How embarrassing!

I just realized that ever since I started this blog, I've had a typo in the text under my header. And to think, I used to be an editor of my college magazine!!

I'm a good little bleeder!

So I went to give blood yesterday. Our city was having a blood drive called "Battle of the Badges." It was a friendly little competition between the police dept. and the fire dept. to see who could get the most friends and family members to donate. I am a very proud daughter of a HFD Battalion Chief, so I just had to go do my part for the firemen.

When the lady gave me the little squeezy ball thing and started drawing my blood, she said, "You've got a really good vein, so this won't take long." Well she was right. The little hand out they give you said it would take 6 to 10 minutes to draw the blood. About four and a half minutes later she said, "You're done! Stop squeezing!" They got me all disconnected and a little old lady volunteer came over to 'help' me over to the cantina. She asked me if I wanted her to carry my purse, and I was thinking, Lady, I'm not sure you could even lift my purse! I wasn't the least bit dizzy or lightheaded, but I was a good girl and I ate my cinnamon roll and sat there the required 15 minutes. Giving blood is one of those rare situations where being a nice sturdy girl is really an advantage. There was this little bitty skinny thing there who'd finished giving blood about the time I got in the screening line, and she nearly passed out about three times. I've never had that problem.

The Red Cross seriously needs to check into changing the tape they use to bandage you after you give blood. When I took it off my arm, about three layers of skin came with it. That hurt ten times as much as that needle! Even today -- nearly 24 hours later -- I still have a big red welt in the exact shape as that stupid tape! It's all sore like a burn. Is that much sticking power really necessary to hold that tiny piece of guaze?? Really??

So hubby's going back to work tomorrow. I'm so happy! I hope it doesn't make his ankle too sore, but if we had to live on just my paycheck for much longer, we'd be in serious trouble! We're still waiting to hear on the job he interviewed for, so don't uncross those fingers just yet!

My best friend, Teri, is trying to get me to sign up for a Yoga class at the Y with her. I'm not sure about it. I'd love to do yoga, but I'm not sure I'm keen on learning yoga in front of all of those people I don't know. I've never really been famous for my grace. =) I guess we'll see what happens. She's going to put Leah in gymnastics and soccer, so I'm excited about all of the cute photos I'll get to scrap.

Well, I've been working on this post forever, so I suppose it's time to wrap it up. Until next time...

I've been tagged!

Thank you Shannon for tagging me!

What were you doing 10 years ago? - I was 17, and a senior in high school. Getting ready to graduate, working on the yearbook, getting ready to move out of my parents house, working at McDonalds.

What were you doing 1 year ago? I was a newlywed, telling myself I really needed to get to work on those thank you notes!

Five snacks you enjoy: Chocolate Creme Oreos, Double Vanilla Ice Cream, Cheese-Its (Cheese Nips need not apply. They're no substitute), Brownies, and Doritos with Tex-Mex Sour Cream

Five songs to which you know all the lyrics: "Dark Lady" by Cher, "I Will Always Love You" by Dolly Parton, "Stay" by Lisa Loeb, "Ain't That a Kick in the Head" by Dean Martin, "Fly Me to the Moon" by Frank Sinatra

Five bad habits: Smoking (I know, I know! No preaching please!) Junk food, CAFFEINE!, waiting until the last possible minute to put gas in my car, getting on the computer before I've got everything else done.

Five things you like doing: Scrapping blogging and blurfing (I count that as one), going to football games, playing pool, beading, hanging out with my friend's little girl, Leah.

Five things you would never wear, buy or get again: Barbeque Pringles, Crocs rubber clogs, bras from walmart, a Wet-Dry Electric Shaver, Pantene anything (it makes me itch!)

Five favorite toys: My computer, my Rebel, my DVR, my camping equipment, and Photoshop!

Five people I want tagged: Emily, Susan, Lisa, Cassie, and Kim! Enjoy ladies!

What a week!!

