my last trip to NYC for Christmas but he still got me an Ipod docking station with FM radio for my scraproom. I've been wanting one of those for awhile. Jessica ordered the cutest mouse pad for me, it has pictures of me with all of the Idol's I've seen so far. (of course the biggest pic is of me and Ace) . Also she gave me the cutest Steeler wreath!

Jessica got a lot of nice gifts too! This is a pic of her Gator Christmas ornament. :)

Here is a rare photo of Jeremy! Most people don't believe I even have a son because he never likes to have his picture taken. But he was very happy with his new flat screen TV so I got a smile out of him :)

John got a Mario Kart game for Wii :)

Merry Christmas!

2008-12-24T23:39:00.002-05:00

Just a quick post to wish everyone a very Merry Christmas! Hope you are spending time with your loved ones and Santa has something special under the tree for you :)

Water Bill OMG!

2008-12-17T16:13:00.002-05:00

Monday we got our water bill and it was $265.25! I about freaked! Dec 07 we used 14,200 gallons of water and Dec 08 bill is 41,000! There is NO way we used that much more water. We thought something was wrong with the meter so John checked it yesterday and it looks fine, wasn't moving. So I called the water dept today and told her to look at my account. She was Wow you have a big problem over there! I'm like...NO Shit! Then I found out that it's not the water companies job to come out and check if we have a leak underground. We would have to hire a plumber to come out. So I told her if we had a leak the meter would be moving and it wasn't moving at all. After 20 min on the phone with her she suggests that I go out and read the meter. That was the problem!! They read the meter wrong, 18,000 gallons wrong! So they are supposed to send me a corrected bill, however I still think something is wrong. It's still too much water usage for 2 people with one traveling all of the time.

Have you ever seen someone walk out of a store with a stack of folded sweaters under their arm?

2008-12-17T15:54:00.003-05:00

Well today I did and it was CRAZY! I was shopping at the mall with my Mom and we parked at Dillards. There was a shirt right by the door that I stopped to look at before leaving. While I was checking it out, this heavyset black man, probably in his 40's walked into Dillards, went over to a table with neatly folded men's cashmere sweaters, picked up a stack and started to go for the door. He looked around and we locked eyes. He right away put them down by the door and left without taking them. I went and got the store manager, told her what happened. She was happy that I got her but says it happens all of the time, especially at Christmas :( I asked her if they had sensors on them and she said no. I looked at the price and they were marked down to $125. I then told her they should put the cheap stuff by the door, and she said they were only $125. OMG I went back over and made a purchase and then headed back to the door to leave. And what did I see? This same man coming back into the store! I couldn't believe it! I looked around and there were no employees in sight so I hid behind a row of clothes. And sure enough, he grabbed another stack of sweaters, put them on the top of the other stack he previously tried to steal and out of the door he went with them. Still no employees around so I followed him outside and saw him run into a lady, spinning her around and then jump into a car with a women driving. My car wasn't far away so I got in and drove down the next aisle and got behind them. I was able to write down their license number. I then drove over to the other side of the mall and found 2 mounted police officers. Told them the story, they were calling it in while I was talking. Within 5 min the mall lot had police cars going up and down every aisle looking for them. I drove around one more time too looking for them but didn't see them. Hopefully they will be able to catch them with the license number but if they don't have the sweaters with them, I doubt there is anything they can do. So if you see nice men's cashmere sweaters for sale cheap or on Craig's list... you know where they came from!

I was nervous but I was still a loser!!

2008-12-11T19:03:00.003-05:00

HOW TO LOSE WEIGHT!

I haven't been to the doctor in 2 weeks to weigh in because I was in NY and then last week I was sick. SO I was VERY nervous to go since I really didn't diet much the last two weeks, but I didn't go crazy either. But I thought, as long as I didn't gain anything I'll be happy. Much to my SURPRISE I lost 3 more lbs and 1% body fat in the last 2 weeks!! YIPPEE!! So now I'm down 23 lbs! :)

Trip #2 to NYC, think there will be a trip #3?

2008-12-09T23:40:00.004-05:00

I don't know where my days go, it's amazing how little I get done everyday but yet I always seem so busy.

John asked me what I wanted for my birthday this year, so of course I said I wanted him to take me to NYC to see Grease again! Yes, I know I was just there a month ago but I had so much fun I wanted to do it again and share the fun with John. So we started to make plans and then the day we were going to make the plane reservations John decided he didn't want to go to NYC but said for me to go and take Jessica. I couldn't believe he didn't want to go. But to him hoping to catch Ace at the stage door in the freezing cold didn't appeal to him. ha ha. So I called Jessica and she said she would love to go, then I called Kimberly and she said "I'm packing now"!

So here is a little bit of our first day in NYC!

John was on vacation so he made golf plans for after he dropped us off at the airport. But poor guy was a little late for golf because I left my leather coat in the backseat and he had to come back to the airport with it :( He was probably happy for me to leave for a few days!

We flew out on Friday Nov 21 and met Kimberly at JFK. We got a cab and went straight to the hotel to check in. We couldn't believe the location of our hotel! 1/2 block off the center of Times Square! We stayed at the Millennium, it was perfect and I highly recommend it to anyone who wants to be in the center of the excitement! Also it was just a 10 min walk to the Ace's theatre!

After checking in and Jessica spending $8.50 on a draft beer *gasp* we headed over to the theatre to buy our tickets for the weekend. There were 5 shows available during our weekend, but we had restraint and only bought tickets for 3 of them.

After getting some much needed dinner we went back to the hotel to get ready for our first show that night.

Of course we left early to try and catch Ace at the stage door before the show. And yes we were lucky and got a few hugs, but it was freezin' out so we didn't stay long with him. So Ace went in to get ready and we went to the bar next door for a couple of refreshments.

This was the first time we sat in the mezzanine. We had front row which was good seats however not as good as sitting up close to the stage. But...I did see a couple other people in the show this time!

After the show we went backstage with Ace. He was in a hurry, lots of people there to see him and he had to go and pick up his Mom! How exciting for him. So we just chatted briefly and took some pics and we headed back to the bar for more refreshments. Here are few pics to enjoy until I can recap day 2.

How 'bout those Stillers!

2008-12-08T04:32:00.003-05:00

Wow what an exciting game last night!! Steelers beat the Cowboys 20-13!! This game should have come with a warning label, "If you have any type of heart condition, DON'T WATCH!"

The first half of the game was defense against defense. Both teams have an awesome defense, so it was crazy!

The last two weeks beating the Patriots & Cowboys... it doesn't get much better... well maybe making it to the Superbowl in Tampa will be better, but that's it! :)

Here we go Stillers, here we go!!!!!!!!!!!

