Something borrowed...

Well, I promised to blog every week but we had company this past week (OK...they only arrived Wednesday but I still had to clean the house, enjoy the sun, referee 1,769 sibling ultimate fighting matches, not to mention we are also looking after a friends' dog for the week) so I'm copping out this week and using something I've seen on another blog that I stalk like to read. Of course I have erased her answers and inserted my own. Come on...I do have some integrity!


Outside my window...I see that the wind has picked up the foam inserts from under the trampoline edges and blown them all over the yard.


I am thinking...that I will probably have to go out and chase down said pieces of foam.


I am thankful for...the fact that I ate copious amounts of fudge last week and yet didn't gain a pound. Maybe that 1/2 pound of butter wasn't so bad for me after all.


From the kitchen...Ummmm...after the above post I think I will be avoiding the kitchen for a
while. The fudge pan is empty and taunting me.


I am wearing...Navy and white sleep pants, a navy T-shirt I got from an XXXL male roommate back in 1993 and blue crocs. Not sure which is the biggest fashion faux pas. And just to put the question to rest...it is still morning!


I am creating...yet another disaster zone in my scrap room. Unfortunately it isn't caused by a scrapping frenzy. Dan wanted to fix a desk drawer for me (I've only been waiting over a year) and it had to be done last night at 10 when the feeling struck him. It required the entire top of the desk being taken off which greatly helped in the facilitation of said mess. The 472 pounds of crap expensive scrap book supplies stuff I had piled neatly stored on top of my desk needed to find a new home fast or I may have had to wait for another year for the drawer repair.


I am going...to dance gleefully in the streets at 8:00 am on Tuesday morning. Yes, Staples advertising agency people, it is indeed "The Most Wonderful Time of the Year" when the kids head back to school. Of course, on the down side, I will have to get up a lot earlier in the morning now that we can't sleep in...OK, I've weighed the pros and cons and decided that back to school time is probably the "Second Most Wonderful Time of the Year" with the first day of summer vacation beating it out by a hair.


I am reading...too many blogs! (disclaimer...I did not change this answer but took it directly from the original blogger. Seems us bloggers have a little addiction.)


I am hoping...that Dan doesn't have too many odd jobs/household chores to do today. I sometimes feel extremely lazy and incompetent a slight tinge of guilt as I watch him busily attack his to-do list as I lounge on the coach with a good book.


I am hearing...the hum of my computer fan and the click of the keyboard keys...ahh...life is good (and quiet!)


Around the house...there are a number of switch plate covers that need to be put back on from when I painted last fall. Think I can add those to Dan's to-do list?


One of my favourite things...Fudge. Nuff said!


A few plans for the rest of the week...Collect trampoline foam. Battle 2874 other Moms at Staples today to get the last 2 frosted orange duo tangs and yellow report covers. Apply names and labels to 2 frosted orange duo tangs, 2 yellow report covers, 96 pencil crayons, 22 pencils, 16 scribblers (excuse me, they are called notebooks now - scribbling is no longer one of the three Rs) 2 back packs, 2 lunch bags, 4 indoor sneakers and a partridge in a pear tree (although I'm not sure the labels will stick to its feathers.) Do my annual "visit the principals" to get my name on the supply lists. Enjoy the quiet of the first week back to school before the principals start calling in week two.


A picture to share...I guess when I was creating this layout I had forgotten that fudge was one of my favourite things. Instead I went with reading, photography, computers, TV and Lays Chips. Not making me sound like a very well rounded, extroverted (or healthy) individual is it?

Domestic Goddess? Not SEW much!

I don't sew...at all. Just ask my kids. If a seam is ripped, the arm is torn off a stuffed animal (blame Cocoa), or a Brownie badge needs attaching they know to go ask their father. Well, actually that isn't totally true. I usually "sew" the Brownie badges on with that magical iron on tape. I also use it for hems, small tears, etc. No one looks at my hems close enough to know if it is real sewing or not.

I really hate ironing too but that is another post. Suffice it to say that Dan knows when I get the iron out it really means I'm "sewing."

I remember as a kid watching what must have been (after the ever so popular pocket fisherman and K-tel records) one of the first ever infomercials that touted this miracle powder that could fix any multitude of clothing disasters. Got moth holes in a favorite sweater? Cigarette burn in a pair of jeans? Small shark tore a chunk out of your bathing suit (and a couple of appendages?) All you had to do to miraculously fix these problems is clip a few hidden fibres from the torn/ripped/moth or shark eaten material, mix it with this miracle powder, press the resulting fibrous ball into the trouble spot and iron. Voila - my kind of sewing! Haven't seen this around in, ohhhhhh -let me not date myself too badly, the last 30 years. Not sure why it didn't take the sewing world by storm. Perhaps the miracle powder was made of asbestos.

