CREATING, WORRYING, BRAGGING - BUT NOT NECESSARILY IN THAT ORDER

I AM creating! TRULY! The problem IS, I can't show you all what I've been making prior to today because most of it falls under the category of GIFTS. And until the gifts are received, they are ... SHHHHHH! ... a secret. However, I am (as soon as I finish posting THIS) planning on starting a new project. A DOLL! WHAT? Didn't I say I would probably never make another doll 'cause I'm just so lousy at it? Well, good thing I said, PROBABLY, huh? I think I was intimidated before because I KNOW I can't sew, and I was very much out of my league as a member of some doll groups whose ranks included many truly amazing doll makers. But I've had time - nearly 2 years, actually - to rethink things. I LOVE dolls. Making dolls was something I did even before I owned a computer or KNEW about doll clubs. But the thing is, back then I made my OWN crazy idea of dolls. And (perhaps delusionally) I was PLEASED with them! Once I became aware of techniques, patterns, real doll supplies, and - yes - EGOS - I shied away. I felt that my creations were the 'poor relatives' to those of the 'REAL' doll makers. I don't feel that way anymore. Maybe I've grown as a person. Or maybe I'm just crazier than I WAS. LOL! Either way, I plan to TRY patterns again (as you can see) but I also intend to do my own thing. Stay tuned for show & tell as I finish whatever I decide to mess up - er - make first. Now, what do you s'pose I'll use THIS for?

Ooooooh! Has Kai gone GOTH?
Fabric for my prims-to-come.

Nude dudes (and gals) the King of Siam) and some prims!

On a different note: Woooohoooo! Here's my granddaughter Megan (dark hair) after her graduation ceremony! In the Fall she will be off to nursing school! This is the bragging portion of my post!

Stupid Blogger! GRRRRR! I have uploaded these five photos FOUR TIMES the way I wanted them to appear. And did they EVER come out in the correct order? Noooooo! But, anyway, this is the WORRY part of the post. My grandson is acclimating himself to Iraq. The FIRST photo should have been the LAST one. It's Jacob, looking soldierly.

Here he is on the plane to Kuwait. He had NO idea what he was in for as he rode in air conditioned comfort.

This is their 'fast food' area. LOL! HEY! Where's the McDonald's around here?

It was 110 degrees at 2 A.M. when they arrived. EEEEKS! Houston has been at 102-104 in the hottest part of the afternoon this past week, but 110 at 2 A.M.????

And here is their home away from home. One VERY big tent complete with their own pets: SAND FLEAS!

Well, you can't say I didn't cram a lot into THIS post, can you? Come back soon, if you dare. I have a feeling I'll be in a Blogging state of mind this week!

DOIN' MY LIL' HAPPY DANCE!

It's been a rough old week! But today a person I've never met did me a genuine kindness, & I can smile easily again. I told you all yesterday that my computer appeared on the verge of crashing. It's a long story, but it turns out that the virus was in the WARNING ITSELF. Yep. I had a HUGE pop-up in the middle of my screen and a slightly smaller one in the lower right hand corner. Both said they had detected at least 34 viruses and that I was in danger of having all sorts of things happen. Now, I am not a stupid person, but I have been online only 5 years now so I'm certainly not a technician. I DO have McAfee & I thought that was who sent the alert. The pop-up said I needed antivirus IMMEDIATELY and asked that I buy it and pay via my checking account. Uh ... as I said ... I'm not dumb. Even if I WERE, I don't HAVE a checking account NOR do I 'DO' credit as many of you know. It's cash, money orders, or - if I'm owed $$ - a check from my housemate. I just wasn't thinking clearly last night & I was upset. Then I checked in with McAfee who said I was FINE. HUH? So I didn't know WHAT to think. The worst thing was that I could click those 2 pop-ups OFF, but within 30 seconds they were back. And WHEN they were back, they froze everything. This morning, after a TOTALLY sleepless night, I called a local computer repair place, thinking I'd for SURE have a huge bill or possibly even need to replace my computer. Now mind you, the man who answered could easily have told me to bring in my computer & charged me two arms & a leg. But he simply asked me to describe the problem. As soon as I began, he said, "You have a virus." I said, "I KNOW. Thirty-FOUR of them, apparently!" "No, that pop-up IS the virus. But I can help you get rid of it." And he told me to go to a website, click on, and then explained in detail (because I wanted to be SURE I did it correctly) what to do and HOW to do it. He told me once I did THAT, to reboot & re-run a full scan from McAfee. It took FOREVER. BUT IT WORKED. No more virus, & my computer is actually running so much faster! The reason I'm going into such detail is this: that man could have cheated me. I wouldn't have known. But he didn't. He gave me a FREE way to help myself. Believe me, if ever I DO need computer repair, his will be the first place I'll call! I called him back to thank him & tell him I think he's a hero because to me, anytime a person does right even if they won't get caught if they DON'T, that is a heroic thing! Kai is a happy camper right now! And I can still BUG all of YOU via this blog! Bwahahahahaha ...!

