Beware...

Of the carving knife wielding 6 year old! Ok - I'm just kidding, but this photo of Maggie absolutely cracks me up. She's ready to dig in to that pumpkin. By the way, the plastic scoops don't work. Don't waste your money on them. A big ol' metal soup spoon works MUCH better.



We had a great time doing the pumpkin thing. Maggie carved hers into a "mean face" as she called it and I made mine a skeleton face. (I'm into the skull and crossbones thing right now) Of course, did I take pictures of the finished product, yet? No... Why? Because I'm aloof and totally forgot. That's on the agenda for this evening.

Anyway, I walked Maggie into class today because we had to take in her costume, treat bags, etc. and I was so excited seeing everyone dressed up. Halloween is my all-time favorite holiday. WAY more than Christmas. I just love everything about Halloween. I enjoy the time of year (fall is my favorite season) and then the pumpkins, the hayrides, the carving, the dressing up, etc.

It was my dad's favorite holiday, too. He enjoyed passing out candy to all the little kids. I remember sitting with him on the porch and handing out candy. Ironically, my dad was buried on Halloween morning. I went home that night and passed out candy because I knew that was the one thing Dad looked forward to. That was the last year that candy was passed out at their house. Kind of makes me sad to think about it but then on the other hand - Halloween always gives me those happy memories of Dad and I'm thankful for that. He used to take me trick-or-treating when I was little and dig out different little candies that he liked. He was lucky because I was the picky kid that only liked plain Hershey bars and Three Musketeers. I'm still that way. Of course, now I'm the one digging the plain little Hershey bars out of Maggie's bag. I should do a scrapbook layout about that some day. LOL!

Well...to everyone out there with little trick or treaters, be safe tonight! Eat lots of candy and brush your teeth so that they don't rot out. (At least, that's what my mom would say!)

Guess WHO is my new Co-Worker????

Oh yes.... We've been friends since 2004 and now we're co-workers. :)

I am SO EXCITED!!! It's OFFICIAL!



LOVE you Emily!

I'm a total slacker

And I admit it. If you read my blog, THANK YOU. I'm sorry that I'm such a schmutz and never post to it anymore. I just worry that I don't have anything interesting to say at this point. My life is pretty much that - just life. Nothing out of the ordinary. Although, I DID milk a goat last week. I know it's random, but that was about the most exciting thing to happen. And, it wasn't very exciting at all. It was a bit odd, and involved a lot of hand-sanitizer. I went with Maggie on her field trip to a farm where the rest of us adults were laughing at the sexual inuendos the poor tour guide seemed to have every five minutes. She was explaining farm life. We adults were laughing like Beavis and Butthead.

Anyway - I did manage to get some fun photos. Here's Maggie milking the goat. The guide had all the kids do it and most of us adults.



We had a good time, even if it was raining. When I got home, I snapped some shots of Addison. Here she is sitting up and jabbering at me. Her new favorite thing is talking.



We also did the pumpkin farm this weekend but I haven't uploaded those photos. I'll get to them. Scott always yells at me for being lazy in that department. Heck - I tell him that I'm lazy in all departments, not just that one. Ha ha! Oh well...

Back from LAS and FINALLY up and moving

If any of you ran into me at Memory Trends, you know that I was fighting a nasty cold/Vegas Throat/Goodness knows what. It started pretty much the day after we arrived and it progressively got worse until I went to the doctor literally hours after landing back in Cincinnati. The verdict: double ear infection and respiratory infection. It's been a fun few days. Nothing like lying in bed in a fetal position with the covers over your head. That was me for the past four days. So, if you haven't heard from me, now you know why!

But, I'm trying to make this a positive blog post, so I'll touch on a few things. Got some great photos from Jane Hasty (I'll link her to the side of my blog!) from the show. She's so fun! Jane and Laura were my roomies and we had a good time. They even put up with my hacking in the middle of the night. I love ya girls!



Sickies aside, we had a great time in Vegas. The team was AWESOME! Everyone got along and we all sang cumbaya at the end. Ok, so I'm being sarcastic about the last part but we all had a great time! The girls were awesome! I think the funniest thing on the planet is Dana Newsom doing this scream every time Jane did her "boo". It was either that, or Me, Greta, Sherry and Jane sharing a nickel slot machine. Talk about sad. That's 1.25 cents each. I know...pathetic. But, fun...

