UHU

receiving free products in the mail is always fun. i couldn't wait to try out the UHU stic and UHU glue roller! first i tried the UHU stic. adam (he's 5) made some thank you cards for his teachers and a couple friends. i loved that he was able to see where the glue was on the items he was gluing down and even when he was over zealous the glue dried clear and not lumpy at all. i saved the UHU roller for my poppy ink kit this month. i loved how the tape held great, but you could reposition items easily if needed. i'm so indecisive so this is a great feature! hey if they want to send me more i wouldn't be averse. ;)

if you have a blog and would like to receive free samples, visit maria filosa's blog. look for the entry dated november 2nd. maria also has demos and other cool information about UHU on her blog. :)

more later...c.

of christmas prep and letterboxes

let's see not much to update here. we've been preparing for christmas here. we wrapped all the gifts this past weekend and decorated a little gingerbread tree. i'm pretty much ready to go - just food shopping and such. huge sigh of relief. the kids are gearing up for it and can't wait to decorate the tree tonight. it's my mom's birthday today - trying to think about her a lot today. happy birthday mom - i miss you!

been working on my january scrapjazz assignment - fun new ki wild thing paper - ki was generous - the full line! i've done 7 layouts - hope to do one more and a card this week. nothing earth shattering just my usual style but fun. poppy ink january kit should arrive soon - bg blush and other awesome goodies - heather burch has done it again! i'm missing the pi girlies as the board is down until after the holidays - hope you are all well and enjoying the season.

yesterday we went letterboxing for the first time with the kids. no we weren't letting them hit each other with huge letters nor were we delivering mail. :) here's a good definition...

letterboxing enthusiasts hide and hunt weatherproof containers in remote or
scenic places. each container holds a guestbook, a rubber stamp and stamp
pad. the planter of the letterbox distributes clues to it's location. clues
can be easy to difficult; finding a letterbox may require a combinaton of
skills such as mapreading, orienteering, and puzzle-solving.

basically, you go to the letterboxing.org website, look up a location and print the directions. off you go on a hunt for boxes. the kids loved it! i loved it! terry loved it! so much fun to have a quest during our usual tromp in the woods. so intriguing to know those boxes were hiding out there the whole time. i see a lot more of this in our future. i took a lot of pictures but didn't have time to go through them last night. who knows we might even get into geocaching - which is a similar concept, but using a gps.

work is awesome - i'm loving my new job. so much better than the last one. so much better than my prior position - i'm really excited about it!

hope you and yours are happy and healthy. have a wonderful christmas and a prosperous new year! i'll post next year. ;)

we have a winner

well update first and then i'll tell. or you can scroll down to the bottom and find out now. lol

scrappin' has taken a backseat lately. i'm too busy with the whole christmas experience to even think about it. i finished the shopping this weekend and the decorations are up. hoping to have all the presents wrapped by the end of next weekend. and we decorate the tree on monday - my mom's birthday - a little party for her - one of her last wishes to keep her grandchildren aware of the love she had for her family and christmas. fun but a little melancholy at the same time. each year should get easier - but in some ways it gets harder watching these children grow up without her.

enough of the sad...not much else to share. oh you want to know?



hmmm....



the winner is nicole. hey nicole hope you know how to get in touch with me. ;) i have a few questions for you and then i'll send you a lovely package.

voiceless

yep laryngitis - can't say much of anything. at least i can still type! the boys aren't listening to me - it's chaos around here. it's my first time with true laryngitis.

i finished cleaning up my scraproom, sorting stuff by color and putting stuff away from my crop. i even uploaded all 13 layouts - i found another one tucked away - to scrapgal. you can find them in my gallery there.

dh and i are off to play santa - the boys are going to my sister's and we are headed to borders, target, and toys r us. wish me luck. i'm hoping to just finish my list on this excursion - then we can get the wrapping done.

no housewives tonight and i have to iron. we'll have to resort to hgtv! ;) remember to sign up for the rak below. have a great sunday!

rak

i'm leaving that rak open for a week or so. So post on the thread below. it won't be a random rak - it will be specified to your tastes. so i'll be asking you questions about what you like if you win.

the lady at the crop was thrilled. i arrived first and she came after. i told her i had a box in the car and she could have it - but she had to take the whole box and I didn't want anything back. :) she said you've made my month. it made me feel good. and best part more room in my studio. yay!

i was able to complete 12 layouts - well almost - some brads and finishing touches. nothing pub-worthy mind you. just getting stuff done. i feel energized. and best part they are going to do this once a month! yay!

ok i have to stop procrastinating and clean this room so maybe i can finish up those layouts tonight.

going to a crop!

well i’m going to a crop tonight. yay! i packed up a bunch of mini-kits to bring with me. i’m hoping this kick starts my mojo a bit. it will also be fun to see some scrappin’ friends i haven’t seen in awhile.

