$3.45

Luckily, I filled up this weekend at the "cheap" gas station. Gas was $3.49 at my usual station and went up to $3.53 by this afternoon.

Never go out to buy dinner when you're hungry

Because you might buy twice as much food as you need. I stopped by the Chinese take-out place after work and somehow, I walked out with two 2-item combos and a beef noodle soup. That's more than enough for us. It was dinner tonight, will be breakfast tomorrow (what, you've never had Chinese food for breakfast?), another dinner, and maybe a lunch too, especially if I stretch it out by adding more veggies or rice. At least I didn't have to cook.

Getting home before it's dark

I was really looking forward to daylight savings time (even though I think daylight savings time is stupid). Spending more daylight hours with Mr. Fix-it. Not having to turn on my headlights on the drive home. Not feeling like my whole day was gone before I got home.

I must be getting old because for the first few days after the time change, I sure had a hard time waking up in the morning. Getting to work late meant that I didn't leave until 6:30 or 7:00 (or later). That meant I was driving home in the dark.

Today I work up early, got to work early, and still left at 7:00. Sigh, does it ever get better?

So domestic

Who me? Yes, it happens once in a while, lol. Did dishes this morning, went to yoga, had lunch, ran errands, cleaned up the garden, did laundry, cooked dinner (even tried a new recipe), did more laundry, made dessert.

This is probably normal for most of you, but it's a lot for me. Feels pretty good. So much so, I feel like doing more! Something must be wrong with me, lol.

$3.49

Yep, it is a bad trend. Gas prices continue to spiral upwards. Luckily, I was able to carpool one day last week and will carpool one day next week. Not as often as I would like, but better than nothing, right?

$3.39

Ouch, ouch, ouch! I could have filled my gas tank at #3.35/gallon the day before, but nooooo, I had to wait and ended up paying 4 cents more per gallon. Isn't this ridiculous? I think the days of $4.00/gallon gas are coming soon.

Friendship

I just received a lovely note in the mail from a dear friend. We had lunch last week, after not seeing each other for two or so years. I had left numerous "Hi, how are you" messages on her answering machine and sent Christmas cards, but had heard nothing from her. In fact, I was planning on dropping her from my Christmas card list last year. To my surprise, I received a Christmas card from her and later an e-mail. We finally were able to connect in person and, as the cliche goes, it was like just like old times. She shared what was going on with her life. You know that my life is boring so there isn't much to share there, lol. It was wonderful to see her again. We relate to each other on so many levels; there was lots of laughter, lots of support. I guess the lesson here is, don't give up on friendships. We are definitely going to have to see each other more than once every two years.

S: I still have the thank you "candle" you made on my bulletin board at work!

Back to yoga

I skipped yoga for two weeks and finally went back today. It felt good, but it sure wasn't like my last class. I was really proud of myself after that class. I did all the asanas (poses) and didn't do any extra savasanas (corpse pose for resting). It was the first time I was able to do that. Today, I wasn't so successful. I fell out of several poses and had to rest more. But that's the beauty of yoga. Each day is different and you just do what you can do.

Gas prices

Filled my gas tank today. It was painful. Gas was $3.29/gallon, but that was better than $3.35 at my usual station. On the bright side, I'm still getting 30 miles/gallon in my old car.

Foodies are so nice!

I recently wrote to Jaden of steamykitchen.com and she wrote back to me the same day. I was so excited! (gosh, now I sound star-struck) She didn't have an answer to my question, but said she'd look into it.

I'm looking for a recipe for green onion sesame bread (not green onion pancakes, if you plan on helping me search). Last week, I took the family out to a Chinese Muslim restaurant and my BIL loved the green onion sesame bread. So I thought I'd try to find a recipe. Thus far, no luck.

Anyways, all the foodies I've ever written to have all been so nice. Yep, I love food blogs!

My mixed up, confused day

Actually, this year has been one big blur. Life just seems to be rushing by. I didn't go home for Chinese New Year and I think that has really thrown me. My work schedule has been weird. Lots of rush, rush, rush followed by odd down times. Plus the constant worry of too many upcoming projects.

I was going to go to yoga this morning, but slept in and missed the first class. Then I got the time wrong for the next class and missed that too. Then when I did laundry, I found that I had left a tissue or two in a pocket so that was a big mess. Forgot to go to the bank, now I'll have to remember to go during the week. I'm tired even though I slept in (or maybe that's why I'm tired). Now it's raining and I need to go out and gosh this is just one long run-on post, lol!

