Thoughts from the Basement

2009-12-23T12:43:00.000-05:00

Please visit my new blog, jennypowersart.blogspot.com!

2009-12-05T22:05:00.001-05:00

I have officially retired this blog. Look for my new art blog sometime soon.

2009-05-13T18:13:00.002-04:00

One of my least favorite things happened yesterday morning - one of my tenants called and let me know he and his sister are breaking their lease. Sigh. I am sooo tired of this. I don't mind doing it once a year but I get frustrated when it gets to be every six months. It is the price I pay for home ownership, so I am willing to do it, but not always without complaint. That said, I have been very lucky with the response I've received the last couple days. I've received at least 15 calls from listing solely on craigslist, and already have a couple potentials and an application in hand. Hopefully I'll even make a decision this weekend!

2009-04-05T09:50:00.001-04:00

My friend Susan and my mother-in-law Donna came over Tuesday night for an art party! We had dinner and wine and made collages using fairy pictures that Susan had brought. It was so much fun. I love spending time about creative people! I always feel so inspired afterwards! Lucky for me, tonight is my cyberscrap night with Lisa!

2009-03-17T07:53:00.002-04:00

The Ford finally died. It is literally on the road dead. No compression in two cylinders. But I am really excited about my NEW car!! Whoo hoo! Okay so well it's not a brand new car or anything, but it's going to be new to me! And it is going to run and be reliable! Very exciting! I haven't been able to drive on the highway since November, and since I am not a homebody, it has been slowly killing me. I am getting my new vehicle this week, so happy days will be here again!

I won't have as much creative time this week as Esme's party is this Saturday and we have quite a bit left to do to prepare. Mostly we have to get our entire house organized and everything put away so that our guests will be able to move freely through the house! Esme's party is going to be bigger than ever though, since she all of a sudden seems to have lots of little friends. It's a dinosaur theme. I am soooo wishing I bought those Basic Grey dinosaur stamps on clearance when I saw them!

2009-03-05T18:30:00.002-05:00

I was so lucky to be a Guest Designer at Scrapperie this month and get to create with the Cherry Jubilee Essentials kit! The only thing added to any of these pages was Stickles - everything else came in the kit.

2009-02-22T18:27:00.001-05:00

Just finished this new little bunting for Esme's Bitty Baby, Emily. So much fun to sew with a machine.

2009-02-20T21:31:00.000-05:00

Did this layout at Stephanie's last night.

2009-02-15T17:58:00.001-05:00

Taking a challenge at Scrapperie to blog about my Sunday activities....

First, I wake up my daughter. This is a challenge because she is used to sleeping late all week and has to get up around 8 on Sundays, and usually finds it objectionable. Then we get ready and head out for church. The first activity at our church is Sing. We sing lots of different kinds of songs for about half and hour, and then we have Sunday School. Esme goes to Godly Play and I go to Adult Ed whenever it is offered. Every other week we stay for the church service. This was supposed to be our week but I was feeling so blue after Adult Ed I decided to make it next week instead. Also next week is the last Sunday before Lent, so it will probably be extra festive.

After church we usually go home and wake up my husband. He works late so he usually does not go with us, unless there is something special going on. We usually have lunch together and then either settle into a nice day at home or go out someplace fun. We're a homeschooling family so two days are never the same for us - routines don't really happen in this house!

2009-01-20T19:06:00.001-05:00

So glad he is now our president!!!

2009-01-18T21:38:00.000-05:00

Cyber-scrapping with Lisa - this is my first layout of the night!

2009-01-14T20:30:00.001-05:00

R.I.P. Number Six! Patrick McGoohan died today at age 80. Full story here.

2009-01-13T18:35:00.001-05:00

Made these wind chimes to sell at our church fair - three flower pots decoupaged and strung together. Tried to do classic summer colors.

2009-01-08T22:11:00.002-05:00

Working on ATCs right now....here are some from my first and second series. Happy New Year everyone!

2008-12-29T14:50:00.000-05:00

This was one of my favorite gifts to give this year. It is a magnetic board with two clips that I made for my best friend's mom, Carol. Carol loves to get homemade gifts, especially ones that include pics of her granddaughters. This was a pizza pan from Dollar Tree, and the clips are from Dollar Tree as well.

2008-12-27T10:12:00.001-05:00

Made this project for my sister-in-law's baby shower. The little baby face is a photo of my grandmother that I copied. I altered a clementine box and layered it with tissue for the wrapping.

2008-12-18T20:43:00.001-05:00

It's been a difficult couple of weeks around here. Family member in and out of the hospital, others not well, car trying to die, friend evacuated first for carbon monoxide, then for flooding, problems at school that in my mind shouldn't be, awkwardness other places, more family problems, a burned up toaster oven, my scanner bulb burned out and can't be replaced, etc. My stress level has been building up and every little thing makes me want to cry!

However, at the same time, I have many things to be grateful for. Tonight is Ethan's last night of double shifts, and the extra money should enable us to pay off our new water tank. A good friend offered to make sure that we get a good new used car. My family and friends have generously said they will watch Esme so that I can work this week. And in a few short days, I will be on vacation with my sweet husband for twelve whole days! Hooray! Plus I will be able to have my family over for Christmas dinner, always a delight and I am soooo grateful that I get to do this.

