Saturday, June 28, 2008

Gems By George Giveaway


Beginning on July 1, 2008, I will be hosting a two week contest resulting in someone receiving a free bracelet – a $40 value – in the color of their choice (from within my 12 series colors) made especially for them.So here is the “what for”. In order to gain exposure to my Etsy website, I am asking for your help to introduce new viewers to Gems by George, as well as participate in The Drawing, which will be held July 14, 2008.In order to get your name in the drawing,
1) Go to my blog...http://www.gemsbygeorge.blogspot.com/
2) Click any of the jewelry item pictures at the top - this will link you to my Etsy store
3) Preview my jewelry on Etsy
4) Choose an item that strikes you
5) Go back to www.gemsbygeorge.blogspot.com and leave a comment about the item you chose, why you chose it, and the item #.
6) Each time you do this, your name will be entered in the drawing.Then, if you will introduce a friend or friends to the drawing and have them do the same thing, as well as including your name as the one who sent them, I will put their name in the drawing as well as an additional entry for you.The winner will be announced on July 14 on my blog, and will receive a handcrafted bracelet in the color of their choice at no cost – no shipping – nothing – within 2 weeks of the end of the contest.



Come on people... I know that you check and read my blog... so click on over to my Mother-In-Laws site and look at all the pretty jewelry... you just might win! (Don't forget to tell her who sent you!)

The Savage Nation

It had been a while since I had listened to one of my most favorite radio talk shows. I use to tune in everyday on my way home from work. We all know that doesn't happen anymore and it isn't a show that I would tune in with Miss D in the car..(He is loud sometimes and very "heated")... anywho.........
I don't watch the news... call me crazy or whatever you want. I just don't trust the news stations to give an accurate rendering of the events that happen in our world. Maybe the scales have been taken off my eyes or maybe I'm paranoid. I don't get the newspaper either. I check some key websites and then I'm over it. I forgot how much I love a good conspiracy theory. I remember in High School loving to look into the JFK assassination. I thought it was so intriguing that there could be a deeper layer to the story than just the info that we were given by the news and others.
When it comes to politics I just don't have the ability to argue with people. I really could care less. One of Mr. D's old girlfriends is running for State Representative (they went to prom together)... her signs are all over the place. It really puts it in perspective when someone my age has signs up for a state position. Kinda makes me look at my life and say..hmmmmmmmmm what have I accomplished. Quick self evaluation and the scripture comes to mind.....

Matthew 6:19[ Lay Up Treasures in Heaven ] “Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal;Matthew 6:18-20 (in Context) Matthew 6 (Whole Chapter)
Matthew 6:20but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal.Matthew 6:19-21 (in Context) Matthew 6 (Whole Chapter)

So back to the radio show... I was listening in my car... yes Miss D was not there ( I had dropped her off for her weekly visit and slumber party with my parents). Mr. D and I have a Bible Study Group that we go to on Tuesday nights....which is the most awesome group ever... we sat around the fire at their "house" and sang, studied the Word and talked until 1:30am.. Mr. D was hurting the next day. Great thing about stay-at-home mom is I was able to nap when Miss D did.

So back again to the radio show... it was Tuesday and there had been a "suicide" by an soldier while the French President Nicolas Sarkozy and his wife were leaving Israel....Michael was getting callers to his show that were weary of the way that the US news was spinning the story.
Read below...

Was the incident that marred Sarkozy's exit a suicide or assassination try?
By Israel Insider staff June 26, 2008


