Living on Parker Street

I AM DohDa

Yes, that's right!  Envision me standing proudly with my arms akimbo, and that booming cartoon voice that announces super hero's.  Well, that's how it is in my mind!  Shocker, huh?   I am Dohda, at least to Dylan.  It is always interesting to me what little ones name people.  Usually it is a form of the correct name said with their limited verbal skills.  Normally I end up with the name of Nowa.  Dylan's Mommy called me DC.  I think that was supposed to be Auntie.  She also called Bill B.O.  I always thought that was really cute.   So these pictures to the left are Dylan.  He has gotten the idea that it is really fun to pull on my shirt hem, and smile up and wink.  Yep, this little guy winks!   Ohhhh, those photos just melt my heart!

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News?  Yes we have news!  We celebrated out 25th wedding anniversary late last month.  We had a little party the day before Easter, then the following weekend we went to my favorite place to stay.  We got a romance package, stayed 2 lovely nights, and ate ourselves half sick.  Don't tell my nutrition counselor!  We are back to normal now, in schedule and diet.

Bill bought me a huge diamond ring!  You can't really tell in the photo, but the main stone is 1.2 ct, with a total wt of 2 ct!  YOWZERS!!!  Click on the thumbnail to see the full LO! (the kit is Hugs Kisses and Cupcakes by Princess Lala (Laura White).  The template is by Andrea Gold, and the font is SloganD.)

This is us at Nye Beach on our anniversary trip.  It looks sunny, but in addition to sun, we had wind, rain, hail, and SNOW!  Yep, snow on the Oregon Coast!  You can click it if you want to see it more clearly.

We have a very special wedding this coming weekend.  As soon as I get permission to tell, I will let you know who it is.  So far it has been kept pretty much a secret, except for immediate family and a handful of friends.  I can barely stand the wait.  She will be a beautiful bride!

Mom and Dad.  Well, Dad turned 80 today!  Crazy!  How did he get so old?  Mom still isn't her old self.  Her short term memory is now slipping, and conversations can be interesting.  But, all in all, I think she is doing Very well for someone her age!

Divine Digital is an interesting place to be.  I am an administrator there now, I can't remember if I wrote that yet or not.  Surely I have, but I like to say it any way!  Most of the time it is fun.  There are times when I really wonder what people are thinking!  Then, there are the days when I have to learn a new skill in maintaining the site.  I really enjoy that part.  So, every morning, usually between 8:30 and 9:00 I post a new set of downloads for people to pick up.  The designers do an awesome job making very cool kits, and all for free!  Imagine that!  This is the kit we are giving away this month:  

Well, there you have it!  I got a notice that it was time to pay my typepad bill, and in the last couple of weeks I can't tell you how many people have informed me that I haven't updated for a while!  So, there you go!  We are up to date.  Well... pretty much!

Oh no!

Oh no, oh yes!  It has been one of those weeks!  I tweaked my back, which recovered quickly, but the same day I did that, I made a beautiful batch of sugar cookies, and forgot to put in the sugar!  YIKES!  Now I do have to congratulate myself on not even taking the tiniest taste of the cookies until they were all done, but what a disappointment.  It threw my little personal schedule off, and today I need to make it up!  Whaaaa whaaaa whaaaa.  I know you don't feel sorry for me, but that's OK,  I'm not throwing myself a pity party.  I actually thought it was kind of funny.  I mean, how rushed did I have to be to actually forget the sugar in a batch of "cookies?"

A little business here.  I received a comment earlier about the site having problems, and she/he was afraid to order products because the last time it took 3 weeks to get the links.  I am so sorry.  The site (that would be Divine Digital), has had huge server and x cart problems.  We are almost out of the dark water here, and I believe the links are being sent within 24 hours now.  That is as good as another unnamed, but hugely popular site does.  So, please bear with us a little longer.  We have awesome designers, and we love having people come and visit us there!  Don't forget to check out the forums, too!  That's where you will find the latest info on what is happening. 

