G GETS IT.

Board and stuck inside due to the extreme heat, my 4 year old G-man came downstairs to my space today and said "Can you get out my baby trap-book so I can look at my baby again?"

Trap book.

Hmm. While that's just his funky 4-year-old way to pronounce it, I kinda like it. It's accurate, after all. It is a book of things that I managed to trap. Moments, memories, tidbits of life. Trapped in a book.

I think I like that.

In other news, I am the super-happy owner of Quickutz Frankie Skinni Mini alpha now, bought at a steal of a price second-hand. I have been allowed to play with Leigh Ann's set way too much--she's a gracious friend who shares her toys--so there's no doubt that I will love it often. Frankie is one of the retired sets. Can I just take this opportunity to say how much I don't like that they retire alphabets? Especially because many of my personal favorites are retirees. Why is that?

Have you ever noticed how completely fabulous black-and-white microcheck ribbon is? I've been working on a big project lately (the excuse for the recent severe lack of art on my blog) and it seems like I can't put that roll of ribbon down. It's the universal ribbon--it goes with everything! Next time you get stumped, try the black and white checked ribbon. Might be just what you need.

Finally, a commercial/endorsement/testimony. Remember back in the spring when I did that big ol' cruise scrapbook for NWYC--my husband's company? I used a beautiful Close to My Heart tan leather album for this project. It travelled all over the United States, to all the regional company meetings, being shipped back and forth between them for 6(?) appearances. I expected that by the time it got back to the office it might be a bit roughed up. Afterall, it endured lots of shipping and "handling"--more than most books and by people who may or may not have treated it with the care that I would have liked (I'm a little over-protective).

Fast-forward to last week, J talked to his former boss (the man who ordered the book) and R mentioned that it had "sustained some damage". When I heard this, I began invisioning my poor baby scuffed and bent, album sullied, pages askew and smudged, wrinkled or ripped. I was having nightmares.

So as it happened J had to make a surprise trip to the big D yesterday and he brought the man-handled bundle home to me this evening. As it turned out, the cover, spine and back are in remarkable shape. Good shape. Great shape, in fact. No problems. No scratches, no scars, no visible wear. I was shocked. The "sustained damage" was that apparently the book got dropped (by someone or possibly during shipping) because the top hole on each page protector ripped-out from the post. It's a uniform tear in the same place and same manner on each one, which leads me to think it came from a drop. (I've seen this happen before.) That's all. New page protectors are all that is needed. I am elated. Crisis averted.

Deep clensing breath.

I can not abide the thought that *my* book was wandering out there in a mangled state. I saw an advertisement the other day for some new-fangled techno gadgetry on new cars that when the car needs some regular maintainance, it generates an email to it's owner. Can you imagine this showing up in your email?

"Buy me new tires and give me fresh oil today or I'm going to leave you stranded in rush-hour traffic on a bridge! Signed. Your Loving Volvo.

LOL! So I'm wondering if I could attach said techno gadgetry to albums I have out there to phone home when they get in distress? Ya think?

Dear Mom. This person you made me for left me in the car for 6 days in the middle of the summer and then when he finally did take me inside where I could cool off and be comfortable, he stacked stuff on top of me. Heavy stuff. There's a permanent indention in the shape of a hammer and 2 screws on my cover. Someone spilled coffee on two of my pages. One of my screws is loose. Please rescue me. Signed, the XYZ Scrapbook.

I would be there in a flash, rescue badge in hand.

Oh yeah, all that to say, I am still highly impressed with the CTMH album set. It takes an extra-ordinary beating and still looks awesome!

So now you know.

May your days be super-cool soon and
may you successfully trap that which matters.

And there she is...

The May 2003 issue of CK is one of my all-time favorites. It's the issue with Becky's baby page for her then-new son Porter on the cover. It's full of Cathy and Julie Turner and Becky H. It's--in my opinion--one of the very best issues they've ever produced.



I read and re-read all the issues from 2003 periodically. I'm kinda stuck in 2003. It was an excellent scrapbooking year. :) There was lots of paper tearing going on that year. And brads. And ribbon. See, I told you, very good year.



The other reason I like May 03? It has Julie's ad for Sakura in it. I always forget and it sneaks up on me and then *BOOM*. There's Mattie Grace and Julie, smiling back at me on page 112. It's so nice to see the face of a friend.





In other news, the cover of Scrapbook Etc (Aug/Sept 07) is bugging me. Not the layout but the journaling. The journaling reads: "At almost 4 years old, JonPaul is famous for his nose-wrinkling, belly-clutching fits of laughter. During our annual family picnic, he entertained us all with his antics." But when you look at the picture, you don't see a wrinkled nose nor is he clutching his belly. Can you say creative license?



For what it's worth, I've heard that the artists doing cover layouts are given the photo and the journaling to work with, so I'm certainly not blaming the design talent of Ms Cathy Blackstone. Who knows? It just seemed odd to me. The photographer, Anita Matejka was quoted as saying he was laughing at a puppy in the yard.

I have always said I hate it when bloggers blog about the weather...but it's 104 here today and for 2 weeks straight has been over 100. I'm tired of this. School has started. It's time for fall. Fall. Fall. I want fall.

Closed Circut to Heather: Did you see the big article in Sunday's paper about Bloomington?

Happy Wednesday all!

BLOG A DEE DEE

Happy Sunday!


Tried this recipe today for lunch...it earned a 7 on the 1-10 scale of easy meals. The guys gobbled it up...but that can't really be considered an endorsement--they pretty much like whatever I cook. I doubled the sausage and omitted the hot peppers. I also added a half can of whole kernal corn (drained).

I could use some time here: http://media.playa.info/webcam-beach.html Wanna join me?



I have updated the *Scrapbook Stores in TN* list yet again. You can find it at http://scrapbookchannel.com/tenn.html



I turned in my swap cards for LSS Card Swap yesterday! The theme was "Mising you". Here's a pic:






Anyone like to guess where my red Jenni Bowlin journaling cards have run off too? Because it's driving me up the wall...I'm all ready to use them and they are no where to be found.





Joal finished my kitchen window seat yesterday. I love how it looks like it's floating there. (It's not actually floating, but the supports are out-of-sight. Isn't my brother the best?) My goal for this week is to do the cushion and find baskets and pillows.

