omg - thom is a dork...he was messing with a tube of superglue while he was talking on the phone (you know - fidgeting) and it squirted into his hand...he's freaking out now.

so he comes back after running thru the house for no appartent reason (i am guessing he thought there would be some miracle fix to his predicament somewhere along the way) and he picks the tube back up and it gets stuck to his finger - of course i'm yelling dont touch anything and dont close your hand...

thats funny stuff

matts first trip to florida, and his first time in a swing - and he was totally diggin it!

have i left for vacation yet?

omg! what a long strange trip it's been! we got home last monday early morning like 4:30 am. we were driving thru kentucky on i-75 thru that most beautiful part where you come around a mountain and down into a valley where all of the sudden cincinnatti blasts forth on the horizon. this time it was night and it was really pretty with all the city lights and the freaking MILES of TAIL LIGHTS in the FREAKING TRAFFIC JAM we hit!! no kidding it took 3 hours to get thru it inch by inch---miles of backed up holiday traffic going into cincinnatti. sorry no pics of this - was much too tired to grab the camera.

but at least we were in ohio and that felt good after 16+ hours.

before that we had stayed overnight at Red Top Mountain, Georgia. I thought we loved Fort Mountain, but this place was pretty awesome too. campsites cut into the side of the mountain where you overlook lake allatoona, which was missing several feet of waterline--how sad that was. we hiked down to the lake and stood on and among huge boulders that had not too long ago been covered in water.

thanksgiving was spent in a tiny itty bitty town called CITRA florida, in a tiny itty bitty church that had a small event hall. we had 45ish people for thanksgiving. 7 turkeys. it was good seeing my husbands family again. they are so much fun to be around.

we were in south florida prior to that in west palm beach visiting friends and family and i visited by office in boca. missed those guys, but totally do NOT miss working in an office. everything was exactly the same as i left it 3 year ago. i think even the dust was the same. lol

uggified

"...ahhhhhhhh...", said my bare feet when i put on my new uggs for the first time last night - and lemme tell you, the weather totally warranted bootage last night.

they were absolute heaven. and yes, you wear them barefoot - no socks - your feet do not sweat and they stay at normal body temperature - you can wear them to the beach if you want.

i recommend that you try them - be nice to santa if you need to ;-) but definately figure out a way to get in a pair.

jefferson starship

i really dont know why, but i've been reaching back in my life and jefferson starship has been consuming my itunes/ipod lately.

i just love them and i seem to have forgotten how much. it makes me happy to sing with them again i guess.

pb&j

when life gets you down: eat a peanut butter and jelly sandwich

thats my new motto. there is something so pleasant and sweet in eating a peanut butter and jelly sandwich.

dont you agree?

i love my son---no really, I do...

i was doing some straightening & cleaning upstairs tonight when suddenly i was sucked into that BLACK HOLE that is my sons room. this makes the 3rd time this year. usually when i walk by, i close the door, horrified. but i didnt this time. my evening is now shot.

i emerged, victorious, 2 hours later, with 1 full garbage bag and a few boxes of CRAP i packed away, amid a few arguments of what is garbage and what is not garbage. i dont think we will ever be on the same page with that. at least not until he has a son of his own some day, who will undoubtedly think every shred of paper is important, and every rock he has collected is worth its weight in gold.

we sorted and re-organzed everything from hot wheels to rocks to baseball cards. we have a collection of shoeboxes, stuffed with odds & ends - you know - important 9 year old things and top secret papers and treasures.

at 10:00 pm i told him that he is dead meat if i ever have to come in and clean like that again. joe often mocks me: "Stop! or I'll say stop again!"

i made my way to bed to catch up on my blog, when joe appears and say hey you need to change the channel to HDNet - there is a movie on about soldiers in iraq ... so i turned to it. i couldnt watch too long, i was mortified by what i saw, and i wont elaborate on that.


