9 6 3 = YUCK!

I promised to share a picture of how small the type is on my 10-key exercises. Well here is the best I could do. For someone who wears glasses (and even those who don't), it is WAY too small. My hand is so tired. My poor ring finger has been forced to do things that no ring finger should ever be made to do. Ouch! I don’t think it has ever moved so much and I took piano for 13-years. I have not even attempted my 10-key exercises today. I am having enough trouble trying to get a good timed typing done.

Today is another stuffy day. I can handle being sick. The one thing that bothers me the most is being stuffed up. I hate not being able to breathe. I always have a fear that I am going to suffocate. Nothing seems to work either. I am looking forward to not having school tomorrow.

How can it be October?

Today my cold has hit me full force. Very stuffy around these parts. I sure do hope it does not last long. I don't think I have ever sneezed so much in my life. B is trying to avoid me saying that he does not want me to get him sick. HELLO?!?!? He was the one that got me sick in the first place. I told him that giving me his cold was the sweetest anniversary present ever! Actually he got me Knocked Up for our anniversary (the movie that is). LOL!

I am working on my 10-key today. I know how to type 10-key by touch, but now I have to learn how to do it using the correct fingers. LOL! My fingers are getting tired. It doesn't help that the type on the exercises is so small. I really do need to take a picture and share.

September is over (how did that happen?) and I finally updated all of my August 365 shots. I have a dream of not being a month behind when it comes to posting my pictures. I don't even know what day I am on since I am so behind. It helps in a way though. I see the photo a month later and if it is a bad one, it no longer bothers me. ;)

Here is a funny for ya! See the foot photo from August 1st? Can you believe that is my most viewed photo ever on Flickr? Unbelievable!

So here is what I looked like during the month of August. August is when I started school so the pictures should at least be a bit more appealing than when it was me just dragging myself out of bed. LOL!

*sniffle*

This past weekend was B's and my 10th anniversary. I cannot believe it has been 10-years ~ it has only felt like 5 minutes. 5 minutes under water!!! LOL! (now that funny is courtesy of my mom).

We had plans to go out and do something but B was sick so we just stayed home. Now, B is feeling better and I am the one that is sick! He has the week off of work and I have to go back to class. It is not just allergies either. I HATE being sick. It has been a LONG time since I have had a cold. I just hope it is over quickly since I cannot miss any days at school. What makes me feel even worse is that I don't even have the car in case I want to go home early. B is on vacation so he dropped me off this morning.

I guess I am just in a foul mood all around. I did not wake up on the good side of the bed this morning.

...today's post brought to you by the letter "d" as in duodenum!

scrappy goodness

I have been a busy girl. A busy scrapping girl.

This weekend I met with a couple of the Scrappay Divas to crop. It felt good to get out and do something creative. I actually even finished a page. For me that is an accomplishment. Just a simple page but even the simple ones seem to take me forever. I think the most time spent on this layout was looking for the perfect shade for the title. Thanks to Amber, who found the PERFECT shade of green paper or else I would have been wandering the store the entire night.


Last week’s Diva challenge was to use a billboard for inspiration. Here’s my layout for the challenge. The billboard I used (and the other Diva layouts) can be found on the Scrappay Divas site. I had fun making this page. I LOVE when scrapping is fun. It makes me want to scrap even more. I think actually having a dinning room table is helping just a bit as well. Have I mentioned recently how much I love our new place?

This week’s challenge is to “color on your page.” I had fun making that page too! There is also a RAK for the person who completes the most challenges. Go here to see my layout for this week’s challenge.

Thanks *Ü*

I really appreciate the comments I have received regarding the calendar I made for my 365 day photos. Actually, I appreciate all my comments. It really makes my day that you took the time to say something about what I shared.

Thank you.

Those that commented wanted to know how I made the calendar. I posted the instructions on how I made my calendar in the comments on that post. You can read the steps I took to create it – here.

searching...

Back in 2001 when B and I made a trip to Skagway, Alaska, we stopped at the Skagway Brewery Company. B ended up buying a t-shirt that became a favorite. It is now 6-years later and the shirt is finally kaput! I have looked before to see if I could buy another shirt online but everything I found told me that the gift shop was not online and I guess in 2002 they shut down the brewery. Our 10th anniversary is coming up and I thought I would try again to see if I could find him another t-shirt. From what I have come across so far, it looks like the place may be open for business again; but all the phone numbers I have found are different. It would really be a miracle if I ever found him another Skagway shirt without having to travel there to get it.

Well, Torchwood is on. I missed the first ½ hour when it was on earlier so I guess I had better get myself to the T.V.

The Diva's are back!!

It has been awhile but the Scrappay Divas are back!

Come on over to the Scrappay blog and check out our new challenges. This week's challenge is billboard inspiration. I would love to see what you all come up with. Come scrap with us! :)

It's ALL about ME!

Back in July, I mentioned this little challenge.

Well I am proud to say that the challenge is going great. I guess I really do like myself so much that taking a picture a day is just my thing. LOL! Of course, I started in July, it is now September, and I have barely finished uploading my July pictures. As with everything else in my world, procrastination is rearing its ugly little head.

So, without further ado, here is a little snippet of me and my world from July. Enjoy.

If you would like to see them up close and personal you can visit my 365 Flickr set.

simple scraps

As you can see....I made a card. Just a simple card for my Dad's birthday.

I have tons of projects that are "in process" at the moment so it feels good to actually finish something. It feels even better that I used up some scraps for this card. I told myself that I will only use my scraps when I make cards. That way it does not hurt so much to give them away.

It is starting to feel like home

Sunday, B's parents will be coming over for dinner.

So, today I finally put out the knick-knacks and photo frames. We have been here a month, so it was about time that I made the place a bit more homey. I am not finished, but it will do for now. At least the shelves are no longer bare and the pile they were in is gone. I hope to get more decorating and some cleaning done tomorrow before our guests arrive.

