BURN, BABY BURN!!!

Living in the COUNTRY definitely has it's ADVANTAGES as well as it's limitations! ONE of the ADVANTAGES is that we can BURN our trash on our property rather than having to make NUMEROUS trips to the TRANSFER STATIONS to dispose of it all.

We live on nearly TWO acres with LOTS of trees, so Robert does A LOT of pruning!!! He was finally able to get to the trees outside of our fenceline that face the street. We are located on the corner of a cul-de-sac, with our landlord's home being the only other one located on our court. Anyway, Robert has received MANY compliments on how NICE things are looking since he has been able to trim our trees, giving them a MANICURED look, which has caused them to begin to GROW like crazy!!!

SO ... the BIG "B" day finally happened night before last after waiting for MONTHS of fire season to pass and COLDER, wet weather to settle in. I have a GREAT respect for FIRE, so I ALWAYS wish for us to wait until the conditions are as SAFE as possbile!!! There is also a number for us to call to find out whether or not it is a BURN DAY! Robert had wanted to start the BONFIRE during the afternoon, but after making a trip to the grocery store and speaking with my oldest son, Matt, it was postponed until evening so that Matt could join in on the FUN after finishing his day at work!!! Here are a few photos of the day's preparations, as Mark and Luke rake the PILE and give it some GOOD height. Mark EVEN retrieved our neighbor's Christmas tree to help IGNITE this BABY and put a PLEASANT smell into the air!!!

I was in the middle of CROP/CHAT at 3Scrapateers, when I was summoned to be present for the LIGHTING!!! The photo that I have posted of the BONFIRE itself, is the FIRST photo I took upon arriving at the scene! WOWEE!!! Those flames REALLY shoot up high ... kinda scary until I am certain that it is not going anywhere!!!

Mark stayed out with the fire until 3:30 am and when I awoke yesterday morning, I walked to the living room window to see whether there were still any flames or if it was simply smoldering. I had to do a DOUBLE-TAKE as I could not believe my eyes!!! Curled up in a ball and sleeping on Robert's folding sports chair was the MOST precious sight I have seen in some time ... our DARLING Chloe had spent the night in the warmth of the fire's heat rather than in her dog house!!! It was TOO cold outside for me to EVEN think to grab a snap of her to add to our WONDERFUL event! Perhaps I shall catch her there again next time!!!

Have a BEAUTIFUL weekend and BE SAFE if you are travelling the roads during the THREE-DAY weekend in celebration of President's Day!

P.S. We just MIGHT be getting a dusting of SNOW here in the foothills this weekend, so I have my camera batteries charging at this VERY moment in anticipation of capturing a few SNOWFLAKES and, perhaps, a few photos of the family sledding!!! Here's HOPING ...

BURN, BABY BURN!!! (Photos)

Am I RUNNING out of GAS??? LOL!!!

LOL!!! Don't we ALL start new things with GOOD intentions??? I know that I do, but then I am SOON reminded that I am not ALWAYS in control of my time or what comes my way from DAY-TO-DAY!!! Am I SLOWING down??? Oh, quite the CONTRARY!!! I have been VERY busy and sidetracked, but for the better!!!

It's been a FEW days and I have been working hard on layouts to catch up with my kit assignments and preparing to enter into training for my NEW position at 3Scrapateers!!! I am SO excited!

I am going to make this VERY sweet and short, as I wish to share a few layouts that I have just recently completed! WOO HOO!!! I am now able to post the layout that I created for ROUND ONE of the FUNK IT UP contest at Scrap Forums. I am SO excited as I have made it to ROUND TWO, which has us challenged to create not ONE, but TWO layouts!!! I have the ideas in my head and down on paper. All I need to do now is get them onto a canvas in my PHOTO program and make them LOOK good!!! This is MOST definitely stretching my imagination, which is a GOOD thing, and has me scrapping OUTSIDE OF THE BOX!!!

