Tonight I am going to attend Scrappin' Friday, which is a monthly get-together in my area for people who scrapbook.  I love these, because I seem to get so much more accomplished, and it's always fun to see other layouts and designs.  I'm really torn on what I want to work on tonight - I still have a ton of pages to complete before my son's Lifebook is finished, but I also picked up some new girly papers a couple weeks ago that I haven't used yet.  Plus, I'm super-focused on our little girl coming home next week, so working on her lifebook would keep me in a positive frame of mi

I finished up some more scrapbook pages for my son - most of them were from 4-5 years ago.  The pictures were taken on various hiking trips - the whole thing depressed me because I was so much skinnier in the photos!  I look at myself now and blech!  I don't think I could make it up the kiddie trail in the Parrish Hill Gully without suffering from a heart attack.  That said, at least now that the pages are done, I don't have to look at them any more and be reminded of how gross I look.  Yay!

I did get a few pages of Brandon's lifebook done today, but mostly I spent time organizing what pictures and paperwork I have.  Everyone in our family has a labeled plastic bin that is chock full of stuff - report cards, photos, ticket stubs, letters, birthday cards.  I've gotten most of Brandon's more recent stuff into his book over the years, so his bin is close to empty.  The thing that's FULL is a folder on my computer desktop - since we have a semi-open adoption, his birthfamily relatives have sent me a TON of baby pictures that I have yet to have printed.  It's awesom

I have been taking a break after finishing up that giant gorilla, but time is not on my side when it comes to being lazy.  You see, the one really artisitc thing I do often is work on my kids' lifebooks - you know, scrapbooking.   My son graduates on June 27th, and I should really be in a hot panic right now because  his book is in the middle of a major re-do and not even close to being finished.  I have pieces and pages and nothing is complete.  Honestly, I should be working on it right now - but procrastination seems to have overtaken me and I don't even want to

After we bought our house in the fall of 2005, we decided to make our guest bathroom into an "underwater-themed" bathroom. (Becky will remember my complaining about murals and projects that suddenly loom larger than you expected them to be.) I started by painting the walls a descending gradient of blue (darker near the floor and lighter aqua near the ceiling) and painting the textured ceiling aqua to simulate looking up at the surface of the water from underneath.

(Warning: Do not read if you're not a fan of traditional Japanese poetry... or read anyway and discover that you might be.)

Ripples in the pond
Running swiftly away from
Their own creator.

The willow tree weeps
Softly for it’s lost lover
While stroking water.

Wind gossips softly
To lonely groves of trees
Creating rustles.

(A man has murdered his wife in a fit of rage after discovering her supposed infidelity. The following are three different views of the people and objects in the room by three different individuals.)

Wayne stared at the concrete wall. Staring was the only thing he could do to keep himself from ‘freaking out’ anymore. And why not? He was due to be executed for murder in only three days.

1. It looks cool.
2. Apple is a blue company.