Goodbye to January....

January is under our belt - tomorrow is February 1st. One month closer to spring, and high school softball, and our cruise - (64 days to be exact). But January isn't going to leave quietly. We have the very real threat of a big snowstorm tonight - 6-10 inches forcasted.

As for February - one blink and it will be GONE. Aside from this coming weekend (which I'm looking so very forward to because we have NOTHING and I can scrapbook), our calendar is full - two ONION gigs, Kelli's 16th birthday, Kelli's day in Chicago to see "RENT", my Saturday "surprise day" with Chrissie on the 23rd, (I can't tell the details here because she reads my blog), and another surprise "date night" I have planned for ""Rock Star on the 29th. Hmmmmm a month filled with music, birthdays and surprises. Lots to look forward to!!!!

Finding My Inner Creative Self.....

It's not always easy to find that creative person within - but it's much easier when I step into my scrapbook room. It's like all my surroundings are calling out to me - "pick up those photos - match up those embellisments - and get busy!!" These butt-ugly days of winter are the best days to find an excuse to stay in my room for hours on end. Turn on my little space heater, pop in a good movie on the DVD player and get creative.

So, this is where it all happens - my main workspace. Everything organized and within reach. The key to all of this is organization - sometimes I organize more than I create. It's part of the craft.

I'm not as big into stamping as some, but I do keep my little collection well organized. The black binders house my Quickutz Alphabet Dies. The hot pink boxes are filled with approximately 50 pre-planned layouts for my family album - ready to pull and assemble, when I have some time. I'm currently running about 10 months behind. The brown album is my 2007 family album - waiting to be filled.

Need colored pens? Broad tip - fine tip? I've got 'em. Every color in the rainbow - and then some!



....and just to warn you - I have a button addiction.

This is additional workspace I created for when I have "guests". Scrapbookers can't create alone. Sometimes, they are in need of companionship with conversation, food and alcoholic beverages - crops. Right now, this workspace is consumed with my daughter Carrie's stuff (on the left) and my wedding invitation project on the right. Carrie has three little ones and it seems the only time she finds to scrapbook is when she's with me - so she has conveniently moved everything she owns to my space - and left it there.

To the right of my main work area sits more goodies - my Cricut and my Cuttlebug - along with my organized baskets and drawer units filled with rub-ons, adhesives, chipboard, cardstock and more than I can even think of. The drawers are labeled with their contents - by vendor.

And as we continue on around the room, you'll find binders filled with patterned paper, completed layouts for a customer, plastic storage totes filled with ribbon and more embellishments than I care to consider.

Across the back of the room - more stuff! Trust me, I know where EVERYTHING is and I can put my finger on a needed item in a matter of minutes. Don't shake your head - that's Rock Star's job every time he dares to enter my sanctuary.

Another view - from the back of the room - looking toward my main workspace. It's calling me to me right now. "Get in here and finish a layout - don't just take pictures!!!" It's just a basement room - various room rugs thrown on the concrete floor, no finished walls or ceiling - but it's MINE. I can do with it as I please and no one dares enter without invitation. Heck, I don't even have THAT luxury in the bathroom!

Lunch Hour Weakness

I have a lunch hour weakness - it's like a magnet - drawing me from downtown South Bend - NORTH. Pulling me towards the dreaded Grape Road - the shopping mecca of Michiana. I just can't help myself. I have coupons and the sale emails have found their way to my computer. And, there is something worse than driving there on a lunch hour and that is driving there at 5:00 in the afternoon. So, I throw caution to the wind and ignore the fact that it will be tough to get it all completed in a mere 60 minutes - and I let the craft magnet pull to my two favorite stores.

Pages in Time is the store where I am honored to be a part of the Design Team. As I browsed through the aisles today, I snapped a few photos of some of my layouts that adorn the walls. Kind of hard to photograph under the acrylic display frames.

Ten Weeks....

