A Million Little Pieces.....Not a book review, trust me.

I heard a noise today, sounded like a small contained explosion in my kitchen. My 11 year old, said it was nothing...the next sign that it was definately something. I went to check out the situation. When I arrived in the kitchen, the boy sat very still...another sign, something was amiss. I asked him again what the noise was, he stated calmly the microwave, his snack exploded. Great, I'm thinking to myself, another microwave casualty. I open the microwave and nearly fall over...a million little pieces is what greets me. A million little pieces clinging to every possible surface inside the microwave. And upon opening the microwave that hovers above my stove, some of the million pieces begin to drop, onto the stove and the floor.

Oh...you're probably wondering at this point, hmmm a million little pieces of what? Well, a milllion little pieces is what you find when your 11 year old hits the high button for one minute and walks away after placing a hard boiled egg inside. For those of you keeping score, there were about 20 seconds left on the timer, factor in the sprint to the microwave to stop it, I figure about 32 seconds is the threshhold for a large cold hard boiled egg to handle the high heat of the microwave before actually exploding, but don't take my word for it.

Upon making this discovery, I simply closed the microwave, hung my head in shock and disbelief and asked my son...why? Why did you put a hard boiled egg in the microwave? To cook it he answered. Sweetie, it was already cooked, I replied. OOOOOHHHH, he said and then added, but it had been put back in the fridge and was cold I wanted to kill the tapeworms. Mom, I didn't want to get a tapeworm, he says to me, completely serious, as though this is common knowledge. At this point my head nearly snaps off from the million mile double take at that response....the whhhhaaattt?

I guess at this point I need to let you know my kids have this preoccupation with tapeworms...ummmm....not because we have them.....because they saw one show-one ridiculous episode of that moronic show on nickelodeon, Mr. Meaty, and they saw it like...8 months ago. We have had countless tapeworm discussions in the last 8 months. I'd been better off if they had seen a horror movie. Anyway back to the attempted tape-worm killing, egg-laden microwave incident....

I then explain to my son that boiled eggs are fine to eat cold, they don't need to go in the microwave....plllleaaasse...don't ever put one in the microwave again. Ok, mom, he says, he's terribly sorry, but still not sure how to stay safe from the tapeworms. In his mind, the cold temp provides parasites an opportunity to inhabit his food...again...I have no idea where this is coming from. Finally I look at him and ask him when the last time was he had food at home from the fridge or otherwise with worms or bugs in it. Never, he replies. Enough said kid, no bugs, or tapeworms in the food, got it. Got it mom. Remarkably all this did take place as a rather calm conversation...I think I was in shock. About ten minutes into cleaning up the mess, we both crack up...and he says finally, It was really something when it exploded mom.

It took me about 15 minutes to clean up the mess However, everytime we open and shut the microwave door now, we do have exploded egg remnants falling back through the little teeny vent holes that got pushed through the holes during the catastrophe. Wonder how long that will last. (just in case you ever find yourself cleaning exploded boiled egg, go with dry cleaning supplies, papertowels and a dustbroom and pan worked great for me, to clear away all the egg, then use your liquid cleaner to sanitize and really clean).

Thats the big excitement round her today....Check out this layout I finished up for my CT at digital freebies, before you go:

credits here

New Layouts!

I've finished a couple of layouts for digital freebies CT.

This one is of my sister and her husband being silly at her birthday party.

credits here

This one is using the february club kits...only took me a whole month to get one done! The various flowers in the layout are pictures I took while we were on our honeymoon.


credits here

Ok...here's my #1 challenge layout for the ADSR:


credits here

Thanks for looking!!

ADSR starts today..working on a new kit...getting old...visiting the DMV

Well, today is the day. The ADSR starts today. I am excited to see what the challenges will be like.

So I'm working on a new kit! The name of the kit is So In Love...inspired by and for my friends Denise & Franz's wedding. Here is a sneak peek of the color scheme on some of the first papers I've completed.

Not sure where that blue stripe came from...hmmm...suffice it to say it is not part of the kit!! You can see the inspiration for the kit from the photos below. My gift to them was a personally designed scrapbook of their wedding day.

Visited the DMV Friday afternoon, finally....Its only taken me six months since we got married to navigate my way to the DMV to change my driver's license. Partly because, well I 'm just a bit slow at times...but I had a little help with this one. To start out, our marriage license was signed incorrectly. So after returning from our honeymoon we had to retrieve our license from the register of deeds and mail it to my sister in FL so she could ahem...correct her signature. Some nonsense about signing her name differently than the way she wrote it out...that took a couple of weeks.

