To Give

What is one thing that you can give to someone that is material in a since, but could save a life?  That doesn't cost more than an hour of your time?

That's right, a pint of blood.  Did you know that 1 pint of blood can save up to 3 lives!  Or that every two second someone in the U.S. needs blood.  Or that less than 38% of the U.S. population is eligible to give blood.  The most requested blood type by hospitals is Type O, this blood type is used for emergencies cases before the blood type is known and for newborns.  O-Negative is the universal blood type, meaning that it can be given to people of all blood types.  Only 3% of people in the U.S. are type AB-positive, the most rare blood type, however they are the universal donor of plasma, which is used in emergencies, newborns and patients that are required massive transfusions.  AB blood type can receive from all other types of blood.

What is plasma, whole blood, platelets? 

Whole Blood is just like it sounds, all of it.  It is the red cells, white cells, plasma and platelets.

Plasma? That is the fluid that surrounds the red cells, white cells and platelets.

Platelets? This is the cell fragment in the blood whose main function is to interact with clotting proteins and stop or prevent bleeding.

How did I start giving blood.  Well, I guess I would have to say that my parents did, so that influence me to as well.  My mom has O-negative, so she is quite popular with the Red Cross.  Me on the other hand, I have B-positive, so they like me, but I'm not as popular.  I started giving in high school at the age of 17.  To date I have donated over 35 pints of blood.  How many pints are in a gallon you ask?  8 pints equal a gallon. So if you do the math, I have given almost 5 gallons of blood.  WOW!  That sure sounds like a lot!

This month is Red Cross Month.  So if you are eligible to donate, go to the American Red Cross website and find a blood drive near you and give someone the selfless gift of blood.

"The need is constant. The gratification is instant. Give blood"

An Oldie but a Goodie

This girl right here

This is Daisy.  She is 13th (wow a teenager!) She is a lab mix (mixed with Pit Bull and Rottweiler).  And this is one of her favorite positions.  You see all that gray around her muzzle?  Yea, that wasn't there 5 years ago.  This is normally the position that she gets into when kids come over.  She loves her belly rubbed! 
Not sure who I should credit training her, but she is the BEST dog ever, if we could clone personalities, I would have her cloned in a heart beat.  She walks right next to you without a leash, (well she used to, she's a bit slow nowadays)  She is gentle with children, listens well and was an excellent hunter.  (I use was, because she can't quite run like she used to.) A trick that Hubby taught her was to speak for a treat.  Well now that she is older.  She thinks if she speaks she should get a treat ALL the time!  She has trained quite a few of our guest.  When they walk into our house she immediately barks (speaks).  And in turn more times then not, she gets a treat.  I think most feel bad for the old lady, but she is tricking all of them!  I know her tricks!

Like all labs, she loves the water. 

Smiling!  Fun loving she is. And I love that (as a good friend said) she still has that sparkle in her eyes.  It might be harder for her to go up and down the stairs, but she just loves to be with you! Heres to a many more great days with you girl! 

Five

Happy Birthday Lola!  You were the best wedding gift that we could have given each other!  I love our daily walks and nightly snuggles!  To many many more birthdays. 

The Bug

The cleaning bug that is!  I blame it on the unseasonably warm weather.  Or maybe it's just my dirty house... But something has sprung me into a cleaning and organizing fool (sorta)!

I only took crappy pictures of my first project that got this all started

This is the side of my kitchen that you don't see when you walk in.  It is hidden behind the fridge and I felt that the microwave helped "hide" the mess.  Well that so wasn't the case.  See after:

Wow!  Who knew I had a mini bar!  It sure helped that I got rid of the clutter!  I had an espresso maker in the corner that didn't even work! Much better and even more functional. A double yea!

What else have I done... The basement was a mess with all the holiday decor out.  Plus my mom and I were making memorial blankets for a local nursery and we had a lot of supplies left over after the season.  So I bought some plastic totes and organized everything which then lead me into reorganizing my storage area to house all my new crafty supplies.  It was amazing how much bigger my basement became!

And the last and least noticeable one was I cleaned a cabinet out.  Yup, only one.  But it was better than none.  I really need to tackle the bathroom cabinets! 

I know nothing to exciting.  But that is really how I roll, lol!  Next up, I really need to clean my windows! But I really don't do windows...  I almost feel it's pointless to clean my windows with my 2 doggies that like to snot all over them...  But a couple times a year, I guess its a must...

