Day #31 - Picture #31

Shawn had the morning off today, so we decided to finally go and see the movie that we've both been wanting to see, but because of his work schedule we haven't been able to, that is, until today. We even got matinee prices, which is always a good thing! I had Shawn take a picture of me in front of the movie poster, but for some reason I liked this one better....will be adding my ticket stubs to my book as well!

Day #30 - Picture #30

Scrapbooking Mess



Okay so I came home from work tonight wanting to finish up a couple of layouts that I had started, as well as a few other things that I needed to get to my computer for (like balancing checkbook, paying online bills, and uploading pics from my camera), but was rather disgusted with the "mess" that was facing me...My desk at work is a all neat and tidy, as I can't seem to work in "clutter", but for some reason when I'm at home, that theory doesn't seem to apply...I can work in the clutter! Really I can...but when you can't find your scissors, or the photo splits that you know you just had in your hands, then you know you have to do something! So, yep, I cleaned up my mess, with hopes of making another one later on tonight!!!

So I've Been Scrappin' This Weekend...

and I wanted to share...


Today we had our first snow day of the year- and the most substantial one since 2004 You had the day off from school and Mommy got the day off from work! You woke up to a down pouring of snow, and immediately had to go out and play in it!! Honestly though, who could blame you, after all, it was a “snow day”. You spent hours outside off and on throughout the day. You’d come in long enough to warm up, and then head right back outside. We attempted to make a snowman and failed, so you settled for just throwing snowballs at me, one right after the other! Oh what fun we had!
Tuesday January 20, 2009.



Lucky for you, since Shawn started working at the mall, we tend to go there pretty often – definitely more than we used too that’s for sure. And of course, we can’t make a trip to the mall and NOT ride the carousel – right?
Monday, January 5, 2009



This year you cleaned out the entire pumpkin all by yourself! It was really tough for you, but you handled it with great enthusiasm. After all, it was YOUR pumpkin and you wanted to do it all by
yourself. Afterwards, Mommy & Shawn cut the design out from a pattern that we found online! What an awesome creation the three of us made –we even named him “Frank”!!
October 27, 2008

Day #29 - Picture #29

Writing....Finally




It has been such a struggle this school year to get Garrett to do any form of writing. I mean it gets to the point sometimes that I yell, take toys away from him, and just flat out get mad at him. He’ll do his math and other worksheets, but anything involving sentences just isn’t going to happen without an ugly struggle. I just can’t really emphasize the struggle that we go through, but (*knock on wood) last week that all changed with the voice mail on my cell phone that I’ve already shared with you. Well, today Garrett came home with two new stories that he had written this week in his school folder. Both were marked with things like “Wow”. “Great job Garrett”, “Glad to see you writing”, “Very informative” and well, you get the picture. I was sooo proud!! He even turned down Family Game Night tonight because he wanted to write another story. OMG I tell you – good thing I was sitting down. I actually called his teacher and discussed this new change in him. She was so excited too! When it was all said and done, he had written two more stories before bedtime, stories that he didn’t have to write mind you! He wrote them just because he “wanted to” he said. Wow! Wow! Wow!

Just Curious...

Okay, so am I like the only girl in the world that likes UFC? I mean really? I admit, that I didn’t watch it before I met Shawn, much less watch anything else sports related, except for an occasional Nascar race. But since Shawn has been in my life, I’ve discovered baseball again (love it!), and football (still struggling with this one), and even watch a little golf, and basketball on occasion too….but UFC is my thing, we have the DVR set to record any and everything UFC….and I watch it! I love it! But is it just me?? Like last night, I watced UFC Primetime, which was focusing on the upcoming Pay per View fight this coming weekend with BJ Penn (love him) and George St. Pierre (love him too)…this is gonna be one hell of a fight….…and I am soooo wanting to watch it……are there any others out there that share my passion for UFC?? Curious minds want to know!

