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!

I Can't Believe it's Almost Over ...

It's incredible how fast time goes by when you're enjoying yourself. It's been a busy, but fun, vacation. I'll come back and post some pictures soon ... for now I just want to get all I can out of the four days I have left. Including maybe some scrapbooking - I've been so busy, I've only spent about 1.5 hours at it!

I just wanted to pop by and wave hi, and assure you all that yes, I am in fact still alive! Believe it or not, I had to set my alarm just to make sure I would have a few minutes this morning for this update!

Ciao!