Very much enjoying working on my altered art. I'm taking part in a challenge that asks members to alter a cd. This week I made a gift tag using paper by Best Creation, Inc., Close to My Heart stamps, gel pens, a photo, scrap fiber to hang and Zing Embossing powder. I love how fun  and easy this craft is! Check out the ideas and join Memories Always for great design ideas and challenges! http://alwaysforever.ning.com/events/event/show?id=3364653%3AEvent%3A24253&xg_source=msg_com_event#c_220

I watched the Hallmark Hall of Fame program on Irena Sendler last night as I'm sure millions of others did. I'm always amazed that Hallmark can condense something so well in just two hours. I will give them a thumbs up. If anything I hope it gave people the "want" to read more about Irena. What an inspiration she should be to us all! I'm still a bit pissed that Al Gore beat her out of the Nobel Prize, but I'm sure Irena wouldn't want me to look at it that way. She didn't save lives for recognition, she did it because it was the right thing to do. Lets see, Gore spends lots of money and saves no lives, Sendler has no money and risks her life to save many lives. Hmmm. So many people today are talking about Obama being the anti christ, the person leading us into the end of times. I think about that a lot and wonder if it is the end of times if I would be able to have the strength to stand up for what I believe in. I look at Irena. She was a young woman who didn't have to get involved. She could have played it safe. I wonder if when the time comes I will have the courage to stand up for what I believe in? A tough question that I don't think we can answer until actually forced to make the decision.

For several months we tried everything to heal one of our puppies. For no reason we could figure out, she was scratching herself until she would bleed. Because our previous bulldog had allergies, we were used to using all natural products. Tegan (our sick puppy) lived in a pretty controlled environment. At this time, besides puppy class both our dogs pretty much were at home. So we didn't think they could be in contact with anything harmful.

We tried bathing Tegan and rinsing in vinegar and soaking her in oatmeal baths. The vet did skin scrapings, then a skin biopsy and finally sent blood work off to an allergist, all the while putting her on antihistamines and steroids.

We switched dog foods and when the allergy tests came back, tried to remove as many of the food triggers as we could. (Because she was so young, the allergist said the tests were not full proof.)

After spending over $2,000 and finding no relief, a friend suggested trying a different vet. We had nothing to lose. Once again, the new vet thought it was allergies and sent us home with antibiotics and a special shampoo. HOWEVER, this time, the vet called me in the evening. During all the vet visits, I had expressed concern that our pup did not have allergies. She didn't really act like our previous bulldog. The second vet listened to me! She called an allergy doctor friend of hers and said they both thought it was perhaps a viral infection.

She changed the shampoo to an antibacterial formula, increased the antibiotics and within a week, Tegan showed marked improvement. After a month, her skin rash was gone as was the constant itching.

A week ago I was out for my morning coffee with Tegan when a gentleman commented on how nice she looked. I told him it hadn't been so just a few weeks previous. After chatting a bit, he said it sounded like she had a yeast infection. (He told me he'd been a veterinarian...but had to leave before I could ask him why he was no longer practicing.)

Since then, I've looked up dog yeast infections on the internet and have found thousands of references. Don't get me wrong. I've been searching the internet for answers but yeast infection never came up in the searches I ran. Allergies were always at the top of the list.

It stinks. I could have saved tons of money, actually it only cost me $3.25 for a cup of coffee at the Cave Creek Coffee Company for someone to diagnose my dog's problem. Go figure!

One thing about being a writer, it seems like I never am at a loss for words when it comes to journaling on my scrapbook pages. For a lot of people, this is the hardest part of scrapbooking! I realize how intimidating it can be to have a blank page in front of you, so I encourage people to think about what they want to accomplish with the page. Is it a tribute? Birthday? Something funny? Jot down words and phrases that come to mind. I love to use music lyrics in my journaling, pieces of poetry or a quote I've read or heard or even a joke. Once you start getting words on the paper, I found that it isn't so hard to build from there.

I HATE my handwriting but it wasn't until I started putting together a tribute album to my mom that I noticed how much her personal notes meant. My mom hated her handwriting too. When she was young, the teachers tied her left hand behind her back so she couldn't use it to write. (They believed it was wrong for people to be left handed and tried to make her right handed) When her hand wasn't tied, she would hurry to scribble her homework. Later, while I was growing up she used an old manual typewriter to type recipes that she gave away or anything else she thought someone might see. Later, when we got our first electric typewriter, I remember how joyful she was.

