One Day At A Time

Finally...i'm back :-)

Finally, I'm back!  Well, back to writing on my blog anyway.  I never actually went anywhere.  ;-)  My husband (Ted) has been gone for 4 weeks now.  He deployed to Iraq.  We are all doing well and keeping very busy between school and extra curricular activities.  I must however say that it is surreal to stop and think that Ted won't be back for another 8 months, and that's just for his R&R of 18 days.  Then he heads back for 6 more months.  Wow.  All you can do is just take it one day at a time and keep the family going as normally as possible I guess.  There's no book on this to tell you what to do, you just gotta wing it. 

   On a lighter note here is a card from my talented good friend Suzi!  I've had it for awhile and have been meaning to post it.  I have been meaning to ask Suzi what she punched out her "flower" petals with.  (Let me know Suzi!).  I love to get handmade cards in the mail, especially since I hardly ever get them. 

   I am working on a few different projects right now and will post them when finished.  I've also got my design for this year's Christmas cards done!  I am very happy with this year's design and the colors.  It's very bright and festive.  I'm just waiting for my order of Christmas red stickles to arrive so I can officially start on the cards. 

     I will be trying to post more frequently since I am a bit more settled in with Ted having left, so make sure to check back.

Have a great weekend! :-)

been busy...

It's been busy around here.  We are slowly counting down the days until Ted deploys.  We think we have about 12 days left to go.  How do you prepare for your husband to leave the country for 15-18 months?  Well, you try to get as much technical stuff done around the house as possible.  That and things that you don't want to do on your own like straighten up the garage so that both vehicles will fit in, get the driveway sealed before the winter cold makes that huge crack in it any bigger, paint the remaining two bedrooms that you have been wanting to paint, and do as much as a family unit as possible.  There just isn't enough time in the day.

   In short, I haven't been doing much stamping lately.  I figure that this will pick back up somewhat after Ted has deployed.  I have been attending a few Battalion meetings about the deployment and taking some training so that I can be listed as a key caller for some of the spouses in our Company.  Each Company has what is called an FRG (Family Readiness Group) that will disperse information as it comes in whether it has to do with the deployment, or something as simple as the Company Christmas party. 

    I do have one card that was made and mailed out to a good friend for her birthday.  (Hey Melissa!)

I no longer have the card, but I think I can remember some of the basic supplies: The card is 5 1/4 x 5 1/4.  Paper: Wild Wasabi, pretty in pink, regal rose, chocolate chip, or close to cocoa.  Ink: wild wasabi, regal rose, whisper white. Stamps: So MUCH, in the spotlight. Accessories: word window punch, ticket punch, crystal stickles (dotted around the flower), silver brads, regal rose large gg ribbon.

   The green circle inside the flower says "friend" and the dots around the flower were stamped in whisper white then gone over again with silver stickles.

Oh, and I have another cute card that was sent to me by my friend and fellow demonstrator Alison.

It's too cute!  My crappy camera does not do it justice.  (Speaking of which, I keep hoping that Oprah will do one of her famous give away shows, you know like she gives cars away, etc., anyway, I  am hoping that she will do one for people that have very pathetic electronics.  If anyone sees this advertised anywhere please feel to submit my name and the fact that I have a crappy camera.  Maybe I can go on her show and she will take pity on me and give me like a tricked out Nikon or something.  One can dream.)  Anyway, I was so happy to receive this card, because even though I make cards, only a few of my friends do.  So, it's always nice to receive one in the mail.  Plus it's a Halloween card!  Halloween is my FAVORITE holiday! 

    Okay, I don't believe that the stamps that Alison used here are from SU!, but I have seen them somewhere just can't figure out where.  I do think that the "cobweb" at the bottom is the SU! cheese cloth background stamp.  If you see this Alison, leave a comment on where the cute witch feet came from. :-)

    I gotta get started on my Halloween cards here soon as well.  I can't believe that it is October already!

    Gotta run, today is "Family Picnic Day" at our boys' school.  Of course it is raining so I guess we will be picnicking in the gym. 

