Trip to Maine...Ah yuh!!

Well, we headed to Maine in the rain as always. And would you believe our land is still there?! LOL My hubby likes to take a ride up to see what "the property" (as he refers to it) looks like during different seasons. He just wants to be sure there's no standing water, what the view is without leaves, etc. before we build.

When he calls it "the property" it cracks me up. It sounds like a big mansion or something.

Would you believe there was snow on the ground in ME? We took a few photos of our beach and the surrounding area just to show the snow. It's almost May!! Weird, huh?

We had a nice dinner at the Black Horse Tavern in Bridgton, ME on the way home. Ate too much and blew the diet. We drove back in the pouring rain. I kept nodding off. Can't help myself. I get lulled to sleep in a car even if I'm not tired.

Question for you - do you sleep on a long ride? Do you read? I can't read. I get carsick if I so much as look at a map.

Feast One Hundred & Forty One

Appetizer
How fast can you type? Pretty fast - probably about 95-100 wpm.

Soup
What is your favorite online game? I don't play online games. I have too many things to look at online like scrapping & stamping sites!!

Salad
On a scale of 1 to 10 (with 10 as highest), how intelligent do you think you are? Oooh, not sure about a 6 or 7.

Main Course
Name three of your best teachers from your school years. Oh, no names here -- I will tell you I had a history teacher (not my forte) that I had a crush on. He tried so hard to help me pass. I just barely made it. I also had a great Spanish teacher, Mr. Gonzalez. He drove me nuts but I learned a lot from him about the culture. I also had a great Business Practices (?) teacher, Miss Luongo. I forget the name of the class but it was great because I went straight into the business world from high school and she prepared me for that. It was kind of a mix of accounting, business letter writing, etc.

Dessert
What are your plans for this upcoming weekend? Probably head to Maine as mentioned in my prev. post. It's a three hour ride for us. My dh misses his land! I think that's where he feels the happiest.

Aaaah....almost the weekend

No bosses here today - yay!!!! That makes ME the boss.

I'm so glad the weekend is here. It's rainy out and not a great day for Spring Carnival so I'm glad I'm not going!

Not sure what the plan is yet for the weekend. Tomorrow a.m. I have a dance recital to go to and then we may head to Maine for the day. We want to visit our land (dh does) and our friend who had knee replacement surgery but we really don't want to stay. This makes it easier with my 17 y.o. too. I hate worrying about him while I'm away.

I'm hoping to get to my sb room on Sun. I have swap cards to finish and lo's to do.
I'm also hoping to get some pictures hung and the house a little more in order for my upcoming jewelry party.

Thought I'd share something creative. My best friend made this cool mailbox for me. I keep it on the top of my armoire. I filled it with chipboard letters yesterday but couldn't shut it. I'll have to figure out something else to store.

Rug, rug, can't find the rug!

I have searched and searched for area rugs as I posted before. I cannot come up with a kitchen rug. I just want a simple sisal or grassy-type rug with a reddish rust or goldish border. Found a few in the Pottery Barn catalog and they were pretty reasonable but the size isn't quite right and I"m not sure if they'll be rough on bare feet. They don't have them in the stores for me to check out. Does anyone have any suggestions? I've tried Home Depot, Lowe's, JCP. I need at least a 5x8 but would prefer a 6x8 which is probably nonexistent.

Here's the dining room rug.

A few cards...

I got stuck on this design for a few because I had to make some quick ones. I used SU Big Blossom & Paisley background on one. The ink is Apricot Appeal on whisper white cs. I'm not sure of the orange cs but it's SU. The red is real red by SU. Can't remember who made the HB stamp.

Boring blog....

Sorry I haven't had any photos to post lately. I just can't seem to get to it all! I took a photo of the cards I made at a CTMH workshop but forgot to bring in the card to upload.

Yesterday my son got his cast off. Yay! He's too funny. I thought I'd let him go in by himself because I want him to grow up. He is 17. And honestly, I didn't want to smell the horrible smell! LOL So he came walking out with the cast in his hand. I asked what the heck he wanted that for and he said he was keeping it. He said, "don't worry, mom, I took ripped out all the smelly stuff inside!" Eeeeewwww! I guess he wanted it because it had some cool graffiti on it?! He's still my little boy at heart!

So I got home early and it was beautiful out so I took a long walk. I was sweating half to death when I got home but it felt great. The podiatrist just gave me the go ahead last week to resume exercising. My foot wasn't great when I was done but I'm going to go for it anyway. My waist line is expanding rapidly!!!

