My Birthday Present

Old Deck

For my birthday this past spring, my hubby got me a new larger gazebo for our deck to replace this old one - along with some new deck furniture.

Little did he know what a HUGE undertaking he took on for himself :) I had realized that we would end up using the new gazebo about as much as the old one (in other words - NOT often!) unless we made a change.

We needed to build rails all the way around the deck. You see, if we are OUTside, and our Girls (the dogs) are INside, they sit at the patio door and whine.

If we let them out... they race all around the yard like maniacs and I have to stand in the yard to be sure no one gets hurt. So I am STILL not enjoying the deck!

But... if we let them out onto the deck with us, and keep them there, they will be happy because they are out with us and I won't have to worry about any "whippet NASCAR" accidents :) At least... that's what I'm HOPING for!

I'm REALLY looking forward to this! I can't wait to bring my bearmaking outside on those beautiful days! (we have wireless internet too, so hubby can bring his laptop outside)

We've gotten LOTS done. We should be able to get the gondola up this Saturday!! Here's what progress we've made so far. I'm pretty sure I'd like Bob to enclose the bottom of the deck to keep the furry critters out... but I know that will be a pain in the neck!

One of my Other "Hobbies"... Saving Money

Yes, I know.. I have a lot of hobbies ;)

I'm not sure this one actually qualifies as a hobby, but I have a blast saving money and finding coupons I can use.

I've started a blog just for all the money saving tips I have - or have been given to me - as well as coupons and great deals.

If you are interested - it's http://savewithlaura.blogspot.com/

So far I've posted some ideas on how to save money when you dine out, taking care of your pets, Yankee Candles and more.

Another New Bear Plus.....

Toffee is another bear that I've just added to the website. He's a 10" 2 toned bear with hand shading added to his face. Toffee can be seen on the Bears for Adoption page. If you looked earlier today after I sent out an email... he wasn't there (duh!!) I added him but forgot to "save" it so it didn't "stick". He's there now though :)

I'm also helping a friend sell some of her artist bears on eBay for her. They are for sale under my other ebay ID that I use for our "household items" since these bears were not created by myself. You can find them here.

New Bear on Website

I've also managed to finish a new mini bear today. His name is Lil Spruce. He's a whopping 3 3/4" tall but can still stand up all by himself. You can find him on the Bears for Adoption Page.

Pets.....

Today while I was grabbing a quick lunch, I read the "Diary of a Bear Artist" in my latest Teddy Bear Club International magazine.

I love reading Andy's ramblings... he makes me laugh - both with him and at myself! Dodo's antics (his cat) are hilarious! Yes, I have helpers too, although they are canine! My newest helper is shown here... Sequoya. She's the chihuahua we adopted from Chihuahua Rescue and she keeps me laughing. She often likes to sit inside my sweatjacket while I am working. My hubby asked what I am going to do when it gets warm... I told him we'd figure that out when the time comes.

Later today though, we have an appointment with a Fire and Safety company to give us an estimate on installing a fire/smoke detection and monitoring system that will call 911 for us automatically.

You see, last Sunday our friends across the street had a horrible house fire. They are alright as they were not home - but they lost their beloved Scotty dog. He was an awesome dog.... I took care of him whenever they were out of town and brought him over to play with my Girls. Bob (hubby) even tried to give him mouth to mouth and CPR, but it was too late :( Scotty's family was only gone for 45 minutes! After this experience, we decided to do what we could for our Girls. We never even thought of it till last Sunday.

Schaumburg Show!

Yep, it's been a while again. I'm a bit behind on some special order bears... and I feel guilty if I spend time on my blog when I need to be making bears.

Last Saturday though was the ABC Teddy Bear Show in Schaumburg, IL (my back yard!) ABC has decided to cut down their Schaumburg shows to once a year instead of having a spring and fall show. I was not going to be in town this weekend so I didn't sign up for a table.

Then my out of town plans changed so I certainly attended as a collector! As usual, I was too busy looking at all the bears and chatting with everyone to remember to take photos... until near the end of the show! I was able to get a few photos and put them into my Flickr account. Just click on that show photo below to go to the rest of the pictures.

Catching up.....

Hi!

First I apologize... if you have tried to email me, I may or may not have received your email on time. I've been trying to catch up with some emails that I should have received days ago. I think the problem is solved though.

I know the post right before this was about a small change I had made to the website. Well, not long after that - I realized that although it was faster for me... I just didn't care for it! So, it's back to almost what it was like before :) (I've warned my husband that he should be glad that I can no longer rearrange furniture LOL!!!)

I'm looking forward to a small break. I'm going to leave my husband here to hold down the fort -- and going to visit my Mom in Kentucky for a few days!! I've had enough of this snow, let me tell ya! Although it's gone now... today there were a few flakes trying to come down again! I can't wait to see her - and to introduce her to my new helper - Sequoya! Of course, I'll be bringing some bears down to work on. I can't stand to not have something for my hands to do.

Have a great weekend if I don't get a chance to come back before then!