I feel old!

It's official. I'm old. But on the upside...Kerry and I went to the bike store and the owner and 1 employee asked how the day was, blah blah blah. Kerry said it was grad night, he wanted a new shirt. The one guy asked if it was grade 6 to grade 7 grad and was shocked when we said "No, Shaun's graduating from high school, gr. 12". Then the owner, Gary, comes over to talk and he thinks it's preschool graduation and is equally shocked when we tell him the real deal. So even though I feel old, I guess we don't look old enough to have a son that has graduated from high school. Benefits of starting young.
I got a pile of pictures, some great, some not so good. It was so darn bright and I remembered too late what my pics looked like from previous years, but I still managed to get a few keepers. I even got a couple of good ones of Emily, she's not so cooperative anymore.




I took these from a distance, the kids were on the hill near the island stage and I was on the bridge to the stage. Shaun and Grant have been friends since gr. 4. Jenn is Shaun's girlfriend.

Laine and Shaun went to preschool together, back when they were 4 years old. Laine and Jenn are good friends and that's how they all started hanging out together.

It looks like he's mumbling under his breath, probably something about having to pose for all the pictures.
I would have been fine, if Fran hadn't asked if I had any kleenex for the first dance. I wouldn't have had all night to think about how much I was going to cry during the first dance. Thanks Fran, I cried the whole dance and couldn't stop. Kerry, of course, took pictures the whole time.
Again, with the mumbling, only this time I think it's "just take the darn picture and get the heck out of here, you're embarassing me with all your crying!"

Needless to say, we are so very proud of our newly graduated boy!!!

I'm off to have my cream of wheat and metamucil, okay, so maybe I don't feel that old. But I still haven't caught up on my sleep.

Where to start?

Friday...Yolanda calls and says "you really should come to the POTP retreat with me, think about it, my phone's dying, I'll call you later." I think, and think, we are supposed to be saving for Disneyland, I went to the MM retreat, I really shouldn't even consider it. She calls again. Well, maybe. Then I think "Why not? When am I going to get the chance to go again? I need a vacation!" So I call Yo back and say I'm considering it, but she wants to leave at noon. Well, no way I can do that, Shaun needs a ride from school and to work for 4, Emily gets home at almost 3, I need to be here. Not looking good. I do tell her that if she is going to be late, like leaving at 4, I'd go. So I go to WW, get my 15 lb. star, the meeting topic was about vacating! Taking a vacation, not putting things off, taking a chance. Well, that's a sign I tell myself.
Then I had to pick up Kerry's bike fork at Cyclepath. I figured if it costs less than $100, I should go, because that's less than we thought it would be. If it costs more, well, fair is fair and I should spend that much on me, so I should go. I'm logical if nothing else. It was only $26. So I figure that's a sign too.
Then I call my MIL to see if she can pick up Shaun and take him to work, she can, another sign.
Then Yo says if I can be ready at 4:15, because she wasn't ready to leave at noon, she will pick me up and off we'll go. Well, that changes everything. I can be home for Em, take Shaun to work, get clothes and cropping stuff packed in less than 2 hours. Sure, I can do that. I call Kerry. I tell him all about my signs, he says "That's bullshit", but that I can go anyway, I don't think I've heard him laugh so hard in a long time. He even came home early from work to see me off.
It was a totally unexpected spur of the moment thing for me to do. And I had the best time ever! I met some terrific people. Super friendly, and even though I hadn't registered for a single thing, Sandra managed to fit me in and make me feel so welcomed. I kissed her. Being there with all those wonderfully creative and hilarious women was exactly what I needed.

Friday night, I didn't get more than an hour of sleep. But we did share a room with Sonja (bookerbaby) and Tracy and they are so friendly and sweet, and so creative. I ended up buying a Scrapbook Trends Mini Album book just so I could drool over Sonja's album.

