May you live in interesting times. . .

I think that we do live in interesting times. Especially yesterday. 

I watched the market crash, down 777 points, the biggest one day drop ever. I'm not a day trader, but I'm fascinated by how we are all connected, all over the world, in our economy and financial markets. Another bank, Wachovia went belly up yesterday. While this may not seem like a big deal to some, I come from a tiny little town where Wachovia is one of only two banks. This affects my family, and all the people we know in that town. I wonder what will happen to the people that have worked at that bank since we moved there 20 years ago now. 

J playing in a corn field in my hometown, NC.

One of the things in medicine that is so important is to help the patient name the devil. A patient struggles and suffers with symptoms they don't understand. They come to the doctor and the doctor gives their enemy a name. And people do much better with that. They can fight cancer or multiple sclerosis or other chronic disease. They can't fight what they don't know.

 I think that the reason our legislators are struggling with what to do is because they don't know what they are dealing with. Is this a hic-up,  a cold, a flu, guillian barre (paralysis of the whole body, in this case I mean financial system), a cancer? I have yet to hear any financial experts call this a recession, a depression, an acute crisis (like the S&L crisis). I think we need to name it, then we can fight it. But clearly my focus is not economics. What do I know.

In my little world we are celebrating dh's graduation today! Off to go get dressed up for the occasion, a rare event for a SAHM. 

I really should. . .

Have left that halloween/fall header up. Here is one with Cosmo's Haunted, I think all the reverse colors from the Autumn layout I did a couple of posts ago:


Supplies: Cosmo Cricket Haunted Patterned paper: Nevermore, Macabre, Them Bones; Cosmo Cricket Haunted Adhesive Die cuts, blackboard shapes, and Rub-ons; Cosmo Cricket Fleuriste Blackboard Vintage Alphabet plus Bazzil White Cardstock.

Instructions: The photo extraction is a whole different thing. If you are interested in photoshop technospeak, leave me a comment and I'll go into more detail. Otherwise, I layered the 3 pieces of patterned paper on top of white cardstock. I printed the text on the photo. I added the Haunted Rub-on stars. I dressed the Blackboard stars with their diecut sticker large star shapes. Last I added the Blackboard "A".

So, the background with the photo is that my ds was sitting on top of the dog's cage for this photo. It's hard to get good light at the end of Oct in the house, so I was grasping at straws. But the cage was ugly, and I've been waiting for a good explanation as to how to crop it out. I read Candice Stringham's article this month in CK, and it finally clicked. I'd be happy to tell you how to do this, just let me know.

We had such a good weekend. I'm so happy dh is home for a little while. We bought J some fall/winter clothes from Kohls, such cute stuff. Lots of shirts with trucks. We ate out Sat and Sunday night, so nice not to cook for a little bit. J is talking our ears off in his made up language, which occasionally includes a real word. I have to listen really close. His language has just exploded. I should do a page about that soon, before I forget. Do you find that your memory is just not the same after you have kids? Happy Monday! (it is Monday right?)

Should have left the other header up. . .

And that's the way it goes right? Just some cards to share this weekend, using Cosmo Cricket's Gretel Collection:



These pics seem really moody uh? Oh well.

Supplies: Cosmo Cricket Gretal Autumn patterned paper, Cosmo Cricket Rub-on "Sweater weather", White and Brown Bazzil Cardstock plus Me and my big ideas glitter leaf.

Instructions: Cut Brown Cardstock first and adhere to 4 x 6 card, add patterned paper next. Leave a 1/2 inch gap at the top. Adhere rub-on phrase. Attach leaf with desired adhesive. Really simple.


Supplies: Cosmo Cricket Gretel Patterned paper (Butterflies, Autumn, Gingerbread, Woodland and Fairy Tales), Cosmo Cricket Rub-ons "Falling Leaves" plus Van Dyke Brown Ink and Square punch.