Here's a bunch of us at the booth. I think this is at about 8:00 in the morning, which after a night in Vegas translates into "Who the *(*& decided we needed to be here early?"



The best thing was when I returned, Addison was jabbering. She says "ma, ma, ma, ma, ma" quite a bit. That's how she gets my attention. She also does "Ba, ba, bab", which sometimes sounds like "Bad, bad, baby". LOL! She's so cute! Plus, Maggie is doing GREAT at her Tae Kwon Do. She was showing me her new form and she's really starting to pop her moves. And, she lost another tooth. The tooth fairy is going to be broke soon if she keeps it up like this.

Then, there's Grey's Anatomy. I haven't done my usual analyzation of the show so far this season. Why? Because I have a lot of thoughts about it. Most of them revolve around Derek and his new persona of being a total jerk wad. I figure one day I'll snap and have to overanalyze one of the episodes, but I haven't quite got there, yet. Thursday's episode left me with this one thought: Meredith - you are STUPID. 'Nuff said.

Back to work. Deadlines loom and I'm not in the mood to think about things today. Have a good one!

Ever had that assignment...

That really has you on edge? One that you just have to make sure is perfect? I just got that assignment two days ago and finished the project for it, and I actually feel like I accomplished what I wanted to. It wasn't for work or anything. It was for Scott. He had called me and asked me to make a card for someone he works with. She was recently diagnosed with breast cancer and so she's going through treatment and is trying to work, even though she's taking chemo. Scott and his co-workers really wanted to show her that they are supportive of her and thinking about her all the time. (He even talked of shaving his head to show his support since she has since lost her hair)

I wanted the card to be perfect. I knew a lot of people would be signing it and it wasn't just "a card". It needed to be special. I was talking with the girls in the office and our office manager said "Why don't you make bricks or something?". That got me to thinking and this is what I came up with:



Everyone can sign a "brick" on the card- her "Foundation of Hope" so to speak. It looks really REALLY plain (and it is) but I think it conveys the message. I used the Gin-X jumbles, turned them over, inked the edges and laid the "bricks" out. I also made little ribbons out of our cotton art tape.

I am still waiting to hear from Scott what they thought about it. I hope that it comes across as I intended. I just feel for her. I've had a lot of experience with people around me that I love battling this disease and I am so glad she has a support system. But, nobody should really ever have to deal with this.

And Now...The WINNERS!!!

Once again, thank you to EVERYONE that entered! Here is a list of the winners as promised and photos of their projects!

Best Overall - Sandy Brantley
Yes - it's an altered ship!


Most Unique - Keri Voigt
SUPER cute earring stand made of coasters!


Best Use of Patterned Paper - Angie Kovacs
The team LOVED everything about the layout!


Best Mini Album - Laura Achilles (We added this category)
This album is chock full of goodies!!!! Yummy stuff!


Downright Gorgeous - Melissa Blair
We thought this layout was just downright gorgeous!


Coasters (Technique, Unique etc.) - Michelle Van Etten
Her story behind the belt was just as intriguing. We loved the coaster altering! (I think the girls are really into glitter glue and dimensional paint)


Congratulations to all of the winners!

And now - the FOUR new DT Members for Imagination Project!

Wendy Gibson
Diane DiTullio
Celia King
Vivian Masket

Congratulations everyone and thank you SO much to those that entered! Don't forget! We may contact you to use something in the future for a newsletter or blog!

Ginger

Winners have been contacted...

Thank you to EVERYONE who entered! We had over 200 entries and they were AWESOME! I can't even believe the amount of talent all of you have! Gorgeous stuff and some pretty darn cute kids!

I'll be posting winners later on today and please - do not fear if you didn't get an e-mail. We're still sorting to see if there is anything we can use in our newsletter or blog. That gets you a fun goodie box, too!

Ginger

Winners will be announced shortly!

Ok girls - the winners will be announced shortly. We had a TON of entries and with trying to get ready for Memory Trends, we've been running around like mad in the office. I've got things fairly narrowed down and we will be contacting winners shortly. I also still have to go through some of the entries that I received this weekend.

I will say - there are AT LEAST 2-3 DT Bids going out. (Based on preliminary checks) I'm pretty excited about that!

I also want to get approval from winners to post their projects before announcing everything. As soon as everything comes through, you'll hear about it! (Might not be until tomorrow!)

Thanks!

Ginger