OMG!!!! I am so excited about this!

I spent the better part of the afternoon working on a mini album that I am planning on giving Avery's preschool teachers. I saw a stationary set made from floppy disks on Etsy, and I thought using some to make a mini album would be a perfect way to use the millions of disks I have and can no longer use because I don't have a disk drive!I also bought this Scenic Route paper last year and never ended up using it for any of Avery's school stuff. Talk about using up old stuff! Old disks! Old paper, reused chipboard from paper packs, and a good chunk of my ribbon stash got raided!

I have talked to most of the preschool moms, and have asked them for pictures of their kids at school to include in this album! I can't wait until the end of the year!

10 Randoms on a warm summer day...

Hey Carol... this is just for you!

1. I love that the kids can play outside all day with there water table.

2. I have the comfiest lounge chair. Its the greatest.

3. I like it doesn't take alot of effort to clean up after meals on the bbq.

4. Spending time outside allows me time to catch up on nature. Yesterday we seen three cock pheasants in our yard. (stop snickering)

5. I enjoy a hot summer day with a cool breeze. I love the breeze accept the wind. I don't like wind.

6. A comfy hammock.

7. I could care less about sunscreen. (actually, I am a sunscreen nazi, but it wouldn't work if I said that...)

8. Our nieghbors just got a trampoline. I can't wait to go their and play with there kids.

9. I love that the kiddie pool is dark enough to warm up quickly. It warms up faster then the water table...

10. That was really hard. I don't have the patients for this.

OUCH!

Never has a chair been more loved

than the one I have in my scrapbook room. It was a Mother's Day gift from the kids and Grant and I went to pick it out last week. I was in a desperate need for a new one. My old one had a pin missing on one of the casters, and a wheel kept falling out. This in turn caused me, and sometimes the kids, to also fall out. It was past its prime. It was no longer adjustable, and was just awful.
My new chair.......... is leather, three-way adjustable, has great lumbar support, and the arm rests are also adjustable. The only problem is, if Grant thought I spent too much time in my scrapbook room before.... he will be very unimpressed ;)

It pays to take your long lens.................

so in a whirlwind trip to the zoo today, I managed to get these shots. I have never taken my big lens with me and I don't know why. I get decent pictures with my other lens, but not this good. and today was the first time I have been to the Calgary Zoo and saw a tiger doing something other than sleeping. It was laying down. Big difference.... ;) But then it yawned. I am going to pretend it is roaring, but alas, it was just a yawn.

And the pic of the baby gorilla. too cute. I love that they look so grown up and so tiny at the same time.
So, that was our two hours at the zoo. Quick, and perfect.

And... a quick, impromptu 10 randoms about the zoo.
this is what I have learned about my trip to the zoo today.

1. The parking lot that you think is too far away, is actually the closest one.
2. The standy uppy strollers are awesome. Especially if you have three kids. I don't but if I did.... they'd be awesome.
3. Some people who work there don't know everything. Some guy told us there was no such thing as a macaroni penguin. Whatever dude. You need to watch more Diego.
4. It helps to have a friend there to watch your out of control son so that you can get the perfect shot of the tiger.
5. When the animals are all outside things go a lot faster. "there are the hippos and the giraffes! okay, next lions. Oh, they are sleeping. Well off we go." Seriously, we saw all the cool things in less than an hour. The rest of the time was spent going to the bathroom, feeding babies, and playing at the park.
6. Speaking of the playground there..... yikes. I have never let my kids play there, and today, they did. That is the scariest place on earth. I would rather put Avery in front of the Volturi than let her play there. You could so easily lose a kid! And isn't that the perfect place for some creepy pedophile to snatch your kid right up.
7. There is a guy who works at the zoo and his job is apparently two-fold. The first part of his job is to drive that little train around, and give little kids rides. The second part of his job is to insult zoo patrons about their "bad wagon driving". Whatever dude, you are driving a pretend train.
8. Having a zoo pass is worth every penny. Especially since it will soon cost you $5 to park at the zoo.
9. Baby animals are cute. Even baby warthogs. (or whatever they were.)
10. I still have two 2 for 1 passes, and a free child admission.... I guess I will have to go back soon with Arren and her kids!

10 Randoms... New Garage Sale Knowledge

So the garage sale was successful, but I learned some things about garage sale-ing. I am not a huge garage saler myself, but I have heard about the diehards... and I think we met some yesterday.

1. There will always be a garage sale early bird. You could have only one thing set out on your table, and there is someone there ready to pounce...