Yes things have seemed not quite right around here since sometime in September, but perhaps that means things are about to get better. I am preparing a list of resolutions and goals for the New Year. I am challenging myself to be more creative and more focused on what I really want to do. I am planning on more time at home with my family - I realized last week how much they need me, and was reminded that the reason I took this job was to have the flexibility to be here for them. I want more time for my friends too, especially the ones who support homeschooling and who encourage me to be creative. I feel like I am about to burst with ideas, in 2009 I plan to express more of them!

I hope everyone is happy and well, and that everyone and anyone reading has a wonderful holiday!

2008-12-05T18:18:00.000-05:00

We have a winner! I let Esme choose a random number on her chart and IamDerby is the winner! Thanks everyone for the wonderful comments and compliments - they were so appreciated! Hope everyone is having a wonderful December!

2008-12-01T21:26:00.001-05:00

You've seen my projects, now win a kit to do some of your own!! I received the complete line of Love Letters products from Little Yellow Bicycle and would like to share the love. Leave a comment about the line or any of my projects to be entered into a drawing to win the page kit (shown here) and a little extra surprise from me. I will let Esme draw a winner Friday evening.

2008-11-30T20:54:00.002-05:00

Mini Album and Fold-Up Folio from the Love Letters line by Little Yellow Bicycle

2008-11-30T19:44:00.002-05:00

I love our church. Growing up and for the last few years I've gone to churches that held Sunday School during the service. Our new church has played with the schedule several times during their search for a new rector, but I think they've finally got it right. We start every week with a Sing. There are tons of musicians - people playing guitars, usually someone on flute and someone on piano, plus lots of kids playing percussion, etc. We usually sing a variety of songs, ranging from kids songs to traditional hymns. We do rounds and sing antiphons. It is so fun! It is in a smaller space so just a few people make it feel full. Next we move on to Sunday School, and while my daughter is learning Bible stories and church traditions, I get to go to adult classes. So far I've learned about the history of Christianity in our area, Religion and Politics, and much more. Then I grab my daughter and we head over to the service, which since our new Rector arrived, has been fairly traditional, which I also like. I have also been lucky enough to meet several very creative, likable people there, and feel very included and appreciated. The new rector is wonderful too, and that seems like the icing on the cake. I feel home.

2008-11-29T15:43:00.001-05:00

Got the photos from my brother's wedding last year and couldn't wait to start scrapping them! Almost everything here is LYB Love Letters!

2008-11-26T14:11:00.001-05:00

This is my next project using the Little Yellow Bicycle Love Letters line - a special album for my husband for Christmas!

2008-11-26T14:08:00.000-05:00

2008-11-26T14:04:00.000-05:00

2008-11-19T15:55:00.001-05:00

My next project using the LYB Love Letters line - making plaques is one of my new favorite things to do - I love this line and had to combine the two.

2008-11-16T21:15:00.002-05:00

This is my second layout with products from Little Yellow Bicycle's Love Letters line. I am hooked on date stamps and other "date" materials so this is the perfect line for me. These pics of Esme are from a summer afternoon together in the yard. To see this complete line please click here.

2008-11-16T21:11:00.002-05:00

I was sooo lucky to receive a huge box of Yellow Bicycle products from the Love Letters line! This line has EVERYTHING - patterned papers, shaped and flocked papers, mini albums, rubons, epoxy stickers, tons of journaling and date blocks, fabric stickers, borders, transparencies, brads, ribbons, and more. I love this line! Below is my first creation with these new products - a mini book of Mother Theresa quotes.

2008-11-16T21:09:00.000-05:00

2008-11-16T21:06:00.000-05:00

2008-11-16T21:01:00.001-05:00

2008-11-12T20:16:00.002-05:00

Having creative friends makes me HAPPY!!

2008-11-02T20:15:00.000-05:00

My very favorite Halloween pic from this year.

2008-11-02T13:05:00.001-05:00

These awesome signs were posted by a family in our neighborhood for Halloween!

2008-10-30T20:36:00.001-04:00

Why is Christianity now associated with Republicans? This is so unfair. I am a Christian, and because of my beliefs, I'm also a Democrat. Which party thinks that if we have enough to spare, we should give it up to help others? Which party fights for social programs to make sure that every American has basic needs met? Which party champions education and health care? These are all issues of the Democratic party. Doesn't it seem that Christians should support these issues? I am tired of Republicans trying to co-opt Christianity and I for one am not going to put up with it anymore. I am a Christian and a Liberal and proud of it!

2008-10-30T10:39:00.001-04:00

My new favorite quote from this election season:

"There will be an election, followed by rioting, the complete unraveling of society, and, I assume, a zombie problem. And everyone will agree it’s an improvement." -Scott Adams

2008-10-29T21:20:00.001-04:00

I just got accepted to take part in this:

Job Description Position Qualifications: Interested participants should have good written and oral communication skills; be willing to work with digital audio equipment; be comfortable working with different ages and ethnicities; be open to group discussion and seminar participation; be willing to share personal experiences throughout the oral history process; have a desire to educate local teachers in classrooms; be interested in local history. Oral historians will be trained on several methodologies of collecting oral histories; will go out into the field and interview residents; will meet monthly to discuss and review relevant texts; will learn from each other’s field experience; and will become the tools for local educators who are interested in bringing oral history techniques into their classrooms.

