HAPPY MONDAY, A FREEBIE AND SOME PHOTOS TO SHARE!

PHEW! I am FINALLY getting back into my designing groove! YAY! I was getting a bit concerned about myself, but just needed a little extra time to collect my thoughts and hunker down for some SERIOUS business!

Hope everyone has had a REFRESHING weekend and that y'all are ALL rested up and ready for the NEW week ahead!

I said I would continue from last post and add some more photos, so what better way to present them than in your GOODY for today! It is an "Embellished Glitter Bracket Frame", using the frame that MOST of you downloaded from F.o.r.e.v.e.r. Freebies at the beginning of the month! For those who might have missed the FULL kit, *Oopsie Daisies*, it is still available HERE.

A real quick EXTRA "thank you" to y'all for making my kit such a success over on Brandy's site - WOW! Y'all are just WAY to nice you know! *big grin* MWAH!

Okay, I am posting a few photos of the area where John fell asleep and went off the road. I will caption beneath each photo and this will also give you a bit of a feel for where we reside here in the foothills of Northern California! You will also see WHY we are referred to to as the "Golden State" in MORE ways than one! Yes, the discovery of gold AND the golden hills during the heat of the summer when the LUSH greens of spring give way to dry, wheat-like hillsides. And you just KNOW that makes our BEAUTIFUL Lake Tulloch all that much MORE appealing this time of the year!

This is the final climb before John fell asleep at the wheel. Just this side of the road sign
is where the highway begins to level out. If you look at the oncoming car with it's
headlights on, I am figuring that to be right about where John nodded off before
leaving the highway just in front of where Robert is waiting to open the door to our
"new-to-us" Explorer. Miraculously enough, the area that the John (or I should say,
the vehicle!) veered off onto is the ONLY turnout for quite some distance on this stretch
of highway. The photo below is of the lake just across from where the accident occurred.
Again, I am SO thankful, and so is he, that he veered off to the right rather than the left.

We were just on our way back home from picking up Luke's car from the dealership
where Robert left it to drive his new ride home to pick me up and a document that he
needed to give the salesperson. Robert only had liability on the older Explorer, so
all expenses were TOTALLY out of pocket for us. John did give his savings to Robert,
which was what Robert had paid for the older vehicle. I was VERY proud of my son for
making this decision on his own, without being asked.

Here Robert is looking at the side of hill the Explorer slammed up against
breaking out the back window. I can now understand why it was that John
thought he had rolled the vehicle. With everything happening SO quickly
and him just waking up and the vehicle on it's side momentarily, it would
have felt like a rollover. The Explorer went from here upwards and then
back down again and coming VERY close to plummeting into the gully
just to the right of where Robert is standing. John ran right over the marker,
which is made of flexible material thank goodness!

This is the view directly in front of and above Robert. These are
called "table top" mountains. A lot of people park near the
bridge and hike these mountains, which are ABSOLUTELY gorgeous
during the wintertime when they are green and full of natural
waterfalls that form once the rains begin.

It is difficult to see the depth of this gully that John just stopped
short of due to the right-rear tire burrowing down into the ground
and keeping the vehicle from traveling any further! SO, SO thankful!

Robert having just pulled out of our gate and on his way to work in his "new"
ride for the VERY first time! After a two-hour drive to Sacramento the evening
before finding this one (the day after the accident), Robert and John met up
with a REAL con trying to sell him an Explorer just like his older one (1995) that
didn't look fit for the road! It is rather funny now as the guy talked a good talk and
was VERY convincing to Robert on the phone. The photo on Craig's List only
showed one side and I had mentioned to Robert, before he and John traveled the
two hours to see it, that it makes you wonder what is being hidden on the other
side! LOL! I was spot-on!

Well, all-in-all, there was a happy-ending for Robert as he LOVES his new Explorer,
minus the car payment we had not planned on, however, ALL things for a purpose
and we are now re-establishing credit so that is a GOOD thing! Poor John though,
he went on, as you know, to total Luke's car and I am still awaiting photos to see an
even MORE incredible miracle of John's survival.

