Happy Birthday Michael!!!

For some reason New Year's Eve doesn't hold the excitement that it once did!! The main difference I think is this little (???) guy!!!

It hardly seems like 24 years ago tonight that I was in labor and rockin' out to Boy George in a California hospital. Some things you just never forget...like Boy George!!! Just glad that Michael is at least in the United States to celebrate his birthday this year! He spent his birthday of 2006 on a beach in Sri Lanka and his birthday of 2007 in China. Looks like he has come around full circle because he will be spending his birthday of 2008 back in California!! Happy Birthday kiddo!!! Hopefully no Boy George for you this year!!! We love you!!!

Pretty Pink Puter...................

Everybody who knows me knows what a pink freak I am. I love just about anything that is pink!! Obvioulsy Ken has lived with me long enough to know my long time addiction to pink things!! So this is what I got from dear hubby for my 50th BD!!!!! A pretty pink puter'!!!!

I said in my post yesterday that turning "Fifty and Feisty" could be good and good indeed it was!!! In fact it was just perfect and pink!!!

I Made It!!!

I woke up this morning and I thought to myself....I've actually made it!!! To the "BIG 50" that is!!! I don't feel any different and I don't think I look any different than I did yesterday so by golly I made it!!! This is good! Good indeed!!!

I found this darling little bag and tag hanging on my mailbox at work from my most favoriteist swap buddy ever!!! Thanks swap buddy...you know who you are!!! And what was in the bag?? Another man (snow) to add to my life! Thanks again swap buddy!!! I can never have too many snowmen in my life!!! Or too many swaps for that matter!!

I've always tried to be really nice to my friends when they've hit the "Big 50". No dead black roses or black balloons....nope..I'm no dummy!!! I know paybacks can be hell!!! Even at such a young age!!! And NO I did not send in for my AARP card! So here's to being "Fifty and Feisty". This could be good......good indeed!!!

Have you ever been diagnosed with this?

I heard that this is spreading through the croppin' community like wild fire! Check out the symptoms:

• Difficulty making layout decisions
• A preoccupation with one color or technique
• Embellishment avoidance
• Repetitive shape placement

Do you have any of these symptoms? They say it is really important to eat a lot of chocolate to help build up your "Creative System". I kinda feel like I'm comin' down with it now!!!!! Better go pop a couple spoonfuls of M&M's!!!

There's a new man in town..............

Well actually there are three new men in town. We were snowed in today and the man in "Brown" still managed to bring me a nice little box of new snowmen. My sister-in-law and I have traded for years and we always anxiously await the arrival of the new men in our lives!!! This little guy.....who is without a name yet is soooooooooo skinny and cute. You can see his little "bird legs " and black shoes if you look real close! Thinking maybe he is a snowman golfer cause he has his own bucket of (snow) balls!!!

These two guys showed up together....

And I'm not quite sure what their story is yet either!!!

All I know is that they look a lot a like so they must be brothers!!! Just happy that they all arrived today....and we can all be snowed in together!!!!!

The most WONDERFUL time of the year.............

Yep....anybody who knows me, knows what a

"Starbucks

Freak"

I am. I always know that it is coming upon the Christmas Season when the red cups appear. Every year they are different and this year is no exception. This year there is a link to their website at http://www.itsredagain.com/

All I can say is check it out soon cause it won't be around long!!! Now I'm just waiting for the snowman sugar cookies that they had last year. Those definitely were worth waiting a year for!!!!!

300 + Angry Men??????????

Before you read any farther let me explain the title!!! I have been collecting snowmen for roughly the last 20 years. Back in the days when it was kind of hard to find them. Every year the collection just grew and grew. I think Michael always thought that FROSTY ....not....JESUS was the reason for the season. It usually takes an entire weekend to put them all out and it gets worse each year!! Last year Michael and Courtney were in China for Christmas and so we just kinda played scrooge in decorating the house. After all who was even going to wonder if we had our tree up much less where all the300 + MEN were? This year I couldn't keep them in the dark any longer.

