“XO Love You” Stampin’ Up! Card

Have you ever felt like you’re drowning?  You’re just soooo busy that it seems impossible to keep your head above water?  That’s exactly how I’m feeling right now. There seems to be so many different things going on, on so many different levels that I feel pulled in a million directions.  Gotta do this…..oh wait, have to finish this first…….oops, forgot about that…….but this is a priority too…….  Overall it’s a mix of frustrating things, everyday things and exciting things too.  

Remember how I told you our furnace broke on Christmas Eve and we had to get a new furnace?  Well, while I was away at CHA our roof leaked all across the back of the house.  So we’ve had to get quotes, and come up with a temporary fix (tarping our roof) because it’s not recommended that shingles be done in temperatures below -1 degrees Celcius.  It seemed like we had everything under control but our weather’s been crazy – one day freezing, one day raining – well, our roof leafed again – it traveled from another area of the roof that was not tarped and leaked into our bedroom…again. Of course my husband’s away on a business trip all week – in Naples Florida of all places.  So he gets sunshine and palm trees, and I get mud and a leaky roof (I’m really not as bitter as I sound LOL more resigned I guess – wishing I were with my husband). And of course since Dad’s away, the kids have been acting up – well, more so the two youngest. Not that they’ve been bad per se, just all revved up, full of pent up energy and mischief.  

On the “everyday” front, it looks like my youngest Sam is going to need speech therapy again.  When he was around 8 months old he was diagnosed with Benign Congentital Hypotonia (low muscle tone) and Plagiosephaly (extreme flat head on one side due to being late at rolling over and sitting because of his low muscle tone).  He was also a late speaker. So at that time we were doing physiotherapy, helmet therapy and speech therapy. We did this for about a year and a half and then everything seemed to be going okay. About 3 months ago he seemed to develop a severe stutter of both words and sounds.  So now it’s back to Speech Therapy. I have to do four two hour sessions – 1 a week for the next four weeks, and then an hour a week for about 8 weeks…more time needed.  

My Grandpa has had quite a few appointments scheduled because he’s been having problems with his back, in which he needs me to go with him because of his poor hearing. More time needed. So here’s a story for you about his hearing.  About 2 years ago he finally went to get his hearing assessed.  My  grandmother had been telling him for at least 10 years prior to her death that he really needed to get his hearing checked – his response? Bah!  Well we finally convinced him, and of course, as we knew, the doctor suggested hearing aids.  Well my grandpa bought them, and wore them ONCE – to the dinner table actually.  Have I ever told you how loud it is around the dinner table with all 5 kids sharing their stories and laughing and joking (and sometimes fighting) with each other?  Well that was the first and last time we saw his hearing aids, although he doesn’t admit it was because of the noise.  

So for the last two years, we have had to speak VERY LOUDLY for him to hear. “Papa, where have you been?”…..”WHAT? YOU NEED GASOLINE?”  And that’s pretty typical.  When I suggest he wears his hearing aids, he insists that he can hear just fine – the problem is with the rest of us, because all we do is mumble. Then with a cheeky grin he tells me that I’m the one who should be wearing the hearing aids since I never seem to hear the phone when he calls (that’s a whole other story – Papa likes to call me from upstairs multiple times during the day while I’m working – I’ll tell you about that another time).  

So besides that, there’s been the exciting stuff…which is work related, and which unfortunately I can’t share any details with you YET, since I’m still in the midst of things, but I think you guys will be excited.  Anyways, enough about my life.  

Today’s card is a clean and graphic card using a combination of Stampin’ Up!’s dies, embossing folders and stamps. I like it because it’s not too “frilly”, so I think my husband would like it despite the pink, or I may change it to red tones which are more acceptable to “manly” men LOL! I hope you enjoyed today’s project and grandpa story.  I’ll be back on Friday.