Gettin' By

Around here lately...

We are slowly getting the boy's room transformed into a tween-almost-teen suitable room, starting with a funky sputnik light fixture:

We are getting an unseasonable amount (a.k.a unreasonable, ridiculously deep, a whole flippin' sh**tload!) of snow:

And I have been holed up in my office in a creative frenzy, working on several projects, including this one for the Lily Bee blog that's up today:

and a new Seeing Double video that will go live on Friday at Two Peas (here's a sneak of the layout!)

All while one little girl has been spending 90% of her time at home upside down in an attempt to perfect her handstands:

 

So what's up (or upside down) in your world?

Hello Thursday.

My blogging efforts fell a bit flat a bit this week. Wardrobe Wednesday was derailed by the 10 inches of snow we got (along with high winds that produced much deeper drifts around the house) so there was no decent spot to take photos. Plus, my outfits for the week consisted largely of fleece leggings, Sorel snowboots, and a down North Face jacket, which definitely doesn't qualify as fashion-forward. Unless you happen to live in Antarctica.

And today's Give-It-Away Thursday was foiled when I discovered my giveaway box is completely empty. I can't remember the last time I actually saw the bottom of this box, but the contents are, indeed, depleted. Which means there's a supply purge looming in the very near future.

In the meantime, these photos of my family playing at Winter Park last weekend will have to suffice for today's post. But hey, they are awfully cute, if i do say so myself!

This last photo? Just serves as proof that I was actually there, too. And that just because you don't ski doesn't mean you can't enjoy an aprés ski cocktail!

Have a happy Thursday, peeps!

Celebrate Love!

What better day than today for sharing my Valentine's themed page for Two Peas this month? It documents our celebration last year, when I might have gone a bit overboard on the color red, heart-shaped food and chocolate. Just kidding. You can never go overboard on chocolate.

S U P P L I E S :

This year, we'll be celebrating in several different ways. I've made cute little tags to adorn my gifts:

The little girl will be handing out special photocard valentines at her classroom party:

And H will be attending his first-ever junior high dance:

{sigh.} Which means mama will be drinking beer.

Hope you day is full of hearts, love, kisses, and chocolate! (or beer - whatever works!)

Around here lately...

he:

-is learning all about gourmet gecko diets -  all while trying to keep the crickets & mealworms far, far away from his squeamish mama.

-can play an incredibly beautiful rendition of Musette on his trumpet.

-is often seen sporting stylish fedoras and most recently a newsboy cap, thanks to gifts from his Uncle Ben.

-had us cracking up over the Bad Lip Reading channel and this NFL clip. "Orange Peanut? I accept you!"

she:

-has become my little kitchen apprentice, doing everything from chopping to measuring to polishing copper. Now I just have to convince her that ironing is fun and I'll be home free.

-grudglingly practices her math flash cards before bed each night.

-is currently writing a story about two second-grade girls named Jenna & Kaley that largely focuses on what they wear to school each day.

-loves showing us all the new moves she learns at her hip hop dance class (and delighting in the fact that she's the only Dickinson with any sense of rhythm.)

he:

-is on a mission to get fit for our spring break trip to Mexico and has been doing P90X every night. Which is slightly different from my regimine of consuming margaritas and tacos.

-is headed to D.C. for a few days to hang with some lobbyists in his stylin' new suit, where he's sure to win friends and influence people. Or at least look hot doing it.

-has decided that it's more calorie-conscious to sip whiskey rather than drink beer.

she:

-thinks that whiskey smells a lot like kerosene. And calories be damned, still loves beer.

-has resolved to snap more photos with her DSLR this month, after the realization that no photos makes scrapbooking very difficult.

-is almost finished with her December Daily album. Alert the folks at Guinness!

 

And what's up with you these days?

Five on Friday.

This week (only a few weeks later than most resolution-making peoples), I decided it was time to hop back on the workout wagon and get into a regular exercise routine. Ready to kick things off with a bang, I popped in Jillian's Extreme Shed & Shred dvd and proceeded to do both the Level 1 and Level 2 workout. The next day, I made a few discoveries I thought I'd share today.