Instructions: Cut Gingerbread background paper to 4 x 6, ink the edges and adhere to card. Punch 1" square in Autumn, Butterflies, Woodland and Fairytails paper. Ink the edges. Adhere to card. Apply "Falling leaves" Rub-on. Again, super simple.

My to-do list includes: finishing a digital mini so that I can have it printed out and in my hands asap, finishing a layout on my desk, submit some things, and doing some necessary paperwork to keep everything rolling along. My dh is finally home! So we are enjoying some much needed together time as well. We hope to get some fall clothing/shoes/jacket for J asap. Anyone having any sales?
Wish me luck! Have a great weekend.

Fortune of the Day . . .

And clearly I'm still Jones-ing for soda 1-2 times per week.
Have a great day!

The Wall

Not the one in Berlin
Not Pink Floyd's
Not the Great one in China.
Just mine, in my guest/scraproom.


I really wanted this magnetic board from Pottery Barn last Christmas. I got a gift card to purchase it. But, in order to be able to afford the shipping in the gift card I had to wait for it to go on sale. It did in Feb, so I got it. Imagine my surprise though when I learned that it doesn't come with the rod to attach it to the wall. That is another $20. Happy I was not. (Sorry, too much Dr. Seuss before bedtime).

Dh offered to buy a wooden one, cut it to size and paint it with metallic paint and buy the hardware to mount it to the wall. But that is an awful lot of trouble I think. I will get the rod eventually, when I think of it. For now though it works. My only other complaint, J steals the black magnets. I started with 6 and now I have 4. I can't figure out what he thinks they are, that is key to solving the mystery I've learned. I have checked all his normal hiding places, the hidden compartment in his riding toy, the laundry bin, the bathroom cabinet, behind the armour, the trash cans. . . I'm stumped.

I like being able to walk by it a couple times a day and think about the photos/the stories. I will be doing something else, washing dishes or something when an idea actually hits me, so it works well for me since I need time for things to gel. And the wall inspired my layout below:


Supplies: Cosmo Cricket's Jack's World Patterned paper, Cosmo Cricket's Jack's World Blackboard shapes and diecut stickers, Cosmo Cricket's Jack's World Ribbon, plus Karen Foster Corkboard patterned paper, Bazzil White Cardstock, Martha Stewart Heart punch, and Studio Calico Number stamp.

Instructions: Cut Cork paper to 8.5 x 11. Add Green Jack's World paper. Run Yellow paper through printer and add "Reason". Stamp Yellow paper with SC Number stamp. Add Yellow paper to background. Add photo. Create notebook paper in photoshop with text. I normally do this by the rectangle tool shaped into thin lines. Punch heart out of Red Jack's World Paper. Add ribbon, topped with Blackboard "A" covered with diecut sticker. Then use the circle Jack's blackboard shapes to "attach" the elements to the cork paper.

Thanks to Vee and Kristina for showing their boards on their blogs recently, that inspired this post. And thanks to everyone who viewed or voted for my layout at 2 peas, I'm still blown away by that. Yep, I've been playing with the header again, all my normal layouts clash with Halloween colors. I'll put it up again closer to the end of Oct. Have a great Wednesday!

Whoa!

I'm shocked! 

I was voted into the top 10 layouts on 2 peas yesterday! 

To my knowledge, this is a first.

Bottom Right, you can click to make it bigger. 

Had to save this so tomorrow I know it actually happened.

I think they just like the Studio Calico kit.

What language is that anyway?

Here is my latest, a real little boy layout. Not a baby layout. I'm very excited about that.



This is all Cosmo Cricket Get Happy Patterned paper and paper strip. I added some old Lil Davis chipboard words that I saved for just such an occasion. I added the journaling to the patterned paper, cut everything into a square and mounted to black cardstock. Then I added the photos and embellishments, including some Making Memories alphas. I personally do not think you can scrap little boys without this one paper line. There is nothing else like it out there, I love it so much.

