THREE.....

three meals i ate today.

three people i pissed off today.

three songs i've listened to over and over today.

three posts i made today.

three phone calls to greta from work today.

three beers i'm drowning my sorrows in today.

SP PT 6!!

self portrait tuesday part 6


oh how i wish that she was still around so we could crochet together and she could teach me different stitches.

note: i think i actually took this picture as a funny (and of course to be a big ol pain in the ass). i think my grandma had fallen asleep while crocheting. i'm so glad that i was such a pain in the ass or i woulda never had a picture of her doing this.

I GOT THIS IN AN EMAIL TODAY....TOO FUNNY!

Subject: YOU KNOW YOU ARE LIVING IN 2006 when...

1. You accidentally enter your password on the microwave.

2. You haven't played solitaire with real cards in years.

3. You have a list of 15 phone numbers to reach your family of three.

4. You e-mail the person who works at the desk next to you.

5. Your reason for not staying in touch with friends and family is
that they don't have e-mail addresses.

6. You pull up in your own driveway and use your cell phone to see if
anyone is home to help you carry in the groceries.

7. Every commercial on television has a web site at the bottom of the
screen.

8. Leaving the house without your cell phone, which you didn't have
the first 20 or 30 (or 60) years of your life, is now a cause for panic
and you turn around to go and get it.

10. You get up in the morning and go on line before getting your
coffee.

11. You start tilting your head sideways to smile.

12. You're reading this and nodding and laughing.

13. Even worse, you know exactly to whom you are going to forward this
message.

14. You are too busy to notice there was no #9 on this list.

15. You actually scrolled back up to check that there wasn't a #9 on
this list.

AND NOW U R LAUGHING at yourself

I'VE FINALLY BEEN TAGGED WITH THIS TAG!!!

yes, i'm a dork and have been waiting to get tagged on this (why i just didn't do it myself is beyond me but we all know how much i love to talk about myself ;)

What were you doing 10 years ago?
i was getting ready to graduate highschool. i couldn't believe that it was over. ya know you always bitch and complain about how you hate going to school and then once the day comes that it is all over, you can't believe how "grown up" you are and that its finally over. i boo-hoo'd like a baby on graduation day. this was the first school that i had gone to longer than 2 years and the only school that i had really made friends at. so graduating from there meant a lot to me.

Five snacks you enjoy:

jujy fruits/dots
cheeze its
olives
cheese n crackers
gardettos

Five songs to which you KNOW all the lyrics:

oh, i def. know more than five songs lyrics. i am a nerd. i almost listen to a song over and over again until i know most of the lyrics.

raven-dave matthews
piano man-billy joel (sorry julia)
breakdown-tom petty
addicted-kelly clarkson
lets stay together-al green
under my thumb-rolling stones

Five things you would do if you were a millionaire:

pay both dave matthews and damien rice to give me my own private concert
pay all debt
pay for kiddos college
go to alaska, ireland, italy, greece, etc. with the hubbers
be a stay at home mommy

Five bad habits:

cuss too much
open my mouth and spout out shit without thinking
biting peoples heads off that don't deserve
being a candy whore
and my own private bad habit that i prefer to keep to myself

Five things you like doing:

baking
crafting
playing board games
reading
screaming my lungs out to music in the car when i am by myself

Five things you would never wear, buy, or get again:

strech pants (you know the ones with that elastic that goes on the bottom of your
feet)
teased bangs
2 pairs of socks at the same time
tight rolled jeans
those things like a shirt buckle. you would grab the corner of your shirt and pull
it thru one part and then out the other. what were those called?


Five favorite toys:

my new camera
my ipod
my computer
my printer
and i am going to say. my bullet. the best damn vibrator around ;)


i don't know if these gals have been tagged or not, but i am tagging:

pink rocket
mary over at her cute lil house
julia who is anything but tickytacky

i am tagging these girls b/c i have become recently obessed with their lives :)

AND THE MOTHER OF THE YEAR AWARD GOES TO...!!!

ME!!!

of course this is said with the utmost sarcasm.

when i go pick up the kiddos from daycare/afterschool (same place btw), bella does her usual running up to me saying "maaamaaa!". except something is a lil different today.

isabella looks like this ('cept she had on white socks and white tennis shoes):



ya see, these damn new pullups that she is wearing sometimes gape open and if she potties in them she goes all over the place. well last week, she had an accident at school and they put her in her extra pair of clothes and sent the icky ones home.

well, i failed to send in a new pair of extra clothes (SHAME ON ME!!) which resulted in her not having a change of pants when she had an accident today.

now her teacher didn't want to call me to bring some pants (since i work 30 or more minutes away) and i really don't have a problem with that. just felt bad that my bug-a-boo looked a lil trailer-trashy.