Commitments

Attend a panel discussion on Oral History November 8, 2008 from 2 – 4pm
Attend monthly meetings for an 8-month period
Learn oral history techniques and theory
Interview residents at various locations
Use digital voice recorders
Transcribe full interviews using word processing software
Read relevant excerpts and full texts
Collect three interviews and transcribe
Be a resource for local educators to use oral history techniques in their classrooms

Sooooo excited to be part of this! I think this will be a great resource for homeschooling, and a very interesting project!

2008-10-19T17:55:00.003-04:00

2008-10-18T09:24:00.002-04:00

This is our new kitty Cosmo! He is such a sweetie! He wasn't big on having his photo taken! He has certainly livened up our house with all his playing, but he also loves to cuddle and spends lots of his time purring loudly.

When we couldn't find Pekoe we hung up signs all over the neighborhood, and someone from a cat rescue shelter called us to say she might have our cat. By then we had found Pekoe, but we got to talking and she said she had a kitten waiting to be adopted, and that she wouldn't even charge us the normal fee if we wanted to come get him. We talked it over (Ethan had to be convinced) and picked him up the next day. Of course after he explored the house a bit he sat down on Ethan's lap and put his little head down on Ethan's hand and fell asleep, so now he is pretty much Ethan's kitty.

2008-10-14T09:13:00.000-04:00

One reason I am looking forward to the Christmas season: stores open longer. I am having trouble being confined to the normal schedules - if I want a craft item at 8 am or 1 am - I want to get it then!!

2008-10-13T12:18:00.000-04:00

I looovve Columbus Day weekend! Every year half the citizens of a neighboring town hold yard sales. We're still paying for our new water tank and don't have much money to spare, but we were able to get many good deals for not very much money. I got a sewing machine, leg warmers for Esme, Polly Pockets, dancewear, a microscope, and a couple building sets great for fine motor development!

2008-10-08T07:44:00.003-04:00

Yesterday was a horrible day. Our family's cat disappeared around 10:30 Sunday night, not to be found til about 2:30 Monday afternoon. Pekoe is a member of our family and we were all distraught, thinking we would never see her again. She's an indoor cat and very gentle, so I don't think living outside would be easy for her, and I am not quite sure she would have the skills to find her way home again.

My brother Charles was doing some work on our house and we were both going in and out. Charles is very considerate about shutting doors because he knows we have a cat, but he didn't notice and I forgot that the windows were open on our sun porch. When she disappeared in an unfurnished apartment, we assumed she had jumped out one of them. Esme and I searched for a long time last night. Ethan searched when he got home from work. I woke up early and searched again, and hung up flyers all over our neighborhood. Charles, Ethan, and I all searched the empty apartment for her mulitiple times. There literally nothing in the apartment, so it should be difficult for a kitty to hide.

A long time ago I remember a discussion on the NSBR board at 2 Peas where someone said, after you have kids, your pets are no longer members of your family. I can say for us, this is not true. I spent many hours crying and walking and calling her name - if she was not a member of our family that wouldn't have happened.

Yesterday afternoon Ethan went over there to do some cleaning, and out walked Pekoe!! She was disgustingly dirty and had obviously been trapped somewhere for a long time. I suspect she had climbed into the back of a dryer that's not in use right now, and couldn't get out. We were all so happy to see her we didn't care. We hugged and kissed her anyway! We are sooo happy she is back!!

2008-09-29T22:28:00.002-04:00

My mom wanted me to help her with some decorations for her office. She wrote these poems, I decorated for her.

2008-09-19T10:20:00.002-04:00

I am trying to figure out what this says about me: A scrapper posted on my blog that she is moving to the area and I emailed her back telling her about how much I love the local coffee shop that makes their chocolate milk with real chocolate instead of syrup.

2008-09-16T00:21:00.001-04:00

Two of my favorite Haikus from second grade last year:

I am tired of Math
I do not like it one bit
I lay on my desk

I saw a tiger
It was about to attack
So I ran away

2008-09-15T00:23:00.001-04:00

more animals

2008-09-14T16:28:00.001-04:00

Anyone going to CKC in Hartford this year? I'll be working at the Dollar Scrapbooking booth on Friday - come by and visit me! I'll be shopping on Saturday.

2008-09-12T23:32:00.002-04:00

When I was a child, I was obsessed with the musical "Annie," and tonight I got to take Esme to see it. It was her first play and this production was paced very s l o w l y but I think she still enjoyed it. Now that she's seen the play we're going to watch the movie together on DVD.

Being Esme's mother has been wearing me out lately! She is involved in many activities, some of which I have to coordinate and run, like Girl Scouts and some homeschooling events. Speaking of homeschooling, that takes quite a bit of effort too. We love it though, and are definitely glad we made the decision to go forward with it.

I recently discovered Hulu.com and have had fun watching Arrested Development with Ethan, and a show that seems so old now, Chicago Hope. When Chicago Hope and ER debuted the same year, I was a die-hard Hope fan. No ER for me. Now that I've watched 9 seasons of ER and I'm revisiting Hope, I am wondering what the heck my problem was. Not that I'm not enjoying Chicago Hope, ER is just so much faster paced and exciting. Plus come on, George Clooney! And Noah Wylie too!

2008-08-30T12:14:00.002-04:00

It's not exactly "breaking the CK barrier," but I was very excited to have a little something in the In Your Words column in Creating Keepsakes this month. I wrote about my substitute teaching experience from October to January this past school year. Now I just have to make sure everyone at school sees it so I get all the good gigs!!

