Memories by Mat

Cute new photos to share!

2012-01-23T10:20:00.009-06:00

What a lovely way to start a new week. Christina sent some new photos of Jayson in his shirt I sent him...finally big enough to wear it...LOL! Plus got some new ones of the girls from her facebook too! Also got a photo of Maggie and Hayden from her facebook that I wanted to use in a freebie QP I had downloaded, and then today is my "adopted brother" Rodney's birthday, so had to make him a page too. Thanks to all the designers who share their work so liberally, I appreciate all of you so much.
It has been pretty mild weather her lately, hard to believe it is winter time! Nina and I spent the day on Friday in Denton shopping. Not my most favorite thing to do, but this day I truly enjoyed immensely! We even got to have lunch with Elizabeth, her granddaughter...she is finally beginning to "show" that she is pregnant with Emorie! I should have taken some photos, but was having too much fun to remember I had my camera with me! DUH!!
Yesterday, spent the day watching the playoff games, both were great games right down to the last minutes of them! Happy with the outcome of both, but then either team would have been okay with me since my team was not in the playoffs....LOL! Next is the ProBowl then the SUPER BOWL!
Well, got some work to do, so gonna hush for now and chat more next time! Hope all of you have a terrific week ahead and enjoy whatever you do making more memories to share! Luv, MatThis QP is called Serendipity with no TOU sorry, the wordart is by Ginger.
I created this page using Scapiness Down Under kit 012312 and wordart by Ginger with Christina's facebook photos of Jade, Ruby and Jayson.
This QP is called Outside the Barn 2 by Lanell at Never Forget Memories with Maggie riding.
This is lovely QP Quiet Memory is by my friend Linda at Random Thoughts with photo of Hayden from Margaret's facebook.
This QP was a NL freebie by Ashaw called my man. Photo of the 60's is mine and got the one of today from his facebook.

Happy Birthday to my Friends!!

2012-01-21T07:58:00.004-06:00

Today is a double birthday celebration for my friends, Libby (high school chum) and Judy (aka Scarlett my scrap/blog sister)! I've used 2 freebie QPs that I picked up from other scrapping buds to make them a birthday wish from me and "the Girls". Libby is in a QP by Miriam at Miriam's Scraps, Judy is in one by Lanell at Never Forget Memories(see their links on the lower right in my list of favs)! I hope both you ladies enjoy your day immensely and that you are blessed with many more to come. Luv you both! Happy Birthday!! Mat & "the girls"!

We finally got RAIN!

2012-01-10T08:52:00.004-06:00

Yippee, we finally got some rain. It rained most of the night before last, all day yesterday and most of last night...slow steady soaking kind that we so desperately need. It is finally beginning to taper off and move away this morning....cool, damp and a little on the chilly side. Tomorrow, sunshine and 65 again...wow, this weather cannot make up it's mind here!! I decided to make a couple of pages to occupy my mind this morning...as my clothes are drying (the bed is made, floors swept, bathroom is clean, as is the litter boxes, trash out and clothes washed). I got this freebie page from Lanell at Never Forget Memories called doorinwall and just had to put my furgirls in it, the other QP is a freebie from Eledhwen at Raspberry Road Designs using the new Winter Solitude kit...the photo of Sebrina was taken from her facebook this morning...LOL! Whatever you do today, make it memorable and then share it with others! Chat more next time....Luv, Mat

Rest In Peace Pete!!

2012-01-07T19:50:00.006-06:00

(This is a QP I made using RDH kit From Earth to Sky- I see I made a boo boo on the photo, should be Bennett!)
I was given sad news this morning that my first husband, Pete, passed away! I met him in 1966 while he was home on leave. I was just finishing a year of technical school shortly after graduating from high school and was taken with the smooth talking older worldly man in uniform. We married on his next leave which was October 21,1966.
In November he was sent to Turkey for a 2 year tour of duty, I followed in January of 1967. My first time for flying, my first time outside the USA and my first time of total terror of doing this all alone at the tender age of 19 and as green a hick little girl as you could find....LOL! Of course this was still during the cold war so we had many "On Standby" situations and did some traveling to other places as well as learning a lot about that part of the country and even a few devastating earthquakes. In October of 1969 we returned to the states headed to San Angelo, Texas until his retirement in late 1970, then we headed back home to Georgia. Due to so many, many adjustments, too much alcohol and a lot of medical problems for me, we divorced about 6 months later. I moved back to Texas in 1976 and lost touch with him, but when I went home for visits I would visit his dad or his brother and check up on all the family. In 1988 he happened to be at home from his many travels and I called, he came to my sister's house for a visit. I took this photo of him, he still looked the same after all those years. Then in 1989, while on a motorcycle trip to my dad's in Tennessee, I met him at the North Carolina/Tennessee Welcome Center, he was in his motorhome and just returning from a trip to Montana. Had a nice little chat again. I have always remained friends with him and tried to stay in touch occasionally. I am so happy he conquered his excessive drinking and enjoyed the latter years of his life traveling and sharing one adventure after another. May his soul be at rest now. I extend to his family by deepest sympathy for their loss of beloved brother and uncle. Luv, Mat

How y'all are?

2012-01-05T14:22:00.008-06:00

Sounds kind of cajun, huh? LOL! The weather here can't seem to understand it is winter, to be up around 70 today and tomorrow. Got spring fever already, cause I've been cleaning and opening windows...LOL! Now I need to rake leaves again, but tomorrow is supposed to be pretty windy so maybe ALL the leaves will be down if I just wait a couple more days and only have to rake them once more....LOL...I know my neck, back and shoulders would appreciate that! I've finished my work, having a Mimosa and have some short ribs cooking think I will go add some rice to them for dinner...yummy smells in my home right now. I got some photos of the great-nieces and great-nephew over the holidays, so wanted to make a couple of pages for them. Hope you enjoy looking. I've also been creating for Miriam with her first kit for 2012 if you want to go take a look. Hope y'all all have a terrific weekend ahead, make lots and lots of memories to share. Be safe whatever you do, chat more next time. Luv, MatThis is a freebie QP at Miriam's Scraps that I created using her birthday kit from last year...Jayson is Grandpa Jim's pride and joy for sure...look at the cute little frog hat that his Aunt Tiff made for him...cute, huh?Jade and Ruby with their Angry Bird caps...LOL...Ruby even has on an outfit I sent her for Christmas too...I used several different Christmas themed kits by Raspberry Road to make this QP. Don't they just love these caps?This kit is called Lovely Christmas and is a freebie from Kyra at With A Russian-Dutch Heart. Miss Hayden is in her pretty dress I sent her for Christmas and her new pink cowgirl boots she also got from someone. Too cute, too cute!

Happy 2012 Everyone!

2011-12-31T17:58:00.005-06:00

It has been spring for a couple of days here (at least temperature wise)! Even had my windows open today! I've blown leaves and picked up 11 bags for the trash yesterday, cannot move too well today...LOL! And as the wind picked up...the leaves began another rain dance and my lawn looks like I've never picked them up...What a mess again...LOL! Anyhow, house is clean, clothes are all washed and put away, starting out the new year right....tee hee! Making pork steaks, cabbage, black eye peas, and cornbread for lunch tomorrow and a few friends will be coming to eat and celebrate with me. Can't wait!
My boss had her knee replacement on Wednesday, all went well, she is at home now, trying to manage the pain and getting used to the therapy! Sure know what she is going through, but her surgery was much less invasive than mine. Glad they have new techniques now. Hopefully, she will be back full and ready to go in about 5 more weeks.
My wish for all of you is a safe, healthy and happy 2012. 2011 was pretty good to me for the most part and I am really looking forward to this new year, lots more happiness and hopefully the ability to do a little more traveling to see my beloved family! Hope all of you enjoy this evening making lots of memories to share! Chat more with you later! Luv, Mat
PS Forgot to say happy 3rd birthday to Ruby, so Happy third birthday Ruby, luv you bunches and you sure look cute in this page made by Miss Linda! XO XO! :)

Merry CHRISTmas Y'al!!

2011-12-23T17:06:00.002-06:00

I just want to wish all my family and friends a very Merry CHRISTmas and a healthy, happy and prosperous new year. Don't forget the reason for the season and put HIM first in your life, then everything else will fall in place as it should! Hope all of you have a memorable family celebration and create lots of memories to share. My "girls" and I want to wish you and yours the best ever! Chat more later! Luv, Mat

Happy 5th Birthday Jade!!

2011-12-15T12:27:00.004-06:00

Today is Jade's 5th birthday! Happy birthday sweetheart, I hope your day at school in PJs is fun and the party you are having Saturday to celebrate is so much fun for you. I hope the surprises I sent you are to your liking and that you have many, many more years of these special days to come. Loving you bunches! Greataunt Neenie!

Hi y'all!

2011-12-10T15:28:00.006-06:00

Such a busy time of the year...constantly on the go it seems, and my vehicle is still broke down...LOL! I'm hoping that will be fixed by the end of the day as I have a couple of boxes to take to UPS and my last minute little gifts to purchase. I need to buy some food to fix for Christmas dinner too. Not enough hours in the day it seems because I have been in a creating mood. Made lots of borders and now making some clusters....LOL! Anyhow, been trying to do a little scrapping too. Weather has been up and down and when it went down, it went down, like a 40-50 degree drop all at once. Been really dreary and gray and foggy, not today, sun nice and bright and warm. Probably back up in the mid 50's today before the next norther comes in the first of the week. Hope all of you are busy (but not too busy) getting ready to make lots of memories of this wonderful CHRISTmas season. Here's a couple of pages I've created this week. Chat with all y'all later! Luv, MatMy Sister Kathy with her 3 grandbabies. I snatched the photo from Christina's FB acct and the page is by Lindalou called Let It Snow.This is Kathy's daughter in law Tiffany with Jason and Christina's children, Jade, Ruby and Jayson. There is no TOU with the cluster, the page is from RRD.This is sweet Hayden (lol) that Margaret sent to be on my blackberry, the page is from RDH kit and frame from another RDH Christmas kit, the wordart is Linda's and the sentiment is O so true for Hayden...ROFL!!!

Happy Birthday Myrl & Judy!!

2011-12-06T07:10:00.005-06:00

Two lovely ladies sharing a birthday today, my sister-in-law Myrl and my friend Judy! I hope you both have a marvelous birthday and are blessed with many more to come. Hugs to both of you. I have made you both a little card! Myrl is in a QP I made using freebie kit Lost in Time by Kyra at With A Russian/Dutch Heart!Judy is in a QP I made using freebie called Fall in the Air by Teapot Lady!
Don't know if you have noticed or not, but have been making some QP's, clusters and borders for Miriam at Miram's Scraps from some of her kits. If you get a chance stop by and have a look or better yet grab some freebies from Miriam, Gina or myself.
I am about ready to put my packages in the mail, finished my shopping except for a few little things for loved ones here. All my shopping that has to be sent is ready to go this week. That is, if my car will start...think the fuel pump has finally given up...just waiting for a little warm up around here before I tackle trying to get it to my mechanic. It hit 31 here this morning with a very biting wind and that is on top of the rain/snow mix from yesterday. Not supposed to even get out of the 30's today. I know you think that is not cold, but...30-40 degree drop all at once really gets your attention around here. I do NOT relish getting out in it and taking a cold. Nope, will just wait it out, to be back in the 60's by the weekend...LOL! Well, got some work that must be done, so outta here for this time, chat more next time. Keep making those memories to share and having fun doing it! Luv, Mat

Happy Birthday Miss Doodle

2011-12-01T21:18:00.003-06:00

To my beautiful Canadian FRIEND, the "girls" and I wish you a very Happy Birthday and hope you are blessed with many more to come! Many hugs are sent to you today!!Luv, Mat I created this QP from a freebie by Teapot Lady and WA is from Elegant Wordart!

Wow...25 days until Christmas!

2011-11-30T09:37:00.015-06:00

Can you believe it? 25 more days to go. The time is simply flying away here! I had a very blessed Thanksgiving with friends this year. We did something different. No cooking for us, we went to a buffet at the Gaylord Texan River Walk Restaurant. The Gaylord was surely decorated nicely with oodles and oodles of decorations. Oh, what a wonderful selection of foods to choose from too. We ate until we had to walk off some of the excess before we could climb back into the car for the ride home....LOL! I got back home in time to watch my "BOYS" (Dallas Cowboys that is) win by the skin of their teeth. I did NOT participate in the Black Friday ordeal the next day either, but I did participate some on Cyber Monday! I think I have most of my shopping done, just a few small items left that I hope to obtain today after my paycheck is signed and in the bank....LOL! I have most all ready to be taped up and mailed, got my cards already mailed, my outside decorations are up as is my tree. Not going all out this year as in years past....too much and not enough time...LOL, I am semi-retired you see, so I have developed a real case of the LAZIES....LOL! Here are a couple of photos that I snapped at the Gaylord...Cute, huh?This is the restaurant area where we ate.Jannette, Mike and JuliaFrosty down in the Palo Duro Canyon...LOL!Mike by the tree after we ate...LOL!These poinsettias were everywhere and so very pretty, all fresh not artificial.Just one of many train villages, this one is over in the Hill Country Section.They swear this is their best sides...as they stare longingly at the Gingerbread House...LOL!This is just one of the decorated trees in the atrium.Snow on the Alamo? (not likely, but very pretty)!Just us girls.

Happy Thanksgiving to All

2011-11-23T19:40:00.004-06:00

May all of you enjoy a blessed and fruitful Thanksgiving with your loved ones making lots of great memories to share. May you also be blessed with lots of terrific food, parades and FOOTBALL...Go Cowboys!! That is certainly what I shall be doing this year! Eat all you want so you will have to exercise it all off to be able to do it again at Christmas...LOL! Thanx to all my cyber family for your friendships! Hugs to all and will chat more next time. Luv, Mat
(I used several different kits to make this page, sorry did not write them all down, if it is your work....Thanx a million for sharing!)

Have a terrific Weekend FRIENDS!!

2011-11-20T07:23:00.004-06:00

Downloaded this from Miriam @ Miriams Scraps and just HAD to use it! Too cute not to! To these Sexy Ladies....Have a terrific weekend! Late, Mat

The weekend is almost here AGAIN!!

