Denny would usually be working from home on Friday, but he is working on a deadline at work and got sucked back in today.  So, I’m on my own again.  Denny got home last night while the kids were still awake, so at least they got to see him yesterday… a first since last Sunday.  I told him that as tired as I am, and even as much as I miss him when he is gone that often, I really enjoy the silence.  Denny LOVES to have the tv on, and I prefer it off for the most part.  A few nights ago I read and had a cup of tea.  Nice!  (Something that would never happen if Denny was home.)

Michelle is coming over to scrapbook at some point today.  At least I think that is the plan.  I have to wrap up a website before Saturday night and fishing a presentation for a speaking engagment I have at Mt. Clemens Public Library next Friday.  Busy!  On the up side, it’s Friday and it is supposed to be a REALLY nice day!  Woo Hoo

Happy Friday!!!!

~j

The is the view of the parking lot taken from right next to my car.  (That’s the front of my car in the picture.)  I park in my usual spot, grab a cart and I’m in and out and have the car loaded up in 30 minutes or less.  No lines, no navigating around people, no hunting for the fresh stuff cuz it’s all right on top.    It’s grocery shopping bliss, if there is such a thing.  Need I say more?

I’m at home waiting for the WOW Cable guy to come.  I have a service call scheduled today as something is going on with the zoom.  Some HD channels don’t fill the screen, so there is a button on the remote that zooms/stretches the picture to fit.  It seems silly to me to have the big screen and not use all of it, so I like the button.  Plus I’m not a big widescreen format fan anyway.  The zoom option stopped working Monday.  No idea why, nothing changed, but I figured I better call in case it’s an issue with the tv.  We bought the TV in the beginning of March after I came back from London.  Clearly, if its a tv issue, the sooner I find out the better.  Crossing my fingers that it’s a problem with the cable box or the remote!!!  Somehow I picture a warranty issue with Samsung to be a real headache.

I had some photos printed yesterday from my England trip and hope to get to scrap them this week.  I have them planned for a Ninabrook Designs kit, so I won’t be able to post it until the kit is released.  Ideally, in with that stuff I can get some cards done too.

Happy Wednesday!

~j

I’m really happy with how they came out and glad I finally got those tins out of hiding and eventually out of my house.  I could certainly use the space in my office.  Yikes.  Some days I feel like I’m going to be swallowed up by all the scrapbook stuff.  I’m pretty proud to say that I haven’t even been in a scrapbook or craft store in a really long time!  That’s impressive for me.

Duty calls!

~j

I did five in total, (one for each of the Elementary teachers and then one for those at the Preschool), and they were really easy to get done once I did one.  I set up a cutting file after I established patterns to cover the back and inside of the tin, and then the scallop to cover the Maya Road wording and a flower to cover the brand embossed on the tin.  All in all, a little photo tape and hot glue works wonders!  In the photo of the close up, I actually used scraps from the Ninabrook Designs “Priceless” kit.    I love making good use of scraps.

I also finished a card from some more scraps I had and a pack of Queen & Co chipboard letter circles that I found during my cleaning.  I did some machine stitching on the card, only to have the darn machine skip some stitches.  I think Michelle had a funny look on her face while she watched me hand stitch it.  In general she gives me that, “Gosh you’re a lunatic” fairly often.

Happy Monday… and FYI, no, my roof didn’t leak.  Woot!

~j

Tomorrow Michelle and I have a scrapbook day planned.  As it turns out I won’t be going out of the house for awhile to scrap.  I found the dog chewing up my large Making Memories Scrapbook Tote the other day.  The little turkey chewed the stinkin’ zipper right off.  Without the zipper I can’t close the top, which is where the handle is… thus I can’t carry it.  Grrr.

Have a nice rainy Saturday!

~j

Ninabrook Designs set out a little newsletter of sorts today with some Design Team images using the latest kit.  If you aren’t on the newsletter, hit the website and check them out.  The kits are great and you’ll find a lot of ideas on the website.

Here is my take on this months kit:

On another note, (before I burn my chicken), I’ve gotten some emails asking about card kits.  We will have card kits back out for May.  Some unexpected things came up in life and we needed to take a step back.  Keep an eye on your inbox for card news soon!

~j

I started taking the time to meal plan again.  I used to do it all the time and then got out of the habit.  It’s a time saver, and money saver really.  It’s great to go to the grocery store and really only get what I need for the week.  While I’m not a big fan of the grocery store, it does save me money to do it this way and no more of those last minute, “ugh, I don’t know what to make for dinner” moments either.  Now, I know that I’m having a roast for dinner tomorrow.  I’m hungry already.

