Finished!!

I love it when I finish a project. All the paper trays are labeled and organized. Woo Hoo. I am so glad that I keep the paper in the plastic bags or folders. I couldn't believe how dusty some of it was!! I know I'm a freak, but all night long I kept walking by and admiring how great the shelves look. Sooo... I finished re-labeling the stamp pads and the papers.... what next???

Ok, so I just found this picture on my camera card. Why in the world do you think my husband or son would find it necessary to take this picture? It's not our house they're moving. What memory are they trying to preserve? Are they going to look back at this in 10 years and say "I'm so glad I took a picture of that?" Ok so maybe I have a small idea of why they took it.... I believe they were making fun of the movers... I think they were unimpressed with their uhhhh driving abilities. 

Here are my colors for the top-down childrens sweater and the beginning of the collar. The yarn is TLC Coral Rose, Butterscotch, Lt. Sage and Natural.  

I Survived and I'm Back

Woo Hoo!! I survived yet another tax season. This time I did it on my own. Normally I hire clerical help to get me through the toughest weeks, but after last years fiasco... I elected to brave it on my own. I can't believe I did it. To tell the truth, I really think it was easier. There's a fine line between spending more time to teach someone else to do your job and doing it yourself. The other benefit was the fact that I always knew where things were...since all the little tax returns passed through my hands... there really wasn't anyone else to blame. Even hubby noticed I was a lot less stressed this year. The best part? My bonus DOUBLED and I have a ton of comp time.

So what's new in my little world?

Well my most exciting news is that Close To My Heart called me and asked me to do a presentation this Thursday at the Riverside national tour. I was very calm and collected when she called two weeks ago. I asked all the right questions and of course I said yes. It wasn't until about a half hour later that I started having heart palpitations and wondered what the heck I had gotten myself into. Since then I've turned in my outline and gotten approval and I finished up my power point. I have a few pictures to add but that's about it. I've practiced my presentation a couple of times and I'm just sure I'm going to sound like a dork...... not that that's really a new thing but this will be in front of a lot of people!

I'm really hoping I do a good job and that they remember me for future events.... yeah... cuz I like the feeling of anxiety attacks... they make me feel alive.... hahaha....

Stamp Room Makeover
We've been on an organizing frenzy at my house (ala Flylady.) Now that I've gotten a handle on some of the clutter and I wouldn't be embarassed for someone to drop in on me.... I'm giving the stamp room a mini makeover. I bought new tablecloths, finished labeling all the new stamp pads that I got ohhhhh ummmmm 8 or 9 months ago. (ouch that hurt to admit!). I finally found a successful way to label the paper shelves. Third times a charm. All the other silly tags kept coming off. Now I have cute little key tags hanging off the shelf with a little heart punch of the corresponding color on it... ok so all the tags are up and half of them have the little heart on them. What did you expect? Perfection? I'm going to try and finish it tonight.

Knitting
I started on my top down knitted children's sweater for class. Since my child is 14, it wouldn't have been my first preference for a project, but now that I started it, I think it's going to be fun. At first I couldn't think of anyone to give the sweater too, but now I have a list of possible recipients.

Well I better run... I'm off to post some photos!

Not geeky enough

I have come to the conclusion that I'm too geeky and just not geeky enough.

I've been blogging since August of 2001. Of course I didn't really know that it was called a blog back then. Over the years I've mentioned it a few times to different friends and they just look at me like I'm from another planet. Sometimes they'll even ask "What's a blog?" But most of the time it just ellicits blank looks. I think it's a combination of not understanding the need to write and not understanding the internet.

My friends don't have pda's, jumpdrives or blogs. They call me when they have computer problems (or they call me from the other room when their husbands have computer problems.) It's easy to begin thinking that you are the super geek of the neighborhood.

But then I get online and I know that my pda is hopelessly outdated. I'm forced to use simple tools to set up web pages and post my blog. I don't have time to keep up with all the cool things you can do. I haven't taken the time to really learn html and all the other things that seem to end in "L." I just stumbled onto podcasts and a bunch of other fun new things and I want to belong. I want to increase my super techie geekdom....

But then I remember that I'm a boring conservative mom who knits, crochets, stamps, scrapbooks, carries a pda, posts a blog (or two), works full-time, goes to church, reads books, wants to write a book and is hopelessly addicted to the internet.

I think I'm caught in the middle between two different worlds. This might be more unsettling for me if it didn't seem to be such a lifelong habit. If I remember correctly I was the girl in high school who took computer programming and had classes with the "smart" kids. I played sports with the jocks. I cheered with the socialites and I went to church with the goody two-shoes.

I guess I better get going. I need to post my entry to my blog, back it up on my jump drive, check my todo list on my pda, block my latest knitting project, check on my sick kid, read my scriptures, scrapbook my memories, bake a casserole, surf the internet and get back to work.

Because of Romek

I just finished reading Because of Romek, A Holocaust Survivor's Memoir by David Faber. Hmmm, now I find myself at a loss for words. How do you say that you really enjoyed a book that is all about human suffering? I didn't enjoy the suffering, but I think it is important for us to read about what happened, to face what humanity is capable of. I've grown up knowing what the holocaust was. I knew about the gas chambers and the concentration camps; but it was much different reading about someone's first hand experience.

I'm also listening to IBM and the Holocaust by Edwin Black. It's a long story, but Bren and I met a lady at the Dollar Tree store and she highly recommended it. And who could pass up an audio book for $1? (Of course my tape #1 didn't work so I had to borrow Bren's LOL) I started listening to tapes 2 and 3, but now I'm going to start over again with tape 1. It's kind of scary to realize just how organized Hitler was.

I haven't really discovered a sudden interest into all that is the Holocaust... it just kind of happened. Two different people recommended these books to me at the same time, and I'm definately the type to notice that kind of coincidence and follow-up on it.

Sven

Sven


Isn't he cute?? We made Sven in knitting class so that we could learn some finishing techniques, like sewing seams. I actually finished Sven a long time ago, but he's visiting with Linda right now. When I found out that he (gasp) was still in her car.... I made her get him out so that I could take a picture of him for my blog.

Linda assures me that Sven was not troubled with being in the car for so long because he had...Helena to keep him company. Of course Helena doesn't have a face, or legs, or arms yet so I'm not sure how entertaining that was for Sven, but I'll take her word for it.

(I know, I know... I get far to attached to inanimate objects)