Things Have Been Busy

Wow, things have been busy lately. It seems like the holidays have just snuck up on me. Quaid and I went to Alabama for Thanksgiving. We had a great time!!!! Oh how I love being with my family! I'll have to do a post just about our trip. Now I'm concentrating on getting the tree decorated and Christmas decor up. That's my #1 on my list of things to do today. As a matter of fact I need to work on that list of things to do right now. Later.

I learned...

This past week has taught me a valuable lesson..... Never, never, never use your use your debit/Mastercard for online purchases. I use mine alot. Everyday spending now days requires this valuable piece of plastic. It was probably just a matter of time but someone got my info and ordered, of all things, green tea and vitamins. It wasn't thousands of dollars or anything. Just enough to totally screw up my account and leave me with a minus $200 balance. Talk about upsetting--the whole situation is crappy. I've logged almost 3 hours at the bank dealing with this and time at the police station filling out a police report. Now it's waiting time for the investigation. I guess I can now chalk it up to important lesson learned--the hard way. Ugh!!!

Rite of Passage

Yesterday was a rite of passage for me. I have turned 40 and the time has finally come.....the dreaded mammogram. I was a little nervous. I had heard the horror stories of not being able to wear powder or deodorant before hand, the humiliation of having someone adjust your breast into the just right position, and the pain of smushing your once rounded boobs into pancakes. You know what? It really wasn't bad at all. I knew the tech taking care of me and that made me feel so much more comfortable. Being a nurse used to nudity, the getting topless and wearing the pink SuperWoman cape didn't bother me much, as there is no room for modesty in the hospital. I do have to admit though, my heart was beating pretty fast when she lowered the plate down the first time. But to my surprise, it didn't hurt at all. I was like "Ok, I can do this." And I did. It was fast and painless. I can proudly say I have joined the ranks of millions of women who undergo this rite of passage every year--I have gotten my mammogram.

Exercising My Right

Today is Election Day. I just got back from casting my vote. I don't know what it is but voting is so exciting. The whole idea of adding my input to determine leaders and decide issues is invigorating. Up until this morning I was I guess what you could call an undecided voter. I have been torn as to who to give my vote to. I did some more research and settled with relying on my gut. My one vote will probably not make much difference but it feels so good. Our country's voting system may be flawed but I am happy just the same. It seems like it would be better if the popular vote would determine our nation's next leader. The whole electoral college thing just gets me and I don't know if it's really fair. But regardless, I have exercised my right to vote and I'm proud. Here's me casting my ballot--you know I can't pass up a photo op.

Bad, bad, bad blogger

What is it with me? Here I am again almost 4 months later. I really need to get the hang of this blogging thing. I have so much to share--my exciting life (lol), my projects, and thoughts. Here's to a "do-over". I'm gonna keep with it this time.

My Speed of Life

How do you prefer the pace of life? Do you wish things would speed up or slow down? Illustrate with something that has been on your mind or on your calendar or share your preference between working slowly or quickly on a crafting project.

I most certainly don't want time to just fly by. It seems like it goes fast enough already. I want to enjoy the simple things and treasure the moments. I hate getting wound up about deadlines and stressed out over things. But with me it's a constant battle because I can stress pretty easily. But on the otherhand, I don't want things to go so slow that I'm constantly looking at the clock. Like at work, I would much prefer to be steadily busy that just sitting around. That drives me crazy. Same when I'm working on a scrapping project, I don't want to pussy foot around...I want to get it done and be happy with it. So I guess you could say I just want a happy medium. That's the pace of life I dream of.

The Road Not Taken

I'm playing a little catch up with my blogging prompts for my class. This one asks...Have you ever been inspired by the words of a poem? Share the poem with your blog readers and tell them how you came to value its words.

The first one that jumped in my mind is Robert Frost's The Road Not Taken.

Two roads diverged in a yellow wood,
And sorry I could not travel both
And be one traveler, long I stood
And looked down one as far as I could
To where it bent in the undergrowth.

Then took the other, as just as fair,
And having perhaps the better claim,
Because it was grassy and wanted wear;
Though as for that the passing there
Had worn them really about the same.

And both that morning equally lay
In leaves no step had trodden black.
Oh, I kept the first for another day!
Yet knowing how way leads on to way,
I doubted if I should ever come back.

I shall be telling this with a sigh
Somewhere ages and ages hence:
Two roads diverged in a wood, and I--
I took the one less traveled by,
And that has made all the difference.