   Have a great weekend!

This just in!

   OMG!  My Dad emailed me after reading my blog and complaining about my horrible pictures.  He told me that if you double click on the picture itself it enlarges it.  He thought that I already knew this.  HA!  I tried it, and it you can see the images SO MUCH BETTER! 

    Just a little FYI. 

Ta!

There's Deer in my backyard!!

Some of you are aware that I have PAINSTAKINGLY been waiting to see some cute little hoofed, white tailed, big brown-eyed cuties in my backyard.  My neighbor had told me that deer were "back there all the time.", when we we moved here in July.  I ran out and bought a 5lb salt block to attract them, (The guy at the hardware/feed store looked completely perplexed as I explained to him that I needed a salt block to "attract" deer so my family could enjoy seeing them, not blow them away with my rifle, or .22, or whatever the heck hunters use.)  So, anyway, the salt block was one of the first things placed outside even before all the boxes were unpacked.  Then, I waited.  And waited.  And waited. And waited some more...I had started to give up hope, especially after the retired Col. next door told my Dad that he used to sit on his back deck at night and shoot his b-b gun at them so they wouldn't eat his wife's plants.  WHAT?!  ( Needless to say we never mentioned anything about the salt block hidden in the tall grass.)

   So, imagine my delight to just look out the kitchen window one day and catch a glimpse of something moving.  It was 5 DEER!  Three doe, and two young bucks!  I couldn't believe it!  I was so excited, but alas, since I was so excited to see them I didn't think to take a picture.  So, imagine my great delight, yet again when I looked out the window yesterday and saw this little cutie!  You can hardly see her because my camera "ucks",( you can add the "s", I'm trying to keep this blog G-rated.)  If you can't see her she's right behind the door to the gate.

    I was putting socks away in my boys' bedroom and saw her from the window.   I quietly tip-toed/ran through the house and said in yelling whisper "Boys!  Look!  A Deer!".  I don't know why I was trying to be so stealth, I guess I thought the deer would hear me screaming through the walls.  So we all huddled around the kitchen window and watched her.  10 seconds later I remembered my camera so I dashed off to get it.  When I came back the boys were gone.  I looked in the living room and they were sitting back down watching cartoons.  "Boys?", I said.  "Deer!  Are you done looking at the deer?"  Together: "Yes Mom."  Needless to say I was disappointed, and I was not done looking at and enjoying the national geographic show in my very own backyard.

     Really, it's not that I have no life.  Well, okay, it's not that I have completely no life.  But where I grew up we never saw deer or any other animal outside of a squirrel, or your average backyard bird. 
We lived in a well established subdivision right off the interstate.  There were houses all around us, and no where for things like deer to live or graze.  Once, I remember we did find a baby possum in our garbage can which was VERY exciting, and then there was the occasional garden snake under the sandbox, but that was about it.  So, it stands to reason that I am excited at the prospect of having REAL, LIVE, DEER in my backyard.------Okay, and maybe the fact that I have no life has a tiny bit to do with it as well.

   

Okay, on to stamping.  I made this little ditty the other day for one of my customers.

   Cool huh?  It's called a criss-cross card.  The tutorial to make it is, (where else?), but here at SCS!  :-)  This is a fun card to make, but a bit on the heavy side with all the paper that is involved.  I added extra postage before I mailed it out just to be sure I was covered. 

Here is the inside part to write your message on...

    Well, that's it for today.  I'm heading out to take my boys bike riding, (and to keep a look out for more deer!) :-)

***One other quick little thing.  I have absolutely no idea why the third paragraph is all underlined.  I tried to fix it for 5 minutes then just decided to leave it.  Computers, don't ya just love em?***

Ready For More??

Okay, I have a few more items for you from Regionals...

These are five cards made to fit into an "Emergency Birthday Card Kit".  I thought it was a cute idea for a stamp class.  The envelope that holds all the cards is on the bottom left part of the board. 

