November Wrap-Up

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journaling: We spent Thanksgiving at home this year- the first time in many years. Mark made the turkey, cranberry
sauce, mashed potatoes, gravy and squash while Melinda made green bean casserole, stuffing, spoonbread, sweet potatoes, and of course pumpkin pie. It was nice to enjoy the day together at a relaxed pace.
credits: by Michelle Coleman at LittleDreamerDesigns: Thanksgiving Day and Thanksgiving Day Sample; Template by Aly Hall from Cookies 4 Kids 2010 at SweetShoppeDesigns.com; by Pixel Works: File It Under (retired); By Kate Hadfield: Heavy Duty Staples (retired); Kristin Aagard: Happy Haunters Alpha (blog freebie)
fonts: CK Invitation

It was quite the holiday weekend, to say the least.  Let's see if I can keep the weekend events to short novel-length :P

We had a 5 day weekend respite from all activities because of the holiday and I was looking forward to sleeping in Wednesday. I woke up to the sound of the vacuum cleaner running and the first floor of the house totally turned upside down. I spent the afternoon after getting the SBG spotlight posted trying to make some semblance of order out of the mess of my LR just so I could walk around. The big thing that DH did was move my big computer armoire I use for my paper scrapping supplies into the main LR area next to the table that I now use for my digital scrapping stuff. Of course to do that he had to empty it, as it weighs a ton by itself not to mention the ton of supplies that were packed into it. He took the kids out for lunch and I opted not to go so I could keep working and I had to run to the library to pick up a bunch of books for Carissa that had come in. He was gone a lot longer than I expected and when he did finally come home he told me to get in the car and come with him while the kids stayed at home. Not really knowing what to expect I just did what he asked and went with him. He took me to a big furniture store on the other side of town and told me we were picking out new furniture for the family room. So we did- a new couch big enough to seat all 7 of us at the same time, a tv console for all of the electronics sitting on the floor and table we were currently using, and a trunk-coffee table piece. We arranged for it to be delivered on Saturday.

We spent Thanksgiving at home, just us. That was fine, it was nice to stay home. DH helped cook so the day was pretty relaxed. In between cooking we worked on the house. I cleaned out the closet containing all of my old Creative Memories product, freeing it up for other scrapbook supplies I was keeping. I sent off an email to a consultant I still give referrals to asking if she would help me sell it. I had decided this summer it was time to get rid of the vast majority of it- most I had kept originally after quitting being a consultant intending to finish up some albums I had started and some other projects- but I hadn't really figured out what I was going to do to get rid of it and not feel like it was a total waste of good supplies and money. After not getting to any of it in all of these years it was time to admit I wasn't going to do them and let it go, hopefully getting at least some of the $ back I had invested in it. DH and I spent a couple of hours after the kids went to bed planning where we were going and what we were going to get during the Black Friday sales the next morning.

In the wee-hours after only a couple of hours of sleep we got up and headed out to try and get the items we wanted. After bombing out at the first store we went to because we weren't going to stand in line inside the store just to find out they didn't have what we wanted for one of the kids, we spent 45 minutes standing in line in the freezing cold at an electronics store. DH got his surround-sound system and I got the video camera I wanted at this store without too much drama- only had to have the manager figure out why it wasn't giving us the free movie disc burner we were supposed to get with the video camera. Our next stop was Target – and we got what we wanted in a short amount of time. Out in the parking lot the inconsiderate person parked next to us left their shopping cart right in back of our van instead of walking it back to the cart return- we saw them do it and then leave. It was maybe 5:30 at this point- still dark and we were starting to feel the lack of sleep. After putting the cart in the return I dashed back to the van to put the newly purchased item in my hand in the back since DH had it open for what he was carrying. He didn't notice me at the edge of the van and slammed the back door down on top of me- the door hit me on the left back side of my head and pushed the right side of my face into the back edge of the van- big huge ouch! I was seeing stars. If I hadn't had my glasses on I'm sure it would have been worse. Miraculously my glasses weren't damaged- investing some extra into the super-flexible metal frames was worth it this time for sure. We had a couple more stops, and while my head was hurting it wasn't horrible so we went on. Our last stop was Staples an hour later where I was looking for PSE9- a bust in the store, but it didn't take long to find that out at least. They might have had more copies since all they had on the shelf were empty demo boxes for all of the software, but no one was available who might have been able to check for me. So we headed home and I checked out their website and just ordered it online for the same price with free shipping- that works too LOL

I took some ibuprofen and headed back to bed for a nice long nap just as the first of the kids were getting up. I pretty much was fighting a massive headache all day on Friday, especially over my right eye where I had hit the side of the van. A few hours later I was starting to sport a nice black eye, which wasn't a surprise.

