Countdown 'till Christmas

The Christmas Eve celebrations have wound down. We've spent a glorious evening with both Tom's family and mine. Presents have been exchanged, food has been enjoyed and relationships have been re-established. Life is soooo good.

All that's left is to wait until a certain munchkin is asleep (and not just faking it) so that I can "take care of some business" and get to sleep myself. I've turned on some of my favorite Christmas music. The kind that makes me want to listen to the same songs over and over.

It's peaceful here right now....the only lights on are from the Christmas tree and the computer screen. I look forward to the morning and all the excitement it will bring...but for now, peace has settled in my soul. Contentment is brought on by being with my loved ones, sharing such wonderful family time.

Some times I am amazed at how truly blessed I am. Now is one of those times!

My new obsession

My mother sums it up best....she always says when I do something, I can't do it half-way. I do it to obsession. I won't argue that point - she's right. There are very few people in this world who know me as well as mom, and anyone of them would agree as well.

So, having said all that.....here's my latest obsession. (Blame it on Jen!)

I can't seem to stop making these beautiful pendants. I've been playing around with all kinds of different effects and feel like I'm starting to really "make them my own".

Everyone at work always comes looking for me each day - they know I'll have a different one on. In fact, some have like them so much they've bought them right off my neck. That's ok! I know I can come home and make more....aw shucks, huh?

Any guess what some of my favorite people will be getting for x-mas? Ops...probably shouldn't have spilled those beans.

Hazey last fews days

I've lost the last few days.

I had my dental surgery on Tuesday and it's been a blur ever since. Today is the first day I've felt half-way decent, although even now I'm thinking some pain med's are in my near future. I've been in bed most of the time for the last few days.

I'm looking forward to feeling better this weekend and getting a whole lot more accomplished.
Here's to feeling good again!

Christmas Arrived

We got to bring in Christmas with Santa Clause last night. He was round, jolly and oh so familiar. Haley got to be Santa's helper at Leslie's church Christmas party, while Tom? well, he was "around" joining in on the fun somewhere (wink wink).

After the party, we drove through some of the more affluent homes in the area and enjoyed seeing all the holiday decorations. We stopped at our favorite, one that always draws a crowd. I've never seen anything quite like it and each year they seem to add a little more to the festive look.

I'm not sure I'd want to set up and take down all this stuff, but what a wonderful display of holiday cheer. It helped get me more in the mood for Christmas. My favorite time of the year.

**** Warning - Disclaimer ****

To all those dentist, oral surgeons, periodontists, etc. I must first apologize for my rant and rave. Turn away now if you are easily offended or take things personally.

I HATE GOING TO THE DENTIST.

I can't say I hate all dentist, because the guy I am going to now is obviously a very kind man....albeit, a nice man who likes to inflict human torture.

I just got finished with my fifth (count 'em...five) root canal. What the heck is that about? And although I am thrilled to say I no longer winch in shear pain when drinking anything but room temperature water, I'm still not at the point yet that I would say "it was worth it."

To top it all off, before I can have the crown put on the dang tooth, I get to see a periodontal surgeon who is going to strap me in for some further torturous activities.

I get to have "crown lengthening surgery" which quite frankly is nothing like the name suggests. They raise my gum line by cutting away excess, then open up the gums and shave back part of the bone. They then proceed to stitch me back together. I get the joy of having a large piece of plastic shoved over the entire area for the next 2-3 weeks so that it can heal enough to go back and finish the crowning process.

Is it a wonder I hate them so?

ME

Ok, this was one of the most fun projects ever...but also one of the strangest ones I've ever done. Love the way it turned out, but gotta say...while I was doing it, I had no clue whether I was going to end up throwing it in the trash.

You start with a photo of yourself, divide it into 4 quadrants and photo copy each quadrant. Then you take the color copy and start applying cheap acrylic paints over it. Mind you, I never claimed to be much of a painter, but this was fun fun fun. You just add paint color where ever you want. The color copy kind of bleeds through. After that, you take it and attach it to a canvas, putting the puzzle back together...blending the pieces where needed.

Then the fun starts...you can add just about anything you want at that point. And although I did this project a while back, every time I look at it I think I should add more stuff. It just seems to be calling out for more bling. What do you think?

When you least expect it.

Tonight Haley and I got into a camera war.

It started innocently enough - trying to take a photo of Haley playing with Milo...but before you knew it, we were chasing each other around the house with camera's in both hands, blinding the other every chance we got with flashes of light. Some of the photos were hilarious - most not even worth keeping.

But every once in awhile you end up with one that may not look like much, but as you study it...it becomes almost art.




I loved this one I got of Haley trying to avoid my flash by using her hair as camouflage. A few minutes playing with it in Photoshop and voila, artsy-fartsy photo collage. I know, I know....I amuse myself sometimes.