Today...so far...

This is my last day of documenting the week in my life. I started on Sunday. I've come to the conclusion that I lead an extremely boring life. Here's what I've done so far...


Paid bills....


Got visited by these two travelin' boys. They went to Tokyo Disneyland last weekend. Didn't bring back Mickey ears for me, but I got some yummy honey cake. Scrumptious! I used the cool "cartoon" effects feature on photobucket to blur out the pic...gotta protect the babes cuz they ain't mine!

Didn't do much else for the rest of the day. For the first Saturday in forever, I didn't run any errands. Didn't leave the house until it was time to go to Mass. Uncle Lloyd bought us all lunch from Tokyo Mart's new Agana Shopping Center location. Didn't even have to cook. Surfed the net. Played Super Mario Bros on the Nintendo DS lite. Took a nap and woke up with a scratchier throat. Found one last "Airborne" tablet and mixed it up with some water. That stuff is nasty, but it helps. Started raining hard during Mass. It just figures that when I wear open-toed shoes it rains. There's is nothing I hate more than wet feet. Thankfully it stopped on our way out the door. We went to McDonald's for dinner...twice in one week, my poor arteries. I'll workout twice on Monday to repent. Tomorrow we're having lunch at Auntie Patty's house. Mark turned 34 on Tuesday and so she's cooking lunch. I get to make the red rice. Don't think it's the best time to experiment with red brown rice...a revolt will ensue. Praying that when I wake up tomorrow this scratchy throat is G.O.N.E. I hate being sick even worse than I hate wet feet.

Friday's stuff

Hard at work...Fridays mean making sure all the paper work for the week is completely filled out and ready to turn in at 2pm.
The temporary classroom. Looks like a "ghost town" when no one but me is there. Kids were at the library. 30 minutes of quiet time.......bliss in the middle of the morning.
What do you cook for dinner when you're tired and cranky and there's really nothing that you want to eat in the refrigerator? I had a craving for pizza...already had a ready made crust (some healthy thing with spelt) and we always have cheese and marinara. No pepperoni, though. Time to get creative...deli chicken slices, stuffed green olives sliced up, roasted red peppers from the jar. Twenty minutes in the oven and dinner was ready.

Friday is laundry day for me. All the work clothes for the week flapping in the wind...when it blows.

Wednesday and Thursday

It's just like me to do one post about 2 different days. But sometimes these days just run together.

Wednesday:

Every morning the alarm goes off at 6am. I hit the snooze a couple of times before gingerly rolling out of bed at 6:20 or 6:30...depends on my mood.

Breakfast. Make coffee to go.

Shower.

Get dressed for work.

Grab water and coffee (lunch if I made it). Today I didn't make my lunch so off to the Mc Donald's express I went. Ordered the mcrib meal to go. Ate all the fries too!

worked from 7:45-2:15.

Out the door to head home at 2:15!

Got home and hit the computer.

Played some Super Mario Bros.

Went to the gym at 4:30. Was only going to do one class, but felt guilty about only doing one instructor's class so I did most of another one's. An hour and a half of working out...I felt dead.

Came home and had dinner.

Shower.

More computer time.

Sleep!!!!!!!!!!!


Thursday:
There's the coffee I have to have!

My teacher's manual for Reading.

Book orders to sort through.

A week in MY life

Ali Edwards is documenting a week in her life, modeled after a class she taught several times for Creating Keepsakes University. She invited her blog readers to join her in documenting their lives. Being a faithful blog reader of Ali's, I decided to go along with it. I started my week on Sunday. Perfect timing!

Our World Youth Day group had a BBQ/reunion at Ypao Beach. The only pictures I took were of the Chocolate Dirt cake that Bonny brought from the Hyatt. That thing was SINFULLY delicious! It wasn't too sweet and all that chocolate was offset by the strawberries laden on top. I resisted bringing ANY of it home with me. Just didn't need that temptation.

Since this is all about documenting my everyday life, I also took a picture of my DS Lite and the few games I have. I play that thing everyday. It's nice to come home and do something mindless like play "Super Mario Bros".

Monday... I took a picture of the front of the gym. You can find me there from 5-7pm Monday through Thursday. My classes don't actually start till 5:45, but there's parking and/or a bike for cycling to sign up for to consider. Plus, I get to be sociable with my gym friends beforehand.

Tuesday...pictures of the time I left for work and 5 minutes before school ended, the cubbies in my temporary classroom that contain all our necessities, the shoes I wore today.

I also put aside a thank you card I got from a friend on Monday and a note from The Scrapping Spot that I got today to include in my album.

Totally random stuff...but I love it!

