Polly Pocket Mansion

I realized I haven't posted anything in a while, and there's some big news. I'm buying a house! Last month -- the week of my birthday, actually -- I visited a teeny-weeny house that is actually in my price range, and I loved it.

Last year, I remember entering my budget into an online calculator that helps you figure out how much house you can afford. It gave me a negative number.
I'm not even joking.

This year, my tax refund, some savings, the first-time homebuyer tax credit opportunity, and a down payment assistance grant enabled me to put 20 percent down on a 444-square-foot house.

You read that right. 444. According to the aldermen in my city, it's the smallest free-standing house in town. When I called home inspectors to get estimates, all of them either laughed, asked me to repeat the number, or thought I said fourteen-hundred-forty-four square feet.

Currently, a young married couple, their baby and their dog live there. It's a very tight fit, but it'll be perfect for me.

My Polly Pocket Mansion.

Fame and fortune, here I come...

or not! Well, Week 3 of the TGF Royal Battle has begun, and the scrapbook pages are posted. Our team is the Ink Tossers, and here is a sneak peek of the page. You'll have to go to The Greeting Farm gallery to see the whole thing, though!

We also need votes! If you've submitted a comment before, you know it's not completely streamlined process ... but we would really appreciate the votes! Your comment counts as a vote, and you can vote for up to three different entries.

I hope you all like the Ink Tossers' page!

What a weekend!

A friend noted that I tend to bounce from subject to subject in my blog posts, so I'm trying to come up with a "theme." This weekend's theme is "I need a nap."

My mom, grandma, and my two sisters went shopping yesterday for my older sister's wedding dress. I took a half-day vacation, left work at 1 o'clock, and didn't get home until 8. During our 7-hour shopping extravaganza, we met some lovely fellow customers, a couple of nice clerks, a grumpy saleswoman and a waitress who took one look at us, decided we looked pretty self-sufficient, and disappeared. The food at the restaurant was good, though. :-) We also came pretty close to being kicked out of Macy's for being a little rowdy while trying on hats.

Does anyone else feel weird after trying on hats? I always remember horror stories about infected millinery ... but I never think about it until after I've tried them on. By then, it's too late, and I feel like my head is itchy. My younger sister says it's all in my head. (Ha! My head, get it? Yeah, lame joke.)

Oops, I think Raegan would call this straying from the theme. Anyhow, I get home at 8 and finish up the scrapbook page I'm doing for the TGF challenge, battle the computer to send it, go back later to see that it didn't send, resend the photos, start to feel rather ill (not about trying to send the photos, though that didn't help -- I mean started feeling literally sick), and finally went to bed.

Then I woke up this morning and realized I'm not particularly thrilled with the page I did. So I decided to revamp it. But I'm also babysitting the most insanely adorable but extremely active nieces ever, so I figure after lunch I'll be able to work on it while they nap. Then I discover they don't nap. At least not for me. No worries, I'll have them color while I scrapbook. Oh, but I can't bring out any sharp objects ... or glue ... or (as I quickly discovered) Copics. Meltdown ensues. This was a niece meltdown because she recognized ('cause she's smart) that Copics are waaaay better than crayons, and yet her aunt did not want her to use them. Because I'm mean.

My meltdown was imminent ... when the girls' mom came home. I sent up a prayer of thanks for the speedy response and started Version 2 of the scrapbook page. I like it a bit better, but I'm not sure which one the team will decide to send. I'll post a photo once I know!

This evening is Show Time Dinner Theater, an annual music department fundraiser/talent showcase in our school district. I have to bring my own dessert because they only offer cheesecake (ew!). I'm also taking photos there for the paper. Then tomorrow I proof and edit the paper ... and do my taxes. Yes, I waited until the last minute. Even thinking about doing my taxes stresses me out.

On the bright side, going to work on Monday will feel like a relief!

Keep on Swimming...

Well, the team I am on for The Greeting Farm battle has moved on to Week 2!

Our team is the Ink Tossers, and Joanne made the card our team entered. The challenge was an easel card, and she made a super cute Mer-Ian starfish-shaped card. Hopefully, the Ink Tossers will be one of the 25 teams that moves on to next week. If we do (*fingers crossed*) Jessica and I will make a card for Week 3, and our team will decide collectively which one to enter. To vote for the Ink Tossers (and you know you want to!), go to http://www.thegreetingfarm.com/ and visit the Gallery. From there, go to Contests/Challenges --> TGF Royal Battle --> Week 2. If you've never submitted a comment before, you'll need to register. Commenting on the card is a vote, so let us know what you like about Joanne's card!

Above is the easel card I made to play along for the Week 2 challenge. It's my first easel card ever, and I'm not thrilled with it, but I definitely like the concept and technique.

A dog by any other name...

My parents gave one of their Australian shepherds to my grandparents today. Seamus (that's the dog) will love it there; they always have company, and he has already bonded with everyone who lives at the house and those who justed stopped by! It was almost like seeing a new dog today.

I mean, Seamus has always been a good-natured, slightly ditzy dog -- if he were human, he'd be the friendly California surfer who'd been hit on the head by his surfboard one too many times -- sweet, but not the brightest bulb. But he just blossomed with all the focused attention he got today. He's so used to our other Australian shepherd, Teagan, taking over everything -- butting in when Seamus wants to be petted, getting to the toys first, stealing Seamus's treats, etc. If Seamus were the laid-back surfer, Teagan would be that guy -- you know that guy, right? The one who always has to be the leader, and if someone else is chosen as the leader, he'll still act like he's the one in charge? That's Teagan.

Guess which dog I prefer? Yeah, I know, there's always going to be a dominant dog and the follower, blah-dee-blah, but I'm always rooting for the underdog. Except in baseball. The Cubs just need to give up now. It was sad at 50 years, tragic at 80. Now it's just pathetic and exasperating.

Whoa, sorry, my train of thought switched tracks. Where was I? Oh, yeah, dogs. Dogs are great. The end.

Inaugural post...

So here's the thing ... I wanted to create a blog, but I wasn't entirely sure what I would blog about. I was invited to join a private blog as a co-author, and I completed my first blog post today and realized, "Huh, this isn't that difficult." It's not as if every blogged word has to be gold. At this point, no one else is even reading it!

A rundown of my day so far -- I awoke, fed the dogs and cat, and then turned to the coffee maker. No coffee. Not a problem for most people, right? Well, my coffee tends to be either strong enough to float a horseshoe or so weak that you wonder if a little dirt was mixed in with your water -- not appetizing. So I called the common-sense hotline: my mom's cellphone. She explained that it's one scoop per two cups of coffee. Even I can do that. Of course, we'll see if I remember the ratio correctly next time.

Then I gathered all my stuff and headed for work ... after backing the car into a patch of sunlight so the film of ice would melt. I refuse to scrape my windshield in late March!

Above is a photo of a card I did for a recent team challenge on The Greeting Farm blog. I made this card while my nephews colored in some stamps. I actually (...dramatic pause ...) let them use my Copic markers. They were suitably impressed by the quality and were very responsible with them.

Tonight is "party night," so they'll be coming over for a sleepover/movie-watching/popcorn-eating/but-NO-Mountain-Dew extravaganza.

I learned my lesson last time. We finished off an entire 2-liter of Mt. Dew (admittedly, I drank most of it), and Nephew 1 totally tattled on me. No more Dew for him! They were bouncing off the walls. Of course, the candy, ice cream, pizza and popcorn probably didn't help. We'll stick with root beer this time, and maybe taper off on the rest. But it is supposed to be a party. Well, I'll compromise. They get candy or ice cream, not both. That's responsible and adult of me, right?