Looks like . . .

A. Someone excited about making a big change
B. Someone getting ready to do some serious scrapbooking
C. Someone ecstatically accepting a tentative offer for a new teaching job
D. All of the above

If you answered "D," you are correct. I will resign from my current position and accept a new position by Friday at the latest. HOORAY! Brad is bringing his muscles to my room tomorrow to help me move all my crap out.

It will be really difficult for me to leave behind the great friends I've found in some of my co-workers in the three years at my current job. But, I'm excited to try something new and to move forward.

Off to scrap! I have a special project planned for a friend.

P.S. Did you notice my new t-shirt. Yipee for AE!

Random Thoughts

I've been neglecting my blog lately. But, I just don't actually have much to say! Here's a little randomness . . . .

I'm listening to The Time Traveler's Wife while commuting to summer school. This is one weird little story. It's part Lolita and part Bill and Ted's Excellent Adventure and maybe even a little Back to the Future. It's part love story. It's a little science-fiction. Most certainly the strangest thing I've read in a long time. I know some of you have read this. What are your thoughts?

My references are being checked. Maybe even as we speak. That's a good thing for someone looking for a job, right? It's usually not the references that are the deal-maker or deal-breaker. HOORAY! I will keep you posted on this.

Saw the Babes on Sunday and again today. Noah and Chase are so totally amazing! As is my sister-in-law. I cannot imagine being the mother of 17 month-old twin boys.

Brad is laying on the couch reading a story about catfish fishin'. Apparently, someone meant to catch a catfish and caught an eel. This is hilarious to him. Ahhhh. I love my husband.

Saturday Scrappin'

Did two challenges today.

# 1: Junkitz Challenge @ Scrap-tastic
Just needed to make a LO using 75% Junkitz. I'm lovin' Becky's gallery, message boards, and shopping over there. Check it out!

# 2: How Much is Too Much? Challenge # 3
This week's challenge was to use 5+ ribbons / fabrics on a LO. Checking in with 14 ribbons. I now wish I would have done something with fabric, too. A scan didn't do it justice, and the photo doesn't really either. It's much more colorful in real life.

Not much else going on here. I need to do some housework and a little grocery shopping. I kicked Brad's butt in Monopoly last night (the Railroads are the secret!). I'm hoping to log some hammock time this afternoon, too.

Have a happy weekend!

Ssssshhhhh!

I've been keeping a secret from you, dear Readers. Fabulous Brad sent me these flowers today.

. . . to congratulate me on the my second interview for a new position in a different school district. It's working primarily with staff (rather than in a classroom) on helping implement literacy initiatives. It's only 16.24 miles from my front door, too! I interviewed the first time on Monday and again today. I'm hoping to hear about the next step by Monday or so.

As excited as I am about this new prospect, I'm trying hard not to get my hopes too high. As much as I sometimes hate going in to work, I know I could go back to my current job next year and do fabulous work with the kids.

Cross your fingers for me!

In other news, had a totally fun and completely yumm-o dinner with Wendy and Meggan tonight. We, at Meggan's urging, had Indian cuisine. I'm not a fan of curry or really spicy food, so I was a little nervous. But, it was so tasty! I can't wait to take Brad there sometime.

I also cranked out a LO for a CJ tonight. Plus, I got a fun prize package in the mail from House of Paper. I won one of the anniversary crop challenges over the weekend. It was filled with new KI stuff. Hooray!

One more random thought. . . I watched Say Anything today. Have you seen this movie?!? I've always loved this movie. Smarty pants, daddy's girl falls in love with lost, rebel boy. Ahhhh. What a great story!

And the Award For . . . .

Angie and I scrapped today. Some awards definitely needed to be given out to commemorate the day's festivities.

Best New Doodler on a Scrapbook Page goes to . . . . . me!


This is the first time I've gotten down with my big, bad, doodling self. I did, I'll admit, need some encoruagement from Ang. I tend to be a little too uptight to really enjoy doodling. But, I think it looks pretty cool. Unfortunately, this page was also a finalist in the "Worst Scan Ever" category.

