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Friday, October 30, 2009

Happy Halloween

Happy October 31!
I am in the midst of helping Brenna recover from having her wisdom teeth out and one baby tooth removed  and an adult tooth that was exposed and bonded. This is to enable the adult tooth to eventually move down into it's proper place. Not a fun procedure to say the least, but she is doing amazingly well.
Needless to say, I haven't done a whole lot in the world of art, but I haven't driven over any more cats, either.
 So....I thought today I would post the completion of the altered book I did with my friends, Wendy and Debbie.
 Remember this?



Here are pages from the finished product:




Wendy's addition to the book:








Debbie's additions:





My stuff filled the rest:












It was a blast to work on! We learned new techniques from one another, traded ideas and trinkets, and swapped things that we came upon and used in each other's books. I found old family photos that I use, I downloaded the witch pictures from the tutorial by Kris Hurst on Kari Ramstrom's Year of Color. The awesome bride of Frankenstein was from vintagesusieandwings.blogspot.com. and some of the fun was from my swap partner, Suz Reaney! It's a blast to do and is a great way to cement a new friendship.






Have a safe and happy Halloween. Eat lots of candy for us!!
~Lynn

Monday, October 26, 2009

How Not To Begin A Monday.

(Note: Do not read this post if you love cats.)

It started as a decent day. Got up, got Brenna up, got out the door at a decent time. A nice morning.

Until the cat decided to bolt out into the middle of the street while I am doing 50 (yes, I was doing the speed limit) on a two-lane highway.


[1cats002.jpg]
Stupid cat.

I confess, I have never, ever experienced this before and I was horrified. As there was a line of traffic behind me, I couldn't slam on my brakes, I couldn't stop and I couldn't pull over. So I had to keep going. As I looked in my review mirror, I saw the cars going around the now dead cat. Or was it? Even more horrified, I saw the tail twitching.

Stupid cat.

Brenna said to me, "MOM! What WAS that?" No one could miss the thunking sound under the car. I looked at her and all I could come up with was, "I hit something." "WHAT, Mom, what??" "A rodent." Did I mention I was horrified??
With her hands spread out like she was lifting something, Brenna then said to me, "Well, MOM, we should go back, and pick it up and carry it to the side of the road."

Uhhhh, Who is the one in the car with the "cognitive delays???"

Stupid cat.

I guess Brenna had something to discuss during science today. Her teacher told me she brought it up.
(Luckily I had told the teacher the story before Brenna got to the class room.) And, no, I did not put myself into oncoming traffic to go pick up the cat.

Some day I will get back to ART on this blog.

Until then, have a better day than I did.
~Lynn

Friday, October 23, 2009

I'm a Survivor

I did it!!  I completed my colonoscopy. This was the first time in 7 years that I have had no inflammation or ulceration!! Yahoo!! My transverse colon is scarred and pitted, but that will be forever and I can live with that. I went in squeaky clean and came out with good news. WHEW!! Did I mention that since I have had U.C. for over 7 years they will do this procedure every 1-2 years now?? Well. Let's not get into that. Let's talk about what this picture has to do with colonoscopy prep:



