Indigo Girls

I can't believe I forgot to write about the Indigo Girls concert we went to on Wednesday. See, that's what getting angry gets you! All those mad thoughts running about in my mind blocked out a few things I wanted to write about. We had such a great time. They sang every song we hoped they would, but the cherry on top of the sundae was when just before singing "Closer to Fine" they said, "We would like to invite our special guest onto the stage, Lisa Loeb." AHHHH!!! I jumpued out of my seat. Ryan said I lit up like a Christmas tree. I love Lisa Loeb as much as the Indigo Girls if not more so it was such a treat for me. Margaret, remember on Sunday I wanted to tell you something but forgot what it was? That was it! A big hug and kiss to Ryan for buying the tickets for me and treating me to a Kelly night, I know that one was all about me and I really appreciated it.

I got to go visit Maggie and family in their new house on Sunday. It is going to be so beautiful when they finish rennovating. It is beautiful already, so I can only imagine when they are done. It is always nice to see Grandma Debbie too, and of course Miss Sydney and Corey (can't leave Dad out.) Thanks for a fun day, I miss you now that you are so far away.

We are off to AZ on Friday for Winkie's wedding. I am bummed that Beth isn't going. I hope that she is feeling better soon. I will write about this trip as soon as I can.

A Little Rant

Sorry everone...this is a long one... I am annoyed.

About a week ago we started having trouble with the electricty in my house. I noticed that when I was using my dryer at the end of the cycle when it was just about to shut down it would cause a circuit to trip. Now, this could be a sign that my dryer is on its last legs, or it could be a sign that my house is electrically imbalanced and overloaded. (I think that it could be a bit of both, we have a list of 12 things that are electriaclly askew in our home...something is not right.) Anyway, all of this prompted me to search for an electrician. Have you ever done this? Good luck! The first person I called was recommended by a friend. When I got him on the phone he did not want to come because he thinks it is the dryer. I still wanted the house checked out though so I called electrician number two.

The second guy is the reason I am ranting. This one, recommended by a family member, gave me the complete run around. At first he said he would come on Monday at 5:00. Great, I left school right away and hurried home to be there for him. 5:30...5:45....6:00... you guessed it, he didn't show. No phone call or anything. So I call him up and ask him where he is and he said, "Oh..yeah (as if he has forgotten about me completely) I am running behind schedule. I can't come today. How about Friday?" I am thinking, okay now I will go a whole week worrying that my hose might burn down. Fine Friday it is, what time? 5:00 of course. So yesterday I race home again, leaving a "to-do" pile at school to meet up with this guy. Well 5:30 came and went with no word from him. I called him at 6:00 and he mumbled something about having to go to Newburgh and could he come at 7:30? Fine...7:45, 8:00....UGGGG!!!! I called again at 8:00 PM when there was once again no sign of him coming. I got his voicemail. What a shocker....the sure sign that someone is trying to avoid talking to you. I left him a voicemail reinterating my address and saying perhaps he is lost. 9:00 comes around and he still hasn't called or shown up and I call again, this time leaving him a not-so-nice message about his business practices.

The thing that really bothers me here is his disregard for me as a human being. He has an expertise that he knows is in demand and he thinks because of this he can take advantage of other people. I HATE being taken advantage of, it is one of my biggest pet peeves. I hate feeling upset and helpless, like I can't do anything about it. If this guy didn't want my business all he had to do is say so the first time I spoke to him. Instead he gave me the run around and caused me to rush home from work twice and sit around and wait for nothing. Why does he think my time is any less valuable than his? Why do people find it so easy to walk all over me? I could cry I am so frustrated. So now I am going to try the "ask all my neighbors" route and hope I find someone that way. If not I will just turn to the yellow pages and do a blind hunt. I'm sure they won't call me back either. It seems to me that if you aren't having your whole house wired then you aren't worth an electrician's time. What if you just need your dryer to work? Does anyone know a good electrician?

What are you grateful for?

I have decided to work on a gift album before my next trip to AZ which means that I will be using the celebration journal prompts as my blogging prompts for now, and I will transfer them to my journal later. Thoughts on feeling grateful:

I am grateful for...
Having a husband who loves me with all of his heart.
Sisters who make me laugh and smile.
Having a mother who I can also call a friend.
Friends who feel like sisters.
Our beautiful home.
A career that I love, and collegues who make work feel like play.
Cats that let me cuddle them and stare at me with love in their eyes.
Music.
Being asked to be a Godmother for the first time.

There are just so many things I am grateful for, I can't begin to list them all. I feel so blessed.

