high blue belts

this was taken last Saturday the 1st of March. SSD1 and Hh received thier HIGH blue belts and they both broke boards durring the graduation.

Hh is enjoying sparing and wanted to spar but didn't have anyone her size this day.

I am so proud of them both for sticking with this- it has been a confedence builder for them both and a way to shine. it offers alot of other benefits. Hh says she is definately the strongest girl in her class at the moment and the disiple helps her make good choices for herself too. a big bonus is it is FUN too :-)

a great night

S called me on my way home stating he had " cabin fever" - so when I arrived home we looked for something fun to do, decieding on an outing to downtown Denver proper. So we loaded up the mom van and off we went, we landed at the Denver Pavillions and first just walked around doing a bit of shopping, at bath and body works Hh and I got lavander and chamomile sleep spray for pillows- oh my it smells so good, then we also purchased their newest fragrence line the Orchids and it has a hint of plumeria, exotic and a bit musky - nice too. while we were in there S went to Breaking the mold- a candle shop and purchased a candle ( round and smells wonderful too. we must have had a thing for that.

I should back up a minute here to say that we parked in a 10$ lot and waited about 10 minutes to put our money in the automated machine, when a nice lady drove up behind us and offered us her ticket as she was pulling away, well that was very nice we took it.

then off to the 16th street mall and a shuttle ride down to Larimer, then we decied on P.F. changs for dinner, we had to wait a bit, but the food was wonderful. and we even had a little bit of desert.

when we were done with dinner, we went back to the mall, where we all rode back to the pavillions in a horse drawn wagon it took all 5 of us and Hh loved everyminute of it. S and I hadn't done that since we got engaged. so all in all a great evening. Coming soon we will put up the high blue belts.

air?