2011-11-17T09:33:00.008-06:00

Boy, the time surely seems to be flying by. Is it because I am so busy or just that it is closing in on the end of another year? Whatever it is, I can't believe how fast the days seem to speed by! I've been in a creative mood too, so have been creating QPs and have put some online at Miriams Scraps, check them out, her link is on the right. I've been trying to gather up some Christmas gifts for the nieces, nephews, and the great ones too! We have been having some terrific fall weather here. I'm hoping to get my Christmas decorations to where I can sort them and get them ready for putting up or outside, after Thanksgiving...LOL! Well, here are a couple of pages I have finished up thought you might enjoy. Thanx for stopping by for a visit, hope you enjoy your day doing what you love, making memories to share. Chat more with you later! Luv, MatMiss "cutie patootie" Hayden in her first attempt at fishing with mama and her Papa, she loved it and she caught a 2 pound catfish. I got these photos from Margaret and used a polaroid frame cluster I had made earlier and used a BG from the 2MrsSumners Valentine kit a few years back.This is Jade swinging (got this off Christina's FB) and used a QP I made using freebie kit called Wisteria from Scrapiness Down Under.Another photo snitched from Christina of Ruby riding a horsey and placed her in a freebie QP by Lanell at Never Forget Memories.Here's Margaret with Hayden looking from a QP I made using freebie Autumn kit by Marzena.

Thank You Veterans

2011-11-11T08:03:00.004-06:00

Thank you to all our veterans, past or present, for all you have sacrificed so that I might live in a free country! I appreciate all you do or have done to give that right to me. I also thank your families that suffer the sacrifice of not having you at home safe and sound every night. This is your day to be honored and remembered! I remember you every day! May God watch over and Bless each and every one of YOU! Thank You!Jim Hill, Pete Tate, Jerry Tate, Jason Tate, Marvin Barchers, Elvin Barchers, James Adkins, Charles Adkins, Judy Deaver, Janet Williams, Scott Williams, William Barnett, Jerry Bennett, Johnny Bell, Carl Adkins, Donald Mitchell, Joe Levengood!
Luv, Mat
I created this page from several different freebies from ScrapbookFlair. Thanx to all you wonderful designers for your work!

Brrrr

2011-11-04T09:14:00.013-05:00

Somebody up north left their door open, I won't say who, it has dropped almost 50 degrees in about 36 hours! We went from 80 balmy degrees to bone chilling 35 this morning with lots of biting wind too! LOL! Never happy with the weather are we? This certainly is better than those scorching hot 100+ days we had this past summer though! We still need some moisture, but at least having to add clothes is better than trying to shed them and remain decent for the public! I've had a very busy week and a very creative one too! I've been making QPs like mad using some of Kyra's kits and a lot of Miriam's kits as well. Miriam has invited me to becaome a part of her team (with Gina) to make QPS with her creations. I am so very honored and I hope y'all will stop by to check out her blog with all her gorgeous freebies. You can find a link to her site on the lower right side in my blog list. I have finally downloaded some of Christina's photos from Halloween and one from Margaret of Hayden so I will be making some pages for them soon. In the meantime, I have made these while playing with some kits, hope you enjoy them.

This is a photo I took of the Mittens at Monument Valley, Utah and put in a QP I made using Miriam's Terracotta kit and a lacy overlay of hers.

This is my sweet Sebrina in a QP I made using Kyra's Woodland Marvel kit at With a Russian Dutch Heart!

This is also a kit by Kyra called From Earth to Sky and has little Jayson in his bath, his mommy took some cute photos, doesn't he look really relaxed and comfy?

This is Jade & Ruby when they went apple picking, used Raspberry Road Designs Autumn Apple kit for this QP.
Well, my Rangers choked up again this year....but we have next year. The series was a really good one even if we did lose it in the last game. The Cowboys forgot to show up for their Sunday night game against the Eagles, but we have this week. And those Nascar races at Martinsville were so exciting and 18 yellow flags...lots of banging up of cars too! This week they are here at the Texas Motor Speedway, needless to say no going anywhere near there until all is gone after Sunday's race for the cup. I will be glued to my TV anyhow until it is over...LOL! Guess I had better hush, do a little quick blog walking and get some work done around here! Making a big pot of hobo stew and gonna fix a pan of cornbread to tide me over the chilly couple of days...LOL! Y'all all have a terrific weekend making memories to share with us. Stay warm and enjoy life to the fullest each day! Chat with ya more next time! Luv, Mat

Go Rangers!!

2011-10-27T12:20:00.013-05:00

Well, the World Series got rained out last evening in St.Louis, but watch the RANGERS tonight! Series is now Rangers 3 games to 2 games for the Cardinals. The rain and cold front that hit St. Louis area yesterday is trying to come in here today....dropping temps from the uppers 80's to the 40's by nightfall! Brrrr! No rain as of yet, but threatening! Since I have been glued to the TV watching the series, I have been using some of those freebie kits I have downloaded making an enormous amount of QPs on my laptop in Photoshop. Here are a few I have added some photos to! This is from Cuddlebeez's A Season kit. Jason with Ruby and Jayson, Jade holding Jayson, Jayson, and Ruby loving on Jayson, aren't they cute, cute, cute?I made these cute photos of Margaret and Hayden when I went home in March. The kit I used was one of Cuddlebeez's and the cluster is from Farmer Lisa. I know I have used this photo before, but it is such a good one of Maggie that I put her in this page from Russian Dutch Heart Beloved Memory kit.
" />This is Jan's greatgrandson, Jaydan on a BG from Tea for TwoThis is Ruby eating her ice cream again in a QP by ElkaRomeroAnd lastly, me and my "girls" in a QP using Raspberry Road and a freebie by Marzen Designs called Autumn Dreams.
Been all day trying to upload this. Blogger kept kicking me off the internet. Now the rain is starting to softly fall, my chicken and dumplings are ready, the game starts in about 90 minutes, so outta here and going to feed my face and root for the RANGERS to win! Chat more later, luv y'all! Mat

Texas State Fair

2011-10-21T09:47:00.009-05:00

I went to the Texas State Fair with Nina and Chuck this year. I have not been in a few years and they had never been...can you believe it? We picked the coolest, windiest day, but oh, it was so much fun. We took the TRE train and then the DART train right to Fair Park. That was a first for all of us. We enjoyed the whole day, eating corny dogs, corn on the cob, funnel cake, fried brownies, fried cheesecake and cold beer. (no one was driving). We rode the Big Star ferris wheel, the Skyway tram, watched a few demos (ate vita soup and ice cream), walked and walked and walked. Sure was fun and we so needed the exercise and a break from everyday stuff! Here's a photo that Chuck took of Nina and I as flowers. I created the QP using an older freebie kit called inspired by nature and word art by Ginger.This photo is of me as we were waiting for the train to head east to Dallas. I made this QP using freebie kit by zlatadesigns called Autumn Kiss.These are pages I added for Jan's great grandson Jaydan. This is from a freebie by clareydesigns called denim and daisies and the wordart is by Miss Linda at Random ThoughtsThis is a QP I made using Linda Lou's kit Ain't Life GrandForgot to write this one down, I created the QP will get the info and correct it for the kudos.This is my "girls" from my Blackberry camera. Not the best, but cute shots of them with me in the bathroom...LOL! They had just gotten their morning baths too! in a freebie kit called Yellow and Gray!I'm involved in a rivalry with my sister Kathy over the world series. She says her St. Louis Cardinals are gonna beat my Texas Rangers. Ain't No Way, we're gonna do it this year. Anyhow, been watching the games for the last two nights, both been nail biters and we are tied at 1-1 each. The next 3 games are here in Texas!! GO RANGERS!!! Well, got to get myself busy, so will hush for now. Hope y'all all have a great weekend ahead making lots of memories to share. Chat more next time. Luv, Mat

Pages for my friend Jan~

2011-10-10T09:03:00.007-05:00

I'm making a scrapbook to be printed for my friend Jan's great grandson Jaydan. I've created a few QP's using RDH's (With a Russian Dutch Heart) kit From Earth to Sky. This kit is so lovely and so versatile to use, I thank you Kyra for your generosity in sharing your beautiful work. I have kept all of these QPS to use at some time in the future too! Hope you enjoy these pages ladies! Have a wonderful week ahead. Chat more later! Luv, Mat

More photos of Jayson~*~

2011-10-08T20:01:00.008-05:00

Been snitching some photos of Jayson off Christina's FB account. Just had to make a few more pages...LOL! He is a Big Boy already....sent him some 6-9 mo clothes. I have been busy gathering birthday presents for Hayden (3 in Oct), Jade (5 in Dec) and Ruby (3 in Dec). I have also been Christmas shopping for all 4 of them too. Next comes Christmas for the nieces and nephews...whew...lots to do! Then comes the sisters (real and "adopted")!! Maybe I will be through by Christmas....LOL! Anyhow, weather is finally cooling down into the upper 80's now. Got to keep my windows closed though as I have been having them opened, had to visit the doctor for vertigo, ALLERGIES acting up because the ragweed is so high. Taking a medrol dosepak and some Antivert. Seems to be helping a little. With the fatigue and swimming head I didn't feel like being at the computer....LOL! Today, I made up for it. Got that new kit from Kyra (With a Russian Dutch Heart) called From Earth to Sky....have created 10 QPs with it and finally scrapped some pages for my friend Jan of her great grandson and a couple of Jayson and even one of my friend Nina. Will not share all of them with you...LOL....but only a couple. Well, tired for sure now, so gonna close early and settle in for a snooze...got NASCAR and FOOTBALL tomorrow...LOL! Whatever you choose to do for this long weekend...have fun...enjoy each other and make lots of memories to share. Chat more next time y'all!! Luv, Mat
All 3 of Kathy's grandkids at about the same age...LOL
This is a QP from 7th Heaven's birthday celebration
I think this was the day they took him home. I created this page from RDH kit.
Ruby with Jayson. I created this page from RDH kit

My Friend Nina and I created this page from the RDH kit.

Here's Jayson

2011-09-30T12:35:00.003-05:00

Jade and Ruby have a new baby brother, Jayson Christopher! He was born by C-Section at 5:40 p.m. on 9-27-2011 at the Missouri Baptist Hospital in St. Louis. He was 22 inches long and a whopping 10 pounds 6 ounces. He is one BIG BOY!! He is out of NICU and in room with mommy now so that all can see him. Both mother and baby are doing well and expected to go home tomorrow. Daddy and sisters are happy to hold and "play" with him. Grandpa Jim is so very proud of him and can't get over how big he is. His grandma Kathy is also very glad that he is here and all is well, but she has a terrible cold with a temp and cannot be around him yet. She did see him behind glass when he was born though. His uncle Jeff and aunt Tiff cannot be there until after the weekend as Tiff's father passed away the night before Jayson was born and will be buried today, so they are in Tennessee right now. Here is a couple of the first photos I snitched from Christina's FB account. Will be more later I am sure...LOL!I used a kit called It's A Boy by Just-A-Dream and a cluster by goingdigi called boyish dreams that I flipped. Thanx to both for the lovely freebies.
My sister Penny's brother-in-law had heart surgery yesterday and came through it well, all went as expected. This was the same surgery her hubby had a few years ago! It's a heredity thingy with the aortic valve.
We hit 101 again yesterday! This makes 71 days in 2011 that we hit triple digits. A front finally came through about 9 p.m. with a lot of wind and loads and loads of lightning, but very little rain at my house, but some and every little bit is appreciated. Dropped the temps to the low to mid 80's through the weekend. Needless to say, I have all my windows open and the "girls" are loving it. Each one is in a different window soaking it up...LOL!
Well, today is payday, so have lots of errands, got to go do them. Will chat with all of you next time. Have a super duper weekend making lots of memories to share! Luv, Mat

Great Fall Weekend~

2011-09-25T10:45:00.014-05:00

Thursday, we actually had a front come through, dropped the temps a little bit and a few more tiny showers. I joined my friends Janette and Debbie for a great birthday cook out where we enjoyed sitting outside watching the birds and squirrels. Then on Friday, we met up at Souper Salad with Michelle and again had a great "girl's day out" with shopping afterwards. Snapped a few shots to make a couple of pages for them. Also finished up a project for Nina's granddaughter yesterday. Also got a long 2 hour catch up phone call from my stepdaughter, Tracy and last evening another surprise call from ex-sister-in-law, Inez. It's been a good couple of days! Today, catch up housekeeping day...LOL! I've dusted everything including baseboards, window blinds, doors tops and even the ceiling fans, vacuumed and even mopped the whole house. Getting ready for a shower, but thought I'd post this before I do. Then, it's Nascar chase race and FOOTBALL! I totally love my Sunday's just loafing and watching TV all day, snacking here and there too...LOL! Got a few pages of my constant precious "girls" too, of course! My sister Kathy will be a grandma again on Wednesday...her grandson will be taken by C-section on that day....can't wait, first boy...Jade and Ruby want another sister...LOL! Just so everything goes okay is all I pray, am sure you will see pages as soon as I can get some photos....LOL! Well, sitting here sticky and tired, so going for my shower now...have a great Sunday ya'll! Chat more later, keep making those memories to share! Luv, Mat
(BTW, will come back and post credits to all the lovely ladies that provided me with the fabulous freebies for these later. WA from Diana's Spirit of Autumn Kit or Dive Into Fall WA Blogtrain)This is a QP by Eledhwen designs using RRD Summer Goodness kit.
Collaboration of kits, sorry did not write down who, if yours please let me know and I will give credit.
Carena's Autumn Cruch QP
Autumn Beauty Cluster frame with no tou, sorry and my wordart :)
Diana's Spirit of Autumn kitfreebie from tsstar-QPnb-erica
Cuddlebeez Willow Hall Kit

Water from the sky, what is it?????

2011-09-18T08:11:00.008-05:00

It has been so long since we have seen rain, that when it started night before last, not sure what it was. Went to check and yes, it was RAIN, blessed RAIN! I took my shoes off and went and played in the rain...LOL...yes I did! It even looks like we might get some more this afternoon. Hoping so, my yard surely loved what little we have already gotten. I even plugged in the battery tender to my lawn mower as I know I will have to mow the grass later, but right now, just want to look at all that green grass. :) Love it (especially since I am the only one on the court with green grass)! We actually tied then broke the all time record for most number of days in the triple digits in one year. Last Monday it hit 105 and Tuesday it hit 107, highest temps for those dates ever and tied, then broke 1980 record of 69 days in one year. We hit 70 this year and the average overall temperature was higher too. We started tapering down on Wednesday when it only reached 97, then down to 94 yesterday and today supposed to hit 90, but hey it is less than 100+ Right? This has also been the driest year since sometime in the 1950's so far. The worst year for wildfires for sure with the largest loss of property and lives. They almost have the Palo Pinto County fire contained, down to 90% now and the Bastrop County fire is 75% contained. I think all these prayer vigils we have been having has finally worked.

Did you notice my nice new blog look? Nice autumn look to it and all the thanx goes to my fabulous BLOG FAIRY, Carol. Thanx so much Miss Doodle for all you do, I just love the new look and feel. Hope you have a fantastic vacation break. Miss Gerri & Miss Judy, hope you are doing well and enjoying some cooler weather up there. Miss Linda I know you are loving the cooler temps, but frost already? Send some this way please! Miss Scarlett I surely hope the cooler temps are agreeing with you, guess it will soon be hot toddy weather in your parlor, huh? Nina so happy you have your car repaired and now have transportation again!