Saturday...up early to help Yolanda prep for stuff and to do the make-n-take. Met Kate, Shannors, Colleen, Mary, Roni, Amanda(upsy daisy designs) and everyone else, did I mention everyone was so friendly? Jerry and Ronna, two strangers, heard me say I needed a Coke and gave me one. Not that I'm in the habit of taking Coke from strangers, but I needed my fix and they looked okay!

Saturday night...dinner with 'famous' people. I sat at the same table and had dinner with Kate Teague, Kah-Mei Smith, Jill Beemer, Yolanda Robinson, and some other very creative ladies. I got to see Yo's new stamps and rub-ons. Nice!!! I also met Tara Tuck from Pageframes, what a great product. Cate made a gorgeous album using a Pageframe album. I need to get me some of those!

I have no pictures to post, none, not a one. Not that it didn't warrant taking pictures. I just didn't do it. But I did take pictures of all the goodies I came home with, the ones that I won, the ones I got free!!! Check out the stamps, 2 sets! We also stopped in Langley at Clipper Street, it was 8:45 pm and it was a sign...they were holding their crop night and were open until midnight! On the way home, we stopped at PhotoExpress and picked up all the things I didn't buy from Sandra and POTP.
And all I have to say about it is that next time, Yo doesn't need to ask me twice, I don't need a dozen signs, sign me up, I'm going next year!

I'm GONE!!!

I am typing this as my ride is coming. I decided to go on a little weekend trip. I decided at about noon today, when Jenni was talking at the WW meeting. Things lined up and I'm outta here!!!
Did I mention this is sooooo not me and I am soooooo excited.

One Word

Saw this on Tara's blog. And I should so be doing something else, but I had to look.


Yourself: happy
Your Partner: patient
Your Hair: coloured
Your Mother: quiet
Your Father: energetic
Your Favorite Item: camera
Your Dream Last Night: forgotten
Your Favorite Drink: water
Your Dream Car: chauffeured
Dream Home: bigger
The Room You Are In: family
Your Fear: loneliness
Where You Want to be in Ten Years: here
Who You Hung Out With Last Night: stampers
You're Not: smoker
One of Your Wish List Items: Disneyland
The Last Thing You Did: shopped
You Are Wearing: shorts
Your Favorite Weather: warm
Your Favorite Book: borrowed
Last Thing You Ate: watermelon
Your Life: full
Your Mood: contemplative
Your Best Friend: Kerry
What Are You Thinking About Right Now: undecisive
Your Car: Windstar
What Are You Doing At The Moment: thinking
Relationship Status: married
What Is On Your TV: nothing
What Is The Weather Like: sunny
When Is The Last Time You Laughed: today


This is a new game of tag. Let me know yourone word answers.

BLUE

You give your love and friendship unconditionally. You enjoy long, thoughtful conversations rich in philosophy and spirituality. You are very loyal and intuitive.

Find out your color at QuizMeme.com!

I look like WHO???

http://www.myheritage.com/FP/Company/tryFaceRecognition.php





Try it, then do it again with a different picture.
This is great, I always get mistaken for Farrah. The others, with the exception of Amerie and Kelly Clarkson, I don't even know. So much for celebrities.

Whoo Hoo!!!

I now have another legitimate 'title' to add to my list.
Creative Engineer
Stampin' Up Demonstrator
Weight Watcher's Receptionist

I'm very excited about the newest one. It will keep me accountable and be a change from my regular routine. (wake up, get kids off to school, eat, check email, scrapbook, check email, eat, quickly tidy house before Kerry gets home) I had a few minutes of total incentive to lose a pound this week, I can't be employed by WW if I'm not at my goal, but then I was told that because I'm a Lifetime member, that changes everything so hello, panago, what's for dinner?