Questions! I bet you thought I forgot. Ok, I kind of did. Then I remembered.

 allie said...

Thank YOU Danielle for inspiring ME! What a touching post. And it reminds me how much I hate it when people tell me, "You must have too much time on your hands!" You are SO right. You have to decide to make that time and make it important to you. Any fab plans for your mini albums? :) Can't wait to see them

Answer: I have been working on a digital mini to get started. I thought it would be a great way to get a lot of photos out of the computer at once, and learn how to assemble a mini album at the same time. I am a bit of a photo rhino, and I have to get more photos done. I am really enjoying the digital mini, I just have to add my journaling and I'm done. I'll share when it gets here I promise!

 debby said...

I just found you and your blog entry is inspirational. Thank you very much. What was the absoulte breaking point to say you are in the industry?

Answer: I'm not sure. I certainly am not the one who decides these things, but I consider anyone who is compensated in some way by the scrapbook industry as "in the industry" specifically, anyone who is on a design team, a manufacturers design team, someone who works for a scrapbook store or teaches classes, working for a magazine, etc. If you are asking what I think constitutes "making it" in the scrapbook industry, I think it depends on the individuals and their goals. 

 kimber-leigh said...

i love your layouts :) and your 10th is no exception!

do you have any other interests/hobbies other than scrapbooking?

and what a fabulous rak!

Answer: Of course photography. But I'm only a hobbyist. I often will take portraits of family and friends, but I would never charge them. It's my gift, it's what I give back. Some people bake muffins and cookies and give them away. I take photos. I do like to cook, I just don't think I'm very good at it yet. Does having to do 100 CMEs (continuing medical education credits for being a physician assistant) every two years count as a hobby?

 anne aka anniescraps said...

First how very sweet of you! Your post was heart touching and rang so true. You inspire me. What will your mini series be about? Will they be connected or separate from each other?

Congrats and such a great achievement!

Answer: Well, all my layouts/mini albums will be about J and our family. So they will be connected in that the subjects are the same. However, I would like to do separate themes I think, some sentimental (I love you because mini) and themed (summer, winter, etc.)

Still have a few more questions to go. J is talking now, so happy about that! I took a mime to North Carolina and I came home with a Chinese Olympic commentator! He is following me around going "ate, ate!" (Wait, wait) So cute. I knew I would fall even harder for this little guy when he started talking. 

Have a great Monday!

Spooky isn't it?

Ready for Autumn? Yeah, me neither. But here we go anyway!

Here are some cards I've been working on with Cosmo Crickets Haunted Line:

This one is with Cosmo Cricket's Haunted Eerie and Macabre and Haunted Rub-ons. Basically I used Macabre paper for the background. I sliced up Eerie using a French curves template for the hills. Applied the Rub-on. And added EK Success Stickers-moon, ghost and house.

And for this one I used Cosmo's Haunted Nevermore and Eerie Patterned paper, and Cosmo's Haunted Stamps. I used Nevermore patterned paper for the background, and then used the other side of Nevermore for the smaller square in the middle. I added Eerie to the bottom. I applied purple Colorbox ink the the "Trick or treat" Cosmo Stamped title. Then I added the EK Success tree, owl, and tombstones.


I think I'm getting over my bad mood. I've learned not to talk a lot when I get down, less to apologize for later. I've been spending a lot of time on the swing with J. I went to Target to try some retail therapy, but the economy has me too depressed to enjoy it. They say this will be the worst Christmas (as far as spending goes) in 15 years. I did buy J a truck and myself a soda. Staring down October is always hard for me since dh's injury and M's death. But I have a son now and I have to snap out of this. It isn't fair to go through life beating myself up for what I can't change, never had a choice about. My little boy deserves to love autumn as much as I used to, maybe someday will again.

