Hello Thursday or is it Goodbye Thursday. It has been one busy day!

I was bound and determined to get my hybrid album finished for the February Portfolio challenges over at the Sweet Shoppe forum. And YaYYYYY!!! I did get it finished between all the madness of physical therapy and my grandfather demanding my attention. I fell in love with these ribbons when I saw them at Hobby Lobby. They just scream HAPPY! I just adore all these bright colors.

And here is my finished album. I gave it to Shaina for her to have a keepsake and I will just do a LO for my scrapbook. I mentioned to her that we will do this again about this time next year. I think it will be a great way to see how things change with her over time.

Supplies Used:

Pop Rock Kit by Melissa Bennett

Pea Mystie Unicase Font

Ribbon Scrap Pack (Bright) by The Paper Studio

1 inch album rings by The Paper Studio

4x6 page protectors from an S.E.I. preservation album

Thanx for peekin in!

Balinda

What I thought was going to be a busy week with dr.'s appts. has turned out t be a big bust.

I make arrangements for my hubby to take DD to school Tuesday morning so I won't be late for the VA appt. with my Grandfather and low and behold...30 mins after being on the road they call my cell telling me his appt. has been cancelled. Reason->the dr. he was going to see was not going to be in that day. I am left thinking, well why did you schedule appts. for that day. Same day...different dr.....get a call for his Thursday appt. to be rescheduled. I have yet to do that. Reason...dr. won't be in the office. Again, I ask myself...why schedule appts. that day?

Physcial therapy was working around our schedule.....so they call to come out this afternoon between 3 and 4...At 3:30....get a call...can they come tomorrow and Friday? Really..what am I going to say? NO?

I love my Papaw but I am seeing that this living arrangement is not going to work out long term. I am already exhausted and he has only been back here for about 5 weeks. My DD is stressed to the gills because he wanders about at night, so I am sleeping with her alot. This is not doing anything good in the hubby department. He is being very understanding but I can see his patience wearing very thin. In the meantime...I gotta figure something else out. Please pray for us that God sends us on the correct path.

Here is my Day 51 photo. I was playing around with the manual settings on my camera and the only semi-willing subject was Izzy.

Day 52

This is why we use Brita water pitchers for our drinking water. We are looking into some sort of water filter for the whole house. It's impossible to keep our white's white even after spending a fortune in stain removers etc. I have been using those new Tide stainlifters in the wash when I do any other than jeans or very dark clothes but that is getting a bit expensive.

Day 53

Ghost is trying to sit his fat hiney into a tiny basket. I guess that's no different than me hanging onto jeans that don't fit my fat hiney. =0
Day 54
Sad but happy day. Shaina's last day of being 13. I just wanna keep her little forever.

It's Friday again. Sometimes I wonder how the week goes by so fast. Especially the weeks that you get to have some down time. Shaina was out for winter break this whole week so that saved me not having to get up until 7ish. I was a good Mama and let my little teenager sleep till the crack of noon a few of the days this week. I suppose I might indulge her a little too much for that but I never got to sleep like that when I was a kid. My parents firmly believed if the sun was up, then so should you.

Wednesday ended up being a bigger day than I first thought it would be. Neal, the physical therapist, came by to see my Papaw. He adjusted his new walker for him and tested his strength in his legs. All in all for 88 my grandfather is doing good but Neal said he could possibly come by twice a week for at least 3 weeks to show him better ways to move about and to help him excercise a little. He refuses every attempt I make to do excercises with him. While PT was here my Mama stopped by to see me and my friend Ebeth came for a quick visit that ended up with her staying for supper. While she was here we downloaded AVG on her laptop since she didn't have the funds to reactivate her Norton. She has a hard time doing it at her house since all that is available for her is dialup or satellite if she wants to go that route.

In between trying to play hostess to my company, I had to get my grandfather into bed. After 5 minutes being there he fell out of it and hit the nightstand beside his bed. So we ended up moving the nightstand, moving the bed to fit into a corner of the room that is closest to his bathroom. To make it fit we had to take the headboard off the bed and the door off the bathroom. The two rooms are connected. By then me and the hubby was pretty much worn out. The whole time we were doing this my DD and friend kept my grandfather entertained and out of our way.

Thursday was supposed to be an appointment at the VA Hospitol for the podiatrist only we didn't make it. Papaw had an accident and didn't make it to the bathroom in time so we had to turn around and come home for a change of clothes and a bath. I was able to reschedule for next Tuesday. The lady I spoke to was a real sweetheart and very understanding.