Now for my little parenting rant of the day: When are we going to study the effects of a television-free lifestyle on our children?
http://www.latimes.com/news/la-sci-babyeinstein7aug07,0,3226267.story?coll=la-tot-topstories&track=ntottext What about children who read books or listen to music instead of watching television at all? How does their vocabulary development rank? One wonders. Oh. And what about the parents who are also subjected to the Baby Einstein videos...do their vocabularies decrease as well? (I know, now I'm just being smart.)

May your kitchen creations be enjoyed by those you love and
may your children all have extensive vocabularial development!

IT'S THE WEEKEND

There can be downsides to being married to a man who is an independent contractor and who is paid on a "straight-commission" plan. There is no paid vacation time or sick days. There are tax implications. There are no traditional job benefits (althought his company has an end-run plan for offering retirement benifits...just don't ask me to explain it.). When one gets in a slump or gets sick, there's no salary to back you up. It's truly a "leave-the-cave-kill-something-drag-it-home" mentality.


However, my honey is a very talented and smart man and he believes in what he does very much and he knows how to sell it. He works very diligently, he doesn't slack off and take three-hour lunches and his brain is fully enguaged in working smart when he's in the field. So, because of his diligence, I rarely ever think about those "downsides". He's as consistant as the sun and barring sickness, has never missed getting paycheck of some size on any week in 9 years. If he's worked, he's gotten a paycheck. You can't imagine how unusual that is in his line of work, but God blesses and Joal's that good.

One of the best parts of being an inde contractor, is that he sets his own hours. For some people, this spells disaster, but for Joal, it means he has alot of freedom when it's needed, but he is responsible with the use of it. For example, when I was put on bed rest and subsequently put in the hospital while pregnant with Grey, Joal was off for a total of some 60+ days, sprinkled throughout those last few months. I had the worst pregnancy problems and he was able to be there with me, which I will forever be so grateful for. Joal is my rock and he made those days survivable.

Lately, he's been doing really well (thanks be to God) and we've been seeing him around the house on Fridays quite often. Can I tell you how much I love this? It's like having a holiday weekend, without the holiday! His company operates on a points system for sales and when X number of points are reached, Joal is happy. Of course, Joal's personal X is significantly higher than most people's X. :) With a great week under his belt by 1 PM today, (X+23) he came home! For the weekend! He'll be off tomorrow, Saturday and Sunday! I can so dig a 4-day work week schedule.


I am constantly amazed by this man. He is so wonderful to me. I believe that God honors his diligence and his commitment to us and to God and allows him to be successful. Certianly, we are not promised success in all things but in this God has allowed his hard work and faithfullness to return to us as success in this and it's an amazing gift for which we are grateful.


So now I've gotten all flubbery about my husband and I've forgotten where I was going with this. Oh yeah. Long weekend. Love them--I may even crop tomorrow evening if the store still has room.

In other news, I was at the grocery tonight and got to thinking about my brother in Afghanistan. His batallion suffered a loss last week of two of their soldiers and I ache for him. So, I did what I do when I'm thinking about him, I started packing a box. The USPS has a flat rate Priority $9 box that works perfectly for care packages and I can assure they lose money on every one I pack (not that I care). Leaving the grocery, I called Daniel to see if he had heard from Andy lately. Turns out Daniel had talked to him at the end of last week and gotten a pack of letters to distribute from him just today. (Andy sends all his letters to Daniel and Daniel passes them out.) That made me feel better. Then I got home and started prepping the box and an email appeared in my inbox from Andy. What perfect timing...for me anyway, he said it's 3am there. :) He takes computer time whenever he can get it, apparently. I replied ASAP but apparently he had logged off. That's OK. I'm grateful to know he's safe and sound for tonight. Godspeed little brother. Be safe and strong.

There's a slim chance I may get to see him in January. I'd be grateful for just a few hours. (Ahem. Enough for one night.)

In other news, I have discovered two new items that are life-altering good.


The first is Crystal Light Fruit Punch. I don't know if it's a new flavor or if I just never noticed it before but OH MAN...that is some good stuff. One little pouch in a bottle of water...give it a crazy shaking and poof, Fruit Punch! It's even better when it sits in the freezer for a few minutes. Or on special occasions I mix it with Diet Sprite and add lots of crushed ice. This is as close as I get to a "mixed drink"...but it is mighty fine. :) Did I mention it was 101 degrees here today? You can read more about the flavors here.



The second is a new razor--the Gillette Venus Breeze. Now ordinarily you know I'm not one to discuss personal hygiene matters but this is remarkable. It's a razor with 2 built-in shave gel bars, right on the razor. No need to apply any kind of shaving cream or soap before shaving. It's built-in.
Granted, at $10 a pop it's expensive. I probably never would have tried it but for the free sample I received in the mail but now I have 6 $4 off coupons. (If you would like one, drop me an email.) It works really well and while I don't see myself buying one every week, (I'm insanely cheap on this kind of stuff) it would be nice for trips, not to have to pack gel and multiple razors. Just thought you should know.


May all your weekends be long and
your legs be smooth. LOL!

PS A great photog-blog resource at http://www.goldengod.net/2007/08/05/9-photoblogs-that-will-inspire-you-to-take-better-photos/ Check it out.

LOOK WHAT THE CAT DRAGGED IN

Well, we don't actually have a cat, but you get the idea. I'm rescuing LOs again. Thought I would work on this one:

"Walking with Daddy" aka fancy scissor overload. And there is so much journaling to be done here. Where's the story? Like even though Daddy was working three jobs and going to college full time at Belhaven for his second degree, he still found time on Saturday mornings to take Julian for walks around our scenic old neighborhood. Sometimes Julian rode in the stroller, sometimes he walked and occasionally he rode on Daddy's shoulders. It must have seemed like he was on top of the world to ride on Daddy's shoulders.

The days when Julian walked on his own were a celebration of his accomplishments. He didn't start walking until he was 19 months old--just a month before these pictures were taken. Note the special black shoes. He wore those for the first 4 years of his life.

Oh and look at that hair! Joal grew his hair out for his role as a pirate in Pirates of Penzance just before Julian was born. And then he kept it. I don't have any really good pictures of his mane, so I have to be happy with the few I do have. I love the man with long hair.

