See you next year, but first.......

From our home to yours, and all you hold dear.......

Just a quicky

Mike had chestpains the other night, so I didn't go to bed. To not sit at the edge of the bed, and stare at him while he was sleeping, I played on the computer a bit. It's right outside the bedroom (really, everything in this apartment is right outside the bedroom LOL) so I could hear him sleep, breathe and move around. The fuzzy roommate was laying on my side of the bed, and he WAS staring at Mike. Don't know how he does it, but he seems to know when to keep an eye on his humans.  He came to get me once when Mike was hurting pretty bad, but it turned out that it was his knee, not his chest, at that moment, so that was "all right" kind of.

While I was waiting for daybreak, I tooled around a bit with the new Mega over at IvyScraps, as well as 2 kits from StarSongStudio. I'll do the advertising some other time. Right now, I just want to get the pages up. I also finally got around to putting 2 pages together from one of our "sister days". YUP! We're going to keep doing those, once a month, untill we get tired of eachother! HA! That'll never happen.  I'm not sure when I'll be playing again, and I would like to share a little. I'm so grateful for you and scrapping.  It DOES help to keep me sane (or at least as sane as I'm ever going to get/have been LOL)

DECK THE HALLS from
StarSong Studio. Soon to be released at Heritage Scraps

IvyScraps December Mega:

I have to apologize, but since I initially just made these pages as therapy, I didn't keep track of which designer I took what from. on these two, but.... The extractions are mine, as are the pictures. The second page has only pictures, except the little corner cluster on the top.

 

Well, I just know......

I'm going to regret saying this, but... Things are finally calming down to a dull roar! LOL

We're settling into a routine, of sorts. 

  Mike still has Cardiac Rehab sessions, 3 times a week, doctor visits are down to once a week to every other week, depending.

  He is taking his medication and insuline very faithfully, and keeping track of his blood vs what he ate and adjusting the next meals accordingly. 

  Visits to base are for right now only once a week or so (gas, groceries and updating the boss on Mikes condition) 

  The holidays are slowly creeping up on us. 

  Haven't found (and don't hold much hope that we will) our Christmas Tree, but we have the ornaments.

  Still haven't found my teapot, (or some of our other kitchen things) but in the grand scheme of what's been going on........ I can soak a baggie if I want some tea :-)

  We're celebrating Sinterklaas (Santa Claus) at my sisters house and Christmas at home, just the 3 of us.

  I entered a couple of challenges, and think, that possibly, maybe, perhaps, I can get the pages done before they're due!

  I have my pages done for Ivy, StarSong and The Studio, but I don't seem to be able to post anywhere.... We're working on fixing that.  (Meaning, I send emails, and keep my fingers crossed. LOL)

The thing that really urks me to no end, is that I miss doctors that you can talk to, and who do not have a God-complex. MAN are these guys here a couple of jackasses! I'm not allowed to ask questions, neither is Mike, for that matter. They have their mind made up as to what is going to be talked about, and after that, they just don't care. The cardiologist really took the cake though. He had everything that was supposed to be discussed in the visit, already printed before we came in, including the note that nothing had changed. They made an Echo when we came in, and were told that the doctor needed that, and to give it to him...(Mind you, the room where the echo was taken is 5 feet from the door the doctor was behind!)  He never even looked at it. However, he was going to put Mike on THREE blood thinners, because he didn't recognize the name of one Mike is already taking. When I asked why he was giving him so many blood thinners, he gave me the same look you see when people are really tired of dealing with whomever they're talking to at the moment!  But, he eventually decided that he wasn't going to prescribe the third one.... I wonder what might have happened if I hadn't known exactly what Mike was taking?  Thank god for Web-MD!!!!

I asked him what had actually happened, because all we had been told was "an infarction". Not where (although from reading his records that were thrown on the bottom of the bed while he was in Hospital I figured out that it was on the backside of his heart), how bad, damage, longterm effects... you know, the tidbits that are really nice to know, so you can keep an eye on things?  I had understood that there were 2 reasons for a stent, a collapsed artery, or a blocked one, so I asked which it was and he treated me like you would a slow 2 year old for not knowing the difference, but he also didn't explain. Mike has to bring a doctors note, showing when he stopped working, the reason, and how long, approximately he will be out, so they can plan..... and was told that "they can want anything they like, I'm not writing a note". THAN, we got our hands slapped for not having a family doctor yet..... I almost asked him why we needed one.... we're not getting any questions answered anyway? But I was being nice, and bit my tongue. Not sure why though. The "care" can't get any worse.......

We have an appointment with our potential new family doctor, and that is really my last hope for any kind of information, explanations and general help in dealing with this.  After that, since we're so close to the border, maybe we'll start looking in Germany for help. Who knows, we may get lucky and learn something!

I am sorry, but there are SO many things that bother me about this whole situation, if I don't tell somebody.. I think I'm going to explode!  I just REALLY  REALLY REALLY hope we're not going to regret this move if this is the future when we get sick....

Well, have some mails to get thru so I should quit my bitchin' and get to work :-)

Soooooo, what do you know, I forgot to hit "post" on this one! LOL
Maybe the doc had me pegged right, and I AM slow...... Oh well.

It is now Wednesday, the first part of this post was started  last Thursday! We've had our visit with the family doctor Monday, and I'm happy to say, that there's hope.
  He answered ALL our questions,
  He talked to Mike AND me
  He went online and showed us some things he couldn't explain well in English, and I had a hard time translating for Mike
  He wrote the doctors note for work
  He wrote a prescription for Mikes meds. Something the cardiologist was not at all interested in, but needed to be done, because, let's face it, the initial 30 day prescription was running out.

I was talking to one of the other wives at Cardiac Rehab this morning, and found out the cardiologist we saw is pretty much famous for being a rude ape. (Hope I didn't insult any primates with this comparison.) And she gave me the name of their cardiologist. He has been "in the family" for 3 generations, he answers questions and if he meets his patients outside of the office, he always checks to make sure that even though he's off the clock, they are still doing ok..... I think we may have found our doctor...... :-) All I have to do, is swap the appointment we have in February with Caveman to him, and we're all set.

