I'm Back,

This is the longest I have gone without writing and I still haven't got my keyboard switched over. I am staring at it right now, I just don't have the bravery to mess with the wire jungle. I notice I have missed many nice giveaways. Boo hoo. There will be more, I just have to look.

For the GOOD news, I am getting another poem published in April. I will share that with you once it is in print.

I found some interesting sites for writers, artists and I'm always looking at scrapbook sites.
http://picsandpoems.blogspot.com/ seems to be an interesting one to me because I like poems and art. There is also very good writing and informative news on http://david-mcmahon.blogspot.com/ which is Author Blog. Today's post has a cute little poem. There is excellent coverage of the Australian Brush Fire of 09 out there. I went surf crazy and covered my own tracks but there are so many sad stories and amazing photos.

There is bound to be a new giveaway coming up on the Making Memories Blog. I will be watching for it!
That's all for now.

Fibro, Lupus and The Spoon Theory

Howdy, I'm still having some major slowage on my page loading so I'm facing frustration surfing for fine sites to tell you about. I am not usually at a loss for words so I will see what I come up with. Oh yes, I forgot about the keyboard problem already. I look at what I am typing and I am missing letters in every third word. I am so forgetful I hope I remember to go back and fix them all. It cracks me up when I read some of the mistyped sentences, they can read funny, nasty or just nonsense even after the spell checker has gone through. I'm not going to dwell on that, just wanted to let you know why I haven't added any great deal, contests or blog sites recently. I should get that corrected ASAP.
I will tell you Fibromyalgia Network and Prohealth websites ( I will post the hyperlink when I get the chance) are excellent places to get info on fibro, chronic fatique syndrome and a whole slew of other diseases. I have a subscription and am a member of Fibromyalgia Network and get their newsletter, which is more like a magazine, that comes out quarterly with great articles, both from doctors and sufferers.
Because I had a lot of excitement Sunday celebrating my birthday I am paying for it today with an intense migraine. No, I didn't drink too much. I don't drink a drop of alcohol. I have to pay a price for exerting energy.
Scrapbookers, don't be scared away. I said in the beginning subjects that would come up would be fibromayalgia and papercrafting. The one is my escape from the mental pain and anguish of the other. This blog hasn't been hijacked :-). I want to share with you an explanation of the spoon theory and it will explain what I mean when I tell you I used way too many of my spoons yesterday. what follows is lengthy but considering the amount of people, women mostly, who have fibro or lupus, I think it is good for people to understand these diseases a little better.