B has been working the past few days on making homemade sauce and other goodies. It really has smelled quite yummy in here. I can’t wait to see it all put together. Forget see, I can’t wait to eat it! I am so excited that we finally have room to entertain. I really do love our new place!

Access made me do it!

Yesterday, I was so tired and distracted. I was not very productive in the learning department but I did get a lot accomplished in the doodling department! LOL!

I just could not concentrate at all and I was so happy when it was time to go home.

So far today has been spent washing dishes and stalking my neighbor for the washing machine.

plas/o: formation, development

Don't you hate when you take a test and you write down an answer and you are sure that the answer is correct but you decide to change it anyway? Then you get your test back and find out that your original answer was correct? I think this is the only time that getting 99% is not good thing. LOL! Man! I could have got 100%!!!!

ahhhhh...

It feels great when you can spend time doing something you love to do.

I decided not to do any cleaning this weekend and starting digging thru my scrapping supplies. I am a bit rusty but it felt good starting to scrap again.


Then...

I was distracted by the installation of my Silhouette.

Which then...

Got interrupted because B wanted to put some more boxes in storage and I had to go rescue some things before they got put away forever.

Once, he was done being fussy, I got back to playing with my Silhouette…..and that is about it. I think all my scrapping mojo left me at that point. It must have been poking out all the little holes that did it. Hopefully, since I left out all my supplies, I will be forced to finish this page sometime this week.

"You do good work!"

That is what my instructor said to me while grading one of my last assignments. It made me all giddy inside. :)

School is going well. I am doing extremely well (so far) on my tests. To the point that I think I made another student cry. I felt really bad. Today, the teacher came into the class to hand me my last medical terminology test and made a big deal about me getting 99% on it. Go ME! A bit later she came back in and gave the other gal her test. After that I heard sniffles. When I came back from the restroom, the other students in the room were talking about it but hushed up when I walked back in the room. A bit later she mentioned her test and that she had to re-take part of it. Hopefully next time the teacher will just put the test into my folder instead of making an announcement. Especially if the others did not do so well.

I also got to test out of another course. One of the required courses is Business English. I had wanted to test out of it but was told that no one is allowed to. I took the pre-test and received an email stating that I did so well the instructor wanted me to come in and just take the post-test. I did that today and officially tested out of Business English. Just one less course for me to worry about. :)

hi.

Time sure does pass quickly when you have a reason to leave the house for the day. I cannot believe it has been a week since I last updated.

School is going well so far. The courses I am taking are not like traditional courses. They are all self-paced. I work off of packets. When I finish a packet, I take a post-test. Then I think there is a final test for each course. I am not sure yet. It is all pass/fail. This week, I worked on MS Word and Medical Terminology. I already completed one Word packet and took the post-test. I got 100%!! I should be finished with the 2nd Word packet on Monday. I also finished the first packet (chapter) for Medical Terminology. I took the post-test for that on Friday. I think I did okay but there were some terms that I am sure I did not answer correctly. I am worried that I did not do too well. I hope to find out on Monday (tomorrow).

On top of being busy with class-work, I have spent my days off this week, (Thurs & Sat) getting this house in order. I have finally found a place for all the toiletries (the new place does not have as much storage) so that cleared out a couple of boxes. I can officially say that the bathroom is finally all unpacked! It is such a nice large bathroom (compared to the old one where you could not even close the door, it was so small). It is nice to have the counter all cleared. The only boxes left to unpack are my scrapping supplies and my sweaters (which will stay in the box for quite awhile).

Saturday, my brother and sister came by to visit and check out the new place. I was SO excited! I have not seen them since my sis came for a visit (she was living in France) back in March. It is so awesome being able to have people over. At the old place, I hated to have people see how icky it was. I am looking forward to having lots of visitors now that we are living in such a nice place.

Today was a lazy day. B and I basically did nothing. We watched a couple of movies; The Hills Have Eyes 2 (which sucked) and Shooter (which was actually pretty good). B went out to get us some take out for dinner from Mimi’s Café. It is so nice to have one close by to our new place. Time to go – 4400 is on!

...and it is only Monday

Today was a long day and I sure am tired. I woke up to hear B telling me that it was pouring outside. Our new place is constructed so much better than our old place that I cannot even hear when it is raining outside. Today was the day I started training so B had to walk to work in the pouring rain while I got to take the car. I felt so bad. We don’t even own an umbrella. He said it was okay though and since he has not complained about it this evening, I guess I have to believe him.

This morning, I opened up a fresh pair of contacts for the occasion and they ended up bothering me the entire day. I think wearing contacts makes me even more tired than I should be, especially when I have to stare at a computer screen all day. Tomorrow may just be an eye- glasses kind of day. I hope that it won’t rain.

Each day we have to take a typing test. Only 5 mistakes allowed. No problem, I tell myself. This is the same test I took (and passed) to test out of the course. The only difference is we are NOT allowed to backspace at all! I did not realize how much I backspace and how much my fingers hit multiple keys (I did not realize just how fat my fingers were, I guess – LOL!). I think I may have been nervous but also the keyboard is much higher than I am used to. No matter what the reason, it took many many attempts (I lost count) to even get a decent page to turn in. I think tomorrow I may be more at ease and it should not be so difficult for me.

I have my work cut out for me that is for sure. Do you SEE the size of that medical terms textbook? That thing is HUGE!! I need to read the first chapter but I am afraid I am going to fall asleep. I don’t think I will have any problem falling asleep tonight. I am almost tempted to just go to bed right now. Actually now would be a good time to have a slice of that cherry pie I just baked. :)

C is for Coasters

We bought coasters. We are pretty excited about buying coasters. How sad is that? LOL~

Tomorrow is the day.