10:15 PM ET7:15 PM PT
RedactedR - 1:30 - 2007 - Cast: Izzy Diaz, Daniel Stewart Sherman, Patrick Carroll, Director: Brian De PalmaA fictional documentary which is centered around a small group of American soldiers stationed at a checkpoint in Iraq. The film alternates points of view, balancing the experiences of these young men under duress and members of the media with those of the local Iraqi people, illuminating how each have been deeply affected by the current conflict and their encounters with each other.

ugg-a-licious

TAH-DAH!

ok kerry - i would have to say that these rank right up there with your new dansko's ;-)



edited: and these I can sorta get away with without hiding them in the closet - since i work in the shoe industry, i am privy to lots of "samples" laying around my work space --- KWIM?

so me & kerry BAHHHHHHHH! there must be some sort of vibe - because just yesterday I was thinking to myself - why are we skipping right over thanksgiving and going straight to christmas? its a stewpid question because i know the answer...the walmart gods want us spending money NOW. holy crap, their latest commercial is just over the top...gag me. we're not shopping in the typical way this year. I just decided that

my name is jodi and i am an anti-walmartaholic

my winter flip flops

ok so they're not flip flops-but they are definately just as cool

she's pretty cute - part ii

ok - so i failed to mention that yesterday morning during this top secret conversation with my son - that he very specifically told me DONT TELL DAD!

i couldnt help it though. but joe is sworn to secrecy, and is to tell nobody --- forget the fact that its on my blog. blogs dont count.

further---we had parent teacher conferences last night, of which I was a very proud mom, walking out of there finding out how good a citizen my son is and how he is a volunteer in class and also helps read to the younger classes and volunteers to help with the special education students. you know he even told me he helps them in lunch line? empathy is a very special gift and I am sooooooo glad my son has it.

elise's picture was on the classroom door. she is pretty cute. long blonde hair. i pointed her out to dad and we had a good chuckle in the hallway before we entered the room.

ughhhhhhh!

PS: nicole - i am so glad I dont have daughters...bras, periods, DRAMA! I can live without it!

she's pretty cute

ok.
so.
that day has finally come.
the one where your 9 year old boy drops the bomb.

the "there-is-this-girl-i-like-in-class" bomb.

i simply turned around and smiled. gently asked her name.

and then told him, ok, well, now you REALLLY need to make sure you brush your teeth!

i also added that girls dont like gross things. they dont like earwax contests. they dont like dirty fingernails and they certainly dont like smelly stuff.
so now, everyday, you need to make sure you do your hair, clean your ears and wash your fingernails. and a little super secret smell good formula wouldnt hurt!

niagara falls

our 2nd big trip (remember, the first was out to dinner) in the big ole rollin turd was this past weekend and we took it to niagara falls. a place i havent been to in nearly 20 years and a place where my husband and kids have never seen ever.

unfortunately, the extra amenities there all closed down in october, so parking the big rig was a challenge...we looped around town twice before we gave in and parked all the way down there in motor coach ville (in its own zip code perhaps?), where during season, they have a shuttle service. but no. we hiked about 3-4 miles before we even got close to the falls. not bad though. it was exercise we all needed. how things have changed! we were excited to see the "new" casino, which is actually 12 years old now LOL - but still. we plan on going back without kids soon so we can play big kids stuff.
we tackled the climb up the clifton hill midway, with my bad back pushing a stroller. I made it though! and i wasnt laboring for oxygen either.

we went to the hershey store where a 5 pound hershey bar was 45.00 (but Joe, i said, sometimes its not about the money, its about the experience and being able to say you did----he wasn't buying it. he didnt buy the hershey bar either!)

