WOW! It's beeN awhile!

I am such a bad blogger! Worse since going to Facebook! I really should do better but can never remember to get my butt over here!

Well what's new? Hmm..oh yeah- the Breast Cancer 3 day walk! We're only 17 away!!! Did you get your donation in yet? Yeah you= you know who I'm talking to- the one who keeps saying oh I have time yet- NO YOU DON'T! I need only about $500 more to reach my goal so get with the program! Geez Louise! Don't make me come over there! Go to www.the3day.org/goto/karenhalgren and donate TODAY! PLEASE?!?!?!!?!

I found a generator too! We're working on HOPEFULLY getting one donated but if not, the manager said he would happy to loan us one! Yippeee! That will work SO much better than having to have people on hand to change out the batteries every 7 miles or so! Will post the business as soon as we get the green light one way or the other!

Prayers needed please

Our new grandson Chace is in the NICU in Dallas- it appears he has somehow contracted Encephlitis somehow. Heather's not sure where he got it but I guess it might have come from someone with a cold sore. He'll be in the NICU for awhile it sounds like. Please say prayers for Chace that he'll come thru this with no problems. So hard to hear since he's only 18 days old! He's having some seizures along with this so it's a hard time for his momma,daddy and big sis right now. and for Grandma too who is so far away! I SOOOOO wish I could be there right now with them to give Heather my shoulder to lean on. It's hard being away from them when they need us. Why do our kids have to grow up let alone want to be away from home. I understand now how my parents felt when we moved Heather from NY to CO when she was a mere 5 wks old...sucks to grow up doesn't it? Anyways I'll post more as I know more...thankfully too one of my scrapping grannies group members live about a half hr from where Chace and Heather are so she's going to go visit them tomorrow and take Heather/Tammi ,our other daughter, out to lunch then go peak in on Chace for me...thanks Kate! Love ya girl!
Today was Jon's 45 birthday so we went to his moms and she took us all to lunch. We sat out on the patio and had shrimp all you could eat...yummmm...then while sitting there I got to looking at her left hand and noticed her ring finger on her left hand was all red- Mom let me see your finger- her nail had grew so long it was curled back around the finger and had cut into the finger but she didn't know it! She has no use of the hand after her stroke in 03 so she never paid attention! We took her over to urgent care and sure enough! It was infected- the doc cut the nail best he could and it was all pussy under there...then the ass- was looking at ME telling me how to care for it- I looked at him and said Um- it's her you need to be talking to and telling how! Not me! She's not deaf! oh I was pissed! I've never had to talk to a doc like that but he made me mad- 1st t ime I thought well it wasn't a big deal, I thought he would turn and talk to mom too...NOPE! After he started again that's when I looked at him and told him he needed to be talking to mom not me! and then he was cranking her hand around and hurting her I thought she would smack him! I reminded him she had a stroke and had no use of the hand but it hurt her to move it- he finally was a little gentler then...doctors can be a PITA sometimes when they don't listen! or at least pay attention to the patient!

Tired Tuesday

Not sure why but I'm feeling VERY sleepy today! Feeling like I did when I was on to high a dosage of the pain meds. I'm on the 400mg dose now(if its the real deal). I'm thinking I maybe dehydrated pretty bad so have water bottle-am drinking!

Chase is doing well even tho he's lost almost a lb since birth. Doc wants Heather to wake him more often to feed. I mentioned to Heather maybe she's not producing enough milk-which might be the problem since I had the same with her too. She may have to supplement, which is ok...he got the most important milk already. Otherwise he's good as are mom,dad and siblings.

I've been looking for some fund raising ideas for my 3Day walk and found a cool site that will pay people for posting reviews of local businesses. I'll be posting info on it here in a few days once I get it all set up! You make a review and the site sends the money directly to the organization in my name. Stay tuned!

I managed to do a cpl LO's this morning which I really like! I used Paint Your Easter by lkscraps @e-scapeandscrap
Check it out:

Introducing:
Chace Ryan Wells Our newest grandson born Mar.10. I so can't wait to see him in person and cuddle. Mom and baby are fine. They came home today after mom had to have an emergency C-section. All is fine with both of them. This will be the little announcement I made for his sister to print and take to school to show her classmates.