Here is the envelope holder if you can read it.  It has some little directions on it and says that it holds 8 cards and 8 envelopes.  The girl giving the demonstration mentioned keeping it in the glove box of your car in case you ever find yourself out and needing a birthday card. 

    Now for the "make and take" items.  Like I said on yesterday's post the M&T's were SO MUCH better this year than last. We used two different stamp sets to make everything.  One of them was the ever-so-cute "True Friend" set found on pg. 18 of the Holiday mini.  I don't own this set, but I am REALLY leaning toward it.  As a rule I hate to buy something that will retire in a matter of months and I may not be able to demonstrate with anymore, but this set is fun and cute.  The second set was the set that they gave us, (they give everyone that comes to regionals a stamp set to take home), it's on pg. 72 of the catty and is called "So Much". 

     Now, when I saw on-line that this was the set we were getting at regionals I was less than thrilled.  It looks plain and basic to me.  However, they had some cute make and take projects for us to do with this stamp set so I feel better about it now.  I mean, I still wouldn't have come home and purchased it, but since it was given to me with the admission to Regionals I will take it and work off of the M&T's that we did.

So, here is the first item.  It is a 12x12 scrapbook page.  I'm not a scrap-booker, but if I was this type of page would be right down my alley.  Quick and cute...

You are supposed to journal around the blue circle and you can place pictures on the red and the yellow parts.  The 12x12 sheet is Kraft paper.

Here are the others...

another...

This is the inside.  It has a cool fold to it so that when you open it has a little diagonal pocket to insert another sheet of cardstock with your message on it.

This one was fun as well.  It is actually an envelope.  We sealed it, then cut like 1/2 an inch off one of the sides for the sky blue c/s to be pulled out of.  The red belly band wraps all the way around the card which I liked as well. 

And, see that tiny little library clippy thing at the top?  I'm SO GLAD that I got to actually see these in person so I know not to buy them.  I mean they are cute, but they are TINY and not easy to work with. 

Here I tried to get a close up of it.

Here it is with the sky blue note card taken out of it.  You can't tell from the picture, but the red belly band has flowers stamped all over it in Versa Mark, and the blue note-card has a flower stamped in the right hand top corner in Versa mark.  This card is MUCH cuter in person.

Here's another one.  Cute, but simple.  The little ribbon at the top of the circle is tied together with linen thread.

Here it is opened.  The Kraft paper is just one sheet, the real red wraps all the way around the card.

Here is another.  This is the first time that I got to see the new Basic Gray color in person.  I really like it, it's very regal.  Gotta buy me some of that.

And, lastly, a cute 6 x 6 scrapbook page.  I'll have to add a picture to it...

Here is a close up of the flower.  It has a lt. blue rhinestone brad on it.  Once again, this is much cuter in person that the picture will allow.

    Okay, that's it for today kids.  It takes me longer to upload these cards to this site than it did for Britney to kill her career!  :-)  (Come on, how could I resist! )

    On a personal note...my kindergartner's teacher called me today to let me know that she is submitting Adam to be screened for speech therapy.  For those of you that don't know Adam he talks like Elmer Fudd.  I don't know if I'm ready for them to change my baby's speech.  No more "Mom, can I have a Pop-Tawt?", Or, no more "I went Wholling (rolling) down the hill.", or..."Andrew, (his big brother), is a BWAT!" 

   Yes, for my baby to lose the Fudd accent will break my heart.  Although, I will agree that although it's cute now, it probably won't be too cute at 30.  I guess I've gotta cut those apron strings at some point.  :-(

Have a great day!

Back from Regionals!

Okay, I'm back from SU! Regionals in Louisville,  and I've got lot's of pictures and things to share with you!   

     For those of you that are familiar with my and Alison's escapade at the Atlanta Regionals last spring, (for that blog listing go to the "Archives" on the left side of the webpage, click on "March", and scroll down until you come across the post marked "What time is it in Atlanta?") I actually made it to this one on time!  I went alone but sat with some great gals from Ohio.  As a side note: sadly, I did not win a door prize this year (bummer).  :-(

    I can report that the crowd was much more subdued in Louisville than they were in Hot-Lanta, but I still had a great time.  Our make and take projects were MUCH, MUCH better this year than last as well!  Plus, I actually finished them all in the allotted time since I didn't do any card swapping.

