So yeah, like the title said. I have been busy photoshopping… I have entered a few contests at worth1000.com and i even won one of those contests.. I have to admitt after seeing what all the other ppl can do.. I think I am not half as good as i thought i was… but the good news is.. i can learn a lot from it… 🙂

I have added the pictures  of the contests to my picture album well at least those that I made.. and…  here are the links to the contest so you can see the other ppls  pictures too and mine..  🙂

http://www.worth1000.com/cache/contest/contestcache.asp?contest_id=14332  <— Mine is the dragon in the bottle.. hard to miss 😛

http://www.worth1000.com/cache/contest/contestcache.asp?contest_id=14227 <—-I entered 4 times here… 2 of them are hard to miss.. the green doors…. then theres the skelleton in the closet.. the other two I’ll show ya  in the picture libraRY

http://www.worth1000.com/cache/contest/contestcache.asp?contest_id=14331 <—- 2 pictures from me here.. one is the  garage sale with the fence in front with all the little critters… and the other one is the buffalo’s on the shelf..

http://www.worth1000.com/cache/contest/contestcache.asp?contest_id=14380 <— quite proud of myself… hard to explain which one is mine 😛

http://www.worth1000.com/cache/contest/contestcache.asp?contest_id=14226 <— the contest that i won… the pink bunny 🙂 isnt he cute!!!

http://www.worth1000.com/cache/contest/contestcache.asp?contest_id=14340

http://www.worth1000.com/cache/contest/contestcache.asp?contest_id=14338  <—–one of the police cats is mine!!

http://www.worth1000.com/cache/contest/contestcache.asp?contest_id=14330

http://www.worth1000.com/cache/contest/contestcache.asp?contest_id=14028 <– the first contest i entered on this site and the one that got it all started… mine is the cooking guy.. hard to miss 🙂

Lack of time really makes me having to end this blog entry now because i still have to upload the pictures to the  site too..

hugs!!!!

Last night, early this morning my grandmother passed away. My mother called me this morning to inform me about this news. She had called me earlier this week to let me know that my grandmother wanst doing well and that they (mostly my uncle and my aunts because they live close and my mom at the other side of the country) where watching her day and night now. So this call.. that she had passed away, didnt came as a big surprise. It wasnt a real shock neither… My grandmother reached the respectfull age of 95 years old  and it was for the last 5 – 10 years that she was getting real old… as in… starting to forget things, people and not being able to take care of herself anymore even. Most of her life she was perfectly healthy and she traveled a lot My grandfather had passed away when I was a little girl, even younger then my daughter is now. And she never got remarried or even got into a new relationship as far as I know. She was very religious and loved needleworkings such as crossstitching. She never had a tv but listened to the radio instead. My grandmother was, when she was still fit enough very active in the comuntty of her church and she used to go ride her bike a lot and work in her vegetable garden I remember when me and my brother where little that we used to play in the front yard with small blue and red balls that she  keept for her grandchildren. I loved her but i was never really close to her. Somehow there was always some kind of a distance between us, maybe that was because she was so very religious. I dont know.  While her body and mind where gettting older and older they came to a point where they couldnt keep up with her heart anymore. I am proud of my grandmother, she was a very strong woman.

I stopped visiting her, not because i didnt love her or because i didnt wanted to see her, but… I didnt wanted to confuse her she wouldnt remember me anymore and having a stranger comming over to visit you telling you that shes your granddaughter must be at least a little disturbing dont ya think? Especially in the beginning when her mind started to get bad. She knew she was forgetting things, and knowing my grandmother that must have bothered her a whole lot, I didnt wanted to rub it in, it was better  this way. I knew I wouldnt see her anymore most likely and I had no idea how long she still had to go. A few years later, she didnt even remembered my mother anymore as being her daughter. She didnt recognised anyone anymore.