I just HAVE to tell you this story!! My sweet husband had to give lecture at the hospital the night I had to do prep. (See previous entry to blog.) So, while I was "seatbelted" to my commode, Brenna was kinda on her own. And wanted ice cream. I had managed to yank the ice cream out of the freezer and set it out to soften before I ran back to the bathroom.
Is this too much information?? Oh, well. It's pretty funny!
So, sure enough, Brenna wanted her ice cream and I was in the bathroom. (big surprise.) Brenna called out to me, "Don't worry Mom, I think I can get it!" Pretty soon I hear, "Hey Mom! Look at me! I'm doing it!" To which I called back, "Wow, B, good job." "Hey Mom, come and take a look!" Mmmmmm. "Can't right now, B..." "That's o.k., I'll bring it in there." By now, I could give a rat's patootie as to what she is doing.
In to the bathroom she comes with her bowl, the ice cream scoop and the ice cream. "Watch, Mom." "Uh, yeah, Brenna. Awesome." "Mom." "Yes, dear?" "This is the first time I did this by myself!" "Cool." "How ya doing, Mom?"  "I'm o.k., do you think that's enough ice cream?" Yeah. Like I am in any position of authority....
"Just a little more, Mom. Wow, this is hard."
After finishing her scooping, she turns to me and holds out the scoop and says, "Wanna lick?"
SIGH.
"No thanks, honey." "O.k., Mom." And off she goes to put the ice cream back into the freezer. A little later, I called out, "Hey, Brenna-can you bring me my glasses?" This is the response I get: "No." I, of course, being the gracious person I am, yell back, "NO? Whaddaya mean NO? I fed you dinner, didn't I?? You can certainly bring me my glasses." I know. Stellar Mom evening all the way around. And yes, she eventually gave me my glasses. I get kinda bored in the bathroom and like to read...oh, well, never mind.
I did do some rearranging while I was in the bathroom drinking my prep. It gave me some distraction and I didn't have to fasten my seatbelt just yet.  It turned out pretty nice, if I do say so...







Well, that's the end of my colonoscopy stories, I promise!!
Have a great day~
Lynn

Wednesday, October 21, 2009

Colonoscopy-Have You Had Yours??

Here I am on a beautiful fall day in Southern California. Drinking Chicken Broth for breakfast. Why? Well, so glad you asked! I am prepping for a colonoscopy tomorrow. Not my favorite thing to do, by far. This will be my 5th one, I believe. I have actually lost count. Since I am one of 1.5 million Americans that have Ulcerative Colitis, I will go ahead with the exam.
 The prep is horrendous, to say the least. I can only have clear liquids today. At noon I will have to take four (!!) Ducolax tablets. By at least 6 p.m., I will have to drink vile liquid to clear out my colon. Then drink the vile liquid again by 5 a.m.. You know, just to make sure I am "squeaky clean."
 I dread it each and every time. HOWEVER the ramifications of NOT doing this are so not worth it. I like to keep my Colitis under control and happen to be on some big gun medications for it and do NOT want to go any further with other medications. I also (lucky girl that I am) have a 50% greater chance of developing colon cancer. So, that said, have YOU had your colonoscopy? We all should by age 50. Just one, not 5 or 6. And if you have a relative that has had colon cancer, well, get yourself into a good Gastroenterologist's office-pronto!!!

Here are some descriptions for you to help you further understand....
Have a great day!
~Lynn


This is from Miami Herald's newshound Dave
 Barry's Colonoscopy Journal:

 I called my friend Andy Sable, a gastroenterologist,
 to make an appointment for a colonoscopy. A few days later, in
 his office, Andy showed me a color diagram of the colon, a lengthy
 organ that appears to go all over the place, at one point
 passing briefly through Minneapolis
Then Andy explained the colonoscopy procedure to me in a thorough, 
 reassuring and patient manner. I nodded thoughtfully, but I didn't>
 really hear anything he said, because my brain was shrieking, quote,

 'HE'S GOING TO STICK A TUBE 17,000 FEET UP YOUR BEHIND!’

 I left Andy's office with some written instructions, and a
 prescription for a product called 'MoviPrep,' which comes in a box
 large enough to hold a microwave oven. I will discuss MoviPrep in
 detail later; for now suffice it to say that we must never allow it
 to fall into the hands of America 's enemies

I spent the next several days productively sitting around being
 nervous. Then, on the day before my colonoscopy, I began my
 preparation. In accordance with my instructions, I
 didn't eat any solid food that day; all I had was chicken broth,
 which is basically water, only with less flavor. Then, in the evening, I
 took the moviPrep.
 You mix two packets of powder together in a one-liter plastic
 jug, then you fill it with lukewarm water. (For those unfamiliar
 with the metric system, a liter is about 32 gallons.
 Then you have to drink the whole jug. This takes about an hour,
 because MoviPrep tastes - and here I am being kind - like a mixture of
 goat spit and urinal cleanser, with just a hint of lemon.

