At the edge of your seat?

I know you all have been DYING to see all these photos I have been promising... Well, don't want to disappoint you one bit! Below see the images of T's Valentine's box! Not a stitch of pink or purple was to go onto this box! I wrapped the box and cut the hole in the top. Using my anitquated MM foam stamps, T and I stamped his name on the box... then I left the room. Next thing I know, Chuck and T are talking skulls and crossbones! Tim Holtz to the rescue! They painted them metallic black and used steel wool to add the red. He is so proud of his "Guy Box!"

Then... since I wasn't really allowed to do anything active, I decided to make 25 of these bad boys! I took a 6X6 piece of cardstock, rolled them into rolls and cross pinched the ends at cross angles to make little pillow pockets. Used my crimper to crimp the ends (helped with the glue) and added tags! I used EYELETS! There are lollipops and Hershey kisses stuffed into each pocket, and T added the names of his classmates to the tags! Doesn't it remind you of those Minute Maid popsicles from when we were kids? Man, those were good!

And here is Little Man as a Centenarian. They celebrated the 100th day of school by dressing up as 100 year old people. The kids were adorable! I wish I had permission to show you his classmates! Just too cute! His hair is painted grey, but it didn't show up very well in the photo!
I can barely imagine him as almost 8... stop growing up Little Man! He does have the grumpy old man look down pat!

What will tomorrow offer... another day... another dollar... Day two of work post surgery was a smashing success! Still stayed away from pain pills... two more days of steroids! Update later!

Lights Out!

me

First Engagement Shoot!

Be kind... this is the first ever that comes out of MY camera... just a sneak peak, because this one was my absolute favorite! They were so fun to work with. She is the counselor at my school and I have known her for about three years... I had NO idea what his personality would be like... Boy did he put me at ease... QUICK!

She has already printed, sent, and framed all the ones I got... I was pretty pleased, two of her friends and grandmother said they look just like a professional did it! OK, that made me grin!

Still need to find T's 100 years, but I will add it when I add his Totally "GUY" Valentine's Day box that he did with his dad! I only wrapped the box... oh, and warned his teacher! Will take photos of those tonight!

Back at school today... ONE week post-op! I feel great... I am tired, and can tell I am not 100%, but I did it! I proved people wrong, and I am BACK! With a new BACK! hehe

Lights Out!

me

Phew...

OK, so... how did you spend your last birthday? I spent mine having back surgery. Went in at 5:15AM and was home before the kids got home from school. My great SIL met us at the house at 4:30 so we could head to the med center and she could get the kids to school.

I guess the surgery went as expected... they did have to do a little extra that I don't quite understand, but I am hoping at post-op he can explain what is going on. I really just want to know my future limitations, etc. He lowered my steroids and I will be off of them in TEN days. Maybe this puffiness can go away!

Today I am sitting up and pretty much going about my daily business. I get fussed at, because everyone thinks I am doing too much... but I need to feel normal. The pain I have had is GONE! Now I have the pain from the jackhammering on my back... but I know that pain will subside with time... Still on quite a few meds... but that gets lowered as the days go by as well! And I finally got a shower...

Sorry for the photoless updates... I did do an actual engagement shoot for a colleague of mine, if I can get her permission, I will show some sneaks of those...

And T had his 100 day of school today, and they dressed up as Centenarians... he was absolutely adorable... When I get those off the camera, I will post my Little "old" Man as well!

Lights Out!
me

Quite a "P" Day...

I have been poked, prodded, peed, pulsed, and photod... I had my Pre Op today... and barring anything that shows up... I am set for Monday! Sweet Monday!

Now keep me in your prayers...

Lights Out!
me

Seven More Wake Ups!

To two things... One my 41st birthday... but that is pretty anti-climatic compared to the other thing. Probably the BEST birthday gift I could ever give to myself.