"Neurotics build castles in the air, psychotics live in them. My mother cleans them."

~~~rita rudner

today is very nice weather wise here in the city- though this morning I think I stood in sustatined winds of 40 miles an hour:) Such is spring time in the rockies.

Friends-

There is no friend like the old friend

who has shared our morning days,

No greeting like his welcome,

no homage like his praise;

Fame is the sentless sunflower,

with guady crown of gold;

But friendship is the breathing rose,

with sweets in every fold.



oliver wendell holmes

winter break

we took a little trip last weekend and had a blast with Gram Ollie and PJ this day was cold and rainy , but we went inside to the exposition place
we had a great time being with Family and doing family stuff
this is a picture of the exposition place from the bridge in the pictures above.
inside there is a really cool penulum that exposes the movment of our spinning world.

more of MM at the Kids Expo in Denver

more fun footage of MM at the kids Expo in Denver on the 9th of Feb.

Michel Musso - at Kids Expo in Denver

up close and personal

Lean on Me is the song.

Exploration Place

this is a giant gyroscope at the exploration place in wichita ks - we went for a quick trip to visit with Gram O and PJ, we had a blast going to the museum and the womens fair this is at the fair Hh got her hair done and then , we bought a tiara- everygirl should have one. this is the most beautiful one I have seen... She really Loves it! it was a birthday gift from Gram Ollie and PJ.
Here I am wearing it, don't we all look fab??!!

my honey LOVES me

Portfolio

Keep all of your business essentials organized with the Harveys Portfolio. The portfolio features our signature Seatbelt weave that matches perfect with your favorite Harveys bag and comes fully lined.The interior features 2 pouch pockets, 4 business card holders,a velcro closure pouch, and place to hold a top bound note pad. The exterior features a pouch pocket and zipper closure.

This Arived at MY OFFICE today!! this was even better than Flowers as we are taking a trip this weekend and flowers won't last.

4 of my co-workers were very impressed with his choice and that it arrived at work was a big bonus.

more in mini mail boxes

K8 got her mail box yesterday!! and now the post that shows the side made just for her! Did you look inside your box Kate? there is a surprize in there!!! :)

these Valentine mailboxes have been a big bloger search engine hit! But not many comments on just how cute they are.

like this meme alot

THE RULES:** Post about the meme and link back to the person that tagged you.** Go back to your archives and link to your five favorite posts. so this was posted at 160 acre woods and if you read this now you are it and you should comment and do this on your blog too.


Link One: must be about family:

this is a group photo last summer : http://creativechronicles.blogspot.com/2006/07/what-nice-group-photo.html



Link Two: must be about friends http://creativechronicles.blogspot.com/2007/05/this-is-my-kind-of-party.html this of course is K* and her wicked sense of humor and fun. BFF



Link Three: must be about yourself http://creativechronicles.blogspot.com/2005/09/quiz-yourself.html an old quiz



Link Four: must be about something you love http://creativechronicles.blogspot.com/2007/03/where-i-come-from-wif.html

a scrapper at heart



Link Five: can be anything you choose







** Tag five other people (at least two must be new acquaintances so that you can get to know them better).** Let the person know that you tagged them by leaving a comment saying something like: I’ve tagged you. or not?!? and you can take this for yourselves if you want to do it.
Readers, don’t forget to read the posts and leave comments - lots of comments.

wow- a sink hole

here is the Denver channel news story

This could be a nightmare in the morning and over the next few days, as this is the major roadway through Denver N and S. I have to go down to Colorado Springs on Sunday night to work on Monday morning at UCCS , right now it seems that the South boand is o.k. but this is messing up the HOV lanes too, as they are letting all the north bound traffic us these two lanes to get around the problem.

more pedicure pictures

Phil and Me redux

Inside the tag reads:

Another Punxsy Phil is here

But will he say that spring is near

Or will he see the sun ablaze

And let us know that winter stays ! This came in the Box with the most beautiful wonderful Plate I have ever owned - I will take some photos of it too, probably tomorrow. Thank you Kate for the wonderful gifts-

I got the gift of music from S my clock radio dreams have come true- it is a great water proof radio, and the frosting best gift ever was a Sansa Lil Monsta e200 series 4 gig Mp3 player with video - it is soooo cool

phil and me

Punxsutawney Phil Sees His Shadow, Predicts More Winter in U.S.
By Dan Hart
Feb. 2 (Bloomberg) -- The groundhog called Phil emerged from his burrow this morning in central Pennsylvania and saw his shadow, which according to legend signals there will be six more weeks of winter in the U.S.
Phil's handlers removed him from his stump-shaped shelter on a stage in Punxsutawney at 7:27 a.m. local time. They then said Phil saw his shadow. The forecast elicited some boos from the crowd gathered to await the 122nd annual weather prediction.
Punxsutawney Phil and his predecessors have seen their shadows 97 times, or about 80 percent of the time, since 1887, according to the Groundhog Club, which conducts the annual event atop Gobbler's Knob. Only 15 times has the Punxsutawney groundhog not seen his shadow, including last year, while another nine results weren't recorded, the club said.