I took sewing in Family Living and made 3 projects - a football pillow (not sure why as we got to pick our projects and I certainly wasn't a football fan - must have been rated as easy), a pair of shorts that I have no memory of ever wearing and the ever so hot and stylin' burgundy cordoroy jumper that could have passed for a maternity dress. Even if I had followed the pattern correctly and sewn it properly it still would have been closer to a maternity dress than anything a grade 12 girl would wear - even if it was the 80s! My generation was more into ripping sweatshirts a la Flashdance than sewing anything.

All this to say that I try to avoid sewing at all costs.

Except I have this little secret.

But you have to promise not to tell Dan (and I'm pretty sure he doesn't read this blog because I make fun of him a lot on here and he's never shown any sign of retribution being embarrassed about it.

Here it is...


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I sometimes sew on my scrapbook layouts.

Not just with a regular needle and thread either. I sometimes get out the actual sewing machine and put the pedal to the metal and zoom that little needle all over my page. Dan would shoot me if he ever found out. Not because sewing through layers of paper might hurt the sewing machine or break a needle but simply because "I don't sew!" Frankly, I think the thought that I might ruin an 80 cent piece of paper is a lot less intimidating to me then the thought of ruining $10 worth of material or the thought of spending 37 minutes seam ripping something that took me 1.6 seconds to sew (hence the need to rip it out - I don't think sewing machines are supposed to go 50km an hour.)

Now that my dirty little secret is out I'm going to share a couple of examples of my fine handiwork with you just to prove that I can, indeed, sew. This first is a fine example of hand sewing. Take note of the precise angles and the eveness of the stitch length - near perfection!

This second layout is a testament to my machine stitching. Notice the wildly random linear paths and overlaying stitches- totally planned this way. I said i could sew but I certainly didn't say I could sew in a straight line. This planned chaos method works for me. All mistakes are intentional and of course it all adds to the homemade look ;c)

We now return you to the regularly scheduled program.

People have been asking me when my next blog post would appear. Well, to tell the truth, using the term "people" would imply that more than one person is interested in a new post and that may or may not be the case. My father (Hi Dad!) seems to enjoy reading my "rants" as he calls them. Does it count as being "people" when he then prints it off for my mother (Hi Mom!) Does it count if said "people" are related to you? I do have a stat counter to show where my blog hits come from and for some strange reason - this is the honest truth - the RCMP checks out my blog. Surely the RCMP counts as "people" but then they aren't really clamoring for me to create more posts. Also, I have a real RCMP friend and he assures me that the RCMP, while they do indeed check blogs, do not use "RCMP" in their e-mail addresses.


I admit that I have a regular blog routine where I click through a list of faves to see what is happening in various photography, scrapbooking, recipe and mom blogs. Sometimes I even switch up the routine and start at the bottom of the list. Can you believe that some people have the nerve to not have new posts up when I go to visit their blogs? How annoying is that? I have a friend who adopted a baby in Asia and she faithfully blogged almost every day about their trip there to get him and then left me hanging high and dry with a blog post entitled "Trip to Mui Ne" where they frolic at a beach resort with the new baby. No follow up posts like "We've arrived home safe and sound (Not to mention absolutely exhausted.)" No "4 am feedings really suck!" Of course this is a friend IRL (in real life, Mom and Dad) so I could call her but that would defeat the point of having her on my blog list.



Truth be told, I like to write. I get lots of good (?? OK, using this term liberally) ideas. I sit in front of my computer for hours on end anyways. Not so sure why I can't get the proverbial pen to the proverbial paper on a more regular basis. Could be that my life is busy (just forget about that part above were I mentioned sitting in front of my computer for hours on end.) Probably not a good excuse - 2 of the blogs I am faithful to are written by a mom of 6 and a mom of pre-school triplets - I'm sure they would both love to be just "busy" instead of on full speed ahead turbo boost 24/7.



So, I've decided I'm going to try and resurrect this blog. I'm hoping to post on a more regular basis. My track record of one post every few months means I can post just once a month and that would be more regular but I'm going to aim real high and "GASP" try for a weekly post.

See you next week...