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Something went terribly wrong on Tuesday afternoon, at the departure ceremony for French President Nicolas Sarkozy and his wife Carla Bruni, at Ben Gurion International Airport in Israel. The band had just started up its loud farewell repertoire. Sarkozy, President Shimon Peres and Prime Minister Olmert clasped hands in unity for the cameras. Suddenly a shot was heard, or not heard, depending on where you were standing. Radios came alive and there was a flurry of activity. Bodyguards did not dive on the VIPs, but security rushed the Israeli dignitaries away to their armor plated limousines. Sarkozy's wife scurried up the stairs to the plane, her husband following behind her. If there was a threat, they would have been wide-open targets as they climbed in panic to the plane without protection. The Israeli media dutifully reported the official account that exactly at that most opportune moment for an assassination, with the band's music covering the sound of the shot, a veteran soldier in an elite Border Guard unit, of Druse extraction, decided to kill himself. He was reportedly on a roof in line of site from the departure ceremony, 100 yards away and equipped with a rifle with a 400 yard range. Not only did he shoot himself, he fell off the roof. Not an easy feat! From the Daily Telegraph, we learn that the border policeman shot himself in the head with his rifle, also an unnatural task. He was said to have killed himself in front of his "guarding partner," and two female soldiers, who -- the media informed Israelis -- fainted and had to be taken to the hospital. It was the first time in memory that IDF soldiers -- male or female -- were reported to have fainted. Ynetnews reports that Shin Bet security service officials found the border policeman lying on the ground below, with his "guarding partner" huddled over the body. According to Haaretz, "officials soon ruled out the option that he accidentally shot himself before the fall, or that his gun misfired upon impact with the ground, and concluded that he apparently committed suicide using his M-16 rifle, causing him to fall off the building. An autopsy of the body confirmed their conclusion." The assembled media was whisked away and, remarkably, the subsequent reports were either subdued or suppressed altogether. The midnight news summary of government-owned television Channel One did not even report the incident. So far as Israel Insider could determine, there have no subsequent reports from his "guarding partner," nor the female soldiers. There were no follow up reports to speak of. It was an "open and shut case" as far as they mainstream media in Israel were concerned. The one discordant note came from the family of the Druze soldier who reportedly committed suicide on the job, without a note. Border Police officials said the man, a member of the Druze community, had served as a border policeman for eight years since he was discharged from mandatory service in the Israel Defense Forces. The dead officer was identified as Raid Asaad Ghanan, 32, of the Druze village of Beit Jan. The Druze, a mysterious sect that was an offshot of Islam, are Israeli citizens generally opposed the Palestinians. Within the IDF, they are known as well-disciplined and loyal soldiers. Many serve in the border guard, like Ghanan, who had completed eight years of service. While there has been some ferment in the Golan Heights among Druze who were previously Syrian citizens, and some high profile expressions of support by some Druze for anti-Israel causes, these have been the exceptions, not the rule. As reported by ynetnews, Ghanan's relatives furiously refused to believe that he had committed suicide: "We scornfully reject the claims that our son took his own life," a family member said. "He was a kindhearted and happy person. He had a family and there was no reason for him to do such a horrible thing." The officer's father, Asaad Ghanan, said that his son had left the house on Tuesday morning in good spirits. "He had a family, he had friends, he had plans for the future and had no reason to commit suicide," the father said. Naif, Raid's brother, said that the police representatives who informed the family of their son's death, had told them that the circumstances of the incidents were unclear and would be probed by an investigating officer. "It is unthinkable that my brother took his own life. We believe this was an accident, or even an incident in which my brother was accidentally shot by one of the security officials in the area." But senior officials immediately and absolutely ruled out one possibility: "This was in no way an assassination attempt," police spokesman Micky Rosenfeld said. "A border policeman committed suicide during the farewell ceremony." Yet the mystery remains: a distinguished soldier with no proclivity for suicide, without leaving a note, standing at a vantage point with a long-range rifle n line of sight of the VIPs, should at the absolutely most ideal moment for an assassination at once shoot himself in the head with a rifle and somehow find a way to fall off the roof? What an odd simultaneous set of coincidences! A man is dead, a soldier who had no known motive to kill himself. And yet the authorities rushed to confirm that it was a suicide, and not the accidental discharge of a bullet which, however rarely, can happen, but apparently did not in this case. The alternative explanation, given the exquisite timing and the other coincidences, is that it was an attempted assassination, targeting one or more of the three heads of state, that failed. Possible alternatives might be: Ghanan was the shooter and was felled by his "guarding partner," the guarding partner was the assassin who sought to eliminate a potential witness or preventer of the crime, or to make it appear that he shot dead the would-be assassin, making the dead Ghanan into a patsy that could not defend himself from the grave. Or another Israeli sniper may have detected what were perceived to be suspicious movements on the roof and shot Ghanan, appropriately or erroneously, causing him to fall off. The fact that no shot hit a head of state means that the issue can be safely swept under the rug, except of course for the Ghanan family and any witnesses who saw what really happened, or who were personally involved in the rooftop drama. For them it was a tragedy and a trauma, if not a crime. This is not an allegation of a conspiracy, but a query about odd circumstances and unanswered questions. At this time, no one has offered concrete proof of foul play, and there is every reason to believe that no one every will. The "guarding partner" and the female soldiers will be kept far from the media. There is every motive to do so for the powers that be: an assassination attempt during an official ceremony for a visiting head of state would be a security failure of catastrophic proportions. Thus there is a national security interest in covering up a possible assassination attempt, so that foreign leaders will not think twice before coming to visit security-conscious Israel, the reputed world leader in personal VIP protection. But one suspects that foreign VIPs, should they dare to visit, may no longer tarry on the tarmac. Hearing the Israeli marching band is just not worth it.

