What are you up to today? This week?

[morgansmith]

Heidi, you are in my thoughts and prayers. As someone with a complicated medical life and the same with many people I am close to, I understand and empathize. Thank God for miniatures!

[morgansmith]

Nutti, I feel for you. Here's hoping everything is soon found. As for organizing...I get that too. I want space for my mini's again sooooo bad. Right now we have people staying with us and using that room. People are more important. I think Doesn't stop me. Just gives me an excuse to use the whole house for storage

[CheckMouse]

The pot-shelf is finished The small oxcart, with a cowhide cover, is from Bolivia; the large one is from Paraguay, using a different wood for each ox, the man, the cart, and the base. The rest of the figurines are made by local artisans using local wood - Bolivia, Paraguay, Vietnam, Guatemala, and Israel. (I love wood). The black bull is ceramic, made by our daughter about a year before she died. All treasured pieces of art, now back out where they can be seen.

[KathieB]

Oh, CJ, I can see how you'd miss them. So glad for you that they are back in sight!

[rackey]

CJ, I am glad you got everything back the way you want it. It must be a good feeling to have everything back on display. - Nutti, you will have everything in order soon enough. A new move is hectic and can cause anxiety, but in the long run, the change can be good and provide some new goals.

Today, I started off on the wrong foot, or I should say, the wrong hand. In the bathroom, I tripped over my pajama leg and hit my right hand on the inside shutter on the bathroom window. So I now have a nice bruise on the lower right side of my palm, right under my thumb. Then I heard the recycling truck and remembered I didn't put out my recyclables for pick-up. So I had to run out in the rain, in my pajamas to put them out. Then later in the day, I dropped a jar of instand coffee on the floor and had grains everywhere.

Fortunately, my hand will heal, the recyclable items were picked up, and I was easily able to sweep up the coffee grains. So if your day was like mine, I hope all your misfits will be minor ones. - Take care.

[rackey]

Heidi, you are in my thoughts and prayers. As someone with a complicated medical life and the same with many people I am close to, I understand and empathize. Thank God for miniatures!

And thank God for all of you who give each other support and stay positive. You are all an inspiration to me and never fail to make my day.

[Deb]

Nutti, this baby is going to be a Taurus and they're known for being stubborn about change. :-) I'm glad that they have Cat scheduled for Friday so you can plan and be all ready. I'm excited for you!

Heidi, you know that I'm with you on this and that it's gonna all work out. You're on the right track and that's the main thing.

Sorry that I've been missing again. There are good days and bad days and sometimes the bad days come in a row and kick my butt a little. This week has been one of them with little sleep and a lot of other things like hands and feet not working, muscles giving out, narcolepsy attacks, and a brain that went offline. Today is better since I'm semi dressed and laying on top of the covers instead of being in the bed. It's a step in the right direction anyway. But the sun is shining thru the window making pretty designs on the floor and as long as there's something pretty to look at, it's all okay. I'm a regular cat when it comes to watching sunlight move across the floor.

[havanaholly]

:hug: Welcome home, Deb; it's always a good day when I see you posting!

[chesterfieldzoo]

I had to drive my husband to work after dropping his truck off for new tires. I went in for coffee and was looking around. I really miss being there. So I did a little tidying up and nagging (part of my job) and came back home. I should get off my butt and go in once a week and do some cleaning. It looks like heck without me there. The guys are too busy to clean. (that's a good thing though). I can't believe how huge the fish have gotten in the pond there. The one is 40 inches long and about 24 inches around the middle. The stingray is now 22 inches wide. We got her when she was the size of my palm.

[rackey]

Debra, I always feel good when the sun comes through my window in a special way. Sometimes it aluminates certain objects, sometimes it connects me to the outdoors, and other times, it just provides a certain warmth. If the sunlight can bring you joy, there is a lot of hope in your heart.

Nutti, please keep us informed about the baby. If he/she is born today (May 9), the baby will share a birthday with Billy Joel. I thought you might like that bit of trivia in case someone in your family is a fan. Also, you might want to get the baby a toy piano.

