Wednesday, October 31, 2007

Interestingly funny

I ran across this on Theresa's blog, it's the funniest thing I've read in ages, I had to copy it to here~ Enjoy!


In the 1400's a law was set forth in England that a man was allowed to beat his wife with a stick no thicker than his thumb. Hence we have "the rule of thumb"
-------------------------------------------
Many years ago in Scotland , a new game was invented. It was ruled "Gentlemen Only..Ladies Forbidden"...and thus the word GOLF entered into the English language.
-------------------------------------------
The first couple to be shown in bed together on prime time TV were Fred and Wilma Flintstone.
-------------------------------------------
Every day more money is printed for Monopoly than the U.S . Treasury.
-------------------------------------------
Men can read smaller print than women can; women can hear better.
-------------------------------------------
Coca-Cola was originally green.
-------------------------------------------
It is impossible to lick your elbow.
-------------------------------------------
The State with the highest percentage of people who walk to work:Alaska
-------------------------------------------
The percentage of Africa that is wilderness: 28% (now get this...)
-------------------------------------------
The percentage of North America that is wilderness: 38%
------------------------------------------------------------------------
The cost of raising a medium-size dog to the age of eleven: $ 16,400
------------------------------------------------------------------------
The average number of people airborne over the U.S. in any given hour:61,000
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Intelligent people have more zinc and copper in their hair.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
The first novel ever written on a typewriter: Tom Sawyer.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
The San Francisco Cable cars are the only mobile National Monuments.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Each king in a deck of playing cards represents a great king from history:
Spades - King David
Hearts - Charlemagne
Clubs -Alexander, the Great
Diamonds - Julius Caesar
------------------------------------------------------------------------
111,111,111 x 111,111,111 = 12,345,678,987,654,321
------------------------------------------------------------------------
If a statue in the park of a person on a horse has both front legs in the air, the person died in battle. If the horse has one front leg in the air the person died as a result of wounds received in battle. If the horse has all four legs on the ground, the person died of natural causes.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Only two people signed the Declaration of Independence on July 4th, John Hancock and Charles Thomson. Most of the rest signed on August 2, but the last signature wasn't added until 5 years later.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Q. Half of all Americans live within 50 miles of what?
A. Their birthplace
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Q. Most boat owners name their boats. What is the most popular boat name requested?
A. Obsession
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Q. If you were to spell out numbers, how far would you have to go until you would find the letter "A"?
A. One thousand
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Q. What do bulletproof vests, fire escapes, windshield wipers, and laser printers all have in common?
A. All were invented by women.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Q. What is the only food that doesn't spoil?
A. Honey
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Q. Which day are there more collect calls than any other day of the year?
A. Father's Day
------------------------------------------------------------
In Shakespeare's time, mattresses were secured on bed frames by ropes.When you pulled on the ropes the mattress tightened, making the bed firmer to sleep on. Hence the phrase......... "goodnight, sleep tight."
------------------------------------------------------------------------
It was the accepted practice in Babylon 4,000 years ago that for a month after the wedding, the bride's father would supply his son-in-law with all the mead he could drink. Mead is a honey beer and because their calendar was lunar based, this period was called the honey month, which we know today as the honeymoon.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
In English pubs, ale is ordered by pints and quarts... So in old England , when customers got unruly, the bartender would yell at them "Mind your pints and quarts, and settle down."It's where we get the phrase "mind your P's and Q's"
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Many years ago in England , pub frequenters had a whistle baked into the rim, or handle, of their ceramic cups When they needed a refill, they used the whistle to get some service. "Wet your whistle" is the phrase inspired by this practice.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
At least 75% of people who read this will try to lick their elbow! I thought about trying but I have long sleeves on, or I probably would have!
------------------------------------------------------------------------

Don't delete this just because it looks weird. Believe it or not, you can read it.

I cdnuolt blveiee taht I cluod aulaclty uesdnatnrd waht I was rdanieg. The phaonmneal pweor of the hmuan mnid Aoccdrnig to rscheearch at Cmabrigde Uinervtisy, it deosn't mttaer in waht oredr the ltteers in a wrod are, the olny iprmoatnt tihng is taht the frist and lsat ltteer be in the rghit pclae. The rset can be a taotl mses and you can sitll raed it wouthit a porbelm. Tihs is bcuseae the huamn mnid deos not raed ervey lteter by istlef, but the wrod as a wlohe.
Amzanig huh?
------------------------------------------------------------------------
YOU KNOW YOU ARE LIVING IN 2007 when...
1. You accidentally enter your PIN on the microwave
2. You haven't played solitaire with real cards in years.
3. You have a list of 15 phone numbers to reach your family of three.
4. You e-mail the person who works at the desk next to you.
5. Your reason for not staying in touch with friends and family is that they don't have e-mail addresses.
6 You pull up in your own driveway and use your cell phone to see if anyone is home to help you carry in the groceries. (I totally do this!!!)
7. Every commercial on television has a web site at the bottom of the screen
8. Leaving the house without your cell phone, which you didn't even have the first 20 or 30 (or 60) years of your life, is now a cause for panic and you turn around to go and get it.
10. You get up in the morning and go on line before getting your coffee. (Guilty)
11. You start tilting your head sideways to smile. : )
12. You're reading this and nodding and laughing.
13. Even worse, you know exactly to whom you are going to forward this message.
14. You are too busy to notice there was no #9 on this list.
15. You actually scrolled back up to check that there wasn't a #9 on this list. (hehe, guilty here too!)

