Sue

I'm so sorry for your loss. Although I don't know you personally, I can say with all truthfulness that I am deeply saddened for you and can only pray that God will strengthen you and give you the courage to go on. Love your son as if he is present. He is absent today, but one day you will see him again. "Blessed are the poor in spirit for theirs is the Kingdom of Heaven. Blessed are those who mourn for they shall be comforted." Matthew 5:3-4 It seems that both you and your son are covered in these words of Jesus. God Bless. Chaplain and Mrs. Denley (Sue)

Deb, I haven't logged on for awhile and hardly ever in the last two years...2 major surgeries, complications, husband in Kuwait and two mortgages and a total house renovation that I had to do mostly myself!! We finally just got a contract on that darn house (that we had to restore after destructive renters) and the light is at the end of the tunnel. Maybe one of these days I can start working on my miniatures again! Any way, all my excuses for not really knowing you, but my prayers and positive thoughts are with you in your health situations. It sounds like once this is over you'll be feeling better than ever! Sunshine and flowers! Sue

While still under torture with renovating the house we have to sell (aching from head to toe from months of constant tearing out walls and things, spackling painting, tiling, etc., etc., etc.) You name it we've done it. Today I painted the second coat to the hallway and stairwell, as well as completed sanding the handrails to the stairs, 2 coats of stain and finish as well. Jim worked all day installing hardwood floors in the master bedroom. We are tired! We are hopefully only weeks away from being finished and so I celebrated by visiting ebay. Big mistake! I bought the SanFranciscan and have low bids on 5 other houses. Low bids mind you! And I'm promising myself I will not up the ante! (except on one that I found which started this whole thing the other day) I found the first dollhouse I ever built. I built it for my daughter when she was little and she loved it! When she became a teenager she sold it in order to pay for horse camp! It was bittersweet and I think we both regretted it ever since. Any way, I bought the kit originally for $9.99 from a craft store that was going out of business. Back then we didn't have ebay and we were at the mercy of small stores that had to mark their merchandise way up in order to survive. We really couldn't "shop around" and my husband was in college full time so the price was great! Unfortunately I didn't know that much about miniatures and never remembered the name of it or the company. I didn't even realize that there were many many different types of miniature houses and companies with different names! This one is "The Victoria Cottage" by Beachwood Ltd. The good news is that a woman bought the one Bethany sold at the garage sale for her daughter's birthday and she was really excited! So that was sweet! Any way, I called Bethany (my daughter - now 26 a recently graduated social worker in Richmond, VA) and she wanted me to buy it, so I put in the bid. Then I saw the SanFranciscan which I've always adored and I won that one! Then I decided "What the hey? Maybe I'll put in low bids on some other sweet houses and get lucky!" Somebody stop me! Money is tight until we sell that retched house (It was originally our house till we were transferred and the renters completely trashed it!!! and my husband bought our second home because he had to go to Kuwait for 8 months and I was recovering from 2 major surgeries in the last six months at the time. I couldn't move into our existing house because it was just disgusting! Unlivable. And I was just too ill to manage a move and renovation into such a wrecked house. Leave it to the military to move us to a new duty station and send Jim to Kuwait simultaneously! Yikes! I'm tired just writing all of this stuff! Any way, pray that the house sells quickly and that we can get on our feet again, rest and resume living. Like working on my miniature houses and enjoying life again. Now you all know what I've been doing for the past 2 years that I stopped writing!!!! Soon it will be better!!!! I should probably stop before I write a novel. Sue

To everyone at Greenleaf! Hi! I'm Sue and 2 years ago I was just beginning to work on my new Garfield. I'd made a smaller house for my daughter when she was little and always wanted to make another one. Long story short, my enthusiasm for miniatures had to be put on hold after 2 successive surgeries and a prolonged illness. Nearly two years later and I'm itching to begin working on my Garfield, but am stuck finishing a real size renovation of our home that we had rented out while stationed overseas (so that we can sell it and stop having to pay two mortgages!) Yikes! We're almost done and I can't wait to begin enjoying life again. I'm seeing the light at the end of the tunnel! I'll soon be done with this total gut and renovation (we had to do most of the labor ourselves!) :welcome: and I can regain a regular schedule for cleaning my own house and actually enjoying working on my Garfield ;) (Let alone the Beacon Hill hiding in its unopened box!) God Bless All! Sue

I am a Tae Kwon Do instructor and a few years ago I was teaching the tots about good touching and bad touching. The mother and siblings of one of my students suddenly left the dojang visiting area and a huge commotion erupted outside. One of the other siblings found the courage to tell her mother that their father was molesting all of them. He was later found guilty and sent to prison. Safety and vindication for the innocent. From that moment on, I was in awe of my own responsibility.

oops! Skip mine! I don't know how I messed up!

fare

Guys, Thanks for your help! We got the pictures in my gallery! Phew! Computers are not my thing! But it's done, so just check out my gallery, if you want to see what's up with my Garfield so far! Thanks again! Sue

Okay, so I'm really excited! I think me and my daughter have finally figured out how to put these pictures in a gallery!! I'm not really a computer person, so this has taken some doing! As I said yesterday, after having a hysterectomy 6 months ago and never feeling well or getting better, I now have learned that I have a 13.5 centimeter mass in my abdominal cavity (which the docs think is an abcess from my hysterectomy) and I will be having another surgery on Monday! These pictures show the work I've been able to complete in the interim and I'm really excited about being able to get back to this in a few months! Time for some walls to go up, don't you think? These picture show the floor which I am really proud of. I made the flooring myself out of siding pieces to try to get a realistic look. I also made the closet door out of some of the balsa wood. I'm having trouble with a bubble in the wallpaper, so if anyone has any suggestions about how to fix this, I would love a message! I also had a great deal of trouble trying to get the working hinges to "work"! The top two are working, but the bottom one is not working due to glue! Hope you enjoy the pictures! Would appreciate your prayers and thoughts on Monday! Thanks for the support. Having your website has kept me entertained during this surgical adventure, and although I probably won't feel up to writing for awhile, you can be sure that I'll be tuning in! :0) Have a great Halloween! Sue First pictures of my Garfiled If I did it wrong and this link doesn't really work try looking in my gallery! Sue

Hi! I'm trying to figure out how to put my pictures in a gallery. Is there anyone out there right now who knows? Sue

What a great idea! Great detail! I love it! Sue