Charliepaloosa!

2008-12-07T08:55:00.004-05:00

Yesterday Charlie Daniels had his 18th Annual concert benefiting the Angelus Foundation outside at the Hard Rock Cafe in Tampa. It was a PERFECT winter day in Florida, 75 and sunny :)

The bands were awesome! I saw Marshall Tucker, N-Kahootz, Bo Bice, Confederate Railroad, Charlie Daniels + lots more great guys who joined in with Charlie at the end for a BIG jam.

All of my friends had plans so I just went by myself and had a great time. Everyone there was so friendly! LOTS of bikers who do a lot to support the Angelus Foundation. I thought I would just go for a couple of hours, hear some music and come home. But I ended up staying 7hrs! LOL

Here are a few pics that I took...enjoy!

Phil Stacey ~ WOW!

2008-12-05T08:38:00.002-05:00

BEAUTIFUL video of Phil Stacey, what an amazing singer!!

http://blip.tv/file/1537611

Yikes, totally forgot about day 5 of the first trip to NYC

2008-11-30T22:55:00.007-05:00

Geez, I'm sorry. I totally forgot about blogging about my last day of the first trip to NYC. That sounded confusing!!

So here goes... of what I can remember... lol

We arrived in town on Friday to do more site seeing. Went to the World Trade Center location. It was very sad to see how big the area really was and how many lives were lost. You see it on the news but to actually see it in person is just so humbling. We also visited the fire station directly across the street. I took a few pics for Jess there.

We walked around Wall Street and finally made our way back over to the theatre. We were meeting Howard, another fun Ace friend for the evening show. When Howard arrived, we took some pics out front at the big Ace posters and then headed into the bar next door for a few drinks until show time. I'm not a big drinker and but that night I had way more than usual.

Howard and I loving Ace!

Ace has us backstage again with Howard. That was a surprise for Howard, he had no idea and was so happy! Howard even wore his famous spelled wrong Aceaholic shirt and Ace LOVED it!!We just took a group picture this night backstage since we had already taken pics so many days in a row. But then when we were leaving Ace said, lets have a group hug... and OMG it was long and tight and I started to cry. I'm sure it was a combo of being at the WTC that day and then thinking this was the last time I would see Ace in who knows how long. After the group hug he just hugged me, the tighter he hugged the more I cried. Geez I can't believe I did that. He kept saying stuff to make me not cry but it didn't help... he was saying, but you had fun right? It was a great time right? So as I was trying to stop sniffling I was telling him that I was coming back with John, that he had to see his performance too. So then he said yes, please being John, he will love it...

Everyone was waiting for me to dry my eyes so we could walk out in front of everyone waiting to meet Ace. I really didn't want to walk out there in front of everyone like that. So I got it together and we walked down the sidewalk towards the bar again. Howard wanted to take a pic of the big billboard of Ace so we headed up that way. Then I got a picture text msg from Jessica, she had just won an award from the Hillsborough County Fire Dept for being the most charitable firefighter in the county. So the tears started again. I can't remember when I cried twice like that... was it PMS or what? Ok I was ready for more drinks... so headed back to the bar and then had some more fun with Howard. He is so funny... had me laughing the rest of the night. No more tears!

We hung out there until about 1:30 and then headed back to the train station for our last trip to Long Island.

The next day we just packed up and hung out at Linda's until it was our flight time. On the way to the airport we stopped at the post office to pick up Kimberly's passport so she could fly home, it arrived just in time.

Thanksgiving Parade

2008-11-28T23:15:00.003-05:00

Ok, who saw Ace Young performing on CBS during the Thanksgiving Day Parade?

If you forgot the parade was on *cough shelley cough* then here is a link to see it on youtube.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dpceVhYLNWE

Hope you enjoy! This is just a sample of what you can see in the Broadway show, the real Greased Lightning is 100 times better (hotter) ;-)

The close up of him licking the car is *thud*

Back to NYC!

2008-11-19T13:09:00.003-05:00

Yes, I'm going back to NYC for another round of Kenickie! John gave me a long weekend trip back to see Grease again for my birthday! I really wanted him to go with me, however he would rather stay home and golf so Jessica is going with me! We will have a really good time I'm sure! My friend Kimberly that went with me last month is also flying up and meeting us there. It's so cold in NY right now but I'm sure we will manage, this time we will have proper coats, scarfs, etc. We are also staying 2 blocks from Times Square so we won't have that long commute time each day.

I promised I will finish blogging the last day of my last trip before I go! LOL

I almost made my first goal!

2008-11-17T23:32:00.002-05:00

I set my weight loss goals 20lbs at a time. I thought for sure when I weighed in today I would hit my first goal and I could celebrate. BUT damn, I'm only down 19.8lbs so I have to wait until next week to celebrate! :)

Ace continues to amaze me!

2008-11-16T13:08:00.004-05:00

Watch this video of one of Ace's new projects. I've been texting everyday and I'd be honored to spend 24hrs on the street with Ace Young. I don't need food and money!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4Hq84nYhyZ4

Text everyday and if you win, please take me with you :)

AND PLEASE DONATE TO THIS WORTHY CAUSE!!

Gotta love free spirit Jason Castro!

2008-11-16T09:11:00.001-05:00

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qv4RfdyyxVY

Happy Birthday Ace!

2008-11-15T23:38:00.002-05:00

Today is Ace Young's 28th birthday!

Day 4 of Fun in NYC!

2008-11-15T21:23:00.015-05:00

Yes I know, I've been home 3 weeks and I'm still not done blogging about it! :p

Thursday, Day 4 was the first time Kimberly & I were going to make the trip into the city without Linda. What started out as a peaceful morning changed for Kimberly when she realized she lost her drivers license sometime during the week. The last she remembers having it was at the airport in Tampa on Monday. So panic started to set in because she wouldn't be able to fly home on Saturday without a picture ID. There was nothing we could do about it right then, she was still hoping to find it somewhere. I started to call cab's for someone to pick us up and I had to call 4 places before I could find a cab. I told them the address we were at and just said we needed to go to the train station that goes to NYC. So a few minutes later we were in a cab... which turned out to be the best cab ride ever! The cabby was also a comedian at night. He talked and told us jokes the whole way! I'm sure he got some new material too after we told him why we were there in NYC and how many times we went to see Grease! :)

So he pulls up to the train station and I looked out the window. This wasn't the same place we went the first two days. I asked him if he was sure this was the train station? He laughed and said yes! And I told him again, this isn't the place we need to go! So he called his boss who then figured out I needed to go to a different train station. So by this time we were getting really close to the departure time of the train. So he drove fast and still told jokes all of the way. We made it about 5 min early. I told Kimberly, go over to the machine and get our tickets and I'll go over to the donut shop to get us a donut and coffee for her since we didn't have breakfast. I met her outside and she looked down and only had one ticket in her hand! She had lost one of the tickets just from the machine over to me! She then really paniced. It just wasn't her day. So the train is sitting there... we are thinking we'll miss it and have to wait 2 hours for the next one. So we run back over to the machine and buy another ticket! We run up to the train and the doors are all shut. OMG why weren't they seeing us and opening the doors? Finally another lady came over and said the trains doors were closed because the train was delayed 20 min and they won't let anyone go on board that early. WHEW all of that rushing and the train was running late! LOL

So we walked back down by the donut shop just to walk and relax and there on the ground was the other ticket that Kimberly had lost! So now we had 3 tickets! So I told her to stand over by the machine, when someone came to buy a ticket sell them the extra. That worked!

