When the Dog Bites...

Well, it didn't exactly go as planned. This past weekend, all 5 of us plus Momma were to head down to Ft. Bragg, about 5.5 hours away, and visit April for the weekend. We decided we would leave Saturday morning vs. Friday night, and get up at 5 AM to be there by lunch. Do you believe in bad omens?

Wake up at 6:18. Already running late! Spoke to Momma, her Vertigo was giving her trouble, so she decided not to go with us, as that would be quite a miserable trip. At 8 AM I FINALLY get Mr. Pokey (aka "hubby") in the truck and we leave. After filling the gas tank and a stop for lunch, we finally arrive in Fayetteville around 1:45, at April's house on base around 2 PM.

So we're chatting, she's showing us the baby's room, and Chandler wants to play on the playground that is in her backyard (it's communal). Take her dogs, Chester (a black lab) and Petey (a great dane mix) out to use the bathroom and run. Chester & Chandler are playing, and as Chandler runs away from him and is about to climb up the slide, Chester nips him on the calf. He's crying, saying "I'm bleeding!!" and we think he's being overly dramatic until we see it. Seems Chester got him pretty good. We're 300 miles from home, on a military base, and have no choice but to take him to the ER.



After waiting 45 minutes for the Triage nurse to assess the damage, and then doing all of the paperwork, it's now 4:30 as we sit down in the waiting area. At 7:15, we're finally taken back to an exam room. 7:30 Doctor arrives and cleans wound, says he's not going to stitch it in case it gets infected, and he'll be right back. 8:45, I go stand in the hall and give evil looks at everyone, a nurse finally arrives and bandages his leg, sends us off with meds at approximately 9 PM. If this is what socialized health care will be like, I want absolutely no part of it!!




We finally got dinner around 10 PM. April was very upset that Chandler was hurt, and worried about Chester because a report had to be filed, but she called last night to tell me that Chester is on Quarantine (house arrest) for 10 days, nothing more to worry about there. I can say I definitely know how to find the hospital when she goes into labor and I go down there.

Chandler is healing. He was a bit nervous around Chester when we first got back to April's, but got over it very quickly as Chester & Petey licked him half to death. I am trying to get him to take it somewhat easy on the leg while it heals, but how do you convince an 8-year-old that he should not play football during recess?

Shaken Patriot

Yesterday, I logged on to FoxNews.com to see the headline that a CH-47 Chinook went down in Iraq. I was overcome with grief and sadness, as this was just a routine "moving" mission, not a combat one. All 7 on board were killed.

My brother Kenny is a CH-47 Pilot, who just returned from his second tour in Iraq. It could have so easily been him. I immediately called him crying to tell him I love him. After 14 years in the Army, he is so close to retirement, but also dreading the next deployment. Besides the two to Iraq, he's also done one in Afghanistan and two in Korea, when he was an Air Traffic Controller. During his tour in Afghanistan, he earned the Bronze Star.

As you can probably tell, I am extremely proud of my brother and a die-hard American Patriot. I love my country. I cry when I hear the National Anthem, as well as "God Bless the USA" by Lee Greenwood. And I understand so well the sacrifice that our soldiers make for each and every one of us to be able to post these blogs, argue about politics, and the fact that I can choose which brand of bread to buy at the grocery store.

The average American takes Freedom for granted. It's time we stand up and let the world know that Americans are NOT the evil spawn of the West. We were built on great ideas, passions, and drive to achieve our goals. We love our children, our families, and our religion. It wasn't until the 9/11 attacks that terrorism really entered the forefront of our minds. We're just trying to make it through each day, pay our bills in an increasingly expensive world, and live as we feel God would want us to. So if you are not already, get registered to vote right now, and make your voice heard on election day. Whichever candidate represents your views more clearly, cast your ballot. No more complacency!!

I Recommend... Adorable Tea Roses by Katie at A Petal Apart

Katie at A Petal Apart has come up with these ADORABLE Rose teabags, I came across them on her blog and thought they are perfect for anyone I know who loves tea. I'm including one of her photos here, but you should go see these. What a perfect gift for a secret sister, teacher, coworker, or just to indulge yourself.

"I Recommend..." is a new feature of my blog, when I come across something that I think others should know about, I'll put it as my post for the day. These are not paid ads, they are just little things I want to share with everyone.

Have a Blessed Day!
Crystal

Pink Saturday ~ Potpourri & WINNERS ANNOUNCED!

