There's a new Sheriff in Town!

Happy Birthday Al! Hope U have a marvelously wonderful day filled with lots of memories. Maybe MissG will share a few juleps from the veranda with you!! I wish you many more in the future as well. Have a great one! Chat more next time ladies. Luv, Mat

Yippee, Yippee, Yippee!

Hey Miss Boots, it worked, that cooler air you sent this way actually got here! It stayed cloudy, rainy and cool (89) all day yesterday and it was 73 this morning! Such a nice break from the triple digits. It's not staying around long, but for 2 days we will definitely enjoy it. That means the barn gets cleaned out of all the cut pieces of wood and vinyl flooring, sawdust, etc in time for the trash truck tomorrow. Supposed to only get to 91 today after the clouds burn off, then back to the middle to upper 90's for the weekend, but hey, while it is here, gonna get some much needed outside stuff done.
The "girls" and I moved the dining area around to make more room in there, but still not sure I like it, may get moved back or in another direction this evening...LOL! I need to go by the post office for stamps and mail out statements today, so will go by and check the mail at the office while out I suppose so that I won't have to go back again until Monday!
Gotta go get yet another sympathy card to mail too! Will it ever slow down? My best friend in high school (and still today), Libby, lost her wonderful gentle soulmate Walter yesterday morning. I snitched this photo of them that was taken at the 45th class reunion on July 17th to make a memory page for her. Spoke with her a while last evening, she seems to be holding up well with all her family, friends and loved ones around.
Well, off to tackle the barn, then a shower, then get these errands out of the way while I have some cooler weather! Whatever you choose to do today, make it memorable and enjoy yourself, your family, your friends. Chat more next time. Luv, MatI used browns & blues kit by Cuddlebeez for this page, Thanx Brenda for sharing!

Another Blessing!

My boss left for India early Saturday morning to see and be with her ill mother. She was so blessed to arrive in time to share the last day of life with her. Her mother was the last of her generation in her family and lived a long and eventful life. She will be greatly missed by her 4 children, her many grandchildren, great grandchildren, a host of nieces, nephews and friends.
While in India for her granddaughter's, Lakshmi, wedding she welcomed me into her lovely home. We so enjoyed meeting and being with her! Our prayers are with all the family in their time of sorrow!
I made this page for Lakshmi of her grandmother at her wedding in January of 2007. I used all freebies from Angelscrapper...thanx so much for sharing Carol! Will chat more later! Luv, Mat

Rest in Peace Fuzzy!

My ex-husband passed away last evening and I just made a page to honor his memory. We were first married in 1973 while working together at the Thomasville (GA) Police Department. He was a firefighter, EMT, turned cop until an on the job injury forced him into medical retirement. He leaves behind a twin sister, a son and DIL, a daughter & SIL (by a previous marriage), 2 granddaughters, 2 grandsons, 4 more sisters and a brother, 4 BILs, 1 SIL, some aunts, uncles and a whole bunch of nieces, nephews and so many, many friends! He is now out of pain and misery, is whole again and visiting with lots of family and friends that have gone before him. I extend to all his family my sorrow for your loss and offer my prayers for blessings to all of you to be able to cope. Love always, Maryanne

Reconnecting with a beloved friend!

O what fun it is to reconnect with friends from long ago. This is my ex-sister-in-law Inez. What a fun loving and wonderful person she is. We reconnected a little over a week ago and have been sharing lots of memories over the phone. Just last evening, we talked for over an hour and a half. Just feeling good about it today, so thought I would make a quick page for her with a photo I am sure she will remember. I took this probably 25+ years ago. The color has faded some, but I tried to brighten and lighten it a little before putting it in the QP I made using a BG by Dinphy and the frame cluster by LLC. Thanx ladies for the freebies. I hope you enjoy it Inez, love ya bunches and really would love to see you sometime soon. OK, I know it is the weekend, so all of you...get busy making memories! Chat more later, Mat

End of another hot week!