Friday, June 27, 2008

Erica's Birthday




Happy Birthday Sis!
I couldn't find any recent pics of us together to post(how lame is that!)
We will have to remedy that tomorrow.... looking forward to the day!
Love you Sis and so thankful for you!

Thursday, June 26, 2008

Garden Update

My garden is growing along... I gotta get out there and fertilize. Maybe today...?
I used a started fertilizer when I planted 2 weeks ago.. so I think that it is ready for the good stuff. Miss D and I have had fun going out every morning to check to see if anything is dry and then going out in the afternoon to water... if needed. The corn has about doubled in size so far. But I haven't seen any of my seed popping up yet...! Patience right!
It is so muddy out there and My Miss D doesn't like to be muddy.. she is getting use to it though. Good thing that her crocs can be hosed off. I really could care less about being dirty. I don't use gloves when I'm planting because I can't feel the soil to see if I'm getting it the way that I want it. It will be so fun this summer to have fresh produce just right outside the door. Last summer I had lettuce and that was fun by itself. Don't you love the chicken wire fence. Mr. D is so ashamed of it. We are selling out house... He says... But I just want to live in the moment. I don't care if we sell our house and the buyers inherit my garden... BUT if we are still here after the summer I would be so sad that I didn't plant a garden...

Monday, June 23, 2008

Strawberry Madness




We are in Strawberry Heaven! We share a huge patch of strawberry plants on the property line with our wonderful neighbors... Miss D has been patiently awaiting the green ones to turn red! With the sun that we have had over the last little bit IT HAS HAPPENED. Everywhere she looks there is a red one to pick and eat. She would stay out there ALL day if I let her! We have been going out every morning to pick and eat a few. But last night there were to many to just eat a few... so I told Miss D to go and get her sand bucket because I was gong to pick strawberries! I filled the 1st one and then I told her to go and get the other bucket because there were SO many more to pick. I couldn't let them go unpicked. As I was picking my little Miss D was waiting SO nicely for me. After I filled 2 buckets we went in to make Strawberry topped waffles... (it was what the neighbors were having for dinner) But as I was walking in to start dinner they called out and said that they had enough for us too. So we shared our whip cream with their waffles and strawberries with homemade sausage patties and cantaloupe. It was delightful.

As I was picking strawberries I couldn't help but think of the vast greatness of God's Perfection. This little plant requires no maintenance... it just grows and spreads itself. It blooms and then sets fruit... then the green fruit turns into the most glorious perfect RED strawberry. They are even shiny... how that is possible that a fruit can be plump, bright red and shiny. Perfect without flaw and so tasty... it is a miracle. God provides just kept running through my mind.

We planted a garden this last weekend too. Mr. D rented a rototiller and got it all prepared. The dirt tilled up great and with a mix of sand and compost I was ready to plant. I raked it all out and then planned out my rows. I planted corn, onions, broccoli, cauliflower, beets, 4 tomatoes, bush beans, zucchini, carrots, lettuce, pumpkins, cucumber and some dahlias... So exciting! Mr. D even put up a chickwire fence to protect it from the rabbits and deer that we have just waiting for a bite. Ha Ha not my garden!! God does provide!

Thursday, June 19, 2008

Late night graham and milk

Just sitting here blog hopping and downloading stuff....(remember we have dial-up) so I have to do my downloading when nobody is going to call me on the phone... cause you won't get through because I'm tying up the line downloading a bit of back-logged stuff that takes hours to download.