[havanaholly]

Yesterday I cut the extra upstairs wall for Washington (neither of us likes the idea of stairs in either a bedxroom or bathroom) and today I made frames for all the interior doors and put a base coat of stain on the rest of the floors (I'll lay iron-on wood veneer strips on top, but I'll also stain the finished floors). When the stain dries I shall prime the other sides of the second and attic floors for the ceilings and make frames for the two exterior doors. Then I might be ready to begin gluing.

[KathieB]

Two weeks to departure! I'm working like a maniac trying to enter scads of information into our family tree database. Scads of relatives have been sending me all kinds of great stuff, so much so that the backlog was almost three years. I'm now up to about Sept 2012. We're going to see many of these relatives on the Big Tour, and I don't want them to think that their efforts have gone unappreciated -- after all, I'll probably be pressing them for more info!

[Missymew]

Today, I cleared out a few more boxes of miniatures (food items). Ray has cleared drawers for me to put my mini food items in that are near to my dollhouses and room boxes so that I can change out. I've also been listing some dolls on Ebay. I have so many. Now I'm taking a few photos and posting them here on Greenleaf to show some of the projects I've been working on. I've also finally (yesterday) cut the final string to the ties to my birth family (excluding my one brother Kevin). Its always been he and I. We were raised in an abusive household and I still have nightmares of being back in that house. Kevin ( 3 years younger than I) found comfort in each other. Anyway, sorting through minis today. Tomorrow's Ray's (hubby) 70th birthday. Hmmmm what to do, what to do.

[KathieB]

Susanne, you go, girl! I love the Beacon Hill kitchen scene that you posted. The little girl is delightful, but I'd really like a better look at the woman behind her -- Grandma? Cook? Her hair alone makes me smile.

[Mandystar]

Susanne, your room boxes are just gorgeous... as are your dolls! Gimme a clue. What is your vendor name on eBay? Or, please send me a link! I want some of this eye candy!!! Thanks, and kudos to you!

[CheckMouse]

Feeling delightfully guilty today - my boss called a couple days ago and asked if I would be able to work a new venue this weekend. It's a Women's Expo being held in a huge casino almost at the Canadian border. She apologized for asking me to work on Mother's Day but she didn't have anyone else to handle it. I graciously agreed - then did the happy dance. I wouldn't be seeing my children on Mom-day anyway, and I'm with my own mother 24/7, even taking her with me when I work out of town because she really can't stay home alone anymore, overnight. DH is home right now - so - he will take care of her over the weekend. I'm staying at the Casino/hotel and getting some much-need ME TIME! I stopped to shop at an outlet mall on the way yesterday and found some great bargains.

[Selkie]

o-o-o-o-o .... CJ .... you are delightfully wicked .... hee hee hee

[havanaholly]

I hit a wee snag with Washington, but it's on its way to being fixed. Meanwhile I have pinhinged the bedroom door and gotten one side primed and finishing the bathroom door and started to prime ceilings.

[pdlnpeabody]

I've haven't been around in a while. Work has been very hectic and my DW and I have been house hunting for the past few weeks.

My credit score is permanently stuck in the mid-500's, so I will never get a loan for anything. My wife's is just high enough for a loan, so we were only able to get pre-approved for a loan based on her income alone. Due to this we're only approved for $90,000. I don't know about the rest of the country, but in this part of Florida, that will buy an old, run-down fixer-upper, or a trailer way out in the sticks. Not only would we have to drive 20+ miles to the nearest grocery store, gas station, etc., but as everyone knows, trailers depreciate in value and wear out like a car. DW isn't willing to wait another year for me to get my debt paid off and try to fix my credit, so the search continues. One thing we both agree on is to wait until I get past my 90 day probationary period at work before we sign anything.

On the upside, the mortgage, insurance and property taxes on a $90K property is around $455 a month, compared to the $1,100+ I have been paying in rent for nearly 3 years now.

