Pamper Yourself

This is just a fun and crazy layout of my time with Char last October. I like the hand painted "diva" and the orange chipboard letters. I really felt myself stretching with each layout, and I think my recent work shows all the effort of HOF. Again, I'm so glad I did it, even just for me. I love scrapbooking, it fills a void in my life. Can't wait to play now, maybe later tonight!

Ready, Set, Crop

This is for the ten picture challenge. This was a fun layout to do. I like the juxtaposition of the brown paper bag against the bright colors.

Talk

This was my photography page. This picture KILLS me, because of Eli's little double jointed fingers. Silly kid! And he went through this horrible stage where he talked constantly without breath, run on sentences. Agh. So glad that's over!

Goodbye Iowa

A simple page about how we finally realized we'd never call Iowa home again. This was for the journaling assignment. I like the colors, they were a bit edgy for me back then.

Fall

This was my new technique assignment. It's the scratch art thing we all did in elementary school, only applied to scrapbooking. Love the colors with these pictures, I remember the day we took them. So glad I entered, it was such a great personal challenge. Plus it really filled the days while we waited to move!

examining my purpose

This is probably my favorite HOF layout. I really poured my heart and soul into it, the assignment asking us to share a piece of ourselves. This page is a culmination after reading "Purpose Driven Life" four times and realizing it was time to write my purpose down on paper. Love the result. I have felt a lot more focused since then and it makes it easier to say no to things that don't fall in line with my purpose.

go play

Another fun random page, lots of color, my theme this year I think. I look at this and think how much both kids have grown, it's crazy!!

YOU

A very simple page, but I love the picture. It's so Eli. Man, this is making me want to scrapbook!

you&me

This page still tugs at my heart, my little munchkins not killing each other for once. This started out as my photography page, but I wound up using it as one of my four instead. The "&" is UTEE behind the stickers. This was the beginning of my orange & star kick, yet to work itself out of my system.

[Just a couple of CRAZY kids]

Probably one of my favorite submissions, for the four pages you love. Had a lot of fun with my signo pen on this, and the MM ribbon sliding up the side. Love this ancient photo of Rob & I. (memories...)

HOF not-so-much
Just realized I hadn't shared that I had been 'overlooked' for HOF. I knew before I left for Paris, but was still hoping for an honorable mention. Glad I did it, just the same, I worked super-hard on my layouts and grew a ton in the process. I feel like I've really embraced my style since then and I'll probably enter again next year and just find some valium or something during call week! :) But the fun part is that now I am free to share my layouts here on my blog. They are months old, so keep that in mind! TFL!

My (nearly) finished kitchen.

An alarming shade of red, I know, but it really works, especially with the dining room. It's no secret that I love color I guess! It's very warm and friendly, makes me want to cook. I'll be cooking quite a bit this week, starting with my Missionettes group tonight. Then this weekend we are having our monthly leadership meeting here, making my fettucini alfredo, I think. Love having a beautiful kitchen to work in, it's been a long time coming!

kitchen before pictures

I know, it's atrocious. You can see why I was reluctant to have anyone over. I honestly can't believe how much work this room has been, scraping every inch of that horrid wallpaper off by hand. Five coats of red paint. I still have a tiny bit of finishing touches to wind it up, just some touching up on the woodwork and scraping the window panes back off. But it's 1 million times better than before!

gaining ground... maybe.

Having some interesting thoughts on being home today. Lots of jet-lag, fogging my vision a bit. I slept 11 hours last night (unheard of for me!) and took a two hour nap this afternoon and still I'm ready for bed right now. I didn't sleep well the whole time I was in France, so I guess I am making up for it now.

Working on my Winkflash order, it's 185 pictures. So excited to hold them in my hands, and then plan and scrap them. woohoo.

Never have I been so thankful to be home as I am right now. Rob and I were watching news clips on Foxnews.com and the city is in an uproar. All major transportation means are down, meaning if I was still there, we'd be stuck, unable to leave the city. The metro, the RER, the buses and even the airlines are at a standstill. They are setting fire to things in the streets. I am so thankful to be back in my tiny town where things are safe and sound. The picture I'm sharing here is one of many from the news, but this one especially tugs at my heart because I'm so fond of the tower. So sad to see such a beautiful city in such terrible unrest.

