IN my head....

I've decided something.

Instead of keeping all of my thoughts jumbled around in my head, I'm going to try to write them down here a little more often.

Today's thoughts: why we women need best friends.

I went through a period of time where I didn't really have a best friend. I had lots of nice women that I called my friends, but not one of them did I feel that I could trust with my intimate thoughts--usually revolving about venting about something my husband did--and the like. All kidding aside, it's very lonely when you don't have someone like that in your life. Someone who doesn't judge you, and who listens when you talk, and who thinks you are wonderful just because you are you, and who doesn't really mind all your crap, 'cause they know they have crap of their own and you know all about it. I hope you get my point.

So when we relocated about twenty miles away from where I'd lived for the past 16 years, I was surprised and pleased to find someone who grew into my best friend. Very nice. Not perfect, but who wants a perfect friendship all the time? More than that, who wants the pressure to be perfect all the time?

Anyway, the point of my story: Saturday, I had to run some errands. DH was home, 3 kids playing outside in the newly purchased wading pool. VERY hot for our neck of the woods. Instructed above mentioned 3 kids to either "get sunscreen or shirts on" or they would regret it. Came home just over 2 hours later to NO sunscreen and NO shirts. Needless to say, they ALL got sunburns of various degrees and painfulness. I was SO ANNOYED!!! Angry, frustrated, flabbergasted, annoyed some more, stunned that DH didn't think about double-checking the sunscreen when HE came outside, mad, frustrated, and just pained in my heart that my babies had to suffer so afterwards. NO ONE ELSE in my family could understand why I was so mad.

Monday--two days later. Explained/vented the whole thing to above mentioned BF. She summed it up so eloquently before I even got to finish:

That just makes you the chokin' and explodin' kind of mad!

That was it. She got me. No explanation needed. And suddenly I wasn't mad anymore.

THAT's why we need best friends.

And that's the other side.

Something New! Something Different!

I decided last Friday to take a whirlwind trip to a rubberstamp store in Salem. (LINK here for store) I figured I'd get there about 15 minutes before they closed, giving me plenty of time to look around and see what they had. I was kidless, so you know I was enjoying myself! Well, traffic being what it was (and my a little whacked out sense of timing in the car) I got there FIVE minutes before the store closed. I looked around, found a super cool pocket watch stamp (I've been looking for cool clock and compass stamps for awhile now. Don't know EXACTLY why I need them, but need them I do!) and got into a lovely conversation with the owner, Lisa. Long story short, she was needing a teach to start some scrappy teaching and other papercrafting projects, and asked me to come back some time with samples of my work. (I explained how I've been creating classes for people to take in their homes). We really hit it off, so I was excited to go back--I went the very next day. She loved my work and now I am teaching one to two classes a month at her store!

This is great for me, because not only is it a HUGE validation, but it's GOING SOMEWHERE! I love the saying "Go forward, not backward" and I feel like I've been stalling with my teaching, or I'd take a bitty step forward and then a few more backwards (through no fault of my own). My "Scrapbooking Your Personal History" class at the Parks & Rec Senior Center is stalled--not enough people sign up for it to hold the class (according to the Sr. Ctr rules) even though we've offered it twice. The gal I work with there is on vacation, so I'll contact her in a couple of weeks and hope that the third time is the charm!

I've already created the samples for my first class--Scrapbooking 1o1. I forgot to take pictures before I dropped of the samples at the store, so I'll show you later. For now, here is a shot of my Wall Art (I'll be teaching that class later in August) made from a toddler-destroyed baby board book.

Enjoy!

Check this out!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oJmWGhwI0Ws&search=diet%20coke%20and%20mentos


VERY fun and fascinating!

A little Cheese...

I'm loving this picture of my kids! All three of them have pleasant expressions on their faces. The big tree is cool too. J is wearing a blanket 'cause it was about 45 degrees outside and she didn't have a jacket with her. H didn't bring a coat/jacket/sweatshirt or anything like that (even though it was on the packing list...) and C is wearing his hoodie. Still, gotta love them. They had a great time traipsing through the woods in the North Grove of the Big Trees State Park.

More later...

I know, I know,

It's be awhile since I posted. I'm recovering from being gone half of the month of May while still keeping up with the church youth group, the school end of the year concert (I've been volunteering my time to teach and lead the music for this concert) and getting my youngest into a county Early Childhood Special Education preschool speech class for his speech delay. Add to that one hearing test with a pediatric audiologist (for my youngest--bumped because of an unknown ear infection), doctor's visits for a possible broken elbow (my oldest dd), strep throat (middle child, my oldest ds), the above mentioned ear infection (youngest ds), end of the year school projects (dd), the 5th grade graduation planning commitee (for dd), AND all of the cleanup/preparation for the above mentioned traveling--basically I'm just plain worn out.

I've a lot on my mind, and some neat pictures of the Big Trees State Park and the Columbia State Historic Park I want to share here, so stay tuned.

That's the other side for now!