35 Quirks

Saw this on Diana's blog (next on the SBA ring) and then on Linda's. Love it!

35 Quirks
1. What is your favorite thing to wear? My yoga pants and a t-shirt and flip flops
2. Last thing you ate? Leftover pizza and a Diet Pepsi.

3. Nastiest thing you've ever eaten? Candy from China. It tastes like seaweed.

4. I say Shotgun, you say? Fantastic!!

5. How many U.S states have you been to? AZ, CA, CT, DE, FL, HI, MA, MD, ME, MI, NJ, NH, NY, OH, PA, RI, Wash. DC, VA, VT. (don't think I forgot any?!)

6. How many of the U.S states have you lived in? MA, MI, NH, PA

7. What is your favorite romance book? Not a big romance fan.

8. Favorite type of food? Mexican or Italian

9. Do you care if your socks are dirty? Yes!!!

10. Have you ever cheated on a test? Maybe in high school? Can't remember.

11. Has anyone ever sang or played for you personally? Don't think so.

12. Do you like Bush? No.

13. Have you ever gone white-water rafting? Yes, twice. Once in PA - very rough! and another time in VA/MD - very calm.

14. Have you met a real redneck? Oh yeah!

15. How is the weather right now? It will get up to 85 today! Yay!

16. Where was the last place you went besides your house? Work.

17. What are you afraid of? Heights, spiders.

18. How many pets do you have? None!

19. What's one thing you've learned? One can definitely have too many sb/stamp supplies!!

20. What do you usually order from Starbucks? Nothing. I bring my son so he can get his vanilla latte. I'm a Dunks' Girl.

21. Have you ever fired a gun? Yes, funny story. We were in the Pocono's. Someone talked me into trying it. The contest came down to two of us, the other woman won. She asked how long I'd been shooting. I said it was my first time. She could NOT believe it. She had been shooting with her dad since she was a little girl. I have good distance vision and a steady hand. I guess that's what it takes.

22. Favorite TV show? Grey's Anatomy & ER

23. Has anyone ever said you looked like a celeb? Yes, Melanie Griffith & a few others (NOT).

24. If you had a daughter, what would you name her? I would have named her Julia, Julie. I also had Katelyn and Courtney on the list when I had my boys.

25. Do you find yourself loved? Yes.

26. Have you ever been caught doing something you weren't supposed to? Yep, I got caught a lot when I was a teenager! Smoking, drinking, being places I shouldn't have been.

27. Butter, plain, or salted popcorn? Movie theatre butter.

28. Have you ever ridden in a limo? Yes, sadly when MIL, FIL passed away, also for my wedding.

29. Has anyone you were really close to passed away recently? Not really recently. My stepdad passed away two years ago and my MIL 3 yrs. ago.

30. What's something that really bugs you? Arrogant people or liars.

31. Do you like Michael Jackson? Nope. I used to like a few songs but not any more!

32. Favorite baseball team? The Red Sox, of course!

33. Have you ever milked a cow? No

34. Last time you went bowling? Probably at Cape Cod while on vacation a couple of yrs. ago. We used to do this with the boys on rainy days.

35. Have you ever cut your own hair? Just the bangs if I can't stand them any more.

Gorgeous weather!!!

Spring has finally sprung here! It was so beautiful out all weekend. Today will get to 85!

Sat. night we went rug shopping after dinner at Smokey Bones (YUM). I overate as usual. Got the pulled pork, mashed potatoes and green beans...and a nice cold beer, of course.

So we ended up finding the family room & dining room area rugs. The house looks so much better. It was way too much wood before. I still cannot find my kitchen one. I think I'll just order from Pottery Barn because I haven't seen anything close to what I want. They weren't that expensive which surprised me.

So my house is on the way to looking decent for my Lia S. party in a few weeks. My friend came by as my dh and I were out on the patio relaxing. She brought the items I ordered from her party and the things I need for mine. She's new to this so she's very excited!

I didn't do a whole lot in my sb room. I did cut most of the pieces for my card swap with Kimi though.

Got to get to work. Later!

Feast One Hundred & Forty

Appetizer
What is your favorite kind of bread? Oooooh, I love Panera's whole wheat baguette!

Soup
When was the last time you bought a new pillow? Probably two months ago. Time for a new one. I hate flat pillows and mine is getting that way. I cannot find a pillow that suits me.

Salad
Approximately how many hours per week do you spend surfing the ‘net? Well, I'm embarrassed to say....I'm really not sure but probably 30?

