I can't really complain....

but I SHOULD have bought gas yesterday!! it was only $2.99 a gallon!!!! and how sad is it that I was so startled to see that?!?!? by today it was back up to $3.02 at the Safeway I generally buy at. I get a 3 cent discount so it was still really $2.99.....but STILL!!! dh bought gas on his way tonight at Costco for $2.97 a gallon. gosh we saved so much money we are going to buy our cars cars! lol!!

not a day to remember......

R's 2nd term report card came home. he improved his grades in all but one class. amazing since he was already getting darn good grades.

BUT.......he completely failed community service. why? because he forgot to write a one paragraph reflection on what he was doing and how he liked it. dh and I are so very angry with him. not only because he didn't pay attention well enough to notice but also because he has known for 2 weeks and said he forgot to tell us. here I was happily reviewing all his improved grades and then I get hit with the F.

now.....not to excuse his behaviour, but he missed writing one paragraph yet managed to do 150% of the required service hours. why a F? why not a C or a D for missing a part?

I almost had an excuse....

for some reason when I was trying to log in I kept getting sent to a Google page that wouldn't load. figured if I can't get IN to my blog I have an excuse NOT to post!

so instead I will blame the head cold that has invaded our home....... D has been walking around sniffling and coughing for almost a week. no fever. a little over tired. but nothing that I can use as an excuse to stay home sick. over the weekend both J and I have gotten the same thing (this is what we get for hugging our children......be warned!). again, really annoying but nothing bad enough to stay home and in bed. just enough to make you feel like crap!

the weather has been really weird too (and my knee can confirm that for you). it will be icky pouring rain in the morning and then BEAUTIFUL in the afternoon.......or the opposite......or switch off from hour to hour. let's say it is best to wear shorts and a winter parka when you leave the house.

something that makes me laugh....

usually commercials get old after the 3 viewing/listening. sometimes after the first. but right now there is a radio spot that makes me laugh every time! in fact, we usually hear it in the morning during school carpool and we all enjoy it and spend a few minutes afterwards talking about it.....so I thought I would share....

girl 1: cute dog!
girl 2: thanks!
girl 1: what's his name?
girl 2: that is "Meow Meow."
girl1: that is a weird name for a cat.
girl 2: oh....he's not my pet. he's my cat's pet. I'm saving so much money at Petco that I thought it would be nice to buy my pets pets.
girl 1: don't you think a pet is a lot of responsibility for your cat?
girl 2 (sounding kinda snotty): why not? she's got a car!
(sound of tires squeeling and then a "meow")

we just think this is HYSTERICAL!!! (though it could be due to lack of sleep) we then start discussing the ramifications of a cat having a dog as a pet......and the image of a cat driving a car. course, the second half of the commercial is about a guy who gets his dog singing lessons. it isn't funny at all and we usually mute the radio......so we can rehash the pet-dog-owning car-driving cat! lol!

maybe we just need something to do now that Sunflower Seed Boy is gone?!?!?

depression....anxiety......

these are the feelings I am feeling right now. first off, I am not a patient person. I want things that I know about to happen NOW so I can deal with them and move on. period. that is the way it is. I have 2 plane trips in the next 3 weeks. I don't like plane trips. too many things to go wrong. too much stress. too much missed sleep. too much chaos in my already chaotic life. even when one of the trips is going to be FUN FUN FUN I still stress about it.

but I think what brought this to a head is some lingering depression. this morning I figured it out: Heath Ledger. well.....more his death than he himself. and no, while i was a fan of his movies he was no one particularly special to me. I realized this morning that I am following his death too closely. I see my brother's death mirrored in his. their solitary ends coming in two unique New York apartments that become one in my mind. I don't mentally see Heath lying on the floor. I see him hunched over his desk. Heath isn't blonde....he has dark hair. and the currently unanswered questions about Heath's death echo the ones I have about my brother. was it accidental? was it on purpose? was he a drug addict? was it just a mistake? and while there will never be answers to my own questions I truly hope they find answers for Heath's loved ones. I wouldn't wish these feelings on anyone else.

