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