Today's the best day EVER, in Sponge Bob's words, I have booked the hall, got a 'real' job, borrowed a snazzy dress from Yolanda, played Hide-n-seek with the little people, had a great lunch, now I need to buy a lottery ticket. The only thing that would make it better would be a call from a magazine saying "we love your stuff, send us more!" And a call from Revenue Canada saying that the amount on K's tax return was wrong and they'll send a cheque right away. Ha Ha Ha.

It's only MAY...

yup, it's only May and I have just booked the hall at the Benvoulin Heritage Church for the craft sale!!! I have never in the 10 odd years of planning the sale been able to book it this early. I'm pretty excited about it this year, which is a huge change from last year's feelings about the whole thing. So mark your calendars, Sunday, November 18th is the big day.

Why does the guy at my door think that I will answer him, I'm home alone, he's a stranger? Go away, I'm not interested in switching from Fortis, which is what the last 2 guys wanted. And he's not carrying a pizza, so really, what makes him think I would open the door?

I've got to find an outfit for Shaun's grad on Monday. So I'm off to the little house where blonds adore me!

time on my hands...

Have you seen My Humps?
It's funny when my dad sings it, the kids scream when I sing it, but when Alanis sings...it's a ballad, it made it to my mp3 player, it makes me laugh. Maybe I should try singing it at that speed and see if the kids even notice what I'm singing. But then again, I don't want to start saving for therapy. I'll just keep singing it in my head with the other stuff in there, like "I'm Too Sexy", "Sexy Back" and the Backyardigans theme song.




And because I had to find the Backyardigans song on Youtube, I have this to share...It makes me laugh. For those not familiar with the Backyardigans, this is not the theme song.

If you were a song...

and some of your lyrics might be "LOVE, HATE, the whole damn thing"...and you were song by a female, who would that female be and what's the name of that tune?

I've already decided I can't name it in 8 notes, but can you? There's a prize in it if you can. I'm doing this for a friend, she asked me and I don't know it, but now I'm on a mission. I'm off to check google. This one's for you MR. Edwards!

Flowergirl of the WEEK! That's ME!!!

http://www.pickofthepatch.com/smf/index.php?topic=10762.0

Sorry, I don't know how to make it a link so just copy and paste it.
The news made my day last week when Mary contacted me. I've only posted about a million of my layouts in the gallery. And according to Yolanda, she had nothing to do with my being picked.

I luv BOBBY!!!

So I can't stay awake to watch SNL but at least I can watch MadTV and see Bobby. He is so freakin' hilarious.
Last night he did the blind kungfu master and I thought I was going to pee myself. I found this clip on Youtube...which is even funnier because I love Howie too. Hope it works. I'm still looking for Bobby and his yoga on the beach.

Facebook???

I don't even know what it is, and like a kid jumping off a bridge because all her friends did, I registered and am now on Facebook.
Maybe someone, Dawn, Tara, can tell me what the #$%^ I just did?

May 18th, 1980
It’s not a holiday, like Thanksgiving or Christmas, it’s not a family member’s birthday, but it’s a day we remember, one we celebrate, one we are thankful for and look forward to. It’s the day Mount St. Helen’s erupted, a sad day for many but for our family it was the turning point in our lives. May 18th, 1980 was the day my dad decided to stop drinking. I know it was a May long weekend, I don’t know what happened leading up to his decision, but I’m glad he made it and stuck with it. I know it couldn’t have been easy going cold turkey. But I am very thankful, proud, and grateful that on May 18th, 27 years ago, my dad chose his family!

Yes, I will be scrapbooking this. In case you are unsure, those are my parents and those are probably the only pictures I have of them together. I made them pose on Mother's day and lets just say they are like a couple of kids with ants in their pants when it comes to taking a picture of them. I used PS7 to crop and line all the pictures up so that I could print them out just like that. I think I'm getting the hang of that darn program. I will use that on my layout too.

Happy Victoria Day!!! We're doing the usual, bbq, hiking with pups, yard and house stuff, whoo weee exciting.