Without further ADIEU ... the layout that progressed me to ROUND TWO. It is a layout of MY HEART TH{ROB}, Robert, of course!!! I just LOVE this photo of Robert!!! Just to give you an idea of the INCREDIBLE things one can do with PHOTO software, the photo you see of Robert was from a photo that I took right at our front door with him holding a FISH up in his hand!!! He was SO proud, as was I, to have caught his VERY first fish here at Lake Tulloch!!! I REALLY liked the photo of his SWEET face, so I cut out around the outline of his body, inverted the selection and changed the distraction of the background to a PLAIN BLACK background. Whatcha think??? PRETTY cool, huh???

The other layout that I am uploading this evening is using a photo of Robert and his sisters, Del and Nani, posing for me on their father's deck here in Copperopolis!!! I just LOVE, LOVE, LOVE taking photos of this EXTREMELY photogenic family!!! I created this layout using a NEW program called FX FOTO. We have formed a REVIEW TEAM at 3Scrapateers and will have the opportunity to try out NEW things and then write a REVIEW for the COMPANY. I killed MANY birds with ONE stone on this one!!! I created my VERY first layout using FX FOTO, was able to scrap a WONDERFUL photo of Robert, Del and Nani AND I completed a KIT ASSIGNMENT!!! I LOVE it!!! I hope that you ENJOY the layouts. Please feel free to leave me a comment on what you think of either one. I ALWAYS appreciate ANY feedback or CONSTRUCTIVE criticism!!!

Thanks for stopping by and I wish you a MOST wonderful tomorrow! Hope to see you soon. This will be ANOTHER very busy week for me, but I am going to try my hardest to at least post a few photos or layouts as I complete them.

Hugs ...

EXTRA, EXTRA, read ALL about it ... Marine SOON to return home!

Such a BUSY week for me, but I just had to JUMP in here and SPREAD the GOOD news!!! Robert's son, Joshua, who is serving his SECOND deployment to Iraq, is due to return home to the US next month!!! We are SO thrilled and CANNOT wait for him to step foot on American soil again! Josh sent us an e-mail night before last and it is ALWAYS so comforting to hear from him.

Josh is such a BRAVE young man and a TRUE warrior! You will find back towards the beginning of my blog a layout that I created SPECIFICALLY as a TRIBUTE to Josh, thanking him for sacrificing his life daily that I might continue to LIVE FREE! Although I know that he is doing so for this ENTIRE country as well a NEW democracy in Iraq, I made it VERY personal!

Joshua and his BEAUTIFUL new bride, Tiffany, were married shortly before his deployment, but when he returns they are having an OFFICIAL church wedding and reception with FAMILY and FRIENDS in attendance!!! We will be attending their wedding on May 13, 2006 in Tennessee, which is where Tiffany was born and raised and currently resides. Upon Joshua's return to the US, he will be returning to the base at which he is stationed in North Carolina, Camp Lejuene. What a JOYFUL day this shall be!!! SAFE TRAVELS dear Joshua ... you are in our thoughts and prayers daily darlin'!

I am posting along with this post a few other layouts that I have created with photos of Josh since he joined the Marines. I am also including one of he and Tiffany, which is from some photos I took of the two of them as we explored Columbia State Park here in California. Josh brought Tiffany to meet his family last April and, of course, we ALL adored her immediately. How can ANYONE resist TRUE Southern charm and BEAUTY!!!

PLEASE keep both Joshua and Tiffany in your thoughts and prayers ...

Love to y'all and may you have PLEASANT dreams ...

I'm LATE, I'm LATE for a VERY IMPORTANT DATE!!!

Gee ... I'm on a ROLL of being LATE here this past week!!! I am SO sorry to anyone who traveled over here to read my story on HEART DISEASE and found NOTHING!!! I was SO engrossed in completing my layout for the, FUNK IT UP, contest and I was BEYOND tired by the time I crawled into bed last night. I know y'all can RELATE to that at one time or another!

