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.