SharonBissett.com

I love this place.  Free wi-fi, warm colors, good food, hot tea (or coffee or soda/tea w/ free refills) and no one pushing you to eat and get out.  Spent a few hours here last night too.  Sitting in the same booth in the corner, even.  You could almost call it “my spot”!  Last night I did some work on the website and ended up talking to “Coach”.  He was from here, but then they bought a house in South Carolina…he’s back helping his daughter with her political campaign.  Didn’t ask what she was running for…just know she’s a Democrat.  He used to coach football at Clearwater High School until 1996 when he retired.  Aren’t people interesting?!  There’s another gal that was here last night - she’s here again, in the same spot, doing the same thing (I think she’s a teacher and I think she’s playing World of Warcraft…so I don’t want to interrupt her!).  She looks scholarly with her long skirt, turtleneck, sensible shoes and long hair braided down her back to her waist.  Oh yeah….Happy Halloween…

I’m here.  “A” is at his dad’s (more likely at one of his friend’s that lives in the neighborhood) for awhile.  He’ll be on my way home when it’s time to pick him up.  Convenient.  So, I’m blogging, downloading files (digital scrapbooking related), fussing with the website, checking email, blog hopping, etc.  All that fun stuff I didn’t get to do at work today! LOL…  I’m glad the week is over, it sure has been a rollercoaster ride!  Found this digital kit over at ScrapArtist to scrap “A”’s dinosaur/paleontology interest.  It’s more on the realistic side…hit a midnight madness sale and it was only a few bucks.  Now, to start saving for that archeology camp I’d like to send him to next summer!

Turning the calendar over to November and look out…here come the holidays!  Adam’s made out his Christmas list (and revising it, again and again) and was complaining how long it would be until Christmas.  I chuckled and told him it seems that way when you’re a kid and that the older you get, the quicker the days fly by.  I’m sure he didn’t believe me.   Still can’t get him going on his blog…just now getting him up to speed on the new site for Florida Virtual (his new “home” for homeschooling…there are live teachers on the other end).  Soon though, I hope.

What’s on YOUR list?  Still hoping for that horse one of these years…

L8tr!

Sh@ron

Doing good here - just BIZ-EEE!  Website for work is live…still uploading pages and images and tweaking things as I go.

Took a break to go help out for the COBRA self defense program at my dojo…it’s called the Matrix and it’s like their final exam.  I just held a shield (padded cushion thing) to help keep everyone in the center of the mat so they stay “in bounds” (my words, for lack of a better term/description).  That was cool to see… I haven’t done COBRA yet…but when I do, I’ll advance one rank in Martial Arts because of it (it’s intertwined - Aikido skills).  The next class is not until February 2009 - assuming of course that my shoulder behaves itself and doesn’t (knock on wood) require immediate surgery (not that it should, I’m just sayin’).   Anyway, if you happen to live near me, you may want to check it out.  It’s awesome - Chris is a former police officer and instructor - positive, motivating, and practical tools that work (it’s not just “kick ‘em in the nuts and run like hell” or “gouge out their eyes”…it’s so much more and it’s effective).

Anyway, that was my night and that’s what I got done.  Tomorrow is another day!

Sh@ron

We have to win tonight in Game 5 because I have tickets for Game 6!! YES!! All those years practicing on eBay…the last minute sniping…yes, the fingers are nimble and decisions swift. Cheap seats - upper deck, but by golly, I am going to the World Series!! Woo hoo!

Gotta run…it’s nearly time to head out to MMA! Ah, the adrenaline rush!

Sh@ron

Part Duex…

I don’t want to jinx it, but maybe the tide is changing. Court went well - I thought. No consensus was reached so the General Magistrate will be making the decision. Sure hope he has the ability to see through charades, legal hyperbole, and that he actually reads through the file (3 volumes!) and the court investigators report.  Should know in roughly a week what he decides. Then of course there are 10 days to appeal, so even though it may be over, it may not really be “over” if someone doesn’t get their way. Worse case scenario would be a 50/50 split…best case he stays with me most of the time. Again, we shall see.

I know I promised pictures and I will catch up on them soon, how about some links for now?  I’ve been decorating some more as all the stores begin their 70-90% off sales. I found a sign that looks very close to the one in this blog header - I think it’s just missing the spiderweb inside the letter B.  Stocked up on some fall leaf/berry garlands, and found some more crows that have their wings outstretched!  I made this project…because, well spray paint is like my new best friend (in an inanimate way of course) and honestly, it’s just time to have fun for a change.  Be a big kid…live in the now…at least I don’t have a real coffin in my front yard, like one of my former co-workers does!  I’ll definitely have to grab a photo of that.  Whoa.  Oh, and there’s another yard nearby…not even sure you could call it a yard…but every year for every major holiday they do something.  For Easter, there are huge Easter eggs all over, 4th of July; it’s a field of flags, Christmas; Santa in a sleigh being pulled by alligators (hey, it’s Florida people!)  and Halloween….a field of huge spiders, a graveyard… neat stuff, fun stuff.  Again, more photo ops.  And time to have fun.