An exhausting scrapbook day

I went to the Scrapbook Expo today. Met a friend before my first class, then it was go, go, go. We did some window shopping, then I rushed over to my first class. It was a Quick Quotes altered canvas class, nothing that I would normally do, but I was hoping to break out of my box. I think I'll stay inside my box, lol. Not sure what I will do with the completed project. Maybe offer it up at the LM auction. The project itself is nice, just not me. Don't want to discourage you from taking their classes. I did win a page kit so that was fun.

I had an hour break so it was more shopping. I was going to get some paper totes to store paper in (they were only $1, normally $6), but in the hour that I was gone for my class, they sold out of the few hundred that they had left. Just crazy! Oh well.

The project for my next class is definitely going in the LM auction. It is a perpetual calendar by Boxer. Again, not my style. I wish I had been able to see project photos before I signed up for classes. I didn't do much with the project in class because I want to embellish it more (and make it more enticing for the auction ). I was lucky again and won a $15 gift certificate. I choose a couple of stamp sets (happy birthday set and a sympathy set-a rare find), some clearance embellishments (pseudo Chinese coins, perfect for my China album), and ribbon. Out of pocket was only four something since I had my gift certificate. Yahoo!

I was so tired by my last class, I didn't do most of the layouts. But I did take photos so I could complete them at home. It is ironic that I signed up for this class accidently, but it is the class I liked the most. Even more ironic that the class is titled "All my children" and you know how many kids I have, lol. Good thing I've got nieces and nephews. We did two layouts in class and had enough supplies to create two more. I liked the designs, though I will modify them slightly; don't need any quotes that talk about "my children."

I was pretty good about watching my pennies. For those of you interested in scrapbook accountability, I bought some Chinese-themed paper that I haven't seen anywhere locally and not available at my usual on-line haunts, some adhesive, my goodies from Boxer, a couple packs of Heidi Swapp ghost letters (only a dollar each!), and um, several more yards of ribbon. (In case you don't know, many of the scrappers at Lifetime Moments, are tracking their usage, some are tracking their purchases too, hence scrapbook accountability). Of course, I didn't NEED anything I bought. Oh, by the way, I found my Quickutz. I still haven't found my Stickles or Crop-o-dile.

Please help me find...

my Quickutz handle, my two boxes of flowers, and the Stickles I just bought. Haven't used my QK in months so who knows where it could be. I'm desperately trying to finish my Valentine for Mr. Fix-it. Geez, I think I need to clean house.

Mr. Fix-it to the rescue again!

Mr. Fix-it noticed my car was leaking and it turns out I needed new struts. So we traded cars since I had to drive to a different work location today (a lot farther away). He put gas in his car before I left for work, took my car in, and now all is well. On top of all that, he did a car appraisal today. He only needs to do a couple more to pay for the repair, lol. Lucky for me, we had leftovers from work so I was able to bring him a piece of cheesecake to thank him.

12 of 12

Yeah, I did 12 of 12 today from Chad Darnell, but I don't feel like uploading, so you miss out.

Feeling a little stressed because I want to make Mr. Fix-it a scrapbook page for Valentine's Day and am not sure how to do it without him knowing since I scrap on the kitchen table. Pretty hard to hide what I'm doing. And, um, nothing like waiting till the last minute and you know I'm the slowest scrapper on the planet. Wish me luck!

CHA 2008 Winter

Or should that be Winter CHA 2008? Or CHA Winter 2008? Whatever. You know what it is. If you're a scrapbooker that it. CHA is the semi-annual Craft and Hobby Association tradeshow. Note that it isn't a scrapbooking show, though paper craft vendors take up half the space. That's a lot of paper, considering it is it five halls in the Anaheim convention center.

I tried to get an exhibitor badge from my company as I had in the past, but it wasn't to be. Still, I was able to attend under an assumed name and a bit of subterfuge. We were even able to sneak in Mr. Fix-it.

In many ways, this CHA was a different experience for me. For one thing, Mr. Fix-it was with me, so I didn't feel comfortable making him wait while I participated in a million make-and-takes. Two, since I was pretending to be associated with a store, rather than an exhibitor, the vendors were much more willing to talk to me. Just for this, it was much more pleasant experience. I was even able to freely "spy" on a couple of company competitors.

The show seemed rather slow, though maybe it was just getting a slow start. The make-and-take lines were definitely longer in the afternoon. Note that I did not pay attention to any of the new paper lines. I get enough previews online, though seeing them in person does make a difference.

