The Scrap Report

Scrapbooking Weekend has come and gone. Once again, I'd call it the best Scrapping weekend ever! Every one seems better than the one before. The last one I went on was just about a year ago.

We gathered at Maryann's house on Friday night to start our fun. Maryann's garage was converted into a room several years ago and it's called "The Scrap Room" although it's used for other things too. However, scrapping was one of the main uses and every now and then, we take it over for that again. Here are a couple photos of how we had it set up. I had intended to take a photo mid-scrap so you could see how messy it gets! lol But that photo never happened so all you get is the beginning photos.

Six of us (Lisa, Maryann, Darlene, Carrie, Donna, and Ann) were there to start off and a couple (Jen, Marla) more joined in that evening. Some (Marla, Donna) had to leave Saturday and we missed them terribly. One more friend (Linda) joined us for a while on Sunday. Did I miss anyone?

Maryann's daughter Erin turned 21 Saturday and she commemorated the day in the usual way. A couple of her friends came over for dinner and very tasty cake and then they went out on the town. We joined Erin in a margarita. Happy 21st, Erin!

Each of us signed up for a meal to cook up for the weekend and we had lots of snacks available all weekend. My meal was Taco Pie and salad.

I scrapped 37 pages (mostly two-page spreads) and was stymied by the poor printing job Meijer (Snapfish) did on my photos. I have to return a large stack of them. We shared ideas and Cricut cartridges and paper and stickers and quips.

Movie-watching goes hand-in-hand for my scrapping crowd. Twelve movies found their way into the DVD player this weekend. If you can't imagine scrapping while watching movies (or talking through the films), you would probably not enjoy our weekends! LOL

How do we pick what to watch? Well, anyone who wants to brings a stack of movies they think would be good and we usually take turns choosing. If someone has strong negative feelings about a movie, they get veto power (usually, lol). We often search for films featuring our favorite actors and actresses and pop those in.

These are the films we chose this weekend:
Adam (Hugh Dancy)
The Proposal (Ryan Reynolds)
Confessions of a Shopaholic (Hugh Dancy #2)
Someone Like You (Hugh Jackman)
School of Life (Ryan Reynolds #2)
Australia (Hugh Jackman #2 - notice a pattern? lol)
North and South (BBC, Richard Armitage)
Robin Hood Season 3 - episodes 4 & 5 (BBC, Richard Armitage #2)
Lars and the Real Girl (Ryan Gosling)
Juno (Ellen Page, Michael Cera)
Easy Virtue (Colin Firth, Ben Barnes)
The Hangover (Bradley Cooper, Justin Bartha - rated R & not for the easily offended, or even the not-so-easily offended)

The Nitty-Gritty

I did watch the inauguration, about an hour of it anyway - the actual swearing-in ceremonies, Aretha singing, Rick Warren's benediction (which was the best part, imo), John Williams' music, etc... The kids and Bob watched too.

Bob has been a little better every day. He can sit up and sit down by himself now, which he couldn't do for about 4 days. Today, however, he has a migraine, which has pretty much flattened him. He spent most of the day in bed resting. I also have a headache, but a couple ibuprofen took the edge off. My back is about the same - just a nagging ache, especially when I bend over, at which time I groan like someone's sticking me with a knife. Not that I know what that feels like.

Have tried and failed to get into a number of books lately. Gave up on a few. Read the intro part to The Shack and it didn't grab me. I do intend to finish it, but I'm not in the mood. Reading The Jane Austen Book Club now, which was made into a movie. The movie version was the impetus for Dar and I starting OUR OWN Jane Austen Book Club, better known as The Rollicking Readers. Anyway, the movie wasn't all that good, and to be honest, so far the book is worse. Blech.

Watched Waitress last night. Though it made me cry, I didn't really like it. Not big on movies that condone extramarital affairs, even if the husband is mean and nasty, or senile and drooling. Whatever. Also watched Panic Room this week, which was better, but quite scary. Jodie Foster is always good. And, no, neither of those star Hugh Jackman . I can look beyond my current obsession, you know.

We have also been watching Planet Earth DVD's and they are awesome, but they'd be better on a TV that isn't all washed out like ours is. There's no way of fixing it. It's just the way the darn thing is. Old and stupid. At least it works. I'd like to replace it with something NICE AND BIG but Bob resists.

Let's see. I've been exercising three times a week in the mornings. Long ago, I taped some fitness shows off ESPN - the Fitness Pros. (See how long ago that was? I had CABLE then. It was when David was a baby, I think.) I liked them then and I still like them now, so I dug out that old tape and put it back into service. Once I get a month of this routine down, I'll take it up a notch, perhaps by adding a 4th day to my routine, or maybe by adding strength training on opposite days. Not sure yet. Once it gets warm enough (April?), I'll add walking to the routine.

I've also been counting calories and staying within my calorie limits almost every day. (I went slightly over a couple days and on scrapbooking weekend, calories are free, or so I've been told.) Candy has an amazing amount of calories in it! ACK! So anyway, hopefully results will follow.

I'm getting rather discouraged that we haven't heard the results from Bob's disability hearing. Apparently it doesn't matter to them that our whole LIVES hang on this decision and we really can't move ahead until we know. The hearing was September 16th, so that makes it over four months we've been waiting now. I hope there is not some simple reason why, like they don't have a report from a certain doctor, or something. Those things we could hurry along IF we knew about them!

David's bronchitis is a little better, I think. It's hard to mother a sick teenager. He resists at almost every turn, but then is surprised when he isn't healing.

And no one wants to play Word Twist with me. Wah!

