(save)

my computer is not on my good list
not even on my kind of good list
not even on my would be nice & say hi if i was in the same aisle of the grocery store with it but probably wouldn’t yell hello across the parking lot list

no idea what’s wrong
that is not my department
i’m in the blog & play with photoshop department
the manager of the fix it department says it will take a few hours
& he is not willing to give up sleep
so that i can blog with out the screen freezing every 20 minutes
selfish!:)
actually he’s going to look at it tonight
so maybe
maybe
i can learn to love my emac again…

i am accepting it now
the fact that maybe
if i don’t save every 2 minutes
i will lose blogs & pictures & other important things
(save)

i have been through the 5 stages of computer grief
denial:
‘this is not happening…my computer did not just freeze
the mouse simply decided to take a nap’
anger:
‘what the…..AGAIN?!’
followed by many words
that shouldn’t be read by your innocent eyes
bargaining:
(does anger come before or after bargaining? can’t remember…)
‘okay..if i only have safari & photoshop & email running will you please not crash?
okay if only have safari & email running will you please not crash?
safari?
pushing the on button?’
& finally acceptance:
‘i have come to take it as gift every time you freeze
because it means i can clean up small parts of our room
while you warm up again & again you crappy piece of crap…’
oops am i back to anger again?
so soon?
(save)

& that
in a nutshell
(the saying doesn’t specify the size of the nutshell…)
is why my blogging has been
sparse
(save)

but believe me
when we are back on
we are back on…
(save)

:)
(save)

wowza!

you know how sometimes you see someone so much
that you don't really SEE them?
when i saw this picture i thought
'goodness...that is one handsome man i've got'
(& the little girlie on his lap just adds to the love...)
sigh...

:)

ladies & gentlemen...the incredible marathon blogger...

