To all of you Olympic Widows, you poor things.

I have been neglecting this blog. And all things crafty. At least for the past couple of weeks. I love the Olympics. So I have been sitting in front of the idiot box for way more time than is healthy watching the worlds finest athletes compete for the title of WORLD's BEST in their sport. Don't worry, they end on Saturday, so I will get back with the normal flow of things on Sunday.

I've watched skiing,

snowboarding,

hockey,

bobsledding

and a bit of figure skating.

But this year I also stumbled upon CURLING. At first it was sort of like a train wreck. It was really horrible, but I couldn't stop watching it. And then, gradually, I started asking questions. And the answers led to understanding the game. And then I just plain got hooked. It's a bit more exciting than watching ice melt. But I like it.

It didn't hurt that it was the women playing when I stumbled across the games.

So, where did this sport originate, you might ask?

Where else but Scotland. I mean who else would come up with sliding really heavy stones across ice, but the same guys who throw logs for fun. (not to mention hitting little balls with skinny sticks into little holes all the while donned in tacky pants. Crazy Scots!





The goal is to get one or more of your teams stones closer to the center of the "HOUSE" (the target looking marks seen below) than the other teams stones. Basically, you slide a stone across 180-ish feet of ice and try to either land yours in place or knock your opponents stone out.







Each one of the stones weighs 42 pounds and they all came from the same quarry.


There are more rules. I won't go into them in this post, but you can google curling for more info.

At this point I am sure you are asking WHY would she like this sport?


Maybe it's because older women can be in the Olympics in this game.


Maybe it's the intense look, and having others sweep in front of you.




Maybe it's the fashionable clothing.

Maybe because I just have a bit of Royal taste.

King Harald of Norway is a fan too.

All hail Queen Jana, fan of Curling.

(all photos are either Reuters or Getty Images)

Menu Monday

Monday - Chicken Enchiladas, refried beans and salad
(edit: We had the Soup. I was running really short on time)

Tuesday - Chicken Noodle Soup
(edit: We had the Enchiladas. Yum.)

Wednesday - Hamburger Helper for them. Room service for me. I'm in DC for a couple days.
(edit: Trip was cancelled. We had Chik-Fil-A.)

Thursday - Kielbasa, steamed rice and salad
(edit: Panini and Tomato soup.)

Friday - Pizza and Survivor
(edit: I stopped on the way home and got some Italian Stromboli's)

Saturday - Chicken with Green Beans
(edit: I had forgotten that we had to go to a birthday party, which was Laser Tag and then dinner at a Mexican restaurant)

Sunday - Marinated flank steak, mashed potatoes and salad
(edit: We had the flank steak and the salad, but I opted for roasted potato wedges instead of the mashed. You didn't really think I could stick to the WHOLE plan for today did you???)

Again, check back for updates as to the actuality of each meal. It'll make you feel normal.

Opus Gluei Challenge # 43 - Ruffles and Flourishes

The challenge this week is Ruffles and Flourishes. My first thought was of my tom-boy daughters' dress. Yup, she got a dress. Not just any dress, but one with ruffles and sequins and bling. This was HER choice. I tried to get her to get a pretty, classy yellow little number. She kept going to this mermaidy, blingy dress. What's a mother to do! Turns out that despite the fact that she will not eat Mexican food, she IS part Mexican.

I had intended to make a paper and glue layout, but when I was getting the pictures ready, I saw the folder with this paper collection and just changed course. Don't you think it's perfect. Not too girlie, but with just the right amount of LOVE. Just like my little girl.

The pictures aren't the best. The ones taken at the dance were really yucky. The ones I took aren't much better. But I love this layout. It really is a special relationship that these two have. She is the Daddy's girl you always hear about. Not the prissy little one though. She is rough and tumble. Which is what made her asking him to the dance was so darned special. I mean who would have thought that SHE would be the first of the girls to ask him to a dance???

The digi kit is from Miss Kim. It's one of my fav's. Check out her blog. She has freebie digi kits every now and then that are really great. The layout template is from Cathy Z's class "Design Your Life" at Big Picture Scrapbooking. I took it last year and am taking it again to get the digi templates. I love her simple style.

Let me know what you think. (Oh yeah, I have already printed this out and placed it in my album. DONE.)

And don't forget to go to this post to leave me a comment about what little thing makes you feel like a Queen, to win a box full of goodies from me. Drawing will be held on March 1st.

Card - Man Style - Video

This will brighten your day.

I nearly spit coffee through my nose this morning.

I found this link through Deena's blog and just had to share it here.