Definately an excellent candidate for a do-over!

{Miss you Dubbie. Wanna go on a date to Home Depot?}

DOES THIS STRIKE ANYONE ELSE AS NOT QUITE RIGHT?

So there's this church in my neighborhood and they have one of those message signs and last week I noticed that the sign said:

"Join the fastest-growing church in Nashville."

I should have stopped and taken a picture.
Should a church really be that far into the self-promoting business?
And who keeps up with the "fastest-growing" churches?
Is this really the criteria by which church visitors and new people select a church to attend?
Is that really going to make a new visitor feel special?
Is God honored by blatant bragging?
Is church a competition?

Color me confused.

ISN'T SHE LOVELY!

It took driving clear down to Tullahoma to get it, but yes, I'm driving a delightful silver Jeep again.

I found her online Monday night and Joal took Tuesday off and we went down to get it, leaving at 6 am, so the whole day wouldn't be lost. It was worth it.

I'm not sure what I'm going to do when this car is out of the picture. I've driven three Jeeps in a row now (all from the late nineties) and I think I would be happy to continue driving them until the end of time. Maybe one of my sons will grow up to be a mechanic. :)

Speaking of sons growing up, G is counting the days until pre-K at the end of the month. We have acquired the mandatory backpack and lunch box and he thinks he is hot stuff. He learned to write his name last week (wiping sweat from my brow...I was so worried). I'm excited for him. This time around is so different.

I did something boldly frightening on Sunday. I ordered a new bathing suit online for the Feb 2008 cruise. (No, that's not the frightening part. LOL!) I ordered it in a full 5 sizes smaller than I am currently wearing. How's that for inspiration and motivation! Cross your fingers for me! The treadmill is calling.

It's election day in Middle TN. We will be getting a new mayor and our district is electing a council person. It's been interesting to see the impact that local political and community bloggers have made on this election.

In other news, a recent thread on 2peas has got me thinking about honesty in scrapbooking. The thread was a nasty one (in my opinion, gossippy and lacking in compassion) about a certain famous personality who has recently acknowledged that she is getting a divorce. More than one pea said something like "they always looked so happy in her layouts". Well, duh. When was the last time we saw a layout titled "I wish you would fall off the planet!" or "What Was I Thinking When I Married You?"

I've considered this before. How honest should a scrapbook be? I tend to think it should be pretty honest but not hurtful. Everyone knows that life is not all "Live Laugh Love" right. There are no perfect angel children. There are no all-knowing, mistake-free parents. There are no perfect marriages. Are we portraing these things and passing out these dishonest unrealistic images of lives of perfection? I hope not. However, it does occur to me that if I had layouts that illustrate the imperfection of my life, I probably wouldn't post them online. Does that make me guilty of perpetuating the "our life is perfect" myth simply by editing what I put out there?

More to think about.

Happy Thursday.

WISHES

From Kate's Blog:

So if you had three wishes. They have to be selfish wishes not altruistic in any way. What would your wishes be?

1-Every month, I would get one single do-over. One. That's all I'm asking for. Just a single do-over for a stupid thing I said, a dumb decision, a moment of insensitivity, or some other little thing that would be nice to clean up. Just one free pass. *POOF*

2-Over-sexualized commercials would disappear from billboards, radio and television. It's a full-time job to protect the eyes and ears of a certain 11 year old, and some days I'm just tired of having to be the mom.

3-If I could, I would re-arrange the states. Oklahoma would be next door to Tennessee (so I could be closer to my sister) and both would have a significant amount of ocean-front.

So now you know. :)

LIFE MOVES ON

It's been a very long and short week. The death of my beloved Jeep was finalized. Now we have to find a new one but in the interrim, we are Jeep-free. Something we haven't been in many years. My sister moved back to Oklahoma City. My brother came and went. We went to the Zoo this morning with some friends and everyone is exhausted from that. My *space* has been repainted--from blue to white. My kitchen has a new window seat.




Lots of things. Just going on. Kinda moving about with or without me.





This is my oldest younger brother, with the boys. They were tailgating--something my sons think is a sport! Why else would anyone want to drive a big honkin' truck, right?

Daniel is #2 of the 4 of us. He has my father's gifts for making things with his hands. Ever since I can remember he's always been making something--wooden swords, building furniture with my Dad, fixing things for people, carving, building porch swings that are beautiful works of art, and of course, looking out for my other brother. Daniel's mission on this trip was two-fold: he came to pick up Deborah and he brought the stuff (supplies and tools) to build/install a window seat in my kitchen. He did the hard part...now Joal and I have to finish it with painting and a cushion. It looks so wonderful and the boys had a blast helping Uncle Daniel. He's the cool uncle. Truck. Tools. Knows where Home Depot is and is willing to take passengers along. Very laid back. Yep. He's definately the cool uncle.

Joal re-painted my space this week, from blue to white. When we remodelled the spacethree years ago, I didn't realize that if you paint the walls over your workspace a deep color, that color gets cast on anything you try to do. Like scrapbook. I should have known that...but I didn't. Finally, now I can work in a space without so much blue cast. It's beautiful and clean.

Joal and I had our last date before Deborah left on Wednesday night. We went to Panera for dinner and then to see Live Free or Die Hard (aka Die Hard movie number 1679) :). We had the best time. I love that man so much. We are so good together. Between dinner and the movie we walked thru Green Hills Mall and thru Restoration Hardware. A girl could drop some cash in that place! They have the most amazing (overpriced) furniture. I practically drooled on at least one chest for 3 grand. It was fun tho. We even walked by the Luis Vuitton store. I'm such a non-bag person...I didn't even know LV had stores. And in Nashville, no less.

The movie was good--Bruce still has it for being old.

So now you know.

PS

Have you seen this month's gallery by the Cocoa Daisy girls? Yummy stuff. Little bit of Scenic Route, little bit of those bold letter stickers from Reminisce. Can't really go wrong with that, right. Here's one of my favorites--by Kim Musgrove: (Original here.)

I think I may need to scraplift this immediately.

A CHA SURPRISE

Anita called today from the floor of CHA Chicago. (For anyone who doesn't know, CHA is a huge-mongus craft industry trade show held twice a year.) She sounded extremely excited...more than the normal excitement level of Anita. :)

"Guess who I am standing here with?" she said.