My training starts tomorrow and I am so excited. I am even looking forward to getting up early. Well I say that now but I will get back to you tomorrow and let you know how it went. I am SO not a morning person. LOL! I have a feeling that B and I might be fighting over the bathroom in the morning. I just unpacked the alarm clock. Good thing I remembered. I hope that I am able to get to sleep tonight. Maybe I should cover up the clock so that I don’t keep waking up to check the time.

My only fear at the moment is that the numbness in my fingers will keep me up like it has been all week and that I won’t be able to type tomorrow. :(

I think that the babies are fitting very nicely into the new place. I sure wish the highlight of my day was how long I could take a nap. I have to admit though…the new furniture sure is comfy, no wonder all they do is lay all over it.

The Move ~ The final chapter

Wednesday, B went to the walk-thru of the old apartment. I felt so much better about the way I left the place when she told him that our Apartment was cleaner than some that have lived there a year and we were there 7. I guess I may have over cleaned a bit. We may even get some deposit money back.

While B was gone, the cable man came to hook-up the cable. We were told since this place had not had cable in over 10-years we needed a technician to come out. Well we found out that the people who lived here before had cable but they just were not paying for it. Darn! I wonder what cool channels they had. LOL!


Within the same hour, our new bed and new couches arrived. I really do like how the couches look and B was right that they would not look so yellow once we got them home. I was so looking forward to sleeping on the new bed but after only a couple of hours I woke up in pain. I have had problems in the past with my hands/fingers and feet going numb. This night both my arms were numb and it hurt so much it woke me up. The numbness went down on one arm but persisted in my right arm and hand. In fact, the fingers on my right arm are still numb today. It feels like my fingers are going to explode!

We are getting used to the new place and I know that B loves it as much as I do. I even don’t mind that the dial-up speed is ½ of what it was at the old place.

The Move ~ Part II

...and the story continues...

One of my biggest gripes with this entire move is that B kept changing his mind as to when he wanted us all moved into the new place. No problem but he would not tell me and so I would be working on my schedule of getting us all packed and out of the old place by a certain date and come to find out he wants to move a day or two earlier. My schedule got all out of whack!

Monday, B’s friend came over to “help.” He was supposed to help move all the left over boxes. Everything was packed up except for the bathroom and some of the kitchen. I was in the process of cleaning out the fridge and needed to wash all the Tupperware etc that I took out of the fridge. I was working in the bathroom upstairs when I heard packing going on in the kitchen. B’s friend had started “packing” the kitchen. I had no idea what was going on downstairs. I did not even go down to look. I did find out later that his friend packed up all the dirty dishes and his idea of “packing was to put a glass inside a Tupperware bowl and then wrap it in saran wrap (or kleenix or paper towels). At least we had a good laugh when we were unpacking the stuff but now I am out of paper towels and plastic wrap.

B was a little touchy (and super tired) and ended up leaving in a huff. Yeah Monday was just not our day. I took the cats over to the new place and went back to finish up. We did end up staying the night at the new place, which was nice. I don’t know if it was tiredness, achey bones or just being old but it sure is hard getting up off of the floor when you sleep on those air mattresses.

Tuesday, was the last day to be out of our old place. B packed up the truck with the last of the boxes and I was cleaning the place from top to bottom. Right in the middle of loading the truck, we were hit with a huge storm. B decided to drive the boxes over to see if he could beat the storm but no such luck. I guess it was one of the worst storms so far to hit this season. Everything got soaked! The boxes literally disintegrated! They fell apart when he was bringing them into the house. A lot of the boxes held foodstuffs and made a mess, some also held dishes and scrapping stuff. As you can see, it all ended up in a pile in the kitchen.

It took me ALL day to clean the old apartment. I didn’t want the management to have any complaints. We had lived there about 7-years and did not plan on cleaning the carpet so I just vacuumed it. But, I did end up wiping down ALL the walls. Those Magic Erasers are awesome! The only other thing I did not clean was the oven but I was SO ready to get out of that place! I was bothered though that we were told we HAD to finish the cleaning before the office closed for the day since the walk thru HAD to be on the last day of the month. Come to find out the manager took the day off to spend at the spa.

After cleaning, B loaded the one sofa on the truck that was going to my parents and we drove over to deliver it and return the truck. I have NEVER been so tired! My mom made enchiladas which I am so thankful for as I had not eaten all day.

I am covered in bruises and my ankles were SO swollen. But, it was worth it to be in our new place.

The Move ~ Part I

I think I am finally starting to catch my breath!

I have NEVER done so much before in so little time. We were able to start moving in some things a day earlier than we had planned. So, on Friday, we brought over 2-car loads. I was able to bring over most of my scrapping supplies which now I am glad that they came over first thing.

Saturday, I still had use of my mom’s car and was able to go early in the day to drop off another load of stuff. My parent’s flight was supposed to come in at 1:20 and they called to tell me is was on time and to pick them up at 1:30. I headed over to the airport at 1pm ahead of super dark storm clouds. When I got to the airport about 25 minutes later the storm had hit at home and it was a doozie! I had not heard from my parents and so I drove up to baggage claim to see if they were waiting. They were not and I was not even able to stop to see if they were walking out. Security will not allow anyone to stop at all unless your entire party is ready with all baggage – they must be standing at the curb. I was told that I needed to just drive around the airport until they were ready. It was sprinkling by this time. I drove around the airport (along with many others) 4 times until I decided to just drive to a nearby hotel parking lot to wait for a phone call. I am glad that I did since the rain starting really coming down. I finally got a call from my parents. There were here but still on the plane. Because of the storm, the tarmac was closed and they had to wait until all lightning was gone. They sat on that plane for over an hour! What was supposed to be a quick trip ended up taking hours. My poor dad was so nice to get the truck and hand carts ready for me while the rain poured down. I finally got home and continued my packing.

