Summer Musings

This summer has been an interesting one. Summer is something I look forward to all school year. I get practically giddy thinking about it. I daydream about all of the time I will get to spend with my son. Both my husband and I will be home and can hang out. It will be time to hang out in shorts, a tank top, and flip flops. We will stay up late and sleep in late. It should be perfect. But this summer it is far from and I have had trouble figuring out why. I think part of it is that all of the positives that I pine for from August to May have a dark side come June and July. 24 hours a day with a five year old is exhausting at best. Being around my husband all day is exasperating for both of us. The whacked out sleep hours are beginning to get to me and I seriously miss my dress clothes and high heels.

What the hell is wrong with me to allow the negatives to overshadow the true gift of summers off that I have been given? I don't know, but enough already. I need a swift kick in the arse and a snap out of it slap to the face. A dear online friend today was just lamenting how she wished she could be home with her kids instead of dealing with the drudgery of work and office politics. She is right. Our little ones are not little for long, I should be cherishing every second. I know so many couples that wish they could have quality time together and I am lucky enough to have it. I am in control of bedtime and can fix that! There are tons of cute high heeled sandals out there. I could wear them with my tank tops and shorts!

Privilege is a tricky thing. It is so easy to forget the gifts we have. I am blessed and need to start treating those blessings with the reverance they deserve. Here comes the new and improved Chris!!!

I could just eat him up!

I am hosting the blog carnival!

Sorry this is late. The original email got lost in Spamalot!

Welcome to the April 15, 2009 edition of digital scrapbooking.

Kelly-Ann Halbert presents Design Do-Overs: The April Edition posted at Bits&Pieces.

News

Dwayne Tucker presents Introducing The Blast Tour posted at The Global Advertiser!, saying, "The Blast Tour collection is complied by Dwayne Tucker. Inspired by the sights of Savannah, Georgia this collection’s theme revolves around light trail, abstract street photography. This compilation of photographs will encompass the sights of various metropolitan cities; giving you an alternative, unconventional insight through the lens of a digital camera."

Other

Kelly-Ann Halbert presents a new class is available posted at be AUDacious.

Tutorials

Kelly-Ann Halbert presents Photo Editing - Super Quick and Easy! posted at TaylorMade Designs.

Kelly-Ann Halbert presents Quick tutorial for bent photo posted at Ellas digidesign! Design and scrap4Hire.

Kelly-Ann Halbert presents Quick Tip Tuesday Redux - Bringing back oldies and goodies posted at Scrappers Workshop.

Kelly-Ann Halbert presents Changing the Color of your Digital Stamps posted at My Digital Art Studio.

Kelly-Ann Halbert presents Using Photo Masks posted at My Digital Art Studio.

Jennifer Wilson presents {snapshot saturday} the processing toolbox part 3 - color casts posted at {we are} storytellers.

That concludes this edition. Submit your blog article to the next edition of digital scrapbooking using our carnival submission form. Past posts and future hosts can be found on our blog carnival index page.

Technorati tags: digital scrapbooking, blog carnival.

The Problem with Blogs

OK, I have come to the very harsh realization that blogs need to somehow be regulated. Not just any average Joe should be allowed to have one. Why do I say this? Well, to have a good blog (noun) you must actually blog (verb.) To be able to blog, you must have interesting and /or witty things to share.
See, there needs to be a blog licensing board that determines who does and does not have enough entertaining experiences to share with the masses. If that were the case I would have never been issued a blog license. This blog would have never come about. My sister who, by the way, does not have a blog, would stop harassing me on Facebook to update the damn thing. And I think the world, in general, would be a much happier place!

Great month to be on PDW's CT!!!!

I was so lucky to get to work with Donna Rafferty, Brandi White and Scrapdzines this month. Here is what I created!

Dream a little dream with me.
Casual Comfort and Frames From the Past by Donna Rafferty.

Fun at the playground.

Created with Dreaming Of Fairies by Brandi White




Best Friends

Scrapped with A YEAR IN PROGRESS: FEBRUARY by ScrapDZines

I get by with a little help from my friends....