Gas Pains

Oh, the horror. I have to drive Shaun to work and on the way, I'm getting gouged, I mean, I'm getting gas.
Do you remember when gas was 43 cents? I think that was the first year I had my Topaz. It cost me $25 to fill it up. I could drive for miles. Now, that darn van and it's never-ending tank. $25 won't even get me to 1/8 of a tank. The first time I filled it up, I had to call Kerry at work because it cost over $50 and wasn't even full. I had to stop, I thought there was a hole in the tank.
While we're(I'm) on the topic...do you remember when Archie comics were $1? And penny candy was really a penny? And Michael Jackson was cool?

Off to fight the Long Weekend Traffic. I'll be loving it when someone can drive himself to work!!! Hopefully, it will be by the end of the month, but he'll definately not be driving himself to grad. By the way, the Grand March for RSS is May 28th!!! Gotta get me a purdy outfit.

Well meaning

I started off baking some pretty healthy Naughty Biscotti, from the Eat, Shrink and Be Merry cookbook. Okay, so I used Almonds and Chocolate Chips instead of Pistachios and Dried Cranberries, but still, low fat, low sugar, still tasty and they are supposed to be so dry you have to make extra spit just to get them down. My Dad caught me taking pictures of cookies and I could tell he was thinking I'm off my rocker.

Then I decided to add some ground chicken to my meatballs, still thinking healthy, and I actually rolled them with my bare hands. Gag, and shiver!!! I have since washed the first layer of skin off my hands. I will bake them when goodie number 3 is finished. This is where the day gets even better.


That's right, cinnamon buns, from scratch, no bread maker, no Pilsbury dough boy. Oh, why do they look like they are being deep fried in butter, you ask? Because my very old recipe, 13 years old is hand written by me on a piece of printer paper that was out of recycling and has stains on it (taste samples I like to call them).
The recipe says, and I can see this now, SPREAD BUTTER, BROWN SUGAR, RAISINS. CUT 1/2 INCH. Well, NOW I know it doesn't say to spread the butter 1/2 an inch thick. Which at the time I thought was a bit much but it's been years, like at least 5 since I made these. Hee Hee, I should have realized when I had to use 1 1/2 cups of butter. Oops.
So, yes, the rolls are swimming in butter. But at least the other food we eat tonight will balance out our deep fried cinnamon rolls. (which I also forgot to mention that the first pan doesn't have any cinnamon in the roll, it's sprinkled on top) Thanks, Mrs. Dawn, I knew I shouldn't have been doing anything when I was talking to you!

Woe is me!

I'm out of Starbuck's Sugar-Free Vanilla syrup and so are the Willow Park and Leathead Road stores, and Chapters. So I had to try to replicate my morning coffee with inferior syrups. Two cups down the drain. But on the upside, I did try the Starbuck's Orange Mocha Frap Light. It was delectable. And to celebrate I had a Low Fat Orange Cream cake (I don't think it's low fat, it was way to yummy.)

What am I celebrating? Why it must be the rising price of gas! What the heck is with that? Kerry's on to something with this riding his bike to work. He better ride his bike to Chapter's, the bike store, and Gillard so that I can afford to drive. Ha Ha Ha. I'm not so funny with out caffeine, give me a few minutes until it hits my blood stream.




I totally cased this 'frame' from Cheryl, she's got one of her son at Memories and More and I love it. I have a bunch of 'frames' from my painting days so I thought I'd try it out. I love it and think I might make some for gifts. The paper and chipboard letters are Stampin' Up!






Someone left Linus outside unattended, I like to think it was the kids, but when I think back to his behavior before the kids got home, I believe it was me. He came in from his afternoon outing and was super excited. I think now that he was probably telling me something like "MOM, MOM, you have to see what I did for you today!!! I picked you some purdy flowers! I pulled out those ones the kids planted for you on Mother's Day, I got them out of that yucky dirt and shook all that dirt off. I pulled all the purdy tops off for you and spread them around the yard so that it looks all colourful for you and then I left the flowers on the grass so they could dry out and last forever." Yup that's probably what he was trying to tell me.
And I noticed some other evidence of flower snacking around the bottoms of my planters, so I moved them to higher ground. Hope they aren't poisonous, don't know what he's got against purdy flowers, they must taste delicious.

