So, Here I am at 5:40 PM with the outside Temperature being 70 degrees, and I'm in bed with flannel PJ's on and covered up with a warm snuggly quilt...

Looks like I have a virus!
Thit!!!
I'll be back tomorrow, hopefully with less aching and no headache!
Thit!
And something a bit more interesting than a good, old fashioned
Whine!
Thit!
See you tomorrow.

Don't Worry It's just a cold

To an immune compromised person, a "cold" could mean time in a hospital or worse. 

For the last two days, I have been with my daughter who was admitted to the hospital with what started out as "just a cold."  She is immune suppressed.  She developed pneumonia.  She has been and still is very, very sick.  It was just a cold.

Granted, she could have picked it up anywhere because it was "just a cold."  The person who sneezed then didn't wash their hands or who didn't sneeze into their arms or a kleenex, thought it was "just a cold."  They went to work, or they sent their child to school because it was "just a cold." 

When you are immune suppressed, "just a cold" can become very dangerous.  My daughter is lucky.  She is getting better, but because she caught "just a cold,"  she lost days of work, which she didn't need to loose.  She has more medical and hospital bills because she caught "just a cold."  She feels terrible because it was "just a cold" that someone somewhere gave her. 

I am upset about this.  "Just a cold" can be very dangerous.  So, please, please, if you catch "just a cold," stay home so that you don't spread your germs.  If you must go out, please wash your hands before you touch anything.  Above all, and I can't believe how many times I see this, PLEASE COVER YOUR MOUTH AND NOSE WHEN YOU COUGH OR SNEEZE!  It's just a cold, " tell that to the immune suppressed person who is sick in the hospital.  Remember, it's just a cold.

Six Word Story Sunday - Pixie

Pixie

Pixie
has been
cold
all
week.






What's your six word story?

New Project

Take one, very thin, slightly bald, but very loving dog.


















Add to that- the very cold start of the winter season.




















What do you have?
One very cold dog who loves and needs to be covered up to keep warm--even during the day.




















So what do you do when you can't be there to cover her up and keep her warm? You google: patterns dog sweaters.
I found a wonderful site called greyhound crafts. You can find it here. There are lots and lots of goodies there for greyhounds. I found a sweater pattern. I printed out the copy that I am allowed to print out. I bought the yarn. Now, I'm ready to start.




















Yes, it's going to be pink. I also bought a pattern for a snood to be worn around her neck and over her ears. I think the sweater will be my priority though. She's one cute, but cold, little hound.
Stay tuned. I'll be showing progress soon, I hope!

The Big Storm

The storm hit night before last. These pictures were taken yesterday as the storm began and raged through Minnesota in varying degrees of intensity.














The storm began to intensify at night. I used the night setting on my camera. This setting highlighted the snow as it fell.




















At 7 AM yesterday morning, the snow was still falling. I think we had over 8 inches of snow by morning.




















This is my front door. I have to shovel tomorrow so I can open it again..





















The snow finally quit falling. The winds were still blowing, but, for the most part, the storm was over.

I'm Dreaming of Spring!

Oh,
When will it come?
Today,
the high was 46.
It's the end of April.
I want to complain
about the
HEAT!
It's time for spring!

I thought we were through with winter.

Guess I was wrong. Look what's coming down now as I write. We're supposed to get 1-4 inches. We'll have wind gusts up to 40 mph. We're going back down to below zero tonight. I'm sick of this!

Frost on the What?

I know you've heard the saying, "frost on the pumpkin." Have you heard the expression, "Frost on the INSIDE of the garage door?" Maybe, I should start at the beginning of my story and not at the end of it.

The morning was beautiful! You can still see a touch of the dawn in the photo. It was clear and crisp, very crisp! The actual temperature was 12 degrees below zero! It was COLD!

Isn't that a pretty photo?

This morning, I went out to the garage to warm up my car before I left. In cold weather like this, warming up the car is a necessity, not an option. I'm so glad that I didn't follow my normal pattern. Open garage door. Go out to garage.

Today, I grabbed my keys and walked into the garage without opening the garage door first.
Look what I saw!













The inside of the garage door was covered with frost! I don't remember ever having see that before. Look at the dance of the frost on the door.

















