Monday Blahs....

Truly. It is snowing/raining outside and oh so grey!! And Ethan is home with a mild case of the stomach flu. I honestly was praying that he would not get it. I was sick about two weeks ago, and then Isabella got sick. But it ended there. And then I bleached the house from top to bottom to kill any remaining germs. I really REALLY had hoped that Ethan escaped it. Guess not. But I am sure these germs are not from us - rather, they are from Primary yesterday. I KNOW of a few children that should not have been at church, and yet, there they were. So now Ethan is sick. And now I have to keep him contained to one area of the house and make sure he washes his hands constantly and not touch too many things and follow him around with the Lysol wipes so Miss Izzy B does not get sick again! Vicious cycle. The flu is one nasty nasty little bug!! How do these things evolve?? I am baffled by biology...

Other than that, not much going on today. I have a few birthday cards to make - Isabella has been invited to her first "boy" party from school... I am not sure how I feel about that. Apparently, she is quite the hit with the boys at school. She can rough-house with the best of them thanks to Ethan. And of course she plays with cars, and plays "bad guys", and plays pirates... Good thing she likes the colour pink and is in ballet, otherwise I really would have two boys in the house!

I am off to do laundry. I need to be productive while I monitor Ethan for gagging sounds and bathroom runs. Ahhhh, gotta love being a mom!!

Ciao all.

The Cat Came Back...

The "Meredith" cat that is, on Grey's. I knew it was too good to be true!! Stupid character. Noooo, they could not have let her die?? And how in the HECK did she come back without any brain damage after being "dead" for over an hour?? I am sooo over this stupid show. But it was good to see Denny again. Sigh. So my question is this - will Meredith now tell Izzy about her conversations with Denny in the "after life"/hospital waiting room that was totally empty and give Izzy some peace?? Or will she keep this all in and become twisty and confused all over again. And why did Alice Grey have to die in order for Merideth to come back?? That whole "I desperately need approval" thing is soooo old.. Again, I am over this show. Waste of my time.

On to better things - the new addition to my home collection.

I have been eyeing this cast iron model of the Eiffel Tower at Liberty for months now. It was not very expensive, but enough to make it a bit of a useless splurge. Well today I went strolling. I had no great ambition - no big plans. Just strolling. I found myself in Liberty (surprise!!) and guess what was on sale?!! Yes, my beloved Eiffel Tower. So I snatched it up and headed straight for the register before I could talk myself out of the purchase. I love it. I love the fact that it has nothing to do with anything else in my house right now. It adds character and it adds a bit of European flair. So that was my happy spot for the day.

Ciao all.

Cosco Trip

So I called my mom this morning and asked if she wanted to go Cosco. It is always fun to browse around, plus my mom always picks up the things I buy for the "kids" = cereal, juice boxes, granola bars, etc. etc. THANKS MOM!! You are the best!! I am a really good shopper - I stick to my lists. Whatever money I can save on food I can spend on more important things like shoes or a new bench ottoman for my living room!! hee hee Plus Cosco is one of those places where your money just disappears. It is a strange phenomenon... But I am pleased to report that my money did not disappear, and I ended up with all the things I needed, plus one extra - a super cute Calvin Klein t-shirt that was $13! Could not pass it up! Come on, I said I was a GOOD shopper, not a SAINT!! hee hee

Have a good day all.

Ciao

Bella

I am so in love with this layout!! Thank you Jenni Bowlin - you are an amazing inspiration! This was so easy to do. The picture is tinted black and white and magenta. The wings are chipboard pieces covered with BG paper and then glittered around the edges. Background paper BG. I bought the new MM letter stickers that are ready to glitter and I glittered away. Fun, but MESSY!! Scraptivity stamps. Ric-rac that I had laying around. And a little bling. It took me less than half an hour. Ya gotta love that! I am not a time consuming designer. I have too many other things to do, including going and checking on my apple crisp in the oven!! Hope it is not too crispy!!! Ciao all.