on a spending freeze which is going to be hard while seated in an lss. lol

and as for the purging mentioned yesterday. i did a bunch of purging last night. a lot of provo craft stuff, coluzzle templates, and some odds and ends. i think there is 18+ inches of assorted pp in the pile. do you think this is crazy? i'm going to bring the box to the crop and pick one person there maybe determine who is the newest to scrapbooking - then i'm going to tell that person to come to my car and take the box. a true rak. i just can't afford to ship all this stuff out and it's all old stuff that most seasoned scrappers wouldn't want anyway.

on an unrelated note, i am going to do a rak – so post below and i’ll give a little something something to one random person. not posting this on any message boards so my loyal (few lol) readers will get first dibs.

why?

why?

why do I equate rejection in the scrapbooking industry with personal failure? one of my design teams decided not to renew me for next year. i’ve worked hard for them, always been on time and i’ve always been willing to go the extra mile. i am so overwhelmed with assignments that the fact that they non-renewed actually is a good thing, but something inside me says i wasn’t good enough. subjectivity. i need to remember that.

anyhow, on a better note. i can’t wait to purge. i have a bunch of paper and other assorted items to go through and get rid of which will help me get more organized and give me more space. I’ve finished up my assignments and i’m moving on. this will allow me to spread out my american crafts stuff a bit and be more productive in my never ending quest for publication. by now if you’ve figured it out and your interested in some stuff – track me down and ask me for some! lol

on a happier note, the poppy ink gallery debuts tonight. awesome awesome kit and the dt just rocks. you can’t get in on this months kit, but you can sign up for the next one or order some of the rockin’ add-ons.

and my debut as one of the blue crew on scrapjazz is tonight. doodlebug galore and rockin’ buttons too.

recovery

well i think i'm feeling almost normal lol. i was in bed all day on saturday and part of the day on yesterday with a stomach bug. yucko!

we did get our fake christmas tree yesterday - i took photos at lowe's as if we were cutting down a real one. hee hee. i also picked up our wreath and some paint samples for our breezeway. i'm thinking a pumpkin color. anyone have a good color you've used? i'm looking at benjamin moore - just because they have samples!

did you mail your christmas cards yet? mine went out on friday - yes i'm that freaky person that you get a christmas card from before december 1st. this year it was imperative because i never sent out change of address cards and we moved.

back at work today. trying to keep up with all my reading. the piles just keep growing.

tonight i need to run some errands and hopefully go to bed early just to feel a little better tomorrow. :) if my american crafts pens come they will have to wait until tomorrow night i guess. i just feel a bit weak and woozy.

see i'm trying to update more regularly! ;)

the day after thanksgiving

well we had a great thanksgiving this year. we never left the house and we never changed out of our pajamas. it rained all day. it was a day filled with relaxation - videos, computer games, board games, and pretend play. no guests and minimal cooking. fun! that's us in our pj's at the end of the day.

no black friday shopping for me either. we really only have the boys and a few other gifts to pick up. i have to wrap and box some items up to ship but we are very close.

today i went to the grocery store with sam. i made 12 gift card holder type cards this afternoon. then we went to westmoor park - a local farm with hiking trails - sam loved the animals and adam begged for a walk in the woods - it was muddy but fun. we took the boys for hot chocolate after - then came home and had leftover turkey. tonight i'm planning on just doing nothing!

on the scrapbooking front, december 1st approaches - i'll be loading my poppy ink work and my layouts for scrapjazz. i'm waiting on some glitter gem markers for american crafts for an assignment - if you've used these please tell me about them. i would love to start something so when they get here i can just add them to my already completed work. scrapjazz should be sending me a purple cow combination cutter - anyone have one? it's supposed to be awesome - i'll have to write a review. i'm really not motivated to just scrap lately - if it's not an assignment or a lift for a birthday i seem to be of the mind set to say oh well - whatever. i think it's the new job stress and how tired i am keeping me from doing anything major.

ok that's all for now. sorry i haven't been great about keeping up with this. not much going on. kind of quiet around here and busy with new job, holidays, etc. take care!

new job

well i started my new job yesterday. this means even further blog neglect most likely. you should see the stack of reading i have to do. big big big pile - maybe 1000 pages.

not much to report here. working on my scrapjazz assignments one left and then my poppy ink december kit should arrive in a few days. the weekend will be consumed with it i'm sure.

the purple bead

phone rings at 2:30pm this afternoon.

i hear, "hello, mrs. Smith. this is the school nurse. adam gave us quite a scare this afternoon."

oh no that's all i'm thinking....

"in 15 years of nursing i have never dealt with this situation. adam had a purple bead up his nose."

ok so i laughed...

"he said it fell in his nose."

ok so now i'm trying not to snort...

"i had to call the medical consultant because i didn't know what to do. he recommended pepper..."

about to pee my pants here...

