The last Saturday of the year

How weird does that sound? The last Saturday. That means that tomorrow is the last day this year I have to sleep in. Do you think it'll happen? Me neither. I can never sleep in and rarely oversleep. Heck I feel like I rarely get any sleep, I'm always tired. But I'm in bed by 11 each night usually. Oh well.

So I've been horribly neglecting my CT duties pretty much since my vacation in November. I'm truly surprised that I haven't been fired, lol. I used to be a great cheerleader. Now I feel like football season is over and I can't get in the groove for basketball season. (analogy, I hate basketball in real life) I haven't even talked with 2 of my designers since mid month. I have no idea what they've got going on. (In my defense, I haven't really heard from them either). But that's not an excuse. Lost mojo, lost spirit? I don't know what my problem is. But I'm hoping that the New Year will bring it all back to me.

Let me show you the final page I switched around for SIL's parents calendar. I think I like how it turned out.

Also one last picture to show you from Christmas morning, for now. I bought each of the girls these adorable hand painted shirts at a big holiday craft show. They say "My Auntie loves me" on them. Very self indulgent of me. I'm hoping that my brother can figure out a way to get a better picture of them so you can see it. Being that I'm 200 miles away and don't see them as often as I wish, I am always trying to remind them that Aunt Diane loves them.

Oh yeah, the reason for my mentioning my shortcomings as a CT member. There's gonna be a New Years Eve chat at DST. I'm not sure if it's an all night thing, but Heather's hosting the 11 pm EST time slot. Giveaways and goodies galore. So if you're like the hundreds of us that won't be going out for whatever your reasoning, I hope you'll pop in to Heather's chat. I'm pretty sure that the old man will be asleep by then so I'll be free to spend the time with my friends. We stay home every year; 1) cheaper, 2) avoid the amateur drunks on the road 3) avoid being a drunk on the road. This will be our 9th New Years Eve together. The first one, we'd only been dating like 2 weeks so he went all out. The next year I worked til like 10 and we got into a fight at the bar and the 3rd year we went to a nice dinner with his cousin. Every year since then it's stay home or work for the overtime. We cook ourselves a nice steak & seafood dinner and do nothing. OMG how boring have we become????????? Well, safe is better than boring.

Ok, he's up and I'm about to play let's make a deal for Guitar Hero. Wish me luck. Enjoy your day and scrap happy.

Great deals on printer ink cartridges

If you're anything like me, you love to print photos and layouts out on your own printer. Just to have a copy, even if it's not professional grade quality. After all, not every layout needs a professional print. But that takes a lot of ink and I find myself going through it very quickly. It's always sticker shock for me to go into a store, even that discount mega store to grab a new ink cartridge. I found this site, Inkjetdeals.info and wanted to share it with you. It lists several online stores that offer deep discounts on ink cartridges. It also list coupons that are available for the different stores. I also liked that it has several articles of interest about ink cartridges and printers. My particular favorite was Seven Tips for Saving Ink. Check it out, buy compatible printer ink cartridges, and plan ahead for your ink refill needs. I'm glad I did.

My brain is 43% fried

So I took this quiz to see how creative my brain is. I guess I know now why I have no mojo. I have little creativity left in my brain. I think it all leaked out. You try it, it's weird.

"Synesthesia is the overlapping of the senses. Have you ever pictured a number in your head and noticed that it has a certain color? For someone with synesthesia, senses like sight and sound often cross over into one another and create involuntary assocations. Synesthesia is very common among artists, musicians, and other creative individuals. This 8 question quiz will test how cross-wired your senses are."




57%

Become an Ultrasound technician

Christmas stories

Hi there! More pictures and stories from the weekend. I had pictures of Em and I making cookies for Santa yesterday and have a funny story that goes with it. My brother has a different sense of humor so if you're easily offended, you may want to skip this one.

