Life... One Step at a Time

A new Chicken Soup for the Soul call for stories!

I just received a new call for stories for Chicken Soup for the Soul - High School. Details are as follows:

Chicken Soup for the Soul: Teens Talk High School to be published Fall 2008

We are looking for true stories and poems about your high school years.  We prefer stories written in the first person and no more than 1200 words.  We would like to include stories and poems on the following topics, among others:
. Regrets (lessons learned from making bad choices)
. Sports (making the team, or not.  Winning the game, or not.  Social aspects of sports).
. Clubs
. Music
. Religion and faith - its place in your life
. Dating and sex
. Embarrassing moments
. Humorous moments
. Issues, good and bad, with instant messaging, Facebook, texting, cell phones, emails, the web in general
. Self image, self acceptance - would include coming out, eating disorders, different body types
. College applications
. Grades, SATs, ACTs
. Military decision, trade school, or other non-college plans for after high school
. Family relationships - siblings, parents, other family members
. Puberty - early, late, being a short boy, being a tall girl, etc.
. Friends - best friends, losing friends, cliques, support of friends
. Tough issues - divorce, cancer, suicide of friend, death, drunk driving death, pregnancy
. Failures and rising above them

If your story is chosen, you will be a published author and your bio will be printed in the book.  You will also receive a check for $200 and ten free copies of your book, worth more than $100. 

If your story is published by us, we will copyright it in your name and you will retain your rights to resell the story to another publication.

SUBMISSIONS GO TO http://chickensoupforthesoul.com/form.asp?cid=submit_story
DEADLINE IS June 15, 2008 although we may accept stories after that date if we have room.

I have been published in a Chicken Soup book and the authors are a pleasure to work with! Best of luck!

Wow, that's a long time.

Well, it really has been a very long time since I posted! My sincerest apologies for not updating, as my life has been crazy hectic for the last... 8 months or so? Most of the hectic stuff has been good; a few bumps in the road along the way but that is to be expected in this crazy game called life.

I am still scrapbooking like crazy, although the recent changes in the industry (and individuals involved in the industry) have caused me to be much more cautious about the choices I make in regards to whom I design for, whom I associate with, etc. I will try to post some recent work very soon!  :)

Life with teenagers in the house has become very interesting. There is never a dull moment to be had with a new driver, an independent 14 year old girl, and a talkative 9 year old that keep me on my toes. I got my insurance adjustment in this month after adding Matthew to it (he got his license in December - look out Frisco!) and HOLY COW it is nuts! Good thing he is getting the good grades discount, drivers ed discount, etc. or else I am afraid I would have to get a second job just to pay the additional premiums!

Here is a layout I did a while back highlighting the kids' first day of school this school year. Unfortunately the picture is a little wonky and a scan wasn't possible, due to the lumpy junk I added, but you get the idea. I wanted to take several photos on the morning of their first day back and form them into a collage with notes about each photo, so I came up with this.

Alright, I know this is a short update, but it is late (early? Y'all know me!) and I need some ZZZZzzz's. I promise to update more often!

Peace.

Sorry for my lack of updates!

I have been so busy lately, but I wanted to pop in and give some updates about me and my family.  :) Matthew had all four of his wisdom teeth taken out on Saturday, so he has been in a lot of pain for the last couple of days. Today is the first day of school that he has missed this school year, and he won't be going tomorrow, either. Luckily next week is Spring Break for the kids, so he will be able to heal. No trumpet for him for the next two weeks.

I remember having my wisdom teeth removed a few years ago. I never got any wisdom teeth in until I was 27 and oddly enough, I only had two! Both teeth on the left side of my mouth - one on top and one on bottom. The surgeon said it was very strange that I didn't have any on the other side, and they even did extra x-rays just to be sure. So at least I only had half the pain, but I would gladly endure childbirth all three times before ever going through the pain of having wisdom teeth removed again. That was terrible, but I am a complete wimp when it comes to pain.

I received a wonderful box of American Crafts goodies! Here are a few of my favorite items from the shipment:

These felt letter stickers are awesome! Here is my favorite sheet of new patterned paper:

And these ribbons are pretty cool, too:

I also got a box of new CherryArte! I am in love with the "Alien Invasion" paper - it looks like Space Invaders, and of course the Retro lover in me thought that was the coolest ever!  :) Here it is:

The color scheme is awesome. There were many others that I loved too, so just check out all the new releases if you haven't done so already. Can't wait to dig into their new stuff!

I am finalizing my projects for the Canada Crop for Kids event in October. I finished up another project for BHG last week and have a few other surprise things that I have been working on, so I will share more with you when I am able!

Before I go, I will share yet another deal with you for free prints! You know how I love those free photo deals! CVS is offering 30 free prints, just click here! Order your prints and pick them up at your local CVS store in just a few hours. Offer is good for existing CVS photo members as well as new members, so go get those free pictures!

Great deal on BHG - get a free one year subscription!

Get your free subscription to BHG Scrapbooks, Etc. by being one of the next 1000 registrants for Scrap-A-Faire! Type in coupon code: scrap3fest when you register! Get in on all the fun but hurry - it starts February 28th!

Domonique had a track meet again today and although she didn't place, she got first place at her school for shot put. The weather was gorgeous today - it was 90 degrees when we picked up Alex from school!

Here is a picture of my three that I was able to take a few days ago.  I used it on an assignment I just finished up for BHG. Matthew's hair is longer in this picture as he got it cut yesterday. Now I need to take Alex in to get his hair cut, too.

