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I'm an accountant by day and crafter at night. I love a decorating challenge, floral arrangements are probably my favorite part when decorating a wedding/party. I'm an independent Longaberger consultant and avid collector (check out my Longaberger website).


My favorite hobby is scrapbooking! Of course scrapping got me into photography, digital photography to be exact. I quickly discovered that I LOVE taking pictures! I just got the Nikon D300....words don't measure up to this camera - well worth the $$. I crochet while I watch tv and mess around on the computer whenever I get a few moments.
If you need to contact me pfphotography@gmail.com

Saturday, March 28, 2009

Bean Counter

Since it's an ugly-rainy-breezy-cool Saturday, being stuck at work for 12 hours is a 'little' more bearable. We do a full physical inventory count once a quarter at our plant which is just under 100,000 square feet with 30,000 square feet of dedicated warehouse space (racks stacked 3 high)....this adds up to lots of inventory to count. I get the fun job of reconciling every last item counted and making all of the individual adjustments (between 600 & 1000 transactions manually entered and I wonder why my wrists bother me??). I just love these weekends, then again I'm the one who decided to become an accountant - guess 'bean counting' is technically part of my job :)

Friday, March 27, 2009

Holy Cow

Where has the time gone.....I haven't been able to get on blogger all week (too busy doing other things) and when I logged in a minute ago I have 598 posts in google reader to go through! Too bad we have inventory at work tomorrow, it'll take me an entire day to catch up on all the old posts.

Happy Birthday Tamar! Trust me 35 isn't that bad, 40 on the other hand - not looking forward to at all. But I guess it does beat the alternative.....
Congrats to Tammy and Mike who welcomed their son yesterday, Kyan James.

I'm starting to book up April thru October so if you need me to do something for you better let me know soon. I do still have some weekends open for pictures!

Wednesday, March 18, 2009

Cool Breeze

While I do love that it's warmed up some outside thus enabling me to again take outdoor pictures, tonight there's a cool breeze that recently started coming in my bedroom windows and rain showers moving into the area - those who know me know that I'm totally LOVING this evening. That being said, I'm outta here!

Tuesday, March 17, 2009

Proud to be IRISH

May the road rise to meet you
May the wind be always at your back
The sun shine warm upon your face
The rains fall soft upon your fields
And until we meet again,
May God hold you in the hollow of his hand.
For each petal on the shamrock
This brings a wish your way-
Good health, good luck, and happiness
For today and every day.

Friday, March 13, 2009

Three Options

I just looked at the clock on my desk and 'The Mouse' (Mickey that is) says it's 7:24.
One of three things is true.....

1.time is moving really, really slow since this is about what time I arrived at work today

2.time flew by and it's past time for me to leave

3.batteries are dead!

New Recipe

I was surfing blogland the other day and ran across The Pioneer Woman and instantly fell in love with her blog. You should really check it out. She's a photographer/home school teacher of four married to a rancher, aka "The Marlboro Man". In addition to photography and home schooling her children she loves to cook and has step-by-step directions on how to prepare the recipes she has listed - great site, check it out.


I printed out one of her recipes and fixed it last night - LOVED IT! It's an Asian Noodle Salad and you can view her step-by-step directions and print the recipe HERE. It tastes 20 times better than this picture represents.

The recipe makes a really, really large amount but I ate two plates full last night so I think the quantity is a little deceiving. I didn't mix it all together in one bowl either (I knew it wouldn't be eaten all at once since I was the only one eating last night!) - I put the vege's in one bowl, the noodles by themselves with a little oil and the dressing in a separate container. I also left the cilantro separate as I've been told that cilantro will cause food in the fridge to spoil quicker. Not sure why but I've heard it more than once from different people.

Anyway, the salad is made with cooked linguine, baby spinach, purple cabbage, bell peppers (I use red), scallions, cucumbers and lots of cilantro. The dressing is soy sauce, olive oil, sesame oil, brown sugar, garlic and fresh ginger. Hot peppers are optional!

It was delicious, like I said I ate two plates full! I wish I'd brought some for my lunch but I know I'll be having it for supper tonight.

Thursday, March 12, 2009

FB

I'm finally on facebook! I always thought it was like myspace (which I don't like much and rarely log into) and therefore never joined. Boy was I wrong! In 24 hours I was able to talk to a ton of people I haven't seen in years. If you haven't signed up yet, just do it - trust me.

I went in for a trim yesterday and ended up having Tiffany cut several inches off my hair. I love it!! I may even take a picture of myself, or maybe not - but I do love the cut.