We were using the sugar cookie dough that comes in a tube. You just roll it out, cut it out, throw it in the oven and then frost. Well, my SIL only had 1 cookie cutter. I don't know if they got lost in the move over the summer or if that's all she had. It was candy cane shaped. So Em and I would roll out the dough, press the cutter into the dough and then try to pick up the dough and get it on the pan. I don't know if I was rolling it too thin, but I was having issues getting them from the counter top to the pan. We finally got 2 pans done, put them in the oven and called it quits for the night. Ever given flour to a 3 year old. That's what they look like, covered it in. It really showed well on the black pants.
Next day we get to frost them. I don't know why but SIL had chocolate frosting for them with red and green sprinkles. So I would put the frosting on the cookies and Em would pour (over pour) sprinkles. We got them done and they weren't bad. We put them back into the corner so the dog wouldn't get them. This is Christmas Eve now. About 2 hours later, I walk into the kitchen and my SIL is doing dishes. Now remember that these are supposed to be candy cane shaped. My SIL proceeds to tell me that my brother said the cookies looked like male genitalia. Most of the cookies fused together at the hook and the frosting covered any openings and the way they were on the plate I had to agree. Then it spread like wildfire that Aunt Diane made dick cookies for Santa. Everyone had to come look at the cookies. (I'm still looking for the picture, I think it's on the 35 mm film). We were bringing presents in on Christmas morning and Em told Shannon that Santa ate all the cookies. Which made us all burst into laughter. So I asked her again later, Em where are the cookies? And she shrugged her shoulders and said "I don't know, somebody ate em all." They were in the cupboard. I guess it may be one of those stories that is only funny if you were there, or if I could find that picture.

Ok, here's a replacement page for my calendar. I think I actually have too much stuff and that's why my mojo's off. I can't decide what papers to use and it takes me way to long to go through it all. Such a complaint hun. I finally got it to the point where I was happy with it.

Well, I am so glad it's Friday. Don't know where the week went, just glad it's almost over and I get a weekend again. I have a house to clean and tons to scrap. Can't believe that 2008 is right around the corner. Wow! Have a great day and scrap happy!

Edit: While jumpin on the DST blog train I found something very interesting!
HAPPY BIRTHDAY YEN!!!!
Stop by her blog to wish her a wonderful day/night (she's half way around the world from most of us).

Decorative Outdoor Lighting

I've been reading more and more about LED lighting for uses other than Christmas time. We have used rope LED lighting for the past 3 years down at the campground, outside our travel trailer. The lights have become the decorations of choice down there. LED lights are often given as gifts for those of us who are lucky enough to celebrate birthdays during the camping season. I bought several strands of rope lights this year to light up my backyard and incorporate into my landscape. I feel that LED lighting is an excellent choice not only because they are attractive but also energy efficient. The lights will last 50,000 hours or more and costs about 90% less than traditional landscape lighting. There are even solar powered products available. I would definitely say that LED lighting is the next new wave in decorative outdoor and landscape designs.
LED landscape lighting

Disclosure: “Carjaziscraps - The Rants of a Buckeye Scrapper” is a personal blog written and edited by me. In it I write about things that interest me and/or that I feel need to be mentioned. From time to time I will be writing about products, services, websites and assorted other topics in posts sponsored by one or more advertisers.Any claims, statistics or other statements about a product or service mentioned on this blog should be verified with the manufacturer or provider thereof. The opinions expressed in this blog are entirely my own regardless of the topic and whether or not it is a sponsored postings.

Christmas pictures

I was able to get my pictures uploaded late last night after dinner with Shannon's family. There are so many of them and I took the 35 mm with me and shot about 6 rolls with it. I'm going to have those developed today. I picked out a few to show you.

A sleeping angel.

Opening gifts on Christmas morning.

Josh made out big time, but I think this was more for my brother. It's a blast and I think we're getting one.

Em helped decorate the tree this year at home and my moms. Her favorite saying is "No, it's MY job". Let's see if she feels that way in a few years when it's her turn to do the dishes.
She has her own sense of style and loves to play dress up, especially with her Princess clothes.
Shannon with Addi. She's such a good baby.
Em and I made sugar cookies for Santa. I'll have to tell you the story about them tomorrow.

And yet another shot of Addi. Isn't she beautiful?

There are hundreds of photos. I ran back to Target yesterday on my lunch to get more of the Shutterfly stuff that was on sale (if you missed it, read yesterday's post below after the ad). Here's a rundown of what I got for Christmas this year.

2 Kitchen Aid Saute pans from Shannon

A digital photo frame preloaded with photos

A digital ornament that holds 60 photos

A hand made Christmas ornament, made by Em

An Ohio State Sweatshirt

An emerald necklace with matching earrings

gift cards to Kohl's and Starbucks

All in all, it was a good Christmas. Hope yours was too. I'm hoping with all the photos, I can find my mojo. Mom loved the calendar and cried when she opened it. My SIL parents were there too on Christmas morning and her father was so impressed with it. (Which really validated it, cuz mom had to love it). I'm redoing 2 pages of it with her parents instead of my mom and she'll have them shipped to her house. So that's what I'll be doing this weekend, scrapping all day (hopefully).