Sunday, B’s parents came over to help us move the big furniture. B and his step-dad really worked hard at moving all the heavy furniture. My in-laws and B made many trips back and forth while I stayed home and packed and moved more stuff down the stairs to have waiting for them. I did get to make a trip over with all the computer stuff and it was nice to get out of the apartment. I still had some things left to pack and B was not too happy about it. The entire day was just so confusing. My packing did not go the way I would have liked. I had it all planned out but then B would want me to stop and start packing something else (or help him with something) and then he would complain that I had not finished packing what I was working on in the first place. He would tell me not to bother looking thru things to throw them away and just throw them in the boxes but then he would tell me that I should not take it all with me. Am I the only one confused by that? I was not too happy with him. He was exhausted though and quickly fell asleep– me on the other hand, I stayed up and went thru the last closet and threw out tons of stuff. Even though I was so tired, I had problems falling asleep. An air mattress on the floor is not very comfy for sore bodies.

Never Ever!

I will NEVER ever ever ever ever ever ever ever ever ever ever ever ever ever ever ever ever ever ever ever ever ever ever ever ever ever ever ever ever ever ever ever ever ever ever ever ever ever ever ever ever ever ever ever ever ever ever ever ever ever ever ever ever ever ever ever ever ever ever ever ever ever ever ever ever ever ever ever ever ever ever ever ever ever ever ever ever ever ever ever ever ever ever ever ever ever ever ever ever ever ever ever ever ever ever ever ever ever ever ever ever ever ever ever ever ever ever ever ever ever ever ever ever ever ever ever ever ever ever ever ever ever ever ever ever ever ever ever ever ever ever ever ever ever ever ever ever ever ever ever ever ever ever ever ever ever ever ever ever ever ever ever ever ever ever ever ever ever ever ever ever ever ever ever ever ever ever ever ever ever ever ever ever ever ever ever ever ever ever ever ever ever ever ever ever ever ever ever ever ever ever ever ever ever ever ever ever ever ever ever ever ever ever ever ever ever ever ever ever ever ever ever ever ever ever ever ever ever ever ever ever ever ever ever ever ever ever ever ever ever ever ever ever ever ever ever ever ever ever ever ever ever ever ever ever ever ever ever ever ever ever ever ever ever ever ever ever ever ever ever ever ever ever ever ever ever ever ever ever ever ever ever ever ever ever ever ever ever ever ever ever EVER move again!!!

pooped

Can I just say one thing?

Humidity sucks!!!

There, now that it’s out there I feel much better.

I am NOT used to humidity. The desert is supposed to be a dry heat. I thought I was going to just lose it today with the high humidity. I ran some errands and I was SO happy to have my Mom’s car and her super cool A/C. Too bad I could not just sit in the car all day. It was just an icky feeling day.

We were lucky to be able to move in a few things into the new place tonight. It was really nice having 2 cars. I packed up all my organized scrapping supplies and and then some. It had been threatening to rain all day and as I drove, I watched the lightning and the super dark grey wall of rain head my way. I thought it was going to be Stefani against the rain and I had a feeling that I was not going to win. Especially since, I had all of my scrapping goodies to unpack.

I got to the new place with no rain and even managed to unpack the car without a drop hitting. It was sure easier (and faster) to unpack the car then it was to pack it. Maybe the stairs and having to carry it out to the parking lot vs. parking RIGHT in front of the door (under the carport) and having the one-story had something to do with it. I managed to kind of organize it all before B showed up with a 2nd car load of stuff. I am going to miss having the 2nd car when we “really” get to moving this weekend. My parents return from their trip tomorrow so I have to leave in the middle of packing to pick them up at the airport and return their car to them. :(

I am so tired. I woke up so sore this morning and I hope that the same thing does not happen tomorrow. I still have so much left to pack. I want to try and make another run out to the new place before I have to jet to the airport. Hee hee! I said “jet!”

…oh and the rain? It didn’t even hit us.

Gimme a "G"!

I am really this tame? I don't think this rating is telling the whole truth! LOL!

What's your rating?

stuff

Sunday was a busy day. B’s mom had offered to buy us a new mattress and some end tables from Target. What we got was a new bed, new end tables AND new couches and none of them from Target. I finally have a coffee table! We had planned on getting my in-law’s old couches but we found such a good deal, B’s mom decided to get us new couches. The color is not one that I would have picked but B likes them so we went ahead and got them. They will all be delivered to our new place next week. Since we won’t have to take most of the large items with us, it should be easier to move.

In my attempts to put like items together when I pack them, I found yarn I did not even know I had. I guess I hid more items than I thought. Awhile back, in an attempt to organize my yarn and yarn projects, I bought a big storage container. It is so full right now and I still have more yarn to put into it. Right now though, all my yarn is in plastic bags and tossed in the container. I think if I took the stuff out of the bags, it would all fit but I found that this container does not seal well and I don’t want the yarn to be ruined. It is not expensive yarn but I am sure I can still make something out of it. Some of the items are also projects-in-process and I don’t want to spread the project around.

I still don’t know how I am going to pack up my scrapping supplies. At first, I was thinking that I would just keep the supplies in the drawers and take the drawers to the new place with the stuff still in them. Now I wonder if it would be better to throw everything into a box. I had hopped to reduce my scrapping supplies before the move but that is just not going to happen.

I really do appreciate all the packing advice everyone is leaving in the comments. My goal is to throw out items that I have not used but that is easier said than done. I HATE throwing things out if I think I can find a use for them. And that is the problem, I think I can use them but I never end up using them. I am going to try my best but I am sure I will still end up packing things that should have been tossed. I hope that if there is not a place for them at our new place, I will throw them out when I unpack.

ACCEPTED!

YAY! I got the call I was hoping for. My training was approved! I am so happy. I just hope we can survive while I am going to school.

