I love Thursday night TV

I think that says it all. I call it island night. Now there's a little Idol thrown in. And all I can say is Tivo (or DVR) is just about the best thing since sliced bread. There is NO way I could get through nights like this without it. If you haven't watched American Idol, Survivor or LOST yet and you are a fan, skip down to my layouts now. Big time spoiler alert here.

Ok, Where did Cherie come from on Survivior? I knew that she was the swing vote, but when did she go to running the show? WOW is all I can say about that. I'm really bummed that Yau Man is gone. I like him and really thought he should have won the first time he was on. Let's see who goes next week. I bet it'll be Kathy from the fans side.

American Idol. Eh, didn't have to be a whole hour if you asked me. I thought it was ridiculous that they had the girls dressed in 60's attire to sing their song. And did anyone else think that Paula really needs a reality check. This isn't 1988. The whole music video thing just cracked me up. And I was of an age that I remember dancing to her music at the bars and dance clubs in 88. So not revelant for today's music as Simon is so fond of saying. I almost had a cow when they had Amanda & Joanne up at the end. I like the rockers on the show. Speaking of rockers, just how much more can they milk out of Chris Daughtry? I feel for him. Last year and then again this year. He's the theme music. Bummer dude.

LOST ~ My entire reason for living on Thursday. Ok, admit it. You really thought Kate was pregnant with Sawyer's baby. I was SO blown away by the ending AGAIN. I had to go back and play it just to make sure I heard right. WOW! Talk about twist. And more questions. But I've always said since season 1 that I could watch an entire hour of Sawyer shirtless. Tonight was major eye candy and I loved it! Is he not HAWT! And it's the whole character that just pulls me in. I so love the bad boy.

Speaking of bad boys, mine has called me 3 times today. He misses me. Well, the dogs are going into a depression. And I'm a little upset that I'll have to shovel snow tomorrow. Guess I could take a cue from Cate and live with it. She does it all the time and in her part of NY, it's a massive amount. As long as the ice doesn't hit too, I'll be ok. **Edit Friday morning~ We got about 3 inches of snow overnight and now are experiencing freezing rain. I picked the wrong day to call in sick, as I've decided that I'm going in today.

Being sick had it's advantages today. Look at all the stuff I got done.

New Kiki Halbert ~ look for it Sunday.

More Kiki~ Le Grunge & Varsity Blues at PDW

New Kiki, Faith True, Flergs, Beth Kern & Andrea Gold.

Varsity Blues by Kiki Halbert; Well Worn Birgit Kerr; Windgefluester designs & Flergs

Well Worn & Sweet Summers End by Birgit Kerr. That's me and my BFF of over 30 years. The stories she could tell you.

Oh Boy, Strawberry Delight & Carmel Pudding (recolored) by Flergs, white paper Birgit Kerr.

Well, did I get enough done for you? I most likely will go into work. The dogs drove me nuts today. We'll see tomorrow.

Oh yeah, don't forget the Wicked Treasure hunt. Over 45 designers with freebies and contests. Make sure you check out Heather's blog. She's a part of it and I think is running her own contest AND she's got her entire store on SALE ~ 50% off. Woo Hoo.

Have a great day and scrap happy (and legal~Sharing is not caring)

Isle of Wight Festival and other great concerts

It seems like forever since I've gone to see a concert. Some of my favorite memories from my teens revolve around going to concerts or camping out in line waiting for tickets. Something that is no longer done nowadays. Even if the proceedures hadn't changed in how tickets are distributed, who has time to spend all night out waiting for a store to open just to purchase 2 concert tickets. Nowadays, life is so much easier. We have a marvelous invention called the internet.



Being a child of the 80's, I grew up with the music of Sting, Steward Copeland & Andy Summers, otherwise known as The Police. They broke up before I got a chance to see them in concert. Now, 25 years later, they have gotten back together and are on a massive tour. And of course, they are not playing near me anytime soon. I do find it intersting that in the middle of their North American tour, they are going back to England and Europe for the Isle of Wight festival, June 13th through 15th. That sounds like an awesome festival. 3 days of camping and music, with the headliners being The Police, Sex Pistols & Kaiser Cheifs. Last years lineup was amazing. The Rolling Stones were the headliners and an unknown in the US, Amy Winehouse was in the

lineup. In addition to the big names listed above for this year, other notibles include KT Tungstall and Iggy & the Stooges. From some of the footage I've seen from other Festivals over in England, they sure look like they know how to throw a good party.