too much in brain…
must purge…

sister shower…
the shower for kate was very fun
a great mix of people
(shout out to grandma, angie, rachael
& any non posters out there)
& just a lovely little time to love on kate
& laugh & give her some presents
i refrained from doing the
‘what you will say on your wedding night’ list
(instructions:
write down interesting things
that the bride to be says as she’s opening gifts
then read later
such amusing things as
‘it’s so cute’
& ‘where did you find that?’
cause giggles
throw in a
‘you should get your own web site’
(thank you monica)
& you’ve got a pee your pants good time…)
ryan’s grandma was there
so i held off
i don’t think my grandma woud have minded
(would you grandma?)
but you don’t want to show all of your crazy to the new family…
until it’s legal…
also ryan’s grandma made the cutest
aprons for kate & ryan
& i’m secretly hoping for one someday
& i don’t think she would make one for
‘that girl with the inappropriate shower game’
(why i think my sister’s grandma in law would make me an apron
is another subject entirely)

~~~~~~~~~~~~~
las vegas…
i know i mentioned it before
but i think this is as close to my dream job
as i’m going to get
at this time in my life
seriously
the show was so great!
i love to see all of the new stuff
& my brain is just in it’s element
with all of the colors
& patterns
& designs
& cute
& cool
dancing around in it…
bliss
:)

& i’m getting paid to play with paper
if i’m dreaming let me sleep a little longer…

the site is looking really good
when it is up
you will be the first to know…

plus i saw my friend eileen
i truly thought i might never see her again
due to circumstances beyond anyone’s control.
but God had other plans…
she is just the greatest girl
we met when i worked at the scrapbook store
but we were bonded for life when we discovered
(i am not kidding)
that she dated b in high school!
is that kooky or what?
& if there is a picture here you will see
we can surmise that b has a thing for
brunette
crafty
witty
intelligent
fun
cute girls
you could tell that all from a picture can’t you?
anyway...
so so so
happy
to see her again!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

on the move…
yes we have a crawler
i think that is what you call it
when they are up on all fours
& moving their arms & legs
& they end up across the room from where you left them
she’s not going to win any baby olympics quite yet
but just give her time
her brother placed in hammer throw
& 100 meter dash
when he was her age:)
so she’s got a good coach…

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

movies...

b & i went to see invincible
a few weeks ago
i am a total sucker for sports movies
ever since hoosiers
is it the predictability?
is it the fact that i wish i was an athlete?
is it the slow motion action shots?
the sweat?
the muscle?
the cheering?
the losing & coming back again?
yes it is all of the above
add in marky mark wahlburg in denim bell bottoms
& pouring down rain mud football
& i’m there…

high school musical…
i mentioned a song from this a few weeks ago
so let’s just add the whole darn soundtrack now.
darling erin let me borrow her dvd
& she may never see it again...
let’s put it in SAT terms, shall we?
emily ruth is to high school musical
as mr Q is to the incredibles
in other words
i wake up & say
‘can i have chokit milk & watch high school musical?’

akleelah & the bee
ummm am i in a feel good movie mode or what?
this is good
a bit unpredictable
but in a predictable way
you know?
& the kids in it are too cute
in a too cool kind of way…
right.

a cinderella story
(note:
this may seem like
a crazy amount of teeny tweeny movies
for a 32 year old to be watching…
blame it in the netflix, yeah, yeah…)
hillary duff
chad michael something or other
(love him in freaky friday
which i own…
come on someone top me!)
a young girl’s father marries a crazy mean lady
he dies
&…
oh you know…

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
tiny tots…

miss Jessica
aka jbmommy
introduced me to this most excellent place
there is nothing better on a rainy day
than to take a little Q man
to a giant room full of plastic toys
& cars
& slides
& say
‘go for it’
& go for it he did…so much fun
playing with sammy...
while Jessica
& i hung out
wearing matching babies
(born 12 hours apart)
& talking to a woman
who had an 11 pound 8 ounce baby
no joke
she said she thinks she was off on the conception date
he may have been in a month too long...
yes
when the baby walks out & says
‘hello, i’ll be your son’
he’s been in a tad too long…
the mother was quite adorable though
so i’ll give her a little grace
(see where being cute gets you?)
we will be joining this group
& i will rename it
‘mommies little sanity club’

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

the office…
this is the perfect show
this show is the son of seinfeld in our house
never thought jerry, elaine, george & kramer
would even have a close second…
but michael, dwight, pam & jim (sigh)
congratulations
'world’s best show' mugs for all….

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
today my cool
cute
nice
funny
smart
kind
strong
