The Bend in the Road

Friend with Flair on Friday

2012-02-10T20:25:00.003-07:00

First of all, I am so delighted it is Friday! For many, many reasons.

This is a card I made a few weeks ago for a friends birthday. The stamps are from Bella Blvd Sweet Celebration Birthday. I stamped the cupcake twice, once on the pink paper and once on the brown and cut them apart for separate top and bottom pieces. I added some pink glitter to the cupcake top and then used foam adhesive to adhere it for dimension. I used a spellbinders die for the cupcake to sit on so it stood out from the background, which is from a Die Cuts with a View Mat stack. It matched my 'sweet' birthday theme perfectly!

Craft spending update

2012-02-09T21:35:00.003-07:00

When I decided on my craft spending freeze one thing I did forget about was a monthly stamp set that I get from Unity. I got the January set and it cost about $31.00. I love the stamps from Unity and I was going to keep getting them, but decided just last week to cancel my subscription. I have lots of stamps that have not been used yet, so hopefully I'll get to those too in this frugal endeavour of mine. So, other than the January stamp set, I have not purchased any additional supplies. And I should be good for the next month or so for adhesive. So far so good. And I'm quite happy to be using what I have.
Now, if I only had more time to spend in crafty pursuits...

GPS

2012-02-08T20:23:00.002-07:00

I had to drive out to the River Cree Resort yesterday for a nutrition seminar. According to Google maps, the easiest route would be the Anthony Henday, so that's the way I went. I turned on my GPS too, cause I'm super paranoid that I will get hopelessly lost anytime I go to unfamiliar parts of the city. So, I headed north on 66th street and hooked up to the Henday. My GPS is several years old and has not been updated. It doesn't have the Henday in its database and the disembodied voice kept saying "recalculating" and "stay on highlighted route"...I swear she even started to sound testy after the first dozen or so reminders that I clearly wasn't following. The view on the GPS screen showed me driving in the middle of nowhere. Lost. Directionless. Only knowing where it was I wanted to eventually end up. So my mind stared comparing this situation to another one in my life right now. One where what I thought was the right direction appears not to be. I feel like the picture of the car on the GPS screen - just out there without the guidance or landmarks that I know. It's a bit scary. My 'inner gps' seems to be off line and I'm not sure I know which direction to take. I've been in these sorts of situations before where all seems overwhelming. It is frustrating to be here again and yet, in the past, things have always worked out. Even things that seemed on first glance to be disastrous turned out to be a step in the very direction I needed to go. I'm trying to trust that will happen this time too. It is uncomfortable feeling this way. A yoga instructor I know says "embrace the discomfort" - it is a sign that growth is happening - whether in a yoga pose or in any other situation - and I'm trying to do that. Trying to trust that if I can be still enough to hear what my heart is saying, that next step or decision will be made clear.
Be still. Trust.

Cherish

2012-02-05T21:37:00.004-07:00

This is the scrapbook project I've been working on for the past few weeks. I really love the style of work I've seen here and here. And if I wasn't on a self-imposed craft spending freeze, I'd sign up for the kits here . I had a piece of corrugated cardboard hanging around and decided to use it as a background and give this style a try. I pulled off some of the top layer of cardboard to expose the corrugation, then brushed it over with white paint, gave it a spray with walnut ink and rubbed some distress ink along the edges and randomly over the top. I sprayed a white paper doily with the same walnut ink and then with water to get the shade/effect I wanted.
I made flowers using tutorials from Moments of Tranquility (the first link above) and I crocheted the cream coloured ones. The rose on the left side of the page is my favourite. The papers here are Bo Bunny; I used border punches and a lot of stitching; I also used various mists, paint, stickles and distress ink. There is some sheer ribbon and twine along with some embellishments from Bo Bunny that matched the paper. I had a lot of fun making this and it was wonderful, distracting therapy!

Wednesday

2012-02-01T21:11:00.002-07:00

Busy day. Busy week. 5:30am wake up tomorrow morning so I can go for a run before I bring kids to school and go to work.
That's all I've got today.

The end of January

2012-01-31T20:28:00.005-07:00

The weather has been very mild again, which is very nice.
I got home a bit early today and was able to run in daylight! It was too warm even for gloves. So nice!

Our cooking adventure with the kids is going well. This week, Jenna made hamburger soup yesterday; Kaylyn is making either burritos or taco's tomorrow (final decision yet to be made) and Erika is making chicken, rice and chapatis on Thursday (she is more adventurous in her choices!) (I've made a vegetarian spaghetti pie and mushrooms and bok choy with soba noodles so I have options among the meat containing dishes). And we've had 3 deliveries from the Organic Box so far - I've loved the produce and I especially love not having to go shop for it!

On the weekend I made an oatmeal pecan bread. Craig and I like it, the kids not so much. Tonight we used it to make 'grown up' grilled cheese using old cheddar cheese. It was delicious and even more so with a glass of red wine! I did eat salad too (organic lettuce, microgreens and tomato with feta cheese and some olive oil and balsamic vinegar).

Anyway, not really much more to say!
Goodnight!

New glasses!

2012-01-28T21:40:00.003-07:00

I picked up my new glasses today, ordered after a checkup on Thursday. Not much change in prescription - and no need for progressives! My near vision is just fine, thank you very much!

I've been busy today cleaning, doing laundry, baking bread. I even descaled and sanitized the humidifier. I got a little bit of time to scrapbook and am nearly finished a wall hanging I've been working on. Hopefully tomorrow I will get to finish it. I really like it. I've crocheted some flowers and created a few more from paper. I've used inks and sprays and glitter and stitching and paint...all kinds of messy fun!

I'm sitting here now with a heating pad on my shoulder and just took some Aleve. My injury is slowly healing and not too much of a problem during the day (certain ways I move or use my arm causes some pain, but not too bad and range of motion is fairly good), but at night it aches and keeps me awake. It has been nearly 4 weeks now since I hurt it and I'm kinda really wanting to be able to sleep all night again! Both chiropractor and massage therapist say it is one of those things that take time, and it is getting better. I am thankful that there does not appear to be a tear and I can do pretty much all my usual stuff. I guess this is an opportunity to practice patience!

Birthday Boy

2012-01-24T22:20:00.002-07:00

Craig and the girls from a few weeks ago when we celebrated his birthday.
I adjusted the picture in iphoto and just really like it! My most favourite people in the world!

Food

2012-01-17T21:14:00.002-07:00

I haven't talked a lot about food on here. Which is surprising I guess, given my career. But that's changing now - LOL!
I got my first Organic Box delivery last Friday and I was impressed with the quality of the food that arrived. We've been eating from it since. The only other groceries I needed to buy this week was some milk, a few other produce items and some protein (fish, chicken for my carnivores!).
Saturday evening we had pasta with garlic and organic kale and organic rainbow carrots on the side. Sunday we had roasted organic red potatoes and steamed organic broccoli as side dishes; Monday evening was leftovers. Today we had a lovely salad made with organic red lettuce and organic micro greens along with a dinner of pasta in a tomato cream sauce (cooked by Kaylyn!)
We've eaten organic banana's, Strawberries, apples and oranges and are waiting for a mango to ripen. Some organic shallots have been used in a couple of dishes as well. Everything has been great quality and I'm looking forward to this weeks delivery.

One of the things we are also doing is having the girls more involved in food preparation. They can all make things like grilled cheese and eggs, and Erika is quite adept at baking, but I'm determined that these girls will know how to cook real food before they leave this house! So they each have to pick a meal each week that they will cook. Craig or I will assist/supervise as needed until they get more comfortable in the kitchen. Today was Kaylyn's day as noted above. Erika is up tomorrow night - she is making an easy version of Chicken parmesan with orzo pasta and fresh tomatoes and Jenna is cooking Thursday: basa fish fillets, breaded with panko bread crumbs, sauted and served as a 'fish burger' on a burger bun. (Craig is helping with this one - he made those while I was away in November and Jenna loved them). I don't eat meat, so we have at least a couple of meatless meals a week, and on the nights that meat is involved in the meal, I'll have some tofu or eggs or beans, depending on what goes with the sides. That works very well.

It will be interesting to see what kinds of things they pick as each week goes by.
I'll update periodically and maybe even include a few pictures when I remember!

Brrrr....

2012-01-15T20:40:00.004-07:00

The thermometer never climbed above -20 degrees today. Craig and I ran this morning and it was very chilly, plus the sidewalks and walking trails were covered in drifts of snow...we ran 5 miles and it felt like 10. Once I got home I refused to go back out for anything today!

Yesterday I did some scrapbooking and did this page, based on the January sketch at Canadian Scrapbooker Magazine:

This page came together very quick with the sketch and I again used some of my paper stash - more My Mind's Eye. I have quite a bit more of this that you'll hopefully see in the coming months as I dig in and use it up!

excited!

2012-01-12T21:11:00.004-07:00

I have several reasons to be excited today. One is that my shoulder is doing better and my range of motion is much improved over even a few days ago. Pain level has decreased significantly too. In fact I've gone ALL DAY with no pain relievers at all! I may have to take something now before bed so I can sleep, but that's still a huge improvement. I have another massage booked for Monday evening and I think that will help the recovery along even more. I was able to run today as well - 4 miles. Felt slow - but so great to be back out there!

Reason #2 is that a week that started out really, really crappy, is actually ending in a very positive way. I'm so lucky to work where I do, with the people that I work with, getting a chance to do something I love and learn and grow in other ways too. How awesome is that?

Reason #3 is that I am getting my first organic produce delivery from The Organic Box tomorrow! When I was reminding my kids about it this evening, they were giving me weird looks - almost like the indulgent smile you'd give an over excited child. They are a little used to their dietitian mom getting hyped about 'real' food! They did however want to be sure I understood that produce delivery or not, Friday was still going to be pizza night (it is). They were a little more interested to find out there'd be fruit in there too - not just vegetables. It will be like getting a farmers market delivered to my door each week.
This is another step I'm taking in being more mindful in my families eating. This will cost a bit more than if I went to Superstore or H&W produce, but I believe it will be quality food, organically grown and as close to local as possible. Anything not local is fair trade sourced (we do live in a rather northern climate - year round produce is a bit hard to come by!). If you click on the name above you'll be able to go to the website and find out all about this company. I'm very excited to try this out and I'll be sure to post a review of the food!

And finally, today is Craig's birthday! He is out playing ball hockey, so we will celebrate on the weekend - Happy Birthday!

40 days...

2012-01-10T20:27:00.002-07:00

I blogged daily for 40 days. Not bad, I think!

I saw my doctor yesterday and he thinks I might have torn the rotator cuff in my shoulder. I'm being scheduled for an MRI. In the meantime I had a massage last night and the massage therapist did a fabulous job on my shoulder and back. He doesn't think there is anything torn - but the soft tissue is very inflamed and the shoulder joint strained. I do have a greater range of motion today, so I'm cautiously optimistic that it isn't a bad injury after all.

I made a Cocoa banana cake this evening - it was a cake kind of day! The recipe was from the cookbook Hollyhock Cooks. I really like this cookbook and have made a number of recipes from it so far.
Curling up with heating pad now...ahhhhh.....

Scrapbook therapy

2012-01-08T19:53:00.004-07:00

I needed a diversion yesterday and sought refuge in my scrapbook room. I *needed* to scrapbook something (yes, needed) but was having trouble getting started. I decided to check a few favourite websites and at Creative Scrappers saw this sketch. This layout was born:

And I finished it all within an hour or two - super quick for me. It uses papers from 3 different manufacturers: Dream Street, Glitz and Making Memories. I used a wide sheer ribbon that I pleated as I ran through the sewing machine and then attached the black velvet ribbon over the seam. The flowers are from Prima and I used some really old brads. A Martha steward border punch was used too and some black ink and that's it. Quick. Easy. Fun. And awesome therapy!

Sleep, sweet sleep...

2012-01-07T20:07:00.003-07:00

...how I miss you!

Exhausted.

2012-01-06T19:42:00.004-07:00

That sums it up nicely. For a short week, it felt like two. And today felt like that whole extra week all in 8 hours.

I do have a project to post for Unity's FWF and for their monthly KOTM sketch challenge...I did this page last Monday on my last day off from my Christmas vacation time. I wasn't home in daylight to take a good picture, so I did the best I could with an Ott light.
I used the March, 2009 KOTM (an oldie!). The stamps used were; the flowers at the bottom of the page, stamped in 'old paper' distress ink and heat embossed with clear embossing powder; the butterflies also stamped with distress ink (3 colors and I forget right now which ones they were!) also heat embossed with clear powder and cut out; and finally the journaling box and the word "Together", stamped with 'walnut stain' distress ink and head embossed too and cut out. (I love the look of heat embossing - you might have got that impression already!)
I used a Martha Steward border punch around the white cardstock and matted that with a patterned paper from My Minds eye.

Thanks for stopping by. Have a great weekend. It is only 8pm and all I want to do is crawl in bed and sleep! Pathetic really! LOL!

Florida!

2012-01-05T20:47:00.003-07:00

It looks like we are Florida bound for summer vacation this year. We had promised the kids a 'tropical' vacation for this year and my sister and her husband and two kids (who live in Newfoundland) are joining us. The girls have wanted to go to Disneyland/world as well and my sister has been looking into accommodations for us all. A vacation rental looks like the way we'll go. Definitely cost effective and room for us all (there'll be four adults and 5 kids - all girls - ranging from age 6 to age 15!). Now I have to figure out dates for time off work and do some booking. Very exciting!

Recovering

2012-01-04T21:21:00.004-07:00

Shoulder is very sore today and my arm mobility is quite limited. I've found myself doing a lot of things with my left hand - and that takes longer and feels very awkward. I may have to go see my doctor if for no other reason than to get a referral for massage. It is hard to fit in medical appointments when my own day is full of scheduled clients!

So anyway, I was thinking today that being forced to use my non-dominant arm is akin to any kind of behaviour change - it requires much thought and effort at the beginning. In the job I do, I work with people who need to make lifestyle changes around food and eating. And it takes a commitment of time and effort - more usually than anyone anticipates. All day today I kept forgetting that I couldn't move my arm very far - and was rewarded with pain every time I did it. By the end of the day I was forgetting less often, but still forgetting! Habit is a pretty strong force! To change what and how we eat, we fortunately don't get jabs of pain when we forget and do what we've habitually done probably for years. So somehow, we need to create an environment around us to make it easier to remember and do the new habit or behaviour. And this applies to anything we want to change. Maybe it is quitting smoking. Maybe it is being more active. Whatever it is, it takes a concerted effort to change. Do one small thing at a time...it can be done! I've yet to meet anyone who has made positive changes who have regretted it!
So if you are wanting to change something allow yourself the time it takes...and be gentle with yourself when the choice you want to make is hard and you forget sometimes. Keep trying. Keep seeing yourself doing the thing you want. It will happen!

