Birthdays, Flamingos and I'm Back . . .

I can't believe that I haven't blogged since February 2008. I think younger people catch on to this blogging thing much easier than we "old timers". I shouldn't use that expression since those who are my age don't think of themselves that way. I don't really either.

A friend had pointed out her daughter in law's blog, and just being back in blogging country, I decided to get back into it. I have fun with it. And I love showing off my new designs. Yes that was a shameless plug.

I celebrated my birthday last week in Las Vegas. Great place to party. One of the nights there, I went up to the room at what I thought was about 11pm and decided to just go to bed. I was tired. After I took a shower, put on my jammies and climbed into bed, I noticed the clock said "9pm". I couldn't believe it. It's hard to figure out the time when you're in the casinos since there are no clocks. I was going to get up again but decided to just stay there. I fell asleep immediately.

We had gone to Terrible Herbst at Stateline for breakfast on the way in. They have the best toast. Yes, that's what I said - toast. It's a thick sourdough with lots of butter. Terribly unhealthy but for a once in a while treat - it's okay. So, we all decided to leave the Rio early and go have more toast and play the slots at Stateline and then go home.

And if you think the toast was unhealthy - what till you read what we had at Peggy Sue's Diner on historic Rt. 66 in Yermo. Chiquita Banana Splits. They were huge and we wished we would have shared instead of having one each. If you're ever over that way - be sure to stop at Peggy Sue's. It's a fun, crazy 50's style restaurant with lots of memorable which would take weeks to see it all.

And now home, I'm back to designing and having fun. I haven't designed anything new in a while so I was really pleased to get busy again. I'll go back through and update some of my links too. It's sort of like I've let the yard go but it's my websites, etc . that I've let get messy. I wanted to design a gift for a friend and 'got in the mood' again. I also created this Flamingo design for myself. I wanted a new coffee mug so came up with this one (pictured). I also made a matching ceramic tile for it. It is available if you like it too - just click here.

Wickes Furniture - acting like thieves!

I've surely had a fun experience with Wickes. I bought furniture - total - $2,083.40. Then I found out the salesman gave me the wrong information on the fabric so I cancelled it one week later (1-11-08). Wickes states that up until 3 days before delivery, they'll refund your money - totally. My delivery date wasn't until 2/12/08.

I kept waiting for my refund check but it never came. My local Wickes couldn't be bothered checking on it for me. Finally I phoned the corporate office in Chicago on 2/4/08. They said they'd just filed bankruptcy and to forget any refund. When I asked if I could just go pick up the furniture (better than losing the total amount), I was told the check was frozen and NO REFUND.

I feel so cheated and basically as though someone had stolen $2083.40 from me. I have no recourse - paid with an electronic check.

Wickes still has their doors open and you can go in and buy furniture - but do pray you won't lose your money. I can't get my furniture - I'm out $2083.40 but you can still go in and buy furniture. Does this make sense?

I can't tell you how sick I am over this and how helpless I feel. I'm not a wealthy person and had to save a long time for this. Can you imagine buying something and never getting your money back or your merchandise? It's basically robbery. If I stole that much money from someone, you can bet it'd be considered a criminal offense.

We are so thankful LuLu is 8 today!

LuLu is 8 yrs. old today. Yesterday my grandson Grant was also eight. Grant's parents don't talk to me, so I don't know him. So I'll talk about LuLu instead.

LuLu is my best friend. She came to live with us when she was six months old. I had recently lost my Rottweiler Cinder to cancer, and I felt badly that her brother Roquee (Rocky) would be alone (dog-wise). So, I took him to a friend's house who had pups and let him choose the one he wanted. He chose LuLu.

Rottweilers are very smart. We all say that about our kids, grandkids, dogs, cats, whatever - but she is. After so many years, our pets pick up on our signals even when we don't realize we've given any.
LuLu was spunkier than the two dogs before her. These were my first real dogs as pets. But we got through the puppy stage and LuLu settled in beautifully.

In June of this year, my dad died. Going to his Memorial service was difficult. Difficult that I was saying goodbye to my dad and difficult because LuLu had awakened that morning and could barely walk. I hated to leave her but I had to. I left the after luncheon a little early so I could get home to take LuLu to the vet to see what was wrong. I got her into the car and off to the vet's we went. The vet just looked at her and recommended a neurologist in L.A. I'm not a wealthy person and that was a bit out of my league. That in no way determines the love I have for my dog. I asked the vet if this were his dog, would he put her down. He sort of mumbled and looked at me as though treatment were not an option for her. I had already had a highly emotional day, and I felt that if I stood there one more second I was going to do that heavy sobbing thing that feels like you've been kicked in the chest and will never be able to stop. So I got out of there and brought LuLu home.