I guess I can have one or the other.....

I didn't post yesterday because I remembered posting already. uh, yeah, well that was the OTHER blog! lol!! seems I can't remember to post on BOTH of them and I had lots to post on the other one. I managed to complete 4 double page layouts this weekend.....and finally BUY some scrapping stuff!

other than that I took it easy yesterday. played around on Webkinz decorating and redecorating some rooms, fake planting my fake garden that I can't kill......unlike any real garden I have ever tried. dh had to work and the boys and I hung out at home doing lots of miscellaneous things. it was nice.

course today is back to work/school and that means it must rain! it will for the rest of the week. blech!! I really dislike driving in the rain. people drive too fast trying to get out of the rain or drive too slow like they are too scared to drive in the rain. the end result is that I dislike driving in the rain.

btw.....if YOU are looking at doing a little scrap spending......head over to LM. Jackie is offering 50% off American Crafts!! I think it must be nicer weather in Michigan and she is feeling like doing some pre-CHA Spring Cleaning! lol!!

Ring of Fire.....

we finally watched Walk the Line tonight. I am not a Johnny Cash fan and don't like country music. however I had heard such great things about the movie that I wanted to see it. dh didn't care if we saw it but R really wanted to see it. but only because when we saw LoveHammers in concert they did a cover of Ring of Fire! lol!! the movie didn't disappoint. we didn't let D watch it and I was worried that it would be too mature for R. but I checked out a family review site and their concerns were violence and drug abuse. BUT, they said, the movie did show serious consequences for the drug abuse. I thought that might be a good thing! afterall, we knew that the movie was a reasonable likeness to reality. so R got to see how bad things can get when you do drugs and how you can lose things and people as a result. it also showed that you can turn things around. sometimes I think having the kids get messages like this from sources other than parents and teachers is a good thing.

but this post wasn't supposed to be a lecture about drug abuse.

so moving on!!! today I completed 2 two page layouts. I haven't updated my accountability blog but will do so tomorrow. I am hoping to get 2 more layouts done tomorrow. I think I have an idea for one of them.......we shall see! lol!! but I am enjoying doing those unpopular double page spreads with all those pictures on them. can you believe that I have done 3 layouts in the past 2 days and 2 of them had 7 pictures each and the other had 8?!?!? and the funny thing is that I really think they are nice looking. I think the boys will like looking at them in a couple decades.

guess that is all for tonight. tomorrow is the observance of Martin Luther King Jr.'s birthday. take a moment out of your day tomorrow (especially if you don't have to work) to think about his message of peace and acceptance.

mi casa su lss.....

I don't really know Spanish but that is supposed to say something like "my house is your local scrapbook store." had a friend over to scrapbook. people think I am joking when I say not to worry about forgetting something because I probably have it. yep!

anyway......we had a great time and got very little scrapbooking done. but sometimes that is okay, right?!?!? I have been struggling with creativity so it was nice to just take my time and not worry about something. I ended up doing 1 two-pager layout using those old Deluxe Designs ColorBlocking templates. remember those things?!?!? up until the very VERY end I wasn't really happy with how it was looking. but now that it is complete I like it. I am now part way into another two pager that won't win any awards either but will be nice looking and will mean I am done with Easter 2006!!!

in other news.....yesterday I made Jerk Pork Roast in the crock pot. just found a jerk recipe online and used the rub on the pork before putting it in the crock pot. made some Zatarians rice with it and had a lovely dinner!! the pork turned out really good. I marveled at how yummy it was. I was a little worried when it was cooking.

tomorrow will be a day filled with football and scrapbooking. in my dreams it will also be warm enough for the boys to play outside. those are my favorite days.....football noises from the living room.....boys playing noises from outside.....and me scrapping away!