Main Course
What’s the highest you remember your temperature being? Geez, I'm not sure. I hate to say this because I may jinx myself...I hardly ever have a high temp (I won't say the other words). I don't even take my temperature!

Dessert
Fill in the blanks: When I ____________, I _____________.

When I create (stamp or scrap), I am happy!!

Last night...

It was a fun class last night. Made two very cute cards! I learned a little about TAC and I'm going to get a catalog soon. I'm afraid of that! Just what I need is another place to spend money!!

I have the Silpada party tonight but I'm exhausted already. My son got home around 11:40 (vacation this week) and I got up at 6:15, later than usual. I'm going to be dragging later!

Just a quick question for you. As I was driving in this morning, I was thinking that I should scrap a page on notes in my BOM, if I ever get to it! LOL I am the note queen! Every day, I reach down for my handy little note pad in the car. I cannot live without one of these!! I write some kryptic note to remind me of things I need to check on at work. Sometimes it's a list of what I need to pick up on my lunch hour or my way home. So....do you have a little notebook or a pack of post-it notes in your car?

Updates.

I had Mon. off for the holiday and was ready to get dressed on Tues. when someone called to say the univ. was closed due to flooded streets. YAY!

I ended up going to the DMV for my mom, Circuit City with my son's laptop, Mike's and my lss.

Then I got home and went through emails and stuff. I finally sat down and scrapped. YOu know those lo's that you just sit and stare at and nothing seems to work? Well, that was it. One lonely page that should have been easy. None of my papers or embellishments seemed to work. I finally ended up using rubons for my title and stamping some borders with my new Penny Black Foliage stamp. It's ok, not great, but it's done.

Then I played around making some cards for my swap. THAT was fun! Can't wait to see them all.

I have to leave at 2 today to take my son to the dentist for a filling. Then I'm going to a CTMH workshop tonight and a Silpada tomorrow night.

What a fun day yesterday!

First I went to the new scrapbook store with my mom. We bought a few things & did make & takes.

Then I went home to get ready for my Tim Holtz class at Ink About It. I got a call from the sb store and I won a door prize.

So I went to my class which was great! Tim was so down to earth and friendly. He made us think outside the box. I'm so not a collage type person but it was fun anyway. We had to pick a Victoria little kid and cut some words out of old books to come up with a poem. I'm not so great at that but I did ok. The project we made was great! We got a nice prize of cute little bottles of ? dont' remember what it's called but I was lucky enough to get sepia and crackle!

Here's my project and a blurry photo with Tim.

Friday's Feast One Hundred Thirty Nine

Appetizer
When you were a child, which crayon color was your favorite? Probably "pretty pink"!

Soup
On a scale of 1 to 10 (with 10 being highest), how likely would you be to change jobs if it required you to move? How about zero?!! My hubby's job moved us 3 times from state to state. I'm finally back home after being away for 10 yrs.(have been for 11 yrs.) and I'm NOT moving! LOL

Salad
Take all the numbers in your birthday and your phone number and add them up, one by one. What’s the total? 121 That was a tough one! LOL

Main Course
Have you ever “re-gifted” anything? If so, what was it and who did you pass it on to? I've given away gifts I've received but not as a gift.

Dessert
Name something you need from the store. Spaghetti squash. I use this to make a low carb casserole that we all love.

Clean scrap space....

I felt so good after cleaning up all the little lose ends on my desk area the other night. I just had to take a picture. I also took a photo of the wall that's blank until I get off my butt and order my bookshelf. This will have storage below so I can tuck all my junk into hiding. And my paper can come off the floor. It's amazing how red my paint looks in photos. It's really much nicer than this!

Can't wait for the weekend....

Ok, tonight we'll probably do our usual boring food shopping. I mean, who food shops on a Friday night?!! It seems to work for us but it's pretty pathetic.

Sat. night I have a Tim Holtz class. I'm so excited!! I hope I can think outside the box and create something funky. It's a mystery class so I have no idea what we'lll be doing. I'm much better doing a project assigned to me rather than getting free reign to create something cool. I'm a little nervous. I know two others who will be there. I met them through a friend so I don't know them well but enough so I feel ok about it. I don't usually mind going by myself anyway.

So, here are a couple of the cards I made yesterday (the ufo's). Very simple as always! And the pictures aren't great. One is blurry. I'll post the cleaned up sb armoire soon and the blank wall that will be filled if I ever order my bookshelf/storage unit.

Caught up!

Oh I feel so good! I caught up on a couple of cards and could not stand looking at the pile of UFO cards sitting on my scrap desk. So....I pushed myself to finish them. I must have done at least 4. Then I cleaned up my area so you can see the desk top. I took a photo of a couple of the cards, brought the card in but forgot to bring the reader in. Oh well...