2008-08-14T12:51:00.001-04:00

I can take one class for free every semester at an Ivy League college. I am super bummed that yet again this semester, I cannot find a class to take. Classes are geared toward people who live on campus which is understandable, but I am bummed that there is nothing that I could remotely apply to my life offered in the evening that isn't filled immediately. It seems like such a waste not to take advantage of this opportunity, but at this moment the only thing I could take would be Riding I. Not sure this is the perfect time in my life to start horseback riding with no prior experience. I so want to go back to school, and there are many things I would like to take including environmental science, sociology, education, religion, etc. It's sad that I can't make this work!

2008-08-11T21:44:00.002-04:00

This layout is soooo old! I'm not even sure which summer these photos were taken. I remember it being a super fun day, and that I was so excited to scrap it right away. Then when I got home I printed the pics, got the layout about half done, and put it in a drawer. Over time I have slowly added additional elements, making it a strange mix of my old and more developed styles. It's finally done! (Except I still have to go back and look for that date!)

2008-08-07T19:00:00.000-04:00

2008-07-29T16:23:00.002-04:00

I can't wait to go camping!! We have only been on one trip this year but we have a couple more trips planned. Esme and I are pretty much obsessed with Mexican food so we made a new breakfast burrito recipe to eat a camp. We make it for her sans egg. We start with marinated chicken the night before, and use the leftovers. You need:

1 medium flour tortilla per person
1 egg per person
the leftover chicken
shredded cheese of your choice
rice (we like to use boil in a bag while we're camping)
taco sauce or salsa (optional)

Wrap the tortillas in foil and heat til they're warm. Heat up the chicken in the skillet, and boil the rice. Scramble the eggs, and they layer all ingredients in the tortilla, folding up the sides and wrapping the whole thing together. Serve with fruit. This is a hearty breakfast without too much cleanup.

2008-07-27T11:09:00.002-04:00

The Project Learning Tree workshop was amazing!! I am so thankful that I got to go! If you haven't heard of this program, check it out here. I highly recommend that anyone who works with children and is interested in nature and the environment try to find a class.

One of the things I learned was how to teach children to classify trees. In the beginning, the names of the trees aren't even important. It's important that they observe what makes each tree unique and different from the others. I never realized how many important features of leaves there are! I learned to identify 2 new kinds of trees myself.

Another thing I learned about was observing changes in a natural setting. The instructor talked about finding a "sitspot" - a place you return to over and over and observe the changes from season to season, year to year, and make your own special place in the world.

2008-07-23T22:21:00.001-04:00

My mom requested an altered monogram for her birthday - I made another version but I wasn't happy with it so I decided to give it another go.

2008-07-22T00:15:00.001-04:00

Did this page as part of tonight's cyber crop with Lisa - it's a scraplift of a Vicki Boutin layout you can see here. I love doing layouts with blocks like this.

2008-07-09T17:11:00.003-04:00

I am WICKED excited. I just found out about some ultra cool educator workshops through Project Wild and Project Learning Tree. Theoretically I am going to learn so I can teach Esme and perhaps a group of homeschoolers or my Girl Scouts, but I am just excited that **I** get to go learn new stuff!!

I am suffering from a bit of apathy when it comes to my MMM entry. I really want to enter but I'm having trouble finding the motivation when my scrap area is such a mess. I want totally rearrange my entire house.

2008-06-29T10:06:00.005-04:00

We rarely have the opportunity to go to the movies, and we were so glad we went to see "The Fall" this past Sunday. We hadn't heard much about it until we read what was playing at Amherst Cinema, but we watched the trailer and decided to give it a try. This was one of the most visually beautiful movies I have ever seen. The scenery and the costumes were unbelievable! I don't know why she isn't pictured on the poster, but the true lead in this movie was a little girl around 5 years old. Ethan and I were so impressed with her acting abilities. The movie has two stories intertwined, one about the little girl and a stunt man who meet in a hospital, and the other story he tells the little girl, filmed as she imagines it. We would highly recommend this movie!

2008-06-20T16:28:00.003-04:00

Today was my last day of school. I left school and went to pick Esme up at the library. When I got out of the car it was just starting to rain. I went into the chapel and said a prayer for all the students I've taught this year, and asked God to specially protect and guide 2 or 3 that were struggling. Then I walked out into the rain, and into the middle of a field so that it could pour down on me and wash away all the stress and tension of the last year, and leave me ready to start my summer. While I was in the rain I felt overwhelmed and grateful for my wonderful family that I was about to go inside to see, and so thankful for the opportunity to have this summer with Esme. When I went inside Ethan's whole desk was covered with Polly Pocket paraphernalia.

2008-06-15T11:32:00.004-04:00

One of our new favorite things to do is letterboxing. We find clues at www.letterboxing.org and have successfully found two. I took my class letterboxing and planted two along the way.

2008-05-28T07:17:00.002-04:00

I recently finished reading The Screwtape Letters for the first time. I loved this book! It's written by a demon who is training his nephew to pull people away from God ("the Enemy") and how they use the trappings of this life to try to separate us from Him. Each chapter contains at least one lesson, and this book really made me think about my relationship with God and how to be closer to Him in ways that I hadn't before. C. S. Lewis has opened my eyes in other books as well, and if you were touched by the messages in the Chronicles of Narnia, you would probably enjoy this book as well.