1.  Jillian proclaims she's devised a "total body workout," and she's not kidding. The next day, I awoke to my body screaming what the hell have you done to me?! every time I'd move. Areas where I didn't even know I HAD muscle (my armpits - seriously!?) were sore.

 2. When your armpits (amongst other areas) are aching, you tend to avoid raising your arms. Like at lunchtime when the healthy turkey and avocado are on the top shelf of the frig, but the leftover red velvet cake is on the middle shelf. And then you'll justify your cake binge by assuring yourself that red velvet must contain beets, chard, and other healthy stuff to make it that color.

3.  The obvious goal of exercise - to look and feel fit, young, and healthy - is seriously negated when you're hobbling around like a old lady. Especially when your husband is kind enough to point it out with endearing phrases like "Hey Grandma! You need a cane to get up those stairs?!"

4. When you try to repeat the initial workout, Jillian's shouts of "Don't you dare quit now!" will not be as inspiring as they were the first time. In fact, they kind of make you want to punch her in the neck. Sadly, you will be too sore to punch anything. So you just lie on the living room floor and shout obscenities at the TV instead.

5. Ice can really help ease muscle pain.  Especially if it's floating in a strong gin & tonic.

Happy Friday!

 

 

Merry & Bright

It's been a whirlwind of holiday happenings around here with Christmas parties, The Nutcracker, band concerts, school celebrations, gift shopping (and wrapping!), card addressing, cookie baking, and the joyous, frenzied chaos that Christmas always brings. In the few spare moments in between, I've been sneaking off to my office to work on some exciting projects for CHA and a few new scrapbooking ventures I'll be embarking on in the new year.

Amidst all the lovely Christmas chaos, I wanted to take the opportunity today to wish all of you the merriest & bright of holidays. In a world where sometimes it seems there is no kindness left, I continually witness love, laughter and support through this forum and I am grateful for each one of you who stop by to read my rants, laugh at my jokes, and generally make we feel like a lucky, loved girl.

I'll be taking a bit of a blog hiatus to enjoy my birthday on Friday, some skiing the family, and a quiet Colorado Christmas next week. Wishing you the happiest of holidays with all the things you love most!

 

My Yearly Tradition.

On a recent episode of The Paperclipping Roundtable, I admitted my bad habit of allowing completed layouts to pile up on our seldom-used dining room table and procrastinating the dreaded task of putting them into albums:

This is the possibly the most expensive piece of furniture ever designed to hold scrapbook layouts. Luckily, I was able to pass it off to Mike as a "dining room table."

Of course, the impending Thanksgiving dinner always forces me to address this habit, and if you read this blog with any regularity, you can probably imagine the dragging-of-feet-and-incessant-whining that ensues. I often spend several hours trying to arrange the piles into a unique and decorative table centerpiece, but the fear of my family spilling gravy and wine on them usually wins out and I am forced to just put them away already.

So I thought this might be a good time to give you a peek into my album organization. And - bonus! You also get a peek into my dusty, dirty dining room! Lucky you!

When I complete layouts, I do try to pile them up according to what album they will go in. I categorize my albums like this: Dickinson Family, Hayden, Riely, Mike & Lisa, All About Me, Christmas & Heritage.  I use American Crafts Modern Albums in black, and decorate the covers with a simple strip of patterned grosgrain ribbon (I get it at Hobby Lobby).

The ribbon lets me add a bit of color to each album, yet when they are lined up on a shelf, only the black spine shows. Which soothes my inner OCD.

On each album, I attach a tag that hangs on the spine identifying the album type and number. I use the 2.25-inch Avery Martha Stewart tags (available at Staples). I cover the front of each tag with my own labels, printed on cardstock:

Then the albums all go into our front entry coat closet (just off my scrap room), which we converted from a hanging rod to shelves for this purpose: 

Please ignore the bottom shelf like I do and let's focus on the nice, uniform, organized albums, okay?

Ahhhhh. Much better.

 

So that's that. And now I must go commence this yearly tradition, for I have gravy-hungry relatives decending on the homestead in less than 24 hours. I'll be alternating my whining with my other little-known yearly tradition of singing Christmas carols in a falsetto voice at the top of my lungs. Good times.