9%

Miss D just woke up... it always jolts me with adrenaline to hear her door open late. She was disoriented and had to go potty...she wanted a toy out of her playroom and she also wanted a graham cracker and milk. The cracker and milk are her usual request if she wakes up during the middle of the night. I could tell tonight that she was kinda mad that she was out of bed and awake. I plunked her down on the toilet and she went potty... then she went into her playroom to choose a toy to take to bed with her as I went to get the cracker and milk. She was back in bed by the time I got back upstairs with her purse and a few play animals. She needed them to be next to her pillow. I wanted to put the animals inside the purse but that wasn't cool with her. So they are laying next to her pillow....next to her baby that all the sudden needed a diaper one and to be wrapped up in a blanket. She wanted baby to get her pj's on but I said that baby would be to hot with pj's on and that she would be happier wrapped up in her blanket... then on to eating the cracker. She does that in bed... of course... call me a pushover if you want... when she is done with the cracker she crawls out of bed because she can't stand that there are crumbs in her bed. Then she needed her blanket to be in her "special spot".. that consists of me laying the blanket across her pillow and tucking it in at the top and at the bottom... so basically her blanket is like a pillow case that just goes over the top where her face touches. And if there are any wrinkles in the blanket she is sure to point them out to me so that I can fix them... attention to details this girl... so much like her daddy.

78%

Listening to a little shuffle on the I Tunes and Mariah Carey just came on... Just To Hold You Once Again...Music Box. Takes me back to High School in KG's car before school started listening and singing before we got out of the car together to walk into school together... Because we couldn't be seen walking in alone.... our Senior parking spots were next to each other and we would arrive and sit in our car until the other one got there and then get into each other's car and hang until we had to go into school.

98%.........almost done downloading a pic that just got sent to me..........Well worth the wait... Thanks JLChristStudios... for that late night love pic of my Miss D last summer with the Marigold that I planted and that make me remember my baby Hazel.

Wednesday, June 18, 2008

Camping post #2






We were all about the food over the weekend and the peeps that we went with had glorious ideas in that dept... are you ready for this. Biscuits and gravy cooked over the campfire. The gravy was prepared before with love (yummy sausage) and frozen. So by Saturday morning it had defrosted just enough to slunk into the pan. Then the biscuits were prepared and plopped onto the gravy. Then prepared by Mr. D was a warm place to put the pan and get it cooking. It was again about 10:30am by the time we ate... so that makes for a 2 meal day. "Breakfast", snacks all day and then dinner. I had a great birthday breakfast and then I got to have a nap... we played as a family at the park and sat by the fire. We read a couple chapters out of "When Heaven Invades Earth" and pondered sentence after profound sentence.
My little Miss D did wonderful over the weekend. We had been camping 2 times during her lifetime and both were flops with her... I ended up awake all night with her! ...but this time she was a champ. When she was tired... which ended up being right on schedule with her normal nap time, she told me she was tired and I would ask her if she wanted to go take a nap and she would say YES! It amazed me that she would want to go and take a nap when we were all having a great time hanging out. I would take her to the camper and lay her down. She would curl up with her blanket and pillow and be out for a couple hours. Then she would be ready for bed at like 8pm. We were just finishing dinner and she would tell me she was ready to go to sleep. Crazy huh! So I would get her ready for bed and tuck her in and a few songs later she would be out. Camping really took it out of her. She didn't even flinch when I would crawl into bed later... I would re situate her to make sure that she was warm and she didn't budge. It was so nice to not have to fight her to take a nap... and for her to go to bed without any trouble. Loved it.

Tuesday, June 17, 2008

1st camping post




We had a great weekend. Here it goes............

We arrived at the campsite at 9pm Thursday night... just enough time to set-up the trailer and get all the beds made and then turn in. It was a long day and we were all tired. We had grabbed dinner on the way so our first meal camping was going to be breakfast. We woke up about 8:30 and got the girls some Cheerios and started to work on breakfast. I think that it was about 10:30 by the time we ate... gotta love not having to look at the clock. So breakfast was.....drumroll please
omelet in a bag.
Crack your eggs....toss in the small freezer ziplock and add your choice of fillers...sauteed onion and mushroom with cheese and bacon in our case. Then you squish your bag all together to combine then drop your baggy into boiling water and cook about 25 minutes (with 4 eggs in a bag)... we were planning on sharing with our little girls but they weren't interested. So add a little sour cream and cheese to the top and wallah... omelets while camping. They were so gourmet!!