Didn't someone say that inspiration is everywhere? The possibilities are endless!

Undercover Spike

When you read this tomorrow, you will realize that I wrote this blog yesterday. So, last night, it was -15 when I wrote this, headed for a low of -24, actual temperature. Brrrrrr. As I was looking for topics about which to blog, I decided to finally reveal my undercover dog. Yes, he really is working undercover. I don't think I've ever shared that before. So, how does Spike work undercover, you might ask? I think I'll let the photos show you.

Here we go, undercover Spike.






These photos were taken without his knowledge, since he was working undercover.


















In spite of the fact that Spike was working undercover, he was very warm.
















Isn't it amazing how these photos resemble each other? Spike is never without a disguise.



















When Spike is cold and tired, he goes totally undercover!



















Because he's the master of disguise, you'll never find Spike. He's truly working undercover on this bugger of a cold night. The only difference is where he chooses to lay, our bed or his. Hmmmmmmmm. I wonder where undercover Spike will spend this cold, cold night.

Rambling Thoughts on a Warm Cold Day

As I write this, I am writing for tomorrow. Right now, it's today. When you read this, it will be tomorrow.

At the present time, it's 25 degrees outside. That's very good considering how cold it's been. Tonight, our low will be 4 degrees, and our high tomorrow will be 5 with a lot of wind. Brrrrrrrrrr! I'd rather stay home, but I will have to go out.

The discs you see in this picture will be listed in my etsy store by tomorrow, I hope. When I finish with this post, I hope to go to etsy and list them.

Topic here: setting goals for 2009.

I've been thinking about these things a lot today. I don't know why. They just seemed important to mull in my mind while I worked.
Marcy of Studio Marcy has increased my awareness of the need to set goals not only for business purposes but for our creative endeavors. I've been thinking about that a lot, and as a former special ed teacher, I am well aware of how a goal should be written.
A goal needs to be measurable. A goal needs to be realistic. A goal needs to be achievable.
Whew! That's a lot for one year.
Although I need to set more goals, and I will, this is the one I need to work on the most at this time.
Goal: To improve the quality of my bead photos by 80%.
Now, how am I going to achieve this goal? How long will I give myself to achieve this goal? How will I know that I have achieved this goal?

1) By January of 2010, I will have improved my bead photos by 80%.
(So, I'm giving myself one whole year to accomplish this.)

2) I will practice with my camera using different functions of the camera each time I take photographs.
(I honestly don't know how to use all the functions of the camera nor do I know what they are for.)
All right, that's something I can do.

3) When possible, I will use my tripod to insure that my photos are not blurry when I download them into my computer.
(I have two different tripods, but I rarely use either of them.) Again, that is something I can do.

4) I will work on ways to improve the lighting I use when I shoot photos of my beads.
(This is a real challenge for me. DD gave me a photo tent that she was making me for Xmas. She had some more work to do to finish it. When I get it back, then I will use the photo tent and work on ways to improve my lighting.) This is reasonable. If anyone has any suggestions about lighting, I am so open to help on this one. I think this is reasonable, and I think it's achievable. It will just take a lot of work to complete.

5) I will shoot at least 10 photos of each bead.
That shouldn't be difficult.

6) I will try to use some creative and innovative ways to shoot a bead.
That's where I might need a little help. Any ideas? I'm open to them.

7) I will make and use a photo journal to review my progess at least once every two months. By using the photo journal I will be able to, subjectively, assess whether I have achieved my 80% goal.
Does that sound reasonable?

Well, now, that goal alone should keep me busy for 2009! If you have any suggestions, please tell me. I will need the help.

And when I develop more goals, I will blog about the goal or goals and the way or ways I plan to achieve them. It's just the special ed teacher in me coming out again. She does that.

Now wouldn't that make a great bead? How would you make a special education teacher bead? I think I'll have to work on that too.

Where's Spike?

Here's a little game we can play. It's called, "Where's Spike?" Now that it's gotten colder, Spike often hides, and I can't find him. Please look at this photo and see if you can find Spike. If you want to know where he is, scroll down for the answer, and then you'll know where Spike is hiding.






I knew you wouldn't be able to find him. So, here he is!