"I have no idea."

"The Scenic Route people--Sarah Milne!"

"Oh my goodness."

"Wanna talk to her?"

"Of course."

From there I have no memory of what I said. My phone was cutting in and out (of all times) and there was lots of show noise in the background. I'm sure that Sarah Milne now thinks I'm a total ditz...but who cares! I got to talk to the woman from whose creative genius flows my very favorite papers and goodies. And then Layle (the bestower of the very best paper surprise) was there and I got say hello to her too. Totally cool!

Thanks Anita for making this happen. You totally made my week!!:)

LIFE IS MESSY. CLEAN IT UP.

I love the slogan from one of the vacuum companies...can't remember which one bit boy, I remember the slogan.

It's been a busy messy few days. Dealing with the car issues. Having company and family visit. Working in the yard. Trying to scrapbook. Etc.

There was an article in Sunday's Tennessean that didn't sit very well with me. It's here. It just seems so basic to me that a house needs running water from a non-contaminated source, in order to be livable. How can it be that something "less than 500" homes in Davidson county are without running water? How's that for vague? Could be three homes, could be 499. Who knows? But whatever the number, this is a metropolitan area. There's really no such thing as a "remote" area of Davidson county. Water is not that expensive--it's the least expensive utility in most cases. How can this be?

This article made me want to strangle some politicians and some city and state officials for their lack of foresight and for what reeks of a bottom-line mentality. I wonder how long the governor would stay in the governor's mansion if his clean running water suddenly went away. Or the patrons at Lowes Vandy Plaza? Can you imagine the hissy fits taking place? And yet...

Back in the dark ages, when I was in the 11th grade, in podunk Mississippi, we got a free day from school because there was a water line break and to repair it, the water to the school had to be turned off. So even school kids in nowhere Mississippi must be entitled to functional water (toilets, fountains, etc). Are families in Tennessee not? Is it even legal to have children living in homes without a safe water source?

I am certainly not an advocate of continually expanding the roles of government and I almost always fall on the side of those who say: You want something done, do it yourself. BUT. As someone in the discussion of this article on the Tennessean forums said, we aren't talking about people living in the middle of the desert not having running water. This is about people in a county that has roughly 578,000 people in 502 square miles.

A home without clean water--is it really something we want to know even exists in this day and age? Before new baseball stadiums, before hockey teams, before road paving, before excessive fourth of July fireworks shows, before tax-breaks for incoming businesses...safe water. It's a basic necessity and our entire community benefits from having clean, safe running water in every single home.

So did you hear about the three-car pile up on Old Hickory today?

A not-so-dang-funny thing happened on the way to the scrapbook store today...can you say Jeep sandwich? Yeah. My white Jeep is not so pretty anymore. Her doors on the passenger side are crunched in pretty good. Jeep Grand Cherokee vs Ford Crown Victoria vs another sedan... not a good thing--but we are all safe and no one was injured, and for that I am grateful. I don't feel comfortable telling the whole story in cyberspace right now. Probably not a good idea for me to comment on this until the insurance proceedings are done.

Yeah, that'll be fun.

But the one lesson that was reconfirmed today...it's good to drive a tank! (Insert those famous Tim Allen man-growls from the days of Home Improvement right here.) I love my Jeep Grand Cherokee even tho it's advancing in years and mileage (1997/257,700) precisely because it's sturdy. It guzzles gas but I don't drive that much so it's not a huge deal. Yes, it's a little old and bulky and I get plenty of stares when I drive it to the recycling center...but I digress. :) The thing is today, as I sat sandwiched between two other less-tank-like cars, I realized that it's good to drive a tank. Grey, who was present in the backseat, was more impressed with the police officer than with anything else I did today and he was safe and unhurt. Barely even rattled (unlike his mother). I'm re-thinking Joal driving the Crayola (pun intended). He moved down in car last year to combat the excessive price of gas (he drives hundreds of miles a day), but now I'm thinking had I been in the little car this day would have ended much differently.

And just the other day I was railing against reactionary decisions. That'll teach me.

Hugs to you all.
Tomorrow is my sister's birthday and we are having a house-full of company. She has a friend in from Virginia and Joal's parents will be visiting. Please pray I'm not as much of a mess tomorrow as I am right now.

Be safe.

One last thing: you know that saying "When you get bumped, what's inside you comes out."? Well, today, I proved that saying true. Some people got bumped and some came thru with flying colors and some must have really ugly insides. I'm just sayin'.

TUESDAY

It's a good thing you can't see my bleary eyes right now, you might think I am hooked on something. I am, but not like that. It's two new blogs:

This one called A DRESS A DAY is just so vintage-y and classic.
And
This one called LIVING OFF KEY IN KEY WEST written by Landon, an innkeeper in (yep) Key West. Do you know how much I love this place?


See my little birdie cards? These are my contribution to the card swap at my LSS. Good stuff.
Happy Tuesday!

HAPPY FOURTH!

Hope everyone has a happy and safe 4th of July!

Congrats to my friend Connie! for winning the layout contest at the Scrapbook Warehouse website! See her beautiful creation right here.

For anyone interested, Metropolis by Scenic Route arrived at Scrap'n Memories yesterday! Whoo Hoo! Now I can roll around in the blue and orange star paper until my heart is content!

Wanna see what I did this week? The top picture is *before*. Note the partially dead overgrown ugly bushes.

The lower picture is the *after*. Note how you can actually see the door and the walkway. I chopped all the limbs and removed them so now Joal just has to dig out the main stalks and the roots. Good luck on that, honey. :) Heather recommends using the Jeep.

I'm not much of a outdoor-do-it-yourself-landscape type. Not because I don't like to see a beautifully landscaped and manicured lawn, but mainly because I don't like to be dirty, grimey, and sweaty. At all. It was definately a yucky job but it's feels good to get it accomplished. Yes, that sound you hear is me patting myself on the back. :)

Happy Wednesday!