From what they did to her at the vet's, she could walk even less by the time we got home. I put a towel under her tummy and would pull her up and guide her outside so she could do her business. I made sure her bed was really comfortable and brought her - her food and water. If I had thought LuLu was suffering, I would have made other decisions, but the front of her was okay. She was happy, she'd lay on her bed and would play with her toys and roll back and forth. So, I thought we'd just hang in there and see what the next day would bring.

Each day it seemed that LuLu would try one more thing. And each time she did added something to her routine, I was surprised and pleased. You get used to your pets doing their regular things. All of a sudden for them to stop and have to a new way of living - it's tough. I have tile floors so I bought a bunch of runners and put them to make paths for her. It seemed to help that she had that stability rather than slipping on the floor. She's always slept with me, so I didn't want to leave her alone in the family room while I headed into the bedroom - so I bought one of those inflatable beds and slept beside her each night. I put it next to her bed and could pet her as we both dozed off to sleep. A non-dog person would read that and figure I was over the top - a dog love would immediately understand and would do the same thing.

LuLu is now about 85% back to normal. She had gotten up to 99% but she's slipping a little. She got too spunky and while bouncing around the room she slipped. She's back to just laying down all day and getting up only when she has to. And while petting her last night, I found a huge tumor on her chest. It's higher than when I rub her tummy and more fleshy than hard. I'll take her for a check up this week - to a new vet I've discovered - after Baby the Bullmastiff ate the junk out of the fly trap that the wind blew off the hook. She spent last weekend at a sleep over at the vets. The fly trap wasn't poisonous - the flies weren't a good thing to eat.

So, today we celebrate that LuLu is eight years old today. We celebrate her determination that allowed her to be here to celebrate. And we'll be thankful for each new day that has LuLu in it.

Happy Birthday LiL LuLu!!!

Time goes by fast when you're having fun!

Time does go by fast when you're having fun, but this blog is about making time last by designing fun clocks!
Often when I'm creating designs for my cafepress shop, I use the "one size fits all" design so that all items offered are coordinated. But now I'm on a clock kick and am really enjoying creating a new line of clocks using many of the graphics I've used on other items.
Most of my designs and graphics are original art which I've created on the computer or that I've done on paper and then scanned to use on the computer. Sometimes I do see a piece of clipart that I really like but most of the time, I change 95% of it to reflect my style.
Often times items you find are strictly clipart or images you can purchase from others who have created them. My fun is the creating. I could probably design a lot more images if I just threw them on, but anything that is done by Sandra usually has involved many hours, sometimes days. I take pride in my creations, and I hope that those who purchase items with my work get a glimpse of the child within as I have as I create them.

Who wants to run the country realty show . . .

Realty shows. That seems to be all that’s on TV these days. Every time I think I’ve seen the last new idea for one, another is advertised - some sillier than the last.

I’m not saying I haven’t gotten hooked on a couple. I missed the first season of Dancing with the Stars, but got so hooked when I came in - in the middle of the second season that I was calling in to cast my votes for my favorites and then was almost jumping out of my chair when my choice won. By the 3rd and 4th, I was even worse.

I watched The Surreal Life, Big Brother for a couple of episodes each, but I tried to not land on any channel featuring a realty show - even for a second - knowing how addictive they can be. Okay, I have a confession, I did watch Torie and Dean Inn Love last night. Corny, and I surely wouldn’t want cameras following me around constantly, but I was entertained. I’m sure these people don’t really act like they do on the show -- in real life?
I started thinking about what could be left in the reality world. I came up with a few.

Kid Nation has been taken. I haven’t seen it, and without facts, I have to say that one sounds very scary. Perhaps it’s been built up much more than it should be.

I came up with another one that might be fun.

The way it works:
there are two sides. We’ll call one the Blues and we’ll call the other the Reds. On the Blue side we start off with a huge number of contestants. To make it more entertaining, we have a female contestant and we have a black contestant and we have a richer than most contestant who comes in getting points against him because of his $400 haircut. The contestants line up and ... well, we could have them debate and just watch them pick each other apart while they boast for themselves. And in between the debating and boasting and picking we send them out to various states to meet the ... let’s call them ‘citizens’ who will decide which contestant they’d like to vote for.

To begin with, the Blue's all try to get each other eliminated so they can win the Blue side. And - the Reds do the same thing. Similar strength trials, debates, and touring the states are also happening with the Red team. Perhaps a Mormon, a former POW and a divorced guy could be interesting contestants. It would make it more colorful. In the rules it also says that contestants would be allowed to join in even after the game has begun. Perhaps having an actor join the Red team would make it more fun and tilt the boards a bit.