I am so sorry to go on and on about this, but it is a major part in our lives right now. Mike is doing great, but we DID find out that his heart only operates at 45%.... We were shocked. You would have thought that would be an importatnt little tidbit of information to have, don't you agree? We can work on getting better, and will, but with that much loss of function, we now know it will take a little longer than Mike wants it to be. He has a very optimistic will do attitude about this, so that really will help a lot. He's the kind of guy that doesn't believe in giving up, or in for that matter and that will be half the battle. He loves his job and he's really missing work, and wants to get back to it, so that will be part of his motivation. He IS aware that it won't be easy, but doable and he told me yesterday that he is not going to over do it, because, in his words: "I do not want to die" so that's a reassurance for me, I didn't have yet. Not that I thought he had a death-wish, but he's not used to not being able to do what needs doing and sometimes I'm not sure he pays attention to/respects his limits, and that has been my biggest worry. Now I know I don't have to worry.......

On another note, I had a hard time sleeping, Saturday, Sunday and last night, so I got some things taken care of in Photoshop elements.

I put some of the pictures for GLOW on a page.

Ann, from STAR SONG STUDIO has a new kit out. Actually a couple since I've been MIA, but this is the latest one. Wild Sea.

I just love the kit. It is mainly beachie, but you can use it for so many different things. As with all her kits, the extracted elements are gorgeous. 

One of the challenges I signed up for this month, was the Quick Page challenge at CoolScrap Digital

The kit we were given to play with, is Horizon by MariScrap. The way it works, is that all the Quick Pages made for the challenge, are available for download on our blogs. Go take a look. The pages that were created are stunning. 

You can download my page here

Another one of Ann's kit, is December Dawn. 

The picture is one of a bundle I took last January after freezing fog settled over the neighborhood. Hope to see something like it here this winter.  There are a couple of places I will be going if that happens :-)

The tags on this page, are recipe cards I made for a friend last year for Christmas. I made 6 different types of cookies, put them in a tin, and gave her the recipes that went with them. I hope, since we won't be around, that when she bakes the cookies, she has happy thoughts about our walks and talks. I know I do. Looking forward to what I call "baking season". Starting tomorrow with a pumpkin pie, I'll be baking at least once a week. It will be a little bit of a challenge (oven, diet etc) but I don't want to lose my favorite part of winter :-)

Also at Coolscrap Digital, is the elements challenge going on. I still have to upload the elements to the forum, 

but you can download them here  and here

I hope you like them, and are able to use them. I kept them simple, so you can add your own touches.

Well, time to post some things, if the sites are co-operating, a little bit of housework and prepping for tomorrow. We taped the football games they showed over the weekend, and tomorrow will be nothing but football, lounging, and being thankful.

For you and yours, I wish you a great start of the holiday season. Don't forget to count your blessings, and hug a loved one! :-)

Hugs,

Pauli

Update

Mike is now in cardiac-rehab. Yesterday was the first time, and he was bushed when we got home. They had him riding a stationary bike for 20 minutes, and walk as fast as he could for 6 minutes. We were told that the bike riding will be an every time thing, but the walking is not. Every session the second half will be different, so they can see how he is coming along. He will do this 3 times a week for an hour each time, until December 13th.

Tomorrow we will also have our official check up with the cardiologist. Hopefully he will be willing to answer my questions as well. It really ticks me off that they won't talk to me. I know Mike had the attack, and as such would be the one to talk to, but I almost lost my husband! How can I take care of him if I don't know what's going on? They have to realize that we're both in this together, not just Mike?  Hopefully this one won't look at me as if I'm just being nosy :-)

I missed the LifeBook Chat this morning, as well as making the page, so I think I'm just about where I am with Mikes book ........WAY THE HECK BEHIND!! LOL. Good news is that I'm going to pick up the power-supply for my Mac, so if Mike has energy to play on the computer, I can scrap. Who knows, I may even post a page or 2 in the next week or so.

I just realized I haven't posted my November challenge for the Studio yet... so I may just go for a 6 week challenge... I'll have to think about that. I have a couple of things that I need to do, and one of these nights I'm going to have to do them, but I've actually been sleeping the last week! Lots of nightmares, but no sleepless nights, so I guess that's an improvement. It just cuts into my productivity :-)
This friday morning at 2AM is the Ivy Heritage Chat, so maybe I can stay up after and get some things done.

Last friday night we went to "GLOW Eindhoven" for a little bit. Just to be out of the house, and we managed to have dinner with my sister in the process.  It's really neat. Not sure who exactly, but students put together a light show, with regular buildings as base. I took a bunch of pictures, but there were a lot of them that didn't turn out too great, because of the way the lighting was done, and I still haven't figured out what I flubbed-up on the settings, so there's a lag between hitting the button, and the shutter closing..... Any way, I'll have to make a page with a couple of my favorite shots :-)  I'm hoping Nicky had better luck with hers, because she promised to share!

well, it's almost midnight, and the alarm goes off at 5, so we can make therapy, and I guess I'd better call it a day :-)

Update

Hiya,

Well, things have calmed down, and I'm busier than I ever thought possible :-)
Mike is doing very well, and we both thank everybody for their well wishes, and good thoughts.

Now is when the really big rush starts though. I had no idea what he went thru when I was sick, and I love him even more for it! We have one appointment or another at least every day for the next month, so I won't have a lot of time to come here, but I will keep you updated as we go along.

We had company yesterday for about 3 hours or so, and when they left, Mike laid down on the cough and slept for 2 hours. He didn't hurt or nothing, he was just bone tired. He's also getting restless. This is a good sign, don't get me wrong, but it also makes it harder to keep him from doing too much. Starting today, we'll be gone a lot, to rehab, docs visits etc, so he may be a little more tired and take it a little easier, but the ultimate goal is to be "as good as new". I'm just a little hesitant. I want him to heal, but I don't want him to have another heart attack. I know I can't protect him, but I have the almost unstoppable urge to wrap him in bubble-wrap and keep him quiet! LOL. I don't want to smother him (He doesn't take well to that, to say the least) but I feel so helpless. Other than trying to beat him to every activity I THINK he may want to do next....... I'm going to have to leave him be.  So, if I come back, and make absolutely no sense again... it's probably not that I'm loosing what's left of my mind, but I'm just frazzled LOL.

Well, we're off to rehab, the hospital for a seminar, base and the store........

hugs, and thanks again :-)

just a "shortie"

Thanks for the good thoughts! They are VERY much appreciated.

Mike is home, and doing good.
He's already getting unhappy with not being able to do things, but if he complains too much, I take him on his prescribed walk of "once around the block", and he's ok with doing nothing again, because he realizes he can't. He's got at least 3 more weeks to go, before our first check up with a cardiologist, so I'm going to figure out ways to make him stay put without him realizing I'm keeping him  there.....

I know, you're saying to yourself that I'm mean, but just telling him... let's just say he's not used to being idle without a good reason, and leave it at that LOL.

Get your lemonade here!

Well, just when you think Life has to get better.............. Yeah RIGHT!