It all started Thanksgiving morning and I'm happy to report was done by bedtime the same day!!! There were no melted men from being left in the dark for two years and as you can tell ...they all seem to be happy...not a frown in the bunch!!!!

You Gotta Love Em'

For some reason Ken thought this was a rather funny piece of mail when he brought it in last week!!! Me.....well..........not so much!!! The funny thing is that this is about the third or fourth piece of mail that I have gotten from AARP in the last six months. Funny because all the others have gone in the trash before Ken even had a chance to ever see them!!!! I'm sure that there will be many more that I'll have to intercept before the Big Dreaded Day!!!!!

A Face Lift.........

I love to watch make over shows...anything that has to do with "Before & After" shots! It is something about that WOW factor when you see it a disaster and then fresh and new. Love it!!

I love that feeling of accomplishment. I always have. Well.............I sat down for a few seconds yesterday and turned on the t.v. and flipped to Oprah...and oh my gosh!! She had a two part series on hoarders!!! These people were Serious Hoarders!!! That was probably the BEST "Before & After" show I had ever seen!!! After dinner I was going down to the scrap room to clean it up a little between projects and decided to do a little "Before & After" layout of my own!!! WARNING: Mom you might not want to read on any farther here!!!


Before.....

.

AFTER.....

BEFORE.........

AFTER........

BEFORE.............

AFTER......

WOW!!!!

I sure do love that feeling of accomplishment!!!!!

It's Monday...................

What better way to start a week than with a nice hot brew from this awesome new little gadget?

DRINK COFFEE.......

Do stupid things faster with more energy!!!!!!

Here's to a great week!!!!

I Told You SO!!!!

The last time I blogged I was ahead of schedule for once in my life and I told you it had to be a fluke! Well let me assure you that it was. Here it is the first week of November and I have ATC's due for November but NO IDEAS!!! NONE!! NADA!!!! I must have used up all those creative brain cells in October! I should have stashed some away with the Halloween chocolate for emergencies like this! I should have known it wouldn't last! Like I said...I had way toooo much time on my hands!!! Oh well..I'm officially back to work after my surgery so hopefully I'll have a little more structure in my life!!!

Maybe more time for scrapbooking (and ATC'S) and less time for the chocolate!!! NAH...I don't need that much structure or balance!!! I do need that much chocolate...how else am I going to stay up all night burning the midnight oil so I can get my cards done on time?? It works everytime!!!!

Ahead of schedule?

Could it really be?????

For once in my life..I think I am actually ahead of schedule! No not in the healing from the surgery...which is right on schedule I've been told but ahead of time on getting a project done!!

Do you believe it? I don't!! And it's not even the end of the month. All I can say is that I must have way too much time on my hands! That and the weather has been so rainy and dreary has helped a lot too!

I actually got my ATC's done and delivered and it is only the middle of October!!! I am sure this will be the first and last time that this will ever happen!! I have to keep telling myself not to get used to it!!! It's just a strange kind of fluke!

But it sure feels good for once not to be burning the midnight oil and pushing the deadline to the limit!! I must take that after the kiddo!!! Sorry Michael...we know who we really got it from huh? I would start thinking about my ATC's for November but I'm sure this ahead of schedule thing is a one time deal and I'll go back to pushing the deadline again next month!!! Besides that would be waaaaaaaaaaaaaaay too ahead of schedule!!! And that is just not me!!!

Home body...

It's a good thing that I have always been a home body or else I think I would have already gone stir crazy trying to re-coup from this surgery! Ever since I was a little girl, I've loved being home. My parents taught me to love being home. Home has always had such a warm and loving feel to it. I just even love the word....aahhhhh HOME!! I stayed home for many years while raising my kiddo and loved every single minute of it. People always asked after he went to school if I ever got bored at home?? Never... I was always busy trying to make our house a home and still am to this day and loving every minute of it. The memories are plentiful here and I'm just trying to capture them one day at a time! Yes...even while I'm re-couping at HOME!!!

Two weeks.........