Dumbest Comment Ever goes to . . . . Me!
when putting a stick pin in a page I said, "Wow! This is sharp." Followed immediately by, "That was the stupidest comment ever." My personalities were talking to themselves. Luckily, Angie has known me for long enough that she knows she needs to accept these strange quirks.

Most Disastorous Journaling Ever goes to . . . . Me!

This page was going so well. I {heart} We Are Memory Keepers and had so much fun making this page. Then, the journaling happened. This is by far the worst journaling I've ever read. It's horrendous!

It's so horrendous that it has led me to host a contest over at 2 Peas. I'm going to start a thread in the Pub for you to post a link to your worst page ever. Come on, gals! You know what I'm talking about. That page that is hiding in the bottom of a drawer or back of a shelf. The one that is so horrendous you're embarrassed to ever show it to anyone. Attach a link to your worst page ever on the 2Peas thread. I'll toss everyone's name who enters in to basket and send a RAK to the name pulled from the hat. The deadline is this Friday. Get down with your BAD self, Ladies!

My worst LO ever: Cowboy Disastor!

Link to Pub Thread in Message Board: Worst LO Ever!

Amish Friendship Bread

WARNING: If you were once Amish (or have any Amish relatives) please don't read this post, as you may consider it offensive.

Have you ever had someone give Amish Friendship Bread to you?!? It requires 10 days of maintenance after which you are able to bake two glorious loaves of tasty bread.

I do, however, have some concerns about it.
On day 6, you add 1 1/2 cups of milk. It is never refrigerated.
Ever.
Is that kind of gross?
I know.
The Amish don't have refrigerators.
But, the Amish also don't use deoderant.
Neither of those things are good ideas.

In the end, you produce four bags of Amish friendship bread starter to give to friends.
The Amish must be a lot nicer than me.
(Depsite the whole deoderant thing.)
Because I can't find anyone who wants to take my bread starter!
10 days from now,
I'll have 16 more starters and 8 loaves of bread.

In the end,
the bread has not only made me fatter
(It's not exactly healthy),
but it has also made me feel bad about the number of friends I have.

I'm always very curious about the Amish. Remember the reality tv show that brought Amish kids to the city and city kids to the Amish? Or Kingpin (Woody Harrelson, professional bowler, meets the Amish)? When we used to drive to Point a lot, there were tons of Amish homesteads. Brad and I would play a weird version of "I Spy" by trying to be the first to spot an Amish house.

One time, while on the highway, we were passed by a small car (Geo Metro or something similar). It was driven by someone in Amish clothing (Menonite, I later learned). The entire car---and I mean the ENTIRE car---was filled with Hostess treats. Twinkies. Ho-Hos. Cupcakes. Pies. Hostess treats everywhere. I don't even know how the dude could see! The passenger seat was full, and the backseat was just crammed. That just goes to show, that if you take too much of something away from someone, they will only binge on it when they get the chance. What other reason would someone need so many Hostess treats?!?!?!

After all these strange comments about the Amish, I probably should point out that I could never be Amish. Too many sacrifices and too much devotion for me. I do, however, think I would excel at Amish crafts like quilting or furniture making.

So, now that I've completely convinced all of my readers that I am entirely shallow by making a totally random post poking fun of someone else's culture, it's probably time for me to sign off.

I'd like to thank . . .

the Chicks for helping me find my mojo.
my own horrible impulsive spending habits for keeping my craft room so well stocked.

I haven't been feeling at all scrappy lately and have only recently begun to find my crafty mojo after a few weeks of hardly any creating. Today, I busted out my newly purchased Dixie Chicks CD and created away. With their inspiration, I made some rockin' LOs.

Friemily.
My entry for this week's How Much is Too Much? challenge. It uses 10 types of bling. Watch out for the glare; it's one shiny LO. Thanks to Michelle, Angie, and all the girls for organizing this. Fun stuff!