I just have one more meeting to attend before I start my training but it is just a formality. As of now, I can just concentrate on getting ready for our move. For the past three days I have been doing nothing but throwing stuff out and organizing a bit to make it easier for the move. I am looking forward to some different furniture. Although the furniture is not even close to our style I really do appreciate B’s parents giving us their old things. We will be getting a set of couches, a new mattress (YAY) and a new table. A WOODEN table! Since my in-laws will be giving us their old table, we no longer need the one we have. I am SO happy that I finally get to throw out our table. I have hated it since B bought it 14 years ago. It is round. It is glass. To me it is just the worst ever! I was able to drag 2 of the chairs down to the dumpster today and another is currently sitting outside. Tomorrow, I will drag that one and it’s mate to join the other 2 at the dumpster. I am already doing the happy dance! :)

I don’t really have that much moving experience. I would really appreciate any advice you all have.

decisions

Today I turned in all my paperwork in order for me to go to school. Now the waiting begins. My request has to go to committee, which only meets on Wednesday. However, for some reason my case-worker is not going to send it to committee until next week. I hope that the committee will approve it and I can start school in a couple of weeks.

So now that I no longer have that stress looming over me, packing can begin in earnest. But now I have a new stress. It has to do with our new place. We loved it the moment we saw it and since we know someone that lives there the guy was willing to hold it for us with our deposit. We mentioned to him that we would need to get together closer to our move-in date to sign the lease. Today, the guy who owns the property came into B’s work and B mentioned that we would like to meet with him to sign the lease. He told B that he does not work with leases. Now I am freaked out. He never told us this when we first mentioned the lease. I really don’t want to move into a place without a lease but I also don’t want to be out $600 either. The person we know that lives there has been there 4 years so far without a lease and has no complaints. My better judgment says to find another place but B wants us to keep this place. So, I guess we will be moving next weekend into our nice and newly updated place with no lease.

Hiya!

Today was another HOT HOT day. I cannot believe this heat! I feel so tired after just a few minutes outside. I think it was also humid so maybe that is what is doing me in. Tonight we had a nice bit of a storm. It started just as B and I were running out to run a quick errand. Big ‘ole drops of rain but only for a short while. It was gone by the time we got back home ~ maybe 10/15 minutes. Since we got wet the A/C in the car sure did feel good. :)

This afternoon I took my parents to the airport. They will be traveling the entire month of July. They just got back from one trip on Friday and will get back from this trip on Thursday. Then they leave again next week. I would LOVE to have so many places to be, although I have a feeling they will be pretty tired when they get back. I teased them by telling them they will be back just in time to help us move into our new place. ;) I am happy they are traveling though since I get to borrow my mom’s car while she is gone. Yay Me! LOL!

I do have some update news on my eBay scam. PayPal only guarantees $200 so that is all I am able to get back. This person gets to keep my $99 and that really bothers me. I have submitted a chargeback on my card but was told that since they will go after PayPal to get the money, that I probably will not get it back.

I have a very important meeting tomorrow that has been rescheduled 3 times now. I still have to fill out the paperwork. I don’t think punching out Basic Grey letters and tags should be what I am doing right now. Oops.

On another note. Cairo kitty is done taking all of her medicine. I think she is cured. I need to dig thru her litter box to find out and I am not looking forward to that at the moment. There is one thing that bothers me though. I think she may have some neurological issues from taking the medicine. Hopefully they will go away now that she is no longer on it. She is having problems with her balance.

tired

I have been so tired lately. I can barely make it thru the day sometimes. Kind of hard to get things ready for our move when I don’t have the energy. That is right, we are moving in less than 2 weeks! I have so much to do and I don’t know where to start. Well I have kind of started but what I have done has not even made a dent. Today B packed up a lot of stuff in the kitchen that we won’t need to use. You know, all the stuff that hides up in the cabinets. I really wanted to do it but I am glad that he was the one to do it. I do not know what I am going to do with all of my craft stuff. B really does not want me to take it all with me. Maybe I can sell my stamps on eBay, but that would require me to actually spend time getting things listed. So much to do and so little time.

I just wish I knew what was making me so tired. So, I took a test ~ nope, that was not it. I think I am kind of bummed about that too.

Looks like a quickie storm is starting to blow thru. I guess I had better get off this computer.

7.7.07

I am enjoying participating in the 365-day photo challenge. I don’t know why it is so much easier for me to do this challenge than the 2peas challenge I tried to do in January. Maybe it is because I am just taking pictures of myself and don’t have to think so much. And the weird thing is…I LIKE taking pictures of myself.

It is rare that I get a photo of myself that I like, much less two or three. I have never been one to be comfortable in my own skin. To much baggage, I suppose, and not the kind people can see. In the past, I have looked at them very quickly and then put them away. But, to be truthful… these photos would usually be pulled out again in the future where they would do their work at either making me be sad or disgusted.

I have noticed something new about myself from looking at all the self-portraits that I have taken lately. Something that I have not realized before. Something that actually makes me feel good about myself in a weird sort of way.

I have wrinkles.

In particular, crow’s feet. I don’t know why that surprises me. I am getting up there in years (although my mind would tell you differently – oh and the breakouts that make me look like a teenager). I remember when I was in my first year of college and there was a girl my age with lots of wrinkles from being out in the sun. She looked so much older than I did. I thought that would never happen to me. I was young and never really went out into the sun. I never really did anything else to prevent them though. I was not too worried since they did not seem to be appearing as the years passed. So where did they come from? How did they sneak up on me so quickly? It is weird that I JUST noticed them this week. I SWEAR I did not have them before! LOL! I think wearing glasses all the time may have helped them sneak up on me. So what do I do now?

Do I really need a title?