Warning! It is icy out there!

2012-01-03T20:22:00.003-07:00

First day back to work today since Dec 23. It was a little rough getting started, but made easier by the fact that the kids are still off until the 9th. So that meant no school runs this morning - only me to get ready and get out the door. That's always a pleasant break from the routine!

At lunch time today I went out for a walk, something I do most days. It was lovely and mild and I wore my runners. The sidewalks were a bit icy, but as I usually walk and run on them no matter what, it didn't stop me. At one point I stepped off the sidewalk to cross the road and bam - next thing I knew, I was on the ground. My right arm was flung over my head as I fell and I landed heavily on my upper right side, jarring my shoulder. Everything moves and nothing is broken that I can tell...but it hurts, especially if I try to rotate my arm. Ouch! I've just taken some advil and am sitting here with ice on it. I hope it will not be too sore tomorrow!

Highlights of 2011

2012-01-02T14:39:00.008-07:00

I was thinking about how I wanted to summarize the past year and finally decided on a "top 10 post" of the things that defined my year and made the biggest impact on my life. A lot happened last year for me. Some was posted here. Some wasn't (and still won't be!). So, after some deliberation and thought, here is my top 10 list of 2011 (be sure to think in David Letterman's voice as you count down!!! hahaha!)

10. We adopted two kittens from the Edmonton Humane Society last January. Today, in fact, is the one year anniversary of having them! Tia and Willow have been such wonderful additions to our family and we love them dearly.

9. Craig finished the basement in this house last spring, which gave us a rec room, 2 additional bedrooms, a bathroom and a laundry room. We call it the 'teen cave' since the girls mostly hang out down there. But it is not really a cave - it has full sized windows and in floor heating - quite a nice space actually!

8. Because of the above point, I got to have my own scrapbook/craft room. With a door. My own little sanctuary!

7. Erika graduated from elementary school and moved on to junior high; Kaylyn transitioned out of the learning strategies program and into regular programming for grade 9 and is completely nailing it - honours student and top of her class in some areas; Jenna is in her last year of Elementary school- growing and maturing in leaps and bounds! Watching my girls grow is a privilege and a joy at any time.

6. We spent 3 days in Whistler in August. We visited my friend Jen and we went zip lining and did an aeriel adventure course...huge challenge and so much fun! I was initially terrified at the idea of zip lining, but pushed past my fear and did it anyway. Yay me!

5. I did an online course called "Soul Restoration" that made a huge impact on how I see myself and helped me shed many outdated views of myself and self imposed limitations.

4. I went to Nova Scotia in November to attend my nieces wedding and visit with some family members I have not seen in years! It was a lovely time and one of the few times I've travelled anywhere by myself. I was so glad I went!

3. In August I decided to stop eating meat. I had gradually been moving in this direction and finally decided make the change. This has started me on a quest to be more mindful of what we all eat - where it comes from, what the 'true' cost of mass produced convenience food is and so on. My family still eats meat and I even cook it for them. But I wanted to do what made the most sense for me. And this did and it has been an easy change.

2. I made some tough decisions and changed a few things in my life this year. Even when it was hard to do. I'm redefining what's most important for me and my family and making huge strides. This will continue in 2012.

1. And the number one thing this year that had a huge impact on me....drumroll....

...this won't come as any surprise to those who know me...

...meeting Josh Groban of course! I have the scrapbook page he signed displayed in my scrapbook room and still smile every time I look at it. Ah! Such a sweet memory!

So there it is. My year in 10 points. There is really no way to convey the full scope of all that transpired last year. But these 10 things certainly were pivotal each in it's own way.
I am looking forward to more personal and professional growth in 2012. I wonder what will make next years top 10?? There are so many possibilities and opportunities and I'm open to them all!

Project 12, November and December

2012-01-01T15:14:00.003-07:00

I finished both pages for project 12 just now. I switched the sketches around and used the December sketch for November's page and vice versa. You can see both sketches in this post on the Scrapbook and Cards Today blog. It worked out much better for me that way. I didn't follow the placement of small photos - just printed all the ones I wanted in a 2 x 3 inch size, trimmed a few where I could, matted them and then played around with placement until I liked how it looked.

I used some old My Mind's Eye - Tres Jolie - paper on this one and poked around for flowers to match. I love how soft and pretty the pinks and yellow look.

This one looks like it is sloped down on the right side - just a weird angle in how I held the camera. It really doesn't look like that in real life! The papers are October Afternoon.

So that's that! Two full years of monthly 2 page layouts. I'll have to wait and see what they've got up their sleeves for this year since I really want to do something different.

New Years Eve!

2011-12-31T16:07:00.004-07:00

Well, here it is, December 31...and this will actually be the 32nd post for this month. I posted twice on Christmas eve. I did it. A post a day for December. That was kinda fun!

I went for a walk this morning - it was quite cold and windy. When I got back, I decided it was time to take down the Christmas decorations. I put the coffee on and started in. Once the coffee was done, I brought Craig a cup to entice him out of bed, cause I needed his help with getting the decorations put away.
We spent about 3 or 4 hours putting all the decorations away and giving the house a good clean - swept, vacuumed, dusted, moped, wiped, tidied. Even sorted out some older decorations we no longer use and got rid of them.
It feels really good to have it all done and the house clean and tidy.

I always feel a bit melancholy when Christmas is over. It is such a whirlwind leading up to it and then suddenly POOF - it's done. But I am looking forward to 2012. I learned a lot about myself in 2011 and fully intend to build on that in 2012. It will be exciting to see where it all leads.

My next task is to go sort out my scrapbook room. A few odds 'n ends got tossed in there during cleaning and I need to get it in 'workable' shape too. Yesterday while I was in there searching for paper to use I had the thought that I have enough stuff to craft for a year without buying new things. That idea has taken hold and I feel a challenge coming on! I do have a lot that is just sitting there. I think I'm going to try and make it the whole year without buying new supplies. The exceptions will be adhesive and neutral cardstock (white, black, brown, kraft, cream). I just ordered blades for my Cricut from Costco online so I'll be good to go there. I have lots of inks, paints and various mixed media type stuff to keep me going. And lots of stamps that I want to use. I guess one other exception is if I'm making a gift or special project for anyone. Or gifts. I won't turn down crafty type gifts or gift cards!!
Can I do it? Yes, I do believe I can! I'll keep my blog updated on how it goes.

I am making an artichoke cheese dip to take to our neighbours later on. And then to tackle that scrapbook room...

HAPPY NEW YEAR EVERYONE!

New Years Eve Eve

2011-12-30T21:36:00.003-07:00

Tomorrow is the last day of 2011. Wow. It has been quite a year. I plan to do a 'year in review' post at some point.
I had some scrapbooking time yesterday and today and have nearly done my Project 12 pages for both November (late) and December (early). I guess they cancel each other out as far as timelines go!
This will make it two full years of Project 12. I think I need to do something different for next year - getting a bit bored! I'll have to give that a think as I like the idea of keeping up to date in this way...maybe just a different format would keep it interesting.

Kaylyn has been sick with a cold the past few days. She doesn't get sick very often and even when she does, it is usually pretty mild. But this bug has been kicking her butt and she really doesn't feel well. She has been camped out on the couch with her box of tissues, her pillow and blanket and having a Harry Potter movie marathon for two days now.
Hopefully she'll be better soon.

We're all invited to our neighbours tomorrow night (different neighbour than Christmas Eve!) for a casino night. It sounds like fun. We don't usually do a lot on New Years Eve, so this will be a nice change for us.

Craig and I ran this morning. 'Only' 5 miles this time and at a slower pace - about 10 minutes per mile. We were both feeling a bit sluggish. The next run will be in 2012! I always like to start the new year with a run on New Years Day. A good way to begin the year, I think.

I'm tired now so heading to bed. Have a happy last day of 2011!

Sleeping late, messages from the universe and growing feet!

2011-12-29T12:43:00.007-07:00

(quite an eclectic list for a title!)
I didn't get out of bed until after 11 am today. That is highly unusual for me - but every once in a while it just feels good to do. And then I ate a homemade chocolate scone for breakfast - and it was super yummy. I'm enjoying a second cup of coffee and looking out at another beautiful, sunny day - thermometer is reading +3 degrees.

So yesterday I posted about fear and doing scary things. Today in my email inbox was my daily message from 'the universe' at the Totally Unique Thoughts (TUT) website. And this was what today's message said:

"Sometimes, Roslyn, instead of running from something scary in your life, it's easier to learn not to be scared of it.

Let it stay. Pull up a chair. Share some eggnog.

Tallyho,
The Universe"

This has proven so true for me. The amount of energy I was giving to avoiding scary things was huge! And it kept me from giving energy to the areas in my life I actually want to grow. When I learned to face the fears and, yes, even invite them in, the fears deflated. They had no energy of their own - they were simply sucking up my energy and reflecting that back. Quite a neat trick of illusion really. But now I've caught on to it so it has no hold over me anymore. So very liberating!

A friend directed me to the TUT website and I love these little messages every day. Some of them are quite funny and so many of them come at seemingly just the right moment for me. Which I realize is not coincidental at all. The universe does have a way of providing exactly the message or sign I need...I just have to ask, and then be open to receive it. Something else I've really been working on. And I've been amazed at how it does, indeed work out.

So I guess I am following through on my idea yesterday to post some more of my thoughts on here. Didn't take long, did it? and all spurred on by that little email message about fear. See how it works?!

Now I'm going to enjoy the rest of my coffee and read a little. Then take Jenna to exchange her new boots - they're too small. That child's feet are growing at an alarming rate!

4 more posts...

2011-12-28T22:45:00.003-07:00

...and I will have met my goal of posting everyday in December. One day was late, but I still did it. I kinda like this blogging thing...I've kept journals on and off over the years and this is really just another form of that. Being able to add pictures is pretty awesome too. I've spent some time looking back over previous posts and it is interesting to see what I blogged about and what pictures I've posted. I keep thinking about what I'd like this blog to be. I know I often keep it superficial - afraid really to put my thoughts out there. Over the past year, I've worked very hard to move beyond fear. Knowing there are things, situations, conversations, etc that scare me - but doing it anyway. Stepping into and embracing discomfort - because that's how we grow.
I think maybe it's time to do that with my blog too. Just maybe. It will still be a place for sharing my scrapbooking, cards and other crafty stuff, but perhaps it will become a little more too. I sometimes 'think' very well by writing stuff out. And I like writing. So why not?

Tonight was our little get together. I did a lot of baking for it and I enjoyed trying out new recipes. I made several things from the book "Hollyhock Cooks" (baked samosas, spinach and feta rolls, cheese crackers) and they all turned out marvellous. We didn't have as many people stop by as we'd hoped. Mostly neighbors popped in and out. But everyone ate well! And the girls enjoyed the company and the treats (pop, extra dessert!) that they don't usually get.

I'm really looking forward to tomorrow. It will be the first day in ages that I don't have anything to prepare for and nowhere that I have to go. I may go for a run and I really hope to spend some time in my craft room.
Good night!

Mid day December 27

2011-12-27T12:46:00.004-07:00

It is another beautiful sunny day - my outdoor thermometer is reading 3 degrees. Such awesome weather for this time of year!
Craig and I ran 7 miles this morning at an average pace of 9 minutes and 22 seconds per mile. Miles 4 and 5 were each at a 9 minute pace. I don't know what that equates to for Kilometres. I've never been able to think 'metric' for running. At any rate, I think it is a pretty good pace for us 40-somethings!

It is already 1:00 pm, so I have not been getting much done yet today. We're going to our neighbors later for their annual open house and I have some things to do to prepare for ours tomorrow. I have some baked samosa's to put together. I made the dough and filling yesterday, so I just need to roll and fill the dough. Then I will freeze them and bake them tomorrow.
I also want to make some scones. I've had some really good ones from The Dutchess Bake Shop (on 124th Street) - orange chocolate, white chocolate raspberry and double chocolate are three favourites - and I've been wanting to try making them myself. Now seems like a good opportunity with some guinea pigs...uh, I mean, nice, wonderful friends - to try them out!

Yesterday I deposited the kids Christmas gift cheques in the bank and saw that the balance was higher than it should have been. I was puzzled. It was a holiday Monday and neither Craig nor I were due to be paid. When I got home I logged into online banking and saw that it was 'just' Craig's paycheque deposited 2 days early. Unfortunately there was no rich unknown relative leaving money gifts...darn!!! Wouldn't that be nice? I've heard occasionally of people having mortgages paid off by unknown benefactors...does that really happen to everyday people in real life? Or is it just the stuff of fairy tales and tabloids? Can you imagine? Suddenly not having mortgage payments? Ahhhhh...for us, it will have to happen the regular way - biweekly payments, extra amounts when we can...to be mortgage free (or near at least) by the time the girls hit post-secondary school is the goal. If it could happen sooner, that would be a lovely bonus! Maybe I should purchase some lottery tickets and try that route!

Boxing Day

2011-12-26T22:00:00.003-07:00

My brain is very funny when I first wake up. This morning my eyes opened and it was already bright outside. I thought - oh, it's daylight - it must be after 7am...oh, wait, it's still dark at 7, it must be after 8! And followed quickly was the thought "what day is it?" with a moment of panic thinking I'd slept in. Then I remembered that it was the day after Christmas and it was perfectly ok to still be in bed. Then I got up anyway (around 8:30) and went for a walk as the sun came up. It was a lovely start to the day.

Later today we braved the Boxing Day crowds and took the girls over to Kingsway mall so they could spend some of their Christmas money and gift cards. It was CRAZY out there. We were there about 2 hours and that was quite enough!

I did some food prep for our party on Wednesday this evening and now we're watching part 2 of "Neverland".

I'm looking forward to taking my new running shoes on their inaugural trek around the neighbourhood tomorrow morning.

Christmas Day!

2011-12-25T20:43:00.005-07:00

Had a wonderful day with my family. The girls didn't get up until about 9:30. Craig and I were up first. The homemade cinnamon buns were delicious and we sent a batch to 2 sets of neighbours.
I was very spoiled today - lots of thoughtful gifts. I loved watching the girls open their stuff too. I was snapping photos all day and what follows is a small sampling:

Jenna has been asking for Ugg style boots for months now. I refuse to pay the Ugg price, but Dawgs were definitely the right price range...she loved them!