So now I've peaked your interest, but you don't have tickets. Never fear. Stop by this awesome site for London Tickets and all other Eastern European concerts and sporting events. Or maybe you have extra tickets and you want to sell them. This is a great spot to do so.

A little vacation, sick days & challenges (or a whole lot of nothing)

Well I got Shannon on his plane yesterday, so my vacation has officially started. Since I got up at 5 am yesterday morning to do this, I was just about out of it all day yesterday. I got some stuff uploaded that I bought on sale, rearranged a few of my files and started a layout. Too tired to make it work right. So I watched the girls on American Idol and then was fast asleep. I feel like I have the flu. So now this morning I'm debating how much I want to go to work. Ok, that's not the debate, it's how badly do I want to use up my remaining sick time. They're forcasting 7 - 9 inches of snow for tomorrow (and that's now, it'll change by the time it comes. Our weatherguys are all doom & gloom).

There are several blog challenges out there that I want you to remember. The quote challenge over at Heather's CT Blog. It's a great quote. Please stop by and play. Also over at Cherie Shields new CT blog we have a terrific challenge. Do a layout about a Life Changing moment. 1 person who posts a layout and links it to the blog will win a $10 GC to Cherie's store. Also don't forget Cherie's Rock My Desktop challenge over at Gotta Pixel. She's picked a great spring inspiration for March. And keep an eye on Heather's Manning's blog, there's something brewing for tomorrow. It's top secret I think, cuz I don't know what's going on but I think it's gonna be big!

That's about it for scrap news for me. I figure if I do stay home I'll stop by your blog earlier than my new night visits now for those of you on Blogger or Wordpress. If not, catch you tonight. Of course tonight is Island night, lol. Survivor & LOST. Which means that I won't get much scraping done. Sheesh, another reason to *cough, cough* make that phone call. lol.

Have a great day!

a rant

Not much to report here today. Didn't get anything accomplished last night but a few new CT things downloaded and my SIL sent me some adorable photos of the kids. I'm trying to get old layouts loaded into Shutterfly so I can get the books I bought on ebay ordered before they expire. The countdown in now offically on and is at 24 hours. I'll have to get up a bit early to get him to the airport, but I won't mind. There may be no post for tomorrow unless I do it tonight. We'll see what happens.

I guess I can't let it go by without putting in my 2 cents worth. I usually am behind the times and sometimes feel like the last to know anything. I didn't know about a certain store closing and why until way after the fact. I don't know who Tandika is and other than it affected some of my friends, couldn't care less what she does. And while I had no clue what digiscrapping was in Jan. of 2007, I did read part of the the smurf, tunabake, Mo debacle. I read up on these things and look at them the same way as the evil blogs (yes, I admit I read them too, usually a week after the hubbub). It's all a train wreck and you just can't take your eyes off of it. However, this stuff (edited, I'm a family blog) with the pirating has got me pissed off. When this affects my friends the way they were affected this weekend, I've got a right to be pissed off. They don't need the stress that this *stuff* adds to their lives. As designers they don't need to feel unappreciated, used and ripped off. As people they don't need to feel unappreciated, used and ripped off. And as a scrapper, I don't need to feel ripped off. Cuz that's how I feel. I work hard for my money. I sit through long and very boring days, but I willingly and honestly (even though I usually wait for a sale) give my money to these designers because I support what they do. Do you know that IRL when people steal from stores, it makes the prices go up?!!!! And knowing that people are getting this stuff for FREE, stealing this stuff that I pay my good hard earned money for really makes me mad as HELL. Yes, I've found this a way to make it about me. Cuz if we get pissed off, maybe we'll take a stand. And we can say enough is enough.

And with that, I'm off to jump in the shower and go to work. I hope that you all have a wonderful day.