I do admit, I rely a lot on my computer for my journaling - using fancy fonts and my design programs to fit the area I'm trying to fill just right. Recently I was looking up some old deeds in the basement of our county court house - huge ledgers contained hand written deeds and trusts and I stood in awe. The cursive penmanship, curls and swirls that seemed always to come out right at the end of the page. What a treasure to leave behind for future generations who no longer are taught penmanship!

Speaking of scrapbooking, my girlfriend Theresa Amlong has her new Memory Works web page up and running and now accepts PayPal. 
 
The address for the web page: http://sunshine-memories.memory-works.com

This is a fabulous site. Lots of brands to choose from. Better yet, you can shop from the comfort of home!

Currently reading: The Do Re Mi by Ken Kuhlken
Currently listening to: 8th of November by Big & Rich

My husband and I just returned from a weekend stay at the Hotel Del Coronado in Coronado, California. What a beautiful weekend! After dinner one night a friend and I tried to find the spirits they say walk the halls. Most famous is a woman named Kate Morgan but employees tell us there is more activity from three unnamed men. Although the fifth floor of the original wing was a little unsettling (think The Shining), we didn't see anything unusual. If I ever get to go again, however, I will request Kate's room - just in case she decides to pay a visit!

On a completely different note, a friend recently sent me a link to a story about Irena Sendler. If you have time to do one thing today, link to youtube and watch this: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OVw1PANUcdg

I am currently in the middle of reading We All Fall Down by Simon Wood. It is a great thriller and I love it but I think my favorite will always be Paying the Piper. Both of these books make you want to hide in the closet with a flashlight and not come out until the final page is turned. (If I hide, I don't see the wash piling up, the cleaning that needs to happen or the errands that need done!) Want to know a secret about Simon's work?? You can't skip to the last chapter and figure out what happened. There are too many twist and turns.

Currently reading: Forever Odd by Dean Koontz (Actually a reread. I took it along on my trip because Simon's book was an autographed copy.)
Currently listening to: Sara Evans - Cheatin'

My mother passed away unexpectedly on May 1, 2007. I think about her every day and the impact she had on my life and the smallest thing can send me into tears - something on television, a song (Homesick by MercyMe http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zvhrPMJe8LE  or a book. After my mom died, I did what a lot of people do: I bought books on dealing with grief. Books told me there would be steps. Books told me life wasn't fair. Books told me others had suffered too. I believe all this advice is like dogs. There is one for everyone! As a Lutheran, I found the Aid Association for Lutherans book, A Time to Mourn, A Time to Dance valuable. It allowed me the opportunity to be me. I didn't fit in a mold. I am who I am and I will grieve in my own way, in my own time. Which leads me to The Five People You Meet in Heaven by Mitch Album. I admit. I must be the last person on the planet to have read this book! Better late than never. It isn't my usual read. I'm a horror/mystery fan but I saw it at a garage sale and thought "what the heck." Wow is all I can say. If you haven't read the book, I'm not going to ruin it for you. All I'll say is buy the book and insert your own five people. Oh yeah. After you do that, call those people and let them know what they mean to you.

Currently reading: We All Fall Down by Simon Wood
Currently listening to: Backwoods Barbie CD by Dolly Parton

Gosh, as the old saying goes, I wish I had a dime for every time someone says, "I can't wait for the new fall line-up of television shows." For Pete's sake (who is Pete by the way?), read a book! I recently attended The Society of Southwestern Authors' Wrangling With Writing conference. It was reported, no matter how into technology we are, studies show children love a new book. They love the way new books smell and they love the "crack" of the binding when they open a new book. Who knew something so simple could cause such entertainment. I had the pleasure of sitting next to Jim Thomas, editorial director of middle-grade and YA books at Random House Books for Young Readers during lunch at the conference. It was exciting to see the quality of books young readers are experiencing. Come on, even adults enjoy reading about Junie B. Jones or Magic Tree House. Most of us can still remember our first books. For me it was Black Beauty and The Sweet Running Filly. In third grade, while school shopping, I talked my parents into buying me James Harriot's All Creatures Great and Small. I still have the book and enjoy it as much today as back then. At present, I buy all my little friends The Longjohners' Series by M.L. McCann. This delightful set of mysteries are educational and fun. Contact the author, Gigimm2@yahoo.com if you'd like more information.

Currently reading: Beyond Peleliu by Peter Baird
Currently listening to: MercyMe - I can only Imagine