Zoom!

Did you hear that? Zooooom ... that's the sound of the last few days just whipping by! I go back to work tomorrow ... ugh. Only for 2.5 days, though, and then I'm off til Jan 7.

I spent some time in the scraproom on Boxing Day, and I hope to spend some more in there today. In only a couple of hours, I managed to create 3 single layouts and 1 double; I think that's a record. Good thing I'm becoming adept at speed scrapping, given how little time I have to spend on it!

I'm only going to share a couple of those layouts today ... that way if I go into another dry spell, I'll still have some layouts to share here (because after all, it's a scrapbooking blog - that's my story and I'm stickin' to it).

Puppy's First Christmas:
There's a mix of old and new on this layout - new = K&Co Christmas-themed patterned paper (a vintage-y pad). Old = Pebbles Inc. Real Life stickers that have been in my stash, like, for-ev-er. It just dawned on me that I forgot to put the date on this layout. Ooops. Will have to add a 2008 somewhere!

Daddy's Best Girls:

Those are daddy's sweet girls ... It's pretty rare that I use only one product line on a layout - I usually like to mix it up. This one, however, is done entirely with scraps of the Making Memories Sabrina collection. I have lots of leftovers of this one, I did a baby gift album for one of my staff using this a while back. I'm not sure whether this one is done, or whether it needs something at the top. Opinions?

And speaking of sweet girls, a big shout-out goes to one of my faithful blog readers, Samantha, who posted a comment yesterday saying I don't look old enough to have an 18 year old daughter ... Samantha is now my new best friend, lol ... seriously though - thank you. It does a 43-year old chick good to hear such a lovely compliment!

Have a lovely day!

Merry Boxing Day!

Aaaahhhhhh ... we're finally on the "right" side of Christmas, lol. Don't get me wrong - I love Christmas despite the stress, the commercialism, the hours and hours of work. But I always do a little happy dance (ok, maybe just inside my head) when I finish cleaning up after Christmas dinner, the guests are gone and I can finally slip into some jammies and relax. And speaking of jammies ... look at the cute ones sister D gave me for Christmas:


The writing on the front says "Actually, scrapbooking is the best medicine". :o) Excuse the really dorky pose, though. Not used to being on the front side of the camera I guess?!

Other than that jammie picture, we only took one other picture yesterday. Guess I was too busy to spend any time behind the camera. But at the end of the day, once everyone was gone, I remembered the camera and managed to get one shot of the kids (and Rufus the bear) in front of the tree:


I wish I had done this every year. It would be so neat to have a yearly picture of the kids in front of the tree (and to do a layout with them to show how they've grown). Not too late to start though!

So all in all, we had a pretty nice Christmas ... from Christmas Eve at my sister M's house, to Christmas Day with the husband's family here. I was spoiled by the husband even though we weren't supposed to "do" presents for each other. Got some Sens stuff, and spa gift card, and movie & dinner certificate, and lots of other stuff too... And the kids gave me great gifts too - a nutcraker from the boy (now I only need one more to complete my collection!) and a Sens teddy bear and bubble bath from the girl (and I'll be using that bubble bath later today, that's for sure!).

I got a few things for the husband too, even though we weren't "doing". One of the things I got him are these rubber things you put on your boots with metal thingies in them to help you walk when it's freezing rain (can't remember what they're called in English but in French they're 'crampons'). Those are coming in pretty handy this morning ... our part of the world is covered in sheer ice, and the husband is out there right now walking the dog with his new rubber thingies on his boots :o)

The husband has suggested I spend the rest of the day scrapbooking ... uh, yeah, ok, I think I can handle that! :o)

Happy Boxing Day everyone. Hope yours is spent relaxing ... but if your thing is hitting the boxing day sales, then I hope you get what you set out to buy, and that your car AND your body stay upright despite all the ice out there!

I think I'm gonna make it .....

I'm sure I'll remember something I've forgotten to do and might start panicking anytime soon, but so far, I actually think I'm going to make it to Christmas. House is decorated. Presents are bought and 75% wrapped. Menu is planned and I'm going to the groceries today. Baking is ongoing (it goes out the door as quickly as I bake it .... so more baking required!). Contrary to last year, I made it to Canada Post in time to have parcels sent regular postage and delivered before Christmas Eve (although according to the tracking system, one was picked up from the post office and one wasn't ... which is weird since they were both sent to Sister D as my brother was likely to be out of town by the time his parcel got there).

