Peachy Keen Stamps Challenge

And yes . . . another challenge for the day . . . getting in under the wire on the Peachy Keen Stamps Challenge - Sketch #52 which is to create a card based on the provided sketch . . .

O.K. . . I had way to much fun with this one!  I used some scrap paper I found in my stash, and matched my flower to the flower in the print of the paper (if you look close, there are little tiny daisies.

My die cuts all started white, and I colored them with markers.  I am suddenly in love with cutting all white and coloring with whatever I have on hand . . . and this time it was my Copic Markers.

I have repeatedly said that I need to use those Peachy Keen stamps more often because they really do make me smile!

The Scraproom May Word Challenge . . . PARTY

Another May Challenge from The Scraproom!  The challenge was to use product from their May kit and use the word "party" somewhere on the layout. 

A few old photos I found of my girls hanging out together and with some friends . . .

The Scraproom May Sketch Challenge - THE BOSS

The Scraproom has a monthly sketch challenge, and while I don't get all of their kits, I was given a series of months as a gift.  I decided to participate in a few of their challenges . . . nothing like trying to get some of my photos into a scrapbook! 

In November of 2009, my husband and I spent the weekend at a gorgeous hotel in New York City.  We had tickets to a New York Ranger game . . . wandered the city all weekend . . . and we even took a little jaunt over to Hoboken, New Jersey . . . home of Carlo's Bakery . . . where TLC's Cake Boss is filmed.  I was super excited to have the chance to meet Buddy and have my photo taken with him.  What a great trip.  So the papers in the May Kit, from Jillibean Soup, were perfect for a little layout of our trip. 

Here is the layout . . .

 

And here is the sketch . . . 

And I even created a second page for the additional photos that we took on that day.  

 

 

What a yummy journey!

June Company Kit . . . Scrapping Summer Memories

I created a little something for the June Company Kit from my LSS, New England Scrapbook Co.  They put out a new "Company Kit" each month . . . coordinating patterned papers, cardstock, ribbon, and embellishments . . . and their designers make all sorts of layouts, cards, and 3-D artsy things to inspire.  They also have an add-on kit to stretch out your creativity.  June will be our sixth one, which is pretty exciting . . . especially since the May Company Kit is SOLD OUT! 

June's kit will be full of summer paper and embellishments.  I created two layouts . . . here is just one of them . . . 

And then I created a couple of cards, and here is just one of them . . . 

And with even more product remaining, I made a little 4 1/2 x 6 1/2" book . . . but I forgot to take a photo of the little bugger!  

Matchy, matchy product that comes in a box . . . what can be better?  Check out the photo gallery at:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/newenglandscrapbook

Rain, Rain . . . Go Away

I normally like a rainy day once in a while, but lately it's been about the rain every single day.  Seems appropriate that I post my Spring Rain layout which was a Designer Series Kit that I put together for my LSS, New England Scrapbook Co.  I designed it way before the rains came . . . perhaps it was a sign.  I do believe in signs.

So what's the movie that talks about believing in signs?  Anyone?

The main character in the movie gives a speech to her mom about how she doesn't believe in signs, and moments later goes to hug her mom and rips the wedding gown she is trying on and says . . . "It's a sign." to which her mom replies, "You don't believe in signs."

It's one of my favorite movies!  It is also a movie that is plagued with much rain . . . taking place in three locations . . . Baltimore, Chicago and Seattle . . . "It rains nine months a year in Seattle."

And what woman doesn't want to get a diamond ring placed on her finger, hearing those treasured words from her future spouse . . . "It was my grandmother's. I had them size it down. She had really fat fingers."  


Indeed . . . Sleepless in Seattle!  One of my favorites. 

What's that noise out my window . . . more rain!  I will go to sleep and dream of the sunshine!

Meet Jennyanydots . . . another of the "Paws"

So here is another one of the many "paws" that I scrap . . . Jennyanydots.  