Erika also wanted boots - but dressier ones. She was happy with the ones she got:

The cats got some treats in their stockings and they also got a leash and harness. I think the girls liked that more than the cats did! The treats were a big hit though!

I got a new pair of running shoes! They look especially nice with my Christmas jammies!

I like this photo of the girls:

and this one: love the group hug!

One of my traditional presents - dark chocolate hedgehogs. They only come in the mini size - wish Purdy's would make them in the big version!

The aftermath: Craig took this one. That's me sitting in the chair to the right. There are two cats in the picture too...can you find them?

My niece and her husband came for dinner tonight and it was lovely to have family members here!
For dessert, Erika and I made a chocolate yule log. It was very rich and very good!

One of the games Santa brought was the Angry Birds game. It is silly and pretty simple, but fun! Erika took pictures of the game and posed the birds in different places:

So now we are all hunkered down to watch some movies. I wanted to watch the cartoon version of "How the Grinch Stole Christmas", which we just watched; and now Craig has put "Neverland" on. Erika and Jenna want me to braid their hair. I'm not sure I'll stay awake long enough to see the whole movie...it is after 9pm and it has been a busy - and very content - few days. I'm looking forward to a 'long winters nap' to come soon!

Christmas Eve, part 2

2011-12-24T23:18:00.003-07:00

It is after 11 pm. It has been a full day of preparations for the big day. Now, the turkey is thawing, the cinnamon buns are rising, all the packages are wrapped and I'm waiting for everyone to settle down so Santa can come ;)

We spent a delightful few hours at our neighbours earlier this evening enjoying a Christmas Eve dinner and even a special visit from Santa himself.
Looking forward to tomorrow - good food and a great time together with my family.

Merry Christmas all!

Christmas Eve

2011-12-24T07:56:00.003-07:00

I woke up at 6 this morning. I lay in bed, first trying to not be awake (lol) then giving in to my thinking brain and letting the thoughts come. Some were the usual mental list of what needs to be done today. Some were more complex.
When I think about Christmas, I am of course aware of why this day is celebrated. When I think about the state of the world, and so many different beliefs...and so much violence and anger over differing beliefs...I just feel sad. I think that ultimately we all want the same things. We want peace, love, acceptance. Does it matter what we call it as far as religion goes? What if we just accepted the commonalities and work with those? There is just so much emphasis on what makes us different. Can't we focus on what makes us the same? I think the spirit of Christmas is palpable whatever you believe. That spirit of goodness. Of giving. Of peace.

I believe we are all connected in some way. That the energy of the universe binds us together in unseen ways...yet in ways that impact each other and impact this wonderfully grand place we call earth and this thing we call life.
I was watching Bob McDonald on the news last night and he was talking about big science stories from the past year. One was on dark energy - this 'stuff' of the universe that is actually unknown still. And the fact that the universe is expanding...and I'm just in awe of the universe. So big, so mysterious...so amazing that I'm part of it.

I've been sitting here in a very quiet house, with just the light of the Christmas tree. It is peaceful and relaxing. Daylight is now just beginning to appear. It is a brand new day. I'm so thankful for it.

Friday, Dec 23

2011-12-23T21:49:00.002-07:00

Made it to the end of the work week - yay!

I won a tin of Godiva chocolate cookies at work. Each Christmas we raffle off all the gifts that the company is given. All the proceeds go to the Bissell Centre and it is fun to try and win something. Haven't tried the cookies yet, but they sure look good!

This evening Craig and I went out for groceries. I was anticipating a crazy adventure. Craig wanted to go to the Costco liquor store so out to Sherwood Park we went...and the Costco wasn't too busy at all! We got what we needed at the Costco store, then the liquor store and then had a few other things to get at Save on Foods. We were back home within 2 hours. I was very pleasantly surprised...and relieved. Really didn't want to battle crowds.

Tomorrow the plan is to go for a morning run (but not too early!) and then Craig and the kids will do the cleaning while I do some cooking and baking. I have to make a vegetable dish to take to our neighbours where we are going for dinner tomorrow night; I will do some prep for Christmas day and see what I can make ahead for our little party on Wednesday. I'm quite happy to cook and bake and to get to take a pass on the cleaning and laundry!

Only 2 sleeps till Christmas!

December 22...

2011-12-22T21:36:00.003-07:00

...Friday is so close I can taste it! For a week that is usually slow and quiet (I'm a Dietitian. It's the week before Christmas. I'm not exactly in high demand!), it has been pretty darn busy! Thankfully I have a lightly scheduled day tomorrow and should get caught up. I have a meeting with my fellow dietitians first thing and we've planned to make a run to Starbucks first (conveniently located in the building where I work!) and I made Orange Ginger muffins to bring in. It's our little way of making it just a bit festive!

Jenna has a class party tomorrow and asked me to make Banana Cinnamon Swirl Bread, a yeast bread with banana in the dough and a cinnamon swirl. It is really good and I love that she asked specifically for it - and made it a point to tell her teacher that it was healthy because I made it!!!! She is such a cute kid!

Only 3 more sleeps!

Food processors should have a warning label that says...

2011-12-21T21:26:00.003-07:00

..."do not operate while under the influence". Had a glass of wine after dinner and then decided to make a batch of cookies. Found a recipe that called for graham cracker crumbs...had whole graham crackers and a food processor so I made my own. Not to worry - all 10 fingers remain intact! (the bar cookie was called "congo bars" from a Martha Stewart magazine from a year or two ago. It is a graham crumb base, covered with chocolate chips, coconut, toasted walnuts and all topped off with caramel. They look and smell good, but I haven't tried them yet).

Anyway. Today is December 21 - the winter solstice. I'm quite happy about that because it means we've reached the point of most darkness in the year and now our part of the earth starts to slowly shift back toward the sun...more daylight and the promise of spring. ahhhh...

Today was one of those days. It seems like lots of little things (and some not so little) have been accumulating and threatening to throw me off my equilibrium. Thank heavens for friends who listen (thanks Chantal!). I vented some more to Craig when I got home...and he suggested I needed either a run or wine. I went for the wine. See above.

Cooking and baking is calming to me. So I did that too. I made an easy version of chicken parmesan for Craig and the kids for dinner, and a tofu coconut curry with rice noodles for me. My curry was really good (if I do say so myself and I'm looking forward to having leftovers tomorrow) Then baked my Congo Bars and made some bread too (Kaylyn was grumbling that we were out of the "good stuff". To her that means no grains or nuts in it. Just my 'regular' bread, which is about 80% whole wheat).

So that's it. Today is done. Tomorrow is another one. I think that's Dr. Seuss. I love Dr. Seuss!
Bedtime now. I plan to get up at 5:30 to get my run in before work. I like starting my day with a run. No matter what else happens, I know I've done at least one thing good!

5 more sleeps!

2011-12-20T21:07:00.003-07:00

The excitement is building as the days slip away. The last of the gift shopping is done. I made one more trip to the mall after work today for the last few things. Then I had to take Erika and Kaylyn out for the last few things they wanted to get. Both trips were relatively short and successful. yay! All I need to do now is the grocery shopping, probably Friday night.

I was going to dip the orange chocolate shortbread in chocolate but Erika thought 'drizzling' would be better. So that's what she did. Then she brought me one on a plate, with a little plate embellishment - she's so sweet!

We've decided to have a Christmas get together on December 28th, anytime after 4pm. If you read my blog and live close by, consider yourself invited! Send an email, or leave a comment and I'll send details. We'd love to see you all, especially those we don't get to see very often.
On that note, I need to browse some recipes to plan some advance cooking and baking for the day.

The stockings were hung...

2011-12-19T21:07:00.005-07:00

All of our stockings are waiting patiently to be filled with goodies Saturday night. Notice the two stockings on the bottom? Those are for the cats. They get Christmas presents too!

Yesterday, the girls did some gift wrapping and all the scraps and garbage from that was stuffed in a bigger garbage bag. One of my cats, Willow, loves to crawl into bags and she nestled herself into this one. She is such a silly cat!

We finished the tree yesterday. The girls did most of it and did a fabulous job!

The final result:

After work today I did a little more shopping and got a few remaining things I wanted to get. Just another item or two and a trip to the grocery store and we'll be all ready!
After dinner tonight Erika and I made a pan of orange chocolate shortbread. It smelled so good while it was baking! They are extra delicious dipped in chocolate, so may have to do that step tomorrow evening.

One week to go!

2011-12-18T20:59:00.002-07:00

Wow - just 7 sleeps till Santa arrives!

This morning Craig and I headed out to run at 8:30 and we got to watch the sun rise as we ran. It was lovely!
Then later, I had a most delightful time having brunch with my fellow cookie exchangers from work. And came home with a great assortment of Christmas baking. So yummy!

Later this afternoon, we headed to a mall with Erika and Jenna - Jenna wanted to buy her gifts for her sisters and Erika wanted to find a dress for a dance her school is having. We were successful on both counts in about 90 minutes and then out of there. We brought the girls home and then Craig and I went to grocery shop (phew!). Then home for dinner and some gift wrapping and we finally finished decorating the tree! I did take some pictures, but they are still on the camera and I'm not getting up again to get the memory card. Maybe tomorrow - I'm just a little tired right now! good night!

Saturday, Dec 17

2011-12-17T21:25:00.002-07:00

Thankfully, I feel much better now than I did last night. I had no other symptoms other than an upset stomach which is better now. Hopefully, it was just a random thing. With all the colds and flu's going around, you just never know.

It was a full day. I went for a short, easy run this morning, then did some laundry and cleaning before taking Erika and Kaylyn to their riding lessons. Erika's lesson was at 1:00; by the time she was finished caring for the horse it was 3:00, which is when Kaylyn's lesson starts. Kaylyn was going home with a friend from riding so Erika and I were able to leave at 3; we went to Michael's where she wanted to get a gift for one of her sisters and then got home about 4:30.

My niece was here with her husband who was helping Craig install a heater in our garage. We visited while I finished my cookies for my cookie exchange. Those are all packaged up now. I've had two glasses of wine and suddenly feel very tired. Kaylyn is not home yet - maybe I can talk Craig into waiting up for her! I'm ready for sleep!

I'm hoping to get up in time tomorrow for a run before heading out for brunch at the home of one of our cookie exchange participants. Looking forward to a fun time!

That's it for now. (I had intended to take a picture of all the cookies, but didn't...maybe I'll take one of all the cookies I get in exchange!)

Friday, Dec 16th

2011-12-16T18:58:00.002-07:00

Ending the week not feeling well. Skipped my planned after work yoga class and just came home, changed into fleece jammies and curled up in a blanket with a book (and my laptop).
I'm feeling hungry and nauseated at the same time. I'm not sure if I want to eat or not.

Hopefully a restful evening and extra sleep will cure whatever this is!

Thursday!

2011-12-15T20:58:00.002-07:00

This week just flew by. It is hard to believe that Christmas is NEXT WEEK!!!! Take the 'w' out of week and you get 'eek' - kinda how I feel sometimes!
I did get my cards off in the mail this morning, so I felt relieved at that.

When I checked my mail this evening I had a chuckle at the postal person (I don't know if the carrier is male of female). We get delivery to those roadside boxes and I stop on my way home to check. There was a key to a package compartment in my mail box, so I opened that compartment, only to find a key to a different compartment!? I opened that one to find a package. I'm not sure if the carrier was just in a funny mood or what. But it did make me smile!

Jenna had a small part in her school's Christmas concert tonight as part of the handbell choir. The concert was for Grades K to 4, so she wasn't in the main part. We just went to watch her part and then left. We were out for only an hour. That was nice.

Craig is out at ball hockey. I tided up the mess I'd left in my craft room from making Christmas cards so now it is all ready to make more! Hopefully I can get in there again in the next few days.

Had a yummy lunch today at a Vietnamese restaurant. We've had a student working with us the past 3 weeks and tomorrow is her last day, so we took her for lunch today. I had a veggie/tofu stir fry with peanut sauce and coconut rice. It was very good - and I ate almost the whole thing. I'm hungry again just thinking about it! YUM!

I'm going to curl up with a book now (after I investigate the noise Kaylyn and Erika are making downstairs!)
Another day!

Wednesday that felt like Monday!

2011-12-14T21:09:00.002-07:00

After having yesterday off, today felt like Monday at work. I was a tad confused at times! The good side is that suddenly tomorrow is Thursday and it will feel like the work week has sped by. It is a running morning tomorrow, so an early rise. But it is always worth it once I get going.

I finished the cards I was making for Newfoundland and they are ready to mail. Tomorrow is the cut off date for Canada post for cards going outside the province. There's no time like the last minute! But as long as I remember to drop them in a mailbox tomorrow morning, all will be good.

Erika is foraging for snacks in the pantry, Jenna is stretching out her bedtime like a pro and Kaylyn is in a silly mood - they'll all be fighting pretty soon. Bedtime - the most wonderful time of the day!

Goodnight!

That was a full day!

2011-12-13T19:29:00.002-07:00

Plans went off this morning without a hitch. Up at 6 (ish!), got girls up, went for a 4 mile run with Craig. Then two separate trips to drop the kids off at respective schools and away we went for breakfast at Hathaways Diner. Hathaways is in the Wellington area of the city and is one of those types of places Guy Fieri would feature on "Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives". The owners are a husband and wife - husband is the cook and wife Pam is hostess and server. It is a small place - would seat about 30 at full capacity and while sitting and watching Pam interact with the customers it was obvious that there are many regulars! She greets people by name, there are some who stop in for coffee to go and she's pouring it almost before they arrive. Service is quick, the food is fresh and good. It was good fuel to start the day!
Then the shopping began. We only got home after 5 and I'm exhausted now. But it was a very productive day and it feels good to have that done.

I'm going to take a nice soak in the tub now and flip through the latest issue of the food network magazine that I picked up at Costco (Costco was an absolute zoo at 10:30 this morning!?! What the heck? Where do all these people come from on a Tuesday morning?)

Until tomorrow...

Another day...

2011-12-12T21:55:00.002-07:00

...another load or two of laundry! Where does it all come from? Kaylyn was whining because there were no clean towels in her bathroom. Walking by, I noticed they were all in the laundry bin in the bathroom...which happens to be right next to the laundry room. But somehow it never occurred to her to throw them in the washer?

