The Last Thanksgiving

I didn't mean to keep you hanging after my last post. I'm okay! I'm just back down here in Texas with my family for the holidays. I'll be back up to my studio next week. Yesterday marked the official last Thanksgiving dinner for this year. I have several that I have to attend since my family is so large. My family is absolutely strange in every way possible. I've posted our family picture below so you can see what a funky group we are. (I'm rolling my eyes even as I type this.) We took this group photo after the "guests" left, so it's just my grandparents and all their kids and grand kids. Believe it or not though I can't wait to get back to work. I just don't like sitting around all day. Well... maybe one or two days, but then I can't take it anymore. I have to put my hands into something. I'd prefer to create something, but I don't have all of my creative gadgets here with me. Later this evening my step-mother and I are going to paint Christmas ornaments. I'm not a very accomplished painter though. Perhaps I can bury my creations in the boughs of the tree.

Where Oh Where...

has my camera gone??? I have made a couple of projects that I want to share with you, and I still have the swaps to post, but I just can't find my camera right now. I can't seem to find anything. Things have been disappearing lately and turning up in places I just know I didn't leave them. It's really weird. My make up bag was open in the front of my car seat when I went to work this morning, but I haven't even worn make up in weeks, so how did it get there!? It's a little creepy... Anyhow, I haven't gotten home when the sun is still up anyhow, so I don't think my pictures would turn out how I prefer them. I'm having a difficult time typing right now since Lilly is licking my neck. I'm so ticklish! She sits on the back of the couch behind me while I watch TV and surf the internet. Usually she leaves me alone, but not when I want to work of course. Anyhow, I got a package from Stampin' Up! today... it was a new stamp set from the upcoming Spring/Summer 2008 Catalog! I'll be sure to make a project with it right away. I found one of the pictures I took of Lilly sitting by the back step when I first moved to my new apartment that I had been looking for. It totally cracks me up for some reason.

Happy Veterans Day

Today is such an important day to so many different people. These days it's very unlikely that your life is not personally touched first hand by a Soldier, Airman, Marine, Seaman, or Guardsman. If you're reading this than perhaps I'm that Service Member! It's quite appropriate that this holiday falls so close to Thanksgiving. I know there are many veterans in my life that I'm extremely thankful for. My grandfather retired from the Air Force after 20 years of service. Several of the other firefighters that I know are also retired from various services, and of course I can't forget all of my battle buddies that I work with everyday. Today is for you! Happy Veterans Day!!!

Leave of Absence

I know a few of you have noticed that I haven't been posting for a little while. There are a lot of funky things going on in my life. That last trip to Washington didn't turn out so great, and for legal reasons I'm not allowed to talk about it quite yet. I also got the news that my sister is now engaged to a guy she has known for three weeks and wants to get married by December 1st. Woah! This isn't her first engagement by any means, but it's the scariest. Each new one was the scariest. I love my sister more than anything in the world. She's the only sibling I have. I grew up with her. Until her own kids live with her for 19 years there will be no one on this earth that has been with her longer or more than I have. Even parents aren't there for their children as much as siblings are. I was there for her in sleep, play, school, home, and EVERYTHING else. She does have a few faults though. She's never lived on her own for the first. Neither has this guy she wants to marry. She's not even responsible for her own finances yet. No car, no insurance, no money, no house... I could go on and on. Being engaged isn't the problem to me. It's the big rush that is baffling me. Why the hurry??? He still owes the military more time, so he's not going anywhere. Supposedly he's Mormon, so for his family it's appropriate for him to marry at 21 years old. (They're both 21.) If he's so in tune to his religion they why aren't they getting married in a church or in the presence of a minister/pastor?! They also say they want to get the military's medical insurance. If he's getting out then they'll have to pay for it anyhow. My sister already has insurance through the family, so that doesn't make sense either. My sister has been wanting to get outta the nest for quite a while. She's asked to move in with me a few times over the past three years that I've lived here. Every time I tell her that it's okay, but she'll have to pay half the bills, provide her own transportation and get a job. When I tell her this she flips and says I'm trying to control her, so she might as well live with Mom if I'm going to have so many rules! What??? I guess she thinks this guy is going to support her and she can continue to rack up debt and live like a princess. She doesn't even know what the generic brand of toilet paper feels like or the taste of the cheap cheese. I could go on and on about all this, but I've got to breathe after all. Okay. Okay. Here's a picture of Lilly I took yesterday. She lost five of her baby teeth last night. I didn't realize how big she's gotten until I started looking through old pictures of her. I have one of her sitting by the back door. She used to be shorter than the step. I had to pick her up just to get her in and out of the door. Yesterday she even jumped onto the couch all by herself. She's much more hairy than she used to be too. Her roots are even starting to show on her head. My baby is growing up! I need to get working on going through all the mail I've got piled up for me. It looks like there are some swaps waiting for me to discover! I'll be sure to post as much of them as I can. And...that's it!