a very Merry Christmas and a New Year filled with love and laughter, health and happiness, joy and peace.

I leave you with a few of my holiday faves courtesy of Youtube.

And this one is not the actual video but the thoughts behind how Josh Groban came up with his thoughts for I’ll Be Home for Christmas….every time I hear this version, I stop and think and then say a prayer for all the servicemen and women who can’t be home for Christmas and offer a Thank you to their families.

Merry Christmas to all and to all a good night.

My poor neglected blog…..and the handful of readers.  I guess I didn’t think that it would be so long before I updated again.  I guess the saying is true….the road to hell is paved with good intentions.  I can’t really say the past 3 months have been boring, but I just didn’t feel that anyone would want to read about it.  Then life and Facebook just took over.  But instead of a long list of excuses I’ll just get on with it….

As many of you may remember, last time I was regularly posting I was facing layoff from my job.  Well fortunately in October I was able to find a job.  And fortunately I think it’s gonna be a good one.  I’m working in the credit card dispute department for a major bank.  Today is actually my last day of training and tomorrow I’ll be on the floor dealing with issues without my safety net.  Credit card disputes has been interesting to say the least.  Training was 10 weeks, with a lot of govt. regulations to learn.  There has been one reoccurring issue that comes up about every third call and I want to take a minute to do a PSA.  Please don’t (or be very careful) order any “free trials” from a company on the net.  Teeth whitening and Acia berry seem to be the most prevalent.  What these companies do is lure you in with a free trial that you only pay shipping for.  If you don’t cancel and return within a time frame (some being as short as 10 days) then they auto bill you and auto ship you.  In addition, they have “affiliate” companies they give your info to and you end up getting signed up for several products and it’s almost impossible to get ahold of these companies to cancel and return.  It’s the biggest scam in the credit card world.  Of course, without these companies, I likely wouldn’t have a job.  But for your peace of mind and credit card balance….just don’t do it.  Ok PSA over.

Since I’ve quit designing, I’ve had a lot of time to scrap.  Well until last week when I killed my laptop.  I’ve really enjoyed it, but have just been spending like crazy.  My newest addiction is Irene Alexeeva.  I think I own at least half of her store.  I’ve done a few books and 3 different calendars for Christmas gifts this year.  And they’re all on the laptop, so I don’t have any thing to really show you.  I kinda miss designing, but not the pressure of having to come up with new ideas.  Kristine had a terrific idea of a store blog train freebie.  It was fun and fortunately I didn’t procrastinate like I normally do.  After you scroll down and get my part, make sure you also stop by and check out Kristine’s blog for her part and also Cate’s got a goodie for you too.  I’m sure there are more so make sure to read through both blogs for additional info.

Here’s a few papers and some elements for you all in fun colors for the season.  I hope you enjoy them.  It was fun to do a little something for you and I hope I can do this again soon (well as soon as my laptop gets fixed or replaced).  Please do not share or link directly to the link, just send your friends here to download.  Oh yeah, the download link. lol

A gift for you…………… and don’t forget the goodies at Kristine and Cate’s blogs too.

Let’s see, everything else in life is good.  My dogs are as rambunctious as ever.  We took Jazi to the groomers on Monday to get her shaved down.  I still don’t think she’s forgiven me.  She squatted in the computer room Monday night to show her displeasure.  She was gone for about 4 hours and poor Carmen was so lost without her.  They’re both buggin out at my feet since I haven’t spent any time snuggling with them this morning.  Shannon’s laid off for the winter, which is kinda nice for me.  I come home from work and dinner’s usually about ready.  He’s starting to get cabin fever though.  The girls are growing like weeds.  I was in Detroit at the beginning of the month for Lily’s first birthday party.  I can’t believe she’s 1.  It was just yesterday I was speeding up there to see her for the first time.  Josh is being a typical teenager.  He knows everything.  Due to my work schedule, it’ll be a quick trip up there for Christmas.  But at least I’ll be there for Christmas morning this year.  So I’m counting my many blessings this year.  I hope that you too are able to count your many blessings in life.  And I wish for you a very Merry Christmas and a New Year filled with love and laughter, health and happiness, and joy and peace.  Until next time…………