Your Mother Should Know ...

More doodling.

It was a bit cooler here today, thank goodness.  We were out early, ran our errands after church, did the grocery shopping, and then back home to knock a few items off the task list.  Had some time to do another doodling layout! 

Dixie Pieces July Kit is Up!

If you love pink and brown, you'll love the Pink Chocolate kit!  Yum!  Lots of great layouts and cards in the designers' gallery, too.

Time Well Spent

Living in the Pacific NW has been a little warm this weekend!  It's sunny, beautiful and in the high 80s.  And most homes do not have air conditioning, including ours.  We've discussed it but it hardly seems worth the expense and maintenance for 10-15 days a year.  We did, however, research and finally purchase a whole-house fan.  The idea is that, when the air outside is cooler than the air inside, we can pull the inside air out whil pulling the cooler air in.  We think this will meet our needs.  DH finished installing it at noon today, and we'll try it out tonight.  He said the attic was pretty comfortable this morning until about 11am when it hit 80 degrees in there.  But he was so close to done that he wanted to finish. 

Last night we countered the heat by going to the theater to see The Proposal.  Not only was it nice and cool in the theater, but the movie we chose was very entertaining!  I recommend it if you're ready for some fun.

Today I'm scrapbooking.  I wanted to play with some doodling on my pages, and this is my first attempt.  I like the leaves but have mixed feelings about the border.  ;)  Most product is from the July Dixie Pieces kit

 

Happy Independence Day

I'm sure the 4th of July carries meaning for many.  We get the day off work to celebrate the holiday; that's always nice.  We've celebrate with cookouts and fireworks.  Like a kid, I still ooh and ahh when the night sky explodes with light and color.  I can also remember watching fireworks in Alaska, where we had to wait until 11pm for twilight.  Somehow the fireworks just didn't shine as brightly -- they were much better in the dead of winter when we celebrated Fur Rendezvous!  But I digress ...

Another of the pleasures of the holiday is the displays of patriotism.  It moves me to see the flag fly from our home, and I love that DH makes that happen and then takes it down at night.  I have a banner over my front porch that stays from Memorial Day until after Labor Day; I love that, too.

 

And this year, just five days after Independence Day, a dear friend becomes an American citizen!  How exciting that must be!  Congratulations, Miss Marci, and welcome!  This song is for you, soul sister!  The video quality is poor, and youtube won't let me embed it, but it's still worth the listen.  This is probably in my top 20 faves, and I'll bet you love it, too.  :)

Thumpin' Thursday

It's fun going back to the good ole days and looking at the music we listened to then.  It's a bit hard to type "the good ole days" though. When the baby boomer generation hears that term, it usually means the time of no cars, no tv, no indoor plumbing, etc.  Now OUR music is golden oldie material!  Goodness -- sometimes it's even been made into elevator music!

I can remember when WMBD Peoria played elevator music, and that's the station we listened to at home.  Until mom left the kitchen!  Dishes and clean up were done to WIRL, a more contemporary radio station -- unless she came back into the kitchen!  Again, I'm sure we were no different then kids of other generations before and since.  My kids tried to change the radio channel in my car.  And that was okay -- as long as I wasn't in it!  :)  And my mom did not appreciate the Beatles -- until their music was about 20 years old.  Then it was okay!  :)

Today's choice goes back a little further than 1969 but is still in the high school era.  Lou Christie's Rhapsody in the Rain was banned from WIRL radio because of it's suggestiveness.  See wikipedia if you're curious, or just listen to the song.  :)

Update on My Word for 2009

Each January for the last three years I've selected a single word to help me focus on changes I wanted to make the coming year.   This was something I read on Ali Edwards' blog, and it just seemed like a great idea. In January I selected my 2009 word.  I didn't blog about it, but I did create a tag and added it to my January calendar page.

My 2009 word is Balance.  Sometimes my life feels like a juggling act -- where I have all these balls in the air and I'm scrambling to catch the one falling while throwing these important but less "urgent" balls back in the air.  I wanted balance. 

I can look back over the last six months and find the balance.  I'm calmer, less stressed.  Because I sought balance, I chose things that bring balance back into my life:

I make worship a priority.

I try -- and this one I'm still less successful than I'd like -- to be in the moment instead of rushing ahead to what should be done.

I focus on work when I'm on the job and do my best to leave it there at quitting time.  Balance.

I've reduced my sugar intake and increased my protein and vegetables.  Balance.

I've increased my activity.  Balance.

I probably need to add sleep in here -- still working on that one.  LOL

I make time to feed my creativity -- again, balanced with the business end of scrapbooking.

Is it better all of the time?  Absolutely not.  The juggling balls are still in the air and can become overwhelming.  But I'm getting better at putting them all down and walking away for a while.  And sometimes I take one out of the rotation because it's just not worth my time.  I'm learning to say no when someone tries to hand me a ball and I already have enough in the air.  And some of those balls I've mistakenly accepted from others or grapped away when they rightfully belonged to others, I've given back.  Sometimes one of the balls fall, and I'm better at forgiving myself and moving on.

Balance.  It was the right word choice for me this year.

I won, I won!

I won a free spot in Jenni Bowlin's Re-Purpose, Re-Think, Re-Invent class at Big Picture Scrapbooking!  I'm so excited!  I really wanted to take the class, and I'm looking forward to beginning.  I find myself being drawn to her products, and I want to learn MORE!  Woohoo!  Class starts Thursday, and there's still room to sign up.  :) Thank you, Big Picture Scrapbooking!  I love my prize!

I'm feeling pretty blessed right now.  I have a great husband and wonderful kids; I have the best grandson in the whole world.  I have a wonderful family, good friends, a good job, a roof over my head, a car that runs (even if it does seem to attract other car bumpers this summer), and I've got stuff to challenge me!  And, on top of that, I win a prize.  Blessed.

Does anyone know where they sell lotto tickets in my area?  LOL

TypePad is not behaving well ...

Can't seem to post to my blog tonight. I've tried several times to get to the typepad.com site with no luck. Lucky for me I set up the ability to post to the blog via email!

I'll be back tomorrow, I hope! Have a great Tuesday everyone.

My husband has a new girlfriend!

Yep, it's true.  Her name is Karen, and she has an Australian accent.  And he listens when she speaks!  I know he does, because he does what she tells him to do!  Wow!  Can you imagine?  And he seems to enjoy it!  She speaks to him from here:

 

I'm not sure why he prefers to take directions from a female -- he definitely does not fit the male stereotype there -- but he selected the voice and accent.  Hmmm... maybe I can pick up a few pointers from her, like saying "remp" instead of "ramp"!  HE totally got it; I couldn't figure out what she was saying.  LOL

PS22 Chorus!

My friend shared this with me today and told me to go check it out!  Wow!  I am impressed and love what "Mr. B" is doing.  There are teachers out there who care and who make a difference.  Here's one of them.  And students?  Great job!

Can't seem to embed it, but I can link you to it!     PS22 (Public School 22 on Staten Island) sings Coldplay's Viva la Vida