Mike had a heartattack friday night! I was so scared for him.
He didn't feel right after dinner, and thought that something he ate didn't agree with him, so he took some pep-cid and tried to lay down... That made it worse, so he got back up. He was fidgety as I don't think I have ever seen him, so I started to do a little research on WebMD for allergic reaction, but kept coming back to angina, or heart related problems. I also, found on the base site, that there was an all-night, after hours urgent care in Heerlen. I thought that was better than going to the ER, IF he ever decided he wanted to go. BUT, what do you know, around 1.30 he started to get dressed, and asked me to call ahead, to see if they would even see him, since he does not have medical insurance in place yet... They said that would be just fine, and we started out. I offered to drive, and he said no, so I kept an eye on him, and we went.

At first, doc thought it was flu related, and that he never got over the one he had a couple of weeks ago, and when he pushed on muscles, the pain increased, and it seemed more to the outside of the body than insside, but with his diabetes, he wanted to do an EKG anyway. He came back. all apologizing, stating that the machine had been acting up earlier in the evening, but that he wanted to go ahead and see what came up. So the EKG was done.
He had been with another patient while the EKG was being done, but afterwards, he came and told Mike that he had called an ambulance, because he wanted to make sure if what the machine showed was correct, and if it was, he was going straight to Maastricht to the CathLab and there would be decided on the next step. So, the ambulance came, and right when the EKG started, they started prepping to leave. They didn't even wait till the whole thing ran its course. So...... he was loaded in the back, I sat upfront and we raced, doing 150 in a 50, to Maastricht, got unloaded, prepped again, and they took him away. We had no time to say anything. In the ambulance I had texted my sister, to let her know what was going on, thinking that she would find the text when she got up, but right after they took Mike and settled me in with a cup of coffee, she called... She had gone to bed about 2 hours before with a very uneasy feeling, and had heard her phone  go off after all. We chatted a little bit about what was going on and had just said goodbye when they came to get me. They wouldn't tell me anything until after I was back in the room with Mike. It turned out that it HAD been a heart attack (when they couldn't say yet) and they had put a stent in, and they had called the ambulance to take us back to Heerlen, where he would be admitted, treated and released when the cardiologist saw fit.  So off we went again. I texted Nicky that we were on our way back to Heerlen, and got almost immediately a text back: "Reprogramming Tommie, meet you there!" And she was. They had just gotten Mike more or less comfortable and hooked up when she poked her nose in the dooor. She had started out right after she called.  Didn't see a doctor this whole time, just very nice, calm nurses. The ambulance personnel was great. They did a very good job of keeping everybody grounded. Mike must have been in positive panic mode. He hates not feeling good, and is even worse when it comes to hospitals, but he took it all very matter of factly. It almost looked like he wasn't aware of what might have, and still may happen.... Odd fellow that husband of mine! :-)

We stayed a while with Mike, but he was tired, and the meds they gave him and the stress were knocking him for a loop, so we left around 7.30. Regular visiting hours are at 11, so Nicky talked me into getting at least an hour sleep. (I had been up since 2.30 Friday morning for a chat, and it was now Saturday....) but.... would you believe it? At 9AM the hospital called where they should send the bills........... There's no way you can say they're not efficient! We ate a little bit, and went back to the hospital, where they let us in almost half an hour before visiting half hour, and left us alone until almost half an hour after the end of it...... He had a little bit more color, and was joking with the nurse when she asked him how he was feeling. He told her, I'm ok, but every time somebody comes by they want to shave me! (They had shaved different parts every time they replaced the electrodes for the EKG's, and REALLY shaved him at the CathLab! LOL)  IT WAS SOOOO GOOG TO SEE THAT!!!! (his attitude, not the shaving)

Nicky and I went home for a little bit, had some lunch, picked up some stuff Mike may want over the next couple of days, and headed back for the 4 O'Clock half hour. I SO planned on coming back for the 7.30 visit, but I was fading very fast. Nicky got me home, made me a bowl of soup with a sandwich, handed me the phone, told me to call and say goodnight to Mike, because she was leaving, and I was going to bed!  (She can be SO pushy! LOL) But I'm getting ahead of myself.

When we got there, Mike was just given a shot of insuline, and already had 2 metformines to get his bloodsugar down. It was very high. On admission it was 25 (don't know what that translates to in american measurement, but the "normal" is between 5 and 10!) and on second blood draw it was 23, so going down, but not fast enough. I was happy that they were attacking that, because in all that I had seen and heard so far, it never really got addressed. First things first, I guess. They were also getting ready to take the drain out of his leg from the cath, so that meant his blood was clotting good again. He did tell me that he would have to be on medicine the rest of his life, but he didn't seem too upset about it. Which is good! His back was killing him, from having to lay flat, so when he said that to the nurse, she asked if he wanted something for it, and to my surprise, he said yes..... So she gave him the paracetamol (equivalent of Tylenol) and came back with vials to take blood. When he said she wasn't getting any, she said it was only fair, because he got meds! I loved seeing him, being him again.

He also said, that he MAY be able to come home Monday, and that the doctor will sit him down for a talk, so I'm going to see today, if I can sit in on that.... Mikes Dutch is really not that great yet, and I've noticed that the doctors' English isn't much better than Mikes Dutch, so just to make sure everybody understands what's going on, I'm going to sit happily in the middle! (If they'll let me, otherwise I will have to insist on a copy of the records so I know what's going on.... Case in point. The dietician came in and was talking about meats and such, and asked him if he had any restrictions.... well, he's not vegetarian, so he said no. She took me aside on my way out, and asked if Mike knew he was diabetic, because he told her he didn't have any restrictions, but he can't have sugar and stuff....  and she was happy she checked his chart any way!

I guess, this is a very long way of saying that I won't be around much, probably, for a while. I may slip in for a quick update, but I'm not planning on doing a whole lot more than taking care of Mike, making sure the chores get done, (so he doesn't think he needs to do them) and getting used to turning our life upside down.....  Keep him in your thoughts?

It is now 9.15 Sunday Morning, just finished my tea, going to get dressed, and go see my hunny!

Hugs,
Pauli

PS. Forgot to post this one.

Mikes grandfather - for LifeBook.
Made with StarSongStudio - Lullaby

OKAY PEOPLE, LISTEN UP!!

How's that for my impression of a drill sergent? LOL

But serious.... No matter if you celebrate or not, Christmas is coming, quickly! Our guys (and gals) are still in a hostile country, doing what they believe in, but that doesn't make it any easier.
Take it from someone who has been away from family for a while... It a'int what it's cracked up to be!
Sure, you don't have to figure out how to invite everybody to your birthday on 2 different days, so they wont' end up storming out, or who to invite when so they don't feel like they're being an after thought, but, in the scheme of things, isn't it nice that they're around?