AND FINALLY~~~~~~~~~~~~NOW U R LAUGHING at yourself.

Happy BOO to you!

Happy Halloween everyone! I was going to wait until later today to update so I could add photos but... long story alert... our desktop went to computer heaven this week so I don't have the ability to get photos from my camera to my laptop. Matt's at work, we all know he's the one with the brains in this operation so we're just gonna have to wait until he gets home on Saturday to help.

Ari and I were going to go to Gymboree this morning for a little Halloween party but he had other ideas. He threw a FIT before we were supposed to leave so we stayed home until he was ready to be social. We got there right when class was ending but we still went out to lunch with some friends. Michelle & Ella, Michelle's friend Rachael, and Alice and Charlie. The babies were SO cute, Ella was an adorable witch and Charlie was a sock monkey! Alice definately wins on the creativity front, she made Charlie's costume to look just like the sock monkey that he has, it was THE cutest thing I have ever seen. He even had a tail, adorable! Ella's costume was gorgeous. It was black with pale pink and purple accents. It looked so cute with her dark hair, they were all the cutest babies ever!

Ari and I are setting up the rest of our Trick or Treat decorations this afternoon. I have TONS of mason jars filled with sand and votive candles to line the sidewalk up to the house, it's going to look great! I ran into a couple of the neighbor kids, they said they were coming to our house first to get dibs on the candy! That made me smile inside, we're new here and haven't really "fit in" with anyone yet. Hopefully this will be a bit of an ice breaker!

I went to the doctor on Monday, they were a bit concerned since I'm still having pain in my back so they did some X-Rays (which came back fine), gave me a new prescription for a stronger anti-inflammatory and... I get to go to physical therapy for at least a month. WooHoo! It's a lot better than the alternative though, which is MRI's and possible surgery. I'm really not ready for all that. Hopefully this will do the trick and I can get my life back. We're still rockin' the minivan too which is a constant reminder that my car is crumpled. The repair place said it should be done this week, we'll see!

My first PT session is tomorrow, I'm a bit nervous but I've done PT for my legs before (my distance running days) so I can't imagine it's all that different. Michelle and Ella may come over to scrap after! Friday we are all going to Discovery Place to see the Body Worlds exhibit, I've been wanting to see it for months! Matt refuses to go, he thinks it's creepy. Friday night or Saturday Dick and Sharon are coming to visit for the weekend! Matt's supposed to be home Saturday night but we were looking through his schedule last night and he's supposed to have some other days off. It's way too confusing to explain but if the company honors his contract (which the usually don't) he'll be home Friday. Let's all keep our fingers crossed!! If I can get this camera thing figured out I'll post some photos later, otherwise I will talk to you all later! Have a very Happy Halloween! BOO~

Sunday, October 28, 2007

Whew...

Thankfully Ari slept for the rest of the night... Oh, I don't think I wrote before that he woke up at nine, screaming, and ended up crying for almost 2 hours. He wouldn't take his bottle or pacifier, I called the doctor (more on that later) but nothing worked. I gave him Tylenol and rocked him until he collapsed from exhaustion. He woke up at 7:30 this morning and was really happy! He took a nap from 8:15 to 10:45 and he's down for another nap already (it's 12:30 here). He let me look in his mouth VERY briefly and there are two white spots on his top gums, like teeth are just on the other side pushing through. He already has four teeth on the top, these would be his fifth and sixth on the top, eighth and ninth total. Poor baby, no wonder he's been so upset! He still refuses his pacifier but I don't think that's really a bad thing, we were considering weaning him from it anyway. All he does is chew on the handle part, he doesn't actually suck on it.

I am going to post again later today with photos, layouts and all the fun stuff that I wanted to do yesterday. I'm going to take advantage of Ari's napping and get some things done around the house. See ya later!

Saturday, October 27, 2007

I'm going to bed!

I fully intended on an awesome post tonight with pictures, layouts and other fun stuff but I'm too exhausted. Ari is totally draining me this week, I don't know what's wrong with him. He has cried more this week than in his entire life. I'm really not saying that sarcastically, the child almost never cries... I'm starting to get really worried about him. I really don't want to bore anyone with the details and I hate negative posts so I'm going to leave it at that and go to bed! Hopefully tomorrow I will be a little more rested and sane and I can show you the fun stuff I've been working on. Good night everyone!

Friday, October 26, 2007

Look mama, no hands!!!

I was on the phone with Matt this evening, looked over at Ari's cage and saw him standing on top of the laptop box with his arms folded and resting on the top of the cage. He was just looking at me like it was no big deal! I about had a heart attack... he's never climbed anything like that before. Guess I need to baby-proof another foot higher throughout the house!

