POKEY PEAS REFUGEES CHALLENGE for April 2017

So sad it is the end of Calvinball - I finished 3rd. Congrats to LisaDV at 2nd grammadee at 5th msliz at 12th and justjac at 17th. It was really a fun event. And I really, really want something similar in July or August when I can devote all my nights and weekends to the creation of pages.

.....on another note Mr. John E Decon Courthouses.co and Mr. Jimmy Emerson Jimmy Emerson have both given me permission to use their extensive catalog of County Courthouse photos for my scrapbooking project.  I am so excited that now I have the opportunity to actually get close to completing the goal of having 3,144+ (historic and current) scrapbook pages.  

Had a wonderful facial today. then highlights for my hair, and then I had to drive home in a snowstorm (not something I usually do).  Camping starts next weekend.....Yay!

Love you guys
Maribeth

Thanks for the thread nylene . Have a wonderful trip.

maribeth , camping starts next weekend but you had a snow storm today??? I'd be worried about mother natures cooperation this year. I hope she behaves herself and you get lovely weather!


Yes, Congrats to all our peas who participated!! It was a great production month for myself, but left me little time for anything else, and after so many layouts, I'm kind of done, finished, kaputt. Definitely ready for it to be over.

kellyr21, Lovely painting! I will leave love in the gallery after posting here.

Kelly's painting reminds me, I saw that a winery is doing a wine and paint later in April (29th). DH & I were going to sign up and have a "date".  

Yesterday, I ran an errand in town and before I was home felt like I had a fever. Spent the rest of the afternoon/evening in the comfy chair under several blankets, while the kids were outside first without and then with jackets since it was at least 50 and beautifully sunny. That just makes it worse when your sick - to have nice weather! ugh! Of course, I had a whole cleaning plan for yesterday that didn't happen. Today is my turn for church with ds so I'll be out most of the day. Since I can tell I still don't feel well I don't know what the day holds in store and have to play by ear. (Yes, Don offered to go in my place, but he's FINALLY working on his business account for the tax guy. I can't let him out of that. It's been stressing me out for the last month and half that it's not done yet. Seriously, my shoulders have been in complete knots. Plus even though he really hasn't worked on it, he's taken up the kitchen table with it for the last 3 weeks, which means we have to eat everywhere else.) 

I hope everyone else is healthy and enjoying nice weather! Happy April!

Just checking in before crawling into bed. Just this one more sleep before heading home. Dh & I watched 5 games of curling on the weekend. Didn't get back here until 11:00pm Sunday evening. This morning he had to be at the cardiologist's office by 7:00am, so we were on the road by 6:00. He had a couple of tests today, and then a couple more tomorrow. Don't need to be out of here until 7:00 tomorrow. After his appointments, we plan to stop at Costco, then swing by dd's house before the drive home.

It's sad to say farewell to calvinball, maribeth, but like all good things, we wouldn't appreciate it nearly as much if it happened every day all year. I think I will print off the "rules" list, and use it--along with the 2peas and maybe some ACOT challenges--as inspiration for our April crop.

I hope you are having a wonderful time with family, nylene . Love your wood grain and mason jars, kellyr21 .

hope you get your computer figured out, scrapincin. It is SOOO frustrating when they don't work!

Nice to hear from you, kellyr21! Good luck with your cake!

Dh is ok. He wasn't recovering from the flu as quickly as he had hoped, and one of the things he was having trouble with was shortness of breath, so his doctor referred him to a specialist. He hadn't seen a cardiologist for quite awhile, so this one wanted to do a bunch of tests. They are trying to find a balance of various meds that treat type 2 diabetes and arrhythmia and a few other conditions. As scrapincin knows, sometimes a med you take for one condition can cause problems with another one. Results won't be back for a few days.

LisaDV, I hope you are feeling better. I was really shivery this morning, but decided to blame it on two really early mornings and the stress of driving a very nervous passenger around a city. I put my heated seat on in the vehicle and had it on for the whole way home. I have no time to be sick. Have 3 days to get my tax info all into an envelope for dh to take to the accountant, and then I am off to Ontario for a week with dd & her family to help with child care while they are house hunting and checking into supports for the little man down there.

I am really happy to be home this evening and am looking forward to a long sleep in my own bed.

Good evening Pokeys! Hope all is well with everyone! grammadee I love those two cute pages! I have more fun looking at your pages as they are always fresh and detailed! You get such cute photos of your DGC.

kellyr21 you find so many ways to keep yourself busy! You are so brave to continue to try different things.And you are so good at whatever you try. You Go Girl

LisaDV hope you are doing well and your family too!!

Waving a big Hello to Nylene, Maribeth and Msliz. Going to get off for now.

Happy Friday, Ladies!

I am doing laundry and getting organized to pack for another one week adventure. Dd & family are taking me with them to Ontario on a house hunting trip. They need me to ride herd on the little man while they are meeting with realtors and school people. I am driving to Edmonton tonight, then flying out in the morning. Returning next Friday. Dh is picking up their dog today, as she will be staying at the farm while her family is traveling.

Not a lot of creativity around here this week, other than a quick card I made to tuck into the RAK I put into the mail yesterday. It was so quick, I didn't even get a photo! My tax info is organized, and I am just waiting for one piece of information from dh to complete my summary form for the accountant.

Hoping everyone has a fantastic Friday!

Happy Monday, Pokey's.