I did a few scrap pages for my friend Nina's granddaughter's wedding and just could not resist making a few for just me...so take a look at them if you want and see how the great nieces are growing, how lovely my niece Sebrina is and always, my beloved fur girls....LOL!

I've fed my "girls", my outside feral kitties, and the birds, fresh water out, fresh litter and got all my house cleaning (:as much as I'm gonna do anyway:) done, clothes washed and getting ready for some NASCAR and some FOOTBALL, so gonna make this short and sweet today. Hope all of you have a marvelous, relaxing, memory making day with those you love. Chat more with you next time....Luv, MatLittle Miss Jade on her first day of PreK and some of her art work in a page made with School Frames by SharenKMiss Ruby loving her chocolate ice cream in a QP by ACG called Remember Last Summer.
My lovely Sebrina in a QP made by MMTS from Cuddlebeez kit ALL IN A DAY and the newest wordart from Miss Linda.I simply loved this QP from Miriam at Miriams Scraps so had to use it. The photo of me was taken in 2006 at the Japanese TeaGardens in Ft. Worth.Oreo
Pumpkin
MZKitty
All my "girls" in frames from a collab kit called Elves in rosegarten, these frams are by baerbel and I recolored the one on Oreo. Thanx to all you wonderful designers for your lovely freebies. Mat

Still Dry, Dry, Dry...but lovely temps now!

2011-09-09T08:00:00.003-05:00

Wow, when the triple digit temps finally broke (1 day shy of the record for 1980), it brought such lovely cool weather that we are all rejoicing in. Now if it would just rain to stop all the wildfires and loss of homes. More than 600 homes to date and new fires breaking out daily. So far, the closest to the Metroplex area (Dallas-DFW-Ft.Worth areas) has been about 50 miles on the east, 70 miles on the west, 40 miles to the north and now 90 miles to the south. I have opened all my windows (washed them too!) and my doors each day until the smoke starts to invade. I am only using the AC now for a couple of hours in the late afternoon....yippee! I can certainly empathize with all those in the northeast that are experiencing so much flooding. Too much of anything is not always a good thing. Loss of property and lives no matter how (fire, flood, tornado, earthquake...etc), is not a good thing!
For two days, I was trapped in my home because they repaved the court I reside on and then the street out front the next day....LOL! looks good and the smoothness of the road is certainly better~so I scrapped a bit. Here is what I came up with. A couple of pages of my girls....LOL....what else...right? I really like the new Apple Freebie by Raspberry Road Designs...check these out!The wordart is by Miss Linda too, thanx Linda, thanx Susan for the kit and Ellen for the cluster. This wordart is by Marlene and the bits are by Ellen and the kit by Susan at RRD. This kit is a freebie from Scrappiness Downunder.This is an older layout, don't remember who's, and an older photo I have used before, but only one I have of me and all 3 "girls"!
I wish a terrific weekend for all of you, enjoy it no matter what! I am so happy Football is back, did you see that exciting game last evening? The Packers did a terrific job keeping those Saints at bay! DaBOYS play on Sunday in NY against the Jets. Let's all remember the 9-11 tragedy on Sunday too! Cannot believe it has been 10 years already! Do you remember what you were doing when it happened? Keep all those that are still suffering, as well as our NATION, in your prayers! Well, gotta head out of here, going to get this mangy head of hair cut this morning....LOL! Have a good one, enjoy your loved ones! I'll chat more later! Luv, Mat

I got a new blog award from Scrappers Emporium

2011-09-02T06:44:00.004-05:00

I got a new blog award from Lynn at Scrappers Emporium
I appreciate it so very much Lynn, Thank You!
I must pass it on to 5 other blogs that I think Rock!
There are no rules to this award.
Only to send it to 5 people you think deserve this award.
Make sure you leave them a message.
I am now passing this award on to
Kyra
Miriam
Linda
Donna
Wingz

September? Already?

2011-09-01T16:33:00.008-05:00

Wow, where has this year flown to? I thought it was supposed to start a cool down in September...NOT here, we are on day 66 of the 100+ temps and it doesn't look to be slowing down anytime soon. NO RAIN EITHER! We had over 165k acres burn out west of us in April, now it is on fire just east of there now. Last count I heard was over 3 dozen homes lost and fire only 25% contained. Another wildfire is burning nw of us too! It is a real tinderbox in the areas here with no relief in sight. The poor animals are really suffering in the heat and with no water or food. So, I have been staying in out of the heat...yep, soaking up all the AC and praying that the rolling black outs don't hit here. I keep my thermostat at 80, but have the house closed up, when you go out and come back in, it is like a refrigerator...so nice:)! So many cooling places are open for those with no AC and they electric companies are trying to help those with exhorbitant bills. I've scrapped some pages, but mostly cats for my friends Janette/Mike and some of my own kitty girls. Here's a few of my babies hope you enjoy. I wish all of you a safe and memory making Labor Day break. Hope you have a lot of fun with family and friends. Chat more next time y'all! Luv, MatThis shot shows MzKitty's pretty torteshell colors.
Sweet baby Pumpkin
My cuddle buddy Oreo.
MzKitty
I'm gonna make a new alpha series using my Cats photos...LOL!
I have to find the paper where I wrote all the info down for the pages, will post when I find it...LOL. I know I have some Russian Dutch Heart and some Raspberry Road Designs, but can't remember them all...guess it's my age sneaking in....LOL!

Same old song, different verse...still above 100 daily!

2011-08-19T07:57:00.014-05:00

We are still in the throes of a DRY, DRY, DRY and very Hot, Hot, HOT summer. To break records here today with 107 the target. So very tired and bored with this summer. Wouldn't be so bad if we could just get some rain~lots of grass fires that are ending up taking homes and vehicles with it. Crunchy brown straw instead of nice lush green lawns...not a pretty picture! I'm soaking my lawn a little just to keep the fire danger down. Feel so for all the firefighters that are having some really busy days around these parts in all this excessive heat. I'm still trying to stay inside as much as I can, really have no energy to go outside, this just sucks the life out of you, slowly! So, while indoors what do I do???? I scrap until I can't use my arms and neck and shoulders...LOL! So think I will get a massage today (I hope) if Kelly can squeeze me in. Here's some of the pages I have made recently!

I also had a very nice surprise this week, my dear friend Judy (know as Miss Scarlett to y'all) sent me photos of some of my family's headstones from a cemetery closer to her. Her generosity and help in my genealogy research is totally amazing and so very, very much appreciated. I hope someday to meet this gracious and very giving lady and share a real mint julep with her on her fabulous veranda! Also received an e-mail from Japan from the wife of a grandson of a first cousin that I have been searching for information on for a few years now. Very exciting that we will be able to share some information as well! Been a very productive week for me! Hope y'all all share a beautiful weekend making memories with your loved ones. Chat more next time...Luv, MatLisette-Lovely miss QP #1, Wordart has no TOU with it and the photo I got from Margaret's FB
Jade & Ruby are in Gina's QP #62 and photos I took from Christina's FB
I took this photo of Mary as we celebrated her birthday and put in MMC Strawberry Sting QP
This is a QP called Vintage by Tiki
This is RRD's For the Record with a cluster by Scrappie Irene and my photos. the WA is older and no TOU with it.
This is RRD's For the Record and cluster and the Wordart is by Elegant WA

Still above 100 degrees around here!!!

2011-08-11T11:32:00.014-05:00

Today will be day 41 straight, the record of 42 was set back in 1980, Saturday will break the record if it makes it. There is a front hovering and stalling out in Oklahoma that MAY give us some clouds (RAIN WE HOPE) that could drop our temps to 99 and not break the records. We can only hope. So far we are at 48 days this summer of over 100, but the record there was again set in 1980 at 69 total days. Certainly hope we do not break those records. Water rationing is getting serious around here now, my grass is totally dormant and so brown, the only watering I do is soaking around the foundation of the house and my potted plants that are about to burn to a crisp. :) We are having rolling blackouts of the electricity in the high peaks of the day still and still under an excessive heat warning. The humidity thank goodness is staying around 25%. But then, I am staying inside in the hottest part of the day anyway....and just scrapping away. Here are a few of what I have done in the last couple of days, lots of birthdays to celebrate. 3 of them tomorrow!! So happy birthday Oreo and to my niece Amy and a rememberance of what would have been my brother's 53rd birthday! The 10th was my friend Theresa's birthday (she now lives in OH) the grandma page is my high school chum, Libby's 5 month old grandbaby, one of my tired sister and one for coffee drinking Ms Carol and the others are my great nieces. Hope all of you have a terrific weekend, pray for rain and relief for us and make lots of memories to share! Chat with y'all more later on! Luv, MatOreo's QP is Life is Grand by Xena and photo taken yesterday.
Floressence by meldesigns QP and photos from Amy's 2007 vacation CD
Backgrounds by Cuddlebeez's Good Afternoon papers and Raspberry Road Designs Grass Stains Cluster. Photo is mine of the 4 of us recolored.
Theresa is in QP by A+Designs called A Beautiful Life. My photo.Angels Among Us by Brattys Designs, WA by 2MrsSumners and photos from e-mail Libby sent me.
Raspberry Road Designs Oopsie Daisy background and Cluster C by Ellen. My photo from 2004 I think. WA is without a TOU.Photo by Miss Judy,BG by LMS Painted Dessert BlogTrain freebie,Hot Coffee Cup by Craftyscraps and WA by Donna and Border by Kim BSeveral different designers, will get back to ya on this one.BG from Painted Dessert Blog Train, barbwire frame by Lanell at never Forget Memories and Cluster by DoubleTrouble, the WA is by Donna and photo from Margaret's Facebook.

We're Melting~

2011-08-04T07:41:00.018-05:00

We are still under the excessive heat advisory, it's gets extended daily. We are breaking all kinds of records, daily highs, highest low temps in a.m. ever recorded and dry, dry, dry. Yesterday the rolling blackouts started...hasn't hit me yet...but~and the water rationing is getting worse. I have to get a new soaker hose to put around the entire house. The ground is cracking and the highways are buckling from the excessive heat. We hit 112 degrees here yesterday and the heat is not slowing down any and the humidity is on the increase. We need rain desperately (last rained on June 20th). Today will be 34 straight days of 100+ temps and only 8 away from tying the record set in 1980 of 42 days. From all the weather forecasts I have seen, we should surpass this record. I know there are others of you out there suffering this heat as well, been a really weird year for weather records, huh? Way too many tornados and in places where they don't usually hit, the heat wave in lots and lots of places where they are not used to it too! Here, the lakes are really drying up, docks are high and dry and even finding remnants of the space shuttle from 2003, since the water is lower. Too hot for swimming in and the "parks" that are still operating are adding ice to their pools for swimming! Think I will go buy a battery operated fan and batteries to be able to keep the "girls" cool during the blackouts. :)
Too hot for outside so staying in as much as I can and been doing a little scrapping for my friend Janette. She and her mate Mike have 6 cats that I "sit" when they go out of town, they wanted some pages of them, so here are the pages I have created for her. Used a lot of older freebie kits I have and some newer ones from Raspberry Road Designs. Thanx to all you generous designers for the freebies, you make my days so much brighter!
Well, enough babbling, will get some work done and chat with all of you later. Have a marvelous weekend ahead doing just as you please and making lots of memories to share while doing it~ Luv, Mat
Janette and Mike on a trip in Amarillo.
All 6 of their cats, the large Calico is Mama to 4 of them.
This is Bear and he is a big scaredy cat for sure, loves to hide.
Petey is the only other male and he is finally warming to me.
This is MsPurple, she likes when I bring her treats.
This is Rainy, she is almost Mama's double, but so very shy.
This is twofy (for 2 Faces) and Janette's baby for sure.
This photo was taken in front of their home a few weeks back.
Well, guess blogger and or the internet are having problems too, took FOREVER to upload the images and to publish this post :(

Still under a heat advisory :)

2011-07-22T14:37:00.008-05:00

We just can't shake it...21 days in a row with no relief in sight for the next 7 days. Wow~See where a lot of other states not used to the triple digits are experiencing it too~Wow! We haven't had any measurable rain since June 20th either, so grass is beginning to die, most of the plants are dying despite some watering, but when you are on water rationing because of the excessive heat and no rain...guess that is to be expected. My poor car is soooooo dirty, but not taking it to the car wash until it rains...may be dirty for a while...LOL! I think I will head to Tennessee, pickup Scarlett, shoot on up to Ohio for Thelma, then over to Wisconsin for Miss Boots and we're headed to the Canadian home of Louise to soak up some of the cooler weather. Since I have been inside so much, I've been...you guessed it...scrapping...Hayden, Jade, Ruby and the "girls" of course, as well as some of Elizabeth and Andrew's wedding! Hope all of you have big plans for the weekend for making memories to share. Whatever you do, make it fun!! Chat with you next time. Luv, Mat

This kitty is one of six belonging to friends that I watch when they are out of town!
Thanks to Raspberry Road Designs for a lot of these layouts as well as Linda for the Wordart and Ginger for wordart and PascaleA for the tuts on using GIMP, I think I have a good handle on using that program now, but still fine tuning some!

Day 12 of the 100+ temperatures here!

2011-07-13T10:36:00.011-05:00

We are under heat advisory until the end of the week. Man, 12 days in a row of 100+ temps and not lower than 80 at night time. Waaaaayyyy toooo HOT for me. Need to go to a cooler place, but can't....so just stay inside and soak up the AC...LOL! At least I am learning the GIMP program (thanx to tutorials from PascaleA). Here are some more of Elizabeth's wedding photos in some awesome QPS I found and an attempt at blending color/black and white. Hope y'all are have a great week and making lots of memories to share. Chat with you more next time. Luv, Mat
Miriams scraps QP 206 holds Tammy & Elizabeth (mother & bride)

Miriams scraps Wedding QP of the lovely bride

Sorry this Love Overlay was from Craft Crave with no TOU

This graynblack QP also had no TOU....the handsome groom...Andrew

nanb QP 4 of the bride
nanb QP5 also of the bride
and my blending attempt doing it by the tutorial from PascaleA. Thanx to all of you creative designers for the freebies and the instructions. I appreciate all of you!

