My Mini Vay-Cay

Well, having to cancel our travel plans at the last minute really wasn't so bad. I had a very relaxing three days. On Wednesday I scrapped; on Thursday I spa'd and shopped (and scrapped a bit) and watched the Sens game on tv; and today I scrapped (and shopped a bit). I made good use of a Michaels 50% off coupon (and it wasn't even on scrap stuff!). While I was there, I took advantage of a 40% off sale on paper packs and picked up some Bazzill, some Basic Grey and a really cool K&Co paper pad with 3-D punch-out snowflakes and gems. No idea what I am going to do with that, but it was too cool to resist. I may have picked up a few other things too ... amazing how large the bill is even when the bag is small!

So I have TONNES of new layouts to share ... but I think I'm going to do it one at a time. That way I'll have something new to show you for the foreseeable future! I've actually had time to scan them all in, stitch those that need stitching, AND post twice to the blog in one day. Ain't vay-cay grand?

Here's a one-pager with one of my very favorite pictures of the boy and his dog. This was taken this summer on one of our frequent drives into town from the cottage. He's reading a comic book ... with Lexi asleep on his thigh. HOW CUTE IS THAT???


Supplies include Love, Elsie patterned paper and stickers. You can't really tell on the scan but I used pop dots for the sticker words as well as the center of the flower.

Well at least I get a weekend before reality hits again on Monday. The weekend will be busy as usual, seeing as though I didn't do any housecleaning or laundry catch-up during my time off. Hopefully I'll find time to sit down at the computer and post another completed layout!

Ciao!

Awwwww ... I heart YOUR blog!

How sweet of Barb to give me a blog award thingie. My very first! I heart her blog and visit it every day - and I love that most days, there's a new post! With pictures! And layouts! Barb's a great blogger ...

Here are three blogs I love ... pass it on!


1. Robyn
2. Rachel
3. Katie

I may not leave comments often (though I should), but I visit daily!!

:o)

Putting on the brakes

I can't believe it's already November 25th, one month until Christmas! I have no idea how November happened. Last I remember, I was dressing up for Halloween (lol). Life is way too busy and time goes by way too fast. No time for the good stuff. Do you know that I've only made 5 2008 layouts? And I'm not even done 2007?

So I had taken Wed-Fri off this week because we were supposed to make a family trip to New Hampshire to visit the boy's godparents for American Thanksgiving. And just like last year, the trip has now been cancelled because all of a sudden it seems every last one of the husband's clients want to put an offer in on a house NOW. I swear, the gods conspire against us. But I've decided not to turn my vacation days back in. I worked hard to clear my schedule for 3 days and set myself up for this time away, so I'm going to take a mini vacation at home. I will spa, shop and scrap, not necessarily in that order (we'll see what I feel like when I wake up tomorrow). And I'm not talking about one hour of scrapping, either. Noooooo. I'm talking about spending so much time in that scrap room, the kids think I've left the house. Oh yeah.

So here are the only two layouts I've managed to get done since, I think, September. They've been done for a couple of weeks at least but I haven't had time to scan them til now. Sorry no supply lists (no time - see first paragraph, lol).

Let Sleeping Dogs Lie (2008):



Boo (2007)



Hopefully I'll be back here soon sharing all of the layouts I manage to get done this week (fingers crossed, hopes high!).

Ciao!

It's the little things ...

They say it's the little things that make you happy. Well in this case it's a big thing. A boot big enough for my big calves, that is.

My whole entire life, no matter my weight situation, I've always had large calves. It's gotten worse with age I think (ok, maybe with weight, too). I find it so depressing trying to find boots that fit. I bought a pair last year, but they were riding boot style, with a lower heel, and not all that girly, to tell the truth.

But yesterday, while taking a brief walk on the commercial level of my office building, I walked into a shoe store, saw a pair of boots I liked, asked for help, was told they were the one style that came in a wide calf, tried them on, they fit, they were on 20% off sale, I just happened to have a coupon for 20% off as well in my purse, so I got them for $94 tax in ... 40% off original price! And they fit! And they're girly!

So like I said - it's the little things that make you happy.

Another reason I'm happy today is that I have the day off work. It's Rememberance Day, and government is closed for the day. In truth, I think we should trade off this holiday for Family Day (which, starting last year, is a provincial holiday in February which the kids get but parents who work in federal government don't). I don't know anyone who actually goes to Rememberance Day ceremonies on this holiday - most people start their Christmas shopping (great opportunity to hit Toys R Us without the kids). I was actually going to go in to work today, because I have so much catching up to do, but I brought work home instead. We'll see how that goes. And while I won't be going to any ceremonies, I will make sure to observe a moment of silence at 11:00 while watching the downtown ceremony on tv.

And then maybe, just maybe, I'll spend a bit of time at my scrap desk doing some little thing. Because (say it with me), it's the little things that make you happy!

Okay, Half will be Revealed, and Two Days Late

Lesson learned; one should not promise to "reveal all" by a particular date if one is not 100% sure one will be able to "reveal all" by then. Lol.

So the charitable campaign is going really well. It's taking up way too much of my time, and I truly can't wait for it to be over, but I'm loving how staff are engaged and I'm so impressed at people's generosity and I don't just mean with money - with time and creativity too.

One of the big events of the campaign is the Loonie Race. Six teams compete by laying down over 1,000 loonies each on a pre-determined sticky-tape course. Many government departments do their own race in advance of the big interdepartmental race. But few departments do it the way we do. Over the years, we've incorporated an annual theme and costume contest. Senior management participates alongside all levels of staff and it's a hilarious thing to watch. Turns out, not such a hilarious thing when you're on stage instead of in the crowd watching, though!! The theme this year was Performing Superstars and the sub-theme chosen by the team my Branch was in was alumni of the Mickey Mouse Club. Through circumstances somewhat beyond my control, I was Britney Spears. I was hoping to be able to show you what that looked like, rather than tell you, but so far no decent pictures have surfaced. All sources have not been exhausted (as we had a fair number of paparazzi) so I haven't given up yet.

That was early last week. On Friday, our Branch had a fundraising event where all the senior managers were dressed up for Halloween by their staff and had one hour to roam the floor/building/street/whatever begging for donations. Whoever had the most money at the end of the hour won a really nice prize donated by one of our staff. After the Britney experience I was kind of worried about what my staff would choose to dress me in, but I think they decided to balance out the Britney experience in a big way (see Jennifer, we were dressed alike for Halloween!!!):


Also, they figured no one could refuse a nun asking for money, lol. I ended up raising over $94, but one of the Directors raised over $200 and won the prize. All told, we brought in over $1,000 for charity in 60 minutes! That brings our total raised so far through events, etc. to over $5,700. Best.HRB.Campaign.Ever. I just hope I manage to surmount the backlog in my day job when this is all over!

All righty then. I've technically revealed all, but only managed to show you half. I'll keep looking for a decent picture of me as Britney, but here's a preview ... just imagine her 25 years older, and 25 pounds (uh, conservative estimate) heavier!