   So, here are some of the pictures that I took of the projects they showcased.  Let me apologize ahead of time for any of the blurry, crooked, or otherwise crappy shots.  These items are hung on a 2 x 3 felt board and are at any given time swarmed by 50+ SU! demonstrators...the vultures!  (Of course I don't count in the "Vulture" category because being the Goddess that I am, I am special and they should have known to all move out of my way and let me get my pictures while not being rushed. )  So in no particular order, here is what I have...

Okay, I will start off with this little ditty since I liked it so much.  Pg. 169 in the Catty.  These are gift notes.  They are pre-cut, pre-scored note cards for gift certificates!!  How cool is that??  Here's the sad part, they are new this year and I didn't even know that we carried them!  :-0  They even have the little interior slots to hold the gift card and everything!  This one was decorated with "Cutie Pie" DSP (designer series paper).  They are REALLY pushing the DSP this year, and with good reason!  SU! has stepped up it's game in the DSP category and the results are FABULOUS!  They have an AWESOME assortment of BEAUTIFUL DSP this year in the Catty! 

Here is the inside...

Sorry about the blurriness,(blame it on the vultures), but here it is fully opened.  You can't see the little slits in the middle to hold the gift certificate, but they're there.

Here is another one of my favorites.  It's decorated Tootsie Pops!  Definitely doing this one for the boy's classes this year!

  Here's the front.  This is made with two different sized circle punches and the scalloped circle punch.

Here's the backside.  How easy and cute is that???

   

Here's another cutie.  This is called a diaper fold.  This example is all decked out with "Apple Cider" DSP.  I have this paper and it is TO DIE FOR!

This item was kind of cool.  On this side it says "fall" and is decorated in a fall motif, and on the the other side the letters spell out "Noel" and are decorated in a Christmas motif.  Those circles are actually CD's covered with DSP!

Okay, take note of this one...These are all 3 x 3 cards made from 1 simply scrappin' kit!  Actually, this is only HALF of what you can make with one kit!  These are 32 of 64-- 3 x 3 possibilities.  All the paper, embellishments, etc. that are used here are included in the kit.  The only thing not included are the stamps that were used and the ink.  I thought it was an awesome idea.  Personally it would take me a lifetime to use 64-- 3 x 3 note or gift cards, but you could package them up with envelopes and give them away as gifts, door prizes at parties, whatever.  If you look at the right side of the board There are little boxes going down the board.  She made those boxes out of cardstock and decorated them.  Each one can hold 6, (i think) cards and 6 envelopes.

One last thing and then I gotta clean the Palace...

These were cute.  They are baby shower invitations.  They don't open, they are one sheet only.  You can get three card backs (the white part) of these invitations and...

...3 thank you cards (the thank you cards open) from 1 sheet of 12 x 12 paper! ( The thank you cards are one sheet as well and don't open.)

Here is the boy version for the invitation...

And the coordinating thank you card!

Okay, that's it for today.  You have no idea how long it takes to download and insert these pictures on this site!  UGH.  So, I will have to break it up and post more tomorrow.  Tomorrow I will also try to post pictures of all the cute "make and take" items that we made. 

Until then...have a great Monday!  :-)

Thanks so much

Finally, a card...                                                                              

The layout or "sketch" of this card is from this week's SCS weekly sketch challenge. 

    I made this card for our Battalion Commander's wife.  She had some of us from the BN over to her house for a get together the other night.  If you are not familiar with the Army, we spouses have this tradition of having a monthly get together.  This tradition started way back in the day and still to this day are called "coffees".  The ironic thing is we almost never drink coffee. (Personally, I can't stand the stuff.). 