Day #28 - Picture #28

$1.00 Toys



Every so often we'll make a trip to the Dollar Tree to get a few things, and without fail, Garrett always winds up getting some sort of toy. I typically don't buy him toy toys there because the quality is horrible and he's so rough on things, but these water toys are different. You just fill the sink, or bowl with water and the things grow over four/five times their original size. Well we've had the snake for several months now (he lives in the guest bathroom). Every once in awhile he'll fill the sink up and put him back in the water and watch him grow again, and then I'll let the water out and he shrinks back to his original size...well now he has a dolphin too (due to our trip to the Dollar Tree on Friday). Today I went into the bathroom and saw the dolpin (and the snake) in the sink. Apparently he must've done this sometime this weekend and I just hadn't noticed, because we didn't get home until late, late Monday night, and he's been with his Dad since Tuesday afternoon......this is definitely worthy of a picture today, to document the "little things" that make my son happy!

Day #27 - Picture #27

$91.98 Later...



Okay, so I went to Wal-mart afterwork tonight for a few things like hairspray, mousse, t-shirts for Garrett, and to pick up some pictures that I had printed....well, needless to say, I wound up with a whole lot more than that - $91.98 as a matter of fact! WOW! Couldn't pass up this opportunity to take a picture of the counter with all my stuff on it, of course the cashier looked a me a tad weird, but once I explained to her what I was doing, she just smiled and said ooooh I see.

Four Guys Let Loose in Michael's

So this is what happens when you let four guys loose in Michael’s….I have to admit that I laughed hysterically when I saw the pictures!! I was also very proud of Shawn for thinking to get my camera from me (while I was shopping for scrapping goodies) and take a couple of pictures! This was definitely a photo op if I ever saw one! I think they had a FUN….wouldn’t you say??

*Pictured here, is Shawn's brother Tim, and Shawn's son Tyler.

*Tim saying "ARRRRGH Matey!! LOL


*Tim and Garrett.


*And my favorite picture of Garrett....he's just too cute here!!

Day #26 - Picture #26

Shawn and his son Tyler



My picture today is of Shawn and his son Tyler. Today we all went to Rosewood, NC ( a little over an hour and a half away) to see Tyler play in his schools basketball game. Tyler is in middle school, and our opportunities to go watch him play are really very few and far between, so we try to make as many games as possible (especially since Tyler is a well-rounded sports fanatic…(he plays it all, baseball, football, basketball, etc) We even took Shawn’s brother Tim with us! The basketball game was a complete defeat for Tyler’s team, but very entertaining. Afterwards we all went to Ci Ci’s Pizza for dinner…. guys choice, and then we walked a few stores down to Michael’s where I looked for scrapping supplies, and the four of them (imagine four guys loose in Michael’s) played around and had a good time. Shawn even thought enough to take a few pictures for me….so check out my other Blog for those pictures!

Day #25 - Picture #25

My Addiction



Okay, so I don’t drink and I don’t smoke, but like a lot of other people in today’s society, I do have an addiction. I’m addicted to caffeine…in the form of Diet Pepsi. I will admit that up until I had Garrett in 2001 it was regular Pepsi, but due to complications during my pregnancy with gestational diabetes and such I switched to diet. And really never re-acquired the taste for regular soda after that! I don’t drink coffee, and even though I love sweet tea, I hardly ever drink it. When I get up in the mornings, I pour myself a glass of COLD Diet Pepsi, my morning coffee, per say. I then continue to drink glass after glass all day long. I’ve been known to finish a 2-liter bottle in just a matter of an hour or two. That’s how much I drink! I can’t help it, I love it! I gotta have it…and stay away from me if I don’t get it….that “lack of caffeine” headache is a bitch…which in turn makes me feel like one…LOL, just kidding. But I do love my caffeine.

Been a few days..

since my last post....not really much going on. Life just continues to move in "fast forward", and then you wake up and it's Monday all over again.

Thursday, was work and then spending time with Garrett...I scrapped for awhile, and he sat here beside me and played on the computer until bedtime...I sat up and waited on Shawn to get home...

