childhood memory...

from 2 peas: share a childhood memory

wow, as I combed my mind..I thought of this, when I was about 4 years old I almost drowned. Apparently we were living in an apt complex with a pool, while our home was being built. What I remember is that I had a viewmaster and it fell in the pool and I went to get it. I remember bouncing up and down in the water, trying to say "help" but it coming out as "help, glub,glub"...then I blacked out.

My mom says she stepped outside and saw my long dark hair in the water, she jumped in and got me out. Then my next memory was sitting on the side of the pool, coughing. (it was not an empty pool, there were other swimmers)

I was scared of water for a while after that, but not the kind of fear that when I got near it, I panicked. I just simply did not put my face under, would doggy paddle. When I was older and taking swimming lessons, the teacher kept squirting me in the face...I went to my mom and told her the teacher was "mean"...she said he just wanted me to put my face in the water...so, the next time he squirt me, I did it, I put my face under.
But to this day, I don't consider sports like snorkling "fun"...

odd thing, I'm not afraid of death...there was no pain and coming that close was not fearful at all...it was actually kind of peacefull..hmmmmm

as a child, I was also afraid of dogs. Now, this was the panic and run everytime they got near me fear. My dad says a big dog knocked me over when I was a toddler, but got over this one too.

and I was afraid of and still hate needles!! but had to overcome this one also, but I'll never get a tatoo...that's for sure!!

goals and health

from 2 peas: What are your goals for the fall/winter season?
Easy, wanna lose weight...ha!! but wanna do it without diet and excercise, any suggestions?

I've been sick, went to the doctor on Monday, of course they wanted blood, have I mentioned that I am scared of needles...now there is a purple bruice on my arm. Expect to hear from him soon, another lecture about cholesterol...yeah, yeah.

Part of me says, "take the medicine, cut the bad food out of your life, exercise (gasp) cuz you want to see your grandkids...the other part says, "eat the stuff you love, be lazy, and go out (hopefully) quick. But enjoy life instead of watching every little thing." hmmm, tempting.

oh, he gave me a decongestant...my symptoms of dizziness, sinus ache and all could be allergy related...can you believe that? this stuff KNOCKS me out, so as soon as I got home from work, I went to bed...

still haven't heard from Cierra, I'm hoping its the computer situation in Paris.
I have access to her bank acct, she spent @22.00 on her birthday...you know I did this when Jason was in Iraq...when he could not communicate, I checked his bank transactions.
I'd be a good spy, huh...

my baby is 21...

21!! does that just sound wrong to anyone else?

and is she home, so I can say happy birthday to her? Noooooo, she's in Paris...I can't even call her! I mean our goal as parents is to raise our children so they go out and make their own lives, experience life to the fullest...yeah, yeah...

and another thing about birthdays, how come they get the presents when I did all the work?

just wondering....jk...

I love my baby girl and I am missing her sooooooo much.

Happy Birthday, my sweet angel, oh and send me some pictures from Paris!!!

don't take it seriously and a place to get matching cardstock

from 2 peas..Let's share a helpful tip for fellow scrappers that you find helpful to yourself.

Don't take it all too seriously, this is for you and your family...

Not every page is gonna be a work of art...some are gonna be "eh"

and its only paper, so if you can't stand it...change it!!

Like me, I know I'm not one who is ever gonna be 'published'...but I enjoy the process.

the layout above is pretty typical of my style. I like pretty paper, that highlights my picture, and I use minimum embellishments...very basic, very me.

Oh, here is a site I use to buy the matching Bazzill cardstock colors for my printed papers. I've also shopped from Remember the Moments, and highly recommend it.

I used it for the Basic Grey "Phoebe" paper above.

Sat cleaning and target practice...ha!!

from 2 peas; What are your scrapping plans today?

well, I ain't been home 2 weekends in a row...so the first part of the day will be spent cleaning...laundry, bathrooms...stuff that after a while just gets a li'l disgusting.

and then I hope to plant myself in my room and scrap...and maybe join some friends at the lss for an evening crop. got pics from C..so can start some England pages. OH! and the funniest thing happened yesterday, we stepped outside and J's truck windshield was covered w/birdie poo...there are 4 cars in that driveway, and his was the ONLY one hit...so of course, I took pics and want to make a page called "Target Practice"...

Today, my sisters are 45!! Yes, they are twins. No, they are not close. So, I'm making them bday cards using Love Elsie, Lola papers and little Mary Englebrite inserts I got at the Michael's dollar bins. Wow, sisters are 45..does that make ME old?

guess the floors are dry now, back to it!

what my kids think of me...

from 2 peas: What do you think is one thing your children will say about you when they are grown adults?

well, my kids are grown...so I know what they say...at least to me...