 The instructions for MoviPrep, cle arly written by somebody with a
 great sense of humor, state that after you drink it, 'a loose,
 watery bowel movement may result.' This is kind of like saying that
 after you jump off your roof, you may experience contact with the
 ground.
 MoviPrep is a nuclear laxative. I don't want to be too graphic,
 here, but: Have you ever seen a space-shuttle launch?
 This is pretty much the MoviPrep experience, with you as the
 shuttle. There are times when you wish the commode had a seat belt.
 You spend several hours pretty much confined to the bathroom,
 spurting violently. You eliminate everything. And then, when
 you figure you must be totally em pty, you have to drink another liter
 of MoviPrep, at which point, as far as I can tell, your bowels travel into 
 the future and start eliminating food that you have not even eaten yet.

 After an action-packed evening, I finally got to sleep. The next
 morning my wife drove me to the clinic. I was very nervous. Not only
 was I worried about the procedure, but I had been experiencing
 occasional return bouts of MoviPrep spurtage. I was thinking, 'What
 if I spurt on Andy?' How do you apologize to a friend for something
 like that? Flowers would not be enough.

 At the clinic I had to sign many forms acknowledging that I
 understood and totally agreed with whatever the heck the forms said.
 Then they led me to a room full of other colonoscopy people, where I
 went inside a little curtained space and took off my clothes and put
 on one of those hospital garments designed by sadist perverts, the
 kind that, when you put it on, makes you feel even more naked than
 when you are actually naked.

 Then a nurse named Eddie put a little needle in a vein in my left
 hand. Ordinarily I would have fainted, but Eddie was very good, and
 I was already lying down. Eddie also told me that some people put
 vodka in their MoviPrep. At first I was ticked off that I hadn't
 thought of this is, but then I pondered what would happen if y ou got
 yourself too tipsy to make it to the bathroom, so you were
 staggering around in full Fire Hose Mode. You would have no choice
 but to burn your house.

 When everything was ready, Eddie wheeled me into the procedure
 room, where Andy was waiting with a nurse and an anesthesiologist. I
 did not see the 17,000-foot tube, but I knew Andy had it hidden
 around there somewhere. I was seriously nervous at this point. Andy
 had me roll over on my left side, and the anesthesiologist began
 hooking something up to the needle in my hand. There was music
 playing in the room, and I realized that the song was 'Dancing
 Queen' by ABBA. I remarked to Andy that, of all the songs that could
 be playing during this particular procedure, 'Dancing Queen' had to
 be the least appropriate.
 'You want me to turn it up?' said Andy, from somewhere behind me.
 'Ha ha,' I said. And then it was time, the moment I had been
 dreading for more than a decade. If you are squeamish, prepare
 yourself, because I am going to tell you, in explicit detail,
 exactly what it was like.

 I have no idea. Really. I slept through it. One moment, ABBA was

 yelling 'Dancing Queen, feel the beat of the tambourine,' and the
 next moment, I was back in the other room, waking up in a very&n bsp;
 mellow mood. Andy was looking down at me a nd asking me
 how I felt. I felt excellent. I felt even more excellent when Andy
 told me that It was all over, and that my colon had passed with flying
 colors. I have never been prouder of an internal organ.

 ABOUT THE WRITER: Dave Barry is a Pulitzer Prize-winning humor
 columnist for the Miami Herald. On the subject of Colonoscopies...
 Colonoscopies are no joke, but these comments during the exam were
 quite humorous..... A physician claimed that the following are
 actual comments made by his patients (predominately male) while he
 was performing their colonoscopies:

 1. 'Take it easy, Doc. You're boldly going where no man has gone ; before!
 2. 'Find Amelia Earhart yet?'
 3. 'Can you hear me NOW?'
 4. 'Are we there yet? Are we there yet? Are we there yet?'
 5. 'You know, in Arkansas , we're now legally married.'
6. 'Any sign of the trapped miners, Chief?'
7 'You put your left hand in, you take your left hand out...'
8. 'Hey! Now I know how a Muppet feels!'
9. 'If your hand doesn't fit, you must quit!
 10. 'Hey Doc, let me know if you find my dignity.'
 11. 'You used to be an executive at Enron, didn't you?
And the best one of all.
12. 'Could you write a note for my wife saying that my head is not
up there?








