Some new layouts

I've finally finished a couple of new layouts. I've been cranking out greeting cards for upcoming craft fairs so I've sorta been neglecting scrapbooking just for me. I've also been playing WAR and Little Big Planet. I can't totally pretend I've been burning the midnight oil just to make some money :)



I've had this photo of myself since last summer but couldn't figure out how to scrap it. I was looking at how happy I was this day. My daughter and I had walked to the park and she took this picture. It was 8 months after we moved to Western Mass. Prior to moving out here we had a very rough year. I realized, that in this photo, things were getting back to a happy normal.



My daughter loves going to the Magic Wings butterfly house near where I work. My Mom had come out to surprise Gwen for her birthday. Much to my Mom's delight, Gwen chose Magic Wings for her special day. My Mom also loves butterflies and the two of them were loving every minute. This layout is based on Pencil Lines sketch #108.

I've got a few more layouts I'd like to get done before I get back to all my finishing touches for the fairs. I'll get those posted just as soon as they're done and I'm actually home while it's light out. Damn daylight savings time messes everything up!

Happy Halloween... finally!

I've finally uploaded the photos from Halloween :o) My son was one of many Naruto characters, along with many of his friends. More specifically, he was Itachi.



My daughter was a vampire bride. Sweet Gwen who has been every Disney princess chose to be a vampire bride. And let me tell you... she was the cutest vampire bride out there!



Also represented that evening were Sasori, Deidara, Tobi, Kisame, and Konan. Some of his other friends were a zombie, Sarah Palin, Joe Biden, a safari dude, a horse rider, a football player, and Wednesday Addams. I was very proud at the effort this group of teenagers put into their costumes. My son knows I won't let him trick-or-treat if he doesn't have a good costume. If you're young enough to trick-or-treat then you're young enough to dress up and dress up well.

I Am Green With Envy

One of the challenges I'm in said blog about your scrap space. I don't have one *cry*

I look at pictures of people's scrap spaces and I am jealous. I have no dedicated space in my matchbox apartment. I annoy my family with scrapping bits left here and there throughout the house. And every time I want to scrap I have to take over the living room floor. I used to have a scrap space and it wasn't the greatest and it was in my bedroom but it was mine. I could leave a half-finished layout and come back to it 3 days later if I wanted to. My computer was on the same table so I could print whatever I needed for my layout. When I got tired, I could roll into bed. Saturday mornings? I could roll into my computer chair and get started.

When Gray moved in I gave up my space so we could fit a queen-sized bed in our room (you thought I was joking when I said matchbox?) Someday, I will once again have a space to call my own. I won't have to take out only 3 scrapping items at a time. I will spread out and no one will be able to say anything about it. If I want to leave an entire alphabet of painted chipboard out to dry...at the same time...I will! I have my whole new space planned out for the day we have the room in our home. Until then, I will stay Green with Envy :o)

Why do you CARE?!?!

Ok, so the election was last night and woo-hoo Obama is the president-elect :) Too bad not all of the items being voted on went the way I had hoped.

This morning at work everyone was talking about the variety of hot topics being voted on. Here in Mass the one we discussed was the decriminalization of marijuana. There were mixed feelings but it is no longer a criminal offense if you are caught possessing 1 oz. or less of marijuana. It is still a crime but it will no longer effect your ability to gain employment or go on a field trip with your children down the road, 10 years after you smoked your last joint. Some people commented that they voted no. I asked why they care? Alcohol is more dangerous and that's legal. It's still a crime to possess and use.. just not a criminal offense.

Then at lunch a co-worker noted that California (and a few other states) have banned same-sex marriage. Again, I asked, why do people care? What do so many people have against a gay couple pledging their ever-lasting love to each other? How does it affect your life? Don't start spewing crap about how it says so in the bible. News flash! Not everyone believes in the same religion as you. I don't come by your house and force my beliefs upon you so shut up and stop trying to force your beliefs on others. What happened to separation of religion and state? People banning happiness for outstanding members of society simply because they love someone of the same sex is sickening. Did you know most of the world legalized same-sex marriage years ago? Get over your miserable selves and let deserving people be happy!

It's almost as bad as those who would try to tell women whether they should be allowed to abort an unwanted pregnancy. No one is making you abort anything. WHY DO YOU CARE? It doesn't affect your life yet you would fight for a law that affects other's lives. Some pregnancies are life-threatening for the mother. Who are you to decide she and her unborn child should die because of your beliefs?

This is a sad, sad day to see the country take such a huge step backward on the heels of celebrating such a huge step forward.

Enough with the Freaking Peppers Already!!

We have a very talented chef in our cafe at work. He makes the most amazing meals and we get to enjoy them all at subsidized rates thanks to the company I work for. A couple months ago he hired on a new assistant. She sucks. Her food sucks. I'm pretty sure my 9 year-old can cook better then her. The main reason her cooking sucks? She puts peppers in EVERYTHING!!

One day the chef was out and on the menu was corn flake crusted chicken breast with mashed potatoes and steamed broccoli. YUM! Or not. A nice, good old-fashioned American meal and she put peppers in the mashed potatoes. Yesterday, one of the specials was steamed mussels over linguini with clam sauce. YUM! Or not! Fucking peppers in the mussels, too? What?! This morning I had to ask if the clam chowder on the menu was going to have peppers in it. Her response? Well, if I was making it I'd put peppers in but I'm not so I don't know. I've lived in Mass for 10 years now and I have never before seen clam chowder with peppers.

I'm so fed up with peppers showing up where they don't belong. Can she just follow a recipe?!

The Challenge - A Day in the Life

Ah, yeah. A day in my life isn't really all that exciting :) Just to warn you! But it is a challenge so here it is.