Now figure this: You're FAR away from friends and family, being shot at, stalked, always on your guard, not getting enough sleep, the food you eat, you cannot pick, the people you eat with, you cannot pick and on top of that, it's Christmas, and 90 Degrees in the shade...... Would it not be nice to get mail from someone who cared? (NO offense to those who live on the other half of the world, but Christmas has to be COLD and preferably snowy for me! LOL)

I have a couple of suggestions, including links to sites for you to peruse and I REALLY hope you do!

Jan, over at IvyScraps is trying to get postcards from all over to put together in an album, showing our support for the troops.

This site: "Any Soldier"  lets you adopt a soldier, who otherwise would get little or no mail.

The site: Help a Hero to Write Home sends cards to troops, so they can send them home to their family. How special would it be to have handmade - with love - cards to mail them?

Between all of us, we should be able to accomplish some of this, don't you think?
I was, thankfully, set straight about something and I want to pass that on.  When I worked for Cigna, our department adopted a soldier, and each of us picked a week to write to him. None of us ever heard back. I took it as "he got volunteered for the program, but isn't really interested". Jan told me that, even though you may not hear from them, (because of security, time etc reasons) every card and every letter gets read, sometimes daily, sometimes by more than one soldier. It's a little bit of "home" in a hostile world. Can you imagine if there was a care package attached to such a card, or letter? It should be done all year long, but the Holiday Season is extra hard on the "missing" of home.... So what do you think? Worth a little bit of time? I think so!

Ok, getting off the soapbox, but I'll keep you updated if anything news comes up.... Just think about it?

hugs,

Hiya

Well, not a whole lot has happened since we last talked. Been to  a couple of doctors, CityHall and Base, Slept thru the LifeBook Chat, found the school picture I wanted to use LAST week for Lifebook, am behind on my CT duties. Did make the pages for Ivy October Mega, but have a problem posting, Made 2 pages and 3 clusters for the Ivy Birthday Bash coming in November, (so come check it out). finally finished my pages for Ann (StarSongStudio) so..... Check out the pages I've been posting today :-)

StarSongStudio - Enchantment

I really like this page. The first picture my sister sent to me, the second, I was around when she took it. It is REALLY nice to be close again.  Puppy is really getting old. A couple of weeks ago, they were afraid they would have to say goodbye, but she pulled thru!

StarSongStudio - Blessings
Coming out next week at Heritage Scrap

IvyScraps Mega - Monster Mash

No Halloween pictures available you haven't seen yet, so..... fall pictures it is! I love fall, and Iowa was extra-ordinarily pretty during that time of year, so there are plenty of pictures......

StarSongStudio - Olde Tapestry

When we came home to say goodbye to Mom, I scanned a couple of pictures, thinking that would probably be the last time I was in any position to do so, but...... I'll be going back and see if I can talk Dad into loaning me some albums soon :-) These were pictures of their wedding. I have to figure out someday soon who's who..... Some I know, most I don't. I'm using this page for the "Parents" part of my LifeBook. Just haven't got it posted yet. This week is Siblings... No clue how to do that one yet :-)

StarSongStudio - Winter Symphony

StarSongStudio - Raspberry Truffle

This one doesn't really need an explanation, does it? LOL

IvyScraps Mega - Monster Mash

OK, just uploaded my Parents Page, and came to the sad conclusion that I have missed more than just ONE week of LifeBook Postings! Guess what I'll be doing the rest of today? LOL

Well, whattaya know....

It's been a while, but here I am again.

Had a busy week, and it seems like I did absolutely nothing... Ever had one of those? You're tired as all get out, constantly doing something it seems, and when someone asks "What did you do?"...... you can't figure out why it took you so long, to do so little?

Done a little housecleaning (took out another box, and kept up with the dustbunnies) fiddled with my growing pile of non-functional computers (Did I tell you that the laptop all of a sudden doesn't work either?), did some scrapping (tried to finish my page for "school days" as part of LifeBook, couldn't find the picture, gave up and made pages for other stuff) and the biggy, that had me worried to the point that even my partial functional brain was on overload........ The Doctors Visit....

Blood came back - and I quote the doc here - "absolutely perfect"! SUCH a relief!
Now I have to get used to the idea that I'm as normal as I'm going to get..... I have to tell myself, that I WILL get a cold, the flue, muscle and joint aches and infections, and that NONE of them mean that the cancer is back, while at the same time, keeping track of them, so I know when they seize to be "normal"....... and I can tell you right now, that being a worry wart does NOT help in separating the two!
But, it's another step, and one that I'm glad I'm able to take.

We were getting ready to adopt a kitty..... but let me start at the beginning.
At Mike's work, are a couple of wild cats. They keep the mouse population down, but somehow, the powers that be, think it's not a good idea to have them around.... (no accounting for the reasoning, but, that's the way it is) They had a nice black and white cat with a couple of kittens that hung around the warehouse, and somehow, one of them made it's way into the building about 10 days or so ago. Mom hung around a couple of days but eventually left, and that's when the traps came into play. Let me tell you, when Mike said that they were going to trap the little thing (about 6 weeks old) and bring it to the pound as part of the "base cat cleanup, I was very upset, and didn't have to do a whole lot of reasoning, pleading and begging for him to be talked into adopting the little one, once they got it. Or, at the very least be a foster-home for it, until it was used to humans enough to get a good home....
They set the trap up the first night and somehow the little tike got into the trap, ate and drank its fill, and disappeared before anybody got in in the mornings.... YEAY KITTY! I was hoping that maybe it would get tame enough to be "adopted" by the store, but Mike said there is an order on base that anybody caught feeding the cats (except for when you try to trap them) will be fired...... but I'm getting sidetracked.

The trapping attempt started last weekend, and Mike had been buying kitten-food for the trap so it wouldn't get sick from eating junkfood (they were going to put baloney and grown catfood in the bowl) Everyday, the can ended up outside the trap, without a kitten IN the trap. Until this morning.... Mike just called, and I could hear in his voice he was upset. He said that they caught the kitten, but it was so wild, you couldn't come within 10 feet of the cage, before it went berserk. He said there was no way we could keep it in our house. It was fighting the cage so bad, that it's little nails had blood on them. He covered the cage, and put it in a quiet corner to give it a little bit of rest, but I could tell he had a hard time with it. Between you and me, I don't think the pound is going to give it a whole lot of time, and it just breaks my heart. Mike had such a hopeful tone in his voice when he said that the animal control here seems a little bit more humane towards putting animals down, that I didn't have the heart to tell him what I was thinking....  Why am I telling you this? I really don't know. I need to tell someone I guess, so I can leave Mike alone when he get home. I know it bothers him as much as it does me, and there's no sense in making it worse for him, especially since he saw the little one.

