We've got spirit...

DISCLAIMER: LOL...this was supposed to be posted on the Sumpin Else blog...but, since I've been such a loser on my own blog, I'll leave it here for now....and post it at the other one too.

Ooops...

Yes we do...
And we want to share it with you!!

No...I was never a cheerleader. Can you tell??


We just did a custom frame for a South Orlando Braves cheerleader. And I have to say that I love how it came out. The colors are so true to the uniform...and the stripes on the frame mirror the stripes on the uniform too.

Do you have a cheerleader? A dancer? Maybe even a soccer, football or baseball player. (any sport, any color scheme...) We can create a frame to coordinate with your child's team colors. And we'll personalize it for your little star, at no additional cost.

How about a frame for the coach?? Maybe an end of the season gift? We can customize a gift for the coach...a one of a kind, original gift...that will be treasured for a lifetime.

Drop us a line at sumpinelse@gmail.com to find out more information about ordering yours.

And check out all that we have available now at www.sumpinelse.etsy.com too

B O R E D

I am BORED OUTTA MY MIND!!!

I got home from surgery around 6ish last night and have been in bed ever since. I wasn't nearly as groggy as I thought I'd be so I've not been sleeping as much as I'd expected. I'm supposed to keep the huge bandage on and the leg elevated for the first 24 hours. I have about an hour and a half left...the bandage is itching and very immobilizing. I guess that's supposed to happen, huh?

I've been surfing the net for most of the day. I've put so many layouts in my favorites at both Two Peas AND at Lifetime Moments. Now, I'm so inspired to get into the scraproom and scrap.

I think I'm going to take a few minutes and punch the holes in the mini book and put the rings in and tie the ribbons. I can do that here in bed, right?

I have to do something...I'm going out of my mind. LOL

Tomorrow...

Is my surgery day. I'm not really nervous about the surgery itself, I'm worried about the pain afterwards. I'm also worried about developing another Hematoma in my leg like the last time. I can deal with the surgery pain but that sucker hurt worse than anything else. Think charlie horse on steriods really...I sure hope that doesn't happen this time!! I've got a pretty good threshhold for pain so to be afraid of that...maybe I'm being a big ole baby. Huh?

Can't remember if I posted that I delivered all of our orders from Dress Rehearsal. Pretty much everyone ooohed and ahhhed over their goodies. So I think everyone was pleased. I took in a couple more orders when I made the deliveries and a few of those folks have since ordered other stuff too. Right now, I have a mini book in the works for one of the current orders.

We took the plunge and signed up to vendor at Nationals. Now, we just need to get busy and get LOTS of samples done and more stuff made to buy right then and there. I think I'll focus on that next week...just need to get these new orders complete first.

Oh...and...we registered our domain name too. We're currently working on getting our blog set up and going. My wonderful friend Michele is helping us do that. Right now you can see it at www.sumpinelsegifts.blogspot.com but soon you'll be able to go to www.sumpinelse.com to check us out. We'll have pictures and stuff there...and we might even be able to take orders from the site too! That would be AWESOME!

Em and I have an appt shortly to get our hair done. Mine is getting cut but Emily likes to get her hair "styled" when I'm there. And my hair stylist LOVES Emily and will do just about anything for her too. She's been cutting our hair since Em was about 1 1/2 and has watched her grow. She spoils her rotten when we're there too.

Till next time!

Sign sealed and delivered!!!

Goodness...this week is FINALLY over! Wow!

What was I thinking when we offered up the orders to be finished in time for Tech Rehearsal...giving us less than two full weeks to fill close to 50 orders? I swear I wasn't on crack...I just wasn't thinking that it would take as much time as it did to make everything that we had to make. HOLY COW!

I went to Maggi's at around 11, last Saturday and didn't come home till 8pm on Sunday. Then I got up on Monday morning, stopped at Joann's for the last of the supplies that we needed and then went BACK to Maggi's till almost midnight Monday night. I worked all day Tuesday here while Maggi did stuff at her house too...and then again on Wednesday. Needless to say, Alex wasn't too happy with not seeing much of me for that many days in a row. From now on, there's a 4-6 week turn around on orders. With each item being handmade...there's just no way we can turn that many orders around in only 10 days. I think Maggi will shoot me if I ever do that again. LOL!

I've added a few other pictures to the slide show in the previous post too...a couple more frames that we did. (no where near all of them though)

I delivered all of the orders to the folks at tech rehearsal on Thursday and Friday. I have one letter to change...we made it the wrong "main color" and then we have a mini album to add stuff to. I want to get the mini album done before Wednesday so that I can give that to her and close that order. The letter may take a little longer but I hope to get it done soon too. We also got four new orders while I was there.

I'm setting up again at our studio on Tuesday and Wednesday. Our photographer will be there with everyone's photos and a lot of people told us this week that they didn't even know we were at Dress Rehearsal. We may end up getting even more orders then too. Wish us luck.

I have to call tomorrow to sign us up at the Dance America Nationals competition too. Its at a Disney Hotel and Maggi and I think it will be a good opportunity to get our name out there even more. That will be July 6th through the 8th. We want to get more samples made and also want to get a few things done to sell "as is" on those days. There will be over 800 dancers at that event...we might need a LOT of stuff. We hope.

Yesterday was Emily's dance recital. She did such a fabulous job on stage. She loves the limelight and it really shows in the smile on her face as she dances. A few weeks ago she told us that she was going to take next year off...that's already changed. She's talking about doing everything she can next year. Tap, Ballet, Jazz, Musical Theatre, Hip Hop...you name it...she wants to take it. We'll see about THAT! This is one of the pictures that I took during the recital. Not the best shot but one of the better ones. I took this one in a dark theater with only my 29-200 lens...while she was dancing. I can't expect much better than this.