Anyway, it was a busy day at work, but I did still get to do my lunch time yoga class - lots of hip stretching today - "ow!" and "ah!" all at the same time! I was an hour late getting home, just finishing the days work and catching up on some other stuff. Craig and the girls had already eaten (Craig had made spaghetti with meat sauce. I ate a leftover veggie stirfry with some soba noodles - yummy!) and then I relaxed with a glass of wine and a chocolate truffle cookie and then I did some crafting. I caught myself saying "I should...(add any number of chores in here) but stopped that line of thought. I wanted to craft. So I did. And I liked it. LOL!

Looking forward to tomorrow. Craig and I have the day off and we're going Christmas shopping. The plan is to get up at 6am, get Erika and Jenna up and then go running. Get back in time to take Erika and Jenna to school (Erika has competitive cheer practice at 7:30); shower, take Kaylyn to school for 8 and then we are going out to breakfast at a place called Hathaways, a little diner with great home cooked food. Then we'll hit the stores. We rarely have that kind of time to spend together without kids in tow or other demands, so I'm happy we get to do it tomorrow.

Sunday

2011-12-11T20:18:00.006-07:00

Today was a full day! Craig and I ran 6.3 miles this morning at an average pace of 9 minutes and 22 seconds. Not bad for us oldies!
After breakfast, it was non stop - I baked the cookies for my cookie exchange. It is a sandwich cookie, so two of them get put together with chocolate. I'll do that final part next week. It was a lot of dough rolling and cutting - my arms sure got a good workout. Those are now safely tucked away in the deep freezer with strict warnings to husband and kids to not touch!
Then Erika helped me make a batch of chocolate truffle cookies - those were a P.I.T.A.!!! The batter was very runny and had to be refrigerated but then it became as hard as a rock and I had to chip and pry it out of the bowl. We then had to roll balls with our hands rather than 'dropping by tablespoons' as the recipe suggested. They ended up really good, but much more work than I had anticipated.

Craig pulled out the Christmas decorations and the girls got busy with that for a while. Then Craig was talking to our neighbour who said he'd gotten a nice tree at Home Depot, so Craig and the girls went off to do that while I cooked dinner - Quinoa vegetable casserole (it was good!).
I still didn't get cards ready to go in the mail and many have to go to Newfoundland so I need to get to that soon. At one point this afternoon I started to feel quite overwhelmed with all that needs to be done in the next few weeks. ( I was doing laundry and had bread dough going during this time as well - no wonder I was getting overwhelmed!) There is a lot, but like every other year, I am sure it will get done. We did a little thing at work Friday with the team lead and manager group where we talked about 'polarities' and how we cycle through those negative and positive areas of life and that we can move ourselves into positive areas by taking care of ourselves. It was a lesson that came in handy today:)

Here is the tree, naked still, but here and smelling wonderful!

And this is one cats new favourite perch - right in front of it, trying to figure out, I am sure, just what this new toy is! (I love her shiny eyes!)

The other cat wasn't much interested, and just curled up on the kittie condo.

This is Erika working her way through the pile of hard chocolate cookie dough. She was mad that I took her picture!

And this is Jenna, just cause she looked cute in her Santa hat. She was still wearing her bathrobe (stayed in jammies all day!) and didn't want her bathrobe showing. But she didn't say anything about me saying she was wearing it! :)

So that's it for another weekend. I need to get some clothes ready for tomorrow and wash my face and brush my teeth - things that seem to require way too much energy right now! Oh well! Another week, here I come!

Saturday, Dec 10th.

2011-12-10T22:55:00.001-07:00

We're in double digits of December already....yikes! Christmas is two weeks from tomorrow and that just seems crazy.

We started today with our 11 year old budding astronomer getting up at 5:15 to see the lunar eclipse. The best vantage point in our house to see this spectacle happened to be the window in the master bathroom, so I got to be awake at that early hour too. I thought about getting up for about 2.3 seconds and then fell asleep again!
Over breakfast later this morning Jenna decided to quiz me on my knowledge of space and the planets and found me woefully deficient. I even had the nerve to call Pluto a "planet" which totally disgusted her. I told her it was a planet when I went to school! I'm not sure that gave me any credibility in her eyes at all.

Tonight was my works Christmas Party and we are not long home. I'm not a late night party kind of person and tonight was no exception. It is fun to get all dressed up though and to see everyone else in their festive finery. I had Erika take a picture of me and Craig before we left:

There was a photo booth at the party too and that was fun and we played "PCN Jeopardy", which my table won. I got a Starbucks gift card as a prize! Nice!

On the agenda for tomorrow is the usual Sunday run in the morning, then later in the day some Christmas decorating and cookie baking.

Friday, Dec 9th...

2011-12-09T19:57:00.003-07:00

...and Friends with Flair time!
I just got home from a yoga class and am having a quick dinner. Then Craig and I are going out to get groceries (we're so romantic!). It was a very busy week and while I'm glad to be at the end of it, I know the weekend will be equally as busy - just a different kind of busy. And as the saying goes "a change is as good as a rest", so the different busy should revitalize me!

This is the card I made last night. I wanted to use the Spellbinder snowflake die and I love the wintery look of blue and white. I also used a Tim Holtz embossing folder on the background and stickles on the embossed snowflakes. The die cut snowflakes were sprayed with Perfect Pearls mist in 'perfect pearl'. It gave it a nice shimmer. There is a Martha Steward border punch in there too and some ribbon.
The stamp "warm wishes" is from the Jillibean Soup Co brand set "Christmas Eve Chowder". The little penguins in there are so cute too so I need to make something with them.

So that's it for today. Now off for my romantic date at the grocery store!!!! (actually Craig and I met in a grocery store, so I suppose it could be romantic!!)

Thursday, Dec 8th

2011-12-08T21:16:00.002-07:00

Yay! Made it to Thursday - LOL! It was very cold today. I got up early (5:30) to run and it was -18 plus a windchill. Brrrr.... But it was good to go - it certainly wakes me up! Erika was feeling better so I did my usual chauffeuring of kids to schools and then headed to work. Traffic seemed lighter today for some reason - that's always nice.

Craig is out playing ball hockey, as he usually does Thursday nights, so I did a little crafting and made a Christmas card. I'll post that tomorrow night for Friends with Flair over at Unity Stamp company. If you are into stamping there are some big sales going on over there and a really good shipping rate to Canada!

Well, I don't seem to have much to say. I think I'm just going to cuddle up with my book ("All the Weyrs of Pern" by Anne McCaffrey) and call it a night. I doubt I'll be awake much longer - I am definitely an "early to bed" kind of person!

Wednesday, Wednesday!

2011-12-07T19:47:00.003-07:00

Mid week and now the end of another week is in sight. Erika stayed home from school today with a cold, so she missed her competitive cheerleading practice this morning. That made my morning a little easier as I then didn't have to drive her and Jenna to school. They walk Monday's and Friday's when Erika does not have practice, but when she has to be there for 7:30, I drive them since it is still dark at that time. So that gave me a little buffer of time this morning which was quite nice!
Anyway today was fairly busy at work. I did get out for a walk at lunchtime. It was sunny but quite cold! I love to get some fresh air and daylight during these winter days.

Dinner today was leftover potato corn chowder and I made more Irish soda bread to go with it. The girls aren't always keen on leftovers, but if fresh bread is involved they are all over it!

I am taking part in a cookie exchange at work and I plan to make chocolate almond sandwich cookies, a recipe from a Canadian Living magazine from 11 years ago that I've made every year since. They are a bit of work, but I can divide it up into different nights and get them done. They freeze well and I will have to make sure to make lots extra just for us. Erika has helped the past few years, so I'll have to see if I can recruit her again.

We never did get the Christmas decorations out this past weekend. Just not enough hours to do it all! That will have to be a project this weekend. By the time I get the countdown calendar out, it will nearly be over!!

Tuesday, Dec 6

2011-12-07T06:54:00.002-07:00

posted Dec 7 because I forgot yesterday!

Readers Digest version:
Up at 6:30. Shower, dress, hair, makeup
7:15: Drive Erika and Jenna to school (Erika has practice at 7:30 and Jenna goes at that time to take advantage of the ride!)
7:30: back home. finish whatever I need to finish. Eat breakfast. Pack lunch
7:50: Kaylyn and I leave. Drop Kaylyn at school. Drive to work
8:15: get to work. Turn on computer, get files for the day, check email, check phone messages. See clients. Write progress notes. Attend meetings. etc. etc
12:00 (or there abouts) go for a walk. Eat lunch
1:00: more of the same from the morning
4:30: head home.
5:00: home, change into running clothes
5:30 -6:15: Run with Craig. 4 miles
6:30-7:30: shower, eat dinner (kids cooked 'breakfast for dinner')!
7:30-8:00; help clean up.
8:00-9:00: usual evening stuff. Checking home emails, tidy, get clothes ready for tomorrow.
9:00-?read for a while. Fall asleep reading. Lights out (around 10 I think!)

Monday, Dec 5

2011-12-05T21:03:00.004-07:00

This one will be short! I am in bed at 9 pm, not feeling especially well with a headache and feeling very tired. It was a typical Monday - a bit slow getting going this morning and about 5 minutes later leaving the house than I'd like. It doesn't sound like a lot, but somehow getting out the door that few minutes earlier just makes the drive to work (and detour to drop Kaylyn at school) go that much smoother.
Out of 4 clients I was scheduled to see today, two canceled. That gave me some time to catch up on some other tasks that it is sometimes hard to find time to do. My desk at work is still buried in paper though. Not sure I'll ever see its surface! We do a yoga class at lunch time on Monday's and that was good. I love that I can do that class once a week. I try to go to one other class each week, but I'm not very consistent with that.
Afterwork I dropped into a grocery store for a few items, then home to find that Craig had dinner cooking - homemade mac and cheese and vegetables. Yummy!
After we ate, we left the girls to the cleanup and dropped down to Londonderry Mall to see if I could find a dress for my work's Christmas party this Saturday. I still didn't find anything and Craig thought one I already have was nicer than any I looked at. So I think I will just wear that. I hate buying clothes I only wear once anyway, so this is probably best! Saving money is a good thing!

I had a book on hold at the library (which is conveniently located right in the mall) so I picked that up and came home and curled up with it. I'm re-reading Anne McCaffrey's PERN series and loving it the second time around just as much as the first time I read it.
So that's about it. I think I'll read for another bit and then get some sleep. Hopefully that will take care of whatever is making me feel crummy!

See ya tomorrow!

Sunday, December 4th.

2011-12-04T18:51:00.005-07:00

Another busy day, as expected. Craig and I ran this morning. 6.5 miles of running with another 1/2 mile of walking. It was cool (-8) but not too bad. I have a sore muscle in my upper mid back that flared up while running and is giving me some grief still so I've been taking some advil trying to get some relief. Erika made pancakes for breakfast and after eating and cleaning up, Craig and I went to do a little shopping. We went to Shoppers Drug Mart as planned and I was able to buy all the stocking stuffers and a few other things and only spent 12 dollars! Thanks Shoppers Optimum points!

We went to the Running Room after that and each got a new pair of winter running pants. They'll be Christmas gifts to each other, so we promised to act surprised!!

Then it was to the Mall. I had books to drop at the library and then we went to Tip Top to get new dress pants and and dress shirt and tie for Craig. We had gone to the Bay first but getting help there is like pulling teeth. Assistance was quickly given at Tip Top and they soon had Craig looking pretty spiffy!

Then it was on to a few stores to look for a dress for me. I didn't find anything I liked enough to even try on. We were a bit short on time by then anyway. I did find a casual, warm winter jacket for me that was on sale. So I got that. Then home and I made potato, corn and cheese chowder and Irish Soda Bread for dinner and mixed up a yeast dough while dinner was cooking. I'm waiting now for the dough to rise. It is a new recipe to me and has cardamom and banana and beans in it! Should be interesting!!

* I waited to post this till the bread was done. Here is how it looks and it smells so good!

So now I just need to sort out clothing for tomorrow and check with children if there is any homework outstanding or things that need a signature. And that winds up another weekend. They just go so very fast. 3 weeks until Christmas!

Saturday

2011-12-03T20:54:00.003-07:00

I realized that I've posted something the first two days of December and it got me thinking that I should try to do a daily post this month. I've thought about doing the December Daily albums that some do but I know I just wouldn't have time to scrapbook every day. I may, however, have time to do a blog post daily. Then later I can always use the blog posts to scrapbook the month if I want. Either way, I'll have a record of this crazy month that is December!
Saturdays in our house are quite busy. I usually get up before everyone else and go for a walk or short run, then have breakfast and do some cleaning and start laundry before taking Jenna to her dance lesson at 11:15. Craig takes Erika and Kaylyn to riding lessons that start at 1:00. After Jenna's lesson I will run any errands that are needed, maybe get some groceries, then back home to finish the cleaning and laundry. Craig, Kaylyn and Erika don't get home until 5:00 or later. Then it is dinner and clean up. Right now I'm sitting in my craft room with a half finished Christmas card in front of me. I have two made already and want to get a few in the mail this week.
Tomorrow I need to go to Shoppers Drug Mart to take advantage of their "Use your points" event to shop for stocking stuffers. I also need to shop for a dress to wear to my work's Christmas party that is next Saturday. I'll also have to get Craig to pull down the Christmas decoration bins to pull out the countdown calendar and maybe put up a few other things.
I have some baking planned for tomorrow too and Craig and I will do our 'long' run tomorrow morning. It too will be a busy day!

I don't have any pictures from today. But I will share these ones from my niece's wedding I attended on November 4th in Cape Breton - it was such a lovely celebration of young love and a young family just getting started. This is the 2nd (of 5!) daughters of my oldest sister. I hadn't seen my sister or my nieces in something like 18 years. Way too long. I initially wasn't going to go to the wedding, but am really glad I did. It was so nice reconnecting with a few of my sisters and with my nieces.

Anyway, back to the pictures!
This is their first dance. Such love in their eyes!

And this one is the family: their son was born in August, so just 2.5 months old here. He is so cute!

FWF - Dec 2

2011-12-02T18:22:00.002-07:00

I made this little card last night. I just loved the snowman stamp from Unity's November KOTM and I see from looking at a few of the other projects this week that I'm not the only one to like this guy!
I ran a white panel through the Cuttlebug for the dotted background and matted that in red. I stamped Mr. Snowman with black pigment ink and heat embossed with black (don't think I fully heated though, as I got some smudging :( - oh well, lesson learned!) Then I coloured him in with copics. I cut the image out with a Spellbinders die and then matted that with red cardstock as well. The sentiment is from a different Unity set "Jolly little Winter". It was also stamped and heat embossed then cut out and matted. I tied on the ribbon, adhered the image and sentiment and there it is! I notice in my picture that the ribbon has slipped a bit lower than it is supposed to be. I will fix that. But I'm not taking another photo. So just imagine it up a little higher, hitting the middle of the die cut!