REACTIONARY PARENTHOOD

So, I've been a parent for eleven years now and some days I feel so unprepared--like I haven't learned a thing in eleven years, but then there are days I feel like I have it figured out a little. Whenever I feel like I understand something as a parent, I get all giddy. And then I generally assume that everyone else knew it years ago. :)

The other day I reading a thread at twopeas about parenting and I was struck by the large number of peas who said they based some of their major parenting decisions on how they felt about their parents decisions as a child. Doesn't this seem like flawed logic? The discussion at peas was regarding spanking, however I do not wanto discuss spanking here, so let's just say the major decision was about serving Kool-Aid. Someone said "My mom would not allow me to drink Kool-Aid and I felt deprived and mad at her so I am going to give my child unlimited access to any drink he wants."

So now you are basing your parenting decision to serve unlimited Kool-Aid to your child on the fact that *as a child* you thought you were deprived because your mother did not serve Kool-Aid. You felt deprived of something you wanted and you can not part with your own childish selfishness in that? You can't forgive your mother as an adult? You can't come to terms with the fact that Kool-Aid isn't great for your teeth and maybe your mom was protecting you, but you (being a child) mistook her protection for some kind of mean-spirited deprivation?

Sounds like a great parenting strategy to me. (Not.)

Parenting based on the outakes of one's own childhood experiences scares me to death. We might as well put the child in charge and completely abdicate parenthood. (I like the word abdicate.) Let's put the monkeys in charge of the zoo, shall we?

There's more to being a good parent than making the babies feel loved and accepted and keeping them comfortable. Lots more. Part of maturing is accepting that and understanding that as an adult, and as a parent, it's your calling to put your child's well-being and long-term health ahead of junior's wants and whims. Even if it pisses him off.

Reactionary parenting--not the way to go.

In other news, the pruning sheers and I had a date today in my front yard today and I can already tell I'm going to be feeling it for days in my shoulder. I really have to do that more. Two of the mostly-dead bushes by my door are mostly removed. They were huge, even though they were zapped in that late-April freeze we had. I did discover that there's very healthy scads of beautiful English Ivy growing under all of the bushes. I adore Ivy and am trying to preserve it while I get the bushes out. Cross your fingers for the Ivy. It really is a beautiful ground-cover and I would love to see it continue to flourish there.

Roger Cook, eat your heart out. :)

Summer Slush Cupcakes

I made these yesterday for today and they are delightful. I think I'm going to make them again for our 4th gathering.

Summer Slush Cupcakes
a light and fruity creamy filling on top of a graham cracker crust, in a handy cupcake size
-makes 12 standard cupcakes or 24 minis-

Place paper liners in cupcake pan.

For Crust:
1.5 cups of graham cracker crumbs
1 stick of butter (melted)
2 tablespoons sugar

Combine all three ingredients. Spoon by teaspoonfuls into each cupcake liner and use fingers to press, forming the crust. Be generous with the crust.

Filling:
1 box of cream cheese (soft)
1 tub of Cool Whip (8 oz)
3 tablespoons sugar
1 pint of strawberries

Puree strawberries in blender. Save a few out for garnish, if desired. Add sugar and cream cheese. Blend until smooth. Spoon into large bowl and combine gently with Cool Whip. Spoon into cupcake liners, filling them to the top. Top with a cut strawberry, if desired.

Place in freezer overnight. Serve cold.

Yippy Skippy.

News in Brief...

• Kroger has 8x10 enlargements for 99 cents this week.



• www.scrapbookwarehouse.net is having a summer layout contest. Check it out.



• New blog I'm enjoying: http://fleamarketstudio.typepad.com/my_weblog/



• Deb and I went to the flea market at the TN State Fairgrounds last Saturday. We spent about 4 hours and still didn't see it all. Although it was crowded, it was a feast for the senses. My finds of the day were a box of hand-written sermon notes from a methodist minister from the 40s and a seatbelt purse.


• 


• I also fell for this antique metal sign but couldn't spare the $350 to bring it home. (ha) Deb was fascinated by the vintage clothing. Lots of great stuff including a perfectly demure pink tea dress from JCPenney circa 1940 that was lovely.


• Thank you to everyone who sent carrot-olicious info after my epic saga re: my disdain for carrots. :) You guys are the best! A few recipes and ideas jumped out at me, so there is hope.


• And thank you for sticking with me thru the measly blogging that's been happening the past few weeks. Hopefully, things will be back to normal soon as I get used to having Joal home again.


• An Andy Update: My brother made it safely to Afghanistan. He has sporadic contact but we are grateful for whatever we get. He seems in good spirits and is putting his medic training to good use on behalf of his unit. Word has it that they even let him kick down a door. We are keeping him in care packages filled with Skittles and *OFF* bug repellant. What a combo, huh.

Happy Thursday. :)

SISTERS

:)

EYE CANDY MAGAZINES

This magazine...is pure eye candy. I'm so attracted by great photography, vibrant color and fluffy information and I enjoy this magazine immensely.



Imagine my surprise when I found the above Epson ad designed by Heidi Swapp!



And isn't this just the sweetest picture? I think I need to make a sign like that. :)

There was a thread at 2Peas that got me thinking about professional portraits. Do you buy professional portraits on a regular basis? Do you go to a private photographer or a chain studio? How often?

I was just wondering. Being nosy, I suppose. We haven't done portraits in years...except for the church directory thing done by Olan Mills that didn't impress me. I have so many pictures, I don't see the need anymore and the price wears me out. I think it bugs part of my extended family that I send out "mere snapshots" several times a year but for the most part, I just ignore it. My "mere snapshots" are lightyears better than any posed "everybody say cheese and look cheesy" overpriced portrait...they are real. I like that.

That said, during my last trip to Texas, my mother requested that the four of us (all her children) go to the studio in WalMart and get our pictures made as a group. Professionally. (If you call WalMart Studios, professional.) It happens so rarely that the four of us are in the same state, much less the same WalMart...she asked and we obliged. I think the last time we had a professional photo of the four of us, Deb was about 3, and with Andy now in the desert on the other side of the galaxy, who knows when it will happen again.

They turned out good but the level of customer service has been pathetic. If my mom hadn't really been on top of it and been willing to be a little pushy, I have a feeling they photos would not have made it to her. I'm so glad they did tho...mine are supposed to arrive in the mail this week. I'll post them when they do. :)

Happy Thursday!

THE GOOD OF ADVERSITY

Have you ever stopped to think about the good that comes from adversity? Do you know someone who took the lemons and stomped them to bits? I know a few and I wish I knew more. I wish I was that way more.

