Been busy

Well I've been busy making and organising things with Nicole for our friends' baby shower. So yesterday we went shopping for prizes for games, items for games and presents for mum-to-be.

We then made 20 invitations, and a nappy cake (one made out of disposable nappies). Very cool if we do say so ourselves :)
Will try and pop some pictures up later.

2 more days until 2009!!

A Year of Reading

After just finishing another novel I have thought back to all the books I have read this year. It certainly has been a year of reading for me! I love reading, but normally don't have the time. This year I have had such a burning desire to read, that most nights I will read a chapter or two before sleeping (much to my Dh's worry that I am not getting as much sleep as I should be in the first place!).
So here are some of the books I have read and enjoyed this year:
- PS I Love You
- The Jane Austen Book Club
- Wicked
- My Sister's Keeper
- The Tenth Circle
- Nineteen minutes
- Don't Kiss them Goodbye

Next on my list is The Tales of Beedle the Bard. Might have to go shopping next year for some more books!

Chrissy photos

It's been a long time since I have given an update!! I have done a bit of scrapping, not as much as I would have liked though!

Been very busy with work, but enjoying it all the same.

These are the photos I have altered on photoshop of our furbaby. I am going to use them on our Chrissy photos (which I am making this weekend!!)

Photoshop Elements

I had another play with photoshop elements...keeping the background black and white and the subject colour. Could have done her hair a bit better, but I think it looks ok :)

More yummy stuff

More yummy purchases from 2 weeks ago! Scraptherapy and also Scrappers Warehouse. Can't wait to scrapbook on the weekend...also got some photos printed...lots to do now :)

Photoshop

I've had my first little play with photoshop elements (finally). What do you think? :-)

80 posts :-)

My latest purchase from Scraptherapy. Can't wait to try out my new punch!!!!

Sunday

Well where to start?
I have had an ok week at school...was off to a great start on Monday when my Prep grade performed at assembly. They were so cute and did a fantastic job - they ALL talked into the microphone!! So there were lots of proud mummy's and daddy's and one very proud teacher! :)

The week was pretty uneventful...on Friday it was a bit chaotic with different chn have to come into the grade b/c their teachers were away or out of the classroom, so it was a bit unsettling for my grade. We coped and got through the day.

Lots of work still to do at school...out of hours stuff, that I am not looking forward to. Hopefully we can get it done efficiently and quickly.

I got home on Friday to a parcel from SM...my prize arrived from the Best Photo in the Community Section!! I got approx 30 sheets!!!! :) :)
Friday night I did some scrapbooking at a CM crop...didn't get anything finished, but started 4 pages. Saturday we went shopping...and had trouble with one of the BigW self-serve machines, it decided to stop working and they weren't sure whether the sale had gone through or not. I was there for 1/2 hour!!
Saturday night we went out for a belated birthday dinner for Dh with my parents. We went to a really nice restaraunt in Rowville, except it was very windy when the door opened!
Today I went to a work friends' baby shower, which was fun. Played some games, ate some food, etc.

Now I am home..printing out school stuff ready to laminate (and they say teachers only work 9-3:30!!!). Thinking I might finish my recipe cards for my swap on SM so I can send them off.

Hopefully this week Dad will hear about when his latest operation is to be, so they can work out what is making him sick. It is going to be fairly invasive as he needs to take 6 weeks off from work!!

update

well to top the week off our dog has been sick. He managed to be sick 5 times in the space of around 9 hours...then sick another couple of times during the day and once after seeing the vet. He is not a happy camper...and neither are we. We are so tired already with everything else that has been going on. The vet said she wasn't worried, he just has an upset stomach - keep an eye on him, and bring him back if he doesn't improve. So he had an injection and has started back on little bits of food today. He still doesn't seem himself, but he is ok otherwise.
2 more days to the weekend...and aren't I hanging out!!!!!!!!!!

Sunday

So today I have been to visit both my Nan and my Dad.

Nan's new place looks sooo much better than the last place. A lot cleaner, and brighter, more spacious too. They have classical music playing throughout the building, so at least they are not just sitting there in silence.

Dad was hopeful he was going home tomorrow, but the doctor on duty thinks either Tuesday or Wednesday at the earliest. His heart murmur has gone, but they are still going to check it out with an echocardiogram tomorrow.

