the best (or worst) of procrastination........

I am guessing I have run out of my normal procrastination tools because this morning I actually cleaned up all my blog links. you know....that HUGE list of favorites that has everyone whose blog I have even looked at once EVER in it!! well, this morning I clicked on them all and got rid of the ones that were gone or hadn't been posted to in over a year! there were a lot.

BUT......there was one that I didn't click on and didn't delete. a friend of mine who passed away a couple months ago. I left her blog link right where it was. I just couldn't delete it. I like that almost daily reminder of her. silly I know. crazy probably.

in the same way, I still have my brother's cell phone number in my cell address book. heck, by this time it has probably gone through 2 or 3 people......but I still have it. and in the same way I got really mad at my dh who accidentally deleted the very last e-mail my brother ever sent me. he was just cleaning up our mail program and *poof* that last link was gone. and I cried. it wasn't an important e-mail.....it was just the last one.

The Bergs' Excellent Adventures

as previously reported, I was teaching for Cosmo Cricket in Reno this weekend.

what a complete 110% BLAST!!!! I think I made 200 new friends, laughed so hard I came darn close to peeing my pants, and think that while it was icky sticky hot that I was so well fed that I gained a few pounds! and, short of going on and on and on about what a wonderful event it was.......all I can say is that these people were SOOO darn organized (and wonderful....and organized....and sweet....and organized.....).....and I wanna do it again next year!

and while I was showing people how to ink, sand, NOT glue snowmen to the table, and how to have fun saying things like "strip" and "buck naked" without referring to the people inhabiting S. Virginia street.......the manly men were off being manly men......

funny thing here however........dh had done his due diligence (work term for planning ahead) and had maps, etc for the hike they were taking. in fact, his paranoid wife made him make HER copies of everything too in case she needed to call the Forest Service. well, something looked odd when they were trying to find the starting point so dh did what any man wouldn't do: he asked for directions. yes! yes he did! and sadly, this is where things went wrong.

telling you all the twists and turns would be really funny.....but I am exhausted from the weekend. so, suffice to say that several people misdirected my family and yet my dh successfully did NOT get lost. in fact at one point he actually realized that if they continued the way they were going they had a serious chance of getting lost so he turned around and went for help. basically, instead of hiking through some nifty cool trail to some peak, they ended up hiking up and down and up and down between one ski resort to another and had to get a ride back to their car from an off duty search and rescue person that was at the second ski resort for training! (I had to do it......I asked him if he told them they were successful since they had found him! lol! funny.....because, you know, they weren't lost, the S&R peeps didn't find them.......dh and the boys walked right up to them)

we will all sleep soundly tonight!

lotto irony!!

I normally do not play the lottery. I don't have any moral issue with it but I just am not a gambler. anyway, a local scrapbook store has a weekly challenge going and this weeks is to answer the question: "what would you do if you won the lottery?" so I thought a lottery ticket would be a cool embellishment for the page.

I have been forgetting all week to get one and finally remembered this morning. I pull into a 7-Eleven and as I am getting out of the car I see signs in the window announcing that they recently had a $555,000 winner. great! watch me get a $2 winner and then have to buy another one for the scrapbook! lol! I have heard that places tend to get hot and will have multiple winners over a short period of time. I have no clue if it is true or not.

I get into the store and decide that I am clueless about doing the actual lottery where you fill out the card with numbers so I decide I will just buy a scratcher. I get my scratcher and turn to leave. by the door is a newspaper stand with another sign about the store's winner. I usually read the paper online so only glanced quickly over it because I saw Yosemite in the headline (I guess they are having a dry season). then I notice the next story down...........

7-Eleven store clerk accused of stealing $555,000 winning ticket

yep! wow! what a coincidence, right?!?!? isn't that how much all these signs around the store are saying THEIR winner won?!?!? so I start reading the article (which you can read if you click on that link above) and it talks about the clerk in the Roseville store telling the customer that he won $4 and then taking his winning ticket. I stopped after about 2 paragraphs and turn to the guy behind the counter and ask if the article is about his store. he has NO CLUE that his store is on the front page of the paper for trying to steal the ticket! lol!!!

so I left with scratcher just cracking up. as I pull out of the parking lot I see the guy that had been in line behind me (buying a lottery ticket) reading the article. if that were my store I wouldn't be bragging so much about having a winner when the front page of the paper is saying that one of your employees tried to rip the dude off!

day 3 of school....

and we are already crying because we don't want to do our homework.

and people wonder why I am grumpy!

what a crummy blogger!

while it isn't for lack of ideas to blog about....but I guess I have just been so busy that when I DID have some free time I about passed out from exhaustion!