two year old wrestling
third grade teaching
seven month old tossing
(not too high)
wood working
husband came home with a hot chocolate for me

love that.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
oprah & gayle’s road trip
i have the bug
get me in a car
throw in some nacho cheese doritos
an i pod
a map of any state
& a half tank of gas
(i like to live on the edge
as an 18 year old angie,
a little blue hundai
the LA freeway
& an empty gas tank will attest)
& i’m off…

i’m going to do a road trip memories blog someday…
get your stories ready…

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

what’s swimming around in your cute little brain?

:)

sheesh!

okay! okay!
so i am a shopper
& a baby girl clothes hoarder
& a buy girl clothes even though you are pregnant with a boy shopper
but you guys way overestimated me!
i feel silly even writing how many of each item
miss m actually has
because it sounds so piddily in comparison to the guesses


but oh well
here are the real numbers
dresses 23 (highest guess 50! five oh
as in oh my gosh do you do anything but buy dresses?)
shoes 12 (highest guess 23, that would be 46 individual shoes)
cardigans 14 (highest 16, close close)
hoodies 8 (highest 15)
jeans 7 (highest 13)
the person closest without going over is.....
no one
but the person closest WITH going over is.....
kel!
nice going kel
i will send you a little fun pack
next week!
& i will save a few of those little dresses
for you
someday you may need them:)

oh & on that note
my dear friend emily h
whose husband's entire side has had baby boys
for the past 2 generations or something
does that make sense?
is that possible?
maybe that's not right
anyway
she has 2 boys
& now she's having a girl!
3 boys would have been just great
& tons of fun of course
but emily with a girl will be so beyond cute!
a little farmer girl!
i love it!
congrats em!
can't wait to buy you some red & pink stuff...


hey thanks for your guesses
maybe i'll do another contest sometime
guess how many storage containers we have without lids
or something exciting like that...
just you wait & see

:)

oh & one more thing
(promise)
las vegas was awesome
rephrase...
the scrapbook show was awesome
vegas was...
vegas
i think my airplane snacks say it all...
actually, i was thinking of changing my blog to this:
'otherwise known as plane cheesey'
what do you think?
(more scrapbbok stuff coming soon...)
:)

dream a little dream of me...

tomorrow i am off to las vegas
as a part of what may very well be
the closest i ever get to my dream job

right now i am working for my friend, tricia
as the creative director
(or something like that, no official name yet...)
for her business...
cocoa daisy
it is a kit club for scrapbookers.
so you can go on the site
(goes live very soon
& don't worry i'll link you up...)
& order a kit that we have put together
handpicking products from lots of different companies
but that all go together really well.

i get to help her choose a theme
& pick out stuff
& then i get to design pages
& projects for the site to show
the design team has 7 other people on it
so there will be a wide variety of examples...

this is my almost perfect job because
1. i get to play with paper & glue & other fun stuff
2. i get paid for it
3. i don't have anything to do with paying bills
4. i get to play with the newest scrapbook stuff
5. finacial matters have nothing to do with me
6. i can work on my own time

the only thing that would make it more perfect
is if there was a store front
& i got to design displays with unlimited budget
& time
& a babysitter paid for
& george c. serving me drinks, while john m. sings
(they're back!)
yes.
show me that job
& i am there.

anyway
we are going to lv for 3 days
for a scrapbook trade show
memory trends it is called.
so we will get to see all of the newest stuff
hello heaven?
is that you?
i loved trade shows when i was a buyer & when i was a rep
they are just fun
lots of excitement in the air

& vegas..
watch out
hundreds of scrapbookers on the loose
you'll be able to see the camera flashes from space
(just like the laser at the luxor)

& you know what they say...
what happens in vegas stays in vegas
unless you are ascrapbooker
then it's photographed, journaled about
& decorated with tastful embellishments...

:)

norm, have you seen the super glue?

each & every single day
i think of new things i want to post…
i love blogging
i’ve never been this consistant in journaling
for some reason
this works for me
(read: it involves interaction with others:)
plus my kids will have yet one more thing to look at
when they grow up
a lovely chronical of their life
in addition to scrapbooks that leave out
giant chunks of their life
(by the way, i have made peace with this fact
i want to enjoy scrapbooking
not feel guilty
so i just do what i can do…)
so thanks to you dear readers
(commenters & non-commenters alike)
i love hearing (& not hearing) from each of you:)

anyway…
on with the show…

Saturday morning we went to the pumpkin patch
this was a brilliant idea on my behalf…
our october is pretty filled up
what with fun wedding stuff
plus the fact that we love UofO football
