Last few days

haven't been ultra interesting. Our A/C was failing and we had to call in someone on Sunday to check it out. It definitely needed fixin. Let's just say freeon (is that how you spell it?) has gone up in price - akin to the gas pump.
I visit the gas pump frequently as E is doing a class this summer and we are running back and forth to the school every day. Well, J does the drop off and i do the pickup, but i digress. An hour to and an hour home - kills a lot of gasoline. Good news is Thursday is the last day of her class. What's she been learning? A computer science class she must have for school. She must be learning lotsa fancy stuff. She was working on her final project last nite when i checked in on her, working hard at her computer. Playing a game that looked like Pong. She made her own version of the game. She wasn't done yet but it looked pretty darn good to me.
Well i'm off to work. I hope to check back in later.

Black is ever so slimming

so tonite i went to the crop at work with the intention of getting work done. i have two classes in september and the idea was to work on the samples: one completed and a good start on the 2nd. well i finally left in disgust at about 9pm. I never began the 2nd sample. The first sample was halfway completed when i walked in the door. I'd done all the cutting yesterday (while i was cooking dinner...lol) and thought this was gonna be easypeasy assembly.
needless to say it wasn't.
darn if these projects that appear sooo simple end up being theeeee worst.
however.
one of the other croppers is a wonderful woman named Teri. She comes to the crop most every week and works on ATC's. she's in a bazillion swaps (or seems to be) and uses friday nites to create her swaps. she is very talented. her atc's would make you drool. they're just - wow. and yaknow i don't think she realizes just quite how good she is.
anyway Teri and I are sitting at tables that face one another and we are chatting off and on. somehow the topic of weight always comes up in female conversation doesn't it? interspersed in the same conversation we're talking about what we're working on. i noticed her atc's are edged in gold. i was inking an edge of a tag with some chalk ink. I commented to her how they (my employers designers) are enamored with black ink. I didnt think it appropriate on the very colorful tags i was working on for their class so i chose a pink pad and was dabbing away. (it looked just right) and suddenly i got a pretty funny notion and started to laugh. Teri said "what?"
i asked her if she thought that if i inked all my edges in black (hips, thighs....) that i might appear thinner? you know - black is ever so slimming.
i hadn't laughed that hard in ages.

tumble dry kitty

i said i was doing lots of laundry yesterday. I pulled a load out of the dryer and left the door open. i went to get the next load for the wash, returned and this is what i found.
he's a funny boy, my frankie. i wish i could've gotten a shot without the glowing eyes but he's not one to sit still long. I am amazed he sat there long enough for me to run down the hall to grab my camera.

2 out

ok so project runway - i guess i lied before when i said i didnt have a favorite. i really liked Keith. Well... maybe not liked him but i loved his clothes. I kinda suspected he might be the one to be getting the boot when they showed the previews last week. He was a bad boy. And we love a bad boy - especially when they make pretty clothes. It was kinda stupid of him to have those books (how did he get them past them in the first place?) but i guess he also left and used the internet (apparent no-no's). You break the rules - you gotta pay the piper.
I really liked his design and was happy the other two were able to pull it off without him leading. i woulda picked their team. Angela - she's a piece of work. She was able to work with her team - not like when she was paired up with Vincent - egad. And those little rosettes worked as buttons (thank goodness they talked her into that!)
When i saw those rosettes i thought of this quilt my mom told me my grandmother made. It was out of little circles all sewn up like little puffs - not unlike Angela's rosettes. Funny - everything old is new again.

a little this - a little that

ok. so i've been on a long blogging break.
but i've been delightfully prodded back
- thank you miss b -
anywho -- life has been whirlwindish. summer brings visitors, new schedules and more reality tv.

i admit i've been hooked for years on Big Brother. It is back and its all stars and it is tooo stinkin fun. it might be hard for someone to just jump into watching BB7 now but if you're at all inclined give it a try.
my other reality guilty pleasure is Project Runway. I watched last season and was so happy to see a new one starting up a few weeks back. Last season i had my definite favorite - Daniel - but this year i'm still on the fence. I do so enjoy watching and tonite you know where i'll be - watching PJ. Course i can't just sit there and watch. Tonite i'll be folding piles of laundry. Makes me feel a bit less guilty :-)

well i'm off right now. i just finished making a huge batch of meatballs (for tonite and a few other meals) and now i think i'll see if i can work on a little project.
i'll be back soon

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?