May 25, 2009

The Prom

My son is in Grade 11.. but a girl that he knows, in grade 12, invited him to take her to her prom. And he said yes. I WISH I'd brought the pictures to the office with me... but I forgot. How did I do that? Busy morning. My son was on air at the local radio station, promoting their end of the year High School Musical to be held at the downtown theatre complex, (he is one of the hosts)... and my husband has a big golf tournament I needed to get him to... I needed to get to the store... I needed to get to the pet food store... and then I had to get Beauregard, the Problematic Puggle of Perpetual Need, and I... to the office. All that before 9am.. of course. I remembered to bring my book around my neck (on a usb key)... and forgot to update it from my laptop... so it's useless. I remembered to bring a layout. Yay me. I forgot my food... breakfast AND lunch... and I'm frazzled. I'm confused at why we do this... Can I buy a vowel?

Anyway... here is a b/w picture of my son, Dana... 16... before leaving our house to meet the girl, and the limo... at her home. Tomorrow, I'll post pictures... and maybe another layout... and this time... COLOUR pics. You should know that her dress was purple... so he bought himself a purple striped tie... and a shiny purple shirt... that would have put my dance partners clothes to shame during the disco contests I was in, in the 80's. lol

HEY!!!

Happy Memorial Day to my American Friends!!!!! Remember well. In memory of those who have served, and lost there life.. from all our countries... Here is the poem by John McCrea (who is from here in Guelph.

In Flanders FieldsJohn McCrae, 1915.
In Flanders fields

the poppies blow

Between the crosses,

row on row

That mark our place;

and in the sky

The larks,

still bravely singing,

fly

Scarce heard amid

the guns below.

We are the Dead.

Short days ago

We lived,

felt dawn,

saw sunset glow,

Loved and were loved,

and now we lie

In Flanders fields.

Take up our quarrel

with the foe:

To you

from failing hands

we throw

The torch;

be yours to hold it high.

If ye break faith

with us who die

We shall not sleep,

though poppies grow

In Flanders fields.

May 22, 2009

21 Years of Wedded Bliss

and I forgot to take a picture


Ok... so not typically something a scrapbooker would do... but we celebrated our anniversary... and I forgot to take a picture. Go figure. We did, however... go see the movie 17 Again. I know. Schmaltzy. Could I not have found a more grown up movie to watch? Something more adult to do? I suppose. But this is us. It's why we work. We left work... picked up our son from school... dropped him off at home... and headed to the show in another city. (It wasn't playing at our city). We ate at the mall. LOL No romantic dinner for us last night. I didn't even eat. I wanted nachos at the theatre. But hey. Is what it is. As many of you know... Gary and I get up in the morning, and head into the office together. We work together. We then, come home together... and we head to the Y, most nights... yep... together. What about you? What did you do for your last wedding anniversary? What do you plan on doing for your next one? Do you spend a lot of time with your spouse? Do you have similar interests? Work together? Are you completely different? Does he work out of town?

CARDS!!!

I need card inspiration. I suck at making cards. Where do you get YOUR card inspiration from?

ONLINE CLASSES!!!!

I'm in the mood to take an online scrappy class.. maybe on a new technique... maybe with a kit involved... Any suggestions?

Here's a New Sketch I did up for you...

May 21, 2009

Happy Birthday, Mom.

Today, is my Mom's birthday. So I wish her a beautiful day. I can't wish her in person, because I lost her when I was 24 years old. My very bestest friend. She was such a beautiful lady. Loving, lovely, ladylike, and pure of heart. And I miss her as much today, as I did then. I don't have a lot of pictures of her. Our house burned down, and we lost most of them. But I have a few.

Happy Anniversary to My Husband and I!

... or how to make a sad day, one of hope and love.

May 21st, 1988, I married the man of my dreams.... Gary Roberts! It's been 21 years since we've been happily married. He makes me laugh... he makes me feel safe... and me makes me happy. And he helped me make the greatest love of all.. our son, Dana.

I married Gary, the year after my Mom passed away. I married him on her birthday, so that the day wouldn't be one of sadness and despair. It would be a day of love, laughter, hope. So... here's to wonderful days. What are we doing today? Working, of course. We own an Ad Agency. What else are we doing? We're going to see 17 Again, I think. I just want to see it. It looks sweet. LOL

A New Layout

Here's a layout I did last night. It's of my son. He had a Garage Sale at his school, to help Guatemala or some such thing. And Dana donned this outfit to get people to pull into the sale, and help out. Funny.

May 20, 2009

A New Layout.

I threw this layout together last night... just because I was feeling nostalgic. My little baby... grade 2. His first day! He was so tiny. If you notice him in the lineup, he was smaller than the small boy behind him. I would worry about him ever growing. And today, in grade 11... he's on the taller side of the students. Things change. I marvel at the many many changes that take place in families. How we grow and change and live and die. How we experience life. Which brings me to my next thought...

.........................

1/2 Full? or 1/2 Empty? The same liquid as all others? Or viva la difference?

I've always been a typical artsy person... at least writing-wise. I've always been a 1/2 empty kinda gal. Not that I think "whoa is me", "boohoohoo" etc. No. I've just never been a positive kind of person. I can't be confused for a realist either, though. LOL I'm a romantic, caught up in a 1/2 empty glass of some odd substance, unlike most others. Which, of course... brings me to my next thought of the day...

