Spot check

Okay peoples, time to play along!

Sitting here at work at the clutter and realised that not only do I have 4 piles of different doctors paperwork to get through, a new database to update with new MBS fees (hate the 1st of November!) but I also have a bottle of coke zero AND a large coffee. Ooops caffeine fix anyone ~L~

So it brings me to this question:

What is on your desk at the moment?

Changed plans

I had a great day planned today. Get kids to school - then hide in scrap room and churn out cards! But alas all did not go to plan as I got a phone call asking me to work. Did consider saying no but still have not found a way to be paid to stay at home and scrap so off to work I went! So I guess now I will be hibernating all weekend to try and get these finished but on the plus side - now I will have some shopping money for Sydney! YAY. 9 days to go

Now onto prompt No 2:

Whats a place you like to go to find your centre?

Not quite sure what my centre means, but two places came to mind straight away. Firstly was church - the second was the beach. I don't get to the beach anywhere near enough these days (in fact sometimes I could count the visits per year on one hand) but when I need to think or to just sit and zone out it is always beside the water. If I can't get to the beach then you will find me sitting beside the river! MY dream home would be right near a beach, preferably right on the beach. Hmmmm can't see that happening, unless the waters keep rising till Worrigee is waterfront property ~L~

Warning. Here we go!

Hold on tight. the ride is just about to begin!

As mentioned before I haven't had much to say lately and after being oh so subtly prompted I figured I had better come up with a more efficient way of updating - so lets go on a journey. I have a list of questions here which are actually written from a scrapping inspiration point. So lets see how we go. I have tweeked this so that I will use these questions as prompts for my blog and (hopefully) will be able to scrap as well to have a record. Not sure how the scrapping bit will go but lets at least start with the questions

Q1. Tell us something you lost

A. Apart from the obvious - my mind ~L~ Or maybe my innocence! This could be a long list. When I think of things I lost my Dad pops straight to mind but then when I think further I realise he's not lost. I know exactly where he is. I hate the phrase "lost" when referring to people as it seems like you absentmindedly put them down somewhere but I lost my little brown eyed girl Steffi-Kim a long time ago. For a while I lost touch with "me" but I am coming back with a vengeance. So something I lost? There are lots of little things, household items, scrap items, my waist ~L~ but I think the biggest thing I have lost would be trust in people. I don't trust easily but once I do - sorry you are stuck with me. There are only a few people I would totally trust and I am so very thankful for them.

So that the start of my journey. Are you prepared to take the ride with me?

Shopping, shopping, shop-ping!

What a day! Yep we shopped!

I drove up to the Kings house after sorting the kidlets here out and picked Cass up and then we went to warrawong and hit the shops!!! I got nearly everything on my list! YAY a major chunk of christmas shopping is now done! Woo hooo, doing the happy dance. AND I stayed in budget.

It wasn't all serious shopping. I must admit there were some laughs, some really bad puns (and yes Cass you did win with one good one) and maybe just some play! It's not our fault the toys say push here so we were only doing what we were told. Although hhhmmm I wonder if you are supposed to set the all going at the same time *ooops* The coolest christmas toy goes to a cute guy who sings a rap song called christmas time to the tune of MC Hammer! Very Cool.

And of course we finished up at Gloria Jeans.

No pension

Okay, okay I get the hint. Thank you very much for pointing out that my blog is so old it may be eligible for a pension soon. It's just that I don't have much to say! But you may be very sorry you nagged. Today will be a quick update but after that you may get to know me better than you wish! Be afraid - be very afraid. Will have some interesting posts coming up soon - found a blog challenge with some intriguing questions.........

TODAY

Outside my window... Is a glorious sunny day 26 degrees and barely a cloud in the sky

I am thinking... Those house cleaning fairies keep forgetting to turn up.

From the kitchen... Well its lunch time and I'm not sure what is being cooked but it sounds like Tony is coming up with one of his "Concoctions" - yes they are scary as they sound

I am creating... Lately - lots of cards for an upcoming swap

I am going... Out for a day of shopping with the wonderful Cass tomorrow and then in 11 days it is time for a weekend away in Sydney. Very excitement!

I am reading... The Pellinor series and the Piercing the Darkness series

I am hoping... To get to Melbourne for Christmas but really don't know if we can :(

I am hearing... noise, noise everywhere! I have my ipod on shuffle, Tony is cooking madly and has the TV on!

Around the house... Serious bomb detonation damage! Have pulled sheets out of linen closet to sort so they are piled up on dining table. Lounge room a mess - lots of ironing waiting for me to finish linen closet to put it away. Hmmm better get back to it.

Quote of the day

This weeks quote of the day belongs to Jacob! Don't know that it's terribly inspirational but I thought you might get a chuckle out of it.....

Jacob (aged 9) sitting at the dinner table eating chicken casserole pulls a drumstick out of his dinner and asks "Is this a dog bone?"

Hhhhhmmmm didn't think Tracy's cooking was that bad! ~L~

Grand Tour.......