"and then to try blowing hard. i decided to try the blowing hard first. the bead popped right out."

then i asked how he was doing. if he was back in class. everything was fine.

apparently he thought it would be amusing to do this - make his classmates laugh. instead he ended up crying and having to be escorted to the nurse's office. he said he'll never do it again and when i asked him what can you put in your nose he said "only air mommy." kindergarten and he's sticking things up his nose and lying about it. oy vey!

you know your a bad blogger when...

people keep emailing you telling you to update.

sorry folks. life got in the way. and it seems every time i go to update blogger is down. anywho...i'm here.

let's see the ten second catch up...

scrapbooking - was asked to join the blue crew at scrapjazz woot woot didn't know they had a store, signed a contract, and had to leave scrapgal dt - i'm sad but will still be at scrapgal just not on the dt. those ladies are my home on the net. :)

i just finished 9 layouts, 21 cards, 18 gift cards, a mini-album, an mini altered clipboard, an altered box, a tag book, and a altered mini brag book for a friend who is debutting a kit. oh and that's all since thursday. (the inlaws came over the weekend or i probably would have finished more.)

tomorrow is november - this brings a new flurry of assignments. yay! going to get crackin' tomorrow.

i have a new scrapbooking goal. it's not an easy one but i'm going to work towards it. if it kills me. i'm perfect for it and i'm going to try like heck to attain it - it's not hof. and it wouldn't be until next year. so we'll see.

work - quit my job which i think i told you. last day is thursday. woot! no more wicked witch of insurance for a boss - yay! i have off about a week and then i start the new job on the 13th - sam's birthday. poor kid. we'll have to do his party at school on friday. i felt a little vertigo today so i worked from home.

life - inlaws came and went. i handled it really well. i think that i'm feeling a lot better so obviously decisions i've made are helping me.

halloween night was awesomely fun. we had about 50 kids to the door. sam was a very cute cowboy and adam was a power ranger. the pics are awful. i detest indoor nighttime flash pics - i should have dressed them up over the weekend and took pics -oh well. working from home allowed me to go to adam's halloween parade - so fun - those kindergarteners are adorable!

not much else. oh if you want a poppy ink add-on they go up tonight at midnight mst - that's 2am for us east coasters. go check them out - just divine.

simple scrapbooks picked up an american crafts layout. great way to start my day. and blue media wants me to write a blurb for the book - yay! i've been feeling kind of down for about a week now - contemplating major changes about design teams and scrappin' and all that. maybe these two little toots were just what i needed - god knows why i need validation - it's just photos and paper and ink but sometimes it helps.

i posted a layout today for american crafts. it's not the most innovative layout - but the photo is cute and the design is classic me so...



yes that's blueberry again :)

not much else here. tonight i hope to do one more american crafts layout then i can concentrate on the gorgeous poppy ink kit that arrived yesterday. heather just keeps outdoing herself!

blueberry

well i'm officially a bad blogger. sorry.

let's see the weekend came and went. we had blueberry the bear at our house this weekend. we took a ton of cute pics of the things we did with him - dinner out, raking leaves, soccer, bike riding, bowling, etc. i especially loved this one.



i made a little mini album and glued it in the journal book that was sent home with him. adam helped me tell the story. incredibly cute. well except that adam would rather be caught dead than carrying a bear around - dh and adam made up horrible stories about him - photos we could take and share with the kindergarteners. things like "this weekend daddy accidentally ran over blueberry with the lawn mower" and "we took blueberry for a ride under the car." i plan on making a little mini-album with the pictures - it was fun and actually sam adored blueberry and was sad to see him go.

i went to a crop at my online friend maryann's house. it was fun to crop with her and christi. a few of maryann's friends were there as well - newbies to scrappin'. it was energizing to see them get excited about color and pattern and design. i brought my cricut so i cut a bunch of titles and shapes for them.

sunday i went to the new michael's. although i'm not a huge michael's fan i still managed to spend $30 on nothing. it will be great for emergency items and odd crafty things i might need too - much closer than the nearest chain craft store that's for sure.

today was work. not very busy. i'm looking forward to finishing out this week and giving notice. i'm nervous and excited - i need to go clothes shopping - anyone want to come? i'm horrible at clothes shopping.

well i have to clean up a bit - i started another scrapgal layout tonight. i'll finish it up tomorrow i hope. made a huge mess - have to at least put it in a pile! then off to bed.

friday the 13th

it's friday the 13th. i'm not supersitious though. :) i hope the day goes by quickly.

tonight i'm putting the finishing touches on a layout and then i have to pack for my crop tomorrow. i have to figure out something to transport my cricut in - i'm hoping it fits in the nanavigator. if not maybe a suitcase!

i updated my template. it's still a standard blogger template - redid my links on the right as well.

my american crafts box has still not arrived. i'm hoping it comes tonight. i need a little joy right now. and that box is going to be filled with goodness.

have a great weekend!

well crap

some of you know what happened others might not. just know i'm ok - mean people suck that's all i'm saying. anyway, i've made the decision that 2Ps is really awful. so i've removed all my layouts and won't post much over there. i have a lot of layouts in other places. i'm sure you'll find me. honestly, i've achieved every scrappin' goal i've set out to do. i'm not interested in contests. so i'm just going to enjoy where i'm at and let the other stuff roll off my back.

on a brighter front, i was offered a job yesterday that pays 25% more than my current position and promises to be much more fulfilling.

hope everyone is excited to watch survivor and grey's tonight...i know i am.

finding my groove

i made a decision yesterday that finds me feeling better about everything. sometimes just vocalizing something helps. ykwim?