    So back in the day they used to throw on their dressy outfits, white gloves, hats, etc., and go have coffee with the other Army (probably only Officers) wives.  They would chit chat, gossip, whatever.  Well, today we still have the get- togethers minus the coffee (usually), minus the dress attire, (now it's basically jeans and flip flops), and probably more PC and lighter on the gossip.  We chat about BN news, upcoming deployment news, the FRG, or for you civi's ,"Family Readiness Group" information. FRG's were established, I think, during the Gulf War.  They are set up by company, BN, all the way up to Brigade level.  It is a way for the families of soldiers to stay informed and have a family-style connection to the unit that their husband is assigned to. We discuss fund-raisers for the FRG, so that we can have BN get togethers,and Christmas, Halloween, Easter, etc., parties.  At the "coffees"  we eat usually finger foods, but instead of cucumber sandwiches on watercress bread it may now be buffalo chicken wings, chips and dip, brownies, etc.  We drink soda, water, iced tea, and occasionally alcohol is served.  The main difference between today's coffee groups and yesterday's is that, (in my humble opinion) we actually have a mission and a purpose. 

    So, I had my first coffee with the ladies from our new BN the other night.  (New to me because we just arrived here at Campbell in July.).  Everyone was very nice and the time was relaxing, and informative.  Don't get me wrong, we definitely socialize during these events.  And believe me, I'm taking a night out with a group of my military spouse sisters any night of the week over fighting with the kids to go to bed! 

    I guess that's it.  Tomorrow I am heading to Louisville for the Stampin' Up! regional conference.  I will take lot's of pictures for you, and hopefully will come back with some new cool ideas and techniques.  Wish me luck! 

Card Materials: All supplies are from SU! with the exception of the the LARGE scalloped circle punch.

Stamps: Polka Dots and Paisley, so many sayings, in the spotlight.  Paper: Old Olive, Chocolate Chip, very vanilla, really rust, Apple Cider Designer series paper (holiday mini catalog.  If you don't have this stuff already you GOTTA get it.  This paper is to DIE for!) Ink: really rust, chocolate chip, old olive.  Accessories: silver brad, SU! scallop circle punch, key tag Punch, coluzzle, large oval punch, corner rounder punch, chocolate chip gg ribbon, sponge

Ouch! That smarts!

    Did you ever have one of those periods in life where things are going great...too great?  Well, things around the house, etc. have been relatively quiet lately.  No bad reports from school, no one in the family sick, even our geriatric diabetic cat seems to be thriving.  Then it hits...my van window was acting a little wonky.  By "wonky", I mean the motor seemed slow to raise the window, and sometimes it wouldn't raise at all leaving me holding my breath for a moment because it was either 140 degrees outside or raining.  Well, this has been going on for a while, then the van started running a tad rough.  It seemed like at times it was struggling to accelerate.  This could be logically explained because it has like 90,000 miles on it and has never been tuned up, or had anything done to it other than your basic oil change or battery replacement.  So, with the rough engine and the wonky window we finally decided to drop it off at the dealer to get a checkup.  No big deal.  Well, the service guy called me today from the dealer and wouldn't you know it, life resurfaced and smacked me with the news that it is going to cost $600 to have my van fixed.  After the guy told me what the van needed, gave me the breakdown of the prices, and then gave me the final total I replied a very calm and very stoic, "wow.".  He said "yeah, those parts will get ya'." 

     I told him that I needed to share the wonderful news with my husband and then I would call him back to tell him what we wanted to do.  I hung up the phone and started to think about options.  Does it really matter if I can't roll my window down?  So what if the van runs a little rough?  It's not like it's a Bentley or anything.  It's a mini van filled with chocolate milk stains, french fries in between the seats, froot loops on the floor, cat hair on every seat, and God knows what else.  What's it matter if the engine is a little rough to boot?  Right?   I called my husband and he said that it had to be fixed.  I hung up the phone with him and sat and thought...

Let me share this with you...

This, is affectionately known in our house as "The Disney Money".

Here's a close up...

   There's approximately $37 in there.--->  We've been saving for a year.