But, just in case you don't come over and just browse, today Royanna has some links up for a free kit, and it is gorgeous!  The links are in this forum thread.  We also have a ton of other things going on, including the fab Download a Day, and gobs and gobs of challenges.  It is a pretty nice place to hang out!  I can say that because I don't own the site!  I am one of the administrators, and I can tell you there  are a lot of people who work really, really hard at making it a great place to be!  Click on the little photo here to see what the kit looks like. 

On a more personal note, we are having a terrific holiday season!  I have some video of the baby playing that cracks me up, and one of these days, I'll post them!  He is a lot of fun, and sweet as can be!  Last weekend we went to Portland and visited with Bills youngest son and his family.  They took us for a ride on the Holiday Express, which was a lot of fun!  Bill couldn't have been happier!  We had a train ride, got to see family, and eat out, too!  What a day!  Oh, and if that wasn't enough, we got photos and an amaryllis, too!  Now, this weekend, Bills little brother and his wife are coming through town, and we get to see them!  Coffee, maybe dinner, it doesn't matter.  Paul and Bill look so much alike, it is always fun to get a photo of the two of them together.  hmmmm....I guess I better ask permission to post his photo here! 

Well, I need to go finish making Christmas cookies, and I better clean house today as well.  So, if I don't make it back before Christmas, have a really, really special Christmas this year!  I am praying that God will send you some amazing blessing that you will know could only come from Him!

I have EMS

I know!  It's awful!  Usually it doesn't hit me until Fridays, but it is only Thursday evening, and I have it.  I had Dylan this afternoon.  He was a little clingy, and very snuggly, and now, only 2 hours later, I have empty arm syndrome. 

I don't really have a lot to say today.  I am pretty much just avoiding the work I need to be doing.  I have a lot of stuff to get ready for the challenges at Divine Digital, and we are working on the forums, that kind of thing.  I am also a couple of assignments behind, so I need to get those done, and I haven't even begun to clean this room for guests!  Really, which is more important?   A clean room for guests, or a neat and tidy, fun forum?  OK,  I know that RL is more important, but it isn't always more fun!

Here is a LO I did a couple of days ago, I just like this one a lot!  The kit is cinnamon nutmeg by Carrie Bombria.  The font is Ariel, and the template is by Andrea Gold.  Like always, click on the little picture to see it full sized!

Until another time...

My computer ate my post, and while we are thinking happy thoughts, send a Christmas Card to the ACLU

Ugh.  I hate it when I do stupid things.  Like just now, I spent a good 45 minutes writing a newsy and thought provoking post, just to hit the back button and lose it all!  I am rolling my eyes and groaning, if you couldn't tell! 

First, the ACLU:  Derek, a blogger that I love to go visit (click his name to see his blog), had a post this morning that I just loved!  This is, in part, what he said (sorry Derek, I just cut and pasted)

For those of you who aren't aware of them, the ACLU, (the American Civil Liberties Union) is suing the U.S. Government to take God, Christmas or anything Christian away from us. They represent the atheists and others in this war.
Help put Christ back in Christmas!
Want to have some fun this CHRISTMAS?
Send the ACLU a CHRISTMAS CARD this year.
As they are working so very hard to get rid of the CHRISTMAS part of this holiday, we should all send them a nice, CHRISTIAN card to brighten up their dark, sad, little world. Make sure it says "Merry Christmas" on it.
Here's the address, just don't be rude or crude. (It's not the Christian way, you know.)

ACLU
125 Broad Street
18th Floor
New York, NY 10004

Two tons of Christmas cards would freeze their operations because they wouldn't know if any were regular mail containing contributions. So spend 41 cents and tell the ACLU to leave Christmas alone.

Isn't that wonderful!  I am sending a card, I hope you do too!  It seems a simple way to get our point across!

News:  Our Gabrielle is now an engaged young woman!  Engaged to be married!  Dennis, his real name, has been forewarned that his face will now be plastered by me all over the Internet, and he didn't object.  At least not yet.  I will give him a week or two to think about it, then, it's no holds barred!