Thank you for letting me share with you. You know this is VERY therapeutic for me
and it re-enforces to me that John's time and purpose on this earth is NOT finished!

HAPPY MONDAY y'all and have a SUPER spectacular week! I will be working diligently
on some goodies for a VERY special upcoming event at DSO the first week in
September, so stay-tuned ...

Love and hugs,
Linda

CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD EMBELLISHED BRACKET FRAME

Tweet

Read more...

CAN WE SAY *OOPSIE DAISIES* ONE MORE TIME? A REAL BIG BOO-BOO AND A FREEBIE!

Hi y'all!

Thank you EVER so kindly for your steadfast patience and sweet messages since my last post. You warm my heart and I am SO thankful for you! The past TWO weeks have been BUSY, BUSY, BUSY! Did I say BUSY??? ROFL! I've had no computer time, but LOTS of PRECIOUS family time, which has been LONG overdue for THIS girl! Of course, I will have OODLES to share this week and then I need to hanker down and get 'er done for my upcoming Grand Opening at Digi Scrap Obsession! WOOT!

Okay, down to business. SO, what do my kit, *OOPSIE DAISIES* and a REAL "big" boo-boo have in common ... OH, and the "miracle" I was eluding to two weeks ago??? The following photos will tell the majority of the story, however, I shall give you a bit of an intro, HA!

Wednesday, July 29, 2009 at 3:14 am, Robert answered the phone to hear my son, John, on the other end explaining to him that he'd just rolled Robert's Explorer on his way home from work. All I remember is hearing Robert ask, "Is it in the water John?" Y'all just KNOW that my heart sank. In the past couple of years, two semi-trucks have missed the turn just before the bridge and have gone through the railing and plummeted into the deepest part of the lake below. *sigh* John told Robert that he had gotten beyond the bridge, past the resort and just shy of Poker Flat, which is where the boys and I lived when Robert and I first met.

Just beyond the resort is a semi-steep hill and a curve. It was just after reaching the top of that hill that John fell asleep. All he remembers is awakening and finding his body unable to react to the direction the Explorer was taking and he told me that he just "went with it"! I am sure many of you know that feeling when your body is unable to respond to what you are thinking it SHOULD do when you are tired! Bless his heart. In retrospect, his "going with it" and the fact that his body was totally relaxed from being asleep, plus his wearing his seat belt kept him from sustaining serious injuries or worse. Not to mention that it simply was NOT his time! Oh, and on the opposite side of the accident scene is a cliff with the lake below. John did mention to me in a one-on-one conversation that he DID believe for a moment that he was going to die. Knowing that alone, as a mother especially, pulls BIG time at your heart strings as you try to EVEN imagine what your child was feeling at that VERY moment of helplessness. I, personally, have NEVER been in that position. I have feared for my life at the hands of another, however, I have NEVER been in the face of death.

John works at the same place as Robert. While saving his money for a car of his own, Robert has generously been allowing John to drive his pride 'n joy to work. Robert works days, comes home and off goes John, who works swing. John had fallen asleep and veered off of the highway ten minutes or less from home.

Our two-lane highways are dark and desolate in the wee hours of the morning. We have to cross a bridge over our BEAUTIFUL Lake Tulloch before reaching the final stretch of highway home and that is where Robert had thought John rolled the Explorer. Mind you, you just KNOW that John was already traumatized, let alone having to call and tell Robert that he's totaled his (Robert's) ONLY source of transportation to work! I can breathe a little now as I type, but at the moment, I was holding my breath as Luke came to pick Robert up and then drove to scene to see just how much damage was done. I was IMMEDIATELY relieved and EVER thankful that my son was alive and had literally walked away from the vehicle without a scratch. Well, I do have a photo of some red marks on his forearm, but those quickly disappeared.

Thankfully, he WAS wearing his seat belt. God knows I've drilled that
into my kiddos forever! Even with the seat belt on, his head hit the top
of the Explorer and he was jostled around a bit. John had NO idea what
was happening to him, but was ready for whatever was to come and just
went with it. My daughter, Joan brought up an interesting point when
she compared John's being "asleep" to that of a "drunk" driver. We all
know that the reason they usually survive is that their body is TOTALLY
relaxed and they don't normally tense up. Neither did John.

