The Outlawz Friday Coloring Thanks or Thanksgiving Challenge/Jon's Birthday Card

Is it me or does this Friday feel really special? Teehee. Hardeharharhar. It's me alrighty. We are getting our decorative rocks installed today, which will finish the backyard. Yup, you heard me. Finished! Now that is pretty darn good, considering they started the pool dig 4 weeks ago today. A.MAZ.ING!!! Right????

The pool interior was done on Saturday, with the acid wash on Sunday. Then we filled it Sunday and Monday; and they came back to start it up on Monday afternoon. The deck jets were installed on Wednesday. All we really want to do, besides putting in the rock, is add a gate to the pool equipment area. (My brainstorm, I will take a bow, thank you, thank you. Problem of ugly pool equipment solved.) And the gate people, (that sounds like somebody from a horror movie), will be here sometime today to measure for the gate. The rain gutters were installed yesterday, and we are still awaiting a date for the patio shade-screen. That is a minor detail in the big scope of things, though, and has nothing to do with the beauty of our backyard. Because it is stunning, if I do say so myself. And I most definitely do. Wait until you see the before/after photos! It is really an amazing transformation. (BTW, all of our plants were planted last Friday, and it was a wondrous thing, really. Guess I am over-the-moon about them!)

Oh, and did you hear about those Arizona Cardinals??? Still with the best record in the ENTIRE NFL!!! At least for this week, at 8-1. Of course, into each life a bit of rain must fall. And ours fell in a gully-washer last Sunday. Yes, we won the game. And, yes, it was pretty fantastic. BUT, we lost our starting quarterback, Carson Palmer, for the rest of the season. Sigh...only time will tell if our back-up can keep the offense chugging along. We can only hope.

Also pretty amazing is the fact that my alma-mater, Arizona State, has an 8-1 record right now as well. Don't know what's gotten into these AZ football teams, but it would be pretty fantastic if they could both keep it going.

On the Gary front. Well, his original back problem is much better. He says it hurts only at a 2 on a scale from 1-10. And he did see his urologist, who confirmed that he does not have any kidney stones right now. Nor does he have evidence of kidney cancer, which Gary apparently is concerned about, as his paternal grandfather died from kidney cancer when Gary was a little boy. Either I didn't know that, or I totally forgot it.

Anyway, even though his lower back is much better on the right side, he now has a backache on the left side. He said he caught his arm in the sheets in bed and somehow twisted his back getting his arm out. Ahem. So now he hardly sleeps because it hurts so much to lie down on his back. Gag me. I told him to go back to the family doctor and get a new prescription for muscle relaxers. That should take care of his new problem. Other than that, things are really hunky-dory around here.

OK, back to our regularly scheduled program...yes, this is Friday, so it is a new Outlawz challenge for the Friday Coloring group. You may use any medium you wish for coloring your image on your project. We are sponsored this month by The East Wind, and our lucky randomly-selected participant will win a prize of three digital images! Good luck to you all.

So, on to this week's card. I combined our SIL's birthday card with the theme for the week. I used the Jellypark image, Boy Leaning on Word Son. I printed this on X-Press It BC, colored it with my Copics and Twin Touch Brush markers, added my own sentiment and some lettering from Memory Box Typewriter Lower dies, and added a bit of baker's twine. My DP is from the Basic Grey Out of Print collection, and it was paired with Stampin' Up CS. Here are the colors I used:

Skin: E000, E00, E21, E11, E04, R20

Hair: YR20, E31, E35

Shoes/Shirt: Y11, TTY49, TTY44

Jeans: B93, B95, B97

T-shirt: TTGY175, YG93, TTY42

Before I go, I want to mention that my talented teammates, (Carla, Dawn, Kathi, and Laine), have made some fabulous inspirational pieces. Do check them out. And then play along with us again this week, OK?

Hope you all have a wonderful weekend! We will be back at the stadium to see the Cardinals beat the Lions!  (Right? Oh, I surely hope so!)