Scrapaholic

One of the loves in my life is Scrapbooking from now on referred to as SB! I've been doing this all my life, just didn't realize it! I always put together photo albums, cropped photos, and put captions on my photos. I would even put Who, What, When, and Where in the photo albums. But like most people I used those magnetic albums. Oh my, I have 15 years of albums to redo, with my photos all washed out thanks to the acid eating them away.

In the mid '90s a whole new world opened up. What is now considered standard SB was then brand new! Safe scrapbooks, Acid Free, use colored paper to bring out your photos, be artistic, get fancy scissors to Crop your photos, use stickers, die cuts, and acid free pens. Just like Tupperware, SB parties became the rage! I taught SB to friends, remember, this was new, you couldn't find supplies in every store! I was considered strange, I spent time creating works of art for my photos. Why did I do this? Who was going to care? Hopefully my children would care. Well, look we we've come in 10 years time! Everyone seems to be SB now, you can find supplies at every craft store, some drug stores, grocery stores, and there are even SB stores! Here is a picture of SOME of my completed albums from the last 10 years:



Yes, SB has become so popular that you can go online and make scrapbooks there, and the company will print, bind, and ship to your door. For those who don't have time this one alternative. I also know that there are women out there who you can pay to make your scrapbook for you! Here are some online samples:




This one doesn't surprise you does it?



These are a couple that I made at Snapfish.com, love that sight!

I even have a coffee table where I can show off SB talent if I want to. I put my knowledge to use and did this in 5 minutes!



Now a days there is even software that you can use to design your entire page, order it and slip it into a scrapbook. Everyone keeps telling me I'll love this, but I've done traditional SB for so long I just don't know. Besides, when I have a place like this to retreat to, who wants to spend ALL the time working on the computer?



And just another quick notation - my 4 children do ENJOY taking out their scrapbooks from time to time and reliving all the good memories and times that are preserved in those wonderful albums. It is worth it!

Happy Scrappin'!

Cozyflier

Sisters

I'm the baby of the family, I'm 48 and still considered the baby! My brother and sister are 17 months apart, however, my sister is 12 1/2 years older than I am!

S. Gail is wonderful, I never would have made it through Jr. High and Sr. High math without her! Bless her for hanging around the house a few extra years. I have dyslexia, and though I can read a blue streak, I can transpose numbers something fierce. Just ask Kevin when he trys to balance to the checkbook! Back in the '60's the school system on the S. side of Chicago either didn't or wouldn't test me for dyslexia. Mom knew I had it, she never told me though. All I know is I struggled with homework. Gail could help me and get me to understand it, where as dad even though he didn't mean to had me in tears in nothing flat!

Gail and I did a lot of cool things together. We went to movies, would go downtown to WMAQ radio (dad worked for NBC) and help Jim Hill host the radio show all night long! Gail took me to Mensa Rg's and AG's. One summer we went to LA! I saved all my babysitting money and we had a blast. Disney Land, Universal Studios, swimming in the pool, meeting Issac Asimov, and almost flying in a small plane!

The really cool thing I remember is that we looked a lot alike. We could pass for twins, which when I was 15 and she was 27 was hoot for both of us!

You may ask why I decided to do a blog about my sister now? Well, today, Feb. 12 is S. Gail's BIRTHDAY! So, I'm doing this blog to wish her a Happy Birthday and honor her. I'm not sure she reads my blogs, but maybe someone in Mensa, in AZ will find it and tell her to!

My sister S. Gail with her husband Gary when they visited TX. Here with AJ and Amelia at school during lunch!


Happy Birthday, SIS, I Love You! Thanks for all your help over the years.

Your sister,
Carrie

Why I love Flying

I mentioned in my 25 random thoughts that we built an airplane. My friends on facebook have been asking me about this. I thought I'd share!



I have loved flying since I was a child, I wanted to fly airplanes since about 7 yrs of age. Some movie with Raquel Welch in which she was flying really impacted me! Dad was a navigator in the war, Mom soloed when she was young, it was in my blood.




My high school had aviation classes, I took both Tech 1 and 2 in Jr. and Sr. year. I had no desire to go to college, but Mr. Garton, my HS Aviation Tech teacher, worked on me and convinced me I needed to go. Off to college to become a pilot, I want to fly airliners.

It didn't take long for reality to set in and for me to realize that I didn't have enough money to get all the ratings I would need and all the hours flying I would need to be an airline transport pilot. Also, at that time, the cycle was that the airlines were hiring military pilots and not private. What's a girl to do?

