i'm sure they didn't realize

so last nite i filled out the form for E's summer school (she has an opp to take a course during the summer to free up time for other classes during the school year. translation: she can fit in an art class which is her r'aison d'etre) She'll take a computer science course which she has to have by end of sophomore year. The postmark date must be no earlier than today. I realize this morning i forgot to have her sign the form (required... sigh.. i guess i could forge it? won't help - you must supply a copy of her report card - distributed today - with the application) and i'm thinking well - i'll pick her up this afternoon, have her sign and we'll hit the post office.
I'm listening to the news as i get ready for work and realize
YEGODS... ITS TAX DAY.
We did our taxes months ago so i didn't even give it a thought.
Now we need to go to the post office... to get it postmarked today - so we have a fair chance she'll get into the class.
I wouldn't even think of going anywhere near a post office today but these are the things you do for your child, right?
I am sure the school administration didn't realize it was tax day when they named today as the first day for sending in applications.
i'm sure they couldn't be that cruel

Happy Easter

Greetings
isn't he the cutest ?
more later

blog hopping

tis the season for hopping tisn't it?
so tonite after an early Easter dinner (early as in -son visits for Easter weekend and is going back to school on Easter Sunday- early) i had good intentions of updating here.
its been over a week i'm sure since i've posted.
but intentions are often good 'round here
but i digress
(as i often do)
First i work on some cards.
feeling a tad inspired.
new stamps do that for me :-)
new stamps and old stamps ta-gether
so after playing a while with the stamps i think
now i'll upload a few photos from our annual easter egg dye-ing event
and then i think
i'll just check some of my favorite blogs
do a lil readin
well i blog-hopped for hours it seems
hop
hop
hop
and now its way too late
so
demain
(tomorrow)

i don't whistle while i work

i listen (and half watch) tv and movies.
sometimese i full watch but whatever.
i know some people find the tv distracting but its like the radio to me.
i have it on in the background. Sometimes i watch only.
More often than not however i work on something while i'm "watching"
With movies we rent - those- i sit and watch - just watch.
No sketchbook or project.
Like over the last two weekends we've rented
Capote, Crash, and North Country.
For me - thats a lot of sitting still and watching and doing nothing else.
However all three were worth it. See'em if you have time.
But back to tv.
I like having it on. Like i said its like radio to me. Perhaps i don't like complete quiet.
No - definitely i don't like complete quiet.
But i find i can work on scrapbook pages, make cards, stamp....definitely sketch in
my book - while "watching" tv.
Things just flow for me with that noise in the background.
The radio or cd's rarely do the same thing for me.
And once i get to that place - i have no idea whats happening on the tv -
i just tune it out. funny huh?

This explains my problem

with the scrapbooking world
(i have numerous other problems... but today we'll tackle this one... we just don't have enuf room to tackle all the others)
read this blog entry titled "scrapbooking" dated yesterday, 4/7
http://traciturchin.typepad.com/traci/2006/04/scrapbooking.html#comments
her entry about the editors wanting her to crop the butt out of her layout is where my problem lies.
No matter if she was scrappin for herself or to get herself into a magazine - why oh why is the editor asking her to edit her life?
If scrappin is taking your photos and putting them on cardstock and adding the words to retell a story why do we need to edit that memory?
that butt is real. it's part of the story. Years from now it will still be part of the story. (perhaps it is not the focus of that particular layout however it is part of that persons anatomy - that person was in the picture. they were part of the story of that layout. Just cos some editor didn't like the picture - now we change the memory of that day?)
i'm all for cropping photos. getting rid of distractions in pics. Sure. You're trying to tell what happened in the photos. But why does some editor need to step in and tell her what she should be editing. Obviously she included that pic as it was. Thats the way life is. Big butts and all.
If she wanted to edit out the butt that was her business. But having some magazine editor tell her to edit it out... i got problems with that.
It is her memory. She gets to include what pics she wants and edit them the way she wants.
(i should add here apparently the blogger didn't mind the fact the editor wanted her to crop that pic. i mind. does anyone care what i think? no. but i still have an opinion and that is what this is about. So there)
Is she designing a magazine spread or a scrapbook page?
i've done both.
They are entirely different things.
But more and more i am seeing less scrapbooking and more magazine layout creation - as a scrapbook page.
i don't want my scrapbooks to look like a magazine layout.
i like the way scrapbooks look real.
i'm talking old time scrapbooks.
Like someone's hands have made them.
There's love in that handmade look.
Magazine spreads look very sanitized. Very perfect and thats all good if you are making a magazine.
ok. rant over.
go back to what you were doing

my laugh for the day

i was reading a thread on a message board.
someone was asking for easy recipes for a get together.
a poster replied with a number of suggestions.
One being a platter of -
get this -
crue d'ete
i swear i'm not makin this up

just hilarious!