Pink Saturday is hosted by the lovely Beverly at How Sweet the Sound. Each week the list of participants seems to grow, I hope you'll check out all of the Pink Saturday postings.

This week I stopped in at Pier 1 and was wandering through the store (looking for napkin rings that I had no luck finding), and on a lower shelf on the wall I spotted this beautiful Potpourri. It smells like "Pink Grapefruit", so I brought it home and put it in my big Southern Living at Home Hurricane vase and set it on the kitchen table. I love the layers of beige, green, and pink, and I pulled the dried pink roses (that don't feel real, so I'm not 100% certain that they truly are) to the top and it looks so lovely as a centerpiece.



WINNERS ANNOUNCED!! I've randomly drawn names for the winners of the three $50 Gift Certificates to CJO Glassware & Gifts, and they are...

Joyce of Justified Journey
Sally of SmilingSal
Lisa K., a repeat customer who subscribes to my email newsletter and posted her favorites.

Willie randomly chose these winners, and they've been emailed, but this was alot of fun. I'll have to come up with something to do in October, since my wedding anniversary is that month. Thank you all for your comments, it's nice to know we're not "alone" out here in BlogLand.

Happy Pink Saturday!!
Crystal

Never Forget September 11th

Where were you when you heard about the attacks on America? I was at home with my littlest one, he was a 18 months old, and the girls were at Pre-K and 1st Grade. As I sat down early that morning after the school bus had come, I was checking emails when one came through that a plane had just hit the North Tower. I turned on the news, and was shocked to see the gaping hole in the building, and wondering (it seems so naive now) how they were going to get those people off the highest levels. Moments later, I saw the second plane hit the South Tower, live on TV. As the morning unfolded and reports that a bomb had gone off at the Pentagon turned into a third plane, and later the crash in Pennsylvania of Flight 93, it seemed the world had gone mad. I sat there anxiously watching for news of survivors being pulled out, only to see the Twin Towers crash down with so many still inside. To this day, I get very emotional about September 11th. Later, my brother would deploy to Afghanistan as an Air Traffic Controller who earned a Bronze Star while he was there, and has also done two tours in Iraq as a Chinook helicopter pilot, so the realities of America at War are something we have dealt with every day. We will never forget. I hope that in time, I can help my children understand the magnitude of that day, and that they never see anything like it again in their own lifetimes.

America has become too complacent. We should ALWAYS remember the raw emotions of that day. This is the most touching video, please take a few moments to watch it. CLICK FOR VIDEO.

Wishing you all peace on this day. Today is not about politics, pink, or anything else but remembering those who died on September 11, 2001.

Crystal

So Tired of Fundraisers Already!

Wow, the kids have been back at school for 2 weeks and fundraisers are already making me batty. The girls attend the same school, and the FIRST WEEK brought home their school's fundraiser, selling magazines and overpriced cookie dough. The mags aren't so bad, they're from QSP and they do have a few I like and should renew/subscribe to. (Inserting pretty photo of one of them, just to break up the text and tempt you should you want me to email you a link to support the girls, LOL).

But by the time I buy from each girl, they really don't get much credit for the big "Mega Party" at school. And I'm not in a position to write big checks to the PTA. The first night it came home, they had to fill in a booklet with names & addresses that needed turned back in ASAP. I don't have that many friends & family outside of our school, and why would I send them to other parents at school??? So I called family, told them they would be getting these things TWICE, and to do what they wanted with them. Then, the girls get a prize (a weepul, which is a fuzzy pompom ball with eyes & feet on it) when they log in and submit 12 email addresses. The "Weepuls" are a big status thing with this middle school crowd, and the pressure is put on me to once again harass people I know. So I do the emails. Grrr, aren't you glad you aren't in my family? (Inserting another tempting magazine photo, you know you want this one, right?)

So the Middle School fundraiser isn't so hot for us, and on Day 5 of school my son brings home the Innisbrook fundraiser. No interest here. I'm cheap, I like cheap wrapping paper that is easy to fold and easy to rip. Don't need overpriced chocolates (more on that to follow), but a friend wants something and her girls are both doing the middle school fundraiser. The same weekend, when my SIL shows me what her kids are selling on the other side of the county. INNISBROOK!! And the other elementary school very close to us is also doing INNISBROOK!! That's at least 3 of them, all doing it at the exact same time.