Sunday Stuff

Isabella was sick today, so we had to stay home from church. So while she played and watched "Cinderella", I scrapped. Let me tell you, it was LONG over due!! I have not scrapped anything in at least a month now. I have been having serious SERIOUS creativity block. But I have been surfing the net a lot, and I came across this layout and was totally inspired. THANK YOU to the original creator - either on Two Peas or Jenny Bowlin... Hmmm, not quite sure... Anyway, I loved doing this. Totally simple. A bit ecclectic. Lots of fun. Paper is Basic Grey; stamps are Gel-A-Tins "Carnival"; rub on crown from Rhonna Ferrer; misc buttons; frame from free clip art I found online; and my journaling.


My second creative batch was a set of these birthday cards, totally inpsired by the wonderfully creative Denise at Scraptivity!! Thank you doll for posting your creations! Keep it up!! Again, papers are Basic Grey; stamps Gel-A-Tins "Asian Garden" and "Birthday"; misc ribbon. Super simple and super cute!! I think I made 7 or 8 of them, so if your birthday is coming up, watch out - you will probably get one of these cards!! hee hee

I have a layout planned for Isabella that involves tinting a photo of her pink and adding wings. I am looking forward to it, but alas, I MUST make a trip to the scrap store tomorrow before I can begin. I know, what a hardship!! hee hee But again - this will be the first time I have set foot in the scrap store since at least the beginning of January, if not from December! Really, I have been in a funk!! So all in all, a successful day. Even with sick Miss Izzy B.

Ciao all.

Changes ahead

With our house. But not the changes y'all think. Marc did NOT like the idea of buying the new house. He was not as impressed as I was... Sooo, we are doing some "remodelling" on our 14 month old house. Gotta say, I am really REALLY looking forward to this! I find this house functional. It does not excite me, hence the reason I am so willing to give it up. But Marc sees potential, and our basement is unfinshed. With a finished basement, we have another 1000 sq feet of living space. Nothing to laugh at. So today we made our grand plans, and here is what is ahead:

1. New floors on the main level - there is laminate and carpet now. Gag. They are both going and we are doing hardwood on the entire main level.

2. Painting - entry way; powder room; feature wall in formal living room; nook in dining room and feature wall in dining room; art niche in great room; master bedroom; and 4th bedroom. Rule of design - don't use more than three colours in your house. So I already have the khaki colours going on. My other two colours are a rusty, barn red and a deep chocolate brown.

3. Curtains being made for master bedroom and valances being made for the powder room, master bathroom and main bathroom.

4. Furniture - apothecary cabinet and bench ottoman for the formal living room.

5. Back yard - ENTIRE re-hall. Digging out the entire back yard and building a huge cedar deck. There is a patch where our grass does not grow. We are digging that up and laying pavers. Also building a pergola to "attach" the garage to the house.

These plans do not even address the basement. But that is for another time and for another budget. I will have to plan carefully as I can get another bedroom, full bathroom, storage room, media room and office down there. I have a feeling we will be here a bit longer than I had expected. I assumed only 2 years and then flip and move on. Marc does not seem to think this. Interesting... I said before I was itching for a "change". I guess one is coming after all!

Ciao all.

I am annoyed

At the writers of Grey's Anatomy. I am okay with Meredith being "killed" off - even if it is for only ONE episode (you soooo know she is going to wake up - her temp will rise and she will wake up....). I don't like her. I don't like her needy, twisty, messed up character. She had a crappy childhood. She feels unloved and unvalidated. This causes her to make big mistakes - especially when it comes to love and men... We get it! Enough already. Let me tell you, she is the LAST person I would want working on me at a hospital! I don't need your messed up life when you are trying to save mine!! I really would not care if they really killed off her character. BUT WHY bring back Denny if you are NOT going to keep him??!! That is cruel and unusual punishment! So, if you are going to have a stupid "heaven"/death sequence, and use a loved character in that sequence, and then NOT bring him back for the show, I say SHAME on you for toying with us like that! I want Denny back... I am annoyed. But I am intrigued, and I will tune in next week to see where this goes!! :) Still more annoyed though! hee hee heee

This sooo applies to me!

Okay, now I have seen everything. A stick cartoon that speaks my language!! Too funny.
Have a good day all!!

Ciao

Spring MUST be near...

