LOAD 1/16/08

This layout is based on a Becky Fleck sketch (of the Page Maps link to the right) using Basic Grey papers. Hannah's grandpa (my FIL) is also known as "Santa Bob" and is practically famous around the Pleasanton area. There have been newspaper articles written about his Christmas display and activities. This picture was taken after Hannah had helped Santa by being one of his elves and passing out candy canes to the kids who came and sat on his lap.

Off topic, can I just say that I really don't like the first few episodes of American Idol? I get so embarrassed for those people. I'm embarrassed for them because either they don't know they sound that bad, they are so nervous that they blow it, or they have no family/friends that are honest enough to tell them "I don't think so". Or worse, they know they are that bad, but are so desparate for a few minutes of fame that they will humiliate themselves on national tv. Whatever scenario it is, it is sad. Last season was the first one that we watched, and all I can say is that I hope they have made some adjustment to how the judging/voting is handled because that was ridiculous - although I did enjoy how The Soup dealt with the Sanjaya crap. I wonder if they will get another Kelly Clarkson or Chris Daughtry out of it...I kind of doubt it though.

LOAD 1/15/08 and a Go Me!

Hannah idolizes her cousin Regan, and I'm so happy I got a good photo of them together. Hannah has been loving her Nintendogz ...so far she has bought a German Shepherd puppy she named Faith, a Beagle named Penny, Midnight the Lab and Phantom the miniature Dachshund. She has trained Faith to be a Master at catching a frisbee disc. She can hardly wait to see her cousin again so they can link up their DSs and their puppies can play together. Sigh, and to think that Hannah had trouble using a mouse in Kindergarten.

My Go Me moment happened when I got tired of waiting for Cricut's "customer service" to contact me when all I had was a simple question about the Design Studio software that I bought from them. After 18 days with 4 emails and a very frustrating call that had me in voicemail menu hell with no apparent way to get a live rep or a place to leave a message, I was done, so I told them I wanted a refund and to please make it happen within 48 hours. And today, they complied and apologized (although they did make it sound like I was being a bit impatient because they were inundated with all the Christmas people wanting to learn how to use their Cricuts). Oh well, I got my money back, and on Ann's recommendation, I ordered the bonus pack from JK Crafts for cheaper than just the software cost me going directly through Cricut's website. I'm looking forward to finally getting to try my Christmas gift to me out. The reason it was a Go Me moment? I very rarely will confront someone when I'm upset about something, so this was a first for me. I'm usually much more passive agressive. I'm just so tired of having to demand something like Customer Service...something that used to be part of what you paid for, but now seems to be the exception rather than the rule. Companies used to want to keep your business by making you feel like you were more than just the money you gave them. Showing my age I guess...

LOAD 1/13/08

man, I hate not finding a typo until after I've adhered everything down to my page. I was so tempted to pull it all apart but then I found that I didn't have anymore of that blue paper except for a small scrap, so I gave up. Oh well, it isn't like Diesel is going to look at the layout years from now and think I didn't love him enough to do the layout "perfect".
So today was a nice quiet day, with the exception of Hannah being a bit cranky and prone to tears at the drop of a hat. A little preview of the fun PMS will be, sigh. I was able to distract her and restore calm by putting in a Looney Tunes collection DVD for her. Damn those cartoons are STILL funny. I sat there with Hannah, cracking up over "Wabbit Season! Duck Season!" and the Rabbit of Seville, Duck Amuck, and all the classics. I will say that I was not a fan of Tweety or Road Runner...I was always rooting for Sylvester and the Coyote. I have a hard time choosing a favorite, but I do have a fondness for Daffy.
So, who's your favorite Looney Tune?