If you check out organizedhome.com you’ll find all sorts of great tips to get your house in order and save yourself some time and money.  They have a lot of printable forms to help, along with the meal planner.  They suggest making a binder and then recycling the meal plans once you have a few put together.  (Again, a time saver.)

I’m exhausted and the good old arthritis in my knees says the rain is on the way, so I think bedtime calls.  Cross your fingers that the rain is short lived.  I’m supposed to get my new roof of Thursday or Friday, depending on the weather.  For the sake of rain=potential roof leak stress, I’d like my new roof sooner rather than later.  I’m dreading paying for it, but the stress relief will be worth it I think.  Then hopefully i don’t have to worry about it again for a very long time.

~j

The other sign of spring – “car season!”  Denny acquired a new toy recently and he’s been fixing it up with my Dad.  Denny wanted year correct plates on the car, which can’t be done in person at SOS any longer, so you have to mail in the application, along with the title, photo of the plate you intend to use, and of course a check.  It takes a couple weeks so we can’t do much other than look at the car.  Here is a photo I took the other night.  Denny is popular with kids.  (He is a great counter to my ability to scare children, lol.)

I’ve been anxiously awaiting my Ninabrook Designs DT package.  They are in Canada, and I’m the only DT member in the US, so things take a bit longer to get to me.  Hopefully it arrives soon, or samples are due April 19th.  Hey, Mr. Postman… the clock is ticking, I’m a scrapbooker on a deadline.  Actually, I don’t have a postMAN anymore, my dear USPS dude, Ron, left for a “better route” last summer.  Apparently, he had had enough working along my busy road and didn’t enjoy the several near misses he had with moving cars.  C’mon Ron – suck it up. *wink*  I only know this because I ran into him at our local McDonalds, while stopping for a gourmet lunch, and he apologized for not coming to say goodbye.  Awww, I miss Ron.  Now I have a postWOMAN, and she’s been on the job for a few weeks or so now.  We have a ton of temps, so I’m not sure if she is going to be my go to girl yet or not.  She often brings me the mail of people no where near me, and has given my neighbors my mail a few times now.  I’m not the mail police, so as long as I eventually get what I need… she and I are good.  I do like that she delivers my side of the street first though.  That means we get the mail about 10am instead of 4pm, again, it’s especially nice when it’s actually my mail.

Happy Thursday.  It is Thursday isn’t it?

~j

As you all know, I was in England for two weeks, away on holiday, as the British love to say.  (I brought that happy little phrase back with me, along with a need for massive amounts of sugar cubes for my tea. *wink*)  A few days after I got back we were to be getting a new granite countertop installed in my kitchen.  Denny and I were just giddy about it, and if you know me well, you know that’s a big deal, because, well, I don’t get giddy about much of anything lol.  So March 10th, the demo begins and the old countertop got removed.  All is well.  March 11th, the granite arrives, the install happens… all… NOT SO WELL.  I can sum it all up like this… damage to a substantial amount of things in the house, but the bottom line was finding that my dishwasher had been glued shut.  Yeah, really.  GLUED.  SHUT.

Long story short, the granite needed to be replaced and a little over a week down the road a new counter was installed.  Now to address the damage and that seems to be the issue.  Our contractor seems to have not been real eager to handle it in a timely and professional manner and after a few days of waiting around for him we had had it.  Our relationship with him has now been terminated. 

Again, we are now trying to fix all the damage.  Our kitchen walls have been repaired now and repainted and I’m really happy with that.  Thank you so much to an excellent painter!!!!  I had someone come out to assess the cabinet damage today and the rest I’m still working on.  See what happens when I get giddy about something.  I guess giddy for me is a sign of impending doom. 

So March was crappy.  The tv finally died, the kitchen thing turned into a freak show and now the roof leaks.  WOO HOO.  Spent the last week talking to roofers and finally found one that I trust to do the job.  I’m excited to get it done, (making sure not the get all giddy again), and will be happy not to worry about the rain!!

Hopefully the home improvement Gods will again start smiling on me.  Cross your fingers for me that by this time next week I have a new roof being put on and the leaks are behind us.

~j

My flight to Detroit is FULL and they are offering $200.00 in travel vouchers if you will offer to get bumped to a later flight.  I can tell you one thing for sure… I’m not offering.  I can’t get out of here fast enough!

I miss home….

~j