CJ Instruction Page

Well, another weekend is over and soon I'll be back at work but for now I'm still playing. I spent today scrapping with a friend. While I didn't get a whole lot done, I had a great time. It was really wonderful to have someone to scrap with. I worked on a circle journal and I'll be mailing it out tomorrow. Another circle journal finished and ready for picture insertion. I'm looking forward to adding pictures to my fabulous album. I just love the pages that were created for my album. The ladies who participated in this round continue to surprise me with their quality of work. Thanks to all the talented ladies who worked on my album.

Just as that circle journal ends, a new one begins. I'm participating in another circle journal called Daily Numbers. We each have to pick a number from 3 to 9 and then pick a topic. I've chosen 4 Unusual Things You've Done. Here is my Welcome/Instruction Page. My first 2 layouts will be forthcoming.

So, here you go...

Honest Award

My scrap pal, Lora, has tasked me with listing 10 honest things about myself so here they are...

1. I’m a bit of a perfectionist. Ok, maybe a bit more than a bit. Some of my darling scrappy friends (and you know who you are) call me an over-achiever but I just think that comes from my need to have it just right.
2. I tend to over-think things. If someone makes a comment, I sometimes wonder if there is more meaning behind it or should I take it at face value. Unfortunately, I’ve learned the hard way that you can’t always take people at face value, for it may be a phony face they are showing you.
3. To my detriment sometimes, I’m extremely sensitive. I get hurt very easily but I think it also allows me to feel great love, passion and compassion. I can cry because of a Disney commercial just as easily as I can at someone’s cruel remark.
4. Poker is not my game because I’m completely incapable of hiding my feelings whether it be great joy, displeasure or a pair or aces in the hole. I am "all-out" there for all to see.
5. I get impatient with non-English speaking customer service representatives. That drives me bonkers! I don’t know if it’s a mental block or perhaps because I’m nearly deaf in my right ear, but I have such trouble understanding accents.
6. I hate people who snail on the road like they are the only ones on it. Get out of my freaking way already and as Lisa and Elaine can vouch, I use my horn…frequently! I sometimes wish I could have a fire truck’s or an 18 wheeler’s horn installed in my car just so I could wake up the slow-pokes in front of me.
7. I can be bossy. I certainly don’t mean to come off that way but unfortunately, I wasn’t blessed with that gift that some people have of being able to say something off-color or cheeky and get away with it.
8. In keeping with the bossy-ness, I sometimes have a hard time with authority. I don’t do well taking orders and never would have made it in the military. Thank goodness I listened to my mother and didn’t enlist in the Coast Guard for I surely would have ended up in Leavenworth or the like.
9. I can be stubborn and have even been known to hold a grudge. However, with the loss of my mother recently, I’m trying to let go of all that because life really is too short.
10. I like to give presents. I wish I was wealthy so that every time I heard a loved one or a friend say, “I wish I could…” or “I wish I had…”, I would be able to make that happen for that person.

So there you have it. 10 honest things about me. This was an interesting task; kind of forces one to acknowledge things about oneself that we may not want to but I had fun and I was honest so I've earned my award.

According to the rules, I'm also tasked with forwarding this on to three people whose blogs I find brilliant in content and/or design; or those who have encouraged me. I have to tell them they've been awarded Honest Scrap, and inform them of the guidelines. Now again, this is not necessarily an easy thing to do. All of my scrap friends are brilliant and they have certainly all encouraged me. I'm going to bestow this award on Carrie, Jessica and Emma as we are just getting to know Jessica and Emma now. I'd originally chosen Elaine but after a quick visit over to Melissa's blog, I noticed that she'd also chosen Elaine so I'll change mine.

Go Jets

Yesterday afternoon, I got a call from my son and this is how the conversation went:

Logan: "Mom, I need you to get me green face paint"

Me: "Ok, for when."

Logan: "Tomorrow"

Me: "Are you kidding? Why?"

Logan: "Jets Spirit Day at school."

