I'm ready for a change!

After thinking and debating about changing my blog address, I've decided to do it. It's a small thing, but I think in the long run I'll be happier. Stay tuned!

Thanks for all of your support! And I know I've been "tagged" by Karen, and I'll get to that when I make all my changes! It seems that whenever my life is too busy to blog, that's when I find myself with the most to say!

See you soon!
Dianne

Thank goodness Spring Break is coming!

I'm caught in one of those family rushes...where everyone has something to do and places to be, and all you can do is just hang on for the ride as you cross things off one at a time. For instance, Saturday was the Pinewood Derby, then church, then Monday--taekwondo day (but I had to pick up J at school 'cause she'd finally found my music stand leftover from her band concert in February and she couldn't bring it on the bus) so I went to work, came home for a bit, went to pick her up, came home for a bit, dropped her off at her more advanced TKD classes, then home to clean up the living room so we could find the missing library DVD's, then back to pick her up and drop off H for his classes, then back home to make dinner. Then homework and bed. On Tuesday, I went to do some service for a dear friend who's now on full bedrest to avoid pre-term labor. We (C and I) showed up at about 8:45 to dress her two-year-old and get him breakfast. I did her dishes, set them up with a snack and drinks, folded some laundry, then we left to get C's glasses adjusted. Then we went cruising through the drive-through (C had managed to avoid all attempts to feed him anything useful and wanted french fries. They are one of the six or so things he'll actually eat. Please don't lecture me about his food; it is an ongoing, arduous struggle to get him to eat anything). Then off to work to wrangle kids for about 6 hours. Then scouts for H and Young Women (church youth group) for J. (I should say that Scouts involved dropping H off at 6 at his leader's home, then back at 7 to pick him up. J's YW started at 7 at the Church. Joel took her, and had his own stuff to do--he's the financial clerk at church and he had an audit that night). Then home to work on homework w/H and to feed people. Joel and J came home about 9, so we had our family prayers and then tried to send people to bed. That's always easier said than done! Wednesday was up early for work (I work M-W-F mornings usually, and T-Th afternoons), then home for a bit, then off for a Visiting Teaching appointment (church stuff again....I'll explain later), then a quick buzz by the library, then home by 3:30, with the missionaries coming for dinner at 5:00. Dinner was great, J did an awesome job of cleaning the living room, and then from 7:30 on I worked with H on his biography paper (Albert Einstein) until about 11:00pm. (We are still working on it this morning as I write this blog entry....it's due today, and he'll be late to school). I have another VT appointment this morning, then off to work untill about 5:30 tonight. Did I mention that not only is it Easter weekend this weekend, it's also a teaching weekend for me. And I don't have samples ready yet. And my Mom is taking the kiddos (J and H) to Tillamook on Friday for the day. And Saturday is also the Nelson Family Day, with the annual Easter Egg Hunt (which means we need to prepare about 40 plastic eggs for the hunt. I think this year we'll just put a nickel in each egg. It's cheaper than buying candy!) And the Choir sings in Church on Sunday (I'm the choir director, in case you didn't know). Then we take H to Corvallis for an overnighter w/Cousin B. Then Spring Break begins!

Aie-yi-yi! That's a lot of life!

I'm a Winnah!

The Lovely LlannaLee has nominated me for a "make my day" award. How fun! I like it that my words mean something to someone!

Since it didn't matter much to anyone whether or not I changed my addy, I probably will. I still owe some of you some goodies---I haven't forgotten the blog pif's or the valentine cards....I'll deliver, I promise!

Life's been busy here, lots of church stuff and singing. We were gone Friday night, Saturday night and Sunday morning. When I left Saturday (Joel had already gone earlier in the day) C (almost 5) came to the window of the van w/his eyes just peeking over the door. I rolled down the window to see what he wanted to say to me. He said, "Just make sure you come back now, Momma." He repeated it about 3 times. It just made me melt! It's one of the reasongs we don't kill him--cause every now and then he's so darn cute!

I have another project to post....but I have to proof the pics first! Want them to look their best for you!

One of the things I've been up to!

Furiously making samples for my upcoming classes at Stampin'Cat! GO HERE to check one of them out!

Okay....