A little chuckle for ya

Irish castaway
One day an Irishman, who had been stranded on a deserted island for over10 years, saw a speck on the horizon. He thought to himself, "It'scertainly not a ship." As the speck got closer and closer, he began torule out even the possibilities of a small boat or a raft.
Suddenly there strode from the surf a figure clad in a black wet suit.Putting aside the scuba tanks and mask and zipping down the top of thewet suit stood a drop-dead gorgeous blonde!
She walked up to the stunned Irishman and said to him, "Tell me, how longhas it been since you've had a good cigar?"
Ten years," replied the amazed Irishman.With that, she reached over and unzipped a waterproof pocket on the leftsleeve of her wetsuit and pulled out a fresh package of cigars and alighter.He took a cigar, slowly lit it, and took a long drag. "Faith andbegorrah," said the castaway, "that is so good! I'd almost forgottenhow great a smoke can be !"
And how long has it been since you've had a drop of good Powers IrishWhiskey?" asked the blonde.
Trembling, the castaway replied, "Ten years."Hearing that, the blonde reached over to her right sleeve, unzipped apocket there and removed a flask and handed it to him. He opened theflask and took a long drink. " 'Tis nectar of the gods!" shouted theIrishman. " 'Tis truly fantastic!!!"
At this point the gorgeous blonde started to slowly unzip the long frontof her wet suit, right down the middle. She looked at the trembling manand asked, "And how long has it been since you played around?"
With tears in his eyes, the Irishman fell to his knees and sobbed,"Jesus, Mary and Joseph! Don't tell me that you've got golf clubs inthere too!

A grandfather clock

What is it about a grandfather clock that makes one so nostalgic? And is there room for them in the households of those younger than the baby boomers? My grandmother had a gorgeous clock, if I close my eyes I can still remember the rich chime of the bells. Shannon's grandparents had a beautiful one too. I'm not sure where either of them ended up after our grandparents passing. But I rarely see them in the houses of my friends or neighbors. Could it be that we are just waiting for one to be passed down to us? A grandfather clock that may or may not work correctly? I've seriously started looking into purchasing my own to furnish my living room. There's no guarantee that one will come to me, since I'm not sure who has the family ones. So in my quest to get more information, I stumbled across this, a Grandfather Clocks Blog. It is full of information regarding grandfather and grandmother clocks, how they work, the retailers of new clocks and a whole lot more. It seems to me that the entry about looking for an antique vs. a new retailer purchase makes a lot of sense. So maybe it is time for our generation to looking into decorating our homes with what we want, instead of waiting and hoping a family clock will come our way.

Monday, Monday

Hope you enjoyed your weekend. It was very low key for me here. Friday night I swear I was in bed by 9:30. I must be getting old, cuz 20 years ago I'd have just been leaving to go out for the night at that time. lol. I still feel like I'm fighting something and am wishing that I also had President's Day off. I'm thinking we're gonna be rather busy today cuz so many people are off.
Yesterday we spent the day enjoying the beginning of Nascar season with the Daytona 500. A terrific finish as most of them have come to be lately. My favorite drivers didn't win but had decent runs and good finishes.


Look at what Kiki Halbert has just released over at PDW. Aren't they adorable. Stop by her store and check out her wonderful designs. I love her papers, they have such depth to them.


I did get some scrapping done this weekend. I'm still a little behind on CT stuff, but the playtime just really produced some of my new favorites.
Credits: Birgit Kerr Just You & Designs by Natali
Credits: Hubba Hubba by Melissa Bennett, Iced Berry by Lindsay Jane Designs, template by Amy Bleser all at SBB.
Varsity Blues & Le Grunge by Kiki Halbert, stiches & template by Lindsay Jane Designs.

SethroTull by Rachel Martin; Andrea Gold temp.

Don't forget about the various challenges. The quote challenge over at Heather Manning's CT blog. It's a great quote and you most likely have one already done with it. I have 3 of them in my gallery already. Also go update your desktop for March. Spring is around the corner and Cherie Shields has just posted a fantastic inspiration for her Rock Your Desktop challenge over at Gotta Pixel. It's a great ad she chose and I feel like it's gonna cause me to stretch some.

Off to work. The countdown has begun and it's only 48 hours now. hehe