Everyone gets in on this - the networks and cable news programs could have discussion groups trying to pick apart each contestant to get them eliminated. They could have contestants create ads that they pay for and that would make the networks and cables some big money to keep them interested.

Contestants could be lied about, everything from their pasts brought out to seem as though it were important, and mudslinging could earn points or it could eliminate the contestant from the show. After the citizens have declared a winner for the Red side and one for the Blues, then each of the victors would be able to choose a contestant either from those who they ripped apart in the first part of the game or a new contestant. Then there would be another season of pulling out all punches for the citizens to find a winner from the two final contestants and their buddies. The theme for this part would be “anything goes” - it could be as dirty as possible, the contestants can use their own money and get donations to try to convince the citizens that they should be the final choice.

Drugs, having gay children, jail terms, religion, employees, racist remarks, criminal activity, childhood activities, ex-lovers, fraudulent business schemes, family and friends - no subject is off limit.

This show could run for several seasons. And if one side seems to be falling behind or some horrible fact is found about a contestant - no mater what - the other side could be blamed for all of it and lost some points.

This is great. I’ll have to figure out some catchy name for it and also a great catch phrase - something that will resonate as well as Trump’s “You’re Fired” or Paris’ “That’s Hot”. And then I'll have to figure out how all the points can be counted without any problems ... That might be the hard part.

Wow, we could take anything in our daily lives and have it sound like a possibility for a show. This was written for fun by one of the citizens mentioned above - just a jab at realty and in no way was it written with the intent to offend anyone.

Color me GREEN!

I've decided to share my whole small attempt to go green. I haven't been swayed by the celebs - this is being done by me to do my part in saving the planet. The fun thing is that the more you do, the more money you save for yourself. My dad used to nag about turning the lights off when you leave a room. He was from the depression era. I wasn't. I decided that when I grew up and was on my own, I'd leave every darn light on if I wanted. Well wouldn't that just show my dad something as I paid my "over what it should be" electric bill. Ouch.

Basically I've been green since before Al Gore said a word about it. Yea me! But I started trying to save money. I try each month to save a little more. It's working, and I'm doing fantastically. Of course what I pay each month for utilities is probably less than the celebs pay for one lunch at a posh restaurant.

I've stopped using central air. I live on the Mojave Desert so a swamp cooler works great. Takes a little water, but not very much.

I've cut back on the water time for my lawn. I notice my lawn isn't as plush or green as the neighbors' yards. I don't care.

I did switch to the energy efficient lightbulbs. They can really make a difference.

I don't use the dry cycle on my dishwasher. The dishes come out clean - no problem with water spots, and I never run it without a full load.

I have a clothesline in my garage. During the summer everything dries within a few minutes. I wash all clothes in cold water, except for towels, and I do try towels and sheets in the dryer. My gas bill is next to nothing.

I've washed my car twice since I got it October 2006. Is it dirty? Nope. I bought one of those $7 California Cardusters at Walmart. I keep the car in the garage and dust it off before I go someplace. It looks like it was just washed yesterday. I also waxed it on the first wash.

I carry a large thermal bag with me into the market. All of my cold items go in it. I can then run errands without worrying about everything going bad and I tote bags for the rest. The big thermal bags are only about $8 at Sam's Club. They're huge, easy to carry and also work for hot foods.

I did read that in exerpts from The Green Book, a how-to guide filled with celebrities' advice for would-be environmentalists by Elizabeth Rogers and Thomas Kostigen that Jennifer Aniston takes a 3 minute shower to conserver water. She brushes her teeth with brush wash technique. Okay - that's saving water and she's doing her part, but I also wonder what other ways she saves in her new 9,000 sq. ft. home.

I am always slightly amused when celebrities give advice. Years ago Cindy Crawford had her first baby and wrote a book. In an interview she was asked why she wrote the book. She answered that she wanted to let mothers everywhere know that it was okay to play with their babies. And she explained how they could go about doing it. Whoa! If Cindy Crawford wants to give out some makeup tips, that's great. But c'mon - please don't tell me that mothers didn't play with their babies until she came along. I think too many of these people forget they're just that - people. I think so many think they're the characters they play on screen.

There are some who truly do practice what they preach - Leo DiCaprio and Ed Begley Jr. come to mind. I still have a lot I could be doing. If you have any good ideas of things you're doing, please share them with us.

New Club Rehab Items!

There surely is a lot in the news lately about luxurious rehab centers for wealthy celebrities. Much criticism has been heard since several come out of the rehabs and head straight to the bar. My latest design looks at this with a sense of humor - Club Rehab! Bright colors with a beach-look design and available on a wide selection of tees and other items.