A few months ago while attending IU and living at home with me, Carrie got it in her head that she wanted some kind of pet. My funny kitty was not enough for her. She wanted a rabbit, but I said "no way!" She talked me into getting some turtles. I thought–little turtles in a bowl–no big deal. Ha! Little did I know! These three little turtles are growing like weeds. They are really cute, but they are a lot of work.

So Carrie graduated from The Virginia Military Institute (only the last 3 classes were taken at IU)! Yippee! The school bills are over, but the loan payments are about to begin. Also, Carrie left for the US Marine Officer Candidate School in Quantico, Virginia. Guess who gets to take care of the stinky turtles? Mom! OK, they are growing on me, but she won’t be able to keep all three of them as there won’t be a tank big enough for them.

Here are some photos of my three new friends:

Hello. I know I haven’t written on this blog in a long time, and I know I should, but sometimes I’d rather be beaten than to do any kind of writing.  It’s weird because I gripe that my ancestors must not have liked to write much either.  I’ve got boxes full of pictures from my grandparents, and I don’t have a clue about where some of the photos were taken, when they were taken, or even who was in them.  I know I need to get busy and get back to scrapbooking and writing stuff down.  Hopefully, now that it’s summer I will.

To help kick off the "I Should Be Doing a Better Job Writing Stuff Down Too" challenge to myself, I decided to make a desktop wallpaper and give it away on my blog.  Well, actually, my desktop was a picture of snow, which didn’t really go with the weather we’re having here in Indiana.  OK, the one I made doesn’t look anything like Indiana either as we don’t have beaches, just a lot of corn  (I can hear someone singing ". . . there’s more than corn in In-di-an–nuhhhhh . . . .").  I can dream though.  I’ll have to save up some gas money to visit Sarah in Florida again!

Click here for 1024×768 Wallpaper.      Click here for 1280×768 Wide Wallpaper.

If you love these graphics like I do, check out Gina Jane’s Tropical Fun kits at Daisie Company.

Tropical Fun I, Tropical Fun II, Tropical Fun III, and Tropical Fun IV can be found by clicking the links. I believe these were Bingo prizes at one time. I also have a tote printable (Beach Bag) kit coming out soon using the graphics from these kits!

Now that I’ve got my fingers typing again, I hope I can keep it going. Sometimes I need to give myself a good talking to–to get myself motivated (it doesn’t work on housework though). I will try to do better!

Our secretary at work died Wednesday, so it’s been a pretty tough week. I also had some weird kind of flu that coated my vocal cords so that I couldn’t talk, let alone sing. It was hard to do anything but sleep or sit and think of my friend’s family. If anything can keep my mind occupied, though, it is gadgets, especially electronic gadgets.

A little back story–

On Christmas Eve my phone suddenly just stopped working. I really liked that phone too as it kept me in contact with my kids, and I felt a little safer on the road. I had insurance so I could either get a refurbished phone sent to me (but not in time for my trip to Florida) or extend my contract by two years (and get a new phone). I decided to do the later, getting another Razr phone,  knowing that I had 30 days to trade it in, and I would have one on the road. I needed it too as coming back my car acted up, and the guy at the station said it was desperate that I get 2 new tires. My car ended up breaking down two weeks ago too, something to do with tie rods (and the brakes are going and will only last a few months). Dandy news.

Fast-forward to last week–

My month was running out, so I had to make a decision. I went back into the phone store and upgraded my Razr to a Blackjack II. I would have been stuck with the phone for two more years and could really use a PDA type for school. I ended up getting a good deal as the rebate I got covered the extra cash I had to spend. The new one has a lot more gadgetry (it can run powerpoints and spreadsheets), so I had to teach this old dog some new tricks. Most of this weekend was spent trying to just figure out ringtones. It wasn’t that hard once I did the first one, so I went crazy and made me 11 new ones. I’ll never have to pay for another ringtone again–yippee! I put mostly oldies on: China Grove, Listen to the Music, Desperado, Witchy Woman, Life in the Fast Lane, Jessica, Free Bird, and Roll With the Changes. Can you tell I was a kid in the Seventies? The Eagles are still my favorite band! I did put a few new on too: Life is a Highway, Dreamgirls’ Love You I Do, and the re-worked Elvis song, A Little Less Conversation.

I also put some home screens on my phone too. Three were Daisie kits, and others I just made from clipart I already had. There are some animated ones and some still screens.

The generated screenshots are pretty bad as they’re at a low resolution, so I won’t put the ones I made of me & the girls as we look like we have some kind of hideous growth on our faces! Well, I hope this next week is better than the last few, Lord willing. Maybe by tomorrow I’ll be able to talk in my regular country drawl instead of this raspy frog voice too!

Is anyone from the San Francisco area? My daughter is performing in a Christmas show at the Six Flags park near there. I can’t go watch her but she sends me pictures. It looks like it is a great park similar to the Busch Garden park as it has lots of animals. She called home last week excited that she was able to pet a dolphin. I can’t go because I can’t afford 2 trips. She is performing until the 23rd and then flying home on the 24th. She has to be in Florida by the 27th as she got a full time job in entertainment at Disney. I think everyone has to start with a fur character there and then they are evaluated and moved into other places. She is so excited. I’m just glad to see her smile again.