Happy Birthday Miss Gerri~

2011-07-10T13:09:00.003-05:00

Finally....guess blogger has been having troubles this morning....kept giving me a "Service Unavailabe" message....anyhow, on now and can post the special page I created for a special lady on her special day! The "girls" and I wish you a great birthday! Happy Birthday Miss Gerri, hope it is a marvelous day filled with loads of memories for you to share. Hope Al treats you like a queen today and that you will have many more to come! Hugs to ya and here's a couple of juleps I took from the veranda to drop off for you especially today! Luv, Mat

New pages of my GreatNieces~

2011-07-06T07:25:00.005-05:00

Since it is tooooooo HOT to be outside, I decided to try my luck with layering in GIMP. It is a little more complicated than Photoshop when it comes to the texting, but think I am finally getting the hang of it. Got a couple of new QP's from Miriam's Scraps by Miriam and GinaP that I thought would make some cute displays of the girls along with Miss Linda's great wordart that describes them to a T. Snitched off some new photos from Facebook of my great nieces, Jade, Ruby & Hayden, so thought I'd make their moms and grandmoms a couple of pages. They surely grow fast don't they? I made a 2 page display of Jade & Ruby, then one of all 3 of them together. Will make another of Hayden a little later to share, but right now, got to get off this computer and get some work done, lots of errands today, lunch with Teri and an appointment at 3 and meds to pickup as well as some treats for my "girls"! Hope all of you have a terrific day, thanks for stopping by! Chat with you more next time. Luv, MatMiss Jade
Miss Ruby
Jade with mommy, Ruby asleep with daddy & Hayden with her Papa

Happy Birthday Nina!!

2011-07-05T12:04:00.002-05:00

Today is my bestest friend Nina's birthday, so I made her a happy page of the loves of her life, her hubby, children, grandchildren and sisters and one of her nieces. Hope you enjoy your special day and that you are treated really special today and always! Love ya bunches. Mat

C~E~L~E~B~R~A~T~E!!!

2011-07-04T06:53:00.003-05:00

Celebrate our nation's freedom this Independence day by thanking a soldier for all they do to keep our country free and the greatest in the world! I appreciate, thank and applaud all of you, yesterday, today and tomorrow! One Nation under God! Luv, Mat
(thanx to 2 MrsSumners for this beautiful kit from a while back and Snappy Scrappy for the lovely flag that I used creating this celebration page)

Happy Canada Day Carol

2011-07-01T12:30:00.002-05:00

Downloaded this gorgeous free cluster from lmurphy...just had to put your photo in it to wish you a happy Canada day! Luv, Mat

Where did June go?

2011-06-30T07:02:00.009-05:00

It has been a really busy month for me....lots of visiting and cooking and the wedding and making pages, etc. Nina's granddaughter, Elizabeth, was married on Father's Day in a lovely ceremony at the TWU Chapel in Denton. I got to visit with my dear friend, Carolyn, (who is recovering from chemo/radiation and a bout with the shingles) and all of Nina's family that was in from North Carolina, Georgia and West Virginia. What a lovely reception with the DJ playing some really FABULOUS COUNTRY MUSIC (since that is Elizabeth and Andrew's preference). There were many, many photos taken of the lovely bride. (Can't believe I have watched her grow up, graduate, go off to college and now get married! Where does the time go?) Anyhow, since I am still not real comfortable using GIMP program yet (but getting there) I chose to use my Photoshop on the slower laptop to make a few pages for Elizabeth. (There will be lots more later on...LOL) Thought I would take a minute to chat, let you see what I have done so far, and to wish all our military a big thank you for your service and the freedom we share because of all you do so that we may celebrate this Independence Day! I pray you all stay safe. As well, I am wishing all of you a fantastic and safe holiday sharing with your loved ones making lots of memories to share with us! Next four days will be spent with cookouts, trips to the lake, fireworks and lots of great food and visits with family and friends. Will chat more later with all y'all! Luv, MatIsn't she lovely?
This is Elizabeth with her father, Donald.
Her bridesmaids and flower girl/ring bearer!
Being presented as Mr. & Mrs. Andrew Williford
It's signed and official now!
Congratulations Elizabeth!
Thanks to all the generous ladies that provided all the lovely scrapping materials that I used in these pages. MWAH~Mat

Hot, Hot, Hot, Hot ~ ~ ~

2011-06-08T07:33:00.008-05:00

Summer is here early this year~way too warm to be out and enjoying outside. So, I've just been inside drinking iced coffee, soaking up the AC, playing Hidden Object Crossword and scrapping (still trying to master GIMP).
My bestest friend Nina has her two granddaughters, Brittany and Lillie, visiting from GA. Her hubby is on a long motorcycle trip out west for about 8 days, so she is having fun enjoying daily adventures with her daughter, Tammy, and all the grandkids. Her eldest granddaughter, Elizabeth, is getting married on the 19th, we are all excited about it too! I have been creating pages using some of their photos of these adventures for the Making Memories DVD that Tammy is making for them. Here are the pages I have created so far.....

I've used a mixture of kits from Raspberry Road Designs, Cuddlebeez, PascaleA and wordart from Miss Linda and Miss Scarlett. Photos I've snitched from FB and/or from my camera. The Diva page of ME is a QP from RRD that I just did for fun, fun, fun. Whatever y'all do today, do it with gusto, making lots of memories to share. Chat more later, Luv ya! Mat

Happy Birthday Miss Boots~

2011-06-06T07:23:00.001-05:00

Happy Birthday to you, Happy Birthday to you, Happy Birthday Dear Linda, Happy Birthday to you! Hope you have many, many, many more to come. Have a wonderful day my friend. Made this just for you using a new freebie kit called Frog luau by Raspberry Road Designs...wishes for a most memorable of days. Luv Ya! Mat and "the girls".

Another month gone~~~~~~

2011-06-03T07:22:00.008-05:00

They just keep on flying by don't they? Almost half of 2011 down now~the heat is really starting early this year as well! To officially hit 98 today with very high humidity! How are y'all? Seems like it has been forever since I have posted, but boy~~~has it been busy around here! Still trying to get my yard cleared of all this metal lying in it. Finally just mowed around it! A friend is supposed to collect it this weekend! My boss' daughter had her second little girl on the 31st! She sure is a cutie pie too with lots and lots of long dark black hair. I saw and held her on the 1st. Been celebrating birthdays and helping my bestest friend Nina paint and get ready for her family later this month. Her granddaughter, Elizabeth, is getting married on the 19th. Nina just flew to Atlanta and picked up her 2 youngest granddaughter and brought them back to stay until the wedding is over! Also, been busy with my work and just "doing things". Seems like when you retire, the time just slips past with you not really doing much, but....I swear, I DO NOT know how I did it when working full time....guess I just let things slide and did not do them....LOL! I've been doing a lot of baking lately too~never had time for it before! Made a really awesome Cinnamon Roll Coffee Cake that is so delicious with a cold glass of milk or fresh cup of coffee! I'm feeding the birds and enjoying watching them a lot~feeding the squirrels and bunnies too~as well as a couple of stray kitty cats~LOL! (Too soft hearted) :) :)
I've played a little bit with trying to learn GIMP program. Still haven't perfected it...but with a few tutorials from Pascale Accord, I am getting around it better. Here are a couple of my newest undertakings.Miss Hayden and her mommy...don't they look alike?This is a freebie from Raspberry Road Designs Pansy Garden and a gorgeous cluster from Miss Linda.Here's my "girls" and I in another one from RRD's Pansy Garden.This was for my sister Kathy's birthday...her and mother ins a RRD Fresh Raspberries cluster by Ellen and WA by Miss Linda.
This is a photo of my friend Janette that I "gussied" up for her.
Whatever you do this weekend, make it fun and memorable. Share it with us too! I plan to! Chat more later~Have a good one and GO MAVS!!!! Luv, Mat

It sure is Monday~

2011-05-09T09:34:00.005-05:00

Good Monday morning....I think! Other than being a typical, rushed, busy day...it is the beginning of a new week~and I wanted to wish all of you a fantastic week ahead. Here it is so very hot, humid and o so windy! The 3 fires still burning in Texas are about 95% contained now, but the areas are still under a SEVERE RED FLAG WARNING for the next 4 days. With the temperatures above 90 in the western portions of the state, low, low humidity and extremely dry conditions with the 20+mph sustained winds, it doesn't take long for another outbreak of wildfires. With 2.2 million acres already burned and loss of over 200 homes and some livestock....we are NOT considered a disaster area. Our Governor has asked for assistance in DEC, JAN, FEB, MAR, APR and finally received the rejection for assistance this month. The Prez is coming to our state tomorrow for a fund raising...think we ought to leave him hanging for 5 months before declining to contribute~let him see how it feels! Anyhow, we are supposed to see some relief in temps in next week or so with a chance of some scattered showers, but not to the areas in desperate need. Then we have the Mississippi flooding over it's banks big time and the tornado clean up in the south, the unusually cold wet winter still hanging on up north. We surely need a concentrated effort of prayer for this nation. I'm doing my share!
Hope all of you had a marvelous Mother's Day celebration. Me, I did what I wanted to do, made some pages for my sisters and a page for Amy/Michael's first anniversary~watched movies~played with my "girls" and read~totally relaxing day! I loved every minute of it. Here are the memories I made...hope you will be sharing yours soon!Kathy with her two sons, Jason/Jeff in a page from Raspberry Road's PansyGarden kit.My brother's daughter Sebrina with her mother Myrl in a page made from freebie by PascaleA. Penny and her 3~Lance/Lamar/Amy in a page using RR's Peaches and Cream cluster. And lastly, a page for Amy/Michael to celebrate a whole year of married life in a freebie QP with no TOU. Thanx to all for the beautiful freebies, I appreciate your generosity! Y'all all have a good week ahead and I'll chat more when I can...Until Next time....Luv, Mat

Happy Mother's Day to all!

2011-05-05T20:42:00.005-05:00

I guess I have been MIA...I've missed all of you so much...been pretty busy the past couple of weeks. Work related as well as family related...just one of those things! The bank was sold and had to get new routing info to all the automatic withdrawals, order new checks and stamp. Boss lady has really been swamped too making it hard to get her to the bank with me. My friend's boyfriend's dad passed away and they had to go to Amarillo for the funeral, so I traveled to their house daily to take care of their 6 scaredy cats (and I thought my 3 were a lot of trouble~just kidding~I love mine). My friend lost her job and needed some consoling...and...and...you know how it is...seems to hit all at once. Seems like I haven't been at my computer more than a couple of minutes a day. We finally got some much needed rain and the grass just took off, grew about 3 inches overnight~got it all mowed and edged and even got it all cleaned up yesterday. Now I can relax and enjoy the weekend. MayFest is here this weekend and for the first time in quite a few years the weather is going to cooperate and I would really like to go down and see what all is going on there. I just watched Idol and both my Scotty & Lauren are in it for another week. So I am celebrating Cinco de Mayo with a pomegrante margarita while blogging. I think I will turn in early tonight....so very tired....just wanted to take the time to wish all of you a very happy Mother's day and hope all make lots of memories to share. I made this page for my mother~gone but by no means forgotten~wish I could talk with her every day even after 19 yrs. I love you Mama!I used a paper from the freebie naturalbreeze and a cluster freebie from Raspberry Road and the last known photo taken of her in her police department uniform. Chat more with y'all later. Luv, Mat

My fun eggs~

2011-04-23T13:40:00.002-05:00

Just got this Easter on the Farm kit from Raspberry Road and just had to do this page. The word art is from Miss Boots herself. Hope all you good eggs have a marvelous and much blessed Easter. Luv y'all~Mat

May all of you have a Blessed Easter!

2011-04-21T20:53:00.021-05:00

I wish all of you reading this a most blessed day of rejoicing our savior and enjoying your families and loved ones.
I hope this finds Carol & Charlie warm and able to get some much deserved rest; Gerri is free of her cold and not irritating Al; Miss Judy is having a blast with all those grandkids, Mike and Bob; Miss Linda is also free of her cold and not sharing it with Farmer McBrown and that her mom is speeding toward recovery from her surgery; and lastly, that Miss Scarlett & Rhett are resting and praising for the success of the surgery on their Kevin and that they enjoy the grandkids and great grandkids this Easter weekend. Love to all my blog "sisters".
We have had a week of freaky weather, severe storms with damaging strong winds, large hailstones, loss of electricity, devastating wildfires and little to none of much needed rain. I think here at my place, we registered about 1/4 inch of the wet stuff. Got hailstones here about quarter sized and smaller. No damage to my roof, windows or vehicles, but there are plenty around that are filing all kinds of insurance claims. The excessive heat (95+) and the high vicious winds have taken its toll on the wildfires just 70 miles west of us. They desperately need some relief. Last I heard was over 60k acres of burnt land, 116 homes gone and numerous homes (some the whole town) have been evacuated and not yet allowed back in them. I decided to make a few pages for my family to let them know how much I love them. I made this page from some photos of the magnolias in bloom last year when I went to Georgia, the photo of me was taken last month. This is my sister Kathy and her hubby of 41 years, Jim. The kit is a older freebie from Angelscrapper called Gerri's kit.This is their oldest son Jason and his wife Christina. Their page is a freebie from SC-hg.Here's their daughters Jade and Ruby in a freebie by Cuddlebeez called Easter surprise.Kathy & Jim's youngest, Jeff & his wife Tiff in a pretty freebie kit by CJS called Victorian Beauty.Next is the widow of my brother and the mother of his daughter~Myrl in a page created using Cuddlebeez's lullaby symphony kit.And here is my lovely niece Sebrina in a page created using the kit Natural Breeze from DigiDesignResort.And last but not least, my baby sister, Penny & hubby Weymond in a page created with Rose background (freebie with no TOU) some elements from Miss Carol's Ivory & Lace and some from SBF.Here's twin Lance and his Maggie in a page created with the freebie kit Easter Surprise by Cuddlebeez as is the page of their daughter Hayden.The other twin Lamar is in a kit freebie from Janniscrap designs called It's a Man Thing.And here is the baby with her hubby~Amy & Michael in a page created using kits from SBF and a Rose background and lace ribbon from Angelscrapper.
Again, I wish all of y'all a blessed Easter weekend and that you make many, many memories to share. Love to all and chat more with you later~Mat & "the girls"

Middle of April already?

