Suppose I should mop more often..

Been in a funk this week, so domestic duties got put to the side (or skipped all together). Thursday was given the green light to quit my worrying, so I had no excuse for behaving so un-Martha like. Procrastinated a little bit Friday morning (great talking with ya, TZ, CFD and sis).
And then, faced the mess on the kitchen floor.

Swept, mopped and yes, it did look very good. And yes, I wondered again, why do I put off doing this? I get such a surge of domestic goodness when the floor is clean. (I guess because it doesn't stay clean for very long).

Thing Two got home from school, took off his shoes (he's so well trained, better than I am) and said "Mom, it feels so good, all I feel on the floor are my socks!"

OK, now...was that a compliment or a slam?
Doesn't matter...it is Saturday morning and I've got a desk piled high with craft stuff just waiting for me to come over and play. Film at 11 (a phrase our family uses to say, check in later for more exciting news and maybe even some pics)

Poof: Where did that week go?

Yikes. This past week just flew by. Where did it go? Here's a brief recap.

Monday: Tracked down the Tax Man. He had good news, sort of. We paid a bit too much estimated tax last year so we get to skip estimated tax for the first quarter of this year. Thing Two also joined the glasses gang and we are now 75% vision impaired here at the House of Chang. You got a problem with that?

Tuesday: Back to school and work. Cursive is now required for all written work in 3rd grade so there was a bit of cursing going on come homework time. But, sometimes Thing One is just too honest for his own good. I asked him what he does in school and he said "well, I just do what Mrs. D. tells me, I write in cursive." OK, Bud, then you get to do it at home as well. No pulling the special ed card for you my friend. You can do it...you just admitted you could.

Wednesday: Meet this year's recipient of the Wendy DeBell Award for Exceptional Volunteer Service. Yep, all that I did over at the school was noticed and I was named Volunteer of the year for our school and was recognized along with 56 other worthy individuals at a district wide ceremony. I admit, it was very nice to be noticed. Now we return my ego back to its humble self.

Thursday: The Mystery Van has been riding more like an old pick up truck in need of new shocks so we took her in for some work. Sadly, it was more than just shocks that is causing her problem. Expensive yet non-essential repairs (got to love an honest mechanic). So, for now, we'll continue to ride in the rough van until she expires and we get something new.

Friday: Back to have those cysts looked at. And they have left the building, Thank you very much. What a relief. I admit I was a bit more worried about it than I realized. I'm so happy to know for sure now that they were all of the "no big deal" variety.

And here we are to the weekend. If I can get my work space sorted out (paperwork on every surface, Fly Lady would so not be happy with me), I plan to play with my new CTMH stuff that arrived on Thursday.

As busy as the week was, I"m grateful for the news that it brought our way.

-ong words

A little bit of history, might help with this one. Growing up, my mom made it her mission to find a knickname for whatever fella we either were dating or had our eye on. There was "Nebraska Pig Farmer" for me and "Howdy Doody" for my sister. Unfortuantely (at least I think this is unfortunate, who knows, maybe it was a good thing in this case?) , Mom had already passed before we met our husbands so we'll never know what their knicknames would have been.

I've decided to continue this tradition now that my friend Judy's daughters (at least the oldest two) are dating. We've already had Rock Boy and Thong Boy.

Yep, Thong Boy. Thing Two who is always listening overheard us and saw me just laughing like a crazy woman. He asked what was so funny about this word. So, yep, he now knows what kind of thong we were talking about (not the type that goes on your feet in the summer).

So yesterday, he was beaming. Apparently, the word family this week is -ong words. I'm guessing the teacher was hoping to hear words like song, wrong, long. Nope, my little guy raised his hand with gusto and said "THONG!". I asked him, did Mrs. G. laugh? "Nah," he said, "but I was laughing inside really loud Mom!".

That's my boy: anyway you say it, underwear is just plain funny.

Rally of Support

Yesterday, the Things were asking about summer vacation (yep, barely finished with this track off, they are already counting down the 10 weeks until their next break. Fellow blogger Colleen will be oh so very proud of them as she's always counting towards something! ).

Thing One wants to go back to the mountains. Thing Two just wants to be along for the ride. I told them that one place we are definitely going is to Wisconsin. Not only is there a plethora of my people to visit, but Hubby plans to attend the National Rally (OK, maybe it is even international. I admit, I don't pay that close of attention to his hobby) for his motorcycle group.

I used the word rally. And, I think they sort of understood the word but maybe not. Here's what they had to say.

Thing One: Well, who are you going to cheer for Mom? I"m going to only cheer for the guy in first place.

Thing Two: I'm going to cheer for Dad. He's a really good motorcycle rider, isn't he mom? He'll probably get like second or third place, don't you think?