OK so the surgery was two weeks ago today and 6 little cards is all the "creativeness" that I have to show for it. These little cards took forever since I had to do them in 40 minute segments. I'm happy to say though that I now can use a paper cutter while in a horizontal position!!! Yes sir...i feel that I am making progress. I'm still not allowed to bend over which causes a major disaster when something falls to the floor. You don't realize how many things fall to the floor until you can't bend to pick em' up. Where is that "grabber" when you need it? All I can say is I have been sooooooooooooo creative when it comes to solving this little road block!!!
I am happy to report that I can pick up Skittles, raisins, M&M's and even brads with my toes! Yep...they make for great grabbers. It is amazing what you will do if you want something bad enough. Just today I wanted an apple and of course it was in the bottom crisper in the fridge. Nurse Rachett was off duty sooooo I had to be real creative! I found the longest knife in the kitchen drawer (top kitchen drawer) opened the crisper with it and stabbed me the biggest..reddest...juciest gala apple of the bunch! So..all in all I guess I have been pretty creative this week...it's just I don't have anything to show for it except these 6 little cards!

Day 7.........

Hard to believe that the surgery was a week ago today. All I have done for the last 7 days is lay down.... stand up....walk laps around the house...sit down but for no longer than 30 minutes and then REPEAT! I still haven't figured out how to scrap laying down much less laying down and getting anything straight! I'm working on it though. Beginning today, I can start adding a few minutes to my sitting up time....hence I finally got to blog!! YEA!!! I'm alive again. And for those of you wondering....I packed the overnight bag...just in case. And no..I didn't need to use it. I really..really...really don't like hospitals so when told I could go home IF I wanted to....well I was outa there!!! Thigh high support hose and all!! Now that is another scrapbook page waiting to happen. Stay tuned!! Once again...I'm sooooo glad that Ken didn't have the camera!!!

High Noon.....

Sometimes I think life is a scrapbook page just waiting to happen. I know this is the case with this layout.

I have been waiting for this for a week or so now but really for a couple of months. I have a herniated disk in my lumbar area and after drugs....physical therapy...and an epidural steroid injection....it's time to just go for it! It wasn't an easy decision but I'm scheduled for a lumbar diskectomy tomorrow at noon...I'm waiting for it to happen!!

Waiting for the pain to finally stop! The bulge in the disk shown above in my MRI with the little "pink arrows" pointing to it is affecting the nerves down my left side. It feels like my left leg and foot is waiting to wake up...like when it falls asleep and tingles.

And so I wait for the "Battle of the Bulge" to be over but not before I document the little guy on a scrapbook page!!! The hospital said to pack an overnight bag....I wonder if they meant my

scrapbook bag? Probably not huh? I'm just going to make sure and leave the camera at home....Ken getting pictures of me all goofy is NOT a scrapbook page waiting to happen!!!

I'm so glad it's Friday.....

I think this little saying is the perfect ending for a great week!! Sure hope everyone has a nice, productive and creative weekend! I'm planning on it!!

More words................

I have had this blank wall for going on 20 years now and for as long as I can remember we have never had anything on it. I finally found the perfect thing...or so I thought! This is not the saying that I ordered for this special wall. The words came in this week and all I can say is oh my gosh!!! I started to unroll and unroll the saying until it was finally all laying there flat on the floor. It ended up being 56 inches long! And the word "FAMILY" was 17 inches high!! Each letter was 17 inches high! I held it up to the wall and there was no way that was going up on my blank "little" wall. It was more like a billboard and not only a billboard but one I'm sure could have been read from Dodge Street. It was huge!! It was the size it was supposed to be but I guess it was just hard to visual the actual size! I'm going to have to cut the letters up individually and sell them as monograms! I already have takers for the "M" and the "L" and the "Y"...anybody need a huge "I" or "F"? I will say though that after finally getting this all put up tonight ...even after 2o years... this is the perfect thing for my blank little wall. I hope you can't see this one from Dodge Street!

It's back..........................

Yes it is Monday morning and you could say that I had a very creative weekend. One look at my work area and you see the "creative mess" is back. You've heard the old saying that something has to get worse before it gets better? Well that's me and scrapping...out from under all this mess came some great memories and some great layouts. Now I'll start another week by cleaning off this mess and beginning another PAGE!!!