Sunday, Monday, Tuesday stuff:

OMGOSH

I had a fairly good day. I had air conditioning in my "new" classroom, most of my students were on task and nobody got on my bad side. My newest headache is in the form of a plumbing contract to relocate our water lines, but the contention lies in whether or not it includes terminating the old line (which is the reason for the new line in the first place). Lots of back and forth with too many people. I feel so pulled in different directions. So frustrated right now that I am close to tears again. To make matters worse, I saw a chunk of white hair today.

I've always known that I had a patch of white hair at the back of my head somewhere but never saw it. Until today. At first I thought it was paint, but I wasn't around any wet paint today. Then I thought it was chalk but I didn't rub the back of my head across the board. Besides the fact that I saw this after I had been lying down. So there I have it. It's true. I have a patch of white hair at the back of my head and there's nothing I can do about it. It's too much to pull out. I don't want to subject myself to getting my hair colored because then I have to SIT patiently while the color sets in and then have to go in every 6-8 weeks for a touch up. That's so not my style. A little to girly for me. Besides, no one sees it. I only saw it because my hair was messy from lying down. Depressing stuff...

In other news, I recently signed up with my space (to keep in touch with the younger generation of people I know) and facebook. The Facebook thing was out of curiosity for one of my cousins who got married on the sly (it wasn't widely known that she got hitched). Anyhow, while I was waiting for her to confirm me as a friend, I found old friends and some found me. Happy story, right? Yeah, it is. Then last week, I got an email that someone from my past left me a message on facebook. Enter shock. Disbelief. And the thought, "OH.MY.GOD. He's stalking me again."

It was a message from a guy I dated in college. He was completely wacky back then and called every so often after we stopped dating to see if I was ready to see him again. Obsessed, huh? Should I have been flattered? At the time, I was not. I was irritated. Annoyed. Flat out pissed off that he kept calling. My equilibrium would be slightly off after his phone calls. Now this. He was looking for one of our old friends. Then we started emailing back and forth. He has changed so much. And wouldn't you know it? He's married with a kid. Had I met him after the craziness of young adulthood was over, I think I would have sung a different tune. He's matured. Changed. The ugly duckling has become a swan, metaphorically speaking. He still looks the same, but there's a different "air" about him. So, now we're becoming what we never were....FRIENDS. And that warms my heart.

Check this out!

Susan Costanza aka SusieQScrapbook started a new card sketch a day blog. I wanted to make some cards so I asked for some sketches. She sent me a few. The first one went up today! Check it out HERE!

July and August layouts

I feel like I'm drowning

I don't know what it is about the beginning of this school year, but I feel like I'm drowning and I'm not even swimming! Talking to some colleagues, it's ironic that we all feel the same way. I feel like I'm starting from ground zero... maybe this summer was too long for the kids (it certainly wasn't long enough for me). Then I was having problems with ONE teacher not taking my homeroom students who are in her reading class. They're supposed to go to her class after Language. My reading class goes to lunch after Language. Her class doesn't go till a half hour later. She needed clarification, something in black and white. Even after I showed her, IN BLACK AND WHITE AND VARIOUS COLORS, the schedule and what was supposed to happen after Language she still needed clarification and basically kicked me out of her classroom. I had to call in the big guns. This is the second altercation with her this year and we've only been in school since August 12th! Someone had to stand guard outside her classroom today to make sure I got my Reading kids in my lunch line and my homeroom kids into her Reading class. It's so stressful to be working next to someone who is so combative. I'm hoping that within the next few days, things start to get into groove and I don't feel like I'm sinking in quicksand!

Last of the Sydney Chronicles

I finally have a chance to finish my recounting of World Youth Day in Sydney. I'm really procrastinating! I have to write an article for our Catholic weekly paper and I don't want to do it.

Saturday July 19
We were up EARLY. Before the sun rose kind of early. If you know me, you know I'm not up before the sun! Since everything was packed the night before, all I had to do was take a shower, get dressed and eat breakfast. We hopped our favorite bus line--the 470 to downtown Sydney. The bus driver was nice enough to take us as close to Circular Quay as possible. We found out that we were on the same side of the bridge as Randwick Racecourse. Now, maybe I was a little delirious from lack of sleep, real coffee (hello, Starbucks) and not enough food by this point, but I really rallied to walk across the bridge! Wasn't it the whole point of the pilgrimage experience? To walk across the harbour bridge and into the racecourse?!?!?! I felt we hadn't suffered enough. We took the easy way out of EVERYTHING during the trip. It was as if we forgot the "test" of Monday's experience. I would have walked it by myself if no one else was game, but I think most everyone was sold on the idea of walking the bridge. So we hopped on two trains to get to North Sydney. The walk across the bridge took an hour. It took another three hours to get to our space in the racecourse. On our way in, we were each given a green bag of food. Little did some know that the bag of food contained THREE meals...lunch, dinner and breakfast. Already knowing that we weren't liking the food, some of us packed snacks we liked and Joann's awesome dip! If not for that, I would have truly starved! I fell asleep after I ate my measly lunch of tuna, bread and water. Upon waking up, I found myself staring at STRANGERS where familiar faces should have been. I thought someone had played a joke on me and moved my sleeping bag (with me on it) to a different area. But, I don't sleep that deeply. I moved closer to Anna and her girls. Poor Joann! Some other guy came and plopped his stuff next to her. She was thoroughly surprised when SHE woke up! We didn't do much the rest of the day...who had the energy? I fell asleep during the adoration...my sleeping bag was so comfy and cozy and WARM that who could stay awake snuggled in it?!?!? It wasn't real sleep, though. A group of people sang and danced all night long. If it wasn't for my Ipod touch and some George Winston music I wouldn't have gotten any rest!

