October Fun

Here is my October design team work for Scrap-Tastic.

The first three lay-outs are from the October kit.
The fourth lay-out is just a few goodies from the store.





And, in case you were wondering, I can sum up my day in one word:
AVOIDANCE

I had tons of studying and housework that I should have done today.
Instead I had lunch at Nicky's and played on the computer and even took a nap.
Now, I'll spend the rest of the week paying the price.

Middle Name

So. . . I just realized that forever ago, Kelly tagged me.

The rules...You must list one fact that is somehow relevant to your life for each letter of your middle name.

Figures that I have an insanely long middle name. But, here are my facts.

E: Egg salad
Because I don't eat lunch meat, egg salad is one of the few sandwiches I enjoy.

L: Lake.
I was thinking today that it might be fun to live on a lake someday.

I: Ice cream.
I could eat it every day. I do eat it most days.

Z: Zoom.
Not. I'm not a speedy driver. Usually five over for me.

A: Apples.
Don't really like to eat them unless they're covered with caramel or in a pie.

B: Baby.
I was born via c-section and my head was sliced open. I have tiny stitches in my baby pictures.

E: Easter basket.
I once refused to look for my basket because my parents just hid it way too well. It turned out to be in the dryer.

T: Tea drinker. I love my coffee, but most days it's tea for me.
H: Home-body. I'd rather be enjoying a quiet day at home than almost anywhere else.

You might also be interested to know that if I was ever on a soap opera my character's name would be. . .
Elizabeth Adams
(middle name combined with the street I live on)

What would your soap opera name be?

Hottie

So, have I ever mentioned that there is a Desperate Housewife on Brad's mail route?

Her name is Sheila. She has short blonde hair and can usually be spotted wearing shorts and a t-shirt. She's in the process of divorcing her husband (who is currently in prison) and is raising her two children alone.

Sheila totally has a crush on my hubby.

When he was carrying his route, she'd come outside to talk to him.
She'd call the neighbor ladies over and one time loudly announced, "He's mine, ladies!"
She even invited him to her birthday party.

Well, Brad's been working as a supervisor for about a month, and someone else, a woman, is carrying his route.

Sheila chased her down the street yesterday to ask where Brad was. The new carrier had to inform Sheila that Brad wouldn't be around anymore. Sheila's prompt reply?

"Too bad. He's a real hottie."

Lucky for me, Sheila hasn't seen Brad is his new work clothes.
Those mailman shorts were cute, but the shirts and ties every day don't look so bad either.

Oozing Confidence

So. . . tonight I'm on the phone with Ang (I have quite a habit of driving and dialing on my way home from work). We're babbling about ways to make Fancy Simple even bigger and better.

I switch to talking about my law class and declare that I might just be a secret legal scholar.

Angie asks why.
(It figures that the actual legal scholar would ask for proof.)

I stop and think about it.

I'm not a legal scholar. There are just some real dumb asses in my class.

I don't have any actual proof of that either.

Off to eat some chicken marsala, write an educational philosophy paper, and read some articles.

SSS

Super
Sonic
Smell

I've got a sniffer that a bloodhound would be jealous of.
And tonight it's making me miserable.

Someone in my educational law class (the three hours of torture I endure each Monday for 11 more weeks) had the smelliest feet I've ever smelled in my entire life.

(I've smelt some smelly feet, too. When we were kids, my brother used to have to leave his socks and shoes outside of the house at night because the stench was so horrid.)

I kept wiggling my feet around in my sandals and then sniffing really deeply to see if, in fact, the smell was originating from my feet. It was not my feet.

Now, the smell is stuffed in my nose.
Every time I take a breath, all I can smell is rancid feet.

YUCK!

(Sorry about the prolonged absence from blogging, too. Turns out the grad classes combined with normal work, house work, and a few occasional social commitments just doesn't leave a lot of time for blogging. I do, however, still build in 30 minutes on Mondays to watch The Hills. Rumor has it that Jason is engaged. . . .)

Is it over already?

Don't know where the weekend goes.
It's Friday right after work and then all of a sudden it's Sunday night.

What the heck?

I shopped on Friday.
2 new pairs of shoes were totally calling my name.
(One is super cute but gave me horrible blisters.)
And an orange puffy vest.
And a new pair of khakis in SHORT.
And a fun brown crocheted scarf with color flowers.

I had a work meeting on Saturday.
It was fun, though.
Especially with a little pick me up.
(Anyone know how I can edit the glare out of this picture?)

Did chores today.
These little guys were calling my name at the grocery store.
I'm lovin' all things fall lately.

Scrapped a little.

Made dinner for Nicky and the girls.
(beef stew and apple crisp)

Am exhuasted.
And off to read about educational law.

Barb 101

I'm doubting myself today.

My reactions to challenging situations/people have left me feeling inflexible and intellectually snobby and perfectionistic and cold.

A wise friend helped me re-frame it though.

It's not that I don't know how to work with people. I just haven't done a very good job training the people who have to work with me.

So, here are the things that I will incorporate into my training course:

1. Do not back down. I can be difficult. If you know you are right and have the data/research to back up your thoughts, do not back down from me. Keep proving to me that you are right. (Only do this if you have actual support, though. If it's just a hunch, keep you mouth shut.)
2. I'm a details gal. Give me the big picture, and I will work out all the details. I can get stuck in the details. Pull me out and show me the big picture again.
3. Being critical is not a bad thing. I'm going to ask questions, and they might not be questions you like, but that doesn't mean I don't like you, and it doesn't mean I don't like your plan.
4. Don't commit to things you can't do. If you don't have time to commit to the team and the project, don't be involved.
   
5. Hold yourself to high standards. I know how to do my job, and I work really hard. I expect the people I work with to do the same.
6. Don't check up on me. If I said I was going to do something, it's probably already done. You checking up on me just makes me feel like you don't trust me.
   