2008-05-22T08:02:00.003-04:00

I can't believe how much I fit into my day yesterday!

taught 21 second graders for a full day
shopped around for a lawn mower
mowed a quarter of my lawn before the new mower stopped working
payed my electric bill
went to the post office
returned a call for a job interview
endeavored to get mower fixed, but shop was closed
made meatballs from scratch for dinner

Then I relaxed and watched the second half of "The Empire Strikes Back" with Ethan and Esme, talked to Lisa for a bit, and went to bed!

2008-05-15T07:37:00.002-04:00

Last time I had a long term assigment at school I hardly kept up with anything. I did manage to keep all my homeschooling activities going, but I don't think I scrapped at all for those 3 months. This time, I had a plan to make sure I keep scrapping.

My best friend, Lisa, lives about 75 miles away. With the price of gas getting higher and higher, I don't get to see her as much as I would like. We crop together once a month, but neither of us were satisfied with the amount we accomplished. Lisa and I are both big telephone people, so decided to crop together over the phone once a week. Yes, there are some periods of dead air and once a week I'd have a crik in my neck, but it was working out okay.

Other scrappers started gently picking on us about it. We realized we were losing the best part of scrapping together which was help on each other's layouts. Finally someone told us about Skype, which enables you to use your computer like a telephone. We purchased webcams and this week we had our first virtual crop. It was fabulous!! I love being about to show my page when I'm stuck and she loved being able to eat Samoas in front of me. (cruel cruel girl)

We challenge each other once a week - we've done things like, do a completely monochromatic layout, or use a combination of glitter and dye (although when she said dye I thought she meant die, so I she used dye and I used a die cut), do a completely black and white page, etc. It's lots of fun!

2008-04-09T18:49:00.003-04:00

I am a second grade teacher again. I love my new class. They are so easy. I think this year may have spoiled me to ever do long-term assignments again. My class from October to January wasn't always easy, but the kids were so full of spirit and fun that it was a pleasure to work with them. Some of my students now are still feeling and little wary about me. One told me today that she likes me a lot, but she still likes her old teacher better. When I ran into one outside he asked me if I was going to be his teacher today. I have to tell him YES over and over - YES I am your teacher for the rest of the time you are in second grade!

It's hard to adjust to working every day again. I miss seeing Ethan. I miss being with Esme more. I know it's the right thing to do for our family, but it's still difficult to get up and go to work every day. Lucky for me, in just a couple weeks, I'll be on vacation again!

2008-03-25T07:52:00.002-04:00

I have been blog-tagged by Rita!! Seven random things about me:
1. I love buying Barbie clothes for my daughter so I can play with them.
2. My favorite online game is puzzlepirates.
3. I have a lot of shelving in my scrapbook area and still have stuff all over my table.
4. I planned a very successful Girl Scout meeting last night and I'm proud of myself.
5. I am lonely for my laptop while waiting for its new power cord.
6. I am bummed I am missing a homeschooling field trip today because I have to work.
7. If I don't leave for school now, I'm going to be late!

2008-02-24T04:01:00.003-05:00

This photo seems so long ago now...last night's layout.

2008-02-16T11:18:00.005-05:00

When I was about 10 years old my dad bought me a white bookcase for my bedroom. Over 20 years later, those bookshelves made nine or ten moves through moving with my family, my college years, and moving with Ethan. They made their final move from my basement scrapbooking room to my guest room scrapbooking area. I put all my cool supplies on them, but they were leaning in a serious way. Ethan suggested that I find something new before they crashed to the ground, taking all my gemstones, textured paints, and silk flowers with them. On my brother's advice, I got some cool gently used Ikea Expedit shelves. Charles recommended the 4 cube by 4 cube set but I was lucky enough to find the 5 by 5 set on craigslist. All of a sudden I have sooo much space! I am enjoying filling my cubes up with all the crafty stuff I love. I would highly recommend these to any scrapbooker - they hold a ton of stuff, and fit 12 by 12 papers and albums easily! My old shelves will get nailed together and won't be so attractive, but they'll make good storage for our camping gear in the basement.

2008-02-07T16:35:00.001-05:00

I just finished an incredibly interesting book. It wasn't just about the cholera epidemic of the 1850s, but about how epidemiology was developed. It told the personal story of two men who we can thank for a major advancement in medicine. As I type this, it sound a bit dry, but believe me, it was fascinating and suspenseful! This book was both entertaining and extremely educational - a great read! I'd highly recommend it!

2008-02-05T18:42:00.000-05:00

I had a harder time choosing who to vote for this year than usual. I was okay with almost all the choices, so it made it hard to narrow down a final candidate to get behind. I finally decided - good thing, because I had to vote today! Our family is going for Barack Obama! I'm ready for a really intelligent president, and I like his ideas, so I finally committed and gave him my vote! If he is the Democratic candidate for president I even have some signs ready to hang up on my fence.

2008-02-01T16:46:00.000-05:00

I can't believe how busy I've been since I finished my long-term assignment! I thought once I stopped working every day I would have tons of time on my hands. I guess I forgot what real life is like, and how quickly days fill up! I have been doing a variety of different things. Our Girl Scout troop is finally up and running, I've been working on homeschooling lesson plans, finally seeing some friends, cooking more, etc.

