Happy (belated) Birthday to my blog

February 27, 2006 was my first blog post.

This is post #193, one year and one day later. (Drats, seven short of 200, but I'm not going to put in 7 quick posts to hit that...sort of like people do when celeb blogs are giving away things.)

Thanks for reading (and commenting)!

Is this funny?

Or sad?



This is the rearview mirror on the passenger side on my mini-van. This is the mini-van that I am driving as penance for crashing my Passat last year.

Well...one morning when I was driving to work down Lyndale, I crashed the rearview mirror into a garbage can. At 25 miles per hour. (the two lanes are kind of close quarters and are really more like one lane).

The mirror broke, but the mechanism that holds the mirror was intact. The bend over feature of that housing did its job!...until I backed up too close the garbage can our driveway.

Now it's broken.

Winter finally arrives

This weekend I stayed in the house all weekend. I enjoyed watching the snow fall, the kids playing, and Charlie shoveling.



I entered the winter wonderland this am with my drive to work. I saw lots of giant piles of snow at corners of driveways and streets that had obviously had kids climbing over/around them. Our kids even sledded down the pile next to our driveway.

And of course I got to see the snowplowing process at work. I really hate how, after the Snow Emergency streets are plowed full width, they come back on the side streets and plow a pile of snow across the street. Same thing with alleys...they plow them first and then the side street plowing seals them back up. Ah well. At least we didn't get snowed in.

Pictures later this week? I don't know. I'm having a long week at work. Long meetings at work and then phone calls for work every evening 7-10 pm. We're finishing up a big project, and it will be good to have it done!

Enjoy the snow, and make a snowman for me!

So Thankful

Amelia had her appointment with the cardiologist today. She has a bicuspid aortic valve (about 2% of boys and 1% of girls do..most of us have tricuspid valves) so we have been watching it. The biggest concern? The aorta can enlarge. If that gets too bad, they have to do things like aorta transplants.

Well...her bicuspid valve is working well...it seals well and no backflow. And the aorta has NOT enlarged at all over the past three years. So odds are, it won't just all of a sudden decide to go and enlarge. It could take a long time. He said maybe when she if 40 or 50 she may need a valve or aorta replacement.





When I momentarily think about what the news COULD have been, I am SOOOo thankful. If she needs a valve replacement at 50, she can come to the nursing home and tell me about it.

Rub it on!

My bookclub book for March is on "Rub-ons". Jennifer McGuire's CK column in the March magazine was also about rub-ons. Between the two I was inspired to pull out my rub-ons and USE THEM.

I found most of the rub-ons in a drawer under my QuicKutz shelf. Mostly BasicGrey flourishes, but also some older rub-ons with words and phrases. Also some of the distressed look rub-ons. Also lots of flowers from various companies.

Then I remember that I had all my KI embellishments with my KI paper. I found some more rub-on flowers and alphabets there.

I likely have some rub-ons in my themed bins (i.e winter/Christmas, travel/summer/beach) and will leave them there.

I'm sure I also have some in my alphabet bins. I think I'll pull those out.

I know I have all my Making Memories and American Crafts alphabet rub-ons together.

Whew! That is a lot of rub-ons. And of course I bought more at the store the other day. Some beautiful Fancy Pants rub-ons with flourishes and hearts. Colored rub-ons... not just white or black.


I was inpsired by the Jenni Bowlin site to use an entire sheet of rub-on letters on a piece of paper and use that on a layout. I had this sheet of Autumn Leaves rub-on letters that was all the letters on one sheet, and they were really small. Like 20 point. I don't want to mess with all that. I did one word on the corner of the layout and then laid the rub-on sheet (with the missing letters) on a sheet of 5x7 patterned paper and covered the paper with letters. The rub-on sheet has plenty of letters left, but I feel like I utilized more than I would have with just rubbing on individual letters. And it turned out really cute. I'll have to get it posted later today.

I mean, if you have 40-50 sheets of rub-ons sitting around, it's a good idea to use them, eh?

Also...rub-ons don't add bulk... so they'll go great in those CM albums, eh?

From the Ridiculous to the Sublime

Some things have been bugging me lately.

First is the fact that I seem to be having lots of scrapping inspiriation...sans pictures.

Second is the fact that in my row of Creative Memories album on the top shelf, there is a gap between May 2001 and August 2002.

Third is the fact that I have three Creative Memories albums empty. I had bought one for regular chronological stuff and one for each of the girls' baby albums.