Now I feel like I may be able to scrap either tonight or tomorrow night. Yippeeee!

p.s. I got a clean bill of health from the skin dr.!!!! NO removals this time.

Another thing that makes me happy...

Is when you're expecting to pay several thousand in taxes and you're getting it back instead!!!!! Woooooohoooo! We had great news yesterday.

I have to go to the dermatologist today for my annual skin check. Think positive thoughts for me, please! I've had to have something removed the last two times. I hate when he looks at me with that huge magnifying glass. I would not want to see that view! LOL It does get me out of work early and it's going to be warmer today.

Tomorrow we will get snow again. When is it going to go away for good?! I'm sick to death of it. I'm happy for the ski areas though. They're making up for a slow start to winter.

I'm hoping to scrap soon. I finished my swap cards and I'm set for April birthdays. I do have a ton coming up in May though! I'm going to have to do that deal thing again - make a few cards and you HAVE to scrap a page or two. I'm almost to the point where I really want to scrap now anyway! Later!!

What makes me happy...

Susan (Hoppy) posted this on SBA. The first two things that come to mind are my boys. They don't always make me happy because they are 17 & 21. But I love how they are so sweet sometimes. My family commented on Easter after they left how sweet they are and how good it was to see them. Made me smile. Love my boys!!

The other thing that makes me very happy is my creative outlets. I'm so excited that I'm taking a Tim Holtz class this weekend! I love the fact that my card was posted on the front page of a swap board (of course, it's probably just because I'm the newbie but it made me feel good anyway). I just love my stamping/scrapping hobbies. They make me happy!

What makes you happy? Feel free to comment!!

Bad week diet wise....

Oh boy, I was going to be good. That didn't happen. I ate candy, chips, etc. My waist is hanging over my pants. Ugh.....I have no idea what to wear for Easter. I really want to wear jeans with a cute top but my bulge will be showing if I do.

It's supposed to be cold out so that may help hide some of this flab. I seriously need to do something very soon.

My cousin is now talking about agreeing to go on a cruise with us in June. First they said April but I don't think we can do it that fast.

She is one of those people who always looks fantastic. She works out an hour a day or more, she tans, bleaches her teeth, gets manicures weekly, you get the picture. I"m going to have a hard time sitting on a chaise next to her!! If I get the ok from the foot dr., I can start walking again and that will help tremendously.

Anyway, I updated because Kathy M pushed me into it (thanks, Kathy). I really needed to anyway.

I have several cards to hurry up and make. Tomorrow I'm food shopping, making my apps for Sunday and cleaning. We are going to my aunt's house for a fun family day. My cousins, aunts & uncles are all so much fun. I can't wait to see everyone!

Hope all of you have a Happy Easter! Don't eat too many jelly beans!!

Oh boy, am I old!!

My son is 21 years old today. I feel ancient. I keep thinking back to the day he was born. I called him right at his birth time and felt like Billy Crystal's mom on City Slickers. She calls him every year at his birth time and he knows exactly what she'll say. hehe I hope I don't get like that.

I'm so looking forward to the weekend. I really need to get caught up. I made one Easter card last night and sent that off but I need several more. I also have two card swaps to make cards for!

I took Monday off so maybe that'll help me get caught up with cleaning. I did make two appts. though, one for guidance at my son's school (college info) and the other for another crown! Oh joy.

Happy Easter...

Just got this in an email.

Just another day....

Ok, last night we celebrated my son's 21st bday. I feel old. And I was bad with the ice cream cake!

My dh got La Machine for his sleep apnea and it's definitely quieter than I expected. I thought it would be keeping me up. I was so exhausted from waiting around at the dr. and then hospital yesterday (other ds broke his wrist), I just zonked after a bit.

So....I'm hoping things slow down a bit and I can relax and unwind this weekend. I need to create!!!!!!!!!!!

Weekend update...

I've been a bad blogger lately! Life has been somewhat chaotic.

Fri. had my carpet installed, got a cortizone shot in my foot, did food shopping, packed and went to a Lia S. jewelry party. The party was fun, my friend had a ton of food and people! I ended up booking a party for May.

Stamp Camp was fun but not that productive. I was almost home when my dh called to say my son hurt himself and he was taking him to the ER. He was skateboarding and fell. We spent 3 hrs. there. He fractured his wrist and tore the ligament so we're seeing a specialist today. He's an accident waiting to happen!!

Anyway, back to work so that I can leave early.