Janice's Ramblings

No pictures today...

2012-01-13T12:41:00.000-08:00

Today's picture isn't one from today. This my rabbit Muppet -- who unfortunately crossed the Rainbow Bridge during the night. I haven't had him for long -- adopted him and Nibbs (not shown) from a friend who could no longer keep them. Nibbs is blind and relies heavily on Muppet. I hope that Nibbs will be able to adjust. I will do whatever I can to help her.

It's been a tough few days, so I haven't been taking any pictures. However, while de-cluttering a drawer, I found a disposable camera that still had some room on it, so I did take a couple pictures of Peanut and Beau to try and fill it up. I have no idea what is on the camera, so it should be a fun surprise...

Days 9 & 10 - 365 Days in Pictures

2012-01-10T18:13:00.000-08:00

Actually, this first picture was taken when I was in Saskatoon over the holidays, but I was showing it to my friend Lori at work and telling her the story behind it, so I thought I'd share it here too.

Whenever my parents go for dinner and order a baked potato, they get sour cream with it. However, they never eat the sour cream with the baked potato -- they save it for desert. My dad will sprinkle some sugar on it, stir it up and eat it -- as shown in this picture. Very weird -- and thankfully not a habit I picked up from them!!

Speaking of Lori -- I took this picture of her today while she was sitting in my office. I don't think she knew I took it and she'll shoot me when she sees this... Sorry Lori!!! ;-) I have a blue cooler in my office. It's been there for 2 years. I don't have it there for any particular reason -- I should really take it home -- but it works well as chair for Lori, who spends a little time each day sitting there. It just wouldn't be the same without the cooler there for her to sit on! :-)

Days 6, 7 & 8 - 365 Days in Pictures

2012-01-08T09:12:00.000-08:00

It's been a busy couple of days with not much time for posting my pictures, but I do have some! :-)

I spent some time on Thursday evening re-organizing our junk drawer. I bought an organizer, dumped everything out, sorted through it all and tossed a bunch of stuff and then put everything back into some organized fashion. We'll see how long that lasts! I took this picture on Friday morning...

On Saturday, we celebrated 2 years at the Scrapping Nook with a sale. It was crazy busy, but in a good way! :-) Got to spend some time with my wonderful friends and some lovely ladies from Niagara Falls stopped by and brought me this awesome fruit basket!! This is perfect, since I'm trying to eat better - which includes more fruit!!!

I also got a bottle of white wine from my friends Harold & Gail. However I finished it before I remembered to take a picture! :-)

This morning, I let Peanut outside and he was looking for someone to play with, so I went out in my PJ's and slippers to play for a bit, but it was a little chilly without a jacket, so it didn't last long! Anyways, he always looks so adorable when he wants play! I love this dog, even if he chews EVERYTHING!!!

I should really take a picture of Greg today. He's actually going through ALL the cupboards in the kitchen and cleaning / organizing them! I think the organization bug has got him! I hope it sticks, because there's a LOT more that needs to be done!!!

Have a great Sunday!!!

Day 5 - 365 Days in Pictures

2012-01-05T18:20:00.000-08:00

In my never ending effort to try and eat better, I went shopping the other day and bought a bunch of different nuts to make a nut mixture as a mid afternoon snack. I picked up peanuts, cashews, walnuts, sunflower seeds, pumpkin seeds, almonds, corn nuts, banana chips and pommegranat (sp?) flavoured dried cranberries.

I've never had corn nuts, that I'm aware of, but they looked good. However, I've decided that I DON'T like them... way too hard and I feel like I'm going to crack a tooth, so now I spend my afternoons picking them out of the bag... This is the pile I've accummulated since yesterday...

They kind of look like a pile of bad teeth... lol

Day 4 - 365 Days in Pictures...

2012-01-04T18:58:00.000-08:00

It was pointed out to me recently that I should probably change this to 366 days in Pictures since it's a leap year this year... Oh well! I don't seem to be doing much with putting these in the book I created, so maybe I'll keep that for next year. :-)

I kind of forgot about the pictures today until about a 1/2 hour ago, so I decided to take some pictures of our dog Beau with my iPhone. Turns out Beau is a little camera shy... or maybe he just didn't like the flash, but he did NOT want to look into the camera. Stubborn old dog!!

Have a great night!

Day 3 - 365 Days of Pictures

2012-01-03T18:11:00.000-08:00

Today was the first day back to work after 11 days off. It was tough getting up this morning! Anyways, I thought I'd take a picture of my cubicle, which if I get approved for telework, I'll have to give it up, but that's ok! I'm good with that if I get to work from home a couple days a week! :-) I'll have to find a home for all the plants -- I have no room for them at home.

Day 2 of 365 of Pictures...

2012-01-02T09:24:00.000-08:00

I bought this spool of twine at a store in St. Catharines just before the holidays. I just love it! It has that vintage look to it. The scissors are very light, but they do work. It will look great in my scrap space once I get it cleaned up!

Happy New Year!!

2012-01-01T17:17:00.000-08:00

Welcome to 2012! It's been a very long time since I've posted to my blog. However, I have a new challenge for myself in 2012 -- 365 Days in Pictures. I've created a notebook for myself that I'll be journaling and adding pictures to each day. However, I'm quite sure I'll get a little lazy with that, so I thought I'd use my blog as well. I've even changed the header of the blog to relfect this. :-)

So since today is January 1st, this will be my first day of pictures -- and I'm already behind with the notebook, since I won't get to printing and putting the pictures in there today...

This is the cover of the notebook...

One of my goals for 2012 (I don't believe in resolutions) is to 'declutter'. One place that is in real need of it is my scrap space. Here are a couple pictures...

If you are looking to declutter in 2012, check out this website that has a calendar for 2012 to help you declutter.

And finally -- one of my other 'goals' for 2012 is to get off my butt and get some excercise, so I asked for 'Just Dance' for the Wii, and I was lucky to get all three of them, so I have no excuse now!!

Anyways, if you are reading this -- Thank You! I wish everyone good health, happiness and creativity for 2012!

Scrapping Nook Ltd. - Updates

2009-12-09T15:17:00.000-08:00

Things are well on their way to the opening of the Scrapping Nook Ltd.!   I have ordered TONS of new products and still have more on the way.

The construction in the store will start next week and will hopefully be done before the New Year.   In the mean time, I'll be keeping Tara and Margo busy with scanning and pricing everything! I'm sure they won't mind getting a chance to check out all the great stuff that is coming in.

We are also working on a Point of Sale system which will enhance your online experience.   You will be able to see right away if the item you are interested in is actually in stock.

The support I have been getting with this adventure is amazing! I couldn't do this with all my wonderful friends cheering me on! THANK YOU!!

Only 31 more sleeps until opening day!!! :-)

I'll be announcing details of the Grand Opening soon! Be sure to check back!

Some very exciting news!!!

2009-11-18T18:21:00.000-08:00

Ever since I started scrapbooking, I’ve always had a dream of owning my own store. I would drive by store fronts that are for lease and imagine having a scrapbooking store there.

Well, my dream has now come true. I have recently purchased all the fixtures from The Scrapping Nook Inc and have opened a new store – Scrapping Nook Ltd.

Despite the minor name change, there will only be a few noticeable differences:

Location:

301 Thorold Rd., Unit 3A, Welland, Ontario
Located at the corner of Thorold Rd. and Prince Charles. It is in the same plaza as the new Shell gas station

Anticipated Opening Date:

January 9th, 2010
If possible, we may open earlier
Gift Certificates are available for purchase at any time.

New hours:

Tues, Wed, Fri & Sat – 10am – 5pm
Thurs – 10 – 7pm
Closed: Sun & Mon
Online: 7/24/365

Staff:

I am happy to announce that Tara Etling will be joining the Nook team to manage the store on my behalf
Margo Shute will also be working part-time to assist Tara as well as back-fill when Tara is unavailable to work

Online website/store (http://www.thescrappingnook.ca/):

The online store and the existing website will remain in place
I am looking into an inventory control system so that your future online shopping experience will be an even more positive one

Classes:

Tara’s Monthly Card and Layout classes will continue
The Copic Club will also continue

To start off, our design team will be:

Jen Backler
Karen Thompson
Jillian Anger
Heather Goodes (her focus will be on cards/copics)

Be sure to stay tuned for some exiting ‘Grand Opening’ specials (Date TBD):

• Online weekend crop with some fun challenges and games, as well as great prizes

• Free Make & Takes in the store

• In store draws and games

I want to thank Patti and Elia for all that they did over the past 7 years to make the Scrapping Nook community what it is. They have put a lot of love and time into creating this wonderful community that I have been honoured to be a part of. I wouldn’t be taking on this exciting adventure if it wasn’t for them.

I hope that you will join us as we celebrate the opening of the Nook. We look forward to continuing to provide you with all your scrapbooking needs – or wants - in the coming years.

Pictures, pictures and more pictures...

2009-09-15T07:56:00.000-07:00

I've uploaded a bunch of pictures from our cruise. The slide shows are on the left by destination. Click on them and it will open up a Photobucket window where you can view them in full size.

Now I just need to get busy and start scrapbooking some!

However, in just a few short days (3 sleeps!) I'll be heading out to Metamora, Indiana to meet up with some fabulous friends.

