Saturday-7am

Another one of those nights with less than 4 hours of sleep. Even Karma looked tired waiting to be let out on the porch this morning.

Yesterday was hectic--never got to the blog. But I have to fill you in on the day before! I discovered what it was that had that lady picking up the magazines glancing down the hallway and looking like she wanted to get away. Well, it wasn't to get away from the building. It was to get away from ME!!

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I went down to check my mail. The elevator doors closed. And I read this scratched on the inside of the door!! "301 is a bitch"!

Even I thought it said 301 at first glance. But when I leaned in to look closer it looks like they were trying to write 309, but that downstroke was so deep...OMG!

Well, if I was that lady heading to 301 and not knowing me from Adam and seeing the announcement inside the elevator that I was so hated in the building that they scratch about it in their spare time to warn people about me...I would have been nervous, too! Here she wasn't looking down the hall at anything--it was probably to avoid eye contact with me!!

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I knew something was "off" and something in the building had bothered her--I could feel it. But I never could have guessed it was elevator graffiti! About me--if you didn't look close enough!

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I did think it was funny, but I also don't want any attention drawn to me in this building, as I have said before. Just recently they have been trying to paint over the elevator door every time they scratch it up. (Which means it is only graffiti-free for 2-3 days at the most--the battle rages on.) I just prayed that they paint over this right away! And they did. Ahhh!

But--I still giggle over that poor woman! If I had known, I could have whined after her as she scuttled down the hallway..."No! Really! It's not me! I am not the bitch! It's 309! 3-0-9!"

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ROFLMAO!!!

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Anyways, (she says after regaining her composure)...yesterday...

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I didn't even get to bed till 6:30am with the crazy sleeping patterns--or lack thereof--hehe! Set the alarm for 11am so I'd be up, showered, and dressed before Dagan got here (he gets off around noon and I wasn't sure if he was going home first or not). Was up and down, as usual, but never checked the clock because I had the alarm set.

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I woke up--feeling entirely too rested...checked the clock and it was 2:10pm! What the he**! I checked my alarm...here I had set it for 11pm and and not 11am--duh!

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Panic!!! I had the lady who wanted to pick up the 30 gallon aquarium coming around 3pm!! Talk about scramble! Well--hobble-scramble--ROFL!! I jump in the shower--throw some clothes on--feed everybody--rush, rush, rush! Dagan showed up shortly before the lady called me. She had to stop over at Petco first, so my hair had time to dry, at least--hehe! The aquarium went off in the back seat of a car and then Dagan started with the antenna dilemma.

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It's really not a surprise that we are having troubles, I suppose. A few years back, when I dropped cable and went with the good old rabbit ear antennas, we had to buy three different kinds before we found the one that worked decently. We're having the same problem with the digital antenna. We're on number two.

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Dagan brought more cord and we tried it all over the place--even out on the porch. Still glitching and freezing. I suggested we try the bedroom because I always got better reception on that TV back when I used the rabbit ear antennas.

So he strung some cords together...

...and tried it in the bedroom. Leah arrived and joined the quest. They tried it all over and found it worked best on the south wall...but...still have glitches. Didn't freeze up as much, tho, and not glitching as often.

Everything was left "as is" for today. Cords and boxes and stuff--hehe! Desk, counters..

...and art table. :)

But I was able to watch TV last night...with some glitching, but not near as bad as it was. And I now know how to watch a DVD and the VCR! And how to record a program! TaDa!! I am learning how to navigate the new system!

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Dagan and Leah are going to buy the most expensive antenna (only indoor one left to try) and bring it over this afternoon. We'll try that one. Whichever one works better--we keep--and the other one goes back. Dagan also is supposed to install a splitter so that I can record on one channel and watch another one.

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The DVD player that was in the new computer wasn't working. I had gotten the replacement DVD for the Northern Exposure that didn't work (didn't work on my laptop, either) and it didn't work on the TV but worked on the laptop just fine. Same thing with the last Upstairs, Downstairs DVD. So Dagan took that out of the computer and took it with him to return it. We hooked up my old DVD player, tho, so I have one that works. :)

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My goodness! What else? Let's see...oh! That speaker sound that drives Dagan and Leah crazy but I can't hear because of the bad ears and the tinnitus...they have an old audio speaker system that they are going to install for me, I guess, so they can bypass that TV speaker. Otherwise they can't stand to watch TV over here--hehe! Doesn't bother me at all--can't hear high-pitched noises over the ringing in my ears--chuckle! Always a silver lining, eh? ROFL!