THIS is what I'm doing on Thursday. They are coming to Portland, and my DH found out, and encouraged me to try. I have NO expectations whatsoever. I am going just for the experience of trying out. At the least, I'll have a day in Portland w/my wonderful hubby and no kids! I've prepared two songs from the list: Linda Ronstadt's "When Will I Be Loved" and Tricia Yearwood's ('cause I liked hers better...) "How Do I Live (Without You)." I also have The Wreckers (which, sadly, have disbanded so that Michelle Branch and Jessica Harp could again pursue solo careers) "Leave The Pieces" on stand-by. I'll be taking pics and posting about my experiences here after the fact.

Thanks for the support!

Just chillin'

It's been a full and busy week. We fed the missionaries on Wednesday. I made a cake. Here's what was left:

It was delicious. I used/adapted the Pampered Chef Mexican Chocolate Cake from their current Season's Best cookbook. I say adapted because I didn't have any sour cream and remembered that my Mom used to make an amazing chocolate cake that had mayonnaise in it. So I used that. And some milk. As you can see, it tasted very good!

We had a Valentine's party at school. Well, it was really a birthday party for one of our kids, but we had it on Valentine's day, so that counted. We made V-day pouches and brought little treats for everyone. I made Pirate valentine's for C. They turned out well and made him happy, which is really all that matters. The inside was stamped with "Happy Valentine's Day" and I wrote "from C"

I also got to take him to the "Gilbert House" as we call it. That was a lot of fun. I realized that while I spend a lot of time with him (because I take him to work with me) I don't get to be free and unfettered with him. I'm always walking that fine line between "don't spoil him 'cause I'm his teacher" and "ignore him more than I would otherwise because I'm his teacher." This outing made me realize that I need to spend time with him in places where I can just be his mom.

All in all, a good week.

Not what I planned

ARGH! This post is all about frustration!

I feel like ever since I went back to work I'm living the whole "day late and a dollar short" syndrome. I'm always behind at something. Not a good feeling to have perpetually, let me tell you! (I've been sewing an apron for my dear friend Satina since November. Thankfully, she's patient and she loves me)

As I was rushing to get some samples ready for my upcoming classes at Stampin'Cat, I decided to take some pictures of the American Crafts notebook I was altering for the store. I only had about an hour before I had to leave for the 30 minute (or so) drive to Salem to pick up my middle child H at the birthday party at Chuck E Cheese's. My play was to finish the picture frame sample for the Rub-Ons class, add a few touches to the notebook, then zip off on my way. Easy-Peasy. I'd already done one side of the double-sided frame at work that morning--all while fending off the inevitable "Whatcha doin'?" questions by the 15 or so kids in my class that day. (it's fun explaing rub-ons to inquisitive 6 year olds! Really!)

Well, while I was taking this picture:

I hear a little "clink" sound and notice that my sweater knocked over the picture frame. I didn't worry about it, because it landed on a Heidi Swapp mask which was on a stack of foam brushes. Relatively soft. I kept clicking on my work in progress and didn't give it another thought.

Well, I learned the hard way that the people making picture frames for the dollar tree use cheap glass: not good. Not only did I not really have the time to do this over, I didn't have any more of those super cool American Crafts flower rub-ons or the 7 Gypsies word rub-on. After saying a few choice words (Crapinacan! is a favorite right now. Not the most ladylike though, so I'm thinking of changing it) I decided to make my double-sided frame

a single-sided frame. I'd show you the finished product, but I forgot to take a picture of it. (it still turned out really well!) And I forgot to take a picture of the finished notebook (it was even better than the frame!). And I didn't get to the birthday party to pick up H (which was plan B) so he ended up going home with his buddy's dad (who just happens to be Satina's husband). I did make it to StampinCat before too late however. But now I really feel like I owe Satina a few favors....

Sigh. Time to go find that dollar and that day somewhere. Have you seen them?

And that's (the dark side of) the other side.

New Year

and I'm still here! I've had a dozen thoughts floating through my head.....

but right now, I think I'm too sleepy to type much out!

A recap on my goals:
the usual eat less/move more (I'm back to my Pilates 2-3 times a week, plus my playground workout, plus I'm working to walk the dog more...)

Sleep more (I suffer from chronic/inherited insomnia. I sleep sporadically, and where other people just move into a cycle of lighter sleep--but still stay asleep, I always wake up all the way)

Avoid caffeine as much as possible. (I've learned that my chronic insomnia improves exponentially when I am caffeine free. This is hard 'cause for a long time, a diet pepsi was a big treat for me. It's also kind of a huge WELL D'UH!)