(i managed to master the night shot!)

the boys were real troopers - all three of them. mom got her own version of niagara falls and turned into medusa on the way home.
i will post one of the 90 gagillion pictures of horseshoe falls later - the flash card is downstairs and i'm all curled up under blankies and am not getting up.

fraidy cat

scrapinstyleweek 5 challenge: background paper: YB Scrapbooking Postage Kit (pdp); Photo Frame: sande kreiger french laundry frames; everything else created in PSE 5

crafty creations...

man i love this stuff!

crushed

OMG we woke up this morning and as we were getting our coffee we slipped into that foggy reality and instantly felt like throwing up.

the crushing ending to the Indians-Sox game last night. ahhhhh! we still love them though. and are very very proud!

counting my blessings...

digi kit:: J. Bolton's delight in photos

thom & joey

digi kit: yb scrapbooking fall kit @ www.polkadotpotato.com
misc frames & brushes

big ol rollin turd

lol - i love that movie RV---we are now the proud owners of a new motor coach. this will be our 2nd class a type. we picked it up today and we cant wait to take it out.

like saturday. we're taking it out to dinner ROFL

can you say ---- benign?

yes the call came and its all over. no sign of anything resembling breast cancer. i just feel incredibly humbled and blessed and yet at the same time i feel sad and guilty for those who didnt get the same call as me. i know several people fighting cancer and I admire them for their strength and courage and the struggle they endure every single day.

we get caught up in our everyday lives pushing ourselves to our limits with work and forgetting whats really important. i need to remember that i only travel through this life one time. i need to live every single day as if there will be no tomorrow. you should too - because you never know what card you will be dealt next.

i went i hung i conquered

i know its 5 days after the fact, but tomorrow i should be getting the results of the biopsy. i was proud of myself - i only broke down once. LOL.

ugh! this SUCKS!

on the lighter side - check this baby out - its the first thing on the list for my big vacation plan 6 yrs from now --- the coach --- this may very well be ours by the end of this week. wooooo hooooo!

do your boobs hang low

ok - some might not think thats too funny, but i just couldnt stop that stupid song from coming into my head when i think about my biopsy tomorrow. i'm really not sure what to expect on this contraption thing they were trying to describe to me, but i have a feeling its probably going to feel way more humiliating than the birthing position.

so in an effort to try and make light of an inconvenient situation, i will sing the song in my head and hope it will go by quick.

in the meantime, my fingers are crossed that the indians can pull this off tonight and just be done with this series so we can move on. i can't believe lebron wore a freaking yankees cap to the first game. that was about as low as low gets, and he really was a true born & raised ohioan; set himself up as a respectable role model (so far)---gosh i really cant believe he did that. i hope he is embarrassed and ashamed of himself. i just have to remember, he's still young and has a lot of growing and maturing to do. i hope one day he looks back on that and understands what that meant to his hometown, friends and fans.

hi ho

shopping we did go. we drove to akron today and shopped all day long. it was nice to get out of the house and be free today---

* it started at archivers - spent 80.00
* pit stop at starbucks 8.00
* sirpilla rv. we looked at rv's. - would have loved to spend 300,000.00 but would have had to sell the house, and my husband the kids and the dogs. and take my scrap crap back to archivers. which was out of the question.
* babies r us - indians outfits for matt ++ - 40.00
* old navy - LOL got matt he funniest pumpkin costume. and some stuff for thom - 40.00
* bj's - baby formula - best price! 60.00 two extra larges cans
* cracker barrell - good grub. 23.00
* and no shopping day would be complete without a stop at target. more starbucks for the ride home. 201.00 UGH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

the day lasted 10 hours.

baseball is over.

soccer is over.

thom is bummed.

joe is happy (no coaching for 6 months)

for me, it will be nice to slow down a little

i think i will pull pictures of this years sports and have thom scrapbook them himself

i love gadgets

ok - so for me, being the gadget geek that i am, everytime i see something new that (to me) appears to have a real genuine purpose, i buy it!

so why cant i get up off the money to go get one of those mini irons for my ribbons and stuff? i dont know. they have a new state of the art ribbon iron out there now too---can i just say how dumb that is? holy crap I think some of these people are running out of ideas on what they can make next & try and convince everyone:: how did they live without it?