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This afternoon the giant old TV is supposed to be picked up. Her boyfriend gets off work at 3pm. If they don't have a really strong cart or really strong people to lift this thing--they are in for a terrible struggle. They've been like triple/quadruple warned about how heavy it is. I think Dagan and Leah should wait to come over till it is out of here. Dagan can't be lifting with his repaired hernia...don't want them dragged into helping. The girl was warned in the ad that I can't lift and can't help them. The more I thought about it, I decided last night that I'm going to call Dagan and Leah and tell them to stay home until I let them know the TV is gone. They weren't coming over till afternoon anyways. ;)

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So--that's what's been happening up here in Fargo. Karma is totally exhausted from all the company and dragging herself about from lack of sleep. Wasn't even immediately excited for her morning treat--didn't even come purring to greet me when when I woke up--just started at me from the hallway--ROFL! She's passed out on the porch at the moment--not knowing she's in for another day of company--LOL!!

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Well, regardless--I trust that Dagan and Leah will get this system to work the best it can and cords will eventually be strung around the baseboards and all of that. I have no doubts. :) And I am already totally delighted and impressed with the new things I can do now!! What would I do without my Dagan and Leah? They do these kind of things out of the kindness of their hearts just to make my life better or easier. Unasked. Unbidden. They surprise me and do little things all the time. But this is such a BIG thing! Wow!

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OMG!! Just dropped a couple of tears on the McLap. I'm not a cryer. Stoic Swede. Good grief! Don't want to short out my laptop! Best compose myself and start the day.

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Have a special weekend!! :):)

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"Joy is not in things; it is in us."

Richard Wagner

Thursday-9am

Only 65 right now, but supposed to climb up to 85 and sunny today. Good day to be on R&R inside--even tho the heat lovers (like Miss Karma) would disagree.

Got all the clothes washed yesterday. Leah showed up after work (surprise!) with another better antenna to try. Better, but still glitchy and freezing. So, when Dagan comes on Friday he is supposed to bring some more wire/cable so that we can try and put this antenna over by the big windows and see if that will do it? If not, might have to try a different antenna--but I'm sure they'll figure it out eventually with tweaking. :)

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I found out that it said "no signal" because the computer shut itself off. So I think Leah fixed that. I learned a couple of things, but forgot to find out how to run the VCR. I can find "live TV", but it's not watchable yet. Can play a DVD and find Netflix instant movies. Little by little I will get the hang of this. :)

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Wasn't a good sleeping night--again. Only four hours. Not sure I'll make it thru the day without a nap. In fact, I've been up since 3am and am yawning right now as I am typing--hehe!

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Oh--Freecycle! The card-making magazines already left yesterday. Curious. The lady was looking nervously up and down the hallway and looked like she wanted to bolt out of here. I know it is a little shabby, but I've been inside of a lot scarier places than this. ??

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I am set up for the aquarium to be picked up on Friday afternoon and the giant old TV on Saturday afternoon. Had over a dozen replies for the TV and 10 for the aquarium. Saved them so that if for some reason the people don't show up I can get ahold of the next responder. I love freecycle!

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Quiet day, I hope. They are working on the roof. Again. They already replaced the shingles on most of the building and the garages maybe a couple summers ago? I know it is windy here, but good grief! What kind of cheap thin shingles are they using? Or are they skimping on something else that keeps shingles on the roof--tarpaper, nails? They really did slap these buildings together as cheaply as possible. Last time it was raining (Tuesday?) it was leaking down into the elevator--again. And the shinglers were already here before that leak and on my end of the building, not by the elevators. Always something. I've been sooo fortunate with my apartment!! :)

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Well, time to think about more pleasant things, right?

I hope it is a nice day for you! :):)

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On that note--I found a perfect quote!

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"The longer we dwell on our misfortunes, the greater is their power to harm us."

Voltaire

Wednesday-1pm

So much for Karma thinking she was going to have a quiet snoozing day--hehe!

Caroline came to clean. Then Leah picked me up after work, we went to Pearle Vision so I could get new nose pieces (tada!), and we went to the Natural Foods Pet Shop. Karma is all set for a while! Two diet foods and this new Orijen 6-fish formula. (Karma does love her fish!)

We picked up food at Arby's. I had curly fries and potato cakes. Haven't had fries for a couple of years--delicious! I know, not very healthy--but if you only eat them every two years--hehe! We brought it home to my place to eat.