I know, I know, I know....you're tired of my complaining about the heat....but ENOUGH already...another weekend and week ahead of 100+ temps. We've had one day in 21 straight...that was under 100 and it hit 98 that day! We have been under a heat advisory so long now....the meteorologists just say...Same old story folks, just another day of the same heat advisory and triple digit temperature! I thought I would die laughing when I heard that this morning. :o)
Sure has been a hectic week around here telephone wise....seems like I hang up from one call and just answer the phone again....thank goodness I have unlimited long distance. Had a phone call from my favorite ex sister-in-law telling me my ex was in ICU facing some serious problems. He survived the amputation of his right leg, but he still has some serious problems to face before he is out of the woods. Then I made calls to both my sisters as they really care about him still. Then, my boss gets more calls regarding her mother's illness and she has decided to leave for India tomorrow morning....we have been scrambling to get things done prior to her journey! My friend Scotty also had some surgery and Jan and I have been conversing back and forth too!
Needless to say, have not been on the computer as much, but I did manage a page of my silly sister Penny with a photo I took while there in May. Hope you enjoy it. I also did so playing around with some WA alphas for the great-nieces and made a page to show Penny of her granddaughter...plus Amy wanted a page with the back of her gown, so I made a page for her....like I say...hectic week. But since it is to keep climbing back up to 104 without the heat index this weekend...I think I will stay right in this AC house and scrap some. Thanx Linda for the use of your wordart, Carol for use of your kit and for the other freebies I got from Craft Crave!
Whatever you do this weekend with your time, your family or your friends...make it memorable! Stay cool and have fun, chat later! Luv, Mat

Happy Birthday Mama

A while back, my cousin Rachel Lee wrote a poem for her mother, I asked her permission to use it, which she proudly gave....so here is a page for Mama! She would have been 82 today, however, I am sure that she is 18 again where she is now enjoying lots of love and especially good health! We love you Mama and miss you so much, thanx for watching over us all, Maryanne, Kathy & Penny! Chat more later! Luv, Mat

Just a couple new pages

This is cutie pie Hayden with her handsome daddy! I created this page from a couple of kits of Angelscrappers with an overlay of my photo of the aeriated pool at the Water Gardens and my WA
I did this page for Christina with copies of photos I snitched from her FB account, the page is a freebie and WA is also a freebie with no TOU
This is my girls in a freebie QP with freebie WA from Jenn in a Blogtrain.
This I did of Dylan and Stephanie in the Japanese Tea Gardens a couple of weekends ago...just blended about 3 of them together. The WA is Miss Linda's.
Got too much going on to write right now, so catch you later, make it a memorable day! Luv, Mat

Yes, I slept in this morning!

Actually I got up at 4 a.m., read for about an hour, then fell back asleep and did not get up until 7:30....surely not used to that late a start! Seems like I have been behind all day...I just finished breakfast and it is 12:30! O well, guess I am allowed once in awhile, huh? I got my bed made and was brushing Oreo when my sister Kathy called, we talked for 1 hour and 40 minutes....most of the time I was piecing a jigsaw puzzle together on this computer! When she hung up, I got the floors swept and mopped, got the bathrooms cleaned and mopped too. Also got the litterboxes cleaned with fresh litter and all my clothes I got washed yesterday! I also finished brushing and bathing the "girls".
I went for a haircut yesterday morning, then by the office to pick up charges for the week and make a deposit. I had not been to the office since Monday. I unlocked the door to utter chaos. The smoke detector was going off and was so loud I couldn't even hear myself think.(I do not know when it actually went off or for how long it had been shrilly singing!) I called the management office for help, but I had to stop the noise.....so I built a ladder out of chairs and phone books, but I got the detector down from the ceiling without breaking my neck! The outside AC unit had quit working and my office was so hot (could not even find the temp needle on the thermostat) that it had set the thing off. I did the deposit, cut everything off and left within 15 minutes....it was so hot I thought I would pass out! Went to the bank, made the deposit and had gotten back home and peeled off my wet clothes before the office management called me back. I then had to turn around after getting fresh clothes on and meet them at the office to let them in! Long story short, it will be Monday before anyone will come out to check out the unit. I took a cool shower when I got home so I could cool down. Lay down on the bed under the ceiling fan and promptly fell asleep until about 5 p.m. Of course when bedtime rolled around, I was not sleepy! So I put puzzles together until I was cross eyed!! LOL!!
Well, enough for now, got to run the vac over my area rug and hallway runner...take another shower, and then back to my book after I pop over and visit my blog sisters real quick. Whatever you choose to do this weekend...make it memorable. Chat more next time...Luv to all! Mat

Happy Birthday Amy & Oreo

Amy is 21 today! What a beautiful young lady she has turned into! Happy Birthday Sweetie! Sure do love you! I hope your long weekend is a fabulous one and that you have a marvelous day to celebrate your 21st birthday!

