Gift show...

Today my cousin took me with her to the SF gift show. That was so much fun! It is so cool to see some of the new products. We did see a lot of the same old stuff, and a lot of new things too. I just love it! Gift stuff is just so fun! You see stuff for all the people in your lives. And even though she doesn't get it for her store, you want to know where you can get it cause it's just perfect for so and so.

I love seeing how the world of stamping/scrapbooking/paper arts have influenced what is happening in things like paper products/stationery. One company really has gone the way of Somerset magazine. Lots of vintage.

You also see a lot of fun stuff for the kids. Cindyann, have you seen the Cars Pez?? I know that's been out forever, but it's cute seeing Mater on a Pez!!

It was such a fun experience for me. I'm so glad that she asked me to go with her!!

These are some beaded decorations I made for Valentine's day. They came out pretty cool! It is so fun working with the beads and wire. Think I have to make some smaller versions for earrings or something.

Our new addition to our zoo....

Philip put out his gold mining pan to feed the birds in the backyard. So tonight, we found that there is a possum eating the birdseed. I don't know how long it's been eating in our yard, but it's pretty neat to see another animal in our yard.

After it got scared away by my photo shoot, a cat ran up to the bowl thinking it was cat food. Was he surprised when it was birdseed. :)

Here's imposter oreo....

Here's the big imposter Oreo. LOL This is the cat that we all see outside of the house, then we all proceed to call him or chase him to make sure he goes back into the house, only to realize, DUR, it's not Oreo! LOL Once he turns around, and there is no half a mustache, we all just feel so dumb. And usually Oreo is sleeping on my bed. LOL

Finally got a picture of him. Or maybe it's a her? I'm actually thinking that it is a she cat. Maybe we should call her oreoina? Missy Oreo? LOL What do they call the fake oreo cookies? We should call her that! LOL

Salt flats

This is where salt comes from. I don't know exactly how they make it, but they let the salt dry like this for a few years. I am not sure how long they let it go like this before they harvest it. But then they harvest it at one of the local salt plants.

pretty cool.

The bridge is back! LOL No fog today, just a really nice sunny day! Love that it was so beautiful today. We didn't even need a jacket in the city. It was actually warm there!

I know, I know... LIfe and Spoilers!!!

I have been TOTALLY Absent from the internet. These holidays really get in the way of life, sometimes.

Now to the TV update...

What do you all think of Grey's Anatomy? I'm kind of disappointed that Shonda has moved to having a character die and go to a sort of dream sequence type thing. I thought the show was above scenes like that. It was too weird to have that in there last night. It's way too early in the life of the show to do that. Doesn't that happen usually when the show has nowhere to go?

I could be wrong, and this twist in the show could turn out to be a good thing. But it was kind of creepy to see.

Just when I thought the show was getting it's groove back.

I like Callie and Addison more and more. Liking Izzy less and less.

I just love Men in Trees!! Love where the story is going. LOVE the characters too! I mean you want Marin and Jack to get together, still. But I love how Jack feels he needs to take care of Lynn. Love Annie! She is too cute! And love the new guy! He's hot. :)

Do you like the new idols? I do really like the ones they have picked for 24. None of them annoy me yet. They all sing well. One guy is from Saratoga! I have to check out where everyone else is from.

Heroes is great! LOVE Hiro and Ando. they crack me up. I was hoping the cop wasn't going to be the one to kick the bucket. Amazed to know that the cheerleader's uncle saved her life, and she doesn't know she's related to him.

ROME is kicking butt this season. I thought last season was GREAT, but this season is Better! Love Pullo and Vorenus. Glad they found his kids.

have I left anything out??

Well, that's the TV update. Will update you more on my life later....

Where did the bridge go???

Today it was so foggy, you couldn't see the bridge. This road goes over the bridge, but the bridge is nowhere to be seen! You could really freak out some kid by saying it was gone! LOL

Will post a pic of what it should look like if it's clear tomorrow!

My Boys...

My boys are sleeping. LOL Oreo has decided that he loves Phil, and sleeps with him while I'm on the computer. I thought this was a really funny picture of them both sleeping. They look WAY too comfortable!

Here are the boys

This is a pic of the boys. They went to play paintball on superbowl sunday. They look like they had a great time. LOL

Bottom Row: Phil's BIL Mike, Phil' Nephew Al, Philip.
Top Row: Manuel, Christoph, and Phil.

Christoph used to live with us for awhile. And Manuel is his brother.

Phil is really getting back into paintball. I'm glad, cause it keeps him busy. ;)

Finished!

Finished the rock tonight. YAY! I love the history behind the rock. I never knew that the oldest dam in California used to be in Niles. And was built by General Vallejo's brother at that.

Niles is a few miles from here, it's a really cute town near the hills in Fremont. Charlie Chaplin actually went there to do many of his films. They have a Charlie Chaplin day in June I think. It's pretty cool.

I mean it's pretty neat that the rock was placed there in 1891. It is a pretty cool rock, it's so flat! LOL

Local scrapbook stores...

I'm so sad, one of our Local Scrapbook Stores is closing soon. And to top that off, found out 2 others had already closed, one I used to go to quite often when there was a stamp store next to it. I guess it made me sadder cause I just went through the closing of my cousin's store with her. That was sad enough.