When I hopped (well, not really hop so much as slide painfully) off the sofa to grab the camera he threw his hands up in the air like he was SO proud of his accomplishment! He is getting WAY too big way too fast! I'm actually shocked he was still in a good mood at this point in the day considering he awoke at six a.m. and took NO naps all day!


We went to the mall to have lunch with a good friend, Melissa, and her daughter Aubrey. I haven't seen her since her wedding back in August and she looks great! Her husband may have to work tomorrow and if he does she and Aubrey are going to come over and play. Ari is in LOVE with Aubrey, he looks at her and gets this adorable smirk on his face. I never knew a not-quite ten month old knows how to flirt! Look out huh...

Once Ari finally did go to sleep I headed right to my scrap table! Big shocker there. I got my new kit in the mail yesterday and it's screaming for me to tear into it. I did this layout for the weekly challenge at Crop Addict, to alter a photo in some way. I cropped this one, converted it to B&W and colored the background with a colored pencil. I'm really happy with the result! I also made the heart... I cut it out of cardboard, covered it with red ribbon and used puffy paint to outline it. I know, totally crafty!
This one is decent, I think I need to tweak it a bit. Some more photos from pumpkin picking, I think all of the photos from that day are going to need their own album! Between the photos Michelle took and the ones we got with our digital I am in "scrappers heaven" if there is such a place!
I really should get my buns off the computer and clean up this house. I've kinda let it go the past couple days. What can I say, a girl has to have priorities huh! I am "online scrapping" with some friends over at Label Tulip tonight, I better get a move on! Have a great night everyone.

Thursday, October 25, 2007

I need a nanny... one of those days!

Today was just one of those days. Ari woke up SUPER early which throws off the rest of his day, we never catch up. Matt left for work this morning which made it even worse. I swear Ari knows when he's gone and isn't happy about it. Maybe it's the weather...
Either way, this is the face I had to deal with all day. He cried for hours... refused to nap even though he was too exhausted to play. He's pretty sensitive to noise and that sensitivity is SO enhanced when he's tired, his toys made him scream, not even Baby Einstein calmed him down. I feel so horrible when he's like this but I have NO idea how to make it better. I really am going to look for a nanny for a day or two a week... I need a break. I've not had more than an hour to myself in ages and I've never had the house to myself. I'm feeling a little suffocated...
This is the result of being too tired to eat... he just smears the food all over his face and belly (not to mention me every time I try to give him a spoonful). I wasn't planning on giving him a bath since my back's hurting SO bad today but after this, he went straight to the tub.
The other part of my horrible mood is that I called my family Dr. today to schedule a follow up appt. for my back. I was doing better for a few days but seem to be getting worse... I was told they don't "deal" with accidents, that if I want treatment I need to go to the ER. Is it just me or isn't the ER for emergencies? I'm supposed to drag a screaming ten month old out in the rain to sit in a waiting room for hours... I really don't think so. I called the office manager, told her what was on my mind... my appt. is at 10:30 tomorrow morning.

About the only redeeming quality today was that my Label Tulip kit finally came in the mail. I figured Ari's not going to be happy no matter what I do so I might as well drown myself in creativity. I'm not totally thrilled with these but they are decent.


I did submit my Design Team entry today... I've never been more nervous, not even on my wedding day! Keep your fingers crossed for me, the winners won't be announced until late November. I'm just going to try not to think about it and keep scrapping 'til my little fingers fall off. Here's to a better day tomorrow!

Tuesday, October 23, 2007

Mother Nature... make up your mind!

The forecast said it was supposed to be chilly and rainy all day... it was neither! We turned the A/C back on around noon, it was so unbearable in the house. Ari and Ella were sweaty little babies today! Oh, my good friend Michelle and her little Ella came over today. As you can see below, we were pretty productive scrapping this afternoon!


These photos are from our last trip to visit my dad down in Panama City Beach, FL. The visit was about two weeks ago and the weather was still pretty warm, perfect for hanging out on the beach! It rained nearly every evening which was actually pretty perfect because it got the sand wet enough that it didn't blow in Ari's face when we sat him down. Ari is nine months old here!
This is my FAVORITE photo from our hayride at Maple Springs Farm last week. You really can't tell but his eyes are SO blue in this picture, the lighting was perfect. It was taken by Michelle, my good friend and photographer. If you're local, she has her own business and her photos are fabulous, leave me a comment if you want info!
Last but not least, the layout for this weeks Scrapdragon's challenge. The challenge was to use the color pink (in honor of breast cancer awareness), the word "art" in the title and paint. I used bubble wrap and pink paint to get the "dotted" look! I can't take credit for that idea, I've seen it done elsewhere and thought it looked so neat.

Other than scrapping with Michelle I didn't really do much today. Tonight is going to be more of the same. Matt only has one more day off so I think we're going to eat dinner in front of the TV and watch a movie, the closest thing to a date we can have!

Monday, October 22, 2007

I've corrupted a friend!!!