I was excited that I lost approximately 16 pounds during my long-term assignment. I have a new doctor who was very encouraging. He gave me good advice about what I can do to stay on the same track. The most major thing I'm doing is giving up having soda at home. I've always drunk tons of soda, and when the doctor and I sat down and added up the calories I take in every week just in soda, I was amazed. Also, watching Super Size Me really opened my eyes to how bad soda is for you! So NO MORE soda in our home. We're going to try to teach Esme not to get hooked on the stuff either.

2008-01-26T13:40:00.001-05:00

On Thursday Lisa and I got sewing lessons from Edwina, and for the first time ever, I finally feel like I might get the hang of a machine. Edwina is a former professional sewing teacher. Lisa and I have been hand-sewing doll clothes for weeks, but now that we want to graduate to a few simple outfits for our daughters, Edwina recommended the strength of the machine stitch. My MIL was nice enough to give us each a used machine. Now that I'm gaining a little confidence, I'm also looking forward to making some cool stitched scrapbooking embellishments!

2008-01-20T11:43:00.000-05:00

On my last day the second grade teachers gave me a gift certificate to Olive Garden. Yesterday was my monthly scrapbooking day with Lisa, and we'd missed our annual birthday dinner, so we met and had our mini party! Lisa is the most wonderful person - I love spending time with her. We ordered three entrees so we could sample each and bring Ethan home lots of food too. Then we got to come back to my house and scrap for a few hours - this was my kind of night!

2008-01-17T21:44:00.000-05:00

I am a teacher for one more day. One more day of actually having to prep during my prep periods, one more day of seeing the same little faces I've seen for the past three months, one more day of correcting, disciplining, and working with some great people.

Well, it's not exactly like I'll be gone forever. In fact I already know several dates I'll be back at the same school. But it won't be the same. One of my girls cried today because tomorrow will be my last day. I couldn't look at her or I would have cried too.

On a brighter note, tomorrow by 3 I will have returned to my true calling of the last four and a half years - SAHM. Esme asks me every day how many days I have left. I can't wait to take a more active role in her homeschooling, and I'm especially excited about getting to know more homeschoolers in our area. We're ready to write our first narrative on her progress and I know it will be a big undertaking, so I'm eager to get that started too.

I'm also looking forward to having more creative time again! Teaching takes so much energy, it's hard to be jazzed enough to come home and really want to work on detailed projects. This is something I've missed to much, especially since now I'm scrapbooking and sewing and altering. Ahhhh time for me again. That will be so nice!

2008-01-13T23:12:00.000-05:00

I could never have finished this outfit if it wasn't for my friend Edwina. She told me how to sew in the elastic, and explained how to put the bloomers together. This is my third completed outfit for Esme's Bitty Baby, who she named Emily. Esme chose this fabric. It's a little old-timey for me, but she loves it. I have the next outfit in the works out of a soft pink star-patterned flannel.

2008-01-06T23:37:00.000-05:00

I spend quite a while tonight reorganizing and cleaning off my scrapbook table. These Mrs. Grossman cowboy stickers have been floating around my desk since I received them free at CKU about 4 years ago. They never got the boot because my mother-in-law likes old westerns and I always held onto them with the possibility of doing something for her with them. Tonight as a reward for all my hard work I gave myself some creative time and made this card.

2008-01-04T20:00:00.000-05:00

Have you seen Enchanted? Esme and I love this movie so much! We are already fans of the other Disney princess movies, and this one was very fun and the music was outstanding! Esme is obsessed. She has been playing poison apply, steal-my-crown, and singing the songs since she saw it. Her dad got her the CD and since Grandma took her to see it a second time, she's really all about playing Giselle. I an old-time musical fan and this movie definitely combined the big production numbers with and modern story.

2007-12-31T19:33:00.001-05:00

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

We've had a wonderful vacation together - I am bummed that we only have one day left. We've got more family time and couple time than we have in months! I have a short two and a half weeks left of my long-term work assignment, and I'm really looking forward to spending more time with Ethan and Esme.

Lisa and I braved the Black Friday sales to get new computers, so Ethan and my gift to each other is a brand spanking new laptop. (Thank you Staples!) We are loving being able to access the internet, our music, and our pics anywhere in the house!! It is changing the way we use the internet in general. I also got a free printer, and tonight I am going to try printing photos on it for the first time.

I haven't done too much scrapping since I've been working full time, but now I am happily getting back into the swing. Ethan got me an ATG for Christmas and I am feeling inspired to stick lots of little pieces of paper together. Stephanie invited me over to scrap and I did most of a couple pages over there. I have so many great photos to work on - Esme at Christmas, Charles and Kim's wedding, etc. Hope to post more pages here soon.

2007-12-20T17:56:00.001-05:00

I can definitely say this has been my hardest week as a sub. Hasn't been an easy landlady week either I'm afraid. Also, with the holidays coming lots of friends and family seem to be freaking out - we're all overtired and overbooked and it doesn't bring out the best in most of us.

Luckily I am so excited about Christmas that these problems seem insignificant next to the joy of celebrating with my family and giving Ethan and Esme their presents! On Christmas Eve Esme is going to be in her very first pageant! She even gets to do a special dance! I can't wait to see her on stage! Also Ethan and I are very lucky to be on vacation together and have a chance to see each other for the first time in weeks! Also I love making the big meal for my family, and having everyone over to our home.

