First, I'd like to say that the spam from dA is unbelievable. Lol!

It's been awhile since I've updated. Other than being busy making things & trying to sell them, I've been really busy in the house the last few weeks. In the past 2 yrs our guest room has turned into a junk room, so I finally got that room all cleaned out & looking like a guest room. Lol! There's even a bed in there now, holy cow! Ok, well, it's a queen sized air mattress, but that'll do. I also got our closet cleaned out, & Lucien's is next. I've been throwing a bunch of stuff away, or giving it to people. Our landlord's niece just had a baby, so she ended up with alot of Lucien's older stuff. His baby furniture, bassinet, clothes, toys, the works. Some of his toys will be going to Toys For Tots. Other stuff I've tossed has gone out in the trash or was given to guys Eric works with. I ended up with 2 sets of China, & gave one away to this great guy named Kenny that works with Eric. I did some graphics brochures for his company about 6 mo ago. He wanted the China for his wife. It wasn't a complete set, but my Dad gave it to us that someone had given to him. It was pretty, & just about a complete set, but my Granny gave my Papa Robert's China to us yrs ago, & I'd rather have his. It's also not complete, but I don't care. My Papa Robert was my fav person, & he died of cancer.

Eric's Dad John gave us a small TV for Lucien's room. I'm against him having a TV in his room, since he's only 3, but Eric liked the idea. Luc is still potty training, & I thought having a TV back there would hinder him letting me know he had to pee. And it has somewhat. He regressed a bit. I know that part is normal, they do that, but I can't help but wonder how far he'd be if he didn't have a TV. I put up a potty training chart now though, with stickers, & he seems to like that. Still trying to get him to want to poo in the toilet, & he was close again the other day, but no poo. He's still doing good writing his letters, & naming off colors, so I think after the holidays, I'll bump it up a notch & start low grade Math. Just to start getting addition in his head. We're hoping John will get us a King size mattress for Christmas. If he does, then we can finally put Luc in his own bed. For those who have forgotten, Luc was born with the stomach muscle under-developed, the flap that holds your food in, & he had nearly choked to death in his sleep at 8 mo. After fighting with that for over a yr, we just started putting him in bed with us. When he was 2, I tried to work him back into his bed, but he wouldn't sleep in it at all. At ALL! It was a "baby bed", a toddler bed, & was used to being in a queen sized, grown up bed. A guy Eric works with gave us the box spring mattress to a King, so if we can get the mattress for it, our queen will go in Luc's room, & we'll have a King. That will be really nice. I think a big part of the problem with Eric & I is that we have no sex life any more, & have lost the ability to snuggle in bed.

For those who know about my Mom, she isn't speaking to me now. Lol! I went a year & a half not talking to her, now she's doing it. She's a terribly greedy & selfish person, & we argued over Thanksgiving. Again. We argued about Thanksgiving when I quit talking to her. Anyway, she was going to be here 3 days, & wanted all 3 days, but I told her we were splitting that time up with John too. So she'd get 2 days with Luc & I, & John would get 2 days with Luc, Eric, & me. She blew up at me saying that wasn't good enough. She wanted to whole time. I explained to her, yet again, that we believe in getting in as much family time with everyone as possible at the holidays. She said that's not how we did it when I was young. We rotated families every yr. One yr we'd go my Dad's family, the next yr we'd go to my Mom's, etc. I told her that's not how WE do it though. My goodness, at that rate, it'd be forever before we saw someone, & it's just not fair giving all that time to just one person. Our friends & families live in Tx, so the holidays are the only time we get to see any of them. Eric has 4 bros & sisters. I can't help it that I married into a big family, so dammit, we're doing the holidays OUR way, & setting our own family traditions for OUR kid. She called the next day & apologized, & said she'd call me in a few days. That's fine, I apologized too, but I think she only did that so she could still come, & try to talk me into giving her another day. So I sent her a letter, but was really still nice. I was just to the point & said it's logical to me for us to just cut holidays out with her all together. She can come visit at any other times of the yr, just not during the week of a holiday, since she always wants to argue about those times. I told her those days are only special because friends & family make it special, not because it's a day written on a calendar. I've called her twice since then, & she hasn't called back. That's fine though, really. There was alot less stress when we weren't talking before anyway. I hate that, but I have other things to fret over that are more important than who gets more time at the holidays.

Do you have a business card uploaded to your Gallery, or a link to it in your Photobucket? If so, I'll gladly help advertise your business. Send it to me in a note, & it'll be added to my page.

If it's too big, I may need to re-size it.

I like the philosophy of "you scratch my back & I'll scratch yours". In small home towns, when one business doesn't offer a certain service, they usually send the customer to someone who does. That got me to thinking. It'd be great to have a "bulletin board" of sorts, of all kinds of business cards. Kind of like you see on walls at convenience stores or department stores. So, if you'd like for your card to be displayed here, just send it on in. Doesn't matter what type of business or art it is. If you have a business card, I'll post it to my board. But please, make it look professional as much as possible.

Photography, Jewelry/Crafts, Traditional Arts....we're waiting!

Please vote for this Conservationist! He's trying to win a trip to the Australia Zoo, but it costs you nothing. Just vote for him!

Watch this video & vote 5: Eric Kuba Ash

Read about it here: Saving The Tiger


=Mattiello has a radio show that spotlights Writers! Check it out: Counting Clouds, Workshop, and Tips on Publishing


I'm just about done switching this account over from 2dazed, & making it the central hub for my shop Christie's Cubby. I still have images to upload of a few new things I've made recently, but no time right now. I'm trying to decide on a CSS with graphics to match my shop sign.

I have a really funny joke that'll make you laugh hard & pee your pants, but no time to type it all. So, that'll have to wait until next time too. I have some features to catch up on for now.

Lucien has peed in the toilet every day all day for the past week & a half. He just won't poop yet. BUT, he knows the alphabet, colors, shapes, numbers, & can tell you that pennies are made of copper, & the rest are silver. He can also tell you about magnetic fields, & how they work. He tells his cat all the time that he loves her, & he has 4 books that are his favorite that he reads to me. We took Nimh to get de-clawed last Thursday, but she's feeling better today. She's been running around & jumping on the couch, so I'd say she feels like herself again. She slept all weekend. Eric's Dad gave us a loan, & Eric is paying it off by working in his yard. That's partly how we paid for Nimh's vet bill. That needed to be done, so we could tell our landlord about her. They don't like cats because they claw everything, but now that's not an issue.

I had applied with Alpine Access like *Glori305 had suggested, but without a phone now, guess that's not going to work. We're going to see if Eric's Dad will pay off our bills & partial loans, & just let us pay him $300 a month. That way we won't be in debt to anyone, & there will be somewhat less stress. He's out right now at an oil rig working, so we have to wait.

Centurytel finally honored our cancel order, so we have no internet. I get online through the library, & it's not a stable connection. Also, because of having no internet, we also have no phone. So to those I've been talking to on the phone, I can't now. Magic Jack works only if you have the internet. For now, I'll have to keep in touch the best way I can.