Life in North Texas... by a Realtor®

Made it through the day!

Finished up a layout for Scrappers Bliss tonight so I thought I would post it.  :) This one is about the pink Converse shoes that Domonique got from my dear friend Thena last November for her birthday. If you click on the layout, you can read the journaling.

Well, we got through the day! We did not turn on the TV. Thank you so much for the calls and e-mails; it really warmed our hearts. We were going to plant a tree today in our back yard, but when we went to Home Depot to look at the trees, most of them were dying from the extreme drought we have been having, so we decided to wait. It was a gorgeous day, here - clear skies and the temperature was in the upper 80's. We took Alex to the park, Domonique went to a football game with some friends, and Matthew played in a community band up at the high school (he gets community service hours for it, too!) so we all had something to do.

I am working on my first assignment for the BHG creative team, so I am really excited about that! I am also working on an article and layout for Chatterbox, so when I can, I will post them here.

Peace!

Here is the newspaper story!

Here is the link to the newspaper story I promised. I forgot all about it. LOL! Sorry! There is a photo in the actual print copy of the paper, but not online.

• Resident Published in Scrapbook Compilation

Thanks for all the hugs and encouraging words. Definitely counting our blessings, and praying for those in the path of Ernesto.

I am sorry.

I am really sorry, y'all. We have been having a really tough week around here. I just want this whole Katrina anniversary to be over and done with. Probably sounds bad, I know. Anyhow, just a down time for us in a lot of ways and I haven't felt much like posting/updating/creating - haven't felt like doing much of anything, to be honest.

Anyhow, don't give up on me. I will try to get myself together.

Peace.

A few deep thoughts

Ok, this may seem like a simple layout, but I created it for the sentiment and wanted to keep it clean and graphic. The "swirls" are dots of white puff paint. If you click the layout, you can see the journaling better. Again, I am a firm believer in flowers for boys/men, too. HAHAHA!

Tonight I had a great talk with Matthew after he got home from the mall/dinner/movies with friends. First of all, now that he is in tenth grade, he has really started settling in better, here, and is making all kinds of new friends. I am so relieved that he finally seems happy again. I know that 9th grade was a tough time to go through losing your friends and changing schools, and that changes can be very hard to accept, but let me tell you - our whole experience has really taught us a lot about accepting changes, learning tolerance, and not passing judgment against others unless we truly know what it is like to be in their shoes. This was a good portion of our heart-to-heart talk that we had tonight, and it is one of those conversations that you hope to have with your teenager; one that makes you walk away and feel as though no matter what has happened or will ever happened, you have done something right.  :) He really is a great kid. I am very blessed and I don't take these three kids for granted for a second.

My mom just left after stopping through on her way to Nebraska. When my stepdad passed away, she put most of her things (and his) in a storage building. Here it is three years later, and she finally felt as though she had the strength and means to go through the items and get rid of a lot of stuff that she was ready to part with - you know, things like his old clothes, tools, and just general things that she doesn't want to haul around and store anymore. She brought me some things that she wanted me to have, but one of the best things of all - a huge stack of framed pictures of my kids that I lost in Katrina! I had given her copies years ago when the original portraits were taken, but she selflessly gave me hers so that I would have them again. I cried. It is the most incredible thing! Also, she had some of my things such as a copy of my senior announcement, some of my childhood letters, toys (my original Care Bear!), school certificates, one of my old diaries, and numerous other things. She gave me letters that I had written to her when I was little, cards I had made her, and so many other priceless things. This time I want to scan them and scrap them and not sit around wasting time like I did before!

When I was in Idaho, Melody (Ross) told us Chatterbox girls about how she makes prints on a regular basis of the snapshots she takes of her family. The ones that she doesn't scrap right away, she puts into albums and leaves out where her kids and others can look through them any time they wish. It made me feel horribly guilty, as ever since I went digital I have just been hoarding all these photos on my hard drive; not sharing them with my family or making them accessible. I swore when I got home, I would start ordering prints as I could and do the very same thing. Well, you know how time can slip away and our intentions fall aside to make way for other priorities. Alas, I haven't yet ordered any prints. However, after this visit with my mom and looking through her photos/mementos, I realized (again) how important it is to have these photos out where my kids can view them, laugh about them, relive the experiences, and just reminisce - good times and bad. So this week, I am ordering prints.

• And I urge you to do the same.

Oh - and the Tahoe - well, we got it out of the shop but it is still blowing hot air worse than a crotchety old lady so we are taking it back to the mechanic Monday morning. They think it may be a "bad compressor from the factory". LOL Whatever! Just fix it already! So there is the vehicle update. Thanks for all the hugs! I sure needed them! Y'all rock. Again, I am so blessed. Thank you.

