Other things I’ve been up to

While scrapbooking could easily become an obsession and take up all of my free time, I have been up to a few other things lately.

I baked the first cake I’ve baked in months. This might’ve been a record for the longest time without baking for me. I made my old standby- Sunshine Cake. Try it, you’ll like it.
I have been on a decluttering and cleaning binge. Well, as much as my post-surgery no-energy body will let me, anyway.
I have been working on a new project with some friends who have been going through the same things I have been.
We colored Easter eggs yesterday afternoon – and had to have our brave neighbor friend kill a snake who decided to visit.
I’ve been on an adventure trying to find clothes for Big Girl, who is now too big for little girl’s clothes and not quite big enough for juniors sizes. (can you imagine the frustration?!?)

What have you been up to this week?

From high in the sky

SuperMan came racing in the door on Saturday evening, grabbed the girls and went racing back down the driveway.

The dogs were barking like crazy at something behind our house and I was a little curious what all the hullabaloo was about.

Well, here is what it was:

SuperMan and the girls went racing off to watch the balloon(s) land in a pasture that was behind our neighborhood. I stayed home with the insanely barking dogs and watched what I could from the back porch.

Here are some more photos from the event, taken by the budding photographer, Big Girl (she is getting pretty good at this, I think)

More news soon. This is my first week back at work. A little worn out at the end of the day, hence the “blog lite” tonight.

Happy St. Patrick’s Day!

I know this is not really a big holiday in most parts of the world… but, you see, I am from one of the parts of the US where St. Patrick’s Day is a HUGE celebration. School breaks are planned around March 17th. Businesses close for the day. Nobody works and everyone heads downtown to the parade. It wasn’t until I moved to the big city and got a real adult job that I realized that St. Patty’s was not a national holiday.

Now? I can’t stand the crowds of the parade and the noise, drunks, and general craziness makes my mommy protective radar go berserk. I am very happy to be almost 500 miles away from the crazies and not compelled to attend the parade and revelries.

But, I still feel the need to commemorate the day somehow. Wear something green. Make some green food. Pretend like I am Irish for the day.

Happy St. Patty’s everyone!

Watch this space

I'm headed back… working on some posts and hope to get back to my regular posting schedule this week!

I have photos and stories to share so I hope you will check back and visit with me.

Thank you for being patient while I recuperated from my surgery. The surgery was a piece of cake. The secondary issues after the surgery – well, not so much. BUT, I am feeling much better – much perkier – and ready to get back to blogging, scrapbooking and living my life again. Lots to be thankful for – and I'll share some of that with you in the next few weeks.

Y'all come back, now, y'hear?

Still not there yet

Hi, all,

Surgery went well last week and I was hoping to be back to my usual blogging activities this week. However, I have developed a few post-surgery issues and am feeling rather rotten. I'm going to continue to lay low for a few days until things sort themselves out. Hope to be back to scrapbooking and blogging soon.

Thanks for your comments on my last post and for being patient while I recuperate.

Lois

Traffic Ninjas

I’m taking a little hiatus for a couple of days while I’m spending some downtime with my family to celebrate Big Girl’s birthday. While I’m gone, I thought I’d share some old posts with you –

This one is from 2008 – back in the days when I was carpooling and fighting traffic daily.

Today, I was driving to work, chatting away with my carpool buddy (thank God for someone to talk to at 6AM or else I'd be sleep-driving!)

Anyway, we're talking about how to solve all the world's problems and I realize I'm in the wrong lane for the tollbooth.

So, as I'm trying to merge across 5 lanes of traffic (Yes, I was REALLY in the wrong lane) nobody will let me over!

What is up, people? I just need to get over, not cause an accident!

I am amazed at this.

Why is it that people seem to view the stretch of the road they are driving on as THEIRS and are so unwilling to cede any territory? Do they realize that this "territory" is literally disappearing under their tires as they drive? Or that it is being claimed by someone in front of and behind them as well? When did we lose our manners when we drive?

Now, driving is a competitive sport where the one to reach the "finish" wins and everyone else is a loser. And, we all know we don't want to be the loser. So, we race along the highway, fighting for every inch of space and pushing slower drivers out of our way. Driving has become about achieving a goal – getting somewhere as fast as possible.

It makes me want to stop and take a minute to remember by-gone days when families would go for Sunday drives… driving just for the sake of driving. No destination or purpose in mind… I remember many Sundays being spent with my families along back roads and country lanes, gazing out at pastures of cows and fields of cotton and wondering where the next stop would be and what we'd see.

Alas, those days are gone. Now, my kids think Sunday drives are "boring" and want to know if they can take their Game Boys or watch a movie on the DVD in the car. I know that this is partly my fault, because these distractions are a blessing when we're on a long road trip, but I want my girls to learn to appreciate the leisurely Sunday drive as well.

And.. I want to teach my girls about having manners when you drive. I always remind myself that one car length is not going to make a noticeable difference in my commute time; one more person in front of me will not, most likely, make that much difference in when I arrive at the office. I gracefully let people merge, yielding my "territory" and being content to get there when I get there….

….at least that's what I tell myself.

Taking a little break

The kids have a short winter break for the next few days. I am taking the time off of work and have decided to take the time off of blogging, too. I’m going to focus on my family and enjoying the celebration of Big Girl’s 9th birthday and Valentine’s Day.

I’ll be back on Tuesday next week – and have all sorts of updates and pictures for you.

Until then, I hope you have a great day, wonderful weekend, and an awesome Valentine’s day with the ones you love.

Rain, Rain, Go Away

It’s raining again.

It’s raining. Like it has done almost every day (or every other day) for the past two or three weeks. (maybe longer)

IMGP1333 Generally, I don’t mind the rain. Actually, I kinda like it. The pitter patter on the roof is very soothing to me.

It makes me want to take a nap.

Which is part of the problem right now.

It’s the darkest part of the winter. It’s raining. And all I want to do is sleep.

Which is totally not part of my life’s plan right now.

I have this silly thing called work that keeps piling up on me – people want their classes released and their spreadsheets updated. (sigh)

I have this family that wants dinner every single night (can you imagine!) and I have these kids that want attention and love and snuggles.

And all I want to do is sleep. IMGP1341

Thank goodness for vitamins and caffeine.

They’re keeping me going right now. Even though, inside, my body is screaming for sleep.

Maybe I’m part bear? Maybe I am supposed to hibernate in the winter. Yeah, maybe that is it.

I’m not sure.

But, I do know that I’m much perkier on a sunny day. Which we desperately need right now. The small farm close to us has a pond that has tripled in size in the last 24 hours because of this rain.

My puppies are rather smelly right now because of this rain. I love puppy smell, but not wet puppy smell.

Buster doesn’t like the rain, either. I’ve never seen a dog so adverse to getting wet.

And the worst part of that? He gets to sleep all day.

Darn rain.

Updates and FYI

I have updated a few things on the blog – one of which includes the addition of links to Flickr photo sets of both my Journal Your Christmas and Project Life albums. If you click on the links in the right column over there (the images) you will be able to check out the pages.