Nicole has had her baby - so welcome to the world Luca, I can't wait to meet you...hopefully tomorrow.

Tonight I am feeling quite ill. I am hoping that kiddies haven't passed their gastro on to me, otherwise I wont be visiting anyone!

Tomorrow I will be taking my Prep class on an excursion, for many of them it will be the first time on a bus!! Should be a good day (please rain, stay away!).

Good news in the midst

Two things to brighten my day today...
1. My mum has just got a place on the ship from WA to visit HMAS Sydney. She is very excited, and I couldn't be more happy for her. Not only does she deserve it, this week especially, but it is something that will mean so much to her. She never met/ saw her Dad and this is his final resting place. So yay Mum - I'm glad you won in the ballot!!!
2. DH just bought in a copy of Scrapbook Creations - I got a free copy (yay!!!) to entice me into buying a subscription!!

Off to visit Dad this afternoon to see how he is going. Then tonight we are going to my school's trivia night.

The last 24 hours

So it has been hectic here. Mum called last night, distressed, to let me know Dad had collapsed and the ambulance was to take him to hospital. We got to Emergency just after 9pm - the same time as the ambulance. After a 45 minute wait (and we had to ask what was happening) we were told we could go through to the room.
They weren't sure whether it had anything to do with operation yesterday or not. They were thinking maybe an infection in the blood stream.
So we left around 11pm, knowing that Dad was to be admitted for observation.
Drove Mum home and got home and in bed by 12am.
Today I spent the day at school - busy, busy, busy. Wet day timetables at both recess and lunch - so extra duty! Got home, called Mum and found out that Dad has a heart murmur and needs more tests, probably to be done on Monday. We went to visit him tonight, he seems ok, but frustrated that he has to stay in hopsital. I think he is also frustrated that it is something else to do with his heart, since he has lost soooo much weight and exercises daily. I must say I have frustrated enough for him it's just not fair!

Not a winner

Well I didn't win any prizes in the cybercrop. But at least I now have 10 cards made and did some LO's too.
Also had my first rejection...waiting for the second one now..haha.
School again tomorrow...3 days til the weekend ;)

Holding it together

Do you ever feel like you are hanging onto "normal" life by a string? I'm feeling like I'm loosing my grip and slipping a bit. But I am trying to keep it together. I'm trying not to whinge or complain. I'm trying to be positive. I'm trying to concentrate on the "now".
I'm just not sure how long I can hold it together. Do you ever feel the same?

This weekend...

We helped my Nan pack her things on Sat, she will be moving to a new home tomorrow (a retirement home) this time where hopefully she will get the care she needs!
Dad's hospital tests were put off again this week, cos the hospital stuffed up (forgot to put him down on the list!?!?) - so hopefully he will be done this week. Then we will know if we need to be tested for anything as well. Fingers crossed it is something simple!

Wow - I completed 5 layouts this weekend along with 10 cards!! And I didn't even pre-plan or prepare anything!! I felt very creative. Of course the downside was that I didn't do any school work, or much housework...but maybe i needed to scrap to keep me sane! Not sure whether to try and sub any of these or not..?!

The first are the 10 cards...a challenge from the Claytons Retreat Cybercrop at Little Scrapbook Shop. This was a lot of fun, and I think I will do it again with a "pretty" paper. This has certainly re-stocked my card pile!

Next are the 5 LO's. The first was also a challenge from the LSBS (sketch challenge). The second was another page for my Japan album. The next 2 are of my god-daughter Amelia and the last is of Ella! :)

2 challenges completed

Here are two challenges fro this weeks CC at Scraptherapy
The first is a card - the challenge was to use a rescued item (a drink coaster in this case) and scraps of PP.

The second challenge I completed was a photo of something old (statue) and 3 or more distressing techniques (inking, sanding, ripping, scrunching and I also used a distressed looking PP)

Thanks for looking :)

Scraptherapy Cyber Crop

Scrap therapy has their cybercrop on this weekend. Head to ScrapTherapy
For every hit on the site the prize pool goes up...so head over and have a sticky beak. Somebody is going to be extremely lucky and win the prize pool of new CHA releases!!
Also check out the cyber crop..there are some interesting challenges there too!!

one of those weeks

and so I guess it has come down to being one of those weeks. Almost like a regular week of ups and downs, and yet not. Here's the happenings from the week...