2. Drive bys are very common. And I think it is funny that someone will drive by very slowly, and try to judge whether or not they should stop. I mean seriously... how can you tell if there is something you want when you are in the street, and the tables are on a driveway or in a garage??? Too funny.

3. You might as well start to pack up after lunch. We made huge sales in the morning, and only sold about $20 more in the hours after lunch.

4. As soon as you start to pack up, someone will come by and want something. (And the someone is usually someone who "drove by" earlier and didn't come in)

5. Garage sales are better on a nice day. We were so lucky that Mother Nature cooperated. The day was gorgeous. Maybe too gorgeous. I think I got too much sun.

6. Holy hagglers..... Who are these people looking for a better deal than what they are already getting. I am so not a wheeler and dealer. I think that if something is priced, that is what the person wants for it. If it is ridiculously overpriced then I don't think making an offer is silly, but haggling over a dollar??? Seriously?

7. People will always complain about the price of something. I had a BRAND new, never worn, still on hanger with tags baby outfit and a lady asked me how much. I told her $2. (It was three pieces btw), and she said, "Really? For this?"

8. A friend who lives in Central Alberta said that at a garage sale she went to yesterday in a small town close to Red Deer some of the same stamp sets I sold for $4 were being sold (and bought) for $15! why oh why didn't I go up north?!?!? ;)

9. Some people come looking for the "Free Box", will take the free stuff, and nothing else. I would feel very guilty just taking free stuff. I would buy something I didn't want just to make myself feel better.

10. In the first couple of hours we were making a pretty decent hourly wage... but as the day wore on, the wage did too. I am just happy that I have a good deposit for my 18-250mm lens!

So... I still have stuff left, and my friend Catherine is planning a multi-family garage sale this summer. Hopefully I can get the next payment for the lens then!

Layouts #85 and 86

I don't know what I was thinking... Why in the world did I think I could get up early, garage sale all day in the hot sun (finally), and then crop for seven hours??? Well, I did my best. Our garage sale was very successful... but I don't think if I do one again I will go much past noon. No one really shows up after lunch, especially on a nice day. But I am a lot closer to my new lens than I was on Friday...
And after the sale, and after curling up on Haley's couch with the best blanket ever...... I accomplished two layouts, while battling some sun/heat/pomegranate cooler induced illness....

So, these are what I got done last night. The Ride On layout is with the new Bo Bunny Grease Monkey line. It is so perfect... so perfect for these photos. The colors are right, the concept works, and the best part..... I actually have a real gear on the page compliments of Carol's passion for re-purposing. She took apart a Glue Glider refill the other week with the hope of using something from it... well it works here... (Old stuff? The Riff Raff gears were something I bought last summer, and the black brads were borrowed from Haley...)
And the So Pretty layout was one that I had hoped to pump out in 30 minutes so I could head home, but then I got the brainwave to cut the flowers and scallopy edge out with my craft knife. Well, that is never a quick approach. But I love the outcome. And I used stickles on several of the flowers. (Old stuff? the buttons have been around forever, and the ribbon and PDQ chipboard are also from my stash.)

TFL and have a great rest of the weekend!

Ugh

my tulips. I love that they grow no matter what...

Sometimes I need to vent. And sometimes it has to happen here because Tara is unavailable to lend her ear. And she is good to vent to. She lives in a different town, so she often doesn't know the people who are driving me crazy, and can offer an objective point of view. But she was gone yesterday... so my only course of action is my blog.
I don't even want to go in to specifics, but I will just say that as a 30 something woman myself, I am shocked and amazed at the behavior of my peers. I kind of always thought, that as a grown woman, I would be surrounded with other women who know how to maturely deal with issues and problems. I didn't think I would encounter other women who would complain, talk about you in front of your back, say "I-Told-You-So" whenever something happens, or who develop some sort of gang mentality. Seriously.
I am pretty sure that we are all out of high school. We don't need to put others down to make ourselves feel as though we have more power over others. Is that really a priority??? And, finally, on a more personal note. I don't like being talked to as though I was four.

And now... on happier notes. These are some pictures I took last night at supper (Cohen's first attempt at corn on the cob), and in the yard as we planted our garden.(I love that he was holding the cob like it was a piece of watermelon)

I recently pulled out my 80-320 lens. Why didn't I do this earlier??? I love that I can zoom right in, not have to crop when I go to print, and I think that I get better quality... I don't know why I think that... but... oh yeah! I also bought a flash diffuser for my camera mount flash. (avery swooshing down the slide)

I am going to Nicole's to take pictures of my niece Nadia today, and that diffuser will come in very handy.