John was slammed sideways into the side of a hill, thus the broken back window
and pushing upwards of the top of the Explorer. There was a large gully directly
behind him, which would have REALLY caused him some injuries or worse had
he been pushed backwards and down into it. The rear left tire (engine still running
and tires rotating), spun creating a rut deep enough to keep the vehicle from
traveling any further. Miraculous!

Two of the tires were flattened and the rear axle was broken. We are also in our
VERY dry season and, thankfully, the muffler did not start a fire. PHEW!

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

This is where I left off the Friday evening when I was called away from the computer to deal with a family matter. We then left for the weekend to attend the "80's" bash, returned yesterday to rest up a bit before Robert had to leave to go to work for a couple of hours. I received a call from him asking if I'd heard that John had totaled his twin brother, Luke's car. WHAT? Still in the midst of full-body pain from the fibro flare-up, I gently told Robert that I could NOT hear this now. How could my son have yet ANOTHER serious accident within the span of two weeks and walk away from it? It was NOT his time!!! Thank you Daddy!

I will tell y'all straight up that having homeschooled my six children for six years gave me the BEST education of a lifetime, IMHO! I learned SOOOOO much about learning styles, teaching styles, personality types, etc. Because of this and the therapy my boys and I went through to deal with PTSD (post-traumatic stress disorder) shortly after my divorce, I have learned OODLES and can actually sit down and talk to my son, knowing what will cause him to shut me out, and get down to what's going on. I am not saying that I am successful EVERY time as sometimes my own emotions get the best of me, but I am learning MORE and MORE each time I am faced with something serious that needs resolution.

John was diagnosed ADHD and I came to the conclusion that after he was released from his IEP in high school, when they told us he no longer needed their services because his test scores were too high, that his trouble is, for the most part, emotionally based. The panel of teachers and administrators were in agreement with that as well. Enter in PTSD.

I have come to find that the more people harp on him, telling him what he NEEDS to do and WHEN, he gets overwhelmed and even when trying to focus on clearing his mind, the thoughts all creep in and he stresses - SILENTLY and consumed with what others are expecting of him. He told me that he KNOWS what he needs to do, but needs to slow down and he can only do so much at a time.

I am trying with all of my might at this point to be the go-between and to help shield him from a bit of unnecessary flack after the fact that he has LITERALLY been in the face of death twice. How can anyone TRULY understand what goes on in the soul of another human being if they've not even come close to such an experience? You cannot.

As I am HORRIBLY behind and really wish to spend this week preparing a few kits for my NEW store at DSO (I REALLY need to make a little money now that we've had to take on a car payment with the loss of the totaled Explorer and the fact that Robert will have to double his mileage in taking John to work as soon as he gets home from his day at work and then get up at 2:30 am so that we can pick him up at 3:00 am), I shall continue this another post and share with you the thoughts that went through my son's mind as he thought he was going to die in each accident - MORE so the second time around. (I have not seen the car and John did not wish for me to. As he explained, "it's toast, it's done" I am hoping for some photos from Luke though, since it is his car. He is VERY upset right now after driving up to see it earlier this evening.) I am now hoping and praying that there NOT be a another incident. While I GREATLY believe in an appointed time for death ... I am NOT privy to that date, so I can ONLY hope and pray that I NOT have to see it come to pass in my lifetime.

I have SO learned to live in the moment, for I know not when my last breath may come, nor that of a loved one. I have found that in the course of a phone conversation with one of my children, I will say "I love you" multiple times. And again, the song drifts through my mind, "there is NO time for fussing and fighting my friends ..."

So here you have it - the good, the bad AND the ugly! LOL! I needed to laugh right about now!

Please find below a "scrapatit" from my layout "Oopsie Daisies" and I hope to have some more goodies for you soon as well as photos from my daughter and SIL's visit weekend before last and from the BIG "80's" bash this past weekend.