Earlier Bill broke his ankle.  It is a very embarrassing story, which I love to tell, and Bill will not.  So, if you want the dirt about his ankle, call me, I'll dish, just not on the Internet.  Oh, and the best thing was the very next day, he was offered a job, and he had to tell them to wait.  They did, and now he has a very pleasant working environment, and he is as happy as a working man can be!  He isn't making much money, but we were really more interested in the benefits, so we are good.

Now that the man is working again, I am no longer dreading the holidays.  In fact, I went from dread to half done in a matter of days!  I am quite happy about everything so far, but I am making Bill wait for a bit to put up the tree.  One year we put it up Thanksgiving weekend, and had to replace it by the middle of December.  I really decorate our tree, so that is just too much work to think about.  One tree a year is enough.

We have lots of fun events planned.  This weekend Kevin and Miranda are visiting.  In this weekend we will pack church, a Christmas Carol "sing" and the St Olaf Christmas concert, viewed at our local Cinemark.  Next weekend is the Christmas parade, and our annual cookie party.  We always have fun doing that.  What else?  Oh, Bill is in the Christmas choir at church this year, so we have that.  I love it when he sings.  Did you know he sang to me at our wedding?  What a romantic!

Finally, the digital world.  Work is finally starting to take shape as administrator for Divine Digital.  We have been having cart problems, that were preceded with server problems.  Hopefully we will be back to normal, and having fun soon.  And, I decided that I should start posting some of my CT layouts here as well.  Not all of them, since I do anywhere from 6 - 12 a week, but some.  This one I probably wont print, so unless you go to any of my galleries, you won't see it anywhere but here!  The kit is Raspberry Delight by Carol Burns.  The fonts are Ariel and Champignon.  Template by Hummie.   Be sure to click on the photo here to see it full size.

Now, I believe that is all I am going to say today!  I have been here way longer than I meant to be, and I have other things that need attention.  So, until another day, be good! 

Wanna know how I feel about Halloween?

Really!  Most people know I don't celebrate Halloween in any way.  But. even I have to admit this photo is really funny!  I got this off of a blog a couple of years ago, and I don't know who's it is!  So, if you know who owns this photo, or if it is yours, please let me know!  I would love to get permission to use it for another project.  (I know it has a copywrite on it, I just can't read it!) Or, maybe you have taken a barfing pumpkin photo of your own, and I could use it? 

Really, really bad!

I mean seriously!  If I can't do an entry every few months, there must be something wrong!  Nah, I have just been busy.  I know, I know.  I don't work, I don't have kids, how can I possibly be busy?  Well, trust me, I am!  I don't know what with, in particular, but I am!

If you don't already know, I am on 2 creative teams.  First I am on the CT for Princess Lala, other wise known as Laura White.  She does super fab doodles and crazy wild papers.  The colors she uses are amazing, and I always have fun using her kits!  The other team I am on is for Divine Digital.  I am an exclusive there, so the perks are nice, and I get to be a CT for all the designers who sell there!  Lala is one of the owners, that's why I get to be on her team as well.  Otherwise, I stay exclusive to Divine.  Along with being on the CT at Divine, I am starting to work on the administrative team there.  I have the "title," but the site has been having major server issues for the past while, and my new admin tasks are kind of on the back burner for now.  All in all I spend a ton of time at Divine, and since I do a lot of CT layouts, I post at 5 additional galleries as well.  Yep, I get around the digital world!  Probably the most fun thing about it, for me, is getting to know the designers.  I really enjoy that!

What else am I doing these days?  Well, we babysit Dylan on Thursdays.  If you want to go out for coffee, that sounds great, just don't call on Thursdays, because they are all Dylan, all afternoon!  Really, we enjoy him so much it is nothing but pure joy having him over!  There is one thing about it, though.  I had no idea how dirty my floors are until I started to crawl around on the floor with the baby.  I mean, YUK!  Here all this time I thought I had things under control!  I guess it is time to acknowledge the dirt, and become a recovering flybaby.  OK, if you don't know, subscribers to the FlyLady method of keeping a sane and clean house are called flybabies.  I formerly suffered from CHAOS (can't have anyone over syndrome), but haven't for a long time.  I just need a tune up, I think...