Thanks to all that commented on which picture to use for my first 365 photo. I really appreciate you visiting and taking the time to comment. It makes me happy. :)

You all picked the photo that I had as a favorite. Yay! :) So my first photo is finally posted to the group – albeit without a title. Remind me not to ask B for a title for my 365 days photos. His suggestions for my first photo were:

“Giant alien head” and “The all and powerful OZ” (or something like that). He mentioned something about adding flames to the top of my head or something.

Of course, both of these suggestions are much more creative than the “Day 1” title that I ended up using. But c’mon! I was NOT going to use those!

This is what happens when the girl has WAY too much time on her hands. She has to entertain herself some how. She was all dressed up with no where to go.

A challenge you say?

Once upon a time, there was a girl who took too many pictures of herself. So….she joined a self-portrait group on Flickr. She never shared. She never even kept up with the challenges (I think there were challenges). So, nothing ever came of it (errr…..kind of like her photo-a-day challenge). Anywho……she finally decided to take the plunge and joined the 365 Days Self-portrait challenge. Although she was very leery of saying anything about it for fear that it would fall by the way-side like ALL the other challenges she chose to participate in (ummm…such as that challenge to NOT buy anymore scrapbook supplies until a specific page goal was reached- yeah that one NEVER even had a chance!).

So, even though it went against the girl’s better judgment, she decided to still let all you reading this know, that she has decided to participate.

~*~ She has joined the group.

~*~ She has taken the first photo (a quickie before running out the door).

~*~ She has decided that no matter what ~ she will post these photos for the world to see.

Now the hard part…..which one to pick.

So tell me….which one do you like best?

Living off~line

I have been trying to spend my days doing more than just being online. It sometimes can be hard, especially since I was online 8+ hours a day for my job for the last 7+ years. Not to mention the time spent online after work.

So what have I been up to? Well let’s see……


My brother brought the clan over to go swimming. Little Ducky did NOT want to get into the water at first. Even riding on daddy’s back, he made sure his feet did not touch the water. LOL! Of course, little Anna was floating around like a little Paris Hilton.

After a quick swim it was time chips & salsa.



How funny is that 2nd picture? Talk about spicy salsa!

All in all I took 119 photos! I don’t think I have ever taken so many photos in just one day.

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Thanks everyone for the comments on my kitty.The medicine for Cairo kitty came yesterday, so we started her on the pills today. This is the first time I have ever had to give a cat a capsule. This particular kitty is NOT very cooperative when it comes to having to take medication. I have to say that both doses today went very well. Now if only they will go as well for the next 2 weeks. I sure do hope they work too. My kitty has been sick since we got her about 6/7 years ago. She is taking Ronidazole. I may have to call the vet tomorrow though as from what I am reading online, her dose seems to be much higher than recommended.

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In my quest to declutter before our move (did I mention we were moving?), I got rid of 3 bags of clothes and I’m working on getting rid of lots more. My goal is “if it does not fit, get rid of it!” I don’t know why that has always been so hard for me to do. I have also told myself that if it is NOT my style to get it out the door. We will have limited space in our new place and I need to get ready for that.

I even cleaned out my Tupperware. What I want to know is...just how did I end up with so many lids and no bottoms to go with them?

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And silly me....I even cast on for a new thread project but after the 2nd round I scrapped it. I have only worked with thread once before and my fingers need to get used to the tiny crochet hook. I may pick it back up again sometime this week though. Maybe this time I will take a picture before I rip it all up. :)

Meeeeeeeeeeow!

Someone was not very happy today.

Someone had to go into the little blue pet carrier, go outside and take a drive to the vet.

Someone did not like it.

That someone could either be me or Cairo the cat, take your pick.

All I can tell you is that she TOTALLY hated it! She yowled from the moment she went into the carrier until she heard the vet unlock the front door of the office. I have never seen her get herself so small either. She jammed herself into the back of the carrier and had to be dumped out. You would think she would be used to going to the vet. Maybe that is part of the problem. She KNOWS what goes on at the vet. Poor thing had to get poked and prodded and was not very cooperative.

Back into the carrier she went and as soon as we were out the door, she picked right back up with the yowling. We are now waiting for some medicine that is only available in Europe to get here so she can finally be cured. I sure do hope this medicine will do the trick. Please keep your fingers crossed that I am able to give her this medicine without too much trouble. She is so hard to get medicine into.

Float On

I was not too happy with the hubby last night so I treated myself to a movie. I finally got to see the movie, “Knocked Up.” This is the movie that B and I tried to see on Sunday but it was sold out. I was surprised at how many guys were there. Alone. Without a girl to drag them there. I think there were more guys in the theater than girls and there was one guy down in front that just would not stop laughing. It was too funny. The laughing guy and the movie. I think B would like this movie too so I have not told him yet that I already saw it. Maybe he will want to try to take me to the movie and I can see it again. :)

And on to the continuing eBay saga…

I am sorry to say that it looks like I have been the victim of fraud. I am so upset at this eBay seller! After 26 days of no item (28 days now), I finally submitted a claim thru Paypal. The seller immediately sent PayPal the shipping label and so now, I have to wait for a determination. I sure do hope that Paypal contacts me so that I can give them all the info. I also submitted negative feedback and guess what? I was promptly contacted by another gal that purchased a Silhouette from this eBay seller. It seems that so far there are 3 of us that seem to have been scammed. I can tell you though, it does make me feel a teeny bit better that I am not the only one that is going thru this mess. Keep your fingers crossed that I get my money back.

I did not end up going to the movies on Friday, so B told me that he would take me today. The movie I wanted to see has been out for awhile so we were surprised to find out that it was sold out when we tried to go and see it. I guess it is more popular than we thought. Although, I could have sworn that the person in front of us bought tickets to this very show. :( We usually got to the first showing and get there early in order to get a good seat. This time though, we went to the 2nd showing. That will teach us! I guess we will try again next week unless I get to go sometime this week during the day.