I miss Memories!!

on my way back to the office today I realized just how much I missed Memories. for those of you who don't know....it was a nice sized chain scrapbook store. and they happened to have one about 2 blocks from my office.....where everyone knew my name.......where I had worked/taught off and on for several years......where even after I started working on the LM DT I could still go in there and talk shop with the girls/ladies. I don't miss Paper Zone which is what they were for awhile after the companies merged. that was like attending a garage sale.....or in retrospect more like the viewing prior to a funeral.

we have an even better scrapbook store now. we are SOOO lucky to have a huge beautiful scrapbook store! but it is a 15 minute drive. and honestly if I just want to wander around a store at my lunch hour it is too far away. I feel like I need a REASON to go there. and then if I don't buy something I feel guilty for driving all the way out there.

this isn't a rant about internet stores causing the failing of brick and mortar stores. both are still so very important. it is just my comment that I miss Memories.

awaiting the weekend.....

this has been a long week....probably due to the long Christmas break and looking forward to a long weekend. yes, courtesy of the Federal Government I always get a long weekend around my birthday. this year will be the first in several years that I am not going away for a scrapbooking weekend. I am still hoping to get a lot of scrapbooking done at home.

ah heck....who am I kidding?? I will probably play around on the computer and read most of the weekend. I really feel like I have lost my scrapping mojo. maybe it went on vacation and just hasn't come back yet?!?!?

either way I intend to sleep in all 3 mornings and eat my Strawberry MiniWheats closer to lunch time than breakfast! yes.....it is good to have goals! lol!!

news like this just makes my day.....

Moriah's news

they say it's my birthday.....

but Wednesday is a crappy day to have a birthday on!! birthdays should be like MLK day or Thanksgiving (well not really Thanksgiving because Thursdays aren't so great a day to have for a birthday either). but on a day that will give you a nice long weekend to celebrate it........or just sleep in! lol!!

so......for my birthday I want to throw myself a virtual party since I don't think any of you can drop what you are doing and meet me for lunch today......can you?!?!? I already sent out silly birthday food to all my friends on Webkinz. so how about sending out a RAK to my blog friends?? all you need to do is list an interesting fact about JANUARY 16th.......other than that I was born on this day a couple years ago!

I have no clue what the RAK will be, but you can about 90% guarantee that it will be scrap related. I give myself that 10% leeway just in case I think of something appropriate to send that isn't scrap related. and since I have a pretty low readership and am not going to post on all the scrapping boards "visit my blog for a giveaway" you have a darn good shot! (wow the cynicism is high today)

oh yes.....and your fact can't be the same as a previously posted fact! sorry!! and since I know I am not on people's everyday look list (reality....it is okay).....you have through Friday night midnightish......rules subject to change based on an ol' ladies whim! lol!!

so HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO ME!!! take this as permission to go eat some cake today.......REAL cake.....not flavored tofu or soy imitation cake.......

I should have known....

I woke up this morning and my knee would barely bend. it was the worst it has been in a long LONG time!! at first I thought it was a funny joke about me getting older....

see....when I was younger....MUCH younger.....I injured both my knees through excessive dancing. that always sounds funny but it is the truth. needless to say I was told if I kept at it I might not be walking by 40. HA! showed them....I am still walking. but I am not an excessive dancer anymore either. but since that specific weekend I have joked that I have a sailor's knee.....it tells me the weather. or more specifically when it is going to be nasty rainy weather. it gets all tight and crickety.....if that is how you would spell that word.

so I should have looked out the window before thinking I was just old. I should have taken some ham with me out the door this morning....I could have had a nice bowl of ham and PEA SOUP fog soup!! goodness gracious it was foggy this morning! so foggy that I missed the turn to pick up our young carpooler. so foggy that I had my windshield wipers going the entire trip to school and work.

and funny thing....I cross county lines to get to work. usually the fog stops at the county line. I always joke with a co-worker that it is because this is county is in a higher income tax bracket and they can afford to keep the fog out. in all honesty I thought it was because they had more trees around the streets....... anyway.....this morning the fog followed me all the way to work.....across county lines and all.

thank goodness it was Mother Nature and not Father Time making my knee sore today!

sneak peek?!?!?

yikes! almost forgot to blog!! I have been fighting a layout all night and finally went to bed only to remember that I hadn't blogged.....bad Susan! lol!!

anyway....this one is going to be a quicky..... check out the Cosmo Cricket Blog for a possible sneak peek!