The Spoon Theory

Even though the following is regarding Lupus, it is pertinent for Fibromyalgia, Chronic Fatigue Syndrome and other Chronic Pain Disorders.
I did not write this, I wish I had. My best friend and I were in the diner, talking. As usual, it was very late and we were eating French fries with gravy. Like normal girls our age, we spent a lot of time in the diner while in college, and most of the time we spent talking about boys, music or trivial things, that seemed very important at the time. We never got serious about anything in particular and spent most of our time laughing. As I went to take some of my medicine with a snack as I usually did, she watched me with an awkward kind of stare, instead of continuing the conversation. She then asked me out of the blue what it felt like to have Lupus and be sick. I was shocked not only because she asked the random question, but also because I assumed she knew all there was to know about Lupus. She came to doctors with me, she saw me walk with a cane, and throw up in the bathroom. She had seen me cry in pain, what else was there to know? I started to ramble on about pills, and aches and pains, but she kept pursuing, and didn't seem satisfied with my answers. I was a little surprised as being my roommate in college and friend for years; I thought she already knew the medical definition of Lupus. Then she looked at me with a face every sick person knows well, the face of pure curiosity about something no one healthy can truly understand. She asked what it felt like, not physically, but what it felt like to be me, to be sick. As I tried to gain my composure, I glanced around the table for help or guidance, or at least stall for time to think. I was trying to find the right words. How do I answer a question I never was able to answer for myself? How do I explain every detail of every day being effected, and give the emotions a sick person goes through with clarity. I could have given up, cracked a joke like I usually do, and changed the subject, but I remember thinking if I don’t try to explain this, how could I ever expect her to understand. If I can’t explain this to my best friend, how could I explain my world to anyone else? I had to at least try. At that moment, the spoon theory was born. I quickly grabbed every spoon on the table; hell I grabbed spoons off of the other tables. I looked at her in the eyes and said, “Here you go, you have Lupus”. She looked at me slightly confused, as anyone would when they are being handed a bouquet of spoons. The cold metal spoons clanked in my hands, as I grouped them together and shoved them into her hands. I explained that the difference in being sick and being healthy is having to make choices or to consciously think about things when the rest of the world doesn’t have to. The healthy have the luxury of a life without choices, a gift most people take for granted. Most people start the day with unlimited amount of possibilities, and energy to do whatever they desire, especially young people. For the most part, they do not need to worry about the effects of their actions. So for my explanation, I used spoons to convey this point. I wanted something for her to actually hold, for me to then take away, since most people who get sick feel a “loss” of a life they once knew. If I was in control of taking away the spoons, then she would know what it feels like to have someone or something else, in this case Lupus, being in control. She grabbed the spoons with excitement. She didn’t understand what I was doing, but she is always up for a good time, so I guess she thought I was cracking a joke of some kind like I usually do when talking about touchy topics. Little did she know how serious I would become? I asked her to count her spoons. She asked why, and I explained that when you are healthy you expect to have a never-ending supply of "spoons". But when you have to now plan your day, you need to know exactly how many “spoons” you are starting with. It doesn’t guarantee that you might not lose some along the way, but at least it helps to know where you are starting. She counted out 12 spoons. She laughed and said she wanted more. I said no, and I knew right away that this little game would work, when she looked disappointed, and we hadn't even started yet. I’ve wanted more "spoons" for years and haven’t found a way yet to get more, why should she? I also told her to always be conscious of how many she had, and not to drop them because she can never forget she has Lupus. I asked her to list off the tasks of her day, including the most simple. As, she rattled off daily chores, or just fun things to do; I explained how each one would cost her a spoon. When she jumped right into getting ready for work as her first task of the morning, I cut her off and took away a spoon. I practically jumped down her throat. I said " No! You don’t just get up. You have to crack open your eyes, and then realize you are late. You didn’t sleep well the night before. You have to crawl out of bed, and then you have to make your self something to eat before you can do anything else, because if you don’t, you can't take your medicine, and if you don’t take your medicine you might as well give up all your spoons for today and tomorrow too." I quickly took away a spoon and she realized she hasn’t even gotten dressed yet. Showering cost her a spoon, just for washing her hair and shaving her legs. Reaching high and low that early in the morning could