Chilly Thursday

Can't believe how chilly it's been here this week, but after all it is Feb, Jon keeps reminding me! News this morning showed some gorgeous photos of the snow in the mountains and rocks in Sedona, just north about an hr and half of us. GORGEOUS photos. Maybe we'll take a drive up there this weekend.

Daughter just called and said they're going to do an ultra sound next week so maybe we'll find out if she's having a little girl or boy- well maybe not so little as she claims she's huge - due Apr 1 ...and of course has been very lax about taking photos no matter how many times I've reminded her- don't forget to take some pics today- yeah I should do that shouldn't I..umm-yeah! LOL she said she'd do some today so we'll see...

Oh police helicopter has been flying over the house REALLY low for about half hr now- guess I should turn on the TV and see what's up with that...just checked and the only thing news worthy on is a bomb scare at the high school a couple miles away. Turned out to be nothing and helicopter is now gone. Why people feel the need to do such stupid ass things!

I've started watching my ABC soaps again after about a 4 yr absence..LOL...a few people but the same dumb stuff happening..One Live to Live Dorian Lord is now married to David Vickers and is a Buddhist..LOL.She's up to something so it'll be fun to follow for awhile. I started watching the ABC's one back when my grandma was still alive- 1973 or so..LOL. thru the 80's when the kids were little- I spent their nap time watching, skipped most of the 90's and up till now- amazing how many are still on and haven't seemed to grow old for the most part- except the kids are all grown and have their own. Makes for cheap entertainment! LOL

American Idol this year is something else too- Some of their choices they picked to keep in were lame- screaming girl OMG!! I SOOOO hope America gets it right and boots her! She can sing fairly good but the screaming has GOT to go! The blind guy is good so I hope he stays...need to learn their names.

Here's a LO I just did for Jill D-zines- pic of my DH Jon.


Credits: Jon- Clearly Essential Casual Acrylics by Jill D-zines
Shabby Lil Man by Jill D-zines

Wild Wednesday!

Can ya believe Feb is half over already? YIKES! Where do the days go!!

Well I did it!!! I'm all signed up for the 3 Day walk for Breast Cancer! My camping buddy Kathy will be walking with me and be there should I need any help. Here is our page if you would like to check it out! http://www.the3day.org/goto/KarenHalgren
Feel free to look around and if you're so inclined please donate to this VERY worthy cause!!! All donations are tax deductible AND you can make a larger donation and make payments too! What a deal! Feel free to share our page link! Spread the word! lol and if you live in Phoenix and would like to walk with us, let us know! Would love to form a team of scrappers or non scrappers even!

Our weather has gotten SO cold! OMG! I had to turn the furnace on the other day, nights were freezing temps and days only in the 40's...brrrrr....of course for other parts of the country this is a piece of cake. Our thoughts and prayers go out to all those affected by the snow and ice storms as well as our friends in Australia dealing with the wild fires. Be safe everyone!!!

Ok- off to PT for more pain and torture..LOL

Finally Friday!

Can you believe January is almost over already?!?! Where did the month go?

I did my 2nd visit to get into the pain study with Hope Research- I got in!!! I started my meds this morning- since it's a blind study we don't know if we're getting the real stuff of placebo- I'm hoping for the real thing- as I'm sure anyone in the study is but time will tell. Any relief is better than none at all. The drug they're testing is called Pregabalin- it's sued for Fibromyalgia patients right now with hopes it helps people who have a SCI-spinal cord injury as well. We'll see- will post with the progress.

