I love the gay bar

seriously...the bulk of the bars I've been to latelyhave been gay bars & I've had the most fun ever

Stretched.Too.Thin

That would be me. Lately I've been stretched too thing. I'm wearing myself out. Well, me and the Apple Store. And, I haven't been practicing very good time management.

In my last post, I mentioned Creative Escape. Wow! It was awesome. We didn't go on the tours. Instead, we spent time at the hotel/resort hanging out. They had this amazing system of pools called the River Ranch, and the first day we spent like 7 hours there. No lie. They had this great lazy river, and we spent hours on end there. It was fabulous. A couple of times, we even got adult beverages and lazy river-ed with them. For the most part, we were the only scrappers at the pool....out of 600+!! The second day, we registered late so we could spend more time at the pool. Turned out to be a good idea, as the only thing we missed out on was lines, lines, and grumpy, gripey ladies.

Most of the people there were crazy obsessed about the scrapbooking. Obviously, we are too, or we wouldn't have spent a premium to attend, travel there, and stay there. But, we really wanted to use this as a get away. And we did. It was fabulous. We both had ime to relax and really enjoyed the scrapping and the classes. And, but the time it was time to come home, we were ready.

I'm not going to rehash all the details for the 2 people besides me reading this (nope, my mom doesn't even read it....she forgets I have it for long periods at a time), but the gal who organized it all, Heidi Swapp, did a big review on her blog, here. (PS - I wasn't so excited about the so called yummy dessert, but then it was a mousse-like concoction with nuts in it, and we all know how I feel about crunch stuff in my soft foods.....totally not intended by God....and yes, he told me)

We got home Sunday and I took over a guy's 4-9 shift Monday night at the Apple Store - thank goodness there was a double-header of Monday Night Football and I actually got to seem some (they had a meeting at the store Sunday night, but I told them before-hand that I wouldn't be there), then I worked my regular schedule of 9-5 Tues, Wed, Thurs. Wednesday we had Financial Peace University.

Friday morning, Bob and I left for Fin n'Feather and the annual scrapbooking retreat put on by Scraphappy's. I'd spent all of my free time that week getting ready for the retreat. In the past, I've carted down skads and skads of stuff, but this year I found tons of sketches and planned out the pages. (most of the ones I used were from the website Valerie's Sketches). Of course, we stayed up late and scrapped every night. We had a great time! The weather was just gorgeous, and Bob and I drove the hour + drive down with the top down and had a great time together. I finished 11 pages, which wasn't too bad considering I didn't feel great Fri. afternoon and took an hour and a half nap and had to do the same Sat. afternoon. (and I didn't wake up grumpy...that's a novel concept when i nap!)

This week, I work every day from either 9 or 9:45 til 5 (expect tomorrow when I work till 6). That's 35 hours! What happened to the 20-25 I told them I wanted when I signed up? Let me tell you, that stone floor is wearing me out. But, I have to do something for myself, so I'm also working out in the mornings. By this time of night, I'm just worn down. Needless to say, I haven't been a very good friend lately. In fact, I've been a rather crummy friend! Oh, and yes, I have pictures of everything, but i'm too lazy to put them up here right now!

one more sleep

Tommorrow, Rachel and I head off to Arizona for Creative Escape. We're super excited!! Goobers, we are. We're so excited over a scrapping retreat. But, we signed up for it back in like February or some fool thing. To tell the truth, I haven't been all that excited about it, but all of a sudden tonight I am. I'm actually all packed and ready to go. Kind of a novel concept. Ready to go the night before. Don't have to stay up till 4 in the morning doing last minute things. We're staing at the Squaw Peak Pointe Hilton. (isn't that a weird name?....just more money in Paris' pocketbook!) Looks like a pretty nice joint!! And, we get a discount at the spa. Sounds rather inviting. So long as they keep their paws off my feet. Blech!! We're missing out on the Bazzill warehouse sale, but I think we'll be okay even without that!

In completely unrelated, no scrabooking lunatic news, I've finally started working out again. I was doing awesome there for a while. I was really starting to notice a difference. But then the store opened. And I was going to not do a couple of days for fear that I'd tweak my back while we unloaded the semis (yes, WE unloaded them, and yes, that was plural) and hefted boxes all over the place. Then, I was so tired from working so much. Those stone floors really take it out of you! And all of a sudden, 2 months had elapsed. Finally, I said enough is enough! And, I'm back in the saddle again. Four whole days in a row. And I even went to a Weight Watchers meeting. Just in time to go out of town, but still....better than nothing! Yay me!

let's eat!!

A year or two ago, we were at church one Sunday, and they were talking up the dinner groups. You sign up with a group of people and rotate having dinner at each other's houses. The pastor talked about how the best/easiest way to welcome people into your life and form friendships is to welcome them into your home. It really stuck with me. Wow. And I started thinking about it. And, it made sense to me. But here's the thing, I'm not a neatnick. I don't keep my home as neat as I should. My Chris is a neatnick, but I have a feeling he gets overwhelmed and just doesn't even try. And so, I'm embarrassed and don't want to invite people over.

When we lived in the condo, we simply didn't have people over. Easy as that. We had too much stuff and not enough room to put in it's place. Now, we have enough room, but we'd rather sit on the couch. Last night, I had some friends from work over. Mom always said you should have people over at least once a quarter so you make sure to clean up your house. I have to say, the house looks awesome!! And, we had a fabulous time last night! It reminds me of how I want to live. Now, I just have to remember that every night at 11:00 when I'm heading to bed and should really pick up after myself!

I am the voice inside his head

Chris and I were walking the dogs around the block recently, and I asked if he grabbed baggies to pick up after them 'cuz I forgot. He forgot too. He walks the dogs almost every morning (they can no longer be trusted in the backyard. that's a whole different story) so I figured grabbing the baggies was part of the ritual. I was duly informed that we were lucky he in fact got out the door with the dogs. That early in the morning, pre-coffee, he very well could take off and leave the puppies at home. And that's when he said it, "And every time, I think Jamie would say, 'Chris! That's so rude!' but at least they're not pooping in the house." And so, I've become the voice inside my husband's head. But I'm not just terribly sure that's it's making any difference!

Doing the happy dance

I can hardly contain myself!! On the way home from work the other day, I noticed that they're putting in a Chipotle restaurant less than a mile from my house. I can't wait! I've been saying for years that we needed one here. And now it's coming! Yay!! They can't get it done fast enough for me! And by the looks of it, they've just only started. Oh well!

Norv Turner? Seriously.

As previously mentioned, I bleed pigskin. After the SuperBowl, I pine for September. Sure, the pre-season gets me my fix, but it's just not the same. So last night, the Chargers vs. Rams game is on. No question, we're watching it (with a brief interlude for me to buy a new Mac). Now I'm a serious Bolts fan. From back in the early 80s when we lived in San Diego. Always have been, always will be. But I am currently questioning the sanity of the front office. They fired Marty Schottenheimer with a 10-2 record last year and brought in Norv Turner. Okay, first of all, his name is Norv. Hello? So, you go from Marty Ball (which worked, by the way) to a guy with a marginal record. The Chargers lost in the 2nd round of the playoffs last year after a first round bye week. So, apparantly a fabulous season and getting the team into the playoffs isn't enough. They want to WIN the SuperBowl. And they chose Norv as they guy to do it. Hmmmm....questionable. Thank goodness the team has skads of talent!