A Great Investment

These

How could I never own a pair of these?  HOW? These are the best invention ever! Especially if you have 2 dogs that need a walk everyday, and you have a long driveway that is very very very muddy. 

How could this country girl never own a pair!  I have lived at our house for over 10 years.  And have walked down our long driveway in the snow, rain, and sunshine.

See that stop sign...  I walk down the hill to the mailbox everyday.  However this picture is from a beautiful sunny day.  Currently my drive is one big mud puddle, because Old Man Winter must of lost track of time or he is getting so old that he forgot that winter was supposed to happen in the months of January and February.  I have a funny feeling that we will be regretting these unseasonable warm days and will pay for it in March and April.  Bah humbug! What, wrong season?  Well, go tell that to Old Man Winter!

Just look around

On my daily walk to the mailbox with the doggies.  I notice this guy!

I love when I look in the snow covered weeds and see a tree that has made it!  Not sure when he was planted, but after further examination, he is a healthy little guy!  I think this one will make it! (Sorry, got excited when I saw him and had to tell the blog, hehehe)

I took the above picture yesterday January 30th.  Today January 31st, it is currently 52 degrees.  This has been one winter to put in the history books folks.  We normally have a January thaw, but this year, it snows on the weekends and melts during the week.  (Can't complain it has been great for weekend sledding fun!)

Cheese Bug

I thought I should share the gifts we made for our Homemade Hometown Christmas back in December, (now that it's the end of January...) If you don't mind, I will toot my own horn, they are pretty cool!  I have had friends say they want me (Hubby) to make them one!  And when I say Hubby, well, he put a lot of labor into making mine!  It was my idea, but with all the tools out to do it, he found the inspiration.

First up - The Cheesehead. This is the gift that Hubby made for our good friend, Aaron.  He has family that lives near Green Bay, so he loves Spotted Cow beer and them Cheeseheads (And yes, he is pretty upset about the Packers lost last weekend).  Since we don't know how to brew beer, we choose the simpler of the 2 loves.  A Cheesehead!

Not sure if I should be called a bad blogger or just inexperienced, because I don't have pictures of how these gifts were made, shit, I didn't even take a picture of the final product, I took this picture off of Facebook.  (Thanks Leigh!)

How was it made?  It is made out of Styrofoam packaging from an old computer box I had in our storage area.  Hubby shaved it into the shape of the cheesehead. Then we hot glued a baseball hat to the inside and spray painted.  And there you have it!  I must admitted he looks pretty good in it!

The Gift I made...
First, I would like to mention my first idea failed!  I wanted to make this...

A tiki torch wine bottle. I drew, Sarah, and she pinned it!  Her and I and a couple other friends had went on a wine tasting trip the year before. It just seemed like the prefect gift!  So, not totally reading the directions, I based my torch on - first - color and then on wine brand.  I wanted blue like in the picture and the winery that we had visited had a beautiful blue bottle, YAY!  Meant to be, right! Well long story short, the wine neck wasn't right, and I couldn't find the correct size copper pieces to fit inside.  So when Hubby and I tried to make them, we kept breaking the bottles...

So plan B.  (With only 4 days til the party!  Talk about pressure!) But, I had an idea all ready in motion! During the fall I saw in a magazine these really cool recycled bowling ball garden Ladybugs.  So, while out to lunch with a friend that loves bowling, I asked if she had some old bowling balls she didn't want any more.  She looked at me weird and said, "Sure, please take these heavy, awkward things I don't have any where to store!"  So would you believe I already had them in my trunk before plan A failed...  Maybe this was more meant to be...

And here is one of the final products!

This one is actually mine. My bowling friend game me 3, if I was going to go through all this trouble to make one... and I had 3 balls, well I was going to make them all at once!  Which is cool, my garden got a little Christmas gift this year too!

What did we get in return...  Funny, Hubby and Aaron drew each others names.  He made Hubby a calendar of our group's annual canoeing trip.

"Because sometimes you wish the best weekend of the summer could last all year long."

Yes, it says Canudists... Inside joke, we really don't canoe nude! 

And his lovely bride drew my name.  Stefanie is the knitter of the group.  She made me these.

Which are awesome!  These are the best dish towels ever!  They are soft, however, they are tough enough to scrub the pots and pans!  Love them!  (She made me 4, however one was in use, surprised I had these 3 clean!)

It was a great night, with a lot of creative ideas!  It turned out great. I'm pretty sure the census was to make our gifts next year.  I better get to thinking...  I think I have set the bar high!