12 of 12.....January 2008

aaah! a new year a new 12 of 12!!! Chad decided this year to leave out the bonus pictures. guess that will make it easier for me to scrapbook! lol!!

so to start the day off........the boys were supposed to go on a hike but it was postponed until Sunday because there weren't enough grown-ups able to go. I was supposed to donate blood but had such a headache Friday night that I finally broke down and took some medicine. I tried to do without but couldn't handle it. I still have the headache. it has come and gone all weekend.

this is my new fav game on Webkinz. the music is rather soothing and I have found that a couple of games before bedtime certainly helps me wind down.
breakfast.....though I am at home I still had my fav.....Strawberry Frosted Mini Wheats! YUM!!!
D spent most of the day doing homework......either homework assigned for the weekend or homework he just didn't do during the week.
remember that hot chocolate pot that Nora mentioned in her blog?!?!? well here it is in action! it was such a dismal day that hot chocolate was perfect! I love how it goes directly into the microwave!
here is J testing out the equipment for the Scout's Pinewood Derby. he is using my laptop to run the timing equipment and thought it a good idea to check it out now. good thing because it didn't work! after a few calls to their tech support and some setting changes on the laptop they are in fine shape. except now we get a bunch of odd message when we boot up the laptop. hopefully when the derby is over we can return my laptop to its regularly scheduled programming! lol!
while D did homework and J figured out the laptop, I listened to Christmas carols and took down the Christmas decorations......atleast the ones on the tree. somehow things go much faster where there are four of us doing this and we are putting them ON the tree! but I got it done. I'll tackle the rest of the house today (Sunday)....maybe! this was the new ornament this year. I figured with our family's love of Starbucks it was perfect!
I had to go pick up R from a friend's house. this is the temperature at about 2 in the afternoon. I don't think it got any warmer!
here I am in my new glasses at dinner. since my prescription didn't change I figured I could get some funkier ones that won't match everything but I will enjoy wearing. in fact, I think I want to go back and get another pair in a dark or hot pink.
like I said in yesterday's post, we went to The Melting Pot for my birthday dinner last night. R was supposed to take a picture of the waiter MAKING the fondue but it didn't happen that way. so instead you get a photo of the actual cheese fondue pot! lol! dinner was YUMMY!!!
last week I bought R and myself the Wreck this Journal books. he is doing much better at ruining his than I am at mine. he took his last night to document his dinner. the directions say to use the book as your napkin but R said that he eats too neatly and wouldn't have anything to wipe on it! lol!! so instead he painted and stamped the paper with the different fondues.
on the way home I finally got my gas price sign. the price has been bouncing around quite a bit the past few weeks. you can see changes of 5 cents between the morning and afternoon. kinda crazy!!
so that was January 12th in a nutshell. no photos of the nap I took or the picture sorting I did....but otherwise a pretty good description of the kind of day we had.

hope yours was fun!

a fondue kinda birthday!!!

so yeah.......my birthday is Wednesday. but there is no way we can do a decent bday celebration on a Wednesday night so we went tonight.....because........

all I wanted for my birthday was dinner at The Melting Pot!

I was kinda worried about the boys whining but we had gone for just dessert for their birthdays and they had really liked it and said they were willing to try an entire meal! before I called to make the reservation I downloaded and printed the menu. I knew it was all served family kinda style but I wasn't sure about portions and stuff. so I was talking with the hostess and she said that we could probably have 2 entrees along with the cheese and dessert fondues. I was a little worried that IF my food inhaler boys liked it that there wouldn't be enough but she assured us we could always add on.

so tonight we get there and are talking with our waiter and after explaining our thought process he further suggests that we just go with their Big Night Out meal and make substitutions or whatever where needed. he said it ends up being a little more food and a little cheaper! it only comes with 2 salads and he said we could add on salads.....HA! the boys won't eat salad!! it was only on penalty of no dessert that they tried the veggies that came with the different fondues! lol!!

there was PLENTY of food!! we ate it all (except for a little of the cheese fondue) and didn't need that much as it was. and......while I wouldn't consider it a cheap evening.....it was much less expensive than I had imagined.