This week brings the rehearsals for Dance Company again. Em's in two of the dances that will be performing at the Nationals competition that I mentioned above. They already know the dances but they'll be working on polishing them up so they can do the best job possible at competition. I have to look at the calendar but I think we practice 3 out of 5 of the next weekdays and then 4 days the following week.

This Friday, I'm scheduled for arthroscopic surgery on my knee...AGAIN. I tore the Miniscus in my left knee AGAIN...so I'm having the same surgery that I had back in Sept. 05. I slipped, down a hill, at the last regatta we had in Tampa. My good leg went out in front of me and my bad knee buckled under me. I knew then that it wasn't gonna be good. I'd like to wait till after the kids to back to school to have the surgery but we're going on vacation in a few weeks and I really don't want to be bothered with it. Soooo...this Friday...at 4pm. It's outpatient surgery but I expect to be sleeping when I get home till at least Saturday afternoon.

That's the latest on what's going on here. I'm off now to make Beef Stroganoff for Alex for Father's Day. That's one of his favorites!

Frames, coasters and more...

Well, we did it!

Maggi and I finally had our first "set up" for our new company, Sumpin Else. We've been talking about doing something for a few months now and we finally took the plunge and set up a table at Emily's dance rehearsal/picture day. We took a few samples and took custom orders for everything and anything.

Surprisingly enough, this was a HUGE success. We took over 40 orders for stuff. FORTY ORDERS!!!! Can you believe that? Everyone LOVED what we had on display and now Maggi and I are working feverishly to fill these orders before recital next weekend. I'd like to have everything finished and delivered by tech rehearsal on Thursday. Wish us luck.

Now, I think we've decided to set up at the Dance America Nationals competition that's here in July. Aaaaaaaack!!! LOL

Here are a few more of the frames that I've done for the orders. I'll post more as I get them finished. I've got PLENTY more to do and trying to get as many done before I head over to Maggi's tomorrow to work on some other stuff that we plan to do together.

Another frame...

This one is definitely in the dance theme...so shiny and sparkly. I used blue holographic paper to cover the frame and then added the rhinestones. There is a silver ribbon with a silver and rhinestone trim just under the photo box. You can't really see it in the detail though. The flowers were originally white but I sprayed them with ocean glimmer mist and added a couple of rhinestones and some silver stickles. I think this one is the favorite now.

I'm working on a red one right now for the studio owner's daughter. She's in a red costume with silver spots on it. I'll add her name to it too. I hope it turns out as pretty as it is in my head.

A busy weekend ahead...

We're winding down to the end of our school year...where has the time gone? I'm actually happy that we're almost finished. Its been a tough year for Emily and we can only hope that next year will be better.

The end of the year party is today. We've gone with a Jungle Safari theme and I've planned out a few fun things for the class. I think they'll enjoy it. I bought pith helmets and mini binoculars for everyone...can't wait to get that group shot.

We also have Josh's crew banquet tonight. I've heard that Josh will be getting an award so I'm excited to see what that will be. We'll also find out if he was selected as one of next year's captains too. The boy is so passionate about rowing and plans to carry it over into college. Being a Captain would certainly be a great thing for him, both for his ego (for lack of better words) and for the college apps too.

Then...we have dance dress rehearsals this weekend. Oh boy! Another sign that the school year is ending. Its almost recital time! I actually enjoy this time of year. Getting to see all the costumes and dances before recital. All the girls are always so excited and happy at dress rehearsal. Of course, its also a good time for me to get a few good pictures of Em too.

Not only will we be doing dress rehearsals...but this is the weekend that Maggi and I are setting up our crafts to sell too. We've done a bunch of different themed frames and stuff and will be setting up at dress rehearsal. We'll be taking custom orders and filling them between now and recital day. Alot of folks have already shown interest in doing a frame as a recital gift, instead of flowers. If that's the case, we could be VERY VERY busy! (lets hope so anyway!)
I did this cute little hanger to display this weekend too. Made it out of drink coasters and decorated it like one of Emily's competition numbers. I want to get photos on it and hang it up while we're there tomorrow too. I've shown it to a few of the moms that I know from that dance and they seemed pretty interested too. I'd like to get another one made, in another color scheme...to show too. But I think I might just be outta time. Maybe if I get up from here and get on with things, I can squeeze one in today. Fingers crossed.

OK...the shower is calling my name. Need to get my butt in gear.

Have a great weekend!!!

A big 'ole vent...(warning...very very long)

I tend to allow myself to feel guilty when I spend part of my day working on something creative. I don't know why I do this...why should I feel guilty for doing something that I enjoy so much? And the things that I'm creating right now are being done to sell...to bring in some cash to make up for the $$ that I gave up when I quit my job. Even though I wouldn't be making any $$ by working and putting Emily in daycamp for the summer...AND driving 30 miles round trip to work. (with gas prices as outrageous as they are.) I'd honestly be putting out far more money each week than I brought home in a paycheck weekly. So...I'm planning to sell some of my crafts and will probably be listing a bunch of scrappy stuff on Ebay to make a little extra this summer. Maybe a bit of play money. Maybe enough to make me NOT feel so guilty.

But to have things to sell, I must take time to create them.

So today I made sure I got a few things done before I moved into the scraproom to play. I scrubbed a bathroom, vacuumed our bedroom really good, cleaned the kitchen and put the laundry away. I also made sure the kitchen was clean and things were all picked up for the most part. I spent the rest of the day in the scraproom. Till it was time to get Emily anyway.