A few minutes later we were on the train, having our donut and trying to relax.

The weather on Thursday was really nice and sunny. Our first stop was Central Park. I really wanted to go to Strawberry Fields and to the Dakota.

Jessica had me on a mision to visit a NYC Firestation and get her a t-shirt. So we asked someone where the nearest firestation was, she said oh just down the road and make a right. So we walked for about 30 min and asked someone else. They said just walk up to the next street and it will be on down there on the right. So we walked to the next street and walked for a good 45min until we came to a 911 dispatch center :( No firetrucks there!

So we kept walking, we had no idea where we were but we could see the tall buildings ahead so we knew we were walking in the right direction to get back to town. Probably wasn't the safest thing to do, but we were fine.

So we get back to town and we are on the corner of Central Park again. We start to walk a little and this nice young man stops us and asks if we want a ride on his bicycle. He had a bike hooked up to a 2 seater trailer type thing. So we talked to him for awhile, he knew where there was a firestation and said it would be $30 to get us there. So off we went riding, which was really a lot nicer than all of that walking! He talked the whole time while we were riding, pointing out all of the points of interest. He asked us if we went through Central Park and I told him we just went to Strawberry Fields and then walked on the outside the rest of the time. So he said he would just take us through the park on the way to the firestation. He stopped for a moment at all of the touristy areas and explaned about it and let me take pictures. He was a great guy! He just got out of the service and was going to college.

This is the fountain in the opening of "Friends". They were getting ready for a Fall Festival, that is why there are crates of pumpkins there. They were also setting up for the NYC Marathon.

We finally arrive at the firestation to have them get a call, the doors opened, the firemen piled in the truck and away they went. The captain was still there so we talked with him for a while. He was very nice and let us take pics of their dept, etc. He said we could take a pictures of everything except their memorial wall. They had 12 firefighters die in the line of duty on 911. Very sad. He had two t-shirts to select from so I called Jess to see which one she wanted. Oh course she said, Can I have them both? So she got both of them and then he gave me one of their patches since she is also a firefighter. Kimberly also has a nephew that is a Firefighter so she got him a shirt and patch too.

Then off we went to find something to eat. We knew we wanted some real food since we hadn't had that much to eat all week. We found a really cool deli and we split a Ruben Knish. mmm it was so good and so big! It cost $27 and then they charged us $3 to split it! Only in NYC! There was enough corned beef on it to make lunches for a week!

On our way back to Times Square I found the Naked Cowboy! I still can't believe this guy stands there in the cold in his Tightie Whities! 00ps :)

You never know what you will see on the streets of NYC!

Next stop was Virgin Records. We walked in and there was a huge picture of Ace's album cover!

That's me standing behind it. I was too short so Kimberly had a good idea to find something to stand on. Had to go to the checkout counter and beg a store clerk to let me use a crate that was behind the counter. She wasn't too thrilled about it but she handed it to me anyway.

The rest of the day we shopped a little in the stores in Times Square and then made our way down to the theatre.

Of course the show was just fantastic again! Day 4 and I still haven't seen all of the show! For some reason my eyes stay focused on Kenickie the whole time. ;-)

We got to talk with Ace before the show for about 10 minutes and then after the show he invited us backstage.

After being backstage with us, Ace went out and greeted all of the fans that were waiting for him. He just loves to meet his fans and always stays and signs everyone's playbills and also takes pics with anyone who wants one. How many celebrities do you know that do that?

On our way to the train station we decided to stop and have a drink or two at O'Lunneys. It was a very nice Irish sports bar so I was able to see the end of one of the Rays games!

Day 4 over... stay tuned for day 5.. hopefully it won't take me another week to write it!

GoodSearch is what it's about!

2008-11-11T13:46:00.004-05:00

As most of you know I volunteer for ECHO in Brandon. They are an awesome organization for people who are in desperate need of food, clothing and household goods. Our clients have to be referred from a church, school, etc and can only come twice in their lifetime. We have clients who have lost everything in fires, women and children who have to leave abusive homes with just their clothes on their backs and just families who can't afford anything but rent and need some help.

When they come in to ECHO they can select 12 outfits per person, any household items that we have in stock and 2 weeks worth of food and pay nothing! Yes that is right, everything is free for them. ECHO runs on donations and fund raisers. Clothing donations are carefully screened to make sure everything we hang up for our clients is in good shape and free of stains, rips, etc. Cash donations are used to buy food, socks, underwear, diapers, etc. So I'm asking if everyone read the next paragraph to see how you can donate cash to ECHO without paying out any money.

ECHO is signed up with the search engine Good Search. If everyone would please start to use Good Search instead of google when you need to search the Internet, ECHO will get 2 cents for every search made. I don' t know about you but I do a lot of searches everyday!

This costs nothing on your part and you can help ECHO out big time.

Just follow this link http://www.goodsearch.com/ and select the charity ECHO of Brandon (Brandon, FL) ID: 850683

Thanks in advance for all of your help!

Weigh in Day!

2008-11-10T21:48:00.002-05:00

Well today I wasn't a big loser :(
I only lost 1lb this week... it could have been the 2 dinners that I had that weren't on my diet. Oh well, at least I lost 1, and I'll do better this week!

So far I've lost 17lbs and 3.2% body fat.

Day 3 in NYC! Finally huh?

2008-11-07T22:43:00.009-05:00

Wednesday was day three and my good friend Susie was taking the bus from Allentown, PA into the city to meet up with me for the day. Last time I saw her was 2 yrs ago when she came to Florida for a visit. I've been friends with Susie for 24 yrs and she is just a sweetie! She was also very excited to meet Ace for the first time.

So in the morning, Kimberly, Linda & I made our usual train ride into the city then on the subway over to Grand Central to pick up Susie. She is in a wheel chair so I wanted to make sure I was there as soon as the bus pulled in.