......................

Are you different? odd? eccentric? happily so? unhappily so?

Do you embrace being different? Or do you feel better not standing out with your eccentricities. (Isn't that a much better way of putting it?) There's a saying... rich people are eccentric. Poor people are odd. LOL I think we can call ourselves what we like. We are... each of us... unique. It's just a matter of degrees. It's also a matter of whether we embrace that uniqueness... or hide from it. Again... as an artsy writer, I've always considered myself different... and haven't always embraced that sense of self. But mostly.. I've been fine with it. Maybe that comes from an inate sense of wanting to be different. Of wanting to be more than. Not more than other people... more than I was. Does that make sense? And this brings me to my final thought...

.........................................

The Scrapbooker!

Who is she (or he)? Does the scrapbooker have an artsy personality? Is the scrapbooker someone who tends to be somewhat eccentric? You can argue the whole "We are all different" thing.. for sure. But come on. You must admit.. the sculptor... this is someone with a unique sense of self. The sculptor has a set of unique characteristics to him/her. Does the scrapbooker? Is it degrees? Does it depend on the level of artistry in the scrapbooker? What are some of the characteristics almost always found in the scrapbooker? Do you possess most of them? Many of them?

........................................

Have a great day! It's 24 here, in SouthWestern Ontario. For you Fahrenheit junkies... that's about 75 degrees. yay! I'm loving it.

May 19, 2009

Scrapbooking and Stuff

I need to revamp my scrapbooking. I don't know which way I'm going... but I need to revamp. It's time to kick it up a notch. What do you do when YOU want to move things up? Change up your style? Do you take some classes? Start perusing galleries? Join a contest? A Challenge? Change up your supplies?
Come on... spill it. I need some advice.

Books.

The Twilight Series. I watched the Twilight movie before I read the books. Then.. I started reading the books with New Moon. After all.. I'd seen the first movie.. and wanted to move on. I finished the series, and then read the final book... Breaking Dawn... two times. It was just that good. I was dissatisfied. You know the feeling... So I went and bought Twilight, the book... and I'm reading it. When I'm done... I'll erad the book she's started... Twilight from Edward's perspective. THEN? I'll read the series again. Love those books.

... and then...

In the middle of reading these books, I continue to write my own book. Gary, throughout our entire time together.. has bugged me to write a book. He's been on my case to stop writing smaller things... and finish my novel. That's what I'm doing. I love having my words in print. So, I can only imagine the joy of having the entire novel in print... sitting on my table... with my name on it. Not an article. Not a short story. But the whole shebang. I can hardly wait to see how things work out. The story is fun... I promise you. And sexy... without smutty. We women need that dark and forbidding man.. to think about. The one who doesn't detract from the love of our lives.. but adds to it. The one that adores his woman until he can think of nothing else. Almost obsessed. That man is our forbidden pleasure. And he is the man in my book. He's consumed and strong and more than. More than what? Just more than. You'll have to read the book to find out. I love books.

Recommendations?

Any recommendations on good books? I especially love series. The ones you can sink your teeth into, and when it's done... continue onto book two. I'd love to hear your recommendations.

My recommendations? The Twilight Series. Harry Potter Series. The Chrysalides. The Clan of the Cave Bear series.

So.. here's some layouts that I did this weekend.

and Last... but not least... Another Sketch!

May 15, 2009

Start things off with blog candy. Head over here to win something yummy scrapwise! Whoohoo. Good Luck. If you win... let me know!

Still on a High!
We all got up this morning, still thinking about Dana as the new Student Trustee for next year. What a grade 12 year he is going to have! Today? He's off on a retreat with the Grade 10's. The Pastoral teacher asked him if he'd come along to help out, and he, of course, said sure. It makes me wonder how we get the children we get. You can be an awesome parent, and still get a child who is very troubled. I don't kid myself that I've done everything right and perfect, and that's why he's such a good kid. I'm not so silly as to believe that. I can't count the mistakes I've made. But it does make me wonder.

Lack of Motivating Factors
I know I've been chatting about this a fair bit lately... but I'm truly at a loss. Has anyone else noticed the lack of truly motivating factors out there in the scrapbooking world, lately? It seems as if there are fewer calls for magazines... fewer contests... fewer big events... and I, for one... have counted on these things to motivate me. To push me beyond my self-set limits. I've been brainstorming lately, to try and come up with an alternative. How about you? Any ideas? Aside from motivating yourself... what are you doing to compensate for this lack? Have you found something that helps??? I'd LOVE to know???

Writing, Writing, Writing
I'm home sick today. AND it's the long weekend. big sigh. I feel as if the weight of the world is off of my shoulders right now. AND... I'm going to spend much of my time writing. For those of you who don't know... I am writing a book. I write every day, of course... but being home today... I should get a lot done. I'm in the middle of a really good part, and can't wait to see what my heroin is going to do. Sometimes she makes some choices I really wish she wouldn't make. Here's hoping she doesn't get herself.. and me.. into a mess today.

Have a great day!

one more thing

one more thing...
check out Tina's blog for some yummy blog candy! http://tinawerner.blogspot.com/2009/05/big-news-blog-candy-alert.html