My surgery! It was supposed to be scheduled for the 29th which would have given me a few extra days to recoup, but the OR was booked... so it is now the 1st. Is it weird, ominous, to have surgery on my birthday? I don't know... but I just know that the pain will be gone. Yes, I will have the surgical incision to deal with, but he said it is less than an inch long! The elephant that has been sitting on my lower body will have found a new residency... That is the pain I am ready to be done with.

I am done smelling like Ben Gay, I am done with my heating pad, I am done reading every magaziine, grading all papers, and basically lying flat, just so I can work during the week. I am ready to PLAY again. Ready to be a mom! Ready to be a wife! Ready to get off these steroids and pain killers that seem to guide my day! I am ready!

Speaking of pain maintenance. I have tried every gel, lotion, patch, etc to help bring the icy/hot relief during the day without trying to teach tethered to a heating pad! Well... I thought I hit Pay Dirt with Therma Care wraps. Man, that was awesome. The heat felt so good, it stayed in place, the adhesive didn't rip the top layer off of my skin... Then came the time to take it off! Those cute little heating devices that made my day so comfortable BURNED my skin. I now have NINE blistered areas on my lower back... Talking about adding insults to injury... lower back pain, myelogram pain, blood patch pain, and now stupid burn blisters... it is just almost comical! Trust me, I am laughing! Trust me... don't buy those Therma Care patches... and if any of you happen to work for that company... sorry, I won't be using them any more!

Lights Out!
me

Play Break!

Not that I have chosen this... but I have been TOLD to! And it is boring... I am sitting on the couch watching Julie & Julia, and writing this very depressing blog post! See... NO PLAY!

Wednesday, I had the pleasure of having a myelogram... basically, they lay you on your stomach and shove long needles in your back and put a fun little dye contrast into you and see what part of your nerves are being effected! Sounds like fun right? Sure... they tell you that you might have a headache afterwards but to drink plenty of liquids and lie FLAT for 12 hours. Flat... does not equal scrapping, playing with kids, or anything else for that matter!

Next day, I decide to head back to school and enjoy my life... then the battle axe side swipes my head and I have no idea what is happening. Nurse calls, says to drink more and lie down. OK, so when I go to the doctor on Friday for my pre-op I would ask if it was normal... apparently NOT! I am back on my stomach for something called a "blood patch" They apparently "knicked" something while they were inserting the dye and I was leaking spinal fluid which caused the spinal headache! So they take 20cc of my blood and shove it back into my spinal canal to heal their "knick!" Now... I am watching Julie&Julia, and not scrapping... Thanks for the fun!

E is at a friends, the boys are at baseball, I have finished two novels, a magazine and graded half of my diagramming tests... and NOW have written probably the most boring blog post in the history of A Blonde Moment! And in one week and one day I will turn 41 AND have back surgery!

So... for now... I am sure after being on my back for a week, you can have plenty more of these boring posts!

Lights Out!
me

And playing some more...

This time I am playing in that nice clean room... Just wanted to share some of the layouts that I have accomplished since Operation Purge!


This was our Santa photo... The journaling is actually a Dear Santa letter from me wondering how many more of these photos I am going to be allowed to have. My favorite part of this layout are the trees. They are duplicates of the trees that I used on the front of the 80+ homemade Christmas cards I did this year. So... added a little memory to that as well. The sketch is page maps.

Got some great photos of Chuck doing some grilling. That boy can grill... definitely a Grill Master. About three years ago, when one of our SB stores went out of business, I bought the male/female QK dies not knowing what in the world I would EVER do with them... Worked perfect for that "I", I thought! Didn't want to use ribbon on the "manly" layout, so I simply crumpled and pleated!


And then I posted this as my OLD/NEW stash layout over at Coordinates Collections. We actually had enough snow to build one of these little guys. The kids were so very proud. I also used my new glue stamp pad and flocked the bottom of those Heidi Swapp acrylic letters. You can't really see it, but it looks like snow on there! This is a complete scraplift from the December CK I believe... just LOVED the way the holes punched in the edges gave it some pop

I have another item I am DYING to share, however, the receiver hasn't received it yet, and she pops on here everyonce in a while to see her favorite niece and nephew... so I can't reveal that yet! AND... a DOUBLE layout with MULTIPLE photos layout is on the table just waiting for journaling about the LSU game we attended! I will get that up this weekend!