Hehe, my friend Michelle sent an email today stating that she has started a blog! Like me, she has family and friends all over and sees it as a great way to stay in touch without having to repeat conversations with fifteen different people! The link's to the right, Michelle & Ella, if you're interested. She's a pretty amazing photographer and her daughter is gorgeous, I'm sure there will always be great photos to browse! She's actually responsible for the great photos on this layout, we all went pumpkin picking together!
Ari and I had a great day today. We had lunch with our friends Alice and Charlie and then went to visit Matt at the airport. He had three hours to kill in between flights so we met him for frozen yogurt. Ari had a few bites of the chocolate but I didn't want him to be wired since I'm solo tonight for the first time since my accident. I'm feeling much better but bathing Ari is still pretty impossible. Being on my knees bending over the side of the tub combined with trying to keep him in one place long enough to scrub is too much for my poor acheing back. *note the self pity there...* hehe. Really though, I'm feeling SO much better! I have Sharon to thank for that, without her I'd probably be in a wheelchair right now, and then an institution for going crazy at my mess of a house! Sharon, if you're reading this, THANK YOU!!!

On an even better note, I finally have the ability to scrap virtually pain free too! I did this layout last night for the felt challenge over at Crop Addict. The challenge was to use felt on a layout, the catch is that the felt had to be hand cut. I'm very pleased with the result, it's exactly how I'd pictured in my head. Fellow scrappers know how rare that is!

Ari's been asleep for about an hour, I'm going to do a load of dishes then it's serious scrap time until Matt gets home around ten. Oh, and for my fellow scrapping friends in Southern California, Debbie, Michelle, Tracey, Cindee, Angela... stay safe, those fires seem to be raging!

Sunday, October 21, 2007

Fall is almost here...






The weather was so nice today! It still gets a little warm midday but overall it's definately cooling off. Sharon and I finished the Halloween decorations yesterday. I had pulled the boxes out the morning of my accident and they have been sitting in the foyer ever since. I love the way the front door area turned out, it's so cute! Just a few minor finishing touches and we will be set!


Sharon heads home tomorrow morning. It's been absolutely wonderful having her here. She helped SO much, I feel so much better! She will be missed but luckily her and Dick are coming back in a couple weeks for a short weekend visit. Matt gets home late tomorrow night, I miss him and can't wait until he's here. Tomorrow is Gymboree class and hopefully lunch with a friend. I am off to get some much needed scrap therapy, I've got some great ideas bursting to be put down!

Friday, October 19, 2007

I've been TAGGED!!!

Everyone I know that blogs has had this tagging thing going, it's really pretty neat and I was kinda hoping it would make it's way to Wiebke World! Thanks Jana (http://frommyfeatherednest.blogspot.com/)... Although I never put much thought into what I would put as my random facts. Here's the deal: You get to hear seven random facts about me then I get to pick seven others to continue on this crazy fun game! Here's the rules (not my rules, the one's your instructed to follow...)


1. Link to the person that tagged you and post the rules on your blog.

2. Share 7 random and/or weird facts about yourself (on your blog, we all want to know them).

3. Tag 7 random people at the end of your post and include links to their blogs.

4. Let each person know that they've been tagged by leaving a comment on their blog.


Pretty simple huh?!? Now the fun part, my 7 random facts...


1. I hate drinking milk. If I do drink it, it has to be chocolate and in a real glass, not a plastic one, it changes the taste.

2. I only went to high school for 2 years, then college...

3. I was a Flight Attendant for US Airways, that's how I met Matt (my husband, he's a pilot). I have been on more than 1,000 flights!

4. If one food on my plate touches another I won't eat the parts that touched. I know, it all mixes in your tummy, but still...

5. I can't whistle. Matt's been trying to teach me for 4 years and I still can't figure it out.

6. I am terrified of heights and bridges, high bridges are the worst.

7. I grew up in a very small town in Ohio... Matt lived less than a 1/4 mile from me but we didn't meet until 4 years later in a completely different city on the other side of the state.


There we go! That last one may not sound like a big deal but it really is pretty crazy. He grew up in Indianapolis and moved to Arizona to attend ASU where he got his flight degree. He took a job with US Airways and moved to Ohio for training. His parents just happened to have moved there as well for a new job... they lived less than a quarter mile from my dad's house, Matt drove by it every day on his way to work. He is seven years older than me, at this time I was still in high school/college. After Matt completed training he was transferred to Akron, OH which is about 4 hours away from where I lived. When I graduated I took a job as an FA for the same company and was transferred to Akron as well. We met, started dating and now here we are!

OK, now for the seven people that I must tag. I apologize if some of you have already been tagged... I'm fairly new to the blogging world and I don't know that many people. If you've already done this, just let me know that I'm crazy for not paying attention or make up 7 other random facts and do it again!

