Happy 2015 Y'all!

Hi y'all! Just wanted to pop in and say I fervently wish that you have a safe, happy, healthy, peaceful, loving,  prosperous and much blessed 2015. I hope you spend this day reflecting on 2014 and all it brought us to and through. We are so blessed to live in a free country (largely because of our military personnel) and have freedom of speech and religion. I, for one, am very happy that I have been blessed to witness so many growths and changes (some good, some not) and to have been blessed with this many years to share all the things I have shared with family and loved ones (both those that have gone on before me and those that are still here sharing with me).  I cherish each and every memory made, even the not so pleasant ones as they taught me things I needed. I am a very fortunate woman to have LOVED and LIVED a lot! I have great caring friends and a most wonderful loving family that I am so proud to have in my life! I am retired, fairly healthy, and surrounded by my awesome fur babies and able to do as I want and like I want, so I am a very happy lady! I look forward to a remarkable 2015 for me and for all of you! Remember to cherish each day with your loved ones and let them know you are happy they are in your life, as we never know when it may be the last time we see or get to tell them. Let's all make 2015 the most memorable year ever! Love and hugs is sent to each and everyone of you! Until next time...God Bless us all! Mat

Merry Christmas Everyone!!

Merry CHRISTmas from the fur babies and me.  We have been so very, very busy and with the problems I am experiencing with the double and cloudy vision...I have not been a very good blogger or been on the computer much.  It gets very tiresome trying to focus with one eye shut....LOL! Anyhow, that will be taken care of in February!
I finally got this home level again and now, all my pictures on the walls need to be rehung and straightened...ROFLMBO here! They came in one day and dug all the holes and put all 18 piers in, then came back next morning and filled all the holes with dirt and gone.  I am happy to have it done and over with, but my bank account is so tired of me asking it for more money....LOL!
I have tenants moving in on the first. A nice young couple.  Of course they had to like cats and the Dallas Cowboys as number one and two priorities...!  They just love the duplex and are very anxious to move closer to their jobs. I am happy also to have passed inspection and have some rental income coming in for that complaining bank account!
I have finished with the baking and house is clean, last load of clothes in the washer waiting to be placed in the dryer and my favorite movie just came on...."It's A Wonderful Life", so think I will make a very short post and go watch it again.  I wish all of you a very, very, very Merry CHRISTmas spent with family and/or loved ones and that you have a very safe, healthy, happy and prosperous 2015.  Make lots and lots and lots of great memories to share and to look back on. Love to all of you for now, chat more a little later. Hugs, Mat

Goodbye my friend....

My friend Carol Cook Rodgers passed away this week....shocking everyone! I created this tribute for her on Facebook using a photo from a Halloween party a few years back and a gorgeous QP by Linda at Random Thoughts at Linda's Place.  Carol and her husband Ken joined the motorcycle riding chapter that I belonged to in 1997 after they purchased a Pearl White Goldwing.  She always told everyone to not breathe a word of it to her mother if we met or saw her, because they had not told her about the motorcycle.  Ken and Carol were very active for the first few years of joining, even fixing breakfast at their home for the chapter, cooking jalapeno poppers at one of many Halloween parties, inviting us the their new home when they moved to another city, being an escort in the Hotter than Hell 100 for bicyclist, escorting the Toy Runs, becoming staff members promoting motorcycle safety, planning rides and participating in all the various events the chapter supported.  Their teenage daughter, Krystal, was always included in these events as we watched her become a beautiful young lady. Their son Kraig was away at school, married and gave them their first grandson Micah that we have seen grow up, then Chase and Cami came along!  Carol always had a big smile and kind word for everyone. She was a "throwback hippie" kind of laid back, but when she got "started" she was so hard to stop.  She had wonderful and kookie ideas (which is very important at some of the events we attended). She loved Ken and her family to paraphrase "more than life and to the moon and back again".  She lost her beloved Ken in 2004 and asked the chapter to ride their motorcycles to the National Cemetery in full chapter dress, then afterwards we gathered at a restaurant to celebrate his life...very memorable event.  Carol and Krystal stayed as active with the chapter as they could with them being so far away, we didn't get to see them as often as we would like, but we had e-mails and Facebook to stay in touch. Carol had recently gotten her real estate license and worked with an agency in Granbury.  She had been fighting a case of Acute Bronchitis when God decided he needed this special lady to come live with Him and Ken to ride on their Wings of Gold.  Her funeral will be this coming Wednesday, a sad day for sure, but as with Ken, we will all gather to celebrate her zest for life and what she meant to all of us!  My heartfelt thoughts and prayers go out to Krystal and Kraig and his family! Remember all the good times and be comforted that Dad and Mom are together again, watching over all of you!  .Goodbye my friend, I love you, my life was enriched and blessed for knowing you! Mat

Miss Me?