And now shes going to be burried. I would like to go and pay her my respect, but I dont ant to take my daughter to the other side of the country when she never even knew her grand grand mother. I have told her about her grand grandmother, and she knows that she has passed away last night. She had some more questions about her and she was satisfied with the answers. My grandmother didnt wanted flowers else I would at least make arrangements to have something delivered or I would ask my mother to take them. My brother isnt going there either when shes being burried . When you are about her age, you dont have many friends if any, that are still alive… so besides her own children and some of her grandchildren with there children no one else likely will be there since, although she was the oldest of her brothers and sisters, most of them have passed away as well, if not all.

Grandmother, I loved you, and I will remember you as you where when you lived and we came to visit you or when you came to visit us. I hope you rest in peace. Amen

What started out as a not so bad day turned into a disaster.

The whole day everything went fine, I had a hard time getting off my butt to start doing some chores, but I even managed to do that 😛 My darling daughter had after school activities. Streetdancing, Its at her own school and theres other girls from her class in it too so she really enjoys going there.  On such days i take some extra rime for myself to relax and sit back since i have more quiet hours and can spread my work. It was getting to the time to pick her up and I couldnt even finish the ebay auction i was preparing. half of the  information about the object was  allready written, but i didnt wanted her to stand there waiting  for me and being the last person thats picked up. So I put on my boots n coat, grabbed my cellphone, purse and keys and left everything as it was, Thinking I would be back home in a few minutes to continu my work. Right?

Wrong, thats where the trouble begun. I was in time for my girl and even had to wait for a minut. After she came out and we hugged and said bye to her teacher, we went to the store for just a few lil groceries. I had run out of bread and her lemonade was reaching the bottom too. I also bought some cookies. When i paid at the cashregister I suddenly missed my keys. Ok, calm down.. check your purse and pockets… No keys… I remembered that when trying to get a bottle of lemonade I had to put my keys down most likely to be able to get one bottle out of a big sealed package. I dont excactly remembered if I really DID that but that thought came in my mind for a reason right? So I walked there to that lane and chacked the shelfs… I checked all other lanes too.. Its a real tiny supermarket. But, you might have guessed it allready, No keys.

No keys. Where are my keys?! keept on playing thru my mind. Checked my purse again and my pockets, my daughters pockets and her school bag. No keys. Ok now I Started to freak out. What where the things I did ??? Nothing?  left home after locking the door, I remember thinking for a second if i should lock it, I was gonna be only  gone for a couple minuts and the first entry door wouldbe locked still from the halls of the appartement building… I decided to lock it and  left for school. At school I hugged and we walked to the store. On the way to the store I had to tie up My daughters shoe laces and it is not likely but possible that i had put them down there too on the sidewalk. We rushed back to that spot, there where some kids playing that we had seen when we walked  to the store the first time.. They where kids from her school where she played with sometimes. I asked them if they had found my keys, well no they did not. Ok maybe I am loosing my mind and left the keys in the door. I rang the bell for the eighbours to open the door to the public hallway. Upstairs, no keys…oh boy… it really was getting to me.. What was I gonna do??? I left My girl waiting in  the hall at home and went back to the store. thats actualy only 3 minutes walking, or in this case when in a hurry not even a minut. I walked the excact same route as I did the first time when I walked to school first. Still no luck. Since I had my adress label on the keys too I had hoped that if someone foudn them that they would have put them in the mailbox at home.. Like I would have done. Again I walked thru the store lookign for my keys, several other people helped looking. But nothing. I really did it this time… they where gone…

Nothing i could do anymore… I went back home to the neighbours and asked for a phonebook… I needed to call my landlor n see if there where any spare keys, No spare keys, but they would calla  locksmith for me and the door would be opened for me and the lock replaced.
As I was waiting I called several other lock smiths just to find out how much this little joke was gonna cost me. Well the prices I heard where not to laugh about…. My panic started to fade.. I would be getting into my house again soon the lock replaced and the only real harm it would have done was the money it would cost me… They will send me a Money transfer order that i will have to fill in to pay the bill thru my landlord (thats cheaper then the other locksmiths) There was no way I would get into my house in time to be able to make diner. So  me and my daughter went to a nearby fastfood and filled our tummies… Then we went back to our neighbours house where the waiting continued.  The phone rang, it was the locksmith he was just turning his car into the street where I lived and would be here any minut. I was releaved, in not too long I would have access to my house again! The guy started working on the door and not a minut later I was inside! yahoo!!! He replaced the lock and 5 minutes later all the horror was history!