actually cost more than one spoon, but I figured I would give her a break; I didn’t want to scare her right away. Getting dressed was worth another spoon. I stopped her and broke down every task to show her how every little detail needs to be thought about. You cannot simply just throw clothes on when you are sick. I explained that I have to see what clothes I can physically put on, if my hands hurt that day buttons are out of the question. If I have bruises that day, I need to wear long sleeves, and if I have a fever I need a sweater to stay warm and so on. If my hair is falling out I need to spend more time to look presentable, and then you need to factor in another 5 minutes for feeling badly that it took you 2 hours to do all this. I think she was starting to understand when she theoretically didn’t even get to work, and she was left with 6 spoons. I then explained to her that she needed to choose the rest of her day wisely, since when your “spoons” are gone, they are gone. Sometimes you can borrow against tomorrow’s "spoons", but just think how hard tomorrow will be with less "spoons". I also needed to explain that a person who is sick always lives with the looming thought that tomorrow may be the day that a cold comes, or an infection, or any number of things that could be very dangerous. So you do not want to run low on "spoons", because you never know when you truly will need them. I didn’t want to depress her, but I needed to be realistic, and unfortunately being prepared for the worst is part of a real day for me. We went through the rest of the day, and she slowly learned that skipping lunch would cost her a spoon, as well as standing on a train, or even typing at her computer too long. She was forced to make choices and think about things differently. Hypothetically, she had to choose not to run errands, so that she could eat dinner that night. When we got to the end of her pretend day, she said she was hungry. I summarized that she had to eat dinner but she only had one spoon left. If she cooked, she wouldn’t have enough energy to clean the pots. If she went out for dinner, she might be too tired to drive home safely. Then I also explained, that I didn’t even bother to add into this game, that she was so nauseous, that cooking was probably out of the question anyway. So she decided to make soup, it was easy. I then said it is only 7pm, you have the rest of the night but maybe end up with one spoon, so you can do something fun, or clean your apartment, or do chores, but you can’t do it all. I rarely see her emotional, so when I saw her upset I knew maybe I was getting through to her. I didn’t want my friend to be upset, but at the same time I was happy to think finally maybe someone understood me a little bit. She had tears in her eyes and asked quietly “Christine, How do you do it? Do you really do this everyday?” I explained that some days were worse then others; some days I have more spoons then most. But I can never make it go away and I can’t forget about it, I always have to think about it. I handed her a spoon I had been holding in reserve. I said simply, “I have learned to live life with an extra spoon in my pocket, in reserve. You need to always be prepared” It’s hard, the hardest thing I ever had to learn is to slow down, and not do everything. I fight this to this day. I hate feeling left out, having to choose to stay home, or to not get things done that I want to. I wanted her to feel that frustration. I wanted her to understand that everything everyone else does comes so easy, but for me it is one hundred little jobs in one. I need to think about the weather, my temperature that day, and the whole day's plans before I can attack any one given thing. When other people can simply do things, I have to attack it and make a plan like I am strategizing a war. It is in that lifestyle, the difference between being sick and healthy. It is the beautiful ability to not think and just do. I miss that freedom. I miss never having to count "spoons". After we were emotional and talked about this for a little while longer, I sensed she was sad. Maybe she finally understood. Maybe she realized that she never could truly and honestly say she understands. But at least now she might not complain so much when I can't go out for dinner some nights, or when I never seem to make it to her house and she always has to drive to mine. I gave her a hug when we walked out of the diner. I had the one spoon in my hand and I said, “Don’t worry. I see this as a blessing. I have been forced to think about everything I do. Do you know how many spoons people waste everyday? I don’t have room for wasted time, or wasted “spoons” and I chose to spend this time with you.” Ever since this night, I have used the spoon theory to explain my life to many people. In fact, my family and friends refer to spoons all the time. It has been a code word for what I can and cannot do. Once people understand the spoon theory they seem to understand me better, but I also think they live their life a little differently too. I think it isn’t just good for understanding Lupus, but anyone dealing with any disability or illness. Hopefully, they don’t take so much for granted or their life in general. I give a piece of myself, in every sense of the word when I do anything. It has become an inside joke. I have become famous for saying to people jokingly that they should feel special when I spend time with them, because they have one of my "spoons".