Birthday Girl

2011-12-01T18:07:00.004-07:00

On November 24th, Jenna turned 11. As the youngest, I think I keep forgetting that she is, indeed, growing up. I have to check myself constantly on my expectations of her and try to remember what her older sisters were doing at that age. Jenna herself reminded me recently that she is a "pre-teen", and, in her words "ready for bigger things, you know"! This was following a conversation where she asked when she could start wearing makeup to school (Grade 7 - next year) and when she could get a cell phone (she got one for her birthday this year and was thrilled!).
I really don't know how it happens that my children are getting older, but I stay the same!

Some photos of the birthday party:
These first two because I love the expressions on her face.

The girls made pizza for dinner. I think they all enjoyed getting to choose exactly what they wanted.

This is her with a new Wii Game: Kirby's Return to Dreamland that her sisters got for her. She is a big fan of the first Kirby Wii game, Kirby's Epic Yarn so was thrilled with this as you can see!

And here she is with her cake. She chose a Marble Slab Cookies and Cream cake this year.

And this one, a surprise I found on my laptop and taken with Mac photobooth, is just to prove that my child is not too grown up to be a goofy, fun loving kid!

Project 12 - October edition

2011-11-27T12:25:00.003-07:00

October seems centred around two main events - Thanksgiving (in Canada) and Halloween. I wanted the page to reflect both. I had these older Harmonie papers on hand and thought the colours and patterns worked perfectly. On the left side I clustered the Thanksgiving photos - just our family celebrating with a big dinner and then a walk on a gorgeously warm evening. The top picture shows us toasting. The two glasses with red liquid are Craig and I with red wine. The girls had sparkling apple juice. It has become a tradition that we buy it for them on special occasions and they drink it out of wine glasses.
On the right side of the layout are the Halloween photos. Jenna wanted a "Kirby" pumpkin - from Kirby's epic yarn Wii game. She printed a template and I carved it. A lot of kids who came trick or treating commented on the Kirby pumpkin!

The circles down the right side were cut from one of the patterned papers and then backed with black punched circles. The green leaves were also cut from patterned paper. The other leaves, the 'giving thanks' words and the pumpkin are Unity Stamps.
The letters for "October" are American Crafts and the "2011" are Basic Grey stickers. I started with the sketch and then morphed it a bit to make it work for my photos.

FWF Friday!

2011-11-11T19:18:00.002-07:00

I missed last weeks FWF since I was away. But I'm happy to be back this week - and I made this project in just a few hours this afternoon (super quick for me!)
A few weeks ago, Jenna asked me to make her a name tag for her school locker. I did and she happily took it to school and I didn't take a picture. Then Erika asked for one too and that's what I made today. Erika loves lime green, animal prints, turtles and bling and I managed to get all that on here. The turtle stamps and heart are from the set "You + Me = Happy" which I bought ages ago precisely because of Erika's love of turtles. So it was very fitting that the first project I (finally!) made with this set is for her. I cut the green frame, the grass border and her name with my Cricut. This was so fun to make and Erika loves it! The whole thing is on some thick chipboard I had and I'll add magnets to the back so she can put it on her locker.

Project 12 - September edition and FWF!

2011-10-28T17:54:00.003-06:00

***Warning*** more Josh Groban ahead!!

I managed to combine both of these projects in one.
For Friends with Flair over at Unity, this uses stamps from Jullibean soup (Dutch Mustard Soup), from Stylin' Stars and from 'The time is now' sets.
Papers used are Basic Grey 'Life of the Party' line. I sorta, kinda used the sketch, playing with photo number and sizes a bit.

Dream. Big.

2011-10-21T18:33:00.003-06:00

Linking up with Unity Stamp Company again this Friday with this little project:

This uses an itty bitty co-brand with Webster's pages. I stamped the butterflies and words on white cardstock with Brilliance pigment ink in coffee bean and heat embossed with clear embossing powder. Then I stamped the butterflies again and cut them out and adhered them over the first image, folding the wings up for dimension. The frame is a Martha Steward border punch that I bought a few weeks ago and wanted to try out. I used some 3-D paint and some stickles for extra oomph.
I haven't turned this into a card, and I think I'll just use it as a little wall hanging, maybe at work, as a little reminder to dream those big dreams. The universe is a wonderful place, with no limit on our dreams. The only limits are the ones we put there; so dream big. Then dream even bigger!

Another Friends with Flair layout!

2011-10-14T19:53:00.007-06:00

I am enjoying playing along with Unity's Friends with Flair Friday and even more delighted to be using my stamps with scrapbooking.
This weeks edition is an "update" to a page I did 4 years ago all connected to what I like to call "my Josh Groban experience"! You can see the page I have updated, as well as the story of meeting him in this post. You might be tired of me mentioning him on here. So I should warn you that I have at least 2 more scrapbook pages to come that will feature 'my other man'!

The papers here are Fancy Pants "Vintage Valentine" - last years line perhaps, or the year before? I'm not sure! They are lovely though! The stamp I used on here is the heart - it was a freebie in an order I got recently, so I'm not sure which kit it is connected with. (I love that Unity does that - who doesn't love free stuff? Especially craft stuff!!!) It was sitting on my desk as I was doing this page and I realized it would make the perfect embellishment. The heart was stamped and heat embossed and cut out. The 3 on the left were sewn together before I added them to the page.

My photo of this layout leaves something to be desired. I went to a yoga class after work and it was dark by the time I got home. So I put two Ott lights close to it to try and get a good image - it isn't great, but I don't want to miss the deadline to link with Unity. So good enough has to be good enough!
If you click on the image you will get a bigger version that you can (hopefully) read so the story behind this will make sense!

Another Friends with Flair Friday!

2011-10-07T07:42:00.002-06:00

And another scrapbook page! This one is a sea of pink, which is very appropriate for my then pink-loving girly girl! (now she's into bright green!)
The stamps are Unity Co-Brand Simple Stories "100% Real Life" and I couldn't wait to use that big journaling stamp! Love it!
The papers are "My Minds Eye", ink used was Colorbox pigment ink in 'dusty rose' and heat embossed with clear embossing powder. Some are cut by hand, the two word stamps were cut with a Spellbinders die.

October

2011-10-02T19:11:00.005-06:00

I turned on the furnace for the first time this season today. I can't remember another year when we made it through September without needing it. I didn't want to turn it on - it really is the official end of summer to me!

I'm still sick. I *think* the infection is clearing though I feel incredibly tired and achy still. I am determined to get to work tomorrow. I've used 1/2 my sick time already and we haven't even hit 'sick' season yet. Craig told me I've been grumpy - and I realize it took a lot of courage for him to say that! But I have to admit, he is right. I don't do sick very well. I'm used to being active and up and about all the time. I haven't been running in over two weeks or even out for a walk and just going up and down stairs leaves me needing to rest. This is so not my norm! I'm sure there is a lesson in there somewhere!

Read any good books lately? I've had a hard time finding something good to read - I'll pick up a bunch of books at the library and read a few chapters of each, only to lose interest. I usually read right before I go to sleep each night, and it is possible I'm just too tired to enjoy reading at that time. Maybe. Not sure. If you have any suggestions for books to try, leave me a comment!

I'm watching "Battle of the Blades" and really think this is an inspired show. I saw it the first season, didn't watch it last year, but happened to catch the start of this season last Sunday. It is so fun watching those tough, macho hockey players figure skate! And I love that they have a female hockey player teamed with a male figure skater this year!

And, because I can't think of anything else to say, here's a photo. This is all of us when we were in Whistler in August. We went ziplineing - it was sooooo awesome!

Scrapbooking with flair!

2011-09-30T12:13:00.003-06:00

First of all, it has been quite a week. My cold from last week developed into a full blown sinus infection. I was sick all weekend and stayed home Monday and Tuesday too. I thought I'd give work a try on Wednesday but ended up working only 1/2 a day. Thursday morning, when I was not only not feeling better, but actually getting worse, I realized I needed to get this checked on. I suspected a sinus infection, and it was confirmed and I started on antibiotics yesterday. I still feel like death warmed over today, but really hoping the antibiotics kick in soon.

I'm a bit bored - there is very little worth watching on tv and I don't have any really engaging books to read right now.
Today I have been able to craft a bit - that's a good sign, I think. It is Friends with Flair Friday over at Unity and after seeing someone else post a scrapbook page, I was inspired to create one. I did not plan to do a winter page and really don't want to think about that yet, but I had various bits and pieces of this Echo Park paper in my stash and also have the Unity Co-Brand Wintertime stamp set. When I flipped through my photos I immediately saw this one of Craig and the girls sledding last winter. It was meant to be and so this page was born. I used 8 of the stamps from the set, stamped with Brilliance moonlight white pigment ink and embossed with American Crafts Zing white embossing powder. I thought I was done but then spied a set of red jewels that made the perfect finishing touch!

A Man's place

2011-09-24T17:23:00.004-06:00

While driving Kaylyn to school Friday morning, the radio station I listen to (Lite 95.7, of course!) mentioned a survey that showed that a surprising number of the younger generation still thought in terms of gender specific stereotypes - the man being the breadwinner, the woman taking care of the home. Because I like to seize any opportunity to impart whatever wisdom I can (Kaylyn calls it a "Mom Moment"!), I said to Kaylyn that women and men are not tied to those roles - women can do whatever we want really and that men can be nurturers too. To which she said, "It's a good thing Dad knows his place!".
I cracked up. Craig, does indeed 'know his place' and easily does his share of home and kid care - and does it very well too, I might add. I agreed with Kaylyn and told her she has a good role model in her Dad and that she should never settle for anything less. Let the boys in this city live up to that!!!

Unity - Friends with Flair Friday

2011-09-23T20:49:00.003-06:00

I have two cards for this week. I don't often get to 'play' with FWF, but tonight I am home with a cold. I've been fighting it all week and today it seemed to decide to fight back! So instead of going out with my husband and some friends as planned, I'm home, being still and quiet and hope to feel better very soon. I made both of these cards earlier this week. The first I wanted to be very simple. The stamps are from a recent KOTM (? July). I'm sorry I don't know. I don't have the energy to go to my craft room to check!

The second used a butterfly from "Bevy of Butterflies" and the sentiment is part of a longer phrase but I just inked the "for you" part. Again I'm not sure which kit it came from - sorry!
Anyway, thanks for looking!

Catching up on Project 12!

2011-09-23T17:55:00.004-06:00

I let this one drop for a few months, had other projects I wanted to do and just didn't take time to do it. A few weeks ago, I got a bunch of photos printed and decided to pull up the sketches and see what I could do. I decided not to worry about the sizes of the photos and to just use the 4 x6's that I had. The time it takes me to print out the different sizes deterred me from actually doing the monthly pages (and I don't like the quality of photos my printer prints). I still used the sketches and made them work for my photos in the size I had (where I could trim down photos I did - as long as I wasn't cutting important stuff out of the photo!). Here are the past 4 months. They are pretty simple pages, not too much embellishing. But they capture the gist of each month and I'm happy to have them done. Now I'm back on track! Yay!

Scrapbooking stuff!

2011-09-17T18:25:00.005-06:00

It has been many months since I stopped working at Urban Scrapbook, and sadly, equally as long since I've set foot in the store. Every time I've made plans to head that way, something else has always come up and I run out of time. I really will have to remedy that soon. Mean while, I have quite a stash of supplies here and it has become somewhat of a fun challenge for me to use what I have.
I made a little gift for a friend at work and used the Fancy Pants "About a Girl" paper pack. When I finished the gift I had all the papers out on my desk and decided to see how many layouts I could get out of the one pack of paper. I like variety and I get bored working with the same colours and patterns so it really was a challenge for me.
The first photo is the gift I made. This was for a very strong and caring person...who loves shoes, and the colour pink...that saying was in a stamp set I own and it seemed perfect for her. The stamp itself was too small so I used Webster's alphabet stickers. The papers inside are all Fancy Pants. I used a picture frame on the front, backed by a small canvas panel. the pages of the book are thick chip board that I had, and then the back of the book is another canvas panel. I was able to punch holes through the chip board and the canvas panels with my Crop-a-dile and used ribbon to bind all the pages. Then I glued the front panel onto the frame...and it all seemed to work quite well! I used texture paste on there, paint, some glitter, lots of small prima flowers (remember the milk jar ones? I have a lot of those!) and other flowers and ribbon.

And here are the 5 pages I made from the rest of the pack. Some of these don't have journaling yet. I was happy to get all these from the one pack of paper. I also made two cards, but gave them away before I took photos.

I'll have a Project 12 catch up coming soon too...yay!

Cloud nine

2011-09-17T18:03:00.005-06:00

Someone asked me this week if I've come down from cloud nine yet. Yes, my feet have touched ground again, but I snagged a little piece of that cloud before I landed and I hold it close to my heart!

Next time I get to go to a Josh Groban concert (and there WILL be a next time!) it'll be front row seats (or the 'spit section' as he calls it!!!)

Josh got me in a snag today (!! there always has to be a man to blame!!). I had taken Kaylyn and Erika to horse riding lessons - Erika's is at 1:00 pm and Kaylyn's at 3:00. In between I sat in the van listening to "Illuminations" and not paying attention to the fact that I was playing the CD without the van running...about an hour later the music suddenly stopped...the battery was dead...uh oh!! Just this past week Craig mentioned that I should probably have booster cables in my van...and I guess I should...but don't yet...Luckily, the stable owner came to my rescue and boosted the van. Ah well. Lesson learned, with only a little embarrassment!

Moments

2011-09-03T17:09:00.006-06:00

Since the concert ended last night I've been mulling over in my mind how I would describe it on here. Trying to compose the right words is very hard! This was such an incredible experience starting with hearing the news Monday afternoon and continuing on to the ending notes of the concert last night. A quote that came to mind is: "Life is not measured by the number of breaths we take, but by the moments that take our breath away." Last night was definitely one of those moments. It will be etched in my memory forever. First things first - the picture: That's me and my husband, with Josh in the middle. That's me with my arm around JOSH GROBAN and his arm around me - see his hand on my right shoulder??? Oh my. My heart beats faster just thinking about it!