In other news....
1. Working on several wedding quotes, not at this exact moment since I'm at my ft job as I type. The only problem with working on quotes is that I don't want to wait months and months to decorate. I start researching and finding ideas/pictures and I want to make it happen - right now.
2. Have a meeting with a new bride tomorrow (black/white wedding with yellow accent - great color choices)!
3. Traveling with my Aunt to my cousin's house this weekend to do pregnancy/family pictures. Be sure to check out the photography blog early next week.
4. So ready for it to warm up just a tad bit so I can start doing outside pictures again - several seniors waiting for warm weather.
5. Dad's doing better but still has weeks upon weeks of recovery/therapy ahead.
6. Track starts Monday (Johnathon) - I'm soooo thrilled, I mean we had like one whole week of no sports!
7. Still working on the 1000+ basketball pictures, I'm about 1/2 the way done.

.....and that's about all I have to report at the moment.

Monday, March 9, 2009

HUGE one day SALE

Just in time for Spring cleaning....
Wednesday, March 11th only
Longaberger is offering the Small Rectangle Storage Basket for only $49, this is a savings of $33! These will only be available this Wednesday and only on my Longaberger WEBSITE.
Complete your basket with the fabric liner, plastic protector, woodcraft lid or fabric bin dividers to organize accessories your way.

Fabric bin divider options:
4 Small
2 Small and 1 Medium
2 Medium
1 Large

Basket Measurements 14 3/4"l x 9 7/8"w x 7 3/8"h

One of those days

I need to post the period 13 adjustments I received from our auditor in the mail and close 2008. Which isn't a big deal until I have to correct all of the spreadsheets to reflect the new numbers, which is just a little time consuming. Oh, I have to do this for 3 of the 4 companies (4th won't be done for a while). Not difficult or mind boggling - just don't feel like doing it.

I need to get going on the February financials and sales reports. I do this monthly, not a big deal - just don't feel like doing it.

I really, really, really need to clean my fish tank in my office here at work. I feel sorry for my fish so I'll probably do this task even though I don't feel like carrying all of that water.

I need to re-pot my plants in my office. I get NO sunlight in my office so a few of my plants have decreased in size. About once a year I just add a few new starts to the pot to make it 'appear' that my plants are growing.

I need to clean my office, more specifically I need to FILE papers away. I also need to carry all of the 2006 files downstairs to make room for 2009, make binder covers for 2009, shred a huge stack of paperwork and organize my closet.

I wore jeans, CPI logo tee-shirt and flip flops to work today to do some of the messy jobs on my "I need to..." list and now that I'm at work I don't feel like doing any of them. I getting a headache which has been occurring for a couple of weeks now once I get to work. I've noticed that I'm squinting a lot too. Not sure if the headaches are causing the vision problems or the vision problems are causing the headaches. Too much to think about, I think I'll head to Walmart and get bottled water so I can clean my fish tank.....no thought involved in that task. Just a little heavy lifting.

Saturday, March 7, 2009

Spring

Let me start by saying, it's a B-E-A-U-T-I-F-U-L morning here in SoIL. While I'm hot natured and quite comfortable with the temp in late fall/winter, I do love a cool spring morning and this morning is just about perfect. I slept last night with both of my bedroom windows wide open with a lovely cool breeze coming in.

I'm on my second cup of coffee, the first I drank on the back porch watching the day 'wake up'. I really need to win the lottery or find a rich husband, I could get use to lazy mornings started at my own pace - I don't get many of those. I'm an early riser no matter what the day holds, but not having to get ready to do something the minute I get out of bed is wonderful.

My second cup brought me into my computer. I plan to be at this computer most of the day getting the 1000+ basketball pictures edited and copied to cd's so I can share them with Johnathon's teammates and/or their parents. So if you read this today send a shout out, I'll be here!

Friday, March 6, 2009

Twice in ONE WEEK!

We learned something new tonight. Dad took a pain pill this morning, home health care nurse and the physical therapist came to visit early afternoon. After the therapy he was a little tired/sore so he laid down for a nap. When he got up from the nap (supper time - I was home) he was in a cold sweat and said he legs felt like they were on fire. He was freezing one minute and roasting the next. Mom called the doctor, left a message and waited for them to call back. In the meantime, I called 9-1-1 (we decided we couldn't wait any longer for the doc to get back with us). As I called for an ambulance, dad start throwing up and got REAL short on breath. We figured he was having an allergic reaction, the EMT's were more than a little worried when they got here - it was that obvious.