If you are interested in seeing a little of Metamora, check out this YouTube video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x4my_iG71FA

Now to do some laundry so I'll have some clean clothes to wear...

Home again!

2009-09-11T18:10:00.000-07:00

We made it!!! Thankfully, the flight was uneventful -- a little delayed, but that was it.

The drive home was hard for me. I was concenred about Greg driving, since he took a sleeping pill when we got on the plane, but he didn't sleep, so I stayed awake to make sure he stayed awake.

We are both pretty exhausted. We've been up since about 1:30 am EST and although I did nap a little on the plane, it wasn't nearly enough after 3 nights of very little sleep. I hope to sleep better in my own bed tonite. I've already told Greg he can sleep in the other room so I can have a night of quiet... LOL

I'll attempt to post some pictures of our trip over the weekend. I don't remember how many pictures I've taken -- about 1500 or so (give or take). I won't post them all, but I'll pick out some key ones - with some notes.

If you followed this blog during our trip -- thank you! I'd hate to think I went to all that trouble for nothing! LOL Although it will help me with journaling my scrapbook pages when the time comes...

Anyways... it's 9:14 pm EST now and I really need to get some sleep!

Later!

Homeward bound...

2009-09-10T09:36:00.000-07:00

We have reached our final destination -- Madrid. We won´t be seeing much of it tho --- only what we saw driving around to find our hotel -- another adventure if map reading!! But we made it.

Both Greg and I have come down with a cold or something and we feel lousy. Also, Greg´s gout is really bothering him. We have no energy, so were just going to relax in our room. We found a market near by and bought some bread, meat and cheese and we´ll eat in our room. I´m going to bed real early tonite.

I think we´ll have to be up early tomorrow to give us enough time to find our way to the airport, turn in the car and get checked in.

I don´t know what time we arrive home tomorrow, but I believe it´s mid afternoon. ´

So my next post will be from home.

PS - a couple of things I forgot to tell you about

- while driving around Spain, we´d see these woman on the lower highways standing around waiting for a bus. It didn´t take long before we realized they were not waiting for a bus -- they were waiting for ´work´ !!
- there was something else, but I´ve already forgotton. Maybe when I get home...

Until then -- take care!!

A Spanish Adventure...

2009-09-09T12:55:00.000-07:00

Today was a day of learning.

We did manage to get out Valencia without any problems and we also made it to our hotel in Cartagena without issue. I can only hope that Madrid is as easy tomorrow!

The drive from Valencia and Cartagena was lovely. It was a little in the mountains (which Greg loved) and a little seaside. I loved all the terra cotta houses. I tried to get some pictures, but the are not very good.

By the way, I don´t think I mentioned what we´re driving in Spain. It´s a Citroen. I´m not sure what model, but it´s a good one -- fully loaded, leather seats and all. Greg preferred the Alfa we drove in Italy tho.

So anyways -- we arrived in Cartagena around 5:30 or so. We settled into our room and then headed out for dinner. We walked for about an hour, but could not find anything open. Went back to the hotel and asked. They told us about a place a few blocks away. Walked there -- not open unti 8pm. Walked back to the hotel and relaxed and went back just after 8. I guess the Spanish like to eat late. Also, there´s the ´siesta´ that they take in the afternoon. Everything is closed in the afternoon.

We didn´t experience this in Barcelona because where we were staying (Ramblas) is a big tourist attraction, so everything is open. By the time we got to Valencia and went for dinner it was after 8, so it never occured to us that nothing would be open at 6pm. Oh well. Now we know!

Anyways, we go to the restaurant. They pegged us as english speaking right away and brought both an english and spanish menu. There were no prices and the selections were -- interesting, to say the least. Beef, Ox, Duck, fish, and other stuff we weren´t sure of. So the waiter comes to take our order. I point to what I want -- asparagus salad and the beef. The waiter shuts the menu and starts to go, when Greg takes it from him and orders the pork. A few minutes later someone else comes to the table and asks if I ordered the Sea Bass. ????? No. So I open the menu and show him. He asks what kind of sauce... I pick one. A while later the asparagus salad comes -- which is white asparagus (never had that) with a red sauce. It was quite good. Then what we thought was my ´main course´comes out. They put down a plate with barely cooked slices of steak and then they put down a hot grill, sprinkled with sea salt. It´s a ´cook your own´meat deal. So I start to cook the beef, but nothing has been brought out for Greg. So we share the beef with the rockefort (sp?) sauce and an order of fries (I couldn´t understand anything else he said... LOL). Good thing we did share, because there was a LOT of meat and we were concerned that they would bring the pork out later -- but I guess they just ignored his order. So after some dessert (chocolate cake) and a shot of lemon snapps, we are now back at the hotel. Considering the language barrier, we managed ok... lol and we enjoyed the food!

As for Valencia and Cartegena, although I enjoyed the travelling between the two cities, the cities themselves are kind of boring. Not much to see. I have no pictures (except of the hotel) in Valencia and I have a picture of Greg in front of a fountain in Cartegena. Oh well. It was still a good journey.

Tomorrow I hope to get up early and head to straight to Madrid -- no scenic route. It´s 4.5 hours and I would like to do some touring around, since we won´t have any time on Friday. We have a 12:30ish flight back home.

Health wise -- my rash had pretty much gone away and the swelling is down -- but not gone. Greg´s gout is still here and really starting to both him. I think I may have a cold. My sinuses are bugging me and my throat is sore. It also might be because I didn´t sleep well last night. Hopefully tonite will be better and I´ll feel better in the morning.

Anyways -- just 2 more nights and then we are on our way home! I´m sad and glad at the same time. I would love to tour around some more, but I´m also looking forward to seeing my furbabies and sleeping in my own bed. Although knowing that Sweat Pea won´t be there will be sad... :-( Going back to work -- not looking forward to so much... lol

I´m sure I´m forgetting some other important piece of information that Greg wanted me to pass on. I´ll try to remember it and post tomorrow...

Well that´s it! Good night!

Valencia...

2009-09-08T13:27:00.000-07:00

is quite nice. It is similar to Barcelona, but on a smaller scale.

Our drive to Valencia was uneventful - thankfully. We started with a smaller highway, but eventually moved to the main one. It was a nice drive. Spain is a beautiful country.

Once we got to Valencia, things were not so easy. I did have detailed instructions, but I cannot tell you how many times we went around the same traffic circle. We did eventually find our way tho. Then the trouble was parking. The parking for the hotel was full, so we ended up parking somewhere that was several blocks away. It was 8:30 by the time we got into our room. We then walked for 15 minutes to find a nice Italian restaurant for dinner. We just got back to our hotel.

Tomorrow I hope to see a little more of Valencia and then we will make our way to Cartagena, which is about 2.5 hours away.

It has been adventure.

I HEART Barcelona

2009-09-07T12:13:00.000-07:00

i am going to apologize upfront for any typos... spanish keyboard -- things are not where you expect them to be...

anyways, we made it to Barcelona and I love it. I may wish that we had stayed a day longer...

We were up early -- had to be off the ship by 8:30. After collecting our luggage, we took a bus to Monserrat, which was very nice. The drive up there was incredible. Not one you would want to take being tired, drunk or talking on the cell phone. You need to be completely focused to drive that road, but there was some great scenery.

From there we went to the airport to get our car. It only took us 2 hours to find our hotel -- which was only 20 minutes away. We are getting better at finding our way.

Our hotel is in the Rambas (sp?) district which has lots of shops and food -- and a great market. We walked around and found some place to eat -- along with some Sangria. Greg went back to the room I wandered around some more. Did manage to get lost, but did ask someone and found my way back, but wow...what a wonderful city.

Tomorrow I hope to get to the Gothic district. Then we will make our way to Valencia -- about 3.5 hours away.

It is going on 9:30 pm and I'm heading back to the room for the night.

Have a great evening.

It's almost over...

2009-09-06T10:40:00.001-07:00

It's our last day. It's been relaxing -- just hanging out -- doing a little bit of last minute shopping. I even played bingo today and won $108!!! Of course, I've already spent more then that at the casino... lol

I've already packed -- we have to have our bags out by 11pm tonite. We go for dinner at 9, so needed to get it all done beforehand.

Tomorrow we have our Montserat (sp?) excursion and then we'll get to explore Barcelona a little more. I believe our hotel is near the Gothic District, which is suppose to be really nice, so I'm looking forward to checking that out.

We are really going to miss our new friends from Brittan. We've really enjoyed spending time with them and hope that we'll stay in touch. I had suggested at dinner last night that we'll have to do dinner once a month via webcam or something... lol Time it so they are having a late dinner while we're having lunch or something.

Although the cruise is over, we still have a few days to explore Spain. We'll stay in Barcelona tomorrow night and then we're going to Valencia, which is about a 3.5 hour drive. We'll stay in Valencia and then we head to Cartagena for a night and then to Madrid.

Fortunatey, with the time difference, we leave on Friday afternoon, and arrive home on Friday afternoon! So we'll have a couple of days to recouperate before going back to work.

Anyways -- I'll update when I can over the next few days or I'll post when we get home.

Later!

France

2009-09-05T11:02:00.000-07:00

Today we were in France. What a great day! It was an early one tho... 7:15! I'm surprised Greg was so easy to wake up! LOL

We dropped anchor in Cannes. We tendered to shore where we took a bus to Nice -- the 'old city' which was really nice. Somewhat similar to Venice and Rome, without as much history, but still beautiful architecture. From there we went to Eze -- which is nicknamed the Eagle's Nest. It's an old town built in the side of a mountain. It was really nice! And the scenery from there of the coast -- French Riviera was really nice.