After lots of hugs we started our trek over to the theatre. Ace had told us the night before to meet him at 12:15 at the theatre so he could take us backstage before the show. He was going to do an interview with Shawna from Teen Talk also at the same time.

On the walk, Linda spotted a Costume store and she made a beeline over to it saying something about getting a crown for the king of NY. We walked over and looked around for a little bit waiting on Linda. I looked at my watch and it was 11:50. I knew if we didn't get going we wouldn't be there in time to meet up with Ace. So I looked around the store and couldn't find Linda anywhere. We walked outside and she wasn't anywhere around. I asked someone which direction the theatre was and Susie and I headed that way. I got a little scared but I put on my big girl panties and thought we would eventually find our way there! We arrived at the theatre at 12:15 and Linda was already there waiting on us! Couldn't believe she left us!

Shawna was also there waiting on Ace to show up. Of course he was very late.. by the time he arrived he only had time to do the interview with Shawna so we didn't get to go back stage. When he came back out, he went right over to Susie and gave her a BIG hug! She was so excited! I told her he gives the best hugs! He apologized and said he would put us on the list for after the show. So after chatting for a few minutes and lots of hugs he had to go in and transform into Kenickie. So we went over to the pizza shop for a "slice of pie" before the show started.

The show again was just fabulous! Susie was doing the squealing this time! She kept saying, Oh Baby! lol We had great seats in the 4th row and Ace saw us while he was singing and smiled. It was so cute. He is playing a "bad ass" put still was able to get a cute smile out to us.

Me and Susie

Go Greased Lightning!

After the show we went back to the stage door and the barricades were up. As soon as we walked up, Ace's bodyguard Paul walked up to us and said, come in side the barricade, Ace has you on the backstage list. We were very excited!! So we waited for someone to take us in, Paul was in and out of the door several times. Then Ace came out and said he was so sorry, but the theatre wouldn't allow Susie to come in with the wheelchair. So I said, We can leave it here, she has crutches too. But he said he already told them that and they said no. He felt really bad. So he said for us to wait until he signed everything for the fans waiting and he would just hang with us outside for awhile. There wasn't a big crowd like the night before so it really didn't take that long. As soon as we was done he went right over to Susie again and gave her another big hug and asked her how she liked the show. She told him she loved it and he was so HOTT in the show... she again said, Oh baby my boyfriend is going to get it tonight! LOL Ace loved that and he said, Well I'm glad I could help you out! Then he said, but make sure you don't yell out my name, but if you do, just say, Oh I meant you have a nice face, you have to keep up the pace, I like the way you taste! We were all laughing so hard that he just came out with that! LOL

So we all just chatted for a while, took some pics and said our goodbyes and got our last hugs. When he was leaving, he went back over to Susie, hugged her again and said, Don't forget Ace, pace, face, taste! lol

Susie is now in love with Ace too! She couldn't believe how sweet and nice he was to all of us. She said everything I ever told her was absolutely true.

Here are few pics while we were at the stage door.

Love my Ace hugs :)

Kimberly bought Ace this shirt and she was so excited to see him wearing it the next day! I haven't seen a pic of him with my shirt on yet, but hopefully he is wearing it. I also gave him a hat from John. Ace had been wearing a John Deere hat for a few weeks. So when John saw the picture he gave me a Cummins Power South hat to give him. Said to tell him that John Deere is his competition and he needs to wear the Cummins hat instead. Ace laughed and said he would totally wear the cummins hat for John! I never saw it while I was there however there were pics of him at the stage door this week with it on. John was very happy :)

Kimberly, Linda, Me, Shawna, Ace & Susie

After the we left the theatre we decided to go to Greenich Village to a restaurant called Jekyl & Hyde. It was a lot of fun but very over priced. We had 2 salads, 4 onion soups and 1 coke, 3 waters and it was $80!

When we left there we needed to get a cab back to Manhattan and no one would stop for us! Did I happen to mention it was freakin' cold & windy out? I was so cold that I really hated NY! But I couldn't find a shirt that said that, They all said I love NY.

Finally a cabbie stopped. He saw it was 4 women with one in a wheel chair but he didn't bother to get out and help with the wheelchair. he just sat in the car and popped the truck. I was so mad at him, that was so rude. Our fee was $9.75 and I handed him a $10 bill. He held it up and looked at like...is that it? WTF buddy, be glad you got the 25 cents! I wasn't tipping him anything since he wasn't man enough to help us out.

We arrived back at Grand Central, got Susie on her bus to go home and we made our trip on the Long Island Railroad back home for the night.

Here are some pics of a CTMH acrylic scrapbook I made as a gift for Ace. It's has some of his professional Grease pics in it. He really liked it! I twas a lot of fun to make, it was the first acrylic book I ever made. Sorry the pics aren't the great but I took them on the train!

Day 2 in NYC

2008-11-07T00:20:00.001-05:00

If you missed day two scroll down a little bit. I started in on Nov 3 and just finished it tonight.

Daughtry ~ Rocked the Vote!

2008-11-04T17:37:00.003-05:00

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oaCYmRIUoeg

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QdMFtr0-ooU

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mf2VoB50yZM

Make sure you get out and vote today!

2008-11-04T14:52:00.000-05:00

I'm a Big Loser!

2008-11-04T00:00:00.002-05:00

Today was weigh in day! I'm happy to say that I lost another 3.2lbs this week! So far I've lost 16.3 lbs total in the last 5 weeks! I've dropped one size in pants and was able to tighten the bra one notch! Woo Hoo!

Fun Times in NYC ~ Day 2

2008-11-03T00:45:00.015-05:00

Fun Times in NYC ~ Day 2 ~ Oct 21

Yeah It's Tuesday and we started out in the morning for our first NYC adventure! My first time to ride a train and my first time to ride a subway! We took the Long Island Railroad into Manhattan. Of course we were chatting with the couple beside us about Ace... and she took this picture of us.

Signs of Ace all over NYC!

We made our way straight to the theatre to buy our tickets for the evening show. Look at the BIG posters of Ace, ahhh what a cutie!

Our first stop after the theatre was to visit the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island. The weather was crappy with scattered rain and wind all day.

But it was very interesting at Ellis Island to see all of the history there. Both John's & my grandparents came through Ellis Island from Italy. I searched their data base for a while to find our family members but I didn't have dates or where they lived so I was unsuccessful. But I do have a website to continue the search from home.

On Ellis Island with NYC in the background.