Friday Fill-Ins # 164

And here we go!

1. Johnny Weir is a freak, but he skates purty.

2. I am frickin' lovin' the 2010 Olympics.

3. And the day came when the risk to remain tight in a bud was outweighed by her need to get her drink on...

4. Call me if you get an urge. (wink, wink)

5. Having sweet dreams of you and me, baby.

6. What does it take to get my @$$ motivated to lose some weight?

7. And as for the weekend, tonight I'm looking forward to Chinese Food with my oldest daughters (bet you thought I was going to say Pizza and Survivor, didn't you), tomorrow my plans include cleaning the house and Sunday, I want to sleep in and play!

Valentines Day might be growing on me...

You all know my opinion of Valentines Day, right? Well, I may be starting to sway.

I joined a Valentines Card swap on this cool blog. You were to make a card, nothing store bought, and mail it to your assigned person. I made my card. And mailed it off. Then completely forgot about the swap. I got carried away with other things, you know job, kids, hubby, etc...

Well, yesterday was one of those days. You know the ones where you are just feeling BLUE and tired and don't really want to fix dinner, so you let your 10 year old pick and she picks McDonalds, and you are okay with it because you are feeling BLUE and tired and don't really want to fix dinner. Anyway, after the Mom taxi made the final stop at home for the night, I found this on the counter:

HOW COOL IS THIS PACKAGE!!!

This is the Valentine Card that was sent to me. Honestly, I wanted to jump right into it.

But I waited because there was chocolate in there and I was hungry and it was chocolate and I really shouldn't eat those before dinner. Not in front of the girls anyway.

I love that Catherine sent this in a clear box.

I love the card she sent.

I love that she took time to make this so freakin' special.

She also included a longgggg piece of stamped muslin.

I love it. I can't wait to use it in something.

Did I mention that it is a longgggg piece of muslin?

Well, I am feeling the L-O-V-E people.

So much so that I want to share some of this muslin, and a few other mystery goodies with a lucky person.

I would like to know what makes you feel special.

What little thing makes you feel like the Queen of the world?
Let me know this in a comment here, and I will use the Random Generator to pick a lucky person.

Get your comment on THIS POST by February 28th.

I'll pick a winner on March 1st.

Who knows, chocolate might be involved...

Menu Monday

(this week's image is different because I am doing this post a day late and from a different computer)

Monday - Pork medallions, steamed rice, corn and watermelon

(edit: We actually had this and dinner was yummy.)

Tuesday - Food on the go. Tuesday's have just gotten really busy for us.

(edit: We had the food of the Olympians. McDonald's.

Nothing too good for my family.)

Wednesday - Beef Soup, quesadillas

(edit: Pasta with meatsauce. I had a really bad headache, so hubby cooked.)

Thursday - Leftovers

(edit: Dinner out at Smokey Bones. Headache continued, so we went out.)

Friday - Pizza

(edit: Danny and Melissa went to a dance. Megan, Morgan and I went to Panera.)

Saturday - Reservations - Dinner out once a week is something to look forward to.

(edit: Pizza and Survivor. Yay, we squeezed it in.)

Sunday - Pasta with Meatballs

(edit: Pasta with Meatballs DID indeed happen. 2 out of 7 isn't sooo bad. Is it?)

If you are interested, I am going to start to recap the week's menu. You can go back to last week's menu to see what was actually served for dinners during the week. I think this will be a good reality check for me as well as letting you see that I am not all that organized. I would like to be, but....

Happy Year of the Tiger

GUNG HAY FAT CHOY

Valentines. More Valentines.

I made little embellishments to stick onto the top of little Valentine chocolate tins.

I work with three ladies that I actually like. There are a few others that probably wouldn't spit on me if I were on fire, so they get nothing. Sounds mean, but, like I said before, I am SO not into forced LOVE.

Any way, it took me about 15 minutes this morning (would have taken less time if I didn't have to chase after children to get them ready for school).

A simple 3 inch circle punched out of white cardstock, a piece of leftover ribbon, a leftover punched scallop circle medallion, and a cardstock sticker. Then I stamped with those great 1$ alphabet stamps from A.C. Moore. Oh, yeah, I raised the medallion with foam tape. And the sticker too.

Easy peasy.

And here is a better look at Melissa's Valentines.





Don't forget, you can click on the pictures for a closer look.

Friday Fill-Ins # 163

And here we go...