I woke up this morning to a temperature of -7 degrees and that didn't include the wind chill. Today at noon, under blue skies and bright sunshine, we had warmed to a balmy 14 degrees. Now I don't mean to complain, but this is just dang ridiculous! This stuff is not even pretty any more. I'm tired of it and I'm ready for some warmth. PLEASE don't tell me I've got to wait ten more weeks and travel 1200 miles before I see any kind of warm-up!!

The only thing that keeps me functioning is the knowledge that ten weeks from right now (70 days to be exact), I'll be sitting on my brother's couch, sipping on a glass of wine - and it will be a whole heck of a lot warmer than northern Indiana. LET THE COUNTDOWN BEGIN!!!!!

Lake Effect

I grew up in southern Illinois - just across the river from St. Louis. Four inches of snow would paralyze our little town. School would be cancelled, kids would be sledding and building snowmen. Twenty-one years ago this month, we moved to South Bend, Indiana and I heard the term "lake effect snow" for the first time. You see....there's system snow. That's the stuff the weather men can predict - the stuff that they can see coming through Minnesota, Iowa and Illinois. It's this lake effect stuff that throws a real monkey wrench in our lives in general. I guess they can tell us to expect it, but they can never seem to tell us how MUCH to expect. Lake effect works like this - the cold arctic air comes down from Canada and Wisconsin - sweeps across Lake Michigan where the water is still relatively warm and creates this phenomanon known as "lake effect snow" and dumps it on the first land mass - which in our case is southwest Michigan and northwest Indiana - and that's US. The weird part of the whole thing are the bands of snow that are created. For example - I live on the extreme northwest corner of South Bend - right on the Michigan border. I can get dumped on and drive to my office downtown and find an inch. We're only talking a seven mile difference - but that's like night and day in lake effect areas.

So, here I sit - looking out my office window and thankful that I'm somewhere warm and dry, but actually wishing I were curled up in my nice warm bed with the blankets pulled up under my chin. Welcome to JANUARY in northern Indiana.

Mr. T - You Will Be Missed.....

South Bend suffered a huge loss yesterday with the death of Mark Tulchinsky.



Mr. T suffered a heart attack while serving as principal at Tarkington School. He was 60 years old. He was a loving husband to Nan, the father of three and grandfather of four.

Mr. T had taught for nearly 40 years in the South Bend School Corporation - many years as a principal at Jefferson, Monroe and Tarkington schools. He was Carrie's "boss" in her early days of teaching at Monroe and she looked at him as a "second dad". It was Mr. T who encouraged her to send her resume to the new LaSalle Academy - even though she didn't think she stood a chance. With Mr. T's backing, she was hired at the Academy as a 5th grade teacher. The rest of our family came to know Mr. T through his wife Nan, who was the Athletic Director at LaSalle High School and then eventually the Corporation's Athletic Director.

One of Carrie's favorite stories was when she returned to school just a couple of weeks after Nolan was born - stopping by to have her photo taken with her class. Mr. T told Carrie that he would watch the baby. Twenty minutes later, Carrie came back - no Mr. T and no Nolan. Carrie looked in his office and there he sat with a 2-week old baby on his lap, sitting behind his big desk, feeding little pieces of donut to Nolan and telling Carrie, "but he was hungry".

Today, I stood in line for an hour to pay my respects to Nan and their children. I told Nan that not only did he touch the lives of many children in South Bend, he also touched the lives of the teachers he worked with - at which point she hugged me and told me, "he sure loved your daughter". The line will continue to grow throughout the day, especially as teachers and students arrive at the end of the school day. I know that Carrie will be there to say her final goodbye to a man she admired - a man who helped mold her into the teacher she is today.

Oh - To Be 16 Again.....

Being sixteen seems like soooooooo long ago, and yet there are parts of my teen years I remember like it was yesterday - especially meeting and falling in love with my "Rock Star".

My house was invaded by teens on Saturday night - posing for their Mid-Winter photos in front of a barage of camera toting moms. Believe it or not, they didn't complain and they didn't seem all that anxious to head out the door. Hmmmm - could have been because the windchill was about 20 below.

Anyway - they all looked beautiful and handsome and had a wonderful time.