1. Kim http://www.croppycatterscorner.blogspot.com/
2. Michelle http://michellelanning.typepad.com//
3. Nicole http://npealer.blogspot.com/ (since you're new to blogging!)
4. Chrissy http://chrissyle.blogspot.com/

Umm, is it totally pathetic that I don't have anyone else to tag??? I guess you could note that fact #8 would be that I'm a total hermit and don't have too many friends... at least not ones that blog. Please don't laugh too hard at me :(

Well, now that I look pretty silly... I did manage to complete a layout today! I'm really in love with it. Ottawa is one of my favorite cities... it really feels like you're in another country (I know that you really are in another country, my experience is that the other cities in Canada feel pretty American). The people are SO nice, the city is super clean, I could spend an entire day on the canal... and not to mention the tulips, breathtaking! There is a huge outdoor market within walking distance that sells the freshest produce, we used to buy a bucket of berries and eat them before we made it back to the hotel! Oh, and the hotel had heated floors in the bathroom... sounds silly but it's the coolest thing! So many fond memories, I won't bore you with memory lane.

I was going to post the photo but my computer is not cooperating at the moment... I'll get it posted as soon as I figure out how. Today was great by the way. We went to the mall, I ran in to several friends - it was great to see them. I finally found a tray that I can use on my ottoman/coffee table in the family room, it looks great. I'll add a picture of that too since Sharon found our camera charger this morning. It was in the suitcase the whole time, I swear I dug through it a zillion times and never saw it in there. My back is feeling better today, I even played with Ari a bit! I'm off to bed now, I wanted to be asleep by now but those facts took a while! Sweet dreams everyone, xoxo!

Just the photo, see post above...



Wednesday, October 17, 2007

Pictures... finally!

We had Ari's halloween party this morning at B.A.B.Y. class. He was the CUTEST pirate I have ever seen! We can't seem to find the battery charger for our digital camera anywhere (I think it might be in my car, somewhere in Pineville STILL) so the rest of the photos are on a disposable camera that we bought at CVS this morning.
I did this layout wanting to document how much Matt and I love getting Ari up from his naps every day. He's always standing up waiting for us with the biggest grin. It's the coolest feeling in the world that he's so excited to see us!
This one was for a challenge at Label Tulip. The challenge was to use a photo with an abnormal crop. I love this one of him in the high chair. He gives you this look like, "what mom?".

And the cutest baby pirate on earth! I can't wait till we have the rest of the photos developed. The bottom half of his costume was the cutest part. I made a onesie for him to wear underneath, it started out plain white and I painted a skull and crossbones in the middle and cut up the sleeves a little bit. I grinned every time I looked at him! As we were walking through the hospital to get to our classroom every person that passed us stopped and smiled! He was definately the hit of the hospital today!

Sharon (Matt's mom) arrived about an hour ago, she's going to stay with me while Matt goes back to work Friday. I'm getting better but still not 100%, I'm really afraid of over-doing it and not healing like I should. It's so hard though, relinquishing all control of everything that's "normal" in my life. You have NO idea how hard it is not to be able to pick up your child when he's clawing at your legs just wanting a hug. It's killing me. And as much as I never thought I would say this, it's really hard not being able to even do laundry or dishes. This house is SO messy, it's going to take me a year to catch up.

Well, I'm off to visit a bit before we all head to bed. Tomorrow is just a lazy day, no big plans. Matt and I are actually getting a date night tomorrow night! I think it's been about two months since we had a night alone... SO looking forward to it! Have a great night everyone, I'll check in tomorrow.

Monday, October 15, 2007

Sadly, Matt had to return to work this morning. I shouldn't whine though, he'll be home at three! I managed to venture out of bed yesterday and we even took a little outing to Michaels and Babies-R-Us... I'm suffering today though because of it. We needed to get another stroller, ours is trapped in my car somewhere in Pineville!

Ari is headed to see Dr. Trivette this afternoon, he has a nasty cough and runny nose. I would just pop out to the pharmacy and pick him up some OTC cold medicine but seeing as they recalled it we are stuck. I woudn't be so worried except we were warned that his asthma symptoms may worsen as the weather gets cooler and I really don't want him back on the nebulizer. Wish us luck that it's just a minor cold and nothing more!

I am going to try to talk Matt into taking me to PeiWei for an early dinner since we will be on that side of town... my guess is it won't take too much persuasion since it's one of his faves! Oh, and looks like we are going to be rockin' the minivan for the long haul... enterprise is out of cars due to the nascar race and it doesn't look like my car will be fixed before the end of the month. WooHoo! I'll be sure and snap some pics just as soon as I find the camera battery charger.

Be sure to check back Wednesday too, Ari has his very first Halloween party! We already tried on his little costume, it's THE most ADORABLE thing you have ever seen. I just want to eat him up... I'm sure there will be MANY layouts dedicated to this costume! Hang in, I sure am trying...

Saturday, October 13, 2007

Better today!

I was just re-reading yesterday's post and boy was I grumpy! Sorry about that... I'm feeling a tiny bit better today. I took one of the vicodin yesterday and it made me SO sick, i'm never taking it again. We picked up some extra strength tylenol and I think it'll work just fine.

Matt ended up staying home from work to help me until his mom can get here. She and Dick are on vacation until today and I refused to let them end it early. They only get this one chance to have the boat on the Chesepeake before it goes into storage for the winter. I think she's going to try to come early next week.