2007-12-16T11:28:00.000-05:00

Sewing turned out to be hazardous to my health. At least to a small part - my fourth toe on my left foot. A few days after finishing the nightie pictured below in progress, I dropped a needle onto my carpeted bedroom floor and couldn't find it. I meant to go back and vacuum it up to find it later, but I got distracted and didn't find it until I tripped and fell and it got jammed into my foot. I yanked it out and went about my business. When I woke up the next morning (11/26) my toe was swollen and hurt like heck. I went to the doctor - he gave me a tetanus shot and an antibiotic to get rid of the infection. I hobbled around painfully for a week and by Sunday I realized part of the needle was still in there. Tuesday night I couldn't take it anymore and went to the emergency room, where a physician's assistant tried to get it out in the office unsuccessfully and referred me to a podiatrist. My podiatrist turned out to be awesome - he's a great doctor! But he couldn't get it out the next Thursday (12/6) because since I'd had xrays at the emergency room on Tuesday, the needle had moved. I had surgery with a live xray and sedation to take it out on Friday. All this trouble over something so stupid!! Now I have to wear a surgical shoe, I'm on my third round of antibiotics, and the doctor says I only have a 5% chance of losing my toe. My mother in law offered to bring over the sewing machine and teach me how to make doll clothes but I had to say no thanks - it sounds like it is probably too dangerous for me.

2007-11-17T21:25:00.001-05:00

I recently started trying to hand-sew some outfits for Esme's dolls. I was inspired because I found a Bitty Baby at our local flea market for $1, and I thought she'd like to have some clothes for her to wear. This photo is the beginning of the first nightgown I made all by myself! I took photos to get advice from a friend on how to do the neckline.

2007-10-29T20:50:00.000-04:00

I visit my gargoyle friend once a year in October.

2007-10-29T20:03:00.000-04:00

I am currently a second grade teacher! From a couple weeks ago til the end of January I have my very own class in my first ever long-term sub assignment. I am so lucky that it is at one of nicest schools in the district I work in! I am so lucky to work with super supportive teachers and an awesome para too! I never thought I would want to do a long-term gig, but this one is definitely a great fit.

I am currently reading Uncle Tom's Cabin and not getting much scrapbooking done! I am toying with the idea of entering HOF this year, but I'm not sure I could ever actually get all those assignments done while working every day, so I might just save my good ones for MMM this summer.

2007-10-10T19:49:00.000-04:00

I finished The Red Badge of Courage. I am not surprised I was not motivated to read this book in high school. I found it very unsatisfying. Henry Fleming had difficulty holding my interest even as an adult. I can say begrudgingly that I was somewhat enlightened on how it felt to be a soldier in the Civil War, but overall I can't say I liked the book very much.

I also just finished reading a new book (against my current policy of reading classics), The Wreck of the Medusa. The story of a nineteenth century shipwreck wouldn't normally catch my interest, but this book told the very interesting story of the wreck, the after-effects on the survivors, the life of an artist who did a famous painting of the life raft, and French politics of the time. It grabbed my attention right away and kept it through the entire book! My description does not do it justice. It was a compelling story and I finished feeling a little more educated about art and French History. If you enjoy history at all I highly recommend this book!

2007-09-30T09:01:00.001-04:00

Have you ever visited Scraptalk? It is my favorite scrapbooking site, and I am lucky enough to be be on the DT. The message board is the friendliest one I've ever been a part of, and they have a great gallery too. If you haven't ever been, check it out.

This was a tough week for me emotionally and it culminated with an unpleasant incident Saturday night. I am so glad this is a new week and full of new possibilities. The one thing I was really excited about from last week was that my crazy altered flamingos were picked up for publication! They will be in the Paper Trends February/March issue.

2007-09-25T17:49:00.002-04:00

My entry for Last Scrapper Standing! I printed my photo on a transparency, used a transparency for the journaling box, used a Hambly screen print, a 7 Gypsies transparency, a Heidi Swapp silhouette flower, covered a photo corner with mica, used clear buttons, and acryilic letters.

2007-09-23T15:44:00.001-04:00

Did this page this summer - I love those polka dotted Primas!

2007-09-23T13:50:00.000-04:00

Ethan and I have been reading a lot lately. He wanted to read Finn, so to get ready we both ready The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. I hadn't read Huck Finn since college or maybe even high school, so it was such a pleasure! I had forgotten how compelling Huck and Jim's story was. I loved this book! On the other hand, I hated Finn. I knew that Pap was not likely to be a very pleasant or sympathetic kind of guy, but I found the whole book unnecessarily gruesome and violent and disgusting, and found myself unmoved, unchanged, and very disappointed in the end.

After finishing both of those books I decided I would like to go back to Mark Twain and read The Adventures of Tom Sawyer, which I had never read before. I loved this book also. It's a lot different than Huck Finn, but you know reading it that Mark Twain really remembered what it was like to be a young boy. It's full of adventures and was a delightful read.

Since I've had better luck lately with classics than new books, I've just started The Red Badge of Courage by Stephen Crane. I was supposed to read this in high school - one of the Four Classic American Novels - but I'm ashamed to say, I never actually did. Sorry Mr. Sullivan!

2007-09-21T15:36:00.001-04:00

So excited that my next pub will be out next month!!