Is there an otologist in the house?

Emily: What's a second class lover?
Me: WHAT? (in a very loud voice)
Emily: A second class lover.
Me: What kind of homework do you have?
Emily: Science. Do you know what a second class LEVER is?

Whew...I didn't know what a second class lever was. I do now. Boy, I'm sure glad I didn't have to explain what a second class lover is. I'd have to send Emily to Cheryl's "Where do babies come from?" class. And then I'd have to start saving for therapy.

Juicy

The creative juices are flowin'.

I am supposed to be tidying up my work space for my classes this week but instead I finished the Looking Back layout. I am so loving the Thickers and hand cutting that I picked up from Yolanda's class. I could do it for every layout from now until tomorrow. Why only tomorrow? Because my hand is going to cease up from all that darn scissor use.

This one I did at the MM Retreat. I love the way Linus is looking at me as if to say "She likes me, she really likes me!"

Happy Mother's Day

It may directly correlate with the amount of caffeine I have, or it might just come naturally, but sometimes when I'm really excited about something, like the previous post, I talk fast. Or I expect people to answer in a timely manner...like when I asked Kerry if he wanted salt and pepper on his breakfast and he took forever to contemplate this. And so I said "never mind, you don't get either". He said I was the squirrel to his possum, to which I probably said "are you speaking in riddle?" (running joke with us.) And he said "over the hedge, remember the Hammy, you're him. I'm the possum." And that is why Kerry got a purple nurple for Mother's day.
I can see this being something we joke about for a long time to come.
Funny thing, that's exactly what I look like when I brush my teeth, Kerry makes fun of that too.

What do you do?

(or how a simple heartwarming visit turns into a rant about what I think when someone asks "what do you do?"

My MIL called to see if she could bring her cousin over to look at all my pretties. Kerry's not home, Shaun's at work, me and Emily are still 1/2 a sleep in our jammies. Of course I say sure, come on over. Then I run around sweeping the floors and closing the door so no one can see the upstairs. I forgot 70 year old women can open doors. Ann is great. She ohhhh'd and ahhhh'd over everthing. Kerry's mom appreciates what I do but she's not crafty, apparently she talks me up like crazy. I made her a book for her 70th, took the pics at the party and then worked like crazy to get it done in two days. She loves it, shows it to everyone all the time.

Not that I need someone to validate what I do (I don't really even know what to call what I do) but to hear Ann and my MIL talking about me while I'm in the room made me want to cry. I get the usual "when are you going to get a real job?", "so-and-so is hiring, you should apply", "what do you do all day?", or "it must be nice to sit at home and do nothing all day", "someone's got too much time on their hands", this is usually heard when you give a hand-made gift and usually I mumble something "oh, I want to be home for the kids", "oh, I scrapbooked all day, made a few cards, nothing much really."

Never do I say in my big, grown-up voice "I am a self-employed scrapbooker(for lack of a better title, 'creative engineer' sounds good). I make things, I try to inspire others, I enjoy what I do and I make money at it! My hubby works hard and gets paid very well so that I can work at home and raise the kids and the pups. They are ours and we feel we should be the primary care givers (I know not everyone can do this). Maybe we drive used vehicles, maybe the house needs new flooring, but the kids don't want for anything, and I am here to see that they don't. Sure it means sacrifices and sure it means saving longer for the bigger stuff, but we still manage to save for their educations and our retirement, which if we didn't do then maybe we'd have a newer car, hardwood floors and already been to Disneyland.