6:30 - alarm rings...snooze
6:36 - alarm rings...snooze
6:42 - alarm rings and I finally crawl out of bed
6:45 - I put on oatmeal and get dressed
7:00 - Eat said oatmeal while watching the Today show
7:15 - My son is yelling at me to hurry earning several eye rolls as I run around the house getting snacks into my purse, brushing my hair and teeth, throwing on shoes, jacket, etc.
7:30 - Fight to school traffic to get my son dropped off in time for adequate goofing off with his friends before school
7:35 - Drive to work... this is my time for deep comtemplation
8:00 - Work... fun times!
12:00 - Lunch! Which usually involves a lot of funny conversations, raucous laughter and the occasional Bocce game (we have a league at work and play during lunch; that's me in the brown slacks, beige top)



1:00 - More work and more fun times!
5:00 - More driving and less deep contemplation. I don't know why but it's harder to think after work then in the mornings.
5:25 - Flop at my computer and log into WAR... my boyfriend and son have already been playing for 2 hours and I am getting left in the dust! I'll either spend my evening playing games with the family, watching a movie, doing a bit of scrapbooking or all 3. I usually squeeze a shower in during the evening as well. I hate morning showers... SO COLD!!


10:00 - After much killing and more laughter I wander upstairs for some cuddles with Gray.

The Challenge - My Heroes

I have a few heroes and have actually scrapbooked the page. I know I spelled Heroes wrong in the title but once the letters were down, I didn't want to risk marring the papers to tear them up and fix it.

They've earned the title of my heroes because their strength, both physical and mental, amaze me, even now. I cannot imagine the pain they've suffered and they've shown the true nature of their character through these trials.

My son, at 6, tried to rescue his 2 year-old little sister from a fire. How many 6 year-olds do you know that would do that?! I always knew him to be protective of his sister but this amazed even me. He is a special child and I'm so very grateful he's mine.

My step-dad was always the quiet strength; he was never overly loud about his feelings. This single act showed his entire family how much he truly cares about us all. My son woke him and in no time he was running into a burning bedroom to rescue my daughter. He brought great pain upon himself to spare those he loves.

I can only hope they will always know what their actions mean to so many.

The Challenge - 10 things I can't live without

In hopes I'll become more regular with my blog posts, I'm participating in a challenge on sb.com. I've heard if you do something 13 times it becomes a habit...we'll see.

The first challenge is to list 10 things I can't live without.

1. My husband & children - this may count as three but then I would have to pick one to put first in the list and that would undoubtedly upset the others
2. Chapstick - preferably Carmex but nearly any will do
3. My computer - on vacations I pine for the blinding glow of my computer in the evening hours
4. An internet connection - I'm a gaming geek and my games of choice tend to require an internet connection
5. Electricity - computers are not yet solar powered
6. Friendly's ice cream sundae - Hunka Chunka PB Fudge with peanut butter sauce..yum!
7. Diet Mountan Dew - I need my daily dose of caffeine and coffee is just gross!
8. My scrapbooking tote - Much as I try to not scrapbook from time to time, it calls to me.

That's 10 if number 1 counts as 3 :o)

Who the hell thought this was a good idea?!

I am so fed up with children's clothing designers and the companies who support them by buying the designs. I understand our children want to wear the latest styles but not all styles made for adults are appropriate for children.

A few years ago I went through a period of time where I couldn't find clothes I felt comfortable buying for my daughter. All the tops showed off her tummy and the shorts were WAY too short. She was 5! As in under 10.

Now she's 8 and arrived for a visit at my house with sweat pants with words on the bum. What the hell?! Why would I want to draw attention to my 8 year-old's bottom?! And what the hell was my ex-husband thinking buying anything that draws attention to his 8 year-old's bottom!??! I don't want people reading her bottom. What parent does?

Again, I understand the flirty nature of this style for ADULTS. Notice I said flirty nature of the style. My 8 year-old doesn't flirt.

She really likes the pants because they are so soft so I told her they are now pajamas. If I catch her wearing them in public I will cut them into little pieces and throw them away. I have to wonder who it is that markets this crap to children.

I Fail

I thought I gave myself a pretty easy challenge and I've already failed. In my defense, my computer was formatted earlier this week so I didn't have access to any of my photos. No photos means no slide show! Ha!

And I did convince Graham to create a header image for me... he just hasn't done so, yet.

But in other news, I'm playing a Magus and liking it a lot so far. I can't wait until I have a few more AE spells as I've heard that's when the game gets really good for us. For those who have no idea what I'm talking about... I can't even start to explain. For those who totally get it, yay! What are you playing? I also saved a couple of my names on a Witch Elf (which was my first choice before beta) and a Zealot. I've player healers in every game since EQ so if I hate the Magus later on, I have my trusty healer to fall back on.

My father is coming up to visit in a couple weeks and I'm wicked excited. I only get to see him about once year. We'll be staying in Boston and I don't even care if we go out and do anything. I just really enjoy spending time with him. I admire him and respect him almost as much as I love him. He's taught me a lot in life and I always look forward to see him. He's coming up with a fair few friends and relatives but he's the only one I want to see.

I should also point out I'm a rambler. I change my opinion and views regularly and ramble from one topic to another without warning.

I've finally done it

For years I lurked on several blogs, never really participating in any conversations. I thought I'd never have a need or want to use one myself. Then I starting seeing all the uses and decided to start one up for myself. I make no promises to update my blog regularly as I tend to be pretty busy with playing games, scrapbooking and of course, work.

I'm listing a few goals for this blog in hopes it will encourage me to actually get these things done.
1. add a slide show of some of my layouts
2. convince my bf to create a header for me
3. post at least twice a week for the first month