I changed my major to Aviation Management. I didn't loose any credit hours, and still graduated on time! All my aviation classes worked for the my degree! This was a special Bachelors of University Studies Degree, I would be capable of running an FBO at an airport, work for a company that made aircraft, and do any general management job in the business field.

Well, as luck would have it, a fellow Flying Aggie introduced me, to my now husband, at graduation. We dated for 2 years and then married. Kevin is also a recreational pilot. The only logical thing to do for a family who loves to fly is build an airplane! And that brings me back to the beginning!

This is where it is peaceful, up in the sky, above the clouds, the engine humming...



... The sun peaking through clouds now and again. Absolutely breathtaking. Yes, I love FLYING.


Cozyflier

We Got Chalked!

What do kids in 4th & 5th grade do on Friday night? Apparently, they go to their friends houses and write notes to them in the driveway with chalk!
See below:



At least they didn't write anything nasty. I'm not sure if I should be concerned however when they say that my almost 10 yr old son is a "hottie"!








I did get in the last laugh though, and no it isn't this blog! The kids got a little too rowdy at 11 PM while chalking us. They apparently forgot they were suppose to be quiet and started riding our ZIP Line!!





I heard them, so I put on my robe, and walked out on the front porch/driveway and said, "Can I help ya'll"? Kids went scattering!!!

Disney Celebrations

I might have mentioned I love Walt Disney World (WDW)! When nothing comes to mind to post, I'll probably talk Disney! That's the family + 1 girl! We like taking friends to WDW and sharing the MAGIC!

Amelia's B-day is just after NYE. One year we went to WDW for NYE and her B-day. What a trip that was. WDW puts on great fireworks, but NYE - watch out!! For the midnight countdown they had fireworks going off in a complete circle around the Magic Kingdom! It was impossible to take pictures of it. Here is a picture of the castle with 10 seconds to go!





I'd always wanted to see the parks decked out for the Christmas holiday so we figured after Christmas would be better. Well it was to some extent! NYE itself was record breaking crowds. The weather was great and we all had a wonderful time.

The Christmas parades were awesome too:



Dancing Reindeer




Wooden Soldiers


On another trip we celebrated our 23rd anniversary. For that one, there were 10 of us! My 6 plus our niece and her 3 girls - poor Dad didn't have vacation time at new job.




Here we are with Donald Duck!





This time, I didn't want to buy these head accouterments. Surprised?! Well, I wanted to to be able to get things for my nieces!


My daughter is in the white tank with sunglasses on her head.The other 3 Kennedy, Reagan, and McKinley - the Presidents - are my great-nieces. Aren't they cute?

So, these are some of our Disney Celebrations. I'm sure there will be more.

Whose Bright Idea was This?

Remember that snowball I was talking about? Well, this is part of it!!! The temperature decided to warm up today. After the gym, I thought hey, why not, I'll clean the carpet, it will be sunny and nice and it will have all afternoon to dry! What I didn't know when I started, was that the hose nozzle handle sprayer (whatever you call it) was broken.



I planned to take a shower after the gym.....



just not quite like this!




I was drenched head to toe, literally, and frozen! I know what Kev would say if he were here, enter a wet T shirt contest!!!

How was your Saturday?

The Snowball Effect

You know how a snowball builds? Well that has been happening to me lately around the house. I start 1 simple project, right? Yeah! Take for example the 'simple' task of defrosting the deep freeze. Kevin usually does that, BLESS him. Well, I decided that I would do it, food kept attacking me anytime I tried to get something to make a meal. Ouch, my toes hurt!!

So, back to the reason for this post. A few days after my defrosting job, my laundry room smells like a dead rat. Yikes!!! Kev of course is out of town working some small town ER. I put a small fan back there and crack open the shop door, maybe I can blow the smell out!!

3 Days later when Kevin comes home he ventures into the laundry room. He thinks my piece of carpet under the W/D is wet! Kev and Tyler move them - oh NO! So, I don't just have to pick up hangars, and vacuum lint, now we have to take out the carpet. This is what I find - a fire waiting to happen.......





After sweeping, dusting, and wet mopping everything back there, I donned a pair of plastic gloves and sifted through the debris. I found $2.29! That's a Rt. 44 at Sonic during happy hour!!



Since it was 14 degrees outside when we discovered all this, Kevin threw the carpet outside and said cleaning it could wait for warmer weather. See how that snowball keeps building?

Does this happen at your house, or just mine?