Her name comes from the musical, CATS.  It was the summer that my oldest daughter, Tracy, was going into 5th grade.  She was spending her summer doing youth theater, playing the role of Jennyanydots in CATS.  Her sister wanted a new kitten, and a friend had called to say she had a number of feral kittens, and that she had caught one for us.  It was a fitting name, as the lyrics go . . .

        When the day's hustle and bustle is done
        Then the gumbie cat's work is but hardly begun
        And when all the family's in bed and asleep
        She tucks up her skirts to the basement to creep


And then there is . . .

        I have a gumbie cat in mind, her name is Jennyanydots
        Her equal would be hard to find, she likes the warm and sunny spots
        All day she sits beside the hearth or on the bed or on my hat
        She sits and sits and sits and sits--and that's what makes a gumbie cat
        That's what makes a gumbie cat

Of course, what other name would we choose?  Although, truth be told, until we knew for sure that Jennyanydots was a Jennyanydots, a quick vet check-up could have easily made her . . . or perhaps I mean "him" a Mister Mistoffelees. 

My daughter is 25 years old, which makes Jennyanydots quite the senior citizen of the household at 15 years old.  She has always been an absolute sweet girl, and that has not changed.  She has just a squeak of a meow now . . . still likes warm sunny spots . . . and still sits and sits and sits!  On those late nights when I am working on some pages or cards, she will venture into my craft room and sit on any box or pile that she can . . . and that is precisely what she is doing in the photo above.  Always under my left elbow . . . she sits and sits and sits . . .

That's apparently what makes a gumbie cat!

Challenged by the Challenges

In my quest over the last few weeks to do more challenges, I've gotten myself a bit confused.

You see, I'm a die cut hoarder.  I'm a ribbon hoarder.  I'm a stamp hoarder.  O.K., and then there is the paper and the embellishments.  Whatever!  I'm a crafter . . . it's what we do.

So here's the deal . . . I was trying to make a card for a challenge, and I seemed to have forgotten who the challenge was with, and I guess I messed up a bit and used the wrong company.  And there it is . . . the girl who is about to turn 50 is surely losing her mind.

But it's a great card . . . just not challenge worthy of anything on my list of possible challenges at this moment.  It was a cross between a challenge for Unity Stamp to emboss something, and then somehow I got it stuck in my head that I was doing something for Cottage Cutz (but it was merely because I was so excited that they just put out their first challenge.

So I did emboss, just used the wrong company.

Recipe . . .

 - Bazzill Cardstock and Kaiser Pattern Paper from my LSS, New England Scrapbook Co. 
 - Sizzix Embossing Folder (leaf print) from my LSS
 - American Crafts Ribbon from my LSS
 - Cottage Cutz Bug Die Cut w/Peachy Keen Stamped
   (I did a heat emboss on the wings . . . so shiny)
 - My Creative Time "My Favorite Sayings" for the sentiment
 - Ink and Markers . . . whatever you've got (I used Staz-on and Copics)


So fun!

Meet One of the Paws

I have this blog called Paws to Scrap . . . because I love to scrapbook my pets.  But I rarely post pictures of my pet layouts these days, and lately I rarely scrapbook my own photos.  I'm in this sort of "card challenge mode."

So I decided that it is ridiculous that I never post my pets on the blog, I don't know why because they are so much a part of my life (enough so that I included the word "paws" in my blog title).  I will introduce my little four-legged friends one at a time, starting with my bestie . . . Samantha.  

Meet Samantha!

Samantha is a cross between a shih tsu and a chihuahua.  She came to our family as my daughter's birthday present back in December of 1999, but she ended up as my bestie.  That's just how it worked out.  She is so smart and personable, and as my husband says, "She believes everything you say."  It's true, she really does. 

So hard to think of my little "baby girl" as 11 years old.  Here is a layout that I created a camping trip we took a few years back.  She enjoyed the trip . . . we shared a sleeping bag up in Maine!  I think she would rather have been home (in fact, she was a little stressed as we started out the journey in the car).

Still need to finish my journaling on this one.  She truly does color my world! 