old friends

the other day i was talking to dh on the phone and i heard the annoying beep of call waiting. Dh was just telling me he was on his way home so we got off and the phone rang.
it was a friend of my mothers.
an old friend. we're talking old.
I'm talking the length of their friendship.
I've heard about this friend probably all my life.
My mom has a group of friends she has had all her life - well practically.
I know they've been friends since at least high school.
And that, my friends, was almost 65 years ago (since she began high school).
Isn't that incredible?
this friend was trying to get in touch with my mom just to chat. She was increasingly concerned as she couldn't reach her at her home. My mom has had a lot of health problems so the friends was naturally concerned. i reassured her that my mom has just been away visiting one of my sisters and not to worry.
I've been emailing with some of my old friends a lot lately.
my friends from college. probably some of the best friends i have ever or will ever have.
We email all the time actually.
There had been a bit of a lull. We all have busy lives: families, jobs etc etc.
Lately the email has surrounded our attempts to schedule a get together. (its always tough to get us all together but we managed it on a number of occasions over the 27 years since we've graduated.)
I'd seen two of these good friends back in the fall. My roommate was having a 25th wedding anniversary and she invited us to their party. What a wonderful time we had. It had been so long since we'd seen one another.
but the thing about these kinds of friends is that no matter how long its been since you've seen one another - its just like yesterday.
We continue where we left off.

This and that

i saw this ad today in the Washington Post Magazine section - it says
Urban Style
I say
Cheddar Style
Anyone got a wheat thin?
seriously would you want to be sitting on a wheel of cheese in your living room.
the kitchen maaaaybe
hell.. not even maybe.
onward

Under the heading
I looked it up:
the word "pompitous" (as in pompitous of love - steve miller was playing on the radio when i was out and about this morning and it occurred to me i'd finally like to check that word out.
to see if it is actually a word.
these are the things we like to do 'round here. We are always referring to the dictionary. (i guess we are in constant scrabble challenge mode... whatever.)
it ain't... a word.... pompitous.
i know you're relieved.
As was I
but under the heading of "believe it or not"
(and i'm sure you will)
there are quite a number of websites which debate and discuss this line from the song
it's a wonderful world isn't it?

moving on....
we heard from DS last nite. he's on an interstate scavenger hunt for a frat.
yegods.

we're having a quiet sunday 'round here. just the dh and myself.

DD is off sampling macroorganisms or somesuch thing from the waters of Fairfax County.

She had her hipboots, goggles, and other sundry scientific materials ready this morning. DH took her to meet up with her fellow scientists.

She should be calling for her ride home soon.

Me - i went to the grocery store, put away said groceries, cleaned a bathroom (don't i always seem to be doing that? we have 4 - so its inevitable.) and baked some brownies

I think i will go work on some cards or scrapbook pages with the time i have left

go back to what you were doing

all fixed

which is a relief.
water pump.
i guess it coulda cost more
:-)

H is for hot

in the last week or so i've noticed something on the garage floor -
looks like a puddle of water. like when you've got snow on the car or its been raining - the garage floor usually reflects that.
so last nite i pick up dd from the bus and we're on our way home and some kind of light comes on the dashboard.
it looks like a tiny thermometer.
we are sitting in mega traffic.
of course - it's NoVA
i begin to get a little nervous but think we're almost home.
then an alarm starts to sound.
it's like a bell being rung over and over
i see the temperature guage is on H
i'm thinking "crap" with a big C
at this point we're are soooo close to home. just through one more major intersection and then one more (very busy) left turn and we're home.
i decide to turn the car off while we wait at the big light
its a loooooooooong light so i'm hoping it will give the car a chance to cool off
a bad word pops out of my mouth
dd says its ok mom. we're almost home. :-)
and indeed we do make it home.
Guess what we're doing this morning?
dropping off the car
more later

you know you're distracted when...

your daughter says to you,
"Mom, why is there a towel in the dishwasher?"
this happened last nite.
I had a day off yesterday.
got my hair cut and hilighted (i was lookin like a skunk in reverse again so it was tiiiiime)
and
doing this
that
and the other thing.
and apparently i left a towel in the dishwasher.
(to dry off shtuff as i take it out. Does your dishwasher leave you with pools of water in the tops of the cups? someone should seriously work on the re-design of the top rack -youknowwhati'mtalkinabout?)
anywho
i didn't think it was such a big shmeel
but apparently it amused those living in my household.
i'm getting a bit of a ditz reputation.