AUTHOR: of The Spoon Theory is Christine Miserandino

If you made it through this read, thanks. If not, try again another day.

Karenraye

IF and More IF, Fibromyalgia

If—

by Rudyard Kipling

If you can keep your head when all about you
Are losing theirs and blaming it on you,
If you can trust yourself when all men doubt you,
But make allowance for their doubting too;
If you can wait and not be tired by waiting,
Or being lied about, don’t deal in lies,
Or being hated, don’t give way to hating,
And yet don’t look too good, nor talk too wise:
If you can dream—and not make dreams your master;
If you can think—and not make thoughts your aim;
If you can meet with Triumph and Disaster
And treat those two impostors just the same;
If you can bear to hear the truth you’ve spoken
Twisted by knaves to make a trap for fools,
Or watch the things you gave your life to, broken,
And stoop and build ’em up with worn-out tools:
If you can make one heap of all your winnings
And risk it on one turn of pitch-and-toss,
And lose, and start again at your beginnings
And never breathe a word about your loss;
If you can force your heart and nerve and sinew
To serve your turn long after they are gone,
And so hold on when there is nothing in you
Except the Will which says to them: ‘Hold on!’
If you can talk with crowds and keep your virtue,
Or walk with Kings—nor lose the common touch,
If neither foes nor loving friends can hurt you,
If all men count with you, but none too much;
If you can fill the unforgiving minute
With sixty seconds’ worth of distance run,
Yours is the Earth and everything that’s in it,
And—which is more—you’ll be a Man, my son!

Source: A Choice of Kipling's Verse (1943).

That is a great poem! I really love it and would be interested in people's interpretation of the line If you can fill the unforgiving minute with sixty seconds' worth of distance run,

I was also wondering..... If all the world's a stage could I get better lighting please?

If a tree falls in a forest and no one is there, do the other trees laugh at it?

If con is the opposite of pro is congress the opposite of progress?

Why do nurses wake you up to give you sleeping pills?

Oh alright, I'll get serious again. I'll go all goofy another night and also talk about super powers like I mentioned in a recent post, read on if you missed it, because I would love to hear some other people's powers as well. I have the ability to eat or at least prepare great amounts of food in my sleep. Usually whats left in the morning is crumbs and empty containers and faint memories of putting large amounts of Hershey's syrup in a full bowl of Rice Krispies, or was it two bowls? I definitely recommend that one. Hmm I wonder if I ate all of the Rice Krispies last night?

Over the past week I have been brushing up on my reading about Fibromyalgia and after having this for 16 years I am still finding out new symptoms and developing new symptoms. When one of my sisters had to have chemotherapy and worried about her hair my own started falling out. I tried to blame it on a cheap hair product. At about the same time I developed awful rashes and itchy spells. I found out from a book that both of these symptoms are of fibro. About the hair the book said in a fibromyalgic the hair is defective. It falls out and is generally unhealthy as are the fingernails. I knew the burning on the bottom of my feet was the fibromyalgia, but it turns out that the odd patches of rashes and itching are also. The fibromyalgic , according Doctor R. Paul St Amand, has a reaction from their own sweat that produces severe itching and hives and "funny rashes"{yes, that is a doctor's quote, layman's terms}. Doctor St Amand co-wrote the book 'What Your Doctor May Not Tell You About Fibromyalgia', which I find very informative. Though I haven't achieved pain free status like some of this docs patients, I do try to follow his theories and I take Guaifenesin as often as I can to help with symptoms. I am a rare case in that I am allergic to many anti-histamines, but yet my body produces too many histamines. It is getting that time where my brain starts slowing down and wanting sleep. I would like to pick up the topic of fibro another time and hope the is someone out there interested or needing answers. I know of some helpful websites, I am just too tired to post them tonight. I had a long day - I started celebrating my birthday today.Yee Haw! It isn't til the 25th but when you move slow like I do you have to start early!

Yee Haw!

I filled out a profile where I had to list my super power and I wrote creating useful things out of trash and vise versa. I think I probably have more super powers that I should make a list of just so I can appreciate them, but that will be another time. It is a little twist on the 'What I'm thankful for' list that I go over in my head quite often.

For now I would like to say my computer problems are not totally cleared up but I did find an interesting site called http://www.mexicocooks.typepad.com/ and I am a lover of Mexican Food. I will be following that one. I love tamales and I say some blueberry tamales pictured. What a yummy concept! I have never had a sweet tamale.