1. Pickles are what I usually find myself in around this time of year.

2. I would SO rather be at home.

3. The snow is gone. Jiggity, jig.

4. I can see why some animal eat their young in nature.

5. It's 5:16 PM; that means I really should have a drink in my hand.

6. A witty answer to this weeks fill-in #1 is hard to find.

7. And as for the weekend, tonight I'm looking foward to Pizza and Survivor (YAY! It's a new season.), tomorrow my plans include Stampin' Up, sewing and cooking and Sunday, I want to see Percy Jackson and the Lightening Thief.

Out of this world Valentines

I was blurfing the other day, Tuesday, and found these wonderful little aliens. They all come with a jpg and png file. And they come black and white and colored in. AND there are background pages for each one of these little cutie pies.

Greebo T. Cat offers them as freebies. How cool is that??? She offers others as well. You really should go check out her blog. She posts some works made with her designs too.

If you know anything about Melissa, you know that she is not a primping, girlie kid. She is more into worms than fashion. So I thought these would be perfect for her Valentines.

While all 3 of my girls think these are really cute, Morgan and Megan are "too big" to give Valentines to their friends now. Their thought, not mine. I certainly don't think my babies are too old. I would gladly make these for them too. If they want me to. But they won't. (insert sad sigh) So I am basking in the joy that is my youngest. And eating up every minute that she thinks I am still cool. Because all too soon, I won't know a darned thing.

(I used plain white cardstock. I wanted the candies to be very visible. I punched out a 2 inch scallop circle of pink patterned paper. I sized the aliens to fit into a 1 and 1/2 inch circle and printed 28 aliens onto white cardstock. I Stapled the scalloped circle and the white topper to the bag. That is the only attacher on the bag itself. Then I wrapped a 6 inch piece of ribbon around, adhering with my ATG. I colored all the little aliens with my Copic markers. Punched them all out and then punched a 1/16 inch hole to put the heart brad into before I used foam mounting tape (to cover staple marks) and stuck them onto the pink scallop circle. Now all they need is Melissa to sign the backs and give them to her friends.)

Candy choice was Melissa's. I would have gone for chocolate, but there is no accounting for taste, so she got conversation hearts. Megan thinks they smell like a 3rd grade classroom. (?????)

Vision 2010 : Re-View #1

In order to give myself the best opportunity at accomplishing my goals, I need to re-View my Visions.

.. .

I think it will help me to identify areas in which I could use a little push. (Or a giant shove.)

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I also need to identify certain goals, and break them into smaller, do-able chunks. Otherwise I will become overwhelmed and fail. And failure is NOT an option.

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I need to eat this elephant one bite at a time...

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(HERE is the post with my inital VISION)

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And in no particular order of success or failure here they are:

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1. Photos:

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Status - Not much progress here. I haven't spent time with my photos.

Resolve - Schedule 20 minutes for Saturday morning filing most recently developed photos.

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2. Healthier Eating:

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Status - Only SO-SO. I haven't made any "real" effort to get healthier foods in the house.

Resolve - Next shopping trip, only buy from the periphery of the store. Those middle aisles will kill a diet.

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3. Moving:

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Status - I have only done this once. A nice walk on the beach in FL.

Resolve - Again, schedule in 20 minutes every other day on the treadmill. Starting today.

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4. Organize:

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Status - Stil dis-organized in my scraproom. I took a Big Picture Scrapbooking class 2 years ago to deal with getting an organized scraproom. I don't know what happened. I guess I just figured that it was a one-shot deal. WRONG. It is something I am going to have to maintain. (once I get back to an organized space)

Resolve - I dug out my class materials and am starting the class again on my own. This is week one.

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5. STOP:

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Status - I have cancelled my sub to Unity. It was a hard thing to do, but I did it.

Resolve - Cancel my sub to QK and Cocoa Daisy. CD is going to be a tough one to STOP, but I will do it because I have too much stuff already.

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6. Cook:

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Status - I have done pretty good with this one. I didn't cook the day I had my eye surgery only because this time it hurt afterwards. So, Danny went out and got food and brought it home. I have eaten lunch out way too much.

Resolve - Pack a luch while putting the food away. This should make it easier in the mornings to bring lunch.

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7. Less:

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Status - I have been eating less. I have taken less food to start with and NOT gone back for seconds. I haven't dropped by the craft stores as often. I have only been once this year so far. I did take the girls to Barnes and Noble. BUT, they used their own money (I offered to pay because I am a firm believer in books).

Resolve - Keep up the smaller portions and keep it to one serving. Maintain my distance from the craft stores. Try to read the stack of books already collecting dust in the house.

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8. Desktop:

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Status - Still as messy as ever at work. Made a bit of progress over the weekend at home.