Good news and bad news at the same time, always right? Dh made Major and has been officially selected for a new unit assignment, something he has been working for now for over a year. Unfortunately, his travel was supposed to end in Oct. Now it will cont through Nov. Not the end of the world, just a set back, a change in expectations. I can do this. This is what I do, I adjust, I adapt, I regroup, I get it done. I can do this.

Hope you are having a great weekend and enjoying the beautiful weather. Wow for that!

Photos galore

I'm feeling kind of overwhelmed. So many photos, so many memories. I made this page with the Studio Calico Sept Kit so that at least some of the tons of photos I took last month are out of the computer and on a page:



I'll cont with questions tomorrow. I'm in kind of a bad mood today. I'll feel better tomorrow. Until then.

You know why the leaves turn maroon and orange in the fall? God's a Hokie.

That was off of one of my Virginia Tech T-shirts my senior year. The layout is Scribble Scrabble patterned paper, chipboard stickers, and the diecut stripe down the side:



I had the best day yesterday with J. He was good in the food store. I was more consistent and swift with my corrections and the whole day was just better. We found a park in a neighborhood close by. I sat on a swing and he climbed in my lap and we swung (verb tense?) all afternoon. The weather was perfect, the afternoon sun was peaking from behind the trees. The air was cool. I had my cheek against J's little head, my arm holding him tight against me so he wouldn't fly off. I felt young, alive, free. I don't ever want to forget that, I'm surprised that it's already a memory. I would like to forget the sound of the swing groaning as we went back and forth, but unfortunately, that was the sound track to our afternoon. It seems to me that the swing should have been able to easily support our combined 160 pounds, but whatever.

More Questions!
(Apparently I'm not going in order, I missed one the first time.)

red_inc. said...

Welcome back to scrapping. What was the first project you did when you started again?

Answer: I just did a layout of J, a normal, regular layout. That's all, nothing special.

susan beth said...

Wow, when you RAK you really stress the kindness part! Congrats on 100 and 10,000! Those are both big deals! I need to get moving to get 100 layouts this year - I'm so far behind it might be time to give it up. Question: does your husband hang out near where you scrapbook so you can chat with him or at least have that valuable "shoulder to shoulder" time while you work? I need to stay connected with my dh and still scrapbook, and that is not always easy!

Answer: My dh travels a lot. When he is traveling, it's not really an issue. I am in the room right next to J's so I can be close by if he needs anything. But when dh is home, since it is precious time for me since I don't get to see him that often, I usually take my project and go sit by him in the living room and move paper around on the coffee table. Or he will come up to my guest/scrapping room and be on the computer while I pull things out. Or we will just forgo the scrapping all together. (wink, wink)

awjwrwmw said...

I adore your work & wonder if you will ever go over to "the dark side"? (as I lovingly refer to digital) I just love the feel of paper & photos in my hand...I just can't let go...lol

Answer: This cracks me up! I have been to the dark side and back again. Really. I have gone completely digital and it just doesn't feel right to me, even though as much as we move for the military I would love to let go of the paper that ties me down! But, I need something in my hands too. Dh does wood working, and he compares it to carving by hand (paper) vs machining the wood (in this case digital). And we both agree that machining wood and digital scrapping take some of the crafting out of the equation and while the end result is often perfectly perfect, something is lost, missing. But I definitely ride the line on doing hybrid layouts for sure. :)

Back to work. Hope you are having a good week. Be safe my friends.

"Mutherhood is not for sissies. You wouldn't last one day in the 'hood!"

It's been an interesting 24 hours, and this is probably more information than you want to know but this is life right?

I stayed up way too late at Studio Calico waiting for the sneaks of the Oct kit. When I finally went to bed at midnight, J was up for the 3rd time that evening. But he settled down pretty quickly when I took him to our room and everything seemed ok. I was awoken again at 4 am by my dog jumping off my bed, something he never does. He started vomiting immediately, and I pulled up the rugs and put him in my bathroom. Not sure what that was all about, hairball? I would have taken him outside, but I was afraid J would wake up again and I would be outside. After he settled down and I gave him some water, he went back to sleep. The next time I would be awakened, it was because I had the strange sensation of rolling over into the contents of a leaky diaper. Let's just leave it at that. By 6 am everyone was up, however no one was very happy about it.