So, not only is it apparent they don't understand the concept of a rally, but from the sound of it, we need to work a little bit more on being a supportive motorcycle family. Cheer for Dad, because he's number one (Yes, I remain the lone kiss-up in the family, as I know who allocates the fun money here in the House of Chang!)

Since I'm not single

Thing Two figured I must be a double. Or so he said as we were leaving the library and his older brother remarked again how my now having a good book to read is a good thing because it is a "single girl's best friend" (as I pointed out to him, it was funny the first time. Not so funny over and over.) Thing Two stood up for me and emphatically announced "P, She's NOT single. She's married to dad. That makes her a double!".

Take note older son, that was funny...

It's a wrap...

21 pages. In one week. Might just be a personal best. (not including crop weekends, that's a whole different setting and productivity is much better when you are surrounded by inspiring people and layouts). And, I've reached a good stopping point. Not to mention, the Things return to school on Tuesday and I return to work so I need to focus on some other things so that re-entry isn't quite so painful for all of us. Yeah, we've gotten a bit too casual in our routine. But we have had a relaxing and fun time.

If you've been reading my blog for awhile, you'll recognize these pictures. They were some of the first pictures I used when I started blogging. So, I decided to journal about how I've enjoyed my blogging experience thus far. The layout isn't anything too unique but in a way, it marks a milestone. Pretty much everything that I crop from here on out, is from a post-blog era which makes remembering when for the journaling so much easier. Yahoo...now if I can only remember to blog, I"ll be all set.

Waiting...

*Thing Two is waiting and more than ready should any aliens invade. He also tells me he was waiting to wedgie his brother. (he's 7 what can I say, he doesn't always make sense)

*Hubby and I are both waiting to hear from the accountant. This late in the game can only mean we owe, and the quieter he remains, the more worried I am getting.

* I've also been waiting for the weathermen to make up their minds. Lots of snow forecasted. Oh wait, nope, now just a little bit. Nope, now it looks like it is going to the south, might be a wet commute. Uh, our bad, storm missed us, not even a wet commute. Now, I'm not complaining about snow and bad weather missing us. But, I wish they wouldn't tease me with the prospects of being snowed in. (I wanted to stay in my jammies all day without even a moment of guilt)

*Still waiting for this cold of mine to do something. Or maybe it is allergies. Either/or, I'm tired of feeling like I've got Irish step dancers doing the River Dance show on my sinus cavities

*And finally, I"m waiting for some new craft stuff that I ordered to be shipped. It's gonna feel like Christmas in April when it gets here and I'm so excited. But, it really was too good of a deal to pass up on, eh my fellow Close to My Heart enthusiasts?

So, while I've spent the day waiting, I decided to work on that stash from 2005. (see, TZ, it has taken me almost a week, not your predicted 5 minutes). I got 6 pages done today...all while waiting. Hope you enjoy them. I know I feel good about getting them scrapbooked finally!

Mystery solved

So, I asked Thing One "how'd you decide what a single girl's best friend is?"
"DUH Mom, I heard it on the Shaggy Dog!"

Oh well.. even if he was scripting at least he figured out the right time for such a statement!

Where does he come up with this stuff?

I told the boys I'd take them to lunch today. At first they asked to go to Village Inn. My initial response was "OK" but then I said "nah, what would I do while I wait for our food. You guys have your game boys. I don't have anything". When Thing One quickly notes: "Mom, you should have brought a book. It is a single girl's best friend!". (with just enough annoyance to his voice to make me realize those pre-teen attitude years are approaching just a bit too quickly).

Granted, I'm not single but he does have a point about books being good companions...certainly explains why he's always got his nose in a book (when his eyes aren't on some electronic gadget).

Where is he from?

So last night we were at the eye doctor's, picking out frames for Thing Two (yep, now he'll definitely be looking like a Hubby clone!). The man helping us asked me "where's your son from". It was all I could do to not say my vajayjay. I know that he didn't mean to be rude with his inquiry but it just irks me whenever I get asked this (sadly, he wasn't the first nor will he be the last one). I get that Thing Two looks more like his dad's people than mine. But, come on, surely he has just a hint of Norwegian Cheese head in his genetic make up? Come on folks, humor me at least...

Martha's Mojo

Colleen asked that I share my secret source for SB mojo. So, having completed 3 layouts today, I snapped this picture of my latest creation. See if you can spot where my mojo comes from?

Since the wine of the month delivery guy finally caught me at home (after 4 months of me not being home to sign for our stuff), I'm predicting many more inspiring layouts.

I mean, come on without a little Mommy juice, do you think I'd have had the guts to include me in a layout in a swim suit? Sheesh, it's hard enough for me to agree to a picture when I'm having a perfect hair day and have make up on. But the picture was too good not to use and well, they don't call it liquid courage for nothing!

Adventure is just a page away...