Get an email from the Girl Scout Troop Leader, a good friend who took over the troop for me when I decided it was time to get out. Would I be the "Nut & Candy" Mom. Girl Scout Nut & Candy sales start in October. We sell nuts (obvious one there) and chocolates, among other sweets. So if I'm going to buy this stuff, I'll buy from the troop because I know how hard it is to run a troop without funds.

Then I went to the Band Parents meeting. Since the PTA took their cookie dough fundraiser away, we'll be selling jewelry and chocolates. Grrrr... I believe that is in November. (Oooh, this one looks like fun!)

So if you see me coming, I'll understand if you run the other way. At least the girls opted not to do Cheerleading this year, which has it's own fundraiser. Last year I was writing checks to everyone and their brother, and this year the checkbook just won't stretch as far.

End of rant. I'm sure many of you are in the exact same boat!

Retiring Some of My Lines at the end of 2008

Sometimes, I think I try to be too much to too many people. Once I started naming my lines, the pressure was on to include EVERYONE in my family and close friends. So at the end of this year, I've decided I'll retire some of those lines, and paint what I like to paint. The hard part is trimming down without feelings being hurt. My favorite lines to paint are Sharon, Emily, Mandi, Rebecca, Judith, Elizabeth, April, Natalia, and Nicole (the rose lines are all the same, just different colors). I love Julie, but it's definitely a much more time-consuming line to do, but I know I'll leave it just because I love it. Connie is one that I wasn't so sure about but I love the jewel tones and it will stay. Angela is hard for me to paint emotionally, but it's very special and will always be part of what I do. I'm torn on Ashley ~ it's the Virginia Dogwood, my state flower, and named after my own adorable pooch. But I don't truly enjoy the act of painting it, just did it because I was asked if I could. Carole has such a Christmas feel to it, and is named after my best friend. I've only painted one pitcher set Karen so far, it would be silly to retire it too quickly! Kelsey is so fun and festive for summer, like the young lady it's named for, so I may keep it around as a special-order option. Michelle is a sweet person, but let's face it, my Calla lillies are not as good as I would like them to be. Marcia is definitely gone after the holidays, it's very holiday-ish anyway. Alana is so easy for me to do, my daughter could probably paint the grapes, and I like the colors so it will probably stay for awhile.

So what do you think? If I have to trim it down, which would you take out? It's like choosing a child for me, so I'm really hoping to hear from everyone out there, since you can be much more objective than I can. I've linked each of them above, or compare side-by-side. I appreciate any feedback you offer.

Show and Tell Monday: Put my Car up on Ebay!

Today I listed my little yellow Mitsubishi 3000GT on ebay. We have so many cars around here, and it's so rarely driven that it seems dumb to have it just parked in our driveway, which is weird in itself. To get back to the house, you have to drive in past my neighbor's house on the single paved lane. To the right is their side yard and our front yard (the house sits sideways behind the neighbor), and to the left is a wooded ravine. Not much room to negotiate!! With Willie's truck, my truck, mom's car, and the 4 other cars he picked up to fix the day I found my dishes, "tight" is an understatement!! But isn't it cute? It's not pink, but it's alot of fun to drive!! It only has 81K miles on it, which to me is low ~ I'm married to a "car man" and we drive them forever here. Momma's car has over 400K miles on it, although it's ready to move on to scrapmetal Heaven. My truck has 160K miles on it and I think nothing of it, drove it to Kansas this summer without a thought.

Okay, back to laundry today, now that listing the car is accomplished!

Pink Saturday ~ Stacking Shaker Boxes

Happy Pink Saturday!! This is my first time participating, so I'm so excited to share with others and go see all of the other Pink Saturday Offerings from these Fantastic Ladies.

This week I managed to finish up a set of lacquered boxes in my absolute favorite theme ~ Pink Roses (to match my Sharon line). I'm offering these as a set, and I was inspired by a tiered cake when I was decorating them. They are so romantic, and would be perfect displayed together or separately. I'd love to hear your comments on how you would use them. Be sure to read my September 5th entry to find out how you can get a FREE $50 Shopping Spree at CJO Glassware & Gifts.

The top box is my small rectangle, measuring approximately 5" x 3.5" x 2.5" tall. The base is white with random roses, and the top is a bouquet of small roses. The middle box is my medium, with a cabbage rose on top and vines of climbing roses around the bottom. This one measures 6.5" x 5" x 2.75" tall. The bottom box is a large size, featuring a cabbage rose and rosebuds on the lid and a trellis of climbing roses around it's bottom. The large box measures approx. 7.75" x 6" x 3.25" tall. They are all lacquered with several coats, the final two layers being pearl so they shimmer. The set retails on my website for $50, and is a OOAK item, so first one gets it. I'm sure I'll do more of these in the future, but no guarantee as to when.

