Busy Busy Busy

Look who I got to spend time with last weekend --- Donna Downey. On Friday I took two classes that she taught at Memory Lane and had a blast. She is really a fun person to be around. I actually picked up a few tips from her and enjoyed the spark of creativity she provided. I met some really nice people and felt that I need to take more classes to provide more inspiration. I even signed up and attended the crop on Saturday night and boy was I glad that I did. I sat with some very nice girls that are part of the PA Scrappers group on yahoo. They were very welcoming and the time just flew by. I even accomplished putting many of the animal pic pages together for the animal scrapbooks.


I haven't actually done too much scrapbooking lately but the ideas are certainly swimming around in there. I started the 21 day challenge on Rhonna F. blog and did Day 1 (YEAH!). Days 2 and 3 await my creativity. I also signed up for another quarter of BPS with Donna Downey. Again, I started out strong and then stopped doing the assignments. I intend to change that right away. I do see a pattern of starting a lot of projects and then failing to complete them all the way. This isn't just in scrapbooking, but in other areas. That is something I really need to work on. Maybe that will be my bad habit that I break during the 21 day challenge.

This picture was taken by Donna when she was demonstrating how to lose 10 pounds in a photograph. This picture was taken from above and yes, it really made me look thinner. I have to remember this!!!


Spring is here and the weather has been warm and sunny. I am ready to get into the garden and start planting flowers and vegetables. Maybe this year the garden will be much bigger and more plentiful. The forsythias are just about ready to be in full bloom and this weekend our property should be lined in bright yellow.

Signs of Spring

Just a few signs of spring seen this morning. It is still pretty cold out and I am not sure if the peas I planted last week will make it. We haven't had a frost, but it has been cold here.

What I'm doing now!

It's been over a week and time to play a little catchup on what's new. Here in number format is what has been happening:

1. I am continuing my preparation for the A+ certification test which I hope to take by August. It's an awful lot of reading and memorizing and working with my fixer up computer, but I do enjoy it. I only wish the study guides where smaller and more portable. I have to say that I am really enjoying listening to the Harvard computer class on my iPod. It makes my long walks very interesting, especially when I get information that I can use. The only drawback is that I think I am boring my family to death when I start talking about computers. Oh well, it could be much worse.

2. I am looking forward to taking 2 classes and cropping with Donna Downey next weekend. I just love reading her blog and following her scrapbook journeys and creativity. I am nervous about cropping outside of my comfort zone but I think it will be fun just the same. I still am not feeling all that creative lately even though I continue to buy more scrapbooking stuff (especially the new Basic Grey). I just have to dive right in and start working on a new project and see where that takes me. I want to blame it on my setup in that it is hard to scrap at my desk, but that just isn't so when I see the spaces other people have. Anyways, I hope to get inspired with the upcoming events at Memory Lane and hope to do more posting and submitting of projects. I am still planning on going to the Creating Keepsakes convention in July.

3. While studying and scrapbooking, I always need to have something to watch on my laptop. Lately it has been the Sopranos. Love the show, love the characters, love the humor, hate that Adrianna got bumped off. I go through different phases, Gilmore Girls phase, 24 phase, Frasier phase, etc. Right now it is definitely the Soprano phase. I really enjoy the music that is a part of the show. They are in the sixth season now which is scheduled to be the last one. Too bad, as it is really a good show with excellent writing. If only JAG would come out on DVD, I would be a very happy camper.

4. Walking, walking, and more walking. Today I started my long walk (2 miles) without Kitty so that I could go at a faster pace. My legs were a little jelly-like when I got home, but well worth it. Hopefully, I will make this a daily habit as I really need to get on the stick and lose weight. Now that I know what the problem with my knee is (a cyst), and the resolution, I can begin to think about going back to karate. I really do miss it and how it made me feel (empowered, strong). Casey and I plan to go back in April. YEA!

5. I haven't done very much reading lately but did finish the book by A.J. Jacobs about his reading of the encyclopedia. It was very entertaining and Greg wants to read it this summer. I am also reading The Encyclopedia of an Ordinary Life by Amy Rosenthal and find it interesting. There has been scrapbooks classes done along this theme and I may try to do my own Encyclopedia of ME. I just picked up James Patterson's book The Jester and find it very true to his format (3 pages per chapter=easy and fast reading). I went to the library yesterday for the first time in awhile and picked out 4 books to read. Hopefully, I will get through all of them (especially the Sarah Vowell book).

6. Still working on the two websites for 2 non-profit groups. One is just beginning and the other is nearing completion. Hope they go over well.

Another quilt done this weekend

and Casey wants it. It was just a block of the month log cabin quilt, but she loved it. I will put a border on it and get it machine quilted and she will have it for college this fall. She will also get a Tshirt quilt eventually, but she is still wearing the tshirts that will go into the quilt. This picture is the flannel quilt I finished for the family room. It is made of all flannel fabrics that I purchased at a quilt store in the Adirondacks. It has a very outdoorsy them and Greg fell in love with it (it's pretty warm) and now it is on his bed. Larry keeps asking when he will get one. I'm pretty happy with how I have been finishing projects lately. After working for the last 7 years, it has been nice being home and getting other things accomplished. I have chicken stewing on the oven and homemade noodles drying for dinner. Greg and I threw a baseball around after school and I spent 2 hours outside with the dog. What a life!!!