This evening, there was an important school board meeting that I felt the need to attend. I wanted to see what progress, if any, was being made with rethinking the vote on flipping the start times for our High Schools and Middle Schools. Even though the minds are made up of those that voted for this. Looks like Josh will start school at 9:30 am and not get out till close to 4:30 each day. So much for after school activities. So much for after school jobs...too bad for those that depend on their HS students to watch their younger elementary school siblings. All of this and more...and our trusty school board voted 4-3 to go ahead with this. All for a measly 2.3 million dollars in the transportation budget.

Nevermind that there is more than $30 million in a "reserve" fund...for rainy days...emergencies...etc. Nevermind that we gave them ideas to MAKE money to not necessarily have to cut from one area to make up for another.

Anyway...I attended this meeting tonight because OUR local school board rep was bringing to the table, ideas to make $$ to make up for the transportation issues. Our rep was trying to have just ONE of the FOUR that voted for this, to rethink their vote...to reconsider bringing it up for further discussion and a possible revote later. After all options are looked at, etc. etc. Giving everyone involved a chance to look at every single possibility...giving everyone the chance to educate themselves on the matter.

Well...THREE of the FOUR board members left in mid meeting for other obligations. (graduation ceremonies, apparently) So that left ONE person to hear what our rep had to say. JUST ONE...the other three didn't feel this was an issue important enough to listen to...and that ONE person said that she would consider listening to other options from our County Superintendent but was standing strong on her vote and WOULD NOT reconsider bringing it back for rediscussion with the board. As one of the local news stations put it..."Hundreds of students and parents protest in vain...the decision stands for now." The Superintendent says to expect the change to be in effect for next school year. He also says that he is "optimistic" that they can come up with ideas for this but that he's not sure that it will be in time for the next school year.

Personally, I don't think it will be a priority to them to try and work it out this summer. I think they'll just wait it out and see how it goes. See how much trouble it really causes next year before they actually start talking about changing it back.

I feel like we're banging our heads against the wall. So many people are against this idea...this will effect pretty much every single person in Orange County. So many parents and students are standing up and voicing their opinions and concerns about this. And it feels like everything is falling on deaf ears. So many people have stated that they feel there's more to the picture than the school board is telling us. Its so absurd...and hard to believe that they're not skirting around the REAL issue. Not telling us the entire story. Its like they had their minds made up before even bringing it out to the public.

What a mess!! I sure hope the many Orange County residents that are so angry at this outcome will remember this and reconsider THEIR vote when consider to re-elect these officials.

FRUSTRATING, I tell ya.

I finally get home close to 9pm and find that Emily was sent to her room for smarting off to her dad. She was upset, obviously and I don't agree with the comment that she made to her dad. But, I can understand her frustration after hearing what happened. Immediately, I feel guilty for not being home tonight...not being home to make sure everyone gets fed, etc. Maybe had I been home, I could have prevented the smart remark that Emily made to Alex.

WHY DO I TAKE EVERYTHING SO DAMN PERSONALLY????

WHY DO I ALLOW MYSELF TO CARRY THE GUILT FOR DOING THINGS FOR ME. (or for going to a stupid school board meeting to make a statement for my kids)

Why do I feel guilty when Alex does something around the house? He is such a great help but I allow myself to take it personally when he does something that I "should have" done.

I know these are all feelings that I need to let go...but, I continue to beat myself up over this stuff like this.

For now...I really do need to get to bed. Momma needs her sleep or she'll be even MORE grumpy tomorrow.

Our weekend

A nice relaxing long weekend. Very much needed!

Saturday, our few from our Brownie troop attended a Teddy Bear Tea. It was supposed to be a Mother's Day thing but the scheduling was a little off. Either way, it was a great day. My mom met Em and I there and we had hot tea with all the fun little "tea time snacks". Very cute. There was a gentleman there taking "portrait" type photos. I'm looking forward to getting those back. I don't have many pictures of my mom, myself and Emily, together. I'm so happy that my mom was able to come to that with us too.

After the tea, we came home to Alex cooking ribs on the grill. YUMMO!! He rubbed them down the night before and cooked them nice and slowly on the grill. (for like 4 hours!!) Well well well worth the wait. They were so tasty...so good. Alex had never cooked ribs before so this was a great job for the first try.

Sunday, I spent the day at Maggi's house. We finally got together to create stuff for the dress rehearsal next weekend. We spent the entire day making photo frames and all sorts of fun goodies. I didn't get home till 1am. Now...lets hope we have a good day at the dress rehearsal and sell a bunch of stuff.

Yesterday, I slept in till 10 and really didn't have to do anything. I took Josh to Michael's and AC Moore to get a few things for a school project. Of course, I picked up a few things for myself too. I picked up a few other frames and came home to get busy with those. This is the one that I got done last night. It took me a while but once I settled on where I wanted to go with it, it came together fairly quickly. Emily thinks this should go in her room though. If she had her way, everything I make would go in her room. She's probably my biggest fan.

Today, the kids are back to school and I'm home. I have a bunch of things I want to get done today...need to unpack everything that I took to Maggi's, scrub the kid's bathroom and I'd like to create a few more things for the weekend. I've got my timer set and am doing little mini challenges to keep me going...or to at least get me in gear. I certainly need it!

And with that...I'm off...

What's new???

Well let's see...

It's Thursday evening...late. I just finished watching the Season Finale of Grey's Anatomy and was so happy with the ending. All I can say is "bout damn time"!! I love that show. Thanks to my friend Michele that told me that I just "HAD" to start watching. What...2 or 3 seasons ago?