I put ribbon on 26 boxes of chocolates, made 9 packages of biscotti complete with Christmas ornament decorated with scrapbook supplies, and packaged up some biscotti for my boss in a really cute Martha Stewart cookie box. I wrote out 36 Christmas cards for each staff member.

I'm off work til Tuesday so I celebrated the start of my mini-vacation last night with a two-hour bath (involving two glasses of wine and a book) and then the husband and I headed out for a late-night coffee with our friends Carrie and Aki. We made efforts to stay out of the girl's way last night as she was having her friends over for drinks and munchies. This is what I found on the counter this morning ... which is fine since none of them were driving.

To me this was just a reminder of how things change over the years ... I remember when the girl having friends over meant pink lemonade and me doing crafts with them ... lol. Well, another couple of years and things will change again; we'll probably have drinks with them instead of giving them space!

There's a fine, gentle snow falling outside this morning. It really does look like Christmas out there. Plans for today include groceries, baking, wrapping and visiting my godson to deliver his Christmas present. Plans for tomorrow include cleaning the house, doing some advance food preparation for Christmas dinner, and spending Christmas Eve at sister M's. We are hosting my brother in law's family as well as my mother in law on Christmas Day. I am going to buy the biggest fresh turkey in Kanata today, so that we have plenty of turkey leftovers.

I'm working between Christmas and New Year's, but I'm taking the first 3 days in January off and other than taking down the Christmas decorations, I hope to do nothing but walk with the dog and the husband in the woods and scrap. You know, the dog really does have a good life ... I don't see her running around shopping, baking and wrapping ... nope, this is what she gets to do all day long:

Boy, she sure has a tough life ... :o)

Merry Christmas everyone! Hope Santa is good to you.

It's Going to be a White Christmas (not a blue one)

First storm of the season is upon us ... the wind is howling ... the snow is falling. I sure wish I could stay home and do Christmassy things today, like baking and wrapping. Ok, so maybe I've only bought 3 or 4 things so far, but I could totally wrap them. :o)





I managed to get the house all decorated last week, including switching to Christmas dishes. As I rummaged around in the basement I came across 3 boxes covered in Christmas paper ... 3 boxes that I haven't opened in 3 years. They contain my mother's old Christmas tree ornaments ... some of which she had since the 1940's. I remember how magical these ornaments looked on the tree. When I was young, I never saw the tree being trimmed - I always woke up one morning to a beautiful, magical tree in the living room. Those ornaments are so old now, even my mother wasn't putting them on her tree anymore ... she nestled them all so carefully in these 3 boxes though. When I took the boxes my intent was that each of my sisters and I would take one box, and we still have to do that. Although these would never withstand shipping or even going on an airplane so sister D's box will have to wait until someone tackles the 15 hour drive to my home town.

So I had myself a good cry, and I decided to capture the memory while the ornaments were still intact. I took pictures of them so carefully nestled in their boxes, and then I chose 3 to hang on my tree. See the big pink ball (I used to fantasize these were gumballs, lol) and the bird perched on the tree limb?


See the pretty blown glass "copper" teapot?


Please don't think of this as a sad post though. I don't have the Christmas blues. I may have shed some tears when I came across the ornaments - sometimes missing Mom hits me like a big wave - but there is a lot more to smile about than to cry about. Mom loved Christmas and made it such a magical time for us. When I decorate my house, and bake cookies, and wrap presents, I carry on a tradition that was passed on to me, if not explicitly, then by osmosis ... I just took it all in every year growing up and knew that I wanted to recreate Christmas magic for my own family some day. I used to really go overboard in the early years ... I've joked that I thought I was Martha Stewart, but in truth I think I thought I was my mother.

For a couple of years after my sister C passed away (on Christmas Day) I just couldn't put my heart into Christmas. In the end that kind of pressed the reset button for me where Christmas is concerned, and brought a bit of sanity back to the holiday. I'm reconciled now to the fact that I won't ever be able to do all my mother did - hey, I'll be happy if I make one kind of cookie this year, I'll never pressure myself again to make dozens each of at least a dozen different kinds. I'll do Christmas my own way, incorporating some new traditions with the old. And hopefully when my kids grow up (yes, I am denying that one of them already is grown up) they will have fond memories of their childhood Christmases and while they won't feel pressure to do things exactly the way I did them, they'll pick and choose the things that make them feel warm and fuzzy, and add new things to make Christmas all their own.