(go ducks!)


so we headed off to the farm…
sadly the farmers were not in sync with me!
no wagon ride to the pumpkin patch
plus the patch
(& i quote)
‘isn’t really ready yet’
um hello?
halloween is a month away
do they need to go buy pumpkins
& super glue them to last years stems or something?
(how kind & generous of spirit am i?)

anyway
none of that mattered
first off Q had no idea what he was missing
he didn’t remember that a hay ride was even possible
for all he knows
pumpkins grow in big pile in front of Albertsons

second
isn’t the point of this all just to be together?
& together we were!
feeding animals
cutting the u-pick flowers
playing on the play structure
& choosing our favorite pumpkins


i loaded everything into the cutest little cart
because i knew it would make a great picture
& it did
even thought the wheels hardly turned
& there was really no steering to speak of
& it made me want to cuss
but boy did our stuff look cute in it:)

this time of the year is so wonderful
around here…
it is my favorite
& by favorite i mean the change part
especially the change from summer to fall
& winter to spring

i love that in oregon we get every season
some wetter than others
but there is a distinct change every 3 months or so…
& getting cozied up in sweaters?
come on!
what is better than that?
(a close second is
putting them away for shorts in may…)


so we are ready to carve!
the funny thing is
this is our first of 3 trips
to pumpkin patches that we have planned!
it is probably good that the wagon wasn’t running
who could handle that much excitement in one season?

:)

free stuff? did you say free stuff?!?

saturday night was all about adult entertainment
no not that kind
you’ll have to go to a different blog
if that’s what you’re looking for…

so for b & i that meant
kiddos to grammy & pop’s house
(what a ginormous, hugio blessing that is)
& us back to our house
for a couple of hours of doing whatever the heck we wanted
in a house not filled with the sounds of
‘mama?
need shokit milk!
mama?
i NEED shokit milk & juice’
(sorry buddy, one beverage at a time here
what do we look like a college bar?
no double fisting!)

so off b went to the wood shop
seriously
every husband needs to find that place for themselves
where they can just have fun
no pressure
& accomplish something
(this is a big one for b)
he just loves it in there
(& oh boy how happy
it would make my grandpa to know that:)

& i headed off to miss m’s closet
i know it sounds weird & mysterious doesn’t it?
like what could i possibly WANT to do in there?
is there a portal to another land?
where i sit on the beach & scrapbook
while george clooney brings me giant glasses of ice water
(never let it get below half full, georgey)
& john mayer sings gentley in the background
(be a dear & bring a glass for john too would you, george?)…
ahhh….

back here on earth
i love to organize
those of you who have been to my house can stop laughing
right now.
i didn’t say i was tidy
or even a little bit of a clean freak
but i love folding things
& making them look oh so lovely on the shelf
just waiting for a photographer from real simple to arrive…
still waiting.

anyway
poor miss m
her closet needed a do over
thus far the only time i have a moment to do some organizing is
when she is asleep
& strangley enough
she sleeps in her room
where her closet is located
(weird right?)
so i went in there & got busy
(again, not that kind of blog)

now you may think
‘how long could that little job take?
the child in question is only 6 months old
i’m sure emily was back in her geoge clooney portal in mere moments’
(maybe this IS that kind of blog…)

you would be wrong.

how many dresses does a baby
(who can’t even sit up on her own
by the way)
need?

that, my friend is for you to answer
& who-so-ever guesses closest gets a prize
delivered to their home
& a trip through the closet portal…

so post your guesses here in the comment section
& if you don't want to comment publicly
(the pressure of choosing a screen name is quite paralizing, i know...)
email me & i'll post your answer for all to see

extra credit:
how many pairs of shoes does a girl who doesn’t even crawl yet need?
(though she just started that
getting up on her knees & rocking thing yesterday!
brian keeps saying
‘push her down! remember what happened with the other one?’)
how many cardigan sweaters?
hoodies?
pairs of jeans?
(wow, you are going to be rolling in the prizes)

i'll give you a week to ponder this
so next thursday
(a little more than i week i guess)
i will announce the winner

i will even post pictures!
i know.
you can hardly wait…

:)

ps i just want to add that i didn't buy all of these clothes
not that i am not a champion shopper...
but after having Q
i realized that they really only wear each thing a few times
therefore most of the ones i did buy were from garage sales:)
the rest are from various friends who are mom's of girlies
(thanks angie, rachael, wendi & susan g.)
also from grammy (thanks!)
& last but not least from auntie kate
who, when i called to tell her that i was having a girl said
'i'm going shopping tonight'
& she did:)
thanks kate:)