Our neighborhood yard sale was this morning. I had intended on making muffins and coffee to sell to the shoppers but obviously that couldn't happen. The money I made was going to go to my Light The Night walk for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society. Our walk is Thursday, I'm not too sure that I will be able to walk three miles but at least I can still contribute financially. I've raised almost $200 so far! If anyone wants to make a contribution, the link is to the right of my post!

Ari is down for a nap, Matt is making us lunch and then I'm going to take a little nap myself. I am really holding out hope that I feel well enough to do a little bit of scrapping today... cross your fingers for me.

Friday, October 12, 2007

I feel like I've been hit by a truck

Ok, maybe not a truck but definaltely two cars. I think I may have been a little too optomistic (sp?) and upbeat about this whole experience. We went pumpkin picking yesterday with several friends... I felt ok until around 2 pm, then my back started getting these shooting pains that went all the way down my legs. I called my doctor who told me to go to urgent care (they don't have the ability to treat these types of injuries). I called urgent care to make sure they could treat me... they said go to the ER! Yea. I have worked in an ER, I know how they operate... I was totally not looking forward to this.

The 20 minute drive took me over an hour, apparently someone commited suicide by gunshot in the middle of the interstate so not only was traffic backed up from that, rubberneckers caused a 13 car pileup too! Fantastic. Four hours later I was examined for 8 minutes by a PA that informed me I have strained and/or torn nearly every muscle in my neck and back. Needless to say I was given perscriptions for narcotics and muscle relaxers and told to stay in bed for a few days. How in the world am I going to do that with a nine month old and a husband that leaves for work in the morning? Looks like I get to tough it out.

Well, I am sure you are sick of hearing me complain so I'm going to curl up in my bed and take a nap for as long as Ari will let me (that generally means about 5-10 minutes). Enjoy your day!

*update - as I was signing off to go upstairs Ari woke up, so no nap for me!

Wednesday, October 10, 2007

Thanking my lucky stars!

I was on my way to Family Memories (my local scrap store) this afternoon to pick up some things I had on hold. I was also planning on swinging by south blvd to run some errands for various things going on towards the end of the week. I had planned on taking Ari with me so Matt could have some veg time but as I was leaving he became pretty cranky; I decided to leave him with Matt for a snack and nap. I made it a little more than half way before I was totally smashed in a car accident! The car in front of me stopped when a huge pickup truck decided not to turn left and went straight through the intersection. I stopped pretty quickly... the car behind me did not. She hit me (estimated speed was 45-50 mph) and the car behind her hit us as well. The back half of my car ended up on the hood of the car behind me. I think there was about three feet of space between my rear tires and the road. Both of the cars that hit me were totaled and mine had to be towed on a flatbed truck! Not quite sure the extent of the damage yet, we're going to try to figure more out tomorrow.



I called Matt right away, he was at home with Ari and I had the car seat with me. Thankfully we were able to call our friends Robert and Tara, Tara came and picked up Ari and Robert brought Matt to the scene. I'm not hurt at all, my neck and back are a little sore and I have a pounding headache but other than that I'm alright. I cannot fathom how horrible I would feel had Ari been in the car with me. I most likely would not be sitting on my sofa, semi-comfortable, telling you all about my day. We would be in the hospital for 23 hour observation! Any other day of the week he would have been with me, Matt would have been at work and I would be completely alone to deal with all of this.

I have been on the phone all evening with insurance adjusters, enterprise rent-a-car, my dad... all I want to do now is curl up with a blanket, a heating pad and a good book! On a lighter note, when I finally got to the point where I could get the rental car they only had one vehicle left on the lot... a minivan! Those of you that know me know how much I detest minivans! Once again I am stuck with one as a rental. This past week in Florida Matt rented a car since he was coming in after Ari and I, when he got there all they had was a Grand Caravan! I laughed at him all day, guess this is payback. We're going to switch it for a "real car" tomorrow evening when they should have more in stock! I am lucky though that I get a rental car at all. Some people can't afford the levels of insurance that we have, it's really come in handy throughout this ordeal!

Needless to say, I accomplished a whole lot of nothing today! I had a huge to-do list that's just going to have to wait. My neck and back are pretty sore right now, I just took a nice hot bubble bath so we will see how I feel in the morning. Hopefully I don't need to get anything examined and I can enjoy the rest of my week rockin' the minivan!! Hope everyone else had a better day than I did... I just keep telling myself that it could have been SO much worse. I am extremely lucky!

I will post more tomorrow when some of the shock has worn off. Matt brought the camera with him to document the crash, the tow truck had already pulled my car off of the stack when he arrived. The damage doesn't look that bad from the photos but I know the worst of it is underneath. We'll just keep our fingers crossed that it's fixable, I was not cited so the other drivers will be responsible for the damage. If it's not fixable I pretty stoked to get a new car. One thing at a time though, and pumpkin picking tomorrow is still at the top of my list!!

Tuesday, October 9, 2007

The Best Day Ever!