I've been neglecting my blogging and blurfing lately. I know, and I'm sorry. It's just that things have been rather hectic around here, what with working, working my second job, and nursing my invalid hubby. Tonight is the first time I've been able to spend all evening on the computer the way I'm used to. I got this birthday card for SBB done tonight. They are putting together a book of these that everyone can browse and download. With everything that's been going on, this is about the only part of SBB's birthday-week festivities I've been able to participate in. I must be tired. I keep ending sentences with prepositions. Sue me. =)

An update on hubby: His ankle's healing nicely. The swelling finally went down Wednesday, and he's been able to get along on just one crutch. This is a good thing, because he isn't very graceful on those crutches anyway. (lol!) In the true spirit of Murphy's Law, this week while he was laid up, he got calls from all of the temp agencies wanting to put him to work. It just figures that when work finally becomes available, he can't take it. There is good news, though. He is going to try to go back on the schedule at his regular job Monday, and today he had not one, but two interviews. Thursday he applied for a full-time job and they called him for an interview this morning. Then a couple of hours after he got home, they called him back for a second interview this afternoon. I think things look good that they'll hire him, and they already know he can't start until he heals, and they seem to be okay with that. *Keeping fingers crossed!

More good news: My best friend, Teri, is moving, and her new house is just three doors down from mine. I'm way stoked! I'll get to hang out with them all the time (even more than I do now, if that's possible) and her little girl, Leah, can walk down to visit Aunt Miranda and Uncle Bryan any time she wants! Awesome!

Well, this post is packed with just about all of the good news I can think of right now. Good news posts are so much more fun than bad news posts, dontcha think?? So anyway, that's all for now, and with a little luck, there will be a Good-News-Hubby-Got-The-Job post on the way soon!

What a long night!

We spent most of the night at the ER last night. My dh hurt his ankle at work, and by the time he got home, it was really swollen. It just got more painful as the evening wore on, so we decided we should go and have it looked like. I was afraid he may have broken something, because the outside of his ankle was swollen to the size of a grapefruit! We went to the emergency room and luckily they weren't very busy. Even so, after answering the same questions about a hundred times, a few X-Rays, and two and a half hours, they sent us home with some crutches. Turns out he has an evulsion fracture of the fibula. The doctor said sometimes when the tendons and ligaments are strained badly enough, they actually pull off a little chip from the bone. It sounds worse than it is, though, because they just treat it like a bad sprain. Unless, of course, the radiologist finds something more on the X-Ray.

The worst part about all of this, is Hubby just went back to work after a long lay-off. Now he can't work because he's on crutches. So, hopefully he heals really quickly because we need his paycheck to keep coming in. I've got my fingers crossed.

I did another page for the Scraplift Blog. You can see Michelle's inspirational page here. The papers and elements are from a kit I made called "Vivid." Fonts are Courier, Technical, Cuckoo, Carpenter ICG, Heather, HansHand, Lucida Handwriting, Pegasus, and Korinna.

I've been tagged!! I'm so excited because it's the very first time. Thank you Stephanie!

WHAT SCRAPBOOKING PRODUCTS DO YOU DISLIKE?
I haven't found any yet.

WHAT IS THE HARDEST THING YOU'VE EVER HAD TO SCRAP?
Myself! It takes me forever to find a picture of myself that I like well enough.

WHAT TECHNIQUE DO YOU USE MORE THAN ANY OTHER?
I don't know if it qualifies as a technique, but I love to make my own papers and elements. I also really love the faux lomo effect I learned about on Anita's blog.

EVER BEEN PUBLISHED?
I wish. I haven't even submitted yet. I have a tiny little fear of rejection. =)

WHAT IS THE SMALLEST SCRAP OF PAPER YOU SAVE?
I'm all digital and storage space is not abundant. I tend to use something once and then get rid of it.

EVER HAD ANY SCRAPBOOK-RELATED INJURIES?
Just chronic eye fatigue and lack of sleep. lol

FINISH THIS SENTENCE: "IF I WASN'T A SCRAPBOOKER, I WOULD SPEND MY MONEY ON... Beads!!!

GIVE US YOUR BEST STORAGE OR ORGANIZATIONAL IDEA:
I just don't keep a lot of things. Someday when I get an EHD...

YOU JUST WON A WEEK-LONG SCRAPPING CRUISE FOR 4. WHO IS GOING WITH YOU?
Definitely my mom. Then probably my sister and my MIL. None of them scrap, but I know they'd love it if they tried.

TAGS:
I don't think there are many left. I think Kim, and Angela, and Cass. Enjoy ladies!!

Another Scraplift!

This is another Scraplift from over at the Digi-Scraplift Blog. This page is lifted from "Dreamy Eyes" by aussichicpea. I usually don't use so many pieces and layers, because I'm always paranoid that I'll make it look too messy. I LOVE how this page turned out, though. Scraplifting is great! The few pages I've lifted have really come out great, and they all have elements or techniques that I'd never have tried otherwise. Thank you, thank you Susan! If not for your wonderful idea and blog, I wouldn't have two new favorite pages in my gallery.