2007-09-15T20:13:00.000-04:00

It seems like so long since I have just sat down at my scrapping table and worked on some photos of Esme!! I had so much fun doing this page!

2007-09-11T12:34:00.001-04:00

After all these years of talk I finally did it! I completed the first page for my heritage album! I doing it in 8 and a half by 11 size so that I will be able to easily color copy the pages for my brothers. My first page is one of my all-time favorite pics of my grandmother.

2007-09-01T12:03:00.001-04:00

2007-08-26T23:52:00.000-04:00

I've been making tags! I decided to make one for each of my Pink Lady friends at Scraptalk! For several days I've been trying new and fun things! Here are some that I've done!

2007-08-26T22:23:00.001-04:00

We are having car trouble. Two weeks ago our "good" car starting belching white smoke whenever we started it or drove any distance. Our friend Wolfgang advised us not to drive it until we could get it looked at, and a mechanic we trust told us it sounded like a costly repair. Because summer is our very lean time, we decided to try to make the most of our older car and drive it exclusively. On my way to visit a cousin, my older car stalled and wouldn't start again. We begged the mechanic to do whatever it took just to get it on the road, so that Ethan would be able to go back to his job full time next week. Fortunately for us, they did it quickly and not too expensively, so we were back on the road again in a day and a half. Thank goodness!! Hopefully within a few weeks we'll be able to get the other car back on the road too.

I had Stephanie over to scrapbook yesterday. I hadn't seen her in a long time and it was so nice to spend an afternoon scrapping together. She has a very distinctive style and I love her pages. Esme was happy to see her too, and spent a fair amount of time with us.

2007-08-19T22:44:00.001-04:00

Happy Birthday Kaitlyn! My sweet little honorary niece is 4 years old!

2007-08-14T20:23:00.000-04:00

We had a great time camping! We went to Hopeville Pond for 3 nights and the DAR State Forest for 3 nights. We had a party at our site at Hopeville with 17 of the people we love most. It was a good thing my mom brought some emergency hot dogs because we almost every bite we cooked was eaten! We got to swim and go out on the boat while we were there too. Things at DAR were more laid back - and a heckuva lot colder. Due to the elevation, it's several degrees colder there than it is here. The first night we had to have Esme come sleep with us and bring her blankets. Despite the colder temperatures Esme and I still went swimming two of the days we were there. We made the major error of putting the edges of our air mattress up against the side of the tent though, and on our last night there we got a bit wet. I don't mind a little moisture, but I do not like my pillows wet!! We had a great time but due to the rain we were very glad to get to our dry home. We're hoping we can head out into the wilderness a couple more times before Columbus Day!

2007-08-13T20:49:00.001-04:00

Esme and I are on a cardmaking tear. I had no idea how much she'd enjoy sitting down with my old, unloved patterned papers and a glue stick and a little glitter. For the last few days she's been sitting at her little table and I've been sitting at mine, and we've been going to town. Here are a few of mine!

2007-08-10T13:27:00.000-04:00

Some time ago my mom gave me an old roll of Kodak 126 film that had never been developed. I put off taking it in to be processed because I was afraid I wouldn't get anything back. When I went to get a new flash card today I finally took it in, and amazingly, got some pretty cool photos back! These are the best two - they're all very grainy and my mom isn't big on photography, but these two alone made it worth it for me! They were both taken on what I'm guessing was around my 7th birthday. The first one is my grandmother and me - she passed away in 2003 just a couple months before my daughter was born. On her lap is her poodle, Joy. The second is me with my parents - they divorced about 4 years later, and I've been estranged from my dad for about 5 years. I love two things about this photo - my dad is smoking a pipe, and my mom has an expression on her face that looks so much like my daughter.

2007-07-27T15:22:00.000-04:00

Ahhh the last day of Vacation Bible School! I love doing VBS - I went every year as a child and I've been teaching the last three years. The last two years I've been the lead preschool teacher, and had Esme in my class! This week we learned about Obeying God, Worshiping God, Trusting God, Believing in God, and Serving. We had a water park theme so I brought in lawn chairs and beach toys, and the kid's favorite part, the inflatable boat. The best part of the week was when we pretended we are on the open seas and a storm was coming up. We used a fan for wind, flicked the lights for lightning, and had a thunder-maker. We rocked the boat so they felt like they were in heavy waves. A couple little ones were actually getting nervous, but then wanted to do it again and again. Overall it was a great week - I think a few of the lessons might have sunk in, and they kids definitely had fun singing, playing together, and doing crafts.

2007-07-24T00:12:00.001-04:00

I am trying to ignore Ethan so he can finish reading Harry Potter, so I am getting some Pink Lady projects done! These papers go beautifully with some of the pre-wedding pics.

2007-07-22T14:27:00.001-04:00

**THERE ARE NO SPOILERS ON THIS BLOG**
I was so glad I got to go to the Harry Potter party at the store where Ethan works occasionally. It was so fun to see all the kids full of anticipation for the new book, seeing all the people who dressed up, and just feeling the excitement in the air. The crowd counted down from 30 til the owner waved the first copies in the air. Some people went right outside and sat down on the steps to start reading!

I finished the book at about 3:30 am today. I enjoyed it very much. It was a mix of interesting, exciting, mysterious, with a little bit of obvious thrown in. The obvious bits are no less appreciated than the surprises though.