All Dressed Up

This is a picture from the 1950's of my mom and her sister, Sandra, and my grandparents, Scott and Pauline. I think they all look so pretty and it looks like spring. Althought there is not writing on the back of the photo, I get the feeling it might have been an Easter Sunday. If you look closely at my mother's face you can see that she has not changed a bit! I love this picture of her family.

A Little Modern Art Departure

My latest page. I did it for a challenge that encouraged you to think out of the box. I like the filter on the picture of mattew and from there just decided to do something really different. The lady running the site thought it was way cool, too. I hope you all enjoy it. The picture was from Matter's last basketball game at Rugby - it was the game where they recognized the 8th graders. He just strolled across the court and smile as he gave the guys the high five! So calm and cool. He really looks happy!

3 More!

Today I went to WW again and I had lost 3 more pounds - Yeah! A day to celebrate! The excitement was short lived though as reality checked back in when I went home for lunch. Some days you just can't do ANYTHING right it seems. Have you ever been accused of something you didn't do and you just wish you had done it because at least then you wouldn't be doing the right thing and still getting yelled at? That is what this day that seemed so wonderful ended up being. Hey, not all days can be happy days I guess. Kind of sad writing from the one is supposed to be so optomistic. Oh well, I am human, REALLY human as I have been reminded over and over again this evening. On the bright side, (see I am still in here) I handled it without eating to cope. I was tempted mind you, I went to the grocery store to get bread and the chocolate bars and goldfish crackers and peanut butter ice cream were all very tempting but instead I bought a scrapbook magazine - which I admit I need probably even less than I need the chocolate bar - but hey, I am not going to screw up two weeks of dieting just because I feel about two inches high. The scrapbook magazine was the best choice and I must say that putting pen to paper, eh, fingers to keys is also very therapeutic. Think I will go read or do a scrapbook challenge from one of my new favorite websites - www.scrapartist.com. TTFN

Almost Over

My Labor Day Holiday is almost over. Three day weekends just don't seem that long anymore. Maybe it is because we haven't been on vacation in two years. I sure do miss getting to go to Jamaica again this year. We missed last year because I broke my shoulder and this year they are renovating the resort where we like to stay.

We didn't do much at all this weekend. Nick stayed with us and he and Frank played tennis for 3 hours on Saturday night. Yesterday, Frank and I wore up really early and laid back down for a nap. We didn't get up until 2 pm, making it hard to go to sleep last night.

Realizing it just wasn't going to happen for me, I decided to roam the internet. I went in and out of forums all night long. Most of them were about scrapbooking and graphic design, but a few were quite interesting. It is amazing all the different people in this world. It seemed like a lot of the blog sites were being put up as part of classroom curriculum. I think that is pretty cool. I probably would have journaled more in high school had there been a medium like this then.

Today I have been locked in my basement trying to finish a scrapbook for one of my friends at work. It is of her son, Duncan. She is expecting her second child anyday now and I really wanted to have this one finished for her before she takes leave. I should be finished by the weekend. I got about 4 pages done today before I was sidetracked by Joanna's upcoming wedding.

She and Ethan are getting married October 15 at the Hickory Nut Gap Inn. I looked it up online and it is a nice rustic place. She is going to ask her dad to walk her down the aisle (can't wait to see him in a tux!) I, of course, will be taking the pictures. Sure wish I had that Nikon Digital. I hate the thoughts of using film and ending up nothing. Everyone is really excited about it. Harmony is going to be dressed like a little fairy princess, wings and all. It should be sweet. If we can only find someone to officiate. It seems that getting married on a Sunday afternoon is making it hard to find a preacher. I have put Lynelle to task. She knows a lot of ordained ministers and I am crossing my fingers she finds one soon.

We will be celebrating Harmony's 3rd birthday in two weeks! Yeah. More photo ops!

Sisters & Brothers

I just love this picture of Joanna and Nick. I think this is probably the third or fourth time I have used it in a layout ... but it's the first time in digital format.

The picture was taken at Nick's 14th birthday party at O'Charleys. Joanna, Harmony, Tiffany, Grandma, Mom, Del, Dad, Paula, Dee, Rebecca, Matthew, and Corey were all there to help celebrate.

The journaling also mentions how much we missed PawPaw, who was still having a pretty rough time of it with his cancer treatments. We did indeed miss him. "Thangs just ain't the same without Pawpaw!" Thank goodness he is feeling better these days. 