Lights Out!
me

Fortune Cookies?

I don't eat them... but I am a stickler for reading them... Mine today was perfect!

"Your smile is a curve that can get a lot of things straight."

Says quite a bit don't you think?

Lights Out!
me

Playing...

I am sticking to my word of play... Now granted, it is only the SIXTH of January, but because I spent so much time in my room before the new year... my room is ready to play in when I have the few minutes to do it! And because it is such a huge rarity that my room is this clean... I wanted it documented.


I am very proud of my room. I have worked hard to get it the way I want it, and I know that I am truly blessed to even be able to say that I have this room for my craftiness. Ask Chuck, he says he has NO place in the entire house except half the garage (that MY car is parked in where his is in the driveway) and his "front door!" He is the only one that uses the front door, the rest of us use the garage door.


So... Now I want to take you on a personal tour of my precious space! Yes, Mom! It will stay clean! We started off by painting it a cool color called Green Tea! It is a litttle softer than the greens I used in my decorations, but it is a perfect soothing scrapping color!


ONE: This is what my room looks like from the living room. I can see the study and family room and still be connected to the rest of the family when I am in my zone. Chuck installed the French doors which keeps the dog out of my room!



TWO: This is my table. It is a 600 pound butcher block that my FIL saved from the trash bin after OSHA declared no more wood cutting boards. They didn't have room in their new house, so I get to babysit this beast of a table! The window looks out into our front yard. I added the close up of two more of the altered items I did to match the carousel you will see later. One houses scissors and glue... the other was fun to do... left over Crystal Light containers, altered and ready to store all writing utensils!


THREE: My big set of Expedit bookshelves from IKEA! They store everything from albums, to knick-knacks, to bin storage. In the storage I have tools, embellishments, cards stuff, stamps, chipboard, etc. I am ok with just throwing everything in the bins that belong in that bin! My wooden chipboard bins from Michaels will be altered this weekend. Going to spray paint them white and decorate them to match the other goodies!


FOUR: This is my computer desk from Target and my little shelves from IKEA. More knick-knacks and the bins house computer programs and CD photo storage. I altered my MM carousel and then decided to alter everything else that I used as storage to match it. Nothing is appearing safe that is alterable! On top of the shelves are a collection of M's for our last name and my beloved antique camera collection!

FIVE: The back side of my French Doors. Chuck built a shelf at the top that stores more of my M's, some photos and a layout I doubled and framed.


SIX: We had a lizard stored here... he has since found a new home, so now it is my cutting station, idea board from an old house window, and my newest fun... My SIL hand painted that quote on the wall for my daily inspiration. Isn't she a doll, and has the neatest handwriting ever! She did that in under ten minutes while we were waiting for the Turkey Dinner to settle at Thanksgiving! LOVE her! And it completes my room perfectly!

I have a layout from Christmas on my table right now just ready to get glued down. It sure makes it easier to get in there when everything is clean!


I would LOVE to see your rooms... leave me a link and let me see what yours looks like!


Lights Out!
me

Happy 2010!

Wow, that seems weird... It has been a pretty good one so far, however, it is only 11:30 in the morning. But... the boys slept late, I have finished two layouts, and started working on an altered item that I am realtering to match other goodies in my room...

AND... Chuck woke up in the mood to do some home improvements this weekend! Works for me!

My main goal of this post is to talk about my Word Of The Year! Ali Edwards started this a few years ago, and I jumped on it. Not always with much vigor as others, but still!

I have picked my word... and I wanted to keep this year light and simple!

PLAY!

And here is how I plan on working it into this wonderful new 2010!

