Hijinks at the Anchor Mart: Curt gravely displeased.

My husband's family has been vacationing for generations at a great little cabin on Deep Creek Lake in Western Maryland. We ventured up there this past weekend to open up the cabin and enjoy some time with Todd's mother and his brother and his kids. A good time was had by all, and all that.

Now, things don't change too frequently up in Garrett County. It was quite the talk when Curt's Corner, the general store, became the "Anchor Mart." (Everyone still calls it Curt's Corner, anyway, but it's the principle of the thing...) Now, there is a new affront. These fancy schmancy newfangled "Anchor Mart" people have added something odd to the exterior of the store. When my brother-in-law drove up to the store, this was the view from the window, as captured by the able photography skills of my neice.

 

Of course they couldn't resist taking a family picture with Weenie Man. Could you?

What's more disturbing, the initial view, or the look on the thing's face? It's hard to say.  

Why does HER birthday make ME feel so old?

My first baby turned 7 last week...she had her yearly checkup today. I can't believe what a grown up girl I've got.....Where has the time gone?  

American Idol Musings.

It's done. Carrie, the fresh ingenue from Oklahoma, donned a freakishly unflattering Grandma-of-the-Bride dress and accepted her crown as the newest American Idol. Now, as one who can tolerate neither Country nor Western, I was not a passenger on the Carrie Bandwagon...but I can respect the fact that of the two finalists, she was by far the best suited to the Idol Machine. And, let's face it...Bo's an acoustic kind of guy. His best performance was completely a capella. He would SO SUFFER under the agonizing over production and schmaltzy ballads of the AI routine. And that "first single" song really bit. He's free from that one, too.

The other thing that struck me during the 2 hour extravaganza was that nobody can use 2 hours to put on a 15 minute show quite like the gang at The Idol. Good heavens! We opened with a Beach Boys medley group number that made my ears bleed. Seriously. Stop with the group numbers, already. We were also subjected to the usual misty-eyed montages chronicling the AI careers of the final two. Yawn. There was a silly faux expose that revealed Simon Cowell's longtime affair with himself. The best part about this was seeing Randy try to sing and then appear in drag.

The "My Idol" montage opened a whole new can of worms. Worms like these:

**"I Believe I Can Fly" is one of the WORST SONGS EVER!!!! The next person who warbles this atrocity will be required to prove it by leaping from the top of the nearest tall building.

**Some of the "early out" young ladies definitely have an onstage career ahead of them....sadly, that stage features a shiny brass pole....

**Babyface must have done something very, very bad to someone very, very important somewhere along the line. Did you catch the visible wince when the Idolettes butchered one of their notes?


Anyhoo, that is the end of the TV season for me. As I have not other life to speak of, I am at a loss as to what to do with myself for the net few months. Sigh.

Inspired by Monday: Another Meme from Neeka...

As if I could resist this one: Post your top Ten fave '80's tunes.....Good heavens! How can I pick just ten? Now, dedicated readers have already seen the atrocity that is my 1983 self in the "Mistakes I made as a Kid" meme, so I won't be going there again....but, here are some killer musical options for your "Rad" listening pleasure....

10. Planet Earth -- Duran Duran (My first concert!)
9. Take on Me -- aha (I love aha. I have 4 aha albums. Wanna make something of it?)
8. Synchronicity II -- The Police (Suburban dysfunction meets the Loch Ness Monster. What's not to like?)
7. Solsbury Hill -- Peter Gabriel (Scratch and Melt are two of the best. albums. ever.)
6. Big Country -- Big Country (What was the name of that song by that band?)
5. Head over Heels -- Tears for Fears (Whatever happened to them? They were very cool, despite their odd mullets)
4. Institutionalized -- Suicidal Tendencies (Love that teen angst!)
3. The Perfect Girl -- The Cure (Such a straaaaaaaaaaange girl....)
2. 40 -- U2 (I love playing the "find the obscure Biblical reference" with U2 songs)
1. I Ran -- Flock of Seagulls (A fun song, yes, but it is the most ultimately perfect encapsulated moment of early video music history....The hair....the weird robot women....the basement-wrapped-in-old-sheets.....the one finger keyboard solo....it's a masterpiece........)