The upside is, that Mike doesn't seem too opposed to adding a furball to the family... and that's a good feeling. Perky has been off lately. He lays with us, but he's upset about something. He doesn't miss the box, because it's closed off, but there's pee up all the walls of it when he gets out, and the vet told me that is a sign of stress. He's not eating right, and he keeps to himself more than he used to... All I can think of is the last week or so we had Boo... He would go off on his own and sleep..... while he used to sleep anywhere he could, as long as he was near one of us...... I'm not ready to loose another pet.......

Didn't mean to depress anybody, sorry about that. Just needed some things off my mind.

Have a good day, and hug a loved one, be it furry or human!

If you're into genealogy.....

Go visit Ancestry.com!
They have a special, where you can visit from october 1 thru 15 and search the "collection of the day" for free. They put a different collection up every day, that you can search, as well as enter into a drawing for a trip to a taping of "Who do you think you are"..... (I wonder if they would cover overseas travel.....)
Don't know what the collections are, but it is worth a look, at the very least! I know I'll be there.

The last Ivy-chat has my genealogy fire burning again. The fact that I actually found most of my genealogy research and have it handy plays a BIG role in that! LOL.

I was looking thru my moms tree yesterday, and I'm seriously considering renaging on my promise NOT to put genealogy on the Imac..... My yellow-box was condemned last week.... I broke down, and took it to a repair center, to have the keyboard checked out, which was free, BUT when I asked them to hook it up to the computer to see if there was a connection fragged.... THAT cost 20 Euro's.... JUST TO PLUG IT IN!!! His exact words were: "We can check the keyboard, there's no charge set for that, but if we have to plug in your computer to the outlet... that's 20 Euros"...... YEAH, I'm going to find a course in basic computer repair!! Until than, I don't have a computer of my own.  They did show me that there are no drives registered... I'm not excluding it, don't get me wrong, but unless I had a major brain-bubble and forgot to hook the drives up..... I'm at a loss as to why they wouldn't show up.

You know, I hear all over, in The States and here, of people that have a computer wiz in the family, or within their circle of friends. I must be traveling in the wrong circles, because where I travel... I'M the wiz! Scary thought, huh!?

Well, I have a date with a basket of laundry and a movie, just thought I'd let you know about the special at Ancestry. If you find something, I did my job :-)

Hugs,
Pauli

PS: Yesterday was the final step in the Progressive Scrap at Digidesignresort... Here's the result:

Pictures are courtesy of my sister.

All caught up

Well, today was kinda productive :-)

I caught up with LifeBook, added 2 pages for Ann's new kit called Winter Symphony. Not sure where it's going on sale yet. Haven't checked, just started playing.

BUT, (and isn't there always one.... LOL)  I haven'g gotten a stitch of progress on the boxes!

Here are the pages I made. The one with my birth announcement I REALLY like, just don't ask who's stuff I used on any of them. It's SO much fun to just pull things that you like together, without having to worry who they're by. 

I know, I'm a bad girl, but there you have it. If you're interested in what I used, shoot me an email, and I'll find out :-)

The postcard I found on Google. I'm going to try and take the same pictures.....

This postcard, I also found on Google. Couldn't believe my eyes that it had our house on it.

This page, I DO know who's stuff I used. It's StarSongStudio's Winter Symphony

Well, it's off to bed for me. Gotta go to class tomorrow morning. Be there at 9, and  at least an hour and a half ttravel followed by a 20 minute walk, so up early, get ready, try not to wake Mike so he can sleep for nightshift, and hopefully make the class and be back in time to fix dinner, so we can eat at 3 and Mike can leave at 5, to get home at 3AM on Thursday...... Thank God for day runners!!

Night!

In trouble already

well.... almost
Last week on LifeBook chat, we kinda just talked about who we were going to chronicle and where to find stuff to make the book, so.... my brain, or at least what passes for it, interpreted that as... we post the cover next week. So I sat back, figuring I was done, because I already had that, and even had it posted .....

Yesterday, right before I was going to bed, so I could get up at least half awake at 2.45, I get the email, asking if everybody posted their BIRTH page!

OOPS!? After I panicked, I started. I have the story. I thought I had found my birth announcement, but now that I need it, I can't find it. I'm going to finish the story page, and set up a matching one for the announcement.Nicky sent me a picture of the apartment complex I was born in, so that will go with the announcement...... will really need to go ask dad again if I can take a peek at the photo-albums/slide boxes....

I'm working on the page right now, but while I'm working, I'm having all kinds of ideas on upcoming pages. AND because I can't trust my memory, I write the ideas down as I go, which makes for  V E R Y  slow going on the page I'm building.

Besides that, I'm working on the NewsLetter for Flights of Fancy....AND I'm trying to get the house in shape, so I'm not frantically looking for a place to put them, when people actually show up when I invite them.

Now, if I can only get all this done today. Mike starts 2 nights of nightshift tomorrow, is off on Friday, and we have no clue what he works after that. I have another doctors appointment on the 10th, and a bunch of other stuff I need to do in between, as well as a class tomorrow..... so... what little brain I have left, is thoroughly overworked.

Going to settle my mind, practice tai-chi for half hour, finish the household chores and I'll be back for a little while to finish atleast one page. Than, it will be time to start dinner. Mike is home early today :-)

Don't forget to hug a loved one!

Just playing around....

I got an email from Booland Design. She's having a contest on her blog. 

Here's the rules:

1- Your favorite time of day

2- use BLD kit(s)

3- email the result to her (600x600)

Next week is the drawing for her new kit. 

I bought her store twice, and REALLY love her stuff, so that wasn't a hard one to fall for! LOL

Here's my entry.

I have no idea which kits I used. I just put my search for BLD, and went with what came up. I hope she doesn't want it spelled out........ That's going to take me 3 days to figure out! ROFL

Gotta fix dinner. 

Hugs!