Fun with faux Lady Liberty! Kimberly & I

Linda and Kimberly More amazing that I could have ever imagined! After the history lesson we made our way back to Broadway to see if we could see Ace before the show. We were lucky to catch him at the stage door. I was so happy to see him. When he saw me, he gave me a big "Welcome to NY" greeting and a big hug. :) There was someone there that took some pics of us but they came out all blurry. Not sure how someone can take such bad pictures with a point and shoot camera! We talked for a few minutes and then he asked me if we wanted to join him after the show for a couple of drinks at the bar next door. Not sure how fast I answered "that would be awesome" but I'm sure it came out really fast! LOL After Ace went in we ran into Dominic outside. He plays Vince Fontane in Grease and is the sweetest flirtiest guy.

Here are a few pics of Kenickie and Rizzo. Ace is the STAR of the show for sure!!

During our first show Kimberly and I were going crazy! I think I had must have said OMG at least 100 times! Ace is VERY sexy as Kenickie... We were squealing and giggling so much. I don't want to post here what Kenickie actually does during the show so I don't ruin it for others...but if you aren't going and want to know the HOTT details, just email me.

After the show we stood outside the stage door again. They set up barricades so that Ace can come out with his bodyguard and meet everyone. He does 8 shows a week and he always comes out after the show and meets everyone, signs and takes pics with everyone. I'm sure he is making a ton of new fans!

Afterwards we walked over to the bar. Ace sat us with two friends of his who turned out to be so much fun! They had been to see the show that night also. It was really nice just sitting and talking with Ace, nice and relaxing with a couple of drinks. He was only able to stay about 1 hour because he had somewhere to be after that. I'm not sure how he keeps up the schedule he does. But after he left we stayed with his friends and had a blast.

So that ends day number 2. Well except for the long train ride back to Long Island.

Stayed tuned for day 3 coming soon!

Fun times in NYC ~ Day 1

2008-11-02T22:40:00.007-05:00

{Thanks Flo for making this awesome graphic for me!}

Oct 20th... I was so excited I barely slept the night before! This was the day that I had been waiting 6 weeks for it to come. I was meeting my friend Kimberly at the airport to fly to NYC to visit with Linda and of course see Ace in Grease. Kimberly lives in GA but decided to fly to Tampa to catch a plane with me to NYC.

After a few minor problems we were happily sitting in our seats talking nonstop. {I was in line at the wrong gate and tried to board a plane to St Louis and Kimberly was so excited when she saw me she left her carry on bag at the seats. So of course when she remembered it, someone had already turned it into security}

Our fight was so fast because we never stopped talking and laughing the whole time. I bet our neighbors thought we were crazy!

We had a 3 hr wait at the airport until Linda could pick us up after work. We told her not to worry about it, we would get some lunch, shop and people watch. Well... little did we know, the Long Island Airport is so small there aren't any places to eat, only had one small store and hardly any flights so no people watching.

A local Diner was recommended to us so we took a cab there to have lunch. It was pretty funny walking into the Diner with 4 suitcases! They were so nice, joking around with us about us moving in, etc. The owners were a cute Italian family that looked like they were all part of John's family. We had delicious HUGE salads and kept up yappin' and laughin'. We had about another hour to wait for Linda so we decided to just stay there at the Diner and I opened up the laptop and we looked at every picture and video of Ace that I have stored! It was a lot of fun to show everything to Kimberly. I think my relatives at the Diner liked it too :) I always have to promote Ace where ever I go!

Linda picked us up and off we went to her house for the evening. She made delicious Chicken Cachitore for dinner mmmm it was so good! The rest of the evening was more like the day... just laughing and telling stories!

I made 6x6 coaster scrapbooks for Linda, Kimberly and Candace as a memory of our last get together at the Ace Trifecta. Here are some pics of the one I mailed to Candace. Linda & Kimberly's were almost the same, just had their pics with Ace in them. I used all CTMH paper, Fosters Beer Bucket Coasters, Bind it all, and a few of the die cuts were designed by Chris Duran at http://visualdesignsbychris.blogspot.com/ and cut on my KNK.

Ghouls... Skeletons... & Jello Shots... Oh My!

2008-11-01T18:35:00.010-04:00

Jessica had her famous Halloween party last night. It's so fun to see all of her friends come all dressed up ... and more fun to watch them after some beer and shots! :)

This was Rookie's first party too. She did pretty well except every time a ping pong ball hit the grass she had it. The Beer Pongers weren't happy with that.

Also she thought every spark that went into the air from the firepit was a bug she had to jump up and catch. Over all, she had a lot of fun and I'm sure she is sleeping most of today.

Here are some pics from last night. Jess really decorates a lot for Halloween... some of the stuff was pretty creepy!

Trip to Ocala

2008-10-29T13:42:00.011-04:00

On Oct 18th Liz & I took a road trip to Ocala. We had tickets to see Phil Stacey that evening so we left early to do some shopping & lunch with friends. We went out to eat with my next door neighbor when I lived in Ocala, Denise and her friend Bonnie who just happens to love Ace as much as I do :)

Me, Bonnie & Denise

After lunch we went to Hobby Lobby. I just love Hobby Lobby...they have it all there! Although I did think their scrapbooking dept was smaller than it used to be, we still found a few things to buy with our coupons!

Next stop, Griffins... I love Griffins too. I used to shop there all the time when I lived in Ocala. I only bought a pack of rub ons however Liz bought a lot of stuff she had been looking for!

Unfortunately it was raining most of the day however after we left Griffins and were driving to the concert... the skies turned blue and the rain was gone. Phil's concert was outside so we were so happy the rain went away in time.

We had VIP tickets and were able to get seats front row center. After we claimed our seats we went over and had a nice BBQ dinner that was included with the VIP tickets.

After dinner Phil had a meet and greet. He really is a great guy. He wasn't feeling well but managed to get through the whole line smiling and taking pictures with everyone. He remembered me again and I got a couple nice hugs from him :)

Here are a few pics that I took during the meet and greet.

Here are a few pics during the show. I took some videos but I'm having trouble getting them to load on Youtube. Hopefully I can figure that out this weekend.

After the show we were able to see Phil again for a little bit and have a few laughs with him. The other lady in this picture is Diane. She loves Phil like I love Ace :)I love this group shot of me, Phil, his wife Kendra and Diane. The Stacey's are really nice and I'm so happy that I was able to get to know them a little bit better!

I'm home and a little bit smaller :)

2008-10-27T14:14:00.002-04:00

I was very scared to go to the doctor today to weigh in after being on vacation for a week...but I still lost 2.6lbs! That is a total of 13 now. So I'm happy!!

I haven't had time to blog about Phil's concert or my exciting trip to NYC, hopefully tomorrow I'll start.

Stay tuned... Phil and Ace couldn't have been nicer to me :) Lots of stories and pics to share!