Trying to adjust back to life and central standard time, but it's been way harder than I anticipated. Wish I could just sleep for a couple days and then try it again. :)

I will resume posting my journal when I'm feeling a little better. Right now I'm concentrating on recovering.

IMPORTANT NOTE:

I will be posting in real time, meaning that my posts from Paris will pop up in their chronological order, so you'll have to look back to read them, but please feel free too. I'm doing this so that my journal will look accurate and it will be easier to read in the long run. I will post the title and the date, so it will come up in the 'recent posts' side bar. Continue to check it, as I have lots of posts to enter! Merci!

jet lag?

Cheerio all! So good to be back across the pond! It's 4:30am and I'm up and bright eyed, because it's almost noon in France already! I don't feel jet lagged, but I can't sleep, despite the fact that I went to bed three hours ago!

First of all, I wanted to apologize for my retarded quadruple posting before I left. Blogger kept telling me it was down and I wanted to be sure and let you all know that I was off on my trip, so I kept trying to repost and it would come up 'post unsuccesful' but apparently saved it anyway, so I look like a giant goober. sorry.

What an amazing trip. So excited to share it all with you. The best place to start is the beginning, so I will do just that here in a moment. I just wanted to say first, how wonderful it is to be back stateside. Things got VERY uneasy in Paris right as we were leaving, we were very much in the middle of the riots and I have pictures and video to prove it. I am so thankful to be back in my (HUGE) house with my wonderful and loving family. I'm eagerly awaiting my children's awaking, just so I can snuggle with them some more, I've missed them so much. Sarah seems to have grown a foot and has begun speaking sentences (in ten days! How is that possible?). Her new favorite words are shopping and Char. Eli got baptized while I was gone - it makes me terribly sad that I missed something so big in his life (and Rob performed the baptism) but thrilled that he has made such a major commitment, even if I wasn't there to witness it. Rob looks more handsome than ever and I am more in love with him than I have been in the ten years we have known each other. He took wonderful care of our children and I came home to a clean and kempt house with little to no laundry and flowers (and a card) waiting for me on the kitchen table. Love that man! We were up until one talking, despite the fact I had been up thirty hours at that point. I just missed him so much.

I took 845 pictures. I'm so excited to go through them and send them for printing at winkflash. I'm even more excited to scrapbook with them. Rob is trying to convince me to take an extended break from the house redecorating and take time to focus on the kids and my scrapbooking for a bit here. I think that sounds like a lovely idea.

We stopped at IKEA on the way home yesterday, a random last minute decision, but I'm awful glad we did. I picked up a really cool lamp we had wanted for our master bedroom (but they were out of it last time) and a beautiful kitchen cart for my almost finished kitchen. I'm very excited to put it together today. Rob is taking the day off so we can spend it with the kids. We will be taking Mom back to the airport late this morning. It is soooo good to be home. I love America. :)

Traipsing about in the rain in Paris

Another long day of rainy sightseeing in a sight-filled city. I think tempers are wearing thin, just a lot of time in close quarters and a lot of women togetherness. :) We started our day with our usual wonderful breakfast. We tromped off in the rain to the Musee de Picasso - spending a few hours starting a t booby pictures of construed women - podering this man's sex obsession. It was enlightening and depressing simultaneously.