anyway, last night after procrastinating for about an hour, i tried a little different process while scrapping. it was fun and i think it might be a new way for me to scrap. i haven't glued anything down yet and it's for an assignment, but i'll try and lnk back to here when i do.

tonight i have parents association. the first of the year. i'm hoping it goes quickly and that everyone is happy with the status quo. i'm also making my little speech about next year and how we need to have a president elect or something so that i can transfer duties. if i happen to be there another year because sam is a november kid so be it - i'll just be a jo schmo volunteer. let's hope someone steps up to the plate!

tomorrow i get to volunteer at adam's school. i can't take my camera, but maybe i'll take a pic of the outside of the school or something so i can journal about this. as a working mother it means everything to me that i have the opportunity to do this. it's only once a month - but terry is also going once a month (he's the only dad that is going - i'm really proud of that!) but if anyone asks you where i am tomorrow, please tell them i'm at the doctors.

apparently my first american crafts box is on its way to me. kristina werner received hers and by her email i must say i'm getting very excited to open that box. of course, now the big issue - where am i going to put it so it's separate but i remember to use it. i'm going to have to invest in more storage solutions i think.

heather burch put the poppy project
for october on her blog. it is absolutely so stinkin' cute. i might splurge and buy one for myself. check it out. i love 7 gypsies and the last album i put together with the poppy project was picked up so i might just have to by this.

speaking of 7 gypsies, those 97% certifiable stamps should be arriving soon at scrapgal and i found an online store that carries the new karen russell narratives - some of it is on order but i plan on stalking until it comes in. so my wish list from cha summer will be complete. of course, memory trends is this week ha! so the list begins anew. nothing so far is a must have. i'm sure that will change as i see more though.

off to a meeting then the post office and fed ex - so if you are waiting on something from me it will be on its way!

if i ever toot again

slap me.

i was excited - i tooted - then i was really excited and edited my toot.

then someone posted an i quit post on 2ps. i know how that person feels - i feel that way about 95% of the time.

so in order not to hurt feelings and draw attention to myself in these days of crummy snotty blogs i'm not tootin ever again.

not here. not anywhere.

we'll just let people find out when it comes out.

:(

random thoughs

boy i haven't been good about keeping this up. of course few people if any are reading so i guess it isn't like anyone will be upset. ha!

tonight is an awesome tv night. survivor and grey's - i'd like to be able to watch ugly betty too but the kids hinder our ability to watched he beginning of an 8 o'clock show no matter how hard we try they don't go to sleep until 8:15 pm minimum.

i'd also like to get my last cactus pink layout done, all the layouts scanned and emailed off to candy. we'll see. this weekend is all about american crafts! i hope to get my two layouts done. then i'll just be waiting on my scrapgal box to work on my layouts for the newsletter - i have to write an article as well around the theme of comfort. anyone have any ideas? i really don't want to do get out of your comfort zone - i just don't feel like creating something out of my comfort zone. lol the title could be getting comfortable with _________ - fill in the blank. times like this i wish i was a technique scrapper. i always struggle with newsletter topics. ugh. maybe handwriting? i don't do enough of it because i don't really like mine. could be interesting. not sure if anyone has done that before. hmmm.

i'm at work. bored again. might have another job opportunity. don't want to jinx it but cross your fingers for me. maybe tomorrow i'll work from home. my boss isn't here - i could tell her boss today. we'll see.

ear infection is finally better but the chronic cough is back. i should call the allergist today about the methacoline challenge to detect asthma. might do that now.

lovely fall day today. i'm headed outside to get some lunch and enjoy the weather for a bit. have a great thursday everyone.

onward

well i didn't move on to the next round of mmidol but somehow i was ok with that. i have a lot on my plate this month. so it's all good. if you took the time to vote for me, thank you! if you didn't well phooey. just kidding!

on a great note, my chabooska layout was potd at creating keepsakes. i love when that happens!

i'm working on my guest dt gig for cactus pink. i did a lo, a card, and an altered tin with a mini-book in it. very cute. so one more layout and i'm done.

it's late i have to go to bed. g'night!

mm idol finalist

i can't believe it! wahoo! hard to show enthusiam without caps lol!

please register at the site below and vote for me before midnight tonight.
http://www.makingmemories.com/mmidol/ProfilePicture/index.cfm
 
and if you’d spread the word for others to do the same that would be fantastic!
 
this contest was huge literally a thousand people applied – to even make it to the top twenty is incredible. i’d love to go through to the next round though. 
 
woot woot!

ditto

that's all ditto.

ear infection

blah. it hurts - the doc said it might pop. yikes. going to bed.

bowling

yep we went candlepin bowling today. adam loved it, sam loved getting candy. he didn't like that his ball kept getting stuck half way down the lane. i won. dh didn't like that. lol

we also went for a walk in the woods today at a local park/farm. the boys enjoyed seeing all the animals and we found a deer skull too - which was really cool in a creepy sort of way.

tonight sam crashed at 5pm - he's still sleeping i'm sure we'll be paying for that later. think it was all that fresh air?

desperate housewives premieres tonight - if it doesn't get better i'm not watching.