I spent the weekend cleaning. I cleaned the bottom level of our townhouse on Friday morning, the middle level on Saturday morning, and on Sunday I had no choice but to clean the top level, as my bathroom floor had vomit on it and my sheets needed a good laundering as well. But it's all clean now. J likes to play with the vacuum, so he didn't mind.

Anyway, I feel I earned my guacamole this past week. As we got in the car this afternoon to go retrieve that Chipotle goodness, I couldn't stop thinking about Aleida. So I turned the music up to drown out my anxiety, Blink 182 What's my age again. When we got to Chipotle J started clapping. I laughed so hard. He is definitely my kid. My dh however will probably shortly demand a paternity test, as the child hates pizza.

Here are some layouts I did last week. I thought about adding more journaling, but they were done. On to the next one right?

This one is Cosmo Cricket's Mr. Campy Patterned paper x 2, Cosmo Blackboard Tree shape with die cut Mr. Campy Tree hugging sticker. I added the Rub-on stitching for fun, otherwise I think it's pretty self explanatory.

And this one has been on my desk for a week or more. I kept trying to figure out if it is done. I think it is:

This one is Cosmo Cricket's Haunted Patterned Paper x 3. I added the photo with mat to the patterned paper on top of the cardstock with title and journaling. Then I added Cosmo's Haunted Rub-on Spider web and Cosmo's Mr. Campy Ribbon, plus some Making Memories Felt Alphas. I wasn't sure the rub-on was going to work, it had to cover 3 levels. But it covered like a dream! I've gotten burned by rub-ons before, but I've never had any trouble with the Cosmo rub-ons.

And the questions! I'm just going in the order they were left.

lorraine said...
Your post was very moving. Sometimes we forget to thank people. Thanks for reminding me to do just that! You are on 2 great DT's. Do you feel pressure to create, or is it still so much fun?

Answer: I still think it is so much fun! The design teams I'm on require a certain number of pages a month, but they have never told me that I had to scrap a page about my mom, or to use this paper, or anything like that. So I still think it is very fun and I pretty much get to just do what I like to do. Doing stuff for CHA, due to the time crunch can be stressful, but that is the only time I can think of.

meredith said...
First thank you for the chance at the giveaway! I just found your blog today, and how ironic that I am sitting on the fence about starting a blog and sharing my work and putting myself out there. The quote is great. You are not a scrapbooker until you scrap! Thanks for the inspiration. How long has it taken you to get to 100 pages?
Meredith

Answer: That's a good one! I started last Sept, but I only finished 5 pages by Christmas. Then we moved. Then I started the blog at the end of Jan. So I would say 95% of the pages were completed in 7-8 months.

erin m said...
Congrats on all of the scrapbooking-related milestones!
Here's my question to you:
Just curious to find out what sites you visit on a daily basis, and what your routine is...do you check one specific site first, something else second, etc?

Answer: Um, I visit 2 peas, Studio Calico, Scrapbook.com, and Memorable Seasons (all links under inspiration on the sidebar), not necessarily in that order. Depends on my mood, the day, if I have anything to upload anywhere, what I'm uploading, etc. I also visit my friends blogs when I have a moment.

Hope you are having a great day, let me know! And do not worry if you missed out on the RAK, lots more where that came from.

I lost my friend Aleida (ricanlaw) in a car crash yesterday. Here is how I am choosing to remember her:

She looks so happy. And here is how I'm dealing with that:

This is a page for Judi's album to celebrate Aleida. It will go to her family. This is just so hard for me to wrap my brain around still, so hard to understand. And I feel like this:

I'll continue to miss you my friend.

RAK winner, etc.