Tuesday was my last day at the scrapbook store. The day seemed to drag by too. I probably could have made Monday my last day but I had to pay for the hold that I had there and figured that I might as well work if I was driving all the way out there. I didn't want to be there...at all. I was ready to go...no mixed emotions at all. Unfortunately, I forgot to leave my key to the store. That means that I need to run it over there soon. Maybe I'll do that tomorrow.

I finished the baby book that I was working on. Took it to work with me on Monday and showed the guy. It still needed a few finishing touches and I told him it'd be done on Tuesday. I also told him at that point how much it would be. He said it was a deal and he'd see me Tuesday. Well...on Tuesday, he came in...looked at the finished book. Ooohed and Ahhhed over it...asked me to hold it while he went to the bank. I told him what time I was leaving...and he didn't come back.

Anybody need a gift for a baby girl? I'll post pics of it soon and am thinking that I will probably just open up an Etsy shop with it.

Today, I had a dr's appt for my knee. I slipped down a hill in Tampa at the last regatta and my bad knee buckled under me in a full bend. It ached a little bit but not too bad till about LAST Saturday. I stepped up from the garage into the kitchen, on that leg, and almost fell over from the pain that shot through my knee. I made an appt at the same orthopedic clinic and went today. X-Rays showed no breaks or arthritis so we're moving on to the MRI next. The dr thinks that my miniscus is torn once again. Which means that I'll need arthroscopic surgery again in the near future. The MRI scheduler is supposed to call me with a date either tomorrow or Tuesday. We'll go from there. Oh boy...

Tomorrow morning I'll be here waiting on the cable guy to get here. Our wireless router took a hike on us and needs to be changed out. AGAIN. They just put this one in back in January. WTH? Luckily, the modem is in my office/scraproom...making MY computer the one that can be hooked up directly to the modem. Ha!

Oh...I almost forgot to add too that I'm happy that David Cook won American Idol. I liked David Archuletta from the beginning but got tired of his style after a few weeks. He's so young and I hope that making it that far in the competition doesn't mess him up for the rest of his life. He seems like such a good boy. I think we'll see a lot of David Cook actually. But, he'll never be better than my boy Chris Daughtry, in my opinion. And most people know how I feel about Daughtry. ;)

OK...off to bed now. Need to get up and moving early in hopes that the cable guy gets here closer to 8 than 11 tomorrow morning.

Night!

Quiet time...

Sunday evening...and Alex has taken both Josh and Emily to see Ironman. Its just me and the dog...peace and quiet. This really doesn't happen often. I mean...don't get me wrong...I get it when I'm home and the kids are in school. But this just seems so different. I don't feel the need to do laundry or clean the house, or whatever I feel that I have to get done when I'm here and the kids are in school. Maybe its because they're out having fun that makes me feel as if I should take a hot bath...drink a glass of wine...scrapbook. Whatever "I" feel like doing.

I think I'll watch a movie...P.S. I Love You is on Pay Per View. Maybe I'll work on that baby book while I'm watching.

Yeah...that's what I'll do. Wish I had a bottle of white zin.

********UPDATE*******

OH MY GOSH...I just finished watching that movie and I cried many times throughout it. How's a girl supposed to get any scrapping done while she's watching a movie like that? And I felt so silly when Alex called to tell me that they were on their way home and I'm in the middle of a bawling bit. I could barely talk to him. LOL I do know that he's happy that I didn't make him watch that with me though. LOL

They're home...gotta run.

Police Concert

It's Friday!!! And I kicked the weekend off by working the concessions for the Police and Elvis Costello concert at the Arena. I've been working the concessions for a couple of years now and only recently started managing our stand. Boone Crew is one of the "volunteer groups" that work the different events. We do Magic games, Predators games, concerts and more. A portion of the sales get kicked back to the Crew team and most of it goes back to the accounts of those that work the events, to pay for dues. (some of the events go strictly to general funds too...to pay for equipment and stuff) Make sense?

Tonight I turned in the paperwork to change the "contact information". I am officially the Amway Arena contact for Boone Crew. This will be one of the hats that I'll wear for the next season. I'll be coordinating the events that we work and who will work them. I'm giving up Registration Chairperson and Corresponding Secretary but will keep the Amway Coordinator position and the Ad book too. We usually only work 2-3 events each month so it really shouldn't be so bad. Its an easy way to earn money and not have to pay out of pocket for your kids to row.

Anyway, tonight was the Police concert. And man, what a night! We were SLAMMED pretty much the entire time! We did about $2K more than we do at a Magic game. There was a LOT of beer poured tonight. I had a group of about 4 guys that came back to me every time they needed beer...they tipped AT LEAST $4 each time they came back. Once they left me more than $8. Super nice guys...a little tipsy, but nice. And one of them was very good looking too, I might add. :) (a girl can look, right?)

The concert was SUPER! We could hear it in the stand and I found myself singing along quite a bit. I didn't realize how many songs I like by the Police. Only a couple by Elvis Costello, but I really did enjoy the Police.

I'm rambling, huh? Drinking a Corona, winding down after the busy night...everyone in my house is asleep. Josh went out with a few kids from the team. He should be home in a while too.

Tomorrow is the last Saturday that I have to work. I think I'm going to tell Debbie that my last day will be Tuesday. I don't feel like she really needs me there right now. I feel like I'm wasting my time and her money by being there. I have plenty to keep me busy here at home. I've got an end of the year party to plan for Em's class and just so much that I'd like to get done at home before the last day of school.

We have an all day crop at the shop tomorrow. Its a monthly group that I love working with. I have a great time with the group of girls. We usually aren't too busy while they're there so I'll probably get to work on something of my own for a while. I'm working on that baby book for that custom order. I worked on it a bit today but still have a lot to do in it. The covers are finished. The inside pages probably shouldn't take me too long. I'll take everything with me to work on it while I'm hanging with the S.A.S.S.Y. girls.