This past week I've discovered two great books. The first one, Savannah Breeze by Mary Kay Andrews is a chick lit book. While on vacation, I had it with me but was determined to finish the book I had started before leaving. I dragged that first book along with me all week and every time I opened it, my eyes would get heavy and I'd feel very sleepy. At first I figured it was the sun or the jet lag. When I got to the airport at the end of our trip, I decided enough and switched books. I pulled this one out of my luggage and immediately found myself absorbed in the tale.

Set in Savannah, the star of the story is BeBe Loudermilk (with a main character name like that, you just know it's gonna be a fun story). She finds herself in a heap of trouble and has to work her way outof this problem . The story unfolds quickly. Although the storyline is sort of predictable (isn't all chick lit predictable) I found the characters engaging enough and funny enough to keep going. By the time my flight landed in CO, I was more than half way finished. And on Friday night, while the men in the house were bonding over Homer and Bart, I crawled under the covers and finished the book . I'm thinking I might just have to check out some of the other books written by Ms. Andrews.

The next book I discovered has been part of my craft collection for months now. Cherish is a layout idea book. Originally, I poured over it, oohed and ah'd over the pages and used it only occasionally. But, now that I"m starting to use more of the patterned paper made by Basic Grey and such, I find this book to be a great reference tool for learning how to use the bold papers without overpowering your pictures. Some scrapbookers might consider the detailed instructions to be a bit much. They'd rather create on their own. But, I'm a firm believe in why re-invent the wheel. And with the layout ideas in this book along with the cutting directions for your complimentary paper, it has been a very productive weekend here in my craft shack. I just finished up my 7th page since yesterday. Trust me, with the way and rate I scrap, that's a very good weekend indeed. And I owe a large amount of my inspiration to the great ideas found in Cherish.

Now I'd better wrap it all up and go check on the Things. They've been a bit too quiet if you know what I mean...and since Auntie Terri was over yesterday leaving them candy and tattoo stuff, who knows what I'll find when I go upstairs.

Good thing we didn't have much planned...

Because Mother Nature has decided to bless us with a White Easter! Sleet and occasional flurries yesterday and this morning real actual snow that is sticking. Gotta love Colorado Spring time. NOT!

We've enjoyed a quiet weekend. I took TZ's suggestion and am working on pictures that got forgotten from 2005. With snow falling on and off since Friday, imagine my delight to discover these pictures on top of the stack. It made the transition from one project to the next go much smoother. Well, at least that's my spin and I"m sticking too it!

That's a wrap

This layout marks the end of updating my family Christmas album. Yahoo! I don't remember when I have gotten the Christmas album updated this early in the year. But it also means the end of this project. Grrr...now to figure out what to scrap next?

How about if you all help me decide. Do I go back and work on that stack of 2005 pictures I found when reorganizing. Or, do I work on the Jan 2007 vacation to CA or do I go all "alpha scrapper" and start working on stuff from last week's vacation to FL? What do you think? Help me get inspired.

See Ya Later

Gotta go get ready as the coven is meeting this morning to discuss the state of our economy, world politics and global warming. Yeah right. We'll more than likely stick to our favorite topics: gossip and giggles. Stop on by and sit a spell, ok?

Belated Pics

Now that I"m back home, surrounded by all things good (loving Hubby, comfy bed, high speed Internet, TiVo), I shall try to add a couple pictures from our trip.

The purpose of this FL adventure was to visit family. Sis and nephew from MI flew in and we stayed at a timeshare condo outside of Disney.

We also spent a couple days "camping" with my dad at his trailer park. Calling it camping was the only way I could sleep at night and use the bathhouse across the road without getting totally creeped out. Yes, go ahead an call me a sissy girl when it comes to prefering my home comforts and bug free environment. Technically he lives in a "fixed park model" but for those of us accustomed to more spacious quarters, camping is a better way to describe it.

All in all, it was a good trip. There was swimming in the pool and the Gulf, golfing and rides in golf carts, and even a chance to learn the art of shuffle board. We took a boat ride in search of gators. Didn't really need to board the boat to spot the gators as one was sunning himself right next to my uncle's boat. Ewww: a little close for comfort. The boys had fun and I enjoyed the slower pace of life. But, I'm ever so happy to be back home where I sleep without wondering if that gator has decided to make a house call!

Homeward Bound...

We're leaving on the jet plane later this evening and assuming all goes well with our trip, I"ll be sleeping in my own bed tonight.

All in all, it has been a good trip. But no matter where one roams, home is always the best place to be. I"ll post some pictures once I get back home to my reliable and high speed connection.

Until then, I"m off to soak up a little more Florida sunshine. Both boys have a good start on their Jamican pool boy loook and me, well, I"m still as pale as can be but I've been toasty warm which has felt good after our cold Colorado winter.