I am TOTALLY excited to be posting tonight from my very own brand spanking new laptop!!! I think Matt got tired of me saying, "do you mind if I just check one thing..." and butting in on his game time. We took advantage of the Columbus day sales and came home with one today! Now all I need is a new camera... *wink, wink*

Ari seemed to be feeling much better today. He was still a bit cranky but I think that had more to do with his teeth than anything else. He's getting 4 more, two each on top and bottom. I feel horrible for him, there really isn't anything that we can do to ease his pain.

Ok, I need to vent a bit. Most of you are aware that we moved into our new house in early July. Right before we moved in we bought ALL new furniture from Haverty's, we weren't crazy about the sales people but they had the type of furniture that we wanted in our new home. I figured, we only have to deal with the sales people for one day but we will have the furniture for the rest of our lives (I refuse to furniture shop every again, I will be buried with the stuff we have now). WRONG. We have had nothing but problems... long story short, we were completely lied to just to complete the sale. We are STILL waiting on half of our furniture, we've been sitting on the floor in our family room for four and a half months. I was told today that it wouldn't be until mid-November that the furniture would make it to the warehouse. My response-- "if that furniture isn't in my family room by this time next week you can keep it". It'll be here Friday. Bottom line-- don't shop at Haverty's. If you do, be prepared to ride their buns every day until you have what you paid for in your house. Be prepared for that to take six months.

Ok, I'm done now. It's just extremely frustrating to have to do someone else's job... someone that I'm paying to do that job. I have enough on my plate, I don't need your meal too. Ok, now I'm really done, I promise.

I went to my LSS today (that's local scrap store for those of you that aren't hip with the lingo!) to pick up some goodies for my next challenge! They didn't have everything I needed so I went to my next favorite place, eBay! My order should be here early next week! My CA kit came today too, I've already dug into it, hopefully I can put up some pics tomorrow. There was another great surprise in my mailbox today... the wonderful ladies at Scrapdragons sent me a little something for participating in their challenges! SO sweet of you, I already have some ideas in the works!!

Tomorrow is Gymboree with Ari since we missed Monday's class. We have our HOA meeting in the evening, should be pretty interesting and I am actually looking forward to going. I haven't installed all of my photo programs on the new laptop yet but hopefully I can put up some pics tomorrow. Talk to you later...

Monday, October 8, 2007

What a day!!

(Ari with grandpa at lunch the other day)

Wow! We got up at six a.m. in order to drive to the airport, return the car and get through security with a baby and Matt out of uniform (no cutting to the front of the line). We made it though and are glad to be home. We had a GREAT visit! The weather was pretty perfect, only raining once and we were headed home anyway. We just got a lot of low-key visiting in, which is exactly the way I like it! I am now completely in love with Rosemary Beach, the food is to die for, lots of cute local shops and great beach access! We didn't spend too much time on the beach, it was still in the 90's and I didn't want Ari to get scorched. If I can figure out how to put up a slide show I will add a bunch of our photos!

Ari was so tired, we took a walk at about 5:15 to keep him calm until dinner time. He could barely eat so we gave up, plucked him in the tub and put him to bed. He woke up about 45 minutes ago, screaming his head off! Matt went up to see if he wanted a bottle but he just kept shaking his head and crying harder. I went to see if he needed any help and right when I walked in the door Ari totally threw up in his crib. It was horrible, he's never been sick before. I think he was crying so hard that he swallowed air which made his tummy upset. He calmed down a bit, we let him crawl around to see if he would "equalize" the pressure in his little tummy. He seems fine now, although Matt's worried since we caught him chewing pieces of his toy basket today and he (Matt) thinks he (Ari) might have swallowed some.

Anyway, sorry if that grossed any of you out, that wasn't my intention. I am pretty exhausted, thinking about taking a nice hot bubble bath and going to bed. I'm hoping my Crop Addict kit gets here tomorrow, we are going out with some friends for a hike and dinner at T-Bones on the Lake and I need to plant some mums in my pots before it gets too late! I'd like them to be blooming for the trick-or-treaters! Oh, and stay tuned for a picture of Ari's halloween party at B.A.B.Y. class next week, his costume is adorable!

Saturday, October 6, 2007

Hello from Florida




Thought I would hop on here since my dad had to run in to work this morning and Ari is taking a nap (finally!). We made it here perfectly, Ari was an angel on the plane. The flight attendants were good friends of mine from my days at US Airways, it was SO nice to see them! One of them actually lives very close to me so we are all going to go out Tuesday when we get back! We cruised the coast yesterday, I cannot come here and not go to Seaside so that was first on our agenda. I wanted to let Ari crawl in the grass but it started pouring rain shortly after we arrived. We ended up sitting on a porch eating frozen yogurt until it stopped. We took a walk on dads beach this morning, this afternoon we are headed to Rosemary Beach to let Ari play in the water spouts! I'll put up pictures as soon as I get a chance!

Thursday, October 4, 2007

A very productive day...

First we did the dishes!

Then we did the laundry!

Ari played with Ella while Michelle and I scrapped!


Ari did Ella's hair! (well, not really)

The result of my scrap day with Michelle! We had such a good time. I am so used to scrapping by myself, it gets quiet. I only got this one layout done, Michelle on the other hand was a scrapping fiend, I think she did eight pages. She is a professional photographer though so she has LOTS more photos than I do.