Ramblings

Hello,
I'm having some type of computer problem that is causing my computer to do everything verrry sloowwly. There is no chance of me surfing for good deals or interesting sites tonight. Even my keyboard is fighting me every step of the way. I have been having some issues with keys sticking, even the space bar sometimes, and then all of a sudden my keyboard is responding in slow motion. It's like a bad Chinese movie, my keyboard isn't in sync with the monitor. My sound went out and so did my video player. I don't know about you, but I feel cripple without my computer and mute without my computer voice. Well anyway, I have something to talk about without having to open sites that take 5 minutes to load.
Today I accidentally set a small scrapper tote on a strip of Zots glue dots. I moved it off the table of scrap paper and ribbon set it on the kitchen counter to clean off later (I was on my way out the door when I noticed it). Then I got this idea it would be funny if my hubby would go to move it and it would be stuck down. We sometimes do silly stuff to each other. I gave the little canvas tote a little push for extra stick and chuckled to myself. :-) What a mistake! He didn't touch it all night and I went to pick it up and boy, do those Zots glue dots stick!
Then I had to use my UnDo t get the Zots off the bottom of the tote. If there are non scrapbookers reading this, UnDo is a lighter fluid like product that we pay lots of money for to release adhesive without damaging photos or stickers. I treat mine like gold.
I am going to reboot and see if cafix any f my computer problems. But this keyboard problem isvery annoying . I will try to fix most of the errors but it is just ridiculous and sloow.
Just in case I don't come back write away - Live, Laugh, Love and Peace out

Women Things

http://susiesbigadventure.blogspot.com/ is a very interesting blog about the life of a women married to a man from Saudi Arabia who has only just in the last 1 months or so moved to Saudi Arabia and started living the life as the women there live. She has beautiful photos on that blog and has another blog with daily photos as well. I think this is a site many women would enjoy reading.
I also wanted to share a few women only tips (I think anyway). Do you now what color bra to wear under a white blouse? If you said white you are wrong. When wearing a white blouse you should always try to match your bra to your flesh tone. A white bra will show up bright while a flesh tone bra will blend in and not be noticed.

Simple-Finds.com

I must just tell you this - check simple-Finds.com every day! There is so much great product information and so many giveaways going on, several of them consecutively. You just can't go wrong, there is bound to be something here you have been looking for, would like or really need. These are not usually scrapbook related but they are things people from all walks of life might need or want. When I learn how to put a button for them on my blog I will, but until then you can always find it in my Blogs I Follow list. Simple-Finds.com It is just that SIMPLE!

Kid's Ideas on Angels

. I only know the names of two angels. Hark and Harold. Gregory, age 5
· Everybody’s got it all wrong. Angels don’t wear halos. I forget why, but scientists are working on it. Olive,
age 9
· It’s not easy to become an angel! First you die. Then you go to heaven. Then there’s still the flight training to go through. And then you got to wear those angel clothes. Matthew, age 9
· Angels work for God and watch over kids when God has to go do something else. Mitchell, age 7
· My guardian angel helps me with math, but he’s not much good at science. Henry, age 8
· Angel don’t eat, but they drink milk from holy cows. Jack, age 6
· Angels talk all the way while they’re flying you up to heaven. The basic message is where you went wrong before you got dead. Daniel, age 9
· When an angel gets mad, he takes a deep breath and counts to ten. And when he lets out his breath, somewhere there’s a tornado. Reagan, age 10
· Angels have a lot to do and they keep very busy. If you lose a tooth, an angel comes in through your window and leaves money under your pillow. Then, when it gets cold, angels go north for the winter. Sara, age 6
· Angels live in cloud houses made by God and his son, who’s a very good carpenter. Jared, age 8
· All angels are girls because they gotta wear dresses and boys didn’t go for it. Antonio, age 9
· My angel is my grandma who died last year. She got a big head start on helping me while she was still here on earth. Katelynn, age 9
· Some of the angels are in charge of helping heal sick animals and pets. And if they don’t make the animals get better, they help the kids get over it. Vicki, age 8
· What I don’t get about angels is, why, when someone is in love, they shoot arrows at them. Sarah, age 7

Giveaway & Reality Check

The site rachelrayshow.com is having some good giveaways again. A Zune MP3 player, a nice Valentine's Day package and more.
When I opened the mail today I felt immediately old. While I am going to be adding a year to my age next week I didn't need a reminder of where life might lead as the rude reality check in my mailbox. I received my very first coupon, personally addressed to me for Depends! Oh no! It wasn't bad enough that I have the aches and pains of an eighty year old at a young hearted 52.