I Confess....

For those of you in the "scrapworld" you know good and well what scraplifting means. You also know good and well that it's not necessarily a bad thing. Now is it? It helps a great deal when you just can't come up with the right idea for that perfect page. It's kind of like that little nudge that you need to get those creative juices going again. I have to confess...right here and now that I can not scraplift. Yes I said I CAN NOT SCRAPLIFT. It's not because it is naughty or anything...I've tried when I'm drawing a blank and I just can't do it!! I set out with the best intentions...I really do!! I fold back the page of the magazine and I study it and look at all the products that were used in the layout, get everything all lined up and then right when I think I'm going to do it...I can't! I cut the first strip of paper and then I completely lose it....going off in a completely different direction than the layout I spent so much time studying. What's wrong with me? I have never liked to read directions for anything...I guess it boils down to I just want to do it my way!!! And for those of you in the "scrapworld" you know that's not necessarily a bad thing either!!

Cuttin and Pastein'

I spent most of yesterday in the scraproom working on a couple more layouts for a project that I'm doing. It's finally starting to come together ever so slowly!! Sometimes it just takes a while for those creative juices to get going. Once they start though there's no stopping me!!! I am a firm believer that time flies when you're having fun...and I feel so blessed to be able to do what I think is fun!!! But for some reason there is always something on the layout that I think could be a little better!! That's what happened late last night.....early this morning!!! I finally just had to give in and go to bed!!! After sleeping on it (which I always do) I decided it was the way I wanted it soooooooooooooooooooooooooooo I tell myself...JUST GLUE IT!! down....call it a day and move on!!!

An organized mess......

Last night at work we had roughly 30 women all scrapping in just two rooms. That means each woman got roughly 3 feet of table space to spread out and work...and yes some were very productive at the end of five hours...and some..not so much!! A lot depends on how organized the women are when they arrive and how motivated they are. So this is what I came home to today....and this is one woman scrapping and yes I have a lot more room than 3 feet to spread out in! And was I productive? Not so much!!! But I'm being creative! I start with a clean slate every time I start a double lay out and yes it was this messy! But it was an organized mess!! While I'm being creative~you can't expect me to be neat too!!!

All in a days work...

Well I had good intentions of getting a lot created today and I guessI really did considering I heard the 'ole Starbucks calling my name this afternoon. So..off I went to meet a friend for some "CREATIVE" conversation?? How's that for an excuse? Actually I didn't make this baby gift card tin today but put it together a couple weeks ago for a very special couple that are expecting twins come to find out!! And on top of that they are "baby boy twins...I'm so excited for them! I actually got a couple pages put together today AND supported my other addiction with a caffeine fix from the Star all in the same day soooooooo...it has been a great day!!!!

Time to be creative......

To CREATE you need a

good imagination and a

pile of stuff~~~

-Ben Franklin

Well I have a pile of stuff and now I

just need to get to the creating!!! I have

the next couple days off work

so it's off to the scraproom for me-

I'll post later and hopefully with some of my CREATIVENESS??

Writing on the walls...

Everybody needs a little motivation to get their creative juices flowing right? Well check out the Uppercase Living words that I put on my scrapbook room walls this week! Gotta love em'....but can a girl have too many words in her life and on the walls? NO....NEVER!!!! It's just another way to tell the story...one day at a time and one word at a time! Stay tuned for a lot more words!!!

Why do I need A blog?

Seems that everyone has a blog now days and I never really felt the need until my son told me I needed one!!! What do I have to write about that anybody else would give two hoots about? Did you forget Michael that you are the one that just traveled all over the world and taught English in China for the last ten months???? My life is boring!!! I eat...sleep...and dream scrapbooking 24 hours a day it seems like!! Cuttin'...and a pastein' day in and day out!! I will have to say that it does make for a very colorful world with all the new goodies that come out every single day! Hopefully through this blog you'll start to see my ADDICTION through my eyes as I try to preserve the memories...one day at a time ....one page at a
time!!!