cleaning my scraproom now quick before it starts. i'm done with october assignments. i wish i felt better about it. not sure why i'm so off - hopefully this week will bring a better mood.

blue

that's how i feel a little blue. not sure why - it was just not a great day. i don't feel like scrappin' and i'm totally unmotivated. i probably should just go to bed.

noses and anniversaries

let's start with the anniversary. it's my 10th wedding anniversary today! i can't believe it - where has the time gone. terry doesn't read my blog - i won't let him - but happy anniversary, t. love you bunches. tonight we are taking the kids out to a restaurant with a waiter and all - wish us luck!

noses. ugh i'm coughing again. most of you don't know the saga and i won't bore you with the epic story. bottom line: went to the ent today. i'm going back on the acid reflux medication if that doesn't help then asthma testing - then if that is all wrong sinus surgery. yay. just kidding - but maybe something will pan out and i'll stop coughing like this all the time.

it's friday..it's friday! woot! no big weekend plans - soccer games, playdates, hikes, perhaps the Big "E" (think huge state fair) and errands/chores of course. would love to get some scrappin' in somewhere. i've got a photoswap, a lift, and a challenge to create before the next set of assignments starts again.

have a great weekend - i might blog we'll see.

hof

well i just read the hof rules for this year and i am not feeling a spark. i'm sitting this year out. i just don't have it in me and i'm super busy with commitments. i also don't think i'm scrappin' at that level and the idea i had for hof this year does not fit the rules so i'm not going to pursue it. good luck to all of you who enter.

on the homefront, adam is reading - i bought him the dick and jane books this past weekend and we've read all 12 of them together. i'm so excited for him and he's just too cute reading - all proud,. i'll have to get a picture of him. bad lighting at night though lol.

sam is feeling much better - thanks to all of you for the thoughts and concern. he's running around and having fun - he had a great time at school today.

terry is waiting for me to watch survivor- we taped it. so fun to watch grey's this evening. i thought it was a little bit of a nothing episode - seems the canucks watched episode two go figure.

work stinks. i am really unhappy - cross your fingers that something better happens soon.

finished my provo craft projects for memory trends tonight. they turned out pretty good. if you are at memory trends go to the provo craft booth and take a look. mine are the road trip themed layouts. there is one of me at 21 leaning up against dh's bus - very cute. i'm so thin. sigh.

ok more later. bye.

at home

well i'm at home today as predicted. sam still has a fever and is coughing. the doctor says no ear or chest infection though so that's good. we are going to go out today and do some errands and get lunch. he needs to get out.

then i'll pick adam up a little early and sam can take a short nap. he was up too late last night because terry let him sleep for three hours on the afternoon. here's hoping he's better by tomorrow.

had a st toot last night for january 2007 - family matters. i didn't publicly toot - i think i'm over that it just makes people feel bad. and really no one cares if i'm pubbed or not - just me. it took me forever to find the layout they requested - i thought i had lost it. lol then it had a spelling error so i had to find the right shade of blue and fix it - not easy - but it's done.

tonight i'm hoping to get started on my provo craft work for memory trends. i'm hoping that it goes quickly. i need to come up with some ideas and find photos. the paper is "road trip" paper - so it might be a little challenging. they gave me paper, ribbon and huge alphas. so i'm going to have to make my own embellishments.

here's a american crafts layout i finished last night. i love how the paper is so crisp on the white.



sam's so busy this morning - i hope that means he's feeling better. i wish this fever would break. he's gathering stuff and bringing it into the family room from all over the house. he plays so well independently.

ok that's all...i gotta start getting something done around here. laundry to put away and straigtening to do everywhere!

hmmm...not much going on

sam is sick today. poor guy - that's twice in two weeks. not sure what's going on but he has quite a fever and even on the tylenol - he's quite hot. dh is home with him today and most likely i'll stay home tomorrow.

i have no scrapbooking mojo - not sure what happened but it's gone. i did do two layouts last night for design team work - they aren't stellar, but they're done. i am working on a sketch, title and some journaling here so hopefully i'll get to my last design team assignment before my provo craft memory trends box gets here.

last night, i watched studio 60. did you? i thought it was quite good. i couldn't believe the cast! amazing...i think that the matthew perry/bradley whitford combo is going to be so fun to watch. not a huge fan of amanda peet - in fact the more i watch her the more annoying she seems. i'll be tuning in on mondays!

and about the tv. i've been harassing dh to put a cable hookup in my studio. i really can't stand moving a bunch of stuff to the family room or my bedroom to watch tv. i think it would be good to have it on in the background - maybe help with my creativity. i always forget to put music on. that's something i should do more as well.

of amusement parks and big piles of dirt

yesterday dh and i went to six flags alone. my sister took the kids. i rode one rollercoaster (superman ride of steel) and hurt my neck. i was out of the game for the rest of the day - guess i'm getting old. we went out to dinner at a place that we enjoy. we watched a movie at home - the 40 year old virgin - which was amusing. we had fun though and it was nice to have 24 hours without the kids. so that was our 10th anniversary celebration.

dh had 20 cubic yards of top soil dumped in our front yard on friday. the kids and dh spent the morning digging in the dirt and trying to spread it. the amount of dirt being tracked through my house right now is awful. the kids are both grumpy and tired from their overnight at my sister's. and the amount of work involved with what dh is doing is tiresome and he does not see the importance of the things i need to get done. it's frustrating. now he's saying he's taking them bowling. sam needs a nap and adam should just veg - he's exhausted. now they are going bowling - i refuse to go - it's going to be one meltdown after another.

i'm off to run errands in a bit. then home to finish up chores and such.

