What is there, really, to buy a husband for his birthday?  There just don't seem to be as many gift ideas for men as for women.  Also, this was right on the heels of Hurricane Ike so there hadn't been the opportunity to shop and look around for a gift.  This was the first day most people in our area even tried to go back to work.  I pretty much accepted that he just wasn't going to get a gift this birthday, at least not on the day, although maybe he could pick out something he liked on another day.  And then about 3 pm in the afternoon, as I was thinking about a card I could make, maybe one with a stamped tree for a "male" card, I got the idea to find a summer vacation picture I could use in one of the wooden picture frames I had stashed away in the closet.  I have made several frames like this for gifts and they turn out pretty well.  One I made for a baby gift in this post.

This started as just a plain wooden frame bought at a craft store.  I went through our Yellowstone vacation photos until I came across this one, of my husband and our boys at Inspiration Point in Yellowstone National Park.  I chose some retired SU designer paper that I had on hand and seemed to match and covered the frame with it, just using the SU glue stick on both the frame and the back of the designer paper.  I just laid the frame on the back side of the paper and traced the shape, adhered the paper to the frame, then used a scissors and hobby blade to cut out the center.  Did the same with the back to make it look pretty and also put narrow bands of designer paper around the inside edge of the frame as well as the outer edge of the frame.  The pine trees and pine needles at the top were stamped with a retired stamp set, DD Pines.  I embossed the trees with Versamark and Clear Embossing Powder to make them stronger and more interesting.  And I used my new Big Shot to cut out the letters for Yellowstone using the Naturally Serif die.  The letters are very small, but they were perfect for this project and will be for many more projects. 

I just love my new Big Shot!!  If you aren't familiar with the Big Shot die cutting machine made by Sizzix, you will want to click on this link to watch the Stampin' Up! video.  Email me with any questions and you can decide if this product will be of use to you in your projects (of course it will!).

  Thankfully we weathered the storm just fine although it was an anxious night to say the least.  We were lucky that our power stayed on until 2 am, just as the storm got bad here.  I even managed to get some sleep as the wind didn't seem to be as scary where our bedroom was compared to the family room at the back of the house.  It's not just the wind, it's the odd noises and moans and groans that you can't identify and can't see out during the night and shouldn't be near the windows anyway.  In the morning we were stunned to see lots of tree branches down, our chimney cap off in a neighbor's driveway (one of the weird noises no doubt!) and a big branch on our garage, but the house was fine as were the cars.  Fortunately, in our neighborhood, of the parts I have seen, the big trees and branches that fell seemed to land in the street rather than on top of a house.  Miraculously our power came back on the next evening, but it is rare to have power.  I've learned the most important thing is to have ice!  People are standing in long lines waiting for ice, water, and meals not to mention gasoline, where there is some.  Generally speaking, we are just inconvenienced in Houston, but Galveston took a terrible hit and some other areas without the seawall are all but obliterated.  Even so, some beach houses stood and look in pretty good shape.  Now it looks like hundreds and hundreds of power trucks and workers have arrived and are staging at the race track so hopefully lots of people will get their power back on soon.  Here are some photos of the tree damage in our yard and neighborhood.  While shocking to us at first look after the storm, they seem like nothing after what we have seen on TV for days.

It started getting a little gusty around dinner time (one last hot meal!) but SO FAR it isn't even raining here in my area and it is only occasionally gusty.  But even that little bit is pretty scary.  Looks very bad in Galveston from the TV pictures.  Yes, we still have electricity although I don't expect that to last much longer.  There are already lots of areas out around town.  Just watching the TV news and answering the phone!  The worst will be during the night, I think they said they eye will be here around 2 am, then a little calm, and then the back side has to go through.  Can't wait for this to be over!!  We've got supplies in the hall assuming we will spend the night there, lots of things are put away in case of this or that….what if this window breaks, what if this window leaks, what if this falls over, what if this ceiling leaks, etc. etc.  Just so the house stays in one piece, we can deal with anything else….I think.

I was hoping I would wake up this morning and find out the storm had turned and wasn't coming here, but so far it is still on track for Galveston, which means Houston.  The sun is shining brightly in Houston right now, with no bad weather expected until late this afternoon.  I just added text messaging to my cellphone because I read sometimes a text message will go through when a call won't.  Who knows what kind of phone service, electricity, etc. we will have as this storm goes through?!  Already Galveston is starting to flood and the pictures of the waves crashing over the Seawall are incredible…..and it's only low tide and the storm is 100 miles out.  Another coastal community, Surfside, is already flooding.  Amazingly, there are always some people who won't leave.  Crazy!

Here is a funny hurricane joke someone sent me:

There's always a silver lining……..

Top 10 reasons Hurricane Season is like Christmas
Number 10:
Decorating the house (with plywood).

Number 9:
Dragging out boxes that haven't been used since last season.

Number 8:
Last minute shopping in crowded stores.

Number 7:
Regular TV shows pre-empted for 'Specials'.

Number 6:
Family coming to stay with you.

Number 5:
Family and friends from out of state calling you.

Number 4:
Buying food you don't normally buy . . . and in large quantities.

Number 3:
Days off from work.

Number 2:
Candles.
 
And the Number 1 reason Hurricane Season is like Christmas:
At some point you're probably going to have a tree in your house!