Happy Halloween!

Artwork from: SWEET COMMENTS

A treasure found...

One of the perks of working at a library is the chance to see what "new" materials are coming in to be processed to go on the shelves. Or the chance to wander through the stacks to see what "treasures" there are on the shelves you may have missed in the past. (And believe me, I think I find something new every time I go "treasure hunting")

Anyway...the other night at work, I came across this gem on the "new" items cart:

artwork courtesy of amazon.com

This book is a 3 hanky book! And I don't mean for your sorrow, those hankies are for your tears of laughter!!!! I literally had tears rolling down my face while looking through this. Mr. Dovev - you are a genius!

And behold, there is a website: CRAP AT MY PARENTS HOUSE Grab a tissue and check it out! My warning disclosure: this is not for the clean minded...there are MANY suggestive narratives to go with some suggestive photos. I would love to post some examples but do not want to violate any copyrights. So - check it out!

Scrap blogs

Check out these cool/fun/informative scrapbooking related blogs:

Obsessed with Scrapbooking
Scrapbook Sisters
Write.Click.Scrapbook.

Have fun!
Happy Scrapping!

The one where...

I will probably get slugged for the following complaint!

I am tired of my pants being too big in the waist. (I swear I eat, mom!!!!) I feel like I constantly have to pull them up and if I put anything in my pocket, I'm gonna lose those suckers....

So yeah - that's my complaint today! It's my blog and I can whine if I want to.


Off to the dentist for DD this morning and the doctor for myself this afternoon. Sigh! Thank goodness for insurance...

To marriage...

My husband asked me the other day what I wanted to do for our anniversary, since it is a 'big one' (ie: a 5 year mark). I looked at him and asked him, "How long have we been married?" (Yeah - you know I had to test him).
I think he knew right away he didn't have the right number of years. "15?"
"Sorry, it will be 14, we got married in '97".
He thought for a minute and shrugged. Then I heard him mumble "Man it feels like LOTS longer!" I looked at him, smiled and agreed.

One of my sets of grandparents (yes - I am fortunate to have 2 sets of living grandparents) had an open house yesterday to celebrate 60 years of marriage and 80 years of each of them being on this earth. I think those are VERY impressive milestones! My other set of grandparents has been married for 64 years.

I have come to learn that if anyone says their marriage is 'perfect' - they are LYING!!! No one has the perfect marriage. There are always rough spots and times where you fight. You will disagree from time to time (and that's ok!), that's what happens where there are two people with two opinions.

I appreciate the fact that marriage is a fragile thing. You have to treat it with care, love and support. So even if you don't know EXACTLY how many years you've been married, if you remember the DAY of your anniversary (which my hubby has never forgotten...) - then I don't think there's any reason to get upset.

Wow - I just rambled on about nothing... Amazing how I can do that!

Looking at the Sky on Fridays

July, 2011

This was taken of a gorgeous blue sky then I used a couple of editing filters on it.

Have a great Friday!

Wonder Woman...

(sung like the show theme song...)

I am a Wonder Woman over at Mommy Rehab.

I hope you'll stop over at Sara's blog.

PS: I have 15 followers...thanks to all who stop by and read my blog.

Wordless Wednesday

And then...

Every once in a while, you kind of realize that you have accepted the fact that the world can be harsh and how jaded you have become to how cruel the world really is! All it takes is a child to remind you that innocence can quickly be lost and make you wonder why we can't all have that innocent view point of how the world SHOULD work!

On Friday evening, DD & I were driving to my in-laws. I noticed at an intersection that there was a group out with collection cans. Now - I usually try to throw a handful of change in when I see someone collecting. My thought is - it may not be much, but if my kids see me giving even a little, that they too will want to give a little something now & then. And I've been told - every little bit helps.

So I throw my change in their can and they had me the little paper for Feed my Starving Children (the organization they are collecting for). She asked me what we had stopped for, so I told her that they wanted a little money to help out with the kids who don't get to eat all their meals everyday. She read over their little paper. That opened the door to SO many questions.
"Why don't they get to eat?"
"Why can't their mom & dad get them food?"
Oh, man - how do you explain to a 7 year old that the world can be a cruel place sometimes? I tried to keep it as simple as possible. I told her that sometimes moms and dads work very hard and sometimes they have to choose whether to have a place to live or food to eat. (I don't know if that was the right way to put it, but...)

She was quiet for a little bit then said, "It makes me sad that there are kids who don't have food like me. Maybe we could do something to help." I told her that by giving a little money that would help and maybe we could look into volunteering to pack meal boxes.

It gave me a warm feeling to hear her say that. So that is now my mission to get us a volunteer spot. It makes me feel good to know that my kids care about others and want to help.

More books

The World of Pooh: The Complete Winnie the Pooh and The House at Pooh Corner by A.A. Milne

I enjoyed reading this. I don't think I had since about 3rd grade. Fun, enjoyable stories and tales. I gave this 4 out of 5 stars.

The Union Quilters by Jennifer Chiavirini

The latest installment of the Elm Creek Quilters series. I enjoyed the Civil War era story in this one. I gave this 4 out of 5 stars.

What are you reading???

Did you hear the one...

where Hollywood came to us?

I know, right?!!! We could hardly believe it either. Go pop your popcorn, refill your soda and settle in. We're going to the movies!

We found out just before we signed our lease for this house that they were looking at it to potentially use for a scene in a movie being shot in the area. Lo & behold...they chose it! So, in addition to unpacking and settling in the past two weeks, we were bracing for this event and having to keep it to ourselves (do you know how hard that is when you are excited about it?!). DD went to spend the night with DH's parents - which I am glad we did.