I had been worried about bringing in my camera - clearly printed on the tickets was "no camera's or recorders" but I also wanted a good picture, so I took my Nikon and crossed my fingers. We went in and security was checking everyone and asked "any cameras, recorders..." and I said "Yes, I have a camera. I won a meet and greet session and I want to take a picture". He said "OK". I was surprised that it was that easy! For the Meet & Greet we had to go to the floor level and were met there by Josh's security guy. It was a very carefully orchestrated event! We (a group of about 10) were led to a backstage area where curtains contained a little area. The security guy gave his instructions: "no hugging or kissing" (rats!), "shake hands, say hello, introduce yourself, autograph one item only and have a picture taken (they had someone take the camera's to take the pictures). We waited a bit and then there he was! He looks younger in person and is smaller than I'd imagined - such a powerful voice comes out of that body! Craig and I happened to be first in line. I had brought with me a scrapbook page I did 4 years ago titled "My Other Men". It was a humourous take on the other men in my life and Josh was one of them. He thought it was funny and signed it "from your other man". LOL! Here is the page, with the autograph (if you click on it, you will be able to read it):

Craig had the Awake CD which he signed too. Then the photo was taken - and that was it. Short, but oh so sweet!

After that we made our way to our seats. The opening performance was by Elew who has a very interesting way of playing the piano! I was very anxious to hear and see Josh sing so found the opening act to be long....finally, at 9pm, the orchestra was playing one of the instrumental pieces and all eyes were fixed on the main stage, when Josh entered from the back of the arena and sang his first few songs on a little raised stage on what would be centre ice. That was very neat! From the very first sounds out of his mouth I was captivated all over again. He actually sounds better live than on CD. He just has the most amazing voice. I know nothing about singing or the technicalities of it - I just know that his voice touches my heart and soul deeply. It is amazing. He sang a variety of songs from all his CD's, including a few of my favourites: February Song, You Raise me up and my absolute favourite, You are Loved. He chatted a bit throughout the show and was funny and down to earth. Since I had my camera I took photos throughout. Most were blurry or just not good due to the lighting - but I just wanted a couple of good ones to scrapbook and I did get that. The first two here are from when he was on the centre stage area (he went back to it a few times throughout the night) and the last one was the main stage - we were further away from there, as you can tell)

The show ended way too soon - I could have listened to him all night. I don't think my feet have touched ground yet. Even today while doing all the things that I do in my ordinary life - grocery shopping, laundry, cleaning - there is still a surreal aura about me. This really happened. I'm still in awe. I don't know what else to say. I don't think I can really convey just what this meant to me. I am so very grateful to everyone involved and want to send some thank you's out:

To Josh Groban (though I know he'll never read this, I'll say it anyway!) You have an incredible gift in your voice and music and the world is a better place because you choose to share it. I can only imagine the sacrifices that go with leading the life of a touring artist, so thank you for doing what you do.

To Lite 95.7 in Edmonton - thank you so much for the opportunity to win the tickets and meet and greet. It was just simply amazing!

And most important of all, to my husband for being so tolerant and patient and understanding of my "other man"!! You're the best and I love you!

Such excitement!

2011-08-29T20:07:00.002-06:00

I got a call at work this afternoon from Craig. He asked "are you sitting down?" I immediately thought something was wrong. Then he said he wanted to play me an answering machine message. I was very puzzled to say the least.
So he played the message so I could hear it.
It was from a local radio station (light 95.7) saying they hoped I didn't have plans for Friday night because I had WON TWO TICKETS PLUS A MEET AND GREET OPPORTUNITY WITH JOSH GROBAN!!!!
Oh my heavens! I was flabbergasted! I entered the contest through their website last week and didn't even know when the drawing was going to be made. They left the message this morning (the girls were still in bed and didn't even hear it). I think (actually I know!) I freaked out a little bit (ok, ok, a big bit!) at work. And then freaked out some more when I got home and could hear the message myself. I called the radio station and spoke with the afternoon guy - and then he played the conversation on the air - yikes! I get to pick up the tickets tomorrow and get details on the meet and greet. Oh good heavens, I am so in shock that I won this.
I have loved Josh Groban's music for years now. I first heard him on an Oprah program singing "You Raise me Up" and it was so beautiful I immediately went in search of his CD. My favourite song is "Don't Give Up - You are Loved". The first time I heard that one I cried, it was so touching. I played it over and over this past winter and spring when I was having some rough times.

I. Can't. Wait. !!!!!!! Craig is going to come with me and try to keep my feet anchored on the ground. Actually, I don't think I want to be anchored - I wanna fly and soak up every unbelievable moment!

Stay tuned - I will post details of the night!

A couple of Unity cards...

2011-08-12T09:55:00.003-06:00

Two quick cards I made using the Unity Stamp set "Could I be any cuter". The patterned paper background is from a DCWV paper stack that I got on clearance at Indigo bookstore. I thought when I saw it that it would be perfect for cards - and I was right. Love finding a good buy like that (It was $5.00 for 72 sheets of paper in 4.5" x6.5" size). I adhered the mat to cardstock and cut and folded to make the card base - super quick and easy. I also used Spellbinders dies here and of course, Unity stamps. Love those!

Odds 'n ends

2011-07-17T11:14:00.006-06:00

* I'm sitting outside on my back deck for the first time in ages. There is a lovely breeze blowing that's keeping the mosquitoes away. It is lovely!
* I need a refill of coffee, but am almost too comfortable to move... *almost* being the operative word - the need for coffee won out and I now have a refill :)
* We went to the downtown Farmers Market yesterday and used some of our purchases to make the best (and easiest) pasta dish ever! Bow tie noodles cooked and tossed with a sauce of blended tomatoes, fresh basil, garlic and olive oil and some cubed mozzarella cheese. It was seriously so good! Worth a trip to the farmers market for fresh tomatoes and basil (and if you can find fresh mozzarella - that would be the crowing glory!).
* I've been baking bread from a book called "Amy's Bread". A favourite is an oat and pecan bread. I ate it for lunch every day last week (toasted, with some old cheddar, along with fruit on the side). Would have been awesome with a glass of wine, but since I was at work, I had to forego that part.
* I've been working on various craft projects, some mixed media, lots of cards (that I always forget to photograph before I give away). Not as much actual scrapbook pages. I still haven't done Project 12 for May or June yet. It is kinda nice to let go of deadlines sometimes!
* Have a bunch of pictures on my camera that I need to upload
* Hurting for some friends who are going through rough times. Holding them in my heart and wishing I could ease their pain.
* Kaylyn gets her braces off tomorrow! One month shy of 2 years since she got them on.
* Kaylyn and Erika are going to a horse camp next Saturday. Jenna is not as interested in horses (and seems to have an allergy to them - or at least to something out at the barn), so she gets to hang out with Craig for the week. I'm still working and have a few weeks yet to go before my vacation time
* I ran 8 miles this morning. Got home to find Craig in the kitchen cooking pancakes, with coffee brewing - he does this every Sunday morning. I love coming home to the wonderful aroma of Sunday breakfast
* Am utterly and completely content at this very moment!

* Edited to add: I can never catch all the spelling, grammar and punctuation errors until after I hit "publish post". I've had to go in and edit quite a few. Forgive me if there are more. I try.

Time Warp.

2011-07-03T19:21:00.007-06:00

So, somehow the whole month of June got away from me without a single blog post. I know I sat down a couple of times to write and then didn't get far, so nothing got posted.
Right now I'm sitting at the kitchen table enjoying a glass of wine while Kaylyn does the dishes. I'm wondering how many she'll manage to stack up before realizing that she may have to dry some before proceeding? She's a very "process" driven girl and in her mind the dishes all get washed first and then dried, so I guess unless they topple over (and there is a good chance of that!) she won't stop half way through washing. Ah well. I don't have to do them so I'll just concentrate on my blogging...and my wine:)

School ended for the kids last week. I made cards for the teachers, but forgot to take photos. The girls all did fabulously this school year - wonderful report cards all around. I'm so proud of them!

Well, other than that I don't seem to have a whole lot to say. That might explain the absenteeism from here! I do have a couple of projects that I haven't posted before. The first is a scrapbook page I did based on a Becky Fleck sketch from the Scrapbook and Cards Today web site. I actually submitted this one for consideration for publication, but no luck. Oh well. I love the page. It uses BoBunny papers (last years summer line) along with some glimmer glam, glimmer mist and clear micro beads. zigzag stitching around the outside to 'dress' it up a bit. I think there is diamond glaze on there too.

This is a card I made for a friend/colleague who got married in May. I used Unity stamps on this and crocheted the flowers. I really loved how it turned out!

So, a brief post, but a post none the less. Maybe next time I'll feel more chatty.
Oh, and by the way, the dishes all got done in Kaylyn's own way. None toppled over. She even remembered to turn the dishwasher on. There is hope yet!

Last Urban DT page...

2011-05-23T20:45:00.009-06:00

Last, not as in the latest, but as in no more to come.
For many months now I've been working on a lot of personal stuff, and with it came an examination of everything I'm doing and why I do what I do. Part of my 'journey' has included the Brave Girls Soul Restoration Workshop where Melody Ross talks about finding, and then living, your 'truth'. I've made some changes in what I do - some very subtle that likely no one else notices, others much bigger. Some have been very easy, others more difficult than I would have imagined!
One of those changes was to stop working at the Urban Scrapbook. I started working there in 2006 - it was the best part time job I could have had and I am so lucky I ended up there! I believe it was meant to be. It was definitely what I needed at the time the offer to work there was made to me. Pat and Lori have been wonderful to work for and so supportive when I've needed to adjust my schedule for school and kids. Co workers and customer alike have become friends. When I began working full time in another position, I still kept a monthly shift at Urban. But gradually the kids have gotten busier and it has become too exhausting to keep doing so much. I've just felt like I needed to simplify where I could - and truly live my truths - one of which is that my family is what matters most and I need to have my weekends free to be with Craig and the kids.
So, this layout was the last monthly one I will do as part of the Urban girl team. I am grateful to have had the opportunity to be part of the store for over 4 years. Thanks Pat and Lori for everything.

This page was a tough one -but not only because it was the last. It was hard because it was a very masculine line of paper. I scrapbook girl stuff all the time. I love flowers, bling. All stuff feminine. The one lone chipboard dinosaur saved the day and I pulled out photos from a trip to Drumheller 2 years ago! We also had to use distress ink (the wood frame and wood buttons are stained with it) and we had to use a zipper. Erika has a headband with a zipper flower, so I decided to recreate it on this page. Determined to get a little bit of a girly feel on an otherwise very boyish page!

Double page layout...

2011-05-23T20:37:00.002-06:00

Doing project 12 has gotten me into doing 2 page layouts again. I did this one intending to submit to a magazine call...but I finished the layout and completely forgot to submit it! Oh well.

This uses paper from My Minds Eye. The title 'bubbles' was cut with my Cricut. The bird and swirls were cut from patterns in the paper itself. I used dimensional pearls to follow along the swirls. It was fun to do. Maybe next time I do one to submit, I will actually remember to do so before the deadline!

Cards with Unity

2011-05-22T14:32:00.004-06:00

I've been getting rubber stamps from Unity for a while now and I love them, but really have not been using them very much. But recently I've been pulling them out to make cards and to use for the She Art workshop I am taking. Unity has different challenges going on all the time (see here) and this month it is to use Unity stamps with fruit...so here is mine, inspired by a card in the Cardmaker magazine May issue on page 17 (designed by Michelle Woerner):

The strawberry and the word "Berry" are both from the April, 2010 monthly kit. The strawberry was stamped with black ink on red and green card stock and heat embossed with black embossing powder then cut out and layered. Then I covered it with diamond glaze and used little black beads as the seeds on the strawberry. It looks darker in the photo than it actually is and I don't have the patience to try taking the photo again! The word berry was also stamped with black ink and heat embossed with black, then cut out (it had the word "adorable" attached that I didn't want to use here). I used some rubon alphabet for the "thank you" and "much". Cut the main card with a spellbinders die and then cut and embossed the inner circle with a cuttlebug embossing folder. A little pink ink, some patterned paper, border punch and ribbon...and there it is.

Project 12 - April edition

2011-05-16T20:25:00.002-06:00

This one got finished early! Yay! The sketches are posted here

I used some sheets of Crate paper that I love and I cut the butterflies, month and year with my Cricut. While I was using a border punch (EK Success), the punched out holes looked like the pattern on one of the papers, which in turn reminded me of the path a butterfly might take...so I used those punched holes on the layout as you can see.
I used different sized photos - and a few more of them - than the sketch showed and also added additional journaling.

Birthday Girl

2011-05-01T22:27:00.002-06:00

She's 12. Celebrated with friends over to make pizza, then out for glow in the dark bowling. Back home for Mississippi Mud Pie - her birthday 'cake' request - a movie and junk food followed by a sleepover. Chocolate chip pancakes for breakfast to top it all off. Phew! I'm tired! And she's happy, so it is all worth it!

Project 12 - March

2011-05-01T22:07:00.002-06:00

My head is spinning after the whirlwind of April, but finally got this page finished for March and took a picture today.
I had a package of Sassafrass Lass paper (Indie Girl) and challenged myself to only use the papers and stickers in the package. I had a few duplicates as we used that line for the Urban Scrapbook DT some months back and I used some of that too. I also stuck to the sketch, with the exception of using more smaller pictures in place of one of the big ones. I cut the tree from my Cricut and the frame for the title from my Slice (I so love both of those machines!).

April

2011-04-10T20:47:00.003-06:00

Our April page kit for The Urban Scrapbook included beautiful Glitz papers and stamps. It also had flowers cut from old sewing patterns, something I had not used before. I did some stamping and heat embossing; for the flowers I layered the die cuts and then sprayed them with glimmer mist. They got quite fragile when wet! As they dried (I used a heat gun because I have no patience to wait!), they scrunched up very nicely. I love how they turned out.
This picture of Kaylyn was taken just over a year ago in Canmore - I love the photo and like how this page turned out. A favourite for sure!

I used the leftover paper to make a birthday card for my Mom (who's 76th birthday is today!), but I don't have a photo of it yet. She doesn't have it yet either and since she lives in Newfoundland and I live in Alberta, it will obviously be late. I did call her today and wish her a happy birthday, so my daughterly duty is covered. When she gets the card it will be like celebrating again, so it is good to be late....hahaha!

It is nice that spring has, finally, decided to put in an appearance. It has been warm and sunny and the snow is disappearing fast. It is getting bright as I run in the morning and the boots are getting relegated to the back of the closet. Yay!!! I love spring. The freshness and newness, light and warmth - so nice!