From Eze we went to Monaco and Monte Carlo. Completely different from Nice and Eze, but still very nice --- and very rich!! Greg was drooling over the cars we saw in Monte Carlo. As someone said -- there were more Bentleys than there are cabs in Britain! LOL

We've just left Cannes and now we are on our way to Barcelona -- and the end of our cruise. We are at sea all day tomorrow -- which I'm looking forward to and then we arrive in Barcelona on Monday. We've booked an excursion to Montserat (sp?) and then they'll take us to the airport where we will pick up our rental car. We'll be staying in Barcelona on Monday night and then from there we'll be heading to Valencia. Hopefully we'll have better luck with driving and directions than we did in Italy!

Just wanted to drop a note to Patti, Elia, Barb and the rest of the Nook staff. I'm so glad to hear that nobody was hurt at the store when the electrical fire happened. My thoughts are with you all. Big hugs!!!

Probably won't post tomorrow -- but who knows. I will have to get online to print directions, etc. I don't know if any of the hotels I've booked in Spain have internet access, so I don't know how many updates I'll be able to give, but if I can, I will, so keep checking!!

Have a wonderful day. I'm off to meet our British friends before we head for dinner.

Pisa and Florence

2009-09-04T09:08:00.000-07:00

Today I was on my own. Greg wasn't interested -- he was too tired from Rome yesterday and we've seen Florence, so he stayed on board. He and our British friends went into Liverno in the afternoon for a late lunch.

I did go on the excursion, since we did pay for it! First it was an hour ride to Pisa. We had an hour there. Took all the pictures (although none of me 'holding it up', which is obviously the most popular pose) and did a little wandering around. From there we were about another hour to Florence. We had about 3.5 hours there. I walked around and took some pictures, but was concerned about getting lost and not finding my way back... lol and they are very strict about you getting back to the meeting point on time, or you have to find your own way back to the ship. Taxi would have been over 300 Euros! So I did a little shopping, bought some post cards, had some lunch and then it was the 1.5 hour journey back to the ship.

Tonite is our last formal night. I bought a shawl today to go with the dress I bought in Santorini.

The cruise is slowly coming to an end... :-(

My feet are still quite swollen and the rash doesn't look a whole lot better. I'm going for a foot message in 45 minutes. Hopefully that will help. I'm sure my last day at sea will help too, if I just stay off my feet and keep them elevated.

Anyways...it's been another great day. Tomorrow we are in Cannes, France. We are doing Monaco and Eze. Looking forward to that. Then it's a day at sea and then finally Barcelona.

Have a great afternoon/evening!

Rome...

2009-09-03T10:20:00.000-07:00

It wasn't built in a day -- and it's not visited in a day either!

What loooonnnnggg day today was. We docked at Civi---- somethingorother early this morning. We then took a 1.5 hour bus ride to Rome. We bought tickets for one of those double decker tour buses where you can get on and off whenever you want. We toured all the 'typical' places (St. Peter's Square, Trevi Fountain, Colleseum). We then just wandered -- stopped for a nice lunch where I wrote out some postcards and popped them in the mail. :-)

All the historic roman architecture in this city is amazing. And I certainly enjoyed it more with someone driving the bus then I did when we arrived in Rome and drove around for 5 hours trying to find our hotel... lol I didn't take a lot of pictures tho...really hard to do, so I bought postcards instead. Plus I have all the pictures from when we were here 11 years ago.

We've just pulled out of port. We have dinner at 9pm, but we'll be on our own. Our table companions have booked into a restaurant onboard.

Tomorrow we dock in Liverno (I think that's right). From there we go see the Leaning Tower of Pisa. After that -- I think we in Florence, but I'm not sure. May just be back on the ship.

Greg's foot is better, however my rash isn't. It's spreading. Plus my feet/lower leg are swollen quite bad. Almost 3 x their normal size. Greg says I have Homer Simpson feet... :-/ I went to the spa after we got back on board and then put some cooling lotion and told me to go put my feet up for 15 minutes, which I did. I go back just before dinner for them to do it again. I've booked a foot message for 7pm tomorrow, which I'm sure will feel great after another long day.

Anyways...that's all the news for today. No casino yesterday and probably not today either. I'll make up for it later tho... ;-)

Ciao!

Naples / Almafi Coast / Pompei

2009-09-02T08:49:00.000-07:00

Not sure if I got Pompei spelled right...one P or two???? Anyways...

Today was another great day, but a bloody early start!!!

We started out on a bus to Solarno. From there we took a boat along that Almafi Coast to the town of Almafi where we had a little time for shoppping. Then back to Solarno. From there we went to Pompei, which was nice. The weather was very hot again.... about 32 degrees. After a couple of hours in Pompei, we went to a Cameo factory. Not big on Cameo's, so didn't buy anything there.

Got back to our cabin around 5:00. It's now going on 6pm. Going up on deck to take some pictures of Naples. Didn't see much of it at all today.

Didn't have much time for shopping, but I did manage to pick up a cute cotton dress that I'll wear for dinner tonite.

That's about it. We're meeting up with a dinner companions for before dinner drinks around 8:30.

Tomorrow we're in Rome. We'll be touring that on our own, since we've been there before. It should be a nice relaxing kind of day.

That's it for now. Have a great afternoon!!!

Oh yeah.... and Dann... you are my favorite... ;-) (that's for the others, assuming they read these blogs... lol)

Day At Sea...

2009-09-01T09:30:00.000-07:00

It's a lazy day at sea today. Slept in after a late night. Just wandered around the ship, read for a while -- did some shopping. Bought a beautiful Italian silver watch.

It's formal dinner night tonight. Should be fun! Can't make it too late tho -- we have to be up and ready for 7:30 am tomorrow for our excursion in Naples. We are going to Pompeii.

Right now, as I'm sitting here, we are passing by or probably going around an island. I don't know what it is. I'm going to have to take a look at our map. It's too hazy for any decent photos tho. There are heavy clouds over the island. The sun is just setting (although not over the island....).

Speaking of sunset, I took some pictures yesterday as we were leaving Santorini. The sun did not set over the island of Santorini, but some of the other smaller ones. I did get some good pictures tho.

Well that's it for now. Not sure what time we get back tomorrow, but I may try and find some time to post before our dinner.

Have a great day!

Day 4, 5 & 6...

2009-08-31T07:55:00.000-07:00

Wow...Lots to fill you in on!

Our day at sea on Saturday was uneventful. We used the time to kick back and relax. Stayed out of the sun on lounge chairs by the pool. They had plenty of activities (pool olympics) and different music. It was really nice.

The dinner at the diningroom was fabulous - as expected. The 2 couples we are sitting with are wonderful and we have a great time. After dinner we go find somewhere with them for an after dinner drink. Our sitting for dinner isn't until 9pm, so by the time we leave there, have a drink or two and get back to our room, it's well after 1am. That's ok when we have a day at sea the next day, but when you have to get up early for an excursion -- it's tiring, but I wouldn't change it for the world.

Greg is still struggling with his gout. I ended up doing Athens by myself as well. However he did come with me today to Santorini.

My heat rash is nasty. I did go to the infirmary, but the guy behind the desk knew right away what it was and sold me some anti-itch cream. No cost for consultation, thankfully! Our wonderful British tablemates refer to it as 'corned beef on the leg' -- or something like that. So I don't know what kind of image that conjurs up in your head, but it's probably not far from the truth. Maybe I'll have to take pictures... lol

Athens was great!!! The tour took us to the Acropolis and then to the shopping district. :-) It's interesting having some of these old old old remements of ancient Greece mixed in with all the current structures.

Today was Santorini. It is beautiful! All the light colored building (mostly white) against the dark volcanic rock that it sits on. We went to the city of Oai where we had some time to do a little shopping. The scenery all around the island is spectacular. From there we stopped a local winery for samples. Wine making in Santorini is coming to end. No money in it, I guess. The mountain sides have all these little caves that they built into them for storing the grapes, etc as part of the wine making process -- all back in the day. Now they use them for storage or for the donkeys... We then were taking to another small village where we took a cable car down to the tender to get to our ship.

I don't know if I'm taking enough pictures yet. I have about 45o -- but some people say they already have over a 1000.... I guess I better get 'clicking'...

Tomorrow we are at sea again. Tomorrow night is our second formal dinner. I feel so under dressed at these things. A lot of woman go all out on their outfits. I just couldn't justify spending money on something I will most likely only where once. I need that money for my scrapbooking supplies! ;-)

The weather has been fantastic! Clear blue skies pretty much every day and hot! hot! hot!!!

Next destination is Naples, Italy. Until then -- have a great day!

Day 3 - Dubrovnik, Croatia

2009-08-28T15:31:00.000-07:00

So -- the day didn't start off the greatest. Greg woke up with a sore foot. He went to the infirmary ($120 US just for the checkup!). He has gout. He couldn't go on the excrusion, so I went on my own. It was walking the wall of the Old City, a tour the Martime Museum (snore) and then some free time to explore the Old City.

Speaking of feet, I have a rash of some sort on my legs - just above my feet. It doesn't itch or hurt, it's just really red. I think it might be a heat rash, but I'm not going to the infirmary unless it really starts to spread or hurt.

