I’ve had a few sparks of creativity over the last few weeks. While I have more scrapbook tools than any store and take more pictures in a month than anyone would ever need, I haven’t scrapbooked in two years. Last year a dear friend made me a very fancy embellished scrapbook for Lorelai. So fancy, in fact, that I was afraid to mess it up with my photos and awful handwriting. I decided it would best showcase her series of monthly portraits which would not require journaling or cropping.
I felt so guilty about my other two children once her first 6 months of pictures were in the album, that I went out and bought a bunch of fancy tools and embellishments—none of which I had any experience in using. I tend to focus on simple, clean lines so I can clutter it up with my endless tales, captions, and sticker obsession. However, the giant stack of envelopes full of portraits never given out or placed in an album had me determined to make a beautiful album for my middle child. The oldest at least had her pictures in an album, even if it was undecorated.
I am pretty pleased with the results, but I don’t think I would use the fancy trinkets on a regular basis. They seem more fitting for specialty albums—like the wedding album I pre-decorated for my future sister-in-law—than for every day use next to my own handwriting. I’m just not a fancy person. On the other hand, I was hopeful it would reignite my interest in scrapbooking so I could catch up on the enormous backlog of photos. It just takes so much time to haul out my supplies and put them away again that I really don’t have time for any actual work in between.
Then a friend turned me onto digital scrapbooking. The concept was interesting—available drop-in templates, custom layout options, and completed pages without printing a million pictures. The pictures are already digital so I can crop and drop them in without all the expense and mess. I finished a page of our summer fun activities for June—one for each girl. This first set took a long time because I am learning how to use the software I’ve had for years. I’m hopeful once I get the concepts down I can crank out a set of 3 pages in the same amount of time it would take me to get out the tools for a traditional page.
I don’t think I’m ready to replace the handcrafting I’ve been doing for years, but I do like the printing options I’m finding and the idea that I could turn out an album for each kid in less time than it took to do one family album. The best part is that it can be replicated. I’ve designed the pages for a 12×12 album, my preferred size, but they can be printed in anything smaller as well. This would really come in handy for grandparent albums or printing one for the family and a small one for each child. The possibilities are endless and sort of have my mind spinning.
I’ve been away awhile. I spent a week in my hometown and now I’ve got a lot of catching up to do. It’s been interesting trying to readjust to life with 3 kids at home. Lorelai is getting ready to take off. You can just see in her eyes she’s starting to figure out that she can move. Any day now I won’t be able to keep up with her. For now, she’s still somewhat content to lay around and look up at me with those beautiful blue eyes.
Those gorgeous eyes that are noticed by everyone. Last week, in my hometown, we went to the Red Skelton festival. At lunch, a very nice man stopped me and told me I had a beautiful baby with gorgeous eyes. A little while later, at the same restaurant, his buddy smiled and waved to me. I’m thinking he knows my dad or something. It happens a lot.
On the way out, I pointed them out to Mom and asked who they were. She told me and said they were in town for the gala tonight. The name didn’t ring a bell. I’m still thinking maybe they know Dad or they’re some local talent. Fast forward to Sunday night back at home.
Hubby is watching a documentary on the most horribly vile, terribly unfunny joke I’d never heard of. I glance up at one point to see these nice men I chatted with. “Oh, my gosh, are those the Smothers Brothers?” Of course they were, and I had absolutely no idea.
Well, it came as no surprise to hear that Edgerrin James had signed a deal with another team. The surprise—dare I say shock—came when I heard which team. When I first heard he was in talks with the Cardinals I honestly thought it was a joke. When I realized he was actually in Arizona, I figured he just wanted everyone in the NFL to know he was shopping. When I heard he signed a deal with them, my jaw nearly hit the floor.
The Cardinals? Is he freaking kidding me?! They are the absolute epitome of a non-competitor. What, exactly, does he think he will gain there? Does he really expect to put up big numbers on a team that was dead last in rushing this year? He can’t go it alone. Maybe, as my dad said, it’s all a matter of “show me the money,” but I can’t imagine being happy raking in the big bucks on a bad team. Especially when most of your salary will be eaten up in personal travel expenses so you can get out of Arizona. It’s called the Desert Southwest for a reason. I’m thinking the big fish/small pond scenario has some allure to it.