2011-04-17T10:49:00.007-05:00

Boy, the time sure seems to be flying past here lately! Tax deadline is already here and Easter is next Sunday....1/3 of this year is already history!
Surely glad all those severe spring storms have moved out of here, we had 5 tornados (1 EF-0 and 4 EF-1) lots of LARGE hail damage and lots and lots of wind damage. Not too much of the much needed moisture though and what rain did fall, the wind has already taken it away and has caused lots of wildfires 90 miles west of us. More than 25k acres have burned, 30+houses gone and over 200 homes evacuated. The smoke was almost choking here, cannot imagine what it was like there. Lots of power outages from lines being blown down in the area too! Those roofers and dent removers are working overtime.
Yesterday was the most perfect day ever...the wind finally stopped blowing the new leaves and blooms off, it was not hot, not humid, no fires burning to smell the smoke, just gorgeous. I weeded out some crabgrass, cleaned up other's trash from the yard preparing to mow the grass....NOPE...darn lawnmower will not start. O well, I played with my potted flowers, you know...watering, food and cleaning out the dead stuff from them. Felt good about all being cleaner looking except the grass being mowed and edged.
This morning I thought I would scrap a few pages and chat a little before the races start. So here are my pages. Still trying to learn all the tricks for Gimp. I used a freebie from Miss Linda and a couple from Raspberry Road. Of course all the photos I snagged from facebook accts....LOL! Hope y'all all are safe from this wicked weather and that you are very busy making memories to share with all of us later. Chat more later~Luv, MatGorgeous Maggie
The Hills at Crystal Lake
My little farmer Hayden

Happy Birthday Sebrina

2011-04-11T09:06:00.003-05:00

Using new Gimp program as it seems to work with Windows7 where my version of Photoshop does not and cannot afford to buy the newest one just yet....so here is my attempt using it to wish my niece Sebrina a very happy birthday. Hope your day is as beautiful as you are. Love ya~Aunt Maryanne

Some photos of the dogwoods/azaleas/moss etc

2011-04-10T17:39:00.011-05:00

These are some photos I took while visiting in South Georgia at the end of March. The woods were full of dogwood trees, the yards were full of azaleas and wisteria and the canopied roads were awesome with the moss hanging from them. The Flint River in Bainbridge was totally cool too~hope you enjoy the photos. Luv, Mat

Whew....what a week!

2011-04-07T07:53:00.007-05:00

Hello y'all! Surely been a busy week for me. I tried planting a few pots of flowers, got the weed killer down in the back yard, sun helped most of them die, but now I have a few to dig up instead of a whole yard full of them! Got all the trash up and front and sides have been mowed, just not edged yet, but looking pretty good. The storm that came through with the hail and high winds dropped about an inch of water causing things to really "green" up, but those high winds every day since has already begun to dry out everything again, so got the watering hoses back out and watering my plants too! Got all caught up with work once again (after a week off) and I even got in a massive cleaning job on my living room, moved everything out and cleaned the floor and corners really good, then rearranged the furniture yet AGAIN! Poor "girls" just stumped as to why I have to mess with their comfortable spots....LOL! Here are a few of their faces I snapped, depicting their confusion! MzKitty is always the inquisitive one, Oreo just gets bored when she can't be in my lap and NOTHING bothers Pumpkin....But all 3 of them just love looking out the back door, wishing they were out there.....LOL! I have a new outdoor feral kitty that I have been feeding and it loves to drive my "girls" to distraction. I will try taking a photo of it, but will have to be through my screened window as it is still wild and will run when I try to go out when it is eating, but it knows when feeding times are and I can try sneaking in a couple...LOL!

We hope all of y'all are having a great week and weekend and beginning to enjoy some better weather that is more spring like. Have a great time making lots of memories and share them with all of us. Y'all all have a good one. I will also be GLUED to the TV on Saturday night as the NASCAR races are here this weekend. GO MARK!! Chat with y'all a little later. Luv, Mat

Happy~Happy~Happy!! LET'S TRAVEL SOME!

2011-04-03T15:02:00.003-05:00

First to Louisiana to wish a Happy Birthday to Miss Chris today!

Now up to the colder climate in Ohio to wish a Happy Anniversary to Judy & Bob tomorrow!
I wish that you are all blessed with many more years ahead! Luv, Mat

I'm Baaaack from a little vacation~

2011-04-01T20:25:00.008-05:00

Did ya miss me? I took a few days and visited my sister and her family in south Georgia. I so needed the break from here and was so happy to help her with some remodeling she has been procrastinating about. Too late to do that now, she has to move forward or never use her kitchen again...LOL! We tore down cabinets, Kilzed the ceiling and all the wall papered walls. We then put 2 coats of lovely neutral beige paint on them bringing her home into this century. I returned home on Monday and her new custom cabinets went in on Wednesday....sure hate that they did not get finished and installed before I left, but I surely am happy she has a new kitchen. They are hooking up the plumbing tonight on the new sink and faucet. She has a new 8 ft. bar with lots of STORAGE bins and cabinets now. They will be replacing the flooring next in the kitchen and dining area. Her hubby has used the Kilz on the ceiling and walls of the dining room and hallway. Painting that ceiling with a roller is a real PAIN in the neck and shoulders.
I somehow contracted a cold or virus (probably from the airplane) on my return and have been laid low for a few days with a very stuffy head and achy body and a deep hacking cough. The antibiotics have finally begun to kick in, the inhalers have helped a bit as well as the cough syrup and the rest, lots of liquid intake and homemade chicken noodle soup, too, to make me feel halfway human again....LOL!My "girls" were surely happy I came home....they will not leave my side or stay out of my lap for very long....nice to be missed. There's just no place like home is there? All those hugs and love left on the doorstep sure made my return so worth it. I did not correspond with anyone while I was there, so I really had a lot of e-mails and messages when I got back.
I took quite a few photos of Hayden while there, so I have made a few pages of her while resting....that laptop sure is handier when you are flat in bed...LOL! Anyhow, here are a couple of them. Isn't she growing like a weed? She is so very smart too, she can say her ABC's, count to 20, carry on a conversation with you and you can actually understand her....AND she can use a computer better than I can at 2 years old. Strong willed to boot, too! So like her daddy and mama....LOL! Not sure where all the kits came from as they are all older kits, but a couple of them are from CJS kits, thanx to all who contributed to my fun pages.
We had 52 for a high here on Tue and Wed and today it hit 90....crazy spring weather, no wonder we all have the sniffles....and no rain as of yet. For the month of March a grand total of .07 on the rain gauge. Those of you still experiencing old man winter, I really feel for you and the invitation to come to sunny Texas still stands. Hope y'all have a terrific weekend making many memories to share. Chat with ya more later, luv Mat

It's Finally Friday~~

2011-03-18T07:53:00.008-05:00

I got a lot accomplished this week. Caught up with some long overdue, been put on the back burner too long projects. Feels good too! I also got to do a little more scrapping since I can now use my PS on my laptop. It is still slower than a turtle, but I can at least use PS. Sure wish I could get it installed on my PC....argh!! I can't get SBF to work on my new computer either....O well...one of these days....MAYBE...things will be back like it should be. One can only hope so anyhow.
We are having summer temperatures here in Winter....hit 85 yesterday and supposed to be a repeat today. Hope this is not a sign of an insufferably excessive hot Summer. Sure do need some rain...only .01 so far this month. I am having to water the lawn already. After listening to my poor northern "sisters" talk of their incredibly cold and bitter winter...I feel very fortunate. Any of you that need to be thawed out, come on down and I will try my best to send a heat wave in your directions. I think I will go to the Botanical Gardens this weekend to snap a few photos of the lovely blooms that are already in full display. Wanna go with me?
Well, got to get my shower and do my hair and makeup, going to see my doctor today for the results of the nuclear stress tests, then gotta go get the "girls" some food and a few things for me as well. I HATE to shop, so best go get it over with. Hope that all of you have a terrific weekend and make lots and lots of fun memories to share. Will chat with you again soon. Luv, Mat
Here's my attempts yesterday. A page for Penny of her granddaughter Hayden. It's a Cuddlebeeze QP with a photo snitched from Margaret's facebook. Here's one for Kathy of her grandbabies Jade and Ruby in a page created from Lynneboo's Grandchildren kit and photos snitched from Christina's facebook.
Here's my babies in a page created using MegaCat kit by COLS. My photos I took.
And another of my sisters and I using SBF sisters freebie kit and my photos.

Spring is definitely here!

2011-03-12T14:45:00.005-06:00

Got my new internet/digital phone/tv service up and running. Tech arrived around 8:45 and finished about 1:30. Speed is so much better and the TV is great too. The phones even sound clearer and my DVR will record 4 programs at one time and I can watch them in any room. Yippee!! Since I was without service while the tech was cleaning up all the cables etc outside, I used my slow laptop to scrap a couple of quickpages. This is a cute photo I snitched off Margaret's facebook of sweet Hayden. She is growing so much. The QP is a freebie from cuddlebeez using her My Little Valentine kit.These photos I got off Christina's facebook. Couldn't resist..the family all asleep. Jade and Ruby fell asleep with Jason in his chair, Christina was at her work....LOL! This QP is also by cuddlebeez from the same kit.
I have all the windows open (so I can dust...lol) and the overhead fans are all on too! Very warm today, but a nice stiff breeze is keeping it bearable without having to turn on the AC. The "girls" sure are loving lying in the windowsills.
I've just realized I have not eaten today and it is 3 p.m. so think I will fix something and take a break. Did not have to clean much behind the tech, he did it as he went. Amazing! Will probably take me a week to figure out the new stuff with the DVR, but.....so far I am loving it! Hope all have a terrific weekend making some more memories to share. Since my laptop now connects with no problems, will be blog walking and catching up after I fill this empty tummy. Chat with y'all more later. Luv, Mat

Good Monday Morning Y'all~

2011-03-07T07:42:00.005-06:00

Missed me yet? Thanx for all the hugs I found by the coffee pot this morning. Been trying to allow my neck, shoulders and back a little rest from this computer. Seems the humidity has been up and when it is....my arthritis lets me know it....(old age)! Still don't have my Photoshop working on my PC yet and my laptop is soooooooo very slooooooow, I don't spend a lot of time on it either...boring~boring~boring not being able to scrap when I want to. Been trying to catch up with some paper scrapping that I have put off for too long. I spent the weekend just lazing, reading, watching movies, the Nascar races and snuggling with my furgirls. Sure was a nice restoring weekend.
Sure is springtime around here...been weeding out dandelions and sticker weeds in the lawn. Sure makes me angry to have to pickup others trash and get these weeds out because others are too lazy to weed their yards and to put their trash in a closed container of some kind (grrrr). It is MARCH and that always means wind, so why would you put trash out without a lid??? Been so very dry and with high winds, there have been a lot of wildfires around west of us. We need some rain, but seems to be all going to the east of us. Had a cold front come through over the weekend dropping us to 30 yesterday morning, but right back up to the middle 60s by midday. To be up in the 70s all week and only a slight chance of some rain tomorrow....so am sending some warmer weather to my "blog sisters" that want it.
Here's wishing all of you a great new week ahead. Enjoy it doing exactly what you want to do and make lots of memories doing it. I have a few errands to run this morning so guess I'd better get started...chat with all of you more later on...luv to all~Mat

Love these fur babies~

2011-02-21T10:28:00.005-06:00

We, meaning the "girls" and I spent a wonderfully relaxing day yesterday. Did nothing all day long but lounge on the couch, windows open, enjoying the Daytona 500 and the gorgeous weather. I snacked way too much engrossed in the races. New style, but was very intriguing. Afterwards, decided to use the PS on my sloooooooow laptop and create these photos of my fur babies. Thought these described each ones personality so well. MzKitty is the diva (only attentive on her terms), Oreo the constant companion (has to be near me or on me at all times) and Pumpkin just relaxed (she is always calm). We are having another great day weatherwise today, so think I will get out and enjoy it. I hope all of you will do the same and for those that are hindered with the snow, come on down to sunny Texas, thaw out and have some early springtime fun with us. Chat more next time, luv ya! Mat

Good Morning Ladies!!

2011-02-19T10:29:00.005-06:00

Wow, 82 degrees in February? Unbelievable, but that is what we had yesterday! Had all my windows open and even had to turn the ceiling fans on. 82 was the official temp at the airport, but my thermostat read 85. The "girls" just loved lying on the window sills in the sunshine. However, they did jockey for the sills a lot. I got MzKitty at the back door wanting out, but...not today young lady! Oreo bothered me while I was at the computer working and Pumpkin just finally went to the bed and took her nap. I met my boss for lunch yesterday at the Souper Salad and had a most enjoyable gab fest. I then got into a creative mood. Since I can't seem to get my Photoshop back on (guess I am going to have to bite the bullet and buy the latest upgrade) I downloaded a program from HP called ARC, but the templates and freebies are very limited. I decided to use one of them called SMILE. Since, I do that a lot and all my photos prove that, I created a 20 page scrapbook of just me and my many smiling faces....LOL! Sure was fun trying to narrow down the photos to use. There is a page of me as a toddler, first grade, 10th and 12th grades; one of my 3 loves and I, ones of my when young, skinny and with flat tummy...lol; also some of my many travels. All pages are just of me (except the one of my 3 loves). Talk about conceited...yep, that was me yesterday! Probably no one will ever see it (I printed it out in 8x10 format)...but I surely enjoyed working on it especially all the memories it invoked. I have my housework finished, my laundry is caught up, and the "girls" have all been fed and bathed (they are sleeping again now) and the day is supposed to be up in the 70's again, so think I will call Nina to see if she would like a walk in the park. It is supposed to be windy, but hey, isn't March on it's way? Got to run for now, chat more with all of you later, hope you have a marvelous weekend making many memories to treasure and share later. I created this page using several different designer kits. Some I changed the coloring on to match. Thanx to all who so selfishly share their work to make my life happy! I appreciate all of you! Luv, Mat

Snow and Ice is gone!!

2011-02-13T17:47:00.003-06:00

Hello Ladies! All the snow and ice is finally gone. Two weeks of it is totally ENOUGH for this chickadee!! Finally, got out of this house other than to the post office, bank or the empty shelves of WalMart! I guess the ice was so bad in the HIGH ramps of our multilayered highways, the truckers hauling supplies were unable to make their deliveries. But, thankfully, all is gone now and the weather is back to spring like now. Today, have had the doors open and all the shades up, the "girls" are loving lying around in the sunshine too! To be in the upper 60's lower 70's all week with no rain in sight. So, if you need to thaw out and see a little sunshine, come on down to Texas and leave all that white stuff and icy temperatures behind. Maybe could even coax Scarlett to come down and make some of her juleps for all of us.
I have been very busy sorting and rearranging to make all the things I need to run my office from home fit in the extra bedroom. I have a few more boxes to unload, but am really seeing daylight here now! Really am enjoying not having to go to the office and have that nightmare of closing it down behind me. Thank goodness for my best friend Nina, she made the nightmare so much more fun...she helped me all along the way! To celebrate, we took yesterday off! We headed up to Krum...picked up her daughter Tammy, then back into Denton where we met our friend Carolyn at the Olive Garden for lunch and some much needed "catch up". We sure did laugh a lot and really enjoyed ourselves with no one around rushing us. We ate lots of salad, soup and those yummy breadsticks! LOL!Frome left to right, Tammy, Nina, Carolyn and Me
We had one of the wait staff take this photo of us. Thought I would make a quick page using the Sisters kit from SBF. I still can't get SBF to work with Windows 7. Made this on my slooooow laptop. Hope all of you are enjoying this beautiful Sunday and are making lots of memories to share. Off now to blog hop and see what has gone on this week, sure will be glad when things gets back to normal (?) around here! LMAO...whatever normal is!! Chat more with y'all later. Luv, Mat

Ice and Snow and SuperBowl GO AWAY!!