We next found lunch at a little bage shop in the Jewish district. I enjoyed some fabulous mushroom soup and baugettes and (praise God!) a Dr. Pepper for the first time on this side of the world! Warmed up by our soup and hearty laughter we hit the pavement again to find Victor Hugo's house (again!). It was pretty bare, but interesting, and thankfully free! He wrote Les Miserables, among other things. After that we boarded the dreaded RER to the Catacombs. Super creepy. I only agreed to it because Char really wanted to, but it was really cool. I just couldn't think about how far below the city we were (something like 134 steps) because of my claustrophobic nature. The valley of bones was so creepy, 6 million skeletons inhabit the deep recesses of the city. I couldn't help but wonder abou the spiritual consequences of that. The climb back up was treacherous and tight, another 96 steps in an even tighter spiral staircase - I struggled to breathe and continue to put on e foot in front of the other. We decided we were exhausted and headed for the hotel - stopping for a quiche first. Char and I decided we weren't that tired and opted to head to the Pompidou Center - the museum of modern ARt. It was fascinating - not my taste, but the building was intriguing and the most of the artwork was thouth provoking (some was just gross!) We took lots of crazy photos, saw some famous artwork. It was fun. We are (finally) going to the Louvre tomorrow morning. Char's staying here to work on some school stuff. Plus she' tired of museums - not really her thing. Can't wait to enter all this on my blog and create links to all the sites for you; just for fun. What an amazing trip. 2 more days!

Ver-Sillies and Beyond
(this first picture cracks me up, we all took turns jumping in front of the palace. I got some air!)
Another long and adventurous day - beginning to see a pattern here. We started out seaching for a photo store, looking for a battery or a charger or something! (with no luck). We struggled to get our RER ticket and on the right train out to Versailles. We had no luck finding a place to buy a museum pass. It was a long cold walk out to the palace, and a longer colder wait in line (about an hour). We finally got in and it was worth it. Char listened so intently while I read from our guidebook about the incredibale history of the ornate and opulant palace. Mom photographed every square inch. It was fun. I especially enjoyed the hall of mirrors, an absolute indulgence of technology in it's time. The gardens were beautiful as well, but the 35 degree weather kept us from examining them in person. We returned to Paris after a late lunch at a local cafe. We tried to find Victor Hugo's house, walking all over the districe, finding it 15 minutes before closing - too late to see it. bummer. We then wandered down Saint Antoinne Blvd shopping. I was a successful trip, Char bought a pair of shoes and a pair of boots. I found an adorable pair of shoes that go with an outfit I bought a few weeks ago. I was laughing at future comments - "Oh, do you like them? You can get them... In PARIS!!! (twitter twitter)".

Perhaps the highest highlight of my day was happening upon a Starbucks. You have to understand that we had been out in the cold wet all day and I had earned my $5 cafe mocha. It was worth every penny.

We ordered a pizza from a Lebanese man up a few blocks from our hotel for supper. He flirted with us while we waited for it. The pizza was great, the guy a little much. I am tired and ready for a shower and a good book.

PS - I miss Rob and the kids. Called home today and Sarah's sick. Oh, and I got a chance to blog today. Woohoo!

PSS - We keep joking that Char is going to write a travel guide "Potties of Paris because she's checked out every last one of them!

bonjour!!!
Greetings all my friends from, bleary dreary france; I miss you all so much! Sorry I haven't called any of you, it is VERY expensive to use the phone. We happened apon an internet station here at Versailles and Mom is patiently waiting/shopping while Char and are furiously typing our hearts out trying deal with a foreign keyboard! Add that to my already long list of things that are different about france!!! *ignore misspellings for that reason! merci!*

So far we have visited the Eiffel, the Bastille, Le De Concorde, the Arc De Triumph and Versailles, among other things. I am keeping a very detailed journal (because it's me and I'm retentive like that!) and I will be posting my entries when I return home; you won't miss anything! They play a lot of american music here; it cracks me up. random side note. Well, it's costing me 2 euros to post this, keep us in your prayers, Mom almost got mugged the first day! We are smarter & safer now. Can't wait to share my pictures, taken over 200 already. au revoir!

PS I'm picking up some french!!!

Coming Down
Another long day today. We started out buying our "carte orange" card this monring, an experience in itself. I'd say about 1/2 of Parisisans hate Americans, 1/4 could caree less about anyone anywhere - just generally indifferent about everything. The last 1/4 are extremely courteous & helpful, but not pushy at all. It's been interesting to learn to navigate with all the popel here and not get my feelings hurt when someone is rude to me.