While I was waiting and talking with the neighbours, the oldest son said well you know what it is with keys.. they should go into your pocket as soon as you close the door, and stay there untill you need to open it again. He was so right, I couldnt argue with that! Let that be my advice for you guys today.

Keys belong in your pocket untill the moment that you need them.

Hugs!

I discovered Ebay…

ahuh, I did. And now the Ebay fever had hit me, I wat to sell things too! In the last few weeks I have been looking arround my house and putting the things aside that I really can not use anymore but that are still in great condition. Clothes from my daughter who have gotten too small and only have been worn once or twice, even clothes from me that I didnt really liked after all.

I also discovered i have a limited edition hallmark hazy days collectible. Only 5000 where made and mine is numbered 1268. Does that mean I actualy have something thats worth something decent? You understand what this means? It means that I have to go google and find outif they are actualy worth something. I remember exactly how I got it.

I was working in a big warehouse downtown of a cute lil city. Once every year they had a great sale for the people who worked there. All sorts of things where being sold lottery way. which means we all went arround looking at the things we wanted to buy. Then we all got as many numbers as items where written down. Each lot costed 1 euro. Then the numbers where being called.. if your number was called you would get to go get one of the items you wanted.. If someone else wanted the same and had his/her number picked before you, too bad.. then you simply had to get something else or nothing. Ofcourse as lucky as I am my numbers came at the end and there wasnt anything left that I wanted really. But these things where really cheap now and some normally costed up to 100 euros. So I simply picked some things that where cute and I could use somehow or make someone else happy with. At the end of this lottery there was one last raffle. All tickets went in a hat and 3 where picked. Three numbers where picked and three people went home with free tickets to the coolest circus in the Netherlands. Quite expensive tickets aswell may i add.. However.. again I wasnt so lucky to go home with them. I did go home with this hallmark limited edition collectible lazy days some little things for my little girl a few gifts for some other people and only a few euros lighter.

Thats how I got that Hallmark limited edition collectible. I dont know if I am going to sell it, but its just standing arround and I dont really have anything with it, its cute but… I am a fairy/elf kinda person 🙂

Now on to the next thing, Guinea pigs, I dont have anythingwith those either.. except, I bought the cutest lil pink baby guinea pigs ever! No they are not real, they are not even for me but for two wonderful girls who i am sure will love these guinea pigs. They are beanie babies by the way. See I do love cute things. just not for me to keep 🙂 I rather make other people happy with cute little things 🙂

Well so much for today! Till next time!

This week I ran into some luck when purchasing new items.

A few days ago I finally bought, after talking about it for months and several weeks of research doubts, more research and finally a decision, a digital camera.

A Canon Powershot A430 Now a few days later I still havent managed to make a decent picture with it. But then again, I didnt really took the time yet to figure the camera out and take advantage of all its possibilities. One day I am sure I will have a little home made video. And some other day I actualy figured out how to add sound. And finally I will have a cute little video with sound one day. 🙂

Anyway, to get back to the subject, After all that research I had a few options.. buy it online.. which would save me a few euros but would give me more risc because of the shipping and if something would be wrong with it then I would have to ship it back which would cost me more shipping costs and I actualy might end up more expensive then when I purchase it from a store. So I went out to buy it in a store right here in Amsterdam. The first shop used to have the camera but they where all soldout… no biggie.. there where two more options nearby. The second shop didnt had it. The third shop, a proffesional photostore told me it was an old cam and they couldnt even get it anymore… right…. Well I had to call it a day, me and my daughter where both tired after doing groceries and this no-luck-camera-shopping and it was nearly closing time anyways.