hey this is like some kinda record. i've posted everyday this week.
and countem'
twice today.
now go back to what you were doin

The Concierge does it and you can too!

i was reading Heidi Swapp's blog this morning and saw her video demonstrating her rub-ons. If you want a little chuckle please take a look at it:
http://www.heidiswapp.typepad.com/
scroll down to where it says "here it is!! so excited!"
she's got a link there.
It really is quite a bit of marketing genius. It would be a faboo commercial. Seriously.
If you're not hip to the history on these rub-ons - well i'll clue you in. They got some bad press that i know of -on a particular well-known scrapbooking site (which shall remain nameless...ahem).
Totally unfounded i might add.
I have the aforementioned rub-ons. And i used them over this past weekend. They worked just fine - i didn't need a video either.
But hey.. that's me.
I am rub-on inclined.
Perhaps others are not so gifted. (these are the jokes people.)
Regardless these rub-ons are a fine.. nay.... a WONDERFUL product.
However since they got a bad rap or rub as the case may be i am sure HS felt the need to do a little PR? whatever. Personally i would love to see more creations ( she's something else that one - what a creative mind she has!!!!) than her spending her time trying to redeem a perfectly wonderful product.
But in true HS form - she creates this hilarious little video.
A 12 year old can use them; a grown woman and a grown man can use them. Heck ...
even the Concierge can do it.
Some might say they all had instruction from HS. so of course they could do it.
I say.. oh who cares.
go back to what you were doing now....

i'll get my clothes dirty

cos it'll be cheaper than this
http:/www.paper-source.com/cgi-bin/paper/486569.html?cm_id=3000.640
yegods.
i checked to see what it was made from (thinking hey it must be some exotic 'spensive fabric for $49.00 right?).
it says "kool rugged cotton, 4 pockets, a silkscreen wasp and great twill straps".
what if it was cool rugged cotton with a "c"?
or maybe a little less rugged?
would that cost less?
or perhaps if there were only 2 pockets
i mean the second set of pockets (viewable in the "alternative view") would reside on my butt.
i don't know about you but i don't need pockets on my butt when i'm creating (or otherwise)
and the great twill straps.
what if they weren't quite so great?
and i could definitely live without wasps. i have enough problems with wasps around here building nests. i don't need one on my chest.
oh heck. i don't wear aprons anyhow.
i'm done blabbering now.
go back to what you were doing

it has become obvious

that i stink at keeping up this blog.
but i digress right away.
it became apparent to me over the weekend, whilst working on ds's scrapbook that
while i adore patterned paper
(like some women love shoes)
(my love for patterned paper is close to my adoration for chocolate)
that i don't use it much (the paper not the chocolate)in my scrapbooking
i have three containers full of patterned papers - stuffed to the gills i might add
and two containers for 12 x 12 cardstock that are moderately full. (we won't discuss the 3 containers for 8.5x11 cardstock, k?)
i came to this conclusion when i was searching through the cardstock bins to find an appropriate color. I wasn't likin my choices. i had used them up.
now i use patterned paper like KA-RAY-ZEE on my cards.
but on the pages - not so much.
now the question becomes: do i keep all this patterned paper? do i sell it on ebay (as have some of my friends have done) or do i keep it for cards (i will never make that many cards i guess.
and what do i do when i see more cute paper.......

So you see why i hate resolutions

i can't seem to keep to 'em.
i have been drawing more - so that's good. I've been drawing almost everyday even if its a doodle. doodles count in my book.
Great things come can come from doodles (great thighs from cheese doodles - great ideas from other doodles)
anyway things continue to be busy. work (taught 2 classes in the past 2 weeks); dd has kept us hopping with her rehearsal schedule for her play at school. Thankfully that's over til the next play appears on the horizon. We went to the play on thursday night. "Much Ado About Nothing" - one of Shakespeare's plays i was not familiar with - never having seen it performed. It was quite amusing, our daughter was wonderful (natch) and the rest of the cast was quite wonderful. What a wonderful bunch of kids she has met at that school.
anyway, other than doodling and work obligations - not much creating going on here. Its in the brain but not making it to paper - other than notes and doodles. and for now i have to be content with that. Too much time talking about what isn't being done.
What is getting done? Ah well bathroom cleaning seems to be never-ending (4 bathrooms will do that) as is cooking and laundry (the bane of my existence - fortunately the husband seems to love doing laundry - or just puts on a good act for me.... and what more could one ask? he does it once a week and i do it once a week - apparently we make a lot of dirty clothes). This afternoon i'm baking. Do we need cookies? absolutely.
Sometimes creating doesn't have to be with a pencil, brush, stamp or whathaveyou. Sometimes, in my mind at least, creating means making something. Any thing. And today, for part of the day, my creating will take the form of oatmeal and chocolate chips.
And whilst i'm scooping out dough, wonderful ideas will swirl in my head and then into my sketchbook (in between batches). So what if the sketchbook gets some traces of dough on it, right?