If he sees his shadow, there'll be six more weeks of winter weather, and if he doesn't, there will be an early spring, according to superstition.
To contact the reporter on this story: Dan Hart in Washington at dahart@bloomberg.net .

I too see my shadow this morning, so sory guys and gals a little more winter is just around the corner. I am hoping for good presents and there seems to be a bunch yeah! will let you know later on my take !

see this post- my birthday - her birthday

K8- knows how to do it up right, her theme parties are a scream. Interstingly as I talked to her last night I said I was going to re-post about this party, because on my sitemeter we can show I am directing trafic her way by having this photo linked to her Blog I am not entirely sure why it comes up in images, except in my original post I said this would be my kind of party, and quoted Gretchen Wilson lyrics - red neck woman.

Well I am not going to have a theme party- but I did ask for a few things. One that I didn't get at Christmas was a shower radio- I am hoping for that?!? and, hmmn I also stated that I wanted a " cold stone birthday cake" with chocolate and cherry and that took some effort on S's part. So I am hoping that will be a part of my party. He already did a good deed with my Cherry chocolate Dr. Pepper this was in limited release, not sure how much longer we can get it.

I talked to K8 tonight and my mom this afternoon

and Tonight at dinner at the chinese restuarant - my fortune was - They will be grateful that you called!

You tube? gen Y

My Hh has youtube videos and she is pretty silly. the link is on the sidebar. or here

True Blue

I wanted a little pity party today- it has been very cold in Denver and my knees are just killing me :) I went Downtown for " outreach" and walked a bit, but they are screaming for relief tonight! I have been taking my zyflamend and glucosamine too, but days when the pressure changes I really am going slow. That's about it for tonight.

Safer than the known way

I said to the man who stood at the gate of the year,
"Give me a light that I may tread safely into the unknown."
And He replied,

"Step out into the darkness, put your hand into the hand of God, and that will be to you
better than a light and safer than a known way."

Phillip Hasbro

my mailboxes have out ranked Pantone Colorstrology for the 1st time!

well My sitemeter says the mailboxes have out ranked Pantone colorstrology and colorology for the 1st time in about 3 years I have been blogging.


I like seeing the stats and where people are coming in from to search for my colorology mispelling and colorstrolgy - right now it seems driven by the chinese new year maybe? as my birthday falls in that time frame... I think there is a tie in to febuary dates and colorology. But that could be speculation on my part. LOL

Anyway it makes me happy to get a few hits. Please feel free to leave me a comment if you like, I like to blog surf and am adding to my blogroll all the time, you can always follow where i like to go on my sidebar link.

funny because I am alergic

You Are a Strawberry

You are friendly, outgoing, and well liked by many people.You are popular, but there's nothing you ordinary or average about you. You a very interesting person, and you have many facets to your personality.Sometimes you feel very conflicted. Your different sides of your personality pull at you. You are a very sensual and passionate person. You are fiery... you can't help it.In general, you keep your passionate side under wraps. You are only wild in private.

What Type of Fruit Are You?

Funny because this is one of the only fruits I don't eat a lot of. :)

Wooooohooooo ! let the birthday fun begin!

This great selection personalized just for me came in the mail yesterday- a book!! called the Pulpwood queen's guide to life. by author Kathy Patrick owner of a salon/bookstore call beauty and the book- here's what her site says:

Kathy L. Patrick, author The Pulpwood Queens' Tiara-Wearing, Book-Sharing Guide to Life, the official book of the Pulpwood Queens—“where tiaras are mandatory and reading good books are the rule!”—celebrates the transformative power of reading and is a resource for book clubs and book lovers everywhere.

Thank you Iola and Phyllis - I am voratiously reading it! already. That is very cool you got me a signed personalized copy :) The other bling items were a very big hit as well for the future birthday girl Hh. And SSD2 hasn't seen his cool over the hedge items but I can positivly say they will be a big hit too. So thank you for the goodies.

a closer look at the mini mailboxes from Target

there was some discussion about how to get the paper on the mailbox and around the flag, well in the last photo you can see I used the seam there its not a perfect match but hey pretty good and the flag still functions. you can see the seam in the 1st photo as well there I used a sticker for a little camo , the Maybe baby paper has a definite edge to it ( shabby painted or inked look) but they are still pretty darn cute.

travel by bus, with fuss??

I choose to ride the bus downtown to work today, as part of my job we have some " outreach offices" one of those is located in Downtown Denver Proper - 1380 Lawrence street- the Lawrence street center was my destination.

well I rode on a bus that very much resembled this one in the photo. This is not my typical commute and I prepared myself by visiting the RTD-denver website and located the route and times I would arrive and depart from downtown... so far so good. This morning it was about 3 degrees and dry but I managed to walk two city blocks from the 16th street mall down to the building in relative comfort and the bus commute though VERY full went fast and easy ( no real trouble)

