HAPPY BELATED AND HAPPY EARLY.....

Hello........
Hello..............
Is anyone out there??????????????

Okay - I have no idea who actually reads my blog but for all of you who may be a little interested, I guess you've noticed that I've been a little M-I-A with the blogging world.

Feeling a little down and depressed lately.
Yuck.........
I really dont like to feel like this.
Needless to say, the people around me are probably not too thrilled about it either.......

Why????????
Oh, I have no idea.
I can blame it on the economy (and believe me, right now finances are definitely at the top of my list of things that are depressing me)
I can blame it on hormones (that is the beauty of being a woman - you can always blame it on hormones......)
I can blame it on...........
Well, it really doesn't matter why I am feeling this way.
The main thing is to get my butt moving and snap out of it..........
Easier said than done......

Anyway.
I wanted to wish you all a Happy Belated Christmas and also a Happy New Year (just in case it takes me another month before I blog again)

Well, that's it.
It's almost the end of the year.
Out with the old - In with the new.
I have a ton of things I want to accomplish in 2009 - I bet you probably have a list like that too.
How much of it I will get to, I have no idea.
Oh well........
It is what it is.........


Thanks for listening...........

Hugs........

P.S. - If you are reading this, can you please wave & say "Hello".......
Thanks......

Maria

UGH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Well, today is 12/5/08.......
Not quite sure where 12/2/08, 12/3/08 and 12/4/08 went but obviously my "Picture Of The Day" project went out the window AGAIN.............
Hey, I did one day - Doesn't that count for something??????????????

On 12/2/08 I was going to take a picture and realized that my camera battery want now TOTALLY DEAD......... (As you recall it was on it's last leg the day before.......) No worries - Just go to your other camera - You know..... The fancy expensive one that you were so anxious to get............ Oh........ Yeah.............. That one has a dead battery too............... Sigh........

On 12/3/08 I slept through trying to take a picture.
On 12/4/08 - Same thing...........

Now it's 1:54 on the morning of 12/5/08 and I am officially giving of "Picture of the Day" and going upstairs and going to sleep..............


Sigh.................

POTD - DECEMBER 1, 2008

What is POTD????
P-icture
O-f
T-he
D-ay

So many people are doing POTD and I have tried doing it but have failed so today, the first day of December, here I am starting again.


My first POTD is not exactly the best picture because I had absolutely no time to try to focus or anything but it was 1 second before midnight and I had a camera battery which was on it's last legs (one of these days I'll learn to start charging the camera AND the cell phone on a regular basis)


Anyway.......... The POTD is of my little Boyds Bears that sit in front of my computer.
On the front it says "Friends Make Memories" and it is of two little scrapbooking bears.
On the bottom it has the Limited Edition numbers and their names "Jen & Michelle" and it says "Friendship is the source of the greatest pleasures........." - Saint Thomas Aquinas.

My mother had bought me these little bears from QVC many, many years ago.
Not only did she buy one but she bought two. She told me one was for me and that I should give the other to a friend - I had given the other to my BFF Laura because she is the one who introduced me to the world of scrapbooking.


Thanks Laura - Although I am now completely broke because of a slight (major) addiction to buying scrapping supplies, I have met so many wonderful people in this wonderful scrappy community and the memories of great times shared are completely priceless so thank you Mom for my little bears and thank you Laura for being my BFF.





:0)

BLACK FRIDAY SHOPPING

Every year I kick myself in the butt for missing all the great sales that are out there for Black Friday. This year I did some planning. I wrote down what time certain stores open and what they have advertised. I clipped my coupons and I planned on being at my first stop (Kohl's) at 4:00 a.m. because I need clothes and I had coupons.....

Well.... I couldn't get to sleep Thursday night (so what else is new....) so I did not wake up till 7:00 a.m. on Friday - There went my big plans of hitting a bunch of stores.

All was not lost. I got there later than I thought but I did do quite a bit of damage to my credit card but I did get some good bargains. And you would have been very proud of me - I went to AC Moore and walked around, walked around, walked around but walked out with nothing.

Saturday was another story....... I went back to AC Moore and did buy two paper stacks and two Sizzix dies but only because they were 50% off with another 20% off on top of that but even though I was tempted to buy so many other things I went on to Macy's.

There I was not so good........ I shopped myself silly.

Again - It is the whole coupon thing. Everything I got I got on sale plus coupons so even though I spent a lot I did save and it's all stuff that I needed.

On the way home I was thinking how quickly Halloween came and went - How quickly Thanksgiving came and went - How it will be soon time for Christmas.
Then I saw it............. Yes............. There they were again........... Cars with Christmas Trees on their roofs. Not one, not two, but THREE of them in a row driving in front of me (so ofcourse I had to speed up so I could take a picture but in order to avoid crashing my car I only got a picture of two....... LOL)

Well..........