* Was soo lucky to get the day off today. I found out that I was being replaced and I had the day to catch up on work! Mind you there were a few things that cropped up unexpectantly, but still a day to do my own work was sooooo good!!

* Tuesday night came home, just knowing that I was in the beginning stages of getting sick.

* Wednesday - went to school anyway. But didn't stay for a PD session, decided that rest at home was best. Had trouble sleeping and was awake from 4:30am..

* Thursday - went to school still feeling sick, but knowing that the kids had 2 hours of specialists made it an easy decision. Had a long meeting after school, came home tired and feeling like I should go in to school Friday, but also that I should stay home to get better.

Dad was meant to go into hospital today to get some tests done on his lungs. There is a slight chance he might have TB - but they didn't read that on the report at the hospital. Instead they took him into the theatre, hooked him up to an IV and then decided not to follow through with the tests and wait til next week when they have an isolation room available. They then made him wear a bright orange mask to make his way out of the hospital. Maybe next time they will read their reports before getting people that far along!! Mum was not happy...and especially when everyone pysch's themselves up for such a procedure. So now we still have to wait and worry about the tests and the results too.

*Friday - I ended up deciding to stay home to rest. Went to the doctors to find out that I had a viral infection, and that I should get over it without antibiotics. My old doctor would have given me antibiotics, so I don't know whether that is a good or bad thing.

Today Mum also had to go and meet with an agency to find Nan a nursing home. She is in a hostel at the moment that isn't providing the amount of care that we expected. And now Nan is classed as high-care, and the hostel want her to go into a different section for people with memory loss. The only trouble with that is that it is morbid surroundings...noone speaks, nothing happens, and they are locked up behind closed doors. The main section is depressing enough. There have been a few issues over the past few years, and Mum has always wondered whether she should move her, so now her decision was practically made for her! So hopefully a new location will provide more appropriate care and surroundings.

Until later...happy scrapping!

Meet my new laptop :)

Here is my new laptop - in my hands today (or on my lap right now). Pretty exciting to be a teacher - haha! So it's a lot like my old laptop...just looks in better condition and has a wider screen.
I also now have to get used to using Office 07...hmm that should be fun. But I have just downloaded some help programs to help me, so I should have my head around it soon. Also have to redownload all my old files from the other laptop.

One more day til the weekend...yay! No official plans as yet..maybe catch up with Nicole on Saturday, before she has bub #2 (yay, so excited to be an "aunty" to another bub). Hope I can maybe do a LO or two too!

Have been a bit sick the last couple of days...I'm sure it is phyaryngitis again, might go to the doc tomorrow I think. Sore throat, blocked nose, foggy head and not a lot of good sleep doesn't make me a happy camper!

I'll go for now - happy scrapping til then!!

The last few weeks

Here are some layouts that I have been working on for the past few weeks. Some were done on a trip to Ballarat to visit my friend Alison. The others have been done at home and at a crop. A few photos are of some close ups. Thanks for looking :)

Some older stuff

Here is a canvas I made in April of my God-daughter, I made it for her mummy for her birthday. I had a lot of fun making it. It's my second canvas...maybe i might get around to doing my wedding one ;)
And also 2 birthday cards :)

Well we are loving having our own house! We had a bit of a gathering last weekend and so now our house is "warmed" haha.
Here are some pics with our things unpacked :)

The first two photos is all of my scrap stuff - that doesn't look like TOO much now does it?? ;)

Weekend Buzz

I'm very proud of DH this weekend - he survived 3+ hours of shopping for furniture! Now we have to wait 2-3 weeks for delivery but we will have a new dining setting for 8 ppl, a buffet, a tv unit, coffee table and display cabinet (Like a fancy bookshelf really). It is really nice and was all on special because it was end of stock - yay!

Tonight we are off to dinner at a African restaurant to help out with fund-raising for DH's cousin Olivia. It should be a good night and definately be a good night, and she will be doing a great thing by going to Africa with the Oaktree foundation.

Today we are going to Bunnings to get a few bits and pieces for the house, and give my back a bit of a rest from unpacking boxes!!

Enjoy the last bit of your weekend!

yay!!

