What was I thinkin?

Secrets Revealed

I've told you before how terrible I am at keeping secrets. I guess I m finally going to park the mystery machine in the drive way!  :)

It has been REALLY hard not to chat about my current project. I've been watching it develop and getting very excited as more and more of the "pieces" come together. Knowing how these things can go (two steps forward, three steps back...) I realize that telling you "what's coming" is really such a tease! I mean, I can't say for sure when... but, have you guessed yet?

Mosaic Moments in Digital™ is on its way!

Just a little hint at the possibilities...

Notice the time stamp under each of the thumbnails. In a little under 1 hour - Nine finished 12x12 designs.

 

Happy Scrappin!

Fun Distractions

Need something to keep your grade school aged child busy while you work on your scrapbook?

Have you ever played Pac Man? SheppardSoftware.com created a new version to help kids have fun while they learn their math facts.  Gotta love that! :)

Instead of eating fruit this pac man eats questions. The question then shows at the bottom of the maze. The player can only "eat" the ghost that has the right answer.

Cole is having fun learning his Math facts and I have time to work on other projects (instead of using the old flash cards) while he plays. :)

There are many other educational games on their website. If you have a child or grandchild in grade school give their site a peek.

 

Can't Live without You

I can't adequately express my gratitude for Kevin's ability to set up, trouble shoot, etc. all my computer problems. It is a rare day when I have a problem that he can't fix; but, as luck would have it, my new Mac is having one of those rare problems. It doesn't want to talk to my printer.

We tried reasoning with the Mac. I know the printer is much older but... Mac just wouldn't respond. So, We called a great therapist (tech support) who told us it was time to take Mac into the Emergency Room.

 
I use Mac daily. Don't know how I would survive without it.  It helps me to accomplish so many things. {E-mail, flights, hotel, & car reservations, directions, blogging, website updates, facebook, twitter, journal entries, photo storage, photoshop, class presentations, new product design, organizing & coordinating, calendar, appointments, Illustrator (creating Page Patterns), more blogging...}  Yes, I do spend a large portion of each day right here - with my mac.

When I learned I was going to be without Mac and all the handy programs it runs (for possibly more than a day) I knew  I had to make a "no Mac" plan. I am leaving town and since everything is backed up Mac is heading in for minor "surgery." Hopefully it will be fixed up and ready to work again before I return.

Red Boots

When I decided to do a quick paced class and call it "8 page Round Up," Kevin said, "You need a hat and pair of boots." I thought new boots sounded like a fun way to "get into" the mood. A few weeks later, I saw some adorable "cowgirl style" boots while visiting my SIL in Washington. The store at the mall had them in two colors, brown and red. Both were cute, but the red ones spoke to me. Unfortunately, it seems they were saying "sorry no size 6."

No big deal. I'd find a great pair of boots somewhere. Only one little problem - I don't really shop. I used to shop - almost every day. My friend Jaime and I were shopping pros (well she was the pro and I was the beneficiary of her skills.) Now that we live thousands of miles apart - she is still the skilled mall shopper - I am more of a skilled Internet surfer.

I thought I was doomed. Here I am just a week away from my first class, I still don't have boots! Okay, so they aren't exactly a classroom necessity but... do I really need to explain the desire for a pair of red boots?  ...and I am way too busy to go on a store to store search. Of course, I am a skilled Internet surfer. There are hundreds of boots for sale on the Internet.

Today I discovered Zappos.com. They are fabulous - So many shoes - and boots and they ship them really fast! ... and best of all, they had the same red boots I saw months ago - AND in size 6!

So, if you decided to join me for "8 Page Round Up" - may be I'll be wearing these:

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My Favorite Things

FAVORITE GIFT FOR BUSY FRIENDS

I have friends who like to scrapbook but they just don't have a lot of time. So, I give them Mosaic Moments Page Kits - this year I'll be sending my friend, Jaime, an Enchanted page kit (we will be going to Disneyland in February so it will make a great "girls trip" page. (She will want an extra for photos of her grand daughter at Disney so I guess I had better send two!)