I have been called a 'nag'...yes, can you believe it? I tell them I just 'consistently remind'.

My son says I am someone he can talk to, cuz he knows I won't judge him. And daughter says I am one of her best friends, cuz she can talk to me about anything. And that is one thing I have tried to do with them, is listen, not judge, and love them. (but sometimes I do have holes in my tongue from biting it)

I've maintained honesty with them.., I don't try to present myself as someone who is perfect...they know my mistakes and consequences.
I see parents who don't, who try to create this perfect, no fault personna, and I think that just builds a wall in a relationship.

No, I'm not gonna spill every little thing to my kids..well, its more open now that they are adults. I'll never forget, when they were younger, they asked "how many times have you and Dad had s*x"...I looked at them and said "well, at least twice"...good enough answer.. (maybe one of the reasons they maintained their virginity thruout high school, who knows?)

oh, and daughter thinks this whole scrapbooking thing is "nuts"...I'm still hoping that someday, she'll catch the fever... HA!!!!

gifties from my secret sister at 2 peas.

I am one spoiled girl...and Loving IT!!

funny about the movie, Love Actually, i was just thinking of hunting down C's so I can watch it...
and with her in England...just thought it would be the perfect movie to watch. Talk about timing!

trips to Indiana...and a "Princess" room

from 2 peas: Share one of your fondest memories of a special time with one of your grandparents..

we grew up in Texas, had grandparents in Indiana and grandma in Japan.
only saw the Japanese grandma once, we were @ 5 years old.

but for the Indiana grandparents, we used to travel out there during the summers when we were young. so those memories are about the trips to Indiana:

the 3 of us chanting "corn,corn,corn" while driving thru Indiana...cuz this is before the days of personal dvd's.

Grandpa and Grandma's house was full of treasures, esp the 'barn' in the back. We could spend hours exploring and playing (this is before cable)

oh, and could Grandpa cook!!... meats cooked in a pressure cooker, the freshest veggies you can imagine (he grew his own) and mashed potatos and fresh pies...all from scratch (this is before microwaves)

oh, and this is where I spent a summer reading "Little Women" by Louisa Mae Alcott (this is before video games)...sitting curled up in their front room's alcove surrounded by books.

and also the entire family sat on the porch and front yard during the evening after dinner and talked and chased 'lightning bugs'...(this is before cell phones)

I haven't added a fave site in a while...lets go non-scrap...I really enjoy the HGTV message boards for decorating. lots of ideas, and enabling. The "Princess" room started as an all white room that I saw on the boards...but went to look up a "blue" paint mentioned on the boards...fell in love with that blue...and made the room that blue w/white...Princess room is born.

posterity and random messages

from 2 peas: Share how scrapbooking/card making has effected your life in a good way?

I Enjoy it!! I think the family likes seeing the scrapbooks, too. and I enjoy hoarding.

Man that isn't very 'poetic' is it... it is the joy of documenting our family for posterity that makes me scrapbook...actually, that could be a li'l close, cuz I rec'd a box of pics from my dad's side of the fam...none of it was marked..I could only recognize my dad and his brothers. It is kinda sad actually, so if I do 'scrapbook' these pics these unknown people just become 'background'.

got pics from C, ooh let me post a pic!! (C is the girl standing) this was marked as Hyde Park.

the young man is Rob and the other gal is Sara. They are on their way to /or at Dublin for this weekend.

also got a 'random' message from one of my sisters...ooooh, the stories I can tell about my side of the family...wow! we are a major soap opera...and thats all there is to it. Wilson women = Dysfunction...yupp-ers. But I do claim the title of the most normal person in our family.

I am no longer 'favorite daughter' but I am 'most normal'...so there.

okay back to moving pics from facebook to photobucket for Cierra, guess the computers she has out there has been too slow...so I get to do it!! YEAH!!

pampering...

from 2 peas....How often do you take time out for you to get pampered?

only very occasionally...like once or twice a year...if you mean something like pedicures/massages or something..

but at least once a week, I kick back and read in bed..does that count?

having time like this on the weekends is probably the only 'nice' part about having grown kids...cuz, I just plain miss being 'mom'.

I miss those schedules and taking them to their events...just miss it.
unpacked C's bag of dance shoes, made me think of all those years of recitals and stuff...

Cierra started a blog about her journey in Europe, YEAH!!
I'm getting so desperate for pics from her, I've considered pasting her face in other people's pics, so I'll have something to scrapbook...
(she's been gone a week!!)

yesterday, I had lunch with Terry and Tina (our dd's are the same age, so we've known each other for about 16 years now)...it was nice "hanging" with them again...but they are both grandmas (they also have older kids)...pulling out the pictures and all...and I don't have any...guess I can take pics of Jason and Nyki's cat....boohoo. I know, be patient, cuz someday, I'll get to spoil my own grandchildren.