Swingin.
A challenge to celebrate House of Paper's second anniversary. The challenge was to use a series of at least three squares in a LO.

Love
Another challenge at Chiara's HOP. Use Scrapworks, rub-ons, and ribbon.

All are in my 2Peas gallery.

Do not remember the last time I pumped out three LOs (all of which I actually like) in one day. How fun!

Let's make a deal. . . .

I hate doing chores. Really hate it. Will let my house go un-vacuumed for days, never dust, want-to-hire-a-maid hate it.

But, last night my relationship with chores might have changed!

Brad and I bargained for jobs. That's right. Here's how it went:

Me: I'll vacuum if you do the dishes.
Brad: Only if you vacuum the couch [covered with dog hair].
Me: I'll unload the dishwasher if you vacuum the couch.
ETC . . . .

The final score:
Brad--dishes and couch vacuuming
Barb--vacuuming and dishwasher unloading
But, the joke was on Brad because I still haven't unloaded the dishwasher!

It makes me feel in control of chores. It makes me feel like I have a choice about the chores. It somehow makes me feel like I'm being sneaky and tricking Brad in to doing extra things.

BWAHAHAHAHAHA. [evil laugh]

Scrappy Goodness

To get Brad to hang some new shelves in the craft room (I officially have too much stuff!), we had to eat Take 5 McFlurries first.

Then, I created some serious Scrappy Goodness.

This is for the How Much is Too Much Challenge . This week's goal was five: patterned papers, rub-ons, stamps, embellishments, and epoxies. The stamps were the hardest part for me.

In other news, my first package is ready to be sent to my Firecracker Swap partner. Fun stuff!

Dropping out

I was really planning to put together an entry for CK's Scrapbooker of the Year contest not really so much to win as to challenge myself. It didn't turn out to be a challenge, so much as just too much pressure. It hasn't been fun to scrap lately, and I've decided the contest is why.

So, here are the few LOs that I managed to complete for the contest. I decided to just share them with all of you. I'm proud of the few LOs I managed to complete. They are some of the coolest stuff I've done in awhile.

LO # 1: Play
My nephews playing outside on Easter.

LO # 2: All Dressed Up
My newphew, Noah, is trying to make a nudist escape.

LO # 3: Sweet Summer
This is my mother-in-law and her siblings as children.

LO #4: Create
This is my grandmother standing by the last full quilt she completed and showed before her death in 2004.

LO # 5: Mr. Postman
Brad looking totally hot as a mail carrier.

Babes Entry

I be a babe.
I be bloggin.
I be running seriously behind.
Seriously.
It was supposed to be done one week ago.
Watch out, Em!
It's headed your way tomorrow.

My finished entry for Hailey's CJ.

Hailey's topic was cars. My journaling is hidden. It reads,
"After a few "beaters," my first grown-up car was a 1994 Grand Am. I loved her, and drove her to 234,000 miles. I cried at the dealership when she was traded for the 2001 Esacape, my current ride."

Other memorable cars in my life include:

• 1978 Chrysler LeBaron (my first car) It was backed in to so many things that on the trunk, where it used to say CHRYSLER, it only said "LER."
• My dad's 1954 Plymouth Sports Fury convertible. This thing was serioulsy huge. We drove in it on our wedding day. Brad and I also took it to old car night at the drive in. We got busted parking by the police afterwards dressed in a poodle skirt and a 1950s suit. Totally embarassing.
• Angie's dad's truck, The Red Russian. I remember a few late night drives after the drive-in with hot tamales and Cokes.
• My grandma's PT Cruiser. It was the first new car she ever picked out and bought all by herself. She emailed me pictures of herself standing next to it and got personalized license plates that said "QLTMBLE." She had a huge lead foot and was one seriously cool lady.

So, dear virtual friends, tell me about your ride.