Go to Sunday School (instead of socializing in the foyer)

Some of my do's for the year:
Take more pictures

Sew more stuff

Put things in my etsy shop

Learn to use Photoshop CS2

And.....I'm writing a book! I'd love to be able to post bits of it here for you to read, but this is something I'd really like to pursue publishing and making a "real" book. I've thought about writing a book my whole life. I love to write! It's one of the reasons I started this blog in the first place. I will tell you that it's a work of youth fiction, and it's a retelling of the Snow White Fairy Tale. I'm pretty consumed with it. I have the whole thing mapped out in my head. When I take the time to write, it just flows together. Now to find the time to write....that's easier said than done. I'm actually considering getting up at 5am to write for a few hours when the house is quiet. When I was COMPLETELY ensconced in the pink MK bubble, I scoffed at the whole "5 o'clock Club" idea; now I am ready to embrace it wholeheartedly. Kinda ironic, I know.

My "one little word" for the year is FOCUS. By keeping my focus on what I really want to do, and what's really important, I'll achieve what I'm working for.

That's all for now! Go sleep!

Something I've learned today....

After dealing with 20-some-odd kids ranging in age from 3-8, kids who are loud, needy, clingy, whiney, prone to tantrums, cry at the drop of a hat, whiney, loud, busy, full of convenient hearing, and did I mention whiney and loud? Anyway, after being at work for about eight hours straight, I've learned something very important...

I've learned that my patience well is dry.

And I've little left for the people who deserve it the most: my family.

I'm sorry family. I'll do better tomorrow.

DT Application

I applied to the DT (Design Team, for those of you not immersed in the scrappin' world...) for a stamp manufacturer called Inque Boutique. They were specifically looking for scrapbookers who stamp, and I've considered myself a "stampbooker" for most of my paper-lovin' "career", so I applied. No idea if I'm what they are looking for. I enjoyed the challenge anyway. I worked really hard to coalesce my style, represent it well, and still show that I understand a few things about design, like color theory and symmetry, and the visual triangle and stuff like that.

Here are my entries. They wanted 3 layouts, preferably multi-photo, and they wanted their stamps on the layouts. That's pretty much all I used.

I'll find out Monday if I made the cut. I'll let you know....

Hey Look! I made Stuff!

It's been a blurry couple of weeks. I designed a quick make-and-take project for over 100 women for the store's "Designing Desserts" (a customer appreciation event) that was held on November 8th. I also finished up 4 out of the 5 ornaments for my December Christmas Ornaments papercrafting class (also for the store) and made 3 different MiniBooks for my November Paper School class. I then taught a Christmas Card Bar class (for myself--I teach a papercrafting class once a month here in town) on November 10th. I had to have 125 Christmas cards as pre-made as possible so that those taking my class just had to put the cards together. I also made 3 different tote bags for the school craft fair (The craft fair was November 16 and 17...the bags were my own design, for my etsy shop that I'll get up and running before the end of the year) under my Cerulean Blue Goods label, designed my new business cards, designed my own CD Case calendar ('cause I didn't want to sell the Blueprint one at the school craft fair), {TOTAL SIDE NOTE: my good friend printed my cards and calendar for me--so if you live in the area, go to Alphagraphics for all your printing needs. He's done a bunch of things for me, and always does great work!} made 2 reversible aprons (also for the Cerulean Blue line, also for the school craft fair), and did the planner masters for next year's planners--both the portrait orientation (which I prefer) and the landscape orientation (which other people like). And I made the coolest MiniBook I've ever made--for a class I call "A Little Bit Me." (I'll get you a link after I post it to 2peas--there are a lot of pictures!) I've also started rehearsals for our big, annual Christmas Fireside concert for church, which I am the Assistant Director for (and have a solo in this year as well). Whew! Then it was Thanksgiving. And I worked the whole time as well.

Pictures of the goodies to follow--um maybe. Blogger seems to be acting up....

LOOK! It's my first digital scrapbook page! Thanks to PSE 5.0...

And I need to make my class kits for the two classes I'm teaching on Saturday at Stampin'Cat. Which means I really don't have the time to blog right now (shh! don't tell on me!) I'll try one more time, then I'll just have to post it later....Bye!

Look at Me!

Sweet Home Gala

This is me! I'm singing here in a couple of weeks. They spelled my name wrong in this press release, but there I am!

Guess I'd better practice....

Hello Little Blog...

I know you've been neglected....

I could go on and on about how busy I've been, but truthfully, in this age of Instant Everything, we are all busy.

