Wednesday, May 28, 2008

School's Out For Summer!

School is finally over!  As usual, I got sick after the kids left on Thursday afternoon.  I am slowly getting better, just lots of congestion.

Since we had a few days of over 100 degree weather last week, I decided to experiment with leaving the dogs in the apartment with the dog door open so they can go potty.  Ruby can be quite the troublemaker so I made sure to move anything I thought she might tear up while I was gone.  Day one went very well, I came home to no messes and one rock that was brought in from outside.  So, we tried for a second day which happened to be the last day of school.  I came home and saw something torn up on the floor but didn't know what it was.  So I got closer to discover that they destroyed my brand new stamp set that had been delivered by UPS earlier that day.  UPS had the bright idea to throw a padded envelope to the ravenous beasts...who thought it looked much like a chew toy.  I called UPS and filed a claim and should be getting a new stamp set later this week or early next week.  I was furious and then realized it probably wasn't their fault and calmed down enough to listen to the messages on the answering machine. The last one was from the apartment complex office telling me that they had good news!  So I called right away and found out that that the wait for a downstairs one bedroom apartment was finally over.  I checked out the location and glady accepted.  My family will be coming down on June 7th to help me move, clean and dog proof the patio!  I am very excited, I will have to post pictures when the masterpiece is complete.  

On Monday, I had a great time at a friend's house for a Memorial Day BBQ.  After the BBQ my stamping friend, Jane, came over and we stamped away.  I made this one card!  It's a flap card.  I changed the size from the original directions because my circle with the monkey was so big.  I like how he turned out!

Ruby was spayed yesterday, we were lucky to skirt through without having her go into heat. Thank goodness!  An acquaintance at the feed store where I buy there food told me about this great promotion this place was having for FREE spays and neuters during the month of May. So I called the place and asked if my existing appointment would qualify for that and they said yes! So in we went yesterday.  I got her microchipped because if anyone is going to run away, it's Ruby and it was much cheaper than at the vet.  She also came home with a e-collar which they didn't think I would need but Ruby is such a licker it's better to be safe than sorry.  Here is a picture of my pathetic girl after her surgery, she was really out of it.  She is back to normal this morning and actually ate some food.  Good girl!

Brae and I are working on his food aggression.  He bit me yesterday with the method I attempted at breakfast, so I searched some things on-line and found a method that I think has some promise, so we are giving it a try.  It's pretty gross, but if he will stop being so aggressive about food, it will be worth it.  I have to feed him out of my hands for 2 weeks, ewww...dog food and slobber!  

Going to go work on some packing!

Wednesday, May 21, 2008

A little bit of everything....

Tomorrow is the last day of school with students.  Friday is a teacher workday and then summer, here I come.  I have to admit that having summers off is a really good perk to the teaching profession.  With all the recent stuff happening in education, it is often hard to see some of the perks that the profession has to offer. 

A couple years ago, a friend and I were talking about building community among students and their families and we brainstormed the idea of a potluck breakfast.  So I made up a movie of all the pictures I had taken throughout the year and made a movie.  It took me forever because I didn't have a clue what I was doing, I didnt' know which songs to use, and Windows Movie Maker (when I finally discovered it) wasn't that user friendly.  I burned the movie onto 30 DVDs and invited all the parents to come.  It was fabulous...very touching and I then realized that this was a tradition that had to be continued.   So this year for the third time, we are going to do our breakfast.  I used the new MacBook to make the movie and it was a snap.  I made the movie, burned it onto 21 DVDs in less than 5 hours.  The kids liked it when they watched it last week.  Each student gets a copy of the DVD (they don't know until they get it tomorrow that they each get a copy).   It is a great time:)

The weather here has been crazy!  103 for two days and today was about 100 with 30-50 mph winds.  I started to worry about the dogs being in their kennel with the high heat so I broke down and let them stay in the house today.  They have a dog door so they could go outside if they wanted.  I picked up and moved most things that I thought Ms. Ruby might decide to snack on, crossed my fingers and went to work.  When I got home the only thing out of place was a rock that had been brought inside.  It didn't even look like Ruby had gone on the couch.  I was so excited.  We will try it again tomorrow.  

More stamping to come soon, I have all next week off and some new stamps coming this week!  

Wednesday, May 14, 2008

MacBook!

After the Dell that my dad gave me kicked the bucket, Zach got a new Sony Vaio and gave me his HP notebook.  The HP was huge!  I took it to California with me and had a very hard time carrying it as a carry on because the thing was so heavy.  I was really wanting something light.  The HP had several problems: so hot that it actually burned my legs, the power cord had been pulled out by the dogs a few too many times making it not fit very well so it easily came out, both batteries were completely dead so when the power cord came out or if I moved it just so the computer shut down losing whatever I was working on.  The keys started sticking so typing any type of documents wasn't a pleasure.  

I decided it was time to get a new computer.  I searched and researched for about 2 weeks before deciding on the MacBook.  It was light, it was small, it was everything that I was looking for.  I was looking for a new challenge so learning a new operating system seemed like a good challenge.  

So far, I really like the MacBook.  I love how light and small it is.  I love how the battery works! I love that the power cord is so small.  I actually think the power cord for the HP weighs more than my new computer.  I love that it is white.  I am having no trouble learning how to use it.  I signed up for classes which will help me learn all the little things I didn't figure out for myself and it will help get me out of the house:)  I was able to transfer all files from my PC to my new mac in no time.  I played with iMovie for quite some time yesterday to get prepared for making my end of the year movie.  I don't like that the edge of the computer, where your wrists lay while typing is very rough, not rounded and comfortable. 

Off to work on my movie!  Have a great day!

Tuesday, May 13, 2008

Good Surprise!

For Mother's Day I decided it would be fun to surprise my mom.  So I called my brother to find out what he was doing for her.  He was planning on taking her out to dinner.  I thought it would be fun to surprise her at the restaurant.  I sent her a card and told her that I was sorry I wouldn't be able to make it and that we would do something when school was out and we had more time. Then I drove to meet her at the restaurant.  She was so surprised and happy that she cried!  I brought her a little gift.  I had a stamping class at my place on Saturday and I decided to create something since there were left over materials.  It was unanimous that I give the creations to my mom for her birthday.  

 I really liked the way they turned out!

Sunday, May 11, 2008

Happy Mother's Day

Last Sunday, Jane came over and we stamped for a while. It was really nice having her here to stamp with, she is so creative and talented. I was able to use her Clear Dollar Stamps which were so much fun. Since Mother's Day was a week away I thought it would be a good idea to make some Mother's Day cards. Here's what I created.





Today is also Ruby's 1st birthday, it's hard to believe that she is one already. We went to the Dog Park for her birthday.


Hope everyone has a great Mother's Day.

Saturday, May 3, 2008

Busy, Busy, Busy

No time to create this week. I had to get ready for a garage sale and take care of a few other things. The garage sale went pretty good. The rest of the stuff went straight to Good Will. I finally gave Stretch (my red-eared slider) away this week. He is living in a kids' swimming pool with two other turtle until his pond paradise is finished. Hopefully he will be happy. It was really hard for me to give him up as I have had him for almost 9 years. Moving to a smaller apartment I won't have any room for him:-( I am trying to sell his tank/stand/canopy and have had some interest just not the right person yet.

Brae is doing well, he is finally cone free and my bruised legs are very happy. Now we get a little break before Ruby goes in at the end of May. I was able to get her surgery done for free!