Time to get back to the game…the Rays need to kick it up a notch!

Sh@ron

Fighting with a wicked sinus headache this afternoon/evening - drastic weather change, I’m sure.  Besides that, it’s been a good day…with little accomplished besides the necessities.  Went to church, went grocery shopping (I’m still in shock over the rising grocery prices), cooked dinner, cleaned up from decorating (photos soon, I promise), took a nap, blog hopped and a did a bit of web design/tweaking.

Early day/long day tomorrow and hopefully, more interesting things to blog about.  Hope you all had a fab weekend!
Sh@ron

The weather is bee-u-tee-ful…sunny but not hot/humid and in the 70’s - shaping up to be a great weekend.

After I drop “A” off at his friends, I am off on a mission to find a few things at the various thrift stores and maybe hit up a few yard sales. In Florida, you can practically yard sale year round…though the summer months are very yucky/sweaty and I try to avoid them. Taking the laptop to play when I go to Panera’s for lunch - I love that place!

Just signed up for this FREE online class…which looks interesting but I wonder if it’s all that “new & different”. So, of course, I HAVE to check it out. I’m hoping to be pleasantly surprised. Maybe you’ll want to join me? Compare notes? Go to www.jessicasprague.com and register (it’s free too) - Here’s the link: CHECK IT OUT

Off to shower so I can get going…check ya’ later! Have a wonderful Saturday!!

Sh@ron

PS - Jenny, did you see my email?! LOL…

….finished book 2 of the Twilight series…read the first one straight through (stayed up all night, that is…), made the second one last longer - took 3 days…

….website is almost ready to roll out…relieved that it’s almost over, along with the 70-80 hour work weeks.  Wondering what I’ll do to replace all that empty time.  I’m thinking sleep would be a good first step….

….need to finish my necklace from my jewelry class…next session starts up on Nov 3rd…just have to make and attach the clasp so I can patina and tumble it.  I like the quick gratification of jewelry making…

….wondering how my friend in California is doing, haven’t heard from him in ages…email me dude!…

….court date on Monday for final hearing…keep me/us in your thoughts…it seems pretty cut & dry to me, but they have an entire day scheduled for this thing, so who knows what legal gymnastics await? ….

….feeling more hopeful about the company’s future and the economy…looks like we may have some work coming our way soon…thank goodness! ….

…. anxious to play in the paper and paste…as well as digitally..even my fabric stash is calling me…goes along with my recent decorating binge.  Found the coolest wire cake stand…at Kmart…has spiders dangling from it (I suppose the wire pattern resembles a spiderweb) but after the season (it’s got a display of white pumpkins and glittered fall leaves on it now) it will look equally fabulous with a coat of white spray paint on it!  Lacy and delicate…minus the spiders of course.  Same with my spooky tree…trust me here….

…. thinking of redoing my room/bed linens with just black & white (think mixed patterns….toile, damask, sophisticated prints/patterns etc. mixed with solids).  The white eyelet with blue and yellow is feeling too summer-y now that the weather seems to be changing a wee bit….

… love the pumpkin pie Yankee candle I picked up the other day…smells so good! …

… go RAYS!!  ….

… can’t believe November is right around the corner…my sister’s birthday, the election (finally!), Thanksgiving, another belt test, Christmas… and then a new year…time is flying!…

So, what’s on your mind?!!

