Can't wait

I am getting so excited for the weekend! My sister and two of my BFF's have an annual scrapbook shopping road trip weekend and this weekend is it! We leave Saturday and head about 3 hrs to where my sister lives near BelAir, MD. First up is a visit to a Joanns Super Store. Last year we spent about 3 hrs in Joanns - needless to say we don't have one near where we live - Michaels and a small LSS is it. I like the fact that Joanns carries inventory that is different than Michaels so it gives us a chance to pick up some different items.

After Joanns, it is on to a Girl's night dinner with lots of laughs and fun and then Sunday morning it is up early and a short drive to the annual Cropmania yard sale in Annapolis, MD. 50 vendors - all scrapbook stuff = pure scrappy heaven! Oh the bargains to be found!

After we finish there, it is a quick lunch and then to Greatscraps in Millersville, MD - a fantastic scrapbook store.

It is one of the best events of my year - spending time with people who make me laugh and are so much fun to be around and spending my money on lots of scrappy goodies. How much better can it get?

A funny story

One of my most fun times ever was when I went on a cruise 2 years ago with my BFF and fellow scrapper, Peggy. I had been given the cruise as a gift and my husband didn't want to go so in August I asked Peggy if she wanted to go with me and she was thrilled and said yes and was packed by September (the cruise was in January!) Peggy has the type of personality that makes you laugh constantly, is ALWAYS up for a good time, and can make even the most mundane task fun. We have been friends since our children went to pre-school together (they are now in their second year of college).

The funny thing, well it wasn't too funny at the time, was that even though Peggy packed and re-packed for 5 months to make sure she had everything covered, her luggage never made it to our boat. That's right - it got lost somewhere in "Air Tran World". All she had with her was what made it into her carry on bag: a bikini, some flannel PJS, a t shirt and pair of shorts, and some flip flops. The Carnival staff was helpful and gave her some personal items, but there really wasn't any clothing on the ship to purchase and we would not be getting to our first port for 2 days. On the first full day at sea we had the Captain's dinner to attend and we had no clue what we were going to put on her. But, being the ever resourceful person that she is, Peggy purchased 3 pashima type wraps from the ship's gift store and with a few safety pins turned them into a most stylish "frock" as she puts it and off to dinner we went. Several people complimented her on her lovely outfit and it made for a great story once we got back home.

We had a great time, one that I will never forget and above is a picture of us before dinner with Peggy in her lovely frock!

Tango looking through the window

Day 4

Well day 4 of my online blogging class and when I read about today's prompt I really wasn't too excited. But then as I was catching up on my classmates blogs I read something that jumped out at me. On "This is the Thing" by Mealiea she had listed 5 of her favorite quotes and this one really struck a nerve inside me: To love a person is to learn the song that is in their hearts and to sing it to them when they have forgotten.

It made me think of my Dad who is terminally ill and each time the phone rings I hold my breath for a second and hope that it is not my sister calling with bad news. My dad was a quiet man, keenly intelligent, proud and honorable, hard working, and my very best ally throughout my whole life. There is nothing he would not do for me or for my mother or for any of my siblings. These days he rarely speaks and he sometimes forgets who we are and sometimes he is even angry and yells at us. I know this isn't my dad. He has just forgotten the song in his heart and it is my job to sing it to him.
Thank you Mealiea for helping me remember.

5 Favorite Scrapbooking items

Today's prompt asked us to make a list of 5 favorites things or inspirations. I wanted to participate today since I didn't get a chance to yesterday, but I don't have a lot of time to really think about the 5 most favorite things in my life so I am taking an easy way out and posting my 5 favorite scrapbooking items - things I can't scrap without:


1. Pictures - duh! I know this seems a little nonsensical, who can scrap without pictures? Well there are some people who do layouts that do not contain photos, but I am not one of them. I love pictures of my family to scrap about. Now that my children are getting older, the oldest being away at college - I find that I have less opportunities to snap a photo of my two favorite subjects so recently I have been scrapping more about my pets and also have been redoing baby books and such.


2. Bling - I think this started when my most of my scrapping revolved around my daughter twirling baton. I developed a love of all things that sparkle and have never looked back.



3. Friends - I have become a social scrapper - would much rather scrap with my friends then alone.


4. Cricut - I love my Cricut! I like being able to cut my own letters and never worrying if I have enough e's


5. My Clip it Up - I painted mine purple which is my favorite color. My clip it up is two tiered with the extension on the upper tier and I also have a mini. It keeps my embellishments and BLING sorted and organized so I can easily find what I need to complete my pages.


I hope you enjoyed my list - the photo is of my daughter in her award winning baton solo to Michael Buble's "Save the Last Dance for Me". I know it is dark, but she is the reason I started scrapping over 10 years ago and I have never once regretted it.

Online blog class

I am very excited about signing up for an online blog class tailored especially for crafty people, especially scrapbookers. If you found my blog through the class list, please leave me a comment so I know that you were here. I hope to learn a lot during the next 3 weeks and just have some fun with my hobby and my blog.

The picture above is of my beloved golden retriever, Hobie. He got caught being a bad boy by sleeping on the sofa.