so......if you go and want to do it Berg style this is what we got......the Cheddar Fondue (the basic one) with extra garlic. this makes all the bread taste like garlic cheese bread! YUM!!! we did the Fondue Feast selection substituting andoulie sausage for the rigatoni and added Mojo sauce. for dessert there was a little discussion. I went in to the evening thinking we would get the Snickers Bar (off the menu but DE-LISH!). I couldn't tell if the males were trying to be nice to me or didn't want the Snickers because they kept mentioning the dark chocolate with raspberry liquor......which I normally would have been all over......except I had been thinking Snickers all day! lol! so we ended up with the basic fondue.....chocolate and peanut butter. you can NOT go wrong with this! (unless you are allergic to peanut butter! lol!) my favorite is the bananas! YUM!!!!

so Happy Birthday to me.......I guess my present was the 2 or 3 pounds I gained tonight! lol!!

oh yes.....and today was 12 of 12 so I will have those to post in the morning.

call me MRS Taco Salad Taster.....

last night we walked in to Taco Bell for dinner. I had already planned....looked forward to.....was at about the point of craving.....a taco salad. I like them, though they have too much lettuce! lol!! anyway, we walk in and I get approached to do some taste testing regarding their taco salad. hhhmmm......well, OKAY! sure thing!! not only was MY dinner free but they actually paid me $20! dude! do they want me to do some Starbuck mocha tasting too?!?!? lol!!

it was very organized and specific. I had to eat a saltine cracker before eating the first salad and between it and the second salad to clean my palate. the little girl at the next table was VERY jealous of my crackers! lol!! and I could only drink water with dinner. for each salad I had a 3 page or so set of questions to answer.

I am sure I can't tell you what differences I noticed between the two salads but will tell you that I hope they change it. not that I don't like it the way it is now.....but I liked the changes too! I will also tell you that I told them there is too much lettuce in the darn thing! I realize it is a SALAD but seriously, folks, who needs a whole head of iceberg lettuce?!?!?

batting averages and DMV....

we are having problems with a certain young man in our household. he prefers to not follow the house rules, not get ready for school in the morning, and not do his homework. this week so far he has gotten ready 2 out of 4 mornings. so far this week he has done his homework 1 out of 3 days. if he were a baseball player he would have a 500 average for mornings and a 333 for homework. not bad......if you are a baseball player. bad if you are a 9 1/2 year old who wanted to go to a sleep over birthday party tomorrow night.

DMV......the weather was too nice to go yesterday morning. however this morning I woke up to glorious rain! lol!! so I grabbed myself a mocha and went over to hang out in the DMV parking lot until they opened at 8am. when I got there it was about 15 minutes til and there were 5 or 6 other cars there. a few moments later, even though it was raining, someone decided we needed to go stand in line.......in the rain. like dominoes.....or maybe lemmings......we all ended up out of our cars in line waiting for DMV to open. I had a hood so while I was chilly I didn't really get wet. I was done, picture taken, and to work by 8:30. not bad, huh?!?!? I just hope my picture looks good!

it is Wednesday....

that means tomorrow is a short day for me. normally that means I sneak in a little scrapping. tomorrow I might sneak in a little napping. I am so very tired. after the odd hours over the holidays each morning is a drag to get up. by 2 in the afternoon I am completely zoning out at work.

course this means I should go to bed earlier at night, right?!?!? well....night time hits and I am wide awake. I just don't get it.

and that my friends is about as exciting as I get right now. pathetic, huh?!?!?!?

oh wait.....I do have something fun/exciting to mention........in case you haven't fallen asleep on me yet! lol!! I am going to be going to CHA. should you, my gentle reader, be going......please plan to take a moment and come by and see me at the Cosmo Cricket booth.

reminder of another kind.....