Thursday, June 12, 2008

My Birthday Weekend!

Well... my Birthday is on Saturday!
My fam is going camping with another great fam.
I get to have Brawts and Key Lime Pie for dinner!
We leave tonight and Mr. D is coming up to meet us tomorrow after work.
(Miss D had a fever tuesday night through this morning. It has broken now... please pray for good nights of sleep for her... considering we have been up the last two nights dealing.)
I still haven't found my memory card to my camera...UGGGH!
I have one that is 8 mb and holds all of 10 pictures.. I will have to be choicy with my pictures this weekend. I think that I"ll take the video camera instead.
Gotta go and finish getting ready to go..........................

Tuesday, June 10, 2008

My Little Artist


Staying along with the theme of staying home... (I put $10.00 in last Tuesday and haven't had the need to fill up yet... I will today though!) I have been having to think of things to do. Miss D has been asking me to do painting and I just haven't let her do it. Well I decided yesterday to let her. She was SO happy. We got out the paint and filled up a ice cube tray with little bits of color and she went for it. She painted 3 paper plates and a few pieces of construction paper. I'm not a crafty person so I can't think of fun projects for her to do. She was just like Mr. D... keeping everything so small. Mr. D has the smallest writing. She was very meticulous with the need to keep her paint brush clean between colors and then wiped off after it was dipped in the water to clean it. She made a few swooshy circles... but mostly kept to small strokes. At one point she said that she had painted a river... and it was blue and snake like... just like a river. (my little artist). Well guess what the 1st thing was that she wanted to do today...PAINTING. I stretched it out until about 10 am. Then she was ready to paint. She did 2 more paper plates and then was done. Too cute!

Friday, June 6, 2008

tales from my day

I turned the heat on today... is that just wrong or what. I made it yesterday without turning on the heat... but this morning it was 64 in the house. Heat in June... wrong I say...just wrong.
I have been home this week. Gas is to expensive to go anywhere and Mr. D didn't work last week. No work then no money. I cleaned the house a few days ago because we were suppose to have a house showing... but they cancelled. So I tackled the playroom. I cleaned out all the toys that are to young for Miss D. I filled up a few bags with toys. Then at about 3pm I realized that I hadn't seen my memory card for my camera in a few days. I had taken it out of my camera to load pic off it on Saturday... after yard work. I remember seeing it in the computer slot.. and I have a vague memory of Miss D handing it to me. At the desk...maybe? Well I spent most of the afternoon looking for it. I CAN'T find It. I hate learning this lesson. It seems that I have to learn it often. When I'm done with something I just put it down. I need to put IT BACK! Ugggh! I hate the feeling of losing something. Especially some as important and expensive as my memory card!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
After my brain was mushy from looking and I was starting to confuse myself from looking places like 3 times. I gave up. Please pray that I find it and that it didn't go out with the garbage last night without me knowing it. I usually look in my few key locations that it would be. My closet shelf, the pencil holder on the desk, by the answering machine, my nightstand drawer... see that is WAY to many places for it to just BE... it should have been back in the camera as soon as I was done loading the pics from it. (so annoyed right now)

Thursday, June 5, 2008

Not true... but still yummy!