Sunday July 20
This was the day we had all been anticipating all week (all year, really)! After morning prayer, the Pope came around in his popemobile. We were in section L. The popemobile went through section K. Love the zoom in my camera because I got a pretty good picture...not a great one, but close enough. Hey, at least the Pope and I breathed the same air! The Pope said mass (another two hours) and confirmed several people. I was so tired that I fell asleep during the confirmation. OOPS! Towards the end of mass, the Pope announced the next WYD site--MADRID SPAIN! WOW!

We had to get back to our lodge the same way we came in.........WALKING! We had to take a break in the park on our way out. The kids were real troopers. It seemed that every few blocks or so, one of them would ask if I needed some help. When we stopped at the park, I asked one of the boys to strap my sleeping bag to his rolling back. What a sweetheart!

July 21-23
The rest of our time in Sydney was spent on relaxing and some fun! For me, it meant Starbucks and some shopping for the family. I didn't get anything fancy for them. Just little things for the kids and Tim Tams for the adults. It's the thought that counts! They all got special blessings through the prayer cards and medals that were blessed by the Pope during the final mass.

I'd have to say that I went to WYD blindly. I didn't know what to expect. I guess you could call it having blind faith. It was very inspirational. I got to visit a city I only dreamed of visiting. I got to get to know people I see EVERY weekend at mass. They're more than just familiar faces now. But most of all, it was amazing to see that hundreds of people share your same faith in God. We were one body in Christ.

Slide show #5:

I loathe anonymous commenters!

Maybe I'm just tired, exhausted, too focused on getting back into the swing of working again. Maybe I'm just pissed that I had to make a doctor's appointment so late in the day for tomorrow. But this comment just rubbed me the wrong way!

Anonymous said...

Check out number 14. http://tipjunkie.blogspot.com/2008/05/blogger-questions-tips.html?showComment=1217705520000

So I clicked o n the damn link and got this:

14. Do you like music on blogs? Almost unanimously it was no. If you do have music please don't have it auto play.

BITE ME! I read several blogs and they all contain music. You don't like it?!?!??! Hit pause. It's that simple. OR, here's a concept, turn off your damn speakers! If you don't have the guts to log in and leave your name, don't bother leaving a comment, especially when it has nothing to do with the damn post!

Double post! The Scrapping Spot DT CALL

The Scrapping Spot Design Team Call

The Scrapping Spot is looking for creative, innovative and talkative scrappers to join our Design Team.

The Design Team term will run for six months: October 2008 – March 2009.

Design team members will receive:

-a free monthly TSS kit to create with

-a 25% discount in the online shop

-free shipping on orders that are shipped with the monthly kit.

Design Team members are responsible for:

Designing 4 layouts AND 1 card or altered project (if no card or altered item, then 1 additional layout is requested)

At least 2 finished projects by the 25th of the month, the rest by the 1st of the month

Layouts and other items should use at least 90% of the product in our kits.

1 blog post monthly

Occasional challenges and crop challenges/participation.

Promote The Scrapping Spot around the internet (where allowed)

Contribute tips/articles once a month for The Scrapping Spot's monthly newsletter.

Design Team member layouts may be included in our online or newsletter classes. Design Team members will receive credit for all of their designs.

If kit contents are used in a posted/published projects, The Scrapping Spot must be mentioned.

Board participation:

Contribute praise to our members in the Gallery

Post an online class at least once during the term

Respond regularly to topics on discussion board.

We are an exciting and growing community and are looking for strong and COMMITTED Design Team members to actively participate on our message boards and help us promote the monthly kit club and store.

PICKY LITTLE DETAILS:

All applicants need to be within the United States, territories and military addresses. We apologize for this but, due to time restraints, we cannot guarantee that product will arrive to us in a timely fashion and our turnaround time is sometimes quite limited.

Participation on our Message Board is a MUST. If you cannot participate, please do no submit an application.