I think I'm headed to bed here...I'm getting sleepy. I can't tell you how excited I am about being able to SLEEP IN tomorrow morning. Ha...and Sunday too! Woo hoo! This girl LOVES her sleep and with crew, those early morning races sure made for some early wake up calls. I don't expect to be up before 9 tomorrow...and there won't be an alarm to wake me either. Ahhhhhh...it'll be so nice! I might even turn the ringer off on the phone too. Just in case. :)

Hey Bill...look...I've blogged almost ALL WEEK. Are you shocked? LOL

Night all!

Decision has been made...

Well, looks like there won't be a trip to Tennessee, afterall. Yesterday, the coach had all the kids in that boat, meet him at Coldstone to talk about it. Josh figured that meant that the coach would tell them they weren't going. Considering he had a group trying to stay lightweight...why would they meet to have ice cream. And he was right.

The coach decided that there were a lot of things that should have been planned out better and we're not going. Josh and the others are upset with his decision and I hope that they can put it behind them and realize that the coach based his decision on a lot of different factors and is doing what he feels is best. I hope that they can get back into the right frame of mind and work harder to get there next year. And after all of this, I think that things will be planned out better and we'll know more than 10 days before Nationals whether or not we'll be going. And hopefully, we'll have more than one boat that will qualify to go too. I know its tough for these four rowers to understand...they all wanted so badly to go and do their best.

So...I guess this means that the season is officially over. It also means that we'll have a few weekends at home again. ALL WEEKEND...both Saturday AND Sunday. Of course, we still have dance stuff coming up but it isn't EVERY weekend now. I feel a slight sense of relief. Between leaving the LSS and the crew season ending...I might actually have more time on my hands again. Whatever will I do with all this spare time? Oh, how I look forward to finding out! Hehehehehehehe

Today is Field Day at Em's school. Unfortunately, they planned it for 11:30 till 2:30 this afternoon. Not quite sure what they were thinking. Come on, its Florida and already 90* for Pete's sake. It would have been so much better to have it in the morning. Or at least one would think. I'm having lunch with the class and then will be there to watch all the fun. Of course, I'll have camera in hand while I'm there too.

Time to fold the laundry and get a shower. Better take advantage of this time at home this morning. See ya!

Wednesday...a day off

From the shop that is. There's always plenty for me to do around the house though. With being in Tampa last weekend, Mount Laundry has grown to amazing proportions. The scrap room is ALWAYS in need of attention and the dust bunnies are about to take over. I sure will have plenty to do when I'm home again, full time. Its almost overwhelming to think about it really. (but I'm looking forward to it)

Last night was our monthly board meeting for Crew. One of the things we discussed was sending Josh's lightweight 4 boat to the Scholastic Nationals in Tennessee, Memorial Day weekend. I left that meeting with a headache from stressing over the discussions.

There are so many pros AND cons to considering this trip and we're basically running out of time on making the decision to go or not. So many details that still need to be ironed out. We're only taking 5 athletes and the talk is that we'll be driving up. Some feel that one boat isn't a good representation of the entire team. We're too far into the "14 day advance purchase" thing now and airfare is purty darn expensive now. Some are concerned about the expenses of driving up with gas prices etc. Especially after having two out of town Tampa regattas, basically back to back. This will definitely be a stretch financially but it can be made to happen if need be.

The athletes will have to miss TWO days of school for this. We'd have to leave on Thursday to get up there for racing on Friday. AP exams are finished as of today, so that won't interfere with those but I'm not sure of any other types of review or anything that they're doing before the finals in other classes. That's another thing that needs to be looked into. We'll also have to get the blessing from the school and those excused absences approved by administration. Its hard to say what the school will say or do. There's been a bit of tension from the school toward Crew for some time now. Will they approve?

Unfortunately, Alex will not be able to get out of work to go to this so I'll be going on my own. That will cut back on some of the expense for us but I feel bad that he won't be able to be there to watch. I could send Josh with the team but I feel that, as his mom, I need to be there to support him and the others in the boat. I think that's normal, right? But I feel guilty that "I" would be able to go and Alex won't be. Why do I allow myself to feel guilty over stuff like this?

Then there's the weight thing for Josh. In any of the races here, the weight limit for Lightweight is 155 lbs. When Josh decided to try to lose enough to get into lightweight, he was at 168 lbs. He worked long and hard to get to what he needed to be and got there, for the most part. We had an issue over Spring Break where he'd overindulged and ended up not making weight. He learned a valuable lesson then and has done what has needed to be done to get under that 155 mark.

The weight limit for the Scholastic Rowing Nationals is 150 lbs. Josh is currently at 152.8 this morning. He and his coach are very confident that he'll be able to get under the 150 make. I, on the other hand, am worried about the possibility of being borderline...only to get there and not make weight and the boat not getting to row at all. I've been told though that the higher altitude will make him weigh a little less...so that may be in his favor.

I'm fine with Josh losing this weight to row...as long as he's doing it the correct way. I don't want him starving himself or busting his a$$ with working out 4 hours a day. I don't want him to obsess over the weight things and have that added pressure of knowing that HE could be the reason they row or don't row. It would be HORRIBLE to go through all of this stress, all of the expense, etc. etc...to get up there and find out that he's overweight.

Am I being too negative?

I guess I should just quit stressing over it...just let it happen. See what pans out and go from there. The coaches are supposed to give us their decision sometime today, I believe.