A Fun Day

Today was a long and painful day, but it was a fun day. I attended my first crop/class and finished the majority of a two page layout. I will post it as soon as I get the photo or photos in place and get the final embellishments taped down. I used the Bittersweet collection from Basic Grey. Pinks and browns and hearts and buttons. It is really cute. Now a need a picture of my sweetheart or maybe two. I might do the journaling in the form of a poem but I've written so many poems about him already, I think he's getting tired of it or embarrassed. That is too bad because love is in my heart and in the month of February my heart won't be still. Love poems have been flowing from me like I may have a whole new book category. Love poems, children's poems and spiritual or inspirational poems.
I was having a lot of pain and a migraine all day. I had a migraine shot on Monday and on Friday but they are so stubborn they just keep coming back. My back and neck pain was really bad too, and to top it off it was very cold and icy out. Before I went out I took a long hot shower and tried to loosen up all my muscles and joints. I loosened up with a few stretching exercises too, that is pretty necessary. I wear a TENS machine (an electronic stimulator) to help with the pain on days like this, so I spent quite a while hooking up four sensor pads and all the wires. I took all my pills for the day plus packed along a few extras that I might need. Then I looked at the clock and thought, No wonder I'm always running late everywhere I go, it takes me forever to get ready! Then you have to factor in that the fibro affects my memory and concentration so I forget what I went into a certain room for and end up running (well not actually running) around in circles. My husband has a little joke and if he sees me walk fast he says I'm running, because my running days are over. I suppose if I really had to I would get that adrenaline rush and I would find it in me to run, but without a fire or a bad man chasing me, this girl ain't running!

Okay, time to quite talking about me. Time to take care of me and get some sleep, well maybe I;ll take a quick sweep through the sites and see what's out there. Maybe I'll find something to share. I did learn something about the spellcheck feature on this site tonight. If you don't click on the words - done spellchecking - when you finish, and then you type some more and click on the spell check, it won't catch your errors. Hmm, I wonder if I've left typos slide through in the past.
Later, peace out.

Blog Candy

I haven't been on my 'puter much this weekend because I've had a doozey of a migraine. I had to take a trip to the emergency room on Friday and have been taking migraine medicine all weekend in massive doses. I'm hoping to get in to see my neurologist in the morning.
In case I haven't mentioned the site mycraftivity.com before I will mention it now. It is definitely worth repeating if I did mention it before. It encompasses many different arts and crafts, and though all categories aren't updated on a frequent basis there is definitely some good information and giveaways. The scrapbooking and inspiration categories are the ones I like best, but I have found very useful info on the sewing and painting sections.

I am adding a way cool site to my blogs I follow. It is http://papercraftsbyrach.blogspot.com/ and right now she has some awsome blog candy up for grabs. You must check it out!

Simple-Finds.com

There are several contests running at once on http://simple-finds.com/ there is a giveaway for a cute kitchen magnat, a table lamp, and if you go back to the kids shoe giveaway you can follow the link to See Kai Run and they have a daily shoe contest all through the month of February. The shoes are just darling.

Kitchen Tips

If you cook from recipes in cook books and are tired of the book closing on your page use tha clips from a pant/skirt hanger to hold the book open. To keep your pages clean put a piece of clear plastic over the page. Saran wrap will work in a pinch, but I manage to save packaging that will work better that is flat and clear. You can also laminate recipe cards to keep them washable and neat.

Win a Trip to Jamaica

On Rachelraymag.com there is a contest where your can win an all inclusive trip for two via Fun Jet to Jamaica. Rachel has a few websites and has great giveaways on at least two of them that change weekly. There are always great recipes and tips as well.