A few things that did catch my eye:

* Glue Arts came out with a competitor to 3M's ATC gun. I liked the way it worked, but it is still too large for my tastes. They're coming out with a smaller version, more like a large tape runner later this year. I'm going to wait for that. Note that the Pro is a prototype and the final product will look different (so I was told).

* Tombow has a new glue pen. Worked very well. Their make-and-take was a decorated giant paper clip. I was impressed with how fine a line I could draw and how quickly the glue dried.

* Glue Dots are now available in plastic dispensers, also most like a tape runner. They work well, but are not refillable so I'll pass. Their current packaging is cardboard boxes or plastic bags. Much less material produced and much less to have to recycle. I'll continue to buy the old packaging.

* Score-it. A must for cardmakers. There are some competitors out there, but I didn't get to try them out.

* Tonic has a new paper trimmer. Like I need to add to my collection. But, I probably will, lol. It is in the $24.99 - 29.99 range; I don't remember the exact price.

* Glimmer Mist. Much much subtle than glitter. Very nice sheen.

I forgot to check out We R Memory Keepers Big Bite. Not that I need another eyelet setter. Still, it would have been nice to see it in person. The Zutter Bind-it-all is still very popular. I was sooo coveting it last year. They now offer corner rounders for chipboard. Very cool! But since I'm not into mini-books, I don't see myself buying them (there are two sizes).

As you can see, I was concentrating on tools. I have soooo much paper and embellishments, I could scrapbook for a year and still not make a dent in my stash.

One odd thing was I didn't see anyone I know. Usually, I see store owners (both local and online) or local scrappers. No one, nada. Though I did catch a glimpse of the handsome Tim Holtz. Now I wish I had taken a picture. Ah well, the memory will live on.

Memories

I found out one of the photo storage sites I was using is closing down. That's too bad because it was a good site in that they didn't downsample your images and the storage limit was huge. Plus it was free. I've got close to a gig up there and now I have to figure out where I've got those photos stored at home. I'd rather not save the photos if I don't have to, since I'd have to save them one by one (no CD burning option).

In any case, it has been fun to look over the photos. Some are five or more years old. One thing I found was the album I made for Uncle T about six years ago. I was upset when he passed away that I did not get the album back. It wouldn't have bothered me so except several people remarked on the album at his funeral and that I would get the album back. Although I tried to use copies of everything, that wasn't 100% possible and there were original photos and memorabilia in it. Now those are gone forever. Printing the photos of my layouts won't be the same, especially since I didn't scan at high res. Maybe that should be a lesson to me. Always scan at high res, just in case. That way I can save my scrapbook pages digitally, just in case.

I thought I didn't care that much about any of the pages I made. But when you find out they're gone, it really does break your heart.

It's Super Tuesday

I voted. Did you? (Obviously, this doesn't apply to all my readers, but I know there are quite a few of you who can vote today.)

Wish us luck!

We're off to babysit the twins and little G. That's three against two. Five against two if you add in the dogs. If you don't hear from me again, they've overcome me and buried me in the backyard.

Never send a man to do the grocery shopping

Yes, I know that's a sexist title, but it got your attention, right?

We didn't go grocery shopping this weekend so were running low on a few things. Plus there were some awesome sales on instant oatmeal and I had coupons. I was going to shop before work, but Mr. Fix-it wasn't working so I decided to send him instead.

First, a little background on the oatmeal. I'm not a huge oatmeal fan, but I've been eating it for breakfast because it is cheap and high in fiber. Normally, I use plain, regular oatmeal, you know, the kind you cook over the stove, except I cook it in the microwave at work. For convenience (and a flavor treat), I like to keep some of the instant oatmeal around. I found this awesome new multi-grain hot cereal by Quaker, Simple Harvest. Unfortunately, it is way more expensive than the regular instant oatmeal. For the sale, with my coupon, it would be free!!! Yahoo!

I only like certain instant oatmeal flavors: cinnamon, brown sugar, pecans, or combinations thereof. Sooo, what do he get? Vanilla almond. Yuck! (yes, I tried one and don't like it.) And reduced sugar brown sugar. Another yuck! Mr. Fix-it didn't realize he bought a reduced sugar version, which I refuse to eat. (Maybe I'll post about that later.) Luckily, I found a coworker who took the reduced sugar version off of my hands. Mr Fix-it will eat one package of the vanilla almond and will try to exchange the other. Grrrr, and I thought it was such a simple request.