{me}anderings . . .

little progress on big goals . . .

 
goal number one - i did play with my sewing pretties almost three weeks ago.  i got these buttons and bits of fabrics laid out and got no further.  lots of sewing and stitching and thinking yet to do.

goal number two - i finished tuesdays with morrie.  great book.  my friend's english 3 class is reading it now (juniors).  i think that's awesome.  it's a book that can say different things to different people depending on what they need to hear.  i think it could even say different things to the same person at different stages in life.  i'm going to try to read it again in another ten years.  this is what it said to me now:

"the culture we have does not make people feel good about themselves.  and you have to be strong enough to say if the culture doesn't work, don't buy it."

"so many people walk around with a meaningless life.  they seem half-asleep, even when they're busy doing things they think are important.  this is because they're chasing the wrong things.  the way you get meaning into your life is to devote yourself to loving others, devote yourself to your community around you, and devote yourself to creating something that gives you purpose and meaning."

three . . .

 
i haven't been making much progress on my goals this month.  i've barely started the first two and am just now introducing the third.  september's been busy.  whew.  it's about to slow down a lot though.  fall break in four days baby!  woohoo!  plus i do have till march to finish these.  it's all good.

here's number three.  i started this afghan about 12 years ago.  i didn't get very far.  i had just finished my first one and i guess i was a little burnt out on the whole crochet thing.  g's seen it lying in the oversized closet and asked me to finish it for him.  i think it's so sweet that he wants it, so i've decided it's an important goal to accomplish this year. 

 
we have afghans that my grandma made and a baby afghan that my mom made him.  it would be neat to add one of mine to the mix.

 
so by spring i hope to be making another layout like this with him wrapped in a snuggly warm 100% cotton red, cream, and blue afghan made for him by his mommy.  :)

i was a girl scout . . .

we used to sing songs, do crafts, play variations of freeze tag, sell cookies, and go camping.

boy scouts burp, play in the dirt, run underwear relays, sell popcorn, and go camping.

i think i can handle it.  :)  

october peek!

a few october peeks are up on the jbs blog.  and i am at a total loss for words tonight.  maybe i'll have something to say tomorrow.  hope you're having a joyous weekend.  :)

sweet freedom!

i just turned in my BIG project!  now i get to PLAY!  YAY! 

Gladefest!

treats!

games!

prizes!

gems!

treats!  

two . . .

i did indeed play with fabric and buttons and such last friday night, but i have nothing to show for it yet.  sherri's sewing machine was broken and i haven't had time to play again.  last night i was furiously working on my big picture scrapbooking class.  it is coming along nicely.  there is a very blurry hint in the background there.  the lss opened and i finally got to check it out.  it was nice seeing all the pretty papers irl again.  i finally got the mme cloud paper i've been coveting for oh so long.  happiness.  (locals, it's in providence behind buffalo wild wings.  support small business!)  i picked this bouquet of dried flowers while i was there.  i didn't take a very good picture of them.  they are beautiful.  i have been wondering what they were.  this morning as i was rubbing at the thorn still embedded in my flesh, i realized they must be thistles.

so.  goal #2 this month is to read some quality literature.  i was a voracious reader until g was born.  i would like to find my way back to that.  maybe not the voracious part, but at least the quality part.  there is so much to learn and think about in books.  the gman and i went to the library and raided the high school english storage closet this week.  i have the secret life of bees, tuesdays with morrie, all rivers run to the sea, and the black stallion.  i have already read the black stallion.  well, i had already read it too.  it was my very first chapter book back when i was 7.  i borrowed it from my 16 year old sister's library and managed to drop it in the bathtub.  oops.  i did not drop this copy in the bathtub.  good thing as it is a library book.  it was interesting to read something that consumed me when i was 7.  a totally different perspective.  oh! and i picked up pippi longstockings while g was looking for his books.  i am enchanted by the artist who created charlie and lola and knew right away that she was the illustrator of this edition of pippi.  she's lauren child if you want to check her out.

more on books later.  now we must run to gladefest.  the gman is super anxious to buy more books at the school bookfair.  we also must run minnow races, check out the antique car show, grab a grilled burger and hotdog, and maybe super slide.  back with more pics this evening maybe.  hope it's a lovely weekend for everyone out there.  :)

self scraplifts

i had to throw together some layouts quickly to send to a potential new rep.  since i needed such a fast turn around, i decided to scraplift myself.  this one was lifted from the layout below.  i took the basic design of the mini paper background and the bingo card photo mat.  the photo i found was landscrape, so i turned the bingo card on its side and then decided to add an extra row of mini papers.  i wanted to be sure and showcase some of our new product, so i came up with the idea of the star border and butterfly bunting banner.

i kinda like the scraplift more than the original.  i don't really mind giving it away as i've already scrapbooked this photo, but i think i'll scraplift my scraplift for a christmas layout soon.  :)

this scraplift looks a lot more like the original below.  it's the same exact design, but i used homespun instead of family tree.  since i used two papers instead of the accordian ribbon at the bottom, i made up for the lack of texture with a little dimension in the buttons.  the buttons are actually jenni's butterfly stickers and chipboard.  i punched a couple holes in each and stitched them to the page.  i also substituted a piece of mini paper for the second photo on the top.  again, i wanted to showcase more product on this since it was for a rep.

 i'm thinking this would be fun to scraplift again too.  maybe for a mini album page?  scraplifting can be addicting!  :)

200011 . . .

the corolla rolled over to 200k when i wasn't looking today.  i noticed it at 200011 on the way to jenni's.  kinda cool, no?  the next big milestone is the 10th birthday in july.  she's been a great little car, so i see no reason to kick her to the curb just yet.

she is that dirty though.  i might have been a little embarrassed to post her dust here, but i read this this morning and it makes me not embarrassed at all.  last time i saw the middle sister, she told me i should think about getting her detailed.  i guess that means i should at least windex her before we go see the fam next month.  she deserves it, don't you think.  the middle sister does too.  :)

for tonight i guess i will settle for housework.  and g will settle for homework.  better get to that . . .

dumpster diving . . .

so i was taking a peek at my typepad stats while trying to think of a picture to use with a random blog post tonight, when i came across a referral from bing.  curiouser.  you know i had to follow the link and i found one of last year's layouts there amongst the refuse.  kinda funny in a trashy sort of way.

last night we had an unintentional sleepover at sherri's.  we went to leave at midnight after our usual wild and crazy friday night shenanigans and i noticed i had a flat.  barry pumped it this morning so i could limp into firestone.  two new tires and another $200 that i didn't have later . . .

tonight is a planned sleepover at tammy's.  overheard this conversation from the boys:  g asks j, "when you say boogies do you mean boogers?"  j responds, "der."  (meaning an old school DUH).  g replies, "der means yes, doesn't it?  i read that in my science book."

i have been productive i think.  i've spent five hours tidying the two jenni blogs already in existence and creating a third.  there just can't be too many jenni blogs, can there.  no question mark because that was a rhetorical question.

i just spellchecked.  while i am confident in my use of big words, i am somewhat lacking in spelling skillz.  spelling rejects for your enjoyment: referal, replys, existance, questionmark.  does it defeat the purpose of spellcheck to admit to your mistakes?  question mark included.  you can go ahead and answer that one.  :)

oh!  and i almost forgot the most emportant (omg i'm going to leave that typo. it makes me laugh) and potentially embarrassing (ok misspelling important is kinda embarrassing) little item i wanted to mention (and how do you spell misspell anyway? i never can remember).  my very first online interview EVER is up at masterful scrapbook design.  i'm scared to listen.  someone tell me how i did.