LOAD 1/12/08

We always go to the fair in July. Grandpa Bob is a huge fan. This was the first year that Hannah would ride the kiddie coaster. Since then she is becoming more like her daddy and enjoying the kid coasters. And when we went to Disneyland in November, she rode (and re-rode 4 times) Space Mountain! Put her momma to shame. If you ask my mom, one of the worst things I ever did was stand in line with them for Space Mountain when I was 12 (and not a fan of roller coasters at all), and when we got to the last possible chance to exit, I chickened out and wouldn't go on. My mom had to get out of line with me and she never got to go on Space Mountain. A fact that she brings up way more often than you would think she'd have opportunity to, LOL. I guess I'm glad that my daughter is more adventurous than I ever was.

LOAD 1/11/08

Today's layout is from Zoo Camp, one of Hannah's favorite weeks during the summer.

I'm so glad today is Friday and that it is now over...bowling wasn't so hot again tonight (134, 131, 128) with the banner frame coming in the 1st frame of the 2nd game - for the first time EVER, I threw a gutter ball to the right and followed it up with a gutter ball to the left. Sigh. I will blame it on the fact that Todd wasn't there to tell me where to stand and where to aim, yeah, that's it. He's feeling a bit sick so he stayed home.
So, in order to try and cheer my baby up, I thought I would post one of his guilty pleasure eye candies. His favorite Kelly would have to be the one that is jumping up and down in the low rise black pants, he just loves her backside. Oh yeah, and her voice too!

LOAD 1/10/08

Day 10, are you sick of my layouts yet? I swear I don't think I did 10 layouts in the last 3 months of 2007. It has felt so good to make scrapping a priority again. I get to go crop with some friends next friday, better get to some page planning. This layout is an 8x8 and part of a one layout a month album highlighting something Hannah did in 2007.

Other than that, I don't really have too much to say today, except thank you Karen and Suzanne for getting me hooked on Google Reader! You have made my blog reading experience so much more pleasant. Of all the blogs that I read so far, only 2 won't let me add them to GR, but other than that, I can go to one page and see every blog that has been updated and quickly and easily read and comment if I have something to say. I have 27 blogs in my subscriptions and may have to go looking for some more since I have recently found that this is a piddly amount and I am apparently a complete blog reading amateur.

LOAD 1/9/08

A friend commented on this photo when I took it during my Photo a Day December that when she looked at it, all she could hear in her head was Lucy screaming "Ack! Dog Germs!" I hear that too, it's one of my favorite Lucy rants.

So I went to YouTube and found a clip that has one of those snippets at the beginning.

I need to figure out how to put a YouTube video in my blog post. Until someone enlightens me, here is the link Snoopy and Lucy

LOAD 1/8/08

This is one of my favorite layouts so far during this challenge, even though the picture isn't the best. It is Hannah crawling under the christmas tree at my MILs house so that she can reach a present in the back. It was the only picture I took on Christmas Eve. I scraplifted a layout from Simple Scrapbooks by Severine Champagne...I love her style and have lifted other layouts by her before. 23 layouts to go for the month, I wonder if I can make it?

In other news, I went to Target today and felt completely vindicated in my vent about Hannah's school. I found a perfectly decent pair of headphones for her for $4.99...saved myself $10 bucks over taking the lazy way out and buying them from the school.

Not much else to chat about, kinda a slow Tuesday, which is perfectly fine with me, I may turn in early tonight. Sweet dreams!

LOAD 1/7/08

Played with my macro setting at work one day, sometimes it's tricky trying to find something to do now that we are shutting down. Had fun with the raindrops, and came up with this page for the LOAD. I swear it is my scanner that is crooked, not me.

Can I vent about my daughter's school for a minute? I just had to send the following email there tonight and I'm still a bit perturbed about this.

Hannah brought home a note from you stating that she had to have a pair of headphones by Tuesday, the 8th, which is tomorrow. She tells me that she just got this paper today. After working a full day, picking my daughter up from SEP and taking her straight to Brownies, then coming home and making her dinner, we are now getting ready for bed and I’m going through her backpack. You really expect to give us one day’s notice to produce these or have to pay $15 for a pair through the school? That seems a bit high and the timeframe is unfair to those of us who work full time.