The very next day I went out again to another part of Amsterdam where the computer and photo stores where packed together in 2 streets. I would have there about 12 chances to find one. I went first to a shop i knew who had it but who also was a little more expensive then the others would be. Hoping it would be on sale or something.. but no, no luck. Then I went to my favorite computer shop where I also bought my new computer last year. They don’t sell cameras I found out. So next door to the next shop…. ops it was still closed at almost 1 pm. A few doors further was another shop where i had planned on buying it and where i was sure of that they had it. Tough luck… they where still closed too. Oh well accross the street was another little computershop and there was a chance that they had it. And YES!! they did… Unfortunately NOT in the color I wanted. The sales person told me I would just have to go accross the street again to buy it there.

It still wasnt 1 pm ( thats when they would open) So I went window shopping for just a little bit. Theres a cute little shop at the corner towards the Albert Cuyp market. They have the cutest things always, besides swarovski chrystal they have cute little ornaments and much more. They also had this time the cutest Owls statues. They actualy are piggy banks I found out later when I was standing inside the shop. They had a few sizes and only the largest owl had a pricetag. My mom is aboslutely nuts about Owls so I had to buy her one. I asked how much the other owls costed and they where really MUCH cheaper then the price tags said. I saved about 10 to 15 euros on that owl. That was my first bargain that day. After leaving a few euros behind and an owl richer i left the shop.

Back to my camera shopping. I went right away back to the other store I was sure who had it. They where about to open and I only had to wait a minut or so. After they opened the door I quickly looked arround and noticed they had the camera I wanted.. AND they had taken 10 euros of the price too!! That was my second bargain this week.

Yesterday it would be the day for my third, fourth and fifth bargain. I had started to clean the deepfrying pan but as you might now they can get real quick very dirty. I looked online for the best ways to clean it after struggling for a bit. I found out that just a dishwasher tablet and water in the deepfrying pan should do the trick. Unfortunately.. I dont have a dishwasher.. and no dishwasher soap either. I left the little rack and the other parts of the deep fryer ( after taking it appart) in water with soap to weak of the oilrests and some water with soap in the deepfryer it self.

After school I would pick up my daughter and go buy ome dishwasher soap to cleanse it. I also needed to buy a miracle sponge (really its a miracle sponge and only needs some water and it cleans everything you thought you never could get clean again.) and some groceries. I had done some research online as of where to buy the sponge. Well the original ones used to cost about 7.95 euros per 2. But I had found simulair sponges from a different brand that only cost 0.95 per 2 sooooooo that was my third bargain!

We went shop in and shop out on the way to the grocery store because while we where on our way Ithought maybe I could buy a cheap new deepfryer then I didnt had to clean the old one at all!! But no luck, they costed more money then I wanted to spend. I did found a ironingboard for just 10 Euros! I decided I would go back there after I got my groceries and pick up that ironingboard. That was my fourth bargain!

At the grocerystore I got my dishwashersoap and all the other groceries I needed. I went back to the store with the ironingboard and bought it. Just a few shops further accross the street was another little shop that sells electronical goods that I had been in yet. As we passed the shop I saw they had frying pans. I let my daughter wait right outside at the door with my ironing board as I went in to find out what they costed. 10 Euros for a new princess deepfrying pan. This was definately my lucky day! 5 bargains! After paying we walked back home, my daughter tired but glad we finally would go home and me tired, and happy with a deepfryingpan under my arm and the groceries and a Ironingboard in my little shopping cart.

At home I sat down for just a few minutes. Got back up to clean the new deepfrying pan so it would be ready for use and use it then for diner. While the deepfrying pan with the new oil was heating up I put my groceries away. I was still exhausted.. but satisfied. This definately was bargain week and the best thing is.. the week isnt over yet, who knows what else I walk into.