My masterpiece.

This is my painting/ vinyl decal artwork.
Compare to the one a few posts down...
Ballard Designs = $369
Casa de Wills = $60
Sounds good to me!

Last one in = First one out. Layoff Re-hires.

Had an interview with Alcon on Friday morning, the day after returning from Vegas for the past 6 days... it was a little tough to get up!
But they are only interviewing 2 people that were laid off in February, and I happen to be one of them... keep me in your prayers, and your fingers crossed!

Vegas Baby....

Oh my... am I glad to be home!
I was told upon arrival at Las Vegas that it is best done in 2 days or so.
I laughed. 2 days!? There was SO much to do, how could you do it all in just 2 days!?
Well, needless to say... they were SO right! 6 days in Vegas and I was ready to come home 4 days ago!
Exhibiting at the Accessories Fashion Show from 8am-6pm, quick change in our Venetian suite and 30 minutes later was a VIP dinner session with a major client, lasting until 11pm or later. Then it was gambeling or VIP clubs until 4am (or later on occasion...) and waking back up the next day at 7am for exhibiting at 8am...alllllll ovvvvvver againnnnnn.
Glad to be home. Felt like the man hugging the pillow above...
...but would do it all again in a heartbeat!
...Now for New York in January!

Summer Projects

I've done it.
I have gotten in over my little head...
Refinishing dining chairs. Gotten two recovered, two more to go. Might wait on the nice new coverings until the kiddo's get a wee bit bigger, and have better aim towards their mouths with their spoons on that though. Sanding down the other two, and maybe even the unfinished ones, to repaint, and then sand off the fresh new paint to make the "aged" look. Then to clearcoat. Sounds like way too much work to me for some chairs, but I have already started... must.....finish.....

Bought a canvas, and a vinyl wall art decal today. It's 3x2. The vinyl is a "grunge" chandalier, looks just like this. Will hang above the master bed. Will hopefully look amazing, but I have to PAINT that darn thing too...
Bought oil paints, so I need to mix with Mineral Spirits to thin out for substancial use. Will hopefully look like this in the end, but more of an antiqued yellow and gold instead of grey and white...
Darn my interior decorating motive... but guess if I'ma do it right, might as well do it myself right!? Btw this pic above is at BallardDesigns.com, and it sells for $289+shipping. I paid $59 for everything... niiiiiice.

Freedom Day

SO much fun. Met with family, had great barbecue, and let the boys go swim crazy. Watched some great fireworks in Southlake, and went on a sweet date with the hubby. Special thanks to Gigi and Pawpaw for wrastlin' with the little rugrats over the weekend so Momma and Daddy could get some much needed rest!

Vanessa Swarovski Peidra Photo Shoot

Twas eight in the morning, and all through the garden, people sweating like pigs... especially the "BRIDE!"
A good friend insisted I help with the portfolio for the new Bridal Line for VSP. I thought it would be fun. I would get to play dress up, and never intended on being a bride again! Met some great people, got to make kissy faces at a male model, and had a blast, even if it WAS 108 degrees in the morning! Here are just a few of the 84 final photos. If you would like to view the album- www.sillyheads.com - go to Client Viewing, password is VSP. We are on her main home page as well as her blog.

The Constitution, Morals?....What's THAT???

It's sad that we have lost focus on what our country was founded on, and half the country is focused on only one small part of it: what they are "entitled" to: Freedom. It seems the term's definition has conveniently broadened. It's freedom for whatever they are doing at the time. But in the end, what is the price for the "freedom" they are so vulgarly "entitled" to? Their definition freedom is a mere decision to avoid all responsibility and accountability for things were never meant to be incorporated into the word "freedom."

It's sad and disgusting how people will compromise themselves, everything that every fiber of their being tells them is wrong, for a golf clap, or a temporary pat on the back.

It's sad how people confuse morals and values (forget intuition, or instinct!) with "human rights."

It's sad how "human rights" are more important than morals and values, because of human fueled fear.

I am disgusted...

I don't care if I am accepted. I know what is right and wrong, by God's book alone I stand, and I don't care if it makes an American angry, or they try and take away my "crown" because of a "wrong answer" in the pageant... THANK GOD for someone who will admit and stand for their morals and values, even when they aren't the majority vote.

I have morals, and values, and I can see a distinct difference between them, and today's "freedom" and "human rights." I have instinct, and a "gut feeling," and know when something isn't right. I have to wonder if people compromise, or forget, or just plain ignore these things for fear of being an "unacceptable" human.