resolutions

i really hate resolutions - new years and other kinds i spose but its that time of year and i've neglected this blog for way too long. So i'm resolving to post more often in the new year. the last few months have been filled with not-so-fun stuff. I guess that's an excuse - certainly a rationalization but also true. Things are calmer at the moment. I'm starting to feel a bit like my old self. The craziness of the holidays is almost over (although we venture out of town to do the husbin's family christmas and if that ain't crazy - nothing is... more on that in a second). My kids and husbin are home. My mom is visiting my sister. I have new music and books to listen to and read. Life's feelin good at the moment. I'm a little chubbier -thanks to my own baking skills :-) - but i think even that's surmountable in due time.
Tomorrow we leave for the husbin's family christmas - i guess about a 3 hour drive to Delaware where all his siblings will descend upon the main family home (as opposed to the beach house which will house some overniters - we however are staying in a local motel). This event makes me cringe every year - its all very nice - all friendly happy faces - its just the sheer numbers that get to me i guess - and my feelings of claustrophobia :-) Approximately 30 family members will attend this years event. And there is no escape. There are people every where. For me this is difficult. Some people who know me think I am an outgoing personality - I am certainly "on" at work - but for those who truly know the real me - I am a shy girl at heart. I am most content in a quiet environment - listening to music, reading a book, watching an old movie. Drawing in my sketchbook - making things. Being in my own little world. I like quiet. I enjoy being alone. I will however be there and try my best not to freak out. I could send my cookies and meatballs (both requested items) and stay at home. But the husbin would not be very happy about that. My participation is important to him - he knows it is very hard for me but he really doesnt ask much - so i will suck it up and go. I will report back later - perhaps with photos of the insanity. I am always armed with my camera and the pics of the gift exchange alone are amusing (a literal sea of people watching a particular giftee open their present)
Our gifts are wrapped (courtesy of the husbin) and my gift tags are adorning them (courtesy of my quickutz - i love it and my dies lord help me - its an addiction). I've packed up the cookies (which i painted with edible gold dust and vegetable coloring - i've painted cookies as long as i can remember - its not Christmas if I don't paint my sugar cookies). I need to pack some clothes but i'll do that in the morning along along with a new book and my sketchbook and my rapidograph. maybe the new issue of CK i haven't had much time to look at and we'll off. We'll be back on Saturday early afternoon, in time to ring in the new year from the burg. Oh and we will be taking a sidetrip to Ikea on the way back. Lookin forward to that.
so... resolved to writing and posting more.
My other 2 resolutions: draw and scrap more. Drawing is number 1 however. always has been and always will be.

okay... so i've been busy

and not posting. there are only so many hours in the day and i like to use a few to sleep.
In the last two weeks we've been to the beach, my sister and her family from Arizona have been here to visit; as well as my sister and nephew from NJ also came to VA for a few days; my mom has been in the hospital (9 days and counting); we've taken our son back to college and done a picnic to meet other families from my daughters high school (its not in the area so this was a good opp for her to meet a few kids and us to carpool network). And to top it all off I'm on call for federal jury duty. Haven't been called in yet (which is good cos the courthouse is over an hour away - yuk... Northern VA traffic not included) and i've got one week left to go after this one.
Hopefully i'll be back again soon to post some stuff.

chain chain chain

referring to that wonderful tune "chain of fools" - great song huh? well i was just reading my email and that song popped up in my head cos i just got one of those "chain letters".
You know the ones you get from people (you thought were your friends) that say something like this

pass this on to your true friends. Something good will happen to you today at 11:11 in the evening. something that you have been waiting to hear. this is not a joke, someone will call you by phone or will speak to you about something that you were waiting to hear. DO NOT BREAK THIS CHAIN. Send it to a minimum of 7 people.