We have no shortage of talent around here, though holding onto them with the current salary cap has proven to be a challenge. I’m starting to think the loss of Larry Tripplett and David Thornton will be more detrimental than losing the Edge. Just when we were really building a defense—showing some actual talent in that area—the team is dismantling. We’ve built these guys into marketable players, but now we can’t afford them. It would appear as if we’re protecting a bit of our salary room to renegotiate with Dwight Freeney, who will be a free agent next off-season.
We’ve struggled with defense for years. To come so far only to have it ripped apart isn’t good for the level of play or team morale. On the other hand, losing Edgerrin changes our game. We don’t just rely on the yards. We rely on his run game to setup the play action Peyton does so well. I’m just not sure anyone else can pull that off quite the same. Dominic Rhodes showed a lot of promise when James was out in 2001 so we shall see. We’ll have to pick someone up in the draft to help him out, seeing as James Mungro is also a free agent this year. Though what caliber player we could draft as low as we’ll be placed remains to be seen.
It all sucks, though not as much as rumors of our special teams’ loss. That one will devastate me. Mike Vanderjagt is hands down the single hottest player in the NFL, possibly in all of professional sports—and he’s Canadian to boot! He is NFL’s most accurate kicker, the Colts’ leading scorer, and an all around great guy. He would be a fantastic loss to not only the team, but our entire community. It may very well split my loyalties.
I’ve always been a hometown fan. Not in a fair-weather fan, they’re-undefeated-don’t-I-own-something-blue kind of way. Rain or shine, I’ll watch week after week—football and basketball. When the chips are down, I’ll still cheer them on, but as the team gets shipped all across the country a la Pacers Y2K I just may have to follow some of my boys. I can only console myself with the knowledge that they weren’t purposefully dismantled like the Eastern Conference champion Pacers. We just don’t have the cap room to keep it together.
Go ahead. Make fun of my shopping habits, but I’ve saved $6000 so far this year on my grocery bill. That may not buy a house, but it means the difference between staying at home with my three girls and getting a part-time job.
Rachael alerted me to the fact that my picture was included in an article on The Onion. Go figure. I get interviewed on national television, compared to Michael Jordan in the Chicago Tribune, and picked up as a syndicated article by the AP but it takes appearing on the front page of The Onion to impress him.
Well, I survived Turducken Day. I’m thinking of making a shirt. Certain family members were predictably annoying, and we all left reeking of a perfume that makes me ill, but no one started yelling and I didn’t accidentally almost punch anyone. Success!
We arrived at my aunt’s just in time to eat so I missed the fun of dinner preparations—which sucks because this year they had the added bonus of watching the chefs get totally plastered. I did, however, get drunk-dialed by my mom so I got to feel the love. My brother and his fiance spent the entire day with her family and arrived late, but at least I got to spend a little time with him.
I did, however, have a very fun and happy Black Friday! Mom and I were joined this year by my sister, her roommate, and my cousin’s wife. Everything took a lot longer since we had to reunite and checkout at every store, but it was loads of fun. We’d Marco-Polo until we all found one another and then head to the checkouts, where I would usually leave my mother to pay for my items while I went to the car to nurse the baby. She was an excellent shopper—you gotta start ’em young!
I caught up on the entire season of Related with my sis. I also got the hubby to create a ringtone out of the theme song for me. It’s very fitting, especially considering the weekend we just had.
I hope you all had a happy and safe holiday weekend, and I leave you now with my new family theme song:
I hate you, I love you.
You know too much about me.
I have to just kill you,
but then who’d tell me how to live?
Don’t tell me how to live.
Just tell me I’m alright.
Just shutup—why do I ask you anyway?
It’s time! I’m at the maternity center waiting for baby. I just got my epidural so now that I’m not so cranky I thought I’d share the news. Our newest addition will be joining us later this afternoon. She’s a bit ahead of schedule, but I’m so glad to be nearing the end.
I’m watching my Season 3 DVD of Gilmore Girls as we await the arrival of our own Lorelai. It’s nice to have something to take my mind off the pain, which is now nearly non-existent thanks to the happy drugs.
I’ll post pictures later—after the birth, of course, because anything else would just be gross.