Whew, sucky post. But these thoughts were in my head and I needed to get them down somewhere. You know they'll end up on a scrapbook page someday ... oooh, in my new Christmas Decoration album!

To all of you who may have to go out in a winter storm today ... be safe and good luck! To those of you lucky enough to stay home ... have a cup of hot cocoa by the tree for me!

Makes me smile ...

It's just a tiny 2-foot tree set on a table in the corner of my dining room, but whenever I see it / think about it, I smile. Which is a good thing. It's a Sens tree. I gathered up all the Senators ornaments the husband got for me and the kids last year and concentrated them all on one tree. Lol. Anyhow, I can use all the smiles I can get right now ... dreading going back to work after a week+ away. I can just imagine what's waiting for me there. Ugh. :oO

It's beginning to look a lot like ... my old self!

Whatever it is/was - and I don't think it is/was shingles, I never got a rash - it's starting to get better. Guess what I really needed was rest. Haven't done much of anything this week, and it has paid off. I'm starting to feel like my old self again.

I did spend some time in the scrap room, though not as much as I would have liked. The couch was just too attractive, lol. But here's what my desk looks like:

Which, for me, is pretty messy. And here's some of the stuff I made:

The Christmas album is filled with layouts featuring some of my favorite Christmas decorations over the years. It's a work in progress - there are still some blank pages and plenty of stuff I haven't documented yet. I added a couple of pages this week but I actually got the album done a couple of weeks ago. I got on a roll making Christmas cards too.

My absolutely favorite creation of the whole entire year I think are those Christmas trees above - made them yesterday using foam cones from Michaels, 1/2"x4" strips of paper (mostly from the Making Memories Fa La La line), straight pins, and some gold tree decorations I bought at Home Outfitters. I really like how these turned out and they're now on my fireplace mantel.

The boy and I started putting up Christmas decorations last night - we got the Christmas village done. Today we'll do the tree and the rest of the decorations. I bought some of those new-fangled LED lights for the tree this year, to replace all those old strings of lights I've been using for years. Supposedly the LED lights save you money; not sure about that, considering how expensive they are, you probably have to use them for 30 years to come into any kind of savings!

Well, that's about it for now. Thanks for stopping by!

S'up?

Seems the only blogging I do these days involves apologizing for not blogging more often, and trying to catch up on what's been going on in my life! It seems blogging seems to come and go in cycles ... sometimes there's nothing to blog about, in which case there's enough time to blog; sometimes I have lots to say, but no time to say it! Argh!

Anyhow, my lack of blogging lately is due to tiredness more than anything else. I just haven't been feeling myself lately and while I originally thought I was coming down with the flu, no symptoms other than headache and tiredness have come out ... other than pain in my side, which cropped up this week. I've seen the doctor and there's a chance I have shingles ... we're on a 'wait and see' plan ... she also sent me for a blood test to see if my iron is low or if I have mono. And, she put me on sick leave til Dec 7. The same doctor who once told me "you're pregnant, not sick" when I asked for a week's sick leave at the end of my pregnancy ... the same doctor who prescribed me some sleeping pills when I went to see her stressed out and at the end of my rope right before Dad passed away (and I was sleeping just fine, I was just super-stressed and needed time to deal with Dad stuff) ... has now suggested I take a week of work. Weird. I feel guilty because I'm not exactly bed-ridden, I could drag my sorry self to work and get through the day. But I guess it's wise to try and rest ... if it is shingles, the rash should come out in the next few days, and if it's not, then who knows what it is, but rest won't hurt. I'm having a hard time concentrating, so even though my body can make it to work, my mind, not so much... So I was supposed to be off starting Thursday but went in to work Thursday morning to wrap up some stuff at work. Yesterday I spent lounging around, and I went to bed at 6:45 pm ... watched some tv, fell asleep before 9:00, woke up at 7:00 ... tired and headachy. Argh!