SO.I.HAVE.GOT.TO.REMEMBER.TO.BRING.AN.EXTRA.CHANGE.
OF.CLOTHES.TO.DAY.CARE.TOMORROW.

VENT!!!!

i just needed to take a minute from putting an ass load of laundry away to vent.

I AM SO FRIGGIN' TIRED OF BEING UNORGANIZED!!!!!

i know i've said plenty of times before that being organized was going to be a top priority from now on. but it hasn't. shit is everywhere. every place i look there are papers, clothes, toys, craft supplies, etc. just all over the place.

how do i get all of this organized and then stay motivated to keep it organized?

i've already decided that i am going to go thru the kids' closets next weekend and make a trip to my local thrift store to dump all the stuff off. tonight i am going to file all this paperwork that i have let build up again.

its just so time consuming. i'm a busy gal. i don't get home until almost six o'clock on any given week night. then its time to cook dinner, clean the kitchen, get the kids bathed, get em ready for bed, and then off to bed. by then, i'm so damn tired that i don't feel like doing anything but sitting on the couch and then go to bed.

when the weekend roll around, i feel like simply relaxing. which i then feel guilty about.

folks, i have to start packing stuff up and getting it in the storage unit so we can put this place up for sale in a month. i know my main strategy is going to be getting rid of things (i am def. not taking a buncha this stuff with me) but what else can i do?

if you guys have any tips of how YOU stay organized and keep it up, i'd love to hear it, but this post is mostly a rant for my own sake. i was hoping that taking a break from that and writing about it would keep me from snapping at my kids every ten seconds and then to keep me from yelling at mike for something not worthy of a yell once he gets home.

sigh....a lil bit better, but i feel a snap towards the kids coming.

A GIRL AND HER PURSE!!!

my bella-boo is a girl after my own heart.

she loves: shoes, purses, & hats

this purse we bought at the dollar tree yesterday. she is the one who noticed it and pointed it out. she has been carrying it ever since.

THE YEAR OF THE DOG!!!

i signed up for a post card swap over at my little mochi. the theme was chinese new year and you had to incorporate a dog on the picture part of your postcard.

i had a really hard time with this and my mind was at a blank. last weekend i finally came up with an idea. so now that i had what i wanted the front of the postcard down, i needed the back to be done. i found this website that has great postcard templates on them. this site is def. a keeper.

so i did one postcard, scanned it, and adhered the picture onto the back of the post card template that i printed out from that site.

voila!

luckily i got them in the mail on time and hope that everyone that receives them enjoys them. i've also had fun checking out all the blogs of who i am sending them too!

LOVE IS IN THE AIR!!!

mikey's first love letter from a lil classmate named clara. it says "clara i love you"

mikey walked up to me and said "i didn't ask for this but she gave it to me anyway".

look how cute the lil mikey and clara are :)

JUST ANOTHER 10 MORE POUNDS!!!!

click picture for link.

whew!!! i'm finally up and running. unfortunately i don't have any posts yet, i've already devoted two hours to trying to get the banner figured out (yes, i have got to learn ps).

i do hope to have a very interesting post about why i started this blog and what i hope to gain out of it tomorrow.

lemme know what you think so far :)

SELF PORTRAIT TUESDAY PART 6!!!

sp tuesday

this week i chose a picture of my grandparents (with a splash of me) at their 50th anniversary party. i haven't seen this picture in quite some time. i discovered it again tonight when i was looking for the perfect picture for this weeks spt.

both of my grandparents have passed, and since then they both enter my mind at least once a day. the strange thing is i dream about their house at least once a week. sometimes they are there, sometimes, it has nothing to even do with them, but the house is present.

i often wonder why i dream of their house and try to think of what their house means to me. i really can't put my finger on it. i did love that house and loved being there. their house represented loads of fun (a ton of people, a pinball machine, air hockey, atari, a pool table. talk about a good time).

i love my grandparents dearly and in the past year (esp. since the dreams) i think of all the things i missed out on while they were still living and the things we could share together if they were still around today:

*having my grandma show me how to cook all of her favorite recipes.

*learning more about my grandpa's side of the family (i was always obsessed with my grandma's italian heritage).

*letting my grandma teach me how to crochet.

*really, really listening to the things they were saying.