Well, this summer flew by, and this autumn is the most colorful one I can ever remember!  It is so gorgeous!  I would show you a photo, but I am just too lazy to do it.  But, I will give you a link to my gallery!   Divine Digital, Nora's admin gallery  I am still transferring my LOs from my member gallery, so if they aren't all in this one, hang on, they will be soon!  There are all kinds of things in there!  There are pictures of Dylan, trips and the like that Bill and I have taken, heritage pages (my favorites), you know, all the stuff of life! 

Now, I am starting to prattle on, so I think I will leave now.  I am so glad you stopped by!  Check back again, I promise to write sooner this time!

Yesterday was a real winner!

I already posted this little day of mine at Divine Digital, so if you already read it, here it is again!  I am still shaking my head about it today!

First, I overslept, and was late to my weigh in. I stayed the same, which was OK, considering the past couple of weeks.

In the afternoon, I met my niece at a coffee shop to visit while Bill had a mens prayer meeting at our house.

While having coffee, one of my diamond earing's fell out, and Aimee noticed it before we got in our cars, so I went back in, and there it was, just laying by my chair waiting for me. Big sigh.

When I got home, something was amiss. Bill wasn't home, and the windows were open. That irritated me, but when I got inside, I found that the alarm was set, so everything was OK. I thought.

I checked the phone for voice mail. The security company called. Before I could listen to it the doorbell rang.   It was a neighbor who wanted to tell me the police had just left the house. Several cars, K-9 unit, the works. I checked our security record, and sure enough, the back door, the one with the big security  sticker, had been unsecured. Nothing was missing, but there were weird things like olive oil on the counter, and my closet was open.

I called the police, and they said the property was secure, but to call if I noticed anything else wrong. OK. Bill had his cell phone turned off, and I didn't know where he was, so that was frustrating to me. I called my parents, and they had gotten all the calls as well. I called Aimee to tell her what happened, and she was as shocked as I!

Just a little history, this was break in #5, at this house, #6 for me personally. Most people don't have this happen even once, so I am really "blessed."

Want to know the kicker? The burglar returned. It was Bill! He had set off the alarm, re-set it and left without talking to the security company! Well, it was exciting, but at least we are safe, and we now know the police will come to the house in under 5 minutes!  Oh, but what about the olive oil and the closet door?  You got me!  Bill must have been rummaging around the house before he left!

A little news, and some super fab links!

My neice, Aimee, got "lay out of the day" at Divine Digital!  This is the page that Royanna chose: 

Click on it to see it bigger. Cool, huh? And, she is pretty much just starting out in this wide digital world! She has a great eye, and it is obvious in her photos and her Los! Plus, this is one little chick who isn't afraid to have a RED living room! Yeah Aimee! You’re doing great!

I was praying this morning that Bills kids would call, for Fathers Day, and let him know how much they love him; Well... 2 of them called, and they are all coming down to visit on Wednesday; This will include fishing and tents, and who knows what else.; I guess I need to get some work done around here! No more lazy bones for me! In a short time we will be off to see my Dad for Fathers Day. He is 79, and full of spunk. Did you know that neither of my parents are gray yet? Isn't that wild? I hope that means that I will look young for my age as I, uh, age.

PhotoShop links!

These are some of my favorite places to snag free stuff for PhotoShop! Now, keep in mind that I use Elements, so if you are an Element user, this will be great for you! If you use any other PhotoShop, there is bound to be even more stuff for you, so check them out! Oh, and there aren’t any of those cheesy sites that advertise free PhotoShop tools, just to find they are just brushes! We all have enough brushes, don’t we?

This is probably one of my favorite things. Long ago, before I even know what PhotoShop really was (I used other programs that weren’t as good!), I received a free version of EYE CANDY, and couldn’t figure it out. So, I dumped it. After I got PhotoShop, I looked and looked for it, and couldn’t find it, until recently, thanks to Graff! (There will be more on him later!) Far as I know, this is an authorized version of Eye Candy, but please remember to download and use at your own risk. I admit freely that I have this on my computer, and I love it! EYE CANDY

Another thing you must have is Virtual Photographer! I just don’t know how I could manage without it! Go get it here:  VIRTUAL PHOTOGRAPHER

Now about Grafi. This is just gotta be one of my favorite places on the web. This guy is very cool, and has great products as well! This is one place you must visit, and use! Take your time, and really dig around the site, he has a lot to offer!  GRAFICALICUS

Panos has a bunch of free tools, and the ones I have on my computer get used a lot! Check them out! PANOS

OK, now for the rest. I am just going to add a list here. Check them out, they all have something different to offer!