We started out at the Arc De Triumph today. We took the Metro and it literally spit us out right at the Arc. Mom was so excited! We took lots of pictures and then walked up the Champes Elysees, shopping here and there along the way. I bought the kids t-shirts and Rob a house music cd. I hope they like them. We walked all the way to the Oblisque - a 3,500 year old monument stolen from Egypt 200 years ago. We stood where Marie Antoinnette and Louis XVI were beheaded (gross!). We took note of the Garden Tulleries and the Louvre - we'll be back in a few days to tour them. We then headed down the Seinne river (via the Metro) to the isldand where Notre Dame is located. We grabbed a light snack ( a citron tart, which later found it's way all over my purse!) and headed to the Deportation Memorial. It was brief and sad. We then toured Notre Dame. Fascinating outside, quite dull inside. I'm sure that's terrible, but it's my opinion, just the same.
We wandered off the isleand and to the Hotel DeVille, caugth the Metro back to our hotel, grabbing a couple quiches first - yum! I'm certainly going to miss the cuisine here when we head home.
It rained off and on all day today, making it cold, but good picture opportunities with colorful umbrellas. I think we are tackling Versailles tomorrow. Cheerio!

A New Day is before Us.

We are planning on seeing the Arc De Triumph, Notre Dame, and the Deportation Memorial. We may catch an open market too, depending on how energetic we feel. I'm concernd about Mom, she's not feeling well. I hope we caren't keeping too great of a pace for her. It's hard becasue I want to go constantly, see everything. That's just my personality. :) I"m excited because I'm beginning to feel like I 'get' the city and that's thrilling. It's fast moving, but I can keep up.

(this is our breakfast room in our hotel. The croissants we are eating have chocolate baked right into them. yummy!)

Adventure (031906)

Long and wonderful day today. We slept - oh we slept, fourteen hours killed our jet lag wonderfully. We slept through breakfast, but stepped out of our hotel to find an open air market right here on Richard Lenoir. We found bananas & oranges and baguettes. We wandered down the street to the Bastille monument - we laughed at the FTD lady (France's symbol of democracy - I think) on top and paused to listen to a group of horn players and a crazy drunk guy dance. Suddenly the crazy drunk dude found Mom and basically started to assault here (rubbing against here like a cat on your leg). I've seriously never seen anything like it, he was just pushing up against her and speaking broken french (?) at her. Char and I stepped in, grabbed Mom and started running away, dragging poor Mom with us. The crazy guy tried to follow us - but his drunkeness interfered. Not a pleasant first experience, but we've been wiser since then.

We ate breakfast then and found the Metro. I have mastered the interpretation of the maps and lines. I feel cool knowing how to travel like a Parisian, but I cannot (or willnot) master the bored and uninterested expression they all sport so freely. I am quite shocked at how rude everyone is, not just towards us, in general.

We took the Metro to the Eiffel - it was amazing - seeing it loom in the skyline as we approached. We took a lot of pictures - can't wait to develop them. We waited in line and paid 7.7o euros each to get to the 2nd viewing deck. The view was incredible, totally surreal. We bummed around that district for several hours, walking the Rue Cler and seeing the Ecole Militaire. We stopped at a fountain at the other end of the Eiffel just as dusk came and the lights started twinkling. Breathtaking. Some nice young people from Canada took our pictures with the Eiffel tower glittering in the background. So cool. Caught the Metro back to our hotel. Char & I ran out for bottled water and saw a beautiful church. Great, great day. More to come!

PS - I spoke with Rob tonight on a great connection. It was so good to touch base. Miss him and the kids lots but it's great to get away.

Loving the Metro (031906)

Can't help but think I'm way cool having totally figured it all out on the second day already. Now, if I could acti totally disinterested and put out by anyone's very existence - then I would be french! (ha!)

Learned lots today. I'm kind of playing tour guide by default, I have a guide book and have read it it - putting me way ahead of the game. Love finding my way around a foreign city, it's helping my ego tremendously!

the Eiffel (031906)

Enjoying the view from the most famous tower in the world right now. What a fascinating city. Very different from home or any place I have ever seen. Trying to enjoy the entire experience. Unfortunately my camera batteries died today and my replacements are dead AND my charger will not work with the outlet (yes, only one) in our room, the converter isn't working. I'm praying about that - no camera is like no left arm for me! Especially in this amazing city.

