Carry on . . .

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I suppose I could just say that it's back to school time and things are busy, which is kind of true.

Or I could get right to the heart of the matter and say that I'm really stressed this week. Really stressed. I don't do well with change. I try, I really do. But when it involves a new school for my baby, well my stomach just goes to pieces. I've done so much pre-planning, altering my work schedule, doing all that I can to make the transition a smooth one. I try, oh how I try.

It doesn't matter, my guts are smarter than me. I think they even know that I'm trying to hide stuff from them. :)

Struggle on.  It's a phrase I repeat when I am nervous or scared, or not feeling well with crohn's. Just keep going, get out of this moment, out of my head and back to the present moment and back to the task at hand. Back to my child's latest building creation, back to my dh's supportive glance, back to helping other people. I'm so lucky to get to help other people as a job.

I've been scrapping again lately to try to be present, to fiddle with paper in my hands. I finished 2 more layouts and a card for my sister's birthday. Will be back to share soon. Until tomorrow.

Random project life post

I am caught up with project life, but I am wondering if I should just post currently or go back and add the old ones that have never been seen before here. Then again, I think I'll just post them sometimes when I feel like it and not be so anal about getting them all posted. They are done and that is enough. I am like the simplest project life scrapper out there, truly. I studied my printer manual until I knew the ins and outs and can print out my photos in the correct sizes in 2 mins, takes longer to get the iPhone ones emailed to me. My motivation to finish project life this year is to buy a cool album to put it all in, right now it is in an 8.5 x 11 one, and the pages are 10x12 so they don't really fit. I always do a card with journaling and let the photos take center stage. Lisa T (gluestick) told me, "one pocket at a time." I live by that motto. Happy weekend to you! Until tomorrow.

End of Summer Drive-by . . .

It's kind of like walking and chewing gum at the same time, I wasn't sure I could blog and scrapbook too. :) This is a page I made using some of nearly everything in the Studio Calico main kit, Elmwood Park:

My absolute favorite thing on this page? Those SC veneer birds dressed with JBS paint dabbers in cough syrup and soap powder. Love. Love them all! :) Love my lil monkey too.

Happy mid-week to you! Until tomorrow.

Not the deal I thought it was. . .

After I spent $1.99 on the angry bird app, I was feeling pretty good. Such a deal right?

After buying the Angry birds toys, candy, game, t-shirt and now the cheese nips on this week's grocery run, I'm not feeling so good. I'm feeling like I've been had. :P

Our pool party got cancelled due to rain this afternoon. So I will be scrapping to part two of Lord of the Rings. Happy weekend to you!

Little dog, big heart. . .

Tonight I am working on a project for my sister. My sister also has Crohns. Becky's is much worse than mine and she has been on medication since she was 13 years old. She can't have any children, so she opted for a furry child. 

This is Scarlet. My sister only had her for 6 years total. Scarlet died very recently, unexpectedly of congestive heart failure. Chihuahuas usually live for much longer than 10 years. As you can imagine, my sister is devastated like she lost a child. And she kind of did. 

Scarlet was the most photogenic dog I've ever seen. She was pretty much perfect in every shot, so I have lots to pick from. I am presently trying to get my photos uploaded to print out in gallery prints. Have you ever printed mounted photos, photos that look just like photos with no frame and a stand mounted on the back? I'm considering this for a few prints as these are so affordable, but mostly I'll go with canvas. This is all my sister asked for in regard to her upcoming birthday. Sometimes it's not easy to be the family historian and picture-taker. I was tasked with the same project when my grandmother died.

A somber Friday to you, until tomorrow. (This post brought to you by mass doses of Aleve, oh how I hate this arthritis.)

On Top of the World

When you are 5. Happy Thursday, until tomorrow.

Shopping

My hiatus from scrapping has only slowed my shopping for scrapping down a little bit. I get a monthly kit, and rarely a really boyish add-on.

I seldom shop outside of this. There have been two exceptions--wood veneer (studio calico) is the first. And because of the first I convinced myself that I needed the second--all the jenni bowlin dabbers. I never buy a whole collection of something, but I have the yellow and pink bubblegum color (not sure why since pink doesn't get much use in my house). So I really wanted the other colors to paint the veneer:

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Gosh they are all so pretty lined up like that. I only got 1 red though, cough syrup. And I got speckled egg and weather vane. Can never have too much blue or grey in my house. And I didn't get orange, it was out of stock. :( Maybe later? I looked all the usual places, and scrapbook.com had the best selection for the price. I'm waiting impatiently for them to arrive (can't you tell?). No idea where I will put them, but I love them already.

Do you have a collection of scrapping things that you like? Did you buy it all at once or over time? I didn't intend to buy these all at once, but they are becoming increasingly difficult to find.

(I'm much better behaved today than yesterday. The arthritis is improved and I no longer feel the need to curse like a sailor when I type. Thought I'd take advantage. :) ). Happy Wednesday to you, until tomorrow.

Let's go slow, ok. . .

Confession (and ridiculously obvious): I have been a bad blogger. Let's move on.

There have been a lot of obstacles to scrapbooking. Starting with #1:

I have been busy with a kitchen reno from Hades. I kind of felt like Goldilocks and the 3 Bears with appliances. 3 refrigerators and 2 dishwashers later, (And many many curse words later) the finished result. All stainless steel. We still intend to match the faucets, but that is a battle for another day (replace the main faucet with stainless steel? Or replace the filtered water faucet with brushed nickel?) I'm pretty sure the kitchen has sucked the life right out of me. Decorating is hard. And I'm kind of glad it's done now. And after 8 months I have given up my new year's goal of Year of the Home (where I complete  a home improvement project until I cross them all off my list.) Yeah, screw the list. I'm done and I'll get to when I get to it. :P

Obstacle #2

Crohn's arthritis. It's always something with this disease, but the arthritis in my hands has been the most devastating part. I know it's not permanent, doesn't cause lasting damage, will eventually move back to my feet/ankles/back in time. But it's kind of disheartening anyway. I take it day by day, minute by minute sometimes. And sometimes even though I'm not supposed to I take a motrin. :P

Obstacle #3

I don't know how to have a full time career, be a mom, a wife, a sister, a daughter, a dog owner, a maid, an accountant, have a chronic disease and run a laundry mat all at the same time. I'm learning. Life was easier as a SAHM while my child napped. Made for a nice crafting afternoon. Still, I have streamlined my life in the past couple months, partially out of a need to have things run as efficiently as possible with me not feeling %100 percent and partially out of a want to let go of unnecessary stuff/obligations.

So let's go slowly if there is anyone out there still reading. I am still crafting and I'll try to share something soon. Fair enough? Happy new day to you, Until tomorrow.