ARRRRRGGGHHH!

THIS IS TO LET YOU ALL KNOW MY COMPUTER APPEARS READY TO CRASH. THIRTY-FOUR VIRUS THREATS DETECTED. GOING TO BUY MORE ANTIVIRUS BUT MAY HAVE TO REPLACE THE COMPUTER. SO IF YOU DON'T HEAR FROM ME FOR AWHILE, THAT'S WHY. THIS SEEMED THE EASIEST WAY TO LET EVERYONE KNOW! AND I LEFT THIS ALL IN UPPER CASE SO YOU'D READ IT. LOL! BACK TO BLOGGING AND EMAILING ASAP!

WHERE ARE YOU GOING, MY LITTLE ONE, LITTLE ONE?

Remember that song from Fiddler on the Roof? I've really had it on my mind this week. My grandson, Jake has been deployed to Iraq. I know it sounds trite - every grandparent says it, I'm sure - but truly, if I could have gone into a room FILLED with potential grandsons, I would have CHOSEN Jake. Not only do I love him, I LIKE him! At any rate, like all the parents, grandparents, children, spouses, friends of those in the service, I am keeping Jacob Joseph tucked snugly in my thoughts & secure in the knowledge that he will return unharmed and SOON.

The photos are of my youngest granddaughter Jessie at age 12 & as a toddler, my military boy, Jake & his sis Megan together about 4 years ago, and Megan's latest photo. Where does it GO, time? Wasn't it yesterday that Jake was climbing on my lap with his storybooks, telling me he wanted me to read him something in my 'grandma voice', building a million things with Legos, making me laugh when, at the cafeteria, he asked if he could have some 'little trees' (raw broccoli.) And didn't I JUST send Megan pink & purple EVERYTHING because that was 'her' color combo choice, sing with her into pretend microphones, watch in amazement as she EARNED her self-proclaimed title of THE HUMAN GARBAGE DISPOSAL by eating a half dozen scrambled eggs, a bowl of cereal, toast, milk (and never gaining an ounce?)

Thank goodness Jessica, the youngest, is still 15. But she, too is growing up faster than I would wish. Perhaps faster by FAR than her siblings. Yet I can take comfort in hearing her voice on the phone. She still sounds like what I used to call her when she was very young - Little Cindy Lou Who.

I know this is considered my 'creative' blog. But I am feeling nostalgic today & I hope I'll be excused this one time for just allowing my inner grandma to take over the post.

LAST CALL FOR THE SUMMERTIME SWAP SIGN-UP!

HEAR YE, HEAR YE! All persons interested in participating in Kai's SUMMERTIME SWAP should send me an email at kola54@sbcglobal.net by 6 P.M. this evening, Friday the 12th of June. Bloggers failing to sign up will be shot at dawn. BWAHAHAHAHA! Sorry - got carried away, huh? Heehee! Actually you will miss out on a fun and easy swap! How's that? Better?

Again, for the swap particulars, see my original post with the rules (a couple of posts down.) I will pair each player with a partner TONIGHT after 10, however you will not KNOW who your partner is until the 16th of July. WHY? Because I want everyone to pretend your swap partner is your BEST, BEST FRIEND & prepare your swap package accordingly! PLEASE, send me your mailing address, swappers, IF you think I may not have it. I DO have everyone's at this point. After you receive your partner's name on the 16th, you may mail your swap then, or anytime that will guarantee they receive it by July 31st. Do not - I repeat - do NOT worry about spending lots of bucks on this swap. This is a laid-back, easy-peasy one. And thank you to all who have ALREADY signed up & to any others who may today!