Backstage Tour with Ace!

2008-10-16T19:52:00.002-04:00

Here is a video Ace made yesterday showing the backstage of Grease. It's really good! Gives you a chance to see him perform a little too ;-). Only 4 more days until I leave for NYC! Woo Hoo! http://www.broadway.com/Behind-the-Scenes-Backstage-at-Grease-with-Ace-Young/broadway_video/5013019

To My Northern Friends...

2008-10-15T11:10:00.002-04:00

Ya'll need to get your butts to Florida!

{said in my best southern accent}

It's totally beautiful here at this time of year! I was just outside and there is not a cloud in the big blue sky, NO humidity, slight breeze and it's 84 degrees! Come on down, the guest rooms are ready! :)

Anyone planning on coming down for the Superbowl this year? I know, you are all waiting to see if the Steelers make it that far. BUT you better reserve your room early at the Damico Resort!

Love younz!

{is that better than ya'll?}

Grease here we come!

2008-10-15T01:26:00.003-04:00

I can't believe in 6 days I'll be sitting in the theater watching Ace in Grease!

I'm going with Kimberly, someone I met through Ace. She lives in GA and is flying to Tampa to meet me at the airport and then we are flying to NYC together. We are staying at Linda's house on Long Island. She is another friend we've made through Ace. We all get along really well and are going to have a BLAST!

Linda lives a 1 hour train ride from the city so that will be exciting too. I've never been on a train or rode in a subway before!

I've been working on a gift for them. I can't post the pics here because they read my blog, but as soon as they have them, I'll post the pictures I took.

I'm also working on an acrylic album to give to Ace. It is from CTMH and really cute! I'm going to use all of the Grease pictures that I've found on the internet of him. I hope to have it done by Friday night. Can't wait to see how it turns out. I've never made one before. Does anyone know if you can use regular adhesive on the acrylic?

Good news!

2008-10-13T17:58:00.002-04:00

Today was weigh in day! I lost another 2.4 lbs which comes to the total of 10.6 lbs in 3 weeks! I also lost 2% body fat.

Also...drumroll please..... I can now fit into one size smaller pants! Woo Hoo!

I don't go back to get weighed for 2 weeks because I'll be in NYC next week. I'll have to be VERY careful on vacation watching what I'm eating and drinking. Hmmm wonder how many calories are in Vodka? :)

A couple more pounds gone :)

2008-10-06T22:29:00.003-04:00

Today was my 2nd week weigh in and I lost another 2 1/2lbs. I was happy with it, wish it was more but happy.

They said I need to walk more and drink more water. I can't eat less, I'm already eating less than what I'm allowed on the diet.

I'm working out at the YMCA 3 days a week but only got two walks in last week. So I think I need to start walking everyday that I'm not at the Y. I'm drinking 4-5 bottles of water a day, she said today the minimum I should be drinking is 8. I'm not sure how I'm going to do that!

Hand Jive!

2008-10-04T23:46:00.002-04:00

Someone finally got a video of Ace in Grease! No cameras are allowed in the theater so this isn't a real good quality but you can see him singing, grinding and hand jiving...oh my.

When the video starts Ace is up front singing... then you have to follow him to the back. Watch for the black jacket and white shirt... then he comes back to the front and grinds with Rizzo... {thud}

How many days until I leave for NYC?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NPnG8jmqMx8

Have you ever grazed at Sam's Club?

2008-10-03T15:59:00.005-04:00

Every time I visit Sam's Club there are women at the end of each aisle in the food section offering samples of food. I know some Seniors go there for lunch, just grazing up and down the aisles.

Today I had to make a Sam's run because we were out of toilet paper, paper towels, etc. Ya know all of that BIG stuff you get at Sam's a few times a year.

When I walked in I thought about all of those little samples being offered and I decided I would only try one thing, I have willpower! I'm thinking chocolate brownies, etc. Much to my surprise... there were NO samples out! I was so mad, they always have samples, especially on the weekends.

Then as I was pushing the cart to check out... I spotted a sample table. I perked up but damn, she had samples of Press n Seal! I hope I wasn't rude to her when she asked me if I would like to see how it works. What I really wanted was just a bite of chocolate brownie...

We Are Full of Scrap!

2008-10-01T23:17:00.000-04:00

A couple friends and I have decided that we would give a go at making cards and mini albums to sell...and we've started a blog to showcase a SAMPLE of what we can do for you.We Are Full of Scrap was created so you can get some ideas and hire US to do the work for you! Visit and check back often, as projects will be added on a regular basis! AND, you can email us at WeAreFullofScrap@gmail.com if you want to place an order or have any questions.
We will also have a line of more 'adult' cards that will be linked from the blog. You may love them or hate 'em but we will still make 'em.

I caved :(

2008-10-01T11:33:00.002-04:00

Yes it was a Pepsi! I haven't had a Pepsi since I started this diet on Sept 22. Some days it was all I could think about, other days it didn't bother me. We store our drinks in the garage fridge and every time I would go out to get another bottle of water, I would see them sitting there looking at me. Between John and our handyman Norm they have been finishing them off. For the last two days there has been 1 can just sitting there all alone. I swear every time I opened the fridge door it moved a little closer to the end of the shelf just to tease me. Yesterday I warned the two guys... don't drink that last Pepsi.. I need it to stay in there. Well last night I caved. I grabbed it and it felt so good in my hand. I walked to the kitchen and poured it in the glass. I'm telling you even the pop of the top was exciting to me! It was bubbling and I was happy. BUT the first few drinks of it didn't taste good. I couldn't understand it. I even told John, taste this and see if there is something wrong with it. But as the ice melted a little or my taste buds calmed down it tasted like normal. Good news is I didn't drink the whole can! So it's over, I don't have to think about it anymore because we won't be buying anymore. Is there PA group that I can join? {Pepsiaholic Anonymous}

Bald Eagles

2008-09-30T10:42:00.003-04:00

Last night John and I were outside admiring our new french doors when we heard loud screeching noises over the lake. I looked up and there were two Bald Eagles on top of the TECO poles fighting over food one of them had in their claws! I've never seen two Bald Eagles here at the same time so it was pretty cool! One of the Eagles flew over to the next pole and whatever dinner was, it was 3 times the size of his feet. They both stayed on separate poles while the one ate. Then later on I saw them both just sitting nicely on one pole. I hope they are a couple, I'd love to see some babies this spring :)

Sorry no pics... they are too far away.

It was pounds!!

2008-09-30T10:38:00.001-04:00

Did I confuse anyone with my post? I just looked at the title and it looked like I said I lost 5.8oz's but what I really wanted to say, I LOST 5.8LBS! BIG DIFFERENCE! LMAO!

