TGIF!

Not sure how today will go!

We got some bad family news last night but I don't have many details yet...

I'm cropping tonight, so hopefully sometime this weekend, I'll get some layouts posted.

Happy Friday!

#250

Yes - that's right, this is post #250! :) YEA!!!!!!!!!!!!

I know some of you have been stopping by for a while now (& I hope you keep stopping by) and that some of you are newer to my blog (& I hope you keep stopping by). So, I thought I would do "little facts" about me that you may or may not know.

* I am one of five children. I'm the oldest - that's right the "good one".
* I was on the pom pom/dance team in high school. Once upon a time, I used to be able to kick over my head. Let me tell you, those days are LONG gone!!!!
* My graduating class was 22. I went to high school with a total enrollment of about 130 - we all knew everyone.
* I was a "band geek". I played the clarinet from 5th grade thru my senior year. I also played piano.
* I HATE snakes! The thought of them gives me the heeby jeebies! {full body shiver}
* My first concert was New Kids on the Block. At 15 years old - they were the COOLEST!!!
* I was a single mom. For the first 4 years of DS's life. I NEVER could have done it without my parents!
* I dream of being a writer. I have a book started and someday I hope it will be finished (first of all) and published.
* My favorite colors are royal blue and pink.
* I LOVE baseball! I bleed the Cubbie blue but I truly enjoy the game! By the way, spring training opens in 7 DAYS!!!!!!
* I have 1 year of college credits. All gen eds (someday I will go back) - I had intended to get into broadcasting (hoping for sports casting)
* My favorite candy bar is Snickers. MMMMM!!!!!!!!!
* I grew up on a farm. I can tell you stories... I don't think the "country girl" will ever be out of me!
* I am obessesed with purses! I have many (I don't want to incriminate myself by saying EXACTLY how many) in my closet.
* I can admit I'm a dork!
* I love being a tourist. I used to be shy about taking pictures - not anymore!
* I "heart" Kevin Costner. 1990s Kevin Costner, not present day Kevin Costner. Think Field of Dreams, Dances with Wolves....
* I cry at movies. Can't help it...

Now you know a little more about me.
I hope to see lots of visitors here.
Thanks for stopping!

What the...?????!!!!!

So as I'm surfing around the web today - Y! comes up with prom dresses as a big search for today. My curiousity (and my love of things fancy and shiny) got the best of me. I was SHOCKED! These are HIGH SCHOOL GIRLS you are peddling these....

yes, THESE! dresses to. As a mother of a high school aged boy, this concerns me - GREATLY!!!!!!!!!!!! What the hell is going on? Am I old and prudish? No one dressed like this at our prom (yes, I know it was MANY years ago, but...).

I am just, just, shocked, I guess! What happened to the pretty, covering a lot of you but still elegant dresses?????

Oh my god - I AM old!

Sunday!

Because I'm tired of the cold - I am posting a couple of pictures from our Hawaii trip last fall - I can ALMOST feel the tropical breeze....

Not much going on this weekend - everybody's working at our house (except DD). She's hanging out with grandma...lucky girl!

Super Bowl tonight - I just watch for the commercials. BBQ is in the crockpot to go with the chips and dips and brownies for dessert tonight.

YEA! I got my playlist to work! I was worried about my not so saavy computer skills, but it's working.... (Andie - your song made it.)

Not much scrapping done but I have been reading! Thank you to those who made reading suggestions.

January Books

I read 7 books in January and listened to 2 - I have never read that much in a month before - I'm really excited!


Here are some of my favorites from the month:



CHERISH - a scrapbookers dream! I loved this (I'm still looking at it). The layout maps and ideas are phenominal.









HAMMERHEAD RANCH MOTEL by Tim Dorsey - If you like Carl Hiaasen - you have to pick this up. It is GREAT! A humorous look at the Florida "underground world" of crime. It's a quick read too.











AL CAPONE DOES MY SHIRTS by Gennifer Cholderko - I read this for the young adult book club at our library. (Guess who leads that group?) It was a nice story about a boy and his family who move to Alcatrez so his father can work there.


DON'T BET AGAINST ME by Deanna Favre - This woman amazes me! She is incredibly strong and has been through so much in her life. I really admire her and her strength.

What are you reading? I'm always looking for suggestions.

Thanks for stopping by!

HUGS!

February 1

Happy February! I'm not sure how January blew right by me but here we are and this month promises to fly by too....

Well, as of 5:30 this morning - we had 7.2" of snow and it's still coming down. DS has snow day, I'm thinking I might have one too. (Stay tuned!) I hope my friend, Susanne, is happy. :)

If I may brag about my DS for a moment - ok, maybe not BRAG but he made my ego a little bigger - he is teamed with a special ed student in gym for the unit they're working on and he said yesterday that the other "team" was taunting this kid and getting him all worked up so they could win. (Freshmen boys!) So he finally told them that they better knock it off and that his teammate was just as capable of winning as they were. I was VERY proud of him for standing up for this other boy. However, I wish he had something to the gym teacher - not that it probably would have done any good....