We are in our new house (definately not unpacked though). We managed to make it to my friends beautiful wedding on Saturday afternoon and clean our old house on Sunday.
So now we get to do some unpacking on the weekend and some cleaning of our new house.
Of course last week wasn't without it's dramas - but I am just so glad that we are in now!

Finished my reports - yay! Just have to do parent-teacher interviews next week and then it's holidays (yay!!).

Off to do some more school work (haha - cos teachers work 9 - 3:30 don't they?)

Michael Buble

Last night we went to see Michael Buble! How exciting. I can't wait to get my scrap stuff unpacked when we finally move in, so I can scrap these photos.
Naturally 7 were the warm-up act - and totally unbelieveable!! They are really cool, and I can't wait to hear more of their music one day!
Michael..well what can I say? He was suave, charming, funny...very entertaining. It was an awesome show and a really good way to end a bad week. It allowed us some time to forget about the bad stuff and get lost in the music and show. Even DH liked it.
I so want to go to another one of his concerts next time he is in Aus. Thanks Michael (or as DH likes to refer to him as "bubble boy - smooth as bubble" - haha.

today...

we should be in the process of moving at the moment! But we aren't!

everything is still up in the air - we just hope that the tenants actually move out this time. If they do they are handing the keys back on Tues and settlement is booked for Thurs.

So fingers crossed for us!

in pieces

one minute everything is up and the next minute it is falling in pieces around you! The settlement on our house won't be going through tomorrow - which in turn means we wont be moving this weekend.
It seems the tenants in the house felt put out and it didn't suit them to move! They'll move in their own good time thank you - I am furious, upset, gutted, every possible negative emotion i think!
Supposedly they will be out by tues - but it has totally stuffed all our good planning - my day off work
- rental truck
- friends and family who were helping us
- connections and disconnections
- an available weekend to move
- the rental that we are in currently in

now there is an application with VTAC to remove them from the property if they don't actually move out on the weekend.

Everything is up in the air - just goes to show that bad stuff happens to good people and bad people seem to get away with bad things!!!!!!!!!

one more week

there is only one more week to moving day! So this has been the last Saturday in this house...it has come so quickly. Even if I have been a bit excited about the whole thing!
Last night though I was as sick as a dog and could barely move, this morning I felt better. Just as well because we did some hard core packing today. My parents and DH's mum came over and we now have the kitchen packed (apart from essentials), my scrap room, the bathroom cupboard and most of the linen cupboard. Now we just have to pack the tops of the wardrobes and a few bits and pieces here and there. There are boxes everywhere and my organised system went straight out the window (much to DH's delight!).
Better head off and get some rest, as I still have a sore throat and not feeling 100%
Til next time...
xo

2 weeks to go!

In two weeks it'll be moving day - at hopefully by this time we will have unloaded the truck and be getting ready to go and see Michael Buble (sigh!). It's going to be such a crazy day, but how exciting on both accounts - right!!
It's report writing time too...so inbetween packing up all of my scrap stash, I am trying to get some report work done.
Let's hope it's a productive weekend!!
xo

Taking a break

With the count down on - we are 3 weeks away from moving day. It's very exciting and a little stressful too. I have packed so many boxes, but still have more to pack. I'll try and pack a few more before going to bed.
I also have to try and do some school things, start my school reports and tidy up the loungeroom/ kitchen ready for some photos to be taken by the realestate agents (how annoying when you are trying to get ready to move!!!).
So there's the update...no scrapping for the past couple of weeks. I have made a few cards though. But probably won't get the chance to photograph them and get them on here.
So for now..it's bye and I'm off to pack some boxes!!

Home sick

Once again I'm sick...back to the doctors this afternoon..

Here are the last 3 LO's I did over the long weekend (before I got sick)...

This one is from a shop we visited in Akihabara (electronics district) - it had so many vending machines for those little egg toys. Out of this one I got a cute little mouse that is a zipper pull. The shop also had lots of cute collectables, etc.


These photos were taken in a little garden we found on our way to find the Imperial Palace. It was beautiful. Although we had to wait a few minutes to get this shot!


This last one took me ages to do the stitching (not that it looks like it!?!). The photos were taken in Tokyo Disneyland of the "Haunted Mansion" ride - one of my faves!! It was a little different than I remember than LA one being, but still good all the same! :D

Thanks for looking!