Still fighting with our Home Warranty company- American Home Shield about getting a camera in here to see why we keep plugging up in our plumbing- SO not happpy with them or the last company sent out! I specifically asked for a camera to be used- they set up with CNJ plumbing and we had the city super here as well- CNJ shows up- NO CAMERA! THEN he tells AHS he snaked the drain- how can you snake when you got no further than the driveway? THEN he changed his story and said the city snaked it! The city doesn't do things like that! So he lied twice! BUT they won't talk to the city super who was here as they don't include 3rd parties! So you mean you take the word of a plumber over your client? Whatever! JOn gave them till 5pm today to get this resolved or we're going to the BBB and our local TV station! This is rediculous! They'll pay to have em come out each time to run the snake but won't pay the $275 to rent a camera to find out WHY it's backing up every 3-4 days...makes NO sense at all! 1st reason they wouldn't run one- we had no outside access- found the access point and now they say they don't do that...We're canceling when this is all resolved and saving our money! TOTAL BS!

Happier news- our laminate floors will be here Monday!!! WooHoo!!! Still have to get a trailer here to put the stuff in yet but we'll get it! then vacuum and we're all set to go. Can't wait!

Happy Inauguration Day!

WOW! It's FINALLY here! Inauguration of our 44th President of the United States Of America! At 10:00AM AZ time Barrack Obama will become our newest president! Who would have thought in our lifetime we would see a black president! I am SOOO excited for him as well as what's ahead for our country! There will be challenges for him but I have TOTAL faith things will turn around for our country! Bush left a mess that's sure but Barrack will get us back on track!
I would SOOO love to be in Washington to be part of this historical event but we'll be here recording it for our future generations to see. Pretty amazing! I have a box of tissues handy as I KNOW it will be a tearful day for me as well as many others. I'm such a baby when things like this happen. Oh heck I cry at anything anymore but this will be a HUGE teary day- happy tears tho! I wish the Obama's ALL the best and look forward to his tenure in the White House.

Our remodel- coming slow but getting there. Our laminate floors will be installed Monday/Tuesday. Can't wait! Then the tile in the bath and finishing touches. Will be nice to be done then get life back on track..LOL.
Our daughter is progressing well in her pregnancy. Due date Apr 1. Her daughter Kaileigh is excited to be a big sister and will be a huge help to mom and dad. I'm hoping to get out there when she delivers or right before.
Spent almost 6 hrs in Ikea yesterday! OMG! That place is AMAZING! and so full of ideas and COOL stuff! I bought 3 cabinets to put in the bathroom for linens. Spent $135 for 3 tall cabinets which is awesome since the ones in Lowes were almost $300! Only thing they didn't have were the shelves but that's a minor detail and cheap enough to get. The savings were worth it.
Back to watching the festivities! Have a GREAT day all as it IS a GREAT day!

Happy New Year!!!

Well it's day 2 of 2009! and I'm behind doing 1 of my resolutions already.LOL- I told myself I was going to post each day but have I? NOPE! Starting today I will TRY!

Several friends are doing the 365 project and I'm going to play also! A photo a day then at the end of each week I'm going to make a page of the whole week's pics. Should be easy to do, I would think.

Our remodel is coming along, slow, but awesome! The LR carpet is gone. YEAH! I was SHOCKED how much dirt and nastieness gets under it. It was GROSS! We will never ever have carpet in a house again!!! Tile or laminate all the way. When we get this project done- the only 2 rooms with carpet will be my scrapping/craft room and Jayson's bedroom. Eventually that will come out too.
Jon and Mike got the pocket door all installed in the hallway going into our bedroom and the door removed and doorway widened into our room too! YEAH! Now I can roll my chair in with no problems!!! Won't be long we'll be able to sleep in the same room together again! 6 years is a looong time not to...sigh...but we do what we have to. Monday Mike will come over, hang plastic and they'll get to jackhammering up the bathroom floor to re pour it slopped for the roll in shower. Will be sooooo nice to take a shower again! Since we're redoing everything we're also getting rid of alot of stuff! It fees SO good to toss the old and shop for new! Been a long time since we've bought new furniture or anything.

I'll have to figure out how to add a slide show and get some before pics and progreesion pics here so you can see who we're coming along. Long process but the labor price is nice- beer and brats! Have to work around his schedule which is fine with us! Mikes a great friend and the guys get along really well! Always joking around but serious when need be. Thanks Mike for being a good friend and helping us out!!!! Course it helps when he has such a cute son too who we love to pieces and loves to come see me!