The two trips I mentioned have to do with my other daughter Carrie also. She is going to be in the Rose Bowl parade on New Years. Sarah will be in Florida by that time. I can’t go to one’s show and not the other. I just can’t afford to go to both as I figure that it would cost close to 2 grand for the 2 cross country flights and hotels, especially during this time of year. I can watch Carrie on TV although I doubt if I’ll be able to pick her out in those full military uniforms with capes and all. I am really proud of the DDs though and wish I were made of money. Well, on the other hand, if I were, the kids might not have turned out as good as they have because they are used to fighting for everything they get.

Here is a shot of Sarah in California. She is the one with the cream hat. I will make a scrapbook page later with some of her stage photos.

Today is the day we set aside to honor Veterans, but I hope that our servicemen and women deserve more than a day. Most give years of their lives serving their country. Tomorrow my school will be performing songs in a Veterans Day ceremony. We have worked since the beginning of school on it, and I hope that the Veterans enjoy it. I pray that the students will be very respectful and in top singing form. Here are a couple of songs that we are singing (without the dubbed vocals).

I was able to see my daughter last weekend in Virginia. She attends the Virginia Military Institute, and it was Parent’s Weekend, which perfectly coordinated with my Fall Break! It was also her birthday last weekend, so the forces of nature were for once, alligned in my favor. It was also the height of autumnal splendor too, so I had a lovely trip, snapping happily away with my camera. The only negative in the whole weekend was that VMI lost the football game in the last three minutes, but I guess I can overlook that as I’m more into the crowd experience than the actual game.

It was a breath-takenly beautiful day on Saturday, and I got up early to go to the Open House at the Barracks. Carrie lives in a very stark condition there with four roommates. She must keep her uniform and book supplies neatly arranged. They roll their "hay" every single day and stack their bed frames against the wall. It serves the double purpose of giving them more room and keeping them from lounging around. The kids have stereos and computers but no televsions or refridgerators like normal college rooms. It’s quite a jog to the restrooms, and they must go outside to reach it. I’m not sure I would ever make it safely on a cold morning. Since females are in the minority at VMI, they have to get fully dressed too or be in their long robes.

After visiting the barracks, I watched the military parade. Carrie doesn’t have to be in them any more because she is a fifth year student and a cheerleader. She had to go to practice before the game. I loved watching the parade as it reminded me of the first time I visited her as a "rat"–the term they call freshmen before the breakout period when they can officially be called fourth classmen. She was so thin then, and they had chopped her hair all off. I’m glad she is tough and was able to get through the past four years.

The football game was fun. The students have to attend and they march down to the field in formation. The rats must yell or they will in turn get yelled at. If the VMI team scores a touchdown, all the rats have to run to the sidelines (all 400 of them) and do as many pushups as the current score–each and every time. It can be quite a lot of pushups as this is cumulative. Carrie and the cheerleaders do the pushups as well. Maybe that’s why I don’t worry so much when they throw her up into the air really high. She is on the frontpage of the VMI website this week. If you would like to see her picture, visit the VIRGINIA MILITARY INSTITUTE website.

Carrie and I ate at Chili’s and watched a movie on the tv in the hotel. She was out before the first commercial I think. She had to go to practice on Sunday, so I started back to Indiana. I went a different route as I wanted to go through Ohio and visit some ancestors’ graves. If you would like to see the beautiful but rustic area of Washington County, Ohio (the first settlement in the whole Northwest Territory), check out my slideshow. I visited several small towns and took lots of photos of the beautiful scenery. Visit my slideshow HERE.

Next Friday I’ll be off on Fall Break! This is a really easy week. I only have 2 days of real classes, and then a late night Wednesday for Parent-Teacher Conferences. The students leave around 11AM, but the teachers stay until 7PM to talk with parents. On Thursday there is a convocation in the morning, and then all are released at 11AM!

We don’t have to return to school until Tuesday, so I decided to go to Virginia to see Carrie. It is perfect timing as it is her last Parents Weekend at the Virginia Military Institute. She will be finished there (I say knocking on wood) this December and only has  three classes left that she can take at our local college, Indiana University. The best part is that she will be home for spring semester, but the worst part is that she will be graduating in May and then commissioning as a US Marine Officer. I think she will be in Quantico, Virginia after that, but I’m not sure exactly how soon that will be–too soon for me! I’m a little bummed though because when I made my hotel reservations, I got to use the "senior rate" for the first time. I definitely don’t feel like a senior, but I will take the discount!

This photo of Carrie was from last year. I used my kit, Lest We Forget, available at Daisie Company. Click the photo for a quick link.