2011-02-04T07:39:00.003-06:00

I think those northern football teams coming to Texas for the SuperBowl wanted to bring their own weather with them! Well, they can just take it back! We don't want or need it!! No one knows how to drive on the roads, we don't have the equipment nor supplies necessary to keep all these roads clear. Do you know how many highways exist in this state???? and the number of high overpasses??? DOT is giving it a valiant try....but, cannot keep up with mother nature! We have not seen above 20 degrees since Tuesday morning early and the wind has been merciless on us with windchills down below zero. Nope, sunshines most of the time in Texas, but NOT superbowl week! Must be the double whammy of the Ft. Worth Fat Stock Show (which always experiences rain and cold) and those yankee teams homesick for their weather. (just kidding folks, keep your shirts on)! I have only opened my door twice since Monday and both times was to take a photo of first the ice storm (that looked like snow because it was sleet) and this morning because of real snow. We got lucky in Ft. Worth with only 2 inches on top of the inch of ice...Dallas on the other hand has 6 inches and it is still snowing on top of the 2 inches of ice they got! But, thankfully, tomorrow it is supposed to get above freezing and hopefully by Sunday's big game some melting will have taken place and the airports will be back in full operation and those teams can take their weather back with them. GO PACKERS!! Luv, Mat

Happy Birthday Miss Scarlett!!

2011-01-21T19:33:00.002-06:00

Happy Birthday to my southern belle sister, Scarlett! (aka as Judy)I hope your day is as wonderful as you are! Save me a toddy and a seat in the parlor, I'll stop by after I finish at the office tomorrow! (that is weather permitting :o)for the trip) I used Angelscrapper's Ivory & Lace with a touch of recoloring to make this page and snitched a photo from FB. Lots of love and great big wishes are sent from Texas to Tennessee from the "girls" and I! Luv, Mat

Thawing out here!

2011-01-16T10:20:00.003-06:00

This was a very cold week, stayed in a lot, getting out only on Friday. But it is finally warming up again, even if the Fat Stock & Rodeo Show is in town (this is usually when our weather is so wet & cold). It did rain some yesterday and again today, but is moving away to the east and we need the rain. The FS&RS is here until Feb 5th and then Superbowl is here the 6th...gonna try staying out of all the traffic...LOL!
I still have PSCS2 on my laptop, but I can't create as well on it as I can my PC! However I did try my hand at a couple yesterday :o) See?

New Year, New Me!

2011-01-13T18:53:00.005-06:00

WOW, half of this first month is gone already! Time surely flies when you are very, very busy! Although, today was my first foray outside my home since last Saturday! It has been toooooooo cold to do anything but stay inside and stay warm! :o) Thankfully, I can do that! :o)
I have finally gotten some programs reloaded, however, some of them are not wanting to load and I am having to research for drivers, upgrades, etc to make the programs compatible with Windows7. One that will NOT load is Scrapbook Flair, hopefully, that will be resolved soon. I am still experiencing problems with my Photoshop CS2 as well. LOL!
I do still have PS CS2 on my laptop, (that is very, very, very slow) and decided to play with it a little today! I came up with this from a QP that I had made for Angelscrapper (I did some color changing to it) and decided to use a more current photo of me and my long hair and increased wrinkles....LMBO!! I really need to get a haircut. I am using that WEN products for hair that you see advertised on late night TV ;o) and it is making my hair grow faster (it's either that or the vitamins or a combo of both)! My hair has stopped falling out and I am having to color the roots more frequently! The WEN and the InStyler (to keep it straighter) is really making it silkier and easier to manage too. Now if I could only find something to fill in the wrinkles that really worked....LOL!
OK, 'nuff 'bout me...the office is really under control now. Tomorrow the boss and I will be renting the storage unit. Then next week (when it is supposed to be a little warmer) will get the movers there, the shredders and the folks to pick up the furniture. Will clean the blinds/bath/kitchen and vaccuum and all will be done. They will disconnect the utilities the 1st of February. I will officially be working from home full time in my jammies...whoopie! Can't wait.
Well, best hush for now, got some letters to finish folding and envelopes stuffed with our change of address/phone number! Then I think I will snuggle with the "girls" while I read my book. Hope you and yours are able to snuggle before a fire and enjoy a hot toddie from the parlor while you wait for the snow, blizzard, ice to melt or the wind to stop howling. Create some memories to share with all of us. Have a terrific weekend ahead and will chat more with you next time. Later, Mat

Busy New Year

2011-01-09T17:34:00.005-06:00

Have you missed me? Sorry I cannot come out 2 play right now! All is okay here...just busy with month end, year end and closing the office. I am officially working from home now. The office will be fully shut down by the 31st. Had to sort through 30+ years of stuff...took 2 extra fullllllll loads of phone books, manuals, magazines, old unused claim forms, old stationary, etc to the recycle dump. Gave 4 large trash bags full of stuff to a resale shop. Got most of my scrapping and genealogy stuff out of there (after all this was my home away from home for 22 yrs). Got the PO Box and now sending out letters of change of address and phone number. I've had to cancel phone and utilities as of the 1st...will rent the storage unit for the records we have to keep for 21 yrs on Tuesday (if boss has time) and still got to call movers and a company to come shred all the records that we can destroy...and have to find someone that wants all her furniture...so when I get home after 5 hours there each day...I just sit in my massage chair and fall asleep I'm so tired.
My "girls" are very unhappy with me too, cause I'm not here 24/7 at their beck and call! My computer is reloaded with Windows7 which does not like SBF or my version of Photoshop...so...when I'm not busy...I cannot do anything since all my programs have not been reloaded yet(just don't have the time right now). I will be thankful when all this is over...over...over! Sending hugs to all and letting you know all is okay this way for now, miss all of you! A nice warm toddy sounds good right now, we got a good dusting of snow today...LOL! Thanx 2 all of U 4 missing me!Chat more later! Mat ^..^

Merry Christmas Friends

2010-12-24T09:08:00.009-06:00

Can you believe another year has come and gone so quickly? It seems when you stop working so much.....your life gets even busier! Why is that?
I have been very busy making treats for friends, neighbors, and workers that assist me all year long....like the mail carrier, garbage collectors, hairstylists, physicians...etc. Here is a photo of some of my creations this year... See the pretty centerpiece, that is from my sister Penny! Makes my table look nice and smells really great too. The "girls" like it as well, but are not trying to eat or chew on it so far! :) Here is a photo of our tree this year...usually one or two of the "girls" is under it and trying to climb into the bags....! What you don't see is all the love and hugs and wishes that are wrapped up under it! All my "girls" and all my great nieces are in ornament frames on it too! :)I've really had a bad "BUG" in my computer, but I think after several days of trying and aggravating phone calls to techs...finally caught it and squashed it really good (at least I hope so)! Anyhow, I am able to get back on here and chat with y'all! A good thing is I have all my data, photos, psd files, albums, scrapbooking kits and programs as well as my games all copied and safe if I should have to start over! LOL!
I want to wish all my family, friends and loved ones a most blessed and Merriest of Christmas' ever. I wish you to make many, many happy, enjoyable memories to share and carry you thoughout the new year! I am truly blessed with a loving and caring family and a host of wonderful friends from all over the country! Especially my blog sisters, scrapping buddies...whatever you want to call them...I am happy and pleased to call them my FRIENDS!! Always there for me no matter what! I love you all! (From Canada, Wisconsin, Ohio, Tennessee and Louisiana) Thanx to those of you who contributed to this page. Carol and Cuddlebeez!
From MzKitty, Oreo, Pumpkin and Me....Meowy Christmas to y'all!
Gotta finish up some last minute details here, then a visit from Teri to exchange gifts and then over to Jill & Scot's to do the same this evening. Then tomorrow I will cook dinner for my friends Jan & Bill as she is still under the weather from her surgery last month and on Sunday will be meeting up with Jan & Scotty for dinner at Genghis Khan's! Busy weekend ahead...whew! So will sign off for now, again wishing all of you and yours a very Merry Christmas! Love you all and will chat more with you next time!

Hello all!

2010-12-16T15:40:00.003-06:00

Well, seems like all my blog "sisters" are snow or ice bound. Can you believe the 15th of December and we hit 77 degrees....the "blue Norther from Canada" came through this morning around 4 a.m. dropping temps today to around 55 and lots of wind making it feel in the 30's! But nice sunshine....and the wind is beginning to die down some as the afternoon progresses. I feel for poor Louise as she has lots and lots of snow and closed roads in Canada. MissBoots is also in cold snowy Wisconsin and snow and cold for Judy and Thelma in Ohio, but Scarlett in Tennessee "bless her" is in an ice storm. Wish all of you could come to sunny Texas for a spell.
I have really been busy this week trying to reorganize my barn (storage) and the office trying to shift things of mine from the office to here and then trying to shift some stuff from the office to a storage unit close by as well. Trying to close it down by the 31st of January. Still got so very much to do (year end too), and since I don't have much time nor help yet....I don't think I can squeeze in a visit to either of my sisters for the holidays! Drat, sure was looking forward to it, but responsibility comes first....then fun! Right? Anyhow, still experiencing some computer ghosts too, so not on it very much right now. I am wishing all a very happy weekend ahead (even if you are snuggled in front of the fireplace with your honey and some snacks and all the hot toddies you can handle, lol) making as many memories as you can. I created this little page from a long ago freebie QP without a TOU, but appreciate it anyhow, using a self taken photo (lol) and my "girls" of course! Will chat more with y'all next time. Luv, Mat

Another week has flown by....

2010-12-10T15:33:00.006-06:00

I do declare, I don't know where the time goes here lately! Seems like it was just the weekend and now here it is again. Think I am too busy, but am trying to get some organization going at the office to be able to get stuff in storage and it all shut down and closed up by January 31. What a chore! 30 years worth of stuff there, brought home another carload today! (of just MY crap) LOL!
I have been trying to play a little with creating from all these brushes, etc I have downloaded, but this neck and my shoulders are making it very limited. I did get some cards printed and sent out early this year. Even got the great nieces, the nieces and nephews and sisters/brothers-in-law all taken care of for Christmas. I have a party to go to tomorrow and then "Da Boys" play Sunday night so my weekend will go by very fast. We are rather warm right now, but the bottom is supposed to fall out tomorrow night and bring the temps back into the 20's. Think I will go raid the storage barn for some sweats to wear....LOL!
I hope all of you have a marvelous weekend, making more memories to share with the rest of us, above all hope you all stay warm and dry! Will chat more next time I can take time to get online.
Here's the card I made of me & the girls and one of silly me....thanx to Raspberry Road and Cuddlebeez for the freebies I used....Enjoy your weekend.
Luv, Mat

Happy Birthday to 3 Lovely Ladies

2010-12-06T07:56:00.007-06:00

First, my friend and best massage therapist around, Kelly! Hope you had a marvelous day yesterday! I stole one of your pre-wedding photos from facebook and created this page using several designers in the Christmas Around the World blog from 2008.Next is my sister-in-law (mother of my gorgeous niece, Sebrina) Myrl! I hope your day is as wonderful as you are. I created this with a photo I stole from Sebrina's facebook and placed in a page I created using Raspberry Road's Joy of Christmas kit and cluster.And lastly, but certainly not least, my blogging sister, Judy! I also stole this photo from her website a while back that her daughter Kelly created. I placed it in this lovely page created using Raspberry Road's First Frost Add On kit.I certainly hope the best for all three of you and that you have a very memorable birthday full of delightful joy and that you share many, many more to come. Later y'all! Mat

Belated Birthday Wishes for Carol

2010-12-02T09:05:00.005-06:00

Dear Carol,
So sorry to be late with your birthday wishes, but not only was Thelma late in reminding us, my 'puter has been having lots of fits lately! My new anti virus has problems with the playlist site, so for now, will not be able to put my Christmas music on. I seem to have it fixed for the moment and I do feel like posting again. I hope your day was a most enjoyable one doing all the things that please you the most and that you have many more to look forward to. I love you and appreciate you so very much. Thanx for making my blog look so fabulous all the time. Have a wonderful day and weekend ahead! Hope you like the card made with Cuddlebeez Christmas kit and a cluster from Raspberry Road.
Chat more later,
Luv, Mat

Happy Thanksgiving to All Y'all~

2010-11-23T06:59:00.003-06:00

This has been a very WARM week. It has been back up into the 80's so, I got the barn all sorted and organized, all the leaves have been picked up and the plants have been put away and the hoses are all put up and water faucets are covered. All the Christmas decorations are at hand for displaying and putting up after Thanksgiving. It is supposed to rain tomorrow night into Thursday morning, then the bottom will fall out and temps will drop to below freezing. The house, car and I are ready!! LOL! Watch, 2 days later it will be back into the 60 or 70 range again! Crazy weather around here.
Anyhow, the "girls" and I are wishing all of you a very blessed, happy, and thankful Thanksgiving for you and yours. Hope all of you are able to enjoy family time together making more and more memories. We made this page for all of you! I'm gonna be busy for the next few days (as are all of you) so thought I'd get this posted before I forget it! Luv U all and will chat after the turkey day! Go Cowboys!! (They play again on TDay)! Later, MatI used a background from Cuddlebeez, the clusters #8&12 are from RR's Enchanted Fall by EK, WA is by Linda at Random Thoughts and DBS from Giving Thanks kit!

Happy Birthday Penny

2010-11-20T17:39:00.002-06:00

My sister Penny is 50 today! Hope you have a very happy birthday. I love you so much.

Generations pages.....

2010-11-18T15:18:00.004-06:00

I have surely been busy creating templates (12x12 in 300 dpi) for a generations book for each of my sisters.... I just e-mailed Kathy & Jim 20 pages of 3 generations per page of photos. I did grandfathers-fathers-sons; grandfathers-fathers-daughters; grandfathers-daughters-sons; grandfathers-daughters-daughters; grandmothers-fathers-sons; grandmothers-fathers-daughters; grandmothers-mothers-sons; grandmothers-mothers-daughters; fathers-mothers-sons; fathers-mothers-daughters! I coordinated the pages so they could face each other in a book. Here is a sample of each type (2) of page. I used all Cuddlebeez kits and several types of fonts. I got the idea from a photo in a Christmas catalog. Now comes the fun part of seeing how many photos I can scrounge up to fill all the pages. I have all of these in .psd or .png if anyone would like to use them for a quick generations family book, just let me know where to send it to you. Have a great weekend ahead making lots of memories. As for me, I am tired and going to relax a little. Chat more next time. Luv, Mat Our dad, my sister Kathy, her son Jeff. our maternal grandmother, our mother, Kathy.