Oh if I forgot to mention before- I'm going back in on Monday to have my shoulder scoped and cranked on to loosen up scare tissue and such from my Sept torn rotator cuff surgery. Can we say OUCHIE WAH WAH!!! It's going to be really sore PLUS I have to start right in on intense rehab Tuesday! If this doesnt help get my range of motion back then we don't know what else to do- Cory my PT guy thinks it might be more neurological but is hoping he's wrong. If neuro problem there isn't anything that can be done ....sigh...but we'll see!! Not giving up just yet...it's the pain I'm having that's puzzeling too..will update as I can.

Whoa! Jon's computer is making a LOUD humming noise when the fan kicks in- wonder if it's the fan going? Will have to tear it apart...maybe it needs a gooood cleaning...it sure is loud tho...he needs a whole new computer as this one is like 7 yrs old and slow...maybe we'll reboot and see if that helps...

Have a GREAT weekend!!!

Rainy Days and Tuesdays

Pouring like cats and dawgs today and chilly. Sure beats the white stuff, although I do miss it this time of year. Now all we have to do is drive 2hrs north, play in it then come home.

Is everyone ready for Christmas? I am about as ready as I'll ever be. Have to wrap pressies yet but that will wait. We're trying to figure a good way to wrap Jayson's Guitar Hero. Kind of hard to disguise a guitar.LOL.

Remodel is going well! Everything is out of the bathroom but the toilet- hoping we can start floor demolish this weekend. Mike and Jon got the pocketdoor frames installed.WooHoo! Will add doors after they jack hammer the floor-just in case! Would suck to hit it with the jackhammer!After they get the cement out, they'll put in the floor drain, move the toilet, run water pipes for shower and sink then pour floor.Once the floor sets Mike can start the tile! YEAH! It won't be till probably after the 1st when it's done that far but that's ok. I did get my new shower chair so we're set that far! LOL.

Scrapping- Trying to get caught up with my CT work.I THINK I'm done, for now. I added a slide show with my new ones since Nov. Still learning how to make them smaller here so I can showcase more. perhaps I need to resize them in Fotofusion first? Ohh ohh- I got my new PSE7 last week! YIPPEEEEE....Now to learn how to use it! LOL. I'll be looking for tuts and asking for help along the way so if ya use it, let me know if I can ask questions,k?

Well that's about it for now. Back to work! Have a scrap happy day!

Post Black Friday

Well we survived turkey day and Black Friday ince again! I was smart this year and did all my shopping online! Only thing I missed was the sale at Sears when their site crashed! I was just going to order some new bras for me but that's ok. They're always on sale anyways so no biggy..LOL

We did go to Lowes and picked up our new sink- we went with a pedistal one so I can roll under it, also got all the new faucets for shower and sink. The sink one is coool! Reminds me of an old hand water pump on the farm. It's a burnished bronze- all the faucets are-
pretty cool huh?
Shower-
Sink - this is the style but ours is the same finish as the shower head.It's SOO purdy!

So things are coming along alsow but sure. Today we're going to finish tearing out the sink vanity and begin ripping out the door and hallway closets. Doors are all off now so we're ready to rip and tear! Hardest part has been colors. What colors to go with. At least we have the base started with the faucets. Tile will have to match- sink is white as it would have cost us another $80 or so to go with a colored sink. Ugh! Oh well..we can live with white. OH! Let me get the sink pic too! I think we MIGHT put some kind of wood behind the sink area- kind of laminate flooring type stuff to give a rustic look the area since the faucet looks rustic. What do you all think? yes? no? maybe? Here is the page with the sink - click to enlarge it on the site so you can get a closer look. http://http://www.lowes.com/lowes/lkn?action=productDetail&productId=60723-34754-V-6000&lpage=none

