Where have I been?

It's been a while since I've posted -- funny (peculiar) I used to be so on top of things! LOL

Real life takes time away from blogging

I've been away on an amazing crazy adventure, LOL.  No, actually, there have been other things, hahahaa.... Let's see, there's always r/l taking time away from the fun of keeping my blog updated, that's the first interference...but not the only one! LOL

 Cyber Survivor Island Contestant Returns to Blogging

The other thing that kept me busy for quite a few months definitely does fall into the adventure category.  I was in an on-line version of Survivor (called Survivor Facebook hosted by William Yelton).  I have to say, I never expected it to take up sooooo much of my time.  Wow!  Short of being stranded on a real island and not begin able to shower, it pretty much exposed me to some of what really goes on in the land of Survivor.

The new diet -- Survivor

At first I wasn't sure what to expect and really had no idea what I had gotten myself into, LOL.  By the time I was voted out -- I was ready to leave and thankful for it (LOL).   The Challenges were a lot of fun and they certainly did make you think and work together with your tribe mates, or against them when the time came for individual immunity.  Lack of sleep, irregular eating (including missed meals), crazy relationships that feel like the start of a "friendship" but really aren't, a host that knows all and finds ways to put you on the spot and live interaction via Skype -- what a way to take over my life completely for 4 months!  Whew!

The return to real life slows the return to blogging

Time to move forward and find my way back to a regular schedule.  Well, that is, after I catch up on all the things I let get behind, hahaa....I have let too many things go, one -- taxes, those evil things I started a few months back, and well..., I sort of never finished, LOL.  Now the deadline looms eeek! eeek! and wait did I say eeek! yet?   What ever was I thinking? (LOL)  Escape!

A Real Life Meet-up

 

We were originally members of opposite tribes -- but after we made it to the merge, we had a chance to get to know each other and then later after we were both voted out, we had an opportuinty to meet up.  It was a blast!

Time to Laugh at me or cry with me - top this (please) and tell me your story!

So.... have you ever thought you did what you needed to do -- and then it turns out you didn't, only you find out the hard way after it's all done and too late to fix????

Well, that'd be what I did this past weekend.  I guess it was just bound to be one of those days.  You know, the one everyone has...where it seems nothing goes the way it's supposed to go -- as if anything is ever actually "supposed" to go any specific way (LOL).  I mean do we really think we are in control of the way things are "supposed" to be?? hahahaa.... It's one of those days where you just have to accept that sometimes life has a different plan.

Soooooo, my Saturday started off fine; really it did.  I was doing good for time, no rush.  Well, at least it didn't start out that way.  I head out towards my destination, supplies packed and ready to go.

I placed a large 5 gallon container of icy Lemonade in the back of our Land Cruiser, it didn't fit in the front -- or maybe I just didn't try hard enough. Anyway, I placed a small soft sided crate next to it and a blanket pushed up against the other side. The last 2 sides were cushioned by the Land Cruiser -- against the side wall and tailgate area.  Sounds like a good plan right?  Nope! I made it 5 miles when I realized I forgot something at home -- so, I turned around and headed back home.  I should have left the forgotten items. Now, I'm making myself late and ....then, when I least expect it, a sound I didn't want to hear....crash, mpop, sloosh, slosh, kushh...more kushhhing as the ice continues to purge forward along with the remaining 5 gallons of liquid.  It's one of those moments where you  cringe as you realize what just occurred and there's not a thing you can do about it.  If I continue to slow down so I can stop, I know the liquid will continue its journey forward, if i don't stop -- same result since I'm headed down a hill.

I am now in the process of cleaning 5 gallons of lemonade from the entire back middle and front of our Landcruiser.  Yup, that's FIVE gallons of liquid with sugar!

When we opened the door liquid came pouring out....and that's after the carpet absorbed a lot.

 This is the front -- it came from alllllll the way in the back of the vehicle to the very front.


***Update -- Land Cruiser torn all apart, scrubbed furiously and now all back together again. Yay!  On the positive side, it did get an inside detail, hahahaha.

Putting the Pool to Bed for the Winter

Hard to tell from the picture, but this was taken today -- a strangely warm day in October -- as I prepare for cleaning the pool for the last time and getting ready to put it to bed for the season.

It's one of those bitter sweet moments where you look forward to one less chore on your "to-do" list, but at the same time you know the pool looks ooooh so much better with the pretty blue sparkly water than the bulky winter sleep cover.

This...

(these pictures were taken a few days ago right after a lovely storm, LOL)

...is why you put up with this in the fall even though it's still pretty nice out.



Amazingly it feels much warmer than the 60°F the thermometer shows for the outside temperature on this beautiful sunny autumn day in Pennsylvania.

Back to work...I still have some vacuuming to do, and a few other tasks before the covers can finally be pulled up and this guy put to bed for his long winter's rest.

No more diving board, no more furniture and the task of winterizing the backyard and the pool have begun and finished all in a day....

Christmas Card Extravaganza

Everyone had a great time at the Christmas Card Extravaganza. We had a room full women come to make cards.


Each Close To My Heart Consultant was stationed at a table and then groups of 4-6 women rotated to each table every 20-25 minutes.



There were some spectacular ideas out there. Wish I could have gone around myself, LOL.