*saying "i love you" more (they were not the type to express this type of emotion in words).

*them meeting their first great-granddaughter.

*sending my grandma handmade goodies by me and the kiddos.

but maybe i really shouldn't dwell on these type of things and think of the memories that i do have with them of the things we did share together:

*they did get to meet their first great-grandson and they were overwhelmed with joy and happiness.

*my grandma writing me little letters in italian when i was trying to teach myself in highschool.

*knowing that whenever i see a coke product i will immediately think of my grandpa.

*feeling as if i was really my grandma's favorite grandchild and had a special bond with her even though i never really lived close enough to be physically by her all the time.

*every 4th of july i think of my grandpa and his love of fireworks.


my grandparents will always be with me and that is something that makes me very happy. i'm glad that i have these memories of them and hope that my children will be interested in hearing about them one day.

MUSIC ME FOLKS!!!

i present to each of you a challenge...

MUSIC ME!!!

i am sitting here staring at lime wire without a clue as to what to dload (aside from "she will be loved"-maroon five {thanks alexandra for the reminder} and "on the road again"-bob seger.

so i need all of my usual posters and all those lurkers to come out of lurkdom and give me some good music suggestions.

i will post the type of music that i like to listen to and hopefully that will help with the suggestions:

*classic rock
*80's music
*anything like dmb, damien rice, etc.
*postal service-type music
*sarah mclaughlin, natalie merchant, etc.
*i love sappy lovey-dovey music
*al green, otis redding


okay, that should help a little!!!

i expect to see a lot of comments here girls!

help a sista out!!!

okay, back to the bachelor :)

A FEW SIGNS YOU ARE.....!!!

....a holster sniffer (aka cop lover)

*you don't mind the handcuffs making an appearance.

*officers running code sends chills up your spine and gives ya a good kinda shiver.

*a shoulder holster is the best friggin accessory for a man.

*the "crime unit" look is hot, hot, hot greta knows what i'm talking about.

*him putting on his uniform and gun belt is well worth watching.

*listening to him talk in codes and signals is the best kind of dirty talk.

*watching him in cop action is the best type of fore play.

these are just a few signs that you are a holster-sniffer.

and yes, these all apply to me.

BWAHAHAHAAAAA!!!

edited to add for all those newbies out there reading: not only am i married to a cop, i work with a buncha them too! so this type of stuff is in my face all.of.the.time!!

MIKEY'S FIRST REAL HOMEWORK!!!!

today mikey came home with his first real homework. he had some key words "to", "a", "and", "the", "of" which were also spelling words.

he had a list of things that he could do with the words and we choose finding the words in a newspaper article.

he did a very good job both spelling the words (without looking at the words) and finding them.

thank goodness we are not at a point where i have to do a lot of the homework...lol.

IT WAS A GOOD DAY BECAUSE.....!!!!

*my best guy friend ever, tommy, brought to work a bag full of fresh cherries just for me b/c he knows how much i love em. i love em so much, these are the only few that remain.

*i got a major case of the giggles during a meeting that consisted of the director of the police department, the assistant chief, my boss ("the major"), and a buncha captains, lieutenants, sergeants, & patrolmen. i seriously thought i was going to have to get up and leave. it was completely the major's fault though.

*i didn't mind doing any work today...BWAHAHAHAAA!!!

*i went to lunch with the major, best guy friend, and another coworker.

*work went by fast today.

*the kiddos are behaving for the most part.

*the bachelor is on for two hours again tonight.

*i've mentally figured out how i am going to do my weightloss blog (stay tuned).


ahhh...it was a good friggin' monday :)

SCRAPBOOK.COM!!!

well, i finally joined scrapbook.com.

you can find me here.

i'm not even a member for five friggin minutes and i already have a problem. i uploaded a few scrapbook pages and the darn website (which was already running a lil slow, so i shoulda known better) gave me the ol "website not responding...blah blah" when i choose to save the images/description page. so like a big ol idiot, i hit reload a couple of times which the only thing that did was duplicate my images a few times.


so i figure no big deal, i can delete the duplicates. nope! or at least not that i can find. i can only delete the image which results the "post" to still be there, but not the image.

grrr....!!!

so someone please, help this big idiot out and tell me how i can delete all those extra lo's.


aside from that, i didn't have a very exciting day today. i got the rest of my laundry finished, watched a buttload of lifetime, and now i am watching i love the 80's, which is one of my favorite things to watch.