To enter please submit:

2 original layout -OR- 1 original altered project and 1 original layout. We would also like to see some of your other work. Please tell us what message boards you are on and your screen name, and please include links to your galleries and your blog, if you have one.

Please e-mail (photos or scans) your submissions to:

tssdesignteam@gmail.com

We apologize for those of you outside of the United States but we cannot accept applications if you are not within the US or its territories.

We will be accepting applications through August 31, 2008.


P.S. I take bribes for some good words to Cathy and Jill!!!!!!!! HA! Seriously, Jill and Cathy are wonderful to work with. I've been with them for almost a year!!!! OMGosh...it'll be a year for the message board in September and a year for the kit club in October. I've seen peeks for September and a few ideas they have for October. It's luscious stuff!

My Motley Crew

Today was the first day of school for us! I woke up super early (by my standards waking up before 6am is super early)!! I was out of the house by 6:55am and made it to work by 7:10. Not really much traffic...till I got to the parking lot! We always park behind the cafeteria on the first day so parents can park in the lot. Lots of kids already milling about at that hour. Dropped off some stuff and went to check in at the office. Let the kids and their parents into the room and found out how some of them were getting home. The image is a little blurry...chosen on purpose to protect their identities! We had one student absent out of 23...pretty good for the first day! We had a good day. Some of them were still in vacation mode. By afternoon, I could see some of their personalities come out. *SMILE* No one got lost. No one got on the wrong bus. No one cried. No one got hurt. Everyone did what I asked. Pretty good day, if you ask me!

I decorated my front door, as I always do for the first day. Couldn't come up with a cool saying (lame-o) and it didn't turn out as well as I wanted. I used my new Cricut Graphically Speaking cartridge to cut out the "people reading". Used the blackout feature and cut out 4 and 5 inch ones. I purposely made their names small...they can read it but the whole world doesn't need to. I also used the Storybook cartridge to do the letters. Little did I know that the yellow would make the letters blend in a little too much. It was a little difficult to get the paper on there so instead of taking the paper off and starting again with another color, I traced over the letters with a black marker. Oh well...what's done is done. No one really cares what the door looks like. I saw the kids looking at it (again and again) when they were outside so I guess they like it! I did come to work this morning to find that there's a leak right about the door! Luckily, it's on the outside of the room, but droplets got on the door. Grrrr!

I managed to grab a headache at the end of the day so I saved myself from injury and stayed home from the gym. It was bad enough for me to pop ibuprofen.

We don't start actual classes till next week. Since our school does direct instruction, we'll do a test run of moving from class to class on Friday. Get to meet the kids in my Language and Math classes. I have 15 of my 23 homeroom students in my Reading class. I'm hoping it stays that way! I love a small class... more attention to the students!

Sydney experience part 4

Where are we at in this experience?!?!

Thursday July 17

Today we made it to catechesis! One of the archbishops of Australia gave a moving catechesis on the theme of WYD...the Holy Spirit. We were given an opportunity to go to confession afterwards. I wasn't going to, but somehow it happened. Moved by the spirit, I guess! The priest told me a great story that I'll recount at another time. After confession, we had mass and then lunch. Some of the parishioners made pasta for lunch. It was delicious and a far cry from what we'd been eating thus far. We became enamored with these little cans of tuna that they had towards the end of the table. Someone got a hold of a bunch of cans and that went along for the journey to Domain.

We took the bus and WALKED to get to Domain. That was the site assigned to us for the Pope's arrival. Little did we know that we were waiting for him to pass by on his motorcade. We found out soon enough when we arrived that we were nowhere near the harbour where he was sailing in. So, more waiting and waiting. We walked around in groups trading pins and making new friends. We had snacks and those cans of tuna. Amazingly, it tasted good. Tuna mixed with corn. No mayo or any other condiments. The motorcade finally came by and a surprising speed! Looked like they were going 50mph! Some of our kids were closer to the fence on the other side so they got good shots on camera. Afterwards, we got dinner. More meat curry. Gag! But, I ate it...amazing what hunger will make you do. Then we WALKED AND WALKED AND WALKED to the Market City area to catch the Matt Maher life teen concert. Some folks decided to skip the concert and went back to the lodge. Some of us started to fall asleep in the "nosebleed" section of the Entertainment Centre so we left. A few night owls (really, it wasn't even 10pm) stayed back. ON the bus we went back to the lodge.

Friday--July 18
We went to catechesis and found out that it was our very own archbishop giving the talk. Of course, he sang. When does he not sing?!?! Again we had mass. Lunch was.......... those little tuna cans! Then we rode the bus and WALKED towards Barangaroo to participate in the Stations of the Cross. When we finally got to our site... yuck-o! It was by the bathrooms and trash bins! Grrrr!!!! It was so dusty. We didn't have a screen nearby so we didn't know what was going on. When the first station ended, we left. That was disappointing! Somehow we ended up taking the LONG way back to catch our faithful 470 bus to Annandale!