Well, looks like it's about time for work. Hope ya all have an awesome day. I could really get used to these 3 day work weeks, but probably not short checks. Can't believe it's Thursday already. Scrap happy!!

Does your New Years Resolution include weight loss and diet plans?

Now that Christmas is over, New Years is right around the corner. And that means New Years resolutions. And since I've stuck to the quiting smoking now for 2 months, it's time to get the diet and exercise under control. I found this great site, Weight Loss Diet Help that I think will really help me get a head start on my resolutions this year. This site has reviewed several of the following big name diets; such as Nutrisystem, Weight Watchers, South Beach and others and has coupons to help you save. For example, the Nutrisystem section has a coupon for Free Multivitiams with purchase of a particular package, or Free 14 days worth of food if you go on the auto plan. Another of online plans they have listed is the Jillian Michaels Diet and Exercise plan. If the name sounds familiar, then you watch Biggest Loser. Jillian is one of the trainers from the show. And if I were going on the show, she'd be who I'd want to train me, but I know she'd kick my butt and I'd be the one crying all the time. I didn't know that she had her own online site. I'm definitely checking hers out. And another great thing about this site is there are well written articles regarding weight loss and exercise. These articles are on topics like How to achieve permanent weight loss and The skinny on diet products. So if you're like millions of Americans who have weight loss plans on your resolution list for 2008, then I'd urge you to check out this site, weight loss diet .
Disclosure: “Carjaziscraps - The Rants of a Buckeye Scrapper” is a personal blog written and edited by me. In it I write about things that interest me and/or that I feel need to be mentioned. From time to time I will be writing about products, services, websites and assorted other topics in posts sponsored by one or more advertisers.Any claims, statistics or other statements about a product or service mentioned on this blog should be verified with the manufacturer or provider thereof. The opinions expressed in this blog are entirely my own regardless of the topic and whether or not it is a sponsored postings.

Hope your Christmas was Happy!

So how was your Christmas? I hope that Santa brought you everything your little heart desired. Was your Christmas white? Did you eat too much? How far did you have to travel?
And more importantly did you go to the sales today? bwhahahaha.

Seriously now, mine were wonderful beyond belief. Christmas truly is for children and so much more magical when there are little ones around. I really believe that Em & Addi saved Christmas for mom and I this year. Mom was really having a hard time without Dad. But as long as one of those girls were in her arms, she had a smile on her face. Oh the antics of an almost 3 year old to make you laugh. Em is so into the Disney Princesses that I think there were only a handful of gifts that didn't have at least 1 of them on it. I thought that she had just about everything there was with the Princesses on it, but there just seems to be more and more. I hope she doesn't outgrow them before Addi gets to like them. And Addi at 6 months old is just the happiest baby I've ever seen. I swear I only heard her cry like twice the whole weekend. She sat in the middle of the floor while everyone handed out gifts and played with wrapping paper. The pile of gifts for her just kept growing and soon you could barely see her. My brother played a Christmas version of Deal or No Deal with my nephew (soon to be 13 and in the total teenage mode). They put all his gifts in one location and then had an envelope. He had to choose between the gifts and the envelope. He chose the gifts. In the envelope was a note saying if he'd have chosen that, he'd get all the gifts plus a membership to the Rec center. Then there was a second choice, a new envelope or his gifts. With help from the audience, he choose the envelope. Inside it said "Too bad, you should have taken the 1st envelope." After a few seconds, there was a 3rd envelope that they had him open. It said "Did you really think we wouldn't give you anything for Christmas. Not only do you get all your gifts, but you also get the Rec. center membership". The kid was pretty happy. But I think that Dad was happier cuz one of the gifts was Guitar Hero 3. We played that for a little bit before we left. I'm seriously thinking about grabbing one for us, it's a blast.

Well, since this has been a long post, I'm sure you're bored to death by now. So I'll save the rest for part 2. Plus it's late since I ran out to do some shopping before work. But I gotta share with you what I found at Target. I was looking for a zip drive and came across an end cap that had Shutterfly stuff on it. ON SALE!!! I grabbed a calendar and 8 X 11 Book. The calendar was $16.98 and the book was $20.99 and those prices INCLUDE shipping. I'm heading back at lunch I think to grab a few more books. I figured I paid $6 for shipping on my free calendar. So if you have a Target near you, go and check it out. Plus they had all their Christmas stuff on sale at 50% off. I was surprised that it wasn't very crowded. They had lots of lights and wrapping papers left. I spent way too much money again. lol.