That doesn't matter to me. He is the one I answer to in the end, and I will be happy to say that I did my best at accepting EVERY human for who they are, and never condemned, (We are all equal, bust most of us don't see it that way, especially when it comes to the unborn, like they are any different...), meanwhile never compromising His name, and what I know to be true.

It's been a looong time a'comin!!

I am now at home. My two boys are growing up right in front of my very eyes, (for the moment.) I have enjoyed this time at home, and when I asked the good Lord for a sabbatical, boy did he really give it to me!
Lesson Learned: Be VERY specific when you talk to God. I mean REALLY...
It's been nice, payed up until a few weeks ago, then received severance, and submitting unemployment forms and a thousand resumes a day, (to people that are hiring, but are trying to cut rate on compensation to take advantage of people doing anything for a job!)
That's not fair... (guess I would do it to though, take advantage of supply and demand!)
I have caught up on household duties, and chores, and cooked dinner almost every night, and really became the domestic diva. But I AIN'T GETTIN COMFY!!!
I am a workin' girl, and boy does my patience show it with my sweet, darling, wonderful little 3 year old ( Mr. Know it all-ready) and my 19 month old (Mr. Screamin' Meme, defiant little bottomless tank.) I mean, somebody ain't going to make it around here! I gotta get back to civilization, the corporate politics, and real live ADULT time!
I am singing Barney, and Cars and every other little cartoon out there! Blown enough bubbles, raced enough race cars, gotten enough Play-Doh stuck in the carpets, and made enough Mac N Cheese and hotdogs to feed an army!
BUT, it's been nice... ahem...

Rookie Skiier

So we got a free trip to Colorado for the family. WE are having a blast. Made our first snowman, threw snowballs at eachother, and will be going tubing tonight. It was my first time skiing... and boy did I make it memorable. The bunny slopes whooped my tail. I was going strait down (on accident) and was trying to turn, and stop... and my skiis overlap and I 360 down the bunny slope! IT was the funniest thing, Donny and I were laughing so hard. Then I fell again... yes... again! This time I revisited a childhood injury. Hurt my knee. So bad I had to take off the skiis and walk the rest of the way down. It didn't hurt, but it was floppy. You can't ski on a floppy knee. So now I sit. Knee elevated, on the leather sofa watching all the happy skiiers and snowboarders go by. Oh well, it was awesome, and I am going to do it again! This is a good excuse for the hot tub though...

Another Victim of the ever failing economy...

Yes, I am talking about me. I had an amazing position at a Fortune 500 company. I wasn't EVER leaving that place. Dream job.
Then it happened... to me.
They say it was because I didn't have seniority, or "bumping rights." It sucks to get into a company you started to call home, and have to leave a year later.
I was just telling one of my three supervisors that day that it seems like a fantasy to get to stay at a company for longer than 5 years now days. I must have been misguided to think that you could get in a position, and stay there as long as you wanted, and would literally have to die to get out of. But if there were any place to do so, this was it.
SO much to my (and my supervisor's I might add...) surprise when the HR rep came my way.
I had just finished temping in my counterpart's place two weeks ago. I was supporting not only my 3 supervisors, but her 2 as well, who just so happened to be my supervisor's boss. I did it for 6 weeks, and I did AWESOME! I loved every minute of it, and worked my little heart out on the 5 of them, and the projects they threw my way.
So my supervisor's boss was the one who had to do it. He is a strong Italian man, and didn't like emotions. Didn't like them meaning that you got whatever you wanted or needed out of him, as long as he didn't have to see you cry. Ha...
So he, the HR rep, and I had a seat in the boss' office. I was heaving so hard I couldn’t' barely think, and the boss asked all pertinent questions since his quick intuition told him I could speak. Then the HR rep left, and the boss almost broke down. He excused himself to go notify my supervisors of the past 10 minutes.
I was escorted to my car, and that was it. A good friend packed my things for me, and brought them home, and I saw one of the girls on the way out, bawling, telling me she was so sorry. I couldn't acknowledge her, or I would have made a fool of myself. I was completely broadsided by the current situation. When they rumored the layoffs could be defined around seniority, I figured it was the people that were costing them WAAAY more than me. Boy was I wrong.
So, no hard feeling, just looking forward to the future. Hopefully I can get into something that blows this seemingly amazing, perfect, great paying career out of the water. God always has a BETTER plan right?
SO, here is my pitch. I have an awesome resume. I have some major skills. I have blunted the launch of a major competitor product, blowing our sales out of the water, spearheaded many organizational projects, and helped these guys travel all around the world and kept them safe and sound in swanky places, and kept MDs from getting left behind in Chicago when they had a surgery in 4 hours in San Fran. I have accomplished a lot, and my resume shows it... now I just need another place to thrive.