For those of you already tuned into my life, you have already heard about my week from Hell. For the rest of you, here is a brief synopsis:
1.Budget at work is going to shit, major cutbacks, my counseling partner is out. My work load for next year literally doubles.
2. Husband who works in same district with me has his position cut and he is not sure where he will be placed. We know he has a job, but where is the question.
3. Went to kindergarten roundup and was disgusted by the hoity toity, dripping with diamonds, rich stay at home moms. I was simultaneously jealous and disgusted.

So, you can imagine my surprise and appreciation when I was nominated for an award by one of my best friends, Julie. Julie is one of the smartest, most centered, and nicest women I am lucky enough to know. So coming from her this award means a lot! Here are the fun details along with links to the wonderful women I would like to nominate too!

The Marie Antoinette,

Real Person, A Real Award
Here are the rules for the award:

1. Put the picture of Marie Antoinette on your blog.
2. Link to the person from whom you received the award.
3. Nominate other blogs that you feel deserve the award.
4. Link to those blogs from your blog.
5. Leave a comment on their blogs to let them know you've shared the award with them

Here are my pics for the award!
Kerrie Kate Chris

Whew....

I have been sick, and I mean sick. I have been neglecting this poor little blog! I promise to be back and post something interesting soon. (well as soon as something interesting happens.)

Maudlin Mama

My sweet baby turned five today. He is growing up way too fast for my liking! It seems like yesterday we were bringing him home from the hospital. He has been the absolute joy of my life and I really look forward to every new milestone and achievement. But, I sure would be okay with slowing time down a little bit. Not him though, the first words out of his mouth after we wished him happy birthday this morning were, "Next year, when I am six..." Heavy sigh! :)

Wanna see my other blog?

I am participating in a challenge called Project 365. The goal is to take one picture a day for the entire year. It will give me lots of material to scrap, but more importantly I am really looking to improve my photography skills. If you care to check it out here is the link! Project 365

Putting on Ears

My husband is the consummate deal finder. The man never pays full price for anything. He has literally bought something on sale with a coupon for more money off than the cost of the item and the grocery store actually had to give him money to buy it. So, when he found a primo deal on a Sony MP3 player I was game. After all, everyone else on the planet has one so shouldn't I jump on the bandwagon too? I rarely listen to music anymore; the radio is permanently dialed into NPR. But I miss cleaning house or driving along with a great tune playing. So, off he goes to the Sony store and buys me one. He brings it home and I dig into my rather meager CD collection to begin ripping CD's to download. I get them all synced to the MP3 and eagerly put on my headphones. It sounds great and I am really enjoying songs that I have missed like a good friend that I have not spoken too for a long time. I am jamming along (or as close to jamming as someone my age gets) and should be having a great time. But, I feel vaguely unsettled and can not put my finger on the reason why. Then it hits me like a bolt, I am missing "having ears." It has literally been years since I have been able to drown out the world. It is a mother's job to have ears at all times. At first it was to make sure my baby was not crying, then it was to make sure my toddler was not destroying the house, now it is to guard against monsters and other scary things that invade my preschoolers dreams. I had completely forgotten the luxury of oblivion, sweet oblivion. It was decision time, do I keep the earplugs in and get some much needed solitude or do I succumb to the responsibilities of motherhood and resume my sentry duties? Well, God bless my deal seeking husband... five years ago he got a great deal on a baby monitor that lights up when junior in in distress. I placed it smack dab in front on my keyboard, put on the headphones, cranked the tunes, and have been free to do gloriously mundane tasks like update my blog. Thanks honey.

Doin' a little holiday decorating...

I got sick of looking at the same ol', same ol' around here. So, I did a little redecorating for the holidays. We are going to see the world's best Santa and Mrs. Claus on Saturday so I will be back soon with some pics. Here is a little walk down memory lane until then.....

Holiday Wishes and More New Lo's!

Hope everyone had a wonderful and restful Thanksgiving. Now it is time to gear up for the Christmas season. I was bound and determined to have my shopping done early this year. Much to my delight (and surprise), I stuck with my goal and am almost finished and it is not even December yet!! Leaves me more time to scrap and here are my latest creations!


This one is scrapped with my good friend Julie's new kit Industrial Elf. Check it out here at Plain Digital Wrapper.



