Then after getting that back sending it back to the register of deeds and then waiting a couple of weeks for them to wave their magic wand over it, we finally took a morning off to go about town and complete all the legal paperwork. Jeez what a mess. It took all morning to go to the social security office and complete my paperwork. Which is quite messy. Not only was I married before, but I kinda have two maiden names...crazy huh....the long and the short of it. A stepdad legally changed my name to his when I was 12. Upon adulthood I reunited with my biological father and he "undid" the name change and had my name changed back to my birth name. So here I come to the social security office with all these legal documents, adoption papers, divorce papers, marriage license. On paper I truly look like a basket case!! (After getting it changed at social security...which was really pretty easy when you have the right papers.) I am then told I have to wait for a minimum of 24 hours before attempting to get my driver's license, but I would really be better off to wait until I received my new card in the mail.

Well that took a couple of weeks. Then we moved and I lost...no misplaced my legal docs file that I would need to take to the DMV. Just found it last week...so now I have a current photo ID. Yay...It even has the right address on it. Very impressive, first time in about three years...shhhhh...don't tell anyone.

Apparently while I was at the DMV some lady was arrested for identity theft. I was so distracted, I was reading and listening to my ipod, that I missed that. Of course while at the DMV the picture taking station had to die and we had to wait forever to get our pictures taken. But its all done now and I don't have to go back again for two years!!

Well thanks for stopping by. No freebies today. I'll see what I can get together in the near future. On your way out check out another one of our engagement pages. I've still got a few more to do before I can start on our wedding.

credits here

Humpday, Freebie

Ok, so I'm still dealing with the piracy aftermath. Don't want to seem like a big meanie. Here's the freebie I promised. Working on some layouts. I'll upload those when I get a minute. Looking forward to the ADSR starting on Sunday.

click here to get the last freebie that goes with the chocolate and flowers kit.

Gotta run...busy day.

ARGGGHHHH.....I'VE BEEN PIRATED!

ummm...not sure exactly how it happened, but in this last batch of piracy issues (the notorious 6000+ usurped files) all my brand new not even released in a store kits got snagged and passed around, sold, what have you.

Perhaps I should be really, really devastated. But I'm not. Disappointed yes...completely. My stuff got unveiled before I had a chance to officially release it. I've been patiently waiting the opportunity to announce that I had stuff to sell. Oh well. As you can imagine, this little snafu will delay that announcement. Bummer.

And I'm not going to tirade about the evilness of modern day digi-pirates and what they are doing. That horse has been beaten to an incredibly bloody pulp all over the digi-scrapping world. The pirates know what they are doing and that it is wrong. Let me just tell you when it was brought to my attention that I had been pirated, I had this overwhelming feeling of confusion, shock and powerlessness. Its kind of like an invisible person, a ghost if you will slipping into your art gallery that is awaiting opening night and stealing all your pieces right off the wall, taking them to kinko's, making thousands of copies and then plastering them all over town. Rather deflating, to say the least, when you discover your "art" on display elsewhere unbeknownst to you, while you were progressing towards opening night.

I had one freebie left to give out...of course the hackers have probably already snagged it. Just not feeling in a giving mood. I need a few days to recover my mojo. Check back later this week, when I feel like giving away the mini-kit below for free...

Amost Valentine's Day, ADSR & a freebie

Its almost Valentine's Day. Only two more days. Ok, so speaking as a total newlywed, why do we have to got to work on Valentine's Day. We should have that day off from work. They could call it relationship development day. I know, I know there are a lot of people out there who hate Valentine's Day...and have nothing to be excited about. I don't mean to sound like I am gloating...I'm just so fortunate to have such a sweetie for husband. He really is a sweet man and so very thoughtful..all the time.

Trust me...my first marriage was not so blissful and loving...even only six months in(I remained in that miserable marriage for 7 years)...so I deserve a minute to relish in the excitement of new, appreciative, respectful and healthy love....

So I'm a bit inspired these days...the ramp up towards Valentine's day has got me thinking about my hubby and our relationship, and how fortunate we are to have found one another. We knew right away we were soul mates...but waited (2.5 years) and took our time (because of my kids) before getting married.

I am scrapping our engagement photos, here's one of my favorites so far.

credits here

I really was very uncomfortable with having my photo taken. So in all the tight shots where we were facing one another...Alan kept crossing his eyes and making silly faces before the photographer snapped. Kept me laughing. He's definately a keeper.