Monday, October 19, 2009

Some Saturday Fun

Happy Monday! Hope it's a good one. Brenna and I were very BRAVE today, we got our flu shots! Other than that, it has been a nice, quiet day.

Saturday wasn't quite as calm, but it sure was fun!! I went to my favorite spot, The Scrapping Lounge. (thescrappinglounge.com) My friend, Debbie Miller who owns my favorite spot, had a 12 hour crop that day and a fundraiser for Breast Cancer. It was SO fun.



As you can tell from this photo, Debbie has a fabulous sense of humor. She is also honest, kind and true and is one heck of a business woman. Did I mention creative as well? Amazing. She had all kinds of cute hats and boas to dress up in and have a "photo op" during the day.




She also stuffed us full of goodies that people donated. YUM.




Debbie had some great people from the area donate gift baskets as well. We bought raffle tickets to enter to win and the money went toward fundraising for Breast Cancer.




This little piggy was full of scrapbooking fun!





During the day, there was a game we played called, "Who Has the Boob?" We passed around a form of a breast that actually had a lump in it. Someone from the hospital donated it. We all found it VERY instructive, actually. I have never felt a lump in a breast and never really thought I would know if I could detect one. It's a great teaching device. Anyway, whoever had it when the question was called out won a prize. So fun! I won some pretty pink OPI nailpolish and a pink sharpie.

I also thought it would be fun to take you on a little tour of the Scrapping Lounge. Ready? Let's go!




Everyone working hard on their creations.




Debbie has such a talent for showcasing papers that come in. Here are some ideas using Graphic 45.




Lots of goodies to choose from in the store!







I told you this gal is creative!




Some buttons all dolled up, waiting to go home with you.



And the decor of the store itself? Have a look:
















EVERYwhere you look, there is something fun to try to make or inspire you.








There you have it. Now you know where I am every Wednesday. It's a half way point for my best friend, Wendy and myself. We get together each week and trade ideas, finds and treasures and best of all, create! If you are ever in Montclair, stop by and say hi to Debbie!
Have a great day,
~Lynn

Thursday, October 15, 2009

Pumpkin Patch

Last weekend while my husband was slaving away at a triathalon, we girls went to the pumpkin patch! (A much better idea, if I do say so.) It was a beautiful day, with a change in the weather that made it really seem like fall. We have, in the past,  gone to the pumpkin patch on a very warm day, and it just is so not right when it is 80+ degrees. But I digress...



This is Live Oak Canyon Pumpkin Patch. (And Christmas Tree Farm.) It is just before Yucaipa, which is on the way to another favorite stop, Oak Glen, which is where we pick apples. And have apple pie. With ice cream. And buy apple cobbler. And roasted corn on the cob. Oh. Sorry. Pumpkins...

This is Brenna and one of her bestest friends, Janelle. They have known each other for almost forever. Janelle has stuck by B through thick and thin, ups and downs (ha ha) and all of life. We just love her so much.  Janelle has said for the longest time that she would like to own and run a school for kids with special needs. I think she would be fabulous at it.




First stop, the petting zoo. First, let me tell you how different my two girls are. Lauren will not go near a petting zoo. No way. She doesn't like goats. At all. Or chickens. Or sheep for that matter. Brenna, on the other hand loves the petting zoo and has gotten pretty darn good at feeding the animals. She didn't even blink this year when a goat put his front hooves on her chest for more food. Janelle would own and run a farm if she could. She raises chickens for eggs and sells the eggs! She would love to get a goat and a pig. No wonder she and B get along so well.










"Hey, Ralph, do ya think it's our turn to eat?"



Such a sweet friendship.

.

Oh, yeah and all the pumpkins!!!!!!!







Good advice.







Hey, that's not a pumpkin.



Oh, I SO did not say that, did I?










Have a great day!