Cosmic karma and other stuff

I'm sitting in my lounge room surrounded by 12 sacks of newspapers, which have to be delivered this afternoon, and outside it's raining pianos. I'm starting to think that somewhere in a previous life I mortally insulted a weather man. Not to mention the fact that 50-odd prep parents are going to be fighting over the four available parking spots at the school while I play chicken with the Prado Squad. Please, Please, Please, anyone with school aged children can you please remember that the figure standing on the crossing in the day glow rain coat with the stop sign is a PERSON not a target. The idea is to stop BEFORE you get close enough for me to wipe your windscreen. Your children won't melt in the rain, and you stand a much better chance of getting them back in one piece if you slow down and let me cross them safely.
On other fronts, Kit is enjoying his first week of high school, although we did have to buy him a bigger bag, to accomodate the laptop, folder, lunchbox, mobile phone and all the other things he can't live without. Sebi is back enjoying his second year with Mrs Wallen, who is wise to all his tricks from last year, so I expect there will be far fewer "sore legs" and associated injuries in grade 3. It staggers me the lengths my child will go to for an ice cube in a plastic bag.
Scrapping wise, I'm looking forward to MCing the Mystical cybercrop this weekend, have some great challenges lined up, plus one or two other surprises.
ALSO!!!! Tanya rang up for a natter and we got to talking about the National Folk Festival which is on in Canberra over the Easter long weekend, and Bruce and I have decided that the boys will get a real kick out of it, so we are invading Canberra this Easter. Kit wants to busk while we're there and I'm seriously tempted to take my fiddle down as well. Stay tuned for details!!
Well, i think my prayers have been answered...there's actually a smallish patch of blue sky over my house ATM... here's hoping it lasts!!!

Cranky-o-meter

http://www.blogthings.com/howangryareyouquiz/
Try this one out for size...I'm 37% angry, which I think is pretty accurate.
I'd like to see one that measures how tired you are....I'd be off the chart,lol.
A very productive day today...got my UYS challenge example finished ready for the start of February, also got an example finished for the first "Mystical Scrapjack"...used one of Wendy's beautiful layouts for inspiration...will show after the challenge opens. Also managed to finish my card example for the Mystical Cybercrop which I'm MCing on Friday, and I have one of the other Challenge layouts ready to put together tomorrow. PLUS!!!! My CJ is actually ready to send!!! Early!!! Can you believe it??? All I have to do tomorrow is my ATC 'celebration' series, my CC OTP example, my other challenge examples plus email my photos for the swap to Kayla. Then I will be officially up to date!!! Hurray for me :)

Shutterbug

Ok, here it is...my first attempt at long exposure photography. Not bad, no??
My next Stop is the ferris wheel at southbank....providing I can find a car park.

Date Night!!

Guess where dearly beloved is taking me???? Nope, you're all wrong...We're going to the freeway bridge at Wooloongabba. Possibly not the most romantic place in the world, but perfect for taking long exposure night shots!!! (That's photography talk for all you dirty minded individuals out there). I'm finally getting the chance to put my new camera through it's paces, and I totally can't wait!! I went to the Canon class at Harvey Norman on Wednesday night, and I've been itching to go out and "play" ever since I realised what my new baby is capable of!!! Hopefully I'll get some decent shots, watch this space for details!!!

Army and Navy

Today I am officially feeling blue. I don't think it's a long term state of affairs, but it's kinda hard to deal with nonetheless. You know those days where "good morning" in the wrong tone of voice makes you want to cry. That's me ATM. So NOT a good thing, I just don't have the time or the inclination to sit here feeling sorry for myself. Which is why I'm posting, because the funniest things always happen when figure nothing will ever make you laugh again.(There's a genuine Drama Queen Moment for you). I was sitting on my bed trying to get some work done and feeling pretty crappy when Seb came in and hopped up beside me and gave me a cuddle, which he quite often does.
Feeling all emotional, I said "honey, I really needed that, I'm so blue I'm practically navy", to which he responded "that's ok, I'll be the army".
I feel better already.

DT Layout

Gotta love these papers from KI memories....perfect with a sepia photo.
I'm feeling pretty happy with myself, actually got some work done....Linda, you'll be happy to know that yes, I got your CJ done, and it's actually ready to post!!!!
Now if I could just get my CJ started, we'd be looking good!!
I'm hoping to work my way through a pile of challenges after the boys return to school next week, including a set of ATC cards for mystical and the Aussie scrapjacked challenge, which as usual I have left to the last possible moment.
On the upside, Kit and I had a trip out to Mt Gravatt High to pick up his uniforms and a few other bits and pieces. He tried on his new stuff and I swear, he's gone straight from 12 to 15. I think it's the whole button down shirt and belted shorts thing, but he just looks older. And for all my previous whinging about white shirts, it's a really smart look. Brag on proud Mama!!