7. Be a team; present a united front. I wouldn't hang you out to dry--don't do it to me.
8. Act professional. Be on time. Bring your supplies.
9. Be serious, practical, and smart. I'm not into touchy-feely. Let's figure out what we need to do and get it done.
10. Don't get off-topic. I don't want to hear about your vacation in the middle of a work meeting. On the same hand, don't let me get off-topic. I sometimes wander when things get really tough. Bring me back.
    

(Sorry about all the life lessons this week. I promise we'll be back to fun Babs sometime soon!)

School of Ang.

Today one of my very favorite friends has a big birthday. So, in honor of all the things she's done for me through 10 years of friendship, I'd like to brighten her day by pointing out some of the important (and trivial) things she's taught me about how to live a happy life.

1. Stand up for what you believe in.
2. Be tough but not mean.
3. Be friendly to old people, especially old people you don't know that you see in public places.
4. Send thank you notes and send them promptly.
5. Name your car. (The Red Russian. The Bubble. The McLiberty.)
6. Add a little yellow mustard to your egg salad.
7. Be dorky every now and then (". . . class of 1996. . . "). You'll recover.
   
8. Laugh loud. Laugh often. It's contagious.
9. Throw parties, preferably theme parties.
10. Always vote. In every election.
11. Volunteer. Help others.
12. For a happy holiday, celebrate with friends (20-Something Thanksgiving, 2005).
13. Be well-read. Share your favorites with friends.
14. Never under-rate the importance of looking fabulous.
15. It stinks to be the youngest. The youngest has to do the things no one else wants to do.
    
16. No project is too big to under-take. Just get your friends to help you (or your mom).
17. Sometimes bad things happen, even to the best people.
18. Small town fairs are big time fun.
19. Give meaningful gifts.
20. Slipper socks are a must-haves.
21. McDonald's fountain Coke tastes better than all other Coke.
22. Hold certain things sacred (like Sundays).
23. Running (and fitness in general) is no fun at all.
24. Subscribe to magazines.
25. Be there for people at the times that matters.
    
26. You can only control your own actions, not other people's.
27. Sacrifice things for the people you care about.
28. A fun time can be had anywhere--even in Topeka, Kansas.
29. Try new things (sushi).
30. Never be afraid of being a smart girl.
    

Happy birthday, Ang. May good things come your way sometime soon!

Love, Barb

Lunch-date

Today for lunch I ate:
Lean Cuisine Butternut Squash Ravioli
Can of Mandarin Oranges
1/4 of a Bag of Fat-Free Microwave Popcorn
Big Jug of Water with Lemon

This random assortment of items was consumed over the course of about 90 minutes. One might think, "Wow! She gets a 90 minutes lunch break?" The answer is, of course, NO! The above list was consumed while answering emails, making phone calls, and attending a meeting (where the other participants also, apparently, did not have time for lunch and were scarving down a variety of foods). She actually got a zero minute lunch break.

Lunch is my least favorite meal of the day. It is the meal where my weird food quirks seem to have the largest impact on my choices.

I don't eat lunch meat of any kind; sandwiches (except tuna, which stinks up the fridge) are out.

I don't eat re-heated chicken (it tastes different than chicken the first time); any left-overs with chicken are out.

I won't eat microwave meals (like Lean Cuisine) that contain meat of any kind; my choices are severely limited.

I don't really like salad--it's just not very exciting. This makes it difficult to go to lunch (on the rare occasion I get to do so) with the slender girls who all seem to want to go to the place that has the best salad. Me? I'd rather have a big cheeseburger and onion rings.

So, my wise readers, what did you have for lunch today?
And what do you suggest I try for lunch in the future?

Have you had enough?

Sorry to inundate you with nothing but scrapping instead of any sort of witty banter or random thoughts. But, I'm a little worried that when I go back to work tomorrow and the madness that is grad school (two night classes a week) starts, I'm just not going to have a lot of time for scrapping. It kills me to think about all those supplies sitting in my craft room unused. I'm imagining that they are going to get very, very lonely.

So, I scrapped today. Made this fun mini-album from my August Cocoa Daisy kit. It was also inspired by one of Shimelle's online classes.

(I had to remove the pictures of the album because it was published. Will return soon.)

Meanwhile, I still need to iron my clothes for tomorrow and pack a lunch. I should also get the house looking respectable, as I hate starting the week with total chaos. Oh. I cannot forget to watch The Hills tonight.

Scrapping on a Saturday

I have a big ol' list of chores I'm supposed to be doing.
They can wait, though, right?

Made this for week 7 (can't believe there's only one more week) of the Summer of Scrappin' Love challenge at Scraplove. Needed to use self-portraits, paint, and at least five sentences of journaling on an all-about-me lay-out. Made it out of April and Scarlet's fantastic July Studio Calico kit. See that way-too-cool red, crocheted flower? Anilu's sent that to me; her mom made it!
Made this for a bonus challenge in the Summer of Scrappin' Love challenge at Scraplove. It is inspired by an ad chosen by Em; that's where the crazy swish of stuff coming up off the picture comes from.


And last, but not least, is a little something for the Use Your Stash challenge at Cocoa Daisy. This week the challenge was to use up some metal. Also used Gigi Kennedy's sketch for Pencil Lines. And, used some of the fabulously fun new paper from Prima.


Also finished up a lay-out for a swap at Scrap-in Style, but I can't share that quite yet. It's going in the mail today.

Okay. I'm out of excuses. Now, I have to clean the bathroom and make the bed in the guest bedroom and vacuum all the dog hair off the couch and go to Walgreens and return some things to Kohls and stop at the post office. I'm going to need a nap when all of that is finished.