Our Sympathies

Art writes, "The sad news I wanted to relate is: Shawn's Grandma Joyce died yesterday after a month in the hospital following heart surgery, She had some complications and Wednesday they decided to operate. When they went in they found cancer had taken over her body. They closed and told the family they would send her home. She did not ever get to go home, she died yesterday in Mission Hosp.. May God accept her soul.

Shawn our family member is devastated. He has lost both his maternal Grandparents in less than a year. Any comfort you can afford him will be most welcome. He is actually a very fragile and uncomplicated soul and we all love him."

Yes, Shawn, we do love you. As one who has also been so readily been accepted into this Conrad Clan, I am sure you will find comfort from this side of your family as you deal with this loss. Our prayers are with you and with Tiffany, who I know considered your grandparents as her own. I know you are both hurting right now as Frank and I did when Pop passed, but in time you will have only happy memories to recall and you will laugh once again as you remember all the sweet ways they touched your lives.

Rainy Day, New Hangout, Old Friends & An Engagement!

Today started out really rainy and I had to take car pictures at John Johnson. The rain let up while I was taking them, thank goodness he only had 11 new ones. After I finished I went to the new Transylvania County Library. Wow! What a beautiful new place. They offered free wireless internet connection and in no time I downloaded the pictures from the camera onto my computer and uploaded them to the ftp site for Mary Jo to use to make the new ad. I did all that in less time than it would have taken me to drive back to Hendersonville. The extra time gave me the chance to meet with a few more clients than I had been able to the last 4 Thursdays, so that was cool.

At the library, I saw Kris & Kim Newman's mom. We went to school with them at Penrose. She said Kim lived in Hendersonville and Kris in Charlotte. Both had gotten a late start on having children so their children are much younger than mine and Angie's. I think she said they were like 3 and 5. I also saw Nancy - Becky's cousin. She has three sons and they were each born in the same years as my three kids. Matthew, her oldest, is attending Blue Ridge, same as Amanda. She said she thought Beth was, too.

I called Lynelle today and she had some wonderful news. A guy she has been seeing for a couple of months, Brian, gave her a ring last night and ask her to marry him! Isn't that great! She sounds like she is really in love. I am glad to hear her so happy.

Back to the office where the early deadlines for Labor Day continue to keep me off balance. I keep missing them. They seem to be a lot more backed up than I remember the early deadlines for July 4 and Memorial Day being. Maybe I just have more accounts that it is affecting than I did then. I don't know but I am really tired of feeling so behind this week.

4.4!

Today was Weigh In Day - I did it - I lost 4.4 pounds! And I am thrilled. I think the key has been portion control. No seconds this week!

Now comes the hard part - I need to go shopping!

Also, Frank is cooking this weekend and his cooking his sooooo good, so I will have the challenge of not eating too much of a good thing. Maybe it would be a good weekend for seafood - without the normal 10 pounds of melted butter, of course. LOL

Remembering Katrina

Today my mind has been on Lynelle a lot because it is the anniversary of Katrina. I remember all the ups and downs and many many tears we shared last year. Lynelle does not have cable so we stayed up most of the night watching the weather channel and talking on our cell phones until they died and we switched to the home phones. I remember how we thought her family was in the clear and the hurricane was going to miss New Orleans only to hear the next day of the levees breaking and the flood beginning - (I have tears now just remembering) - we started worrying again and trying to get in touch with her family members. She heard from Mom and sister, Shelly, who had made their way up to Shreveport before the levees broke. The next few days were heart-wrenching as we waited and called and text messaged and searched online forums and red cross lists for hours at a time searching for any sign that her dad was okay. Every day started the same, "Have you heard anything?" "No," then tears and tears and more tears. I wish I could remember just how many days we waited before we finally heard the news that he had been rescued from a roof top and was walking his way to Baton Rouge - he is in his 60's! I felt so helpless but at the same time so impressed with his resolve to stay and put his life back together in the only place he had ever called home.

Lynelle's mom and sister came here after leaving Shreveport. Her mom is in real estate and she was able to close on a deal that was otherwise falling through, and bought herself a house in an area that hadn't suffered any damage. Her house was on Lake Pontchatrain (?) and was pretty much a total loss. Her mom bought a new car here and made her way back to New Orleans after a few weeks. Sister Shelley stayed here and, though I think she misses her homeland, I believe she really likes it here. She says it is safer and things move a lot slower. It is giving her a chance to spend time with her young daughters. I am sure there are lots of memories being re-lived all over the US tonight. I am glad I can say that even though Lynelle and her families lives were greatly changed by Katrina that at least they are alive and starting over. My thoughts are still with them.