A few of us adults got off at the Broadway mall to go grocery shopping. The kids and the rest of the adults went back to the lodge. We gave specific instructions to make sure everyone was packed for the overnight vigil! Dinner was white rice cooked on the stove (by me), ready made roasted chicken, salad, corn, and this awesome ground beef dip for chips! The best meal we had all week! We called an early night since we had to be up and out before 8am!

Sydney Part 3

Tuesday July 15--This day marked the official beginning of the World Youth Day festivities. For me, it started at 4:30 AM! Anna, Lisa and I were going to get our breakfast in Marrickville at St. Brigid's Church. It would have been an easy walk had we stayed at the house, but since it was so unsafe, it was a bus ride. Only, we didnt't know that there was only ONE bus to get to Marrickville and that it started running at 7:05am. We walked back and forth between that stop and the stop on Parramatta Road. We finally got the breakfast and made it back to Annandale at 8:30.

We hopped the bus (for free!!!) to the Market City area and then Darling Harbour. Some of us went to the Vocations Expo at the Exhibition Center and got some free stuff! Then we walked and WALKED AND WALKED to Barangaroo. Some of our group got in a different line and were given a different section. ACK! Lunch time. What was in store for us?!?!? Aussie Meat Pies, BREAD, flavored mineral water in a can, and some kind of coconut covered cake thing. And then we waited and waited some more. I brought my yoga mat and spread that out. I ended up laying on part of it and falling asleep! I tell you, I can fall asleep anywhere these days! :) The opening mass started at 4 pm. An hour later, the sun was already going down and the mass was STILL going on. The readings were said in different languages. Lots of song and music. Then during Communion, some of the adult leaders got in line to get dinner. Our first foray into the life of CURRY stew...lamb, chicken or vegetable. More bread. Caramel slice (basically a bar of SUGAR covered with chocolate). Bottled water. That was dinner. No one knew exactly which version of the stew they ate...it was too dark to see. There was a concert afterwards, but some of us left before the fireworks show. It was such an exhausting day.

Wednesday July 16--Richard, Pauline and some of the boys went to get breakfast and ended up getting LOST. They didn't get back till almost the same time we did the previous morning even though we told them what buses to catch. So, we missed our first day of catechesis. We ended up at McDonald's for lunch (thanks to them for discount cards) and then we hopped the bus to go to the Royal Hall of Industries for a concert. We listened to Fr. Stan Fortuna sing songs basically about chastity...keeping out of the "zipper zone". *smile* Then our kids heard that Jesse Manibusan was up next and wanted to stay for that one. We were scheduled to see the Notre Dame girls choir from CA at the Sydney Opera House, but since the kids wanted to stay, we stayed! While we waited in line, we met up with a group from Texas. Turns out two of them and I have relatives in common! Talk about a small world. When we got back to the Darling Harbour area, we heard that they ran out of dinners there and that we had to walk to Barangaroo to get dinner. Of course, no one could make a decision and the amount of time we spent standing around, some people could have already been walking back to the group with food. I was so frustrated at that point that Br. Joe asked me something and I started crying! Frustration and exhaustion aren't my friends and when combined... sob city!

Slide show part 3:

Sydney Experience part 2

Continuing my story...

Sunday July 13--We started our day attending Mass at a local church, St. Brendan's. It was just a few blocks away. Our group literally filled one side of the church! The pastor introduced us and he said a special blessing for us. Towards the end of mass, a group of pilgrims from New York showed up. Their bags were at the front entrance of the church. They had literally just arrived.

Someone had heard the the Pope was going to sail into Darling Harbour. We decided that was something we wanted to see. We bought bus tickets at ASD $24 for 10 trips, multiple regions. When we got there, we found out that we were FOUR DAYS EARLY! We surely had to laugh at that....probably one of the few times we would be early for ANYTHING. There was a street performer so we sat there and watched his WHOLE show...fire eating, balloon eating, fire juggling...