Today, I have a dentist appointment. That should take my mind off of that stress, eh? LOL I should get up and get a few things done here before I have to leave. No reason why I can't get something done in the next 45 minutes. Right?

Oh...and...

I've been asked to make a Mini Album as a baby gift for someone. My first custom order, I suppose. I have all the stuff to do it...just need to get moving on it now. Wish me luck!!

Bye for now...

Monday Monday...

Made it through one more day at the LSS. It was rather slow today so I spent my day cutting kits for a class she's doing next week. It was a Friends layout that I'd done without thinking about the possibility of her putting it on the class schedule. But, she did...so I made up 7 kits today with the stuff that we had left.

I finished a cute little "DAD" wall hanger the other day. It started out as this thing by Kaiser Crafts. I covered it with paper from this line by Moxxie. The papers are all double sided and of course, the two sides that I used aren't shown here. One had little screws all over it and the other has stripes and tape measures too. Very very cute and "dad like". Anyway...I finished the hanger on Thursday and the other five that we had in stock are already gone now. That didn't take long at all. Its fun to see stuff sell out quickly when you put up an example.

I really should take my camera with me tomorrow to take a picture of that and the latest layout that I did too. Its titled "Life is good at Grandma's" and I actually thought that one turned out cute too. I normally struggle with layouts without photos but since I started using the DreamKutz by Zutter, I use pretty much all 4x6 mats on those layouts and they seem to come together easier. That cutter makes cutting those so quick and easy.

Did I tell you that I really miss scrapping my own stuff??? I can't wait to get back into the swing of that. I think I might go fold some laundry and then head into the scraproom to clean up a bit. Emily has her last brownies meeting of the year tonight at Cici's pizza...I have time to get a few things done before we leave for that.

Oh...speaking of Emily...here's a shot that I took of her this weekend.

The boat that the lightweight 4 rows in is called the "EMILY"...of course, our Emily LOVES this. I had to get a pic of it, don't you think??

Can't leave Josh out...here he is...almost 17 yrs old now. Can you believe it? He's gonna be a HS SENIOR soon. AAAAAACK! Its almost time to start applying to colleges and all that good stuff. HOLY SMOKES...I'm not ready for that! LOL

I think I need a START OVER

Maybe if I draw a line in the sand right here, right now...and start all over with the blogging thing, I can do a better job at keeping it up to date. My friend Bill just reminded me that I haven't updated since FEBRUARY! I said that maybe my life was just too boring to update frequently...he said that maybe I was just too busy.

Too busy? Me? Ummmm...yeah. Too busy...and I don't like it at all. I've been so busy that I couldn't tell if I was coming or going at times. Weekends have been so crazy with Josh's crew and Em's dance.

This weekend was our last regatta weekend of the season. This race was between both school teams AND club teams. Our Crew Team did very well. We brought home a few medals and Josh's Lightweight 4 boat finished THIRD place OVERALL in the SE Regionals. (that's them at the top of this photo)As a scholastic team however, they finished FIRST. That's a HUGE accomplishment...something to be extremely proud of. Two days of 94* heat...sun beating down, sticky sunscreen, dirty sandal feet...and absolute exhaustion. But, it was soooooooo worth seeing the smiles and pride on the faces of Josh and his teammates! (that's Josh holding up his three fingers to tell us how they finished...sometimes its too close to see from our angle) I admit...the days leading up to regatta weekends (especially LONG weekends like this one) are spent thinking "Man...it'd be nice to have a weekend HOME" but when I'm at the regattas, I really do enjoy myself. The comraderie of our team is so awesome. We laugh together, cheer together...and really do enjoy spending time together. As exhausting as it may be...as sore as the sunburn may get...its very much worth it.

We've had a little bit of a break with Dance for the past few weekends. (just in time for the busy crew finish, of course) The recital dances are pretty much finished. They're putting the finishing touches on all of them and I'm very excited to see the finished numbers. We have dress rehearsal and pictures in a couple of weeks and then recital will be the weekend of June 14. Just after recital, we'll be kicking it in gear again for the Nationals Competition for dance company. (July 4th weekend)

One big thing that adds to my business though, is coming to an end. I've put my notice in at the scrapbook store. There are some things that I won't go into here but the bottom line is that with summer vacation right around the corner, and Emily being only 8...summer camp is going to cost a BOATLOAD of $$ and working only part time, really won't be cost effective. Josh is working this summer to save for a car and I cannot expect him to be responsible for watching his little sister. So...I've given my notice.

I absolutely LOVE scrapbooking, as anyone knows. I really haven't had time to do anything for me, in regards to scrapping, in a while now. I really really really do miss this and hope to be able to get my scraproom cleaned up AGAIN and work on my "schtuff". I'd love to be able to do something that might make some money too. A good friend of mine and I are talking about making things to sell at dance rehearsal but if this is gonna happen, we need to get our butts in gear and get a few things made for this. I'm tossing a few other things around in my scrambled little brain, but I'm not really sure where I'll go with it just yet.

School gets out on June 4th. I'm not exactly sure when my last day of work will be. I would like a few days off before school get out though. I'd like some time for ME...time to get things cleaned up here at home...time to regroup, if at all possible. I have Field Day this week with Emily and the end of the year party is on the 30th. A week or two before the excitement of summer vacation would be GRAND, but we'll see how it goes. I really don't want to leave my boss in a serious bind and will help out if needed. But, at the same time...I need to watch out for ME first and I really do need that time too. We'll see how it all plays out, I guess.

OK...time to watch the last bit of the Survivor Finale. I've been watching it while posting this update and now I wanna see who's gonna win. I think it'll be Amanda...but we'll see. Oh, and that Ozzy is just too darn sweet. I hope they reveal that he and Amanda are still together at the reunion show. They make a cute couple, IMO. Gotta love Reality TV, huh?

