Makeover, anyone?

Don't ya just love makeovers? I decided it was time for a blog makeover. I've used the same template since I started (over a year ago - wow!) so it was past time, actually. Of course, I didn't realize until after I changed the template that I would lose all of the customizing I had done (like the links section on the sidebar). I've managed to add a couple links back in but since I can't even remember what else I had in the sidebar... that'll be all for now I guess. LOL

Once Upon a Time

Some of you might know that I took over the monthly Book of Me class back in November when the previous instructor (my friend Kimberly) moved to Colorado (miss her!!!). I enjoy it - putting together layouts with free goodies (lol), getting together with the regular group every month, sometimes sharing a new technique - but coming up with a new theme and layout that wows me every month can be challenging! I have such perfectionist tendencies and can set such high expectations for myself... I really need to learn to loosen up and just enjoy more. LOL Anyway, here's the layout from January's BOM class. I went with a childhood theme and titled it Once Upon a Time. The photo is me at about age 3 and there are tabs that list my favorite things, toys, clothes and books from childhood (not just at that particular age). It was great to see the other ladies in class make a few changes here and there on their own layouts to really make it their own. I love that. I'm so not about copying something down to the smallest detail. Use it for inspiration and then make it your own! Some of the ladies used pop dots to pop up the word TIME, some changed the favorites to tv shows, friends, etc. The January layout seemed to be a big hit (huge relief)... and now it's on to planning next month's layout. The pressure's on! LOL

Lucky Girl

I'm so lucky to have a husband who not has the ability to make/fix/repair things (he is so beyond "handy") but is also more than willing to take on new projects. From big things - like installing new French doors - to small things - like making me this awesome base to hold my Quickutz Squeeze. He even painted it pink for me. :) I'm so thankful for Robert and all that he does for me, for us, and for our home.

Tag, I'm It!

A-Available or Taken: quite taken

B-Best Friend: Robert, my sisters

C-Cake or Pie: ummm, cake I guess (not much of a sweets eater)

D-Drink of Choice: sweet tea (house wine of the south)

E-Essential Item You Use Everyday: Clinique raspberry glace lipstick

F-Favorite Color: purple

G-Gummy Bears or Worms: gummy bears

H-Hometown: Jacksonville, FL

I-Indulgence: getting my hair highlighted every six weeks or so

J-January or February: um, both... love that cold weather

K-Kids and Names: no kids (by choice)

L-Life is Incomplete Without: Robert, my parents, my sisters

M-Marriage Date: May 1, 1999

N-Number of Siblings: 2 sisters

O-Oranges or Apples: apples, I guess

P-Phobias or Fears: heights

Q-Favorite Quote: Women are meant to be loved, not to be understood. - Oscar Wilde

R-Reason to Smile: being married to my angel of a husband

S-Season: winter

T-Tag 3 or 4 people: Dawn, Cami, and Shirley

U-Unknown fact about me: If I tell it's no longer unknown!

V-Vegetable you don't like: green peppers (ack!)

W-Worst Habit: not staying in touch with family/friends better

X-Xrays: teeth (can't think of any others)

Y-Your fave food: potatoes (in any incarnation)

Z-Zodiac: virgo

Picture Time!

It's been a while since I've posted any pics so I thought I would share some tonight. Most people already know that I'm a step grandmother. And for those that didn't... surprise! LOL Yep, at the ripe old age of 38. Actually, I've been a grandmother for years... Robert's oldest grandchild is 13. Robert has 4 kids and, as of just a couple weeks ago, 5 grandchildren. And one more on the way! My stepdaughter (the one who lived with us for several months and now lives in the Atlanta area) gave birth on the 16th of December. He is named for Ashley's husband, Migel, but they say they will call him Mikey. Here he is:

We also have a nine month old granddaughter named Jazmyn who is too cute for words (not that I'm biased - lol). Here's a photo of her that was taken at 5 months:

Lastly, here's a pic from this past Thanksgiving. The whole family was milling about in the kitchen at my parent's house and I managed to get an impromptu group shot:

Catching Up: Dec 16 - Dec 31

Almost caught up... but still have to get thru the end of the year and all that entails.

Time Off - It worked out that week before Christmas was rather quite at the office so I decided to take a couple days off. Friday the 22nd and Tuesday the 26th. Made it a nice looong holiday weekend! Loved it! Robert was off that Friday as well so we had a good day just being together, taking care of last minute errands and gift wrapping. And the Tuesday after Christmas was good... just a day to myself. I love those.

Road Trip - Robert found some truck accessory on eBay that he had to have (some kind of topper) and it was cheaper to go get it than pay for shipping, so on the 16th (a Saturday) we drove down to Boca Raton (just above Miami). We had hotel reservations down around Ft. Pierce but by the time we picked up the topper in Boca and got back up to Ft. Pierce it was only 3:00pm and it seemed crazy to spend the night when we could be home in another 4 hours or so. So we drove straight on back, thru road construction and hellacious rain, and got home just before 8pm. Looong day... and I'm not the best little traveler. But Robert is thrilled with his new topper-thingy, so it was worth it. :-)