i did end up doing something for the first time today though. i cooked some friggin' elk and lemme tell ya, that shit went right into the garbage. we had gotten an assload of free deer and i thought that was deer too but it wasn't. it was so friggin' nasty i can't believe i cooked it. i had to hold my nose during the whole process.

ewwww....!

dinner was delish though (oh, i should mention that the elk was going to be for chili tomorrow night. trying to be all prepared and stuff).

for dinner i followed this recipe, but made the following adjustments:

*instead of marscapone cheese, i used low fat ricotta

*instead of tortilli i used five cheese ravioli.


can you say yum!!!!

very yummy for the tummy but prolly not good for the outside tummy!

which leads me into something else. i intend on making another blog in the next week or so that will take me thru the journey of losing just another 10 more lbs. be on the look out for that.

CHRISTMAS IN JANUARY!!!!

tonight we went to my mom's for dinner and to have another christmas since my brother buddy was back in town.

dinner was delish but i wanted to get to the good part, exchanging the presents. now you may be thinking "that's awfully selfish of you elizabeth", but i wasn't excited to receive any presents, i was excited to give my brother his.

ya see, i am really big on giving presents that have a story behind them (another thing we can blame my mom for) and this year's presents were over the top. i kinda made a theme outta it (yet another thing to blame on mom) and gave him presents that were associated from his past.

let me show ya a few pictures of the kiddos, us, blah, blah and then i'll finish my story with pictures of him and his presents.


me, buddy, & my mom.


mikey, buddy, & bella.


mikey gets one of the loudest, most annoying toy guns from uncle buddy which only means ones thing.....PAY BACK IS A BITCH!!!!


lil bella boo gets dora (whom she loves)!


as usual, the self portrait of me and mike (note: this is the only decent shot outta about 6 due to the fact that michael hasn't given up on the goofy-ass faces).


just a picture to show you how much time, energy, and love went in to his gift wrapping. hard to tell but it was more than likely yesterday's newspaper secured with masking tape. this is how my brother usually wraps all his presents. however, there have been times that you received presents in walmart bags or with nothing at all...BWAHAHAHAAAA! he did though give us a very much needed (and appreciated) lowes gift card.

okay, on to the good part.

first i am going to tell you about two of the presents that aren't pictured:

1. first season of mcgyver on dvd

when buddy was younger, he lived for mcgyver. he like to pretend he was mcgyver. i didn't get it, but i whatever, i was a hunter girl and to each their own.

2. super mario brothers boxer shorts

yuck elizabeth, you gave your brother underwear??? oh not just any underwear...SUPER MARIO BROTHERS!!! me and my bros grew up on nintendo. we lived for nintendo. we would compete by writing our scores down on a lil chalkboard we had. we would play for hours while listening to mixed tapes i made on our walkman (can't touch this), we would fight endlessly of which two of us got to play.

but one christmas, ahhhh, i remember it like it was yesterday, the only thing that me and my brothers wanted (esp. me and buddy) was super mario brothers 3. it had just been released but we hadn't planned on getting it (we weren't the richest family on the block, but we weren't the poorest but back then those games were expensive). so we had opened all our presents and no super mario 3. then we noticed there was one more. we tore it open and there it was....SUPER MARIO BROS. 3!!! i can still see me and buddy running around the living room screaming and yelling our heads off.

oh the excitement!!!

3. a scarf knitted by me in his favorite color (which is pictured).


alright, last but not least...the present i couldn't wait to give. i was crying with laughter before he even took it out.

okay, lemme set this up for you. back when we were younger, we were in the basement of my grandparent's house playing pool with a buncha our cousins. i would say we were all in the age range of 7-13 (buddy prolly being the youngest). we were all talking about the cool things we wanted to be when we grew up.

so when it got to be buddy's turn to say what he wanted to be when he grew up he spouts out:

MR. T

oh how us kids died laughing, making fun of him. MR. T????? wtf? so to this day i still tease him about that and his excuse is "he had big muscles".

so when i spotted this lil gem on the internet, i knew it had to be his presents.

drum roll please....


a mr. t rubber ducky!!!!!


and here's buddy with his best mr. t face holding his new prized possession.

now i told him that i expect him to use it and i want him to have someone taking his picture using it in the tub (with assloads of bubbles of course).

hope ya'll had a grrrrreat saturday.

i pity the fool who didn't

BWAHAHAHAHAAAA!!!!