(I used a kit by Scrapiness and a freebie paw brush)
Today is also Oreo's 5th birthday, she gets to celebrate with a special extra treat that she loves....SALMON....and a new catnip toy! She is so sweet though that she will share her toy, but not her treat!
Another rememberance for today....my brother, Pepper, would have celebrated his 52nd birthday! So happy birthday brother, hope you are at peace!
Well, just another Ground Hog Day here....same old heat, high humidity and orange level day...to reach 103 or 110 with the index....but it is August and I am in TEXAS and I AM IN THE HOUSE WITH THE AC on! Have a marvelous day making lots of memories to share! Chat later! Luv, Mat

Believe!!

I just have to believe that cooler times WILL be here before October!! :o) Today is our 9th straight day of morning temps in the 80's and afternoon highs in the triple digits plus the heat index of 110! (We R still under severe heat advisory for the rest of this week as well!) Normally we experience 16 days of triple digits for the whole year, we have exceeded that already! I guess with the UNUSUAL snowy weather we had this past year, the heat has to try and surpass it! (I guess U know by now....I cannot take the HEAT!!) I used Linda's QP and her word art to make this cute layout of the girls! They seem to have no energy either!! Not even for chasing their favorite toy mouse...tee hee! O well, guess I will go back to my book for a spell! Too hot for anything other than lying under the ceiling fans and AC vents with a cool julep in your hand! Whatever you choose to do today, make it a memorable time! Chat with all y'all later! Luv, Mat

Yippee another HOT weekend ahead!

Don't know if your weather is as miserable as ours is or not, but we have another week ahead with the triple digits with no relief in sight! It hit 108 here yesterday and 104 officially at the big DFW airport! But the heat index was well over 110 degrees. Needless to say only going out EARLY in the mornings to water that thirsty lawn and leave some for the poor feathered friends. (BTW my 2 dove babies have flown the nest probably looking for someplace cooler!) Since I am caught up with work, work and what renovations we had planned for this week and my home is back in spic and span shape, the "girls" are bathed and fed and sleeping in here in the computer room, I thought I'd do some scrapping. Of course I used my favorite subjects, my "baby girls"! SURRISE!!!! LOL! I had downloaded a freebie template with WA from Besteri and just had to use it for all three of them. I rearranged it a little for each one. I used BG's from Jax's Purrfect Pets kit on SBF as well as Crafty Elements kit by Courtney. Sometimes changing the colors! I also used some WA by TLC and some that had no TOUs with them, but tried to make each a little personal for each "girl"! Thanx to all the designers who so generously give of their time and talents and share their work with those of us who are so addicted to scrapping! I hope y'all all have a TERRIFIC weekend and whatever you choose to do, make it memorable! As for me and "the girls" we intend to stay inside soaking up AC and scrapping, snoozing, watching TV, reading, snoozing, maybe a little snacking and some more snoozing! I might even stop at the parlor for a few juleps to help make it through this weekend. That is if the "others" haven't beaten me there already! But right now, I am off real quick to the office to make a deposit and pickup some good movies and back here to the comfy of my AC. Chat later, luv y'all! Matfrom when we first found her in the backyard to today, mostly my photos, but today's is by Scotty! MzKitty was 5 in June!Oreo is cute and so photogenic, she loves having her pic taken....all these are mine and she will be 5 on the 12th of this month.This sweet baby found us 4 yrs ago last month, she was so hungry and had been so mistreated, took her awhile to trust us, but she is the baby and Oreo thinks she is her baby! They are such pals. All these photos are mine except the one where I am holding her for Scotty to take the photo!