1. We know he's allergic to codeine and morphine.
His medical charts state his allergy to these to drugs, this isn't something new - we already know this fact.

2. Immediately after the surgery he was having trouble breathing and asked to nurse what the pain killer drip was......it was morphine. He told them he was allergic and they switched it, problem solved.

3. When he was discharged from the hospital, the doc wrote a scrip for Oxy-Cotton (not sure how to spell it). We get it filled and this is the pain killer that he took this morning.

At the ER tonight we found out that Oxy-Cotton is the man-made version of MORPHINE! The second pain killer they gave him is a derivative of CODEINE, they wrote his pain killer script for not ONE but TWO medicines he's ALLERGIC to. When the ambulance arrived tonight he was going into anaphylactic shock. So twice in one week, the Sesser first responders and ambulance have been at our house - enough already!

The Benton ER was able to reverse the effects of the morphine and after a few tests, several IV bags of different fluids, and 4 hours in the ER things are thankfully back to normal. We learned that any pain killers they offer dad we need to ask if they're related in any way, shape or form to the two he can't take. We can't assume that they'll put two and two together and not give him what he's allergic to.

Unfortunately I didn't make it to SV trivia tonight, which I'm sure is the reason my team didn't win! I mean I answer soooo many of those questions. I really wonder why people know the answers to some of those questions - really why in the world do people know that useless, trivial stuff? Since I also didn't go to the social after trivia, I now have a lot of hot wings to eat myself!! Which reminds me.....I haven't eaten since lunch today and it's almost midnight now. I'm off to find a snack and get to bed, needless to say it's been one long day.

Home from Hospital

Quick Update before I run back out the door......

They released dad early last night from the hospital and he had his first round of in-home therapy today. The doctor and nurses were amazed at how well he was doing. They all said they don't send patients home in 3 days with a bi-lateral knee replacement.

He may have a different view on "how well he's doing" after the in-home therapists came today. I guess they really worked him over. But in all things did/are going well with the surgery.

I'm about to head out the door for a very competitive trivia night at the SV High School (fund raiser for girls b'ball) - wish me luck! After trivia our team is going to 'celebrate' our win at one of the team members house with cocktails & fingerfoods so don't call me until around noon tomorrow.

Monday, March 2, 2009

Doctors.....

Brittany went to see the orthopedic surgeon today and they were told that she didn't damage the ACLU. She'll have to wear a brace for a couple of weeks and then undergo some physical therapy but should make a full recovery. Dad's doctor told mom that a dislocated knee is not an uncommon injury in young girls....something to do with the way they walk and the knees having an inward bow to them.

They finally took dad into surgery around 1pm today. The doc came out around 4:30 and told us that everything went as planned. He said that there was identical damage in his two knees. The cartilage was missing on the inside of both knees and the bones were rubbing when he walked. Neither knee had arthritis or ACLU damage and the doc expects a good recovery. He'll be staying at Carbondale Memorial for a few days and then will start therapy at home.

Until he's back up and going, Johnathon and I have to tend to the outside animals (dogs, cats and the chickens)! I just looooove those chickens!

Sunday, March 1, 2009

Herrin Bridal Show

I decorated for a bridal show today. It wasn't one of my favorite color scheme's but I'd decorated a wedding in these colors the previous night and I didn't want to do 2 sets of flowers in one weekend. Everyone at the bridal show loved the colors. Arielle was again in the fashion show and of course the prettiest model in my opinion. The lighting in the theater where they had the fashion show wasn't the best for taking pictures and I didn't have my long lens with me.
















Basketball, Baseball & Ambulances

I was able to complete the decorating of the church and reception hall Friday which just left the fresh flower arrangements to do Saturday morning. My friend delivered those to the bride so that I could get to Johnathon's last basketball game of the season.

Sesser just didn't quite have their "A" game and lost to Carterville. Brittany (Johnathon's sister) came home with us to spend the night. She and Johnathon were in the living room playing Wii when we heard a loud scream. Brittany was "swinging the the bat" and twisted wrong, dislocating her knee.

We weren't able to move her without causing a lot of pain so we called 9-1-1. Not only did an ambulance show up but also the first responders with Sesser Fire & Rescue and a Sesser Policeman. In all there were 5 vehicles for one little girl with a knee cap on the side of her knee instead of in front.


The doc's in Herrin were able to pop the knee cap back into place (after sedating Brit) and she has to see a orthopedic surgeon tomorrow morning. Hopefully he'll not see any damage to the ACLU and she'll just have to hobble on crutches for a few weeks.