Anyway, yesterday was the day to wear RED to help bring attention to the fact that HEART DISEASE has been established as the NUMBER ONE killer of women today.

It was rather odd for me a little over a year ago now, when I had been seeing a lot of advertising of HEART DISEASE on television and I even sat down to watch a few MEDICAL specials. Of course, I was listening in for the educational part of it, never thinking that this could be ME because I have NO family history of HEART DISEASE!!! WRONG!!!

Within a month of all of the research I had been doing, as I try to stay abreast of all the new medical findings, I was in the hospital going through an ANGIOPLASTY and STENT implant!!! How did this happen you ask? Well ... none of us are REALLY sure what brought this on at the TENDER age of 50!!! Yes, today, 50 is YOUNG!!!

I have been dealing with FIBROMYALGIA on and off for several years now. I would find myself feeling VERY weak and lethargic, which was VERY difficult for me to accept having been ACTIVE all of my life! However, after doing a lot of reading and research, I accepted it, but with the THOUGHT that "I WILL beat this"!!! Robert (my beloved) and I began WALKING and although I have ALWAYS enjoyed POWER WALKING, I was finding that my CHEST was hurting. I turned to Robert and said, "Boy, I'm REALLY out of shape"!!! I hadn't EVER in my LIFETIME felt SO winded, but this time with ALMOST a PRESSURE. I didn't understand it enough to think much of it other than the FACT that I was MOST definitely OUT OF SHAPE!!!

Within the next few weeks I spent an ENTIRE day being stopped DEAD IN MY TRACKS with a HORRIFIC PRESSURE in my chest that would have me inhaling and exhaling slowly as I would try to work my way through whatever this was that was happening to me! Mind you, I have been HEALTHY as a horse ALL of my life. I've given birth to six children with NO problems!!! What in the WORLD could EVER be happening to me NOW??? By DAY NUMBER TWO, the simplest exertions were bringing this PRESSURE on. I was reading a HUMOROUS e-mail to Robert and was walking back and forth from the computer room into the living room to share with him. I was enjoying a VERY hearty (no pun intended!) laugh when, ALL OF A SUDDEN, I was stopped DEAD IN MY TRACKS, once again, with that HORRIFIC PRESSURE in my chest. Robert kept telling me that I'd better go to the doctor.

Well ... I just happen to have a BIT of a stubborn streak in me!!! And, YES, I was also a BIT scared. You know, that "I don't want to go because I don't want to be told that something is WRONG with ME"!!! I put a couple of 5 gallon water bottles in the car to take to our local supermarket to refill at the water machine outside. Both of my oldest sons work there. As I was walking down our THREE steps to get into the car, again, I was taken aback by this INTENSE pressure in my chest. I sat down in the driver's seat and INHALED deeply and slowly exhaled, working my way through this, by now, SCARY event.

I arrived at the supermarket, walked into the store, with TEARS welled up in my eyes, spoke with #2 son to PLEASE call #1 son to come out and help me with the water bottles. Matt and I walked out to the water machine and in the process of filling bottle number one, I started crying. Matt asked, "Mom, what's wrong"? I replied, "Matt, I'm scared, something is wrong with me." He, with GREAT concern, told me that I'd better get myself over to the clinic, which just happened to be across the parking lot of our LITTLE shopping center!!!

Matt put the water bottles in the car for me and I drove myself over to the clinic. I had to sit and wait to be seen for about ten minutes (NOT bad, eh???) and they immediately took me to a room to perform an EKG. I have ALWAYS had EXCELLENT blood pressure, which would normally read anywhere from 107-110 over 70-72. My blood pressure was now 170/100, but then, of course, I AM SCARED!!!