Well it way overdue and I have been asked when it would happen........
Here it is - the grand tour of my new scrap/office space. When Tracy and Jacob moved in Jacob got my old craft room so we had a wall and door put in at the entrance of our old study and I have a new craft room! So hold on tight..... here we go
First thing as you come into the room is my bookcase (which is storage for work stuff) and my stand which I just adore. The poster on the wall is from my 29th birthday! A group of friends took me out for my last 20-something birthday and we went to see a duo who I also called close friends - Beez Neez! Whilst there we ripped this poster off the wall at Posties Tavern and I got everyone to sign it...
Also on the bookcase is a pile of frames which I need to find somewhere for. These contain photos of people who have been a major part of our lives - even dating back to special high school friends.
Another really special item here is located on the top shelf of my display unit. This is hard to see in the pic but is a "Scrappers Survival Kit" which was the first present I ever received from a gorgeous girl and amazing scrapper who I am so very priviledged to call a totally awesome friend. It holds pride of place and I always like to have it near my scrap space. I know I could never be as talented as this girl but I hope some of her scrap-genious may rub off one day.
Next along is my scrap desk... which used to be our dining table. When we upgraded the dining table I claimed the old one for scrapping. I do need the space cause when I scrap I tend to spread out and create a huge mess! There is room for this table to be pulled out away from the wall so I have plenty of room for scrapping with a friend (welcome anytime). The other thing I can't survive without is my ipod dock. This was a present from Tony and the kids last birthday. I love my music and just HAVE to have music playing when I scrap.

This was my big concession to space. My office space has shrunk a lot! I have gone from a big desk to this little computer table but it is up next to my craft desk so I can spread work out if I need to. Notice my poor old computer. A couple of keys missing, worn out mouse pad.... She really does need to retire but I cant see that happening soon so instead on the pull out drawer is an external keyboard and you can see the wireless mouse. Poor old girl.

The wall above this computer is bare at the moment but I have plans to put a number of photos up here by an amazing photographer @ www.disenchantedphotography.com. I know I could be slightly biased because I know this guy but the emotions and stories you get in his photos are just awe-inspiring. You can't really see it that well but the pic on my desktop is one of his. He is just so talented. Tony and I both have strong favourites from his portfolios that we want to make a feature of.

Okay moving around the room now. My wonderful big window which lets in heaps of light ( when its not overcast like today) and also allows a nice breeze through.... although I really could do without the neighbours dog which sits and barks at my window all day. GGGRRrrrr

Then on the next wall is all my storage. Tony got me cupboards with doors as I am not the neatest or tidiest perosn around and I have old chest of drawers with all my paperwork etc in them.

The doors of my cupboards are covered in cards and notes I have received from friends over the years. Any card I get from my friends goes up here. Then on those days when I feel so flat or so alone ( which do seem to be coming around a lot lately) I just sit and read and am so glad for the support that I get from my friends. I seriously do not think I could have got through the tough times without my friends and when I am having a bad day I really need that reassurance that there is someone who cares about me.

To Sandra, Cass and Jane - you girls are my angels. Love you. MWAH

Then finally - my storage unit which I saw and just had to have. I love all the different pigeon holes. This is the thing I want to work on the most. It does need a massive organisational overhaul but as the budget has nothing left for more baskets or storage boxes I guess it will have to wait.

Well thats it guys. Hope you enjoyed the grand tour. sorry it took me so long.

Mum's 70th Birthday

Saturday night we took Mum out to The Butterfactory for dinner.

When Mum was diagnosed with cancer she said that if she made it to 70 it would be a big celebration. So even though she didnt have a big party we wanted to do something special. so we went out for a lovely dinner. Tasha wanted to get Nana some balloons - after all it's not a party without balloons. Do you think she got enough? For Mum's birthday I made her up an album with photos from when she was baby, detailing all the major events in her life. I was quite happy with it and she loved it.

This is my favourite pic from the night. My kids and their Nana. Both of them adore Nana and they cherish the time they get to spend with her.

Scrapping

After some prompting from an amazing friend of mine who means so much to me - yes I agree "You're my person", here is some of my latest scrapping.

Nothing to fancy or even particularly remarkable - I think when I moved my craft room I packed up my inspiration and any scrap skill I had...... just need to find which box I put it in! Keep unpacking and moving things around hoping to find it tucked away somewhere but just don't know where it is - hope it didn't get sent to the tip with all the other stuff.............

Quote of the day!

A good friend will always be there to bail you out of jail.........

A true friend will be sitting right beside you saying "Wow, that was fun!"

Catchups and clean ups!

What an exhausting few days! Firstly on Saturday I got to spend some time with some amazing people. These girls always remind me to laugh, they inspire me, they push me to keep going and above all - they never let me give up on myself. They are always there in the tough times and have prayed with me through some of the major things in my life. This is a small portion of the SoF girls - we are all NSW girls and meet up occasionally for a scrap day and chat session!
Unfortunately Tracey wasn't well so we didn't get to spend a great deal of time with Tracey and Marion but it was lovely to see them for the short period of time we did. Then on Monday mum decided my garden needed an overhaul. So we turned my front garden from this

to this!

sustaining an injury or two along the way! you know how in the cartoons they step on a rake and it comes up and hits them? Well that was me - except it was a hoe and it hit me full pelt in the stomach - totally winding me and leaving a lovely welt and bruise. OUCH!

I had to add this pic....... not one I thought I would ever see. Tony and my mother working together in a garden!! ( I should note that we needed a boys muscles and after doing this job he did retreat back inside)