Since then, I haven't used CM albums. I like the quality quite a bit, but not the limitation on how thick and bumpy you can make the pages.

So... last night I pulled out the CM albums, the missing pictures, and decided to start filling the gap...


I even used some new paper I bought yesterday (new Paper Loft)! Wow! less than 8 hours on the shelf before being used. I like that.

I have so much beautiful patterned paper, I figure I can whip through these pages with minimal artistic fuss, focus on journaling (probably handwritten like all my CM albums). I have a trip to Albuquerque, New Jersey, and New York City to crop. Lots of pictures for each of these. Also the fact that my girls start this time period as 6 months old and just three.(meaning to say they are as cute as can be and I took LOTS of pictures of them to prove it!)

I will easily fill up three empty albums with these pictures. I'll probably do NYC as a separate mini-book since I went without the family. It seems to merit its own album (and you all know I have tons of smaller albums and ideas for smaller albums so I won't need to buy anything to make this happen).



On the other end, here is a page I did this weekend (sans picture, 'cause I need a good one of my sweetie for in here.) I totally ripped off Jenni Bowlin, but that's ok, that's why I buy her kits and look at the idea pages. I really love how this turned out!



I hope to keep on this scrapping spree that's happening at my house. Lovin' it!

My scrapping

Somehow my scrapping mojo has come back. This is a good thing since I am doing a retreat in a few weekends. I think it started Tuesday night when I got together with some friends and played with paint. It really uncorked the creative juices.

Here's a few I made for the store where I do samples. This is featuring yummy paper by Delish Designs.

Margaret page

Margaret is loving scrapping lately. I guess because I have been, also.

Here's her latest creation. Don't ask me why the horse is wearing a snorkeling mask. I don't know.

Gluten alert over!!!

I just got back some additional test results and discussed with my doc and have decided that gluten is NOT my issue. YEAH!!!!

I am so INCREDIBLY relieved. I have been shirking my Weight Watchers discipline lately, I think because I was MAD that I couldn't eat gluten and decided that I could eat anything that wasn't. oops. That should show on the scale tomorrow.

Thanks for all that were praying for the situation! It worked.

Now about those Thin Mints in the living room.....

Cookies take over living room!!!

They're here!



No, Amelia did not sell all these cookies. I'm the troop "cookie mom" and here they all are in my living room before distribution.

Amelia did a good job this year. I'm proud of her for trying and learning. Interacting with people is not her favorite thing to do, and she really worked at it. (with a LOT of coaxing)

If you happen to not have any cookies and you want some, let me know. I can set you up with a few boxes. (we can order until mid-March) I'm truly not soliciting extra orders, but I have run into a few folks who wanted cookies and no one had asked them, so if you fall in that category, I am here to help you.

More posts today and tomorrow! I have lots of things to comment on, but just have not taken the time to mark them yet. Some even have photos!

Another inconvenience

Well folks, I just found out that I get to try a gluten-free diet for a month or two to see if it helps me. I just cried when I found out. Not because I'll miss "normal" bread and pasta, not because of the extra time it will take, but because I was just so upset to hear I have another "chronic" condition that makes my life harder. At least that was the pity party I was having for myself that day.

But since then I've thought about the fact that I don't have cancer; I can walk, see, and hear. Then I thought about it even more... I have good cholesterol numbers. I don't have asthma or diabetes. I enjoy good health even though I have a couple of chronic conditions that require special care.

So what was that pity party for?

Yeah, it stinks. It won't be easy. I just realized I ate something for lunch that seemed ok, (wild rice soup..she thinks "Oh good. Rice, not noodles") and then realized that likely flour was used to thicken the cream. I even asked about the corn muffins they were serving and they did have wheat flour in them.

But good grief, it's not really worth getting super upset about. I'll deal with it. (But hey, if anyone out there is gluten-free and has some tips, I'll take them!)

Happy Birthday Amelia!!!!

Today is my daughter's 9th birthday. Here are some of my favorite shots from this past year.









It is so hard to believe she is that old.

Happy Birthday to my dear, dear, sweet daughter. I love you!

Fruitcake

Here's my entry to the "Fruitcake" contest at Scrapbooks Too.


I didn't win, but that's ok. Most people put in a lot more work than just one 12x12 layout with a picture on it.

But I really do love this layout. (For Minda and Lisa...note that I covered the bird on the greenish paper. )