And The Bachelor Finale is TOMORROW NIGHT!!! Woo hoo...

Till later....

Busy weekend...

Emily and I are in Tampa for her very first dance competition. She danced this afternoon and that dance took 2nd and qualified for the Nat'ls competition in July. The girls did a fantastic job on stage and they all looked like they were having a great time. Since this was Em's first experience, we only put her in one number this year so we really weren't there for long.

The morning started off very challenging. Em was in a mood and man oh man...I was almost ready to leave and go home. LOL! I think she was nervous but man, she wasn't very nice to me AT ALL. Then, a friend of mine was helping with me with her bun and scraped her head with a bobby pin. The tears started almost immediately...I was worried we'd have to do her makeup again. But, I got her calmed down quickly and no damage was done. We took a walk outside and got a few pictures. This seemed to cheer her up and get her back on track. There was a cool fountain outside and this is one of the shots that I took by it...

Alex and Josh drove over to watch her dance. We had lunch together and they headed back home to Orlando. Em and I drove to St. Pete and to visit WHIMSODOODLE. They always have the coolest stuff at the expos but I'd never seen their shop. It was definitely worth the 30 minute ride. What a fun scrapbook store!!! LOVED IT! I may try to visit two other stores tomorrow. One is very close by, the other is a little drive. A scrappy buddy might come over to visit me while I'm in town. She's willing to take me to the one that's on the other side of town. I'm just not sure if I'll have time to get there and back while Em's doing workshops. The one that's close is only like 4 miles away...I can run there and back in no time. LOL

On the way back, we stopped by Walgreens for snacks, drinks and Advil for my headache. Em and I have gotten along beautifully all afternoon. We've just hung out at the hotel...doing NOTHING. We've watched Enchanted and played Webkinz...we even ordered room service for dinner.

Now, we're off to bed. Workshops start bright and early tomorrow morning and the wakeup call is coming in at 6am.

Before I close...here are a couple of the other photos that I took today... This one was taken just after we had some of her makeup on and the eyelashes. I love her hair down around her face like this...but I cannot get over how much older she looks in this shot!
This is just a quick shot taken in the dressing room. I wanted to get a great shot of her in a mirror with the lights around her face. It was so wicked crowded in the dressing room though...there just wasn't any way to get that done. Oh well...maybe next time.

Goodnight my friends...I'm off to tuck my little one in and get some sleep. It'll be another long day tomorrow!

Photo a day...a couple days to post

I've taken my pics each day but haven't had the chance to get here and post them. So, with Wednesday being my day off, I thought I'd do this first thing this morning. I've got a list of things that I need to do today, but this will be the first thing that I can mark from my list. Today's photo has a lot of meaning so I'll start with it and then go back to the last couple of days...they're not as exciting as today's photo, IMO. LOL

Today's photo of the day. Emily woke me this morning with a "I made you coffee this morning, Mommy". And within a few minutes, she was standing at my bedroom door with this towel and coffee cup in hand. She had pulled the stool out of the pantry, grabbed one of my favorite cups, added the splenda and milk and voila. I have to say, she did a great job too! A little heavy on the milk, but it didn't make it "undrinkable". Alex makes a fresh pot of coffee each morning and sometimes greets me with my cup waiting for me when I wake up. I have to say, this cup of coffee topped it all. What a sweetheart my little girl can be sometimes. I love days like this! I wish I'd have thought to take this shot this morning while Emily was holding this in her hands...but I was struggling to wake up today and the camera wasn't right next to me anyway. So, I've staged this one...it still has a lot of meaning. KWIM?
Feb 4th, my mess!!! I joined a card swap at Willow Traders. I haven't participated in a swap like this in some time, so I figured, why not? So, Monday night, I gathered my stuff together and moved to the family room so that I could spend some time with Alex AND work on my cards. I took my photo of my mess. Or at least, part of my mess. This was taken after I'd cleaned up a bit. I did leave it all on the table though and finished last night. Alex doesn't like the mess to be left overnight...but didn't say anything about it this time. I finished the cards last night and the mess will be picked up today. So the photo of the day for the 5th is a shot of my finished cards. I used some old patterned paper from my stash and a stamp from AUD DESIGNS I love the colors and designs of this My Mind's Eye paper. I know I've had it for well over a year...if not two years. I will probably add a bit of stickles in the center of the flower on the stamp though. I feel like the cards still need something. The theme of the card swap is "GIRLFRIENDS" so this stamp worked perfectly. Oh, and I used the template from this month's SHEETLOAD E-Zine. This has become one of my monthly favorites. Check it out! I'll get these packaged and in today's mail. One more thing off the to-do list! YAY!!!

Now I'm all caught up on the photos and the laundry is ready to be folded and a new load started. Laundry...sheesh...the story of my life! Maybe THAT should be tomorrow's photo, eh?

Can it be???

Emily planted a tiny little garden of her own last summer. Its just a patch of space in a corner of our backyard. She planted a bunch of seeds, watered it a few times and that's about it. Right now, it looks like a patch of weeds, and not much else.

Well, except for this...
Today, Emily noticed that a nice sized stalk with these tiny yellow buds, was growing in her garden. She insists that they are the sunflowers about to open. (because she remembers THAT'S where she planted the Sunflower seeds) Me, knowing absolutely NOTHING about flowers and gardening, can only hope that she's right. How cool would this be? She'd be so excited to have her own sunflowers. And if they ARE sunflowers about to open then maybe it'll encourage her to get out there and pull some of the weeds that she's nurturing. LOL I'll have to remember to check on these in a few days to see the progress...and maybe I'll take another picture of them too.