Dubrovnik is wonderful and the old city is amazing -- but my goodness, I feel like I should just be a shell of my old self with all that walking up and down stairs in this blistering heat! Thankfully they had provided us with water beforehand and when we got to the ship, we were given iced face cloths and a drink of water.

After cooling off in our cabin for a bit, I went hunting for Greg. Found him lounging poolside reading a book. The ship departed Dubrovnik at 5:00pm and we were invited to go to the Helipad to take pictures (front of the ship), so I did that. Was able to get some nice shots.

Tonite was also the first Formal Dinner night. We hadn't been to the diningroom yet, so I was looking forward to it (the food -- not dressing up! ). We are seated at a table with 2 other couples. They are related and are from England. We really enjoyed our dinner with them.

There was a theater performance going on after dinner, so I went and checked that out -- Greg had gone back to the cabin to rest his foot. Now I'm here... :-)

I'm going to hit the Casino shortly and then I need to go the onboard library and find a book to read.

Tomorrow we are at sea all day, so it will be nice and relaxing. Maybe it will help Greg's foot and my rash...

Next stop -- Athens Greece!

Until next time...

Happy Birthday, Greg!

2009-08-27T12:20:00.000-07:00

I think I have him an awesome birthday present -- a Mediterranean Cruise! LOL Ok - so maybe not, but I DID reserve us a dinner in the 'fancy' restaurant on board. We had an awesome meal. Heck, I even took pictures of some of it! LOL I'm sure we seemed a little 'red neck' or something. You'd think we never go out much.

Anyways, as for the rest of the day, it was great. We took a boat to Murano -- where they make the Murano glass -- and to Burano -- where they make lace. Since the ship was departing Venice at 3:00 pm, we had to be back on board by 1:30, so it was a quick excursion. We only had an hour on each island. They are both quite nice and I did manage to pick up some Murano glass jewelry and Burano lace. Burano is beautiful with the all the colorful homes. Apparently back in the day, because of heavy fog in the fall/winter, the sailors needed to find their way home, so the solution was to paint all the houses a different color. This tradition still lives on. It's a very colorful island!

Again the weather was HOT! Greg and I both melted on the 1 hour trip back from Burano.

We are now on the Adriatic heading toward Croatia. I'm not sure what time we dock, but our excursion doesn't happen until 10:00 am, so we get a little bit of a sleep in.

Before we left Venice, we had to travel through the main canal. I was able to get some nice shots of Venice from the ship. I also made a 'didn't think before I bought' purchase of a scrapbook album. It is nice, but after thinking about it, it's not what I really wanted for this trip. I asked if I could return it, but no deal. Sucks. Not somethin I can even put up at a Nook garage sale, unless you've been in the Mediterranean. Oh well. Guess I'll have to change my plans! lol

We've met several Canadians now. A couple behind as at dinner are from Hamilton. We didn't really talk to them, but the server had asked them and then mentioned that we were also from Canada. We exchanged a few pleasantries and then went on with our dinner.

I've just come from dropping $20 in the casino. It actually lasted a lot longer then ever happens for me at Fallsview! LOL

Anyways, it's really nice to be on board the ship and not having to deal with traffic or getting lost. I'm hoping that the captain knows where he's going... ;-)

Well...gotta couple more stops to make and I'm running out of time fast. I may have shorting my stories... but probably not.

Although your work day isn't even yet finished, my day is almost over! I'm nackered and think I'll will go and read for a while.

Night!!

All Aboard!!!

2009-08-26T08:19:00.000-07:00

Well we are now on the ship. It's a great ship, from what I've toured of it so far. Our room is nice. I've unpacked everything so we are settled in.

We're going to go for dinner in a little while and then we do an evening gondola serenade. I'm looking forward to that. We were suppose to do that 11 years ago when we were in Venice, but it was cancelled due to weather. It looks good out there so far, so hopefully it won't be cancelled again!

Greg paid for his parking ticket today. He thought I had mis-read the numbers and that maybe it was only 11.20 Euros. Yeah right! It seems he parked in some 'specialty' parking and that's why it was so high. We had no idea. Didn't really see any special signs around. Guess we were lucky tho... if they had come back again and the car was still there, they would have towed it away -- that would have been another 250 Euros! Did I mention that he was driving an Alpha Romeo? He was loving it. He's anxious to see what we'll get in Spain. I didn't do any driving in Italy, but I think I will in Spain... if he lets me... ;-)

We met 2 other couples at the airport today (that's where we had to drop the car off) from Ontario. One couple is from Cambridge, the other from the Distillery District in Toronto. We lost them as we went through all the boarding hoopla. Maybe we'll run into them again.

Anyways...it's been great so far. I've tried to take lots of pictures. Hard to get pictures of Greg and I together, but we'll have to work on that.

That's it for now. I've bought my 'package deal' for using the internet. May eat them up fast, the connection is so slow!!!

Until next time...

We made it to Venice!

2009-08-25T13:43:00.000-07:00

The drive to Venice today was a breeze. I was able to print off a map from Google before I left our hotel in Ravenna, so that helped a big time.

Now comes the OUCH! We drove off from the hotel this morning and I noticed that there was something under the windshield wiper. I pulled it out when we got to the gas station. It was a parking ticket -- for 112 Euros!!!!! Nuts!!! We had no idea how to pay for it, so we will deal with it when we drop the car off tomorrow.

We enjoyed our stay in Venice so far. We walked from our hotel to St. Marks square today which was about 30 minutes through the maze of Venitian streets. I let Greg do the navigating. It was HOT, HOT, HOT!!! But we still enjoyed it. After we got back, Greg had a nap and I went wandering on my own. I was at the train station, on the front steps writing post cards when a lady sitting next to me started chatting. Turns out she live in California, but grew up in Uxbridge. She seems to love to travel. She travels alone, which seems a little sad, but she enjoys it.

We went for a nice dinner and now we are on our way back to the room for the night, but I
walked by the internet cafe, so I had to stop in.

I am sure I am missing details of our adventure so far, but I only bought 15 minutes and I want to get this posted before I run out of time.

Until next time...Ciao!!

Hello from Ravenna...

2009-08-24T13:43:00.000-07:00

Well -- we made it! What a LONG 2 days it has been.

The flight to Rome was uneventful -- thankfully! Everything since then has been an adventure!

It took us FIVE hours to find our hotel in Rome!! The streets go in multiple directions and there are NO clear street signs -- and they change name constantly. Needless to say, we did not really get to see much of Rome at all.

I tried to go onto the net from our hotel there, but it did not work, even though I still had to pay for it. Oh well!!

We left Rome this morning around 10:30. We arrived at our hotel at around 10:30 pm! We had tried to take the scenic route, but that was taking forever and got a little dull after a while, so we got on the autostrada. Bad idea!! It was nuts! We were actually stopped for about 20 minutes at one point.

This adventure sounds vagues familiar to me... something to do with the 4 hour tour around Buffalo... :-)

Anyways, we here at the hotel. A little hungry, but too tired to care! No way are we taking the scenic route to Venice tomorrow. We are going straight there so we can enjoy some things instead of spending the entire day in the car! Although I did see a nice shopping area in Ravenna -- and Greg needs shoes since he forgot to pack his. Nice Italian shoes -- can't go wrong with that!

Only one more night and then we board the ship! :-)

I do not believe the hotel in Venice has internet, so I will post again when we are on the ship on Wednesday.

I do not know if they covered any of this on Canadian news, but Athens is having major fires. Not sure how this will impact our trip. I will keep you posted!

Good night all!! I'm tired from a full day of driving and trying to figure out how to use this Italian keyboard! That the tab broke off my pop, now I can't open it.

Definately time for bed!!

Only 5 more sleeps...

2009-08-17T07:54:00.000-07:00

and Greg and I are off on our Mediterranean cruise!

We will be gone for 3 weeks! We're flying into Rome and then driving (via Ravenna) to Venice. We board the ship in Venice and then go to:

Dubrovinik, Croatia
Athens, Greece
Santorini, Greece
Naples, Italy
Rome, Italy
Florence, Italy
Cannes, France
Barcelona, Spain

We disembark from the ship in Barcelona. From there we are renting a car and driving to Valencia, Spain; Cartagena, Spain and then to Madrid, Spain. We fly home from Madrid.

My plan is to update my blog with our adventures, so if you want to follow us along, check back here often!

Sniff DC is done for another year...

2009-05-05T10:09:00.000-07:00

Well Destination Create has come and gone. Thanks to Patti, Elia, Barb and team from the Scrapping Nook for another wonderful event! I had a blast catching up with people and meeting many new people as well.

Thank you to Caroline from Maya Road for teaching her 3 awesome classes. She also provided some ubber wonderful gifts for the gift bags and her classes had lots of 'extras' too. Caroline is such a lovely lady and I was glad to have had an opportunity to meet her in person.

Unfortunately, I ended off DC with a lousy cold, which I'm just starting to get over. But it was all worth it and I'd do it all again!!

Now I need to get busy and finish off the albums from Caroline's classes and get moving on some other projects.

DC 2010 -- here I come!!!

It's almost Destination Create Time!!!