I remember reading and studying this in high school. I don't if it was the words, the tumultous teen years, or both, but this poem seems very representative of that time in my life. It was a symbol of choices. The choice of what path to take. Should I follow others or go my own way? Sad that I could not do both. This poem spoke to me as if to say it's ok to travel your own path. And you know what? It has made all the difference...it has made me who I am today.

What's in Your Suitcase?

Today prompt is a game of "What's in you suitcase". We are to list our necessities for travel. Well, this one is not that bad. The number one thing I have to have is my CPAP!!! I would be totally miserable and unable to sleep without it. One time Quaid and I had to spend the night in Dallas due to bad weather and it was a long terrible night without it. Next I would have to have lots of underwear and socks, along with makeup, comfy shoes, reading material and clothes of course. And I always manage to pack some scrapping supplies....never leave home without them!!!

If I could turn back time

Today's blog prompt is...If you could travel in time for just one day, where would you go and what would you do? It's a pretty deep one. There are several times in the past I would want to go back to...go back to change. Especially those times when I may have hurt the ones I loved or just plain lied because it was easier than the truth. There are several of those times I would love to change. The one thing that really keeps coming back in my mind and my heart is the day I lost my baby girl. If I could go back to the day before maybe I could have gone in and gotten seen about my increased discharge. I wouldn't have busted my butt cleaning the house, caring the vacuum up and down the stairs. Maybe I could have prevented my cervix opening up. That is my most painful memory and that is why I would want it changed. The hurt is not as raw as it once was but it is always there. Maybe changing things would take that away. But one thing is for sure...I would never want to give up my precious boy Quaid though. He is such a blessing and joy in my life. If it meant him not being here, I know I wouldn't be able to go back....not ever.

Time

The new class I'm taking, My Freedom, also includes a daily blog challenge. This is going to be great for me. Maybe I'll finally consistently post to this thing. Today we had to take pictures to represent time and travel. I snapped pics of the clocks around the house and of course one of my watch that is my most used time keeper. I wear my watch constantly...in the shower, to sleep, and to swim. I feel naked without it. Being aware of the time is important to me. I can't stand to be late and hate it when others are. Time is precious and flies by so very fast. There seems like there is never enough and it makes me mad sometimes because I waste so much of it. Maybe I need to work on my "time" management.

Here I am Again

I'm back. I am fixing to start a new online class from Shimelle called "My Freedom". I'm hoping maybe I can keep up and share my work on here. It's twofold actually...get some scrapping done and post something to this blog...good idea right?

Spring Cleaning

So I have been attempting to clean the ol' scraproom. I mean really clean. It seems I never actually scrap at home and that just stinks, I have this great room dedicated to doing what I love...going to waste. There have been so many times I get some inspiration and want to "create" but dealing with having to clean off space, dig around for supplies, or not finding what I need is overwhelming. The only time I ever crop is if I go to the lss or a retreat. I think the reason is I am drowning in crap. It is just plain sick I tell you! Sister, Dr. Scrap and I joke all the time that we are way beyond a 12-step program--we are totally psychotic. We need to stop buying more junk. There is always the "latest and the greatest" and we just have to have it. Gotta have that scrapping retail fix. Nothing makes me happier than to have some cool new papers and embellishments to fondle and "ooo and ah over". That is why I have more supplies than I could ever possibly use--in 10 lifetimes. So it's cleaning time. As much as it pains me I've got to purge. I have to get organized so I can actually create. It's a job of Titanic porportions though. Say a little prayer and wish me luck.

Ok, So I've Been Missing From Blog Land

Yep, I never finished my CHA recap. I'm not going to fret though...what's done is done. I did have the absolute best of intentions. This whole blog thing is hard for me. So here I am again. Gonna try and start this thing over. I may even try to post some pics of our great weekend in Houston. Time will tell.....

CHA Day Two

It worked out perfect that I had a partner to bum around with everyday. Pat, who was there to experience CHA for the 1st time and just hang out too, paired up with me and we took the CHA floor by storm. LOL! It was fun to have someone to goof around and take it all in with. We were waiting at the doors at 9am for the floor to open. We had spent some time the night before kind of studying the map but nothing really prepared us for scrapbook/crafting utopia that lay ahead. It was glorious. Rows and rows of fabulous goodies—paper, embellishments, ribbon, chipboard, paints, inks—ahhhhh. The booths were decorated and set-up amazingly. Daisy Ds somehow managed to be our first stop. We made an adorable layout and saw their beautiful baby papers. The one thing I absolutely LOVED was their roll-on stiches. It works like a tombow adhesive but it’s stiches to give you that sewn look. Got to have these. Cosmo Cricket was next where we met the cute Jon, the warehouse guy. I absolutely have to have all of their new stuff!!! The new Happy line and Cogmos did not disappoint—I can’t wait to get them. The bright colors and robots are must haves. Even their other new lines that I didn’t think I would want, left me wanting it all. Scenic Route was as fabulous as ever in person. Layle is a hoot. Can’t wait to have it all. Every where I turned something caught my attention. The rest of the day was spent doing make-n-takes and flittering between booths. It seems like we never really made it out of this one corner of the floor.