Ok, dinner is over with, and I found a website for a breeder here in Holland that breeds Border Collies, as well as Australian Shepherds. I must have spend 3 hours on the site, looking at pictures, and reading. The downside is that now I have such a hard time with my memories of Whisper. Our Bordercollie/Aussie mix. We rescued her from the pound and we had her for 6 weeks before she passed away because her heart was badly damaged from epilepsie. I think we did ok by her, sometimes wonder if we could have done more, but mostly, I just still miss her. It has been 19 years, come January. We didn't get any pictures of her, because I forgot to put film in my camera, but I remember her as if she's standing next to me. She had a very thin blaze, a full white collar, 4 white feet, and the tip of her tail was white. Her eyes were amber. And every day, without fail, after she had wolfed her food down, she would stand real close to my face and belch!  I always took it as a "thank you for a good meal" LOL.

I found a picture on the site, that sorta, kinda looks like her, so I thought it would be nice to make a page for her. I know it's not her, but the thought is there and at a quick look....

Let's just say that  it's nice to imagine it's her.

This page was hard to make, and a long time coming, and I think I needed to do this.

Some day my little one, we'll meet again, and we'll take those walks again.

Update....

on Life in general and LifeBook in particular.

Tomorrow morning at 3AM my time, is the LifeBook chat with VictorionRose and the crew.

If you are interested, come at 9PM ET, click on Chat room, and change your name from Guest#xxx to what you want to be called, and jump right in.

Last week was a "get caught up with everybody" chat, this week it starts in earnest. 

By the beginning.

Title and cover. (Here's mine.)

Made with Star Song Studio's Fleurs du'n Jour. The hinges are from her Old Clock kit.  

The picture you will see again in one of my pages, as it is my favorite one, as well as a great story that goes with it :-)

This go around, it's "all about me" with a catchup from last go around, which was Mikes book. As I wurm information out of him, and find pictures, I will try to fill his book as well as mine. Mind you,  most of my childhood is at my dads, in slides, but atleast I'm close enough, that if he'll let me take them out of the house, I can scan one box at a time and "keep a spot" in the pages for it, if I'm not done with them. I have no clue how to clean up slides, been told that it is a horrible amount of time and effort, for sometimes very little improvement, but..... it's my youth, and my sisters' so it will have to be done..... One slide at a time LOL.

Today, I will also "need" to scrap some pages for Ann, and 2 challenges.... 

So I'm off to have some other kind of fun than posting here, and I'll be back later today with the results, or early in the morning, before the chat......

Bye for now :-)

So I was checking out blogs I haven't been to for a while

and landed on Made with TLC.... I started going backwards and found a card that I liked that was on one of the designers' blog.

As usual when I do these "catch up" things, I got side tracked by what she had on HER blog, and started reading this one post. Her friend, a fellow designer, is very much in pain, everyday, all day, and Wendy started a post to give her the financial help, so she can seek medical help. I can write about it here, but you really need to read for yourself.

Having had the last 2 years that I've had (wow that looks odd ROFL) I can relate, and because I cannot help financially, I would like to put in a good word here.

Please go take a look at the post, and I think you'll find, if nothing else, you will repost to spread the word. Here's the BLOG you need to go check out, if you would please?

Nothing more to say but .....

Hugs,

Are we up?

Wow,

My last post here Sunday, was really my last entry until today. Right after I posted here, the internet gave up... 

well, not the WHOLE thing, just the part I need to talk to you. LOL

Don't know what happened, just went offline, and couldn't get re-connected.  Called "The Guys" who supply me with it, and they didn't see anything on their end either, all they could tell, is that I wasn't connected..... and their advise was to keep trying!

Which makes me wonder........ 

Just how DO you qualify to be tech-support these days?  :-)

Oh well, all is right again. I tried to connect this morning at 3.30AM for my LifeBook chat, and it went thru, so... who cares why it wasn't working... I DID make sure they had gotten my account credited for payment, so that was NOT the reason it skunked on me! After that was checked, they had no clue, which made me not too broke up that I could't figure out what was going on..... after all, I'm just a dumb consumer, THEY know what they're doing......LOL

Kinda sucks though. I am way late on making my picks for Ivy so I can scrap that, and couldn't even vote for last weeks.... Still have to work on the Flights Newsletter, post 2 lay-outs to Ivy for this months Mega, and there's some other stuff I needed to do, but they elude me... On top of that, I have a doctors appointment today, Thursday and Monday...... 

SO, I'm not going to bed tonight until the Newsletter is done, otherwise it will NOT go out by Thursday. And By the way, do you know how many emails you can stack up in your inbox if you can't check and delete the crap from it?  Believe me... it's a BUNCH! Will have to  go thru those after I get home tonight.

For now,

I'm off to the shower, than I have a date with some household chores, and a train.... after that, it will be "hurry up and wait" until I get back.

Talk to you by end of this week... Internet willing LOL

HAVE YOU HEARD!?!?!?

The Studio has a designer contest running this month.  Go check it out :-)

There are some amazing creations in that gallery, and who knows.... 

you may find a freebie or 2 (3, 4) LOL

Link to the challenge

As for me, I'm going to be a good girl, do the dishes, pick up the house, make my picks at Ivy...
 and OH DRAT! 

I have to scrap today too! ROFL

Have a great Sunday, and don't forget to hug a loved one!

Well, that didn't take long at all

One week into the challenge and I'm out already. Had I known it went by votes to move on, I probably wouldn't have signed up. I usually don't fare well with those :-)
Oh well, such is life.

I'm still working on the Point in Time Challenge over at the studio. Can't find the darn picture I want to use!
Fiddeling with the Flights of Fancy newsletter. It is due to come out a week from today.
Was thinking of entering the ATC this month, aa well as the color challenge at the studio, BUT I have to honor my commitment to Ivyscraps first, and make the pages with the new mega..... So I'm thinking, I'll be busy.
BUT! Tomorrow is my day with my sister, so nothing much will be getting done! We have nothing planned, per se, and just "hanging out" sounds great!

Monday night (read, Godawful early Tuesday, for me) is the start of the new session of Life Book! I'm looking forward to it. I also found out where to find the birth and deathrecords of my moms little sister. She was born, and died about 15 miles down the road here, when grandma and the kids were staying here during the war, while grandpa was in a work camp. I never have found out where that was, just that the family spent time here so they could be closer to him.
It will be interesting to look at the records, as I have never seen Dutch ones LOL. I may just hop a train one of these days when Mike is at work and see what I can find.

Well, it's getting to be that time again.... Time to atart dinner.
Will talk at ya later :-)

Voting started.....

on the Birthday Bash Lay Out Challenge over at The Studio and the voting ends tomorrow, Sept 6th at midnight EDT. BUT, that's not why I'm writing this.

Ann, from StarSongStudio is participating in the designers part of the the Birthday Bash challenged. 