Things that go bump in the night.

I'm SO tired. Sebi had a series of night terrors last night, which basically kept me up and down constantly between 2am and 6.30. He was absolutely terrified...he came racing into our room and wedged himself in between us, and his whole body was shaking. I tried to ask him what frightened him so badly, but he was still pretty much asleep, so I didn't get a lot of sense out of him. He settled down at first, but the nightmares wouldn't leave him alone, so it was kind of a rough night. Every time he sat up, the dogs woke up and started pacing about, so by the time the sun came up I was completely sleep deprived, the dogs were exhausted and Sebi has these wicked looking black rings around his eyes. Very restful. Fortunately it's Friday today, so Bruce gets to do the night shift if the boogeyman comes back tonight.

Sneaky Peek / Counting Down

This is a little paper bag book that I made for Seb. That child is his own biggest fan lol. this is a bit of a sneaky peek as I may be using this for a class later on.
I used Basic Grey's Phresh and Phunky, and I gotta say I'm pretty pleased with it.
Seb, of course loves it because it's all about him. Isn't everything??


I have to admit that much as I love the school holidays, I will be glad to get back to a semi-normal existence again....the school holiday food bill alone is killing me!! I swear that my kids eat three times as much as usual when they're at home. Seb has the physique of a piece of string, so where he puts it all is anybody's guess. Kit has that whole stop start thing going on....he gets a bit of a spare tire round his middle, then next thing he's shot up an inch and none of his clothes fit!!
I have to go and do the whole high school uniform thing on Monday...the prices are enough to make you drop dead from shock, and the fact that they wear a WHITE SHIRT just adds insult to injury...I give Kit 48 hours before he spills something sard proof on it. SIGH. Seb on the other hand will be marching back to Wishart looking just like he always does...a study in Vegemite and dirt. The dirt I understand, he attracts it like Pig Pen, but the Vegemite is a mystery...we don't have it in the house. Me thinks thre's some serious communal mouth wiping going on in the shelter shed. Anyway, better end this now before the three warriors of the appocalypse come back from their latest mission. Ahh, Thursday.

Picture Day!!

I am going to load all the pictures I've taken for the photo a day challenge or die trying.....it's like the worst kind of instant karma....the second I try to do anything that doesn't directly involve the boys, disaster is sure to follow!!
This is why I have taken to getting up at 4 am to get a couple of hours of uninterrupted work in before they wake up. And people think girls are high maintenence!! The only problem with this solution is that the bags that used to hang out under my eyes have now decided to relocate closer to my chin. Sleep?? Isn't that something you do when you're dead?? Never mind, my sons think I'm great, and the wrinkles bring out the resemblance between me and my mother (thanks Kit).

We Dare You Part 2

Ok, this is my part two layout for the We Dare You challenge. The topic was your safe place. So here's mine!!

The journalling reads "I believe I am an earth angel. I have a strong connection to trees and water. Springbrook is my santuary. My place to re-connect, restore, revive my spirit. My safe place.

Rising Damp.

If you're reading this, could you say a little prayer for my mum, my sister Ingrid and her family. They're in Giru and things are not looking good. The town has been cut off and the river is expected to peak at nine o'clock tonight. They have a new baby (3 weeks old) and Ingrid is still recovering and can't drive, so we're hoping that things don't get to the evacuation stage. They're at the "high" end of town, so we're crossing our fingers and hoping nothing goes wrong. Will keep you updated.

Happy happy, joy joy...

Guess where I am??? I'm sitting on my bed, typing on my NEW LAPTOP while I wait for my BRAND NEW CAMERA to charge!!!! Bruce and I went out today to get Kit a new laptop for the start of school and Harvey Norman had such amazing deals happening that we were also able to get a laptop for me, PLUS the Canon Eos 400D Twin Lens Digital Camera!!!! I am just SO excited!!! Now I can access everything I need without having to lock myself away downstairs!! The biggest bonus (well apart from my camera, YIPPEE!!!) is that because my back is SO bad at the moment, I've only been able to sit at the desktop for short periods of time, but now I can do all my computer stuff without sending my back into spasm, which is just the coolest deal EVER!!! I feel COMPLETELY decadent, but it's a feeling I'm willing to live with, lol!!!! Now all I have to do is christen my camera!!!!