I don't have much new to share with you. The boy had a hockey game at ScotiaBank Place at the beginning of the month. I found it to be a bit of a let-down ... they led us to believe that it would be just like an NHL game, with the goals being called and the horn when they score etc. ... but really it wasn't much different than playing in a tournament and less so even, because when you have about 30 people cheering in a stadium built for 19,000, there's not much atmosphere! And the horn blowing ... say it blows for about 6 seconds for an NHL goal ... it barely blew one second for the boys' goals. Cool for the kids though, who got to see some of the off-limits parts of the building, sit on the same bench as the Sens, and play on the same ice surface. Here's a pic of the kids having a face-off on the Sens logo ... the boy is in white, last player on the right, yes, the one right in front of the Viagra ad ... !

Last weekend the boy and I went to a tournament in Brockville. Originally the husband was supposed to come too, and had scheduled his work commitments accordingly; but the tournament schedule was completely changed the night before because of a team dropping out, which completely screwed up our plans. The boys won one, lost one, still ended up in semi finals, won the semi finals, and lost in the finals. We got four games out of it, our money's worth I guess!

The husband and the boy have been spending some time doing some hunting training with the dog. First though, they had to get her something orange to wear so she wouldn't be mistaken for a deer ... they couldn't find a vest, but did find this harness, which she wears quite proudly:

They're going back out to the woods today, with a case of live pidgeons ... don't ask, I'd rather not tell ... ! Hey, you can see the dust on my hardwood floor in the picture above ... yikes.

I did manage to get some scrapbooking done over the last couple of weeks. I put together a Christmas theme album with all those random Christmas decoration pictures I've taken over the years, and I've gotten a healthy start on making Christmas cards. My scrapbook room looks like a tornado went through it. :o) I hope to get lots more done over the next week. I can't spend the whole week lying in bed, can I?

I'll scan the Christmas album and some of the cards and come back soon to show them to you ... might get us all into the Christmas spirit ... I can't believe Christmas is less than a month away!

Have a good weekend, everyone!

And, more layouts ...

I completed these ages ago, before the last batch of layouts I've recently posted. Not sure how come they never made it to the blog!



These layouts make me pine for a weekend away ... some quiet relaxation ... good food, good conversation ... rest ... rejuvenation. Well, the good news is, we have a weekend away coming up at the end of November. The bad news is, it's for a hockey tournament, and the husband, boy and I will be sharing a double bed and cot in a chain hotel and spending every waking moment doing the hockey thing. Not that I don't like hockey (as you well know, I live and breathe it) - but somehow, I just don't think there'll be much relaxation, good food, good conversation, rest or rejuvenation. Lol.

Yay, it's Thursday. The week is more than half over, and even though the work week is intense and will continue to be so til 5 pm Friday, the weekend is within my sights. Big stuff coming up this weekend - the boy is playing an exhibition game at ScotiaBank Place (the NHL arena, for those of you who don't know these things) complete with O Canada, player introductions, goal announcements, etc etc. And if that's not fun enough, well we've got tickets for the Sens game too. (See, I really do live and breathe hockey :o)

Ciao!

Happy Halloweenie!

Yes, I dressed up for Hallowe'en last year .... but it was for a good cause. Staff dressed up management at the office and we had to panhandle around the office (and in the commercial areas of the building) for United Way donations. My staff dressed me up as a nun, lol ... the whole thing was a bit embarrasing, but we collected over $1,100 for charity!

No Hallowe'en costume for me this year, though I intend to slip on my witch earrings later today. The boy has a hockey game at 5:30 pm (who schedules a hockey game on Hallowe'en night?) so the husband will be on his own with the ghosts and goblins (and dog who barks whenever the doorbell rings) for a while. Wish him good luck!

Happy Hallowe'en, y'all!

More Layouts...

Busy bee as usual. TGIF is all I can say. Hoping I can grab some scrap time this weekend ... otherwise I will soon run out of new layouts to share with you!

Happy weekend, everyone....

PS: Barb - do you recognize any elements on that first layout? Think back, waaaay back, to our Creative Scrapbooks days and a Winter Swap we both participated in ... yup, the frame and title tag are courtesy of you!

Some layouts ...

Here are some of the layouts I managed to get done a couple of weekends ago ...







See, I really do scrapbooking ... I wasn't just putting you on all this time :o)

Good Doggie!

Well I did find time to scrap last weekend, both during my alone time on Friday and a bit on Thanksgiving Monday too. We had a great time on Saturday at the hunt camp with our friends, and I got my fill of special treats like stuffing and pecan pie ... yum.