My CHA Recap

Saturday, Official Day 1

We were off bright and early to pick up our badges at the Convention Center. I was in awe at how big it was and I hadn’t even seen the show floor yet. I had two classes today, both sponsored by Quick Quotes—you can’t go wrong with these. My first one was an adorable recipe box using their canvases. The project was quick and we used their powder puff chalk inks—which I am now in love with. After a quick bite to eat I was off to my next class, a cute 4 panel accordion-style canvas. This class was a winner too. After finishing up my class it was off to the hotel to drop off my goodies and head to the Embassy Suites for the Creative Café/Creative Imaginations Party.

One thing I can definitely say is CI knows how to put on a party! After attending a presentation of all the new things for the Creative Café we headed into the ballroom for the party itself. They had cool displays of all of their products—papers, bare elements, café, etc. The new additions to Creative Café are good accompanying pieces to their current lines. I absolutely adore the Bare Elements products. There were several new chipboard albums, items for home décor, and other goodies to alter. The first thing that really caught my attention was a box-type thing that hangs on the wall with 3-rings that is in essence a 12x12 scrapbook for the wall. It was so cool. Another thing that I really liked was basically a scrapbook that you open and inside are spaces that hold from 8-12 mini albums. I will have to share pics when I get them because this thing was neat. The new paper lines and embellishments that I fell in love with were…Tidepools by Christine Adolph—absolutely gorgeous!!! Karen Russell Narratives—great new additions to her fabulous line!!! Holey Cardstock—this stuff was totally cool, can’t wait to get my hands on it. The best part of the night was the Make-N-Takes. There were 3 make-n-take tables set up with fabulous projects all night long. We made lots of beautiful things, enjoyed delicious food and drink, and met lots of great people. Both Christine Adolph and Karen Russell were dolls. Marah Johnson was my favorite, she is so sweet and I loved her bracelet project. It was a shock at the end of the night to realize we had been there for 6 hours! It was so much fun though!!!

Almost a month with no post

I don't know if I can ever the hang of this whole blog thing. It's been almost a month and I haven't posted a thing. I am going to try harder though. I just got back from CHA in Anaheim, CA. It was absolutely scrapbook/crafting paradise. Rows upon rows of beautiful booths filled with fabulous goodies. I am working on a recap of my trip so atleast I'll have a new post on here soon.

The Woes of Having a CPAP

Don't get me wrong, my CPAP is a wonderful thing. It's great to go to sleep and actually rest through the night without snorting myself awake 500 times. It's fantastic to wake up rested and fresh. But I will tell you, wearing that awful garb is a pain in the ass. First off I feel like Darth Vader with the mask and air blowing full force in my face. Second, you know I can't look even close to sexy when my husband crawls into bed beside me. I bet he has to stifle a scream sometimes. Third, I walk around with permanent red marks on my face where my mask has been. Thank goodness for makeup but they are getting harder and harder to hide. Don't know what it is but some nights I must swallow half of air that has blown through my mask that night. I wake up big as a balloon and the gas starts as soon as my feet hit floor. What's up with that? All in all I think it's worth it though--I guess. A great night sleep traded for some livable problems. I think I'll take the CPAP and it's troubles. As long as the husband can stand us.

I'm gonna try out this blogging thing

Ok well, a lot of my peeps have one of these blogs. Plus I seem to visit alot of scrapbookers blogs, so here I am. I hope I can consistently post and feel comfortable enough doing so. That's my whole problem with journaling--I never quite feel at ease doing it. I seem to be scared to write what exactly is in my head and in my heart. I wonder why that is. I could get all psychological on myself--what am I afraid of? Am I afraid of revealing my true self to others? Is it because I'm afraid of looking stupid? Am I afraid of something I write coming back to bite me in the behind? Am I afraid of facing what I'm really thinking or feeling? Hmmm. That's all too deep. Maybe it could me some of those reasons, maybe it could be all of them. I'm just gonna try this out and hopefully I can make it work. Who knows!? There could be this journaling/blogging fool that's just waiting to come out :)!