2009-04-24T07:36:00.001-07:00

By this time next week, I'll be hanging out with all my Nook friends at Destination Create. I'm super excited about it. I believe that there is still a spot or two available for a couple of the classes, so if you like Maya Road, Caroline will be there to teach some classes. I've seen the final products and they are AWESOME!

Also looking forward to spending some time with Pam who will be arriving on Wednesday night.

Now -- if you'd like a chance to win some ubber cool stuff, go check out Jennifer's Blog. She's giving away a magazine and some cool stamps. All you have to do is tell her what you would like to see her blog about! Easy Peasy! Jennifer is going to be at Destination Create too! Looking forward to seeing her there.

Off to do some work -- which pays the bills and my scrapbook supply shopping addiction... :-)

Almost ScrapFest time!

2009-04-16T10:11:00.000-07:00

I'm going to be leaving this afternoon to head out to Kitchener to help Barb and Patti setup the Scrapping Nook's booth at ScrapFest! And then tomorrow the fun begins!!! It's going to be a great time! Looking forward to seeing lots of familiar faces!

Wishing everyone safe travels! See you Friday and/or Saturday!

2009-03-31T10:39:00.001-07:00

We love you Sasha!!

Fab Weekend!

2009-03-30T11:03:00.000-07:00

Poker Night on Friday was good -- although not so much for me as others! I lost $40, but had a good time! I guess I need to work on my 'poker face'...

The classes with Vicki and Layle at Scrapalicious was awesome!!! You can check out Layle blog to see the mini album we did. Vicki's layouts were awesome -- as usual and I believe can also be seen at her blog.

We topped the evening off with a yummy dinner at a Thai restaraunt in Burlington.

Tomorrow is going to be a sad day for Greg and I. Our beautiful dog Sasha will be crossing the Rainbow Bridge. She's a beautiful 12 year old St. Bernard/Husky cross and she will be greatly missed.

On a more postitive note, there are some upcoming events that I'm really looking forward to:

Scrapfest - April 17th & 18th
Destination Create May 1-3

A good time is guaranteed at both events! Hope to see you there!!

Woo Hoo!!! It's FRIDAY!!!

2009-03-27T07:06:00.000-07:00

I'm so glad the weekend is almost here!!!

So..what's happened since February 11th...

Well, I turned a year older.

I spent 2 weeks at home alone while Greg was traveling the roads of Northern Ontario for work -- and I loved every minute of it!

Got a little scrapbooking done, but not much.

Aside from that, it's been pretty much the same ol, same ol...

Tonite I'm going to play Texas Hold'em Poker. Should be fun. Don't expect to win anything, but there will be good company.

Tomorrow I'm at a class at Scrapilicious in Mississauga all day. I'm really looking forward to that. Vicki Boutin and Layle Concar are teaching a couple classes. It's going to be a lot of fun.

I think on Sunday I'm just going to veg... Catch up on Coronation Street and some of my other favorite shows.

If anyone is reading this... have a great weekend!!!

I hab a code in my node...

2009-02-11T06:56:00.000-08:00

and a cough in my chest!

I havn't had a cold in while, so I guess I was due!!! Hopefully it will be gone soon. I don't want my long weekend to be spoiled with a cold!

I had my annual physical yesterday. I swear, if I were a horse, they'd shoot me! Blood Pressure is a little high, cholesteral is high, I'm over weight, I'm borderline anemic (sp?). So, I have to start eating better, getting some excercise and take pills for the anemia. I guess it could be worse!!! Actually, I know it could be, so I'll stop complaining now.

I'm on a hunt for a new bed. I had been leaning towards a Temperpedic mattress, but my friend who came with me when I was mattress shopping, had me try out an 'air bed' -- a select comfort mattress. I liked it, so I think that's what I'm going to get. Hopefully I'll be able to get a good nights sleep! And if you're wondering why I didn't take Greg with me mattress shopping -- he could sleep on a cement slab, so it doesn't really matter to him what I pick.

The long weekend is here and Greg just called me to ask if I had plans. I don't, so he said good. I guess he has plans, but he's not sharing them with me... I guess I'll wait and see! 'Romance' isn't exactly his strong suit, so this should be interesting! :-)

How many more days until spring???? **sigh**

Hey!

2009-01-27T06:45:00.000-08:00

Don't have much to say.

It's flippin' cold out there!! My outdoor Christmas lights are stil up because I'm not going to freeze my buns off taking them down. They can stay up until spring, as far as I'm concerned! I have a big chair out on the front porch too -- and some insulation. Just call me Redneck!

I took Vicki Boutin's mini album class at the Scrapping Nook on January 17th! It was great. Learned a few neat techniques that I hope to try out again soon!

Other then that...not much happening. Have a great week!

Happy New Year!!!

2009-01-01T22:00:00.000-08:00

I hope that your Christmas was extra special and that Santa gave you everything you asked for. I asked for a Wii and Wii fit -- and that's what I got, so I'm a happy camper!

My mom and dad came to visit for the holidays so it was extra special.

Wishing everone all the best in 2009! May all your resolutions and/or wishes come true!

Only 2.5 days...

2008-12-17T10:45:00.000-08:00

of work left and then I'm off for two weeks! Woo Hoo!

Mom and dad arrive last Monday night and are here until Jan 3rd.

I am so looking forward to this -- and am so ready for it!

I'm done all my Christmas shopping and amost done the wrapping (thank goodness for gift bags!).

Anyways, I doubt I'll be back again before Christmas, so I wish all of you many blessings as you spend this holiday season with your loved ones. Stay safe!

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

Are you a Vicki Boutin fan?

2008-12-10T10:20:00.000-08:00

If so, check out her blog. She is selling off some of her 'retired' kits and they are going at great prices.

It's a slow week here...that's all I got for now!

Have a great day!

Let it Snow, Let it Snow, Let it Snow...

2008-12-08T07:14:00.000-08:00

Woke up this morning to snow falling. It's always so nice when it's 'fresh' and light. As long as it's gone by new years, I'm good! ;-)

I attened a Jewelry Show on Sunday hosted by Vicki Boutin and showcasing jewelry made by Jen. I found 2 awesome necklaces (one which could be a lanyard - sp?-), 2 bracelets and a pair of earrings. The earrings will be a gift for a friend. If you love to wear jewelry, check out her link. She does beautiful work. For the month of December, if you order from her, there is free shipping and a free pair of earrings.

My creativity must be off for the holidays, because I have not been inspired to do anything. I got done what I *needed* to get done, but could have done more. Oh well.

I'm almost ready for Christmas. Still need to put out my outside decorations, but the inside is finished. Of course, now the cold weather is here. I should have put them out last weekend!

Enough babbling from me. Have a great day!

2008-12-01T11:47:00.000-08:00

23.5 days left...

It's December 1st!!! Christmas is JUST around the corner!

I put up all my decorations this weekend. What a chore that was! Took 2 days and I still have to do the outside ones! However, I'm not complaining! Christmas is my favorite time of year.

I'm almost done my shopping too. A few little items to get, but otherwise I'm done! :-)

I didn't win anything with the Prima Build-A-Book contest or the Maya Road 'Home for the Holiday's' contest. Oh well. I'm happy with the work I did. I'll try to remember to post them here sometime this week.

Have a great week, everyone! Safe travels, wherever you might be headed (shopping, work, etc).

And so it begins...

2008-11-03T06:51:00.000-08:00

Halloween is now behind us and the Christmas rush starts! Christmas commercials on the TV and radio have already started. I heard somewhere that a radio station started playing Christmas music on Nov 1st all day and will continue until Christmas. That's just a little crazy in my opinion!

I'm am trying to get as much of my shopping done now so I can avoid the crowds at the malls later. I'm almost there! Just some GC's and a few other things to pick up and I should be done! :-)

I'm almost finished my Maya Road Christmas house. A few more details to work on and it should be good to go. The deadline is next week, so I better be done on time!

Aside from that, I haven't really done much scrapping. I did go to the Scrapping Nook's 7/24 Christmas Card Class on Saturday. Elia made some awesome cards! Of course, when Patti mentioned shopping at Costco, I bailed on Elia and went shopping instead! Thankfully, she's forgiven me for that!

I have a few projects I want to do as Christmas gifts, but I'm not sure I'll get them all done. I have to spend SOME quality time with Greg. I can't live in the attic all winter... can I???? ;-)

Aaaahhh!!! It's the weekend!!!

2008-10-17T18:24:00.000-07:00

I love Fridays! It means the weekend is here.

I started off having no plans this weekend, but it seems to have filled up a little.

First, I'm embarassed to say that I completely forgot about Greg's and my anniversary tomorrow! With all that's gone on the last week, it totally slipped my mind. Even Greg admitted he had forgotten until he looked at a calendar. So tomorrow we'll be celebrating our 5th wedding anniversary by going out for dinner.

On Sunday I'm heading to Toronto for the day. I'm going to a 'miniature' show with my friend Carol. She has a miniature house she's been working on. I've always wanted to do one, so this will be my chance to see what's out there. We'll also check out a miniature store in TO and the Creative Festival. Should be a good day.

We Love and Miss You Alex!

2008-10-14T09:31:00.000-07:00

It was a sad week for the Junnor family. On Wednesday, October 8th, Alex Junnor passed away suddenly. Alex was a loving father to Greg (my DH) and Moira (Jeff), and a wonderful grandparent (papa) to his three grandchildren, Mitch, Eric and Josh. He was a wonderful, loving and generous man and will be missed! He is now with his loving wife, Janey. We Love you Alex! Rest in Peace!