While I found time to scrap, though, I found absolutely no time to scan a few layouts and share them here. So the one above will need to do for now - I managed to scan it this morning between making lunches, waking up the boy and waking up the dog...! Hopefully, I will find some time to scan the rest and share soon. The scan doesn't do it justice, btw, the patterned paper is much brighter in real life and the yellow matches the flower much better.

Have a great week, everyone!

Remember Me?

I know, I know. Bad, bad blogger. I sit here at the computer, my head hung low, feeling really badly that I haven't updated the blog in almost 20 days. Yikes, where does the time go?

Let's see, what's been going on the last three weeks ... hmnnnn ... well, we had a 3 year memorial mass for my father in law. Also, my poor husband has been so sick (it got bad enough at one point that I thought he had the H1N1 flu). Sinus infection, non-stop cough ... it's been rough going around here. The girl and I both caught it, have both been fighting it for a while. I am fighting it rather unsuccessfully these days; it seems to have settled in my inner ear, turning me into a dizzy blonde. I went to the clinic today, but my ears aren't infected. According to the doctor, sometimes vertigo settles in during a cold and sticks around for a while. Oh joy.

The boy went to Toronto for We Day and had a blast. That same weekend, the husband and I (and the dog of course) went for an overnight stay at the trailer. That was lots of fun; I truly can't wait til next summer! The boy has started hockey, and it looks like it will be a good season this year ... coach-wise, team-wise, and hockey parents-wise. Oooh, and the boy and I went to the Senators' home opener last night. Have I ever mentioned how much I love hockey? Man, it was great to be there again. And the cherry on top - they won.

The husband and the boy are at the trailer tonight; I stayed in town because I'm cooking up a storm for our traditional hunt camp Thanksgiving tomorrow. The girl has gone to a friend's house for the evening ... do you realize what this means? I am HOME ALONE. No dog. No husband. No boy. No girl. Just me and my SCRAPPING SUPPLIES! Yes my friends, finally, a scrap night for me! Now don't get me wrong, I love my family to pieces, but woo-hoo, sccrrraaaaapppp nighttttttt!!!. Hopefully I'll get a few pages done while I cook, and with any luck, I may post again tomorrow morning to show you some layouts!

Ciao!

His & Hers

HIS:


HERS:


And the beauty of it is, he'll share his with me, and I'll share mine with him ... :o)

Seriously, we needed somewhere to keep the boat, right? So ... yesterday afternoon we bought a 33' trailer located on a really sweet site at the same campground we kept our tent trailer at in 2003. The trailer is about 20 years old, but very well maintained. The site is large, nicely treed, there is a huge deck, and it came with everything including patio furniture, a covered swing-for-two, bbq, mower, tv, and all the kitchen stuff. It's also got a wooden platform for a a tent, so the boy will be able to have friends up for weekends. The picture really doesn't do it justice; I snapped it quickly to show the boy when we got back home. I should have taken some pictures of the site itself. We reserved a slip for the boat and got a very good spot there as well. The campground is really nice, on the Big Rideau, and we're very comfortable there, have been going on and off for years. We take possession this week but the campground closes October 15 ... we really hope we manage to do an overnighter there before we have to close it up for the season. Life may be a bit too busy for that. Sigh. Well, at least we are going to have stuff to look forward to, maybe it'll help us get through the long winter ahead!

So I guess we are going to have to dust off our trailer sign, our gnomes and our patio lanterns ... lol ... here's an old layout from 2003, showing how we embraced the tacky trailer park life. Hey, when in Rome, right?? :o)


Sorry about the blurry sign - have to practice safe internet, you know? Happy Sunday everyone!

Yes, it's that time of year again ...

...where a girl's thoughts turn to hockey!!

On the minor hockey side of things - the boy has gone through conditioning camp and is now halfway through the sortouts (aka tryouts), which to his delight consist solely of scrimmages rather than drills. He got two goals and an assist in the first game, and one goal (on a penalty shot - nice deke!) in the second game, so he's feeling pretty good about how he's doing. On the downside, the next two sortouts are tonight at 8 pm and tomorrow night at 6 pm, which does pretty much screw up the weekend.