Monday July 14-- Up early. It was our day to move to our homestay for WYD activities. Fr. Julian was bringing a bus to transport us to the house in Marrickville. It was an uneventful ride. From the outside the house looked decent. But once Sr. Elena opened the door, we knew we were in for a rude awakening. Worn carpet with fibers coming out. Peeling paint (who knows if there was lead in it). Floor in the kitchen separating from the rest of the house. Four rooms, but only two with the illness-making carpet. The other two rooms had no covering, just bare dusty wood. Two bathrooms for 29 people. TWO. Some of the kids with allergies started sneezing and having reactions to the environment. We spent the rest of the day in a nearby park, trying to get our lodging arranged. Would we stay in Pauline's sister's condo? Go back to the lodge? Close our eyes, lungs and mouths and grin and bear the health hazardous house? Meanwhile, Fr. Joe, Br. Joe, Br. Marvin, Jermaine, John and Jason were on their way to come see us. We had to coordinate schedules for the coming days. It took them THREE hours to find us! they were describing a park with water. The park we were at had NO water. ACK! They were at the other end of Marrickville. Three hours later, we finally met up. They got a look at the house. They surely got their practice for the pilgrim walk on Saturday! After phone calls to a couple of people back on Guam, it was decided that we would go back to the Annandale Lodge. Lucky for us, there were still vacancies. Compared to the house, the lodge looked like a castle! Lisa, Richard and I stayed behind with most of the baggage. We sent the rest of the group on the bus with the things they could carry. It took three maxi cabs to get all our baggage back to Annandale. What a tiring day!

Slide show #2!

My Sydney Experience

This is going to be a long-winded post! I got back from Sydney yesterday morning. Still trying to catch up on lost sleep from traveling and from being at World Youth Day (they should really call it World Youth Week).

We left Guam at 4:20 pm on July 10th and arrived in Sydney via Narita Japan at 6am on July 11th. Total flight time was 12 hours, not counting being at the airport THREE hours early and the layover in Narita. It took us a few hours to get all of our stuff and get checked by customs. It took 4 taxis to get 33 of us to the Annandale Lodge in Sydney. Two of our group got there the day before. It was another few hours before we could check in to our rooms. Lots of hungry people in our group so we went in search of FOOD. We discovered right off that food was EXPENSIVE, especially when you're on a budget and 35 people have to eat. We were told to budget $10 per person per meal. So not enough, especially when there was a plethora of Asian restaurants that were very generous in their use of MSG.

The next day we ventured to Circular Quay (pronounced KEY) to catch a ferry to Taronga Zoo. We only had a few hours there...not enough time to see and do it all because we wanted to go to Paddy's Market. It reminded me of Hafa Adai Exchange for some reason. The Market only opened Thursday through Sunday and closed at 5pm. When the market closed we went upstairs to Market City, which is a mall, to eat dinner. FYI...malls close at 7pm! And the tavern across the street from the lodge closed at midnight! Completely weird for us to have nothing to do after 7pm. But that was just the first two days! Little did we know that the days to come held early mornings and late nights and no time for afternoon naps. Believe me, it was a shock to my system.

I'll be posting more of my trip in the days to come! Trying to sort through my pictures to upload to photobucket and make some slide shows!

Here's slide show #1!

Six days....

In SIX days, I will be on my way to SYDNEY AUSTRALIA!!!!!!!! I'm pretty much packed. Just little things here and there that need to make their way into my bags....like $$$ and some snacks!

It's the 4th of July. In honor of America's Independence Day, we are eating white...."American" food. Take no offense. I'm as American as they come. But, around here, food our grandparents didn't grow up with is called "American". No rice. No kelaguen. No Chamorro BBQ. Hot dogs, turkey burgers (we are trying to be healthy), potato salad, baked beans and 1-2-3 Jell-O. Wonder how hungry the major rice eaters will be?!??! Poor Uncle Lloyd! Gotta go "make" the baked beans (read: open can and heat on stove).

Happy Mail abounds!

I got happy mail three days this week! My kits from Scarlet Lime (missing 1 but that's all resolved), my kits from The Scrapping Spot, and my replacement IPOD Touch. It best NOT stop working again or I will SCREAM.

I got the elusive Fiskar's Threading Water punch with my Scrapping Spot kits! FINALLY. I've been waiting FOREVER!

Here's a little sneak of what is in ONE kit. We call this one "Sun and Water". I haven't broken open the other one yet and I just realized that the papers and stuff in the other kit match my brand spankin' new bedding!

The first layout has random pictures from my vacation last year...these were all taken in LA.


















This next one is about my Papa and me. There is a KI Memories tattoo (AKA rub-on) in the kit that was perfect for the title.


















Here's a sneak of the other kit,,,we call it "Sand":
The mix of brown and blue...totally the new bedding I got a few weeks ago to go with my new to me bed. Maybe I'll do a layout about that!

Nineteen more days until I leave for Sydney!

Creative Drought

It has been a few months since I've blogged. It's not that I lead a boring life. Okay, maybe I do since it seems that in the last few months all I did was work, go to meetings for this or that, workout, eat and sleep. Five weeks until we leave for Sydney. It's exciting, but it leaves me a little anxious. Being an adult chaperone is a tall order...but I don't think I would be in this position if it wasn't the right thing for me. I've started packing the things I think I might forget. When you're so used to tropical weather, packing for winter is a little discombobulating. I went into a total panic one day wondering if I had LONG socks! Luckily I have some from my grad school days. Should I try them on?!?!? Do socks get big when you lose weight??!?!? Next on the agenda is dragging out my trunk of winter stuff and see what still fits. You're probably thinking things might be too small. It's quite the opposite! I weigh significantly less than I did the last time I wore those winter clothes. SO THERE!