Why I'll Never Be a 10 Again

The small clothes of summer have gotten me to thinking a lot about size lately. I seriously think all clothes have gotten smaller. A 12 just isn't a 12 anymore; it's more like an 8. Plus, the physical size of the clothes is smaller. Shorts are shorter, t-shirts are shorter. It's all smaller. (Except for pants which seem to be getting increasinly longer. But, that's a whole different post.)
The smallest size I have ever been (since I can remember caring about size) was a 10. Sigh. My current size is most certainly not a 10. I wish I could say it falls on the "less than" side of 10, but that would be a big fat lie (if you're questioning me, please see the previosly posted unflattering picture of me on a hammock).

In case my last post dedicated to the cupcake was not evidence enough, here, ladies and gentlemen, are the reasons why I will never be a 10 again:

1. The Take 5 McFlurry (YUM-O). Warning: Consuming this tasty treat will not take five pounds away from your total weight!
2. Television . . . need I say more?
3. the Internet (Thanks a lot, Al Gore!)
4. My dog doesn't like to go for walks (he's a bit on the heavy side, too)
5. My couch is possessed. I sit down. It sucks me in and refuses to let me get up until I take a nap.
6. Brad only eats one meal and day. Consequently, the portion he eats is ENORMOUS. He thinks I need to eat just as much.
7. I'd rather build my brain by reading than build my biceps by lifting weights. Plus, I'm not coordinated enough to do both at the same time.
8. I don't really like salad all that much.
9. I love sugary kids cereal. Cinnamon Toast Crunch is where it's at!
10. I don't like diet soda and am convinced that I get headaches from Nutrasweet.
11. My hobbies are not cardio-vascular (unless standing while scrapping counts as cardio)
12. Water is boring. I can't ever drink 10 or 12 or how ever many glasses a day I'm supposed to.
13. I actually made cupcakes after posting about them. Thought about them and had to have them. Even though it was 8pm and really hot outside. I went to the store, turned on the oven, and made cupcakes. I bet I'm not the only one! Confess, dear readers. Who else ate a cupcake after my last post?!?!

Honestly, though, I do still secretly wish that someday I might be a size 6 and be able to eat whatever I want to whenever I want to. The person who can invent such a situation deserves some kind of huge award.

The Fashionable Cupcake

I've been thinking a lot about cupcakes lately.

It seems they are experiencing a sudden surge of popularity.

Take for example, the following links.
A Blog About Cupcakes
Sprinkles (gourmet cupcake store)
Totally Fun Cupcake Pan

Also, my co-worker's daughter recently had her third birthday. It was a cupcake celebration! I just made cupcakes (in Barbie wrappers with pink frosting) to take as a treat to my last grad class. Cupcakes are everywhere!

I just thought in honor of all the bad things going on (Canadian terrorists, deaths in Iraq, consitutional definitions of marriage, crappy days at work, etc.) we could all find a little joy in cupcakes.

To the cupcake. The next great thing.

Sunday

Ugh. Busy day filled with errand-running. Multiple shoe stores (for Brad), Menards, Target, grocery story, etc.

Luckily, one of the errands included buying a hammock! Please forgive the horrible picture of me looking rather much like a little troll on the hammock. You get the idea.


Other fun purchases include the new Red Hot Chili Peppers CD, a watering can (for my newly acquired plants), and some pants.

Check out Angie's blog for some more information about our weekend antics.

Things to Do

For me the last day of school is a lot like New Year's eve. Three months of vacation deserves some resolutions! I present to you, my loyal readers, my list of things to accomplish this summer.

1. Start going to the gym regularly again. I can no longer use the "I have no time!" excuse.
2. Finish my Scrapbooker of the Year entry. Must get my butt in gear on this one!
3. Read (preferably on the hammock I want to buy today).
4. Organize the house a little.
5. Do a better job doing my share of the chores.
6. Go to Vegas, baby!
7. Go to the drive-in at least once.

This weekend has been a super fun kick-off to the summer. I shopped with Nicky and Natalie yesterday. Then, Mike and Angie had a cook-out with us, and we went to a Timber Rattlers game followed by fireworks. Side aches from so much laughing!