but i did have a brilliant idea of my own---trade up for a new hair straightening iron (an awesome chi iron) and use my old cheap one in the craft room - for RIBBON!
i probably shouldn't post that here huh? the idea will undoubtedly show up at the next trade show. not that beeeleeeions of people read my blog - but hey, I could invent my own version and market it and make a meeeeleeeeeeon dallahs! nah - too much work. i think i'll just share the idea with those who read this and leave it at that.

ok so that doesnt do much for paper, but my 20 year old iron i have out there already will do.

my best friend's girllllll

new layout on one of my favorite subjects--->kelsey

products:
Worldwin Papers Tickled Pink Colormates Cardstock; Worldwin Papers Medium Awesome Aqua Colormates Cardstock; Zsiage Template (for swirl); Melissa Frances Glitter Hearts; Melissa Frances "beautiful/friend" rub-ons; Black Sharpie

latest WWP projects

What in the WORLD can you do with WORLDWin Papers?

What in the WORLD can you do with WORLDWin Papers?

go and find out!
http://worldwinpapers.typepad.com

LOL they call them bee-bees

ok so i was asked to post an update on the mammo situation---(thanks for the nudge renee ck - sometimes i'm like my big red dog - if I can't see it, then it doesnt exist - which is another story)

i love my doctor - she sort of feels that CC is overreacting - you know - radiologist sees something - cant confirm it on all the different pictures she took, so she passes the buck to someone else to make the call. you know in this world of sue-happy people, shes just covering her ass.

ok but first i gotta tell you---its the funniest shit. for those of you who have NOT had the pleasure --- they put these little stick on bb's on your nips. ok if it werent for the full on feelings of humiliation that have set in by this time - i would be cracking up because they remind me of the nipple tassels the strippers wear - without the tassels of course...the nurse thinks she forgot to put one on, cant find it but she was sure she did - then she finds it stuck to her sleeve. ok - so that doesnt seem that funny - but in the scheme of things it kinda is...lol ok so the next morning i'm like "what the hell?!" i forgot they were on and i found them still stuck. i'm wondering what joe would have had to say if HE had found them.

ok - so i see the surgeon (on 9/18) - hoping & praying he says the radiologist is a quack and that I dont need a biopsy - but no favors for me that day. I go on Oct 9th. he explained, very nicely that because it is my first time - there is no baseline. so these spots could have been there for 20 years but no one knows that for sure and we just need to eliminate all the possibilities. ok i can live with that. what peeves me is that I'm weird about male doctors. but I can rationalize that at least its just a "boob job" - and I dont have to put my feet in stirrups --------right?

jk

oh my stars

this layout speaks for itself. all digital elements used: FAITH TRUE GRUNGE FRAMES (AT POLKADOTPOTATO.COM) and SANDE KREIGER BACKGROUND BRUSHES (AT 2 PEAS). 6X12"

my new desk

and holy smokes! i love casey blake!

enough said!

yes, it's for real!

i thought it was just a fluke, but then it happened again...and again...and AGAIN! we have reached milestone #1!

hallelujeah, he sleeps all night long!

cows r cool

gotta love rural america. HAH! how cool is this - its called FAIR DAY and they give all the kids in Wayne County the day off school on Monday of the Wayne County Fair and give them free tickets to go.

and they actually still have baking contests and 4-H displays and flowers & biggest pumpkin displays. and they have lots of animals. and of course the cheesey midway rides & games. it costs 2.00 to get in - for everyone - and kids under 6 are free. they have great concerts (not any no-names either)- which are included in your 2.00 fare. and you buy only as many ride tickets for cheap as you need. the food is awesome!

the fair i'm used to in South Florida (Palm Beach County) cost over 15.00 plus you need to get a bracelet for the rides (flat fee whether you use it or not) and pay extra for the concerts. they had a bull get loose one time and it ran thru the whole place - but thats all i really remember seeing of any animals.

just another reminder of why i moved to the country. i think i need to get a horse, a cow or a goat or something---

cowville

i am still inspired to to go back to school - but you know its so dang hard when you live in cowville. i guess that is one thing i miss about being a city girl. you can always find what you're looking for.

on the other hand, thats also what I dont miss about the big city :-)

i'm sure its nothing...