Friday - R's school orientation. he got his locker. he got his books. he got his class schedule. I got to write a BUNCH of checks.....and find out about the rest of the checks I get to write in the near future for him! uuugh! (blog idea: the new peer pressures of life in middle school. no lunchpails....we must use brown paper bags.)

Friday part 2 - THE STATE FAIR!!!!
we got there a little after 12 noon and spent the rest of the day looking at stuff. the boys even got to do some community art. then we saw Tesla in concert. R was exhausted from his day so he and I went out to the car early and kicked back resting waiting for J & D to finish watching the concert. (blog idea: how people in those electric wheelchairs are horribly rude and inconsiderate and worse than people who run over ankles with strollers! just because that thing HAS a beeper does NOT mean that you don't need to check before you floor it in reverse!) (blog idea #2: the food at the fair.....have you heard about the deep fried frozen COKE???)

Saturday - dh went golfing and then had a Scout event. I went to do school shopping and grocery shopping with 2 boys. then I came home and got to scrap a little. (blog idea: if the class list says 3x5 index cards but you can only find 4x6 does that mean you should: a) cut them all down to appropriate size, b) have a meltdown in the store, c) not worry about it, or d) not buy any at all.)

Sunday - we all just kinda crashed. dh built my scrap bookcase from IKEA and I scrapped. (blog idea: dh did NOT try and kill me again with undercooked pork.)

Monday - first day of school! started the morning car pool. it wasn't as bad as I thought it might. HOWEVER, the local college is not back in session yet so I would like to reserve final judgement until after that happens! lol! both boys had great days and brought home ooooooodles of homework......for ME!! how I despise all those forms that need to be completed every year! (blog idea: how much I get irked every time I fill out those forms and I am given the option of being D's "natural", "step", "foster/guardian", or "other" parent. it just bugs me to no end!!!) (blog idea #2: doing occasional movie reviews....like about the movie I watched today: Mistress of Spices. it was very good, btw. slow in parts...but overall extremely enjoyable!)

Tuesday - today. back to work. made it on time....how nice! lol! (blog idea: shoot! can't believe I haven't blogged since last Thursday) (blog idea #2: review of Stranger Than Fiction movie. it was very good and very funny and Maggie Gyllenhall is very adorable! however we can't seem to watch the movies we get through our Blockbuster program fast enough.) (blog idea #3: how we DIDN'T go to the Huey Lewis concert tonight. kinda bummed. kinda happy. I was tired. I am tired. I should go to bed.)

bye bye summer!!!

LM's DT did layouts around the theme of

What did you do this summer?

you know.....like that tortured back to school essay! lol!! it is all kinda a blur to me right now! where did time go???

choices.....it is all about choices.....

so we got new phones yesterday. the lover-ly LG enV to be exact. I was totally set to get myself the the Chocolate Mint and have a really cool green phone.....but then thought that was being silly. but........I think they have figured something out......the fewer ring tone options they GIVE you on the phone the more likely you are going to BUY ring tones. honestly, can't complain. with internet discounts and Verizon's free phone every 2 year discount thingie the phones themselves were free. so I don't quibble about forking over $3 for a ring tone......well, okay......it is STILL totally insane......but I won't complain TOO much! lol!

this brings us to choices. and OMG are there choices!!! wanna help me out?!?!?! I settled on Avril Lavigne's Sk8ter Boi for R. appropriate, right? there were a couple others he really liked but they weren't good for a mom's phone when her kid is calling.......unless, as dh said, that kid is named Oedipus! lol! Appreciative Son cracks me up......

Verizon Ring Tones

there are MILLIONS OF THEM!!!
anyway........for dh.....do I get our wedding song: Wonderful Tonight from Eric Clapton? I love that song....but think I want something jazzier......here are some current ideas:

Green Day - The Simpsons theme song
The Cure - Friday I'm in Love
Gin Blossoms - Follow You Down
Mig - Baby I Love your Way

a lot that I had hopes for I couldn't find (can you believe it?!?!?) JD Fortune - California Dreamin, Lovehammers - Trees.

so........any ideas or suggestions?!?!?