Unity Stamp - Kit of the Month Sketch Challenge

Oh Unity Stamp . . . how do I love thee? 
All that red rubber in my mailbox each month . . . I look forward to your arrival. 

And I love that you're doing a sketch challenge, because I need a good challenge to keep me motivated.  And this was a great sketch!  I repeat . . . this was a great sketch!


I used the newest set . . . the awesome little city, and then punched with a scallop punch and included the "rise above it all" stamp.  I did some matchy, matchy work with some Bazzill Cardstock, Jillibean Soup paper, various markers and baker's twine. 

Let me say it again . . . great sketch!  Want to see it . . . go to the Unity Blog and check it out! 

OWH Sketch Challenge

And so another challenge comes my way . . . a way to use up the many, many scraps that I have in my possession.  Operation Write Home has a Sketch Challenge, always a great idea for using up my scraps.  You can find more information on their blog.  Here is a recent sketch (Sketch #67).

And so I reached for my "Box O'Manicured Scraps." Manicured, you ask?  Well yes . . . it is the scraps from past projects . . . instead of keeping them in a heaping pile, I trim them down to card size.  So, I do a scrapbook layout, and the extra pieces get trimmed into card parts . . . a/k/a manicured scraps.  Large pieces get trimmed to 8 1/2 x 5 1/2" for cards.  Then we trim to 4 x 5 1/4" for card fronts, or 4 x 4" for die cuts (which I keep in a separate box), etc.  Whatever works.  And anything smaller goes into a Bag O'Scraps.

This is hoarding scraps in an organized fashion!

So from my Bag and my Box I pulled some matching colors . . . and created a little something for the challenge. I mixed a lot of companies here . . . we have bits of Bazzill cardstock, American Crafts ribbon, Stampin' Up Tag Punches (smaller and larger) and Stampin' Up Tag Stamp, Close to My Heart pattern paper from a past project (I recognize it!  Isn't that a little bit CRAZY.), Close to My Heart ink to match the pattern paper, Clear and Simple stamp, and Copic Markers to color the boat.  It is a smorgasbord of  scrap product! 
 

And this card will be set aside and sent to Operation Write Home at some point down the road.

I love a little challenge!

Tweet, Tweet

I made a little something for the Unity Stamp Monthly Challenge, which was to make a card or other stamped project incorporating a bird or birds from a Unity Stamp set.

And so, I did just that . . . Tweet, Tweet!

Nowhere, Anywhere, Somewhere

There is always this stash of stuff sitting next to my work area.  It no doubt ends up in a bin somewhere.  But in 2010 I decided that I need a better attack to that stash of stuff that ends up in the bin that usually gets stacked onto another bin that leads to nowhere.  I began a quest to use up scraps from layouts immediately . . . IMMEDIATELY (I say) . . . so as to not add to the bins, and eventually to eliminate maybe all but one bin down the road.  But it is seriously a great idea, because when it goes to the bin you spend hours trying to find things that go together.  By attacking it right away, I end up with cards that coordinate well (it's like a jigsaw puzzle trying to find the right layout for the scraps).  Best part is that all those extra pieces of chipboard embellishments have an immediate home and don't end up lost forever (in the other stack of bins with the extra pieces that no doubt are self-stick and end up all stuck together in a jumbled mess).

So any scrap of cardstock that is large enough for a card gets immediately sized down to 8 1/2" x 5 1/2".  Pattern papers get trimmed down to 4" x 5 1/4".  Smaller pieces of cardstock will usually be trimmed to 4" x 4" (perfect for Quickutz, Cottage Cutz, Sizzix dies), and I keep them all stacked so I can just grab as needed. 

Yes - I am rambling!

So I did make this layout for a challenge, to be posted at a later date.  And with my leftover materials, I managed to make two cards which I will be donating to OWH in a shipment down the road.

So the stuff that usually ends up somewhere, and then goes nowhere could actually end up anywhere in the U.S. (sent by one of our nation's armed forces to his/her family).

Two people are going to need to get well somewhere in the U.S., and we'll be ready for them.

Action Wobbling a Kitty

So I just got done "Action Wobbling" a few things, and my favorite of the night was this awesome Cottage Cutz Kitty in a Pocket (using two of the die cuts).

Loving it . . . my brain is full of too many ideas now.  I need a rest!   

Spring is Springing Up Everywhere

I work at my local scrapbook store - New England Scrapbook Co. - and I've had numerous customers lately tell me that all of the new product is "girlie" and feminine.  That is 100% accurate, and the only reason is because everything coming in is all about Spring.  Spring is flowers and flourish the whole way . . . so yes, everything is full of butterflies, birds, and flowers.  It's Spring!  


I designed this cute tray for a class I'm teaching.  I have this idea that there is one spot in my house where I will always have a tray hanging reflecting the time of year and some photos.  For this particular tray depicting Spring, I used Jillibean Soup paper which I adore.

I made my own butterflies using bazzill cardstock and corner punch!  They turned out really cute, and they just pop off the tray (as you can see in the photo further below).

I used my Cricut to cut the flowers which shower from the handle and also for the title in the top left corner.  I used Twinkling H2O's to add some color to the title and the stamping in the lower right!  The stamp is a Unity Stamp (love Unity).  It all tied together.  These trays are super easy and fun to create.  I just need to add some Spring photos . . . but that's for another day (it's still a little brown out in the real world here in Connecticut). 

I am sure there will be a summer tray in my future, and I'll be sure to post it.  I also have my eyes set on a tray to depict my love for all of my four-legged friends.  Stay tuned!

Unity Challenge - Fashion Forward

I love a challenge because it gets me creating!  I've been so swamped lately, there has been little time to get busy.  This month's Unity Challenge . . . 

FASHION FORWARD.

Yep, that's right!

We want YOU to

SPRING into FASHION using ONLY UNITY or IPPITY stamps!

(by creating a fashion themed card, layout, or 3d project!)

I dug through my monthly kits looking for stamps and used a combination of the October 2010 collection (the handbags) and the January 2011 (shoes and quote).  I used the Pepper Bazzill Dotted Swiss cardstock as my card base, stamped in black on cream cardstock (both from my LSS) and then colored the images with markers.  I added some glitter to my bag handles and buckles along with a few clear jewels.  Just a little ribbon and wow!  I love black, cream (or white), and any other single color to go along with it (in this case, pink). 

 

Looking forward to next month's challenge!  

Keeping Up with Keeping Up

My life is like one of those pie charts with varying pieces.  There's the home piece of the pie, the family piece of the pie, the full-time job piece of the pie, the part-time job piece of the pie, the NESC Design team piece of the pie, then the hockey piece of the pie, then the "creative things I get myself into" piece of the pie (which is the biggest mess of them all).  My day is the plate.  It can only be one size as there are only 24 hours in one day.   

So if you were keeping track, we've got a one-size fits all plate and then we have some chicken pot pie, quiche, graham cracker cream pie, caramel apple pie, key lime pie, toll house, and some kind of berry crumb pie.  Mmmmmm!  All so yummy.  But I don't want them touching each other on my plate.  So it's a constant struggle to keep up!  I create a mess, and then I move on to another mess.  I am always trying to keep up with keeping up.


One such project . . . I always pick a Connecticut Whale player or two to follow during the season, and I complete a scrapbook with photos and articles taken throughout the year.  Since the beginning of this year was a bit stressful and I got off track, I spent the last two weekends creating my player's scrapbook.  I had thankfully done a good job collecting the items, so it was really about just sitting down and pulling it together.  I'll show off a few of my layouts in the coming days/weeks.


But I needed a break from the manly paper and the paper with sticks, and stickers with pucks . . . so I decided it was time to work on the Unity Challenge.  The theme this month was to create a card with a heart.  So I dug out a Unity Stamp from the itty bitty collection . . . the "Hello My Friend" itty bitty stamp . . . and created myself a little card using some scraps from one of my hockey layouts!  The layout looked all tough . . . and yet my card looked all sweet and flowery.  Nice contrast.

Great challenge.  Looking forward to next month!

On to create some more hockey pages . . . less than 48 hours until my deadline!  

We Interrupt This Program . . .

Life interrupted!

It has been a while since I've written anything in my blog.  The first two months of 2011 were the most difficult months of my entire life.  So rather than write blah, blah, blah negativity, I decided to take a break.  Through this difficult time, the one thing that I clung to was creativity.  It has saved me.

Most of those New Year's Resolutions are a blur.  It's as though a bolt of lightening came down, and the loud crack has just been ringing in my head.  But through the loud crack, I've been creative.  I've done some stuff.

Before the crack . . . the first weekend of the New Year, I spent some time working on some "Ranger" techniques at New England Scrapbook.  The second weekend of the year, I took a class from the great Cheryl Mezzetti.  I fell in love with Cheryl's art-si-ness (clearly not a real word), with Zip Dry glue, and with Twinkling H2O's from Creative Imaginations.  I played with them during the class that Cheryl taught.  And then I bought some.  And then the very next day I used some on samples for an upcoming class.

The crack came the next day!  I very sadly, and far too soon, lost my brother to colon cancer.  He was only 50 years old.  When I say that typing these words is just as heartbreaking this moment as it was the moment he slipped away with his hand in my hand, I really and truly do mean it.  Not a single day goes by that there are no tears.  There was almost a day, but when I realized it . . . well, enough said!  So there is not a one. 

What has saved me through this difficult time?  An awesomely wonderful sister-in-law and her awesomely wonderful family (who is, by marriage, my family).  I always said that my brother married her so I could have her as my sister.  She is the best sister ever!  I've also been saved by a husband who has been supportive of me just running off to "play" with people and not asking any questions.  And I've been saved by those people who have played with me . . . you all know who you are . . . my NESC family . . . my quilt/scrapbook friends who convinced me to make (start) a Sudoku quilt one night . . . and my Farmington Valley Stamp group . . . bless all of you!

After the crack, I said to myself, "Be creative!"  No matter how much I wanted to sit around a feel miserable, I just knew I had to be creative if I was going to survive.  I had to opt out of the two quilt classes I had signed up for . . . because I just couldn't think.  I needed to be creative, but not think about it.  So I gifted my class to a friend, and I felt no guilt for it was now a gift.  I had signed on to teach some classes and make some Designer Series Kits for NESC, and I pushed through everything hoping my work would not suffer.

And then there was the nine to five job.  The insurance job . . . new changes . . . new boss . . . people I had worked with for years who were no longer part of the new organization.  Saying goodbye to some of these people had me in tears.  More loss.  

But then there was Brave Girl Soul Restoration, a six-week on-line class that I signed up in December.  It started the day after my brother lost his battle.  I didn't think I could do the class, and I will admit that the six weeks are up and I'm only still working on the fourth week.  I am committed to getting it done.  And if I don't - I will sign up again.  It has been hard, given the circumstances that I've been dealing with.  But it has been absolutely wonderful and I encourage all you ladies out there to check out the Brave Girl Club.  I am learning so much about myself, it's crazy.  Did it come at a difficult time?  Absolutely.  But I am committed to finishing.  I will be blogging more about it in the future.  

In January the New England Scrapbook Company's "Company Kit" for February was given to me to make samples.  The "Company Kit" is a monthly kit of paper, ribbons, stickers, embellishments . . . the works . . . truly awesome stuff.  My first task was to create a two-page layout.  I was going to make a layout about how much I loved my dog.  As I created the layout, there was a ticket . . . there was a blackbird . . . there was all this "love" stuff.  I could only think of The Beatles, and from this dog layout, a layout about my brother's influence in my life was born.  It was my tribute to him.

So I've done some stuff while my ears were still ringing from the loud crack.   And I will continue to push through.

It's funny . . . my brother lived only 15 minutes away, two towns over.  We raised our kids together.  We could go weeks without talking.  When we did, he was a man of few words.  We never needed words.  He would call the house and say, "Hey, Deb.  What's up."  I would say, "Not much, what's up with you."  He'd reply with a one or two word answer.  He'd then say, "Want to talk to Laurie?"  He was the gatekeeper to my sister-in-law (not that she needed one).  The little sister in me now says . . . "Neener, neener neener . . . she's all mine now!"

What I'd give to have the gatekeeper back!

O.K. . . . so time to get creative!  Happy crafting!

Say, "WHEN"

I haven't quite gotten the concept of when to say, "When."  It's that thing you're supposed to say when someone is filling up your cup or plate.  As it gets to the point where you want them to stop pouring or spooning the item, you simply say "When."  It's a great concept when it's food or drink.  But I find it doesn't work so well when applied to other areas of my life.

Last year I had a list of New Year's Resolutions that I was completely stoked about!  I was feeling more positive than ever, so I just went crazy.  What was I thinking?  I looked back on them a few weeks ago.  There were eleven. Yes, eleven.  Ten would have been a nice round number.  But eleven?  Talk about setting yourself up for failure.  When the number of your New Year's Resolutions is great than or equal to the first double-digit prime number, you need to learn to say "When." 

There were eight "healthy" items on the list.  There were three creative items.  I failed at all the healthy ones.  I managed to complete two on the creative side.  Creatively, I was successful.  Kudos to me!  I completed two resolutions.  (Let's not discuss the other nine.)

So this year I came into this venture with one resolution that was a bit of a joke!  In fact, so much of a joke that I'm not sure I want to blog about it.  Let's just say it involves one particular person in my life (who I adore) and alcohol.  In many ways, although a silly resolution, it would be an easy one to fulfill.  I should have stopped there. 

But then I got to thinking (which was my first mistake).  What if I combined a little bit of wellness with the creativity?  I was thinking about the possibilities when a friend sent me an e-mail about The Brave Girls Club and their upcoming Soul Restoration. Brave Girls Club is a community for women everywhere who want to do big things, overcome difficult things, and believe in doing things with kindness.  It was founded by two sisters, Melody Ross and Kathy Wilkins.  Melody was the founder of one of my favorite paper companies, Chatter Box.  They have what look like fabulous retreats in Idaho which are booked solid all of the time.  But they have this upcoming Soul Restoration program which is a six-week on-line session which begins on January 11th. So I signed up.  At this point, I should have said, "When."

Facebook is just a bevy of information! I happened upon something else called Big Picture Classes.  Big Picture Classes is a worldwide community of creative teaching and learning. There are on-line workshops and self-paced sessions.  And just perfect . . . wasn't there a session that was geared toward wellness.  With just three days to spare, I managed to sign up for Wellness Journey - a six week workshop starting on December 29th.  With a click of several buttons, I was enrolled.

I'm feeling a little overwhelmed now.  I have these commitments to creativity, wellness, soul restoration, exercise, eating right . . . and, here again, I had another opportunity to say . . . "When!"

Oh, but a friend then said, "I'm signing up for some classes on finishing quilts."  Great!  I have quilts that need to be finished.  I have quilts that need to be started.  Do I dare discuss the "college" quilt.  Great mother that I am, I made a beautiful quilt for my daughter Tracy a few weeks into her first year of college.  I had planned to do the same for Kelly.  I started, ran into a snag, and never finished.  So I started another, but got busy.  Kelly has now graduated from college.  I need to finish a quilt for that girl.  So I signed up for a class on binding quilts and machine quilting.  Here I go again.  "When!" 

I'm keeping my resolutions to three, and that includes the silly one.  They are (in no particular order):

1 - I need to work on wellness, and that includes body, mind and spirit.  So I will complete these workshops that I've sign up for, and will try my best to keep up with NOT JUST THE CREATIVE PARTS, but the wellness portions as well.  This will be my toughest of the three. 
2 - I need to complete some of the quilting projects that are started, but not finished.  So I will take those classes, and I will finish at least one quilt.
3 - Here comes the silly one.  I am not one to drink a lot of alcohol.  In fact, I have probably done more drinking in the last three years then I have in my entire life.  I must be making up for my goody-two-shoes teenage years, or the fact that I didn't go to wild and crazy college parties.  However, that said, there have been a couple of occasions where I have found myself calling a designated driver, admittedly not walking a straight line.  It's a side of myself that is somewhat foreign, but each and every time it has happened, I am always with this one awesome person in my life. It's gotten to the point where my husband, upon hearing that I've had a few too many, has said, "Oh . . . I know who you were with."  The resolution . . . I need to have a few too many with someone other than my favorite person to have a few too many with!  It won't be nearly as much fun, but I can do it just once to remove the stigma that she is a bad influence on me.  I can be my own bad influence at the ripe old age of 49, and I promise to know when to say "When!"

So that's it.  As I write this, I am about four hours from 2011.  Hopefully there will be no time for me to sign up for any additional on-line ventures in the next couple of hours.  

WHEN!

Passing Down the Magic

It's that crazy magical time of year.  It is magical because good old St. Nicholas is hard at work throughout the land.

I miss the Christmas magic of when my girls were younger.  I envy those who have young children.  When you have children, you see the magic firsthand.  How easily I recall reactions to the broken pieces of cookies and the notes that Santa left.  I remember the hoof prints in the snow.  I remember broken carrots and bits of reindeer feed that fell from the roof to the back deck.  I especially remember the time that one gift never made it down the chimney, but landed instead on the roof.  Santa was a busy guy.  

Once upon a time there were two little girls sitting at a breakfast bar, having some cereal before school.  The younger of the two girls questioned whether there really was a Santa Claus.  The older of the two girls responded in a very matter of fact manner . . . "Kelly, think about it.  Do you really think that mom and dad would buy us a bunch of toys?"


Just a few days later, Santa brought American Girl Dolls with accessories for both girls.  The girls had been perusing the catalog for months and didn't know if even Santa would be able to come through.  They were high price items.  But that man has all the moves.  If only we would have had enough money to buy all of those gifts for our children.  Tee hee!  

 It has been 16 years since the American Doll Christmas.  For me, Christmas is about family and friends.  It is about making contacts and reaching out to people.  Christmas is also about tradition, and tradition runs deep!  On the tree . . . real or artificial?  For our family, the tree depends upon the mood.  Some years it is artificial.  This year it is real!  On the lights . . . white or colored?  The lights on our tree are always colored, and my family knows that if there aren't at least 500 lights on the tree - that's a minimum of 500 - mama won't be happy.  I like my twinkly lights!  I think about Kathleen Kelly (yes, "You've Got Mail") who while facing adversity in her business as they approached the holidays announces that she's putting up more twinkle lights.  If only twinkle lights were the answer to everything.

Does Santa wrap, or does Santa not wrap?  At our house, he never wrapped.  He just brought the toys and left them in front of the gifts that the family had wrapped.  And how does he know that it changes from one house to another.  He's just an amazing guy.

Gift opening on Christmas Eve or Christmas Day?  Well that's easy.  Everyone opened brand new pajamas every Christmas Eve.  Gift opening was always on Christmas Day.  Just try suggesting to my adults girls that we open on Christmas Eve.  It's met with much negativity.


Christmas is also about passing down the magic.  I consider myself a success.  The magic has been passed down this Christmas.  There are balloons "under" my tree.  One says, "Mom, pop me!"  The other says, "Dad, pop me!."  Inside are our gifts from the girls.  Doesn't matter what they are . . . it only matters that the magic has been passed down.

Count your blessings, one by one.  Make it magical.  Happy Holidays!

I Know Why They Whisper

I always wondered about the whispering that goes on behind me at events that my husband and I go to . . . hockey games, the movies, plays, or concerts.  Sometimes people will get up and move.  And yes, I know my husband is tall, but how bad can it be.

So there I was at Madison Square Garden.  My seat was killing my knee, so I decided to move to another seat where I had a little leg room.

A quick cell phone call to my husband . . . "Rick, there is a seat right in front of me.  I'm in section "blah, blah, blah."

Minutes later, this is my view of the game!