Quiet Time

I am sitting here typing and all I hear is the sounds of silence. Why?? Because B1, B2 and DH are off on their weekly pilgrimage to all things violent at the Games Workshop. Yes, Thursday is officially "Seek and Destroy Night" where like minded lunatics from near and far (and, I'm guessing, from several different dimensions) converge at Carindale for several fun filled hours of mortal combat and alien invasion practice. Yeehah. For those of you doubting my enthusiasm, I have one thing to say.....You're spot on. I don't get it. More to the point, as far as the three citizens of impending doom are concerned....I don't want to get it. Seriously. It sounds messy and painful, and involves weapons that even McGyver would have problems with. I know I should probably show a little more interest, but this whole weapons thing drives me MENTAL!!!! I tried so hard to raise B1 without the whole arsenal thing, trying to prove that you could raise a perfectly happy male child without a plastic AK47. Yeah right. By the time B2 came along, it was a lost cause...he was teething on a plastic dagger. At this current moment our weapons tally stands at three light sabres, one medieval lance (supplied by Nanna..thanks for that) several regiments of army men, more guns than Governor Arnie used in all the movies he ever made, shields and swords in various shapes and degrees of lethal,nunchucks, ninja stars, and a long bow complete with arrows. All I can say is that if we get invaded by the Medieval Ninja Jedi Army, we're completely prepared.

Mystical Use Your Stash

I got a little happy with the cropping tool, so it's hard to see that I did actually use SEVEN (count them) different ribbons on this layout.....This is a shot from our recent bushwalking day at Springbrook...you'd never dream there's drought conditions an hour away!!!

Catching Up

HI....did you miss me??? I feel like I haven't sat down and "caught up" with things in forever!! Partly because the boys are on holidays which means that my time is not my own (ever), and partly becuase I have decided to trade sleeping for scrapping, to try and work through all the challenges at Mystical Scrapbooks. I'm LOVING all the different challenges, totally stretching me creatively, (and leaving me bent out of shape, lol). These are a couple from the cybercrop that Mystical had over the weekend



and this one is using Karen Foster paper from my DT kit that arrived this morning...very happy with this one...mostly because it gave me the opportunity to blow the dust off my cricut, lol. DIY transparancy letters...gotta love it!!
The photo is from Sebi's 3rd Birthday...a whopping 5 years ago!! Can you believe it??
I am so flat out with my scrapping ATM that I have found myself working to a weekly calendar intead of a monthly one. I just hope that my mojo stays in gear!!

Tooting My Horn!!

Yay for me, found out this morning that I was a winner on the 123 challenge with this layout...although I can't compare to Renee who won on 123 challenge AND scrapjacked!!!!! Congratulations on two SENSATIONAL layouts xox

40 days and 40 nights...

or at least it's starting to feel that way!! In desperation today I took both boys plus mates to the movies, only to find that every other parent in the Southern Hemisphere had the same idea. Still, at least it's Friday which means pizza for dinner, plus some serious scrapping time for me tonite...the Mystical Scrapbooks cybercrop is on, and I'm locking myself away with a block of chocolate and a bottle of coke....see you on the other side, lol.
Almost forgot....this is my effort for the OTP challenge at Mystical...we had to alter an Eclipse Mints tin, so I did this one for Kit's medications....cute, no??

A New Challenge....

My bud Kerryn is currently involved in a "photo a day" challenge, which sounds like exactly what I'm looking for, considering my goals for this year, so my efforts will be posted (with appropriate labels, I hope!!)on my gallery blog. Wish me luck!! Now I just have to find shots from the last two days, lol.

Happy Birthday Mr Hartwell

Time for a mortality check....my baby turns eight today!!!
Sebi informed us all this morning that he would like to be addressed as "Mr Hartwell", because he's eight now and that's practically an adult.
His extremely adult birthday gifts included a drum kit, a talking space alien monkey thing, and the complete Star Wars pc game system. We're going out to Sizzler for dinner, and Mr Hartwell will be eating as much ice cream as he wants, because apparantly that's what you do when you're grown up. Bruce tried to tell me the same thing, except it had something to do with drinking beer.
So, HAPPY BIRTHDAY to my extremely grownup son, with love and kisses from your extremely well preserved mother xoxoxoxox

Looking at the BIG picture....

Well, with my goals for last year accomplished (can you believe it??) I have started working towards my goals for this year. After all, this is the best possible day for "new beginnings". Hence the new link below my title banner.
For those of you brave enough to sneak a peek, you will find my 'new' goal for 2008!!
I have decided to really push forward with my photography this year, and I'm hoping for some positive feedback through the new gallery. I will be advertising through various channels, so if anyone is interested in having some shots taken at very reasonable rates, feel free to leave your details at the gallery, and I'll be in touch!!