Sh@ron

Jenny posted about (several) great blogs recently. One of them (restyledhome.blogspot.com) talked about doing profile or children’s silhouettes. I think they had us do this one time in elementary school as a Christmas or Mother’s Day present about 100 years ago. I digress, the aforementioned blog really didn’t go into detail about how to do it, so I thought I’d butt in and give it a go. In the “old days” you’d shine a light in front of the subject to cast their shadow on the wall, taped up a piece of paper on the wall and traced it. This became your template for cutting out the silhouette on black paper. (I faintly recall doing this with my 2 boys when they were little, but can’t swear to it). In the digital age, it’s much easier - and faster - great for reluctant and impatient family members (especially teenagers, which I plan on attempting, wish me luck). It’s a great technique though - no makeup, fancy clothes or perfect hair! To do it digitally, the first thing to do is turn off your flash. Place a light source (a lamp) about waist high between the subject and the wall. Turn off any other lights that may be near and affect the exposure (you’re wanting to under expose here). Seat the subject so that they are in profile to you. Focus the camera on the edge of your subject’s face to get a sharp profile image.  Once the focus is locked, snap the photo. Check the preview. Take as many as you need, adjusting as needed. It doesn’t need to be totally dark/black - you just need to have a distinct light/dark contrast between the subject and the background.  Download your image to your computer and open it with any image editing software. Play with the brightness & contrast until it looks right, but again it still doesn’t have to be perfect. You are using this as a template for cutting the finished product out of black cardstock. Resize if needed and print out. When cutting out the template, you do not need to include every stray hair, it’s a likeness, not a photography. You have my permission. However, if one of your darling subjects has an adorable cowlick - by all means, include it. It’ll be worth it later! Same with long eyelashes - a treasure! Use small pointed scissors and move the paper as you cut rather than the scissors for the best results. Digi-peeps - by all means you can do this totally digital - extract the silhouette, put it on some scripty handwritten background paper, whatever your heart desires. No cutting necessary! I picked up some black oval photo frames (5″ x 7″ image size) at the Dollar Tree store tonight to do this. Don’t forget your fur-babies! Long for some cutouts of your “baby”, but he is 25?? Search through those scrapbooks - you may just find a profile image to copy and use as a pattern. And you could even Google some Halloween silhouettes for some ghostly fun (or any holiday for that matter)! Enabling? Nah…not me!

LMK if you try this!  I’ll try to get mine done this weekend so I can share.  I’m also going to work on some of my Halloween & Fall decorating projects too.  Sure, I’ll share…

Cool, huh?  Go Here to get yours…in any font or use your actual signature!

To the World Series! Woo Hoo….

Sorry Suzanne - lots of good baseball in these playoffs though. Good game!

Sh@ron

Watching game 6 of the ALCS…Rays and Boston were tied in the 6th inning, still plenty of time. And even if we don’t win, there’s still another opportunity tomorrow night to go into the Series. I hope they win tonight or definitely tomorrow night. They’re here in St. Pete at Tropicana field - a very nice enclosed (read that air conditioned!) stadium. Went to a game about a month - 6 weeks ago - loved it! I entered the lottery for World Series tickets…so cross your fingers for me!

“A” is finally spending a few days over at his dad’s…so I’m getting some stuff around the house caught up. Nothing major or fun, but odds & ends. Had some dowels cut by the nice young men at Lowe’s tonight. That’ll allow me to finish putting up the shelving and get my rubber stamps out where I can see them and use them.

Decided to see what all the fuss was about with this vampire series…Twilight - you’ll find it in the Young Adult section of the library. Well, if you can find it…I went to put my name in for it when it returns. I was number 73 on the waitlist! I found it in paperback at Kmart for under $10, so I got it. I also went ahead and picked up the next one, New Moon (also in paperback) but will have to wait for the others in the series (2 more…) as they only had those in hardback. And apparently, the first book is coming out next month as a movie…will be interesting. Anyone read these yet? If you are thinking about it, apparently there are additional stories to the series on the author’s website linked above.

My phone is giving me issues - called the service provider - and I can’t say I’m too happy with them, but it seems to be working now, though the other odd messages and issues I’m having are still occurring. Ummm, sunspots? Really, it’s 10pm at night. They may have to send me another phone since it’s still under warranty. We’ll see.

Am contemplating my next career if the economy continues to spiral downward…this one will be in the health care field.  I doubt it’ll be nursing, but possibly physical therapy.  Nothing transferred from my massage therapy schooling, but if I can update my license and keep it current, it will possibly put me ahead of other program and job candidates.  And retaking Anatomy & Physiology classes won’t hurt except for the tuition part.  Will be applying for the Spring Semester…just in case…working my back up plan.  The only thing that isn’t working for me is the PT Assistant program is a 2 year degree with a state certification test afterwards.  The next level is Physical Therapist which is a doctorate program.  You need a 4 year degree to get into a school, then 3 more years.  I need to find out how much of what I currently have and what I will get in the PTA program will count towards a 4 year degree in case I want to go for the Dr.  Wouldn’t that be something?!  Just wish there was a step in between the two…though there are only 2 programs in the US that offer a transitional program - Ohio & California (Loma Linda).  We’ll see…walk before we run, right?

Okay…this is getting long.  Rays are down by 2 runs in the top of the 7th, so I’m going to close for now and watch the rest of the game.  Night!

Sh@ron