I am still looking for music suggestions - any thoughts? What are you listening to?
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Update at 9:10 a.m.: I am home for now. I will probably go to work around lunchtime, since there is a loan closing this afternoon. Everything is ready except the checks. The plows just came through now so I would like to give them a little more time to clean up a little more. The snow is starting to blow around now, though... Such is winter!

Happy Friday all and I hope you have a good weekend!

Thanks for stopping by!

Quote

"A laugh is a smile that burst"

One of my favorites - and I need a smile today!

My weekend

Happy Monday!

My weekend passed in a blur! Saturday morning, DH & I went to tan. I felt a little better after some fake sun. I get the blues so bad this time of year! He & I had a discussion on the upcoming school referendum. I think it will go through.... By the way, another FYI - did you know that sugar spilled on the inside of a hot oven burns VERY quickly and is VERY smoky! I also learned my teenage son sleeps through the smoke detectors going off! SCARY!

I worked at the library on Saturday afternoon and it was BUSY! I left there after 4 hours, absolutely exhausted! The weather was nice - sunny & 30s, so I'm sure that brought lots of people out.

Saturday night was quite uneventful - DH was asleep on the couch by 7:30 and I scrapped for a couple of hours.

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Sunday morning, we took the kids clothes shopping with their Christmas gift cards. DD thought we were just going to drop her off and she could pick out what she wanted and we'd be back to get her. Boy, was she mad when she found out we were shopping with her! Nothing better than an independent almost 4 year old! We found her some cute shirts and pants, so she should be set for a while. DS found a couple of shirts at Old Navy but only got 1.... he thought $10 was too much for a shirt and it ended up being $5 when he got to the register but I couldn't talk him into getting another one.

I made a ham for lunch and then went to a wonderful, very fun, White Elephant tea yesterday afternoon. I FINALLY got to meet my friend, Susanne, whom I have been chatting with via message boards and e-mails for about 3 years. It was wonderful to finally meet her in person and meet her friends. My friend, Monica, met me there. It was GREAT to see her too! :) And will see her again in a couple of weeks - YEA!

Last night was a little scrapping (got my Valentines done) and reading. Watched SAG Awards and crashed.

I did manage to get a LITTLE exercise in this weekend - a quick pilates and a short walk on the treadmill. I need to find my motivation - I want to be REALLY good this week!

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I am contemplating going back to one of my formerly frequented scrapbook message boards. I will have to think about it, but will probably go back and see how everyone is doing.

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I got to work this morning and my boss lays an e-mail in front of me that a client had sent him. They told him they had received good service from me and enjoyed my friendliness. What a nice way to start a week! :)

Hope you had a great weekend!
HUGS!

A couple of pictures

I took these after a snow/ice storm back in December and FINALLY got them out of my camera. I'm pretty happy with how they turned out.

Thanks for stopping by.

Hugs!

What kind of music do you like?

That "getting to know you" question. My answer is always a little difficult. I like a little bit of everything. I don't like gansta rap or blues and am starting to dislike classical.

For example, I picked up a stack of CDs at the library the other night and this is what I got:

Wicked soundtrack
Avril Lavigne,
Miranda Lambert
Jazz
Gloria Estefan
Harry Connick Jr
Simon & Garfunkel

A little of everything.

So, what are YOU listening to? Have any listening recommendations? Let me know!
HUGS!

Oh the weather outside is frightful!

That's why I'm going to talk about something warm - BASEBALL!!!!

That's right - for those of you who are "new" here and have not been subjected to the ramblings of one die hard Cubs fan - Welcome! :)

Yes, that's right spring training opens in a mere 19 days! Aaahhhh....

What will happen to my beloved Cubbies this year? Only time will tell! I cross my fingers for the best but of course, as all Cub fans know, prepare for the worst. If we could have a repeat of last year (with a much happier ending) - I would be ecstatic. And seeing as how it has been 100 years (NO LAUGHING!) since they have won the World Series (I said no laughing) - I am sure this will be the year!

So, to all of you who may not be real familiar with baseball - I'd be happy to give you a lesson or 2 or just let you read my ramblings about it here. Stay tuned.... spring is coming!

HUGS!

PS: It's Thursday night but this is my "Friday" post. :)

A little blah, blah ,blah....

Happy Thursday - it's almost Friday! :)

I have done pilates that past 2 mornings and my abs and hips are begging for mercy! Ah, ha - show no mercy! :)

It is FREAKING COLD! It was -6 at 6 a.m. this morning with wind chill of -25. That's the kind of cold that hurts! DD was NOT happy about having to leave the house and truth be told - I wasn't either.

More work drama...so what else is new? I have decided, due to circumstances this morning, that I will no longer offer to help HER with anything! I am tired of her crap and I'm not going to take it anymore. In fact, I kind of feel like a ticking time bomb when it comes to HER.
However, I have to say without my dear friend, Andie, I would probably not make it through some days. Thanks for listening to me vent and cheering me up!

Hope you're all warm and having a good week!
HUGS!