Never a dull moment around here.

Wow, was today ever a nutty day.

First, our SUV has been in the shop for the last two days because the air conditioner belt keeps breaking and even after we had the tensioner replaced, it would still make a hideous racket and then the belt would shred to bits. Come to find out, the entire compressor and A/C system had to be replaced, because as it turns out, Chevy has had many problems with our make and model of vehicle, but they refuse to issue any service bulletins or recalls. So, $1100 later, we borrow my mother in law's car to go and pick up our SUV. On the way, we pick up Domonique from school, since she stayed after to try out for volleyball.

So we pull out of the parking lot of her school and then *sputter cough* comes from under the hood and the car dies. Evidently, the gauge on MIL's car was broken and we were OUT OF GAS! At this point, we are in the middle of the road, with Domonique's friends passing us in their cars with their parents, looking at her! Of course, a typical 7th grader in true spirit, Domonique is mortified! Noel got out to push the car so we could pull off the road safely, and we decided he would walk to the nearest gas station (about a mile away). Would you believe nobody stopped until he was way down the road, then 6 different people (including a taxi, two police officers, etc.) stopped to see if Domonique and I needed help. By this time, Noel called me and said some very kind guy gave him a ride to the gas station to get some gas to bring back, then he came back and we were on our way. To make matters worse, Domonique's friend's dad stopped and asked if we needed help, so Domonique was naturally even more embarrassed. She was a trooper, though, although I told her to feel free to duck down in the back seat, that I would not be offended! LOL! The car was a convertible, and we had the top down, so she kind of slumped down as cars passed for fear of being embarrassed. LOL!!

We finally get to Goodyear to pick up our SUV a few moments before they close, and once we were down the road, we realize that the air conditioner is still blowing out hot air. No cool air whatsoever. So needless to say, the stupid car is NOT fixed and we have to take it back up there in the morning to have them check it out.

I am so stressed today! It has just been crazy. At least Domonique got a real-life lesson in problem solving as we tried to figure out what to do about being out of gas. LOL! Poor girl was exhausted by the time she got home and ready for some air conditioning. It was still 101 degrees out while her and I were waiting in the convertible.

I think we are all a little stressed over the impending Katrina anniversary. I think we all agree in this house that while we would love to stay in bed that day and cover our heads with our blankets, that we must move forward and hold our heads up. Things are so much better for us now, but the emotional scars are still very fresh and painful.

If you have read this much, I commend you! I try not to have a whiny blog, but man, today was just a doozy! So send me a virtual hug and a few positive vibes.  :) I could sure use them! I hope your day was much better.  :)

Random tidbits

Here is a CherryArte layout I did for Scrappers Bliss. Yeah, yeah, I know, lots of flowers on a boy page. Nothing wrong with that, right? Am I convincing you or myself?!? HEHEHE

The newspaper reporter came to my house yesterday to do the article/interview about me for the Frisco Enterprise newspaper. The story runs tomorrow, so I will post the link once I get it.  :)

Be back later today!

First day of school in Frisco!

Well, school has officially begun in Frisco! Today was their first day, and everything went pretty smoothly except that Domonique missed the bus (didn't have enough time to finish her hair AND put her mascara on - what a tragedy! HAHA!) so we had to drive her! The bus comes about 15 minutes earlier this year, so she has to boogie a little bit faster in the morning or else get up earlier. Seems like no matter how early you wake up a teenage girl, she WILL still be running out the door last minute, still not having quite enough time! Matthew spent almost two hours on the bus on the way home because the bus now picks up at his high school and the new high school, so by the time he got home he had about 5 minutes to shovel down some food then head right back to school for marching band practice! If tomorrow takes as long, we will just pick him up. It is ridiculous to have to spend almost two hours on the bus.

So we took "normal" (is my family normal?!?) shots and silly shots! The above are my favorite pics of Matthew and Alex. Domonique couldn't be in the picture because she was still off in the bathroom somewhere running a hair dryer. Geesh. Below are my favorite two pictures of her - again, one "normal" and one silly. They are growing up too fast.

Today I got an e-mail from my 5th grade gym teacher! It turns out that she moved to Frisco in 1995 even though I had her as a teacher in Oklahoma, and I saw her photo/bio in the local newspaper so I e-mailed her. She wrote back, remembered me, and we are going to try to meet for lunch! She just retired this year from being the principal of Anderson elementary right here in Frisco! It can be such a small world sometimes.

Speaking of the local paper, I got asked by the Frisco Enterprise newspaper to be interviewed about me writing for the "Chicken Soup for the Scrapbooker's Soul" book! I thought it was really cool, although I am still wondering how they got my telephone number! I will post more details as soon as I know them.  :) Wish me luck!