Have a great day and scrap happy!!!

Wedding Lights

We went to a wedding last summer that was such a good time and has given me so many ideas for my own. But what really stood out for me was the lighting. And since you really don't get to talk to the bride and groom a whole lot at the wedding, I didn't get a chance to ask her how she did the lights. So when I got a chance to see her at Christmas and look at the wedding photos, it jogged my memory. And I wasn't really surprised at the answer, just something I'm not sure I'd have thought about. She used LED Christmas lights. Since the rope lights are encased they were able to wrap a sheer fabric around them and it gave off a gorgeous glow in the same color her bridesmaids wore. And since it turned into an evening reception and the patio was lit by the same LED lights, it just added to the ambiance to the evening. I love my LED lights that we use all year long and now there's just another great new way to use them.
Christmas lights
Disclosure: “Carjaziscraps - The Rants of a Buckeye Scrapper” is a personal blog written and edited by me. In it I write about things that interest me and/or that I feel need to be mentioned. From time to time I will be writing about products, services, websites and assorted other topics in posts sponsored by one or more advertisers.Any claims, statistics or other statements about a product or service mentioned on this blog should be verified with the manufacturer or provider thereof. The opinions expressed in this blog are entirely my own regardless of the topic and whether or not it is a sponsored postings.

We wish you a Merry Christmas

Seasons Greetings!!!!
I hope that you all are enjoying your holiday season. I am having a wonderful time with the kids. They grow up so fast. And I've discovered a new found respect for mothers with 3 year old daughters. I volunteered to give Em a bath. How hard can it be? Well, it's been 25 years since I've baby sat and obviously I've forgotten the "I can do it myself", "That's my job" and "NO" that goes along with bath time. Yes, the can do it themselves and it can be their job, but when it comes to getting them to actually rinse their hair, then No they don't want to do it. But then again, all you mom's already know that. Em screamed so loudly that my brother had to come upstairs to make sure I wasn't drowning his daughter. But actually I think he just wanted to rescue me and make Em get her butt in gear and get out of the bath. We had fun rolling out sugar cookies and get to frost them today. I'm so looking forward to that. I've taken at least 200 pictures so you'll get to see plenty. Hopefully this is what I've needed to get my mojo back.
Mom loves her Kitchen Aid mixer. It's sweet and now I'm thinking I need one. But I don't. Anxiously awaiting to see what fun my brother and SIL put together for me for Christmas. I'm pretty sure it involves pictures of the kids. (and I'm hoping a scanner). Shannon and I picked up 2 very nice Kitchen Aid saute pans. They're his gift to me, but he'll use them much more than I since he's the fry everything king. So far, it's been an awesome Christmas. It's been a little strange without Dad, but I truly think he's here. Just little things that have happened. Maybe it's just because I want to believe that I'm reading into it. But isn't that what Christmas is all about? Believing.

Wishing you and yours a very Merry Christmas!!!

Memory foam mattress

Having spent the past 2 nights on an air mattress, tossing and turning. I must say that I am looking forward to getting home to sleep in my own bed. But then I toss and turn there too. And I started thinking about why. It could be my mattress. It's 5 years old and my body has changed some since I bought it. I've been wondering about those memory foam mattresses and thought I'd check them out. Memory foam is a high-density foam that conforms to your body to provide you with the support it needs, and memory foam mattresses are comfortable and therapeutic. AngelBeds and Tempur-Pedic are unique in that they are the ONLY memory sleep system manufacturers to offer identical NASA-developed HD (higher density) foam technology. However, I've found AngelBeds to be more economical than the Tempur-Pedic beds. AngelBeds offers a 90 day in home trial to make sure that you are completely satisfied with your new memory foam mattress. There is also a 10 year FULL warranty and an additional 10 year limited warranty for a total of 20 guarantee on their memory foam mattresses. Now I know that since I didn't ask Santa for one for Christmas, it won't be under the tree tomorrow morning; but tax time isn't that far off. Can you think of a better way to take care of your self and your body than with a good nights sleep?
Temperpedic
Disclosure: “Carjaziscraps - The Rants of a Buckeye Scrapper” is a personal blog written and edited by me. In it I write about things that interest me and/or that I feel need to be mentioned. From time to time I will be writing about products, services, websites and assorted other topics in posts sponsored by one or more advertisers.Any claims, statistics or other statements about a product or service mentioned on this blog should be verified with the manufacturer or provider thereof. The opinions expressed in this blog are entirely my own regardless of the topic and whether or not it is a sponsored postings.