    How do I know that there is approximately $37 in there you say?  I know because my ever optimistic, 8 year old counts it at least once every 6 weeks.  Then he comes out and announces how much we have saved up. I have heard that if you want to stay in the park hotel you need to book far in advance.  No problem, I'm thinking we'll be good to go around 2042...I wonder if they make reservations that far out?

    We have never been to Disney.  At the rate we're going by the time we get there The "Dumbo" ride, and the "it's a small world" attraction may have gone the way of the Dodo.  The plan was to dump any and all spare change into this bottle.  Well, I will say that the occasional quarter found in the dryer, or any money that my kids find on the ground in parking lots do make the bottle, the rest just goes...elsewhere.  Like to make windows on vans go up properly, or to the new High School Musical 2 CD soundtrack.  (sometimes those excited faces and "COOL!"'s are worth the money.)

  It's hard to get ahead, it's just that simple.  But, I can't complain.  We have been very lucky and we have enough of everything that we need.  So, I called the service guy and told him to sock it to me.  It's $600; sure, it would be nice to spend that money on something more desirable, but what are ya gonna do?  Life goes on and Disney will be there for years to come...

I just hope that Dumbo ride holds out.  :-) 

Looky What I Got!

Look!  Look!  It's our birthday present my precious!  (Said in the tone of Gollum from the Animated version of "THE HOBBIT") Now I've gone and dated myself...Does anyone know what the animated version of "THE HOBBIT" is??  I think it was made in the late 70's.  Anyway, it came on TV occasionally when I was a kid. I loved it and watched it every chance I got.  "The Hobbit" is before "The Lord Of The Rings" trilogy.  It tells the story of how Bill-Bo (spelling?) comes to find and own "the ring".  For those of you that know what I'm talking about, in the animated movie when Gollum realizes that he has lost the ring he starts doing this pitiful, whimpering, moaning, outraged cry saying "Gone!  It's Gone!  Our Biiiirrrrrththththdaaaaaaaay PRESEEEEEEENT!!"  Ya, okay, I'm over it.  If you know what I'm talking about then great, if you don't and you are my age or older then you missed out on a true animated masterpiece. :-)

    So, anyhoo I got a front door for my birthday, oh, plus the cost of having it installed.  It seems that when you become a home owner your birthday, Mother's Day, Anniversary, Christmas, and "honey I'm sorry I'm a jerk" presents all revolve around your home.  For my birthday I got a new front door.  Not to say that I didn't want said front door, I really did.  It's just not real exciting ya know?  Maybe for Christmas I will get paint, and the supplies to do it with, to paint my boys' bedroom?  One can only wish...

    There is no card today.  I have been running errands and putting all of my retired stamp sets on ebay to sell.  IF you are interested in checking out what I have to offer, and would be so inclined to place a bid therefore buying my old stuff so that I have some cash to buy some new stuff that would be awesome.  Click Here to check out my wares. If the link won't work my ebay seller name is "SHINKLEFAMILY4".   You'd better hurry because those suckers are receiving bids at a lightning fast rate of speed!!  After all, there's only like a billion pages of Stampin' Up! stuff on ebay at any given time so my stuff is a hot commodity. 

     Have a GREAT Labor Day weekend! :-)

Today is a VERY SPECIAL day!

Today is an EXTRA SPECIAL day!

    Surely you know this, right?  You don't??  Then let me tell you...33 years ago today all the planets in the heavens aligned perfectly so that a wonderous, dare I say it, Magical event could happen. ( Have you guessed yet? )  Yep, your's truly was born unto this planet. 

    My birthday is such a special event in our house, as seen to it by me of course.  My husband says that I have a "72 hour" birthday.  Well, I have this "thing" about using the day before my birthday, the blessed event day itself of course, and the day after my birthday.  The day before might go something like "Honey, will you put the kids to bed tonight please??  Tomorrow is my birthday you know.", the day of is, of course self explanatory, and the day after might go something like this "Honey, will you unload and load the dishwasher after dinner?  It's the day after my birthday you know.".   For some reason he doesn't understand this logic.  I however don't see what's not to understand.  It makes perfect sense to me.