Thank you for all of your comments, and for helping me celebrate the blog and 100 pages. I was so touched to see so many friends, new and old post this past week. I really appreciate it. We are halfway to the next RAK by hits, and I haven't even done any mini albums. This is going really well, LOL. :)

In the past when I have done RAKs, I normally just put numbers in a bowl and let J pick. I normally get some fun pictures and we have a good time in the process. But after the first day I knew that was not going to be possible, and I googled the Random Number Generator. Kind of anticlimactic, you just push a button. Everything changes I guess. :)

Random Integer Generator

Here are your random numbers:

27
Timestamp: 2008-09-12 17:37:25 UTC

kristina said...

I'm SO glad you're scrappin' again, Danielle! We wouldn't have met if not for that! :) Love the RAK, too! Hugs!

So Kristina, please email me your email address and your address where you want this shipped so that Studio Calico can get this to you. I don't think I've seen you at Studio Calico, so this might be a cool treat for you.

Nothing else much exciting going on today. Rainy and windy here. Finished pages 101 and 102. Ok, I'm seriously not counting anymore. :) I'm just enjoying the process. I'll leave you with these, hope you have a wonderful weekend everyone!

Studio Calico Sept Kit:

and Cosmo Cricket Haunted patterned paper, Blackboard pumpkins, & Diecut pumpkin shapes:

Note: I will be answering all the questions the next couple of posts. They were great questions and I'm looking forward to that and to visiting everyone who stopped by. Although it might take a week or so. :)

100 pages, 10,000 hits, RAK and Thank you

Why?

Because sending guacamole and tacos in the mail is messy.

Because one can never have enough paper.

Because my scraproom overflowth.

Ok, really

Because I want to thank you. Each of you, all of you. I want to give back to the online scrapbooking community that has given me so much.

Because I know, I read the message boards. People are cutting back, the economy sucks, people are scared. I want to help, even if it is just one person.

This time last year, I remarked to my dh that I really wanted to start scraping again. But I didn't have time what with a new baby, cooking, laundry, house to clean, etc. And he said to me, so wisely, "If you want to do it, just do it." So I went to peas and posted a message on the board there, asking how all you other women did it since you have at least as much to do as I do. And someone posted "You aren't a runner if you don't run, and you can't be a scrapbooker if you don't scrapbook." This touched a nerve because at my core, I feel I have always been "a scrapbooker", a keeper of memories and memorabilia. 

Those two things collided and I realized that scrapbooking is a choice. I was choosing to do other things instead of scrap, I was choosing. Me. And I decided to walk the walk, and actually do it. And I met other scrappers, online and in person. I started a blog, and was encouraged by the people who came to it. I shared my work with others, who encouraged me to take the steps that have lead me to where I am today.

So thank you.

Thank you dh for always being right. J for always being photogenic.

Thank you to the poster at peas who pulled no punches and gave it to me straight.

Thank you to Stephanie Howell for telling me that my work did not belong in a private gallery on 2peas where no one, (including me) could enjoy it.

Thank you sunny-j and Ali Mclaughlin for encouraging me to start a blog. It's motivated me to do so much more than I otherwise would have. And thank you for your friendship.

Thank you to all the scrappers in the morning gallery at 2 peas, I enjoy you. To all the scrappers at Studio Calico, you entertain me. To all the scrappers at Memorable Seasons, you encourage me.

Thank you to all the people on the side bar, you inspire me.

Thank you to Scribble Scrabble and Cosmo Cricket, for believing in me.

Thank you to you, right now, for reading this blog, in the past, today, and I hope in the future.

And what for me now?

I'm going to make some mini albums (said in my best I'm going to Disneyland voice.) That's my new goal.

Please leave me a Comment to be entered to win the Mint Chocolate Chip Add-on from Studio Calico, with the exclusive houndstooth stamp! Ask me a question, ok? I'll draw a winner on Friday, so please check back. I need the address so that Scarlett  at SC can send it to you directly.