Friday (my weekend with Garrett) was a typical workday. I did get to have lunch with my daughter Jackie and her boyfriend Daniel. Then she stopped by my work and hung out with me for a bit...she took some pictures of me at work...and even had me take a few silly ones...she knows how I dislike my pictures and delete them as often as I can...but I figured I'd keep these and share! Heck, they made me smile...everyone needs some silliness in thier life right?



After work, we all went to Pizza Hut (woo hoo! Shawn got off early) for dinner. It was nice to be able to go out at night as a family for a change. With Shawn working so much at night, it's a real rarity to get to do this. Then we came home, watched a few DVR'd tv shows, and then played a few board games together...much needed family time! Gotta love that.

On Saturday, Shawn left for work and Garrett and I hung out together...he played on his computer most of the day while I did the dishes, laundry, and cleaned up a bit. Then we went to the mall to get a new Webkinz for him, and to briefly say hi to Shawn. Then I took him to McDonalds for lunch. But I surprised him and took him to the new one with the salt water fish tank inside of it. He loves that tank. He carried on a conversation with the elderly couple there too about the fish, he told them the names of the fish, and so on...they enjoyed his company and I think he like having someone new to dump all of his "fish" knowledge onto. Mommy's heard it a million times already....I did take a couple of pictures of him inside the McDonald's.

Day #24 - Picture #24

A Much Deserved Reward



Last night, while the family was having dinner at Pizza Hut, Garrett's teacher called. I wasn't quick enough to get to my phone, so I was left with this completely awesome voice mail from her. As everyone who knows me knows, we have an ongoing struggle with Garrett. Garrett is an extremely intelligent child, and can do things well above his grade level "verabally"...but when it comes to having to write something, then we have a fight on our hands. His teacher is always calling me and telling me that he wouldn't write this story, or that story, and that she would be sending it home for him to do....he can tell you that same story all day long, but to get him to put it down on paper....well I guess you know where this is going....
Any hoo, word for word, the voice mail went like this....
Hi Ms. Townsend, It's Anita Pownall and I wanted to tell you that Garrett wrote a great paper today in class. It's like two pages or more about his snow day. So I wanted to tell you about that. Lots of details. It was excellent. I was so excited and I wanted to let you know!!
Heck, I was excited! Go Garrett!! Shawn had just told him the other day (the snow day to be exact while doing make up class "writing" work) that we knew he could do it, that he just needed to apply himself, and just get it done...well I guess he finally listened.
Well, since Garrett is into the Webkinz, I decided to reward him with another one...and we went to the mall in search of the dragon that he wanted....and by the picture, you can see that we were quite successful in our search! I'm very proud of you Garrett!!

Day #23 - Picture #23

A Day at Work



Today I had lunch with my daughter Jackie, and afterwards she stopped by my work to "hang" with her Mom for a little while. While she was there, we discussed my 365 Project, and what my picture for today would be. We both agreed that a picture of me at work would be perfect. It's where I spend a majority of my time during the week, it's where I make a living, and needless to say, a much needed "job" to have during this economic crisis that we appear to be in. I have worked here at Bass for over ten years now, and consider my co-workers, almost family. They've all been there for me through several different life altering situations over the past ten years. And honestly, I really do love my job!

Day #22 - Picture #22

Really Good Friends



Today I had lunch with one of my very, very good friends Tammy. Her and I have been friends since sixth grade, and have kept in touch throughout the years. At one time a year or so ago, we actually even worked together for a while, and the both of us together even coordinated our 20th year class reunion that was held in 2007. Yesterday she met me for lunch at Mi Casita’s (Mexican) for some much need “catch up” time. She’s been a really amazing friend, and was there for me 100% through my separation and divorce. I don’t get to see her nearly enough these days, but do think of her often…so here’s to really great friends! Here’s to YOU, Tammy!

Typical

Just a quick layout I did tonight about Garrett loosing his 8th tooth not to long ago. I'm pretty pleased with it, think it might still be missing something, but I'm gonna think on it a bit.