I'm going to go ahead and share my past week's experience. this is something worthy enough to document and where better than a blog? I mean I'm no good at journaling and because this computer is in my face all day, its an easy outlet. I mentioned last week to my design team friends that I went for my very first mammogram. we were talking about age and growing up and birthdays. like kerry said - she celebrated the 12th anniversary of her 29th birthday last week. no one likes to talk about these things as it really is a sucky thing to grow old. anyway, they called me back a couple days later and wanted me to come in for more x-rays. wow. how serious could this be really, nothing ever happens to me right? i hardly ever even get sick. so i went this morning (Cleveland Clinic) - they took like 8 more x-rays of each side and determined there was a spot that they needed to get a closer look at. So they took me in for an ultrasound. and again, the ultrasound showed an area that the doctor felt was important enough to get a biopsy. sooooo. I am going again on the 18th for a consult with the surgeon and we'll go from there. needless to say this is a little unnerving. but i'm sure its nothing, geez i just had a baby so it has to be related to that somehow, right? nonetheless, for someone who never cries, i've sure had my share of tears today.

Cleveland Indians

the chase for the pennant is on and we are excited. thom's 9th birthday is coming up and he wanted to go to an indians game, so i just bought 4 tickets for the oakland a's / kid's day game on the 23rd. he's gonna be stoked!

i just hope we hit lottery for post season tickets ...

go tribe!

a little something---

besides any tweeking i may do,all thats left is a new glass top which i will call and order tomorrow..woo hoo!

a little something embroidered

men are the hunters...

...except mine is the bargain hunter kind. the shopper - he is worse than a woman. thats easy to say for me because i cant stand it anymore unless i am by myself, i'm not even good at shopping with a friend. i dunno why - i guess i just dont want to feel pressured into moving too quick or moving too slow.

he's happiest when shopping the clearance end caps at target, or the end of season markdowns at lowes. we literally go to target sometimes as an afterthought. i decide to sit in the car while he makes his perimeter walk to find something good and he's out in about 10-15 minutes.

i guess the thing that kills me most is when i'm not there to guide him into smart shopping. sometimes, he buys because it is on clearance and we MIGHT need it someday (buts its 75% off)!

he comes home from lowes after his big hunt. he throws his big purchase (this time it a big box with an outdoor cedar swing) on the counter like a big piece of meat he wants me to cook while beating his chest and screaming i am man.

my life will be miserable for the next few weeks while i nag at him to remove the beast from my house.

jk

ps. the big find on the cedar swing turned out to be just the a-frame. swing sold separately. and we have 3 of these.

what the hell was that?

so i havent really been using this as much as a blog as i have my own creative gallery. i decided to change that today. i didnt choose today at random. i just decided it would be a good thing to actually start saying something. my other musings are over at scrapbook.com. its 4:30 and i am having my afternoon coffee after a long labor day weekend. literally. you know, i found out that a lot of youngsters these days (hey - i still think i am youngster - thats weird) actually think that labor day is a military holiday. in fact i never even thought much about it until saturday when i stopped in our embroidery shop and a gal that works for us had made some window signs. it stated that we would be closed on labor day. and then she included a nice little piece of clipart showing a uniformed officer giving a salute. it dawned on me at that moment that it wasnt a military holiday. i never really knew what it was, but it wasnt military. so i decided to wiki it.

so its supposed to be a day of rest for the working man (and woman). i suppose i should have laid around on the sofa watching movies and gorging myself all day, but i didnt. i accomplished a lot on this day off. i finished up my back hallway which i painted red.