Worn Out Before It Starts.....

This weekend promises to be wild and wacky - no relaxation in sight!!!!!

• Tonight - Kelli and I are going to see her BFF Maggie perform the title role in "ANNIE" - for St. Joe High School.
• Tomorrow - Kelli has a hair appointment, a tanning appointment and nails to be done for tomorrow night's Mid-Winter Dance at Clay High School.
• Tomorrow afternoon - Rock Star and I have a party to go to with his baseball buddies. I'll be stopping there in after dropping Kelli off at home to finalize her preparations.
• Then it's back home at 5:30 for the photo session with six couples. Why MY house????
• Tomorrow night - Rock Star performs at the American Legion Post 357 and a big crowd is expected!!
• Sunday - it's another hair appointment and more photos and the St. Joe Mid-Winter that she's attending with a grade school friend.
• Of course, she can sleep on Monday and recover from her weekend because there's no school - but of course, I'll be right back here - unrested and ready to face another week.
• Add to this the fact that it's supposed to be the Winter Weather Weekend from Hell - subzero temperatures and windchills and SNOW.

Just keep reminding myself that only eleven more weeks and I'll be relaxing in sun and warmth.

Setting Goals....

I've been hired to complete a high school scrapbook for a customer's daughter. It's been an ongoing process since September. It's going well, but my own layouts are suffering in the process. I WILL NOT LET MYSELF FALL MORE THAN A YEAR BEHIND!! So, last night I tackled MY photos for a few hours and actually completed a layout. I've set a new goal for myself....for every ONE I complete for my customer, I have to complete one for ME. At this point - I'm ten months behind, but gaining!!! Here's some that I've finished in the past few weeks.

My Hometown....

I was born and raised in the southern Illinois town of Greenville - situated on Interstate 70 - about 45 miles west of St. Louis. It's a small town with a courthouse in the middle of the town square. My dad worked at the Post Office and my mom ran a successful day-care center out of our home. She was very popular - even had a waiting list for her services. I was in Junior High before my brother was born. All my friends were sooooo jealous!!!!

My parents loved to camp and we'd take our trailer and station wagon and head to Florida for a few weeks every summer. I was a spoiled, only child for the first twelve years of my life and then Frank came along and changed my life. My grandmother lived with us and she taught me to crochet and embroider. My mom was an excellent cook, but unfortunately her expertise didn't wear off on me.

I went to Grade School, Junior High, High School and College all in this town. I met Bob during our Junior year of high school, when his family moved from the big city (St. Louis) to Greenville. He became best friends with my best friend's boyfriend - so it was inevitable that we'd be matched up. We dated through our Senior year and through college - even though he went away to play baseball. We eventually married, bought our first house and made our home in Greenville, where Carrie, Bobby, Katie and Colleen were all born.

My parents retired and took my little brother and moved to Florida not long after Bob and I married. In turn, I became extremely close with his parents and his siblings. Today, when we return to Greenville for visits - I really feel like I'm "home". There's the library I used to walk to every few days, the old hardware store that I worked at during college, the Post Office where I'd stop to ask my dad for some money, the movie theater where I had my first date, the high school where I'd cheer on the COMETS, the cemetary where we used to go sledding, and my old house on Summer Street. The older I get, the more vivid those memories become.

More Yarn.....

Finished two more granny square afghans over the weekend and have three more started - two for "thank you" gifts and one that Colleen asked me to do for a benefit auction. The two that I finished are shown below - one (purple and gold) for the Clay Booster Club Athletic Auction on March 29th and one for a gift. The gift afghan was done using Vanna's Choice Yarn by Lion Brand in Rust, Pea Green, Rose, Brick and Honey. I wasn't sure about this color combination when I first read the pattern, but sure enough - it turned out great. I need to just learn to TRUST!

Such a Good Feeling....