Survivor: Cook Islands

All I have to say is pure marketing genius. Ratings for Survivor were slipping. The producers thought of dividing along ethicity thinking that would bring them press and create a stir. Folks that might not have watched tuned in to see how this was going to be handled. Just pure marketing genius! Is it shocking? Yes! Was that the point? Yes!

That being said I haven't missed a season - so I was watching anyway.

I think that the whole premise is somewhat hokey. I also thought it interesting that the Caucasian team has mostly young people and no one who is physically unfit - the African Americans had the gentleman who was voted off (not fit), the Latin Americans have the heavy metal guy (unfit) and the Asian Americans have an older person (Cowboy.) Seems like the deck is loaded for the Caucasian team.

As for the stereotype element, I believe that it probably isn't happening as much as you would think. Of course, the producers are not editing it out. They want the shock value. As well, you are not seeing any of it in context. A key discussion before or after may have been left out.

As well, the players may have been told to say things or encouraged at any rate. To believe that some of this is not scripted is really naive.

Okay that's my two cents.

curriculum night

well i've been super anxious about adam. today when i picked him up the after school teacher said he's a sweetheart, but he's a bit of a loner. i felt so bad - he seems to love afterschool.

tonight we went to curriculum night. i told the teacher and she said adam has no trouble making friends in class. he could be tired after school or overwhelmed give it some time. that made me feel better. then i asked about his behavior in class and she said he was well behaved sometimes he daydreams, but he's really smart. that made me feel a lot better.

also learned a lot about his day and how it goes. i came home completely proud of him. we sat together and read the list of words he needs to know before the end of kindergarten and he already knows half of them! amazing!

so this post is about my big boy, and how thrilled i am. yay!

busy busy

well i'm trying to keep up with all my chores and responsibilities outside of work. it's crazy.

i made a couple signs for the pto tonight. i'm the chairperson - can you believe it? yes i'm crazy - always take on too much.

then i had to send in a photo of sam on his summer vacation. so i photoshopped up this for the board...notice the lowercase bwa ha ha!


i've sketched out my ck birthday layout and plan on printing the photos and putting it together after the kids go to bed. should be relatively easy - i'm not going to fuss - i don't have high hopes for it anyway - it's somewhat themed! if you can believe that!

then i hope to get to bed at a reasonable time.

if you haven't voted head over to creating keepsakes and vote in the ck reader's choice awards. oh and if you feel like it, feel free to write in poppy ink for favorite kit and check american crafts where they are listed! ;) i'd appreciate it!

we have a winner

peg manrique - you've won a rak from me! :) i'll probably have to track peg down elsewhere as i'm sure she doesn't check in here everyday! lol

anyway, that was a dismal failure - next time i'll post on two peas and get more people to comment. but this was an experiment. so two people read my blog this weekend. blah.

last night i finished up my poppy ink assignments. i have to take a photo of my altered notebook and i'm done. poppy ink really challenges me and stretches me. i'm wondering if i should do it last each month instead of first. it's really somewhat draining.

this afternoon i'm heading over to the state house during lunch for the soul purpose of photographing pigeons. pigeons? yes pigeons. you'll see. ;)

sam continues to amaze me with how quickly he trained - dry all day at school yesterday again. his teacher said he's using his words more too - which is awesome. he used to just screech when he was mad - now he's saying "i don't like that."

adam is doing well at school. he did get in a little trouble on the playground yesterday for picking up the traffic cones which apparently is against the rules. he is telling us more about his day too.

i'm at work - not fun. hope everyone has a great tuesday!

beach

oh it's a lovely fallish day on the cape. we just got back from the beach. sam loved playing in the sand. he was making "pasta" pie. he kept saying yummy, delicious - of course i had to tell him not to actually drink the sea water and put his tongue on the sand and seaweed (pasta). we're all tired and we are leaving for home shortly. then it will be a mad dash to get ready for tomorrow - back to school and work for all of us. i'll post a pic of sam being silly when i get home.

saturday!

what a beautiful day here on cape cod. we went to a family fun day at the beach - the kids enjoyed the juggler, the ice cream, and digging in the sand. it was a little windy though.

terry is off fishing with adam and i'm here with sam occupying his time until they return.

hey i know some people are lurking *coughrachelcough* so say hi. i'm starting to get a complex and feel like i'm talking to the computer. lol

post here before monday at noon est and adam will choose a number from the number of posters. then i'll send you a nice rak!

tgif

yay it's friday.

boo hiss i'm at work and i'm swamped. miss a day - come back to a mess.

sam's fever broke last night and he's great today. i would say we are potty trained almost completely. yay!

adam's school is having a fundraiser - it's gift wrap and chocolates. if any of you kind souls out there would like to support him - i'm hoping he can sell 10 items and get a prize. anyway, please note in your comment or contact me directly for the information. over 50% of the price is donated to the school. thanks!

busy busy. enjoy your friday - and the start to the weekend!

i'm home today...