Oh, and I need to add too...I mentioned the Photo a Day thing to Em on Friday and she asked if her "sunflowers" could be my Photo of the Day today. She's right on with helping me get this going. She's such a cool kid!

Can you say DORK????

This is Koda...our dork of a dog. She does silly things...like toss her food kibbles in the air and pounce on them...recently she ran into the sliding glass door, even though we had left it OPEN for her to come in and out. She just isn't the smartest dog in the world...but she is a sweetie. And I love her.

Since we put Sunny down back in December, Koda has learned to be the focus of attention. I think she's enjoying not having to share the attention with Sunny. Even though she was always figuring out a way to get most of the attention anyhow. She's not very photogenic...not like Sunny. Sunny would almost smile for the camera. I have to fight with Koda to get her to sit down long enough for me to snap the pic...and she won't look at the camera for anything. Oh well, we'll keep her.

Alex and I are headed to our favorite little Irish Pub tonight for PUB TRIVIA. The first Saturday of each month we head over to meet some of the other Crew parents for a fun night of trivia and beverages...and sometimes some good irish food too. (tonight's one of those nights)

Maybe I'll take my camera and get a shot or two there. Of course, Alex will probably tell me to leave the camera at home. Darn it.

Layout a Day and now a Photo a Day

Well, January 2008 has come and gone already. And I'm pleased as punch to say that I participated AND finished the "Get a L.O.A.D of This" class at Big Picture Scrapbooking. The goal was to do a layout a day (L.O.A.D) and post it in the class gallery. There were prizes given out daily, but I didn't win any of them. I'm still waiting now to hear if I won either one of the big end of the month prizes. I doubt I'll win, but it sure was nice to start scrapping at home again!

Since I did so well in the layout a day thing, I'm now going to challenge myself in a "PHOTO A DAY". Each day, I'm going to take a photo of "whatever" and post it here with a little note about it. This will give just a little glimpse into my every day life. Nothing exciting...but it'll be fun to journal a bit more and to see what fun and excitement might happen each day. HA!

Today's photo is of Emily. She woke me at 4:30 this morning crying and complaining that her throat hurts really bad. I gave her drink and a throat lozenge and sat up with her for a little while to make sure she didn't swallow the lozenge in her sleep. When it was time to get up for the day, she had a low grade fever, glassy eyes and you could just tell that she wasn't feeling well. Poor baby girl. She's been either on the couch or in my bed all day. She just feels awful! She was supposed to have dance rehearsal this evening and we were camping tonight with the crew team. Looks like those aren't happening. Instead, we're here together...pumping her with gatorade and motrin...hoping she's feeling better by Monday and certainly better by next weekend's dance competitions.

I'm off now to work on cleaning up the scrapbook room. After a month of scrapping, things are in a bit of chaos in here right now. I might even scrap again later...if I get it all cleaned up and I can get Emily in bed at a decent hour.

Wish me luck!

Well Darn It...

Nothing like a tag to remind me that I'm a loser when it comes to blogging...to get me over here and post again, my wonderful friend Chris tagged me and I've promised her to do this...so here goes. (and yes Chris, I do love ya, girl! Tagging me or not, LOL)

Let's see...7 random things about me:

**I adore Chris Daughtry...I think he's perfect. Of course, this is my fantasy...that this man is perfect. I'm not really sure there is such a thing. But, for now, Chris Daughtry is the perfect man, in my eyes!

**I was married before I had even graduated from High School. I actually had to go for an extra semester to get the credits needed to graduate. I started that last semester in September and got married in November. Looking back now, I wish I'd waited. But, then again, I learned a lot from that failed marriage and chances are, had I "NOT" married then, I wouldn't have my two awesome boys, Brooks and Kyle.

**My favorite girl scout cookies are Peanut Butter Patties. I can eat an entire box of these in one sitting. I'll put a box of them on the kitchen counter and grab one every time I walk by. Then, before ya know it, they're ALL gone. And now that Emily's selling girl scout cookies, I'm looking forward to those PB patties. LOL

**Ever since I discovered ribbon in my scrapbooking, I can't seem to get enough of them. I have to really force myself NOT to buy them when I see really fun patterns and designs. I have so many ribbons now that I really don't have anywhere to store them all. And I hate the thought of getting rid of any of them because you never know when I might actually NEED that particular piece of ribbon.

**I can't stand to wash whites. I don't mind doing any other laundry but the whites are always the LAST load to do and sometimes waiting to do them means that they don't get done on laundry day and Alex runs outta underwear or t-shirts or even both. Folding all the underwear and sorting the socks...BLECK!!

**I don't mind cooking but don't cook as often as I should. With everyone being so busy, the last thing I want to do is cook. But, I get bored with eating out too. If I could afford it, I'd pay to have someone cook for us. Ahhhhh...to have a good meal waiting for me every evening. What a life that would be! LOL

**I don't like the water all that much. I'll hang out in the pool with the kids in the summer but I don't like the ocean. I'm afraid of the waves and also of deep water. I can swim but get extremely nervous if Emily tries to hang on me in the deep end. And I will NOT swim in the lake and have no desire to water ski or any other water sport like that.

So there...my 7 random things about me.

I think I'll tag my friends Heather and Jessica now. And they'll be happy to see that I've updated my blog again too. LOL

Here are the rules of the game:

· Link to the person that tagged you and post the rules on your blog.

· Share 7 random and/or weird facts about yourself on your blog, we all want to know them.

· Tag random people at the end of your post and include links to their blogs.

· Let each person know that they have been tagged by leaving a comment on their blog.