Project 12 - February

2011-03-22T18:27:00.002-06:00

I love Valentine themed papers and anything with hearts on it. So it was fun to do the February page with paper that met that criteria. This is an older Scenic Route line - not sure if it was last year or the year before - I'm just happy it now has its place preserved in a scrapbook!!! Along with the memories of February of course! I used some clear micro beads on here and cut some swirls from my Slice (basics 3 cartridge). Now that I'm moved into a room devoted to my craft stuff, I can actually see and get at all my supplies. nice!

It is March 22nd???

2011-03-22T18:24:00.002-06:00

Really? Spring arrived on Sunday. Apparently. You'd never tell from the view out my window, with snow coming down and the streets clogged with ice and yet more snow. Mother Nature really has some explaining to do!!!
This scrapbook page shows nicely how I'm feeling. The pictures were taken nearly TWO MONTHS ago, when I was already ready for spring to come....the waiting continues!

Life continues on its merry, fast paced way. We've all been stricken with some version of the nasty cold virus that has been circulating. First the kids got it about a month ago. Then last week, Craig got pretty sick and stayed that way for an entire week. I kept crossing my well sanitized fingers that I would stay healthy, but on Sunday I too got that terrible itchy throat and irritating cough, along with aches and pains. I worked yesterday, and had today off - which was a very good thing! I'm not sure I would have been able to work anyway. I'll have to see what tomorrow brings. I'm hoping the day of rest will help fight this thing off quickly. I also made chicken soup for dinner and have been drinking green, white and rooibos tea like crazy, hopeful all those antioxidants will kick the bugs to the curb.

Anyway, last Thursday was St. Patrick's Day and in honour of that I made green pancakes for breakfast:

The batter looks weird, but the girls thought they were great and ate them with great enthusiasm. They are O'Neill's after all and must live up to that name's Irish background!

Jenna also had Crazy Hair day at school to coincide with St. Patricks Day and she got fully into the spirit. I almost forgot to take a picture and wanted her to take off her jacket, but there really wasn't time and so this is what I got. There are green ribbons in her hair and she was wearing green socks too.

Some scrapbook pages!

2011-02-27T20:24:00.005-07:00

After I did the Project 12 January page, I had more Echo Park 'Wintertime' papers sitting on my desk that begged to be used. So I did these next two pages. Pretty simple, but DONE! And recent photos too!

This one is the March DT page for Urban. We were given the Little Yellow Bicycle 'Twig' line and asked to use border punches. I love border punches and have been acquiring quite a collection. I think I used 4 different ones on this layout. Fun! While checking out the Creative Scrappers blog, because fellow Urban girl Jody was recently added to the design team there (way to go Jody!), I thought it would be fun to use some of the sketches there. Sketch #142 caught my eye and that's what I used for this layout.
Here is the sketch:

And my take on it:

And this page is the February page for Urban. The papers are from Making Memories and so very pretty! The challenge was to use glitter always a fun technique.I pulled out a wedding photo for this one - and have a hard time believing that anniversary # 18 happens this year!

This last photo is not a scrapbook page, obviously, but hopefully it will make it on to one someday not to far away (I hardly ever scrapbook myself and am trying to more often, else some day my kids will be looking through the albums and won't remember that I even existed!) Anyway, it has been really cold here and I hate to miss my running, so I bundle up and go anyway. I got back one evening and was absolutely covered in frost and thought I'd take a picture. By the time I grabbed the camera and snapped it, most of the frost had melted, but it is good documentation of what I look like out there. Just picture ice crystals on my eyelashes and more frost around my face and you'll have a pretty good idea!

Today's adventures in running...

2011-02-21T19:47:00.003-07:00

...alternatively titled "Lost in St. Albert".
I took the girls out to St. Albert to swim at Servus Place. They can swim for hours, so I got them there, then went for a run. I've done this before and usually go on the trails along the river out there. Headed that way again today, then decided to go across a bridge to the opposite side of the river, assuming that it would take me back over somewhere along the other side. It didn't. At least not in a way that I was able to figure out easily. Ended up along a road, followed a walk way that took me into a residential area...and realized I had no idea where I was!
I kept going , cause really what else could I do? Then I realized I was female and could ask for directions! I saw a man shovelling his driveway and stopped and asked him where Servus Place was in relation to where I was at that moment. He laughed. Then asked if I wanted the short way or the long way back. I asked him for the short way please. He gave me directions, I was able to follow them and a few more miles later got back to where I started. Ended up running 8 miles instead of the 4 or 5 I had intended. I ran 7 miles yesterday, so my legs are a bit sore right now. Ah well. I now know a little bit more of St. Albert!

Happy Birthday Kaylyn!!!

2011-02-16T13:11:00.005-07:00

She is 14!

Yesterday was the big day, though the celebrating started on Friday. Kaylyn loves to stretch out the festivities as much as she can. She had a friend stay over Friday and Saturday night. We went out to dinner Saturday and had birthday cake from Marble Slab. Poor girl hasn't been feeling well though - she and her sisters have had a nasty cold since last week. She even missed a day and a half of school - an unusual occurrence for her.

Kaylyn is doing very well in school, is on the honour roll and her teachers say she is a well liked, respectful and hard working kid. So nice to hear that stuff! I also found out that she is a talented writer (directly quoting her teacher). What a nice surprise! Apparently she writes with great attention to detail with great sentence structure, etc. She is also a super artist and her drawings are amazing!

I'm so proud of this girl!

Project 12 - 2011!

2011-02-13T21:49:00.003-07:00

Way too long since I've posted anything. Sigh. Never enough time to do everything!
Oh well. I am getting some scrapbooking time and have carried on with Project 12 for another year...and, miracle of miracles, I have done January's page early!!!

I used Echo Park winter time paper, and dug out some very old brads and eyelets, as well as some Heidi Swapp clear snowflakes that are hard to see in the photo.

Christmas in review

2011-01-09T19:15:00.005-07:00

By the time Friday rolled around this week, it already felt like Christmas was very long ago! It is funny how time seems to work that way. At any rate, we had a fairly low key Christmas, staying at home and enjoying much needed down time.
On Christmas eve the girls got haircuts - just worked out that I wasn't working and I was able to schedule all three. They love going to the hair salon and always have very definite ideas about how they want to look. This first picture is the three of them holding the traditional 'open on Christmas eve gift' that is always new jammies. You can see the fab new hair styles too!

And here they are wearing the new jammies!

I always like to snap photos as they open gifts and get some great reactions. Erika is often very reserved in how she responds and this was no exception. She's wearing a scarf that Kaylyn gave her.

Kaylyn and Jenna however are very animated. I love these next two shots:

This is Jenna putting the final decoration on the 'advent' calendar. I made this many years ago and there is an ornament for each day in December until the 25th. The last ornament is the star for the top of the tree. There was no arguing this year over who got to put the star on - that was nice!

On January 2nd we paid a visit to the Humane Society and came home with 2 new family members!

I've missed having cats around since my last 'senior' cat died in the Fall. Tia (the black one) and Willow (the grey one) have made themselves right at home and are little darlings! I'm really glad we got them - a house just needs to have a cat (or two!) in it!

Project 12- December, 2010

2011-01-09T13:42:00.004-07:00

No, you haven't lost a whole bunch of days. It really is 'only' January 9th - but here I am posting the December page a whole 11 days before the due date! I'm quite proud of me! I did most of this the week between Christmas and New Years that I had off. It was very nice to finish so early. Today I pulled out my sewing machine to add a final touch of stitching around the outer edge. It is in a cream colour so doesn't show up well in the photo, but adds a nice 'tie it all together' element I think. What I forgot to add into the journaling is that the photo of Kaylyn in the top left corner shows her holding her very own, brand new debit card! She was so delighted to get it - it will get its own page in her album too! Anyway, for this page I used My Minds Eye paper and some prima flowers that I bought last christmas - so nice to use them! one of my photos refused to print in the size I wanted and it threw off the arrangement a bit, but I was able to adjust and make it work with a few other adjustments in photo sizes. And this page finishes off the whole year! I was also able to do an opening page, which I'll have to post and for the ending page in the album I plan to ask Craig and the girls to record their best moments/most memorable moments, whatever they wish from 2010 and I will record them on the final page. I'll add my own too, of course.

Thanks for looking!
I'm definitely planning to continue with Project 12 for 2011. Check it out at Scrapbook and Cards Today.

I still plan to post about Christmas with photos - perhaps later today. Stay tuned!

Winter Fun

2010-12-30T08:53:00.005-07:00

This is my page for the Urban Scrapbook DT for January. This month the due date snuck up on me and I almost forgot to do it! But thankfully I have time off work this week and I was able to sit and do the whole thing in pretty much one sitting. I enjoyed this one a lot. The technique was to use Glimmer Mist - always fun to make a mess! I used it on the snowflakes (green with gold shimmer) and I sprayed it on the white behind the photos and used one of the snowflakes as a mask and then put the same snowflake above it so it looks like a shadow, sort of!

We're taking the girls swimming shortly - I will go for a run and then meet them back at the pool (Servus Place in St. Albert). It is-19 degrees C right now, so a dip in the hot tub after I run will be sooooo nice!

Project 12 - November

2010-12-27T12:10:00.003-07:00

Better late than never!
Funny thing about this one is that I knew December would be busy and actually started putting the page together in November, feeling pretty smug that I was ahead of the game. Then December hit and with it a wave of activities, parties, shopping, combined with ongoing work in the basement, which meant that my printer wasn't hooked up and when Craig did hook it up I couldn't find my photo paper and when I stared printing photos, my yellow ink ran completely out and I couldn't find the replacement that I knew was here somewhere! Craig found that for me and printing commenced. All of that was challenging enough and then I got payback for that earlier smugness and came down with a stomach flu.Yuck. Ick. Blah! That finally did me in and I had no choice but do nothing for several days - other than throw up that is.

Everything else got done in time for Christmas - gifts got bought and wrapped. Cookies got baked. Gifts for teachers were prepared. Groceries were purchased. We all enjoyed Christmas day and boxing day. And today I finished the November page, a full week after the deadline. But it really doesn't matter. Because it isn't about the deadline. It is about the fact that I will have a whole year of our lives documented in one album. It is about that fact that I enjoy the process of creating and playing and relaxing during the process. A deadline is often great incentive to finish something. But this project is so much more than deadlines. And so, enough rambling, here is the page for November. I used Bo Bunny paper and gems, some felt snowflakes and some swirls cut from my Slice and sprayed with 'Marshmallow' glimmer mist. The word "November" was also cut and sprayed. I think this is one of my favourites...probably until I do the next one!

The sun is beautifully shining today and the thermometer is reading a balmy -7, so I must go out in it at some point. Right now though, I have another scrapbook project calling my name...with another deadline of tomorrow. The beauty right now is that I have the most wonderful gift of all - time. I'm off work for the rest of the week and can relax and enjoy the crafting process.
Merry Christmas to me!!! (and I will post later with photos and tales from our Christmas festivities!)

The Birthday Girl

2010-11-28T14:14:00.003-07:00

Jenna turned 10 on November 24th, the last of my three to hit double digits! It seems so impossible to believe that it has been 10 years since her birth. But the proof is right before me in her oh so grown up self!

We had her birthday party yesterday afternoon. The girls did crafts, made pizza, played games (with a whole lotta squealing going on!) and then ate birthday cake. The cake was from Marble Slab, chosen by the birthday girl herself - birthday cake ice cream (of course), with sprinkles and gummie bears mixed in. (note: ice cream cake with gummie bears in it is incredibly hard to cut!)

Jenna was so excited leading up to her party...I swear she talked non stop from Friday evening until her guests arrived on Saturday. I'm not even sure she stopped while she was sleeping! She is such a fun loving, exuberant, fiesty girl and I love her dearly.

*sigh* My baby is 10!

Have you read...

2010-11-25T20:58:00.002-07:00

I took this from Crystals blog and since I love to read, decided to post it as well...

The BBC believes most people will have read only 6 of the 100 books listed here.
Instructions: Bold those books you've read in their entirety, italicize the ones you started but didn't finish or read an excerpt.

1 Pride and Prejudice - Jane Austen

2 The Lord of the Rings - JRR Tolkien

3 Jane Eyre - Charlotte Bronte

4 Harry Potter series - JK Rowling

5 To Kill a Mockingbird - Harper Lee

6 The Bible

7 Wuthering Heights - Emily Bronte

8 Nineteen Eighty Four - George Orwell

9 His Dark Materials - Philip Pullman

10 Great Expectations - Charles Dickens

11 Little Women - Louisa M Alcott

12 Tess of the D'urbervilles - Thomas Hardy

13 Catch-22 - Joseph Heller

14 The Complete Works of Shakespeare

15 Rebecca - Daphne Du Maurier

16 The Hobbit - JRR Tolkien

17 Birdsong - Sebastian Faulk

18 Catcher in the Rye - J.D. Salinger

19 The Time-Traveler's Wife - Audrey Niffenegger

20 Middlemarch - George Eliot

21 Gone With the Wind - Margaret Mitchell

22 The Great Gatsby - F Scott Fitzgerald

24 War and Peace - Leo Tolstoy

25 The Hitch Hiker’s Guide to the Galaxy - Douglas Adams

27 Crime and Punishment - Fyodor Dostoyevsky

28 Grapes of Wrath - John Steinbeck

29 Alice in Wonderland - Lewis Carroll

30 The Wind in the Willows - Kenneth Graeme

31 Anna Karenina - Leo Tolstoy

32 David Copperfield - Charles Dickens

33 Chronicles of Narnia - CS Lewis

34 Emma - Jane Austen

35 Persuasion - Jane Austen

36 The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe - CS Lewis

37 The Kite Runner - Khaled Hosseini

38 Captain Corelli’s Mandolin - Louis De Bernieres

39 Memoirs of a Geisha - Arthur Golden

40 Winnie the Pooh - A.A. Milne

41 Animal Farm - George Orwell

42 The Da Vinci Code - Dan Brown

43 One Hundred Years of Solitude - Gabriel Garcia Marquez

44 A Prayer for Owen Meaney - John Irving

45 The Woman in White - Wilkie Collins

46 Anne of Green Gables - L.M. Montgommery

47 Far From The Madding Crowd - Thomas Hardy

48 The Handmaid's Tale - Margaret Atwood

49 Lord of the Flies - William Golding

50 Atonement - Ian McEwan

51 Life of Pi - Yann Martel

52 Dune - Frank Herbert

53 Cold Comfort Farm - Stella Gibbons

54 Sense and Sensibility - Jane Austen

55 A Suitable Boy - Vikram Seth

56 The Shadow of the Wind - Carlos Ruiz Zafon

57 A Tale Of Two Cities - Charles Dickens

58 Brave New World - Aldous Huxley

59 The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time - Mark Haddon

60 Love In The Time Of Cholera - Gabriel Garcia Marquez

61 Of Mice and Men - John Steinbeck

62 Lolita - Vladimir Nabokov

63 The Secret History - Donna Tartt

64 The Lovely Bones - Alice Sebold

65 Count of Monte Cristo - Alexandre Dumas

66 On The Road - Jack Kerouac

67 Jude the Obscure - Thomas Hardy

68 Bridget Jones’s Diary - Helen Fielding

69 Midnight’s Children - Salman Rushdie

70 Moby Dick - Herman Melville

71 Oliver Twist - Charles Dickens

72 Dracula - Bram Stoker

73 The Secret Garden - Frances Hodgson Burnett

74 Notes From A Small Island - Bill Bryson

75 Ulysses - James Joyce

76 The Inferno - Dante

77 Swallows and Amazons - Arthur Ransome

78 Germinal - Emile Zola

79 Vanity Fair - William Makepeace Thackeray

80 Possession - AS Byatt

81 A Christmas Carol - Charles Dickens

82 Cloud Atlas - David Mitchell

83 The Color Purple - Alice Walker

84 The Remains of the Day - Kazuo Ishiguro

85 Madame Bovary - Gustave Flaubert

86 A Fine Balance - Rohinton Mistry

87 Charlotte’s Web - E.B. White

88 The Five People You Meet In Heaven - Mitch Albom

89 Adventures of Sherlock Holmes - Sir Arthur Conan Doyle

90 The Faraway Tree Collection - Enid Blyton

91 Heart of Darkness - Joseph Conrad

92 The Little Prince - Antoine St. Exupery

93 The Wasp Factory - Iain Banks

94 Watership Down - Richard Adams

95 A Confederacy of Dunces - John Kennedy Toole

96 A Town Like Alice - Nevil Shute

97 The Three Musketeers - Alexandre Dumas

98 Hamlet - William Shakespeare

99 Charlie and the Chocolate Factory - Roald Dahl

100 Les Miserables - Victor Hugo

That was fun. I've read quite a few...and have a list to pull from next time I go to the library!