Because I have the itch for change again. And I went house hunting. Bad. There is a new development in Cloverdale called "Provincetown". It is fantastic! It is all colonial style homes in the farmlands, ranging in size from 2000 sq ft to 8500 sq ft on half an acre of land. The house I looked at this afternoon is approximately 3300 sq ft (with the basement finished) on a little less than a 1/4 of an acre of land. Asking price is $539,000 plus GST. YIKES. It is the GST that kills me. The asking price alone is alright. WHY do builders do that?? Makes me nuts. Anyways, I am in love with it. The kitchen is massive and has a walk in pantry and all the granite counter tops with the undermount, deep kitchen sink... All stainless appliances included. TONS of room!! Love that!! Nothing worse than being cramped in the kitchen! Hmmm, now I have to tell Marc about it. You KNOW he is not going to be excited. hee hee

Happy Birthday to my Little Sis

Tomorrow is my baby sis's birthday. This is my Laura, in all her glory!! Happy birthday to you!! I wish you a year filled with health and happiness and all that your heart desires!! You sooooo deserve it!! Love ya lots and lots!!

Okay, just to clear things up

Sally made a comment that has me thinking. I DO thrive on being busy. I am at my best when I have many things on the go - I can organize myself and get the jobs done. BUT I do NOT like being underminded or constantly questioned. I do NOT like people telling me that I am to blame when I am trying my best to get the job done. A job that was FORCED on me to begin with. A job that is already half-assed done and going further south by the second, and given to me specifically because I am able to organize quickly and find out what needs to be done.

This little rant is work directed. I had an extremely bad day yesterday, and found myself being the scapegoat for situations that I had no idea about!! You know, that is not right. I am very smart and beyond capable of doing my job. Who gives someone the right to tell you that you are just causing problems that they are too busy to fix?? WHO gives someone the right to dump work on you and then BLAME you for them being completely unorganized?? This is going to end. You know, the old Carmen would have just internalized all of this and walked away. Not anymore. Life is too short. Way too short. These last few months have been a constant reminder to me that I must ensure I am happy with what I am doing because then my family is happy and life moves in a positive direction. When I am not happy, life stands still. That is wrong.

So, I am saying that YES, I like to be busy. But NO, I don't like my work situation. And NO, I don't secretly thrive on it. It is self-destructive and cruel. And I am tooooo good for that!!

Nota Bene

Time to plan a trip to London, England to shop!
Why don't we have stores like this here??

I see how this goes...

Ciao from work y'all. I "mysteriously" acquired 3 Plaintiffs' files at work now. Ya. I have not done Plaintiff work in almost 6 yrs. There is a reason for it - I hate it! Again, deliberate use of the word. But I see the inner workings of the head partner's mind... He is trying to lure me to being here full time! Nice try mister. Not something I am looking for or wanting at this stage in my life. Sooo, now I sit here and look at doctors' records and police files and wonder how this came to be... I have to re-read my challenge about NOT putting my future in someone else's hands! My pretty little head hurts...

The Challenge

Let others lead small lives, but not you.
Let others argue over small things, but not you.
Let others cry over small hurts, but not you.
Let others leave their futures in someone else's hands, but not you.

Jim Rohn

Time to Retreat

I don't really know how else to put it. It is time for my little family to retreat. To gather ourselves in and figure out where we are going and what we are doing. These last 6 months have been awful. Between Marc's grandmother's death, then Manj, then Nonna, I am tired of mourning and tired of trying to figure out how to fill these "holes" in our lives. I want things to be "normal" again. I feel my children are suffering because I can't seem to get it together. I feel everything is out of control - a feeling I HATE - and I use that word deliberately. It is time to reign it all in and re-evaluate. So I am going to retreat. I am going to pull away from many places/communities I visit. I can't spend the time there anymore, nor can I even bear to hear of others' sorrows/concerns at this time. I am overwhelmed. I feel unsettled - completely unsettled. And not just for ourselves. I feel unsettled for my friends and my acquaintances and even basic strangers to me - I just don't understand why things have to be so hard all the time...

I will continue to post here. It will be my outlet. I have invested too much time into this blog to let it go. And for my blogger buddies, I will continue to lurk/comment on your sites. I still need that contact! I seem to have become dependant on y'all to put a smile on my face!! So, here is to a new month, with new challenges and new hopes. And I pray happier days!

Have a good day all.