Resolve - Set the timer at work for 20 minutes a day to tackle the paper mountain. Keep up with the Organization class for the scraproom at home.

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9. Finish:

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Status - I have finished the Disney 2009 Vacation Album.

Resolve - Make a list of outstanding projects. Rate them with regard to percent completion and estimated time to finish. Should make it easier to tackle. (It's going to be a scary long list.)

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10. Relax:

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Status - So far, I haven't stressed about the progress, or lack of progress of any of the above. I have felt a bit guilty, but I think that will be with me forever as I was trained in the Catholic household of my grandmother's guilt. No, really, it's okay...

Resolve - Keep up a monthly re-View. This in itself is a feeling of accomplishment. Now to get out my iTouch and schedule in some PHOTO time, TREADMILL time and 30 minutes for the ORGANIZATION CLASS. And make a HEALTHIER FOODS grocery list...

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SO, how are YOU doing this year?

Menu Monday

Monday - Chicken enchiladas, refried beans and salad

(edit: I forgot the tortillas at the store, so we had Salad with shredded chicken)

Tuesday - Hot Dogs, baked beans, chips

(edit: One of those boxed dinner kits. Chicken with Mashed Potatoes and topped with biscuits. I didn't like it, but they all did. Yuck.)

Wednesday - Marinated Flank steak, roasted potato wedges, fresh steamed green beans (didn't happen last week)

(edit: Leftovers because I hadn't marinated the Flank Steak, yet.)

Thursday - Chili, cornbread (leftovers from Super Bowl Sunday)

(edit: Had the Marinated Flank Steak, roasted potato wedges and canned green beans. Didn't get the fresh ones because they looked really old.)

Friday - Pizza (and Survivor. YAY. It's back on.)

(edit: Pizza Rolls, taquitos and leftover Chili)

Saturday - Mexican food at our Fav restaurant

(edit: This happened. It was good too.)

Sunday - Heart shaped Meatloaf, Heart molded Mashed Potatoes, green beans made with lots of Heart and Heart shaped Brownie Sundaes

(edit: Had the meatloaf, mashed potatoes and creamed corn. Dessert was cupcakes)

Opus Gluei LOVE & Mojo Monday Sketch 124

The challenge this week on Opus Gluei is to use

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PINK, WHITE and RED.

The sketch on Mojo Monday is this:

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Now, I don't particularly like Valentine's Day. Rather, I don't like the madatory purchase of flowers, candy and cards to display your love for someone. It seems phoney to me. But, if I don't partake, I feel guilty. And when I receive some gift, I always wonder whether it was forced token or not. See why I don't like it.

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Any how, I do let people know that I love them.

And here are a couple of cards I made.

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Nothing too spectacular.

But I did get to use my Copic markers.

I colored the flowers. I love those markers.

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I am going to make a few more cards.

I want to come up with a different design.

If I do, I'll post later in the week.

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(you can click on the pics to enlarge them to see details better)

Friday Fill-Ins # 162

And here we go!

1. I know I need to get off my @$$ and get moving, but,

I can't wanna.

2. December is the longest month.

3. You can't help but love me. I'm just so cuddly.

4. Another deadline; bring it on!

5. Where have you looked for love ?

6. Temptation is now available.

7. And as for the weekend, tonight I'm looking forward to Pizza and reading more about the Black Dagger Brotherhood, tomorrow my plans include pouncing on hubby (you must read about the Black Dagger Brotherhood) and crafting and Sunday, I want to sleep in and craft some more!

Thirsty Thursday

I want this. If I can't have this one. I'll settle for his little brother.

I am a gadget geek. It's who I am. I am okay with it. My hubby, not so much.

Opposites attract. We are so opposite on this one. He's happy with earplugs.

One day...

Menu Monday

Monday - Pasta with homemade sauce made from Emeril's "There's a Chef in My Soup" cookbook.



Tuesday - Sopa and Quesadillas (Mexican Soup and Grilled Cheese)



Wednesday - Melissa Chicken, steamed rice, green beans and salad



Thursday - Leftovers - Yumm



Friday - Pizza



Saturday - Marinated Flank Steak, Roasted potato wedges and salad


I marinate the Flank steak using olive oil and a homemade rub. I drizzle olive oil all over the flank steak, then sprinkle salt, crushed garlic, crushed rosemary and a bit of pepper. I fold the steak in half onto itself and wrap it in plastic wrap tightly. I then refrigerate for up to two days before grilling. The flavor is fantastic. I will use the same spices on the potato wedges.

Sunday - Dinner out {maybe}