Today, we had also planned to go and see an apartment for rent. The place we went to see has 2 openings. One will be ready next week and is larger and the 2nd one needs work and will be ready in August when our lease at our current place is complete. The 2nd apartment is a bit smaller. I am not looking forward to going from a 2-bedroom to a 1-bedroom but these places are nice. Oh and they have free laundry! We really liked the larger apartment and the guy is willing to save it for us for the entire month of July! We are so excited! I really want to be able to move the week before our lease is up but it will take a bit of convincing to get B to agree. I also have to figure out how to store all my scrap stuff in the one closet…and where will the cat litter box go? And will B really let me decorate or is he just saying that? LOL! Lots and lots of things to think about. Lots of de-cluttering will be happening in the next few weeks. Anyone want some old scrapping supplies? Anyone want ½ priced Mary Kay?




p.s. ~ the picture is from a t-shirt I bought Ducky for his birthday. Isn’t it the coolest thing? Now I just need to get a picture of him wearing it.

Suds, Scrapping & Stuffiness

Yesterday was laundry day. I seriously have not done any laundry for quite awhile. It is not as if I have needed to wear my clothes anywhere since I just hang out at home. I usually just wash B’s clothes for the week and that is it. I like doing laundry but I don’t like that we have to pay $2.00 to wash/dry a load of clothes. My mom has suggested I go and use her washer/dryer until we find a place that will allow us to have our own. I LOVE my mom’s washer. What would usually be 2/3 loads in the laundry-mat washer is just one load in my mom’s washer. I seriously washed so many clothes it was awesome!

Since my parents have a cable Internet connection, I had planned to read blogs and just surf around online. I did not remember that it was summer vacation. Want to know what a 15-year-old does all day? Yep! He rarely even moved.

So it was a good thing that I had planned a backup solution on how to spend my time. I scrapped. Yes, that is right, I still had my scrapping bag packed from my night out with the Divas and so I just took it with me. I even managed to crank out a page. But sadly, even my mom commented on how slow I scrap. LOL!

I am happy with how this page turned out. It is a bit plain but it is done. This is boy #2. I think this is the first page I have ever scrapped with just him. If I thought it was hard to get pictures of boy #1 ~ it is even harder to get pictures of this one.



Today was not as good as yesterday. I woke up with a stuffed-up head and was quite achey. Not even the Sudafed I took helped to clear me up. Of course now that it is late at night, I am feeling much better. Don't know why that always happens. Hmmm maybe that little bit of a nap I took earlier is to blame.

I hope I feel better tomorrow since I think I will treat myself to a movie.

That's no moon.

Last Saturday night I went over to a friend’s for their last movie night before their cross-country move. We watched “Star Wars” under the stars. I thought it was fun but I would have probably enjoyed it a whole lot more if it were not the last time I would see Rachel. She is my scrapping muse. I don’t know how I will learn how to scrap properly without her here.

The original Scrappay Divas!

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I am getting one step closer to going to school. I met this week with the dean/administrator of the department and filled out all the school paperwork. I had went a couple of weeks ago and tested out of as many courses as I could. They kept telling me that they have never had ANYONE challenge out of (and pass) so many courses. I was introduced to some staff and even some current and former students. All were told about how I challenged out of so many courses. In fact the dean even listed them for all to hear. I don’t know if that is a good thing or not but it sure did make me feel good – and smart too. :) In fact I did so well with these tests that I am starting out in “Phase II” of the training and skipping “Phase I.” I have reduced the hours that I will need to take by about 300 or so. Now all I need to do is meet with my counselor and hopefully I will get approved to attend. That’s the thing that concerns me right now. They have you do all this work and fill out all this paperwork before you are even approved to attend. But, if everything works out ~ I will be starting my training on July 9th! Yay! Now I just need a car to get me there and I will be all set.

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Thanks for all the ideas on how to work with my hair. I did manage to use some of B’s pomade the other day and although it is not something that will work with my hair, I kind of got an idea of how the stuff works. And thanks to Rachel (check out her new 'do), I went and bought the same product she got for her new haircut. Now I am ready to have “surf hair!”

Where's the beach???

It’s been a couple of days…

…and I am still trying to figure out this haircut thing. I am SO not used to shorter hair. And bangs? Forget it! They are WAY too short. I will just need to play with my hair a bit more. I guess getting my hair cut was more of a shock than I thought – but it was all one length and halfway down my back so this is quite a bit of a change. I think once I dye it and give it a couple of weeks I will LOVE it. At least now it has a style and I know B likes it. It is also much cooler with these 106+ degrees we are having.

Thank you for all the great comments on my new ‘do. Maybe you all can help me. How do I get these bangs NOT to feather? How do I get them to be sideswept to one side? I so need “bang lessons!” Can you help?

1/2 the hair

I now have ½ the hair that I had when I woke up this morning.

It has probably been over a year since I last had it cut. I now have layers (I think) and bangs. I finally got the courage to go in and get and get it cut and I did not even cry. Of course, I tried not to look at my Uncle’s empty station or any of the pictures. It is hard having someone new cut my hair. One of the newer ladies to the salon (she started 2 days after the funeral) cut my hair. I like her. She talks a lot. I had envisioned getting a different haircut, but when I went in today, I just let her cut it. Now I just need to cover up the grey and I will be all set.


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And now to my eBay saga…..

So….you want to know how to get an eBay seller to respond to your email? Send an email with the wrong item number. LOL! I had emailed the seller a few more times asking for the tracking # for my purchase. She NEVER responded. I sent another email the other day and somehow the wrong item number was attached. Well that sure did get her attention. She responded today. She said she was confused and wanted to know if I had multiple eBay names. She also stated she had the tracking # for my purchase. I also received a PayPal shipping confirmation today. It states that my package was mailed out today. What a liar this seller is. The one and only email she had sent to me before stated that my package was mailed on June 7th ~ last week! I just knew she was stalling me! I will be sure to avoid any of her auctions in the future.