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Dagan had arrived before we did and even greeted Karma sweetly--she hissed and ran away. So much for Karma changing her tune and becoming friendly--ROFL! Back to her old ways.

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We ate and then Dagan and Leah worked on the computerTVsystem. Nothing was working right. Turned out the TV was too old. :(

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So Dagan and Leah left to buy me a new TV. :) Shock!

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While they were gone, Karma came out of hiding to view the chaos.

Here's the huge 32 inch TV.

There were cords and boxes everywhere!

Another new box (router) will be in the corner of my desk and the small tower modem thingie is gone now (we used that for CableOne internet).

The black box on top of my VCR is the computer. It has Windows! So now I have one with firefox, one with safari, and one with windows--do you believe it?!

Dagan and Leah arrived back with a floor model flatscreen that was on sale at Sears! More cords were moved around...this blue one will eventually go all around the room along the baseboard to get from my desk to the TV.

There was an antenna to hook up...

...on top of the bookcase next to the TV and closer to the windows. But it didn't work well. This antenna was the first one Dagan and Leah tried at their house. They ended up getting a better one and I will have to, too. Dagan is coming back on Friday because he works a half day.

We got it to play a DVD and watched youtube videos, tho. But it was getting really late and I need the other antenna to get it working right, so it was left until Friday.

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Meanwhile--Leah wrote up ads for me on freecycle for the old TV, the 30 gallon aquarium in the garage, and my bags of card making magazines! I have had responses to all three of them and am setting up pickup times for this week.

Dagan and Leah left a little after midnight.

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This is a bad picture I took of the new TV screen. Bad because it was an old movie from Netflix instant watch from the 60s, so the original picture wasn't very good--hehe! Was amazing to be able to watch the Netflix movies on the TV! Cool!

I took some pictures of what Leah had been doing last night, too--playing with the new flower dies!

We love these smaller ones that come in various sizes from Cuttlebug.

Got out the Cuttlebug present/gift package and stamp edged square dies, too.

Cut all of these out from scraps!

These are really going to be fun to play with! And they were all 40% off from JoAnn's online store. Nice! (I hate paying full price--hehe!)

Not much sleep again. But it was a beautiful cooler night! Finally--windows open all night and I still have them open so far today, too. Supposed to get up close to 80. But it's not humid!!! Gorgeous windows-wide-open day!!! Awesome! I hope the drop in humidity might mean we can get out of the storm cycle?? ;)

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The TV is now sitting on the floor near the entryway--waiting for whoever comes with muscle to pick it up.

And here's a shot I took this morning of the skinny new TV from the side! Flat screens are just amazing!

Say a prayer for it. It was making little clicky noises last night from a speaker--and it's not refundable or returnable. Dagan said he could maybe hook up the small speakers he gave me for my desk computer onto this new TV. I could hardly hear the clicking sound anyways with my bad ears and tinnitus--so that's a good thing--hehe! Oh and Dagan said he could set speakers on the cabinet behind my chair to help me hear the TV better--wow! Nice!

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I'm exhausted! :):)

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My CableOne internet is disconnected, but I am still connected to CableOne TV in the bedroom for now. Good thing as that is where I have to watch TV for a couple days. They showed me how to watch tapes on my VCR on the new TV, but I can't get anything to work this morning. It just says no signal--I probably don't have something turned on. I'll just wait till Dagan comes back on Friday. No problem. I never really got "trained in" last night since it got so late. I'll take notes and learn how to work everything on Friday.

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Wish me luck on getting rid of all the freecycle stuff this week! Meanwhile, my big project for the day is washing clothes. I am yawning...and off to switch the loads. :)

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Dagan and Leah...thank you! thank you! thank you! :):):)

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"In daily life we must see that it is not happiness that makes us grateful, but gratefulness that makes us happy."

David Steindl-Rast

Tuesday-11:30am

Karma and I had a quiet day...

...glad to have the AC.

I was getting ready for bed when the tornado sirens went off at 1:30am. We don't hear them very often in town, let alone in the dead of night. I stepped out on the porch to check it out. The air was heavy and thick--and it was creepy still. So, since you can't see a tornado coming in the dark and I am on third floor, Karma and I headed for the bathroom...inside wall and no windows.

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Good thing the bathroom isn't any smaller--hehe! I rolled in a chair for me...

...and Karma in her stroller.

