Back In Birmingham

We are staying over in Birmingham for the night. We couldn't resist eating at The Olive Branch (and hopefully, Wan's) one last time. The Olive Branch has the best gyros ever. The best donar kebabs are in a little stand in front of Dehner's in Augsburg, GE....I digress. Yep...I'm on the evil laptop. I got to go into Anthropologie and I didn't buy anything...they had some great mushroom ornaments for 75% off...but the line was insane. We will be back on the road tomorrow...heading for Texas. If you haven't gone to your local B&N...go and get the Nov/Dec issue of Marie Claire Idees...great ideas...even if they are in French. If nothing else...you'll look cool toting it around the store. :)

Ho, ho, ho...

Merry Christmas!! It is snowing!!!! Friggin awesome! I guess it was Santa's way to soften the blow of his other present to us. Santa gave us a big ole PCS (Army Speak for moving time). I've been going through the whole house for the last month trying to get rid of stuff. I will be sad to leave...we've enjoyed living here in Georgia for the last few years. Billy's teachers wanted to keep him.....I said no. They pack us up in a few days and then we are off on the next adventure....Arizona. Road trip. :) So this will be my last post from Georgia. I have to pack up my computer tomorrow....I'd use my husband's lap top, but that piece of technology is pure evil and hates me. I hope everyone got what they wanted for Christmas.....Santa brought me a little Olivia dressed as an artist...hey, I was a good girl this year (for me). Take care and Happy New Year!!

Worn Out

Sorry, I haven't been blogging. Silver Bella prep and the event itself took up a lot of time. I had two birthdays in the first week of November to take care of and now we are prepping for a trip to MD for turkey day. When we get back, I'll try to put projects back together (my tree had to be disassembled to travel from Omaha) and get pictures. I finished three out of 6 projects this year...up from the lone one I got done last year. We've also got a big move to get ready for when we return. Oy. Happy Thanksgiving!!

Happy Birthday, Billy!!!!!!!

Today is his sixth birthday. Yes, I let him eat a cookie for breakfast today and I didn't wait for him to finish before taking his picture. That boy is always in motion, so I take shots when I get them. He got a haircut yesterday and was really good...the lady cutting his hair has a nephew with autism and she was just wonderful with him. We are about to go get a few surprises for him before he gets home from school. I'm hoping it will help him get that today is a special day. :)

Our Tuesday Night

While most of you were getting your Glee on...this is what we were doing.


Waiting and waiting and waiting a little more.

Then they were finally released.....Billy did realy good for waiting for over an hour.

Now I have one more mouth to feed and not as much free time. :)

Details

It's the little things...the details that will get you in the end. Oy...simplicity..I should have stuck with that. :) The details means you have to work more. Well, 400 tags are ready for trim now. I covered 400 little shipping tags with vintage ephemera on both sides....had to cover the ugly reinforcer. That meant punching 800 holes. I finished glueing on 380 little paper punched hearts to write names on (in pencil...so that if they want to re-use the tag they can). I've cut all but 20 pieces of trim for them. There were 20 slots and only 14 of us....we are going to give the extra six away at Silver Bella. I'm just waiting for all the trim to come in and I can attach it and then I'm done. :) I finished up my Halloween Tags this week....we ended up with 19 of us total. I made 20 tags....making an odd number just messes me up in the head. :) Those tags were more detailed than any other tag I've made before.....there are eyelets (more friggin holes..I'm hating my crop-a-dile right now), beads, trim, wire, metal flowers, and tulle. I even used pop-up dots for the first time ever.....you just can't tell. I even inked the edges.....I now finally feel like a real artsy craftsy person. :) Paper arts....oy. Now I just have a custom charm bracelet to make...I'm actually excited....I have most of the the charms thought up or bought. I just need to make a few and then I can assemble it. I hope my partner likes it. I need to price my goods for Silver Bella. I think that is my least favorite part. I like finding things and even packaging them in cellophane baggies.....but I hate pricing. Other things I hate.....getting my picture taken. I had to get a new ID card today...it is bad enough you have to get a driver's license picture, but with the military you need an ID card as well. My only consolation is that everyone who gets their picture taken with the lady who did mine today will look horribly fat. She was the nicest lady, but the way she has her camera set up...very close. My hair hates me and so that looked like crap as well. Fat and like crap...happy day. I figured I now had something to blog about. :)

Bad, bad blogger

I suck, I know. I've just been busy getting things done for swaps. I've got 400 mini tags to make, 20 Halloween tags, and a charm bracelet. I've still got to finish up giveaway prizes I want to donate to Silver Bella....the trim has been cut....I just need to assemble them into packages. I've been covered in glue for much of the last month...blah. :) I did get to a nifty book sale held in Columbus...twice. :) I got 17 lovely ladies to sign up for my Halloween Tag Swap. I can't wait to see the results. That is about it....nothing really exciting. I had hoped to be a better blogger, but the next few months are going to be crazy. Oh...the real kicker....Bloglines is shutting down, so I had to move my blogs over to Google Reader...oy. I'm technologically-challenged so that was fun. The move has been made...I just need to get used to how it works. Poor me. :)