On the scrapping front, I've been busy! I finished my Prima 'Build-a-Book' which I will be entering into their contest. You can check out the details at here a the PRIMA blog. I'm now working on the chipboard house for the Maya Road 'Home for the Holidays' contest.

After I'm done all that I have Christmas cards to make and some other gifts for the holidays.

Speaking of Christams cards, if you live in the Niagara Region and want to make some awesome Christmas cards, be sure to check out the card class that Elia is doing at the Scrapping Nook -- 24 cards in 7 hours. The class is on November 1st and is almost sold out. Check HERE for more details!

Well, gotta go get ready to get the hair chopped! Later!

Happy 50th Anniversary!!

2008-09-27T12:01:00.000-07:00

Mom and Dad celebrated their 50th Wedding anniversary on Septmeber 19th. Greg and I were happy to be able to travel to Saskatoon to celebrate with them. Three of my mom's sisters from Holland were also able to join them in the celebration. Here are some pictures from the special day. Happy Anniversary, Mom & Dad!!

My 'Lazy Bloggers Post'

2008-09-22T15:47:00.001-07:00

Holy Snapping Duck Do! I just climbed out from under my rock and realised I have not updated this since they let me out!... You would not believe how heavy that rock really is. I hope they bring chocolate!.I am totally exhausted with cutting my toe nails, spending my husband's money, just generally being a biatch to every man and his dog, my day is full to overflowing from the light through yonder window breaks to I run out of alcohol. I am convinced that I absolutely deserve this after all my hard work. life is like a box of chocolates, you never know what you're going to get.I will try to remember I promised you I will make more of an effort to blog more often until the nice men in the white coats come back. No, really! Don't hold your breath though, you're likely to turn blue..

Just for Jennifer....

2008-08-29T17:47:00.000-07:00

Since I know at least one person reads my blog! :-) Here are some pictures of my 'temporary' attic space. It's a little cramped, but it works. The lighting sucks, but I manage. I'm really looking forward to being able to setup and decorate my scrapbook space when the attic is done.

The area behind the paper racks in the first picture is where Greg is renovating now. Right now there's a big sheet of plastic hiding it and keeping my stuff 'safe'. Where my workspace is now will be a storage room.

Thanks for looking!

The end of Summer...

2008-08-25T12:33:00.000-07:00

is almost here. Sigh....

The attic renovations continue. I've moved my scrapbooking space into the 'back' half of the attic, while Greg works on the 'front' half. My space is a whole lot smaller then where I was and I ended up packing up a lot of stuff that I hope I don't need for a while. However, I've also seem to have misplaced a few things too. I can't find ANY of my Core-dinations cardstock! :-(

This past weekend, Greg and his friend Doug took down the old chimney that was running through the front half. It took them most of Saturday and according to Doug it was 'winter proof'.

Not so much! We had a down pour of rain on Sunday and the water started dripping in. Fortunately I was working in the attic so I heard the dripping and we were able to set up a temporary 'fix' until Greg can get up to the roof and fix it. He says the leak is in the 'old' part of the roof and not where they were working. Whatever! We just need to get it fixed or there will be a whole lot more work to do -- like replacing ceilings on the 2nd floor!

We're heading to Saskatoon in September to attend my parents 50th wedding anniversary party. I'm looking forward to the visit. Get a chance to catch up with some friends and family.

There's nothing going on after that until my parents come for Christmas, so I have plenty of time and no excuses to get some stuff done!

Greg picked up his 'new to him' MGB a few weeks ago. Cute little car, but he's already been doing repairs on it. I haven't driven it yet. Maybe I'll wait until next spring.

I'd post pictures, but since I don't beleive anyone actually reads my blog, I'm not sure what the point would be... ???

Still haven't moved...

2008-07-06T20:40:00.000-07:00

Despite what my previous blog says, I still haven't moved into the back half of the attic. Too much going on.

Our trip to NYC was AWESOME! I loved every minute of it. We did some touring, had some awesome food (Tavern of the Green, Bull & Bear in the Waldorf Astoria) and I did some great shopping (Century 21, Macy's and 'knock-offs on Canal St.). I am so looking forward to going back! One place Greg is willing to go back to!

The summer has arrived and it's too darn hot in the attic to work. Once I move, hopefully things will be better. I can turn on a/c. Until then, I'm staying out of there! Although I still have to move my stuff... :-(

We're heading to Saskatoon in September for my parents 50th wedding anniversary. Mom asked me to make the invites. I finally got those done and out the door, so I'm free to do whatever my heart desires.

One thing on my list of things to do is a 'word' album for my parents. I ordered a 'Veltkamp' album and it arrived, so I hope to get working on that and give it to them for their anniversary.

I'm attending a crop at the Scrapping Nook on Saturday, so maybe I'll be able to get started on it then!

Well, that's it for now. Until next time...

UUuuugggg!!!

2008-06-07T13:21:00.000-07:00

Well the time has come for me to start moving into the other half of the attic. What a chore! I have SO MUCH stuff and there is no way it's all going to fit. So I'm busy going through EVERYTHING and deciding if it stays or goes. Some will go to Goodwill and any scrapbook related things I`m saving for the Scrapping Nooks garage sale. Soon as I know when that is, I`ll post it here.

Speaking of scrapbooking, be sure to check out Jennifer`s blog. She`s posted a `giveaway`of some SkribblzArt. I`ve never tried it, but it looks neat. I`m always up for trying a new technique! :-). Here`s a link to her blog: http://lifebescrappy.blogspot.com/

Well, it`s time to get back to work!

Oh yeah...only 7 days until NYC!!!!!!

Will He or Won't He??

2008-06-02T07:55:00.000-07:00

Greg told me yesterday that he wants to have the attic comletely finished by the fall. Now for him, fall is the first snow fall, which could happen as late as December! LOL

Anyways, there is still a LOT of work to get it completed by then, so I'm a little doubtful. Needless to say, he wasn't impressed! Oh well!

I'll have to take some pictures of where we're at and post them here.

Only 12 days until our trip to NYC. I have an all day staff meeting the Friday before in Toronto! Yuck! I wanted to skip out early so I could go home and pack!

I still have to research what activities Greg and I will be doing, besides the ones he's already booked. I've had a few suggestions, so I guess I should get busy and check things out. And then the shopping!! Woo Hoo! I'm looking forward to that.

The countdown to NYC is on!!

2008-05-28T07:38:00.000-07:00

Greg and I are heading to NYC on June 14th! I am so excited. I've never been there before. I'm looking forward to fun weekend of shows, shopping and eating! And some touristy things too.

I've been busy the last while scraplifting. I've come the conclusion that this is the only way I'm going to get any scrapbooking done. So I have about 4 layouts that just need pictures.

And then there's the classes -- those always help to get LO's done too -- if I ever got off my butt and actually finished them (pics and all). So I've been trying to do that to.

So I'll get lots of LO's done this summer, but they won't be 'original'... LOL Oh well! I can live with that!

This and That...

2008-05-12T11:55:00.000-07:00

Don't really have much to tell. I guess that's why there are big gaps between blogs. And I guess that's why people stop reading mine! LOL

Greg has been busy all weekend in the attic. He is almost finished with the insulation in the back half. Once he's done, I'll have to move my scrapbook space to that half while he works on the front half.

My dillema is that there's no window in the back half that I can put in an A/C unit, so it's going to be mighty hot up there this summer! I think may have to have a little setup for me in the livingroom and just hike it up and down the stairs to get stuff.

I'll be SO glad when the attic is completed and I can set it up the way I want! And hopefully it will be a lot warmer there this winter.

I haven't really been all the creative since Destination Create. I need to get going on some stuff, so maybe I'll get working on things this week. Or maybe not.

It's the long weekend coming up! I'm looking forward to that. No plans except to relax and enjoy!

Destination Create

2008-05-05T06:53:00.000-07:00

I attended Destination Create this weekend, hosted by The Scrapping Nook! What an awesome time!!! I had a chance to spend some time with some great friends as well as meet a few new ones!

Although, I'm not sure I'll ever be allowed to room with Kim and Tina again!!! ;-) Sorry ladies!!!

A big THANK YOU to Patti, Elia, Barb and the rest of the Scrapping Nook team for making the retreat so wonderful! I'm looking forward to doing it all again next year!

There's a big gap before my next 'event', which is my parents 50th in September. Guess I'll have lots of time to get some scrapping done!

Should I ever figure out how to get the slideshow working, I'll post some pictures of some of my work.

It's been awhile...

2008-05-01T06:56:00.000-07:00

since I last posted.

So what's been happening since November...

Well we did our cruise and it was fantastic! We had an awesome time. The exursions were great. I can't wait until the next one -- whenever that will be. I hope to do the mediterranean next!

The first 3 months of 2008 have been relatively quiet. Not too much going on.

My mom and niece (Rina) came for a visit in April. I took Rina to ScrapFest with me, where we had a great time. Got to meet a lot of great scrappers and do a little shopping too! :-)

Rina and I also went to see 'We Will Rock You' in Toronto. What an awesome show! I only wish we had done an evening performance instead of an afternoon one. I'll know that for next time!