12 of 12 July 2007

a little late...my apologies.....and to those who have no clue what I am talking about:

Chad Darnell's 12 of 12

and so we begin........ early Sunday morning J is putting a marinade rub on the ribs we are having for dinner. we have never made ribs at home but he found a great recipe and has plans to cook them all afternoon!
the classic odometer shot. 6,748 miles! J has almost 3 times that many miles on his car. taken at about 9:45 and you can see how cool it was. I don't think it hit 90. I am loving it but fear how Mother Nature might even the score later!
taking the boys to do a little back to school preparation. we don't do a major shopping spree because the weather is so warm through almost November that buying them clothes now is silly. but, before we began, Mommie got herself a little treat: BMFL.......blueberry mocha frap lite......... or would that be light??? and if so, then it works perfectly with the theme this month: light........... either way......DELICIOUS!!!
then we actually stopped for gas. I supposedly had about 50 miles left before I needed to fill up, but the price was nice (and I had my lovely 10 cent discount), we were there anyway, and it gave me time to get the monthly gas price picture! lol1! $2.71 isn't bad.....how sad that it isn't bad??

Big Boy R loves to pump gas.....and that is fine with me! I still have to get out and do all the pin codes and stuff......but atleast today it gave me time to go get the price picture! lol! R is wearing the Linkin Park t-shirt we bought for him (and D got one too) in the parking lot of the concert. I actually liked it better than the design they were selling inside....... and a darn heck of a lot cheaper!
2 boys......post haircut. R just got a trim. he has plans to grow it out again (whatever). D with his traditional "little boy" haircut. just something that will be okay since he still doesn't shower daily and hates to comb it.
4 feet.....post new shoes. D has no sense of his shoes being too small or big. makes shoe shopping and adventure with him! he had on shoes 1 1/2 sizes too small and said they fit fine. anyway, he got 1 pair since he has 2 good pairs at home still. R got 2 new pairs (thus the miss-match) since he has 1 pair at home that are totally thrashed. R thinks he is just TOO cool with his American Eagle shoes because they match the AE hat he got last year.
after the shoes we went to Old Navy. no pictures there....... don't know why. had to buy R a pair of jeans since he has none that fit and he seems to think he might want to wear some. both boys got another shirt that they didn't need and I got a shirt I don't need!

then, because we were right by there and because the boys didn't spend the previous 2 hours begging to go, we went to Burger King for lunch. yep! Simpson toys. that is why they wanted to eat there. I only like BK because they have frozen Cokes! lol!!
yesterday we had gone to IKEA to buy a bookcase that would fit my scrapbooks. turns out we got the wrong color and J is going to need to exchange it at lunch. we also ended up buying 2 lamps (with no thought to today being 12 of 12......honestly!). I really dislike the lack of decent lighting in our house and don't like the lamps we have in the living room. THESE are awesome!! not only do they have a great light and look cool......they also have a reading spotlight!! I took the photo with it on so you would be sure to see it. I could have SOOOOO used one of those when I was big into cross-stitch!
along with the lamps and wrong colored bookcase, we picked up 2 cd towers. we are trying to empty out a corner of the living room so we can put the treadmill in there. the theory is that we will use it in the morning or evening while watching tv. wish us luck! lol! anyway......here is D putting the little pegs in for the shelves.
dinner was great! ribs, corn on the cob, and fresh tomatoes. YUM!! I wanted to but totally forgot to take a picture of the meal. too bad because it was a beautiful sight!

after dinner R got in some bugle practice before D had to go to bed. he isn't practicing as much as he should so we sneak it in as much as possible. do you see that brown dog like thing in the background? that is Brownie. he is a flat dog that R uses as a pillow. well, not that one, that is a medium Brownie and was a good pillow when R was younger. the bigger Brownie works as a pillow now. there are also Baby Brownies which are the size of mini Beanie Babies that R used to carry around. (okay....end of nostalgia! lol!)
so while R was practicing, D got ready for bed. this is what D is currently wearing to bed. no mind that he has actual pjs.....he just wears the bottoms with oversized t-shirts. now we all know where Mary-Kate and Ashley get their sense of fashion! lol!
and finally.....I knew I needed to post an updated picture of my hair. you can see it has lightened up (oooh! light!!!) there are actually streaks where it is almost back to the highlights. what an adventure this is going to be!!
so there you go..........a Sunday in the life of us. notice no scrapping. I got 1 layout finished....but that was all. how sad is that?!?!?

I am obviously good at procrastinating!!