People who have faced great adversity and have stood their ground amaze and inspire me. What you do when you are down says so much about a person's character, I think. Who do you know (or know of) who has faced a great adversity and not just survived but survived to turn it into something remarkable?

The story of this little boy and his moma is beautiful and frought with adversity. It's also full of God. It's not my story to tell, but I am grateful that my friend is letting me play with it a bit in pictures. (Shared with permission.) Even when it seemed there would be no end to the adversity in the process of adoption, no one gave up, no one took no for an answer. And look who their family has to show for it!

{The layout is my response to Amber Ulmer's challenge blog--One Little Word. The word for the last week of May was *STOP* and this photo was still laying in my stack awaiting the right inspiration. The two just seemed right together.}

May the adversity you face come to be the seeds of tomorrow's greatness.

Happy Wednesday.

I'VE GOT GOOD NEWS...

It's raining outside but I couldn't be happier! My favorite LSS (Scrapn' Memories) is getting Scenic Route--starting with Metropolis and ordering more at CHA in late July!! Wooo Hoo!

And then as if things could get better...the UPS man deposited a hefty goody box of paper on my doorstep from Layle, the queen of all things Scenic Route! Inside was a beautiful selection of new stuff and some wonderful old stuff that I have loved for years. "Thank you" doesn't begin to do my gratitude justice. It's raining Scenic Route!

In other news, the writing prompt for today at 2Peas is:

If you could cure any disease, what would it be?

I don't even have to think about this one. In a heartbeat I would erradicate that ugly monster called Pervassive Development Disorder and all it's tenticled arms, especially the ones related to pre-mature birth-- Cerebral Palsy and Attention Deficit. POOF. Be gone. Is that too self-serving?

I wish.

The 10 Hour Carrots...and other things.

So, I've been having some trouble with my eyes, which is pretty run-of-the-mill for a person with Type 2 Diabetes and the daughter of two life-long near-sighted adults. Not good news for anyone, but especially not good for a photo-lovin' scrapbooker girl like myself. Not good at all.

So after consulting with my doctor, I'm taking a new horse-sized vision-protective vitamin and he said "Eat Carrots. You'll thank me when you are 60."

Newsflash...I have to this point in my 35 years on this planet hated carrots for um, yeah, all 35 years. (Hence, the eye issue.) I don't like anything orange. I don't like raw things. And I just don't like carrots. Or carrot juice. And I'm not a picky eater. It's just a carrot thing. I love to peel them...think they are beautiful when sliced on the bias...just hate to eat them.

But more than anything, I want good eyesight for all my days. So I swallow the horse-pill and am on a quest to conquer the disdain of the carrot. (Ideas welcome.)

So last week I bought a tiny little bag of tiny little mini carrots. Tried. No go. Feels like I'm eating rocks. Can't do raw. As an aside, do they actually come out of the ground that size? Or are they chopped down from life-sized carrots? I'm thinking of a wood lathe...insert the carrot, apply the blade, spin, watch as the big daddy carrot becomes a cute little mini carrot, stop the lathe, pop out the baby. So what happened to the rest of the carrot goodness that the carrot-lathe shaved off? Is it in a heap on the floor? How wasteful is that? Especially in the name of cuteness for carrots. I digress.

Also last week, I made one of my family's favorite meals--Roast and veggies in the slow cooker. I always put carrots in with the roast (for the last two hours) and everybody but me eats them. Even G, who tends to not like more things than he likes.

So with great hesitation, I tried the slow-cooked roast carrots. And to my great surprise, they were manageable. OK. I'm betting, given the presence of onion soup mix and broth, there's more sodium in this meal than is really supposed to be a good thing...and the carrots are well-done. No mush. Still very recognizable. (I use pretty large chucks, for easy avoidance.)

I ate a few and fished out a few more from the crock pot. I can manage cooked carrots, I told myself with an unhealthy dose of self-accomplishment. We have hope. They were actually pretty tasty.

But only carrots cooked in the slow cooker. Hmm. I make pot roast and veggies about 2-3 times a month. And I have to share the carrots...I can't keep them all to myself. Contemplation. We are either going to have to eat more pot roast (which isn't cheap) or I have to find a better solution.

So yesterday, we finished off the last of the pot roast and it occurred to me that there was plenty of juice (broth, juice, gravy, liquid, whatever) leftover...perhaps I could cook new carrots in that. (Can you hear the angels singing?) So today, my weekly shopping trip included full-sized really pretty (well, as carrots go) orange carrots. This afternoon I fished all the juice left from the pot roast out and heated it. Washed, peeled, fancy sliced about 12 large carrots and plopped them--along with some new celery and onion and a little extra broth into a pot and set them to simmer on the stove.

Can you say brilliant? I had carrots with dinner tonight and it was positively delightful. I didn't cook them very long--only about an hour and a half on very low heat. Still very much carrot-y...but not so much.

So, if you count the time it takes to cook the pot roast and then add the carrots into the remaining juices, it takes me about ten hours to cook these carrots, but at least they are good, right? :)

Incidentally, I am aware of the raw-foods movement and am somewhat informed about the nutrients that are lost during cooking. I get that a cooked carrot isn't as nutritionally helpful as a raw one to my sight. Hence, the horse-pill. If you read this blog much, you know I'm on the journey to better health, after living with bad food habits for most of my adult life. Please don't flog me. We are taking baby steps.

Do you have a favorite carrot recipe...besides carrot cake? Feel free to send it my way.

Sorry. I'm rattling. Actually, I think I started rattling about 6 paragraphs ago...thanks for sticking that out. :)

In other, non-carrot-ish news, I did a little garage sale shopping yesterday and today. Both days were very productive. Yesterday we went over to the downtown Ladies of Charity Stuff Galore Sale...now that was cool. Garage sale shopping in an air-conditioned environ. Who could ask for more than that? :) Today's find of the day was a mason's trowel for a dollar. Julian was thrilled. No weird people. No solicitations. It was a good day.

My sister is selling Avon now and enjoying it. I was impressed with her initiative at starting this when she moved here. She, too, shares my genetic predisposition toward entrepreneurialism. If you are local, shoot me an email if you would like an Avon catalog. Cool stuff...comes right to your door.