My EKG was normal, but I was still experiencing the PRESSURE in my chest that would come and go just like contractions when in labor!!! My doctor was NOT going to let me go home and the next thing I knew I had four or five young men from the fire department standing over me explaining that an ambulance was coming for me. Mind you, living in a SMALL community, I knew MOST of these young men. We were ALL laughing and I think I laughed myself right onto the gurney and out the door into the ambulance!!! None of us could BELIEVE that I was there - "your're TOO young" everyone would say!

I won't bore you with all of the details of my ambulance ride to the hospital, although I did have a GOOD time with EVERYONE involved ... just the GREATEST bunch of human beings, who take their jobs seriously and have a HEART!!! Once in the ER, I was monitored, given oxygen and so on and so forth, not to mention several more EKG's!!! Oh ... I just remembered, I was given a NITRO pill prior to leaving the clinic to see if it would help the pressure. Not sure how long I was in the ER. Robert and my oldest son, Matt drove up to be with me. I was probably there for a couple of hours and they were going to let me go home after having me walk around for a bit, not finding any irregularities in my EKG readings and my blood pressure being normal.

As I proceeded to leave and passed the desk where the doctor was standing, I began to feel the pressure in my chest again. I immediately turned around, looked at the doctor and said to him, "something is NOT right, I am still getting the pressure in my chest". Well, the darling that he was, he returned me to the room I had occupied, had me hooked back up to the EKG machine, oxygen, etc. for another look. Still, nothing showed up that was out of the NORM, so he got on the phone and scheduled me for a TREADMILL with a HEART specialist VERY early the following morning.

The next morning I arrived at the hospital for my TREADMILL (WOO HOO ... so much FUN!!!) and after being rigged, I stepped up onto the TREADMILL and was BEGGING FOR MERCY come the final round!!! The faster I had to take strides, the MORE intense the pressure in my chest became!!! After the doctor looked at the results, he said there was enough of an irregularity that warranted a CLOSER look and, especially, since I was a woman.

I was then admitted into the hospital for an ANGIOGRAM, which is where they go in through the groin with a CUTE little camera and take pictures!!! I declined any sedatives and only had my groin area anesthetized and found it to be a pain free procedure! I do have a HIGH tolerance to pain and I also have learned to RELAX and think POSITIVE during any kind of procedure, which is a REAL blessing in itself!!! I spent the ENTIRE time in the CATH LAB cracking jokes with the nurses. I am SO glad that I have a WONDERFUL sense of humor, you just NEVER know when it will come in handy and it TRULY is the BEST medicine to be found!!!

I was later wheeled to a recovery area, where the doctor approached me with a look of BEWILDERMENT on his face as he informed me that I had a 95% OCCLUSION in my LAD artery, which is one of the MAJOR ones, of course!!! He just couldn't figure what would have given me such a huge amount of blockage in my artery with no family history, good blood pressure, normal cholesterol readings, etc. I was, TRULY, a HEART ATTACK waiting to happen!!!

The following morning, I was taken, once again by ambulance, to another hospital facilitated for angioplasties and, if necessary, a bypass. I have to say that it was with GREAT FAITH that I signed authorization for the bypass if needed. I had such WONDERFUL care by all of the staff and they were SO positive and uplifting. LOL!!! While I was being prepared to go into surgery, my surgeon came in to introduce himself and asked, "What's a young lady like yourself doing here?" That is when it REALLY began to sink in that I was, indeed, SO very young for this type of procedure. So PLEASE, understand one thing if nothing else, this is a DISEASE that can SNEAK right up on you. I, personally, believe for me that it is a result of a LIFETIME of accumulated stress. Even though I am able to let go of things and am a JOYFUL person, the things that have happened to me over the years have taken a toll on me PHYSICALLY. I am VERY happy to report though, that I have NO damage to my HEART itself. I would imagine the MAJOR reason for that is that I NEVER experienced a HEART ATTACK. I consider myself BLESSED for being given such an AWESOME warning beforehand and a COUPLE of VERY special men in my life that kept on me to seek medical attention!!!