I always bring a journal on any trip I take. We were given great advice at our last world youth day planning meeting to bring a journal. Well, DUH! That's a given, at least for me. I bought a BIND IT ALL machine from someone off the internet. I was going to make a notebook...I put some notebook paper in the book. BUT, I changed my mind completely. I need more than a couple sheets of paper! I'm still bringing the newly created with my BIA book, but I found some notebooks that would work better (got them last summer while on vacation). Then in today's mail, I got 2 new cartridges for my Cricut machine and a cuttlebug embossing folder that I will use in my sizzix machine. Of course, I had to somehow use those new toys in my book! Here's a slide show of my "brainchild".

March creations...so far....

The Scrapping Spot started a new "class" this month. It's called "Every Other Day". Shawn Lahr drew up 15 sketches...one is posted every other day (hence the name of the class). You can view her gallery of stuff here and here. Ari Macias breaks down the sketches and provides her 8.5x11 interpretation of the 12x12 sketch. You can view Ari's gallery here.

Visiting Blogs

I read a lot of blogs...feel kind of like a voyeur into people's lives. But then again, if you don't want people to know about you, then you wouldn't post, right? So, last night I was instant messaging with my friend Jill. She told me to check out her blog and find this blinkie.... I click on it and find a whole slew of quizzes and fun things to do. Completely addicting and something NOT TO DO when you're contemplating getting up at o'dark thirty to get to the gym. I fared better this morning on the country quiz than I did last night....there's only so much you can remember.

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It's a PARTY!

I'll be busy this weekend! Not only is my mom turning 60 on Sunday, but The Scrapping Spot is celebrating six months of being in business! Six months! Has it really been that long? It seems like just yesterday I was "talking" to Jill, Cathy, Dee and Ari about having a message board up and running for the old members of Memories 2 You. Then it turned into a joint venture kit club between Cathy and Jill. Lots of planning went on behind the scenes. We're still learning as we go, but Jill and Cathy have really made The Scrapping Spot a safe and wonderful place to hang out online. To celebrate, we're having a weekend cyber crop...this weekend...March 7th-9th. Challenges and games all weekend long. We're also doing some celebrating with Willow Traders on Friday March 7th...check us out there! If you aren't doing anything we'd love to have you join us!

Happy Leap Day!

More layouts for The Scrapping Spot

Double post day! Just wanted to share a couple more layouts with the sold out Scenic Route kit from The Scrapping Spot. This first one is a 12x6 layout of my nieces who live in Minnesota. I got this picture in the mail with a Christmas card.










The second layout is about my anti-Valentine's day feelings.

memories

I found a few pictures of my grandma's 80th birthday celebration. Ten years ago this month. It brought an ache to my heart. The pictures weren't great...half of two pictures have bad shadows (you can't even tell who's on the left side of the pictures). But, I've learned that no matter how good or bad your pictures are, it's still important to scrap them.


All products from "The Scarlet Lime" January Kit.

February DT Projects for The Scrapping Spot

It's been a busy month! The slide show above is a collection of things I've made with The Scrapping Spot's February kits. MY DT kit was the small kit featuring...Tinkering Ink Blur. TSS also had (yes, had) a big kit featuring Scenic Route Loveland, but it's all sold out! There are paper add-ons and other bits and pieces of the kit available in the store.

A Sneak peek.......

I was lucky enough to get partials of The Scrapping Spot's February kits this past week. Jill and I have a severe love/hate relationship with the postal service so it looks like I'll be getting bits and pieces of the kits at a time. I don't mind that, but sometimes I feel like Guam always gets the short end of the stick. I digress... I get to design with the small kit...right up my alley. Not too much paper to add to my already growing collection, just the right amount of embellishments, and other great stuff. Being on the design team means actually using the stuff in the kit. If you're like me and hundreds of other scrappers, you like to hoard the great stuff. So I gave myself a little pep talk about how I was doing this for the good of the business...we want the kits to sell after all.... and dove in. Here's a little peek... it's a little blurry...sorry!

2008

Recapping 2007:
*created 137 layouts, a gazillion cards and a bunch of altered items
*got braces
*Finally visited Patsi in Las Vegas
*Hit Universal Studios and Disneyland with Cedric and Christy
*met up with Addie and her family in Hawaii
*had an adventurous 10 days with Uncle Jimmy & Auntie Tina and their family
*signed up to be a chaperone for our parish group for World Youth Day in Sydney
*a whole slew of other things happened that I can't remember

Now it's four days into 2008. I've worked three of those days. I want to know who the idiot is who planned out the school calendar and had us back in school the DAY AFTER New Year's Day.