What about you?

Project 12 - October

2010-11-20T15:38:00.003-07:00

It's that time of month again! Time to upload October's page. And I have to confess that once more I only just finished it! My excuse this time is that work on the basement (where my stuff has been) is continuing and it is constantly a mess. We have drywalling happening next week, so I had to relocate my supplies once more. For right now I am set up in a corner of my bedroom. It is quite a nice spot, right in front of a big window. I told Craig I may just like it here too much to move again! The plan is for me to take over one of the main floor bedrooms when Erika and Kaylyn move to their new bedrooms in the basement. And since I know my "organized mess" will drive Craig bonkers, it will be nice to have a room of my own where I can close the door and hibernate...!

Anyway, I used some We Are Memory Keepers paper for this and the alphabet is a Making Memories Halloween one that I had leftover from the October page at Urban Scrapbook. I was putting down the letters and realized that I didn't have any "e's"...an upside down "3" did the trick!

So now I have to relocate books to shelving in my closet so I can use the bookcase to organize and store some scrapbook stuff.

And now for the "other stuff"...

2010-11-02T19:57:00.003-06:00

Last night my blog post was "Halloween and Other Stuff", but sometime after I posted it I realized I only talked about Halloween and forgot about the "other stuff"...so here is the other stuff! (***warning, huge potential for rambling and out of order events!***)

It has been incredibly busy in every aspect of my life. So much going on but little time to blog about it!

* Last Saturday I helped out a little bit at Urban Scrapbook as they moved to the new location. It is right around the corner from the old location, facing 118th avenue and it was looking great when I was there. They opened on Monday in the new space, with a Grand re-opening on Saturday, November 6th. Check it out - it's gonna be a lot of fun!

* We met with Kaylyn's teachers last week and got a fabulous report. She continues to do very well and we are very proud of her. While I had to rush off to yet another meeting right after that one, she and Craig went on a date to Dairy Queen :)

* After running the 22 km version of Melissa's road race in Banff on September 25th, I didn't run another step for 3 weeks due to a back injury. I've been gradually building up my milage again and ran just over 4 miles this morning. Yay!

* I don't like that it is now dark even while driving Kaylyn to school and me to work. Hate that.

* Work on our basement is coming along. Craig spends every spare minute down there and we're almost ready to have the electrical and plumbing inspected. After that - drywall, which will really make it seem close to done!

* I'm trying to scrapbook when I can. Often it is just a few minutes here and there, and usually only finish something with a deadline looming. (Think project 12!)
This is my November page for Urban. We had to use the word "Happy" in the title:

Now that I'm trying to write stuff down, I'm not even sure what else to say. Life is just busy. I'm sure I'd be bored if it was any other way. Tomorrow I work noon to 8pm, to allow for teaching a 6 to 8 pm diabetes education class. A nurse teaches the first half, I teach the second half and we do this 3 weeks in a row. So each of the next 3 Wednesday's I do that shift. I'm not a fan of being at work that late, but it does give me a few daytime hours to enjoy. Maybe I can find a few minutes of stillness to just be. Something I need to work on amid all the craziness!

On that note I need to check some homework and see to planning for tomorrow.
Good night!

Halloween and other stuff!

2010-11-01T18:13:00.005-06:00

It always seems like such a time warp once Halloween is over and we're suddenly (it seems) into November.
The girls had a great time last night and got way too much candy. I had to laugh at Jenna though...as soon as she came in the door she was all excited to show me the best thing she got in her bag:

Yep, a Mr. Noodles package. She thought it was just the best thing ever.

Kaylyn decided to carve her own pumpkin this year. She sketched a picture first, then transferred it to her pumpkin. She did the whole thing herself with absolutely no help. I was amazed at her talent!

Erika printed a picture from the computer and used it to carve her pumpkin. She also did the carving part herself and ended u with this:

Then she used the pieces leftover to carve a heart:

And finished up with this:

So sweet!

Project 12 - September

2010-10-20T17:42:00.002-06:00

This is my page for September. The paper is Scrap within reach and I played up the circles on the patterned paper by cutting more from the different papers, distressing them a bit and layering. On the right hand side of the layout is a rare appearance...by me! As you can see this was taken at Melissa's Road Race in Banff. I used my timing chip as an accent on the page.
Another month documented! I'm so glad I am doing this project - it is a lot of fun...even if I always scramble to meet the deadline. A little adrenaline is a good thing!

Gratitude

2010-10-11T20:04:00.006-06:00

Today is Thanksgiving Day and I have so much to be thankful for:

I'm feeling much, much better, with no pain at all today and I was able to go for a 30 minute walk with Craig this morning. I've done laundry, cooking, baking and shopping this weekend with a few aches Saturday and Sunday, but no lingering problems today.

We had a lovely Thanksgiving dinner yesterday with plenty of leftovers for today and a pot of soup simmering now for tomorrow.

There are so many wonderful people in my life and I'm in awe of how some people know exactly what it is you need, even if I don't know it yet!

I've been invited to join a book club by a new neighbour and I'm excited about that. The book for October is "The girl with the Dragon Tattoo". I finished reading it a few days ago and I was annoyed with the author. I started out not liking the book, not able to 'get into' it. I was sure I would not read the other two books in the series. Then it got interesting. And horrifying. And suspenseful. And I couldn't put it down. And now I want to read the other two...and I'm mad because I didn't want to get hooked! (but thankful for the joy of reading!)

The next Harry Potter movie is due out in November...one more month!

I watched the "Mama Mia" movie last night. It wasn't the live musical, but I enjoyed it just the same, curled up comfortably in my jammies and a blankie. I couldn't have done that at the Jubilee! Craig watched it with me. I don't think it was quite his thing, but he stayed awake for the entire movie anyway:)

Personal growth and opportunities that show up just when I'm ready for them (even if I don't think I'm ready yet).

Enough left over pumpkin pie for dessert for two extra nights! Yum!

So much more!

What a week!

2010-10-01T21:12:00.004-06:00

I'm glad it is Friday. I've spent most of this week dealing with lower back muscle spasms. Painful. I was supposed to be at Mama Mia tonight but can't sit comfortably for more than a few minutes, so I had to miss it. I'm terribly disappointed. A few other things happened this week too, which rank it up there in the least favourite ever! I've been feeling sorry for myself and have had to work hard to not wallow in self pity. Things could be worse. This too will pass... I have a lot to be thankful for and will have other opportunities to see musicals and my back will get better. So to help me remember and keep my focus positive I decided to post a list of things I am thankful for:
1. My wonderfully patient husband who takes such good care of me when I need him to
2. My children who can be so funny and so caring
3. A fantastic full time job
4. A fantastic very part time job
5. Space to scrapbook and craft and happily make a mess
6. Beautiful fall weather
7. A house I love with space for all of us (and a heated basement floor!)
8. A well stocked pantry, fridge and freezer
9. books
10. people who care and who want to help

In bits and pieces I was able to finish my October page for the Urban Scrapbook. I enjoyed doing this page, using My Minds Eye paper, Making Memories alphabet and brads, corrugated black cardboard, black ribbon roses, and chandelier pendants.
I used Glimmer Glam in purple on the black corrugated letters - you can't really see it in the photo, but it gives a little shimmer in real life. I also used some black liquid embossing to outline the spiders web and curly diecut and I used the leaves die cut from the Cuttle bug flower kit to make the leaves around the flower. The word "Beware" was cut with the Slice - it didn't cut all the way through, but I just had to cut along the lines with a pair of detail scissors.

Project 12 - August edition

2010-09-20T19:55:00.005-06:00

I thought I would have this one done early! Ha! Deadline today, posting today. I had to rush to take of photo of it while there was still daylight this evening. I was opening a window blind to let more light in and knocked over a plant that then spilled dirt all over my page! Fortunately I was able to brush it all off and the layout is none the worst for wear...but...arg! It has been 'one of those days' that I alternated between wanting to end and wanting to have a 'redo'. Since neither option is actually possible (oh, for the love of a time turner!), I just made do and got through it. Now it is almost bedtime (at least late enough to be respectably bedtime!) so the day is almost over...soon I'll be cozied up with a good book, a heating pad for my back and ice for my foot (whole other story) and I can dream of the beautiful possibilities of tomorrow...

Anyway, here is my August page, using July's sketch. When I was brushing the dirt off (from the plant that fell over on it), I also brushed off the flowers on the bottom right...and hastily placed them back over part of the title. I don't have the patience to retake the photo, nor any more daylight today to get a good shot. So done is done.

I used some Crate paper here. I tried to use brighter, more 'summery' colours but they just wouldn't cooperate. These more subdued, but still very pretty, colours seemed to go with the photos the best. It really is a mismash of photos but it truly represents what our vacation was. Another month recorded! Yay!

The goings on

2010-09-13T19:22:00.004-06:00

Here it is, Monday again, just about mid september. Wow. The kids have settled into a new school year very nicely. Kaylyn is in Grade 8 at the same school she attended last year, but we now live close enough that she can bike home. I drop her off in the morning with her bike and she rides home. Erika and Jenna are going to a brand new school right in our neighbourhood and they walk to and from school. It is a whole new level of independence for them...and a whole new level of letting go for me!

Here are the obligatory first day of school photos...I can't believe how grown up all three look.

Craig took Kaylyn to school on the first day and I had taken the day off work and walked Erika and Jenna to school. Once they were settled in their classrooms I had the rest of the day off. and alone. and I loved every minute! I really need time like that every now and then.
We're gradually getting back into the swing of things and sorting out the snags in the routine.
Cooler weather is definitely upon us and I really enjoy running in Fall. I'm doing a 22km run in Banff on September 25th, meeting up with a friend who recently moved to BC. I'm looking forward to that.

On a sad note, I'm watching my 16 year old cat slowly go downhill. She is one of two cats I've had since they were kittens and the sister to her died last fall. It is really sad and hard to watch this one get so frail. I don't think she will live much longer and it breaks my heart to see her that way. She's been a great companion and perfect pet. It will be hard to say good bye.

A job well done!

2010-09-06T21:26:00.003-06:00

Thank goodness for a long weekend. I spent the last 3 days getting rid of all the last of the moving boxes and going through all my scrapbooking supplies, sorting and purging. I have a big bin full going to a friend; the rest has been sorted and stored so that I know where everything is.

Craig started working on the basement and planned out how he is going to finish it. Yay! That will be a big job, but will be great once it is done.

Totally unrelated, but here is my scrapbook page for Urban for September. (That was done in the chaotic mess of my stuff before "the big purge of 2010)

Eat, love, pray...

2010-08-29T21:57:00.003-06:00

...and soak in a jacuzzi tub!
I was sitting in my tub, glass of red wine close at hand and reading (for the second time) Elizabeth Gilberts book. It seemed a very appropriate setting to be reading this particular literary work.

This is definitely a movie I want to see!

Project 12 - July

2010-08-20T12:20:00.005-06:00

My July page. I wasn't sure I would get this done or not since I've only been home 2 days. When I looked at the sketch yesterday and went to find photos from July, I wasn't sure what to do. The July sketch has lots of photos on it. I didn't take many photos in July. Then I saw the August sketch, with much fewer photos, so I decided to switch sketches and I've used the August sketch for July's page and will use July's sketch for August. I have a ton of photos for August, so that will work nicely! This post at Scrapbook and Cards Today shows the two sketches so you can see what I mean! (and they posted my layout from last month on the blog in that post too...I was very flattered!).

So this month's page got done very fast, with several interludes of trying to find supplies in the haphazzard state they are currently in in our unfinished basement. I wanted to do some sewing, but while I found my sewing machine, couldn't find the thread. Then I thought I would hand sew a border with embroidery floss...can't find that either. (Jenna was using it to make friendship bracelets before we moved and it could be just about anywhere now!). Then, from the sketch, I wanted to use a tree for the embellishment but didn't have any; but thought that one of my Slice cartridges must have a tree...but then didn't know where the cartridges were. My Slice was on the desk, so I knew the rest must be close, and thankfully I was right. The tree design was on the "Back to School" cartridge. I found some old prima flowers in my searching and used those too. The same cartridge had an owl design and he looks very cute on there. Both the owl and tree are covered in liquid embossing. I added the dots with a marker (since there was a lack of thread and floss) and made one little boo boo that I covered up with the ribbon. So there it is. I quite like how it turned out. I think I need to do more of just using what's in front of me - Just Do It to steal the Nike logo! Oh, the paper is My Mind's Eye.

Anyway, after that long winded description, here is the actual page: