Duct Tape & WD-40

Hello, from your friendly child pornographer!

So, I will tell you this quick story.  You may remember that we all went to the Nickelodeon Hotel for a couple a days during Spring Break.  The weekend that it was so cold??  Anyway, I gave each of my three boys an underwater disposable camera to take their own pictures.  Of course, I didn't really think any of the photos would turn out.  But, it kept them from begging for my Canon Digital Rebel - oh no! I don't think so.  After the trip, I dropped the three cameras off at Costco and promptly forgot about them. 

Yesterday, I was at Costco and remembered the pictures.  Just as I thought, none of them really came out, EXCEPT for two.  One was a photo of little Jack in all of his naked glory pointing to his private parts and smiling.  The other photo was a rear view of naked Jack.

At first I was horrified.  These photos were sent to a photo lab!  I could easily be arrested for this!  Would the police buy my story??  "Child pornography - local mom arrested.  Story at 11."  Then, I started laughing so hard that I was crying.  I know that it was Lukie who took those photos.  I wanted to tell the cashier why I was laughing, but, of course, I could not.

I bought the pictures and have since shredded them and the negatives.  I will now have a talk with all the boys and tell them that it is never okay to let someone take a picture of their private parts - not even a family member.

I Won! They Win!

Yes, I am still going to blog about Carl Mann and the super sweet thing that the boys did the other night, but I forgot to tell you something.

You may have heard about the fundraiser that Karen Russell (with Creative Imaginations) was doing on her blog www.karenrussell.typepad.com for Women For Women International.  Well, I made a small donation and was entered into a drawing to win cool scrapbooking stuff or, the best thing, a personal layout created by a scrapbooking "celebrity". 

Gary always laughs when I mention a scrapbooking celebrity.  He thinks it is silly that my hobby has people that are famous for doing it.  Now, however, when he makes a wisecrack about it, I simply say, Chip Foose.  Don't know who he is?  Exactly.

ANYWAY, I won!  Not only did I win, but I won a personal layout from one of my favorite artists, Jennifer McGuire.  If you want to learn more about her click here http://www.twopeasinabucket.com/cg_bios.asp?id=99  I have met her before and she is sooo talented and just plain cute!  I have already been in touch with her and told her that I would like her to do a layout about brothers with pictures of my boys.

So see, Women For Women gets a big check worth over $12,000 (a very small part of it was my donation) and I won a terrific layout.  Cool.  I'll post it when I get it.

As Normal As It Can Get

Everyone had a great time in Tennessee and arrived safely home.  It was somewhat exhausting.  The boys were great, but it is just hard to get the whole family through an airport, onto a plane and on long car ride.  I am, however, very proud of them.  They did great.

Of course, I have pictures, but where are they?  At the office of course.  I will be there tomorrow and try to post some.

Laura looked beautiful at her graduation.  So hard to believe that she will be on her own at University of St. Louis soon.  She has a good head on her shoulders.  She will do great.

There is so much I want to tell her.  So much advice I want to give.  But, like I was at that age, it will go in one ear and out the other.  I did tell her not to be in a big hurry to get married and have kids.  Not that I don't adore my life as a wife and mother.  It's just that this time is all about her.  It is about following her own dreams and (when she graduates and starts making her own money) and making her own decisions.  When you are married, you have to discuss things with your husband and perhaps sacrifice for the good of the family.  Once again, this is not a bad thing.  It's just that now is the only time she will have everything to herself.  I told her to do what her heart desires and TRAVEL.

Another cool thing about the weekend was having a sing-a-long with Carl Mann at my sister's home.  I'll write more about him later, but let's just say he is WAY cool.  I'm so glad Gary was with us, because he really enjoyed the music.

Until later....

Trane IS Air Conditioning

Oh yeah, I'm cool. I'm SO cool. I mean I am actually cool in my house. Now life can continue as normal.

Our family is leaving for Tennesse tomorrow for Laura's graduation. This is not normal. But, I'm thinking that normal might return on Monday.

I promised studio transformation pictures, so here they are.

This is the before shot. This is when I was avoiding my room.

Here we are getting ready to paint. You know that yummy green apple color that I wrote about. Gary said that he couldn't spend more than 30 minutes in a room that color. I told him that now I have to find a different color because I don't want him to spend more than 5 minutes in my room!

Where did all of that stuff go???? Well it took me over 2 hours to clean it out. It went here.

In my bedroom - all over the floor. Now I don't want to go in my bedroom!

More Many Colored Days

Some days, of course, feel sort of Brown.  Then I feel slow and low, low down.  All my kids were late for school today.  It finally gets cool in my house about 5:00 a.m. so that is when the sleeping is good.  Too hard to wake up.  Gary is out of town.  Decided to get to kids to school and then lay on the couch all day.

Day turns back to Black when I learn that A/C will cost more than 10 grand. Wondering when to tell Cole he will have to attend public school next year.

Then my day starts turning green.  Green Days.  Deep deep in the sea.  Cool and quiet fish.  That's me.  Starting to feel guilty about whining over lost A/C because neighbors in Volusia and Brevard counties are being burned out of their homes.  Brush fires.  Now there are some hot houses!

Then Pink!  A/C salesman calls says he can install new house - oops I mean new A/C - on Wednesday and have it running by Thursday.  But when my days are Happy Pink its great to Jump and just not think.  That's right - not think about the cost.  Think about quiet, cool house.  Think about finishing my studio.  Think that I don't have to board my old dog this weekend because she so enjoys laying on my couch more than being in a kennel.  Think that when that A/C starts to whirl, I am going to crank it down so low that penquins will come knocking at my door.

Poor sweaty A/C salesman hasn't a clue what I would have done to get that baby installed on Wednesday.  He could have gotten SO much that we are not even going to go there.

Okay, last post using My Many Colored Days.  I close with this.  But it all turns out all right, you see. And I go back to being... me.

Black Day

Then come my Black Days. Mad. And loud. I howl. I growl at every cloud. - My Many Colored Days by Dr. Seuss.

A/C out for good.  Noticed it yesterday as I was starting to paint my scrapbook room.  The paint was very thick, like brownie batter.  Why????  It was hot and humid!

Attitude bad.  Outlook worse.  A/C guy came today.  He says that our outside unit is bad.  This is way worse than expected because we expected the inside unit (the 16 year old unit) to be bad.  The outside thing is just six years old.

Now we must replace everything.  I'm very scared because last week the guy told us that it would take two to three weeks to get the unit in.  I'm already suicidal.

Air Conditioning Saves The Day!

I am amazed how much my attitude has improved since my A/C was fixed on Thursday. The sun is brighter. The sky is bluer. Birds are singing. Things are thinging.

Continuing with the theme of metamorphosis this month. The next metamorphosis??? My scrapbook room.

Now people who know me would not use the word "tidy" to describe me. I have little piles of stuff everywhere and most of the time I know exactly where to find everything. But, when things get too messy, my life starts to spin out of control. I get moody and anxious. If things get too bad, I just avoid the whole thing.

This is what has happened to my creative space. My recent trips to Scrapbook Expo and Club Scrap with their various purchases has created chaos in my room. I can't stand to go in there. I have created nothing since Club Scrap weekend.

Ironically, Donna Downey's Big Picture Scrapbooking class last week was about scrap room organization. She has inspired me to redo my entire room. I am pulling EVERYTHING (except the murphy bed which is bolted in - hee hee) out and starting over. It is going to look like my room vomited into the hallway. Then I am going to paint it this yummy green apple color. Then I am going to add new organization shelves and cubes. Then, I am going to put everything back in the room in a new organization system. I will create four sections in my hallway - to keep, to sell, to give away and to throw away. When I am done I will have my new studio.

I have taken before photos that I will post soon.

I don't how long this whole thing will take. But, I can tell you that Gary will not put up with all my crap in the hallway for long. How will I keep the boys out of it?

Anyway, I am ready for the next metamorphosis.

To quote Virginia Wolfe - All a woman needs is $50,000 and a room of one's own
That $50,000 thing might need to be adjusted for inflation!