Score: Joni 1 ~ Fat -5.8oz

2008-09-29T18:31:00.003-04:00

Today I woke up and for the first time in my life I was excited to go to the doctor to get weighed! After dieting for a week I was so ready to hear that I lost some weight. And I did! I lost 5.8oz in 6 days! And yes I am going to post those oz's since they do count for so much! My whole diet is oz's now. 1 oz of chicken, 1 oz of beef... you get the picture. The doctor was proud of me!

My biggest problems for the week were:

1) No PEPSI
2) Nothing crunchy
3) No PEPSI
4) Can't drink that much water
5) No PEPSI

I need to find something to drink that doesn't contain artificial sweeteners. The only thing I've found so far is water :(

Shelley told me about Stevia. Has anyone tried that sweetener? I'm going to try it with some regular koolaide. Do they make Pepsi flavored koolaide?

Happy Birthday Shelley!

2008-09-28T23:58:00.002-04:00

Happy Birthday to you, happy birthday to you, happy birthday dearrrr Shelleyyyy, happy birthhhhday to you! {I know you can hear me singing!}

Love the New Paint!

2008-09-24T09:39:00.006-04:00

We just finished having our house painted. I know I asked you a couple of weeks ago to help me decide on what color to select. Well I didn't pick either of the original colors! I went darker and I'm so happy I did. I still have to finish painting the coach lights that go up by the garage doors, they got one coat last night and look really cool. I bought that faux stone spray paint for something different.Our painter is going to remove these two sliding glass doors today. The one of the left goes into the kitchen and we are going to replace it with a french door and a window above it. The sliders on the right go into the living room. Those are being removed and a wall with a stationary window will be installed in its place. Not sure why the builder thought it was necessary to have two huge sliders (they are 8ft tall and cheaply made) right next to each other. We have another slider that is over to the right of these that goes into our bedroom. That one is leaving too with a french door and window taking it's place. Can't wait until it's done... so exciting!!
{there is the crazy grand-dog in the picture} We had her for 48 hrs over the weekend and then again for another 48 hours now. Jessica has been picking up some extra hours at work.

Since the house looks looks all pretty and new we decided the pool deck needs sprucing up too. Right now it's a very light beige color. I decided we need to pep it up a little so decided on this paint. What do you think? Hopefully you like it because I bought it yesterday ;-) The color is called Corn Muffins. I think it will look nice and give it a more tropical look.

Fat, Fat, Fat... Go Away!

2008-09-23T11:23:00.002-04:00

Well I bit the bullet yesterday and went to a weight loss doctor. I've been wanting to do it forever and decided I better hurry before it's too late. So starting today I'm on a diet. The hardest thing for me to give up is Pepsi, bread & pasta. But I gotta do it for a few weeks. They say you can introduce small amounts of bread and pasta back into the diet in a few weeks. I'm sure I'll be ready!!

My first goal is to lose 20lbs by Oct 18th. I'll have 4 more 20lb goals to reach after this one, but thought it doesn't feel so bad just trying to lose 20lbs rather than saying I need to lose 100 lbs!

Ya know, this fat is all Jeremy's fault! I gained 60lbs when I was pregnant with him. I never lost that and continued to gain about 2-5lbs a year and look where I'm at now. {it's always nice to be able to blame someone other than yourself}

So I need everyone to give me moral support! When I post I lost 1lb y'all better do some cheers for me ;-)

Fun weekend in Jacksonville!

2008-09-17T22:25:00.007-04:00

Phil Stacey concert

Visiting with old friends

Craft Show

Crab legs

What a nice weekend we had in Jacksonville!

John had to work in Jacksonville on Friday so I rode up with him since I knew that Phil was having a concert there at The Landings. So after work we headed down to The Landings for dinner. Since we had a big lunch, we decided to just sit down at the Hooters outside patio and have a few beers. The patio was right beside the stage, over looking the river, so we knew we would have a good view of the show.

Chip & Karen (our Pittsburgh friends that live there) joined us at Hooters right before the show started. It was so good to see them again!

When it was time for Phil to start, Karen and I left the guys at Hooters and went up close to the stage. It was really crowded but we still were able to get pretty close.

Phil was awesome! His voice was so strong. He was having a great time being back in Jacksonville!

At the end of the concert, Phil said he was going to stay and meet everyone who wants to meet him and sign anything. I knew John wasn't going to go for me standing in line since it was already about 11:30. So I went over and stood by Phil's table and just watched him interacting with everyone in line. Then he looked up at me and smiled, pointed at me and said, "Come Here!" I was so happy he recognized me. He gave me a big hug and said it was so nice to see me again. He signed his Cd that I brought with me and we took a couple of pics and chatted for a minute. Then I told him I would chat with him next month in Ocala and he hugged me again and told me it was so nice of me to drive up from Tampa just to see him :) I really was surprised he remembered that I live in Tampa! He really is a nice guy!

Here are few pics from the concert:

After the concert we went over to Chip & Karen's to spend the night with them. After getting back, chatting more and checking email it was 3am!

On Saturday John & Chip got up early for golfing... I slept in. Karen had a tennis lesson and then we headed out to a really nice craft show. They had a lot of really nice crafts, not just he old country style that you usually see. Karen I both bought gifts for people and we also bought Black African Soap. The lady that was selling it told us the whole story of her family that lives in Africa and how they make this natural soap. She had us wash our hands in it and it made your skin so soft. She also said it helps with wrinkles, old age spots and acne so we both bought it. I've been using it since Sunday and having seen anything different yet however my skin is a lot softer than usual. I usually have to put on hand cream several times a day and I haven't had to all week. I'll let you know later if it helps with the big 3 {wrinkles, age spots, acne}

John and I were very excited to go out Saturday night to our favorite restaurant. It's the Outback Crab Shack in St Augustine. It's been a couple of years since we've been there. Unfortunately when we got there they were closed down because TS Fay flooded them. So we went to another fishcamp and they were also closed. Finally another couple that we were with knew of another fish camp to go to and they were open! Yeah! We had a great time there chatting, drinking and eating. Half of our group got King Crab legs and the other half got prime rib. You would not believe how big the prime rib was! When they sat it down in front of everyone it reminded me of when Fred Flintstone put that big rack of ribs on his car! LOL

Karen & I enjoying our King Crab legs!
John digging in to his Prime Rib. Of course he couldn't finish it and his to go box I swear weighed at least 3lbs!

Chip, the skinny guy of course ate all of his! :)Terri digging in!Terri's husband Terry. They are just getting ready to celebrate their first anniversary!
This restaurant was huge! All along the ceilings they had hundreds of stuffed wild animals. It really was amazing!