When it is a tornado siren---besides my purse with keys, phone, and camera that I usually take when it is a fire alarm and we have to leave the building--I can have coffee, water thermos, and my laptop! This was probably about the third time we've hidden in the bathroom during a tornado warning since I moved here.

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Funny--Karma doesn't cry and is very patient sitting in her stroller when we don't leave the apartment. The storm was moving very fast--55mph with over 70mph straight-line winds--so the worst of it had gone by within an hour. Apparently a couple of tornadoes were sighted in or near town, but I don't know if they touched down or not. Didn't sound like anyone was reporting damages.

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A pretty much slept thru the thunderstorm that came thru around 5am that was way noisier--rolling thunder that shook the building and bright lightning--but not tornado scary...and the next lesser version that came thru somewhere around 6:30, I think. Karma slept right next to me--hehe! I would have loved to stay awake to watch the morning storms, but I was too tired. I do love my thunderstorms--hehe!

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Rained like crazy when the last two storms rolled over us. The playground was flooded this morning.

Cloudy with scattered thunderstorms today--but cooler! 70's!! Nice!

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Caroline will be here this afternoon to clean. Dagan and Leah will be here after work. Dagan is going to set up the computerTV system and Leah and I are going to work on crafts.

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Hope your week is going really well. :) :)

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"Look deep into nature, and then you will understand everything better."

Albert Einstein

Monday-7:30am

Another beautiful, hot day yesterday.

Here's the four empty magazine holders on the bookcase. I do need room for the writing magazines I am getting now, I suppose.

Two bags half full of magazines.

If they were full I couldn't lift them--hehe!

Here's the sheet of birthday stamps I forgot to post yesterday.

And Miss Karma trying to lay claim to the bags of magazines. She wasn't happy that I woke her up taking the picture.

Well, I went from being awake almost 24 hours--to 13 hours of sleep--to now only 2 1/2 hours of sleep last night. Couldn't get back to sleep for love or money. Oh well.

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So I've been sitting here in the peaceful silence reading Pillars of The Earth, which is a joy. Karma was out in the dead of night hunting a big moth on the porch that was fluttering up against the porch door. She came in licking her chops. *shudder* Still been closed up. Supposed to be low 90's today. I should be getting an Upstairs, Downstairs and a Northern Exposure DVD--and sometime I will sleep...

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...but--for now--back to Pillars... :) :)

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"Seize the moments of happiness, love and be loved! That is the only reality in the world, all else is folly."

Leo Tolstoy

Sunday-2pm

Karma--giving me the evil eye from the comfort of her metal table leg pillow. I'm sure she was wondering if I was going to force her inside against her will--hehe! Nope. Not yesterday.

Leah and I were phone shopping yesterday while she was at K&Krafts. And our phone shopping has reached a new level now that she got her new fancier phone because she can send me pictures--tada! We discussed rubber stamps (and I just realized that I forgot to take a picture of the clear stamp set so I'll post it next time) and ink pads.

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Here's the new Christmas stamps...

...and birthday stamps...

...and ink pads.

And, of course, the tattered flower die I had been waiting for--tada!

Leah also stopped at Target and picked up milk and some ice cream for me. Flew in and out quickly--as angels do. :):)

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I spent the day going thru all my old card-making magazines (Paper Creations, Paper Crafts, and Card Maker). I copied the few pages that I wanted to have for future reference, but plan to donate all the magazines on freecycle. The pages I saved got three-hole punched and put in one of my craft binders. I couldn't believe that I was up almost 24 hours!!

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I had been so tired and then Leah and I were phone shopping and I woke up again and got beyond it--and finished the magazine project--whew! And then a friend called...didn't get to bed till 11pm. Thought--good!! I'll be asleep during the night!

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Well, I sure was--didn't wake up till noon! Talk about over-tired--ROFL! And for me--I was only up three times (took a pain pill during the night) and that's as close to sleeping like a log as I get--hehe! My goodness!

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I've been trying not to take the pain pills. Have been averaging only one every day or two. Not too bad. Things are going pretty well. I am especially grateful to Leah for all she did yesterday. Hope things are going well your way. :) :)

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"Let us be grateful to people who make us happy; they are the charming gardeners who make our souls blossom."

Marcel Proust

Saturday-3am

Karma did not like being told she had to go inside in the middle of the afternoon when she was contentedly sprawled and sound asleep in her favorite spot by the cat grass planter. She refused to come in--thought I had lost my mind--kept pushing her way back to the planter--silly girl. I had to pick her up and haul her inside. Disgruntled, shall we say?