Oh, so I'm re-enacting the story of Ann's visit to Kerry. "And Ann thinks the painted floor looks amazing and my cards are the best and blah blah blah" and Kerry says "how to you stay so grounded when everyone rants and raves about your stuff?" And I say "I just come upstairs and look around!" I might be creative but I never said I was nice!

What I really meant was that the house isn't that tidy right now, because frankly I've been sitting downstairs on the computer, I mean, planning classes. And then I want on to tell him that even though he thinks I'm great, and Ann and Doreen think I'm great, I look at Heather's stuff, I look at Yolanda's stuff and I think "Damn, their good! I wish I could be that good." And I know that they think that too, if not about me, about others whose creations they have seen. Oh, I have done a great job of getting off track.

I told Doreen and Ann that I should take a picture, because Kerry might not remember Ann and she'd be gone before he got home. And all that ohhhing and ahhhing made me realize that this intrusive taking pictures and documenting crap is paying off. I'm preserving memories, making treasured items. So I pulled out the camera and snapped away! What do I do for a living?
Eat potatoes! I can't be a creative engineer with out the energy they give me.

It's a small world after all...

After organizing my kitchen and mentioning to anyone that would listen that the Tupperware lady I had emailed months ago hadn't gotten back to me, she did yesterday. She probably did her research and that's why I hadn't heard back sooner. She started TW as I was leaving. One of the people I recruited is still at it and they know of each other. So, she says she'll pick up my weary, busted, and cracked stuff if I leave it outside my door. I'm thinking "strange" but I do it anyway and out I go for the morning. I come home to a shiny TW catalogue and then she calls and I'm thinking I probably can't get any of it replaced and I will get a $4 credit for all that TW. DRAT.

The customer service from this person is above and beyond...amazing!!! If you need a TW lady, let me know. She didn't even balk at the crap I left her, or the 2 inches of dust on it. She replaced every single piece and the one tumbler she couldn't replace, she's giving me one from the new line and so that it doesn't look out of place, she's giving me the other 3 tumblers to go with it...for FREE!!! She feels bad for not getting back to me sooner. I feel bad for giving her so much of my crap, so I ordered some containers, ones I know I had at one time, for cold cuts.
Hooray for customer service!!!

And out of curiosity I decided to take that new TW cattie to my cupboard along with a calculator. AND HOLY INVESTMENTS BATMAN!!! I figured I had over $1300 in my pantry and spice cupboard, not including my fridge and freezers, or the stuff in the cupboard that doesn't have anything in it. I wonder if I even made any money when I sold Tupperware, oh, well, who cares, I've got the most organized cupboards on the block!!!

And a week of eating better paid off!!! Yippee for me! Bought lots of fruit and veggies for the rest of the weekend. And discovered Wholewheat Tostidos are delish!!! Especially with my mango salsa I made today, I did leave enough for the crop tonight.

Hung out with my little blond fans again today. Maybe I will be an Auntie Kelli to someone's kids after all.

FREE stuff!!!

Email me your favourite summer-time recipe(kelli.w@shaw.ca) and your choice of woodcraft pictured here and you can have it. First come, first serve and locals only.

Cheryl, the houses are yours if you still want them.

Contain your self

How's that for anal?
I know what some of you are thinking...Her husband doesn't make that much as a shipper, how can she afford to have all that Tupperware?
Well, a long, long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away I was a Tupperware consultant. Not just any old consultant either, a manager with a down line. It all started when Kerry and I were first living together and his friend's girlfriend was telling me all about how she signed up with Tupperware so that she could do her cupboards. Well, bells went off and I probably signed up that week with the sole intention of getting containers for my fridge, freezer and cupboards. Years go by, parties came and went and the fridge, freezer and cupboards were done. So were the closets, under the sink and our camping gear.
Then I got pregnant and had Emily. I realized things needed to change when we realized that boxes of containers larger than a stove, 1 child and a baby in a car seat made an uncomfortable car ride and the fact that the first time I left Kerry with Emily, she cried for over 2 hours straight.
And so this morning while getting the kids ready for school, I opened the pantry and couldn't see a single thing to put in their lunches because even though I have a million dollars in plastic, it wasn't being put to use. And so, I started purging and cleaning and organizing. I now know that I can have 3 kinds of crackers with my mustard(from a previous post) and I will never run out of icing sugar or green tea.
I think other than fresh fruit and veggies, I will not be buying any groceries for a long, long time.