Last year's word was RESOLVE and I pretty much hit that one on the head. I resolved to basically live in the moment and not stress about the little things. 2008...HOPE. It's a big one and all that hope will entail a whole lot of prayer as well.




Here's a fun layout of two of our family rascals. Can you spot them in the picture? I used a November kit from The Scrapping Spot.







Christmas is OVER. No more presents. No more tables full of food. The tree came down on New Year's Day. Here's a tradition we carry on year after year. Used one of the December kits from The Scrapping Spot. This is a tradition that brings the best memories of childhood Christmases. It makes me miss Mama and Papa even more during the Christmas season.







So, I leave you with a thought:

Don't put off for tomorrow what you can do today, because if you enjoy it today you can do it again tomorrow.
― James Michener

Powerful words.

January Kits at the Scrapping Spot!

I got my January DT kit from The Scrapping Spot last week. KI Memories pop culture. The papers are so bright and lively. They scream fun. The lace cardstock is so cool to work with. This LO is 8.5x11 and took me 15 minutes to complete. I found the pictures in a pile in a drawer while I was looking for something else. The big picture was a little crushed but that didn't stop me from using it.



This next LO is 12x12. I turned 34 a few days ago and thought it would be something to do a layout. The picture is a self-portrait taken on the day of my birthday. Everything on both layouts is included in the main kit which is already for sale in the TSS store. The small kit is a winter kit...not much use for winter kits on Guam. Only a few left of each of January's kits. Get them here.

funny story

Lucas got this new toy from McDonald's...the SHREK line. It's Pinocchio. I asked if he watched Shrek 3. He said he watched Shrek 4. I said there's no Shrek 4. SO I said, "You still have my Shrek DVD, young man." He was quiet for a moment or two. Then he said, "You still have my Ice Age, young girl." I busted out laughing. Only three years old and he can come up with some great come-backs!

Christmas in our house........

So, I finally bit the bullet and got the tree up last weekend. Made this layout using The Scrapping Spot's now sold out Figgy Pudding kit. Did it for a challenge on Scrapping the Music's blog.

cards by the sheetload!

I made this card using the September Sheetload of Cards layout guide. I used Basic Grey Figgy Pudding scraps with a little blitzen thrown in! Figgy Pudding papers, red stickles and rub-on came from The Scrapping Spot. Cardstock and stamp from my stash.

These are the cards I will be sending out to family and friends. Better late than never! The papers are Flair Designs.

Made a bunch of quick cards!

I have been slacking in the holiday cheer department. Usually I have my gifts bought before October hits. My cards are made and ready to be sent the first week of December. The house gets "christmased" by December 8th. It's already the 14th......no tree up, no decorations anywhere. I just made my cards last night. The last of the gifts just came in the mail today.

So, I was perusing an online message board a few days ago and stumbled upon a new blog...Sheet Load of Cards
. Card-making heaven! I whipped up 24 cards yesterday. Put some finishing touches on them today. What a lifesaver! I'll post a picture later!

An awe inspiring weekend

I had a three-day weekend this weekend, but I was BUSY. ALL THREE DAYS. Friday was the Archdiocesan youth rally. As a chaperone for our parish youth to World youth day, I had to attend. It was a fabulous day, even if I was HOT in the baseball style t-shirt I had to wear. The cathedral basilica has some powerful air conditioners, but for some reason it was not cool! Must be because of the hundreds of teenagers milling around.

Yesterday was the Feast of the Immaculate Conception. On Guam, we all gather for a procession around the streets of Hagatna. Read about it here. For the first time in a while, it didn't rain...not even one drop.

Then today.....TODAY....we had the pleasure of hosting Jesse Manibusan in our parish. He made learning about our faith FUN. I love that he encouraged the youth and CCD students to be proud of their faith and not be afraid to show it and share it.

God is good...all the time.

Big Girls Don't Cry

I was reading a blog........Scrapping the Music. Each week they post a song to inspire layouts full of creativity. The song for this week is "Big Girls Don't Cry" by Fergie. I was thinking of the really OLD song by the same title......I can't for the life of me think who sang it.

I was looking for a picture I was sure I took of "Al" (I'm the only one who calls her that) crying or having a snit fit. Couldn't find one, but almost every picture I had of her from the summer had a smile.

For this layout, I used products found in The Scrapping Spot's November kits...found here and here. Everything I used came in the kits, with the exception of the Staz-on ink that I used to make the ghost letters stand out and s few stamps to do the journaling. FUN STUFF!