I'm taking the plunge, joining the race, the amazing digi scrap race that is. I have partnered with Cole check out her Digital Freebies Gallery here. She's an up and coming designer...check out her blog here. She made a really cool blinkie for us!! And we even have a blog to post our ADSR (mis)adventures!!

And here's the freebie, as promised:

Download here

TGIF....finally!

Ok so just a quickie here. My week has been so hectic. Its never a good thing to miss the first two days of the work week, ya know. The doctor called today. Apparently my son has had strept throat all week after all. Perhaps that explains why he's been so tired...which is unusual for him.

Why don't they just listen to moms? Doctors that is. I told her that he had had a lingering extremely sore throat for nearly a week when we went on Tuesday. I told her that my son had spent a lot of time over the last week or so with a child that had just been diagnosed (the day before our Dr. visit) with strept throat. I told her that he didn't seem to have any normal symptoms outside of a very sore throat, but that my gut was telling me it was more than a cold, because my child is up and at 'em in the morning usually and never complains of sickness. And that day, he just could not get out of bed and said he could not go to school and his throat hurt really, really bad. You kinda have to apply the "dog years" theory to my child's symptom complaints. By the time the symptoms have held his attention long enough to warrant complaining to mom more than once...he must be reaaalllly uncomfortable....chances are his discomfort and or sickness is several times worse than it would have been if he had complained at the first hint of it. Ok...sorry for the rant...but some doctors...well...they just make me crazy.

Ok...since I was sick this week I am behind on everything....so here's a little freebie for ya...cause I gotta run.

click here to download

Catching Up, Challenges...and a freebie

Well, I've been horribly neglectful of my blog over the last little while, but I kinda have been a tad busy. We moved in November, barely got the house unpacked enough for Christmas, had a huge Christmas feast, featuring a roast beast, of which there were no leftovers. There has been one birthday after another beginning in November. The last three months have been a whirlwind. Its no wonder I am sick...again. Nothing major, but I have had three horrible, mind-muddling, energy snatching sinus infection/cough/cold thingies. Since November. Yuck!

So I am at home today, and my oldest is home as well. Will have to take him to the doctor later, he just might have strept throat. My youngest cried all morning at the sheer devastation that he would actually have to attend school and would not be allowed to stay home since his brother is sick. He actually whined to me that he needed a break from school. Um...excuse me, you are in kindergarten little fella...and you are not sick!

I am working on a couple of layouts using the club kit from digital freebies which is actually two complete coordinating kits from two different designers. This month's kit is designed by Karen Lewis and Danielle Engebretson. It is so cute and colorful. Take a look at the kits below.




It is such a bargain! Head over to Digital Freebies and you can pick up both these kits for just $5 total. And they both made all kinds of coordinating addons to go with their club kits that you can pick up in the boutique!! I'll post my layouts when they're complete...still gotta find the right pics.

I'm also working on a QP bundle for retrodiva using her All I Need and the add- on kits. Those kits are so gorgeous. I'll let you know when those are finished and posted in the store as well. Some of the other members of the CT have got some completely awesome QP albums in the store. Retrodiva is so awesome to be giving her CT a chance to design and sell in her store!!

I've got a few challenges going on as well and I've been bitten by the designing bug this past month. I've been wanting to design for a while, but haven't really felt ready for it. I'm hoping that the inspiration will continue and I will continue to improve my skills and maybe even carve out a style. So here are a couple of freebies you can get your hands on during the month of February:

Check out the Scraplift Challenge at Digital Freebies this month to pick up this little kit, "bring me flowers & chocolate add-on".



It's a weekly challenge hosted by me and the kit will be divided into four parts for the month of February.

At retrodiva this month I will be giving away this kit "More Chocolate & Flowers" for the Font Challenge.



This challenge runs twice a month, so half the kit will be given out at the end of each challenge.

I also share the hosting with Conny for the Template Challenge at Retrodiva. Conny has posted a gorgeous template for Valentine's day for the first part of the month and the prize is a beautiful QP from retrodiva using her newest kit, Just So You Know. I'll be posting the second template this month around the 15th.

Terribly long post, but I have been neglectful. So for hanging in there here's a little freebie for your time. It coordinates with the kits above and I have more where this came from so check back! You might get lucky!


download here
Download it quick before the link expires! I'll be back later this week with more goodies.

Thanks for stopping by!
Tanya