Our Weekend and ABC Swap Page

My parents drove up from Florida on Friday. On Saturday, we went to the Georgia Aquarium in Atlanta. It was neat, but there were way too many people for my comfort. :) I got to see my favorites...belugas. They have whale sharks and they were impressive. We all had a good time...especially the wee one....he loves sea creatures. My parents took the boys back to the hotel that night and they got to go to the pool.
I've been working on my ABC pages for Marian's swap. Here it is....the letter M page. Very simple.....just a mouse in a cup of mint tea. The "M" in the corner was stamped with metallic ink on part of a peppermint tea bag. I needed the string for the tea tag. The background is mint green dotted swiss. We were to add a virtue..mine is mirth and is on the tea tag. I still need to write my "M" words on the back. I know it is a miracle that I showed you a finished swap on my blog. :) Speaking of swaps....I am hosting the next round of the tag swaps and it is a Halloween theme. You would just need to make 20 tags (shipping tag size) and get them to me by the 1st of October. If you are interested just leave a comment or email me. I have 11 spots open right now.

Seven Hours A Day

That is what I have now that the wee one has started full-day Kindergarten. I am so happy, but the house is so quiet.

Here is just a little of what I have done since school started. I got 200 goody bags assembled for Silver Bella. I've worked on my ABC pages for a swap.....27 copies of multiple items to cut out...oy. I need to work on the backgrounds tomorrow. I got to volunteer with the FRG last week....something I haven't been able to do in forever. They were prepping beds for single soldiers....making beds and such with donations from the USO and Operation Homefront. I was bad and didn't make a single bed....I was downstairs the whole time. My organizational skills are way better than my bed making skills....I hate hospital corners with a passion. :) I started prepping things for the charm bracelet I'm making for a Silver Bella Swap. A lot of research on Etsy for neat things. :) I read a book. I just don't know what to do with myself most days. I am so used to 2 1/2 hours that 7 is unheard of for me. I'm happy...trust me...so happy. :)

Rest and Relaxation

The first week of R&R was eating fast food, lying around, playing the Wii, hitting a few stores, haircuts for the boys and just relaxing...letting him adjust to being back in the States. Clark and Jr did have a Father/Son outing to the National Infantry Museum and then they went to the movies. The second week is when we went out and about. We went to Callaway Gardens one day...it was a nice day trip. We went to Red Lobster afterwards and ate til we could eat no more (the leftovers were breakfast one morning for the two of them). We decided to go into Birmingham for the last weekend he was home. We drove in on Friday and hit the McWane Center, then to the Olive Branch for lunch (that is one reason the three hour drive is worth it), and then we went to the hotel. I met up with Susan (one of my Birmingham buddies) and we hit some thrift stores. I found a few things. Saturday, we got up for our free breakfast....it was nuts down there and some kid burnt his sausage patty sandwich which triggered the fire alarm. Billy did pretty good. We went to the Zoo that morning and then back to the hotel for a dip in the pool. Billy loved it....big shocker....it is water. We hit Wan's Chinese restaurant for dinner (another excellent reason for the three hour drive). We ordered so much food the waiter couldn't believe it....we only didn't finish two dishes....brought the leftovers back with us. I do believe we shocked him with how much we ate. It was so good. We decided to walk around The Summit afterward. I got to go to Anthropologie. It isn't a large one, but always fun. We drive home the next day. We did get hooked on the show "Cake Boss" in the hotel....if you haven't seen it...go watch it. The baked goods alone are worth watching for....the family is pretty funny as well. Clark left on Wednesday and we've been running around getting Jr registered for school. He starts on the 9th...poor Billy starts on the 6th. Poor babies...happy Mommy. On another happy note...I am going to be a vendor at Silver Bella again....I got my acceptance email while he was home. I've decided to stop hoarding and have bagged up many things. I really need to destash. We will be moving early next year. I did get a little thrifting in while he was home...not as much as I would've liked, but Kindergarten is full day and that opens up a 6 hour block every day....think of the places I can go. My table will be very much like it was the first year...very crowded and you might have to dig. I'm thinking I should've gone for two tables this year. Oh well.