Have a great week ahead y'all!

2010-11-15T06:40:00.005-06:00

Here we are in the middle of November already! Man, time sure is flying by at break-neck speed! The weather is simply gorgeous right now....cool evenings/mornings and beautiful afternoons of raining leaves as the trees are preparing for winter. Today we have a chance of some showers, that are always welcomed. DA BOYS finally won again in a most enjoyable game to view, however, very scary for all when the lights went out! I changed the furniture around in the living room this weekend to do some extensive cleaning (cat fur, ya know! and to make ready for a Christmas tree) and decided to paint the mantle of the fireplace. Looks so very different and I have added an electric fireplace stove (heater) to it so that I do not have to worry with the wood burning this year! I love a fireplace, but the smoke just gets into everything and then I have to worry with the chimney and ashes, etc....not this year!
Today is payday, so I need to get busy with writing checks, go by the office, make a deposit and then pay bills. I hope all of you have a great week ahead making marvelous memories to share. I will hush for now and chat more on the next visit. Luv, MatThis is my "new" fireplace & Mantle.
I did this of Christina and Jade from a template by Teapot Lady called cut up round photo and kit by Jaelop Designs called Saving this Moment.

I'm Back!!

2010-11-13T07:44:00.005-06:00

Sorry I have been offline for a little over a week....some nice "friend" sent me a worm that was very hungry....McAfee quarantined it so that I could get rid of it. I definitely did not want to send it on to my real friends. It took me 4 days to back up all the files I did not want to lose. Of course, I only lost a couple of things I will have to put back. I sure did feel out of touch though. I did some pages for my ancestry books I am creating, so my time was not totally wasted....and I do have a complete back up too!
We had a blue norther come through here yesterday....was 68 yesterday morning this time....not this morning it is 45. Lots of cold wind too, but it sure feels better than the muggy crap we have had lately! We got about .25 of rain too! Surely needed it!
I did a couple of pages here...of my "girls" and my greatnieces! I used photos of my "girls" that they did NOT want me to take....LOL! I used a QP with no TOU of Hayden riding with her Mom and just adore the one of Jade & Ruby playing. I used some freebie brushes and a cute kit by jltis called Nostalgia add on. I also used a WA freebie from S.O.digitally Me! Thanx to all you creative designers who so selflessly share your work with us. I appreciate you and your kindness.
I had better hush for now, got company coming later today and I have to finish the floors and get my shower, fix some snacks and be prepared! Whatever you choose to do today, make it fun and memorable so you can share your memories. Until next chat....Luv, Mat

Happy Boo Day 2 all!

2010-10-31T07:17:00.007-05:00

Got my candy ready for all the little goblins....so thought I'd play around with some actions and brushes...etc....make a few more pages until I get some photos of the great nieces to share later....LOL! Hope all of y'all have a terrific time today making lots of memories to share....Later! MatOh No, I forgot!! I got this terrific Wicked QP by sahmscrapper that I just had to torment the "ladies" that got me started on this scrapping and blogging so much...my blog sisters~love y'all really! Really! Really I do!!:o)

Morning y'all!

2010-10-30T07:57:00.006-05:00

Boy do I ever enjoy a good book, ya know the kind ya can't put down until your eyes just will not stay open any longer? I read 'til about midnight and then back up and to the rest of the book about 5. Finished it about 7, fed and bathed the "girls", cleaned litterboxes, made the bed and now having some hot tea as I sit and chat! Great start to a great weekend of gorgeous fall weather (finally)! It is 44 here this morning...loving, loving, loving it!
Will chat more a little later....got to get some errands done early, so will be back when I can...have a marvelous day y'all! Luv, Mat
I downloaded Miss Linda's Boo 2 U QP and just had to make a few pages using it, hope you enjoy these of my beautiful "girls"...LOL! Cute page Linda, really love it and I thank you so much for sharing it.

Today the twins are a quarter of a century old~

2010-10-28T06:57:00.002-05:00

Lance and Lamar, my twin nephews, turn a quarter of a century old today! O what memories are flooding me now from when they were born and on the occasions I got to see them as they grew into young adulthood! They are such total opposites of each other! Lance is now married to Margaret and the proud father of Hayden. He works as a manager doing what he loves best, working outdoors and with animals. Most of all, he is living close to assist his daddy. Miss Hayden is really having a blast with her Papa and Mimi close too! Lamar on the other hand, has no interest in anything outdoors, except playing his trumpet in band at the football games....LOL! He is at Troy University in Troy, AL obtaining his degree in music. He is very good at playing that trumpet and gets spotlighted in solos. He hopes to be an educator! Anyhow, here is a page I did for them (using a QP from Cuddlebeez) with a photo of the 3 of us when they were small and one I created of us a while back of them today! Hope you both have a most wonderful birthday full of memories to share when I see you next! Luv ya bunches!
Aunt Neenie...MWAH!

Happy Birthday Jim!

2010-10-27T05:53:00.004-05:00

Today~~Jade's & Ruby's grandpa, Jason's & Jeff's dad, Christina's & Tiffany's FIL, John's brother, Kathy's husband and Penny's and my BIL (way 2 many nieces/nephews 2 mention), JIM, officially joins the rank of senior citizen. He is joining this special club with some of the rest of us~LOL! So I made a celebratory page to share this most memorable occasion with him! Luv ya bunches and we all hope we get to share many more of these happy times with you! Have a wonderful day and make lots of memories to share. Save me a piece of that Pecan Pie that Kat is baking ya! Happy Birthday!
(I used a freebie QP called Liberty Free QP by Sophie Davies and a photo from...ummmmm...30 yrs ago~Remember?)

Whew, some of the tornados got really close!

2010-10-26T10:01:00.005-05:00

On Saturday, an F-0 tornado hit North Richland Hills just about 5 miles sw of me....then on Sunday when they came around again we had a bad one hit Rice, TX se of Dallas and then 3 others along a ne line from Dallas towards the AR border. Nasty skies so I did not turn my computer back on until yesterday! We had some power outages around, but not here, was not taking any chances with my 'puter though! Yesterday, clear sunshine and O so very warm and windy! We hit 88 officially, but it said 90 on my vehicle thermostat. Today, the windows are back open, the wind has shifted from the north and a lot less of it....high today 77! Loving it...so I sat here last evening before DWTS & Castle to make a page or two. Here is my friend Debbie in a QP from Edna....This is a couple of photos for my Friend Inez...all the kiddos are now grown with their own children...the kit is a freebie from Cuddlebeez and the WA is of course, Miss Linda's, Thanx all!Well, I got some errands to run and guess I had better get after them. Chat more later y'all, keep making those memories daily! Have a terrific week ahead! Luv, Mat

Wet Saturday...yippee!!

2010-10-23T10:18:00.004-05:00

We so need some rain, the air is filled with moisture and it is really trying to reach us, but so far, not really enough to wet the ground, but....supposedly we will get some rain around noon before it blows on through. Sure hope so, the grass is desperate for a nice drink. I cleaned out the dreaded storage area under the carport this morning...got 4 huge bags of trash for the truck on Tuesday. Needless to say, I needed to cool off and take a shower....while I was cooling down, I made a page for MzKitty as I do not want to hurt her feelings of being left out~LOL~(poor baby)! I used a blog train called Me Time (one item from each of the 11 designers) and a photo of MzKitty, taken by my friend Scotty, relaxing (showing off) on the living room rug. She so does not know she is a cat! LOL! Well, since the skies are darkening up some more, think I will cut this chat short and disconnect before the storms hit. Y'all have a terrific Saturday making those memories! Luv, MatThanx to Me Time Blog Train scrappers; AHartline~AnDiDesigns~deliscraps~digilicious~darlene houghin~NS~Kimberkatt~TwinMomScraps~jwds~llc~Let me scrapbook for your terrific freebies!

Friday is here...weekend is near!

2010-10-22T10:49:00.003-05:00

How can anyone accumulate so much Christmas stuff? I think I could open my own store...LOL! It has been fun going through boxes and remembering though, but I AM GETTING RID OF SOME OF IT!! I have to....running out of storage in that 16x9 barn out there. I took a few minutes break and of course, I needed to scrap a page, what else? I am still limiting my time at this computer for a few more days of relief on my neck and shoulders (it's pure &%^$ having to do it too)! I created a page for Oreo this time...hope you enjoy it! LOL! Anyway, got to get back off here, just wanted to wish all of y'all a terrific weekend! Should be a good one here, the Rangers are playing the Yankees for the championship, Nascar is in town this weekend as well as the Giants coming in to play the Cowboys on Monday night. So glad I don't have to be out in traffic anywhere around here. I can stay inside with the windows open and sort through more boxes and visit more memories while making some new ones!! I am sure you will all be making some memories to share as well...until the next chat...Luv, Mat(used a freebie kit called Green by Bea Creations, Autumn Mask by Mini-Renne, Sleeping cats medallion by TLC and the WA is by Jennifer at WordArt World)

Just chillin'

2010-10-20T08:03:00.002-05:00

(the kit is called green scrap by R11)
Hi y'all! I've been going through boxes of Christmas stuff and sorting, keeping, discarding...etc...so just been chillin' from this computer for a couple of days! LOL! I just made a quick page of Pumpkin doing the same thing so thought I'd post a quick update. Not ignoring anyone, just really giving my shoulders a much deserved rest :o)! I have committed the cardinal sin though, I've only scrapped one of my "girls"....LOL! Y'all have a terrific day! Chat more next time, Luv, Mat

Woo Hoo, look who's 2 today!!

2010-10-15T08:05:00.003-05:00

Happy, Happy Birthday Hayden....Aunt Neenie hopes you have a wonderful birthday, wish I was there to celebrate with you!...Love you very much!

The Weekend is almost here!!

2010-10-14T08:53:00.004-05:00

Man, is time flying by or what? I think it is because we are enjoying the weather so much! It is simply wonderful here with the 50's in the a.m. and upper 70's, low 80's in the afternoon. Simply gorgeous! All the windows are open and the house smells so fresh and clean. The leaves on the huge oak tree next door are beginning to slowly rain down and makes for a beautiful sound as they dance along the driveway and a messy yard...LOL! The squirrels are furiously busy with the small acorns off that tree and the huge ones off the Red Oak in my yard! The "girls" are having so much fun running from window to window to chase all the "Geicos" in the yard...so fun for me to watch too! We also have a few bunny rabbits that like to cavort with the "Geicos" and really drive my "girls" to a frenzy as they want to get out there as well. The big black birds really drive MzKitty up a wall, she "talks" back to them, really!! When I am at the computer, I leave the TV/Radio off and all you hear is the outside world or the clicking of my keys and MzKitty talking! Should make a video of it, huh?
I was in a scrapping mood again yesterday after all my chores were done, so I created a page of my great nieces again. Hayden is on a BG from A Simple Day by Jaelop Designs as is the swirly elements. The WA is from Miss Linda and fits life with Hayden so perfectly.
The page for Jade & Ruby, I dug into some old freebies of Miss Carol's called A Cute Kit and a Fun Kit for the BG & frame. The flowers are from Kreative Expressions Summer Day kit and the WA has no TOU with it. I thank all the generous designers who so selfishly share their hard work. I truly appreciate all of you!
Well, since the weekend is almost upon us, I hope all of you have a fantastic one and that you create a lot of memories to savor and share. I will be rooting for the Rangers and of course DaBoys this weekend! Chat more next time...Luv, Mat

Been busy couple of days here.....

2010-10-10T10:36:00.012-05:00

Had a nice visit and lunch with my boss on Friday at the Olive Garden where we ate too much soup, salad and breadsticks....only meal I had that day...was so great! Then went to Garden Ridge to walk off some it...LOL! Saturday...I deep cleaned my kitchen, stove/oven/refrigerator/micro/toaster/coffepot/cabinets and floor, fixed some lunch, then settled down with a book. My friend Nina called, we went to Sam's where I found an electric fireplace just the right size for the bedroom, then we went to Kirkland's as they had a big sale going, found some things for the wall in the dining room and kitchen...then we went to Steak 'N Shake for a buy one/get one free milkshake to introduce their newest flavors...we chose Butter Pecan since it is our favorite! Yummy! Again nothing else needed for dinner. When got everything unloaded from the car and she headed back home, I just left everything where it was, went back to my book...finished it about 11 p.m. Did not even turn my computer on yesterday! Wow, that is a first in a long time :o)!
This morning, I got up early (4:45), fed and bathed the "girls", took a HOT shower so I could loosen up, then I lay back down to watch that wonderful Mike Holmes on HGTV, fell back to sleep! When I finally dragged my hiney back out of bed...I put the "fireplace" together after moving my exercise bike to the other side of the room so I would have a place for it! Put all the wall hangings up and have all the trash ready to go out on Tuesday! Also on Tuesday, I will be mailing out the photobooks to my sisters and nieces...as they came in yesterday too! They are simply gorgeous books and hope all enjoy them that receive them as Christmas gifts!
On Thursday, I had nothing to do...so I sat my butt in front of this computer and played with some element making fun. Here are 3 pages (one for each "girl") that I created all the cat elements using cat freebie brushes by Lisa's Designs and a few Autumn elements from Fall Magic Kit & Early Fall Kit by Scrap and Tubes, ADSD's Crisp Days by DCS and some BG pages from Cuddlebeez and Sooze's Labor Day SBF freebie kit. What do you think? O I created the polaroid frames with freebie brushes too. All the photos are mine but one of MzKitty on the floor, it was taken by my friend Scotty!
Hope all of you are having a terrific long weekend and enjoying the extra day for Columbus Day and you Miss Carol are enjoying your Thanksgiving. Make memories to share! Chat more later...Luv, Mat!

Another year together!!

2010-10-06T07:27:00.003-05:00

Man, the years just seem to be flying by don't they? Can you believe it? Another year together for this fabulous couple! Of course, I am speaking of Miss Gerri and her Al. Seems like I just made them a page a couple of months ago to wish them Happy Anniversary and here I am....with another one and with lots more wishes for a fabulous day and many more of them to come! Hope the memories you make will be shared for a long, long time. Love ya both! Chat more later! Luv, Mat This is a freebie QP called Elegant by Diana, WA is by Miss Linda and the photo from Miss Carol...I recolored the photo some.

