Monday, August 28, 2006

Back to work.

That's where I've been. I started blogging, interestingly enough, while at work last spring. The whole DSL and grab a minute here thing was enticing since I have dial-up at home (read: endless frustration on the internet). So I thought my blogging would pick up when I got back to work on the 15th. But nooooo. There's such a thing as B U S Y !!

So, I'm sneaking in a minute during my lunch hour. No pics, sorry.

We went to a pretty good celtic music festival this past weekend. It was held at a little winery out in some very pretty country south of us about an hour. So there was a wine tasting tent, which was fun. We heard some downright good Irish trad music and some "Irish Rock" as well. It was a fun time. Went with friends.

I was gonna have Chris pick me up two giant plastic storage bins so I could pack away some stuff (candle stuff) in my scrap room in the hopes of spreading out a bit. (Maybe I should consider getting less stuff - NOT!) But all I really needed to do was throw out a bunch of stuff and re-arrange a bit and - voila - two whole shelves became available! I love it when that happens. And it was just the right amount of space I was in need of.

I REALLY need to do this is every area of my house. (Dang - what happened to the summer?) Just think of all the extra room and sleek bare surfaces I would unearth. I do love throwing stuff out. Just crappy stuff. Why do I have so much of it is the question....

Back to work....

Wednesday, August 16, 2006

I went with the Longwood Gardens entry (see previous blog). After I did that post, I walked back into my scrap room and saw that layout there and, well, I decided I really liked it and it was the most original of the two.

Soooo, Friday I find out if I made it through to the next round. This is kind of like "survivor"! I'm doing WAY better at this survivor than I would at the real one. If I ever made it onto the real Survivor show, (ha! as IF....) I would, like, stash something illegal - like a big fat Snickers bar - in my stuff and then let someone "accidentally" find it on the first day so that I'd get kicked off the show and then could spend the rest of the month in the luxury hotel while they finished taping the show. I mean, if I actually stayed on the show and WON the million (again - HA!), I'd spend the money on a month-long trip to a tropical island luxury resort anyway - so why not just cut out all the other stuff?

Okay - it's my second day back to work. I worked an extra half hour and then came straight home and did my banking, which I didn't finish because I had to go eat dinner (which my dear hubby cooked) and then went straight to Wednesday church and then came straight home to finish my banking. Which I did and now I'm bleary-eyed and blogging!

That's enough for now!

Monday, August 14, 2006


I can't decide.

These are my two latest pages for the "Last Scrapper Standing" dare contest (see previous blogs). The challenge this week is to scrap a page with exactly 13 photos on it.

I did the flower one first and then got the idea for the reunion one over the weekend, so I scrapped it today. I love them both - for different reasons. One is more artsy, more original but the other is more memory-related, more personal. Both feature freestyling and my own handwriting.

If you're looking at this and it's before Wednesday, August 16th at 4 p.m., why don't you just e-mail me your thoughts? I'd appreciate it. If you want to see what's current in scrapbooking right now (maybe a helpful thing), check out the 2PeasInABucket gallery here which is being filled constantly with people's latest work.

Thanks! Now back to work...
Posted by Picasa

Tuesday, August 08, 2006

Here's a sneak peek at my 1st "Last Scrapper Standing" dare.

The challenge was to journal right on your photo.

In case you can't read it, my journaling says: "Matthew, you look so pensive in this photo - are you reflecting on all the decisions you've made that have brought you to this place in time? Are there things going through your mind even now that will influence the coming changes? Or are you just standing there blown away by the rugged, awesome beauty of this place, this Ireland? Does your presence here seem surreal? Ponder away, son. Your future is shining with promise. You are but a reflection of my hopes and dreams."

I like it. I love the journaling and I like how it turned out - how everything is about reflection. I especially like the clear acrylic letters that are upside-down, like a reflection of the title. (And there's an "m" on the raised part with Matthew in it.)

I'm loving doing the "dares", the challenges. Food for thought, chance for growth. I'm all over that.

Tomorrow's the big post to 2p's. We'll see what happens...

 Posted by Picasa

Monday, August 07, 2006

Our boys.

It's so gratifying as parents to see how much they love each other and how much they love spending time together.

And - wonder of wonders - they WANT to spend time with US!

Note to all parents of rebellious teenagers: keep the doors of communication open and this is what you will have to look forward to!

We had such an excellent week together. I tried to savor each moment, knowing that all too soon the boys would be back home.

And, indeed, my house-full of "children" (including future children-in-law) is empty and quiet now. My summer vacation is almost over. I'm taking this week easy so that I will go back to work feeling as though I've had a vacation. There will be some scrapping, some reading, some swimming, some sleeping in and, good heavens, some grocery shopping!

Oh - change of subject here. Don't tell anyone, but Chris said he wants to get in shape before next year. (Before having to sit in an airplane seat for 6-1/2 hours on the way to and from Ireland. Before hosting a 4th of July wedding at our house. Before having to do the myriad of stuff that will need done for the wedding.) I say - yee ha! I've been quietly doing my own thing lately and have already lost 10 pounds. So I'm SO happy we can de-junk food the house, start walking together and be of the same mind in this area.

On that happy note, dinner's ready and I'm gonna go eat some corn on the cob. (Hey, technically, it's a vegetable!).
 Posted by Picasa