• With me... I want to play and enjoy daily life.
• With family... I want to enjoy every moment I am allowed to play with them.
• With the house... I want to continue to make this house our home.
• With food... I want to get better about trying new foods and helping with the cooking.
• With photography... I want to learn how to use this camera and play with photography.
• With school... I am having an amazing year, and I want to continue to play with my students and teach them at the same time.
• With reading... stop worrying about what others are reading and read what I enjoy... I do teach MS and love reading what they read... but at the same time, through in some good old fashioned grown up books.
• With learning... I would love to continue being the best teacher I can be in the classroom.
• With scrapping... I need to get in and let my mind play with paper.
• With blogging... I want to make sure that this is an avenue for me to keep open for my thoughts, random useless info, family updates, scrapping goodies, as well as just playing!

I probably will be adding to this list as things pop into my head. But I do not set resolutions, once they are broken, they are broke. I set goals... My goal this year is to play! Come join me... Did you pick a word this year? I would love to know what your word is and why you picked it!

Happy New Year!

Lights Out!

me

Morning...

Just sitting down and enjoying my very clean, pretty organized, and purged scraproom. I plan on getting in here and getting things done after perusing some online sites. I have actually already completed a project that I have been wanting to do for a while. I used some alcohol inks and fancied up an old hurricane lamp that sits on top of one of my book cases. Just need to see if I want to add a ribbon or something to it!

One of the things I came across over at Coordinates Collections was a photography challenge site. Thanks Natalia for the link. It will do a themed challenge each month for you to take photos each week to fit the theme for the year 2010! I think it is a good chance to learn my camera, take interesting photos that I might not normally take, and get me some goodies to scrap! Can't go wrong there!

Off to upload some photos to Walgreens to take advantage of their .9 photos! NINE CENTS! That will help get some scrapping done!

Lights Out!
me

Merry Christmas...

To each and every one of you! I braved the mall and took T to see Santa! And, Yes, E was a very good sport! She knows she is wanting a pretty big Santa Gift this year and is willing to do just about anything! :)

Have a safe and happy holiday season, from Us!

Lights Out!

me

My Tree

OK, it is time to start connecting with friends in the scrapping world again. Mom has been loving her time over at Coordinates Collections, so I pop in from time to time. My school limits internet stuff, so I have a hard time to connect at work... but I need to get in my scraproom and get busy again. I miss it, and I hope CC can get my going again.

First thing first... they wanted to see photos of our trees... so here is mine! It is ten feet tall and nine feet wide! And my mom actually got to see it in real life this year and even helped me decorate it. Truly loved that!

The tree skirt is handmade by my mom to match the stockings on my mantel. My grandmother made mine and then my mother made the ones for Chuck and the kids. Truly a treasure, and I hope that she will be able to make the kids' family stockings as well!

Lights Out
me

Here is...

my retirement plan... just maybe he will get good enough to put his parents in a nice situation one day! And I don't mean a home!

and then E had her Spotlight Company production. A Christmas Carol - Circus Style! It was amazing! I am so proud of these monkeys!

Lights Out!

me

This isTexas?

They have been telling us through the week that we were expecting snow down here in SE Texas... Yeah right! We might get cold rain, we might get some sleet, or even some dusting... but rarely do we get THIS!




















We even got to leave school early. Not really because of a true snow day like up in the north, but it was supposed to be icy streets right at dismissal. Not good for Texas drivers that barely can drive in rain!

We have never been able to actually build one of these guys. This is a monumental moment...













Expect to see this shot in the family calendar. I should have used it as our family Christmas photo, but I have already taken, printed, cut, and stuffed the photos originally intended for this year's cards. They should go out next week. I just need to write the yearly epistle!













Off to get more photos... aiming for snow angels this time!

Lights Out!
me

5096 Days!

If I say it that way... it isn't as obvious that she is a teenager... I am not a mother of a teenager, but I am admitting that I am a mother of a FOURTEEN year old! How in the world did that happen?