The moral of this story...Isn't a moral but a fact...bugs come from the store, bugs like the glue on the boxes that house your food, grocery stores spray for bugs. We were so thankful for my TW when Kerry was baking with raisins, which were sealed in Tupperware after being bought at Costco(the big bag, but not the Sunmaid kind) and low and behold, there was a bug city in the raisins, think many stages of bugs...larvae, creepy crawlers and fliers. But not a single bug anywhere else in the cupboard. Now go eat your raisins!!!

Oh, I did all that organizing and found time to play with my biggest little fans, L. and A. Robinson for about 2 hours while Yolanda 'worked'. I love hide'n'seek with those two. You can hide behind a pole with your belly and your butt showing and they still pretend not to see you and when they find you or you find them they laugh with that sweet belly laugh.

Nap time for sure.

New Book Bliss

Did I mention I love Amazon.ca?

Well, I do. I love books, I love getting parcels by mail, I love a good deal.

We borrowed Good Owners, Great Dogs by Brian Kilcommons for Sally, years ago and really liked the way it was written. So Kerry asked if we could get it for Linus. A certain snazzy librarian said I could put a hold on it, but I figured we could invest in a good book, that way we can always look at it and not have to worry about returning it.
And Amazon has a huge selection of Anime, so of course, the kids get out their wish lists and money and do some major "what can I do for more money?" dance.
The best thing that came is ELEMENTAL GELADE VOL. 5. Around Christmas, Shaun bought Vol.1-4 and Kerry and I watched them all one night and were totally hooked. So I am glad I don't work this week so that we can watch it one evening, that is when we aren't watching Gilmore Girls, Lost, Medium, CSI, ER, Grey's Anatomy, My Name is Earl, the Office and Friday Anime.

Did I also mention I love Grey's Anatomy? And Photoshoop?

Recipe?

Kelli's Asian Spinach and Chicken Pasta Salad

I don't have a recipe so follow closely... I always joke and tell the kids that I add love to my meals and that's why they taste so good...so after each ingredient sprinkle some love...

Costco chicken breasts cut in half, marinated in olive oil, lime juice, Epicure Collection's Thai seasoning, garlic, soya sauce, and pepper. Bbq chicken and stop just before they dry out.(make twice as much as you think you will need so that you can put the rest away for another night.)

1 package of Ziggy's linguine or other pasta, cooked and drained. While still hot dump into a large bowl on top of spinach. Toss in chopped pepper, carrots, sesame seeds, mushrooms, (edamame, snow peas, gr. onion, and mango are going in next time).

Pour dressing over all...olive oil, lime, vinegar, garlic, pepper, Thai seasoning, salt, soya sauce. Add chicken, toss well, sprinkle with more sesame seeds and cilantro.

Scoop out a container full and hide it in the fridge so that you will have some for lunch the next day.

That's it, if it doesn't turn out, it's because 1. you left out the love or 2. I didn't give you the real ingredients.

Yes, Heather, that's FRESH spinach!!!

Some of the many things I love about where we live:
-we get all 4 seasons
-we are close to family, as in with-in walking distance but not with-in 'I can see you from my kitchen window' distance. (although if I could get on the roof, I could probably see most of my relatives.)
-my 90 year old Grandpa has a garden bigger than my yard and because of this I am probably the first person in Kelowna, okay, maybe the first grandchild to eat FRESH LOCALLY GROWN SPINACH.
-AND because of all of these reasons I will spend next to nothing buying fresh veggies during the summer and fall, ones that I know where they were grown and who touched them.