I really need to get some things done around the house today. but after shopping with the boys, instead of doing the things I need to do.....I am Simpsonizing the family! lol!!

my new avatar is me.....skinnier, yellower, and living in Springfield! lol!! apparently they don't have people there with Rum Raisin colored hair!

I've got a secret to share....

not my own..........but Frank over at PostSecret has a video up on his site. rather cool!



kinda tells you about his project and is in a strange way uplifting.

I am taking my 12of12 pictures and will have them later!

that favorite time of the month!!!

12of12!!!!!

(what did you think I was talking about????)

being as it is a Sunday I am a little stressed about having 12 (plus the bonus picture "light") decent shots. I think you would all get bored of 12 shots of J snoozing in front of the tv, the boys watching tv or playing video games, and me either on the computer or scrapping. have you fallen asleep yet???

another blogger I read (see how I didn't make any assumptions about a perceived relationship just because I read her blog????...... sorry....just delayed ranting about a previous post where I talk about that).....Moriah.....well her ds LOVES lights! so maybe I can somehow find myself a cool light to take a picture of and I can get her a copy for him?? he has his own little album of light pictures. I should do a mini album like that myself.....but with pictures of penguins, huh?!?!?

you know there is something wrong....

when you can find out when & where all the field & track events for the coming season (starting in April 2008) are going to be but you don't know what time school starts in less than 2 weeks!!

I'm just sayin'...............

so I might as well tell you too......

I colored my hair this weekend........................





















the box SAID Dark Auburn!!! but I think because of all those highlights (that I wanted to get rid of which is why I dyed my hair in the first place) it ended up like this!

I actually think it looks better in this photo than in reality. I told someone that it looks like Bazzill Rhubarb but on closer comparison I am thinking more like Bazzill Rum Raisin!! either way....NOT what I had planned for my hair! lol!!

anyway....if my hair behaves like normal (for my hair) it will have tamed down quite a bit by the end of the week. It still won't be Dark Auburn.....but I won't feel like I look like I am trying to be young, hip, and cool.......because while I AM hip and cool.....I am NOT young! lol!!

my new BFF is the BMFL

this morning I wandered into Starbucks and saw that there new *thing* is a blueberries & creme....like the strawberry one the boys like. so.......can I get that but in a mocha?!?! the dude behind the register (looking quite caffeine deprived I might add) looked at me like he thought he was hearing things and that I could not possibly have asked what I asked. when I didn't correct myself or simply disappear when he blinked, he said that he figured they could do that......so I ordered Blueberry Mocha Frap Light (less fat & calories supposedly). I guess that sounded better to him because he stopped looking like I was holding an axe.

the barrista that gave me my drink had to read the cup twice and then still wasn't quite sure that BMFL meant what he thought it meant (don't these people drink coffee???). needless to say....IT WAS SOOOO GOOD!!!! kinda like a chocolate covered blueberry milkshake. wonder if there really is any blueberries in it? can I say it is healthy because I am getting antioxidants from the chocolate and the blueberries?!?! really.....I am fighting cancer here.....maybe I should have gotten a Venti instead of a Grande?!?!

a stomach sleeper again.....

I have had a few things that I thought were blog worthy......but haven't obviously posted them. guess I have been tied up too much in working on THE SAME LAYOUT FOR 3 DAYS!!! uuuugh!! well, finally it is done and I can get back to things I am actually supposed to be doing! lol!

needless to say....that isn't what this post is about!

when I was a kid I was a stomach sleeper. I LOVED sleeping on my stomach!! I don't think I could fall asleep if I wasn't lying on my stomach. when I got pregnant, between the doctor saying to sleep on my side and my *friends*, I started becoming a right side sleeper. the doctor said left is better, but both myself and the baby liked the right side! anyway.......so now that baby is 11 years old and I am finding I am reverting back to being a stomach sleeper. now the chiropractor says a back sleeper is better......but I am not comfortable that way. I like my stomach. I have falled asleep the past 4 or 5 nights on my stomach. so now it seems I am coming full circle.

on an aside note.....yesterday I was talking blogs with a new friend. we were talking about scrap celebs using their blogs as self-promotion, scrappers using their blogs to post layouts, and then peeps like me who really should put more pictures on their blogs! lol!! I determined that this blog isn't for scrapping.....I just happen to be a scrapper who blogs. make sense?!?!? having said that, I am going to try and post more pictures and layouts. just to keep things confusing! lol!! (I was also thinking of doing the whole "put ads on your blog to get yourself money." not to get the money but to see what kind of ads they think would work with my blog postings! lol!!)