Happy Anniversary Kathy & Jim

2010-10-03T04:51:00.003-05:00

October 3, 1969....Remember? My sister, Kathy, and her husband, Jim, are celebrating 41 yrs of marriage today! I wish you a very happy anniversary and hope you get to share some or part of it with your sons, Jason/Jeff, daughters-in-law Christina/Tiffany, and grandbabies, Jade/Ruby! Made a memory page for you using some photos taken by Jeff and a freebie QP called Whisper of Rose by Butterflies & Bluebells and some wordart belonging to Miss Scarlett! Have a terrific day making more and more memories to share! Love ya both bunches! Mat

What a glorious weekend!

2010-10-02T09:54:00.006-05:00

Great temperatures around here finally! Have cleaned and cleaned and cleaned with all the windows open daily and the "girls" and I are just loving it! I have had a busy week with cleaning, a little work, put together and ordered 17 photobooks from ScrapbooksPlease for my sisters, nieces and I as Christmas presents (there was a 2/1 sale)! Sure was hectic trying to get all the approvals through e-mails...but was so much fun...they all had a hard time choosing the exact pages they wanted in each book....LOL! I had a lot of FUN trying to find all my pages on the computer to make sure I had the right sizes of them uploaded for printing! Sure feels good to have that out of the way, now I can make some new ones for more later :o)! The books are to be shipped on the 6th!
I took time off yesterday to visit my pal, Nina! We just sat on the back veranda enjoying the swing and great weather while we chatted for 2 hours~LOL~it was so relaxing! Also got to chat with Inez on another hour long phone conversation. She is in Massachusetts where it has been so very wet! She has a bad "summer" cold and is so ready for fall to come up there! Today I have to get the shopping done that I did not do yesterday and then, I plan to just play on this computer until I get too tired! LMAO here (this is what I do daily)! Actually, I am trying to make some Christmas cards and I need to get my design finished up so they can be ordered soon, can't believe it is already October!
I did the page for Inez with a freebie QP by Jaguar Woman and I played with the photo to make it look more like a portrait painting than a photograph...not too sure I am happy with it, but when I put it on facebook everyone commented it was lovely and Inez surely loves it, even if the photo I took at the botanical gardens is 25 yrs old!This page I did for my ex-husband's granddaughter with a gorgeous black and white photo she had taken for her graduation photos. The QP is a freebie called Serenity by GoldenSun Design and Miss Linda's wordart.
Well, off to do my dreaded chores at the grocery store! The "girls" gotta have some treats, food and litter! Whatever you choose to do today, make it memorable so you can share the memories! Chat more next time y'all! Luv, Mat

Is Fall finally here??

2010-09-25T13:15:00.004-05:00

Good Saturday Morning!! Woke to rain, rain, rain...with not one...but two fronts moving through today DROPPING temps! Love it! Love it! Love it! Supposed to rain most of the day here, reach about 84...but tomorrow's high is to be about 77! Finally!!
The "girls" and I are spending a lazy, lazy day..so thought I would make another page for them before we snuggle in to read or watch a movie. I am taking some time off from scrapping to give my "abused" shoulder a rest...LOL! (from playing too many games!)
Since you always see my "girls", here is some of my real family ties, my nieces, nephews and great nieces.
Hope whatever you do this weekend...you make so very many, many memories to share! I will chat more with all y'all later! Luv, Mat All the photos were taken this month by me and I created the frames with a freebie polaroid brush...the BG and cat toy is from CatLovers Kit by Annie and the WA this time belongs to TLC. Thanx to all for your generosity in sharing!I created this template too and just had to use it...the tree is from Nothing But Freebies, not sure about the WA as no tou with it and the rest is all mine...LOL!

Happy, Happy, Happy Birthday, Weymond

2010-09-19T08:09:00.003-05:00

My fabulous BIL, Weymond, is having a birthday today.....so I took a photo of him from his DIL's FB site to make a Happy Birthday page for him since I could not be there to hassle him in person. He was just in from the fields, dirty, tired and wanting a cigarette, but when his precious grandbaby, Hayden, yells "Papa" it really brightens his day....hopefully this reminder from me will also brighten his day! Love you bunches and hope you share many, many more birthdays as great as this one surrounded by your family and friends!I used a freebie minikit by KBS called Southwestern Sample and the remarkable quote is from Paulette at TLC Creations and the Happy Birthday WA is from Lynn at ScrapEmporium! The photo is one of Margaret's from her FB account! Thanx to all of you for sharing!! Been really busy weekend and now it is FOOTBALL SUNDAY so gonna get caught up with a few things, a little blog walking and answering e-mails....then snacking and watching the games for me! Hope y'all all enjoy your fantastic Sunday and make lots of memories. Chat more later, Luv, Mat 'n "girls"

Told Ya!

2010-09-15T07:08:00.005-05:00

I snitched some new photos of Hayden off Margaret's Facebook account and just had to make the two pages of the little darling eating dirt and riding her horsey with her new boots on...can we say cute, cute, cute? Then Kathy has asked for a photo of her and her granddaughters, soooooo....here it is. Not as sticky yet this morning, it is finally below 80, but to be back upwards of 100 with the humidity this afternoon, so gonna get all my chores done before the heat, chat with y'all later! Keep making all those memories to share. Luv, Mattotally created photo and the QP is called Grandma QP2 by AngelflightRDH's BG from Aqua kit. Cocoamint cluster by Scrapycrafts and WA has no tou,photo by Margaret again, snitched off her FB acct.Cindee's Wild Wild West kit and Margaret's photo.

Another lovely Tuesday!

2010-09-14T06:39:00.004-05:00

Not much going on around here for a change....just some free time to play with photos and scrapping freebies...yippee....my kind of day, especially with this miserable heat and humidity still. Not seen so much humidity in this area in a long long time, but just walking out the door causes you to start dripping! YUCK! Lucky, semi-retired me...I can stay indoors with the AC and fans going nonstop...LOL! Here's a page I did of my girls...of course...don't they look relaxed and lazy? Oreo just loves lying on the bakers rack, MzKitty is either on the bed or my computer desk when I am at it (she is the only one small enough to sit on it) and Pumpkin is going to be at my feet, can you find her on the floor? (she blends in with it so much)! They are so much company!! Okay, gotta get some chores done then I can sit and play on here with no guilt...LOL! Will chat more later, hope y'all all have a terrific day making those memories! Luv, MatI used 2 kits, Dinphy's Precious Pearls BG and the cluster frame is from Pure Purr-fection.

Happy Grandparents Day!!

2010-09-12T07:24:00.002-05:00

Today is Grandparents Day, even though mine are long gone, I wish for all of you who are or about to be grandparents a great day with your grandkids if possible. Since I don't have any, I made a page for both my sisters of them and their granddaughters. It is a cloudy day here with a slight chance of more showers, yippee that means lower humidity, right? NOT!! O well, got to go empty my yard of mushrooms...yep a big patch of them cropped up over night with all the flooding rains we had last week. Also gonna run to the grocery store for some milk and something to kill these HUGE ant beds with (also since the rains). Hope all y'all have a terrific Sunday and that you are all making lots of memories to share! Chat more later! Luv, MatKathy & Jim with Jade & Ruby in a kits from the BlogTrain-Fall Carnival and pearls from Dinphy (recolored).Penny & Weymond with Hayden in a kit from Teapot Lady! TFL!!

Never Ever Forget!

2010-09-10T19:11:00.003-05:00

Nothing else needs to be said! Luv, Mat
The background was a freebie from Scrapkits, the WA is freebie from Linda and the rest are photos from an e-mail.

My lovely blog sisters!

2010-09-08T09:59:00.002-05:00

As I sit here in this "lake" with more liquid sunshine falling (compliments of Hermine), I was downloading some scrap freebies and when I got this new one from Linda, I just had to use it for all my "Blog Sisters"! I snitched the photo of the 4 in Ohio last May from Carol, then added Miss Scarlett. Just changed the wordart a smidgen by covering the "a" and adding an s to soul. Viola! Added the background, frame, flower and heart from Courtney's Crafty Elements kit. Thanx "sisters" for always being there and visiting and leaving such lovely comments to make my day so memorable. I'm also taking more photos of the "girls" cause there is no TV today, DirectV must be waterlogged. It rained yesterday off and on all day, but started again late last evening, rained all night and has rained all morning. I am not kidding about the lake, the front has about 3/4 inches of water on the sidewalk, the driveway is at least 2-3 inches under water at the carport and the backyard, well...I could go swimming in it! We surely needed the rain, just not all at once, but not complaining as it is FINALLY cooler around here...until tomorrow anyhow, then back to the mid 90's. Well, gotta get some housework done now, as Linda says somehow it just doesn't do it without me! :o) Have a terrific hump day and make many more memories to share. Chat more later y'all! Luv, Mat

Thanx for the memories, ladies!

2010-09-07T15:38:00.004-05:00

On Sunday morning a sister (Katie) of my ex-husband (who passed away 8-21-10) died in her sleep. This poor family has lost 2 beloved members in 15 days! I was a member of it for almost 14 yrs and am very fond on them to this day! I am glad we have been able to reconnect after 23 years apart, but didn't want it to be this way. I have been looking through some old photos as a result of the NUMEROUS conversations I have had with them since the middle of August. We have been chatting like there was never a separation and the best part...I have been able to make contact with my ex's estranged son's family. Anyhow, I found this photo of us girls (I'm the little sawed off one) probably in 1985 or 1986 from a family reunion in Indiana.(Can't find the one of the guys yet) I can play that little video in my mind like it was just yesterday! This is what making memories is all about. I used a freebie called Plentiful by Shabby Princess and WA by Jennifer for this photo of the Talmadge Girls...(we are still these girls, except for Pat and Katie who are watching over us from above). We are getting some much needed rain and cooler temps because of Tropical Storm Hermine today and tonight...I'm not complaining about either. Kind of enjoying sitting here with all the lovely fun time memories. Hope your making your own to pull out sometime later to do the same. Chat more next time. Luv, Mat

Another Happy Birthday!

2010-09-06T07:30:00.003-05:00

This is my employer and my friend....today is her birthday! She will be returning home from India today! Can't wait to catch up with her, she has been gone 2 weeks. I know she will be so very tired after that 24 hour trip, but I will be happy that she is home. Have a wonderful birthday Radha! For the rest of you Happy Labor Day and hope all are enjoying the last days of summer with family and friends making the most memorable of time shared! Chat more next blog! Later, Mat
(the photo is one I took while she was here visiting with me in April of this year and the kit is a freebie from Scrapiness)

Attitude says it all!

2010-09-05T09:23:00.004-05:00

I had a great day yesterday with my friend Jill. She came by to see all the newest that had been done to my home and to "catch up". We shared a glass of Iced Chai tea and chatted for about an hour, then decided to do a little browsing and kitten loving in the Cat store and the Movie Trading Company's sidewalk sale...then over to her house for some more conversation and fajita dinner with her hubby Scot and children Taylor & Rachel and all the kitty cats (15?)! Was a wonderfully cooler day than we have had in a LONG,LONG time! We sat on the portico and chatted some more yet! Scot is building a kitty condo for my girls and needed some advice as to where I wanted the lounging ledges to be! My "girls" are just gonna love it! When he is finished will snap a shot for all to see! But....since I was out for a few hours (got home about 9:30 p.m.) neglecting my girls AND playing with other CATS (heaven forbid!!) my jealous girls copped an attitude with me...thus this page (see MzKitty sticking out her tongue)! I keep telling Oreo I was just visiting her sister, but she's having none of it :o)! I used the BG & frames from Sooze's Labor Day kit at SBF and MissScarlett's word art! Hope all are enjoying this terrific Sunday and are making lots of memories to look back on later! Will chat more next time! Happy Labor Day tomorrow!! Luv, Mat

Happy Birthday Dennis!

2010-09-02T05:41:00.002-05:00

Today is Farmer McBrown's, aka Dennis, birthday! He's a farmer, chicken plucker, maple tree tapper, dog milker, canner helper, kitchen faucet repairer, hunter and fisherman, as well as husband, father, grandfather, and hair style trend setter that loves to have juleps on the veranda at Rhett and Scarlett's when the "others" allow him to! Whew and I think I am a busy bee!! :o) Just repeating what I hear now!! Really, the "kitty girls" and I wish you a very happy and memorable birthday! Enjoy yourself to the max and hope you share many more of them. I actually got MissG to send me some photos of you to make you this greeting for your special day! So thanx MissG for sharing. I used several kits to put this together, Scrappin'Cop's Circle Stamp, Frame by Gunhild and the rest is Teapot Lady's Manly Thing kit. Thanx to all for your freebies and generosity in sharing them with me. Gotta go now as the storms are getting a lot closer (yippee, cooling rain this morning) so need to shut this 'puter down. Make lots of memories to share today and will chat with all y'all later! Luv, Mat

Happy Birthday Jan!

2010-09-01T06:56:00.003-05:00

Today is Jan's birthday, so made her a card just to wish her a lovely and fun filled day filled with God's blessings and her heart's desires! May you share many more with Bill, Billy, Wukee and friends! I used a cluster from Raspberry Road, a freebie WA and a photo I took last Thanksgiving! Luv, Mat

There's a new Sheriff in Town!

2010-08-28T07:58:00.002-05:00

Happy Birthday Al! Hope U have a marvelously wonderful day filled with lots of memories. Maybe MissG will share a few juleps from the veranda with you!! I wish you many more in the future as well. Have a great one! Chat more next time ladies. Luv, Mat

Yippee, Yippee, Yippee!

2010-08-26T08:18:00.003-05:00

Hey Miss Boots, it worked, that cooler air you sent this way actually got here! It stayed cloudy, rainy and cool (89) all day yesterday and it was 73 this morning! Such a nice break from the triple digits. It's not staying around long, but for 2 days we will definitely enjoy it. That means the barn gets cleaned out of all the cut pieces of wood and vinyl flooring, sawdust, etc in time for the trash truck tomorrow. Supposed to only get to 91 today after the clouds burn off, then back to the middle to upper 90's for the weekend, but hey, while it is here, gonna get some much needed outside stuff done.
The "girls" and I moved the dining area around to make more room in there, but still not sure I like it, may get moved back or in another direction this evening...LOL! I need to go by the post office for stamps and mail out statements today, so will go by and check the mail at the office while out I suppose so that I won't have to go back again until Monday!
Gotta go get yet another sympathy card to mail too! Will it ever slow down? My best friend in high school (and still today), Libby, lost her wonderful gentle soulmate Walter yesterday morning. I snitched this photo of them that was taken at the 45th class reunion on July 17th to make a memory page for her. Spoke with her a while last evening, she seems to be holding up well with all her family, friends and loved ones around.
Well, off to tackle the barn, then a shower, then get these errands out of the way while I have some cooler weather! Whatever you choose to do today, make it memorable and enjoy yourself, your family, your friends. Chat more next time. Luv, MatI used browns & blues kit by Cuddlebeez for this page, Thanx Brenda for sharing!