I called Carnival this morning and PAID OFF OUR CRUISE!!! Only 80 days to go - 11 weeks. We booked this cruise just about this time last year - over 400 days out. It seemed like such a long time away, and now it's within our sight. Passports were purchased in September and airfare booked since last May - luckily at $205 each. Now, thanks to Spring Break those tickets are over $500 for the same week. There are approximately forty of us going on this cruise - family/friends. Most of those cruising are Floridians but there are ten of us are flying down from South Bend and four from St. Louis. A big bunch of us have booked a River Tubing Excursion in Belize. Some of us are doing a 65' Catamaran/Snorkel/Beach Break in Cozumel and it looks like we're leaning towards an excursion to Blackbeard's Cay in Nassau - to relax and mingle with the stingrays.

Even though it's snowing and only 19 degrees here, I saw SHORTS for sale this morning at Walmart - and all the sweaters and coats have been moved to the discount racks. A sure sign that spring is right around the corner! My diet is in OVERDRIVE as I sit here drinking my water and munching on rice cakes. I promise I WILL LOOK GOOD in my little black dress come April! I can't make any promises in regards to a bathing suit.

Five Years....

It's been five years this month and yet I remember the details of the day like it was yesterday. One of those events that's etched in your mind for a lifetime. Five years - all that time and so many thousands of families who's lives have changed forever. For us, it was six months of sleepless nights, praying for that phone call at 3 a.m. from the other side of the world, and then laying there crying when the satellite would shift and the phone call dropped after only a few seconds. Our friends and family rallied around us and we got through - thanks in great part to a local embedded reporter from the South Bend Tribune - a former Marine who requested to be assigned to our unit. In retrospect, we were lucky - he left and returned home within a span of six months. I doubt that he considers it "lucky". He was there at the beginning - the early days - no email, minimum communication with the rest of the world - no showers for weeks, sand in his food and a tent on the desert floor. I'll never forget his words when he called me from California six months later - as he stepped off the plane - "MOM - I'm home - and there's a cool breeze and green grass everwhere!!" One of the things he told us he'd never take for granted again - "a porcelain toilet seat".

I LOVE This Yarn....

I try lots of different yarns - some I go back to and some I never want to use again. I've definately found a favorite with Vanna's Choice from Lion Brand Yarns. It's just soooooooooo soft and 23 beautiful colors to choose from. Seems like I'm always planning out my next blanket and watching the local ads for who might be putting it on sale. Trust me - it's GOOD STUFF!!! I'm just finishing up my fourth blanket using this yarn - and have another one ready to start.

The Urbanski Brothers...

This is a Design Team layout I did for the store, using the Autumn Leaves Manhattan Line. I love this photo of Nolan and Jack - sharing some "brotherly love" at the zoo this past summer. We call Jack our little "surfer dude". When I look at this photo, I'm reminded of pictures of his mom and his Uncle Bobby from about 27 years ago - both with that white-blond hair.

Get Out the Row Boats....

Indiana weather is known to be a little crazy. It's January. In January, it's cold and it snows. We started off the New Year ten days ago with just that - cold temps and lots and lots of snow - more than a foot. It was beautiful.

Then something really weird happened. It got warm. It doesn't do that in January in northern Indiana. This past Monday, the temperatures reached 63 degrees and ALL that snow melted. Then Monday night, we had thunderstorms. Yep, thunderstorms in Indiana in January - lots of thunder and lightning and rain. So, the ground is already saturated with a foot of melted snow and now you add RAIN!!! There's no where for it to go. Now, instead of the streets being covered with snow - they're covered with flood waters.

My office sits just two blocks from the St. Joseph River. Luckily, we're up on the hill and not affected, but just a few blocks from here, Northside Boulevard has been closed for two days because the river has exceeded it's banks. As I drove home last evening, I noticed that the street is closed by the Duck Pond at Leeper Park - the river has covered the road. The ducks and geese are happy.