Nearly 3 months ago I though I had just started work during a brief busy period and would eventually get a chance to catch up on the work I've been given, but that never happened. They continue to throw more work my direction than there are hours in the day to finish, so I'm constantly behind and haven't had a chance to train fully in the new job. The partners may be ok with my work at this point, but the associate attorneys aren't nor are the secretaries. They have made it clear they think the person I replaced was terminated only because I became available. That would explain in part why they aren't paralegals themselves, but it also means I won't be working in a team environment either. I wonder if they let her go because she couldn't keep up with the unrealistic workload either.

In other news, I have been contacted again by the same person who want's to know if I can build Hever Castle. I have responded back again, but the last time I heard from the person was a year ago, and until now, they never responded to my original reply. My only concern (besides the customer's budget) is finding schematics on the castle itself. I doubt there were any engineering firms in the late 14th century, so I probably won't find any blueprints to work from.

[Roxxie2]

I have been procrastinating mainly. I fiddled around with some polymer clay for a while and I should be house cleaning. Its snowing and cold out so here I sit with a cup of hot tea trying to warm up.

[rackey]

It's a fairly nice day today in central New Jersey - no snow, but Roxy I really need that cup of tea just the same. I have licorice tea that I am sipping right now, and so far it is my favorite of the herbal teas.

Susanne, I am also making better room for miniature storage as part of my overall clean-up, reorganization process. I am very sorry to hear of your abusive past, and I am so grateful that you have a brother you are so close to. What I like about the mini world is that it has the ability to heal. Mini families and scenes reflect the best of human nature. They can take us back in time to our most cherished memories, or they can take us to the world we always wanted to live in but couldn't. So in addition to Kevin, I am also grateful you have your hobby, not to mention your hubby. - I hope he is having a nice birthday.

[KathieB]

I came this close to killing Lloyd today. He has been annoyed by pop-ups on his net book that insist it is infected with multiple viruses. I've told him again and again just to close the windows or call me and let me see if I can disable them, which I sometimes can. Well, today he pulled the ninniest of ninny antics --- he called the 800 number on the pop-up and talked to a "nice lady" in India, who talked him into downloading an app that let her take control of his computer for 20 minutes, according to the log that was left behind. She then told him for only $500/year, she could monitor his computer remotely and he'd never have a worry. Ha. He at least balked at the price and told her he'd have to talk to his wife, who was, at the time, happily pulling weeds in the garden.

"I didn't want to bother you," he said. "I thought I could handle it myself." I about had a cow. Disconnected the internet entirely, called the local internet provider and a couple other tech savvy people I know, called the bank and had them put a block on our accounts so nobody can get access, did some googling on my phone re disabling remote access opn our desktop, found the program he'd downloaded on the net book and deleted it, Several hours later, I think everything is under control. I was able to disable the remote access feature on the desktop, so Ms. India can't get at the data there. Now we need to start changing every password ... every password.

[Mandystar]

Oh. My. God.

Kathie, you have significantly more restraint than I have. I definitely WOULD have killed him... or, at the very least, revoked his on-line access permanently! I surely don't envy you, considering what you'll need to be doing for the next couple of weeks. And, here, you could have been happily planning your way through family visits!!!

Wait a couple of days before you let me know if this is a not-to-be-vocalized topic of conversation!

Oh... Be sure to buy yourself a copy of 1password. Really. A wonderful product (no, I don't get a commission!).

[morgansmith]

Oh,Kathie...you have one of 'those' too. That sounds like my husband. I was once an expert on contracts. My husband heard about a 'great mortgage' deal on the radio, just after we got married and my name wasn't officially on the house. He and another man at work went into the place, without telling me. My husband couldn't finalize the deal without papers he had at home and when he came to get them, he bragged about the deal he had made without me. I took a quick look at the paperwork and showed him the truth. He had almost destroyed us. The guy he worked with? His situation couldn't get worse. Kathie, I truly feel for you and what you went through today.

Sandy, it's sure nice to see you

[chesterfieldzoo]

Um, ya. Those pop ups is a virus. I have a guy who can do something for you and your computer if you need him. He does it remotely. Keep and eye on every account for a while daily. Not from his computer. Also use that credit karma thing for free credit reports. While there may not have been death HERE, there would have been blood....