Spring Cleaning...!!

Hello y'all!  First day of spring and I am spring cleaning....and very tired....so taking a break to chat!  We've had rain again...for 15 days out of 21 in March....but not too much at one time, just soft gentle rains mostly, the kind that sinks in....we so desperately need it, the lakes and water sheds are beginning to resupply! It is raining again today, thus the cleaning mood.....LOL! All the trees and weeds are so green and growing so fast!  I have been so busy with this temporary job and the taking care of the eyes...etc...that I have not had time to clean properly.  This morning my bathroom, bedroom and the kitchen and dining area got steam cleaned, even the floors and re-shined! It is in the low 50's, cloudy and gloomy outside, but the inside is glowing (well, half of it anyway)! I've worked up a sweat so time to take a coffee break...I got some Southern Pecan flavored coffee and creamer....it is so yummy and tastes like a real treat.
I've got my bed changed and the sheets and spread washed...the couch cover has been changed and washed too...now all I need is a small load of towels and whites and a medium sized load of shirts/tops and one of jeans...then I will be all ready for next week. 
Sure is getting hectic at the accounting office, everyone just insists their taxes be done before the deadline of April 15, but it ain't gonna happen, some will have to file extensions...we have over 115 that have been dropped off to date and that doesn't count the 20-25 that are done each day! I have been trying to plug in some of the forms and correcting addresses or adding new information so that it will not take as long to finish the returns, but some of them are just way too complicated and the new laws with the Affordable HealthCare Act means more forms and takes longer to file, so at the end of the day I am too tired when I get home to clean or do laundry.  I barely get litter boxes cleaned and all the fur babies fed before I am in my jammies and on the bed watching TV....ROFL!  Getting older don't ya know?  (Actually, The Voice, American Idol and Dancing With the Stars and some others that I have to DVR, are for me to fall asleep to)! LMBO!!!
I think I did manage to do a page for Calvin last week and I did a couple of QPs to give away at Miriam's Scraps this week using her MK19.  The QP of Calvin is a gorgeous gift from Dawn at OklahomaDawn, that girl sure makes some awesome papers and elements, then gives them away and her templates are the greatest. This entire page is her template and her kit called Rustic Charm (you can find it on her blog)! The photos are a series that Margaret took of Calvin playing in the dirt with his trucks.  Isn't he adorable?

The QPs I've made (5 so far, but not all uploaded yet) for Miriam's Scraps were so fun to make,  her MK19 is supposed to be a mini kit, but is an awesome MAXI kit that she is generously sharing with all of you on her blog! Check it out you will love it! Here are the first 2 QPs I've made if you are interested...I've even made a page of Ms Annabeth in the #2 QP. Thanks Dawn and Miriam for all you share with me!

I think I have bored y'all enough....my coffee is gone and I still have 3 loads of clothes, another bathroom and the living room to clean and then I MIGHT THINK ABOUT cleaning this office up....maybe later....or not!  LOL! Well, whatever you do to make memories this weekend, make lots of them and then share with us! Have a fantastic one. Hugs, Mat

Time to Spring Forward

Boy O Boy!! We have had a very weird winter and I for one, hope it is over! I am so ready for Spring to arrive! I am anxious to see how the trees, flowers and grass do this year.  They all started budding and blooming and then "Whammo" we got a quarter inch of sleet and freezing rain and 3-7 inches of snow (4 inches at my house) on top of that with really howling winds that made drifts last Wednesday night.  Now this may not seem so strange to my northern friends.....but, for us here in Texas....it brought us to another standstill. Broke records for most snow in March ever and most snow period in 5 years in this area.  Best thing, we all got to stay home on Thursday and watch the sun melt the most of it...that's the only good thing with the weather, it doesn't last forever down here! I know I can hear you laughing "sistas", but when you are not used to it, it is strange and unnerving as no one ( poor 18 wheelers) knows how to drive on it...especially all those 5 high overpasses and bridges cause we don't have enough sand trucks to accommodate all of them. Me, I don't know how to drive on ice and will not put myself or any other driver in jeopardy because of it. However, my outside fur babies just loved playing in it...look!

At least they have warm "condos" with heating blankets where they can warm up....LOL! I felt so sorry for them having to be out in the cold, but it looks like they were having fun. I had a hard time opening the back screen door as it was frozen shut (it faces the north) and was covered in ice.

Their food and water bowls were frozen to the ground (good thing they get clean ones each meal)! This is the 3 little ones out in my back yard, the two with the longer fur are boys, the little one is the only girl and they are sweet as can be. Well, enough about the snow...it is over and gone....now we have some slow soaking in kind of rain, but the ground is really saturated so I will probably have another river running in the back later today.  I have to get someone out to see where the back up is....I think it is behind my back fence at the businesses back of me...I have checked all along my fence line and it all seems to be clear!

OK, since I had Thursday off, as I was washing and drying laundry, (and waiting for the slush so I could sweep off my drive) I decided to create some scrap pages...I did a couple for my sisters-in-law, Jannette and Debbie, on the beach at Panama City, FL.

 I created this page with a freebie by Arlene at Baby Bear Digital Scrap, she really has some pretty gifts, you should visit her and her Etsy Shop too! I'm sorry I can't seem to find who the wordart is from, I got it a while back with no TOU with it.

This one of Debbie is by Vero called precious...it is also a free QP.  Vero is a designer at Digital Scrapbooking Studio where they give away stuff at least 3 times a week in the newsletter and if you get newsletters from the designers you get even more freebies. 

But this is my favorite scrap for awhile now....Margaret sent this adorable photo to me on Facebook of Hayden and Calvin being so sweet and I just had to make a memory page with it.  The kit is another freebie called Fading Hours by Kyra at With A Russian Dutch Heart.  This lady also gives freebies at least 3 times a week and some awesome gifts by her CTs Arlene and Florence.  The word art is by Miss Boots at Random Thoughts at Linda's Place that I picked up a while back also.  She has awesome QPs and some fantastic word art for you all free too! Stop by some of these very talented designers and snag a few (or a lot) of the fabulous freebies.  Visit all of them listed on the right of this blog...they are so GENEROUS!

I had my final post surgery check up last Wednesday afternoon, YIPPEE I have 20/20 in both eyes now. It is so strange to not put on glasses each morning or take them off each night.  I still try to out of habit especially getting into the shower...ROFL! I do use some reading glasses for working at the computer, to not have much eye strain until all the drops are stopped and all the healing is finished.  Afterwards I will have to make a trip to the DMV to have my drivers license changed with not restrictions for wearing eye glasses...LOL!  Yesterday after work, I came in and cleaned litter boxes, swept the whole house, then vacuumed  the area rugs, then mopped the whole house as I couldn't stand the tracks anymore...so nice to be able to do all that again...and Monday I can wear my makeup again! (No more post surgery restrictions)

Hope you didn't forget to set your clocks forward last evening...I did, but then I had to rewind my grandfather clocks this morning so I set them as I did that.  The only other clocks are the microwave and the stove, those are done too, the phone and computer and IPads change automatically.  I am all caught up with this springing forward and ready to go for the real Spring to get here!  My coffee is gone so need to make another cup and get my hiney out of this chair for a bit...have a FABULOUS week ahead and make lots and lots and lots of memories to share! Chat more next time.  Hugs, Mat