A Lucky Day???

Could it be??? Perhaps the tide has turned.

CKC PA opened today. The Scrapford Wives took it on in style -- Hillary and Cathy and I taking a leisurely approach to classes and Kelly is working from dawn to dusk and beyond.

We learned a few things. There are only actually 12 colors. And black isn't one of them. Hillary and I also achieved our all-time personal best of completing class layouts during class time.

I dashed home early evening (as fast as you can dash on the Schuylkill at 4.30 pm on a Friday) to do supper and baths for the girls and put the baby to bed. I got to the crop around 8.30 and found the Scrapford Wives had 2 new friends -- Glenda and Linda. They weren't working on pages either, but they were attacking an assignment from a manufacturer with gusto. And that is how the slacker scrapper table came to create the outfit and matching accessories from ScrapWorks scrapbook products that won 3rd place in the entire competition. We thought we had peaked there -- but wait. MY name was called to come play a game on stage that I hadn't even been watching -- were were basking in the glow of victory and all. I walked away from the game a winner (!) with a spiffy new portable die cutter called the "Zaz". Some day -huh???

A good scrapping day -- a good shopping day (shhh -- don't tell!) -- a good social day. Fingers crossed that tomorrow goes well at home and I can enjoy the final day of CKC Pa.

Maybe Lady Luck is a scrapper.....

A Little More Positive Today

No one will ever mistake me for Susie Sunshine or anything but I'm feeling a little bit more like I'm back in control. It's getting easier to sleep here. The door locks are reinforced and two electricians have been out to work up my spotlight needs.

My children were in rare form today and it would really help if oldest and youngest daughters would go back to napping. But tomorrow I am on vacation and after the Nanny arrives and 3 year old daughter is at camp I'm going in search of new kitchen countertops.

I had fleeting notions of selling. But another move would send us over the edge. And crime happens everywhere.

CKC PA is just days away. I need it.

Luck... Be A Lady.....

I've been thinking a lot about luck today. Specifically, my lack thereof.

How do so many bad things find my little family? It is happenstance? Or do we put ourselves in harm's way without realizing it?

Are some people "luckier" than others? Or do they live their lives more cautiously? Could they possibly plan better or be more organized?

I just don't know.

On the other hand I ordered a replacement digital camera today. The very same one that was stolen so I don't have to reload software or anything. The new lighting on our home is going to cost thousands of dollars, but I don't think dear husband would have had the heart to tell me not to get a new camera.

Besides, the empty printer dock just sits there staring at me and reminding me of our life of woe.

Look for more images -- when the camera arrives.

Until then -- good luck.

It's Gotten Worse....

Because usually we just laugh and say it can't get any worse -- it has. Now we are victims of crime. The short version of the long story is we were awakened very early Sunday morning to our house alarm screaming and one of our doors slamming shut. Dear husband goes charging down the stairs, certain that a cat has tripped the alarm. Phone is now ringing (alarm company) and I look at the window and see HIM peeking into our house. The thug who has just pushed his way through the doors and into our family room. Then I realize my husband doesn't know he's about to run into an intruder -- but I'm upstairs with all the children. I absolutely did not know how to keep us safe. I screamed for husband to tell the alarm company to get the police and as I am yelling I see the suspect grab two bags and run off into the night.

A gang of police officers arrive to search our yard, neighboring yards, yards behind us and nearby streets. I hear my description of this vile human going out over the police radio. Detectives with black powder and fingerprint kits descend on my home.

Then I see there is one thing missing -- my digital camera (Mother's Day gift) is no longer perched above its printer dock. The creep apparently pushed in, heard the alarm as well, snapped on the light quickly and grabbed the first thing he saw -- my camera. He must have stuffed it into one of those bags I saw him carrying.

We are unharmed. Most of our material pssessions are untouched. And I had even downloaded all the pictures.

But emotions here are reeling. We haven't slept in more than a day. Every little sound makes us jump. We aren't mentioning "the incident" out loud so as not to scare the children who slept through all the commotion. But a black cloud seems to hand over our heads. Wasn't our basement destroyed by a plumbing error just a week and a half ago? Didn't the gutters fall off our old house three days before settlement? Didn't the battery in a fairly new Lexus (J.D. Power customer satisfaction and all) die in our garage and as my husband tried to roll it his hand was crushed into the garage wall? Did I not walk out the front door 8 weeks ago and BREAK MY FOOT??? Is there such a thing as luck -- and more importantly -- BAD LUCK?

We added lighting to the perimeter of our house today and one of my husband's running buddies came to help and secure the ladder because as he told me, "with his luck...."