the return trip however was a little more trouble! I walked about 5 blocks to the Market street station ( though the temp was in the 30's at least tonight) I arrived in time to take the 5:14 bus ... getting on the bus I realized the driver was not to be seen and wondered to myself well how will they count fairs?? we sat a few minutes and departed on time. I had my eco pass around my neck thank goodness- and sat near the front. I made it to the east side of the westminster park and ride, departed with the other more experienced riders and said to the driver, thanks and have a nice evening.... well he looked up at me and said HEY do you have a PASS???? well at least i didn't have it tucked away but still around my neck so I flashed it at him but was embarrassed by my ignorance of the etiquette of downtown commuting :) Later on this evening I learned from Art ( an experienced downtown commuter) that this is typical protocol for the afternoon commute home, you get counted by the driver for the fair at the end of the ride, in order to facilitate the boarding and leaving of the bus!!

Well there is always Thursday when I will be headed to downtown again! Armed with my new found knowledge it ought to make for smooth riding. YEAH go RTD

valentines

these are chipboard postcards that came inside the mailbox I altered for Hh below. the paper on her altered box is daisy d's Maybe baby and the postcards are last years KI memories chill out and holidays lines. embelishments from kiss me collection .

the little mail boxes I purchased at target in thier dollar section, one is going to work with me and the other well you will have to wait and see where it turns up, They are little tim boxes and are so very cute. I will post additional photos of them later on.

snowing this am and cold

this is last winter and it is not quite like this today.

Hh is off at Karate and J and his cousin were going to go to snowboard. haven't heard if this is still the plan.

I have work on scout accounts and one other project then I will be done with my wood badge tickets then it is off to a beading.

in the up coming weeks we have a busy time, we have 3 feb birthdays and valentines. Shrove tuesday is early and easter too this year. so our short leap year will be anything but.

S is not feeling well had a big runny nose yesterday and is still in bed this morning. Maybe I will go snuggle up with him in there before I get to working.

Blue belt Success

here is the graduation to Blue belts! this was saturday past and the karate kids are really progressing.

SSD1 Did not follow directions and wait for his photo with a " blue Belt" so there are none of him in front of the dojo oh well he still did well and made it to the next level.

both SSd1 and Hh are loving this stuff, I am so proud they have stuck with it and are really getting a better self from it.

I highly recomend this activity for those kids who take to it.

great job girl!

Altered mail box- Valentine Project

so so social?

I have a friend who works for a living, and turned me on to a social network called Linked-in so when I got an alumni -e-news letter from Linfield College there was a link to a link-in group for Alum from Linfield so I asked to join up there too!

There are some neat features on this network as you learn about your contacts and have degrees of separation. ( this at first remainds me of the 6 degrees of separation from Kevin Bacon :) ) There is a question and answer forum, it seems helpful too. Well I am completely falling asleep here at my desk, so time to move and do something else. ( like get some shut Eye).
this is due to a leak in my sleep mask I think. I can tell when I am not sleeping as well as I should.

a couple of things working at the moment...

Check out my newest purchase - by a company called simply renee- clip it up is a spinner for scrap stuff and it is a good deal! Pretty tall at 15" it will hold 12 x12 products- what is nice is the ability to spin things around and see lots of inspirations.

I can't wait to get to alter this little mail box, it will be a valentines mail box for Hh - her last one - I will post pics when it is altered.

Pantone's color of the year

Pantone's color of the year is: From a color forecasting perspective, we have chosen PANTONE 18-3943 Blue Iris as the color of the year, as it best represents color direction in 2008 for fashion, cosmetics and home products," explains Leatrice Eiseman, executive director of the Pantone Color Institute®. "As a reflection of the times, Blue Iris brings together the dependable aspect of blue, underscored by a strong, soul-searching purple cast. Emotionally, it is anchoring and meditative with a touch of magic. Look for it artfully combined with deeper plums, red-browns, yellow-greens, grapes and grays."

We had a discussion last night at Archivers ( I actually scrapped) about color and how Pantone influences all the things by these color recomendations. The lady next to me had christmas cards and then purchased paper to make christmas layouts in her scrapbook, and as the night progressed kept exclaiming on how the cards were so much in the family of the papers she had purchased.... well you see Pantone has influenced that too I explined this too her and we had a laugh about it.

So the colorology is still the number one hit for my silly little web log ah but lots of folks google it and not one leaves a comment. Well at least my stats are steady. Got to love color and color theory.

kiped questions

From Scott at Life is - my fellow groudhog- who stole it from Cheryl.

1. What did you do in 2007 that you’d never done before? a State of Colorado Job! and a call center job, and a test reader ( for Measured Progress- Kelly temps)

2. Did you keep your New Years’ resolutions and will you make more for next year? Not much for resolutions, better that I take my self a little less seriously.

3. Did anyone close to you give birth?