Credits: Papers and elements are mine. I used a Toastsnatcher Brush for the patterned paper. Fonts are Carpenter ICG and Heather. TFL!!

Scraplift Challenge

I was browsing scrapping blogs the other day and I found Pachimac's "Digi-Scraplift Blog." Susan has found some wonderful pages to scraplift! I decided to join in, and I started with this page which is lifted from Sheri R's "Sweet Smiles" LO. It's a beautiful page, and I hope I did it justice. I've scrapped this photo before, but I tried a new effect on it called Faux Lomo that I read about on Anita Stergiou's Blog. It's a subtle effect that really adds a wow-factor to an ordinary photo. I'm sure I'll use this again and again. I'm looking forward to scrapping along with all of the wonderful scrappers at the Digi-Scraplift Blog. The pages come so much easier with this kind of great inspiration.

The font on this page is Carpenter ICG, and I made the papers and elements myself. TFL!

Just a Little Bragging

Just a short post because it's late, but I have to brag. Hey, if I can't do it here, where can I do it? We had pool league tonight, and my team was awesome! We won four out of five matches. Great Job Girls!! I was very proud of my match. I played a guy whose handicap is two levels higher than mine, and I cleaned his clock. I played some of the best pool I've ever played. I won two games straight with only three innings total. (That means I did it in only four turns.) So my handicap will probably go back up (bummer) but right now I don't care, cuz I kicked butt! G'Night!

Fact or Fiction? Find out here...

I'm here today to address the "Urban Myth" that says men don't listen to women. When I say 'address' I mean to tell you that it is ABSOLUTELY TRUE!! I don't mean in a universal if-the-male-species-would-respect-the-female-species-the-world-would-be-a-better-place sense, I mean my husband doesn't listen to me when I speak.

Now I will readily admit, if words were passed out on a daily ration, I would probably use mine up by noon. That is, I talk a lot. I know this. I'm not proud, but I know. However, on this most recent occasion, that was not the case. We were in between television programs, having a polite little "How was your day?" moment. Let's see if I can recreate it for you.

Me: I got third place in that poker tournament I was playing when you got home.
Him: Cool. Good job.
Me: I won $5.
Him: Awesome.
Me: You know I started with only $3 in that account and I got it up to $29, but now I'm down to about $14.

This is about the point where I realized he had no idea that I was even still speaking. He was going through the program directory on the cable. I pushed on just to make sure.

Me: I'm hoping I can get it up to about $50.

Still nothing. I recognize the fact that this is not the most groundbreaking conversation ever to take place. It's not fascinating, it's not exciting, but it's something I'm interested in, and darnit, I just wanted some freaking conversation with my husband. Here's what happened next:

Me: Oh yeah, and I found out today that I'm pregnant with triplets.
Him: whaaahhh?

In case there's a non-married person reading this, I'll translate. "Whaaahhh" is the sound a married man makes when he's roused from whatever terribly important thing he's thinking or doing when he realizes his wife has said something he should hear but hasn't heard. It's sort of a cross between what and huh. It's not really interest, or shock, or even recognition. I think it's just a sound his neck makes sometimes when he turns his head in my direction.

I asked him if he had any idea what I had said, and he says "Something about third place." I just threw up my hands in exaspiration. He said he didn't realize he was supposed to reply to any of the rest. As if that means I don't care if he even listens!!

It's not that I expect him to hang on my every word. I don't pretend to be the most enthralling person in the world. I would just like him to hear the words that come out of my mouth.

Well, thank goodness for blogs. I feel better getting that out of my system. Don't get me wrong, I love my husband more than anything. This isn't even worth us fighting about. It's just worth one blog-rant. And now I'm good. =)

Diary of a Bad Scrapper

I've been surfing the other blogs on the Digi Scrap Blogs webring, and I've come to this conclusion: I'm a bad scrapper. I don't scrap nearly enough. I have been scrapping since last May, and my gallery at SBB has only 25 LOs. I need to do more. Some of the blogs I've been looking at have a new page posted everyday, sometimes two. I just don't have the photos for that. I don't take enough photos.

