Latest and Greatest

Here are my June creations for Scrap-Tastic. Almost all of the supplies are from Becky's site. Seriously. This girl has the best goodies and quick shipping! Check it out!

Journaling:
My family went through a lot of dogs during my childhood. There was Lady, the black lab mix, who ran away all the time. There was Lobo; he just couldn’t be trained. There were Blues and Jasmine, whose energy level far surpassed how much time we could devote to them. And then there was Melody. A shelter brought her to the pet store for show and tell, and I insisted we take her home. Despite a few flaws—mostly just her incessant need to run free—Melody has been the one dog that was able to make it in our family.

I loved working with Rhonna Farrer’s fun and funky line of goodies to create this LO. The picture is from Miss Natalie’s recent second birthday. A smiling kid and yummy cupcakes. What more can you ask for?

My inspiration for this was a digital LO by Alexis Huntoon on page 99 of the May/June 2007 Scrapbooks, Etc. The giant circle was cut using one of my dinner plates and a bowl as a guide. My circle cutter (Creative Memories) just wasn’t quite big enough. The picture is of my cousins dancing at my grandpa’s 75^th birthday party. They have mastered the Chicken Dance.

Journaling:
I forgot my age this week; I mean I really had to site down and think, “Just how old am I?” I guess that means I’m content with where I am. Happy to be myself.
Notes:
Won this Perfectly Posh kit from a contest during the Pub Calls birthday bash. Am finally getting around to using it. It is some seriously cute stuff—perfect for all the upcoming colorful summer pictures.

Surreal. . . Part Deux

I'm starting to really wonder about the town I live in.

Remember this post from earlier in May.

Well. . . I have another surreal moment to add to it. Surreal might not be the right word. Disgusting. Questionable. Perverse.

We were on our way home from a very fun party at Angie's and a very fun after-party at the other Angie's and were stopped at a red light. There was a dingy, old red pickup truck next to us. Inside, there was what appeared at first glance to be an elderly gentleman.

Closer examination revealed that he was not an elderly gentleman but was, in fact, a dirty, old bird!

That's right, dear readers. He was closely examining an adult magazine at a red light. And it wasn't just a centerfold from Maxim. We're talking real porn here, folks.

I wasn't quite sure what to do about the whole thing. I started hollering about it. Brad sped up to see if I was really telling the truth. (Honestly? How could I make something like that up?) There was caught a ruckus in our truck. We never really caught up, so Brad couldn't get a clear view and continues to maintain that it couldn't have been a girlie mag.

The whole thing just continues to be very incomprehensible to me. And a little sad, really.

Panic

I looked in the mirror this morning, brushing my teeth, and couldn't help but notice that only one diamond earring was glittering back at me.

Sheer, mouth filled with toothpaste, panic rang out throughout the house, and we immediately went on an earring hunt.

Turned out it wasn't that tough to find.

It was sitting right on the nightstand (actually a tv tray, as we still have a "college" bedroom). I had only taken one out.

All-Time

Okay. Let's play a little game in the comments--All-Time.

I post:
All-time greatest movie. . . . .

You post:
. . . . . Bridget Jones's Diary.
All-time tastiest beverage. . . .

Someone else posts:
. . . . . iced tea lemonade (black tea and sweetener).
All-time most memorable moment in history. . . . .

Get it?

I'll kick us off.

All-time most rockin' summertime song. . . . .

There might just be a little prize involved.

Q&A

The fabulous Stephanie Howell did a fun little Q&A on her blog last week. She sent me these questions to answer for all of you.

1. if you could only eat one food the rest of your life, what would it be?
I'm not so sure ice cream counts as a food, so I guess I'd choose spaghetti as the food I could survive on for the rest of my life.

2. what trait do you admire most in others? despise most?
Admire--Honesty, even when it's brutal. I need to hear the truth from my friends.
Despise--Wimpiness. It drives me absolutely crazy when people aren't mentally and/or emotionally strong enough to stand up for themselves or to change what's "wrong" with their life.

3. what is your biggest scrapping goal?
Honestly? I'd love to be published or to be part of a big-time design team. But, really? I want to find my own style and be completely happy with what I create. I want to be able to try out for a design team and feel okay with not being picked.I want to be able to post a page and not feel bad when not even one single person comments on it.

4. what happened in your life that made you laugh the absolute hardest?
Hmmmm. Don't know if I can pinpoint the exact moment, but I can almost guarantee it happened with Angie. She has a totally infectious laugh that you just can't help but laugh along with.

5. how do you want to be remembered?
I want the people around me to be able to talk about the positive impact on the people and community around me. I guess I want to know that I made a difference in people's lives.


Do you want to be interviewed? Let me know, and I'll send you a few questions to answer on your blog.

Two Thumbs Up

I have some serious vices (ice cream, television, Internet, over-all laziness--to name a few) that would be difficult for me to give up or even decrease. I don't know that I could easily give up any one of these things and replace it with something healthier.

But, Brad did! At the beginning of February he quit smoking (a habit he's had for far-longer than I'm willing to disclose). He just up and quit--completely cold turkey--and hasn't had a cigarette since. I know this could not have been easy for him, especially at times when he really loved to smoke (when I'm acting ridiculous, when he's fishing, with a drink).

As if that wasn't a big enough lifestyle change, he replaced the smoking with running. Now, I'm sure you know how I feel about running--I THINK IT'S CRAZY. So, I'm not so sure I always made it easy for Brad to be a runner.

But, he persevered despite my dislike of all things running and completed his first 5K with a time of 24:11 on Sunday morning. That left him 10th place in his age bracket and a finish of 176th out of almost 1500 runners! Go Brad!

