Pffft. Whatever.

You should journal.

Record meaningful thoughts.

Tell your story.

Or not.

I love the sherbet-y colors here.  And this was from a quick trip to Headlands Beach that Molly and I took.  I really like this photo - which sounds all pompous, but I took it on my phone and I couldn't even see the screen when I took it.  So it's not self-congratulatory, it's outright surprise. :P  Anyway, I like the two birds above the picture - a subtle little nod to the fact that it was just Molly and I. 

Okay, usually I can go on and on forever, but alas...not today.

Thanks for stopping by!

This happened.

(Twice, actually.)

So back in January I was on the Paperclipping Roundtable.  I thought it was a once in a lifetime experience, and I had snapped a selfie, but I never got around to scrapping it - I think it was a combination of time and pressure - being on PRT was like that rare trip to Disney...just way too WOW to tackle.

At the very end of May, I was asked to be on again! WOOT!  Again I snapped a selfie (far less flattering this time!) and vowed that I would get it documented sooner rather than later.  Today was the sooner:

Thoughts:

• I'm okay with the selfie from January - our apartment is chilly in the winter, and the scarf was there for function not looks, but let's face it: scarves hide a litany of flaws.  The shot in May?  I look sort of hot and gross.  I converted it to black and white which helped, but I decided that I would just as soon hide the second shot.
• I've been toying with the idea of joining a kit club for a year now and I caved in May.  My first Studio Calico kit arrived this week and hot diggity!  So much fun!  I tried to stick with just items in the kit, but the green stars paper is from my stash.  The #selfie paper is actually the b-side of the same green star paper.  The stickers I used for "happened" are also old(er).  They're Kelly Purkey from Simon Says Stamp and I love them.  The glassine bag isn't part of the kit, but I did buy them as an add on.  I think they're handy and I use them with some regularity.  (These glassine envelopes are new, but I have other sizes in my stash already)
• I used Studio Calico paper called "Up Hill" as the base.  I suppose at first glance that doesn't make sense.  But I think of the "scrapbook community" and that Paperclipping Roundtable is...idunno...a cross between the local pub and the weekly call in radio show.  Or something. ;)  But there's definitely that sense of community/neighborhood, which makes the paper make more sense.
• I was surprised that there wasn't a bunch "this happened" choices in the Silhouette store.  I think there was only one, and I wasn't a fan.  However, I was pleased with the word "this" in the "this year" shape.  I figured I could easily do "happened" in either a block letter or in Thickers.  Fun fact: I own exactly ONE package of Thickers.  They look like the font used in Spongebob Squarepants, not exactly the look I was going for here.  But who only owns ONE SET of Thickers??  Well, me.  Because I'm cheap, and the Silhouette saves me oodles of money that way.  (Yes, let's just ignore that I used other letter stickers. :P)

So, like I said - I'm not a fan of the selfie taken in May. So I hid it.  I decided to tuck the journaling in the glassine envelope.  I loved using all the fun, happy colors that came in the Hello, hello kit.  The pictures span seasons, so I didn't feel obligated to gear the colors toward winter, even though that's the season of the picture that shows.  To me, the color scheme is "whatever makes me happy!"

And these are the two inserts.  So many pretty colors!

Okay, that's it for me today! Thank you for stopping by!

Drive by posting

I have to work early tomorrow morning, so I should really be heading to bed 20 minutes ago, but it's my birthday and my girls are in the kitchen frosting cupcakes. So I'm typing as fast as I can in a race to the creative finish! May the best woman win!  :P

This is from Molly's softball game last week.  The opposing teams pitcher didn't get off to the best start and was throwing balls left and right (quite literally).  I managed to catch the one shot with the ball bouncing just in front of home plate.  Molly was pretty good about not wildly swinging at everything (even balls that were less obvious than that one) and ended up getting walked.  

Kerig listened to the Paperclipping Roundtable last week when I was on.  One of the questions that was asked was "What's your favorite part of the process?" and I talked about that moment just after you have the "a-ha" moment and you have something that grounds you and gives you direction, so you still have lots of little decisions to make, but the big decision is made.  While I was working on this layout he kept asking me "Did you have your a-ha moment yet?" and honestly, it took a while.  But I was scrolling through my Silhouette library and saw the word "Calm" and everything jiggled into place.  While I think "Keep calm..." is way played out right now, I liked the idea of using it since it tied into the idea that Molly was, in fact, remaining calm and doing what she needed to get on base.  (And if you haven't watched the movie Moneyball, you should!)  For this, the color scheme was nice and easy. So it was just a matter of coming up with a title and some decorative space fillers!

For the millionth time I used the stacking technique for the title where I did the bottom layers in a fun color and the top in black.  I should find a new trick pony to ride, but I just love the way this looks!  