Oh, man. I can't keep it to ten. How could these gems miss the cut?

I Believe -- REM
Add It Up -- The Violent Femmes
Come on, Eileen -- Dexy's Midnight Runners
New Song -- Howard Jones
True Faith -- New Order
Oh, Yeah -- Yello
Don't Go -- Yaz
Alive and Kicking -- Simple Minds
Fight for the Right -- Beastie Boys
Senses Working Overtime -- XTC


So there you have it, two lists of ten.....Because, in the 80's, Less was most definitely NOT more. More was more. And then some.

Inspiration Really-Early-Saturday

OK, Saturday again, but I'm getting earlier and earlier, so maybe someday I'll get this up on Friday as originally promised.....

I'm working on a very exciting project right now that blends computer and traditional craft techniques. I'm also exploring Photoshop Elements 3, despite my DIP (Digital Image Pro) Dependence.

So, here is your challenge: Don't even get up from your computer. USE THAT THANG. Try something new. Your 'puter can be an exciting tool for creativity....Link here to your results!

Inspired by Monday: The Notebook mini-project

Here it is! My fun and fabulous "Before and After" montage of my groovy new notebook! Yeah, the Kraft is cute enough, but I love what a little scrap patterned paper and some Rub Ons can achieve!

Paper is by Doodlebug, Flower is a cutout from some Chatterbox Sunroom Patterned Paper. Rub ons by Scrapworks (E monogram) and Making Memories (notes). On this project, my Xyron 950 was my BESTEST FRIEND EVAH!

Well....maybe my bestest friend AFTER the nice people at Target, who had that sweet little notebook available for the princely sum of $1.29! My inner cheapskate weeps with joy!  

This is a Public Service Announcement.

If you are anything like me (that is to say LAME), your life pretty much revolves around the TV schedule. Once the kids are finally in bed, it is hard for me to have the energy for much else.....Well, Sunday nights have not been kind to me since the finale of Arrested Development a few weeks ago, but make note!

THE SURVIVOR SEASON FINALE IS ON TONIGHT, SUNDAY NIGHT. THIS IS NOT A DRILL.

Our mission is to NOT forget this. And then, when it's all over, we must find something else to do with ourselves as we await the Apprentice finale at 9 on Thursday.

Don't even ASK what I'll do with myself NEXT WEEK.

Inspiration Friday! (OK, Saturday. Again. )

Sorry, kids, apparently, Friday is a lousy day for me to plan posting. I start with the best of intentions, really I do....


I have been Coveting these Post-Its and other assorted paper products from Russel+Hazel. However, as we all know, I am a raving cheapskate and I'm constitutionally incapable of spending Ten Bucks on Post-Its. (Although you know full well that I will cave and spend $8 on these rubber bands. A woman can only take her skin-flintiness so far.....)

Anyhoo, a trip to Target on Friday yielded me a swank option to get me my funky orange-accented paper products without the expense. With any luck, I'll have a chance to doll it up and share on my "Inspired by..." Monday....

Either that, or I'll just cheat and find a Meme I haven't seen yet. It could go either way....You'll see my find eventually. In the meantime, take a gander at all the groovy office stuff at Russel+Hazel. Special Thanks to the ever cool Design*Sponge for turning me on to R+H....my eyeballs thank you, my wallet curses you...but isn't that the way it so often goes?
 

Musings from the Dollar Store

I love the Dollar Store, really I do. It is the place to go when you need a flyswatter, or zip cable ties, or an ordinary sink plug. And you can be sure, if I'm ever in the market for an I Heart Jesus mug or a bar of Lux soap clearly marked "Exclusively for sale in Indonesia," Dollar Magic will be my go-to spot. But, today I spotted something that left me scratching my head....Perhaps you, loyal reader, will be able to help me out. What, in the name of all that is holy, is a "Family Hacksaw," and what kind of individual would require such an item?

Cause, clearly, I'm missing out.

Inspired by Monday: Mischief

Today's "Inspired by...." comes to you courtesy of Illustration Friday, a great site to get your creativity flowing....