Here is my 100th layout, a mixture of Studio Calico Vintage paper and accents with Scribble Scrabble's Indigo line:

Note: image of RAK used with permission from Studio Calico.com

Hanna, etc

We didn't get washed away by the hurricane, but it was the most intense rainstorm I've seen in a long time. And my dog didn't care for it. Come to think of it, neither did my kid.

At the moment, things are going really well with J. He is eating well, and sleeping great. He is really making leaps and bounds with his speech and motor skills. We happen to be playing the catch-me, catch-me game in public places though. I wish that would end. My friend Amy once said to me, "With kids, it's just one nauseating phase after another." After wiping boogers and butts all day, there never was a truer statement. I try to keep my perspective, that it will always be something. Good thing my memory is all but obliterated from sleep deprivation. I'm like a dog, I walk into a room and I can't even remember why I am there half the time. But I'm happy. :)

My layout today is brought to you by Wordle. If you haven't checked it out, you should go let out your inner graphic design artist and play. Kristy Wiseman at SC challenged us to do a layout. And I realized when I scanned the layout that energetic is spelled wrong. No spell check on the Wordle, I figured that out for you. :)

Here is mine with Cosmo Cricket Get Happy Paper plus some Studio Calico kit stuff:


And this one is completely from the Studio Calico Sept kit:

Ok, you'll have to wait one more post for the RAK. We are not yet to 10,000 posts (almost) and I have one more layout to do. I'm trying to be scientific about these things here. If you stop by today, I am considering adding more photos to my blog in addition to layouts, is that something you would be interested in? Or just layouts? Let me know. I hope to add some clues to this post a little later. Until next time.

TGIF

Still working on uploading photos, had lots to upload. I've got about half done. Waiting on some packages, hopefully they will be here this afternoon.

Here is my latest layout:
(I hope you can read the journaling (click on photo), otherwise I look like a bad mum.)



Trying to clean up the house before the weekend, vacuum and such. And a big surprise for you blog readers. I'm working out something right now for an awesome RAK to celebrate 100 pages for J, and 10000 hits on this blog. It's going to big, very big. Stay tuned. . . 2 more pages to go. (And then what happens when I have 100 page, I have no idea. I just wanted to see if I could do it, that makes me a good mum right?)
TGIF friends!

Here's your sign

When I was driving home yesterday around the beltway of VA beach, I saw a weird sign. It said:

"Speed Limit is Enforced by Aircraft."

This made me nervous. I'm not a speeder. I still don't understand what that sign means. Does the aircraft fire shots at you if you are speeding? Swoop down and carry your car away? Float tickets down from the sky? What happens when we go through the Monitor Merrimack bridge/tunnel? Now, I've got a lot to pay attention to there on the inner loop of 664. But I kept the warning in the back of my mind. Just in case the driver next to me traveling at the speed of light gets sapped, I want to hang back a little. You know, just in case.

J and I had a nice little vacation, for the price of a tank of gas in my car. We played in the sprinkler, went to 3 different playgrounds, had a BBQ that got rained on, and did a little shopping (or in J's case running down the middle of the mall). I got a great deal on HP photo paper at Office Max, 2 for 1.

Home again, home again. The whole house smells like the new futon, which smells like fresh paint. Not bad. I finished the laundry before I left my parents house. So, just taking the energetic spirited child to the food store today, always an adventure. Is there anything I can do to make going to the grocery a more pleasant experience for everyone? My little magician can get out of the straps/cart.

Hoping to upload some photos when I get back.
I have those pics of the new scrap room to upload too.
Happy Thursday everyone!

Update

Just a quick note to let you know I'm still alive. I'm still on vacation, will be heading home tomorrow. I've taken lots of pictures but my internet connection here is not the best, so I won't risk losing a long post or the photos in an upload. So excited about the beach photos I took today, can hardly wait to scrap those. Let me know what you've been up to if you stop by!