Speaking of my sister, Deb and I ventured out to a large consignment store in Dickson earlier in the week and found it to be a terrific place. Very clean, very well organized and very friendly. Oh and great prices too. :) We'll definitely be going back there and I can't wait to clean out my hall closet and take some items that no longer fit there to be consigned.

Garage sales, consignment shopping...I'm sounding really cheap these days, aren't I? Oh well. I'm not actually cheap...I have lots to do with my dollars and this helps them go farther and work harder. And I enjoy it.

Happy Father's Day.
May your eyes be strong and may your carrots be tasty.
Happy Sunday!

Card Class

Seen here are 2 cards that were part of the card class I took last night at Scrapn Memories. More than I needed a how-to in card-making, I needed a night out to do something fun. Mission accomplished. :)

Happy Weekend.

Never underestimate the value of a little dirt.

One of the peas posted this photo along with this note:

Here is a soldier stationed in Iraq, living in a big sand box. He asked his wife to send him some dirt (U.S. soil), fertilizer, and some grass seed so he could have the sweet aroma and feel of grass growing beneath his feet. Not only that...when the men of his squadron leave on a mission, they take turns walking through his grass and on the American soil - to bring them good luck.

_____________________________________

600 and Elton John lyrics

So, with this post, I have now written 600 blog entries. Not too shabby, aye? :)

I was shopping for socks last night when I heard this Elton John song, "Blessed" on the radio and thought it would make a wonderful addition to some baby pictures. Check it out:

Hey you, you're a child in my head
You haven't walked yet
Your first words have yet to be said
But I swear you'll be blessed

I know you're still just a dream
your eyes might be green
Or the bluest that I've ever seen
Anyway you'll be blessed

And you, you'll be blessed
You'll have the best
I promise you that
I'll pick a star from the sky
Pull your name from a hat
I promise you that, promise you that, promise you that
You'll be blessed

I need you before I'm too old
To have and to hold
To walk with you and watch you grow
And know that you're blessed

Dear LSS. Don't Lie to Me.

Dear Scrapbook Store.
Don't lie to me.
Don't say you are ordering the new product, when what I asked if you had was not a new product.
Don't look at me like I am an un-informed customer who can't possibly know more than you about a scrapbook thing.
Don't lie to me.

In fact, I am an informed customer. I'm probably more well-informed than most of your customers. I ask for a specific brand and line of product because I want to buy it locally (or semi-locally, in this case). I've seen it online and if you force me too, I will buy it online, although I would like to buy it locally, even with a 9.25% sales tax and the soaring price of gasoline. I know what the name of the line is and I can describe it to you in detail, if you ask.

I can even tell you that no other stores in the area are carrying it. There's a hole in the market that you could fill.

Here's a quick lesson:
When a customer asks "Do you carry ___ company's ____ line?" don't immediately look like you are doubting the existence of said line. If you don't think you have it, say these words: "I don't think we have it. But we do have some product from that company. What does the ____ line look like?"

If customer says "It has blue and orange stars on a white field." it's a safe assumption that she knows what she's talking about. At least give her the benefit of the doubt.

Do not lie to the customer. Do not say "It must be new and we haven't gotten it yet" unless you know for a fact that it is a new release. If in fact, it's not new, you will look like an idiot.

Do not say "it's been backordered forever". This is not the customer's problem and it looks like you are passing the buck. See rule #1--do not lie to the customer.

Do not say "I don't think they make that." You just look stupid.

Bottom line: Do not lie to your customers. Be honest with your customer. We know that you can't possibly know every style, size and brand of paper out there. If you don't have it or haven't heard it, it's OK. Just say "I haven't heard of that but I can check into it."

Say it with me: "I don't know, but I can check into it."

It's easy. It's not a lie. And it makes clients feel like you care. Your customer's can be an invaluable resource, if only you listen and do not lie to them.

For what it's worth, I am so frustrated right now, I don't know what to do. I shop regularly at a nice little LSS in Nashville. I shop sporadically to not-very-often at the LSS in the surrounding areas due to the time it takes to travel to them, the price of gas, and the convenience of shopping online. When Scrap It closed, I kinda lost heart in finding another scrapbook store with inspirational walls--that place was one-of-a-kind. The loss of Scrap It created an inspiration vacuum here. None of the other stores--far or near--can even begin to offer the kind of unique art that the girls who displayed their art at Scrap It shared. It never failed that I would leave that store with a tear in my eye and a crick in my neck from looking up at the pages and art being displayed. It was obvious they weren't generating pages solely to sell product...even tho I'm sure that was a goal.

None of the other stores have stepped up to fill the gap and that is disappointing to me. And, for what it's worth, none of the other stores are carrying a decent quantity of Scenic Route either, which makes me want to say bad words.

More later.

Goodbye old friend, Sweet Festivale

Weird as it sounds, I get attached to certain papers and I hate it when a company announces that they are retiring a line that I have especially loved. I take it quite personally--crazy, as that sounds, I know. (Because it is all about me, right.) Hee.

I remember where I was the first time I was captured by Scenic Route's Festivale line--a tiny little scrapbook store in Florence, Mississippi. It was pure magic. Now Festivale is being retired and I am having to restrain myself to prevent major stocking up and hoarding. It's a fantastic line and I've used it dozens of times...it's what I consider a scrap-classic. I will miss it.

According to Layle's newsletter, Festivale was SR's very first line and the only reason they are retiring it is to have more room for the 2 new lines they will be debuting at the upcoming trade show. While I can't wait to see what's new, I will still miss Festivale.

So, have you used Festivale? If so, let me know--I'd love to see it in all it's glory.

Happy Wednesday!

Garage Sale Find of the Year!!

It was a gem of a garage sale day! The find of the day...maybe the decade was a huge bin of Legos for $9.25. Well actually it was $10 but as the boys and I were washing thru them in the sink we discovered 75 cents in change also in the bin. LOL! Have you ever seen a sink f-i-l-l-e-d with soapy water and thousands of Legos? It's quite a sight! And I've never had such willing participants in the washing of anything before! If you've ever bought Legos at all, you know that this was a totally outrageous deal! It came with the bin and lid and about 25 instruction picture inserts. I am totally Mom of the decade today!