FAVORITE GIFT FOR NEIGHBORS

You could give your neighbors the usual plate of cookies; however, many of us are trying to watch our calorie intake. So, if you really want to impress them, make them a mosaic of their house! You could even do a holiday version - after they have decked their house in Christmas attire!

In no more time then it would have taken to make those cookies, I have a personalized gift.

FAVORITE GIFT FOR KIDS

I love to take pictures. I guess it makes sense, with a camera constantly in my hand, my children want to take pictures too. I am very reluctant to hand over my camera; So, though it is a little bit expensive for (a not that great picture quality) "kids camera." I worked a deal with Santa to bring Cole a Fisher Price "Kid-Tough® Digital Camera" this year.

The thing that sold me was a new feature -  it’s waterproof ! That is going to come in really handy this summer at the pool/waterpark. You can see additional features and information at FisherPrice.com.

FAVORITE GIFT FOR ME!

My favorite Christmas gift from Kevin in recent years was tivo. Being on the road, busy with kids, etc. is not very friendly for TV watching. Sandi told me about tivo and it sounded so good - a seasons pass (for recording favorite shows), fast forwarding, pausing etc. It opened up a whole new world in television watching!

Right now, tivo is selling "reconditioned" tivo machines (while supplies last) for as low as $79.00! (a service plan is required in addition to the machine) So, TOP of my Christmas list this year... a new tivo, one that will record two shows at the same time, with new features added - like movie rentals through amazon and instant movie watching through netflix!

Call me crazy; but, I am all ready looking forward to the new season of American Idol!

For my birthday I asked for an iRobot to wash my floors. I named him scooby-do. I love scooby-do. So, I think may be it is time for scooby to get a friend...

An alternate on my FAVORITE GIFT FOR ME! list: a bright red robot! "Scarlet" could vacuum my floors to give me more time to scrapbook!

What is on your FAVORITE THINGS LIST?

Friday Nights

When I was a kid Friday night was Love Boat and Fantasy Island night. Video stores didn't exist and neither did tivo (no cable yet either) so we were kind of at the mercy of network TV.

Fast forward 30 years...

 

When we are home, Friday night has traditionally been movie night, and by movie night I mean watching a DVD with a bunch of fluffy pillows and a cozy comforter tucked around me. To make getting the movies easier, we signed on with blockbuster to receive movies in the mail. It was great, at first. 

Recently we have been a bit disappointed in the movie selection. There are some good movies, just not enough of them to warrant a three movie a week automatic delivery; so, I decided to put my blockbuster account on hold.

Needless to say, I've had some time and a tivo remote in my hands and I discovered a new Friday Night show called Crusoe. It is "light entertainment" set on a tropical island (does that sound familiar?) 

It has a couple of handsome leading men and for us married folks the character of Crusoe is made even more desirable by his obvious passion toward, and desire to get back to his wife.

So, I admit that I have been more interested in the show than Kevin has. I am also more of a TV watcher than he is; so, there might be more to that, than say, the fact that there are sexy men but not so many women on the show.

If the lack of sexy women is an issue  - it comes on right after Deal or No Deal.

Here is a link to their website - you can catch a recent episode:

Crusoe NBC

RAndom RAmblings

I have been waking up pretty early lately - 4:30-6:00 AM - without an alarm. I almost never use an alarm. Clock alarms are one of those things I only use if I need to get to the airport really early; but, otherwise it is just an unpleasant way to be awakened and why bother if you don't need it.

When I get up, my routine is generally to check my computer for messages and then have breakfast - which is almost always a bowl of cold cereal.

Some of my family members give me a hard time about my cold cereal habit. Not so much because I eat it for breakfast; but, sometimes it is lunch and dinner too. In my defense, the box does list the many benefits of cold cereal - lots of added vitamins, minerals, fiber... and there are soooo many varieties of cold cereal. I can have Shredded Wheat for breakfast, Cheerios for lunch, and Apple Jacks for dessert.

The merits of cereal were eloquently posed on Sesame Street as the muppets sing to the tune of Madonna's "material girl"...

Have a wonderful day - don't forget to start it off right - Breakfast is the most important meal of the day!