Journaling reads:
You got up on your own this morning and came into my room and crawled up in bed with Shawn, your typical morning thing to get as much sleep as you possibly can before I drag you out of bed for real. But this morning, you sat up really quickly when you remembered that the tooth fairy should have come. You ran to your room (with me following right behind with the camera) and started looking for $$. You found
five one dollar bills. As you were counting the money, you looked up at me and
just said that that was “typical”. So let’s see, it’s eight teeth now, at $5.00
a piece…not too shabby!

My two FAVORITE Guys

in the whole wide world!! Literally!! I took these pictures yesterday, and of course Garrett had to be his typical "cheeseball" self and not smile for me, but oh well, I love that kid!! And these two make me happy, very, very, happy! I love you Garrett & Shawn!

Day #21 - Picture #21

Where I Live



Garrett and I have lived here now for a little over a year, and Shawn moved in with us shortly after we moved in. For me, this was the ideal location. I was still close to work (could go home everyday for lunch), to Garrett's School & Daycare as well as all of the shopping centers and such. Moving into this Apartment complex was a major step for me...having just been recently divorced and having to live with roommates (since the seperation)up until then to be able to afford to live, and then finally making the decision the move out on my own. That decision was HUGE! One that I wasn't sure that I was going to be able to take on, but here I am, over a year later, and making ends meet, and being happy that I can provide my son with the things that he needs, as well as his wants too! Things are definitely working out for us!

And just a FEW more!

Snow Pictures

..that I just gotta share....okay it's only about 10:30 here and we've already been out twice this morning to play in the snow. Like I said, we rarely get it....anyways the snow is still coming down pretty hard and I wanted to share some really cute pictures with you!

First Snow of the Season

*Picture taken at 8:30 am this morning


*Picture taken at 6:30 am this morning

...and probably only snow, but hey, it's still beautiful right?? I woke up this morning to this....SNOW!! Here in North Carolina where we live, we rarely see much snow, in fact we go years and years sometimes without any at all, just a few flurries here and there on occasion, but this is a real treat for us! Makes the cold temperatures that we've been having a little more "worth it" per say...I of course was given another day off from work today, Garrett is out of school, and Shawn is off as well, so we'll spend the day together just enjoying each other. Gotta love mother nature.

Family Time

Yesterday was MLK Day and I spent the day with my family....I was lucky enough to have the day off this year, and I had both Shawn and Garrett home with me....we pretty much spent the day in lounge mode (which was so nice)..We did go out to Golden Corral for a nice lunch together and then home to catch up on some DVR'd stuff that he (we) missed while he was gone to Georgia...very nice day with much needed quality time together. Life is GOOD and I am happy!

Day #20 - Picture #20

First Snow of the Season




...and probably only snow, but hey, it's still beautiful right?? I woke up this morning to this....SNOW!! Here in North Carolina where we live, we rarely see much snow, in fact we go years and years sometimes without any at all, just a few flurries here and there on occasion, but this is a real treat for us! Makes the cold temperatures that we've been having a little more "worth it" per say...I of course was given another day off from work today, Garrett is out of school, and Shawn is off as well, so we'll spend the day together just enjoying each other. Gotta love mother nature.

**More snow pictures on my blog!

Day #19 - Picture #19

A Day Off



This is where I work, and for the last 10 years that I have been there, we have never had Martin Luther King Jr day off, but this year, that changed. Due to the economic scare/recession, as well as many other factors included, we were given this day off. I am very,very thankful for this holiday today. I was able to spend the day with my son, and with Shawn (who had just gotten home around 1:30am this morning). We spent the day lounging, went to Golden Corral for a really nice lunch, and then home to have our American Idol (catch up) marathon, and just spent some "much needed" quality family time together. Thank you Mr. Bass!