FINESS

ADOBE

GRANTS TOOLS

THE PLUG IN SITE

TWISTING PIXELS

JAKERLUND

XERO-GRAPHICS

RICHARD ROSEMAN

MEHDI

Has it really been a month?

I guess it has!  This month has just flown by!  Dylan is growing, and is such a cute, sweet baby.  There just isn't anything like those baby kisses where your face gets completely slimed, is there?  This is a photo of he and I.  I am sharing it for 2 reasons.  First, he is just adorable, and second, this is one of the few photos of myself that I am honestly happy with! 

We have been having lots of birthday parties, and now we are entering wedding season!  We have a niece who is getting married on 07-07-07.  That rings my bell, since I love those weird dates. 

I updated my photo albums a little bit.  I added the previews for my little freebies, and the final LOs of the 40 Days of Scrapbooking Purpose.  I have to admit that there are a handfull of pages in the 40 days album that I really love!  Things are coming along!  Oh!  speaking of that!  I have been invited to be on Princess Lala's Creative team, as well as being an exclusive on the Divine Digital Creative Team!  WOWSERS!!!  I got on 2 teams at the same time!  I finally feel like my work is being validated!  I hope to have an album of my CT pages up pretty soon. And, I will try to get my new banner or blinkie in my side bar.  Oh, my list of things to do just keeps growing!

Well, now that I have another album up, maybe I will post more often now!  Wouldn't that be unusual?

Whoops!  One more thing.  I had been trying to get permission to post a video clip here.  The owner doesn't want to get into licensing for blogs, so I can't post is.  But, I can give you the link to the video.  If you love God, you are going to be thrilled with this video! That's My King

May 11, 2007

Wow, it has been a long, long time, huh?  It seems like when I have time to work on this, I have nothing interesting to say!  Then, when there are things happening, and life gets interesting, I don't have the time or patience to do this.  Not that it is something I dread, quite the contrary.  I love doing this.  Did you know that I just about got in a traffic accident because I was composing a post in my head?  How nerdy is that?  I don't even remember what I was going to say, but I vividly remember a man cursing and pointing towards the heavens, but I am pretty sure he wasn't telling me to look up.

This is our nephew Dylan.  Actually he is the son on my niece, Aimee, and her husband Tyler.  Isn't the baby sweet?  By the way, I took this photo with my own little hands!  The frame is by Doris Castle.  OK, I will admit it again, it has been a while since I posted, so this photo is actually about 6 weeks old.  He doesn't have those new born legs anymore, and he is a lot bigger!  More photos coming soon.  Of course, soon is relative here!

In the near future I hope to share a little something that is a pretty big something to me!  Yeah!!!!  Nope, you have to come back.  After all the forms are signed, dated, and stamped, I'll let you know.  Until then you will have to be satisfied with the news that Bill is working at the bakery again.  Bun line.  Poor man, I had to comfort him, and say I was sorry he got a job!  Actually, I know for a fact that this is where God wants him, even if it is just for a short time.  The hours are terrible, but the benefits are fantastic!  Well, he starts on Saturday, so tomorrow we are making the most of it.  Clear Lake here we come!

I recently requested permission to post a clip of a minister.  I really hope they give permission, because it is one of the most outstanding things I have ever seen about the attributes of God.  Awesome stuff.  Well, we will hope for permission.  In the mean time, here is a clip from Kutless.  They are a local group, but I think they are making it pretty big now.  Don't ask me, for all I know they are a huge hit!   Here you go, it is one of my current favorite songs.   I will try to catch up again real soon.  NO REALLY!  With Bill going back to work, I will have some time to do things like this again!