Part of my problem is that I don't have a digital camera, so photos can become expensive with the film and processing costs. If only I had a decent digital camera, it would be nothing to just whip it out at a moments notice. As it is now, I have four rolls of film waiting to be developed, and when I finally get them done, who knows if I'll even have decent photos to scrap anyway?

I decided I may be just too picky when searching through my photos. I looked through a few galleries where the owner had taken random snapshots and turned them into beautiful pages. I thought, "Maybe I do have some decent photos to scrap that I've just been overlooking." So I went through my photo box again. I still wasn't inspired. I really do think I'm just being too picky, but I don't know how to solve the problem. Maybe I just need to reach into the box, pull out a photo, and scrap it. No matter how good or bad it is, I need to just find a way to make a decent page out of it.

One thing I really need to do, and I think it may be worthy of one of those pesky "resolutions" everyone's been talking about, is to participate in more challenges. I think if it weren't for cjs and crops, my tiny little gallery would be only half the size it is. So I'm going to try to participate more. Instead of lamenting the lack of photos, I'm going to choose a challenge and force myself to submit, with whatever photo I have that will work. Even if it isn't Ansel Adams quality. I need to liberate myself from the impossibly high standards I seem to have adopted when searching for photos.

One last thing, I need to quit shying away from including myself in my LOs. I don't have kids, so most of my photos are empty of people altogether, or they are of my dh and I. I always dismiss the ones of me because I don't like them, and I know one day I'll regret that. Someday my kids or grandkids will look at my albums and say, "Where were you?"

Once I do have kids, this whole scrapping thing will be so much easier. I'm sure we'll be keeping the film-processing industry afloat single-handedly. Until then, I've just got to push myself to do better. Wish me luck!

What Should I Do?

So I really love my blog. I finally got it to look just like I want, and I got into the Digi Scrap Blogs webring. I LOVE to write entries here, even when I don't say anything important. I used to keep a journal, but it seems like I never have time anymore. Now it's like I have a journal again. So here is my quandary:

How do I get people to read my blog??

I like to read other blogs, and they always have several comments on almost every entry. You can tell there are regular readers that come back again and again. I want that!! I just don't know how. Maybe I'm supposed to go around and beg everyone to read my blog. Yeah, that won't get annoying. Maybe I'll just pretend I have thousands of regular readers that just can't type. That's what I'll do!

Hello thousands of readers!! Enjoy!

P.S. We won three out of five matches at pool tonight. Score!

Not Much To Say...

Well all, there isn't much going on around here, cuz it takes money to get stuff goin on, and we ain't got it. Things are pretty tight since Christmas, but we'll make it.

I've got pool league tonight. I broke my losing streak last week, but not before going down to a three handicap. That's awesome. My matches will be a little easier for awhile. At least until I go bouncing back up to a four. I'm sure it won't be long. I want to stay a three, so I'll go up. If I wanted to go up, I'd stay a three. Such is life.

I haven't done much scrapping lately, because I don't really have any pictures to scrap. I have four rolls of film that are just dying to be developed, but with the aforementioned lack of paper currency, I can't get it done. I've got to get a digi camera! The only problem is, the one I want costs a fortune. Can I help it if I've got good taste?? Hopefully sometime in the next week, I'll get that film developed so I can post some new LOs. I really wanted to try out for a CT, but I think I'll have to wait until I have a better supply of pictures to use. Someday. . .

I Outwitted, Outplayed, and Outlasted... I Survived New Year's

I made it through. It was hell, but not anything out of the ordinary for my least favorite holiday. So now I have a little cash in my pocket and another year before I have to do it again. My new outfit Mom got me for Christmas was a hit. I was actually called "ravishingly beautiful." I've never been called that before. Of course, the guy who said it was watching me pour his drink, so it could have been just a ploy to get me to pour a little heavier. Hey, as long as he puts his dollar in the jar.

Today was a very lazy day. I always spend New Year's Day in my pajamas, nursing sore feet and doing as little as possible, so there's no new LO to post today. I did spend half the day on the computer, though. I was reading Cass's Blog, "Make's Me Stronger," and she just had to mention Qwyzzle, so I have a new reason to spend all my free time online. I made it to level 50 where I'm totally stuck and have already tried all the hints I can find. It's an online quiz/riddle with 100 levels. Some of it is kind of easy, and some of it will make you tear your hair out. Try it, you'll like it. (Saying that makes me kind of like a pusher. lol) It's very addictive.

Well, Happy New Year all! Let's make it a good one. Until next time...