I am still BOUND and DETERMINED to BEAT THIS!!! I have a TRUE love of my fellow man/woman and wish to share my story so that others may learn atleast ONE new little tidbit about HEART DISEASE, the NUMBER ONE KILLER of women today. Yes, ladies, the doctors are NOW taking us SERIOUSLY when we go in and complain of chest pain. It is NO longer being passed off as merely INDIGESTION!!!

If you have any questions, please DO NOT hesitate to ask. I've tried to put this together the BEST I could, but may have left something out!!! Gee ... GO FIGURE!!! Anyway, I just wish to pass on a message of GREAT HOPE and that if anything at all changes for you, PLEASE get it checked out.

HEART DISEASE will ALSO cause pain in your back, arms, neck, ears and such. I did NOT experience any back or neck pain, but I did experience my ears hurting, my throat feeling full AND I had TWO fingers on my left hand that had been NUMB for over a year. When checked for the numbness in my fingers, it was being related to the degenerating discs in my neck ... LOL!!! Well ... while recovering at home after the ANGIOPLASTY, I realized on DAY NUMBER TWO that the numbness in those TWO fingers was GONE!!! WOW!!! It is REALLY amazing what a BLOCKED artery can cause ... POOR blood flow is an OBVIOUS one!!!

Thanks for listening and PLEASE, PLEASE, if you don't smoke, don't start and if you DO, please consider quitting. SMOKING is the NUMBER ONE cause of HEART DISEASE and then there is, naturally, being overweight and lack of exercise. I am guilty of the lack of exercise and extra weight over the past couple of years due to the FIBROMYALGIA, but I am forcing myself to get out and walk again. I will eventually walk the pain right out of me, not to mention getting rid of the excess weight!!! I will soon be adding a few links in my LINKS section to some good websites on HEART DISEASE. So, if you are interested, come on back periodically and check them out. I REALLY care about y'all and wish to do ALL that I humanly can to get the message out about this BRUTAL killer that can be PREVENTED!!!

Have a GLORIOUS day everyone!!! LOVE yourself, be in the KNOW, be HEART smart!

BIG HUGS ...

UNDER THE WIRE!!! WHEW!!!

I have "10", I repeat, "10" minutes to get this posted before a NEW day begins!!! LOL!!! Okay, so I'm a bit on the LOONEY side, I'll ADMIT to it!!! It's just that I take my commitments SERIOUSLY and I said that I was going to post my NEWEST layout today.

Jessica, my DARLIN' niece, I am SO proud of you!!! Everytime I look at this photo of you and your mom, I get TEARY-EYED!!! I am not able to EVEN imagine having been where you are at your age!!! We all TRAVEL different roads and come to DIFFERENT places in LIFE, but you AMAZE me girl!!! KEEP on KEEPIN' on and you WILL go far and for a GOOD cause!!! The WORLD needs more HEARTS such as yours that have that VERY special place in their's for CHILDREN!!! I LOVE YOU!!!

So, without further ADIEU ... my niece, Jessica Whizin ... a part of our FUTURE!!!

Kit used to create this layout is by one of 3Scrapateers' DIVAS, Stacey Kluczny and is from her NEWEST kit entitled "PERFECTLY PRETTY SCRAPKIT", which you can find HERE

CONGRATULATIONS Jessica and the BEST to you this year as you pursue your MASTERS!!! WOO HOO!!! I shall be ROOTIN' for ya all the way BABY GIRL!

LOVE and HUGS from your Auntie Linda ...

SKYPES!!! What have I gotten myself into???

Okay ... most of you have MOST likely already had the PLEASURE of talking via the computer. I haven't done so for over FIVE years now and, MY GOODNESS, has it EVER changed!!!

I had the pleasure of having my first VOICE chat with my 3Scrapateers' colleague, Kerri, last night and TWO hours later we finally hung up!!! I LOVED it ... another ADDICTION in the making??? WHOA!!! Could be, but I am going to REALLY have to discipline myself with this one as it is just TOO darn easy to RING someone else's computer for a little GOOD conversation!!!

