My Friend Karen's Idea

First Chiara had these questions posted on her blog and then Karen and I'm at a loss today for something to write about (mostly because I'm still so damned frustrated that I forgot all my new scrapping stuff at Whitney's yesterday) so I'm using these questions for inspiration:

What's your morning routine? The first alarm goes off at 5:45 for Mark and he is out the door by 6:30. The second alarm is for me at 6:45. I punch it down once and manage to crawl out a few minutes before 7. I'm not a morning person but once my feet hit the floor I'm fine. I must brush my teeth within 30 seconds of getting up. After that I come out to the family room and restart the computer because someone has always left it on all night and I find it works faster if I start off with a fresh reboot. While it's rebooting I warm the milk for my coffee which Mark has brewed for me (Starbuck's Sumatra) and usually clean up some mess that has been left overnight and/or take out the recycling. I check my email and visit with the friends on HoP until about 7:45. I hit the shower, make my lunch and some days take Laura to school on my way to work and others just go straight to the office. I'm usually out the door right at 9.

What's your bedtime routine? As soon as the kitchen is cleaned up after dinner I escape to my scrap room. I have a TV in there and can have complete control of the remote. Sometimes I do nothing more than watch TV or organize my scrap stuff but for the most part this is when I get to scrap. I stay in there until at least 10 and sometimes as late as 11. I then go back to my room where Mark has fallen asleep with the TV on and then I switch to the news for 15 minutes and then to E!News for the last 15 so I can get my fill of fluff celebrity gossip. I usually set the timer on the TV because many nights I don't make it through the first 15 minutes before I'm asleep.

What's missing from your daily routine? More time for my journaling. I get lots of thoughts and think "I need to write that down" and then the day gets away from me.

What is a habit you're working hard to develop? Sticking to my routine at the gym. Many days especially at the end of the week I find myself kissing off the gym and I really need to go at least 5x per week.

What is a habit you're working hard to break? Eating sweets immediately after dinner.

At your favorite restaurant, do you always order the same thing or do you try the special? It all depends. If we are at "The Fish Market" I will go for anything with shellfish in the special, especially scallops but if we are at "Mona Lisa" it's always a #9, no onions.

What things do you buy at the grocery store every single time you go? Milk, juice, deli turkey, Italian parsley, garlic cloves, bottled water and cereal.


What would someone close to you say is your most annoying habit? Rubbing my
nose with my knuckles.


Which outside forces have the biggest impact on your routines? One of the kids being out at night especially if I know they or one of the kids in their group might be drinking. I have tried to hammer home the necessity of not getting in a car with anyone that is drinking, including themselves, but I never can completely relax until I hear the front door open.

Describe the person you know who is most driven by habit. Without a doubt, Mark. He has not changed any of his routines, especially his morning one in 20 years!

It Can't Be Happenning Again

My city is on fire! It appears to be way worse than the 2003 Cedar fire or the 1996 Harmony Grove fire. I am living in fear that the Santa Ana winds will whip up and send the embers my way. If that were to happen we would really be in trouble as we are in the center of the "evacuation" area. This is one of he reasons why California can be a dangerous place to live. Vegetation is overgrown and bone dry. I love this area but at times it can be scary. I am thankful all of my family is safe and that we are together. The kids have no school tomorrow and I will most likely be working from home. I so hope the winds die down tomorrow!

The Things I Do For My Kids

I am such a nice mom! I have a real dislike of clowns – always have. I thought Bozo the Clown looked scary with that flaming red hair and I could never understand why Hobo Kelly never smiled. It just creeped me out. But flash forward to 1986 and my sweet little 3 year old boy wanted to be a clown for Halloween. There was no talking him out of it. Being the nice mom that I was I made his costume and got him all decked out in clown regalia.
Now flash forward 21 years and just this weekend I was scrapping some old Halloween photos and came across the clown pictures. Andrew’s reaction – “MOM, I CAN’T BELIEVE YOU LET ME DRESS UP IN THAT AWFUL COSTUME! IT’S CREEPY.”

Yes, folks it looks like John Wayne Gacy may have returned.

What a Guy!

So proud of Mark! We belong to a dinner group and it's tradition with the group that one dinner out of the year is "Guys Only" night to cook. They come up with the menu, take care of all the cooking, cleanup, etc. Mark was the last to respond this year and got stuck with the unenviable position of having to do dessert. I would have been so excited if this was my choice; in fact usually I have to let someone else do dessert because it's always my favorite thing to do. Mark on the other hand has never baked in all our years of marriage. He decided to make "Italian Cream Cake". I was very skeptical when he first announced this was his choice. Italian Cream Cake is an old family favorite and has been one of my mom's signature desserts for years. Well, I must say except for a quick lesson on how to separate eggs, Mark did the entire dessert by himself. The best part of all was that it tasted as yummy as it looked and we got to take some of the leftovers home!