It's about time!

With the twins celebrating their 3rd birthday this past week, it is about time that I scrapped their 1st birthday party. Now I just need to scrap last year’s and then I will be all set to scrap this years photos. Of course, this is just for the twins. I still have to scrap all the other boy’s birthdays.

When they were younger, it was so easy to scrap just boy pages. Then little Anna came into the picture and I am still learning how to scrap girl pages. Now I have to say I have hit a scrapping block. The cause? Teenage boy pages. How the heck do you scrap teenage boy pages and not make them too cutesy? Any help would be greatly appreciated.


Here is the layout I finished the other day. {Sorry for the blurry scan and the white on white background.}




Supplies used:

Cardstock: Bazill
Stickers: American Crafts
Chipboard, paint, brads: Making Memories
Buttons: SEI
Stamps: PinkSugarPop
Zig marker
Other: ribbon, buttons

Dark clouds, why must you tease?

Today I was surprised to look outside...


...and see dark rain clouds in the sky.


It is June. It is not time for desert monsoons.
But, the sky was dark and grey
and loud thunder warned me to stop my computer play.


These clouds so full of wet.
For some, a storm.
For us...this is all we get.

idk

Have you seen the commercial where the mom is looking at the cell phone bill and asks the daughter who she is texting? I laugh when I see it. What makes me laugh even more is the email I received from the boy (he’s 15) in response to one that I sent him. The first words of the email?

idk

That had me rolling! Good thing I saw that cell phone commercial or else I would not know what he was talking about!

On Friday, two little somebodies turned 3!! I cannot believe that the twins are 3 years old! I am actually in the process of scrapping pictures from their 1st birthday right now. I think I need to speed up on the scrapping though or else I will be scrapping these pictures when they turn five!

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As for my eBay purchase. I am not too happy. I sent the gal 2 emails. She responded to the 2nd email I sent saying she was mailing the package that day (8 days after payment) and that she would send the tracking number ASAP. Well I don’t know what ASAP means to her but I still have not received that tracking number. Is this normal? I have never experienced this before on any eBay purchase. Of course, I have never spent $300.00 on a eBay purchase before either. I would have thought the least the gal could have done was email me after the close of the purchase just to let me know what was up. I sent her another email tonight asking for the tracking number. Let’s see how long it takes for her to respond.

A couple of Yay's and a Boo

Yesterday I had a wonderful surprise. My page made layout of the day over at CMK! Not only is there a thread on the message board to discuss it but it also is spotlighted on the main page of the site.

I am super excited! It sure did make my day.

Today, I went to take some challenge tests to see if I can skip certain modules/courses when I go back to school. I know I passed two of the tests so far, but I have to wait for the others to be graded. I am going back tomorrow to take even more tests. Wish me luck! I am looking forward to going to school but it still kinds of bothers me that I will not be getting any type of credits for the courses I take. However, after my course work is finished, I will be able to participate in an externship and get the job experience I need.

On the way home, I stopped by the Michael’s down the street from the school. I wanted to see if they had the Studio G clear stamps. I am so happy to report that they sure did!! I got all of the sets in the pink series ~ well I think I got all of them. I even had a second set in my basket with the intention of maybe selling them on eBay but I thought it would probably end up being too much work for not too much of a profit and put them back. Last week there were only a couple of auctions for these stamps but when I look today there are tons with no bids so maybe it was a good thing that I did not buy them.

I am a bit bummed though. I purchased a QuicKutz Silhouette off eBay exactly one week ago. The payment was taken out of my account immediately and I have received NO communication from the seller! I sent an email yesterday asking when it shipped and she still has not responded. I wonder if I should send an email every day until she does. What bothers me is that she re-listed the same item the day after my purchase but I notice that a lot of people seem to do that even though the item has already received feedback. I checked her feedback the other day and she did actually get a one recent negative. The complaint was that it had been two weeks and item had not shipped and no contact from seller. Of course, she has received other positive feedback comments after this one and they all state that communication was good. I would think that one day should have been enough for her to answer yesterday’s email. Don’t you think?

Crafty

Just a couple of pages I have been working on.

Don’t Know…Beets Me!

That’s the name of the new polish I bought last week. Don’t you just love it?

I don’t paint my nails all that often but I sure do love to buy nail polish. I don’t know why. My nails don’t grow long and I always where shoes. But, now that I have been spending most of my time at home, I have been looking at my toes a lot more lately. And let me tell ya…they are not much to look at with nothing on them.

I have never bought any bright colors before but something in my mood lately had me wanting to buy something pink. Something BRIGHT pink! And this gorgeous color is what I came home with.

It was a Scrappay night...

…and all thru the store the sound of scrapping could be heard.

Last night was awesome! The Scrappay Divas got together for one last crop before one of us moves away. We had a great turnout! Even baby Phin joined us and let me tell ya…he is such a cutie!

I even got one page completed. Yep! One page. Let me tell ya though…one page is awesome for me. Especially when it is totally completed. Everyone liked it, B on the other hand – not so much. But hey! What do men know? I will have to scan and share soon.

I think the pages I was totally awed by were the 6x12 pages that Rachel (with the help of baby Phin) was working on for her vacation album {for those that don’t know…that is a 12x12 layout cut in half ~ See…how smart I am? LOL!} I sure do hope she posts these pages because they are so awesomely fabulous!



After finding the magical “skinny” wall in the store, we all got our picture taken. Of course the wall does not work when you are the one being made to stand in the middle of the group. Here is a picture of all of us: Lisa, Sam, Me, Amber & Rachel. Such fantastic scrappers all!


And check out Scrappin’ Rambo Rachel! {hmmmm maybe this will get her to comment on my blog ~ LOL!}