On the NHL hockey side of things - I was relieved that my Sens managed to trade Heatley before the season started. Even though he's the only Senator whose autograph I have! Don't get me wrong, I would much rather have him play for the Sens, but since he asked to be traded and all the media hype etc. - the last thing I wanted was to go to a game and hear the fans boo him. Sad, but true. Sens fans are a fickle lot. I am really looking forward to the start of the season. The first regular season game is the first weekend in October, but it's an away game. I bought tickets to the home opener on October 8, so the boy and I will be there! Yay!


Well thank goodness it's the weekend again, though I can't believe how fast time is going by these days. I got nothing done around the house last weekend, and I'm not so sure I'll get anything done this weekend, either. Today the husband and I are going off to the lake to look at a trailer ... yes, we may become trailer people again ... unless we buy a cottage ... or a waterfront lot on which to build a cottage ... or do nothing. We've been back and forth on this for a few weeks now, just can't decide what to do. Well, what can you expect; once we made a decision to buy a boat, we had to find something to talk about while we sip our wine, no?

Ciao everyone, have a great weekend!

Proud Mama

So you probably think this post is about something awesome one of my kids did. As awesome as my (human) kids are, this post is actually about my awesome canine kid, Lexi.

I never really understood this whole dog thing until Lexi came into our lives. Couldn't really comprehend how people could think of pets as their kids. But you know, those darned puppies can grow on you in a major way, and one morning you wake up and boom, you feel more like a parent than a dog owner.

And while my kids have given me plenty - and I mean PLENTY - of 'proud parent' moments over the last 18 years, this post is about a proud puppy parent moment that happened just this past weekend. You see, our little labrador (you know, the one with webbed paws?), who had been resisting the water in a major way so far - well, she learned how to SWIM. She's been playing in shallow water for some time now, but absolutely refusing to venture out past her tummy. I think it's probably because she walked onto the water off the dock earlier this summer (thinking it was solid ground?) and got the shock of her life.

Last weekend, we rented a small cottage (if it doesn't have a bathroom, can I call it a cottage? or should I call it a cabin?) at a campground on Sand Lake. The cabin was right in front of the beach, and a 7 year old chocolate lab named Reese was staying at a neighboring cabin. Reese loved to play in the water, swimming out to fetch a frisbee or a stick. Lexi spent a good bit of time watching and a good bit of time walking in the very shallow water trying to play too. Eventually she got brave and went pretty deep, and I think a couple of times she had all four paws off the bottom. But that's as far as things got at this particular location.

On the Monday, we were hanging out with friends at a dock and boat launch near their house (also on Sand Lake), and someone threw in a stick for Lexi, which went a little bit further than intended. Into the water she went, and when the water got deep, she just ... kept going. Doin' the doggie paddle. Oh em gee, she was swimming. She was so excited at her newfound freedom, she ignored the stick and kept going. Towards the middle of the lake. Lol. While dh was tearing his shirt off and getting ready to jump in after her, our friend threw in a shoe and got her to fetch it and bring it back. From that moment on, my puppy girl swam like a pro.

Now it might have been lake water from all the splashing around, but I'm pretty sure I felt a tear of joy or two on my cheeks. Awwww, my little baby is growing up into such a big dog! It's not that long ago that she was just a little puppy, graduating from puppy school:


Not to be outdone, of course, my human kids also make me proud. The boy has had a great start to the school year, approaching grade 8 with enthusiasm. He's had a test already (for which he studied at the cabin during the long weekend - now that's dedication!) - he scored 106%. It would appear we have another overachiever in the family, lol!

And the girl is now officially a university student. She's putting her $282 bus pass to good use, using transit like a pro, and she's got such a sparkle in her eyes, thrilled with her program and her classes. Tomorrow, my baby girl will turn 18. Not such a baby anymore, eh.

So I'll leave you with another proud puppy parent moment, our little Lexi finally getting her sea legs and getting comfortable on the boat. We've gone from having to pick her up (70 pounds, aye) and carrying her in, to her just jumping in on her own. And she seems to like riding up at the front, with the wind in her hair ...


Ciao, have a great weekend!!

Have you met Ella?

If you haven't already, you MUST visit this totally cool new scrapbooking site ... it's the brainchild of some Simple Scrapbooks alumni ... and (the very totally cool part), scrappinbarb is a part of it all! Seriously, check it out.

And come back here in the next few days; when I have time, I'll tell you all about the great weekend we had on Sand Lake and I'll share some pictures of our lab puppy FINALLY LEARNING HOW TO SWIM! Ciao!