I snuck into my daughter's room while she was coloring and grabbed this photo for

Day 48.

Shaina loves horses. Here is a small part of her horse figurines for Day 49.
My friend Ebeth suprised me today with a pineapple upside-down cake for late bday pressie.
She is such a sweetheart.

Today is my birthday. Happy Birthday to ME! I guess when your not a kid it gets to be just another day. My friend Ebeth's birthday was on the 7th and we celebrated during our superbowl get together and my Grandfather's birthday was on the 15th. I made sure to get him a chocolate cake for it as it's his favorite. And to prove that point, he ate 2 HUGE pieces of it. Here is our photo from that event...Day 45. I think in years to come this will be a cherished one because I am the first grandchild and my son, Christopher, is the first Great Grandchild. And then to have a photo of me and both my childeren with my Grandfather...well..that's just priceless. It just breaks my heart though not to still have my Grandmother around to see my children grow.

Day 46

Ricky gave me my Birthday present early. He did very well this year.

This will be my backup to my EDH I use everyday. I learned a hard lesson awhile back when one crashed on me and I lost a large portion of my scrapkits.

Day 47

Meet Izzy. She was the most playful kitten ever. When our male cats were born she instantly switched over to being in a bad mood and has been there ever since. You can pet her but she is not the lap kitty she used to be. We feed her and she graces us with her presence.

Yes. I am still plugging away at Project 365. I have felt quite a bit sidetracked with it this past week. Not because of the project but because I was putting everyone and everything else ahead of all my wants and needs. Does that sound familiar to anyone out there? So I just took a step back and did a quick refocus. One of my goals for this year is to finish projects and this is definitely one project I want to complete successfully.

I did get a treat in the mail Saturday. My LO's I had sent to Persnickety Prints for printing. I was excited to get them for one and thrilled to pieces when I saw my prints. Outstanding is all I can say. I had some LO's done with some scanned photos and I didn't get all the artifacts out of them when I processed them. I was worried how they would end up looking. I got those back and the photos had no little white specks in them at all. A Big smile went across my face. I am sure a much more experienced person with PS could have processed them better but I am not there yet.

And on that note...on with the P365 photos.

Day 41

A Christmas gift from my Sunday school teacher, Becky. No one else dares to drink from it for fear of great injury or death.

Day 42

It never snows in Louisiana....but then again the Saints don't win Super Bowls either. LOL!

Here is the first hint of a real snowfall in our area.

Day 43

Shaina creates a snow angel.

Day 44
Running out the door to see the movie Valentine's Day.


And the movie as Laugh out Loud Funny from beginning to end.
I will be back with more photos tomorrow.
Thanx for hopping by my blog.
=)
Balinda

Well we made it through Super Bowl Sunday. Can you believe that the Saints won?!?!?

I was whooping and hollering on the sofa during the game much to my daughter's embarrasment and disgust because she was rooting for the Colts. But how can you not live in Louisiana and not want the Saints to win? Really?

We were invited to several Super Bowl parties but had to decline because of my Papaw. I was worried he would not be on his best behavior. And I was right because I did have a friend over since it was her birthday day also..so we did a combo bday party/superbowl bash and well...he ended up just being rude until he went to bed.

But despite it all..we had a good time with yummy chicken enchiladas, brownies and Rotel Dip.

Monday started out with a bang. Monday's are college shirt day at Shaina's school and my Papaw had a dermatologist appt. at the VA. I checked Shaina out of school at noon since his appt was not until 1:30 and I would not be able to pick her up when it let out. She surely didn't mind that at all...lol! The appt went good...it was just terribly rainy and cold driving up and back home.

I know he was tired that night because...he slept ALL night long...big accomplishment in our house.

Our bedtime conversation though went like this.

Papaw-> I need to get married.

Balinda->Why do you say that?

Papaw->Because my back gets cold at night.

Balinda->Well, that just means you need more covers.

Papaw->No...I just need me a fat wife because fat women keep you warmer.

Balinda->(Shocked look on face) Well Papaw!

Papaw->You don't think I can find me a wife, well watch me! I can have one here by tomorrow night. (Smug look on his face)

Balinda->Oh, I believe you, but let's just see how tomorrow goes before we go wife shopping.

He seemed happy with that response and let me tuck him into bed....I made sure to scooch the covers up around his back. Tonight we didn't mention we needed a wife.