We put up the Christmas tree and decorated the fireplace mantle Friday- had to get the boxes put up again since they were were the new furniture was going the next morning. I helped Bryce rake up the last of the tree leaves in the yard Friday afternoon too. The couch and tv console were delivered Saturday afternoon, later than expected. The trunk we bought was damaged when the guys loaded the truck so we didn't accept that one. They brought the replacement piece Monday morning. I've tried to keep plugging away at the mess and it is actually down a lot, but there is still a lot to get through. I need to do some more weeding and tossing. The new couch is nice, it is nice to have enough room for everyone to sit down on furniture instead of half of us being on the floor when we watch movies together.

All in all, the weekend was pretty good. I had been thinking it would be nice to have my scrapping armoire next to my computer table for a little while, but I hadn't mentioned it to DH as the amount of work to move it was daunting- still is even at about 80% through the whole process. At least I am getting to the end of it, finally.

Bryce had a jazz band concert on November 10 and his first cornet recital November 21. I videoed his songs from the recital with my ipod so I could show them. He did really well!

Bryce playing Ballad in Blue by Robert Girlamo. November 21, 2010. Mark is accompanying him on the piano.

and his second piece was a duet with his teacher, Greg Arnold. They played Blue Skies by Irving Berlin.

Here are some pages I did in November- a few from November’s events and some from older dates- the usual mix ;)

credits: Srsly Stoked by Kim Jensen and Kate Hadfield at Scrapdish.com and The-Lilypad.com; Learning to Sew V2 by Pamela Donnis; template by Roadside Designs for Weeds & Wildflowers Designs template challenge
fonts: TXT Scribbletti

 
journaling: This November afternoon was filled with Thanksgiving activities- making quick costumes for Brenna & Sarah so they could dress up for AWANA that evening, baking mini pumpkin pies to share, and collecting canned food from friends for the Care and Share food drive at school.
credits: at scrapbookgraphics: Basic Buds Vol1 by Buttercup Designs, Everyday 365 Kit Collection (November, solids, flair, and Word Bits) by Baers Garten
fonts: Typewriter

A page about DH's short-lived stint in the Navy.
credits: by Pixel Works at The-Lilypad.com: Always Remember Papers, Always Remember Elements & Alphas, Soldier Stuff Addon, waves from Where Are We? (retired) ; fonts: Typewriter

 
credits: Impressions of Comfort Home by the Studio Girls at scrapbookgraphics.com; fonts: CK Heritage

 
Title page for my 2010 album.
credits: Everyday 365 Kits Collection by Baers Garten at scrapbookgraphics;
font: CK Cursive

 
credits: by Re Kneipp at scrapbookgraphics.com: Color My World with Damayanti Designs and Have a Nice Day Templates; fonts: MA Sexy

 
journaling: There’s nothing quite like getting a brand new box of markers to use. One of Sarah’s favorite things to do is draw and color- in coloring books or on pieces of scratch paper where anything she can imagine comes to life. One of my favorite ‘everyday gifts’ is a new picture drawn just for me by Sarah.
credits: at scrapbookgraphics.com: Doodlemania.ink by Dawn Inskip, Clustered 1-4 by Dutchie for The Lab, Metallicalpha Collection by Flergs; fonts: CK Handprint

 
credits: by Dianne Rigdon at 2PeasInABucket.com: Now I Lay, Journalique Elements (crochet lace), retired: Summer Living Pink Lemonade (ric rac), Little Buddies Glitters; portrait by Roseanne Miske Photography
fonts: Cezanne

 
journaling: Brenna takes ballet, tap and jazz dance classes each week, but her favorite by far is ballet. Her toes are always pointed just so, even without a teacher’s reminder. The audience can tell that she really feels the music and tries to interpret it with her movements, a skill that is hard to teach. She loves the music, the precision, the movements, and of course, the pretty tutus she gets to wear. She is a beautiful ballerina already, and I look forward to watching her improve as she learns more in years to come!
credits: at scrapbookgraphics: Ballet Recital by Dawn Inskip, Sketch Collection 34 by Jen Caputo ; fonts: SP Wonderful Wendy