Gratitude

So for all of you that thought I might not be serious about my wanting to take Deborah Norville's advice from her recent book to heart, here is my attempt at being serious. I created this journal last night and I have 3 pages done already. I've decided to only share the cover only for right now.

I was on a roll yesterday. It was my first Friday in a long time that was all mine. No extra work commitments, no social obligations, just me left to my own devices. Sometimes that can be dangerous as I usually end up wasting time but yesterday I actually got stuff done. Went to the gym early and then did the monthly Costco run and came home to just Laura and I. Laura really wanted to be left alone as did I which made our afternoon perfect. I made about 25 Halloween cards and then started in on my "gratitude" journal. I had so much fun with it that I decided to make a "random thoughts" journal for all those wacky things that pop int my brain and I want to somehow recall later but have no idea (probably due to early Alzheimer's) what it was I wanted to remember. Cracked me up when I looked at it this morning. Made me think of that old SNL sketch "Deep Thoughts with Jack Handy". My random thoughts are not always even that profound!

Some Name Fun

One of my scrapping buds turned me on to this goofy game. Looking to have a little fun this afternoon. Here goes:
1. your rock star name (first pet & first car).
Homer VW (it was a bug so I could also be Homer Bug!)
2. your gansta name (fav ice cream flavor, favorite cookie).
Peanut Butter Marble Oatmeal Raisin (too much of a mouthful – by the time I got it said the coppers would be on to me!)
3. your “fly girl” name (first initial of first name, first three letters of your last name).
Glar
4. your detective name (fav color, fav animal).
Yellow Dog
5. your soap opera name (middle name, city where you were born)
None Bishop
6. your star wars name (first 3 letters of your last name, first 2 letters of your first).
Larga (looks like “larva” – eewww!)
7. superhero name (”the” + 2nd fav color, fav drink).
The Yellow Passion Tea
8. nascar name (the first names of your grandfathers)
John George (sounds more like a male model)
9. stripper name ( the name of your fav perfume/cologne/scent, fav candy).
Happy Kit Kat
10. witness protection name (mother’s & father’s middle names ).
Estelle Peter
11. tv weather anchor name (your 5th grade teacher’s last name, a major city that starts with the same letter).
McCulley Miami
12. spy name (your fav season/holiday, flower).
Christmas Daffodil (ok – that just looks like I’m on crack!)
13. cartoon name (fav fruit, article of clothing you’re wearing right now + “ie” or “y”).
Raspberry Tanky
14. hippy name (what you ate for breakfast, your fav tree).
Oatmeal Ash
15. your rockstar tour name (”the” + your fav hobby/craft, fav weather element + “tour”).
The Scrapbooking Snowflake

Thanks Heather - that was fun!

The Power of Gratitude

It seems like such a "no brainer". Our mothers hounded us for years about it and those of us that are parents have done the same to our kids. I'm talking about giving gratitude also known as giving thanks! Our mothers would say "tell Aunt Mabel thank you for the nice gift" (whether we thought that hideous blouse was nice or not). We smiled thanked Aunt Mabel and she smiled back at us. Later, she may have even given us an extra cookie at dessert time or asked us to help her serve the ice cream and ended up giving us the biggest scoop. At an early age most of us learned that saying thank you has its rewards. Well now Deborah Norville has written a book delving into actual scientific research that shows that people that express gratitude have a more enjoyable existence. I heard her speak last night and I will admit that I was skeptical. My first thought was "oh she must need some extra money so she cranked out this book". Regardless of her financial status I think she has a great message. Say thank you, people! Be grateful! Stop and look beyond your own front yard and see that we all have so much in this world to be thankful for despite it's often times pitiful state. Let's be grateful - express that gratitude and help to put a smile on someone else's face! I'm starting right now. Here are 5 things I am grateful for at this very minute:

1. I have a wonderful family that loves me and allows me to be as goofy as I like.

2. I am healthy and actually enjoy exercising.

3. I have friends that support me emotionally and will lend a hand at a moment's notice.

4. I love my job and the people I work with.

5. I live in the best city in America!

I am going to continue my "Gratitude Journal" privately but use the nuggets I will leave in there on a daily basis to continually remind me how much I truly have to be grate about.