Sat. Busyness

We have a HUGE project coming! We discovered a HUGE leak in our main bathroom after we had a plumber come fix our tub leak on Thurs, Seems it's been leaking under the main shower for awhile...the insurance adjuster will be out Monday AM to see how much damage is done. I have a feeling it's alot as the water seeps under the hall closet(which backs the main bath) as well into our bedroom. Jon said there is like a 4 ft space of wet carpet at least. SO we have lots of work ahead! Of course in the interim it'll be a good time to haul junk out we've been holding onto forever! My biggest concern is my grandma's cedar chest got wet. It's up against the bathroom wall holding our TV in the bedroom. I SO hope it's ok....Once we find out how much we're covered for then we can look for a contractor to begin the work...we'll have to take out the shower enclosure too to see what damage is done- HOPE there is no mold...then when we redo it we'll just do a whole remodel and make it a roll in shower for me, take out the linen closet and put it in the bathroom then make the doorway wider so I can get my chair in there, think we'll also make the sink adaptable so I can roll right under it as well. It's a bad thing to happen but a good thing too. Just sucky timing right before the holidays! Merry Christmas to us! Will be sure and take pics as we can.

On to happier things- I'm now on 5 CT's! Am I nuts, you ask? Kinda looks like it huh? LOL. I LOVE all my designers tho so it's all good! With all the house going ons I'm a tad behind but have managed to get some pages done this week in between the flooding and PT for my shoulder which is going ok. I sure do hurt some days!

Some LO's I posted this week. This one is of our friends little guy and his new bike.
Credits- Unzip my Memories by Tahera at Scrapdish














This page I did using Julie Meads kit at e-scapeandscrap.net
http://www.e-scapeandscrap.net/gallery/showphoto.php?photo=3305

UGH!

Ok girls, and guys if any read this....Can you look at yesterdays post and tell me what the heck I am doing wrong?? I have tried and tried to get links to work but all that shows up is the dang whole code! ARG! It can't be THAT hard to add links in here is it???? Thanks for any and all help!

Terrific Tuesday!

Good mornin!!! Here it is Tuesday already, Sept 16. Dang where has the month gone!

I have some AWESOME news! I have been accepted on 2 CT's! Jill D-Zines and at e-scapandscrap! Also I'll be a guest CT for Oct with Kathryn Estry! I am SO excited!

Jill D-Zines can be found here:
www.gottapixel.net
www.ndisb.com
www.digitalscrapbookpages.com
www.scrapdish.com

. As soon as I get some pages made I'll post the links to them on here. I am SO excited to be working with Jill and the other CT's! I am SO excited to be working with Jill and the other CT's!


has some AWESOME designers at it as well! I have always been a fan of Julie Mead since before we worked together at 3S. She is also one of our scrappin grannies group members. I am looking forward to working with all the designers at www.e-scapeandscrap.net as well!

I will also be a guest CT for Kathryn Estry in October! YEAH! I love her adorable kits she creates. She can be found here: http://www.gottapixel.net

Stay tuned for new pages!

On another note- my shoulder is healing well! Still stiff some days, staples are out and most of the sterie strips are gone so now all that's left is the healing and getting started with PT. That won't be for about 3 more weeks tho when I go back to see Dr.Tindall and he gives me the green light to start! I will still have to go slow so I dont reinjure the shoulder. That's all I need! LOL.

Hope you all have a GREAT day!
hugs,Karen

Happy Friday!

where did the week go? Seems the older we get,the faster time flies! Why IS that???

Shoulder healing REALLY well...no signs of infection,bleeding or anything! YEAH! I have always been a good healer anyways when it comes to surgeries,which is good!
Had an AWESOME visit with my sousin Shelly and her DH Randy yesterday..they were in town for the weekend on a mini vacation so came over for the afternoon...was a nice time...right after they left, I remembered,DUH!,Jon had taken steak out for dinner and I spaced asjing em to stay for dinner! What a dork I am sometimes! LOL..SOO SORRY guys! They only live like 3 hrs away but we rarely get to see each other,sigh,...her mom and my dad were brother/sister ...
Jayson LOVES his classes this yr...seems to be doing well,so far,,we'll see in a cpl weeks when progress reports come out!
Be sure to pop over to 3Scrapateers for their 4th birthday party and blog train...some cute goodies and crops to be had.
Have a GREAT weekend!