Interview with Ace... he is so cute!

2008-09-15T08:21:00.000-04:00

http://www.broadway.tv/broadway-features-reviews/ace-young-broadway-lightning-strike/

Breathe in breathe out.... whew!!

2008-09-12T16:33:00.004-04:00

All I can say is WOWSER!!!!!

Last night was Ace's Broadway debut in Grease! The show started at 8pm and by 8:30 the unlucky fans who had to stay home last night had a BIG treat!! They had a dress rehearsal during the day and http://www.justjared.com/ was there to take pics!

OMG

A bunch of us were in an Ace chat room when the pics were posted. We had so much fun chatting and drooling over them. Here are few HOTT ones... make sure you go to the link above to see the rest. Get a cold drink first, you will need the ice!

My favorite guy eating my favorite dessert! :)Hmmm I don't like cigarettes but man... this does look sexy!

We will never forget...

2008-09-11T08:08:00.002-04:00

ACE is the Word!

2008-09-10T19:33:00.003-04:00

New signs were added yesterday to the theater in NYC! One of the highrollers, Sandy was there to snap the pics. Woo Hoo!

Not looking forward to tomorrow

2008-09-09T21:10:00.003-04:00

Tomorrow John and I are going for our annual nuclear stress tests. I never like doing these tests however after the doctor tells us everything is ok, I'm so happy. So hopefully tomorrow afternoon we'll both be happy :)

What color to choose?

2008-09-08T17:36:00.003-04:00

How do you choose what color to paint the outside of the house? We've been in our home 7 years now and it still has the original flat builders grade paint out there. We need painted really bad, but how do you pick a color? John and I went to Home Depot and picked out a couple of shades we thought we would like. Our painter said to buy a couple of different colors in quarts and paint on the back of the house to see what it looks like. John did that last night and I still can't decide. I think we need to go darker however wonder if it's too much once the whole house is painted?

What do you think about these colors?

All I wanted for Christmas...

2008-09-05T21:49:00.004-04:00

My family always tells me they have no idea what to buy me for Christmas, Birthdays, etc. WELL I found the perfect gift for this year and no one bought it! Ace Young donated 4 tickets to see him in Grease and dinner with him afterwards to the MDA Telethon online auction. Well it ended last night, and of course I didn't win. :(
But a sweet young girl that I know through one of Ace's fan sites won it! Her parents bought it for her for Christmas! Wonder if they might consider adoption? {just kidding family... I wouldn't trade you for anything}

Here is what the auction closed at last night! Go ACE! Bring in the BIG bucks for MDA!!

I need help!

2008-09-04T01:40:00.002-04:00

Today I was buying something on line and needed my credit card which was in the car. So I left the scraproom and noticed that I didn't feed the fish this morning, so fed them. Then noticed Rookie smeared nose prints on the window, so I went to the kitchen to get the Windex. While in the kitchen there were a few dirty dishes so I thought, better get them done! But the dyer just buzzed so as I was walking to the laundry room I saw out the front window the mail lady was here so I walked out to get the mail. Sorted through the mail, mostly garbage so I need to walk that to the garage to throw it away. But the phone rings and it's my Mom. So I sit down to talk to her for awhile. Then I thought, I better check my email again and walk back to the scraproom and see that I my computer was still sitting on the site that I wanted to buy something. geez.... So all morning I checked my email and feed the fish! But I was so busy, why isn't anything done??

This is how most of my days have been going. Anyone have any suggestions on how to stop this vicious cycle?

Speaking of forgetting things....

I started to upload a my Idol pics from the concert the other and got sidetracked and forgot to finish them. So tonight when I did finish... they went under Aug 27th. So if you want to back track and see them, they are there now.

Enjoy! And I'm open for suggestions on how to change my unproductive days!

Brothers Young

2008-09-02T13:08:00.001-04:00

These pics were taken in Las Vegas on Sunday by Sandy.

{thud}

Ace Young ~ Baker Street

2008-09-02T12:59:00.002-04:00

Ace is spreading his wings and doing some other types of music with other performers. He keeps saying there is a lot more to come! I can't wait. Today Michael Lington released a new jazz album and Ace sings Baker Street on it. They performed yesterday on the MDA Telethon and they ROCKED! WOW!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SVQ4XlnJyg8

Check it out and enjoy!

{HOLY HAIRCUT BATMAN!}

Scrapbookin' Day!

2008-09-01T21:49:00.003-04:00

In between watching Jerry Lewis's MDA Telethon today, I did some scrapbooking {and of course laundry}. Seems like forever since I had a nice day to scrapbook! I started my Idol concert book. I always have a problem with the first and last pages in scrapbooks, not sure why...but I do. Anyway, here is what I'm putting on the first page. I got the picture off the Idol website. Is that cheating?

Grease is the word!

2008-08-30T13:18:00.002-04:00

Plane tickets are bought... tickets to Grease are bought... plans are made ;-)

I'm so excited, If I could do cartwheels, I would be doing them right now!

Sorry I got side tracked with Grease!

2008-08-27T12:36:00.025-04:00

With Ace's big announcement I've been a little side tracked... everyone one in Ace Land is SO excited! So I need to get back to the story about our first Idol concert.

Back to Idol day ~

After the meet and greet I rushed home to take a shower and meet up with John. Since I met most of the Idols in the afternoon I decided to go ahead just ride with John because I wouldn't be staying after the show to meet them. We headed down to Andreychuk's for dinner before the show. We arrived in plenty of time to eat and have a drink. We decided on a nice covered patio seat, sat down ordered a drink and a huge feeder band from Tropical Storm Fay blew in! I looked up and there is Shelley pulling into the parking lot to meet us. We had to run inside because the rain was coming in the patio sideways and everything was soaked. About 15 min later it stopped and Shelley came in to meet us. By that time I didn't think we had enough time to eat and be in our seats on time, but John and Shelley didn't care if they were late, so they ordered. I sucked down my drink and left them for the show at 6:45. Had to meet Dani along the road as she was driving past to hand her ticket to her...she was in a huge amount of traffic with the rain so was running late.

So going past a food vendor I grabbed a hot dog and Pepsi and got into my seat. I made it just in time!

The show was done in the order of elimination. I'll just post the pics so you can see them all. At the end I'll tell you who my favorite was!

Chikezie

Ramiele Malubay

Michael JohnsKristy Lee Cook

Brooke White

Jason Castro

Carly Smithson

Syesha MercadoDavid Archuleta

David Cook

I know you are dying to find out who I thought had the best performance of the night ....

Syesha! She totally rocked! Even got a standing O!

How much are flights to NYC?

2008-08-26T12:02:00.002-04:00