Why? Well--yesterday they were supposed to come--again--for an apartment inspection. (Notice on the door the day before.) I had been up all night. At 9am we heard the building fire alarm go on and off erratically for about 15 minutes (drove Miss Karma under the end table and needing reassurance that she didn't have to be put in her stroller for the bumpy ride down the three flights of stairs). I was dressed and waiting and waiting.

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Karma calmed down and went out for her afternoon snooze in the heat. I tried to stay up all day, but by 2:30 in the afternoon my eyes were crossing. I carried Karma in from the porch--under protest--and laid down on the bed with all my clothes on. If they came--I didn't hear them and they left no note. I sincerely doubt it because when I woke up the first time around 5pm, Karma was still snoring next to me with her head on the headboard. (I guess I was second choice after the cat grass planter.) What is with them? This is the second "annual inspection" that we've gotten notice for and they've never showed up?? Oh well.

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I slept till almost midnight! Maybe I'll work my way around the clock over the weekend? Maybe the pretend inspection had a silver lining, eh? I stayed up way longer than I would have--hehe!

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Anyways, I have been doing "okay" with the cracked tooth, so don't worry. You didn't hear from me because CableOne went out again (this time completely) for two days--which is what is powering my McLap--where I have all my photos, etc. I didn't feel up to learning how to upload photos onto the desk computer with the new Firefox (think that's the name). I at least learned how to do that on the McLap which has Safari. Hey--I had nothing but Windows since 1998 when I got my first computer and I never understood more than the basics with Windows after over a decade--can't expect quick adaptation to basic changes, I guess, eh? ROFL!

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When I woke up tonight CableOne was suddenly working again. At least I was able to keep up with email and such on the desk computer the whole time. Hopefully by Tuesday night the desktop, laptop, and TV will ALL be working via IdeaOne--TaDa!! And then I'll have another new system to learn--how to watch my TV thru a computer--ROFL!! Good for my old brain cells, right? ;)

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What have I been doing? Not much. Sleeping during the day. Hanging in there. But I did slowly work on stamping the backs of the cards we have for the Etsy shop. They're all done so they can go back with Leah.

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Here's the last of them on the craft table. Leah and I both worked on these together, so I only had to stamp them with the shop web-address stamp. Felt good to get them all done yesterday!

Oh--and I changed the look of my blog! How do you like it?

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I haven't been awake at the right times or felt in any shape to leave the apartment. So I emailed Leah for help. She is going to go over to K&Krafts today and pick up the tattered flower die--and picking me up some milk at Target, too.

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I have quite a few things around here that are soft to eat--and my nosepiece on my glasses is holding together so far with the super glue. So, I can put off other trips for a while longer. No sweat. :)

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Let's see...I watched Planet 51...

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When Earth astronaut Capt. Chuck Baker (Dwayne Johnson) arrives on Planet 51 -- a world reminiscent of American suburbia circa 1950 -- he tries to avoid capture, recover his spaceship and make it home safely, all with the help of an empathetic little green being. Joe Stillman (Shrek) writes and Jorge Blanco directs this animated thrill ride that also features the vocal talents of Jessica Biel and Gary Oldman.

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...and Green Zone:

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U.S. Defense Intelligence Agent Clark Poundstone (Greg Kinnear) doesn't want to hear what Army Chief Warrant Officer Roy Miller (Matt Damon) has to say about not finding the weapons of mass destruction -- evidence that could launch a war -- he's been sent to Iraq to unearth. Why the cover-up? Rajiv Chandrasekaran's exposé Imperial Life in the Emerald City: Inside Iraq's Green Zone inspired this frenetic wartime drama. Paul Greengrass directs.

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Talk about opposite types of movies. A kids movie and a war movie. Well, the way the aliens reacted to the American astronaut was rather warlike, tho--hehe! Spoofing ourselves always gives me a chuckle. I don't usually watch current war or political movies, but I would probably watch anything with Matt Damon in it. ;) Both movies were okay.

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Well, that's about it from here. I am off my game in more ways than one, so I'll be back...well, whenever. But I'll try to keep up with blogs and emails. Greatly appreciate the well wishes! :):)

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"Do all you can with what you have, in the time you have, in the place you are."

Nkosi Johnson

Twelve-year-old Zulu boy, living with AIDS