I love this picture and was so excited to get an opportunity to work with the new kit by Gypsy Couture, Colorful Curiosity. You can find it here at PDW. This LO was also done for a challenge over at PDW called Three Things by Courtney Wilson. The three things challenges are rapidly becoming my faves and I think you will like them too. You can find the forum thread here.

Finally here to update!!

My whole family, me included, have been sicker than dogs. We are all finally on the mend thank in no small part to the miracle of the Z-Pack! I have busily been working to get caught up with scrapping and to unveil my first group of Creative Wonder LO's!!! Here are my creations and the links to the amazing kits I was so lucky to be able to use!

This is from Winter Wonderland by Shawnery Mathis



















This LO of my darling niece is from RazMaTazz by Julie. Itis.





















This LO, also of my darling niece, is from Wild Thang by TammyKat Dezigns.




















This LO of DS is from How Does Your Garden Grow by Kaylek.




















This one is from Hooty by Designs by Shelle!

I'm a Creative Wonder!!!

I've been accepted as a creative team member, also know as Creative Wonder, for Plain Digital Wrapper. My digi-scrapping friends know exactly what this is all about. But for those of you unfamiliar with the world of digi-scrapping, this simply means that I have been chosen to represent the designers that sell their work at PDW and I get to scrap with all of their amazing designs and show them off to others! I am so excited to be given this opprtunity and will be posting about it often! If you get a second, run over to Plain Digital Wrapper and check out all of the amazing things they have to offer!

Operation Orange Belt= Success

DS tested for his orange belt this past Saturday. He did a great job. After the testing was a costume contest and he was so damn cute he won! Great day in our neck of the woods. Here are some pics taken by proud mama!

October Designer Color Palette Challenge

Here is my work that I did for the October Designer Color Palette Challenge at Hummie's World. Hope you enjoy!! Here is the 4 shared link.

Heavy Sigh

You know your little boy is growing up when he spends a great deal of time setting up his train tracks for Thomas. Then as he sits there watching Thomas puffing down the tracks he pulls out his Batman toy and uses it to shoot Thomas.

Shout out to all my friends in Korea!

Ok, I really only have one friend in Korea. And well she is not a friend in the typical sense of the word. She is the daughter of one of my dearest online friends and let me tell you she is smart and funny and if I lived in Korea I am confident she and I would be fast friends!! She has undertaken the amazingly brave task of teaching English in Korea! Go check out her blog here. Every once in awhile when she blogs of the trials and tribulations of teaching I try to pop in with a nugget of teaching wisdom. It is worth noting here that it has been 8 years since I was a classroom teacher, and while being a school counselor is rife with it's own challenges, it is not the same as teaching day in and day out. Additionally, with the exception of my first teaching job, all of my years in the classroom were in a nice suburban school with nice suburban children. So really my nuggets of teaching wisdom are completely useless in light of the challenges she faces on a daily basis. So Kati, my hat is off to you and what you do. I am amazed with the grace and fearlessness you have shown during your adventure!

Kati sublty :) pointed out that I have not blogged forever and she is right. Normally it is a case of me not really having too much to say. But these days it is because I have too much to say and can't sort out what I should share.

So here are the highlights:

1. School is crazy this year. Kids are keeping me hopping; I see no light at the end of that tunnel unless you count summer vacation!
2. DS is liking preschool this year and is even showing signs of abandoning his underachiever role in this world. This is a good thing because his dad and I are uber-achievers and we are really floundering on parenting a kid that is not excelling.
3. Politics are consuming me and I can't wait for all of this to be over. I love my family more than anything, but I am definitely of a different mind politically than anyone else. It leads to contention and it is lonely being the only one that is right! (love ya' sis)
4. I miss scrapping and am needing a creative outlet, but I am too damn tired at the end of the day. I need to find some me time, but you all know how hard that can be.
5. Last but not least, I am immeasurably blessed by friends close by and online. Especially those that would take the time to post on their blogs to get me to get off my sorry rear and back into the swing of things! Thanks Kati. I am touched, really touched!!
   

My latest mini-kit!!

I found time this month to participate in Hummie's September Designer Color Palette Challenge.

Here is my mini kit!! The image is clickable!

Since my husband did not really seem to notice...

Happy Birthday to me, happy birthday to me, happy birthday dear Chris, happy birthday to me.

That's all, you may return to your regularly scheduled programming......