i also finally started my altered table project, after 2 years.

it was a clumsy day too for me. is that a sign of getting old?

holy crap what was that?? thats me in the kitchen freaking out after hearing a loud crash. i'm thinking baby swing fell apart - with baby in it - so i'm running thru the house to the room with the swing, eyeballing the floor along the way to make sure it wasnt something else instead. i reach baby and he's fine and he's sleeping and swinging away. what a life. so i keep going, thru my office, nothing. i reach the back hallway (that had just been freshly painted) and to my horror, my wall shelf, which had a framed piece of stamped art and a burning candle had crashed from above - spewing hot dark orange candle wax e v e r y w h e r e. there was an upside to this, i decided. it gave me the opportunity to finally see what was under the carpet on the step - something i had thought about off & on over that 48 hours while i was painting.

i also decided it was worthy of photographic documentation. i dunno - i guess because it was one of those things that really just annoyed me today because it was one more thing added to my list of things stopping me from getting what i really wanted to get done. it was like the fly-away hair that kept tickling my nose --- after my day at the salon saturday i was was so wanting to cut off all the hair i had been growing out - just becasue of that one freaking hair. or just when i am at a point i can really dig into my projects, the baby wakes up and wants fed. soooo, i go grab my camera. my prized possession. the one i paid all that money for. the one i never keep in the bag because i need it handy at all times. the one i just bought that awesome new lense for!

OMG!!

as if the horror of spilled wax wasnt enough to make my day, as i grab my camera, the neck strap catches something and the camera jerks out of my hands and goes crashing to the floor. my brand new lense. shattered. OMG.

mud

This was a surprise - seriously - I caught my step son on "tape" trying to sneak in the house to clean himself up after a huge mud fight--he's trying to get in and change before I could see him. he needs to take a lesson from his little brother---the OTHER door is much better when trying to avoid the likes of me. Kit Used: j bolton delight in photos

True Love!

digital kit: doris castle's true love

gator baby!

2peas sande kreiger background brushes/rhonna farrer flower brush/veronica ponce cottage bluff frame

Thom & Matt

using rhonna farrers special 2 peas garden girls kit

matt!

welcome baby matthew!

5-26-07

two new digi lo's for lolo

butterflies are free to fly...

lolo designs kiss my chakra

more faces

lolo designs toxic love & luscious leather

all of lolo designs digi kits can be found at mydigitalmuse.com

LO using Embroidered Flower

<-- this layout uses the scarlet flower from Flower Set II and the pumpkin polkadot ribbon from the natural set-->

(click on thumbnail to enlarge...)

Pink Tomato Studio to debut at Polka Dot Potato 3/9

My new embroidered elements will become available at Polka Dot Potato tomorrow 3/9 and in celebration I'm offering a download to a freebie kit. Be sure to check out all the other goodies being offered up tomorrow and stay tuned for exciting new sets in the weeks to come!

Get Freebie Here---> http://www.sendspace.com/file/jtfsz6

<--- Layout done with YB Scrapbooking's Heritage kit, also available at PDP

lol designs new mardi gras kit

New samples from LoLo Designs Mardi Gras Kit -- now available at www.mydigitalmuse.com

below:: The mask is an overlay you can place over any face shot! how cool is that?!?

how sad is it

that 40 degrees feels like a freekin heat wave?! i guess after a couple weeks of sub zero temperatures, not so much! I mean my husband & my son dont even think its necessary to wear a jacket! crazy!

<--just a new LO i did of my good friend and her cousin. This is from the featured designer at digishoptalk, Doris Castle, kit true love knows no boundaries. love this kit and I have plans for more LO's today.

<---my latest LO's for LoLo using her Luscious Leather Kit---love this kit!

i've moved already

yeah, well, i couldnt help it - the cheesy godaddy ad banner was quite the annoying thing to me, so here I am, not that anyone knew that i had a blog to begin with. I never got the word out! lol