Room With A View

What do you do when the pictures you want to scrap are less than stellar? Well, you just scrap them anyway. It's all about the memories (unless it's all about getting published - but thankfully, I've never been caught up in that). So, these are pictures of the girl and I on our Montreal trip last summer. (Speaking of caught up - looks like I will never be caught up to date on pictures!) So we stayed at the Queen Elizabeth Hotel, and had a gorgeous view of a cathedral out of our hotel room window.

Didn't have to worry too much about a view last weekend though! The husband and I had a short but sweet weekend away in Kingston, and I must confess to only peeking beyond the curtains once during our whole stay there ... hey, we had other things to focus on, like celebrating 21 years of marriage, lol!!!

We have plans again this weekend, this time involving the boat, the boy, the dog, a cottage, a lake, and friends. I am so far behind on housework, it isn't even funny; but who wants to spend a long weekend cleaning house?

Hope you all have a wonderful long weekend. Make memories now, scrap 'em later!!! Ciao!!!

Oh yeah ... this is a scrapping blog!?!

Hmn. I have very faint recollections of starting a blog a couple of years ago, with the intention of sharing my scrapbook layouts with you all. Scrapbook layouts, you ask? What are those?

Ha. I just counted - I created a grand total of 8 layouts this summer. How sad is that? On the other hand, there are so few months in this country where one can enjoy the great outdoors without multiple layers of clothing on, it does make sense that most of my down time this summer was not spent hunched over a scrap desk. And hopefully, I've managed to create enough new memories (and capture them with my camera) to keep me busy scrapping through the winter!

So I've shared 2 of those 8 layouts with you already. I just finished scanning the other 6 in. Which is an accomplishment in itself; our printer/scanner has taken on a personality of its own in the last few months. A cranky, uncooperative, disconnected type of personality.

I won't show you all six at once - no, I'll stretch it out, otherwise it could be months before this blog sees a layout again! So, without further ado, here is one of my latest:


See how I converted the letter C to the letter E? Yup, I must be the MacGyver of the scrapping world. Lol. What can I say - I absolutely wanted to use the lime green ones and I had no E's left.

Happy Weekend everyone!

This One's For You, Honey!

Twenty-one years of marriage, and you still make those butterflies flutter.

Glad you still think of me as your hot chicka. :o)

Looking forward to our time away together!!!

xoxo

For the rest of my readers: Hi there! Yup, today's my 21st wedding anniversary. And my 43rd birthday. Ya, I'm not one of those people who downplay birthdays and worry about getting older ... as far as I'm concerned, I get better with every year! There, I said it, lol!!! And for my "younger" readers ... it really is true - 40s are the new 30s.

So - tonight we are celebrating my birthday by going out for dinner (Thai) - all four of us. Did presents already ... the boy gave me a Sens mug, a cow bell (for cheering him on during his hockey games), and a Sens key chain. The girl gave me the latest Sophie Kinsella book. The husband gave me a gift card to one of my favorite clothing stores, AND one to my favorite spa. So spoiled.

Then, this weekend, the husband and I are celebrating our anniversary with a very special getaway. Can't wait! :o)

Ciao, y'all!

A twisted sense of humour

So here's what the husband is drinking his coffee out of these days:

A brief background recap for those of you who haven't been reading my blog from the start:

a) the husband is not a hockey fan

b) the husband hates the Senators

c) if the husband HAD to like a hockey team, it would be the Bruins

d) the husband knows I intensely disklike the Maple Leafs

A couple of weeks ago, I accidentally broke my most favorite coffee cup ever, my Eastern Conference Champions Senators coffee cup ... a few days later, instead of finding a brand new Sens cup waiting for me (which would have been a lovely and thoughtful surprise, eh?), I see the husband drinking out of that ugly thang.

Nevertheless, the husband is good for SOMETHING ... I might not approve of his taste in coffee cups, or his coffee cup shopping habits, but I do mightily approve of his taste in boats, and his tendency to buy one every once in a while. Here's what the husband and the boy went to pick up today:


A really sweet deal since it's technically the end of the season. Though I suspect we may get more summer in September than we ever did in July. I'm looking forward to tooting around on this thing! We took it out on a maiden voyage this afternoon, on the Rideau River near Manotick. I think this is the best boat we've had to date. It's wide, deep, and has tons of storage. It felt good to be out on the water again. I did enjoy kayaking earlier this summer ... but I'm a pretty big fan of the speedboat experience, too!