Chad's 12 of 12 reminder not only reminded me that the 12th is coming but that my driver's license is also set to expire next week! (and WHY did it remind me?!?!? well because last month someone else who posted went to renew their license on the 12th and took a picture) I haven't received a reminder (and hopefully mail renewal notice) and had to call DMV this morning. while they have no clue why I didn't get my notice, I can't renew online or by mail without the mailing......so I must go in. blech!!!

the closest DMVs don't have appointments available until mid February. and while I haven't been pulled over in 10ish years, having an expired license will GUARANTEE me a ticket.....you just know that! and because showing up without an appointment causes my stomach to lurch, I kept looking at DMVs farther and farther away. now I have an appointment ON my birthday at 11am.....and a DMV that is almost 45 minutes away. not anything close to an ideal situation.

so while I am not cancelling that appointment, I have a Plan AA (can't be a Plan B because wouldn't that be the plan if and when Plan A falls through?!?!?). I am praying for nasty horrible scary weather for tomorrow or Thursday morning. I am going to go to Starbucks after dropping the boys off for school and then I am going to hang out in the closest DMV's parking lot with a good book and just wait! if I think I can get through there in less than the 1 1/2 hours it will take me to drive round trip to my appointment then I am going to wait it out. why the nasty horrible scary weather prayers? because I am thinking the people who don't HAVE to be there or on the roads WON'T be there and I can get through quicker.

let's hope that is the case......and that my hair doesn't look like crap from the rain!

thinking of Easter....

yes, a little early! lol! but we don't do much other than a little heart candy for Valentines and St. Pats is all about the green...... Easter, on the other hand, has baskets with treats to hold the boys over between Christmas and their birthdays. usually they each get a movie, another toy (probably a Webkinz this year), a few little things, and some candy.

so today while I was at Learning Express, I saw Grass Headz. it is like a chia pet with an attitude! what could be more perfect for my two little attitudes?!?!?!? and what a fun *spring* kinda thing?!?! so today I bought the first thing for their baskets! don't I feel accomplished? lol!!

and while I previously have mentioned my dislike for using my blog as a place to hawk people's stuff......I thought these were darn cool....and again, it is my blog and I can do what I want with it!

12 of 12 coming this Saturday!!!

the first one of the new year!!!

12of12

Wreck this Journal....

this is the a new book/journal/whatever from Keri Smith. I heard about it on someone's blog somewhere. I tried to track it down this morning to not only confirm the name of the book/journal/whatever but also to confirm how to spell Keri Smith's name. yes.....I know.....but sometimes I remember things wrong....mush them together.......mix them up. I couldn't find it. but if YOU are the person who wrote about this in your blog recently, kindly leave me a comment and I will be happy to edit this post and give you the credit you so handsomely deserve!

I received a gift card (actually 2 of them) to bookstores for Christmas. R mentioned that he needed to find a Shel Silverstein book so I decided we should go to the bookstore while running our errands today. I decided that I needed Keri's Wreck This Journal book. I kinda think I have been in a creative rut and am hoping this might kick me out of it......or atleast make me laugh while I am in this pit of creative despair. so off we went. R asked what book I was getting and I told him. he thought I was crazy.....but by the time we found said book/journal/whatever he wanted one too! but they only had one. as a funny side note, the cashier at the bookstore offered me a 10% discount on the book because the cover was bent a little. when I showed him the title and that this was the nicest the book would ever look EVER he got a confused look on his face and cleared out the discount! either no discount for crazy people or no discount for people who are going to ruin perfectly good books.....I'm not sure.

so obviously we bought their only copy......along with a library of Naruto books for R and the instigating copy of Where the Sidewalk Ends. on our way to the car I started thumbing through my brand new book to find kitty and puppy stickers on the cover page. never having purchased a book meant to be destroyed I thought perhaps this was Keri's way of making SURE that you weren't stressed about damaging a perfect book. thumbing more through the book I found an errant kitty sticker on another page. okay....whatever!

during the remainder of our errands we passed by another bookstore and went in to see if they had a copy of the book for R. they did.......but without the stickers! so now the joke is whether somehow the cosmic karma peeps knew I would have problems breaking into the book or whether mine is some special deluxe edition! lol!!

the calm before the storm.....

