Crabby

My husband kept calling me crabby today.
"Why are you so crabby?"
"Geez crabby."
"Wow you are crabby."
Was I crabby?
At first I didn't feel so crabby but then I started to believe what he was saying.
I had a long night filled with terrible dreams.
The kind of dreams that you spend the whole next day trying to shake off.
I wish that someone would have woken me up early this morning so that I wouldn't have these dreams stuck in my head.
I had heartburn before I went to bed.
Maybe I have been eating too much Cafe Rio lately?
Tonight I watched Beyonce perform on the Grammy's.
I wonder if Beyonce is ever crabby?
I am betting not.
That woman has more energy and talent and beauty and did I mention energy.
I wish I had that energy.
Maybe if I had that energy I wouldn't be so crabby!
It all comes full circle doesn't it :)

Spotted.........

One squirrel alive and well playing in the trees!

Dollar Days at Design House Digital!

Whoa this is a great deal!
DOLLAR DAYS IN FEBRUARY.

"We had such a great launch in January that we wanted to thank all of you by selling brand new kits EVERY SINGLE DAY in February for $1 each!

Check back every day to see the new $1 kit(s) released that day. All these awesome kits will be returning to regular price at the end of February so snatch them up while they are at this introductory price.

Also, because of all these daily releases, the designers will be releasing regularly priced kits on THURSDAYS only. These regular-priced kits will be 30% off on the day of release only as usual.

Thanks for all your support and have fun scrapping!"

SA-WEET!!!!

And while you're there picking up new kits for $1 nake sure to check out the amazing Audrey Neal and her WINTERBERRY KIT

OR how about....

THE SMITTEN MEGA KIT by the uber talented Jen Allyson!

That pink on brown wood grain is gorgeous. She also has a pink on pink wood grain too that is deeeeeeeeeeeeeee-licious.
Happy Scrapping!

Zippy

This blog is named after my squirrel.
I call him Zippy.
The girls say he isn't really mine and he isn't my pet, but I beg to differ!
Zippy has been around for years. He lives in a pine tree kitty corner from our yard which he gets to via an intricate monorail system of telephone/power lines.
Zippy sightings are like a ray of sunshine.
I can be having a rather average day and suddenly I will look up and see Zippy running along his wire and it puts a smile on my face and a spring in my step.
This winter Zippy has been busy.
I always though that squirrels hibernated in the winter.
Maybe I shouldn't get all of my data from cartoons like "Over the Hedge"?
I have seen my squirrel practically everday for the last month. One day I caught some awesome photos of him running on his monorail with an acorn in his mouth.
Yesterday Zippy needed my help.
A rather sinister looking group of blue jay's were congregating in the backyard. When Zippy is irritated you can hear his high pitched chirps. I saw him winding his way through the branches of the tree in our backyard, chirping his little lungs out as a bluejay sat on the wire above him.
The wire he uses to get back to his home.
Well soon another bluejay came and then another and Zippy took off down into the bushes.
He never comes down that far in the yard.
His chirping became more and more frantic.
Suddenly the bluejays began to dive into the bush!
Grabbing a broom I ran to his rescue.
Barefooted I slipped on a pair of my husbands sandals that were on the backporch and made my way across the dirty crusted snow.
"Get away from my squirrel." I shouted as the bluejays became more agressive.
Slamming the broom into the swingset I hoped the loud pings would scare the bluejays away but it did not.
Zippy's chirping stopped.
I swung at the branches of the bush, worrying that maybe Zippy would think I was after him and not the gang of bluejay's.
"Leave my squirrel alone!"
The bluejays began to fly off one by one until the yard was silent.
I stood still listening for Zippy.....but there was nothing.
Carefully I trudged back through the snow to the house, hoping I had given my squirrel enough time to get back to his home.
Only time will tell.
There has been no Zippy sighting today.
Keep your fingers crossed.

Project 365

So how is your Project 365 going?

As Ferris Bueller says "Life moves pretty fast. If you don't stop and look around once in a while, you could miss it."

January Frost

Staying home isn't so bad

When you stumble upon moments like this you realize that it doesn't matter where you are, as long as you are with your family it's all good.