I stopped by and downloaded the kits the designers have made. I don't think all of them were in yet, so I'll have to go back and double check that..... but there's really nice ones out there. They all coordinate in colors, so if you download all of them, you'll end up with one heck of a versatile kit!  hint hint :-)

Here's the page I made with Ann's part. It came out rather nicely, but I  may be prejudice. Just a little, mind you.....

gotta get some sleep, only had a couple of hours last night.

Talk later.

A Favor, Please?

I "stuck my foot in it" so to speak, and signed up for the Lay-Out Artist Challenge at The Studio.  It's a 5 week contest to see if you have any talent in the "putting-pages-together department" and I like a challenge, so.... I signed up, and today I finally got around to reading the rules... I know, I'm bad :-) 

Now, the signing up wasn't the problem, but to stay in the challenge, you have to get votes, and, I should  only vote for others LOL. Than there is another point I have to mention: I'm not supposed to offer any incentive to vote, but I'd be grateful if you did :-)  

On second thought.... I'm not sure if that's an incentive or not?

The kit that was generously donated to participants is by Piggy Scraps. It's called Early Morning Light. When I saw the kit, and before I read the instructions of the first week, I was thinking along the lines of sun ups etc, but than I read the rules, and decided to make this page instead...

Here's my submission for week 1. From what I have observed over the last couple of months, this is pretty much an average day in the life of our fuzzy room mate:  

The "little work" means supervising anybody who dares to touch the computer.

The "waiting on my other human" was my favorite time of the day when I was sick. No matter what time Mike went to work, 15 minutes before he was to be home after his 10 hour s away from home, Perky was laying in front of the front door. Far enough that he wouldn't get run over, but close enough that he wouldn't miss out on "being first" to great Mike.

The "little play" was watching KITTY TV, also known to non-kitties (aka humans) as the view outside the window........

Take a look at the gallery for the contest.

Hope you think I'm "worthy" of your vote, if not... May the best lay-outs go on to the next round!

We were only to make a 12x12 page, so I didn't have room for the dozens of places you can take a VERY comfortable catnap. LOL!

Have some chores to do....

You may have noticed .... 

I'm one of those people that eats desert first, because you may not have room for it later.... 

and I firmly believe that the same holds true for "chores vs fun" LOL

Take care.

Can you have too much fun?

Nah, I don't think so either!!

Mike was going to drop me off at the station on his way to work, and I had planned on taking the train at 8.53, but mike got me to the train a little early..... 8.10 LOL, so I took the 8.23...... Good thing too, because right out of Sittard, there was something wrong with the signals, and instaed of everybody stopping for the train, it was the train stopping at every crossing.... And instaed of getting there at 9.32, we got to Eindhoven 5 after 10.... Stores open at 10, so that wasted some valuable shopping time LOL.

We had a blast! I had forgotten how much fun it is to shop with my sister en niece.  We met with Nicky's hubby at the Pancake house, and my nieces boyfriend.... and they collectively took me to the train when we were done..... I actually splurged. Bought 2 pairs of pants and 2 tops. I know I over did it again, and I don't care! LOL. It got my mind off Monday, Tuesday and Thursdag..... and I LIKE that alot.

Today/yesterday (that means, Saturday) Mike played the sims, while I dozed on the couch, with the Ipad, so I could keep an eye on Irene. I know it's a long way from here, but there's too many people I care about in jeapordy to just catch up on it if it hits the news. Hope everybody rolls thru it alright, and she goes back to sea before she does too much more damage.

Tomorrow, I'm going to look some more for my medical records, and if I get too bushed to do that, I'll play in Photoshop for a bit. I also have some landscaping to do in Barnacle Bay. Mike hates it, and I love it, so he builds, and I dig LOL. But, the only time I can do the landscaping part is when he's not playing/home....

I slept goooooood last night (9 hours) but I'm getting tired, so I'm going to "hang it up" for today, and I'll talk to you tomorrow. Have some pages to post, picks to make, mails to answer......

NIGHT!

YIKES!!!

It's been almost a week since I visited!

It's been a weird one.
- First, my neighbor gets hauled off in an ambulance at 4 in the morning, with all kinds of noise, and neither Mike or I have noticed anything! I mean, WHEN I sleep, you can't easily wake me up, but Mike usually hears the dog 2 doors up scratch behind his ears! Can't figure out how he wakes up with the slightest sound, and than turns over and goes right back to sleep once he knows what woke him up and there is no threat, and doesn't remember he woke up... But honestly, how can you sleep thru 2 ambulances, people walking back and forth on the landing and pretty much all the neighbors talking in the street?!?!
- Mike hasn't been feeling well. His legs are killing him and usually keep him awake at least part of the night.
- Than, my sister in law leaves a message on my blog, which is good, because we haven't been able to contact her.
- I got a "Patch"-letter from the government, and need to go to IND/legal council to figure it out, which means I need to find all kinds of paperwork within 10 cubic meters of boxes, excludung my handy-dandy, new - and hopefully temporary - filing system, consisting of 3 plastic bags, stuffed on the bottom shelf of the clothes closet
- Perky has been off his wetfeed, and all together not himself, but he's not running a fever, he drinks normally, eats his crunchies with a vengeance and keeps an eye on the neighbors, so the vet sais there's no reason for concern, but when he's "off", I worry.
- And Monday, I'm having my bloodtest and hopefully find out that I won't need surgery again, that my blood is clear, and that I worry too much!!! I am SO hoping that that is the way it goes!!!

tomorrow, or actally in 6 hours, I'm meeting my sister and my niece for a day on the town. There's a hobby shop they keep tellling me about, and an international market, and than there's " my" bookstore..... THREE stories of books! I promised I would only look.....
I'm hoping to find scone mix. For the life of me, I canNOT make them from scratch. They can either double as hockey pucks, they're so dense, or they are as chewy as day old bagels....
I tried dozens of different recipes, mixing methods and baking temperatures between them but the only way we can actually eat them is if I make them from a mix.

And right now, after I post this, I have JUST enough time to make a cup of tea before the heritage chat at IvyScraps starts, at 3 AM my time, OR, I can go to bed, and try and catch about 3.5 hours of sleep before the alarm goes off and catch my train at 9......

Not sure yet what to do. LOL

I also made a couple of pages this week. I'll post the ones from the August Mega now, because it's the "free with purchase" right now.

Ok, 2 things just went wrong....
- Can't upload pictures, because ..... don't know, just isn't working right now
- No heritage chat at Ivy, so....