Giant Granny Afghans

When Bob and I got married, my grandmother made us an afghan with the little granny squares - in shades of greens, orange and gold. OK - so those colors were popular in the early 70's. As out of style as the colors are, I still have that afghan in a basket in my family room. The yarn is kind of scratchy and it doesn't get used much, but it's there. Since September, I've completed six of this same basic style - only now the rage is GIANT Granny squares. Basically, you just start with a ring and build on it, round after round until the blanket is as big as you want. I've found that 45 rounds is just about a perfect size. You can change colors as often as you want - establishing whatever pattern suits your style. I've also come to love the Vanna's Choice Yarns by Lion Brands. The colors are so subtle and the yarn is very soft - perfect for some major snuggling on a cold winter evening. I find myself going through the Sunday paper, looking to see if Michael's or Hobby Lobby have it on sale and when they do - LOOK OUT! This photo shows a finished afghan. It's folded, so you can't judge the size - but you can get an idea of how the rounds work. In the second photo, you can see how I did random things with my pattern.

A lot of people make these smaller and call them lapghans. I read on one crochet blog where she made the lapghan, tied it with a ribbon and included a loaf of banana bread for her friends for Christmas gifts. Hmmmmm - I may have to think along that line for next year. (Or is that a little toooooo Martha Stewart?)

I currently have two afghans in the works - one for a wedding shower gift (lots of funky colors) and another for our High School Athletic Booster Silent Auction - (purple and gold) both due in March.

Here's the pattern if anyone is interested. It's become a favorite of mine for it's simplicity.

Afghan Squared Lion Brand® Vanna's Choice

HOOK SIZE: J

COLOR SEQUENCE: Work (1 rnd each of A, B, C, D, A, C, B, A, D, B, C).To keep Afghan square, join new color in a different corner on each round. (Remember: you can use as many colors and whatever sequence you choose - see above photos).

AFGHAN With A, ch 4, sl st in beg ch to form a ring.Rnd 1: Ch 3 (counts as dc), 2 dc in ring, ch 2, (3 dc in ring, ch 2) 3 times, sl st in top of ch-3. Fasten off.Rnd 2: Join B with sl st in any ch-2 sp, ch 3, 2 dc in same sp, ch 2, 3 dc in same sp, ch 1, (3 dc, ch 2, 3 dc, ch 1 in next ch-2 sp) 3 times, sl st in top of ch-3. Fasten off.Rnd 3: Join C with sl st in any corner ch-2 sp, ch 3, 2 dc in same sp, ch 2, 3 dc in same sp, ch 1, 3 dc in next ch-1 sp, ch 1, [(3 dc, ch 2, 3 dc, ch 1) in next ch-2 sp, 3 dc, ch 1 in next ch-1 sp] 3 times, sl st in top of ch-3. Fasten off.Rnd 4: Join next color of color sequence with sl st in any corner ch-2 sp, ch 3, 2 dc in same sp, ch 2, 3 dc in same sp, ch 1, 3 dc in next ch-1 sp, ch 1, 3 dc in next ch-1 sp, ch 1, [(3 dc, ch 2, 3 dc, ch 1) in next corner ch-2 sp, 3 dc, ch 1 in next ch-1 sp, 3 dc, ch 1 in next ch-1 sp] 3 times, sl st in top of ch-3. Fasten off.Rnds 5-36: Continue as established, adding one more (3 dc, ch 1) each side every rnd and changing color every rnd according to color sequence above.Rnd 37: With D, work as established.Rnds 38 and 39: With D, ch 1, work sc evenly spaced around outside edge of Afghan, working 3 sc in each corner, join with sl st in beg ch. Fasten off.

FINISHING: Weave in ends.

A2Z Essential Layout

My January Design Team assignment is a single page layout using the new A2Z Essential line. Lots of great double sided papers to chose from, plus chipboard accents. I also used the new Karen Foster button brads and the acrylic letters from KI.

January in Indiana.....

Just a week ago:

• It was New Year's Eve and the snow started falling.
• New Year's Day brought us more than a foot of the cold, wet stuff.
• Temperatures fell to 1 degree with windchills below zero.

This morning:

• We woke up to temperatures of 59 degrees.
• Today's forecast - rain and 61 degrees.
• People were at the post office this morning in short sleeves.
• Last week's snow is 95% GONE.

Welcome to the wacky world of weather in northern Indiana.