GUESS WHO HAS A LOOSE TOOTH!!!!

can you believe it?!?!?

my lil baby has a loose tooth.

we were both in the kitchen and mikey said something to me and i noticed it looked like the space between two of his teeth was larger. so i thought that maybe he had food stuck in between his teeth (ewww!).

so i called him over to me and i looked, no stuck food (thank goodness), but one of his lil teeth was leaning forward. so i gave it a good wiggle.

and it moved!!!

i let mikey know he had a loose tooth and asked him if he had noticed and of course he had not.

now we are all sitting around on pins and needles waiting for it to fall out (and due to the fac that mikey can't quit wiggling it around, it will be out in no time :)

BLAH, BLAH, BLAH!!!

oh how i hate when i get behind on posting, but there hasn't been that much excitement going on over here. i have two swaps that i am in that i better start busting my butt on.

life has been pretty dull (and busy with the kids since mike is working late in the evenings).

my bro is back in town so this weekend i will be going to my mom's to hang out, eat, play some poker, and have a few drinks.

so hopefully i will have something more to post in the next day or two.

okay, off to watch dancin' with the stars.

hope everyone is having a more eventful week then me :)

A BUSY 3-DAY WEEKEND!!! WHEW!!! (beware...long post ahead)

whew!!! we had a nice (but busy) three day weekend. i've broken the days down instead of doing seperate posts :)

FRIDAY

on friday night, i discovered that the moon outside was full and gorgeous. i couldn't wait for mike to get home so we could go outside and he could teach me a few things. now me getting a photo lesson is always a lil touchy b/c of the fact that i am not a good student. when i don't understand something easily, i get very frustrated and tend to yell. i also have to be shown instead of told how to do something that is a not my norm. so me and mike have already gotten into a few arguments when it comes to learning about the new camera, however, we had fun playing on friday.

the only bad thing was that it was fah-reeeezing outside and we were out there for about an hour or so.


a gorgeous full moon.


ooops! that doesn't look right.


much better.


how many of me are there??


where's my torso???


a lil dramatic.

SATURDAY

saturday was a day filled with oil changes and plenty of errands (aka money spending). we did a lot of shopping for things for this house and for the new one. even though we didn't buy anything for the house, we got a ton of ideas on what we are going to do. i did buy this book at lowes and i can't wait to dig through it. we ate lunch at o'charley's and were gone all day which mean dinner was at burger king. we also hit the thrift store where i got a couple of goodies which i will post at a later time.

the kids were on their best behavior...so it was a good day!!

SUNDAY

sunday after mike got home (he got called out on a burglary call at 2 am and got home about 7:30 am), i got ready to meet my oldest friend amy. my girl got engaged over the christmas holidays and she honored me by asking me to be one of her bridesmaids and lil bella boo to be her flower girl.

amy picked me up at my mom's and we followed rachel (another bridesmaid) and her hubby to mobile so we could try on the dresses. we first ate a place called smokey joe's (i think) it was really good.

off to david's bridal we went. i was a lil nervous about this. i have never worn anything formal ever so i was concerned how fat i was going to look in the dress.

i was surprised (if i do say so myself) at how good i looked. i am very excited about the dress.

all the bridesmaid dresses will be black but they had red in the size that i needed.


me and rachel.


the back of the dresses.


me, amy (the bride), and rachel.


MONDAY

ahh...the day that me and greta have been waiting for for a couple of weeks now....

SCRAPPIN' DAY

i got to greta's around 8 am and we ate some breakfast that i brought (blueberry muffins and fruit salad) and flipped thru some simple scrapbook magazines for some inspiration.

we then decided that it was a good idea to hit hobby lobby to pick up a few things that we really don't need...lol.

after that, we were fully inspired and we hit the table and got to work. greta worked on some pages for melana's book and her mom's.

i worked on the trip that me and greta took to new orleans last may (a bunch of fun drunk pictures :)~

after some work, we headed to mcalisters for lunch and then back to work.

we had a good day. of course once our mojo is going strong, its time to call it quits...lol.


my hobby lobby goodies!!


greta hard at work!!


our working space.


look at hard at work i am.











now everyone run over and give greta a big good luck hug. tomorrow is her surgery and she needs all the hugs she can get. she's a wee bit nervous :)

A SUMMARY OF 2005!!!!

i wanted to do this post around the 1st, but it took me forever to fill out the answers (well, actually i kept putting it off and off, and now its the 13th and i figured that i better hurry up and do it before its time to do "a summary of 2006!!!)

i also filled out the same questions last year.