This kind of sets the scene. 6700 runners and walkers for a 5K, half marathon, and marathon. Plus, it was--in true WI fashion--only about 35 degrees when the run started. BRRRRRR!

The race started just outside of Lambeau Field, and Brad actually got to run a lap around the field, coming in the same tunnel the players do.You'd guess he's the one in white coming across the finish line. He's not. He's the one in black only partially in the picture. He was, in fact, so speedy that I missed the perfect shot of him crossing the finish line. Bummer.


Big smile after the big finish!

Seriously. I'm so proud of him!

Sweet Relief

I found,
hiding in the back of my cupboard,
one,
single,
solitary
Cadbury Mini Egg.

It's been there for awhile
(at least since the bag ran out on Sunday).

But, I ate it anyway.
And smiled.

It was a good day.

The B Rages On

I've enjoyed reading everyone's suggestions for silencing the crabbiness.
But, nothing seems to be working.
I continue to be unreasonably unpleasant.

I've tried ice cream several times. Only yields temporary happiness.

I've tried chocolate (There was an unfortunate incident involving the VERY last Cadbury Mini Egg. It had fallen out of the bag WAY in the back of the cupboard. I had to stand on a chair and fish it out with a wooden spoon. Very pathetic. I felt like an addict. I did look up the Mini Eggs and did discover that I could buy a whole case any time of year and have them shipped directly to my house. Watch out!)

I visited the kiddos last night. Held Katelyn (six days old) and Natalie at the same time. Giggled a ton and felt very loved. Even made Nicky take my picture. But, still. . . crabby.

I've tried scrapping. Had a great time and made a huge mess. Still feel crabby, though.

I tried music. I might just have closed my office door and jammed out to a little Baby Got Back in my office when I hit an all-time low at work today. It's even possible that I followed it up with some Ice, Ice Baby when that didn't work.

Tonight I'm going to try going to bed early with a book. Maybe some sleep will do the trick.

The Big B

Zero.
Nada.
Zippo.
Zilch.

I really have nothing to say today.

I've been in a perpetually bad mood since at least the middle of the week. I can't quite put my finger on exactly what it was that tipped the scales into the Land of Crabby, but I am so deep in it that I'm afraid Brad might move out if I don't cheer up soon.

Seriously. We got in a screaming match last night because Brad WOULD NOT listen to my directions about how to use the Food Saver. We didn't speak from 8pm last night until about 10 am this morning. How adult is that?

I've tried scrapping. I've tried television. I've tried wine. I've tried just not talking to anyone.

Suggestions for shaking off the inner-bitch that has crawled its way out of me to torture everyone around me?

Surreal

I'm not sure if it's sleep deprivation or just plain old too much thinking at work, but there were some strange things going on tonight. . .

I saw a man dressed as Elvis (fat, drug-addicted Elvis) pushing a man in a wheelchair down the sidewalk tonight. It was definitely a man dressed as Elvis and not just a man who looked like Elvis, too.

I heard a country song on the radio that actually included the lyric, "I'd like check you for ticks." I was forced to keep listening just be sure that was what they were saying. Seriously. Who writes these things?

This last thing is surreal, too--just not in a strange way. Nicky had her baby today. Welcome Katelyn! It is very unusual to see my friend, who just had one child (Natalie) and a big belly yesterday have an actual baby in her arms today. Katelyn is absolutely gorgeous! Congratulations Nicky, Chris, and Natalie!

I woke up at 4:30 a.m.
I just got home around 8:45.

I wore these all day.
Very hot shoes. Very sore feet. Very tired girl.

The Day After

No time for scrapping yesterday (stopped at Archiver's, visited with Angie, went to a Harley wedding with Nicky and Natalie, watched a movie, and ate some ice cream).

Today, though, today there was time for scrapping.

Finally got around to creating with my April Cocoa Daisy kit. Noah and Chase are reading to Lily before bed. Aren't they the cutest?

I thought at one point that I might do SOY. There's no way I'm going to finish 11 more super-secret LOs anytime soon (in addition to 8 other fabulous LOs), so I'm throwing in the towel. Here's the one LO I created.
Created for AE Patterned Paper Challenge # 43. I was supposed to create a LO wit four blocks--two for pictures, one for journaling, and one for something else. It didn't quite turn out that way, but I love it.
Created for the Cocoa Daisy design team call (Pick me, choose me, love me, Tricia!) to capture what I thought would go in the perfect kit.

Redemption

I'm sitting on my couch, cozied up in tons of blankets and pillows watching season one of Grey's Anatomy. After last night's disastrous two hours of scenes that produced eye-rolling, apathy, and actual gagging (the elevator kissing scenes with Addison and the random man), I thought I needed a little reminder of just how much I love the quirks and the characters and the soundtrack.

It's actually just making me realize exactly how stringy Meredith's hair has gotten over the past three years.

I believe in you, writers, cast, and crew of Grey's. I believe that you can make me care about your characters again. I believe that you can make me long for Thursday night at 8pm CST. I even believe that you can get someone to give Meredith a better haircut.

I believe that--despite all the shark jumping in recent episodes--it's not too late.

Risky Business

It's never really occurred to me until the last few days just how much I hate taking risks--even small risks.

I drove home on Tuesday with the "Oh-My-Gosh-You-Are-Almost-Out-Of-Gas" light illuminated on my dashboard. I think I drove a little more than 15 miles once it went on to reach a gas station. I was seriously nervous the entire time that I was going to get stranded on the side of the road.

Today I wore white pants to work. All day long I was completely nervous that I would sit in something or spill something or drop an uncapped pen in my lap. I was sure I would get nervous.

What's the riskiest thing you've done?
Any pointers for living a riskier life?