New Stamps

I recently added High Hopes Rubber Stamps to my list of blogs that I follow. Their featured stamp that caught my eye is a ant carrying a rubber tree plant. This imagery is from the song High Hopes and the musical it was in escapes me at the moment. I will have to ask my dad because we watched it together and we used to sing this song when I was a kid. I do remember a very young Frank Sinatra. All the stamps I've seen from the High Hopes collection are very cute and whimsical and I really like that style. High Hopes Stamps are going to be showing off some of the 75 or so new stamps that are coming out so check out their blog.
High Hopes also describes what I have for my financial situation in 2009. I have to have high hopes to fight off the depression. High medical bills are killing me right now. I am even getting collection notices for a bill I already paid. I'll have to do a little investigating on that in the morning I don't think I have mentioned it before but besides my disability my husband has prostate cancer which is in check for the time being. He also has a torn rotator cuff, and is starting physical therapy before the doctors decide about surgery. We both have many medications and are struggling to make ends meet.

Word for the Day

I learned an interesting word today used by the people of Easter Island. The word is tingo. The definition is to take all the objects one desires from the house of a friend, one at a time, by borrowing them. This makes me wonder if people on Easter Island have many friends as this practise must happen often enough for them to come up with a word for it!

Take Time to Read the Small Print

I have always been a firm believer of reading the small print even if you have to get out the magnifying glass. Now I notice I am getting a bit lazy. I didn't realize my music player was going to reduce all my favorite songs to a line or less withing a certain time period. I will have to search for some free music or some I already own to put on (if that is possible. The two things I am usually adamant about reading small print and disclaimers on are mail offers and anything you can get on-line so I am surprised this one slipped by me. Live and learn. You can't get much for free these days. I did get a free counter on my page thanks to the suggestion from Jacque. I really appreciate her comments. Now with the counter I can find out if she is in fact the only one that reads my blog. Well, if she is, I couldn't ask for a better follower!
Jacque you're the greatest!

The aroma of French fried potatoes

I read this in a blog from England so the chips they are talking about are the same as french fries in America. Either way, chips or fries I thought this sounded a bit absurd.

An analyst sniffed the smells that could be detected by the human nose and recorded their type and strength.
The research, which was commissioned by the Potato Council for National Chip Week, showed chip aroma is made up of butterscotch, cocoa, onion, flowers, cheese and ironing boards.
Dr Clayton said: "Whether oven-cooked or fried, the humble chip doesn't smell of just chips - the aroma is much more complex and probably explains why chips are everyone's favourite.
"One might not expect to find butterscotch or cocoa aromas in chips, but it has to be remembered that these are one part of the overall aroma.

Never once has the smell of an ironing board made me hungry!

My Poetry and a Shoe Deal

My Thankful Heart

I am thankful this day for the good Lord above,
That he saw fit to give me a heart full of love.
He taught me the love wasn’t meant to stay there.
You can only enjoy the love that you share.

The Lord also gave me eyes open so wide
That I see inside others the pain that they hide.
He gave me the insight to know what to say
When people are saddened to lighten their day.

God gave me compassion so heavy and deep
That night after night I go without sleep.
He gave me great courage and just enough pride
To endure many hardships with Him by my side.

I wrote this one around Thanksgiving time. I hope you like it. It has been published in a newsletter that is put out by a local hospice.
If you have any little ones to buy or win shoes for there is a great contest going on. Check http://simple-finds.com/ for more information and see all of the wonderful kids shoes. They are so cute!

A Picture and a Plan

This is a photo I took one day while I was goofing around. I call him Mr. Blockhead.