It's definitely Monday.

I woke up this morning with a scratchy throat, had an extended argument with a coffee maker that doesn't want to work (and ignored my raspy rant) while the dog dug through the trash and spread wet coffee grounds all over my kitchen floor. Hello, Monday!

Then, despite the fact that we were ready and waiting for the bus, we somehow missed its stealth arrival, so I ended up driving Hayden to school (in the balmy 17˚weather, wearing my pajamas, and sipping lukewarm coffee. Bah.)

But it's only 8:00, so let's see if we can turn this Monday around with a little giveaway, alrighty?

This weekend I did some organizing and realized I have more cardstock than any one person could possibly use in a lifetime. So I purged many, many sheets and thought I'd offer it up to my fellow scrapbookers out there that might need to restock their stash.

I've got four packs of 50 sheets each, containing various colors and textures of both Bazzill and Core'dinations. If you'd like to get one, just leave me a comment below telling me what's good about your Monday.**  I'll pick four commenters on Wednesday to receive the packs.

And now I'm off to Starbucks to get a REAL coffee. I'm gonna need the fuel to kick this Monday's ass!

**Please be sure to leave a contact email in your comment if you are not signed in to Typepad.  Comments will remain open until the morning of  November 14  (whenever I 've consumed enough caffeine to function) and the winner will be randomly drawn from the comments, announced at the bottom of this post, and contacted via email (if possible). Internationals are welcome to enter, but you'll have to pay postage on the shipment. And that, dear readers, completes the fine print.

UPDATED WITH WINNERS:

Around here lately...

she...

is alternating reading Geranimo Stilton books and Christmas classics that she's checked out of the library ("...because if I wait 'til December, they won't be checked in!")

is certain she needs her own version of Minecraft after watching her brother play

just got new pink snow boots (size 1 - eeek!)

is practicing for her holiday dance recital in a few weeks

never listens to her mama's advice that she needs a coat. and yet somehow never gets cold.

 

he...

successfully taught the old dog a new trick: how to shake. and is still working on the "Nice to meet you" part.

is thrilled that basketball season is over (not his favorite sport) and that golf lessons will commence next week.

can rock Jingle Bells on the trumpet like nobody's business.

got a perfect attendance award for first quarter (exciting!) and with it, received a free homework pass (waaaaaay more exciting!).

made a bar graph featuring all the candy he scored trick-or-treating.

can't wait for pecan pie at Thanksgiving.

 

he...

might be as addicted to the Car & Motorcycle section of Pinterest as his wife is to the Arts & Crafts.

grew a beard for about 4 weeks (contest at work!) and then had to shave the beard for a television interview next week.

is going to be on the CBS Evening News for an upcoming segment on the oil industry.

might be just a little bit nervous/stressed out/tense about the aforementioned interview.

will undoubtedly charm and impress the reporter, cameraman and crew if he just remembers to smile (I keep reminding him -it worked on me!)

 

she...

is wrapped up in planning for her very favorite holiday in the universe EVER, Thanksgiving dinner!

is trying not to ignore other obligations amidst Thanksgiving planning.

registered for a spring race in hopes of re-igniting her running motivation.

is spending this morning on a little shopping expedition with her mama (who recently joined Twitter - and once she figures it out will undoubtedly be dropping 140-character gems all over the interwebs)

is beyond proud of the other three humans listed here, who make her heart happy on a daily basis.

 

What's going on with you?

In Search of the Great Pumpkin

Well hello Tuesday! Today I am determined to make a significant dent in my to-do list, which despite being lengthy, does not mention anything about blogging. Yet here I am - wheeeee! So in the interest of not totally getting sucked into the vortex that is online access, I'm going to do a quick drive-by photo posting of my lil' pumpkins and their weekend search for the Great Pumpkin. Then I'll be off on my own hunt for productivity, focus, and oh yeah - that to-do list!

Wishing you all a very productive Tuesday and equally successful hunt for your own great pumpkins (or great to-do list, whatever the case may be)!

P.S.  Forgot to mention that I have a guest post today over at Big Picture Classes...come visit me there!