WELCOME TO OUR NEWEST "CHILD"!!

This is Dixie. She was, in my opinion, abused by being kept in a cage 23 hours a day!! She is 10 months old and a beautiful pure bred Afghan. I tried to find a home for her but was unable to do so. So what choice did I have but to keep her!!!???

With Dixie I now have NINE dogs!! UGGHHH!!! Oh well, I still think I like dogs more than most people!! LOL!! She is a handful though - a REAL handful.

BELATED MERRY CHRISTMAS EVERYONE!!!

I hope the New Year will be one of health and progress for everyone! I can't believe the year is over!! Lord tims is going by so fast!

Anyway, in a previous post I had told you about a project I wanted to do for my dad. He gave me all the letters he had received from his parent since 1965 when we left Cuba until they died.

I knew how hard it was for him to give them up but he says he is afraid that if something happens to him they will be tossed and he just can't stand that idea. He knows I will always treasure them.

I bought a large (16x20) shadow box and decorated it with vintage paper and dried roses. I then make color copies of the letters and tore off the most touching parts of the letters. I added pictures of my grandparents (who I never met) and wrote a note to my dad that said:

"I can't even start to imagine the pain you felt in leaving your family behind to give us a better life. I hope the pride you feel in your children somehow compensates for the hurt suffered by you and your parents. Always know that I am forever grateful for your sacrifice and love and respect you more than you know."

I expected him to get a little emotional (my dad is not the overly emotional type). What I did not expect was for him to break down sobbing. It killed me to see him sobbing like that but I am still very glad I did this for him.

PLEASE TAKE THE TIME TO SEE THIS VIDEO

This is the most amazing thing I have seen in a very long time. It made me cry when I saw it, not of sadness, but of awe at God's magic. In awe of His gift to this young man - the testimonials of strength. PLEASE take the time to view it and whenever you think you have it bad, whenever you are overwhelmed by economic stress, whenever you feel depressed..... Thank God for his love for you.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tv1gCa5Us7Q

(highlight the url and right click to be taken to this amazing video)

CHRISTMAS IS ALMOST HERE AND I'M TOTALLY UNPREPARED!!!

I look at the calendar and grimace.... December 16th!!! UGGHHH!! Mind you, I am never "early" for Christmas like some of my more OCD friends, but I have NEVER been this late!!! I had a trial scheduled for December 23rd (how awful is that?) but it was continued until January so at least I don't have that to worry about but how the HELL can it possibly be 9 days until Christmas????

I had SUCH good intentions!! Was going to do SO many things!!! But can I wrap good intentions and put a bow on it? NOT!! So here I am .... in a funk.... refusing to stress! I marvel at the fact that I have not bought ONE SINGLE PRESENT.... have not made ONE SINGLE decision on the menu for our Christmas Eve "Pachanga" (after all we ARE Cuban and Christmas Eve has to be an all out party!) which I am hosting as I have for the past 15 years! Think maybe hot dogs and hamburgers??? Don't think so! We MUST have a whole pig (head and all) which MUST be made in a pit (which takes 13 hours to cook - hey! it's 60 pounds of pork okay!?) There MUST be all the traditional foods and desserts.... Can anyone say CATERERS?

The only thing I AM going to do regardless of HOW and WHEN is a present for my Dad that I have had on my mind for months now. I was at my dad's house a few months ago (he had just had a stroke) and he was coming to grips with his mortality I guess and he gave me a whole BAG full of letters he had received from his father (his mother couldn't write) from 1965 when we left Cuba until he died in November of 1975. My dad has taken care of and protected these letters all these years and the importance of him giving them to me for safekeeping was not lost on me. I bought a 16x20 shadow box frame (it opens from left to right. I want to copy some of these letters (I SWEAR reading them makes me cry each time I pick them up) and collaging them in this frame with scattered pictures of my grandfather and my grandmother (who I never met). You have to read these letters to understand but I will translate a short snippet of one of these letters:

Mother's Day 1966

My son:

As I write you these lines, my heart is heavy with your mother's sadness.
Last night while we were laying in bed, she cried out to the God she has
so much faith in and asked him to open the skies so that she could see
your face. She cried and told me she doesn't understand a world where
she can't see or speak to her child.....

Just translating that puts a lump in my throat. What kind of love did my Father feel for us that he left his ENTIRE family behind to get us out of that condemned island? So you see.... I HAVE to find the time to make this for him.

NEW PID GIVE AWAY!

One of my very favorite groups (actually the very first ATC group I joined!) is having a give away to celebrate the owners' 4 year blog anniversary! The give away is for some wonderful new collage sheets scheduled to be released on January 1st. They are beautiful Valentine's images which I KNOW you will all love. It's easy to win too! All you have to do is visit Mel's blog (http://alterediva.blogspot.com) and leave her a comment as to which ATC posted there you like the most! (The one shown here is my favorite!).

While you're at it visit our group www.paperimagerydesigns@yahoo.com and the Paper Imagery store at PaperImagery.com!

NEED FOR CLARIFICATION!!!!! LOL!!!!

I have gotten a few comments on my blog about how great my Tim Holtz tags look!!! LADIES, THEY ARE NOT MADE BY ME!!!! LOL!!!! I copy them from Tim's Blog so everyone can see them when they come on my blog!!! I have not done ANY of them yet!!! THANK you for even THINKING I did them though!!! LOL!!!! I will post mine when I do them and I definitely will!!! ALL the ones on my blog right now are TIM'S tags!!!!

HUGS AND KISSES FOR YOUR FAITH!!! LOL!!!

TIM HOLTZ DAY 11 AND DAY 12!

I just couldn't find time to get on the computer yesterday so I saw these two tags today. Yesterday's tag, Day 11 is okay - not my favorite. But Day 12 is absolutely spectacular!!!