Crashing (031806)

Paris, France 7:30pm local time, 1:30am in Illinois.

Such a long day? Series of days with no end and no beginning? I find myself longing for quiet and familiarity. Maybe I am not cut out for this world traveler lifestyle. At this point I just miss my bed. The last time I was this tired was after having Eli five years ago (being up three days straight). Plus it's hard being on my best behavior in a starange country on no sleep.

Paris is different than I expected. It's dirty and smelly and loud and crowded. I didn't realize how much it would bug me not being able to read everything in sight. I feel small and ethnocentric, ignorant and arrogant. But that is just the Paris perspective and I'm sure I'll feel better about it in the morning. :)

I miss Rob. I fought the language barrier and closing shops and 'cash only' declarations to buy a retardedly expensive phone card to call him. We spoke for 2 minutes but the connection was terrible. I almost started crying because I was so overwhelmed. I think he would love it and hate it here in the same breath. It's so busy and close. Makes me homesick. I'm sure some good sleep will give me a much better perspective in the morning. Surely this is just jet lag talking and France is amazing.

PS - I really liked England so far!

Touching Down (031806)

This is it. Today I step into a new country and officially become a world traveler. It is so completely unreal - the ocean is miles beneath us - the blue sky stretched all around us. I have found the trip thoroughly enjoyable thus far - exhausting but wonderful. The flight has been pleasant and comfortable, but I am learning (as with most things in life) that it is a matter of perspective. We will be landing in Manchester within the hour. I'm excited but ready for the last leg of our hop across the pond! My favorite feature of the flight has been the on board flight map constantly showing us where we are, speed, current times (in Chicago and England) altitude, and temperature. I love being informed! Enjoying the company too, but feeling slightly disconnected. I hope I can let my guard down a bit and really enjoy my mom & my sister. Not really looking forward to the 4+ hour layover next, but again, it's a matter of perspective.

{I really slept on a bench in an airport during that layover, the first time I've ever konked out in public, clutching my carry-on for safe-keeping}

Taking Off (031706)

Oh my wow!! Can't believe this is my life. I'm seriousy pinching myslef. International flights are the way to travel! I see why they cost so stinking much, all the amenities are amazing. Looks like it will be a very comfortable trip. I'm in awe of the experience already. Looking forward to waking up in England. Woohoo!

(We flew British Midlands International. Awesome carrier. Loved them. Little individual computer screens with gaming consoles, movies, tv and even seperate earphones.)

I'm leaving on a jet plane!!

Woohoo!! Getting up early in the am to take off to Char's. All ready for my trip, just have to pack the hair dryer, toothbrush and whatnot. Can't believe it's really tomorrow. Pinching myself.

Lisa Loeb's 'leaving on a jet plane' is running through my head - which is spinning from the thought of actually, finally, seeing Paris. This is it, I'm officially a world traveler!

Going to try and update my blog through out my trip, depending on the ease of internet access. I'll do my best. There will be no pictures until I get home, so don't hold your breath! :) I will be taking notes and post-blogging when I get home, if I can't do it there. Please keep us in your prayers. Thanks!

'touble maker'

Oddly enough, my favorite layout from last night. I went to bed uneasy about it, but messed around with it a bit this am and now Wah-lah! it's so much better. Love the plastic Jenni Bowlin stickers I broke down and bought on clearance at Archiver's. Kim, you are such an enabler. (I am truely blessed) The pictures are Sarah trying to climb our ladder when we were getting ready to paint the living room. silly girl. Also, note the arrow stickers, part of the Rebecca Sower's new collection, Bookworks. Very yummy.

[hardly a] Fair Fight

Love this page. Had a lot of fun with Rhonna Fharrer's new rub-ons. Also, finally got to use my HKS acrylic snowflakes that I've been hoarding since October. (details) Got out my HKS rub-ons without issue for once. woohoo.