I found a nice site to get backgrounds and other things to customize your blog and yes, they are free! http://www.thecutestblogontheblock.com/ I seriously considered changing mine to a Valentine's Day theme but that day is coming so fast that I thought I should spend what time I can writing instead of fiddling with my blog design. I haven't been writing as much as I had hoped but I know that will change once I get to know a little bit more what readers would enjoy. Also there is the problem of me usually being kind of a private person. I have been online for ten years and 2008 was the first year I posted my picture on a message board or blog. That is me either being brave or stupid, I am still not sure. I would like to have a book of my poems published some day, I have had 2 poems published so far, so I guess I shouldn't be shy to have my face seen. I had permission from my husband and the mother of my Godson to put their picture on here with my poem. Check my archives if you missed it.


I was hoping this would be a place to share scrapbooking tips, freebies and inspiring quotes and stories. So far I haven't been living up to my expectations, but then I always set the bar a bit high for myself. I guess it is good to be always trying harder. I should have anticipated my sick days because I have so many, but I think as time goes on I will be able to recognize a blog worthy thought or moment and get it in type before it flees from my forgetful mind. I write myself a lot of notes to remind myself to do things and end up with so many partial lists all over my house that it really doesn't help me remember things and it just contributes to my clutter.


Okay so I will give you a few sites that have contests and will go back out for a search of more interesting info to write. The contest sites are womansday.com (click on giveaways) Better homes and Gardens which is bhg.com go to sweepstakes, and pointclick.com. Elle.com also has a few contests each month that you can go to through their website or through Womans Day website.

Another Find

So much for writing everyday. I got a little behind this week because of a bad migraine that caused a lot of eye and neck pain. I also lost my computer connection for two days. That was very frustrating until I figured out what was causing it.
I have found countless new blogs and websites that have so much useful information. Information for scrapbookers, papercrafters or just anyone in general. I have discovered the Penny Black website - PennyBlack.com and it is full of great products and ideas and great stamping techniques. From there I was led to countless instructional videos on YouTube from papercrafters from all over.
http://donnadowney.com/ is a site that has some tutorials for a small fee. I have always liked Donna Downey's books and have two of them, one that I was fortunate enough to win in a contest. Her blog is very inspiring and is currently offering a free badge download which I will try to display here. The books I have are Photo Decor and Fabric Scrapbooking and I would like to pick up Creative Albums and/or Designing Layouts. The ones I have are very nice top quality books with fold out pages with full instructions for the projects pictured. She incorporates sewing into her crafts and that is something I admire in papercafting. I just recently had my sewing machine repaired so haven't had much chance to experiment yet.

The link I posted last time for the shoe contest is having a nice contest now if you wear or have children who wear nail polish. They are giving away some kid friendly Piggy Polish at http://www.simple-finds.com/ . The shoe contest is still going on as well if you wear one of the two sizes that they are giving away. ( or 6 I believe they are, but you can scroll down in the blog to make sure. I am thinking this will be a good blog to watch.

No woman can have too many shoes, right? Well go over to http://www.simple-finds.com/ and make a comment on one of the two pairs of shoes that you like best for a chance of wining them in a giveaway. Oops I think I put in the wrong link. I will look for the correct one in the am after I get a little sleep.

Poetry and PcCrafter

I would like to share with you a poem written by Thena Smith. I was first introduced to her work through the website http://pccrafter.com/ which is a very nice crafting community with clip art created by many talented artists. Thena has several books that are available for purchase on this website.

When People Make You Cry

When people make you cry, forgive them
For they are the losers in the end
They have missed a chance to encourage
A truly wonderful friend.

When family makes you cry
It is really sad to say
There's nothing you can do
If they are prone to be that way!

Just love them anyway
And make it a point to be
Always the first with love
At any opportunity!

And even if it seems to be
A losing battle to you now
You will be the winner in the end
Some day, somewhere ...somehow!

Never rush to be the one
Who has the cutting remark
But rather be the one to rush ahead
To help heal a hurting heart!

written by Thena Smith

A girl can never have too many shoes or bags right? Well check out these two pairs of shoes and try to win one by leaving a comment out it. http://www.simple-finds.com/