Day #18 - Picture #18

Straight to the Computer
*picture taken at 6:47pm



So, Richie brings Garrett home today at 6:00pm from having him over the weekend, and what does Garrett do?? You guessed it, heads straight to the computer....the kid would live on the computer 24-7 if you were to allow it...some of his favorite sites are Webkinz, Y8.com (games), & Cartoon Network (games). I have to admit that at the moment it's okay....since Garretts internet hasn't been working in his room since Thanksgiving, Shawn hooked Garrett's computer up next to mine before he left for Georgia (will have to work on the wireless connection when he gets home)...so now I can sit here at my computer and scrap, and Garrett can sit right beside me and play his games...

Shawn is coming HOME!!

Woo Hoo....my baby is coming home tonight!! Can we all do the Happy Dance?? C'mon, do it with me.....YAH! After 11 really (and I do mean really) long days without him, he's finally coming home to ME tonight!!

Another Layout for me today!

Over at Scrappin' Mojo they have some really great challenges going on....actually decided to give one a try today....I have to say that even though I scrap 8.5 x 11, I think I still managed to pull it off and be happy with the final layout!

Naughty or Nice?



Journaling reads:
Definitely NICE! We have had several naughty days this past year (especially at school), but for the most part, you are the sweetest and nicest kid I know. So, I’m thinking there’s going to be presents under the tree this Christmas!

Day #17 - Picture #17

New Scrapping Goodies



I went to Michaels today...and this is what I picked up! I have to admit that I typically have a hard time spending a lot of money on scrapping supplies, as I already have a ton of stuff, but today was different. I went looking for one thing and wound up with this stuff....really, really cute stuff by Colorbok, called Friendly Forest. It had matching embellishments and that is always a plus for me. Can't wait to start using this stuff!

Went to Michaels...

and this is what I picked up! I have to admit that I originally went to Hobby Lobby for a certain alpha sticker, but they didn't have any in stock...*pout,pout!, But hey, reason to go elsewhere right?? I managed to grab this adorable paper stack and embellishments by Colorbok, called Freindly Forest....really, really cute!! They even had some awesome Making Memories Kits, with absolutely tons and tons of matching embellishments, but since I scrap mostly "boy" themed layouts, and those kits were all "girly", I had to pass....cute though. Go check 'em out. Any woo, here's a pic of my new goodies. I'm getting ready to play with them now!! And yep, you guessed it, this is gonna be my picture of the day for my 365 Project.

Rock Tumbler

Been struggling with this one for days, but refused to cave.....I'm okay with the way it turned out. Journaling reads: What an awesome gift for you to get for Christmas. Now you can polish up all of those gem stones that you found when you went gem mining with your Dad this past Summer.

Creative Cafe Blog Party

Want to win some free scrapping goodies? Head on over to the Creative Cafe blog for their fun blog party with great giveaways!!!

mycreative-cafe.com

Chapped Lips

My poor baby isn’t feeling really well, and on top of that has a really bad case of chapped lips. Bless his heart, his lips typically wind up like this two or three times a year, and just doesn’t realize that when he’s constantly licking his lips, he’s just making it worse….I tried to take a few pictures to document this so I could possibly do a scrapbook page later on. The pictures aren’t that great as he just wasn’t really in the mood for picture taking…..





On a positive note, he’s feeling much better today. Went to school with no issues and no fever!! Actually in very good spirits as well, so maybe the “not feeling good” was only for the evening.

Jackie won’t be coming home after all this weekend, makes me sad …apparently there is more damage to her car than originally estimated and her car isn’t ready for her to come home and get…

Shawn is still in Georgia….He’ll be home late Sunday night!! Woo! Hoo! I’m so excited that I can barely stand it….now to just get through the weekend….Not to mention, I’m taking Monday off from work….School and Daycare are both closed and I need to stay home and watch Garrett….so we get to spend the day together…..definitely something to look forward too…..

Day #16 - Picture #16

Brrr It's Cold Outside
*picture taken at 7:45 this morning on my way to work.



Brrrr
Cold front with the high of about 30 degrees today, with tonights low going to be about 12 degrees. I realize that these temperatures are nothing compared to others across the United States, as they have it so much worse, but for here in this part of North Carolina, it's COLD! The 30's are our typical low, not the high!! So it was really chilly outside this morning. Just a little bit of snow might just make all the cold a little more bearable..