What did you do in 2005 that you'd never done before?
-lost 30+lbs (whoo-ha!), surved the worst national disaster ever, watched my son walk through his first K classroom, stayed over night in new orleans, had a table at a local craft fair, was without my hubby for 10 weeks and survived, started the process of building a house.

Did you keep your New Years' resolutions? Will you make more for 2006?
-without a doubt! i also say i am going to lose weight and this year i did!!

What places did you visit?
-disney world, knoxville tennessee, tallahassee florida (katrina), new orleans

What did you get really, really, really excited about?
my new digital rebel, my 1st craft fair, my trip with greta to new orleans, my work trip to disney, mike's arrival home, my new ipod mini

What song will always remind you of 2004?
-any of the music we heard at the cat's meow ("i will survive", "wanted dead or alive", "lonely no more", etc 80's great music)

What events merited celebration?
-everyone's bday, mikey's 1st day of K, bella's first day of daycare, mike's arrival home, me losing 30+ lbs.

Did anyone close to you give birth?
-nope

Did anyone close to you die?
-no

What do you wish you'd done more of?
-relax, sleep, play with the kiddos, color, always do more craft stuff, scrapbook more (or at all), read, grill out, plant a garden

What do you wish you'd done less of?
-stress (esp. about work stuff), watch a buncha useless tv

What would you like to have in 2006 that you lacked in 2005?
-our new house!!!

What date from 2005 will remain etched upon your memory?
-august 29th (the day hurricane katrina hit)

What did you want and get?
-an ipod, a real work out of town trip, a better financial situation

What did you want and not get?
-for the hurricane to not hit us

What did you do on your birthday, and how old were you?
-i was supposed to go out with the girls since mike was still in tn, but i got sick
:(

What one thing would have made your year immeasurably more satisfying?
-if katrina didn't hit and cause such devistation

What was the best thing you bought?
-mike bought me an ipod

Who did you spend the most time on the phone with?
-greta (the same as last year...lol)

Whose behaviour made you appalled and depressed?
-hmm...i'll keep this to myself

Compared to this time last year, are you...
...Happier or sadder? -happier

...Thinner or fatter? -thinner

...Richer or poorer? -richer

What were your favorite films of this year?
-hmm...i didn't have a favorite film i don't think. i don't watch movies too much. sad i know.

What was your favourite TV program?
-GREY'S ANATOMY!!!! i live for it-when the hell is it going to be on dvd???

What was your greatest musical discovery?
-the postal service

How would you describe your personal fashion concept in 2005?
-sexier (hell yeah baby!!)

Who were the best new people you met?
-all the new bloggers i "know"

Did you fall in love in 2005?
-i fell a lil bit in love with myself this year. that is not meant to be vain at all. its meant to say that i have fallen a lil more in love with my body and have accepted it. i am *slowly, very slowly* falling in love who i am (faults and all).

Do you hate anyone now that you didn't hate this time last year?
-no

What was your biggest achievement of the year?
-losing weight, having my 1st craft fair (and selling something to a stranger), learning microsoft access and being good at it, being *alot* more crafty

What was your biggest failure?
-still not having as much self-esteem as i would like

Tell us a valuable life lesson you learned in 2005.
-you can't always get what you want

Quote a song lyric that sums up your year?
-"you can't always get what you want"-rolling stones

A SCRAPPIN' RING!!!

this is for all you scrappers out there. now you may or may not have seen something like this (i am WAY outta the scene), but if either way, if you haven't done it yet, i highly suggest it. esp. if you go on alot of crops or even something for your purse.

i scanned a good bit of my scrapbooking pages, printed them out to a 3x2 size. once they were printed out, i covered them with contact paper, cut around the picture to make it pretty but i made sure that i left enough room to punch a hole in the contact paper.

after i covered, cut, and punched em all out, and i placed em on a big ring (which i got at the discount section of walmart. this came with a book like front and back. i think you are supposed to use it to organize floss).

voila!

something so much smaller to carry around. no more lugging around albums.

stay tuned for a buncha my scrapbooking pages to be posted. i think i am going to follow greta and join those scrappy sites she mentioned too. i'll keep ya'll posted.

BIG MIDDLE FINGER TO YOU MAILMAN PART TWO!!

okay, i know everyone wants to be updated on yesterdays fun dealings with the post office.

so after i got back to work from getting my hair done, i gave the post office a call. i asked if i could speak to the person in charge, i was told that he wouldn't be back in the office till 3-ish (i was calling a lil before 11). "i'll have him call you when he gets in.". so i left my name and work number with the lady and briefly explained the situation, hoping that maybe she could handle it.