Thanks for the well wishes. I am better. I worked last Monday in short bursts to prep for leaving on Wednesday. Last Tuesday, dd & I went to see Beauty and the Beast before her dr. appt. I left last Wednesday. It was such a wonderful trip. I feel like a human again (ha, just like the "to be human again" song in Beauty & the Beast). I spent one day just enjoying being with my sister, and one day with my BFF. The last day we went to see my nephew's apartment and walked the riverfront where he lives. I came home yesterday. Wonderful to be home. Today I'm trying to do some clean up.

justjac, I have boxes upstairs for going through closets and getting rid of ill-fitting things or things the kids have outgrown. Good luck with your decluttering.

grammadee, great pages. I left love last week before leaving, but wanted to tell you here too. I'm especially crazy about the "however you count it" page. Hope the drs. can help your dh.

kellyr21, ouch. Who knew playing guitar could be so dangerous?! I hope you are all healed up. It is a pain when we do normal activity and get strains, sprains, and such. Glad you had some time to scrapbook.

scrapincin, hope you have your computer all fixed up now.

Waving hi to maribeth, nylene (hope you're having a great time), and msliz.

kellyr21, I'm glad your wrist is better.

justjac, & kellyr21, I'm working on cleaning as well. I finally boxed up some of my dd's outgrown clothes today for good will. I still have ds and mine. Luckily, DH takes care of his own. I was folding clothes and it seemed a natural progression. For cleaning I started in the living room. I'm hoping to get through the dining area tomorrow.

After the end of CalvinBall, I put away a few small things, but not all. Actually, my desk is still covered. After the last 13 days off, I'm starting to get a bit twitchy. So this morning I did spend a few minutes on organizing. Hopefully I'll get off here and get a few more minutes to do the same. Maybe by next week, I'll have enough cleaned up to start a new page.

Oh, and this Friday, Don's going to pick up our chickens, hopefully. DD's making a list of names for them: Barbie Q, Chris P, Dee Licious, Orga (anics), and the rooster, Ed Ible. I'm loving the names.

Happy Wednesday evening to all.

Feel better real soon nylene!

Oh Justjac I am so sorry for your loss of your dad.  Sending hugs and prayers for you and your family. I know he will be missed.


nylene I wondered why we had not heard from you. So sorry to hear you came back sick. It sounds like you have had the real influenza. I sure hope you start feeling like your old self soon. Did you see the doctor?

It is early so I will be back later to chat but when I saw Justjac's post and Nylene's I had to post. BTW where are you grammadee ? We have not heard from you in a while either

Oh, I'm so very sorry for your loss, justjac . Hugs and prayers for your family!

nylene , I hope you are feeling better now.

grammadee , glad you're back, hope you made it all the way home today. Your children are so lucky they have you. I'm sure they appreciate all you do for/with them. The last 2 days have been in the warm 70's. We're hoping to start our seeds next week. Our area usually cannot put out gardens until May 30th. I think we could probably get by with a bit sooner this year. But the weather has been crazy this year.

Oh, I did get my desk cleaned off the other night. I then pulled out a page kit and it had 2 stories inside, so both pages are started on my desk. I just have spare minutes here and there, so they haven't gotten very far.

Also, Don brought home the chicks. And today has been cleaning mode. Personally I'm done and it's only 3:40. I guess I'd best get back to it.

Hugs, again justjac .

Drove home yesterday through yet more snow, but was home in time for a short nap, supper, vegging out on TV shows I had PVR'd and a good long sleep in my own bed.

I hope all of you are having an Easter Sunday you enjoy. Thinking of you and your family again, justjac. No family home this weekend. Today we are going to dh's sister's for Easter supper. I am to bring ham and dessert.

Yesterday I baked a basic white cake. My tired brain left it in the oven a little too long, but I already poured Jello over each half, and once I have added all the cream cheese/lemon pie filling, and slathered it with Cool Whip, it should be fine. Maybe the crunchy bits will provide a little counterpoint to all that creamy goodness! Will also be adding mini eggs inside and to the top, so what's not to like? Wish I had you here, kellyr21, to decorate it for me, but my family is used to my "slather on the topping" technique!

Picked up a pre-cooked, spiral cut, honey glazed ham yesterday in the city. Made me think of that "Christmas with the Kranks" movie. I just need to heat it through. drizzle it with glaze, then brown a little bit. Hoping the specific instructions are inside, but our dil cooked one at Christmas and it was delicious.

Must be hopping on now!

Good morning Pokey's! Hope all is well this morning with everyone. Well as well as it can be. I know justjac is getting thru the loss of her dad as well as she can. Thank goodness that family seems to support one another.

nylene- hope you are feeling better and get back here soon! We miss you but more then that I hate that you are sick this long.

grammadee- Your cards are lovely and I will leave you some love in the gallery. Glad to see your trip went well and that your DD found a new home to move into.

LisaDV- You and your family seem to keep so busy! Always something going on with projects, or travel.

I am going to try to get into my scrap room today. I coughed my head off all day yesterday and all night the night before. Allergies I guess as my nose is running constantly. Finally got it settled down last evening and slept well last night. It seems I have not scrapped in a month of Sundays! I have been trying out a few new techniques that may show up on a card or layout!

Well Waving to everyone and hope to return later Hope everyone has a great day.

Thanks for all the kind words, Pokeys. I am home. The funeral was Saturday and it was lovely. Because Dad had been fighting cancer for so long , he had some time to plan. He wrote his own obituary and eulogy.

I have this week off school, so I'm going to continue with the de-cluttering and try to get ready to host grammadee and my friend Kristi for the LSS retreat.

nylene and scrapincin I hope you feel better.
Waving to LisaDV kellyr21 and msliz