Hey, there's Halle!

A few days ago I posted about how much I was missing everyone from the Town Tooter and put up a picture of Halle, whom I worked with for 4 years. I mentioned to her that we should get together and go to Sandy's and scrapbook so we could see each other. Well today I was getting out of the car to go to Subway in Brevard for lunch and I heard someone call my name, you guessed it, Halle! She had just finished eating lunch at Sora (the Japanese Restaurant) with her daughter who was just finishing up her French vacation with a stop by Mom's. That was so cool to see her. We confirmed that we will try to do the next crop night at Sandy's. Congratulations to her daughter who just got engaged! I hope she and fiance can make their way back south soon.

Well, I have been on my Weight Watchers diet for a week now. I haven't had but about 2 days when I thought I was really hungry so that seems to be positive. Tonight I was really hungry and thought I might "pig out" on the dinner Frank made. It was a recipe from the Weight Watchers site and it was good, though the recipe made about twice as much as it said it would. Frank said if we liked it, he would have to tweak the recipe. I did like it and I was pretty hungry but I stopped with one serving and now I still have 3.5 points left but it is getting late so I might go get a little bit of fruit before I turn in. Wish me luck, I weigh tomorrow for the first time.

Golfing the United Way

Frank played in the Kimberly Clark United Way Golf Tournament on Friday at High Vista. He put together a great team including Mike Cole, a KC Supervisor, Bob Payton, and Steve Brown, two of the fellas I work with. They were the "ringers" - really good golfers. They had a great time and Bob and Steve racked up some door prizes to boot! Following is Frank's "Thank You" note to Jane Stewart, the owner of his company, who was nice enough to sponsor his team:

He writes:

"Just as hard as it is to find the right words to thank you, it is to describe how much fun we had at the United Way/Kimberly Clark golf tournament.

@ 8:30 am ~ It was a hopeful shot into a thick blanket of fog.

@ 9:30 am ~ Clearing up nicely as we track tails left by our golf balls in the dew heavy grass (if there wasn't a tail, then most likely the golf gnomes turned your ball into a mushroom.)

@ 11:00 am ~ Things are heating up as we make our way by the clubhouse for autographs and quick photo op with adoring fans; grab a cold drink, then back to the course.

@12:30 pm ~ Time's running out and with sad looking scorecard, the mulligans were right down the middle as we make our final rush to the finish.

@ 2:00 pm ~ Dragging our bags behind us, we climbed the stairs to the picture perfect Laurel Room, where cool air, sandwiches piled high with ham or turkey, and another icy cold drink were just what we bruised and battered warriors needed after a battle for the history books was waged.

The toasts were made and the speeches were, thankfully, short.

The spoils were divided and distributed.

ALL WAS WELL!

Walking back to my truck, I couldn't help but think, 'What a great day its been!"

So, "Thank You, Jane, for making it possible to join with others who share my sentiments when I say, 'WHAT A GREAT DAY!'"

(Isn't that a cool thank you note. And he came up with that on very little sleep!)

Grandma's Girl

Here's a really old picture - 18 years old! Amanda has on one of my favorite outfits for her. The top had ruffles in all the pastel colors and little bottoms to wear under it. She matches Grandma Burke in her pastel teal dress.

We were in at Mount Zion Church in Bethel to celebrate my Mamaw & Papaw Burke's Anniversary (I think.) It was the summer of 1988 and Amanda was three to four months old. This has always been one of my favorite pictures so I'm glad it was good enough for me to scan and scrap!

(Digital papers and elements from Two Peas in a Bucket Free July Kit by Anne Langpap)

Do I Hear a Bell Ringing in Heaven?

Tiger is a good golfer, even me, a tried and true Mickelson fan, has to admit that. But lately, I think he has been getting a little help from the gods, or maybe from one of heaven's newest angels ... his father?

Did you see the PGA last week when one of his balls was headed way over the mark and a "fan" knocked it back into play? Of course, he won by a landslide, but still!

And then there's Firestone! Yesterday he hit 9-iron that jumped out of a clump of grass and was headed toward the flag until it kept going - and going - all the way over the grandstand, off the cement path, over fans drinking beer in the balcony and onto the roof. (Reminds me of the Michael Jordan - Larry Bird commercials!) Then get this - it rolls off, hits the cart of a caterer and he picks it up and drives off with it! ROFL! I can't believe this. And neither could half the field. Somehow the ball manages to NOT be out of bounds, Tiger gets a free drop, makes a bogey and still ends the day in the lead.