{without me}
Finally got around to posting my page from last week. So stinking simple, but I love it. It's so Sarah right now. She's her own woman. She calls the slides "RIDE!" and even just now seeing this picture she shouted "RIDE!"

wrapping things up here

I've been a busy little beaver lately. That's why my blog's been so quiet. I'm just putting up finishing touches on my kitchen, and the verdict is LOVE IT. It's very bright and charming and fun. (like me?) Makes me want to cook again, something I've been badly neglecting.

Finally unearthed my studio today. Ahhhh. It felt good. I missed my space. Can't wait to get home and scrap some Paris pictures. Trying to decide if I'll paint the room right away or be totally inspired by my Paris trip and go hog wild scrapbooking.

No HOF news yet. Not that I could tell you if there was. But I'm on pins and needles every time the phone rings. My sister called a half an hour ago and I nearly peed my pants.

Picking up Mom tomorrow night. Can't wait to see her, it's been six months. The kids have grown. I've shrunk. I bought size four jeans tonight. (grinning like a cheshire cat) Now if I could just lose my baby roll I'd be hotter than I was in high school. details.

Watched a great movie last night. Elizabethtown. Fabulous. Still turning it over in my head. About to curl up with a cup of chamomile and put in Walk the Line. With the phone, right tight next to me. Lisa, you can call anytime now. :)

{plum crazy}

Why am I still up? It's Saturday night for crying out loud. I belong in bed, sawing logs with Rob. But now, I'm blogging with a cup of chamomile tea and a couple milano cookies. (my new bedtime thing, slightly better than loads of buttery/salty popcorn, right?)

Maybe I'm up because I'm tired. It's been a long productive day and I just want to revel in it for a moment before I fall into bed only to wake up and do it all again.

I did a lot today. My kitchen is nearly finished. It's only been ten days of nearly non-stop work. All I have left is a bit of red edging (the third frigging coat, don't even get me started) and to poly-eurothane the cabinet doors. Then the hardware goes back on and everything goes back into it's happy home. whew. That will be a good feeling. Hopefully Brea will thoroughly exhaust herself at church in the am and I can finish things up during her nap. That will make me so happy!

Wandered into the lss today. Found some new Scenic Route paper. Bought eleven sheets, it makes me so excited to scrap! I think it will be fun in my Paris album. If you click on 'what's new' you'll see the Charlotte and North Shore lines. That's what got me going. I also love their chipboard, it's finished but looks so fun distressed. (I look fun distressed!) Funny how a few pieces of new pretty paper makes everything right with the world. Hoping to put my studio back together tomorrow or at least on Monday. Mom's coming on Wednesday, so I need to have laundry done and most of my packing done by then. Oh, and the house back together. Otherwise she may say "forget Paris, where's the looney bin for this girl?"

I enjoyed grocery shopping all by my lonesome this morning. It was invigorating. I finished hanging different curtains in the dining room, the third set I've tried and they are the winner. I played with my kids in the yard for an hour. We spent the evening with the youth pastors in E. Alton. It was fun. But it makes me thankful for all we have here. I am reminded, yet again, that comparing leads to disontentment. I am choosing to be content with my situation. Content in any situation, good (like it is now) or otherwise. But I digress.

Well, I've probably rambled long enough. Thankful for a good long happy day. All kinds of happy thoughts brewing in my heart about Paris. Trying not to think about the HOF calls 'supposedly' going out on Monday. Trusting that my life is in His hands.

dreaming in color

Woke up this morning after having a very real dream of being in Paris. Mostly what I remember is seeing the Eiffel Tower misty in the distance. Can't believe it's real, that I'm really going to see this amazing city.

Lots going on here, shocking I know. Have some running to do this morning. I need something from Lowe's and to check on a valance at Target. Plus, I'm going to do my grocery shopping for the fam while I'm gone. Trying to set everyone up for success so if they have issues it's not because they were unprepared. :) I'm just an over-achiever like that. Hoping to find a good block of time to paint today. I didn't get anything done on the kitchen yesterday, I took the day off from painting - just too tired and I feel myself flirting with a sinus infection. It's that time of year, the grass is greening up and I usually fall victim to a terrible sinus nightmare right about now, so maybe my claritin and lots of OJ can keep me healthy. I'd hate to get sick before this awesome trip.