...with a sick little guy who is hopefully recovering. we haven't done much - we went to the library and mcdonald's for lunch. sam is doing awesome with potty training! i'm so stoked.

i organized all of my stamps into target document boxes - i'm psyched - now if i ever use them it will be a miracle!

i posted my first official design team layout for american crafts today. yay me! i think it's pretty cool if i do say so myself - very me. i love it. here it is...




i've straightened up the house a bit. i've got laundry and dishes going. we have a school picnic tonight so we're having pizza - i'm trying to make it so when we get home we just take the kids upstairs and start the bedtime routine without any chores to do after.

i finished my altered item for poppy ink and i'm working on my next layout. i have the photo picked out for the fourth. big sigh of relief cactus pnik pushed off my month of designing until october. yay! the box should come sometime early next week.

well back to cleaning and potty training. tomorrow is friday! woot!

fake hump day

it's not really hump day but we are closer to the weekend at any rate.

sam had a fever in the night - we gave him some motrin and he woke up fine. terry stayed home from work with him today. i hope that he doesn't have another fever today or i will be home tomorrow.

adam was able to tell me more details about school yesterday. he doesn't seem thrilled about it and when he woke up this morning he said, "it's not the weekend yet, right?" doh!

my sister, justine, is taking an online photoshop class and she doesn't have photoshop. she came over last night and had dinner and worked on her class. she doesn't seem to be getting very far. the boys came in and saw what she was working on and asked why the picture looked funny - not what she wanted to hear!

i finished the first layout for poppy ink for october. so fun...these kits really challenge me which is like a love-hate thing as i struggle through the layouts - luckily the end result is usually worth it! i started my altered project - pushed a lot of paper around and went to bed. i have an idea though so i think that tonight will go quickly.

my cactus pink box didn't arrive - i hope it's not lost in the mail.

today i have meetings from 11:30-4 at work - oh joy. i'm sure that's going to be fun!

another day in paradise

it's very hard to type all in lowercase. try it you'll see - your hands simply want to push that shift key - i'll tell you.

i'm at work. ugh. i hope the day goes quickly. my vertigo is acting up - i'm really feeling dizzy and nauseous. i'm not pregnant so don't ask. :)

adam is back at school today and drop off was a success. terry left him playing sponge bob monopoly at before care. he'll have after care at his school today - i hope it goes well.

sam went in with 10 pairs of underwear, 10 pairs shorts, 10 pairs socks, three extra pairs of shoes, and 8 extra tops. i hope he doesn't go through that many. but at least i'm not the one having to clean up the puddles.

terry freaked me out this weekend. he started looking at the backdoor to our breezeway - investigating one piece of rotted wood. he lifted floorboards, uncovered more. clean it all out, cut new floor joists, bought plywood and is now completely redoing the breezeway. sigh. i really just wanted my kitchen painted and now we are talking pergo, molding, painting, light fixtures, etc. huge huge project. looking at about $1000. i told him after he's finished he's painting the kitchen with me - no excuses.

i'm plugging away at my design team assignments. i finished provo craft for next month and started poppy ink. wait until you see the october kit - it is positively gorgeous. heather burch is the queen of product mixing and funky embellishments. i'm having so much fun and i haven't even finished a layout!

Here's a Provo Craft layout - my favorite of the batch this month...



i'm guest designer for cactus pink for september. i'm starting to think my box is lost in the mail. i haven't received it yet and the projects are due on the 14th. please send me good mailman vibes that it arrives today! i really need to knock that one out. if it doesn't arrive today i'll have to email them.

next weekend, terry is taking the boys to the cape on saturday on an overnight to see his brother (who is in with his family from colorado). i made the decision not to go. i told him he would have a better time without me. i can't stand flying by the seat of my pants and i get really ugly when forced to - his brother is notorious for sleeping in late and sitting around. so i told him to just go and i'll stay home. i'll miss the boys but excited to have free time to scrap and i need to clothes shop. i still have to do all the chores - but at least i won't be running around serving meals and cleaning up messes. can you tell i'm excited?

have a great tuesday (that feels like a monday!)

sunday sunday

well i don't think i accomplished anything today - absolutely nothing. i continued to potty train sam, made a card, went to walmart, painted sam's tote bag for school, took a nap and here i am. i also updated my blog a little. see the pic and the links? go me!

have you seen the new american crafts minimarks? they are in at scrapgal. i want them. but it would be silly to order them as i'm sure some are going to be on their way fairly soon. yay! how great will it be to open the first box?

i played with the cricut last night. i must say i don't think it could be any easier to use. i cut a flower, some alphas and some shapes. really cool and to think that provo craft sent me one - it's really cool to be on design teams! thanks provo craft!

hope everyone enjoys their labor day tomorrow!

potty training!