No I am in the sandwich generation at the moment.

4. Did anyone close to you die? No but we lost a bunch of church ladies this year and so that made it tough on this senior warden.

5. What countries did you visit? does Kansas count?

6. What would you like to have in 2008 that you lacked in 2007? A maid again! yup on my mind a bunch these days :)

7. What date from 2007 will remain etched upon your memory, and why? July 10 2007 my First day at this University of Colorado Benefits Counselor job.

8. What was your biggest achievement of the year? Definatly my new job ( that I love) .

9. What was your biggest failure? Not managing the finances as well as could be done, I am my worst critic.

10. Did you suffer illness or injury?Hurt the knee while at Wood Badge over the summer . It took a while to get better and I am still having pain, I now know I have arthiritus on it as well. .

11. What was the best thing you bought? A leather Coat at thanksgiving for 60$ at a thrift store in Topeka. The sansa 2 gig disks/mp3 players we bought in Topeka for 35$ and the extreme Rockers we bought in Topeka for 35$ each.

12. Whose behavior merited celebration?Hh as she is considerate and really taking on tasks on her own more and more.

13. Whose behavior made you appalled and depressed? That would be J, sucks that he made life so miserable and intolerable this year, even sadder is the fact that we are enjoying not having him here. ( there is just less of a stress level)

14. Where did most of your money go? Mortgage, mortgage and mortgage.

15. What did you get really, really, really excited about? My New Job, silly as it sounds- this was the highlight of my year.

16. What song will always remind you of 2007? Brad Paisley- singing about being online. "So much cooler online" reminds me of SSd1 !

17. Compared to this time last year, are you: Happier or sadder? Thinner or fatter? Richer or poorer? Happier, Fatter and Richer!! I am by no means Rich, but I had the pounds off then Nov and Dec happened. Back on the wagon folks! yup the walking wagon!

18. What do you wish you’d done more of? Travelling to see friends and family.

19. What do you wish you’d done less of? Worrying, It is hard to be the constant worry-wart and responsible person all the time.

20. How will you be spending Christmas? All together with all the kids, it was very nice.

21. Did you fall in love in 2007? All over again with S.

23. How many one-night stands? Not a one.

24. What was your favorite TV show? Supranos.

25. Do you hate anyone now that you didn’t hate this time last year? Nope

26. What was the best book you read? The Time travelers wife, Harry Potter vol 7.

27. What was your greatest musical discovery? The variety album that Scott put together for all his friends.

28. What did you want and get? A great job- yeah me.

29. What did you want and not get? A winning lotto ticket

30. What was your favorite film of this year? We didn't see many movies in the theater.

31. What did you do on your birthday, and how old were you? Partied with my family ate an icecream cake and had a great time. 43

32. What one thing would have made your year immeasurably more satisfying? The ability to complete the bathroom.

33. How would you describe your personal fashion concept in 2007? Had to get back to profesional clothing for work world and presentations.

34. What kept you sane? My Friends, laughing at cards and letters, my scrapbooking hobby, music and my gratitude journal.

35. Which celebrity/public figure did you fancy the most?

36. What political issue stirred you the most? World politics of war.

38. Who was the best new person you met? My boss Michelle, and my great new teamates.

39. Tell us a valuable life lesson you learned in 2007. I learned that hard work and experience can really payoff you just have to be paitient.

40. Quote a song lyric that sums up your year. You can spend your whole life building something from nothing One storm can come and blow it all away Build it anyway You can chase a dream that seems so out of reach and you know it might not ever come your way Dream it anyway Chorus: God is great, but sometimes life ain't good And when I pray it doesn't always turn out like I think it should But I do it anyway, I do it anyway This world's gone crazy and it's hard to believe that tomorrow will be better than today Believe it anyway You can love someone with all your heart, for all the right reasons, and in a moment they can choose to walk away Love 'em anyway Chorus You can pour your soul out singing a song you believe in that tomorrow they'll forget you ever sang Sing it anyway, yeah sing it anyway I sing, I dream, I love, anyway

We have intermittant internet

so Just a quick note tonight - I am off to bed after a short week and a long day. Work is a little short staffed and we took lots of calls today- amazing how much work talking to people is :)

looking forward to friday

resolve to watch this for a moment

a video about resolutions

Hh asked me the other day in Church why do we say he and his all the time in the book of common prayer? Well my response was that Gram Ollie was working on a new revised edition of that all important document with a gender neutral phrasing. That this was " old school" and we would someday have more genderless language but still retain the wonderfulness of our episcopal traditions.

She is ahead of her time ( Gram and Hh)

personality type hype?

You Have A Type B+ Personality

You're a pro at going with the flowYou love to kick back and take in everything life has to offerA total joy to be around, people crave your stability. While you're totally laid back, you can have bouts of hyperactivity.Get into a project you love, and you won't stop until it's doneYou're passionate - just selective about your passions

Do You Have a Type A Personality?