WRONG!!!

okay. i've dealt with this guy before and he's great. he drove out to my house himself and waited on my porch while packed up a box. so i didn't mind hearing from him b/c i figured i would get results.

i'm sitting in the major's office when i grab the clock off his desk and notice that its 4pm.

OH NO!!!

i haven't heard from the guy at the post office. so me and my hurting feet (from my be-yuuuutiful high heeled shoes) run in to my office and call the post office.

here we go.

after about 12 rings (i don't give up easily) a girl answers the phone and i ask to speak to the person in charge. i get "he won't be back in this afternoon". i then do my pissed off deep sigh and explain to her the situation. she then explains to me that she is the FUCKIN' CLEANING PERSON AND SHE IS JUST ANSWERING THE PHONE TO HELP THE ONLY MAIL PERSON THERE OUT WHO IS "EXTREMELY BUSY".

okay, so now i am pissed.

me-"i paid for this to be shipped priority. it should be arriving at its destination today or tomorrow, but its still sitting on my porch".

her-"well, i can have your mail man call you when he gets in"

me-"that young kid?"

her"young kid"

me-"yeah, he looked to be about 18"

her-"no, he's in his 40's"

me thinking yeah f-in right.

her-"well if you give me your information i will have him call you"

me-"now what if he doesn't call me before he goes out to my house? blah blah blah a buttload more screaming and yelling.

her-"ma'am, i'm just the cleaning lady helping out. i can have him call you."

me-"well is there someone else i can talk to?"

her-"ma'am she's really busy."

at this point, i feel like taking my phone and beating myself silly with it.

me-"okay fine"

we hang up and then i think "i'll fix them" and i call the postmaster. that's right. don't mess with me!

so after a conversation with him (and believe it or not, i remained pretty calm...i mean he is the head honcho after all).

so i explain the whole situation with him and after i got to the first part, he wanted to make sure that i did the label right, i said yes, and he said that he will take of it. now keep in mind, at this point he is thinking that he package is picked up and some where on a mail truck.

whoa back up jack, i haven't even gotten to my complaint yet.

so i explain that the package was REDELIVERED to my house.

he tells me he'll call me back.

now i have yet to hear back from either the mail man or the post master (and notice its 8:33 p.m.

but the box was off the porch when i came home!

whoooo-ha!

now lets hope that it doesn't make its way back tomorrow.

now, on to some good mail news.


some goods from jenn. check out that fabric!! sorry jenn, but your package is the on i've been talking about the past two days, so i hope you get it by friday :)


these are the goodies i received from the handmade carved stamp swap. everyone did a great job. i cannot wait to send out these cards to some special people (i also hope they'll get em. i prolly pissed off my mailman for life).


cute lil chalkboard tags that i won from joleen.

i also received those wonderful playing card letter presses but the light inside is horrible and i can't get a good picture.

BIG MIDDLE FINGER TO YOU MAILMAN!!!!

okay, i am going to try and make this post as short as possible, but when i'm pissed off about something, i tend not to leave out any details.

okay, so sunday night i go to usps.com to print out a shipping label and schedule a pick up for monday. now around the christmas holidays, i had quite the problem with this (but had not problems prior to the holidays) and thought nothing of it b/c of the holidays. so no biggie, box goes out on the porch on monday morning.

monday evening when i am pulling into the driveway around 5:30 p.m., i notice the mailman is two houses down (when you live in the country, the mail comes pretty late). so i get down to the end of my driveway and sit and watch to see if he is going to drive down to me. rat bastard drives to my mailbox, puts mail in, and drives off. so now i hoist bella on my hip, and walk up the driveway with bella, my mary poppins purse, and some high heeled shoes and wait for him to turn around at the deadend and drive back toward my house.

i get halfway up my driveway when he drives by and i start to holler to him. he just says hey at first b/c i guess he thinks i am being friendly. i then yell "you have a package to pick up". "oh, okay he says". i then tell him he is going to have to drive down to get it b/c i couldn't get it in time without missing him.

so i walk the rest of the way to my mailbox to get the mail while he turns around slightly to come down my driveway.

he then proceeds to ride my ass with his car while i walk back down the 100+ foot driveway with bella on my hip, mary poppins bag on my shoulder, and high heel shoes that are really beginning to kill my right knee.

once we get to the end of the driveway, i put bella down, jot to the porch, grab the box, and go to hand it to him. at this point i notice its not our normal mailman. its a kid that looks no older than 17..kinda punky looking to.

so i ask him whether or not he was notified that he had a pick up here. he says "well i thought the number was 4 or something but then it got dark". i took this comment to really mean "i half ass read the pick up, mistook the 5 other numbers in your address that are not a 4 to be a 4, and since it got dark and i'm a lazy ass shithead, i didn't turn on the light in my car to read what the right address was. i then hoped that you wouldn't be home to catch my stupid ass and i could hurry up and get home to drink some cheap ass beer that i'm not old enough to drink and leave hickies on my redneck girlfriend's neck".

okay, whatever, the package is in the mail, nothing to get pissed off about right???