The roller coaster weather around here has been playing havoc with my arthritis and also my allergies...so, I have been taking it kind of lazy and easy for a spell...ROFL. We had 78F one day and next morning it was 38F and steadily went downhill and stayed there for 5 days...got all my plants inside (thank goodness for the empty duplex, put them all inside there) and all the hoses inside and pipes covered as we had 5 mornings of hard freeze temps in the 20's with wind chills in the teens and even a dusting of snow (that lasted about 6-8 hours before it all melted).  I know, I know, it isn't nearly as bad as some of the northern states...but, for us, it was a real shocker especially the 40 degree drop overnight! Yesterday, we were back with lots of sunshine and 71F and today is to be about as warm, although we have another front on the way that is to bring us some rain and thunderstorms tomorrow. We so need the rain, just not the hail that is a possibility!
With the 4 year drought we have had, my duplex (my side to be exact) is really shifting and beginning to leave cracks around the windows and doors that do not want to close....REAL BUMMER!....but I have already sought out some expert advice and gotten 2 good estimates with 3 more inspections scheduled. I have too much invested to not repair it before some real structural damage is done. There goes a big chunk of change...ROFL...hey, it is only money, right?  Sheezzz! The joys of property ownership!!
Speaking of ownership...I still have not leased it yet, but several prospects have filled out forms for me to check their references. I have mailed my first payment on the loan and made my insurance payment for the year. So far, pretty good and lots of phone calls on it! Very popular area because of the excellent school district and the price range is nice.  I'm looking for someone long term though! 
I am also experiencing some problems with a pesky cataract...my appointment is the 19th of December and am hoping we can solve this soon. You know I read a lot and right now, I am having to close one eye to be able to focus....not fun at all, but one of the joys of growing older I suppose! I am just frustrated that it is impinging on my computer....iPad....Kindle....TV time....sound like a old person don't I?  Just got to B*%&$ about something!!  ROFLMAO!!
I have been creating a little all along on something for my family for CHRISTmas and am about ready to have it printed so I can get it mailed in time!  Plus, I need to check with Linda at Random Thoughts for my CHRISTmas card this year (last year's was really great) so I can get my cards out just after Thanksgiving...wow, it is here already! Next week!! Here's hoping all of you have a wonderful holiday with family and friends and have a lot to give THANKS for! I know I do!
Yesterday was my sister Penny's birthday so I created a card for her of her gorgeous grandchildren (Hayden, Calvin and Annabeth) to put on Facebook wishing her a very happy day! I used a background from Neli, a frame from Fecnikek and a frame from Miriam too. The photos are from Margaret's FB and the other one is by Amy! I like all the pretty colors in it. You can find links to all these wonderful designers on the right side of this blog.

Well, it has taken a couple of hours to type this, think I will hush and get busy....need to put out the trash, the recycle bins and fill the bird feeders....also got to pick up and wash all the outside cat food bowls and refill them, water my flowers, and run the vacuum cleaner. All the inside kitties have been fed and bathed and are all sleeping.  I also need to do a little shopping to refill the cupboards with cat food....I don't need anything for me...LOL! Y'all all have a fabulous weekend making lots of memories to share and say a little prayer for all those poor folks in upstate New York with their weather tragedy! Hugs, Mat

Happy Halloween and FallBack Weekend!