In all, each attendee was able to create 12 beautifully different Christmas cards. With 12 choices, there is sure to be one that catches the eye, heart, creative mind, or time availability of the creator.



...And here are SOME of the beautiful cards we created....








I will put mine in another post.

Cricut: Borders, End Caps, Certificates & Bags - How cool!

I'm just listening to Duran Duran and playing around with my Cricut Expression.

I've had my Cricut for a while but never seemed to venture on to more than just the basics. Well, I've had the personal "baby" Cricut for a while, but trying to save paper I often reverted back to my Ellison, LOL. Then when I saw what the Expression could do - wow! ...so much more; I couldn't wait to get it with it's new bigger size and added features. Saving paper was one of them, LOL. -- But wait...some of those features my baby Cricut had and I just never knew until I saw it on a TV program. A little quick check on the baby one while I waited for my Expression to come in and lo and behold those features are there too....wow, the things you learn on TV, hahaha.

So, now I've had the Expression since hmmmm...I think January, and what, I've still only done the basics on this machine? Well, except once when I created a name out of chipboard for my daughter's dorm mirror, which it came out pretty good except I had to hand cut it out the rest of the way. I didn't learn until about 3 weeks ago about the deep cut blade --- duh! LOL. I though I could just repeat the cut 4 times and it would work, but it was still attached. Now I know better and I won't waste so much chipboard trying to figure it out. heehehee.

So, the set I was playing with is the one that comes with the Cricut - the Plantin School Book. In addition to the alphabet it has a few other tricks it can do to make your projects fun. :)

First thing I played with was the borders. They are pretty cool and there are a lot of them. I only have picture of one, but there 10 ways you can do the borders. This one is using the Tall Ball feature --- turns the grass into flowers. :)


Next thing I played with was the certificate. Not sure I'll have a big need on this one, but hey you never know. It has some pretty neat details I suppose you could use it to frame a picture on a scrap page pretty nicely. :)



Then, I played with the end caps. This is a great feature for book marks, name tags, gift tags, labels, and hmmm... probably some other things, but anyway... it's pretty cool. I just have a couple pictured here, but there are 12 choices total.


Finally, I played around with making the bag -- since I was just playing around I didn't really pick out a great color it turns out for my bag, but the bag itself was easy enough to create. One 12x12 paper makes you a 7-1/4 bag with marks so you know where to fold. Isn't it adorable? I actually cut that earlier border and put it on because I wanted to dress it up a little, but I think there is so much more dressing this bag could have. I love it! :) Then of course I stuffed it with CTMH cards. :)

Yikes!

Where did September go? Wow, that month sure went fast! It was certainly a busy month.

At the beginning of the month made a memory box for my daughter. It came out great using some of her favorite colours and theme (anything to do with moon, music, sun all good, LOL).








The center was created with folded paper to make the star, using the same CTMH paper packet to tie it all in with the theme of the memory box.


Here is the card that I made to go with it. Beautiful textured CTMH papers and buttons, some stitching, a stamped decorated old CD, with heat embossing and liquid glass applied, and the all too cute May Stamp of the Month. :)


Getting ready to run off to PSU to see her now for Parent weekend. Will be back to post the pictures from the Christmas card extravaganza last weekend. :) Have a super weekend! Smiles.

In Remembrance

Zip: Another week - A new Adventure

Well, here it is another week gone by - zip! Where are they all going?

The trip to Boston was wet, cold, wet, and splash as we took the Duck tour through Boston and into the water. It was great! The kids all took a turn driving "The Duck". We saw a symphony, ate at a cool restaurant called Fire and Ice, where we each chose what we wanted to eat, placed it in a bowl and continued on in our quest for the perfect meal to finally end at our destination... watch them as they cooked our meal. We had a nice cruise one night (which also was my birthday) where they all danced the night away, and so much more.

Today we are off to Gettysburg for the weekend. Time to tour Gettysburg College, not to mention there are a couple of gatherings for us to attend. Tonight we start with the Dean's Scholar Reception and tomorrow we spend all day at a Get-Acquainted Day meet and greet program.

All this AND I've started a new venture. :) I am so excited to be a part of Close to My Heart as an independent consultant. I have always had a passion for stamping and scrapbooking and spend much time doing those activities when I'm not on line creating digital pictures with my PSP. Arts have always been where my heart travels for fun. I love teaching and helping others (elementary educator here), so what better way to combine all my hats on one rack! Now I can teach others the joy of scrapbooking and stamping and help them make many cherished memories to last a life time! ♥

(check the links to the left to learn more about CTMH)

Leaving for Boston with the Marching Band

We are heading out to see the sites and make some music in Boston.

I can't believe it's my daughter's last year in Marching band. Time sure flies by when you want it to stand still, LOL.

We are in for a busy 4 days. Included on the agenda in no particular order: Dinner at Fire & Ice, Blue Man Group, Tour of the Prudential Skywalk, Boston Symphony for a concert, Laser Music Show, Duck Tour, Witch Dungeon & Witches Cottage, Harbor Dance Cruise, U.S.S. Constitution (Old Ironsides) and of course a performance by our very own band.

Hmmmm...I think there might be room in there some where for some sleep, LOL. Some how I doubt much of that will happen with high schoolers on board. See ya' all when we get back.