LET'S HAVE SOME SWAPPING FUN!

HONESTY IS THE BEST POLICY...UH...MAYBE???

My friend, Em Franz, at http://www.blitheandblonde.com/ challenged me to list 7 honest things about myself. Being pretty much an open book, I doubt there's too much you don't already KNOW about me, but I'll take the challenge. And I'm going to genuinely TRY to list 7 things I haven't told any of you to this point. (Don't get TOO excited. I'm as BORING as dirt, so that DOESN'T mean the 7 facts will be tantalizing - just NEW to you. LOL!) Anyway, here goes:

1. I'm INTENSELY private & pretty much a loner! Does that surprise you? True, there are people with whom I share everything, but those people are FEW! And I think one reason I consider myself a loner is because I have a very hard time being at ease with people. Once I am, however, LOOK OUT! I'm THE silliest critter you'll ever meet. (Ask my Jan!) As a rule though, I don't do a lot of socializing, I HATE talking on the phone, and I often border on appearing anti-social.

2. Hmmm ... I am almost reluctant to tell you all this because so many of you, knowing I edit for a living, have expressed concern that I scrutinize and/or desire to edit your emails to me. I DON'T! I ADORE & CHERISH your emails! However, in every OTHER aspect of my daily life, I admit to noticing grammar, spelling, and syntax errors EVERYWHERE. It's a hazard of the profession. I'm constantly correcting people who are on tv. LOL! Do THEY care? I seriously doubt it.

3. I am TERRIFIED of lizards, salamanders, or anything in that family. Spiders are my friends (I never harm them) and snakes don't bother me a bit. But if ever a lizard were to get on me, I'd become hysterical. (And YES, there's a reason. But that's TOO much honesty so I'm not going there.)

4. I giggle. I don't laugh hysterically, titter, chortle, or otherwise. I just plain old GIGGLE.

5. The older I get (I'm just shy of 59) the more comfy I am in my body. I LIKE my natural-yet-boring hair color, I ACCEPT my plus-sized figure. I wear shoes and bras as LITTLE as possible. (I HEARD you asking and, YES! Of COURSE I wear BOTH when I leave the house!) And I no longer agonize over the fact that I'm never going to be anything other than plain. I like me the way I am.

6. My biggest weaknesses where 'naughty' foods are concerned are Swiss cheese, cream cheese, whipped cream (I HAVE to stay FAR away from that) bread pudding, and jelly bellies, most especially the cappuccino, mocha, hot cinnamon, and creamsicle flavors. OMG - I could eat my WEIGHT in those.

7. The only things that INFURIATE me are prejudice, child abuse in any form, anyone disrespecting my need for space, and having anyone hurt a person I love.

Okie dokie! There it is. A tiny overview of this crazy Comanche. And in keeping with the way this works, though I will not tag ANYONE in particular, I will invite any who'd LIKE to do this to DO it! You must put the picture (above) on YOUR blog, and cite me as the challenger if you do it. Anybody up for it?

I'M SO EXCITED! AND I JUST CAN'T HIDE IT! I'M ABOUT TO LOSE CONTROL AND I THINK I LIKE IT!

WOW! I am getting an AWESOME response to my previous post concerning the Summertime Swap! So far, I am very familar with ALL the lovely people who've signed up! And they are all GREAT swappers! So come one, come all! We still have plenty of room for YOU! Yes, YOU! Another week till the sign-up deadline, and I don't want you left out! So, whatcha' waitin' on? (You KNOW you want to! Heehee!) To those who ARE signing up, don't forget to save my swap picture to the right of my blog & link it to yours.

On a different note, this swap has inspired the daylights out of me because a kazillion (yeah, I KNOW it's not an actual number, but I like it) ideas are stampeding through my round head! I am LITERALLY surrounded tonight by all SORTS of fabric, doodads, epherma, etc. And today I went to - drumroll, please - Hobby Lobby! Yessssssss! I BOUGHT stuff, too! Way too MUCH stuff! See? I'm back in the creative groove. Now, if you will 'scuse me, I feel the need to play with felt and glue and paint and beads and, and, and ...