I thought I would share some pages from my AZ album. I am giving it to Carrie as a gift when I head out for Winkie's wedding. That is provided I actually finish it. Thank you so much to those of you who keep leaving me comments! I love feedback.


This is going to be the first page on the album. It has a pocket which will hold all of the extra photos I printed but didn't use on pages throughout the rest of the book. The quote says, "Side by side or miles apart dear friends are always close to the heart."


I love this page!! Aren't the colors beautiful? This are the pictures I took when we were lost. I used a lot of definition stickers on this page. I am a sticker addict, once I start it is hard to stop.



I love to use quotes and sayings on my pages. This one says, "It doesn't matter if it takes a long time getting there, the point is to have a destination." and also "Nature does nothing uselessly."

Sandpaper kisses
On a cheek or a chin-
That is a way
For a day to begin!

Sandpaper kisses
A cuddle, a purr-
I have an alarm clock
That is covered in fur.

By Bobbi Katz

Gizmo did his best to help me out with the time change this morning by repeatedly pouncing on my head while I tried to press the snooze button. What would I do without him? The weather was just warm enough to make me start to smile today. I even went so far as to prepare a very summer-esque dinner on the grill. It takes so little to get me outside once it is warmer. I am thinking warm thoughts and looking forward to another little trip to AZ, this time completely planned and for Winkie's wedding. Carrie has moved into her new place and i can't wait to see it. Here's hoping with fingers crossed that Beth can still come too. I'll do a vacation dance for you!

Finally! Some time to create. I finally had the chance this weekend and play catch up with my celebration journal. Thank you to Jamie who is such an inspiration to me. You are so dedicated! As promised here are some pictures of some of my work so far.



This is my cover. Simple but sweet. I decided not to hold out on using my favorite papers for this journal. So often I buy paper I love and it sits on the shelf because I don't have a project that I feel is worthy of using it. So Friday evening I looked through all of my paper and pulled out my favorites. I love "Wild Asparagus" paper which is why I chose it for the cover. The metal tag in the lower right corner reads: Journal- Penning emotional thoughts or facts on paper for the express benefit of future generations; an account of events.



This one was my refelction on how the weather effects me. Anyone who knows me well is aware of the way winter gives me the blahs. I am so looking forward to warmer weather coming soon. For this page I added watercolor to the cardinal to make him stand out. Cardinals are a bird close to my heart. Whenever I see one I think about my Nana who use to be able to whistle their call. Seeing their bright red color brings warmth to the drearieness of a winter day for me.



Last but not least this is a picture of my favorite page thus far. I loved the idea of reflecting on changes I need to make in my life and choosing one word to set off in the right direction. I chose the word dream, because it seems to me that a lot of what I want is still a bit distant in the future but holding on tightly to them keeps me focused and inspired. I used a beautiful blue vellum with daisies throughout and chalked some bassil cardstock to make it look worn. Each pocket represents a different aspect of my life I hold dreams for. They are labeled family, home, friends, and me. I wrote my thoughts on the back of each pocket insert so I can pull them out and read them. Thinking about dreams I will end with one of my favorite little poems.

Hold fast to dreams
For if dreams die
Life is a broken-winged bird
That cannot fly
Hold fast to dreams
For when dreams go
Life is a barren field
Frozen with snow

By, Langston Hughs

One of the little boys in my class today brought in a show-and-tell that he spent hours making himself. It was a poster board covered from top to bottom with photos from his family vacation to Cancun. He was pointing to each picture and saying a bit about them. Then he came to a picture of the sun hanging low above the ocean peeking out from behind the clouds. There were rays stretching from the clouds and touching the water below. As he touched the picture he said, "Look! It is like God is coming down from the sky. You can see him." Isn't that beautiful? I love the little glimpses I get of the world through the eyes of my students.

This week flew by in a flash. Have you ever felt so busy that you almost had to remind yourself to stop and sit down for a minute? This is the first day I have checked my e-mail in three days. I feel so disconnected. I know it is going to be a busy week when I have something keeping me out late every day. Such was the case this week. I am thankful that our kindergarten orientation meeting is over. I think it went really well this year, aside from some intense parent questions at the end. I feel like I talked too much. Sometimes I wonder if people think I am pushy...I hope not. I don't mean to be. Now that it is Friday I am taking a deep breath. I stayed in my classroom until about 8:30 tonight just cleaning up and getting reorganized. I had to focus myself before next week. I am looking forward to starting my celebration journal tomorrow. I need some creative time. I am so inspired by Jamie and Maggie and all of the girls who have been posting so far. I will post photos as soon as I have some.