We are having dinner with a slew of youth pastors tonight. I've been asked to bring dessert, so ice cream dessert it is. Sounds so good to me. It will be good to meet some of the other wives. I'd really like to find some more friends outside of our church.

Rob's taking Eli to the Pinewood Derby this morning. I think they'll both have a good time. I'm going to hang with Brea and hope she decides to take a nap. She's cutting two molars and a front tooth, so she's a real picnic.

Throwing in some pictures from yesterday. It was a beautiful 60 degrees here and we decided the park was a must. Figured I might as well excercise my gig too, I haven't had a lick of trouble so far.

Last but not least, I exchanged curtains yesterday and hung bright spicy red ones here in the living room. Totally tied the three front rooms together. I love it. I will post pictures when I don't hate my kitchen. Happy Saturday!

complications

Such a stinking long day today. The story of my life lately. I'm so tired I could fall over. Literally. I was up "painting the roses red" (my kitchen) last night until midnight. Then I sat and folded laundry for a half an hour. Stumbled to bed to get up at 6 this morning to leave Champaign to visit my dad and sister. A lovely surprise, my Aunt Char popped in on her way back to St. Louis so we all spent the afternoon together. Very much worth the drive and the lost work day. Rob says that me considering today a lost work day makes me a workaholic. I say "Pot. Kettle. Black." But whatever.

Sharing two pictures tonight. The one without Eli was taken by Eli. I love it. He's developing quite an eye for photography, I think. Lucky us. The other we did with a timer on the table, thus all the white space above us. Plus, Char spaced at the last second, but that's ok. In the photo; me, Sarah & Eli (my jabronies), Aunt Char and my dad (siblings, in case you can't tell) and my sister Charlotte. Two Aunt Char's in one picture, confusing for a five year old. Mom and Dad never thought about grandkids when they named Char. :)

The kitchen. hmmm. I think I'm obsessing. It's very stinking red. Bleeding armidillo red (Steel Magnolias - love it!). But whatever. I'm too tired to think about buying another gallon and starting over again. It's pretty. Brighter than I probably should have gone, but I'm willing to learn to love it. My studio is next on the docket, but that is a post-Paris project. (say that five times fast!) I still have cupboards to strip and prime and paint. Before I leave. I want to leave a finished kitchen. I know what I will be doing tomorrow. :) Char (my sister) wanted us to spend the night tonight, but I just couldn't, there's just too much to do before we take off. Besides, I'm spending ten days with her here shortly!

Other random thoughts, since I had three hours each way to ponder the problems of the world. I mostly fantacized about what it would be like to receive the HOF call. Not that it's likely, and not that I should be imagining it, but if I don't and I never win at least this way I pretended for a tiny bit. That was fun. I was thinking I'd be all cool and post "I have a secret" like all the other famous scrapbookers! Of course, I don't, but it was fun to pretend. The fifteenth isn't too far away. Spent some time praying about it. If I actually won, or even got honorably mentioned, it would totally be due to the power of prayer!

I missed my daily call with Lori-lady. Funny how that makes my life normal and is a coping stratedgy in itself. Makes me appreciate her alot. Also makes me pre-miss our daily call while I'm in France. (I just have to say 'while I'm in France' as often as possible, it makes me feel important!)

Sad about families. Sad that they are so confused and bitter and messy. Wishing they could be more loving and forgiving and gracious. Deciding I need to make that effort on my own. Doing a lot of post-processing. Years of stuff working it's way to the surface, stuff I don't really want to deal with. Something Sy Rogers (@ Target) said hit me hard, you don't start to deal with your damage until you are in your late twenties, you don't really have the capacity to cope with it before that. Not sure what stinks more, dealing with damage or admitting I'm in my late twenties. Ack.

Need to chill with Rob. He always makes everything so much better. Waiting for him to finish up worship practice. Need some Rob outlook on my day. Love that, love him.

That's all for now folks.