I learned a FEW things in the process of this NEW venture. SKYPE is the GREATEST program for VOICE CHAT ... it is CRYSTAL CLEAR, even OVERSEAS!!! After talking with Kerri, I rang my mother over in Honolulu via Yahoo Messenger VOICE, left her a VOICE MAIL and she called me right back!!! TOO COOL! Anyway, we talked for TWO hours and during the ENTIRE conversation I could hear my voice ECHO back at me and then we encountered STATIC. I told Mom about SKYPE, sent her an invitation, she downloaded it, she called me back and it was INCREDIBLE!!! The VERY same as my conversation with Kerri ... CRYSTAL CLEAR. AWESOME for being an OCEAN away!!!

So, if you are interested in VOICE chat, you will LOVE this program, which by the way, you can also send files and chat using the keyboard too! You may find it HERE

BE careful, it can become VERY addictive!!! AND it's FREE!!! The one thing that Kerri and I LOVE about it is that you can TALK and still work on your layouts, documents or whatever else you may be doing on the computer at the time!!! I was SO blessed to have finally heard Kerri's voice as we work VERY closely together at 3Scrapateers. It felt VERY comfortable and it is SO nice to put a VOICE to a person that you are communicating with on a regular basis! I was even able to hear her PRECIOUS little boy in the background ... SO COOL!!!

Okay ... I've RAMBLED enough! I need to finalize my OVERDUE layout and get it uploaded to my GALLERY. Again, if you are interested in viewing my HEART and PASSION, you may simply CLICK on the link to the right titled, MY GALLERY at 3Scrapteers.

I shall be uploading my NEW layout later on today. This is another VERY special one as my niece, Jessica, whom I have been estranged from FOREVER, is the SUBJECT and is just as BEAUTIFUL as can be in her graduation gown!!!

Stay tuned for Jessica's debut!!!

What happened to YESTERDAY???

LOL!!! I can be my own WORST enemy and WORST critic MOST of the time!!! Hard as I try, I allow myself (notice I said, ALLOW!!!) to be pressured, but then I have found over the years that I work BEST under a little pressure and a DEADLINE!!! Glutton for punishment? Hmmm ... I doubt it, possibly, but I REALLY feel that it is WHO I AM!!!

So ... what happened to YESTERDAY??? I mean ... NO ENTRY on my NEW blog!!! HECK of a way to start, eh? Come on now, you're supposed to support me here and console me!!! LOL!!! I know, FAT CHANCE!!! Oh WELL ... no harm in trying!!!

Yesterday was the FIRST of the month and is the day that we spend doing our ONCE-A-MONTH shopping for our household needs. Grocery shopping, unfortunately, seems to be ENDLESS with FIVE growing boys to feed!!! Yes, I did include Robert in there!!! Gotta LOVE my guys. Even though I have my TRYING moments, I wouldn't trade them for the WORLD! (Did I just say that???) To do our BIG shopping, we have to travel to Sonora, which is about 35 minutes east of us here in Copper. So ... that is what happened to YESTERDAY! We weren't here for MOST of it!!!

I looked at the clock after allowing my oldest son Matt to play on my computer for a couple of hours, to find that I was only minutes away from a NEW day!!! Oh well ... NO complaints. We accomplised a lot and Matt got to check out a few websites and download INTERACTIVE online poker! We'll see how that goes. He is 23 now and has matured SO much this past year. He is VERY thrifty with his money, so I don't see this as being a problem but just a little recreational FUN for him on his day off from work. I'd better say GOOD NIGHT, SWEET DREAMS and get myself busy here for a bit before I retire for the night ... or should I say, MORNING!!!

Buonanotte e dolce sogni ... (I am posting a photo of Matt ... Shhhhhhh ... he'll kill me!!!)