Quick Water Garden Photo share

Been a busy week here so far...just wanted to share a few photos that we took at the Water Gardens this past weekend. I've used mainly the photos, blending them together, etc. and some masks. Some photos I took, some Scotty took. Got to run to the gas station before it hits 100 to fill my car, then over to the office for a couple so making this short today! Whatever you undertake today, make it memorable. Chat with you more later! Luv, MatThis is Jan and her granddaughter Stephanie in Miss Linda's Believe QP. Scotty took this awesome photo of them.Jan took this photo of Scotty and I put a mask around the photo over a photo of the gardens I took.This is another mask with Jan and I where I used a bubbled background paper, then the aeriated pool shot blended oveer it that I took. Scotty took the one of us!And this is 2 photos I took of the water wall, one Dylan was in (I transposed it) and layered it over a corner with the water flowing, then masked a photo of his superb smile in the upper corner. Grandpa took the smiling photo!

Good Monday Morning Y'all!

Here it is Monday again, hot, hot, hot and gonna get hotter still...105+ today! Started out at 84 this morning...I awoke at 3:45 a.m. to turn my AC temp down 2 degrees so I could sleep! Didn't help much, but finally cooled enough that I dropped off again about 5:00 then got up at 6:00 as Pumpkin was giving me heck about being hungry! Now they are all fed, bathed and tired from playing and are all in here with me napping!!
While here Saturday, Scotty took some photos of MzKitty who really did a lot of posing and cavorting for him and some close ups of Pumpkin too, but Oreo was having none of it...she stayed away from the kids and under the bed the whole time they were here! I'll share some of them later in the week with y'all!
I downloaded Miss Linda's latest QP yesterday and just had to use it, so I put Miss Hayden in it...seems to fit pretty good don't ya think?Thanx so much Miss Boots for sharing your awesome work with all of us, I so appreciate it!
Amy sent me a photo from her phone that she had taken of her daddy and Hayden asleep on the bed and I just had to make a page of it too...this is as clear as I could get the photo. The wordart is a freebie I downloaded from Craft Crave, sorry no TOU with it.the kit is called My Broken Heart by Cuddlebeez!
Also while Scotty was here with his telephoto lens to his new camera.....I asked him to take a couple of the new babies in my back yard. There is a 6' ladder leaning against the wall just outside my back door. On the top a mourning dove made her nest and now she has 2 babies that are not quite a week old in it! So here is one of the shots he got under Mom's watchful eyes...we did not want to get too close and disturb anything...I love the shot! I used a kit called blues and browns by Cuddlebeez for this one and a butterfly brush that I had downloaded a while back. I will try keeping tabs on them as I set water out for them in this heat!
Well, guess I will shut down for now, got to get my shower and my hair done as I have my FINAL exam this morning on my shoulder! Can you believe it? Wednesday will be a whole year since they did the repairs to it!! Been a long year in one respect and a flash in another! Anyhow, wishing all of you a wonderful week ahead and whatever you choose...make sure you make it memorable! Chat more later! Luv y'all! Mat

Another Hot, Hot, Hot weekend!

Can you believe we are into the 8th month of 2010 already? Time sure flies the older you get....LOL! Jan and Scotty called yesterday morning and asked if I would go with them to the Water Gardens...so in the hour it took for them to drive up, I took my shower and dressed in something cool (the temps were to hit 100+without the heat index). By noon we were in the water gardens taking lots of photos of 2 of their grandkids that came up with them. I took some photos with my camera too and decided to work with a couple of them early this morning. This is what I did with one of Dylan and Stephanie! I blended the photo into the background, then extracted and enlarged them sitting them higher on TLC's WA Joy as if they were looking back at themselves....In this one, I blended 2 photos to create one. This is Scotty and Stephanie and the first photo I took inside the gardens.After touring the water gardens for 45 minutes (thank goodness for the shade areas and the coolness from all the water) we headed west a couple of miles to the Botanical Gardens! We got refreshments at the Japanese gardens, then toured them and fed the fish, turtles and ducks enjoying the serenity and coolness for another hour before everyone was drained of energy because of the heat. We then decided it was time for lunch (about 2:30 now) so we ventured over to Mercado Juarez Restaurant for a scrumptious mexican meal and a very ICY cold draft beer. (that was for me only...the others had tea and sodas...lol..lol..lol, hey I wasn't driving for a change!) All in all we had a lovely, lovely time exploring and showing and photographing (more pages later from this foray) before coming back to the AC house and the girls. The grandkids were exhausted and ready to nap around 6 p.m. when they headed back to Ennis. Really did enjoy the day even with the HEAT. Whatever you do today....make it memorable as time is still flying by! Chat later, Luv y'all...Mat