NIGHT ALL! :-)

I'VE RECOVERED

at least enough to write the report I promised you. LOL

I left home around 9ish Saturday morning and Mike picked me up at Heerlen Station at 10.30 Sunday evening and IT WAS GREAT!!! I could hardly walk, let alone walk in a straight line, I hurt every where, and some places I hadn't hurt in a long time.... but it was worth it. I knew I had over done it, but I didn't think it would take me 4 days to be able to walk.... I gotta get in better shape for next year!!

It sissy-rained almost all weekend, with the occasional torrential downpour thrown in for good measure. I drank 7 "mede's"  and only one Guinness..... I know, I was really looking forward to having at least 3 over the weekend, but they had draughts, and I prefer the Stout PLUS..... The Mede is a honey wine, that must have been invented and brewed by angels! It was the best I've ever had. It was really sweet, but not sickening sweet.... The one they had at the festival is from a small winery, and they only make so much a season. Nicky said I was lucky. Last year they were out by afternoon on Saturday... and this year? I had my last one about half hour before I had to go to the station! So all in all.....That they had draught instead of stout, was only to make things easier.... LOL.

We had lunch in camp Saturday, sandwiches with panfried "spek lapjes" (it's uncured pork belly, sliced about half inch thick and my favorite meat) and knakworstjes. Cup of tea as desert.... and listening to Celtic music while we ate. For dinner most people in the group had shrimp, I had minute steak, Franka had salad and Nicky had kokkles...... Breakfast was at Nicky's and consisted of 2 friend eggs, 2 slices of bacon and coffee, lunch was "frietje speciaal" (french fries covered in mayo, onions and curry ketchup) and dinner was a javanese plate, consisting of rice, green beans, sateh, fish cake and loads of peanut sauce...  YUP! Except for the greenbeans, not a healthy thing all weekend! (So great! HIHI)
We listened to and watched at least 21 hours of music AND I slept a full 6 hours!

I took some pictures, but not a quart of what I wanted to take. Don't get me wrong, our compact sony performs miracles, but in lowlight and moving objects, it just is NOT my Minolta. And of course, if the owner/operator malfunctions, you really can no longer blame the camera LOL
I changed one setting I wasn't sure about what it did, and didn't remember what it was set on, so now, instead of taking the picture when the button is pushed, it has a couple of seconds delay before you hear the shutter, so if anybody moves in the meantime..... you end up with a whole lot of blur.....

Camp-life was mostly fun, very relaxing and in general, WET. As with all groups of people that know each other very well - some have been going since 2000 - sometimes the personalities clash and they're comfortable enough to tell the other person exactly what they think. Add to this, the loose canon that seems to be standard equipment for any kind of gathering, and you end up with a couple of uncomfortable moments here and there. But, on the whole, everybody got along good enough to not let these little hiccups interfere with the fun and the enjoyment of the music.

Trying to stay dry AND get something to eat....

Adding an awning with the help of painters plastic and a branch......

Nicky and Willem on KP Duty. Cool awning, huh?!
(It doubled the "dry place to sit")

Having been away for 23 year, my idea of folk-music was, shall we say, "left behind in evolution" LOL. I didn't recognize any names but one. And that one, I never cared much for, but I figured I'm here, my taste of music may have changed, give it a shot. Only to discover that his songs didn't make any more sense to me than they did when I was 20.
What I think is funny, was that my niece had never seen or heard of him, and she asked me: "What the heck is he talking about? He babbles! His lyrics don't make sense, and he acts like he's on some really weird medication". Sometimes, age does NOT make a difference in how you perceive things. LOL

I did see on of my favorite Dutch troubadours though. He was just walking along, checking out the music like the rest of us. So that was cool. I didn't want to be "one of those" so I tried to sneak a picture in without being too obvious..... Right after I almost knocked Nicky over while whispering really excited (and louder than I meant) "Hey, is that Gerard Maasakkers?!" And sometimes, age does not mean having more restraint either!

Gerard Maasakkers (in the green shirt)

And on that note (serious pun intended!) I saw a couple of acts that were fun to watch, but I won't run out to find their cd. There's also a couple, I'm going to look for their cd for sure and there was one, I don't know what to think of......

His voice was  A M A Z I N G ! It ranges from a deep bass to high soprano, and he is clear as a bell in all ranges... He is also, literally, a one man band. I swear he looks like he's 18 or so, sitting in the middle of the stage, on a barstool, with only a guitar and a microphone. So he starts to sing, almost as if he's singing to himself, and all of a sudden, in the middle of it all, you hear a slide trombone, a bass, a fiddle an organ and a monkey. I kid you not! He doesn't miss a beat and goes back to singing. He did a couple of straight songs, and I really loved them. Not sure I want a CD with all the sound effects thrown in, but just songs? I can see me playing that.  A LOT!

Chris Chameleon

There were several Irish sounding bands, but there was one I really liked. They actually enjoyed the music, not just performed. I don't think they would have minded if there was nobody there to listen.... They were perfectly happy making the music together. I think Mike might have enjoyed watching them as well. I may have to test that theory by getting a ced. You know, for Mike, to see if he likes them.... HIHI!  So, I'll be looking for a cd of Skyclad.

The funny part is, that although the whole experience was great, the things that will stick with me are odd things: Not so much the music, but the atmosphere. The diversity in people. There were people that looked like they came straight out of the 60's and people wearing kilts, teenagers, people with little kids, people our age (aka old people LOL), and seriously OLD people, but everybody belonged.

People getting together to play music, just for fun.

Nap time. 

The watchmentals
(One of the groups I'll get a CD from)

Bluegrass Boogiemen.
(Good music, but a little more into entertaining than the music)

Just to give an example:
- Everybody drank, nobody got out of control.
- At the entrance were 2 shelves. One was for the GLASS container you got your beverage in, and the other had plastic containers to pour the beverage in if you were leaving the festival grounds. And everybody stuck to it and transferred their drinks before they left!
- The drink cards you could buy had 15 points and the points taken per drink varied from 3 to 7. You could get as many as you wanted, because you could turn them in if you hadn't used them all or all of the card, and get your money back.
- Sanitation, although mobile, was porcelain, and was cleaned 5 times a day, of if it needed it in between, all you had to do was tell someone with a "crew" shirt.
- EVERYBODY working the event was a volunteer, and I've never had such a friendly and smiling service! Some have been working the event for years, and know the regulars.
- There were garbage cans, and everybody used them. Every once in a while you saw stuff laying on the floor, but never long. Crew and visitor alike would pick it up, and get rid of it.

People watching is SO MUCH FUN, and even more if there's alcohol and music involved!
Can't wait for next year!