This week's theme is "mischief...." and here is my doodle illustrating said concept. Not that I'd know anything about Mischief, mind you....

 

INSPIRATION FRIDAY!

Oh, It's Saturday. Night. Oops. I'm computer impaired for a few days, so I can only post a link rather than an image.....

Click HERE to see my adorable new laptop case.....It fits my laptop perfectly..but no more....which means that I have a power cord, optical mouse, USB memory driver, and S/D Card reader which are in need of a coordinating carrying case all their own......

Nonetheless, my bag is cute. Very, very cute. Your assignment, should you choose to accept it, is to create something, ANYTHING, inspired by my sassy laptop bag. Post a link in the comments section...I'd love to see what you come up with.

In looking at this blog entry, I can see how I was inspired....all those polka dots FORCED me to be a total elipsis abuser. Sorry.

And, Happy National Scrapbook Day! Hug a Scrapbooker, or buy her a present. A cute Laptop accessory bag would be nice..........

ALERT! Funniest. Blog. EVER!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Hie thee to Threadbared, post haste. I had to navigate away from this blog because it made me laugh so hard that I began to fear premature labor. You will laugh....you won't be able to resist! Thanks to the Zing Queen for the hot tip!

The Darwinian Nature of Cuteness

How cute is this child? This was taken last fall, when she decided that she is not a fan of school photographers. (Direct quote: "I don' love dat.) Now, at 3, little Miss has the tendency to Work her attitude...but hard. Luckily for her, her Cuteness Index (CI) seems to correlate with her Tantrum Factor (TF). Just when I think that she is really going to get it, this time, she comes out with a sweet smile and a big "You happy, Mommy? You a really good Mommy. You the BEST Mommy. I luh you." Now, I ask you, how could I be mad at that?  

Inspired by Mondays, Week One: Neeka's MeMe Challenge

Ten Stupid Things I did as a kid........ 

OK, I'm trying to put a little structure in, here.....Each Monday, I'll be sharing something that I have created thanks to inspiration from my many, many friends online. This is from the regular MeMe Challenge of the awesome Tenika Morrison. And here it is....a full accounting of the Ten Stupid Things I did When I was a Kid.....would that there were only Ten.......


10. Failed to regularly wear my bottom retainer, giving me snaggly teeth despite two years in painful braces.
9. In my life's only act of vandalism, I stopped up a sink and flooded a bathroom in my Elementary School. I had no rage, I got no thrill. I just did it because I thought of doing it. Now, over 25 years later, I still have no earthly clue why I did it.
8. I didn't embrace some of the things that interested me because I didn't think it was "cool." Nobody thought I was cool anyway, I should have just done what made me happy. When I finally embraced myself and decided to be a proud GEEK, I started to really enjoy life...and ironically, people seemed to think I was cooler than they did when I tried to be cool. Go figure.
7. I thought my pink sweater was the perfect match for my red pants.
6. In choosing a program for Girl Scout Camp, I chose SPORTS CAMP because it is what my friends were doing. Me. For TWO WEEKS. IN SPORTS CAMP. I perfected the art of being last-chosen-for-the-team, and that's about it.....
5. I refused to learn any tidy organizational skills, thinking somehow that remaining messy was a victory of sorts. Great. Now I'm an adult who looks at piles of stuff and freezes when I hear "a place for everything, and everything in its place." What place for everything? Where? What do I do? I don't know where it should go! It makes my palms sweat just thinking about it.
4. I chose my college major before I had ever taken a class on the subject, and stubbornly refused to change it. Great. Now I have a degree in Economics and lots of regrets about classes not taken that would have interested me far more.
3. I believed the people who had negative things to say about me. This is also a stupid thing I do as an adult.
2. On the other hand, I had a tendency to refuse to grow when I'd hear legitimate constructive criticism. Also a stupid thing I do as an adult.

and, finally, for the number one stupid thing I did as a kid, we'll go to age 14.....
Now, this is the result of perming my hair, and then rising at 5:30 each morning for the liberal use of styling mousse, hot rollers, and curling irons. Some of us need to accept that God in his Infinite Wisdom did not intend for us to have curly hair. Take the Hint, Child.