Funny story: Ella was standing at the side of the play "cage" wanting to be held. Ari crawled over and stood beside her so I thought I would snap a few photos. Ella was fussing a bit but as soon as I pulled out the camera she started hamming it up! It was the cutest thing, she looked right at me and smiled so big, this girl is used to getting her picture taken! Plus, she is absolutely adorable with all that dark hair and chubby cheeks, she looks like a cabbage patch kid! *Michelle, that's totally a compliment if you were wondering, I love cabbage patch kids!*

Anyway, I know I already updated today. I just wanted to get those photos posted before our trip. Matt has wireless in most of his hotels and likes to "check in" on our day. Have a great weekend everyone!


WooHoo, one more day until Florida!


Ari is sitting on my lap as I type this so we'll see how it goes! We are leaving tomorrow morning to visit my dad, I am pretty excited. I haven't seen him since August, he's going to flip when he sees how big Ari is! Matt left early this morning for his trip but we will see him tomorrow, unless his schedule drastically changes which is very likely.


Finished another layout last night! I did this one for the "Pink Contest" over at Label Tulip. In honor of breast cancer awareness month they challenged us to use the color pink in a layout. I've had this picture of my pink hat for years and thought it would be a good starting point. The journaling reads, "I promise... to be kind * to be faithful * to love myself * to be understanding * to eat healthier * to read more * to really live * to cherish each day * to be happy * Oh, and everything on this layout is hand cut, took FOREVER!


My friend Michelle might come over today to do some scrapping! She has a little girl, Ella, that's just a month younger than Ari and they love to play together! If she doesn't come over I doubt I will get any scrapping in today. I am pretty behind on housework, with being sick and all the scrapping I've done. I hate coming home from a trip to a messy house, totally ruins the nice relazed feeling that you get from being at the beach! I will try to update while I'm down there but if I don't get a chance we will be back Monday or Tuesday. Hope everyone has a super weekend!

Wednesday, October 3, 2007

Feeling better (finally!)


I feel a bit better today! Still not 100% but getting there! Matt got in around 4 yesterday so he was able to help with Ari and I got a much needed nap! Unfortunately today is his only day off, he leaves tomorrow morning for a three day trip. We are going to meet up with him Friday morning before our flight to Florida. He has a 4 hour break in-between flights, great for us to get to see him but not so great that he has to be at the airport that long! You know flight crew only get paid for the time that they are in the air! All that time on the ground doesn't count towards the paycheck! So, a typical week Matt is away from home for 4 days, or 80 hours, but only gets paid for about 20 of those hours! I'm not complaining or anything, just giving you a little insight to our world.


Anyway, enough about that. I got some more scrappin' done last night! I did another layout using an out of focus photo. Most of you know that we go to Wisconsin with friends of ours every year. They have a cabin on Lower Eau Claire Lake, Matt has been going for 18 years I think. We haven't been able to make it the past couple of years, both years we were moving to another state right in the middle of the trip. Hopefully next year! I took this picture of Matt coming in from skiing. He just let go of the rope and coasted right in to the dock! Totally cool! I am a horrible skier, I barely get up on two skis, let alone one! Matt rocks though, which is where the title came from!


We don't have any big plans today. Ari is napping right now, when he wakes we are going to run a few pre-Florida errands and maybe I can squeeze in a bit more scrapping. My laundry is severly neglected though, so that might take priority over me "playing around"! Oh, and I have decided to try out for the Creating Keepsakes Hall of Fame 2008. I have a snowball's chance of actually making it but the projects sound completely fun. Wish me luck!

Tuesday, October 2, 2007

Still Yucky


Despite my still feeling terribly yucky I had time to scrap last night. A girl can have priorities huh? Anyway, my Label Tulip kit came in the mail and I was SO excited I couldn't wait to jump right in. That combined with the new challenge posted over at scrapdragons and BAM! Here's what I came up with. The challenge was to use a photo that's out of focus, crooked, or otherwise "not perfect". I've been hanging on to this one for years, it's perfect! It was taken in Indianapolis just after a wedding that Matt and I attended of is step brother and new wife. It was a huge weekend for me, meeting Matt's family for the first time and our first trip together, outside of work! Hope you like!


Ari just went down for a nap (finally!) and I think I'm going to catch a few z's of my own. Matt's home this afternoon, hopefully I can shake whatever this thing is that's dragging me down.

Monday, October 1, 2007

Ick, sore throat.


What a blah day. My throat feels like it's on fire. I don't even have the luxury of pitying myself and moping in bed since Matt's at work until Tuesday. Such is life! Ari was pretty good yesterday, I don't think he's feeling very well either. He slept in until 9 which is unheard of, took six hours worth of naps and was out for the night at 7:30!


All that napping gave me a chance to dream up my latest creation! I love this photo, Ari has such a sweet face and Sharon adores him (of course, that's what grammys are for right!). I love how it turned out, think I might use it for my DT submission!!


Well, I had inteded on typing more but Ari is begging for some breakfast so must go! I'll be back later for more!