It's official..........
It's time to start decorating.

Now...........

Where in the world are all my decorations????????????????

Sigh...........

JUST TAKING A LITTLE TIME TO RELAX...

Today is Sunday. I probably should be doing stuff around the house - cleaning, laundry, cooking, etc. I probably should have gone out - There are sales everywhere, I should probably have gone to the grocery store. I probably should have gone to the Thanksgiving Day Parade in Stamford (Bob is working setting up the barriers and then taking down the barriers for the parade) but it is so darn cold and I just dont want to go out. Even he came all the way home during his break because he would rather drive all the way home and all the way back then to be out in the cold.

So instead of doing all the stuff I should have been doing, I spent all morning browsing the internet - Mostly SIS because I am so darn addicted to that site.
So anyway......... I came across a post from a wonderful scrapper who uses the name "SCRAPBABY" but her real name is Norma.
She posted this very funny picture of this old lady and how she thought she had more patience now that she is older.........
This ofcourse had me cracking up and so I had to see what else Scrapbaby had in her gallery.
I then came across a layout she did of her coffee cup. A coffee cup that she went out and bought for $2 because at age 68, it was time that she had her very own coffee cup - One that was hers and hers only.
Somehow this layout touched me.............. It really made me think.........
I was sitting here reading about other peoples lives and seeing their pictures and here I was just about ready to let a moment slip away.............
What moment is that????????
Well, the moment where I get off my butt, go to my china cabinet, take out my Royal Daulton Old Country Roses coffee cup and pour my coffee out of the styrafoam cup that I had it in and poured it into my pretty cup........
This cup is from a set that my Mother bought me years ago....... It has been almost four years that she has been gone and I miss her so much. She knew I had fallen in love with this pattern years ago and she had bought me the set but it just sits there collecting dust.
So today - I took time to just relax. I had a few laughs, I had a few moments of reflection upon my life and my family as I read about others and their families. I sat and enjoyed my coffee from MY CUP that my Mother had bought me........
It has been a wonderful Sunday so far.

Okay - Now it's almost 2:00 p.m and I must get going.
The laundry still needs to be done.
Dinner still needs to be made.
Tomorrow is Monday and reality is not always kind.

But thank you Norma for letting me share a laugh and a cup of coffee with you..........

Hugs.........

:0)

TWILIGHT....

I've always had a thing for vampires so when I heard how wonderful the book was I just knew I had to see this movie. It came out at midnight Thursday but since there was work the next day it would just have to wait.

So Friday after work I went and bought tickets. I got to the theater around 5:00 and the 7 O'clock was already sold out. The first theater for 7:30 was also sold out but I got three tickets for the second theater.

Definitely a great movie. Loved the story, loved the acting, love it all.

Wait............ One thing I would have changed.

Yes, Robert Pattinson is very cute and he did a great job acting as Edward but hellooooooooooooooooo....
Can you please look at Cam Gigandet at tell me he is not HOT!!!!!!!

Now that to me is my idea of a vampire....
Sigh...........

STUDIO - My new additions.......

So the are finally home:

1 Executive Desk

1 Computer Desk With Hutch

2 Leather Chairs

I ended up hiring a moving company to bring these home for me.

It cost me an arm and a leg and I know that I could have gotten it a heck of a lot cheaper if I had just rented a truck and had Bob bring it home but I just did not want to take the risk of anyone damaging anything at the office. We just moved in and if there was a scratch on the paint on the walls or if there was anything done to the carpets they would have probably fired me right there.

Okay - I know that is being a little extreme but there are things that you just dont want to mess with.....

So anyway........

I have already made some great discoveries:
Originally I thought the desk would take up most of the space between the windows but on the left I still have room between the desk and the radiator - which is a good thing cause we dont need a fire hazard.

On the right side I have a rolling filing cart which holds file folders for either 8 1/2 x 11 or 12 x 12 papers.

In the computer desk on each side of the keyboard holder (which slides in and out) are shelves but if I take the shelves out - Guess what....... It fits my 12 x 12 Iris carts PERFECTLY.

I am torn.

On one hand I would like this room to be all pretty and clutter free but reality is: IT'S A CRAFT STUDIO so it needs to FUNCTION. I need to be able to store more stuff than most stores carry in their entire inventory (due to my serious shopping addictions......... Sigh.......)

So, even though I would love to have a clutter free look with a few decorative items here and there, I will soon have these new pieces of furniture full of all sorts of STUFF.

This is why I am the self proclaimed "CLUTTER QUEEN"

:0)