I think Eldrick, Sr. just got his wings!

(On a side note: I am really going to miss Davis Love at this year's Ryder Cup. I have been following golf since 1995 and this is his first miss since 1993. What is the world coming to?)

Thank you, Halle!

Halle (here with her nephew and two of her sons) and I worked together at the Town Tooter for 4 years and I really miss seeing her (and Clint, Matt, and Shelly) every day! I am grateful that we keep in touch. Today she sent me this quote,

"A friend is someone who reaches for your hand and touches your heart!"

Perfect! Thank you, Halle.

Two By Two - A Quiz for You

More from Simple Scrapbooks' Scrapbook Shortcuts with Quizzes and Questions:

Play along by posting your answers as comments ~

1. Two everyday things you couldn't live without

2. Two of your favorite songs

3. Two stores you shop at

4. Two things that scare you

5. Two people you'd be lost without

Have fun!

Tamara FINALLY Responds

Check out this picture! Only 2 1/2 years ago and now the boys are taller than she is. AMAZING!

I know she answers her mail more often than this - I think I made her feel guilty when I posted everyone else's answers! So here we go with more of the quiz about ME! It seems so vain. I think today I will post some questions for you all to answer . . .

Tamara says, "Okay, Now I feel bad.....I didn't respond. But I enjoyed reading your blog so here are my answers...."

1. What expression do I use - way too often? I don't think you have one

2. What do I do or say that makes you laugh? You never get tired of talking...Del and I both laugh about that, but he also says I laugh alot when I am around you.

3. What do you believe comes easy to me? Communications, not just talking either.

4. What do you believe I struggle with? The same two things I do, money and weight. weird huh?

5. If someone was meeting me at the airport, how would you describe me? I wouldn't have to, you know everyone....haha

6.What do I have that I should give to Goodwill? LOL, no, they won't take that. stuff you don't use anymore, like the stuff on that shelf

7. What do I have that I should never let go of? your talents and personality

8. What's the longest we have ever talked on the telephone? good thing we're "IN". I have record of atleast 2 hours.

9. Would I ever jump out of an airplane? I don't know why, but yes, I think so.

10. How do I let you know I care about you? You are always there.

11. What is the funniest story you could tell anyone about me?

12. If I won the lottery what do you think I would do with the money? Throw a porch party in Jamaica?

Savannah Memories

On Memorial Day Weekend, we went to Savannah, Georgia. It was Frank's first trip and I think he had a really good time.

On Friday night, we ate at Despositos - a suggestion from my buddy, Bob. He nailed it - the food was delicious and it was just what we needed after the 5 hour drive.

On Saturday, we toured the city with Oglethorpe and learn a lot of cool things about the town. Our tour guide said her grandfather told her that Savannah got her name when the settlers arrived and one girl was so excited she fell overboard - everyone on board yelled, "Save Anna, Save Anna!" Grandfathers are really good at telling stories!

On Sunday, we spent a beautiful day at Tybee Island. The beach was so clean and the waves were huge! We literally spent HOURS in the water. I had a major sunburn for days after.

A Day to Cheer!

Amanda started college and she was so thrilled! She was most impressed by many things ~ calling the teachers by their first name, one teacher was late to class, people were smoking on campus, talking on their cell phones and there were no teachers there to take the phones away. Welcome to the real world~you have just witnessed a school without bars! You are going to love the freedom but remember with freedom comes responsibility!

I also officially started Weight Watchers today! It is going to be a long journey but I am happy to say that the road will be lined with many really cool people cheering me on. Everyone had told me the leader, Julia, was a great inspiration and just a ball of laughs. That was an understatement! She rocks! I laughed the whole time, but she was also very helpful. I am really looking forward to next Wednesday. In the mean time, cross your fingers that I can stick to this. Thanks to Ashley for walking with me at Patton, next time we will go for the whole mile!

As I am writing this, Frank and Nick (and Corey) are playing tennis at Patton Park. It is really cool to see Frank taking so much time to help Nick learn how to play. Nick says he wants to try and play on the team at West. That would be really cool.

Post A Secret

I love that video, Dirty Little Secret by American Rejects. Look at the blog site I just found where you can post your own secrets on postcards. It looks like they post new ones every Sunday. It is prett cool, check it out at http://postsecret.blogspot.com/.

I survived!

For the record, I survived all 7 QVC Scrapbooking shows without buying anything! Yeah! Granted it was all in fast forward and I do already have about 75% of everything they showed. :)