I hate these things. I love my friends who send them but i hate when they send these emails to me. I never send them on. I don't want to inflict this on anyone else. Why oh why would anyone send this to a friend? i ask you.....

lizziebelle

well since she's now out on the purple onion site i feel free to talk about her - lizziebelle the alpha. (not Lizziebelle the daughter.. heck i'll talk about her - and do- any old time)

lizziebelle - with a small L - is my newest child. I have my 2 kids - my joseph and my elizabeth- and of course my furry children - Holly and Frankie my cats - but lizziebelle (small L) has been in the works for a while - and she's like a child to me.
I've been drawing those letters for - gee i don't know how long - suffice it to say - a long time. I drew them when working on a circle journal with a great group of friends - and my friend Michele, saw them. Long story short here - she liked them and asked if i'd be interested in making them into rubber stamps for her company, Purple Onion Designs.

Deciding to allow Michele to create rubber stamps of lizziebelle - well believe it or not - it was very hard for me. sending her out into the world is like giving away a piece of me. she wouldnt be just mine any longer. i would be sharing my child with others... sometimes thats hard to do. when you create something - it is part of you. And sharing parts of yourself - well for me - that's really hard to do. sharing my creations - cards, pages, drawings etc. always has been hard for me. Part of why i started this blog was to get better at sharing what i do. Whether posting pictures or just talking about it.

After many months of thinking about it, and much encouragement from Michele, i decided to go ahead and be brave and send lizziebelle out there. it may be difficult at first to see her being used by others. but i decided i can always draw lizziebelle myself whenever i want - whatever size i want -whatever changes i want... still keep her my own in a way. and for me - thats cool.

If you would like to see lizziebelle - check out www.purpleoniondesigns.com
she's there in the alpha section. tell her i say hi

the rest of the story

so... where did i leave off? (its only been like a week.... busy busy busy).
ah yes. i was cackling evilly.

So my husband and I went to the 8th grade awards assembly last Friday. Braving the driving rain here in Leesburg. Totally miserable day - soon to be better. We find a seat and look over the program. There was a whole host of awards. Whodathunkit? As Eliz is a bright kid, and the counselor had told us she was getting a special award, we knew she'd be going home with something. A nice feeling for the parental units.
The chorus began singing and the kids started entering the auditorium and well - i guess i just got overwhelmed a little - i'm such a mush. Fortunately i'd brought a decent handful of tissues. (Lord only knows how i'll make it through the high school graduation.) I think its a mix of realizing my baby is not quite a baby anymore and seeing another one of those defining moments being marked off (this time its going from middle school to high school) in the list of her life. How did we get this far so fast?
Anyway, the usual speakers went up and down. On to the awards. She received several awards - this kid probably has more certificates in her scrapbook than any kid could - for doing all kinds of mathematical feats and having a certain gpa for the three years . We're sitting there thinking well this is very nice. But i suspected there was something else coming her way. And indeed there was an award.
I believe it was four years ago, a boy who attended the school (and who lived in the next neighborhood over from us) was killed in an accident (i believe by a drunk driver). Eliz remembered him. This boys parents set up 3 awards, in his name, to be given to 8th graders. And Elizabeth received one of the awards - the Spectrum award. Spectrum is a (for lack of a better description) talented and gifted program. This boy was in Spectrum as a 6th grader. Eliz told me later they were in Futura together when they were both in grammar school. Futura is the grammar school equivalent of Spectrum. This boy was a year older than our Eliz.
The award was presented by the Spectrum teacher, who talked about our daughter in such a way - well it was funny and sweet and I would love to contact him to get a copy of his little speech to put in her scrapbook. It just made me grin from ear to ear - while my eyes were tearing up. Eliz was caught completely off guard. She went up to the stage very composed and shook the hand of the teacher as well as the father of the boy. And I was even prouder of her than i already am - if that's possible.
The part that stunned both my husband, me and Elizabeth is that this award was a monetary one.... scholarship money. We had no idea such a thing was done in middle school but there you go.
After we watched a few other kids we know receive awards - always so very nice to see good kids being rewarded - the ceremony concluded. We all headed to the cafeteria for a little celebration - you'd think these kids never saw a cookie or cake before. Well maybe not at 10am?

Anyway now we're on the countdown to the end of school for the year. A field trip on friday to a very fun place for her then just next week and then she's free.
Well, except for the three books she's got for summer reading :-) (and one of those books - WE have to read too!!!!!! can you believe it?)