OK, I have to throw in my music for the day! HAHA! I love the song "Relax" by Frankie Goes to Hollywood (yes, I warned you that I am an 80's nut!) so if you also like that song, you should listen to "Relax" by Powerhouse 5000. It is a great version of the original with an alternative edge. I blare it regularly.  :)

Thanks for reading.  :)

One of my favorite products from CHA!

Alright, I don't get overly excited about stuff very easily, but this product was such a terrific idea and I loved it the moment I saw it at CHA. It is the "Lazy Letters" tote! It won't start shipping to stores until October or so, but man, I am drooling over it in the mean time! It holds all those chipboard letters that we have a hard time storing! The tote comes with alphabet/number stickers to label each container. The containers come out of the tote individually, and they have a unique way of sliding together! Complete with a shoulder strap for easy carrying. You have to check it out!

The products are rolling in!!!

Ok, it has been like Christmas around here! Stuff has just been rolling in from various manufacturers every day! So here are a few cool new things I received from the wonderful folks at Imaginisce:

These are just some of the different goodies they sent me! Then I received a terrific package from Piggy Tales, a huge stack of paper, stickers, and ribbons from American Crafts, and here is my favorite sheet of new paper from American Crafts, by the way:

Isn't this the most yummy piece of paper ever? I love the colors!

I also got a huge box from Krylon that includes almost every single paper crafting paint/paint pen/enamel that they make! Everything from webbing spray in various colors, sheer stained glass colors, the "Make it Stone" sprays, leafing pens, and much more. I can't wait to play with all of it! Click this Krylon link and you can order a free idea brochure so you can brainstorm on including their acid free products in your scrapbooking!

Got some school shopping done today for Alex since they all start back to school this coming Monday. Went to The Children's Place and found some great duds for him! Such cute clothes there. Found him a great pair of OP shoes at Rack Room shoes (can youbelieve this generation wears OP? Like I wore that in 8th grade!) so I have just a few more things to pick up for him and I will be finished. I braved the mall the other day and purchased some Abercrombie and Fitch shirts for Domonique. She is hilarious - she was "in love" with the cute guy on the shopping bag. *sigh* So not ready for all that! I still have to finish her and Matthew's shopping before Monday. At least the school supplies were bought early!

I received a request to be spotlighted by Scrapscene (a "who's who" industry blog) so please check it out in the next week or so. It is a great listing of celebrity scrapbookers and their blog sites.

Someone send us some rain! The other day, we had storm clouds and some lightning, and can you believe not a drop of rain here in Frisco! It has been so dry. Tomorrow it is supposed to be sunny and hot with a high of 104. I think we moved from one extreme to the other. HAHA!

Downloaded a cool song - if you like Kylie Minogue, download "Red Blooded Woman". It rocks!

Ok, off to finish up a project I started about three days ago. I have got to be the slowest thing ever, lately. Peace out!

A breakfast surprise from... Link??

So Noel and I were in the office working on some projects and there was a noise coming from the kitchen. Next thing we knew, Alex came around the corner carrying this "tray" (cookie sheet!) containing two slices of toast with cinnamon butter and two glasses of ice along with our favorite beverage - Diet Pepsi! Yes, that is a Zelda hat he is wearing, albeit a homemade version. he loves the game Zelda, and he asked his grandma to sew him a hat just like the one that Link wears in the game. This kid wears that hat everywhere - even falls asleep with it on sometimes! So here is our breakfast surprise from Link himself. What a lil' sweetheart! The caffeine was just what we needed to start the day.

Summer is flying by. Matthew started band camp this morning and will practice twice a day for the next two weeks, in order to get ready for marching band season. Alex and Domonique are busy trying to squeeze in the last few weeks of summer by swimming, socializing, and sleeping in late.

I received a phone call tonight from one of my lost long best friends! I haven't talked to him in nine years, as we lost contact. It was awesome to hear from him and see how he has been doing. I had so much to tell him about things that have happened over the years.

I have been thinking a lot lately about karma. Yes, that old adage that pretty much says what goes around comes around.

• "Whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap." St Paul, Galatians 6-7

I firmly believe that you should do unto others the way you wish for them to do unto you. If you wish ill will toward someone, I believe that it will return tenfold. Gossip and nastiness not only can consume a person, but it can also create negativity around its originator. I try to think positively about those around me, even if I don't agree with their ideals, their views, or their attitude. I believe that you get what you give, not only in the creative industry, but in real life as well.  :)

Well, what do you expect - it is late, and I do tend to turn philosophical in the wee hours. LOL! Have a great night! Peace.