Christmas - Christmas Eve at my parent's house was a lot of fun... as usual. We all meet over there around 6pm or so, hang out, have dinner (it's always something casual and easy) and open gifts. Very low-key. It's fun to see my two nephews get so excited over their gifts. :-) Sometimes I try to remember what it was like before they were here... boy, it must have been boring! lol I received several wonderful gifts from my parents and sisters... a gorgeous Liz Claiborne bag (I have a real weakness for LC purses), a to-die-for red cardigan with a fur collar, two gift certificates to a scrapbook store, a cashmere scarf in a beautiful shade of pale purple, an altered box and a glass storage jar with a lid that is personalized with "Tanya-san." (Terri and I have been calling each other Tanya-san and Terri-san for years... don't ask.) That had to be one of my favorites. It was just so personal and obvious thought went into it. And I think of Terri and smile every time I see it. :-)

Christmas morning at home was quiet with just me and Robert. We had a nice time exchanging our gifts... and Robert definitely surprised me with one of mine! For the past 5-6 years we've put a limit of $100 on what we spend on one another. Simply because there is absoltely nothing we need (and we're hard pressed sometimes to come up with things we want!) and also because the buying was getting out of hand. Hence the limit. So imagine my surprise when I opened a package to find an ipod video! I'd been kicking around the idea of getting an ipod for the last couple months and figured that after the new year and I might get one. But probably the nano - which I could get on base at the Exchange for $149. ;-) Before I could protest the expensive gift, Robert explained how he had won it in a United Way raffle at work. Very cool! I'm so loving it and have been having a blast loading it up with all my favorite music. In addition to the ipod, Robert got me my favorite Clinique lipstick (raspberry glacee, for those of you who are dying to know), a Liz Claiborne purse (did I mention that I love those?), two clear stamp sets, and a gift certificate from my Stampin' Up! rep (who also happens to be my friend and the previous BOM class instructor). Can't wait to put that to use! Anyway, we went back over to my parent's for lunch, and then out to my sister's house at the beach to see what Santa brought my nephews, and then it was back home. Another wonderful Christmas with family.

BOM Class - The Thursday after Christmas (the 28th) was the monthly Book of Me class which went really well. I was so loving my layout and I was excited to share it. It seemed to go over well and everyone had a good time. I'll have to post a pic of it later. Now to come up with an idea for January's class... the pressure's on. lol

New Year's Eve - Well, this should be short. Because I am so not one of those people who feels the need to be somewhere at the stroke of midnight. Other than home, that is. Robert and I went out for a late dinner then it was back home. He read and watched tv while I worked on a layout for a Scrap101 challenge. I was uploading the layout at 11:58pm just as all the fireworks in my neighborhood started going off like crazy. Pretty cool. By 12:30 I was in bed... and I only made it that long because I'd had a nap that afternoon. lol

So, that brings us pretty much up to date. And now that the holidays are over I hope to get back into the habit of regular blog postings. I've been missing that.

Catching Up: Dec 1 - Dec 15

December came and the pre-holiday craziness was in full effect. So much to do! List of gift ideas and errands to run, decorating the house, holiday functions, gift wrapping, wondering who you've forgotten and living in fear that someone will give you a gift and you have nothing for them. ;-) The recap continues...

Scrap Nite with Terri - My younger sister and I love to scrap together. For a while we were getting together fairly regularly at my house but that started falling by the wayside. It was in December that we decided to make it a monthly thing and it goes on the calendar... not to be missed. And we'll alternate her house/my house. On Friday the 8th I drove out to her house and we had a great time. We munched on some Wendy's take-out before we got started (scrapper's need sustenance, of course!) and then hit the scrap room. She worked on a couple pages and I worked on a 2007 calendar/planner. One thing I remember is that it was so incredibly cold that night! When I left her house around 11pm to head home the temp was hovering right around the freezing mark. And for all of you who are wondering what the big deal is: for Florida in early December... that's COLD! :-)

Robert's Birthday - We tend to not make a major deal over birthdays... but of course they still get recognized. Robert's birthday is December 13th and I took him out to dinner and gave him a bottle of Polo (that's all he wears and he was all out - I love that stuff!). He turned 52 which is hard to believe sometimes... he's such a big kid. LOL

Lab Work - I had to go for glucose intolerance testing on the 14th. Ugh! I'm not one of those who is squeamish over blood work or needles, but I must say that I didn't do too well with this one. I had to fast before the test so by the end of the 4 hours or so at the lab it was going on noon and I'd had nothing to eat or drink since roughly 6:30 the previous nite. I was doing okay until the last blood draw. By then I was so queasy and light-headed. Plus I was getting that fuzzy, everything's far away, going to pass out feeling. Yuck! The lab techs kept asking if I needed to call someone to come get me but I said no. In hindsight it was a foolish thing to do, but I drove myself to the office, stopping for something to eat on the way. I stayed until about 3pm and finally went home. That really took more out of me than I thought it would.

Holiday Luncheon - My company holiday luncheon was on Friday the 15th and that turned out so well. It was catered by Sterlings (a local upscale restaurant) with traditional holiday fare: turkey, ham, cornbread dressing, etc. Dee-lish. Service awards are prsented every year at the holiday party - the company recognizes employees for 5, 10, 15 and 20 years of service. This being my 15th year with the company... I was recognized, too (along with several others). Instead of being given a token gift, everyone receives a small catalog of items to choose from (with different options for 5 years, 10 years, etc). I haven't decided on what to get yet... but I'm eyeing a pretty silver ring. :-)

Those were the highlights (although I don't know if almost passing out after lab work can be considered a highlight - ha!) from the first half of December. More catching up from the end of the year to come...