There was another box of approximately 2x this many for $30...I was tempted, but I didn't want to blow most of my garage sale cash in one spot. I'm totally happy with this find! My boys spend a great amount of time and brain power using Legos to make all kinds of things. I love that they are interested in building and creating in this way and I think or rather, I know it's especially good for Julian. Joal and I even enjoy a little construction time of our own once in a while too. :) The only time I dislike them is when I step on a stray. Bad. Very bad.

Other cool finds...a 50 cent wooden paper towel holder...a few coloring books, a silk Ficus tree. Nothing as impressive as the Legos. That one will be hard to top!

Couple of funny garage sale stories: At one stop on a cul-de-sac there were quite a few too many cars parked around the garage sale house. We pulled to the side and parked, out of the way, but not in anyone's grass or blocking any driveways. When we returned to the car after shopping, there was an old lady (old) in a blue housecoat standing on her front steps with a dustmop in her hand and she did *not* look very happy.

Deb and I were approaching our car and she shouted "Do you know who's car that is blocking my driveway?" "No, sorry" we said. Sure enough, there was a small car parked behind us, and it was protruding across the access to her driveway by about 2 feet. I'm not sure that could be defined as "blocking" but apparently she thought so. She stood there for a bit and we got on in our car, but we could hear and see her grumbling loudly. Before we pulled away a yound woman carrying a very tiny baby was walking to the offending car. We didn't hear what the old lady said (we were trying to get away in fear of the dustmop-toting granny) but it was obvious she was giving the young woman what for. The funny part is I would bet dollars to donuts that the old lady wasn't even going anywhere...she just didn't want her driveway blocked. At all. Bless her heart.

At another stop, we were walking down the short driveway to where the items were spread out when an older, pot-bellied poorly-kempt man wearing only shorts and houseshoes came out the front door. He seemd a little...um, maybe sloshed and disoriented and he said "I have 3 nice antique beds for sale in the house, if you wanna come in and see them." Dude. Not on my life! I told Deb a minute later..."I had to resist the urge to turn and run back down the driveway." She said "me too." Creepy. We got out of there really fast.

And finally, our first stop of the day was in Bellemeade, (an upscale, old-money part of Nashville...where Al and Tipper have a house). The house was wildly huge--at least three stories, maybe 4 and the sale was in the basement/garage area that opened onto a beautiful patio/driveway. The owner was a very chatty lady! She was telling people about stuff and encouraging everyone to make sure they knew that the sale was in all rooms of the basement. All 4,000 square feet of the basement.

Let me tell you, that was some basement. One room of it was filled with maybe a few hundred file-size boxes of tv shows that had been recorded on VHS tapes. Thousands of tapes...of tv shows...stuff like McGuyver, Rush Limbaugh, McCloud, Deep Space Nine, etc...it looked like someone had a full-time job of recording tv shows. This house was also selling their indoor play gym...like most people have a jungle gym outside for small children to climb, swing, slide on...these guys had an indoor one for sale. I didn't know such a thing existed. It was a serious jungle gym too.

It bugged my sister (who has all the makings of being a decorator) that the "4000 square foot" basement--was completely unfinished. The walls were roughed in but that was about it. I couldn't live in a house and not finish out the basement. Too much fun to be had...especially in one that size. Wild. Can you imagine the kind of scrapping that lady could do in her 4000 square foot basement??! Crops!

Oh and it was definately the day for old-style Kirby vacuums. I think we saw at least one at each of the first 6 stops. :)

No unmentionables today...thankfully. Although one lady who claimed to be having a garage sale in order to pay her bills while she's writing her visionary book, tried to tell us that some small decorative tins were "antique" and a good bargain at $2 each. They looked very much like some I've seen at the dollar store. Most defiantely not "antique".

So, now you know about our Saturday garage sale adventures. Most people understand that garage sales are about deals and...most people are very friendly and honest. Thankfully we don't run into many creeps like the dude with the beds.

And it is so much easier with Karen, the GPS!

Happy Saturday!

Beautiful but not funny.

What makes you laugh? Do you laugh enough?

A few weeks ago, Joal and I attended a over-night retreat with some friends and one of the get-to-know-each-other assignments was to recount the funniest things that's happened to you. Joal and I were hard-pressed to come up with anything really deeply funny to share and to be honest, it's been bugging me ever since. Are we not funny? Do we not have funny things happen to us? Is that not (gasp) normal? To make matters worse, we were the longest-married couple there (which is not unusual in our group of friends).

So I've been on a quest to find or remember funny things and do you know what I've discovered? My life is not funny.

The things I deal with as a parent (behavior, medication, dirt, seizures, doctors), as a home keeper (laundry, decor, cleaning), as one who is guiding my child's education (curriculum, reporting, constantly refocusing and re-directing, assignments, keeping it interesting, field trips, experiments), as a Christian (Sunday School teacher, supporter of missions to Sudan and Zambia, member of a large church), as an American (war, Army, elections, taxation), as a sister (the older sister), as a friend, a neighbor and as a woman...by and large, they just aren't funny.

Joal and I make each other laugh--until our sides ache or until one of us has to pee (you can guess who usually has to pee first, but it's not the one of us who has given birth twice) about stupid stuff but it's not stuff that anyone else would find uproariously funny.

Not to play self-evaluating pshcologist here, but I think part of it is that we are both extremely responsible oldest children. And life has thrown us some pretty serious curve balls--a child born early and with continuing physical and mental challenges, some pretty serious debt (which we worked out of, by the grace of God), some challenging career choices beginning with being an independent contractor and traveling extensively and ending with my not being employed, a life-altering move from Mississippi to Nashville, and some serious medical challenges for both of us.

Don't get me wrong. I'm not complaining. I know we have an amazing grace-filled life even with all the challenges. What's that Daryl Worly lyric..."I love this crazy, tragic, sometimes almost magic, awful beautiful life"? It's just all these things aren't necessarily known as "funny-material generators". Life is very serious to me and while I do laugh, it's not because things in my life are funny and I'm not even sure there's anything I can do about that.

That said, I do love a good redneck joke every now and then, probably because I grew up in Mississippi and they usually hit a little too close to home. :)

So, may your laughter be genuine and
may your life be filled with good stuff, not just funny stuff.