Baby girl... you never cease to amaze Dad and me. You put your whole heart and soul into everything you do! You are happy, healthy, and mine! I couldn't have asked for any thing more. We love you!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY!

Lights Out!

me

Ahhh... Fall hits Houston...

And it is ABOUT time!

I know I said I would add some photos to yesterday's post, and I still might! I have some great ones to add... but for now, check out these fall beauties!

In between a very "sad day in Mudville" and getting dresses for an 8th grade party, and another practice, and a date with Little Man, I sneaked some time in the pumpkin patch! I am pretty darned pleased with what I got!

It sure made the loss this morning sting a little less for me. I am not upset that they lost. I am upset at how they lost. These are kids... seven year olds! They should not have to fight the umpire to win a game. Both teams played their hearts out... our little first place Cubs against the second place Phillies. Would we have won if the ump hadn't called all those bad calls... Who knows... but we would have had more of a chance! One more game, guys! One more game! You are still in first place in the league and in all our hearts!

Little Misses... I am amazed at the young ladies you all have turned into. I have watched you all grow up for the last ten years, and am so proud of all that you all have accomplished. May the four of you be life long friends.

Now... I am off to go pick you all up from the dance!

Lights Out!

me

Hmmm...

This is pretty indicative of my life lately!

Kids: GREAT! E has been running cross country and leading the 8th grade team... exhausts me just telling you about it! She has made her very best time the past two races and is headed to conference meet on Tuesday! First round of report cards made us all smile! We are so proud of her!

T is finishing up fall ball in Little League and with two games left in this season, they are 6-0! Pretty exciting... Two weeks into games, he was asked to join a select team. It is pretty cool... a little more hard core than we expected... but we signed up. We will see how this works... as long as he is having fun we will take on the ride! His first round of report cards also brought all smiles... what a great set of kids I have!

Us: GREAT! Between work... kids' sports... homework... dinners... it is just nice to find that place at the end of the day! Love you, Postie!

Work: Exhausting. I have never worked as hard as I have this year... but in all honesty... despite the craziness that has come down from the "powers that be," the students I have this year are amazing. I actually feel like I have a relationship with these kids. They are just fun and really want to learn... I mean, who wants to learn about intransitive verbs on a beautiful Friday afternoon. Yeah, I know it sounds like a dream, and I probably could have convinced them to do something else, but they were actually paying attention and trying! Great kids!

Home: Needs a good cleaning, laundry is ready to be done, and the dog has painted my kitchen floors with muddy foot prints... but it is ours! The roof isn't leaking, the family is here, and it is HOME! Love being here!

Family: Everyone is happy, healthy, and just enjoying life!

Scrapping: Despite the non-stop activity in this life, sanity does need to be maintained! Scrapping to the rescue! Have had quite a bit of luck completing things in spurts! Next task... Christmas cards!

This post seems awful boring... maybe I need to add some photos! Yeah... photos would make it perfect! But not at this hour!

Lights Out!
me

We Remember...

Just wanted to take a moment and reflect on this day eight years ago. Some people remember the bombing of Pearl Harbor, some people remember the day Kennedy was killed. This generation will remember the day the twin towers fell.

I will always remember what a great country we live in. A country that lets us choose where we go to school, where we worship, where we live, who we marry, and even who our leaders are. We may never all agree on everything, but we know that in this country, that is ok!

To those that lost family, friends, neighbors, let us forever honor their memory today. To those that lost their lives trying to save others, let us forever honor their memory today. To those that continue to fight for the freedom that the rest of us cherish, thank you! May you be able to some day know that you are our heroes.

Lights Out!

me

Thanks Jennifer...

Thanks to Jennifer and her little challenge on her blog, I got a total of TEN layouts done using supplies I already had in my stash. I have three more layouts lined up to work on while I am here at my mom's... but I won't get them done and photographed before midnight tonight. Here are the newest five to add to the ones already posted! Thanks again, Jennifer

Lights Out!

me