The Squirrel Has Landed

He got home yesterday. We had to go pick him up at our tiny airport. I actually like the tiny airport. :) We took him to McDonalds and Target right off the bat....that was really more for the boys who had been cooped up all weekend waiting for their Father to come home. Billy is getting good at saying, "Target"....it is really kind of cute. Yes, I know the boys have hippie hair and that will be taken care of really soon. It took Billy a few hours to warm up to his Daddy, but all is well and they had a grand time playing last night. I made them a cheese and cracker plate (and veggie tray) for dinner. The cheese tray had Cheddar, Havarti, Danish Blue, Brie, Limburger, and Port Salut. They like cheese (not unlike Wallace and Gromit). :) We watched some "Glee" last night...trying to get Clark caught up....they need to put the second half of the season on DVD. It's nice to have another person in the house. We aren't used to it. :)

Fourteen Days

Wow...that is bad even for me. Lack of interesting things to blog about....I guess. Just trying to survive the summer. It shouldn't be too bad now...we finally got a date for R&R. It will be good to see the Hubby (I want to sic the boys on him and escape, but that is just cruel). We can all go out and do something. It always helps to have an extra set of arms and legs to keep track of Billy....he is a quick one. I do need to get the house ready....yes, it is a mess...I've been using the couch to work on the Silver Bella goody bags. I guess I should clear that off, so that he has a place to sit and watch tv. Screw it..he can sit on the floor with the boys....he'll be down there wrestling with them anyhow. :) I forgot what a big number 200 is....crazy....finding things in increments of 200. That is basically what I've been up to....working on goody bags and cleaning up after Billy. He is a troublemaker and gets into everything. Blah. I love him anyhow...he looks at me with that sweet little face and I can't stay mad at him. I'll probably be MIA most of the month. I can't believe their summer vacation is half way over already. I can't wait for school to start. :)

I LOVE Summer School

I love my Billy, but I love that he has to go to Summer School. He has been in everything the last two weeks. Oy. Jr and I have been enjoying the two hour break from crazy boy. We have gone thrifting and out to lunch (don't worry we get something for Billy as well...we aren't totally heartless). It only lasts for a month, so we are going to take advantage of it. :) I finally finished my tags for Wendy's swap and they will go out in the mail tomorrow. I had Germany and I hope I don't disappoint her or the other ladies. I've got one swap left to complete with the tag group....it isn't due until September. I am co-hosting a charm bracelet swap with Wendy for Silver Bella...that shouldn't be too bad...it is one on one. I thought about joining one of the 22 other swaps being offered this year and have decided against it. I still have 200 goody bags to complete for Silver Bella and I just mailed my application to be a vendor again this year. I'm trying to take it easy this year. I think I over did it last year a tad. :) Happy news....Wendy won my giveaway and as soon as I fill that box it will be on it's way. She was my partner in Heidi's Vintage Tin Swap....so she is getting more stuff from me. :) Congratulations and I think I may add some really bizarre stuff just for kicks. :) One more thing.....I just devoured a book this afternoon (I just bought it today at Goodwill) "The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society" by Mary Ann Shafer & Annie Barrow. It was excellent. I loved it. I was going to buy it for my birthday at full price....good thing the cheap bitch in me said no....I got it for way cheaper at Goodwill. Go check it out, buy it......just read it....you won't be sorry. And if you are too bad...I got you to read. :)

Helping a friend

A fellow member of the Tag Swapper group I belong to is having a little giveaway for this adorable book. Kimberly is asking so little to have a chance to win this book....just sign up to follow her blog.....once she reaches 50 followers she will pick a name. If you post about it....you get a few extra chances. :) So go here: www.artjoystuff.blogspot.com/2010/06/little-help-from-my-friends-please.html and sign up to follow her blog. Then come back here and sign up for my giveaway on the last post. :) Thanks.

Happy Birthday to Me!!!

I love my birthday (for the most part...there have been a few occasions where I had to share it with graduations and the like). Happy, happy....I'm not ashamed of my age either....I am 38 today. :) We just got back from my birthday dinner....we went to Outback Steakhouse. No, I didn't have a steak...I got the Bloomin Burger. I've been craving a hamburger.....no, not pregnant...that would be a tad awkward. :) It was good, but I couldn't finish it. Billy was pretty good..he amused himself with a small plate and melting ice cubes. I got two kinds of dessert to go...it's my birthday and Billy will help himself to one or both of them. Well, in honor of today.....I want to have a giveaway. I like giving stuff out on my birthday......I used to do it all the time. One of the best things I've ever won on blog giveaways was a flat rate box of just stuff. I love shifting through box lots....you never know what you'll get. If I ever get over my fear of buying something for way too much...I'd like to go to an auction some day. I digress....I will mail one lucky winner a flat rate box of surprises from my stash...don't worry I didn't give all the good stuff to Ms Rita...there is plenty to go around. So just comment on this post and in a week I will pick a winner. I know I should make it more difficult, but I don't have the brain power to come up with something clever right now. See....aren't you glad you actually read the post without a photo. :) Good Luck. It is time for some carrot cake...yummy, yummy.