Someone's enjoying it

My kids are holed up in the house, each snuggled up to a computer or TV, while Ruby is outside having a ball with her BFF Bartlett. (I love the snack breaks.) And yes, I am filming this through the window because it is 18 ding dang degrees out there and I do not have a fur coat.

You have got to be kidding me

Today

So many little pieces of my day in this photo... I'm working on making valentine cards and I was planning on posting some on etsy for sale, but it's probably too close to Valentine's Day at this point. Maybe they'll be ready for next year. My kids feel like they're too old for homemade cards. There's also a tiny peek at a Magistical Memories chipboard album I'm playing with. I keep re-painting/misting/glittering it trying to get just the color combination I have in mind. The chipboard will likely be an inch thick by the time I get it just right.

A highlight of my day (which started off with kids home from school because of widespread flash flooding in our area) was receiving a letter from Victor, the child I sponsor through Compassion. So exciting to get new photos of him and his whole family posing with the clothes and food bought with our Christmas gift. I love this kid from Togo who I've never met but who always draws fish or soccer balls or handbags on his letters to me.

On top is part of the homework I spent 4 hours on today. I'm taking an accounting class at the community college and, silly me-- I thought it would be a piece of cake because I took several accounting classes back in college. After all, that was only 25 years ago. That can't be true, can it? Anyway, this class is kicking my butt in the first week! Tons of details for my feeble old brain to remember.



I also took Annamarie to ice skating lessons, which she started a few weeks ago (she's in the pink coat). It was a beautiful day after the torrential rain stopped, and after skating we stopped into a gifty little shop on the Downtown Mall. Annamarie got a Pandora-style charm bracelet for Christmas and this shop carries Pandora charms, so we went in to take a look. To be honest, we don't shop down there on the Mall very often because the people working in the shops can be pretty snooty, especially with children. The man working in this store could not have been any nicer, and spent a long time patiently showing Annamarie the charms, even knowing that she was unlikely to buy any (they're pricey!). When it's time for her birthday, though, I will be back at that store because that man took a few extra minutes to be nice to me and my children. Isn't it a sad state of affairs that good customer service is something out of the ordinary enough to inspire a blog post?

And also, layouts!

I've had a backlog of layouts to scan since my scanner decided it wasn't compatible with Windows 7. Their differences were apparently irreconcilable and I had to get a new scanner, which is much faster and also has clean, adhesive- and glitter-free glass.

I love, love the Life Stories line from My Mind's Eye.


And also Pink Paislee's Amber Road collection.


Using the last of this wonderful Chatterbox line from about two years ago. 2010's resolutions include using more stuff and buying less. Blah, it sounded more fun in my head.

Playing catch-up

I'm not going to even mention my lack of blogging. Just pretend like I've been here every day, providing you with interesting, inspiring, and funny content, and let's move on. Our holiday season was derailed a bit by the Blizzard of '09 and by our being trapped in a Maryland hotel for three nights. I'm blaming those events for the fact that I didn't get my cards mailed until December 26, and also for our totally forgetting that we had purchased (not cheap) tickets to see the Radio City Music Hall Rockettes show in Richmond. The show was on December 23rd, and I was so excited about it, having heard from friends that it is an amazing show. On the 27th, I was sitting at my mom's house and suddenly realized that we had forgotten to go. I am additionally going to blame that one on my obviously perimenopausal state, which--who knew?--apparently makes one dumb as a box of rocks.

I didn't do a whole lot of homemade gifts this year, but I did make this house on a gift box, which was heavily inspired by Melissa Phillips. Mine is much simpler than hers, but I love it and the recipient seems to as well, or else she is just very kind and a good actress.



Annamarie and I made several kinds of sweet and spicy nuts for teacher gifts, during which project I burned $30 worth of almonds to a crisp (see aforementioned box of rocks). We made candied pecans, chipotle honey peanuts, Mexi-cashews, and cajun spice pecans, and now my mouth is watering.



Every year I intend to send handmade Christmas cards, and even though they were late getting in the mail, I actually did it this year! These cards are so sparkly and glittery in real life.



Last but not least, I promised to post a better photo of the banner and window frame I made. I haven't decided whether I am going to remove the banner and photos and redecorate the window, or whether I'll put it away as is for next Christmas.