So tonight we will enjoy our Asian inspired (made by me, duh!), marinated chicken, pasta and fresh locally grown spinach salad, with fresh, grown kind of by me cilantro. I would love a bit of mango in it, but the trees not ripe yet!

Back to the grind

Fern, Heather, Yolanda and me
Kerry has taught the dogs to drink from his camelback

Linus figured the flowers were pretty enough to eat, he was wrong.

After a weekend of scrapbooking, fun, friends and food I am totally wiped out. I have to go to work, but I'm so tired I just want to curl up on the couch and watch the SNL 80's show from last night.
E's home today, she had a rough weekend and I let her sleep late today. She's feeling much better but I don't think she's up for a full day of school. She does think she's up for going to work with me. Debating that right now.
After Yolanda's beautiful Mother's day layout class yesterday, Kerry met me at the store with the dogs and E. and we went for a hike up Smith Creek area(forgive me for not knowing exactly where were were, I grew up on this side of the lake). I got some great pictures and we had a nice leisurly stroll. E. was pretty tired so we took it easy.
Then Kerry and I went for dinner all by ourselves for our anniversary and about 1/2 way though our yummy Olympia dinner we ran out of things to say! When you always go out with the kids they do more than 1/2 the talking. And because I was so tired and had been talking all weekend, I actually ran out of words! Go figure. And I ate too much bread for appies that I couldn't finish my meal and then I could hardly walk, sit, sleep or breath. Way to go!!!
Happy Anniversary to us.

You Belong in 1972

Bold and brash, you take life by the horns. Whether you're partying or protesting, you give it your all!

What Year Do You Belong In?

Which is exactly when I was born!

As you can see I am not packing my stash for tomorrow. I am not printing pictures, nor am I tending to a sick kid. I'm letting my brain be sucked out by this stupid computer!!!

Your Quirk Factor: 39%

You have a few little quirks, but you generally blend in well with society. Only those who know you well know how weird you can be.

How Quirky Are You?

Ralph is in the house!!!

Poor Emily!
She's been puking since she got home from school. She can't even keep water down. Total projectile vomiting! It's Friday, Anime night, and she can't keep her eyes open or her head out of the bucket long enough to watch her favourite tv shows. Poor kid.

Does this mean I'm not going to the retreat at Memories and More tomorrow? No. I'm going. Sorry, kid. Sorry, Kerry. I'm washing my hands up to the elbow, I've done 5 loads of laundry in hot water, and I'm steering as clear as I can (without being labeled a bad mom) from Emily. I am very excited about going to the retreat, hanging out all day and scrapbooking (read as socializing), although I am not totally packed. I haven't been to many crops/retreats and I really can't decide what to pack. I do have a couple of pictures printed, I am taking every single rub-on I own, and my new acrylic stamps from Michaels. But I have no idea what I am going to do with either of them.

Got my camera, batteries, circle punches, 4 ink pads, coasters, chipboard alphabets, some patterned paper and some cardstock, stazon ink, stamp cleaner, and adhesive...what else do I need? Oh, snacks, money, water, diet pepsi, money, inspiration, and a credit card.



Pssst...wanna know secret?
I likes you!

Because it's funny...

Shaun: I have to take a poo.
Emily: You don't take a poo, you leave a poo.

Stamp Slaughter

Oh the pain!!!

I just checked Stampin' Up!'s retiring set list and I am so sad. I am losing 30 sets and 6 wheels. That leaves me with 38 sets and 4 wheels. Oh the horror!!!

I'm so sad to see Happy Hearts, Hip Hip Hooray, Expressive Flexible Phrases, Wonderful Words 2, French Script and Web Wishes go. I hardly knew some of them!!! sob SOB sob...sniff

So I will be selling off the retiring sets. You can contact me to get a list of what I am parting with, I will do a background check and if all is good, and the price is right, they can go home with you!