Valentine ATC below

The Valentine picture is a digital ATC that was created using Paint Shop Pro. The girl in the picture is a vintage photograph, probably from Dover publishing and the scroll work is either from Scrap Girls, Maria LaFrance (Digital Freebies) or RAKscraps. These are the places where I get my digital freebies from. These sites are wonderfull about sharing. They have challenges too.
This Valentine ATC was done for a Valentine Challenge.

Happy Valentines Day

Yes, I know I am late for Valentine's wishes, but just imagine that I made it on time and it brightened your day! LOL

Honestly, I do hope you had a wonderful Valentine's Day, doing whatever made you happiest.

My wish for Valentines Day was to have the day to myself and then be able to share together time with DH.

I had a few things that were left over from my week that needed to get done, so the daytime was still my time but not exactly what I had planned on doing. DH and I did manage to go out for dinner and movie. We ate Mexican (locally) and then saw the Pink Panther 2. If you are a Steve Martin fan or a Henry Mancini fan or just curious, it is a funny movie! If we are going to spend Saturday night prices for a movie--I want to be entertained and we were. Actually laughed out loud with the rest of the audience. The theater was packed with all ages! Families as well as young couples, mature couples as well as dads taking the kids out so mom could have some time to herself.

I'm doing a flashback here---DH had pneumonia 2 weeks ago and was just getting back to work this last week--so his energy level was completely taxed by the time he got home from work. To compound this, I came down with the runniest nose and sneezing that I have ever had. It was like the spring thaw started with my sinuses. Scratchy throat, piercing headaches,etc. You get the picture, I'm sure. So neither one of us knew for sure if we would be up to celebrating Valentines Day.

Flash back over now---come back to after the movie. We stopped for some ice cream at McD's and came home to enjoy it---DH had started a runny nose during dinner and now was getting cold chills. After the ice cream we snuggled on the couch, where I fell asleep and didn't wake up until 11:30---romantically, he still had his arm around me.

I asked is it time for bed? He laughed and said " it is for me, but I don't know about you".

(Usually, when I fall asleep like that--before bedtime--I am awake for hours after.)

We both went to bed and were asleep in minutes, even me!

It is sad, but we keep a container of clorox wipes by the computer and wipe off everything after we use the computer--so we aren't picking up germs there and we are using a little bleach in the dish water when we wash dishes to make sure the germs are killed there----Also use wipes at work--both of us. Everywhere, we go people are sick, coming down with something or getting over something. Whatever is going around is collecting alot of the population, over and over again.

I am ready for SPRING---Birds singing, gentle breezes, a little rain--soft rain, grass starting to green, crocus starting to bud, fresh air and SUNSHINE!!!!!

What about YOU?

Happy New Year Musing

My dad always liked this picture of me, depicting a studious Mary as he called it. I think I was in 5th or 6th grade. The beads were probably from Hawaii or something I made my self. I remember the jacket to the dress I was wearing being a minty green. Now we look back on the clothes we wore and the hairstyles and we are amazed that it ever existed.
The time that I grew up in was so different than those of my grandchildren. No one ever heard of Goth, New Wave, IPOD, Utube, Belly button jewelry, nose piercings, Rap, digital, Virtual, cell phones, etc. However, there are alot of similarities children still think they are smarter than their parents, parents still love their children even though they misbehave, girls still shriek and go crazy over their idols, boys still love sports and cars.
There are many more challenges facing my grandchildren and many more opportunities are open for them to pursue.
I hope the dear Lord sees fit to let me see them become adults and perhaps let me become a great grandma. I would love to be a part of that.
I am grateful that my dad is still alive at 90, I miss my mother. I am grateful that I have a wonderful husband and and four sons/stepsons that I admire and love immensely and two daughter in laws that are an inspiration to their children and are a source of strength for their families and whom also I love immensely. I have 10 grandchildren, some I get to see fairly frequently and some not so frequently, but they all add to the richness of my life.
A new year is here and I am not making any resolutions but keeping some goals that I have had for some time. I want to enjoy my friends and my family and make each day count. In order to do this, I have to take care of myself. Happy 2009!!!!!

http://www.slide.com/r/8ngw9Mr46z9cqtCeBavyaqIUiJAWQ4cf?previous_view=mscd_embedded_url&view=original

Trying to make a slide show

http://www.slide.com/r/nlBgLrF24j9l714tvtHCLSy_IIkQ2Any?previous_view=lt_embedded_url

hopefully this will take you to my new slide show.

Store Closing List

Here is a link to snopes to clear up any hype regarding this list.
http://www.snopes.com/politics/busin...reclosings.asp

Don't have source to verify the list below, but this was sent to me from a friend.
All these stores are closing or have some closing. Be careful where you buy your Gift Cards!!!
Subject: FW: Stores Closing Date: Wednesday, November 19, 2008, 7:37 PM
Thought I should pass this one around.

Wanted to give everyone a heads up that if you tend to give gift cards around the holidays , you need to be careful that the cards will not be honored after the holidays. Stores that are planning to close after Christmas are still selling the cards through the holidays even though the cards will be worthless January 1. There is no law preventing them from doing this. On the contrary , it is referred to as 'Bankruptcy Planning).

Below is a partial list of stores that you need to be cautious about.

Circuit City (filed Chapter 11)
Ann Taylor 117 stores nationwide closing
Lane Bryant, Fashion Bug , and Catherine's to close 150 stores nationwide
Eddie Bauer to close stores 27 stores and more after January
Cache will close all stores
Talbots closing down specialty stores
J. Jill closing all stores (owned by Talbots) Pacific Sunwear (also owned by Talbots)
GAP closing 85 stores
Footlocker closing 140 stores more to close after January
Wickes Furniture closing down
Levitz closing down remaining stores
Bombay closing remaining stores
Zales closing down 82 stores and 105 after January
Whitehall closing all stores
Piercing Pagoda closing all stores
Disney closing 98 stores and will close more after January.
Home Depot closing 15 stores 1 in NJ ( New Brunswick )
Macys to close 9 stores after January
Linens and Things closing all stores
Movie Galley Closing all stores
Pep Boys Closing 33 stores
Sprint/Nextel closing 133 stores
JC Penney closing a number of stores after January
Ethan Allen closing down 12 stores.
Wilson Leather closing down all stores
Sharper Image closing down all stores
K B Toys closing 356 stores
Loews to close down some stores
Dillard's to close some stores