I could say that I've been too tired to blog, but again, we are all tired because we are all busy.

I could regale you with tales from my workplace, but since my work revolves around 3, 4, and 5 year olds, it's not pretty. And sometimes it smells.

Just know that I'm writing blog posts in my head and I'm practicing saying "no" to all the extra things in my life that I haven't had to say "no" to for the past 3 years or so (once C was past his first year of life, the year we refer to now as "The Year of Not Sleeping") because I had the luxury of being a stay-at-home mom. And eventually, I'll carve out the time to put them here where they belong.

Or else I'll forget them entirely. And then I'll write something else. Eventually

I'm just going to quit making promises....

Every time I talk about blogging more, and making the promise that I will blog more, I don't. So I'm going to quit making promises.

That business of my Dad's I referred to? It was a job interview. He got the job. I found out on Thursday last week. Spent a good part of Thursday and Friday looking at rental opportunities for my parents. Sunday got the assignment (which I gladfully took--wait--is "gladfully even a word? It is now!) to go check out the 2 houses they'd narrowed their search to. These houses are in Lebanon, OR, about a half hour away from where I live. So Monday I went to take pictures. Called 'em up and made my suggestion on which was the "better" house. (both houses are new, so really, it's all subjective). Monday night they asked for more pictures of the house that I suggested. I said gladfully--Sure! Tuesday morning I found out that my best friend dislocated her knee at the beginning of her exercise class and had to be taken to the hospital by ambulance Monday night. Could I watch her kids when she found out when her MRI appointment was? Sure! I said (still pretty gladfully, I mean, she is my best friend). Right after I drove through a raging hailstorm and rainstorm on I-5 to get to the house (which is exactly 30 minutes from my house) I get the call that her appointment was in 45 minutes. Um, Gulp! I rush in the house, take 126 pictures in about 15 minutes, realize that I'm not going to make it back in time to pick up the kids at my gf's house, and call to find out where I can get the kids. Make plans to meet them at the hospital. FLY down the freeway back to Albany, and arrive at the hospital just as Grandma is parking the car. GF is in hospital, kids are still in car. Whew! I made it! I keep them for the next 6 hours. Gladfully.

I'm also busy with church meetings this week. Last night was my quarterly Women's group meeting. Tonight is a rehearsal for a special musical presentation I'm singing at. Tomorrow is a meeting for the yearly girls camp (I'm doing the Crafts w/another girlfriend). While I enjoy these activities, and believe in serving my church, I'm doing these things not so gladfully. I'm also teaching at Stampin' Cat this Saturday, which means I need to have my kits packed and ready, a spiffy color handout w/instructions and pictures (this is something I like to do), AND have the projects/samples done for NEXT month's classes. I also have to get my "lecture" (this is for my year-long Paper School class) done. Plus I'm late for two swaps. This is why I don't often swap. Sunday I go out of town for my yearly scrapbook retreat at Seaside, Oregon. I LOVE this retreat, and I LOVE the gals I go with. I really want to be organized though, and not haul all my scrapcrap w/me. The last time I literally took just about everything I own, 'cause I didn't know what I was going to work on, and wanted to have options. I only made one mini-album for my mom. I used something like 6 pieces of patterned paper, and a set of stamps. And for that I hauled EVERYTHING? Not this time. So that means along w/the service to my parents (gladfully done), service to my gf (also gladfully done), service to my church (mostly gladfully done, but less than the other), planning and executing my class, samples, and handouts (love this, I mean, after all it's my job and I'm good at it. It just ALWAYS takes more time than I think it will), I have to go through my pictures and plan what I will actually use for my Sunday/Monday and Tuesday retreats. If I didn't REALLY want to scrap, I'd just take a couple of books and plan to do nothing! (quite gladfully!, too, I might add). And I didn't even mention the fact that I'm on "Baby Watch" for some fabulously dear friends having their first baby. They've invited me to the delivery room to be Mom support. (Her due date was last sunday, so it could be any day now.) I LOVE that. That I'll do VERY gladfully!

Ah well, I'm sure my busy life isn't much different from anyone else's busy life. Just feels like a lot right now.

So I'll keep plugging away. Gladfully. And then it'll be next week, and something else will start the whole busy process again. 'Cause that's how it goes. It just does. And the best thing we can do is try our best to do the whole thing gladfully. As my Mom likes to say, "When you change your attitude, you change your circumstance."

And that's the other side