after all the rockin' and rollin' on Thursday night, the quiet that was last night was rather unnerving. no wind. no rain. nothing. in fact at one point I believe I started making up noises to hear. I had a hard time falling asleep!

according to the weather guessers the next storm hits tomorrow and then wind will be added back in on Tuesday. so that gives today for the creeks to recede and people to find their blown away garbage cans, remove fallen trees, hurriedly fix downed fences......................and for all the scaredy pets to go potty a lot before they start holding it in again!

in the meantime, I think I am going to put on some music and pretend that it is storming out there anyway and that I need to stay inside so I can scrap! lol!!

and your little dog Tessa too!

you know.....Wizard of Oz.....the witch flies by on her broomstick and threatens poor Dorothy. well.....I kept an eye out for that witch today! we had HORRIBLE winds.....HORRIBLE winds!!! a neighbor lost a fence and a couple lost trees. the street by the park was flooded and I got to watch people drive through the huge puddle that is always there.

at one point I asked R to get out some flashlights and batteries in case we lost power. so later when he left to go to a friends house he asked if he should take Tessa and Stubbs with him.......you know.......in case we lost power! lol!

I have the Wizard of Oz on TiVo.......do you think it would be pushing it to watch that tonight?

I am winner!!!

so a couple days ago R broke my ceramic butter dish......Pfaltzgraff Juniper......retired of course! I went to see if they had any more and of course they didn't! so off to e-Bay. well....I really only wanted the butter dish....but couldn't resist a lot that included a spoon rest. I already HAVE a penguin spoon rest.....but having a second one might be nice.....especially one that will match our table settings......

I WON!!!

so hopefully in the next week I will have my butter back where it belongs AND a place to rest my spoons! sad how happy something as silly as this can make me! lol!!

is this a good or a bad thing....

when your son is looking over your shoulder and says "that is Basic Grey, isn't it?"

pay no attention to that blog behind the window...

as a thought germinated (is that the right word?) by the seed of Clair's post, I am going to try and keep track of the scrap supplies I use throughout the year. for this purpose, I created a new blog: My Scrap Accountability. I am taking it a step further and tracking my purchases as well. (which is why I am not just doing it in Clair's thread) wouldn't it be great to see the amounts about equal?!?!? and with my current mini-store stash wouldn't it be great if I USED more than I PURCHASED????

I will post the specific parameters to how I will track things on that blog. and you are welcome to check out how I am doing (to either cheer or jeer! lol!) but I won't be posting fun stories or anything there. it is just prettier than using an Excel spreadsheet! lol!! I am debating posting the actual layouts ON the blog....though there may be a few and I will most likely post links to the layouts if they are uploaded somewhere online.......but that won't be the focus.

I hope this isn't a sign.....

last night both dh and I were in bed well before 2008 hit the west coast. we were woken near midnight to the sounds of fireworks. REAL fireworks....and I have no clue where they were being launched....but they were and we were awake. when I heard people cheer and pop crackers I kinda mumbled "happy new year honey" and went back to sleep.

2 hours later J is awake and leaving the bedroom. seems he forgot to wrap up the cinnamon rolls and decided he needed to do it.......at 2am.

a couple times one or the other of us was awake and restless and waking the other one. at 6:45 this morning that ended when R's alarm went off.......some Christmas song at full blast! neither J nor I had intentions of getting up at 6:45. atleast we had coffee and fresh homemade straight from heaven (via J's hard work) cinnamon rolls to calm our nerves and keep me from climbing in my car to go wake R up at his friend's house. he had been up until 2:30 welcoming the new year and playing video games.

less than 2 hours later D managed to spill a gallon of milk on the hardwood floor.

two-ish hours later (and about 30 minutes before they were due to arrive) J's co-worker's wife called to say that she was sick (and sounded sick......so if she was faking she is a good faker! lol!) and that they weren't coming over. BUMMER!!! I was totally looking forward to a little shindig. I had bought lots of fun foods but really hadn't done anything more than soak the beans and make some brownies. I figured since they were coming over to watch football I could put things together as the day went on.

sure hope the whole year isn't going to be like this. I am not sure I could handle it.