Please visit all of the Pink Saturday posts that you can this week. I'll be adding more bookmarks to the right hand column as I find more places to explore.

Hope everyone stays safe this weekend, Hanna is here giving us some much-needed rain in the mountains of Virginia, and it's such a dark & dreary day that I'm looking forward to reading your comments & seeing the other beautiful blogs.

Crystal

An Anniversary Celebration!!

You may not believe this, but exactly one YEAR ago today, September 5th 2007, was the first time I ever picked up a paintbrush and attempted to paint florals. My mom asked me if I could paint some furniture, so I bought a book and started copying what I saw. I've never taken art classes, no videos, just kinda figured it all out on my own. It's amazing that I had a talent hidden so long, and a blessing from God that I can create such beautiful things. My mom is my biggest supporter, and I'm very lucky to have such a great lady in my life.

So to CELEBRATE, I'm offering THREE $50 Gift Certificates to CJOGlasswareAndGifts.com ~ no purchase necessary. Just post a comment here telling me YOUR personal favorite line or piece that I have painted, and why you like it if you want to share that as well. Tell your friends to come say hello as well, if they will just tell me who pointed them here, I will give you an EXTRA entry into the drawing for each one. You also get an EXTRA entry each day you come back between September 6th-12th and post a comment on that day's new blog entry. You have until September 12th, Winners & links to their blogs (if they have them) will be posted on September 12th. You can only win once, so hook your friends up with a $50 shopping spree!!

Crystal

Romantic Home ~ for the birds?

I've been wanting to do a birdhouse for quite some time, and finally finished this one up today. It's just as cute as I'd imagined it would be. The sides are all painted pink, with the roof & base in a pure white. On each side of the roof is a bouquet of darker pink roses, the front is a climbing bouquet of roses that stretches around each side, and the rear is a large cabbage rose, so no matter which direction you look at it from, you can enjoy it. The eaves are trimmed with large white pearl beads, and the base features pure white ribbon roses. To top it off, the final coat of lacquer is a pearl, so it has such a romantic shimmer to it. It has a shabby chic feel to it, and matches my Sharon line perfectly.


I'll get it up on my website in a few for $28, first one to grab it will get it AND a set of Sharon votive candle holders FREE ($12 value).

Enjoy!
Crystal

Emily's 13th Birthday

Today my oldest turns 13, and it's sad yet so exciting. Thirteen wonderful years, though at times she makes me crazy. I think that's a trait we daughters pass on, just to be sure the next generation gets their fair share of turmoil.

Em is such an easy-going personality most of the time. To look so much like me (only darker skin, hair, eyes like her Daddy), yet be so opposite in personality is amazing. Everything I like, she hates. And vice versa. She is ANTI-PINK, how crazy is that? She prefers talking on her cell phone and painting her nails black, while I hate telephones and never have time to do my nails. She's disorganized whereas I'm on the verge of OCD. And she teaches me so much about myself, when I can get her to come out of her bedroom.

I adore my daughter, and it brings tears to my eyes to think that 5 years from now, she'll be at college turning 18. I hope that as she gets older, she'll realize that it's beauty within that is important, not Abercrombie or Hollister. That the only things that matter in life are what you've achieved and not what has been handed to you. That there are no free rides. That hard work pays off, maybe not today or tomorrow, but in the end. That 99% of the time, Momma was right. That Character DOES Count. And that PINK is beautiful.

So I hope you enjoy looking back at how she's grown with me. Unfortunately, there are no digital baby photos of her, so these start at about age 2.

Finding Easter Eggs, 1998

In Kindergarten, 2000

One of my all-time favorite photos, waiting for the School Bus, Spring 2001

With little sister Niki in Uncle Kenny's Wedding, August 2001

At her 7th Birthday Party, a "Mermaid" theme pool party, 2002

Off to School, 1st Grade

Being crazy with Little Sister, 2002. Blackmail material?

As a Fairy for Halloween, 3rd Grade, with Chandler as we head to HarvestFest at the Elementary School

Christmas 2003

Summer 2008, holding her cousin Brooke while visiting Grandma & Grandpa James