Are you doing your PROJECT 365 ? This link gives a great description of what it is all about.

I worked on a 365 project last year that ended up being my "100 Days" project since I was only able to get through 100 straight days. If you are doing this project I urge you to PLEASE not be too hard on yourself. If you miss a day then skip that day and go onto the next OR just take extra pictures the next day and substitue one of those for the day before.
You aren't being judged on it and there is no wrong.
Also I think people get so hard on themselves thinking that the pictures all have to be these amazing works of art.
They don't!
Last year I took a picture of my dirty dishes !


Over at DESIGN HOUSE DIGITAL because they are going full steam on Project 365, each designer has come up with some great 365 kits to make compiling your days much easier.
I chose pieces from CARINA GARDNER'S 365 COLOR KIT , 365 A MONTH OF NUMBER STAMPS,DISTRESSED WHITE ON WHITE paper and an ESSENTIALS MASK.
I wanted to keep it all very simple so that the photo spoke for itself.

So, if you are thinking of starting a PROJECT 365 of your own it is never too late. Get out your camera and start snapping! You will be surprised how quickly you will get into a groove of having your camera with you.

Good luck!

Right Now.....

Right now we are supposed to be in Las Vegas.
We are supposed to be enjoying warmer weather and skies that are not clogged with gunk.
We are supposed to be wearing light jackets and letting the kids hit golf balls on the driving range.
We are supposed to be celebrating my husbands birthday with an evening out together while the kids stay back at my in-law's Las Vegas house with them.
Instead we are home.
A few months ago we were going to go to Las Vegas and ended up staying home because of our dog.
I will preface this by saying we are dog people.
I was raised with dogs, my husband was raised with dogs. Your dog is a member of your family and you treat him as such.
We love our dog.
A few months ago we found out our dog has diabetes. He was becoming slightly incontinent so we took him in to see if there was something we could do to help him. They were concerned by his blood sugar so they tested him.
Normal is 158.
He was 750.
Not good.
We started giving him two insulin shots a day and canceled our trip because it isn't very nice to ask your parents to watch your dog when he may or may not unknowingly pee on your furniture. Add in the two shots a day and it would have been quite an undertaking.
They would not have cared about the shots. One of the dogs I grew up with (Ben)had diabetes.
When my parents were trying to decide what to do (to live or not to live that was the question the dog might have posed to them) I swayed them in the "live" direction with my best, loudest, most passionate soap box speech.
"YOU CAN'T JUST KILL HIM BECAUSE HE HAS DIABETES!!! BECAUSE IT WOULD BE EASIER FOR YOU! MAYBE HE WANTS TO LIVE!!!"
And so we gave him two shots a day and he lived.

We've been giving Cody two shots a day, cutting out his table scraps and giving him lots of extra love instead. He has perked up, come back into the fold as it were. What we had attributed to old age (he is twelve) turns out was really the blood sugar level of 750 that was getting him down.
My mom wanted me to have him checked out before we left for this Las Vegas trip. She wanted to make sure his blood sugar was okay before they took him under their wing.
We took him in last week and found out his levels are at 150.
He's right on target.
We didn't cancel our trip because of the dog this time.
We canceled because of the job.
My husband really needed a vacation. Some time away from the job to regroup and feel good about the job again.
This isn't helping.
But at least he has a job.
So we will stay home and be grateful he can support us and we will go to the auto show for his birthday like we do every year, and I will make something yummy for dinner.
And we'll dream about our next vacation.

Siskel & Susan

After posting the title of this post I wondered if that totally dates me? I mean, does anybody remember Siskel and Ebert the movie critics?
When I was in highschool I wrote a paper of them. I am sure that won't surprise some of you. The paper had to be well researched, no less than ten pages typed with footnotes citing your sources.
There were papers on botchulism, George Washington, and The Depression. And then there was my paper on Siskel and Ebert Movie Critics Extrordinaire.
I got an A+.
I wonder how much of that grade was for originality!
I mean c'mon, that had to be a breath of fresh air for the teacher when she flipped open the cover and saw my title.