I have been too busy updating and making ready the other duplex so that it is ready for lease by this weekend that I have neglected my computer and family and friends....so, to those birthdays I missed and the phone calls and the blog notes....I am sorry, but sometimes life just takes over my fun times.
My fun times have been filled with repairs, cleaning fireplace and stove and refrigerator, and putting in new sinks and faucets, updating bathrooms and cleaning windows and blinds, oiling cabinets and gel glossing countertops, painting, adding smoke detectors, adding deadbolts, adding peepholes in the doors and yardwork....all I have left is adding light bulbs, steam cleaning bathrooms, running vacuum and mopping floors. I don't think I could have gotten all this done without help from Teri and Liz...they have been a tremendous help to me.
I have had several phone calls with a couple of good possibilities to pick up applications for it.  I still have to have the city inspector come by and issue a certificate of occupancy (quite a few things I had to do to comply with this new law).  I will be very happy when it is rented and I can slow down and do some much neglected scrapping......but the holidays are just around the corner....never ends does it? I am happy that I am doing something other than sitting on my fat fanny in front of the computer daily, though I do miss the contact with family and friends...ROFLMAO!!
I missed my BIL Jim's birthday (no call and no card to him, so sorry), I missed the twins birthday too (Sorry Lance and Lamar, love you both), but I do have a good excuse...just busy, busy, busy and the days just seem to get shorter and shorter.
I haven't been on Facebook and I am over a week behind in blogging with some of my "sisters" and I know I have a lot of photos to "snitch" from FB pages of the great nieces and nephews and some terrific QPs, kits, clusters and wordart that I have missed from some fantastic designers that need to be downloaded and I do need to design a couple of things that have been clogging up my thinking and......on and on and on! Time needs to slow down some, right?
We still haven't really had Fall weather yet...been rather warm in the upper 80's and low 90's, however, they are promising another front to bring us into the 50's at night and 70's in the day for this weekend and maybe, MAYBE, maybe some desperately needed rain by the first of the week, but then back to the 80's for the rest of the next week.  Wish Mother Nature would make up her mind....LOL!
Halloween is tomorrow, but will see no trick or treaters, kids don't do much of that around here even though we live in a pretty safe neighborhood, all the local churches (and they are VERY numerous) have Trunk or Treat activities for the kids with lots of things to do besides collect candy (which they have trunkfuls of) and the mall merchants always have lots of candy for them as well.  This is much safer for the kids to be in well lit places and much supervision, however, if you want to see the costumes, you have to go to where the activities are...not as much fun as in our days I think, but they get lots more loot than we ever did!
I need to get appointment to take in the brother (Sideways) and sister (Misty) kittens that I acquired in July (after a family moved, no mommy around and they were so tiny) to have them their shots and "fixed". I have tried finding them a home...want them to stay together as he is a bit handicapped (legs weak in back and his teeth are not developing) and she is so good with him.  I have been trying to massage his legs a lot and he seems to be getting stronger with his climbing and running (but still runs into walls, thus his name) and he is the sweetest thing. I am still fostering them for now though.
Okay, I have rambled on enough, best get up from here and start the day...y'all have a good weekend and remember to turn your clocks back and enjoy that extra hour of sleep or play! Chat more with you next time!  Hugs, Mat

It's a done deal!!!!

All the papers have been signed on my end....the other party is signing theirs now in Minnesota....when all is completed and sent this way (about 2 more days) the funds will all be distributed and by the end of the week it will all be mine...I am so very happy for it to all be over with...can't tell you what a relief it is...now I can get back to my life....ROFLMAO.......!
Tomorrow is little Miss Hayden's 6th birthday so I took a few minutes to make her a Happy Birthday page to post on Facebook (she likes seeing herself on there)! I used a template (6) from Laurrie at cheyOkota  Digital Scrapbooking Designs and the background, flowers and tag are from Oklahomadawn's Autumn Art free kit. I used an assortment of photos of her with her mama, her daddy, her brother, her cousin and some friends to complete the collage.

I also got a chance to make a couple more Autumn pages that I want to share for my book!

Ruby, Jayson and Jade in an Autumn QP by Fecnikek

This one of Hayden and Calvin is also a free QP by Fecnikek

This page was created with freebies by Arlene from Baby Bear Digital Scraps. Another shot of Hayden with Calvin.

Just adore this photo that Amy took of Calvin and Annabeth playing together so put it in a gorgeous QP by Linda at Random Thoughts at Linda's Place

And this one is by Eudora Designs of my friend Liz that I did for her birthday on the 12th.