From Our local paper this morning..

Published on Friday, January 16, 2009

Morning temperatures well below freezing

The Cape Fear region is waking up this morning to some of the coldest temperatures it’s seen in several years.

Fayetteville and Clinton posted a morning low of 19 degrees at 7 a.m., according to Brandon Dunstan, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service.

That was the highest of the morning temperatures around the region, Dunstan said.

Pinehurst and Southern Pines claimed the title for the coldest local spot with a reading of 14 degrees, Dunstan said.

Morning lows elsewhere were 16 degrees in Sanford, 17 in Laurinburg and 18 at the Harnett County Regional Airport.

Take heart. Those readings are balmy compared to Jefferson in Ashe County, which reported a reading of zero degrees, Dunstan said.

Day #15 - Picture #15

Not Feeling Well...



Today when I picked Garrett up from daycare, he told me right away that he didn't feel real well, and that he thought he had a fever....he was a tad bit warm, but no fever. Thank goodness! I had to run to Food Lion to get some bread and milk, and I decided to take this picture of Garrett in the buggy at the store. The kid is typically all over the store, and never, ever wants to ride in the cart at all anymore...so I knew he didn't feel well...not to mention he was reading too! Yet another book on his fish/aquarium addiction.

Day #14 - Picture #14

Rising Gas Prices
*update: on Jan 19, 2009, the price at the same station was $1.81.



Ouch! That's all I can say. Just this morning on the way to work the price at the same gas station was $1.71. I know they said it was coming, but I turned a deaf ear I suppose. Just this past Fall when we made our last trip to Pennsylvania & Ohio, gas prices were over $4.00, and that was a tough pill to swallow. I do have to admit that being able to fill up my gas tank for $23.00 here lately has been a really nice thing, instead of the barely half a tank that I used to get for the same twenty dollars....but really people, six cents in one day?? Come on...wonder what it'll be tomorrow, as I'm sure it's gonna continue to climb!

It's Been A Few Days

Guess you could say that not really much has been going on...things are back to normal and life is taking us full speed ahead. Jackie has gone back to school, Garrett has been back a week now, and of course Shawn is still in Georgia. Sunday Garrett and I spent the day in front of the computers playing games all day, I did scrap quite a bit, but never really finished anything that I started (gotta fix that), and then we just spent some quality "mommy and son" time together.

Monday was back to my typical work week. After work I did take Garrett to the library to get some books. We were really slack with the reading during the Holiday break, and now that school is back in session, he's taking AR tests again, and we needed books. I'm happy to say that he's reading again, and has already taken his first AR test from one of those books. No scrapping Monday night. My Creating Keepsakes Project 365 Kit did come on Monday though. I opened it and looked through the stuff a bit. A bit confused as to where to actually start as nothing was really labeled, so I'll have to take some time to really look at the stuff, and see how I want to progress with it. It's still on my dining room table as I type this, just how I left it.



Last night after work, I went with the women that I work with out to dinner. I made arrangements with Richie to pick up Garrett from daycare and went with them straight from work. I have to admit that it was nice to actually go out with them. We do it so rarely that I was honestly dreading it a little bit. But it turned out to be a really nice dinner and I'm really glad that I went. Afterwards, I rushed home to set the DVR for American Idol. Of course with Shawn not being home, I wasn't going to watch it without him....so we'll have an American Idol marathon when he gets home...woo hoo! And then my show, Nip/Tuck was on last night as well. Haven't watched it in a couple of seasons, but I have to admit, I'm right back into it. Literally glued to the screen. I have to admit that I'm really loving the show, all over again, and a girl can really use some "Eye Candy" every now and again.



Anyways, Garrett will be with his Dad again tonight, and I'll be home alone *pout! pout!*, so I figured tonight will be a good night to finish up the two layouts that I have started, and then to tackle the Project 365 kit on my table. Wish me luck with that one.