NEIMAN-MARCUS COOKIES (Recipe may be halved)
2 cups butter
24 oz. Chocolate chips
4 cups flour
2 cups brown sugar
2 tsp. Soda
1 tsp. Salt
2 cups sugar
1 8 oz. Hershey Bar (grated)
5 cups blended oatmeal
4 eggs
2 tsp. Baking powder
2 tsp. Vanilla
3 cups chopped nuts (your choice)
Measure oatmeal, and blend in a blender to a fine powder. Cream
The butter and both sugars. Add eggs and vanilla, mix together with
Flour, oatmeal, salt, baking powder, and soda . Add chocolate chips,
Hershey bar, and nuts. Roll into balls, and place two inches apart
On a cookie Sheet. �Bake for 10 minutes at 375 degrees.
Makes 112 cookies.
I got this email yesterday and thought I would make them to see if they were good... and THEY ARE! YUMM-O! Even if this is a hoax and not even true the recipe is really good. I used a mix of dark and regular Hershey bar.
``````````````````````````````````````````````````````````
Let's let them have it! THIS IS A TRUE STORY! (not true... by the way... see link!)

My daughter and I had just finished a salad at a Neiman-Marcus

Cafe In Dallas, and we decided to have a small dessert. Because
Both of us are such cookie lovers, we decided to try the 'Neiman-
Marcus cookie.' It was So excellent that I asked if they would give
Me the recipe, and the waitress said with a small frown, 'I'm afraid

Not, but you can buy The Recipe.' �Well, I asked how much, and
She resp onded, ' Only two fifty - it's a Great deal!' I agreed to that,

And told her to just add it to my tab.

Thirty days later, I received my VISA statement, and the Ne iman-
Marcus Charge was $285.00! I looked again, and I remembered I
Had only spent $9.95 for two salads and about $20.00 for a scarf.

As I glanced at the bottom of the statement, it said,
'Cookie Recipe-$250.00.' �That was Outrageous! �I called Neiman's
Accounting Department and told them the waitress said it was
'two fifty', which clearly does not mean 'two hundred �and fifty

dollars' by any reasonable interpretation of the phrase.

Neiman-Marcus refused to budge. �They would not refund my money
Because, according to them, 'What the waitress told you is not our
Problem. You have already seen the Recipe. We absolutely will not

Refund your money at this point.' I explained to the Accounting
Department lady the criminal statutes which govern fraud in the S Tate
Of Texas I threat need to report them to the Better Business Bureau
And the Texas Attorney General's office for engaging in fraud. �I was

Basically tol d, 'Do what you want. �Don't bother thinking of how you
Can get even, and don't bother trying to get any of your money Back.'
I just said, Okay, you folks got my $250, and now I'm going to have

$250 worth of fun. �I told her that I was going to see to it that every
Cookie Lover in the United States with an e-mail account has a $250
Cookie recipe From Neiman-Marcus...for free. She replied, 'I wish you

Wouldn't do this.' I said, 'Well, perhaps you should have thought of
That before you ripped me off!' and slammed down the phone.

So here it is!

Please, please, please pass it on to everyone you can possibly think of.

I paid $250 for this, and I don't want Neiman-Marcus to EVER make
Another penny off of this recipe!

Monday, June 2, 2008

Looks worse than it was....


We worked it in the yard on Saturday. I had 15 yards of compost delivered a few days ago and we got a sunny chance to spread it. About half way through as I was spreading and Mr. D was dumping the lawnmower slipped out of park and started careening backward over the rock wall. The trailer was full of compost and very heavy. Mr. D jumped on the sliding lawnmower destined to go over the edge and dump in the grass and then who know what kind of pile the lawnmower would have been in. Well angels were holding it up as Mr. D was able to stop it from going over and turn it off. I could just see it now... Mr. D in the middle of trailer and lawnmower carnage covered in compost...It didn't get that far thank the LORD!! We then had to get the load out of the trailer. So I called to the neighbor (they were out working in the yard to)... HELP! I think that they could hear the edge in my voice because they came running. Wheel barrows to the rescue as we shoveled out the compost and dumped it out of the way. With the trailer empty now the trailer needed to be taken off... see picture(there was no way it was going back up)... so with the trailer off the lawnmower needed a pull up the embankment. So Mr. D's truck to the rescue. He backed in the truck and with a chain pulled the lawnmower up and out of it's certain demise. All was well and all were without wounds... except my poor ground cover rose that was underneath the lawnmower as it was going backwards... it doesn't look to bad. We went back to our spreading. We had a system down... Mr. D loaded the trailer and then drove to where I needed it and dumped it and then I spread it.. by the time he was back with more I was ready. I got sunburned on my shoulders and a little on my face. But I needed the color! Mr. D thinks that I will peel... but he doesn't believe the power of Arbonne Body Serum and Lotion!