I must remember...

it is January in the midwest! :) It has been cold! Although, warmer than this past weekend was. We got almost 6 more inches of snow last night. While it's pretty (at first), there are too many people who forget how to drive in it every time we get some. You live here, people - you know how to do this! Oh, well - someday I will see the grass green up, the temps rise and flowers again.

DD had her 1st swimming lesson last night. According to DH, she LOVED it and was quite upset when it was over. That's a good thing, I guess.

DS starts his swimming unit in gym this week and he is less than thrilled. He's all whiny about the pool being gross by 8th hour, blah, blah, blah... Take a shower afterward then!

Work is going well. We're very busy so my days fly by (a lot of times with the help of chatting with my friend, Andie - thanks!). I have a co-worker who is a real pain and seriously needs a talking to. She acts like she's 5 most of the time. Whines and pouts when things don't go her way, but don't try to help her do something because she SNAPS and will rip you a new one! It's nuts! I just try to keep my distance and do my stuff.

Sunday night, I did get on the treadmill for 1/2 hour and painted my nails after I showered - I can't remember the last time I did that.

No new scrappings to share today. I have a couple of cards and layouts in process (doesn't that sound technical?) that hopefully I can finish tonight.

Hope you all have a great day!
HUGS!

Random ramblings

Good grief has it been cold this weekend! It was a high of 3 degrees yesterday. (That's NOT a typo). Today it got up to 15 - whew...we almost needed our shorts.

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My sister's bridal shower was yesterday. (This is her) The big day is just over a month away. I think she's just ready for it to be over. *******
My DH painted our DD's room yesterday. Yes - it's PINK!!!! and she LOVES it!

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Yes, I did get some scrapping done. I am half way done with my Valentines cards. I got a few digis done and a few paper layouts. I feel like I'm actually accomplishing something.

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Yes, I have been a TOTAL slacker in the workout department. I've been scrapping... (does that count?)

I hope you all had a good weekend!

More digis

I did these last night. The 1st is for the Disney ABC book: This was a sketch challenge:

Digi scrapping

Here's the first few pages of a Disney ABC book I want to do:

I'm hoping to get a little more digi done tonight.... the 80s tunes are on.

YES!!!!!

I did it - I did it!

I walked the treadmill for 20 minutes yesterday and did Pilates this morning. 2 days in a row....! I know there are lots of people who work out everyday and I'm jealous of their commitment. I said at the beginning of the year, I wanted to work out at least 3 days a week. It took me a couple of weeks to get going, but here I go... Yes, I am looking for encouragement and questions of whether I worked out...

DS got his braces put on yesterday. He looks good and will look even better when his teeth are all straightened.

It sounds like the bitter cold is coming this weekend - can't say I'm real excited about that. The snow is here today.

I hope you & yours are doing well and I will try to blog a little more often...

Wedding pictures

My cousin got married last weekend - it was a beautiful and very fun wedding!

1st dance: Her bouquet:

Cutting cake:

Passport Adventures

Crazy - 2 posts this week... :)

DH, DD & I went to Walgreens to get our passport photos taken on Tuesday morning. So, the guy who takes our pictures puts DD on a stool, then she sits there scrunching up her face and shoulders when she "smiles". UGH! He finally gets a half-way decent one. Then he takes ours. So, we go to the Christmas aisle to see what's left. The photo guy comes and says the machine to print the pictures isn't working and that they are running some tests, so it will be a little longer than 15 minutes. Ok - no problem.

DH & I are looking and we hear, "I had an accident," in a tiny voice. We both turn around to see our DD standing in the middle of the aisle with a puddle around her feet. GREAT!!!!!!!!! SO, I take her out to the van to clean her up and DH lets the staff know.

DD & I re-enter the store. DH has picked a few things off the shelf. We find out that the picture they took of DD will not work because you can see the back of the chair so it has to be re-done. I am still upset about her accident so I tell DH to deal with her scrunching face for the second take. They did end up getting a pretty good picture of her, so we'll see....

So, while they finish the pictures, we filled a cart with clearance Christmas treats. (Yes, just what we need...) We paid twice as much for the passport photos than we did for the cart full of garbage food. That's what we get for having to be in the store for an hour!

Moral of the story - double check that little ones have gone potty before you leave the house, even if it's just going to be for a "few minutes".

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!!!!!

I hope this finds you all happy and healthy!

We had a quiet New Year's Eve - took the kids to Applebees for early dinner, then TV and board games. It was snowing pretty bad.

My cousin's wedding was wonderful! She looked AMAZING!!!! Totally 1940s glamour - oh, I can't even begin to tell you how great she looked. The flowers were all roses with feathers. (I know - when my mom first told me before I saw them, I was doubtful) They were GORGEOUS!!!! The reception was lots of fun - great food, dancing and it's always entertaining to watch the people who have been drinking, dance.... : ) All I'm going to say is, DS "broke out" his breakdancing - oh lord - I wanted to crawl under the table!

May 2008 be a wonderful year for you & yours!