I must say..each day with a person with alzheimers is a brand new adventure.

Here is my Day 39 photo.

Seems like I got the deer in the headlight look. They will strangle me later for this one.

And here is Day 40.

We stopped at Party Central yesterday to check out Bday supplies for Shaina's bday and came out with sparkler candles for my Papaw's Bday on the 15th. Then at the checkout stand I saw some cherry flavored wax lips and grabbed them along with a couple of sodas for me and Shaina.
So be on the lookout for some silly wax lip photos...LOL!
Thanx for stopping by!
Balinda

Well I have tried to blog several times this past couple of days but somehow this thing called LIFE seems to poke it's nose in the way. My daughter has spent the week at her Dad's. I miss her terribly when she is gone...I have no idea how I am gonna function when she grows up and moves out on her own. But with her gone, I have gotton to sleep to the late hour of 7 am. My hubby has been the best thing about keeping an eye open for my Papaw in case he needs assistance before I can get up and get dressed.

We have had some pretty tough nights with him where he wants to get dressed for the day everytime he gets up. So each time I find him up and dressed, I get him back into his pajamas and put him back into bed. I am seeing now that we will not be able to keep this up long term unless he can get approved for a sitter to come and help me either day or night. If it's day..then I can take a nap and stay up nights to make sure he does not harm himself. If it's nights..then..I would just be in heaven because I could sleep and have a normal schedule. I have some paper work to still get the dr. to sign off on which won't be until the 25th. Then it's to be mailed to higher powers for a decision. Please pray they say yes. It would mean the world to me.

On that note...Day 35 is dedicated to my hubby.

He loaded the dishwasher AND washed the dishes by hand that wold not fit. What a blessing he is to me.

Day 36

My daughter's father got her a snuggie. I had already gotton her one for Christmas....a blue one because she hates pink. She is letting me use her pink snuggie but let me know really quick that the book light that came with it was all hers..LOL!

Day 37
Me and Ricky got to have a couple of hours ALONE away from the house, even if it was to just buy groceries and to get some safety devices for the house from Lowe's. When we left Walmart we found these on our windshield. We do NOT endorse anything this freak does. Apparently he has devoted followers though.

Today it is raining. I am so glad I don't have any place to have to be. I tried to get everything done while we were out yesterday. Yesterday was cloudy and the wind was bitter cold, but I was able to get my Papaw to the VA Hospitol and get his ears cleaned out in less than 2 hours. I was very blessed that my husband was able to go with me to help. I am afraid my Papaw will wander off while I am parking the car and he does not have the stamina to walk a long distance any longer if I have to walk with him from the parking area. I did stop by our DMV office when we got back into town yesterday and got the paper I need for his dr. to fill out to get a handicap tag to use when I have him. It will definitely make life a little bit easier. I am still waiting on his walker that was ordered. It's looking like I will have to make a few phone calls about that today to find out the hold up.

The mother to one of our deacon's passed away on Monday. She had been ill for some time from what I understand. My husband is working with her grandson for awhile, which is why he was able to help me yesterday morning. Her funeral was at 2 pm. We did get back in time for my husband to go. My Papaw was too tired so I had to stay home with him. I would ask that you keep the Gary Calhoun Family in your prayers during this time of mourning.

I have fallen a little behind on my P365 LO's but I have not missed any pictures. I took a bunch more but who knows what I did with the settings on my camera...most of them ended up blurred....GRRRRRR! and double GRRRRRR!

Here is my day 30.

This plug has been giving me fits for awhile and Ricky finally got around to changing it out. Most probably to keep me from continuing to to fuss about it.

Day 31.

Our big fat baby, Ghost. It's very hard to get a photo of him looking in the direction of the camera. It's like he has 6th sense about picture taking the minute you pick up the photo.

Day 32

February 1st.

What a beautiful way to bring in the month by seeing one of God's creatures outside your front door.

Day 33.

And yes..I do see that it says Day 365...I forgot to change the number on it and didn't even realize it till I got them uploaded to post. Don't ya hate it when ya do things like that?

These are a few things that are ALWAYS next to my pc.

Day 34

Coffee anyone? My household could not function properly without the coffee maker. I am sure a few of your houses are like that too.I am going to jet off of here for awhile. Nothing has inspired me for my photo for today yet, but, hey...I got time.

Thanx for stopping by!

::Balinda::