    So how does a Goddess such as myself spend her glorious day?  Well, first I got up and got the kiddos fed and dressed for school with a "come on guys, today is my birthday remember?  Let's be nice to Mom and not give her any trouble with getting out of bed.".  (Gotta play that birthday card to the full extent.)  Next I dropped them off at school to the beat of Hannah Montana singing her heart out.  After that, I came back home to straighten the palace and scoop the two cat litter boxes, (yes, we have two cat litter boxes).  After that a quick shower and it's off to the DMV to renew my driver's license that expires today.  Ya know, of all the places to have to go on your birthday the DMV shouldn't be one of them.  After dealing with the ever so gracious and super nice people at the DMV (they are the same in any state), and barely squeaking by on the eye exam, (eventually I am gonna have to break down and buy some eye glasses), I got my fabulous new TN driver's license.  And of course the picture is a "beaut".  Looking at the picture on the way out I was reminded how I need to be heading back to the gym now that school is back in session and quickly.  Just exactly how many double chins can you squeeze into one of those little tiny pictures?? 

   Anyway, I'm back home now.  Soon I will head back out the door to volunteer in my oldest son's classroom.  The teacher wants me to help some of the students that are having trouble in math.  For those of you that know me well you will see the humor in this.  Math is like my worst subject.  I told my husband  "I can handle it, it's only 3rd grade math, it's not like it's 5th or 6th grade stuff.".  He just looked at me and laughed.  What!?  Have you seen the stuff that kids are doing in school today?  I'm sure that the 5th and 6th grade math that I did when I was that age is a joke compared to today's standards.  I mean, kids are reading in Kindergarten now a days for cryin' out loud!  When I went to Kindergarten it was only for a half a day and during that time we had "color time", "snack time", "rest time", "music time", and "free play" time.  I'm not that great with math but if you add all that up and the 3 or 4 hours to do it all in it doesn't leave much time for learning how to read.  On my youngest son's first day of Kindergarten just a few days ago, he came home with a list of words for us to start going over with him at home.  Wow!  How times have changed.

    So, anyway, I digress...I'm getting ready to head out to volunteer in my son's class on my birthday.  I know, I know, Mother Teresa has nothing on me.  Tonight I am being taken out to dinner, and happily, it won't be to Chuck E. Cheeses, or McDonald's!  I also have three hot dates to escort me to the restaurant chain of my choice.  It's first class all the way tonight baby!  :-)

    In light of this wonderous day I have decided to post a birthday card.  I gave this card to my Mother for her birthday which was coincidentally just 5 days ago.   So, without further adieu here are the list of materials...

Stamps: Fabulous Flowers (with the new AWESOME zinnia or Mum Flower), paisley background stamp, It's your birthday. Ink: purely pomegranate, blue bayou, wild wasabi. Paper: blue bayou, purely pomegranate, and wild wasabi. Accessories: silver brads, crystal stickles, large and small oval punch, wild wasabi stitched-gg ribbon, and of course, sponge.

    Well, I guess that's it.  I hope that you all enjoy the rest of this Glorious of Glorious-est (is that even a word?  Oh well, it's my birthday so it doesn't matter.) days.  I'm sure now that you are all aware that it is my birthday, (for those few sad souls that didn't realize it), I'm sure you will be wanting to bestow gifts upon me.  Normally, I would include my mailing address for just such a purpose, but I think this year I will skip the gift collection.  I think that a day at the DMV, helping to spread my great knowledge of math, and a hot night out on the town at "The Outback" is enough.  No, no, really, don't worry about it.  Just remember to keep in mind that today is a VERY SPECIAL DAY, and thank the Gods above that 33 years ago on this VERY SPECIAL DAY, I was born unto you, forever and always a Goddess. (dramatically holding my arms out and bowing my head.) 

    Have a great day!!!!  :-)