Gosh I've missed y'all! To those who have sent me e-mails over the course of the past 2-1/2 weeks, I shall try my hardest to reply to them sometime this week. My heartfelt THANK YOU to those who have left me LOVE during my MIA status. You sincerely ROCK! MWAH!

LOTS of LOVE and BIG squishy hugs,
Linda :-D

CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD SCRAPATIT

Tweet

Read more...

CHECKING IN AND MY APOLOGY ...

My apologies for the delay, but LIFE has gotten in the way (a quote from my uncle Greg!) and I am not quite finished with my post and goody for y'all and if you know me well, you just KNOW that I won't rush it or do it half way!

We have to leave the house in and hour and a half to attend a BIG family bash two hours away that will have us celebrating three cousins who have and will be turning 30 this year! Robert's oldest son and namesake kicked it off in January! We have a niece turning 30 this month, two next month and then my daughter, Joan, who was JUST here last weekend, in October!

I was about two-thirds of the way through my story of what was the beginning of my two weeks away from our beloved SCRAPLAND and will finish up tomorrow morning as we won't be home until midnight or so.

Thank you, thank you, thank YOU to EVERYONE for your concern about my family. Everyone is OKAY and I will DEFINITELY fill you in on the GOOD, the BAD and EVEN the UGLY! ROFL!

I was hoping to have posted last Sunday, however, I was in a FULL-BLOWN fibro flare-up from overdoing it in preparation for my daughter and SIL's visit. I was a GOOD girl and rested up the past week, SLOWLY moving my way back to SCRAPLAND and y'all! Yesterday was my first FULL day back at the computer and I ALMOST had my post ready until another LOVELY distraction came along early evening and had me away from my chair for several hours! LOL! All things for a purpose! He, he ...

Have a GLORIOUS weekend y'all! MWAH!

Love you to pieces and missing you something fierce,
Linda :-D

Tweet

Read more...

CHECKING IN!

I will catch y'all up on Sunday as to what has been happening in MY neck of the woods! We had a miracle a week ago and my second daughter, Joan, who was married a year ago on the 11th, is due to arrive within the hour with her SWEET new hubby, Travis. Can we say LATE NIGHT, lots of laughs and MAJOR photo ops??? Uh, huh ... you KNOW it!

I've been missing YOU!!! MWAH!

Wishing each and EVERY one of you a MOST wonderful weekend and I'll catch ya on the flip side! *wink*

Much love,
Linda :-D

Tweet

Read more...

WOOOOOO ... WOOOOOOOO ... AUGUST MEGA BLOG TRAIN HAS NOW DEPARTED ...

although, I am not QUITE sure where it is at the moment!!!

Hi EVERYONE!!! I've been quiet the past several days due to an unexpected event, which I shall share with you, hopefully later tonight or tomorrow! Let's just say, my family has experienced something miraculous and I a zombie right now so need some sleep and then I will fill y'all in!

Somehow, my name was not added to the blog train listing in the forum over at DST, so I am just going to go ahead and post my preview and links for you, take a nap and then I will go back and see if they have posted to the mega blog train blog yet!

This month's Mega Blog Train theme is *BACK 2 SCHOOL*!!! How COOL is THAT!

Before I forget, THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU, for ALL of the loving that you left for me over at Brandy's site this past week! MWAH! I was like, WHOA! Y'all are SOOOOO awesome! I'm thinking MOST of you could not figure out the voting/rating systems Where you see the five yellow stars, you click on the number of stars you wish to give to the designer who is spot lighted. *smile*

My eyelids are trying to close and coffee is not helping any more, so without further ado, here is my contribution to *BACK 2 SCHOOL* and stay-tuned as I will have an add-on for you sometime next week! WOO HOO! Time to start scrapping those school photos, eh!!!

Have an INCREDIBLY wonderful weekend y'all!!!

Much love,
Linda :)

***UPDATE***

CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD BACKGROUND PAPERS

CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD EMBELLISHMENTS

Tweet

Read more...