We had a cold front drop in and leave us some rain and lots and lots and lots of wind...around 1:15 a.m. the winds were at 60-65 mph and blinding blowing rain (lots of electric lines and trees downed)....the temps never got out of the 60's for 2 days and after the rain left we had 40 mph winds (with gusts to 50 mph) all day yesterday and still not out of the 60's, it was 53 this morning, but the sun is shining, the winds are down to 20 mph and it is heating up to mid 70's. I love these temps, cut the AC off and opened windows, however, back to the upper 70's and low to mid 80's for the rest of the week, so I know I will have to put the AC back on, but I do like the lower humidity and now that the SALE is over, I can do something else and really enjoy the Fall weather again.
Okay, off to do some celebrating that this ordeal is over, just wanted to let everyone know about it and to share a few quick pages with you.  Have a fantastic rest of the week and make sure to make lots and lots and lots of memories to share.  Hugs to all of you! Luv, Mat
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Crap!! Summer is back in Texas!!

We broke record high temperatures for October yesterday.....100 degrees and it's gonna be 95 again today!  We did get to enjoy Fall for 4 days, yippee!! It is almost unbearably warm this morning at 83 at 5 a.m.  I did get to view a bit of the eclipse this morning before some clouds obscured it (after it was complete) and with the moving of the clouds for sunrise, we had a pink/orange glow to everything....sure was pretty, but I was unable to capture it on camera. Of course, with the increase in the southwesterly winds also comes the higher humidity. Yesterday, I just could not stay dry and it seems today is going to be the same....UGH!!  BUT...I thank God for another day of waking up and able to see this glorious day!
I have been busier that a long tailed cat in a room full of rocking chairs....ROFLMAO!!!!  Not only are my "girls" demanding a lot of attention (because of the baby brother and sister I still haven't found a home for), but because of the disruption of their routine (I haven't been at home much except at night) and the jealousy of a couple of friends that are vying for attention!  Sometimes it is nice to know you are so loved....BUT...there are times it is a real distraction (this is one of those times).  LOL!
I am also in the waning days of close out on the purchase of the duplex and more and more "little" details are beginning to crop up...will be so GLAD when this is all over.  I have managed to get the smoke detectors all up and have the "peep" holes for the doors, all the locks required are in, got a reliable yard service finally in place for both sides, and have a couple of small handyman things yet to accomplish, then it will be ready for inspection to get a Certificate of Occupancy and a tenant as soon as the sale is completed (supposedly the 15th)!
I haven't been on Facebook or been able to Blog in over a week....I am beginning to have withdrawals here! LMAO!  I did manage a birthday page for Jayson's 3rd birthday, but did not get an anniversary page for Kathy and Jim (45 years) nor anything for Jeff's birthday today, but I will get a call in to him sometime this evening.   I am so behind in catching up with my blog sisters and friends, but hopefully, things are calming down some and the DRAMAS are over......PLEASE!!!
Here are some pages I got done before it all started...just want to make sure they are posted so they will appear in my Blog2Print book at the end of the year!  LOL!

Christina with her birds....the QP is one from Auntie M Designs, love the photo corners and it is a freebie on her site, give her a visit.

Jade and Ruby's school photos this year in frames from Neli.  She offers 2-3 frames daily for free on her site, you will not be disappointed if you pay her a visit.

Mr. Mustache...Jayson being silly and so fun in a cute QP from Connie Prince's CT...she also offers some cute freebies each week.

Cute little man turned 3 on the 27th of September....here he is a great QP by Brigit from Designs by Brigit at Digital Scrapbooking Studio called Brothers Birthday!

 Here we have cousins....Hayden and Annabeth in a cute pose that Amy got...I put them in a template by Oklahoma Dawn and used her free Indian Summer kit for the colors, she offers some fantastic templates and given so freely y'all. The wordart is by Anna-Jolanta.

Cutie pie Annabeth in a frame by Fecnikek who offers some really terrific frames for free.  Annabeth fell asleep while sitting up playing...according to Mimi Penny, she was afraid to sleep because she might miss something!  LOL!  Such a cute shot Amy!!

Another cute back to school frame for the first day of school photo of Jade and Ruby in a QP by JMC
Well, my dryer has stopped so guess I better fold and hang up clean clothes...will try to be a bit more attentive in days to come...ROFL...y'all have a great "hump" day and have lots of fun making many memories to share...catch ya next time...Hugs!! Mat