I am panicked that our bad luck will bring harm to our children. How can I protect this from this never-ending string of disasters? How can I calm myself enough to hold us all together? And can Safeway Electric add enough lights to our property tomorrow to fulfill my new wish: Make it so bright out there you can read the "New York Times" in our backyard at 3 a-m.

God help us.

Another Saturday....

Here's our "Saturday" page this week. We went to my company picnic today and she is posing with two other babies who were also born last August. It's the "Nearly 1" crew.

Taking all three of them to an event is challenging -- especially when the event includes a swimming pool and rolls right through their naps. There was much grumbling, crying and complaining about settling down for the night. But I think they all had a great time outdoors.

The work on the basement is really rolling along which is comforting. And I work tomorrow and then I am off for a week (CKC PA and all). Here's to a productive week ahead!

Creating....

It feels so good to create. And this is what the creative process looks like for me. As my scrapping buddies know I have trouble making the commitment to glue. So I put the pieces together and look at it -- and then look at it again -- and again -- and again.

And when I'm finished I leave my layouts around the house in conspicuous places so I can admire them -- the good, the bad and the ugly. My dear husband doesn't get too excited about my work so at least I can "share" it in cyberspace.

Why does creating make me happy? I believe it fulfills my soul.

No Scrapping Today

Work and life with children got in the way again... But on the plus side the work to repair our basement is now underway.

That means I have to move more of my stuff out of the way yet still have it handy for the Creating Keepsakes Convention next weekend in Valley Forge! I hope it's a great event.

Gift Album Complete

So this is what I made in the past two evenings. It's a 6 x 6 gift album for my sister-in-law's baby shower this Sunday. She's expecting a boy so I made it out of Sweetwater papers in crimson, green and beige. The picture is of the title page and the first page for photos. There is one page for each month of the baby's first year. The shower is 500 miles away from here so I had to get it finished and I will send it out Priority Mail in the morning.

To finish this album I had to retrieve supplies from the flood zone which is no easy task right now. I am going to be a dining room scrapper for a few weeks. My neatnik husband will have a tough time with the clutter. (But he's already beside himself with the post-flood mess.)

The re-construction is scheduled to begin tomorrow.

Next scrapping project: 2 gift pages for 2 of my nephews. I ordered the photos and they are here. I have purchased what I needed. Maybe I can get started tomorrow.

Scrapping, Not Flooding....

Even though the focus of our lives continues to be the flooded basement -- the scrapping goes on even in the middle of the mess.

The flooding is the star of this week's "Saturday" page featuring my youngest daughter who is 10 months old. Every Saturday of her young life I have taken a photo of her and done a very simple scrabook page. And I really mean simple. The focus for this scrapbook was to chronicle her growth and milestones this first year. She is 6 weeks away from her first birthday and I am feeling proud of myself for keeping this going.

It is an 8 x8 album -- one page per Saturday. The journalling is handwritten and the sentiment is always heartfelt. I was inspired to do this album by something I read once on the "Two Peas in a Bucket" website. It is not an original idea, but I have executed it in my own way.

Other than that, "The Scrapford Wives" met Friday night for our sorta once a month crop. Hillary and I always take the opportunity to drink wine, catch up on our lives and show off our newest scrap purchases. Kelly is very organized and now brings projects for us (a cute handbag album this time!). Guess who has completed albums and who has a bulletin board made out of corks????

Basement Disaster

As I write this we are recovering from a disaster in our home. A simple plumbing fix on a five-month old pipe in our basement turned into several inches of standing water. While we were using dishpans and buckets to bail I was also frantically trying to save some of my precious memorabilia and scrapbooking supplies.

Our basement is divided into two sections. One is the laundry and storage area and the other half is a play area for the kids and a scrapping area for me. When we moved in five months ago we had some construction done, new carpets installed and the walls painted. Oh -- and the washer and dryer were moved there which began this series of unfortunate events.

The carpet has been pulled up and drywall has been pulled down and thrown out. Our furniture is piled in the driest corner of the room. There are industrial fans and industrial dehumidifiers running non-stop.

We will be living in a mess for months to come.

Lessons learned:

*1- Photo and memorabilia containers are moving high up to the top of a 2nd floor closet. (If it floods there expect to see Noah in an ark.)

*2- William Henderson Plumbing in Havertown, Pennsylvania doesn't deserve to be in business. The owner didn't even offer an apology for ruining our basement and putting us through this.

Welcome!

Thank you for taking the time to stop by my blog! The web is loaded with personal sites and I am pleased you are here.