This weekend I'm going to Destination Create! I am SO looking forward to this. I KNOW it's going to be a great time! I'll get a chance to catch up with some fellow scrapbooking friends as well as meet some IRL for the first time!

Until next time....

Last day of November...

2007-11-30T06:19:00.000-08:00

which means that Christmas is just around the corner!

Thankfully, I've finished all my Christmas shopping and I'm going to try to stay out of the stores until after the New Year. Gotta save my $$ for the cruise!!

Speaking of which--it's approaching fast too. Bought both Greg and I some new 'swimming costumes' (as my British friend says). We still have excursions to book, but even if we don't get that done, I'm not to concerned about it. I booked the one I really wanted.

Lots of stuff planned over the next few weekends -- Greg's office Christmas Party, dinner with friends, and maybe a 'last minute' Vicki Boutin class at the Nook if it works out.

Outdoor decorations are up. Indoor is going up this weekend. I love this time of year!

Countdown...

2007-11-01T10:14:00.000-07:00

to the cruise! Only 1 month, 2 weeks and 5 days before we leave for our cruise! I'm really getting excited. We've started to book our excursions. We're going to have a great time.

The trip to Colorado was excellent! My friends at the Coffee Shop are awesome and we always have such a great time when we're together. I'm really looking forward to next year in Michigan!

Saskatoon was also nice, but way too short. Didn't get a chance to see everyone I wanted to. Did get all my Christmas shopping done for everyone there tho! That was nice. It's all wrapped and put away from prying eyes.

My secondment has been approved (verbally). I'll be starting the new job on November 19th! Only 10 working days left!!! :-)

Only 2 more sleeps...

2007-10-09T12:49:00.000-07:00

Until I leave for Colorado.

I'm really looking forward to this trip. The ladies I'll be meeting up with are awesome! We try and get together every year. This is my 7th one.

From there I'll be going to Saskatoon to see my family. That will be good too. There's been a few new additions since I was there last. I'll have an opportunity to see my cousin's daughter.

Nothing new about the possible job opportunity. It's still in the works, but it looks promising. Found out another co-worker was also offered an opportunity in the same office. We'll be able to travel together, which will be great!

We also have a new addition to our family. We recently 'adopted' a kitten. Her name is Nookie! She's the Scrapping Nook's mascot, as this is where I found her. She's just a baby now (12 oz), but she's full of energy and absolutely adorable. The other cats aren't too keen on her, but the dogs love her! Sasha treats her like one of her own.

Busy Fall...

2007-09-17T09:35:00.000-07:00

This fall is going to be busy - but exciting - for me.

In October, I'm going to Colorado for the annual get together with my friends from the Coffee Shop. From there, I head to Saskatoon for a few days to visit with my family.

Then it's the cruise at Christmas!! I can hardly wait for that!

There is also a possibility of another job opportunity in the works. If it happens, it will require a couple days of travel to Toronto a week, but that's ok. I'm willing to do that. I hope this works. It will be a chance to learn a few more things and get to work with some great people. So keep your fingers crossed for me that this works out!

Caribbean, Here We Come!!

2007-09-13T19:04:00.000-07:00

Greg and I have decided to take a cruise this Christmas, so today I booked it.

We're going to the Southern Caribbean on a 8 night cruise. Our ports of call are:

San Juan, Puerto Rico (departure)
Charlotte Amalie, St. Thomas
St. Johns, Antigua
Philipsburg, St. Maarten
Castries, St. Lucia
Bridgetown, Barbados

I am SOOOOOO looking forward to this.

I may have to put myself on another spending freeze so I can save some $$. Oh who am I kidding? That's what credit is for!! ;-) Just don't tell Greg! LOL

Summer's almost over!

2007-08-29T08:07:00.000-07:00

Well it's the last week of summer. Next week all the kids go back to school. I don't have any, of course, so this has no real impact on me, except that the September long weekend means the end of summer.

Greg and I have been busy trying to get our bedroom renovations done. The furniture has all been painted, so now I'm just adding the wallpaper, new hardware and distressing it all. I think it will look great when it's all done.

On Sunday we're going for dinner with some friends we havn't seen in a long time. We'll be having dinner at a local winery. Should be a great time.

Last Friday, Kim and I went and had a 'preview' of Vicki Boutin's garage sale. She had TONS of stuff. I managed to pick up a thing or two -- or 3 bags full!!

With all the renovations, I havn't been doing too much scrapping the last week or so. I have a mini book kit that I'm finishing up for Greg's God daughter. Her birthday is in September, so I need to get it done.

We've booked our trip to Saskatoon in October. I'll be going to Colorado first, to meet up with all my awesome friends from the Coffee Shop (online board). I'll then fly to Saskatoon to spend a few days with my parents while Greg is attending a conference.

I'm trying to convince Greg to go on a cruise for Christmas. I think I have him almost convinced, but I'll have to work at it a little more...

It's been a while...

2007-08-17T08:52:00.001-07:00

Since I posted. I've been tagged a couple of times, so I figured I should get on it!

I was off on vacation last week. Busy doing a whole lot of nothing! It was the best!

The week before, I had to write my exam for my ITIL Masters. It was 2 - half days of 3 hours of writing! It was very intense and I'm not sure I even passed. The failure rate for these exams is 60%, so it's not looking good! I was certaily glad for a weeks vacation after that!

This weekend I'm going to spend painting furniture. We just finished renovating our bedroom. The walls are painted a dark green. It's a lot darker then I thought, but the furniture is all being painted an off-white, and the bed linens are medium tones, so I think it'll be OK.

I've been a bit of a scrapping nut lately! I've done quite a few pages. I hope I can keep the momentum going.

An emotional week

2007-07-15T21:29:00.000-07:00

This past week has been a very emotional week for me.

I found out late in the week that someone I had worked with for almost 15 years had died from complications related to lukiemia. He was a really good person and leaves behind a wife and 3 children.

When trying to contact a mutual friend, I found out that she too is battling cancer - Thyroid Cancer. Her prognosis is good, but it was still very upsetting.

I found out on Tuesday that a dear friend - Jan- was admitted into the hospital and was seriously sick. Sadly, Jan passed away on July 14th.

July 14th is also the day a my dear friend Debi got married. She also is friends with Jan, so it was a bittersweet day.

The wedding was beautiful, as was the bride. The reception aftwards was great. We all had a wonderful time.

Thanks to Valene for being my 'date'.

Wishing Debi, Randy and their son Dryden many blessings!!

I've been published!!!!

2007-06-18T17:39:00.000-07:00

Kinda, sorta!

I submitted this layout for Basic Grey's online gallery and it was accepted! I'm so excited. I've never submitted anything before, so this is a big thing for me!

I'm hoping this inspires me to get more stuff done...and maybe submit again!

Wow!!!

2007-06-12T09:32:00.000-07:00

On Saturday, the Scrapping Nook had their garage sale. I brought a whole lot of stuff to sell. I wasn't sure how well I did considering I still had a big box full of stuff to bring home with me, but I managed to sell over $200.00!!! I'm impressed!

It certainly felt good to purge some of my stuff... and make room for more stuff!

I heard that there is some great stuff that will be released at CHA in July! I guess I'll have to make more room!! ;-)

Fun! Fun! Fun!

2007-06-06T07:31:00.000-07:00

CKC this past weekend was a blast! I had an awesome time with Kim, Jen, Deanna and Tina.

We arrived at CKC around 10am and began shopping right away! I didn't really think I would find much that I would want, but I was wrong! There was plenty of good stuff - and stuff I found out later that I missed!

We went to Buffallo House for lunch where Trace and her sister joined us. Then it was back to the convention centre for more shopping. Tina and Jen both won door prizes. Tina gave me hers in exchange for 1/2 of the box of chipboard I bought.

Tina also won 2 submission prizes -- for a card she submitted and a LO for CK. Congratulations, Tina! Judy V. won for her submission to Simple Scrapbooks. Congratulations Judy!

After a crazy day of shopping, we went to Walden Galleria for dinner, where we stood in line for an hour or more to eat at the Cheesecake Factory. It was worth the wait. The food was excellent as was the company! Vicki Boutin was able to join us -- and there's never a dull moment when she's around!

By the time we were done dinner, there wasn't much time for shopping, but we got a little bit done in the mall and then we headed over to Target, where we had 20 minutes to shop. I think we all managed to find something!

We managed to cross back into Canada without incident -- or duty charges! It probably helped that the guy working the boot was a former student of Deanna's!!

Anyways, all in all it was a fabulous day! Thanks ladies for making it so enjoyable!

Now it's time for the Scrapping Nook's Garage Sale this Saturday! I've delivered all my stuff, but I think I may manage to find some more!

It was about time...

2007-05-31T08:59:00.000-07:00

to post a picture of myself on my blog.

I didn't have any decent pictures, so I had my good friend, Kim take some of me last Sunday. She did some creative photo editing (removed the extra large bags under my eyes) and sent me a few. I'll be getting the rest on Saturday.

I personally thing she did a awesome job! Thanks Kimmie! You're the bestest!

On another note, there are only two more sleeps until CKC!!! I'm so excited! I went to the bank today to get my shopping money. I know it's going to be a blast hanging out with Kim, Tina, Deanna and Jen -- and whoever else we 'bump' into while we are there.

It's Spring!

2007-05-22T06:32:00.000-07:00

I think it's finally here! Spring!