Check it out here: Untitled Film

Yesterday started rainy, and it rained all morning and well into the afternoon. They started putting the lights on the boom around 3:00. About 4:00, the rain cleared up and the sun started to peek out. The crew really started rolling in about 6:00 and that's when our stress level went up a little. There were lots of questions (which I appreciate them asking!)...Can we...? Where can we...? Is it ok if...? Yes, yes - do whatever you need to! Then the location manager found us and asked if it was ok if the actors could use the inside of our house to stay warm.

Ummmm - YES!!!!!!!!!!

(Like we would say no?!)

On the note of temperature...it was a cool day to begin with and during the 3 1/2 hours of filming, the temp dropped 10 degrees (to 52) and wind picked up - those two girls were dressed in tank tops and shorts - brrrrr!!!!!!

Anyway, DH, DS & I were helping run extension cords through the house for the electricians. Then because there were too many 'cooks in the kitchen' (as in, Jen get out of the way!), I decided to head back into the house and here comes Heather Graham, Maika Monroe and Chris Bolek (the talent). WOW! I felt calm and didn't feel flustered around them at all. DH & DS enjoyed visiting with Maika & Chris. Heather was in the zone so we didn't want to bother her - which is fine!

We decide to sit inside for the filming, so we settle into our dark kitchen on our chairs with the location manager and production assistant. As filming starts, the first scene they do involves rocks being thrown at the windows. Ok - cool! So, DH & I are envisioning pebbles. We could not have been more wrong!!!! (they were about the size of golf balls) As they start to hit the side of the house there is a big "THUD" with each hit - most hit the side of the house, ok - no problem. On the 4th take, we hear the glass break. Direct hit by Maika! It broke the storm window. All I can say is, I hope they got the sound and use that clip. Poor Maika came back inside looking horrified and apologized profusely. Hey - it happens!

DS & I decided to go outside to watch part of the filming in the alley and in front of the house. It was a lot of fun to watch it all unfold and see how they film each scene and use all the different angles.

Below: ACTION!!!!!!!

Between takes....
They wrapped up just after midnight. The crew we had contact with was great! They were very friendly and were accomodating to us.

And THIS is the souvenier we got from the movie shoot. Thanks, Maika!

And Chris, the Hawks DID win, 4-3 last night. DS really enjoyed watching the game and talking sports with you.

One of the crew members (possibly the Director of Cinematography???) is setting up a shot when he starts squinting toward the park (after everyone had been asked to move to a certain spot to watch) and says to the crew working around DS & I and says "Do I see? Is someone over there in the trees?" He looks and no one says anything. He looks at the park again and says "Hello? Am I #@*%ing working by myself here? Would someone please #@*%ing get them out of the way?" DS started laughing and I told him to be quiet before he got in #@*%ing trouble!

PS: I DID ask if I could run the clapboard (just once) but was told no. Sigh!! I really think I would have done a GREAT job with it. I found out today, you have to be a member of some movie guild just to be able to touch said clapboard. So much for that life dream...

I am REALLY excited for this movie to come out and hope the scene they made, gets in the film.

A touch of scrappiness

Even though my scrap stuff is still in boxes, I can digi-scrap! :D So - I just couldn't take it any more... Here's a little layout I did this morning using Free Digi Scrap Egg-cited kit

Wordless Wednesday

Yes!

We are officially moved out of the old house and getting settled into the new one. The number of boxes is dwindling. (Don't open the garage door - THAT is scary!) It is starting to feel a little more like home. I sat out on the front stoop on Sunday morning with my coffee (which was fantastic) and watched the neighborhood wake up. We have a lot of dogs (and squirrels!) in our 'hood, but thus far - everyone seems to clean up after their pets.

I am just glad that this stress is coming to an end. I hope things can quiet down some and get more to 'normal'. I have been missing my scrap stuff and yarny crafts. As the Christmas rope is tightening around my neck, I know I HAVE to get my projects unpacked and going - or I am going to be spending some sleepless nights in the near future to get them done.

I'm sad to say that it looks like our sun and 70s is going to be ending soon. It has been a gorgeous couple of weeks!

Hope you're all having a good week!

Mr & Mrs

On 9/10/11 (yes, I'm slow at posting...) my 'baby' brother married my newest sister-in-law. It was a very fun, relaxed wedding at a local state park on an absolutely gorgeous day!

The newlyweds: Cupcake tree (YUM!) & candy bar (complete with candy cigarettes - not shown here):


It's official!

The whole family:

We are a very classy group.... (I swear those are candy cigarettes!!!!)

A book

Happy Friday!!!!

The Age of Innocence by Edith Wharton

A book from the 100 Greatest Books (see Movies and Books tab above) that I finished. I'm not much of a classics reader but this wasn't bad! I gave it 4 out of 5 stars.

Have a great weekend!

We're getting there

There's been some electrical and plumbing issues the past couple of days. (It's wonderful to be married to a handyman!) We're surviving and adapting to our new home.

Is it a palace? Not at all!!! But it is a roof over our heads and we are all together - that was all I REALLY wanted! I had my cry and said good-bye to our old house last night and am ready to turn the page and move forward.

We have met our 'across the alley' neighbors, a very nice family with 3 small kiddos. We have a gorgeous park with a fantastic playground literally outside our front door. Our neighborhood is quiet, especially at night - which is wonderful! All in all, we are happy there and settling in.
**************
I am LOVING this weather!!! If it would stay sunny and 75 all year, I would be one very happy gal! BUT....

Hope you're all having a super week. HUGS!

Whew!

Happy October! (Wow - October already?!)

We made it to our new residence this weekend. We have a few more things to get moved this week and next weekend, but we slept at the new place last night. Few kinks to work out but I think as we get settled, it will be a nice place to be.

Thank you to all that helped this weekend - we truly appreciate it and couldn't have done it without you!