There was more to the conversation but those of you with kids, know what came next. So, after work, I ran to Toys 'R Us to get some green face paint where I got sent to all corners of the store by unknowledgeable employees only to discover that they don't sell face paint in the first place. I then went next door to a Party City where again, I got sent to a number of wrong aisles. Finally, I found that elusive tube of green paint. I also bought a tube of white just in case.

This morning, we got up a little extra early to allow for "makeup" application. We'd searched the net last night for examples of Jets fans' painted faces to no avail so we opted for a simple bi-color design. I have a green middle finger now but my son went to school very happy with the results. Here is a pic of how my kid looked. Notice the green sweatshirt too. Go Jets!

New Visitor

Well, last night we had a visitor in our house. My son decided to pick up one of the kittens that I feed outside and bring him inside. He's about 2-3 months old I would guess and just adorable. My husband came home from work just as this was happening and before the poor guy could even take off his coat, my son handed off the kitten to him to babysit while he finished his homework and I went to cook dinner. Nothing says, welcome home after 10 hrs of work like a kitten, right?

It would appear that while I was being a good wife and mother and cooking for my hungry boys, my husband was building a nice little bond with the furball. Jim wrapped the kitten up in his hoody who then went to sleep. But as if that wasn't enough, Jim even held the baby the whole time he ate dinner and until he went to bed.

That's when all heck broke loose. Jim tried to give me the kitten and he freaked, the kitten, not Jim. He scratched my face, arm and bit my middle finger which bled like crazy. We managed to calm him down but it was evident that yet another kitty favored my husband. Geez Louise! What do I have to do to get a cat of my own? We wrapped him up back in the hoody and set him down in the corner of the couch where he slept until 3:30 am until he decided he needed to relieve himself. I was sleeping then until I was awoken by the tell-tale sound of gastric distress. My nose was first assaulted by the smell and then my eyes once I turned on the light to find a watery mess on my couch cushion. Ugh! We'd provided the little guy with his very own litter box but evidently, he didn't quite know its purpose. So there I was scrubbing down the cushion and then febreezing. Finally, at 4 a.m., I slipped on a coat and returned the kitten to his little "cat-house" across the street built by one of my neighbors. I settled back into bed until 5:48 when Shave, the boarder kitty, cried to be let out.

So, needless to say, I'm more than a little tired today, have boo boos and still don't have a cat that loves me! Can I get a group awwwwww???

Here are some pics of the almost-my-kitty.

Ok, now for post No. 2. I received some much needed and even more appreciated advice from my fellow bloggers today (thank you, ladies) and my blog is starting to look like something now. It's come a long way from the mess it was last night but it still has plenty of room for improvement. I'm not feeling as frustrated or intimidated as I was last night so perhaps this will feel like fun soon.

Now that I have this brand new, pretty blue blog, I think I'll upload some pictures of a mini album I made last week. It was my first mini album. Geez, this month is full of firsts so far. My first mini album, my first blog. Wonder what the rest of the month will hold. I made this mini album about my three resident cats. I say resident because I feed a number of outside strays who don't live here save one little black cat who has recently become a parttime boarder. We had some frightfully cold nights two weeks ago and Shave, as I call him because he had a section of fur shaved from his right front paw, just sauntered in one night when I opened my door to put food out for the other strays. He ate and then found a nice spot on my couch and went to sleep. Now he shows up late at night crying at my window to be let in. Upon entrance, he eats and then curls up in a ball until around 6 am when he cries to be let out for the day. He's quite sweet and very lovable. In fact, I get more love from him than I do from my spoiled rotten kitties who favor my husband. Figures, right? Well, here are the pics of the mini album.

Well, this is my very first post on my very first blog. I finally jumped in and caught up to the rest of the world in the 21st Century. I really don't know what I'm doing yet but how else can one learn than by doing, right? Right! So here I begin a new chapter...eh...post in my life and my blog. Kindly forgive the primative state of it. I promise it will get better as I learn more and get help from my blog-savvy friends. I'm sure they will have plenty to offer in the way of help which admittedly, this blog sorely needs. Ok, off to figure out this thing...