It made me realize that I had better visit my LSS's more than going to Michael's or Joann's. I guess it's like I would say to my cousin when people were so surprised that they were closing. Well, guess they should have visited more, otherwise she wouldn't have been closing. I mean I figure, the one store that already closed, I hadn't been there since October or November. And before that it was a year or two.

The one that is closing, I was starting to go back there because it was more convenient to go to than a few of the others I go to. I think I have to make a trip out to stamper's this weekend just to make sure they don't close!!

A very sad day in the world of scrapbooking!

More Rock Painting...

This is the Rock I've been painting on the last couple of days. First attempt was not good. I thought you could transfer lettering with transfer paper, then paint the letters...WRONG! So, if you are trying to do that...don't. LOL

I then decided to use a dressmaker's pencil to draw the lines on it. Then decided on sketching out the letters too. That was fun. And I used Patio Paint so that it will stay on there without using a sealer. :)

Kind of weird writing on a rock, now that I look at it in 2d, it looks kinda crooked. :( Well, just a few of the letters. Looks straighter in person. LOL

I have another part to finish on the back of it. Hopefully it will be done on thursday! YAY!

Writing on a rock...

You wouldn't think that doing calligraphy on a rock would be so tough....but it is. I have to figure out how to get lines on a rock. fun fun fun. I wrote the girl's name so far. The rest of the poem will wait till tomorrow. I need to bring my white pencil home. It's interesting to do, I will take a picture when I'm done. Who would have thought i'd be writing on a rock? LOL

All stuffed up....

Sorry I've been MIA. I caught yet another cold this week. I'm all stuffed up. Makes me wish I was a Mr. Potato head, and I had an interchangeable nose.

I have watched a lot of TV though. Watching a lot of American Idol. Of course. I think there is a lot of great talent. I wish they would show more of the people who get through, and not so much of the weird people. I do feel sorry for the judges, cause they have to sit through a lot of weird stuff to find a few great people.

Heroes is getting good. Glad that it's started back up again. Can't wait for tomorrow, it's Grey's and Men in Trees. ER is only just ok for me this season.

Rome is back! And I LOVE the new season. Can't wait for this week's episode.

We finally got a DVD player/VCR combo machine. I'm glad cause I can finally watch DVD's in the back room. It was a cheapie player from WalMart, but it works really well. Our last working VCR player finally stopped working. It actually ate my last tape, REALLY! It just won't give it back. Good thing nothing was on that tape. So, I needed something that would let me tape again, so we picked that up this week. $49 wasn't too bad!

Ashley is moving out with her bf. She's an adult now, and it's good that she's moving out. Wish she would find a friend to move out with for awhile, but since they're always together anyway, I guess it's just a normal thing? She's excited, which is good. Hope that she keeps up with school.

Hope you all had a great week!

The best present ever!

One of the gifts I put together was a Sushi making set. And Ngoc and I agree, it's the best gift ever! LOL I know I could have probably gotten everything in a premade sushi set, but this was way more fun! And I got to go to the japanese grocery store to shop! I haven't done that in such a long time.

I just love the little condiment dish with the space for the chopsticks to sit on. Very cool! LOL

I wonder what the dish says on it? We were joking around that it says, "Your food is going to be very delicious." LOL

I also put together a "survival" set for Philip. He was really into the survival gear to have in his car. That one was fun to put together too. I have to think of more themed gifts!!

Jabba's tired...

I spent this morning watching Jabba the squirrel. He was taking the peanuts we'd leave out for him and bury them in the lawn. After two handfuls of nuts, I guess he got tired. So he was laying on the fence like this. LOL

It was so funny seeing him laying like that on the fence. I've never seen a squirrel just sit there like that.

Later on he buried 2 more handfuls of nuts. A crow thought that he'd get some of the nuts buried in the lawn...Not so! The squirrel chased him out of there! I've never, EVER seen a squirrel do that before. LOL

The final day...

I've been MIA the past few days. My cousin has finally closed her Hallmark store. We were all very sad today. It was our final day of cleaning up the space. It was very, very sad. She's had the store for 23 years now, worked there 2 years prior to owning it. So, it's a really big part of her life that she is closing.

It reminded me of "You've Got Mail" where Meg Ryan's character is closing her store.

We've been going there ever since she's owned it. I was in my late teens when she took it over. But to me, it seems like she's always had it.

We've seen so many people come and go during the time she's owned it. And like I told her today, she's raised a lot of girls. LOL But I guess it's time for her to move on to bigger and brighter things.

So, that's where I've been the past few days. We cleaned, moved, cleaned, moved some more. Tomorrow is the day she's handing over the keys. A really sad day for us all!

Surprise Guest....

This morning we had a surprise guest...

A Hawk! It was in the tree in our backyard. you can barely see him in the picture in the left, but he was there. I think he was waiting for one of our big fat squirrels! I was wondering where all the wildlife had gone. Usually our yard is jumping with little animals. LOL

I think the hawk was happy we were fattening up the squirrels for it! I was worried that the squirrel had gotten eaten, but we saw it later in the day...YAY!

Happy New Years!

Hope everyone is enjoying their new years! We added 2 more people to our celebration! The german kid and his brother are here tonight. We're the party house tonight. ROFL. Who would have thought that the kids would want to hang out with us. I'm glad though, cause they're not out with the crazies!!

Tomorrow I go to see my folks and eat the fun foods. Woo hoo! I'm hungry just thinking about it.

Have a great new year!