WRONG!!!

i get home today and notice a package sitting on my porch. now we all know that i am expecting these but certainly they can't be in that big box can they?

oh wait..whats that?

the blue fuckin' paper that i used to cover the top of the box that i mailed out yesterday?

did i do something wrong?

did i not put enough postage on it (that can't be b/c the box only weighed 1.5 lbs and i put 2 lbs.)?

why is the box a lil smooshed?

maybe there's a note explaining the problem huh?

i'll explain the problem....

stupid ass punk must not have brought my box to the post office, let his fat ass redneck girlfriend lay on it last night while she gave him a hickey, noticed it today, and b/c he's a stupid ass read the return address, thought it was addressed to me, and then threw it back on my porch.

so now, after i get my hair cut, highlighted, and go to work, i have to call the post office, bitch someone out, and hope they pick up my package before i get home tomorrow.

do i sound pissed?

SELF PORTRAIT TUESDAY PART FIVE!!!

self portrait tuesday-personal history

to continue with this month's theme, i decided to post a picture of the first piece of art i ever sold. i made this piece when i was a junior in high school. back then and to this present day, i have loved all things astrology (pisces baby!!) and thought this would be a great thing to work on. for those of you that don't know, its the astrological signs along with their planetary ruler.

as you can see, it is a large piece of canvas (use my piggies for scale;) that i primed and painted black. of course the signs were drawn free hand by me and then painted white.

i loved this piece.

my art teacher bought it from me for $50!!! i'm not sure if this is allowed or not (teachers buying art from students) but i was friggin' ecstatic when she said she wanted it and it was the best $50 evaaa (hmm...wonder what i spent it on...).

to this day, i often wonder whatever happened to this piece and wish that i had kept it.

THESE ARE A FEW OF MY FAVORITE (VINTAGE) THINGS!!!

i have always loved vintage things. when i was a lil girl (and even now really) the dream was/is to move into an old house, rummage around a fully stocked attic, and find that one treasure that i have always been looking for.

a diary.

when i was in highschool, i was all about the 70's (hell, who am i kidding, i still i am) my room was decked out in all the orange and pea green stuff that i could find at the thrift store (think the brady bunch kitchen). i wish i still had that stuff, unfortunately, i no longer have that stuff. but thats okay. it makes room for all the stuff that i am buying now.

whenever i find the cutest lil vintage item, i swoon instantly and *have* to have it. i mean its vintage and more than likely there are not a bunch of them around. i can't wait till our new house is built and i can fill it with all sorts of goodies that had a history that i can only dream about.


cute, red straw like sandals that have the cutest flowers on top. they *kill* my feet, but i still wear them. i think they just need to be broken in a lil bit. i bought these at the "yellow jacket" in milwaukee. if anyone reading lives in or around milwaukee and you want more information, lemme know. i should still have the biz card.


flapper tin i bought at an estate sale. i love the flappers and the colors.


aloha!! a dress i bought at tip top atomic shop in milwaukee. this dress is the best for a luau. the bodice is a stretchy material so really, it does fit me ;) the straps fall low on the shoulders. i still haven't found the perfect thing to wear this to..lol.


i have used this purse so much and carried so much stuff in it, that its starting to fall apart (wahhhh!) the outside is like a plastic/oil cloth. the inside has a zipped up pocket that goes from one side to the other and is in the middle. i *love* this. i bought this also at the "yellow jacket".

you can see some more of my vintage goodies here.

EEEEK!!!

looky-looky at what i just won on ebay!!! i am so excited about these. here's the item description that was on ebay:

Old letterpress blocks recovered from a vintage printing room in a funeral home on the south side of Chicago. These unusual pieces are the 4 threes(spade,heart,diamond,club) used on playing cards. They are metal on wood, could use a cleaning, and measure 3/8" x 3/4" each.

oh how i can't wait to get these in my hot lil hands.

hmm...what are the odds that i could get the whole set??????