I spent the whole day outside yesterday weeding my 'garden'. I put 'garden' in quotes, because it's not much of one. I'm not a gardener. I can't tell a flower from a weed. I basically go through and toss out anything I don't like and leave what I do like. I'll be glad when it's done tho!

The forecast for the Niagara Region looks good for this week. High 20's for tomorrow and Thursday! I should have booked this week as vacation!

Creatively, I havn't done much. I have this 1200 piece puzzle I've been busy working on. I'm anxious to get it finished because I need the space for other stuff!

I have 2 circle journals to finish up and get mailed out and I also need to alter my letter for the Nook.

Tonight I'm going to a Ninabrook class at the Nook. It's a wedding theme, which I'm really looking forward to. I'm hoping it will motivate me to get started on my wedding album.

Well, I guess I should go back to pretending to work... ;-)

Admitting Defeat....

2007-05-07T06:51:00.000-07:00

before it's even over.

I can stop shopping for a month, no problem, but this losing weight business is TOUGH!

Especially when you have the crappy week that I had last week and will most likely have this week, too. I just eat when I'm stressed. Or drink. Or both. Ok -- both!

I weighed in this morning and I'm 2.5 lbs. I'm going the wrong direction.

Guess I'm going to have to try harder at sticking with the program this week!

Time for a Name Change...

2007-05-02T08:47:00.000-07:00

Since my April challenge is over, it was time to change the title of my blog, so it's now 'Janice's Ramblings'.

I'll have to get my friend Kim to take some decent pics of me that I can upload. And maybe one day I'll even load up some pictures of projects that I've completed.

Of course that assumes I complete anything, any time soon!

It's Over!!!!

2007-05-01T06:09:00.000-07:00

My April challenge is officially over!!!!

I'm so excited to be able to go scrapbook shopping again!

However, I'm going to try and be good and not get too carried away!

I even managed to trim down some of my 'wish list' items.

I'm going shopping with Kimmie and Holly on Sunday. I'm really looking forward to that!

Thanks again to everyone who supported through this challenge! I couldn't have made it without you!!

Just ONE more sleep!!!

2007-04-30T05:58:00.000-07:00

And I will have successfully completed my April Challenge!

Wow! I've even amazed myself. I'm not sure that I thought I could do it, but I did!

Everybody at the Scrapping Nook forum were great and very supportive. Even Kimmie who kept sending my links of some great LSS sales!

Thanks to everyone who sent me RAKs throughout the month to keep me on target! You are all amazing people and I'm so glad to have you as friends!

Now...what to buy at the Nook tomorrow....???

I'm almost there!!!

2007-04-27T05:39:00.000-07:00

Only 4 more sleeps and then I can shop again!!!!

Yesterday I stopped at the Nook to pick up my MR pre-order. There was a lot of new stuff out on the table that still needed to be priced and put out. Tara made a comment to me about how hard it must be to see all that stuff and not be able to buy anything.

Normally that would be the case, but as it turns out, probably 90% of what was on the table -- I already had!! There were a couple of things I had my eye on tho and I'm hoping those things will still be around after the PJ crop this weekend.

Eight Days to Go!

2007-04-23T05:51:00.000-07:00

and then I can start shopping again!!!

Woo Hoo!

I already have a list started of things I want to get.

However, not to defeat the whole purpose of this month's challenge, I'm going to try and put myself on a monthly scrapbook budget starting in May.

This of course would exclude monthly kits and classes.

I'm just trying to decide what my allowance will be -- what is a 'reasonable' amount? Suggestions are welcome!

The only exception will be CKC. Gotta 'treat' myself once in a while!

I've also got another personal challenge I've started. To lose 15 lbs in 10 weeks. This will be a challenge, since I've lost most of my weight already and it's the last 15 I need to lose which is always the hardest.

Scrap more -- eat less! That's my new motto! LOL And excercise more...

It's starting to get tough...

2007-04-18T07:42:00.000-07:00

The Scrapping Nook has posted a bunch of new stuff to their online store -- www.thescrappingnook.ca

I was dumb enough to go take a look. They have a LOT of great stuff and I, of course, want it ALL!!!

I've put a bunch of stuff in my cart and hopefully some of it will still be available in May.

Only 12 days to go....

It's gonna be a loooonnnnnngggggg 12 days!!!

I Survived!!!

2007-04-17T12:15:00.000-07:00

Went to the Nook today to pick up my pre-order stuff and my initial.

I even walked around the store to see what was 'new'. Fortunately for me, most of the new stuff was already in my pre-order, so I wasn't 'tempted' to buy anything!!

A major hurdle crossed without incident!!! Woo Hoo!!

Great Mail Day...

2007-04-16T12:58:00.000-07:00

Today was an awesome mail day. I received my 1:1 card from the card exchange at the Nook, and I also received an awesome package of goodies from Marjorie! She sent me a clipboard to alter, some chipboard flourish and hearts -- as well as a some great stickers! Thanks so much Marjorie! This will go along way in helping me with my challenge!!!

And I found out that I have some stuff waiting for me at the Nook! No worries...it's some pre-order stuff that I did WAY before my challenge started!!! LOL

On Saturday, Kimmie gave me some stamps from Michael's and some dog themed chipboard.

I WILL survive!!!!

2007-04-15T19:19:00.000-07:00

Well, it's half way through April and I've still managed to keep my challenge!!! It hasn't been easy tho. There has been plenty of tempation thrown my way, but I ignored it all and have not spent one cent on scrapbooking supplies! I think I might actually be able to do this!!!

Last week was easy because I was on a course all week. It was a pretty intense course and by the end of the day I was too tired to do anything but go home!!

I do have a tentative shopping day planned for the first weekend in May, so look out credit card!!! LOL

One thing I have had to do is stop checking out the SOUP at The Scrapping Nook (sorry Patti and Elia). I just didn't need the temptation. I know I'm probably going to miss out on some awesome deals, but a girls gotta do what a girls gotta do!!

She says she's my friend....

2007-04-07T11:21:00.000-07:00

Kimmie has been trying to 'tempt' me by emailing me about online sales at Scrapbook sites.

Her latest tempation is from www.scrapbookstar.ca where they are having a 20% off sale today. So if you are in need of some amazing scrapbook supplies, go check it out. Think of me while you are there, because I won't be buying ANYTHING!!!! I just hope there's some stuff left over in May!

And the Challenges keep coming!

2007-04-05T06:18:00.000-07:00

Yesterday I was out shopping at Winners and came across a Christmas scrapbook album I've been looking for -- and it was on sale for $12!!

However, I told myself I had until December to get the pages done and could buy another album later -- much later.

Then today, I was stupid and checked out the soup at the Nook. It's great soup, but I really don't need any more storage containers. I have plenty! So I passed on this too.

Be sure to check out today's soup, because it's great!!! www.thescrappingnook.ca

Day 3...

2007-04-03T12:25:00.000-07:00

It's day 3 of my spending freeze and I've already had a big challenge.

Yesterday, Patti posted an awesome kit at the Nook. The kit ROCKS!

However, I stood my ground and said NO!

If you havn't already, you really need to check out the kit. Go to the online store at www.thescrappingnook.ca and check it out!

Time's Up!

2007-03-31T15:32:00.000-07:00

Today was my last day for shopping! So I spent my last $50 at the Scrapping Nook at their awesome 4th Anniversary Sale! Now the challenge begins! And what a challenge it will be.

I'm actually feeling kind of nervous about the whole thing! I've been getting a lot of great support from fellow scrapbookers, but there are those who want me to spend! They want to win the prize! LOL Some have offered (threatened?) to post or send me emails of sales and new products to tempt me.

Bring it on, Ladies!!! LOL

I'll be using this blog to post my struggles throughout the month of April on the various temptations I come across.

I know there's going to be alot of new items at the Nook that will challenge my will power, but I can do it! I can do this! I can do this! I can do this! At least I think I can! LOL

Wish me luck....or not!

Only Three Shopping Days Left...

2007-03-29T08:26:00.000-07:00

until my April spending freeze starts. I'm going to try to extend this freeze to include NO SPENDING. PERIOD. So that means I can't buy anything, except the household essentials (groceries, etc). However, no shopping for scrapbook supplies, clothes, books -- anything.

I think I have picked up all the necessary scrapbook supplies I need to get me through the month.

However, the The Scrapping Nook is having a huge anniversary sale on Saturday, so I'll get my final spending in at that party, I'm sure!

And who knows...if it works, maybe I'll go a little longer...

NOT!

Wish me luck!

My April Challenge

2007-03-23T14:33:00.000-07:00

I've decided to give myself a personal challenge -- to not spend any money during the month of April on scrapbooking supplies.

I LOVE shopping for scrapbook supplies, so this is going to be a HUGE challenge for me.

I posted a 'game' at The Scrapping Nook forum where participants can pick 5 dates that they think I'm going to cave in and buy something. Should I actually purchase anything, the ones who selected the right date -- or the closest date will get a prize (to be purchased after April 3oth, of course!).

So I thought that I would also create a blog where I can talk about the challenges I faced during the month -- assuming I even make it the whole way through!

I'm not good at blogging either, so that's a whole other challenge.

Anyways...stay tuned -- if you want to see if I pass or fail.

Feel free to try an 'tempt' me into purchasing something as well by posting links here to some really awesome scrapbooking item.