OK, laundry needs folded, dinner needs worked on.

Snippets

Little bits of what's been happening.

Bob found Em's other pair of glasses in the van. Guess HE gets the reward!

I have developed a new "appreciation" for Hugh Jackman. This is mostly due to watching the X-men movies, which I had never seen before and exacerbated by watching Someone Like You over the weekend. (I ordered it on ebay.) Yeah, I know. I say "appreciation" - you probably say "obsession." LOL I plan to go see Australia now, even though I really don't like Nicole Kidman. Yes, it's still showing at one theater near me.

I really don't like the cold and spend my time huddling in layers of clothes and blankets, avoiding going outside. And it is definitely COLD. The kids don't mind though. As I look at them right now, 2 are wearing short sleeves, one is barefoot. I've bribed them to wear their slippers. Yesterday they did play outside, but I don't think I'll allow it today.

I went to a library sale the other night and got a few cool things - books, of course, and some VHS movies. Those are cheap now! LOL We still have a VCR so this is a good thing.

I have been writing - am up to almost 9000 words to add to my 2007 NaNoNovel. My goal is 2000 words every day, including Saturdays. So far this week, I've done it.

I have TONS of books to read, but I am not getting much reading time. I have only finished one book so far this month, but it was really good. A Christian Regency romance called The Falcon and the Sparrow.

Bob got the heating ductwork put in so the girls now have heat in their bedroom. Yes, we've lived here fifteen years and he's just now getting it done. lol He is also working on patching the hole in the living room ceiling (and the boys' floor) where there used to be a register for hot air to rise from the oil furnace that used to be in our living room when we moved in. There was no central heating in our house when we bought it.

We are considering new auto insurance companies. Bob's not happy with the cost of our policy.

I've been exercising 3 days a week and counting calories. It's only been 2 weeks, so I guess it's early yet.

Bob subbed in Sunday School for me last Sunday while I was scrapbooking and one of the students told me later that he did a good job! No, not one of my own kids! lol

I'm still basking in the afterglow of scrapbooking. What a wonderful weekend it was!

Ok, back to reality. The kids are watching a History Channel documentary on the Dark Ages on DVD. I got it from the library with interlibrary loan.

Traveling Tiara, Movies, and Friends

My weekend was AWESOME!!! I was invited to join a group of ladies for scrapbooking at my friend Maryann's house. Her husband agreed to take their kids to a hotel for the weekend so we could take over their house for the weekend.

If you've never been to a scrapping weekend, you may not get the attraction. Even if you HAVE been to an event like this, it's likely it isn't QUITE like the ones we create! This is the first time we've done a big weekend like this at Maryann's home, but we have done a few before now. Maryann has a large room (used to be a garage) that we shoved full of folding tables and chairs and a LARGE amount of scrapbooking supplies, along with up to twelve women at any one time. Throw in a TV and a DVD player and a great variety of movies and you may begin to get the idea! Laughing, giggling, and sharing lots of meaningful conversation completed the fun. I hope to have pictures for you soon.

I stayed both Friday and Saturday nights and several other women did too. A few just came for Saturday. We had one baby who was simply adorable. One woman's birthday was today, so we celebrated with cake and ice cream. Great food was in abundance, as was coffee and even a glass or two of wine. OK, several glasses. :-D

I completed eighteen pages, so I got to wear the traveling tiara quite a lot. If you know my totals in the past, this does not compare. I did not do any power layout planning ahead and I also watched all or most of NINE movies over the weekend. Several of us are movie addicts. I fit that description quite well. Some of the others are not movie-people, but we are converting them! Here's that list.

Movies I have seen before (Easiest to scrap to, since I only have to pay attention to the "good parts")
Northanger Abbey - one of my favorites, as you may well know. A Jane Austen novel film adaptation
Miss Potter - it's ok. I got a lot done during this one.
North and South - Riveting! We watched parts 1-2 on Friday night and parts 3-4 on Saturday. Then we watched part 4 AGAIN on Sunday, rewinding and repeating the last few scenes with dedication.
Mamma Mia - yes, again! This makes six viewings for me!
August Rush - Oh, wow I had forgotten that Jonathan Rhys-Meyers is in this! Woo-hoo! Loved him in The Tudors (HBO). Keri Russell is soooo pretty and that Freddie Highmore is quite an accomplished actor for one so young. Oh yeah, and a creepy Robin Williams, too. Also, some weird stuff about the power of music. But it made me cry.
X-Men - Just Dar and I watched this. I am converting her to my recently discovered love of comic book movies. She and I share similar tastes in books and movies. She says she liked it!
A Knight's Tale - as the packing up was just getting started and afterwards, we watched this. Then had dinner and went home!

Movies I hadn't seen before - watched these in comfy seating in the living room, instead of the scrap room
The Duchess - Dominic Cooper (Sky in Mamma Mia) was our impetus for renting this and he was pleasing. The story was quite poignant and none of the characters made choices I would have in most cases.
Someone Like You - with HUGH JACKMAN, Greg Kinnear and Ashley Judd - LOVED IT and am going to purchase it. Now I am thoroughly and completely a Hugh Jackman fan. I can't believe it took me SO LONG. lol

Yes, I did let other people pick the movies some of the time! LOL They also watched Baby Mama while I was doing something else. I've seen it before twice, and quite recently too.

So, now we are all back to our respective homes, our relaxing mini-vacation over. Can't wait til the next one!

I think I'm going to see Australia (hint - JACKMAN) this week. Even though I am utterly NOT a fan of Nicole Kidman. Not even a little.