You can't see it in this photo, but I used two photo corners that I colored black with a Sharpie.  I talk about this technique in a blog post here, and while it's the world's simplest thing, I love that one package of photo corners has managed to be used so many times without feeling like I'm compromising because of the color.  And I was really pleased when my oldest daughter looked at the layout she specifically pointed them out and said she liked the way they looked.  Oh, la, la! They got a notice by a real live art person.  (Maggie is studying industrial design, which is sort of like if an artist and an engineer had a baby.  One day she'll design some funky lamp or clock or children's toy that you look at and say "ooh, that's cool!")

Okay, this has rambled all over the place!  And for the record, the "best woman" was Molly and Maggie.  The cupcakes were delicious! And now it's way past my bedtime!  Thanks for stopping by!  

2:45 a.m.

On Monday I started working at Target.  I work from 4 a.m. to 8 a.m. four days a week.  Today was my second day.  My alarm goes off at 2:45, which allows me time for a quick shower, "breakfast," and a leisurely - if not lonely - commute.  I'm surprised at how easy it is to get up at that hour.  I'm sure that once the routine sets in, it will get harder.  But right now when the alarm goes off I have that startled "I'm up, I'M UP!" reaction.  Once at work the time goes by really and wonderfully fast.  I'm part of what's called the "flow team" - and in this case the word team isn't lame lip service.  We walk in together, clock in together, work together, take a break together, and as we finish our individual tasks we find who needs help and dig in.  There's a damn big job that needs to be done, and it only gets accomplished if we all work together.

Now, I'm not going to lie. In a perfect world I'd be at the camera store, being paid to talk about photography and surfing the internet between customers.  But this isn't a perfect world, so I have to work to earn a paycheck now.  And make no mistake about it - what I do at Target is work.  That huge bottle of liquid laundry detergent you buy?  It's heavy, right?  Now, pick up four of those at once. And repeat for 4 hours or so.  Now, not every box is that heavy.  Legos, as it turns out, are like marshmellows - wonderfully light and airy!  But it's hours of bending, lifting, walking, and pulling pallet jacks.  And yet, so far...I really like it.

When I was hired, I was told that it would be for about 25 hours a week, but that it would be easy to get closer to 40 hours.  "Ask and you shall receive" is sort of the motto - if your scheduled 4 hour shift is done and you want more hours, find the boss and ask.  9 times out of 10 they'll put you to work.  Want more hours? Ask to be trained in another area.  "We like initiative."

So today I worked 5½ hours at Target.  I came home, made some chicken salad (for dinner), took a little nappy-poo, did some yoga (Yoga for arthritis/Yoga for the rest of us), then headed off to Pier1.  (I'm a little less likely to wax poetic about that job.  It's not bad at all, but I like to stay busy and I love when everything is super organized and there are no judgement calls.  On those criteria, Target wins. ;) )

So anyway, I made chicken salad.  I've had a hankering.  And the entire time I was at Pier1 all I could think about was coming home, toasting up rolls and chomping into a big ole chicken salad sandwich.  At one point the manager asked if I was off at 6 or 7.  I hesitated for a looooong time, and said "7" with a funny smirk.  Fortunately, the manager lady has a good sense of humor, and said something about me wanting to fudge it.  "Well," I said, "I made this chicken salad and I'm really excited to go home and have dinner."

As luck would have it, it started storming and we got reallllly slow.  I got sent home 20 minutes early.  And while I need every dime I can get, I jumped at the chance.  I stopped on the way home and got a beer and was still home just as my shift would have finished.  Yay!



I am capable of taking better food shots.  However, not when I've been awake for 17 hours and I'm really freaking hungry.  My inner Shrek was screaming "GET INTO M'BELLY!"  So a quickie Instagram shot is all I have to share.  And here's the deal: I'm not a food blogger.  I'm not trying to convince you that you HAVE TO TRY THIS RECIPE!  In fact, after we had finished eating, my picky eater manfriend said "You can make that again.  Don't change the recipe." From this eater, this is a ringing endorsement.  (A ringing endorsement for him, but he prefers foods on the bland side, but I was still happy to hear it.  Good feedback is good feedback.)

Okay, with a nod to the fact that this is mostly for my reference, here's the recipe:

Classic/Basic Chicken Salad
5 cups cooked chicken, shredded
½ cup finely chopped celery
¼+ cup finely diced sweet onions
1 scant teaspoon kosher salt
¼ teaspoon pepper
1 teaspoon lime juice
 2/3 cup mayonnaise

Combine all ingredients.  Chill for a couple of hours.  Enjoy on a hearty roll with cheese and a side of chips.  Made 4 big sandwiches with enough left overs for probably two more.

I enjoyed this.  But then there's a part of me that wonders what some green peppers would do.  Or dill pickle relish.  Or maybe some banana peppers...