So that brings us to the present post.
I have always loved movies and movie stars. If I hadn't seen it I knew who was in it, what it was about. I could tell you who wanted to be in it, who was seeing who on the set and what the director was trying to show you with their sweeping panoramic shots.
In college one of my favorite classes was a class on modern cinema.
We watched Citizen Cane and it blew my mind.
And then I had kids.
With each child I became less and less sure of what was playing at the local cinema. People would say the title of the movie and I would just sit there blinking, trying to get my memory bank to pull up some info but there was nothing.
So it seems as of late that the children must be getting a little older because suddenly we are watching movies again and loving it!
Most of them have been rentals but one I got to see in the theater and it was one I had been wanting to see really bad!

Pookey Stacy and I went for her birthday after a yummy dinner at Stella. And OH MY GOSH was that movie funny!!!
It had many points in its' favor....Meryl Streep. Alec Baldwin. The darling Steve Martin and this guy.....

Who I ADORE on oh so many levels.
He was AWESOME in the movie.
The writing was great, the acting was great, it was soooooooooo funny.
Now, if you are divorced or recently divorced and might still have some deep dark hidden love for your ex-spouse it might not be so funny.....so keep that in mind!
Some other movies we've seen recently have been:


Inglorious Basterds.
If you like Quentin Tarantino you will like this movie.
If you don't like Quentin Tarantino than stay away....far away.
The acting was stellar, the violence not as gratuitous as it usually is in a Quentin film.
And the story was sad yet sadly true.



Away We Go.
It also has my beloved John Krasinski in it (see photo above). The acting was wonderful, the story was slow moving and sad but also beautiful and funny. Ooooh here is a good word....touching. It was touching.
Brian calls it a "Susan Movie." Which means that it is about characters and there is nothing in it that blows up spontaneously.



The Proposal
LOVED IT!!!!! Freaking hilarious. And Ryan Reynolds ROCKED. And it made me remember why I used to like Sandra Bullock movies.

There's Something About Steve
HORRIBLE.
HORRIBLE.
HORRIBLE.
Everything about it was bad. And it made me remember why I started hating Sandra Bullock movies.



The Hangover
So awesome and funny and clever and did I mention funny?
My husband is still laughing about parts from that movie and so am I.



Four Christmases
Eh.
Just eh.
It wasn't bad it wasn't good it was just eh.
It had a lot going for it....Vince Vaughn, Reese Witherspoon. But it just never went anywhere.
If you don't have anything good to rent and you want a nice light okay movie then it's okay to rent. I say get it at the Redbox for $1 and you won't feel ripped off.


Twilight: New Moon

Loved it! That being said New Moon was my FAVORITE book of the series. Long before Taylor L. got nice and ripped to play Jacob I was a fan of the "dog." And this book was the reason why. While Edward was everybody's ideal Jacob was mine and I took a lot of flak for this!
This book had me rereading New Moon and basking in the happiness I found when I read it the first time.
It is still my favorite book of the series and I thought the movie was great. I definitely want to see it again.


Well folks that's all for now.
I'm sure I forgot one or two but I'm just happy to say I actually had enough to make a list!
Siskel & Susan signing off.

Dr. Frankenstein and her Monster

Once Upon a Time.....

Once upon a time I had dark brown hair.

And in my mind I still do.

A few weeks ago I went to a Christmas tea with my mom and daughters to one of her friend's home. There was a woman there that I have met a handful of times but for some reason she never seems to know who I am.

My mom will introduce us like this is our first meeting and I will remind her that we've met before.

My mom always says this woman is the funniest most clever, sweetest woman. I have yet to see that side of her but I'll take my mother's word for it.

This time when we met she did the same thing she always does when we "meet". Looks at me with a confused look, sizes me up and down and I can tell by the look in her eyes that she does not know me from the checker at the local Albertsons (Fresh Market if you're nasty!)

And then she says "Didn't you used to have black hair?"

"Ummmm no, it is dark brown."

"Huh." She huffs out. "Well, I think I just remember you with black hair. But this is nice."

To which I looked at her confused.

Because to me my hair still is dark brown.

I still look like the same person I was ten years ago, twenty years ago, thirty years ago.