well the teachers at school told me yesterday that we should try sam in underwear for the long weekend. they feel he's really ready. so this morning we started - we've only had two accidents so far - but we've been taking him every 30 minutes. i'm hoping he'll tell me he has to go at some point today.

he's so proud of himself and does not want a diaper so that's a good thing.

feel like a dodged a bullet

today was an interesting day. i woke up not feeling so hot. the vertigo is back with a vengeance - not fun...it lasted most of the day and i almost feel nauseous from it.

adam started school for real today. i dropped him off at the before school program and he met the teachers and students. he was great about shaking everyone's hand and saying hi. he even looked the adults in the eye - a hard thing for a little guy. the director was so impressed - she said she couldn't believe he was a kindergartner! she called later to offer us a spot in the afterschool program - she said "adam's a doll." my boy - a doll! anyhow, by moving him into the program we end up saying a lot of money not having to bus him to another program. i'm thrilled - we even were able to get a refund for the membership and what not at the other program.

the rest of adam's day may as well not have happened. he had absolutely no details to share. oh he went outside and kicked a ball around. he ate lunch. that's it. even asking him 100 questions didn't help he doesn't remember anything!

sam is really upset that adam isn't at pre-school with him anymore. he keeps asking for him. there is underwear in sam's immediate future - i'm psyched wouldn't it be great if i could get him trained for tuesday??

i had an mri this morning. i have been getting frequent migraines and this vertigo coupled with sinus pain. having an mri is not fun. that tube is awful. i closed my eyes the entire half hour i was in there and tried to visualize the rooms in my childhood house.

the mri showed my brain was normal. well at least it looks normal - goodness knows that my brain probably needs a little shrinking! the only problem was what the doctor called sinus disease - i think it's just an infection so i'm on stronger antibiotics and hopefully it will help with the vertigo as well. feel like i dodged a big old cancerous bullet.

after dinner we went to target. how come i can't restrain myself at target? we spent $182 plus bought adam a $50 video game. $182 got us...
* 21 pairs of underwear for sam - we are starting potty training this weekend as requested by his teachers. hence the large number - we have to leave 10 pairs at least at daycare on tuesday.
* two pairs of pjs for adam
* one sweatshirt for sam
* one sweatshirt for me
* pair of sneakers for sam
* 6 glass jars for buttons
* a cute little notebook to alter
* a really cool frame (on sale) that i'm going to alter for poppy ink - it's magnetic and oh wait until you see it.
* hair dye - you didn't think i was this non-grey did you?
* one large container of laundry detergent
* 4 shirts for adam for school
* 24 cheap pens
* 3 bags candy (potty treats - and i know it's not right - i tried to bribe him with little dinosaurs - nothing doing the kid won't go unless there are treats - for now.)
i think that's it. doesn't seem like much but it adds up quick.

i feel icky so i didn't scrap tonight. i did take all of the cricut cartridges out of their plastic - i hope to play with it some tomorrow! fun stuff.

ok so i wrote a novel. :p

busy day

adam started school today. he did great. he shook the teacher's hand and really seemed to enjoy being at school. he even posed for pics - a rarity. i cried a little when the teachers had them line up - but was over it pretty quickly.

sam had a hard drop off in the new pre-school room this am. i hope the rest of his day goes well. i also hope that when terry drops him off tomorrow it will be easier.

i filled out all of the paperwork we received today for adam. wrote a bunch of dates on the calendar with things we have to do over the next couple weeks. busy busy. ordered a new calendar online too so we can really get organized.

on the scrappin' front, i have to get my rear in gear so to speak. i have 16 assignments this month - 6 of which i could be working on right now. two i need to find pictures for and determine what i'm doing. so really i could be working on half. tonight i hope to do at least one - if i make it....

i have a cold. BIG BUMMER! i want to go to bed! hopefully i'll feel better quickly. i have an mri tomorrow too and i'm claustrophobic. wish me luck.

welcome to my new blog!

ok so no one will probably ever read this, but i've decided to start blogging again. i'm sure i won't keep up with it but i can try right?

the title of the blog is happiness is... i guess i've had quite a revelation this month about how unhappy i was. i've made a conscience decision to try to be happier. i'm not sure if it's going to work or not, but maybe the title of the blog will help me look for the happy in life.

on the scrapbooking front, things couldn't be better. i just made the design team for american crafts - my all-time favorite manufacturer. calls go out on another big team tomorrow - i'm not so hopeful, but you never know right?

on the homefront, my BIG little guy starts kindergarten tomorrow and the wee one starts pre-school. i'm excited and nervous and just a well of emotions. must remember to bring tissues (and the camera!)

on the work front, well that is not so happy so we just won't talk about that now will we?

health-wise, well we're still trying to figure that all out. i have an mri on friday - i'm hoping that once and for all my sinus issue will be figured out. i have an appointment for an asthma challenge next week and an appointment with the ENT later in the month. i'm hoping that it's polyps or something like that - i'd like to get this straightened out so i can live without pain and coughing!

well wish me luck on this new venture. i'm not going to put it in my siggy yet. iron out kinks and such. maybe add a photo? ;) see ya.