I’m looking to forward to visiting with Carrie. I talk all the time on the phone with Sarah, but Carrie doesn’t have that priviledge. She can have a cell phone as she is a senior, but she just doesn’t have access to it all the time like a regular college kid. VMI keeps her pretty busy, which is a good thing so she doesn’t get into any trouble. She is on the Cross Country Team, a singer in the Glee Club, and a Cheerleader. She plays French Horn in band and gets to go with the band to California to march in the Rose Bowl Parade. She has had to miss a lot of trips due to sports, cheerleading, or classes, so I’m glad she gets to go on this one. I just wish I could go but don’t see any way of it. It’s going to be hard enough figuring out how to see Sarah in Florida for Christmas.

If you would like to see what the Virginia Military Institute looks like, check out this great commercial!

Fall is right around the corner, so I decided I needed to change the desktop wallpaper that I’ve been using for the past few months. Fall is my favorite time of year as Southern Indiana is simply gorgeous. I used Gina Jane’s Honeyville, one of the best graphic CDs ever! You can find these graphics here at Daisie. If you would like the wallpapers, click the pictures below. Obviously, it won’t have my girls pictures there, but will be a transparent frame (the 4shared site makes the frames look black for some reason, but they’re not when you download them).

During a trip to Wal-Mart for groceries, I was looking in the book and magazine section and found an audio version of the Bible. I thought this would be great for my long trips to work (about 45-60 minutes each way). On the box it said that the narrators were actors, Cuba Gooding and Samuel Jackson to name a few, and it included a bonus DVD. Boy, was I ever surprised! It’s not just a simple reading of the Bible. It’s an all out production with sound effects such as crowd noises and cricket chirps. It also has original music played lightly in the background to add to the drama of the stories. I was very impressed with it, and I’m on my sixth CD now. The series is called The Bible Experience by Zondervan. Here is an excerpt from it that I found on YouTube. I also put a link on my sidebar.

My mom made me a beautiful, hand-quilted and embroidered quilt featuring flowers of the 50 US States. She has been working on it since I went to college. Well, not the entire time, but here and there. She’d work on it a while and then put it away. When my daughter Carrie was young, she started it again, and Carrie helped embroider one of the states; then she put it away again. In the meantime, she made a few machine-quilted quilts, a bear one that I hang on the wall and a moose one that is folded on my couch. This past year, she put up Grandma’s frame and started quilting again. She finished my beautiful quilt and entered it in two contests. She also has been working on another gorgeous, folksy one that is an appliqued quilt in lavendar and yellow.

I remember quilting with my grandmother, mom’s mother, when I was a kid. We would go upstairs where the frame was set up. It was really hot up there as the roof was tin. I don’t think I ever caught that bug, although I do like to sew a bit with a sewing machine. Mom has a serger and a fancy embroidery sewing machine. She made me several purses, including this one that I carry to work all the time.

If you would like to view the crafts that my mom made for my home, check out my video below. It features the quilt and some of Mom’s other crafts. Mom and Dad used to own a ceramic store with thousands of molds and several kilns. Now they only have one kiln and a few of their favorite molds. Dad pours the molds and wires the lamps that Mom makes. They also pour porcelain. Mom made dolls, sewing the entire body and the clothes and hand painting the heads. I also have a few things that she has tole painted. I wish I had half of her craftiness!

I think Grey’s Anatomy is taking over Desperate Housewives as my favorite show. I’m looking forward to the new season starting this week. The characters are just wonderful, but I will miss Burke. I just don’t know how it will be the same without him. I am anxious to see how Cristina handles herself after their breakup. My daughter has still not recovered from her breakup last November and has not dated yet, although she has had plenty of opportunities. She says it makes her sick to her stomach to think about it. Sandra Oh’s character seems like a much tougher person than my daughter though and will prabably bounce right back in a few episodes. She’s my favorite on the show, but I also love Callie, Addison, Miranda, and Dr. McSteamy, Mark Sloan. It looks like the spinoff, Private Practice, will start on Wednesday, and Grey’s Anatomy will begin on Thursday. I usually don’t like regular tv much, but this show pulled me back in. I do enjoy the reality shows too like Dancing With the Stars and American Idol. Happy watching this week!

I found one of those six-sided photo cubes at Wal-Mart tonight. I hadn’t seen those in years so I picked up a couple. I resized 6 of my layouts of the girls to 3.25 inches and printed them on a full page of photo paper. Back in the old days, I would have to dig through my photos to find some that would fit and then crop them to pieces to get the right size. I love digital as it saves my photos!

I’ve not felt very well all week. I’ve had some kind of kidney infection and have been taking antibiotic (no Dr. McSteamy in my town). It says on the label that the medicine may cause drowsiness. Well, they aren’t kidding because all I’ve wanted to do lately is sleep! My weirdo kitty has been keeping me laughing though. She does some of the craziest things. Here is a picture of her sitting in my magazine rack like she was in some kind of recliner chair. Sarah took this picture of her when she was home to visit. I sure miss her and her younger sister too. It’s a good thing that Carrie will be through college this year as it’s ridiculous what the textbooks cost! I rambled a lot tonight, but I haven’t posted in a while either. I still need to upload some pictures of the quilt Mom made me! I will try to do that soon! If you want to watch a music video from Grey’s Anatomy, "Breathe In, Breathe Out," click below!