It is only the reflection in the mirror that has changed.

Sometimes I think I will go back to being dark brown.

But not today.

Creativity Overdrive

One of the many things that I love about being a Decorator at DESIGN HOUSE DIGITAL is seeing how someone can take the exact same products and create so many totally different layouts! This week on the DESIGN HOUSE BLOG there is a post with nine different decorators using designer SPENCER NUGENT'S products that you can see HERE.

I used his WITH LOVE paper pack.

Spencer has quickly become one of my FAVORITE FAVORITE FAVORITE designers. I love the whimsical designs and the colors that he uses.
This page I created using his LONDON BRIDGE argyles and plaids paper pack. And I also used one of TIFFANY TILLMAN'S Scrappable template's that are awesome. They are so easy to use. She has each layer broken out so you can deal with the background and pie pieces in four seperate steps and then the title and journaling are also on different layers.
LOVE THEM!!!

Right or Left.....

We have two left handed children in the house and one left handed husband. We are eagerly awaiting the status of the baby.

He has started loving to write on paper so today I was watching him to see which hand he used more.....tricky little guy!

The Dude Tub

Overheard while walking past the bathroom where the girls were having a bath together.

(pretend boy voice)G: "Hey what are you doing, this isn't a dude tub!"

(pretend boy voice)Little One: "Just move over I want to get in."

Then I walked in to find the guys together looking quite handsome and nonchalant in the "Dude Tub".
This wasn't even going to be my picture of the day but since it has been cracking me up all day I thought that it better be "Day Seven."

And of course I had to add another Design House Digital layout. This is my New Years Eve layout. I used Carina Gardner's 365 Seven Photo Masks Simple and Jen Allyson's Design 365 January Kit paper and Design 365 Journal Papers and January Stamps.

The site has a great area called CLASSROOM with some tips and hints on learning the basics of scrapbooking as well as some fun things like creating circular text which I had no idea how to do until I went to see this tutorial!

New Years Resolutions

.
I'm not really one to make new years resolutions. In the past I have given it a whirl only to let myself down when I don't stick to them, so in lieu of resolutions I just pick some things to work on and keep them to myself. That way no one is let down if I slip up now and then and am not perfect.
Yesterday I started working on decluttering my office and storage. This is the perfect time of year for it since I am already pulling apart storage to pack away all of the Christmas decorations.
The only problem with decluttering is it seems to infect the entire house. You start in one area and move things from that area to another area and then another and pretty soon it is everywhere. Right now I am sitting on the floor of the family room surrounded by things from the office (since the office floor is filled with more things that I'm working on arranging.)
The kids have gone to a movie with their dad, the baby is sleeping (actually he is crying but there is no way he can get up from his nap yet considering he has only been sleeping about 23 min.) This is a perfect time to get my decluttering virus under control but instead I am surfing the net, checking out the fun going on over at DESIGN HOUSE DIGITALS and watching National Lampoons Vacation.
Speaking of DESIGN HOUSE DIGITALS I am so excited to be in on the ground floor of this new design/digital scrapbooking website. I have come on board as a "decorator". Which means I will be designing all sorts of layouts with the fabulous products.
This is one of my first creations using Carina Gardner's O CHRISTMAS TREE and Meredith Fenwick'sDINER CAR kits.

Happy New Year!

I hope all of your New Years Eve's were filled with claim chowder, chicken noodle soup, bingo and the Disney rockin' New Years Eve Countdown! (or something just as fun!!.)

And honestly who would have thought that Bingo could be so much fun. There were prizes involved which made the stakes much higher.Little One won two games in a row and for one of her prizes picked a Clementine orange. How can you not love a kid who will pass up a snack pack of Oreos for a Clementine orange?!?

There was also a very pathetic game of foozball between myself and my husband which had me yelling things like "YOU'RE CHEATING" and "STOP BLOCKING THE BALL" as he scored at will. I believe I actually scored three points for one of the games (one of those points was scored when he accidentally hit the ball in my goal). Let's be grateful there are no pictures from that debacle.

And we think that someone might want a big screen t.v. for his birthday this year!