Hannah will not have a pair tomorrow, but I will purchase a pair in the next day or two and send them in with her. Please do not give her a $15 pair of headphones from the school and charge us for it, as that does not fit in our budget.

Sigh, I'm probably overreacting, but geez, this isn't the first time they've given us hardly any notice for something. The last time it was for Hannah getting an award at an assembly, they sent home a note the night before saying they hoped I could make it. Luckily, my job is in such a situation now that I could come in late, but before, I would have needed at least a couple days notice to arrange for it. It just irritates me. They could have sent this note home before winter break and I would have had the headphones sent in with her today. Ok, deep cleansing breath...let it go.

LOAD 1/6/08 (but not really)

I can't post my layout for the day today because it is a gift for someone. But I did want you to know that I'm still on track for doing a page a day, even though it probably doesn't mean near as much to you as it does to me.

Tomorrow, our world here in Stanleyland goes back to "normal". I go back to work from being sick for a week, Hannah goes back to school and has Brownies tomorrow evening, and Todd is back to a full workweek from hell most likely. My fingers are crossed for a full night's sleep.

Today was a nice day, had the Partylite candle party at MILs house. It was good to hang out with a few friends, eat some great snacks that my mom made, and smell some yummy candles. Ok, there were a few that were so not yummy - I would stay away from the Fig and Olive Oil one - ick. My favorites were Strawberry Rhubarb, Creme Caramel, Acaci Berry Mist, and Agave Nectar. Now, I just need to actually start burning them, instead of having a wonderful smelling linen closet.

And just because I've gotten used to sharing photos with you, here is one from our fun lunch with Devin and his mom Stacy. We finally got together to exchange Christmas gifts. Devin gave Hannah a Webkinz and she is HOOKED. I hope Stacy got a better picture, although I'm sure Hannah's face will be covered in ketchup no matter what the angle.

LOAD 1/5/08

Here's today's layout, things seem to be going smoothly this week for scrapping, yea! Got my first DW2008 challenge posted at 123-Scrap, so that should be fun too.

In other non-scrappy news, we are researching elliptical machines to get the exercise demon started. Now that I'm starting to feel better, I need to get moving again.

Mom's making lasagna and garlic bread for dinner tonight and sharing with us - yummy!

LOAD 1/4/08

In case you are wondering, no, I'm not that quick a scrapper to have today's layout done when it is so early in the morning. Because of work, I find that it is easier for me to do my layouts at night. So my layouts are actually done the night before. Makes things a bit less stressful.

I love this photo, it is one that I have been trying to get for months (finally managed during our Photo A Day challenge in Decemeber). The problem with getting the shot is that Diesel will be all intent staring out the window waiting for Todd, but when he hears me in the room trying to take the photo, he will turn and come bounding over to see me.

Super simple layout, based on the January Ad inspiration by Andrea on 123-Scrap, but I really wanted the photo to take center stage.

LOAD 1/3/08

Been dealing with a nasty cough and head cold, but I'm finally getting some Rx cough medicine so that should help me sleep, thank goodness. Here is today's layout, based on a sketch by the lovely and talented Pam (of my new blog banner fame, LOL). It really cracked me up how apparently concerned Hannah had been that she might not be able to whistle when she lost the second top tooth. Gotta love that silly girl!

LOAD 1/2/08

two for two! I thought this was a pretty great family photo.

Layout a Day (LOAD) 1/1/08

I joined a challenge class on Big Picture Scrapbooking with some of my 123-Scrap friends to create a layout a day for the month of January. I did this kind of challenge once in March of 2006 I believe and it was really tough, but very rewarding. I have hopes that this challenge will help me start and complete my Alaska and Sedona vacation albums. Here is my first layout for the challenge. The design is based on the December Ad challenge on 123.Scrap. I do very few Christmas layouts so I'm really glad to have this one done.