Hurricanes...and a soapbox

from 2 peas..."How are you being affected by Hurricane Dean?"

being in CA, guess I'm not directly affected by Hurricane Dean. However I do have family in the Houston area...so there are concerns for them. I guess as an American, the hurricane season affects me cuz of the "political" fallout that will happen if it hits and American cities are devastated. I'm so sick of this partisanship and finger pointing...where even a collapsed bridge and hurricanes are the fault of a political party or president.

maybe that is why so many are getting so "disinfranchised" by the politics of this country, so much finger pointing, no actual solutions. One party believes that government programs and handouts are the solutions, the other believes...what? That people when given opportunities will create their own solutions? I think both are wrong. there has to be opportunities and accountability....I mean look at how some of the survivors of Katrina, when given money cards used them to buy Luis Vitton purses...HELLO!!, is that food or essentials? Is it just our human nature to try to take advantage of any situation? And don't get my mom started about how they have affected the crime rate in Houston since they have relocated...its a very sore point with her.

as we were watching the "goofed up" helicopter rescue in Oklahoma on tv, my son pointed out that in Okinawa, typhoons, and there were a few, were treated as a fact of life. They happened, you prepared, you went thru it...life continued. Whereas here in America, we get soooo...worked up....why don't we just accept they happen, this is nature in action, and prepare...instead of all this hype? DH thinks that somehow this is "entertainment" in the information age, with 24 hour news networks, this is what they do to get their ratings....

sorry about the soapbox...
I'm really a very mellow person...who does not pontificate...I leave that to the pundits...HA!!

thoughts about motherhood

from 2 peas: Share one thing you thought you would never do , but did & are glad you did?

ummm..guess having kids., cuz I was one self-centered young woman who could never see herself in that type of role. I also worked at Joske's, a dept store kinda like Macy's, after high school and hated those nasty, dirty little kids running thru the clothes racks...YUCK!!

the biggest surprise was how I loved/love being mom to my kids...even now when they are grown. and I cannot wait till I get to be GRANDMA!! hint,hint

oh, site of this day...Welcome to Scraptalk...and the Pink Ladies.

I love this site, they sure do inspire me and yes 'enable' me...but so far I am resisting Basic Gray's Infuse.... soooooo far...... I got "Blush", I do not need Infuse...I do not...I do not...

above is a layout inspired by the girls at Scraptalk, it was actually an attempt at a scraplift...I only wish my style was this free and playful...but the reality, is, it ain't.

Sat Morn

ooh, wait a second, I'm watching Jerry McGuire..we are almost at the ultimate line...
"You had me at hello"...

aaawww, need a few moments.

what was I gonna write about?

hmmm..

Friday, Aug 17th...and another site link

So 2 peas thread question today is when are you most creative, in the am or pm? I know I am most productive during the am...toward evening I tend to veg...but more creative...hmmmmm...maybe pm, cuz I tend to do the bones of a layout during the day, think of embellishments and changes during the night, then make my changes the next morn.

That it the rhythm I am discovering in my scrappin...

so, the site I am adding today is I am a Scrapaholic.
This is the monthly kit I get...and I LOVE it...always a great variety in style, embellishments...the DT's styles are varied and simply "rock".

so, above is a layout I did, inspired by this site, it is based "loosely" on one of Janelle's sketches

day 2 and 2 peas

so, I figured I'd use the 2 peas daily blogger as inspiration to get me started on what to write here, and the Thursday question was "what do you do when you get rid of your stash"..huh?

I am a hoarder. I have been known to donate, like recently to a pea who asked for supplies to teach kids at her school..or the Relay for Life gift basket raffled by our local group.

so, I guess I'll start adding links to my little blog,
I'll start with 2 peas. Its a fascinating site, I've already "turned" my sister to it, But with a warning...things can get a li'l snarky over there.

Most of it is wonderful, the support, the help, the beautiful layouts in the gallery..but every now and then...

recently, there has been an invasion of trolls (thank goodness for those ignore options) and the use of the "F" word in a layout and someone who "stole" disney layouts and a layout featuring a child in underwear with a seductive title (turned out to be a "take" on a lingerie ad in France)
and BOY, these things got people worked up.

my take? well, when you have a community of so many people from such diverse backgrounds, you gotta expect different opinions. its when it becomes name calling or computer yelling (use of all caps) that people are simply going too far.

I think its okay to state your opinion, but nothing good comes from insulting those who don't agree with ya.

I used to be so much more black and white and all, but I guess age just mellows ya, (I'm in my mid40's) and you just realize there are some times when its just better to allow people to be who they are... calling them names....ain't gonna change them or the situation.

ya know?

here I go

guess I'm joining the world of the "blog"

geeeee

lets see if this is any "fun"