Two AM Wake-Up Call....

I woke up at 2:00 this morning, looked at the clock, rolled over and pulled the blankets up to my neck. Then I lay there thinking. I couldn't help but smile.

You see, twenty-eight years ago this morning, I had a 2:00 a.m. wake-up call. My water broke and my twins were on their way. Of course, they weren't due until the end of February, so we were more than just a little concerned. I didn't have any pains, so I hopped into the shower, washed my hair - 'cause you know you got to look GOOD while in labor. Rock Star called his mom, who came to stay with Carrie and Bobby - ages 5 and 2, and whisked me off to the hospital. It's been twenty-eight years and I can still see my childhood family doctor, sitting by the side of my bed, holding my hand and telling me that our small town hospital wasn't equipped to handle two premies and he was sending me by ambulance into St. Louis. I don't think I was ever nervous, until we hit the city and the ambulance driver turned on the sirens so he could whip through the early morning traffic. I also remember the sense of calm that came over me as they pushed me down the halls of St. Mary's Hospital and I saw the Crucifix hanging above the doors. I knew then that my babies were safe.

This was a "teaching" hospital in St. Louis - full of interns and residents and I remember that both of my doctors looked my age (27) or younger and that was more than a little disturbing. I had two doctors - one assigned to each baby. Students were coming in and out of my room at a steady pace. There were at least a dozen surrounding my bed when the ultrasound was done. The good news - both babies were between 4 and 4 1/2 pounds. The concern was that I had suffered placenta previa and my placenta was partially blocking their escape route. By 10:00 a.m. I had signed a release for an emergency c-section if they thought it was necesary. They continued to watch the placenta.

Things progressed slowly. At 1:00 p.m., I was started on a Pitocin drip because in the "old days", they didn't want your water to be broke more than 12 hours for fear of infection. The Pitocin kicked in immediately and one hour and fourteen mintutes later, with the help of forceps, Kathryn Marie Knight (4 pounds 12 ounces) made her entrance into the world at 2:14 p.m., looking like Rocky Balboa after going ten rounds with Apollo Creed. The doctors had told me that with twins, the biggest concern is for the second baby - that sometimes your body will think that it's job is done and will actually start to shut down and cause problems with the birth of baby number two. The doctors wanted to get Katie out of there so that that they could get to Colleen. I was told that after the first baby was born, I'd feel a great sense of relief and then my pains would start up again in about a half hour. Mary Colleen Knight (4 pounds 8 ounces) was in a rush and showed up three minutes later at 2:17 - feet first (a footling breach). Katie did all the work and little Ms. Colleen came out to all the glory - and nothing has changed in twenty-eight years.

I scanned in a couple of old photos that I thought I'd share tonight at dinner. The first one was taken at 8 days old - notice the hospital gowns we had to wear and photos taken through windows. The second photo was taken when they came home at a month old - both weighing just under 5 pounds. Their stylish haircuts were caused by the fact that they had to shave areas of their head for their IV lines. In both photos, Katie is on the left and Colleen on the right - I know because I was smart enough to mark the photos on the back.

And here they are today - all grown up, successful and in love. What else could a mother ask for. Even today, in almost every photo I have of these two, Katie is always on the left and Colleen on the right. What's up with that???

It's Cold in Florida....

So my sister-in-law emails me this morning and tells me that it's COLD - 28 degrees and windy. Now granted, that is cold for those people who expect 70 degrees. She's used to going off to work in her capris and starfish flip-flops. As for me, I haven't seen my capris or my toenails for that matter in four months.

So sis, when you start talking COLD - be thankful it's not 1 degree with negative windchills. At least we have sunshine today - which I think it's been more than a week since we've seen it. But even with the sun, it's still ONE BLESSED DEGREE!!! Can you imagine what we'd have if it were cloudy???

Oh, and when you drive home from work today, it may be cold and windy but at least you won't be looking at this.....





Photos courtesy of South Bend Tribune.

Ten Favorite Layouts of '07

Inspired by my friend Joy, here are my top ten favorite layouts from 2007....