Now, our current debate is whether to get a life jacket for the dog. Surprisingly, our little lab - despite her big webbed paws - has resisted swimming all summer. She seems to be - gulp - afraid. We can't get her past where she can touch, and even then, it's an effort to get her to come into the water at all. And today, the husband had to scoop her up and carry her into the boat - although once she was in, she seemed to like it. Hopefully her instincts will kick in soon (and then the challenge will be getting her out of the water!).

We're hoping to take a day trip out to the Big Rideau with the boat tomorrow, but the latest weather forecast doesn't sound good at all. On the bright side, if we don't make it out, maybe I'll get to stay home and scrap (and vacuum and clean the floors, and iron, and dust.... ugh).

Hope y'all are having a terrific weekend! Thanks for coming by!

Back to the grind!

Apparently, the old adage is true - time really does fly when you're having fun. I can't believe it's over. Time away from work really puts things in perspective; it's amazing that I spend about 2/3 of my waking hours commuting/working when the really important stuff in life has nothing to do with work. Hmph. I seriously gave some thought to my options, but early retirement (ie, 12 years early, lol) just isn't one of them. So, back to the grind. First day back was like a crouching tiger. Not so bad, and actually kind of ok, for the first little bit ... considering that I'm replacing my boss for the next three weeks. Then the tiger growled and leapt, and I got called to a late afternoon meeting with the DM which has generated lots of panicky deadliney work, AND my admin assistant (who's been with me almost 3 years) gave 2 weeks' notice. I didn't get home til 6:45. Welcome back, eh?

So I'm going to indulge myself briefly here and relive my vacation, at least the Coles Notes version.

Week 1 - Cottage Fun!

The cottage we rented was awesome, we would definitely stay there again. Even the girl conceded that it wasn't THAT bad (though she'd rather not ever do the cottage thing, ever). And truth be told, there were some really big, weird bugs out there. I kayaked, did a little bit of fishing, swam (only one time though - it just wasn't warm enough for me to want to enter the water more than once). Happy hour started earlier each day. The husband was able to handle business by blackberry and didn't stray from our side all week. We had friends visit. We had moments of pure relaxation. And, not only did I not GAIN weight despite happy hour and frequent dips into the chip bowl, I LOST half a pound. All in all, a pretty good start to vay-cay.







Week 2 - Kingston, and the week that flew by

Not sure exactly where time went to this week. We went to our friends' house for a BBQ. The girl and I had yet another awesome girls' trip, this time to Kingston. We stayed at a different B&B than last year. This time, it was the Rosemount Inn, which we'd wanted to stay at ever since we did the Haunted Walk of Kingston a couple of years ago and found out it was apparently haunted. While it was very nice, turns out the Secret Garden Inn, just a stone's throw away and where we stayed last fall, is nicer. And also haunted (who knew). Then, the husband and I day-tripped out of town to visit friends. And then, the week was over. I only took 3 pictures that week!




Week 3 - Shopping, shopping and more shopping

Also known as, the week where I took NO pictures. I spent a fortune at Ikea on decor items for the kids' rooms. I found some great deals on clothes for me at Winners (and I can usually NEVER find clothes at Winners, but this time, jackpot!). I found new bedding and linens, curtains, etc. for the master bedroom at Home Outfitters. I had lunch by myself on an outdoor patio. I went shopping in Westboro with my sister M and we went to see the movie Julie & Julia together (really cute movie, I highly recommend it - Meryl Streep is AWESOME as Julia Child). I bought new blinds for the scraproom. I bought some new (smaller!!) jeans at Reitmans, and I bought white jeans, which I'd been looking for all summer. The girl and I took do a practice run on the bus to Carleton U, and had a lovely lunch in the Glebe. I went into a laundry and ironing frenzy on the weekend. I managed to get a tiny bit of scrapbooking in, and got 3 2-page layouts done. To be posted at a later date ... my scraproom is currently all packed up as it's being painted.

And then, all of a sudden, it was Sunday night, and just like that, vay-cay was OVER.

And, also just like that, this post is OVER. It's 6:30 a.m., time to have breakfast, make my lunch and reluctantly commute back to the grind! Have a great week, everyone!