I have been trying to get my scraproom organized. I am running out of space for my paper, so I need to beg Noel to build me another paper rack! I still have to get the rest of my cabinets installed and get three more drawer units so I can get all of my junk OFF of my scrap counter.

To make a glass cutting surface, I went to Home Depot and bought an inexpensive piece of 16 x 20" glass and applied electrical tape all around the edges to cover the sharp edge. It works really well and is easy to clean, plus it is bigger than the cutting mats I have seen at Joann's, etc. As soon as I get the room finished, I will post a few pictures.

My favorite music to listen to when I scrapbook is 80's music (big surprise, there!) so I usually tune online to Club 977. If you like 80's music, check it out! It is free.

I got another call for the latest Chicken Soup book that will be coming out; if you want it, just e-mail me and I will pass it along to you!

By the way... Scrapsubmit 2.0 is coming!!!!!

Have a great night - I am off to scrap!

Random things going on around here!

First, I am so proud of Domonique. Yesterday was her first cross country meet in Frisco and her school took first place! I was worried that her asthma might act up - and - it did about halfway through the 3 mile event; however she said that she just kept going and breathing deeply and then everything was fine. The weather was absolutely beautiful! It was around 72 degrees after school when the meet started, and after having a bit of cold weather the last few weeks, the warm weather was very welcome. Then today it was 42 out and drabby gray! Ah well, we certainly enjoyed the gorgeous sunshine yesterday while it lasted!

Domonique wants to try out for cheerleading in May at her middle school, so we are enrolling her at a gymnastics training center here in Dallas so that she can work on back handsprings, tucks, and other stuff for cheerleading. She is pretty excited about starting next week.

I just took some tuxedo brownies out of the oven for Alex to take to his school's silent auction tomorrow night. They smell really good and I wish I could eat one! Yes, I am up baking brownies at 3 AM! LOL! Seems like all my creative energy comes to me very late (or early, depending upon how you look at it!) and that is when I get the most projects finished.

Many of you have e-mailed me and asked me where I find some of my good deals that I post here. Finding bargains has always been a hobby of mine, and I actually have an e-zine that I send out periodically with great deals, freebies, bargains, etc. so if you would like to join (it's free, of course!) you may sign up here: Oustanding Deals list

Ok, I am off to bed!

Wow, it has been a while!

Goodness, I didn't realize how guilty I was of blog neglect! I am so sorry! Things around here have been somewhat chaotic, but have calmed down drastically now that Matthew's homecoming week is over! Wow, what a week it was last week! First, he came home on Tuesday and asked me if I knew how to make "mums". I am like, "Mums? For what??" and he said that in Texas, it is a big tradition to make (or buy - hehe!) the biggest, gaudiest, trinket-filled mum you could possibly fathom to give to your homecoming date on the day of the game. I had not ever seen this "giant mums" so I quickly relied on the old friend Google and did a search for the elusive mums that he spoke of. Holy cow was I ever bowled over! There was NO way I was making one of these bad boys myself, so I found a shop in Addison, TX that specialized in them, and off we went to choose the trinkets, ribbons, etc. for the mum. When we got to The Mum Shop we were quickly overwhelmed by all the styles and choices for these things! After about an hour and a half, we created a pretty mum for Lauren (his date-but-not-girlfriend) and were told that we could pick it up on Thursday. Now let me tell you, I was NOT prepared for the cost of these things! This mum was $99.10!!! I almost fainted clean away! So here is a picture (although not a great one) of the mum he gave to Lauren. Yes, that is a toilet behind the mum - please forgive me for shooting this thing in my office bathroom! LOL!

So he gave her the mum last Friday morning and of course, she was instantly the envy of all her friends because the thing was danged-near as big as she was! She is a cheerleader, so we chose a megaphone to put in the bear's hand on the mum. I am not sure how she managed it, but she wore it all day at school, cheered in it at the pep rally, then wore it to the game Friday night. Also, it is tradition for the girls to give a "homecoming mum garter" to their guys on the day of the game, so Matthew came home on Friday with his own matching mum garter - and was pretty proud of it! Here he is holding it, although reluctant to have his picture taken. Please excuse the horrible quality of the photo - I took it inside a dark room with flash (bad, bad Jlyne!) and had to lighten it up quite a bit for you to even be able to see his face. With reluctant teenagers, sometimes you just have to be thankful for the shots you can get and just deal with the lousy quality later! I am lucky he posed long enough to snap THIS one! LOL!

So Saturday night arrived, and Matthew and Lauren went to the Cheesecake Factory to eat prior to the dance, then we chauffeured them from the mall to the school where the dance started at 9 PM. Here they are before the dance, and this is Matthew's first "date". I think they looked great! He was so excited, and I was such a nervous wreck for him that I couldn't even eat dinner. I am such a worrywart!

They really had a great time. After the dance was over at midnight, they went to IHOP with some friends to have breakfast then came home. Everything went well and I worried myself for nothing. LOL! It is just one of those things where you know it is a memorable event for your child and you want everything to go just right for them! Oh - and the football team won their game, so that was even better.  :)

OK, I am getting ready for the celebrity chat tonight at creativecraftsandstickers.com so I would love to chat with you since I am the "celebrity" guest! *coughnotsosureaboutthecelebritypartcough* but it sounds like fun! The chat starts at 8:30 ET, so be sure to stop by, register for the forums, click the "Flashchat" option in the upper right corner, then say hello!