6:00 Already? I was just in the middle of a dream...

Some music for your Monday:

Happy Birthday Dee!

A very big HAPPY BIRTHDAY goes out to my good friend, Danielle, today! Here are some random things I know about Danielle.

• She is a licensed Marriage and Family Therapist in California, and a darn good one.
• She likes diet soda...a lot.
• Her Christian faith is important to her.
• She loves her niece and nephew more than diet coke, and that's saying a lot!
  
• Her style could be described as....classic....black & white, occasionally pink, and always tidy.
• She borders on obsessive when it comes to dollar rubber stamps.
• She is creative.
• She has a great sense of humor and can out-sass the best of 'em. :)
• She doesn't eat anything that comes from the sea.
• She likes her burgers "plain, just the meat, cheese and bun."
• She is making a cork wall. I don't know what that is, but it seems pretty cool.
• She is married to a great guy called Simon.
• It is imperative to have a good pen in hand before writing anything.
• She has been known to re-do her calendar/planner more than 3 times in a year. Let it be known that I have nothing to do with this bizarre behavior.
• She likes to stamp it up.
• Her favorite food at the moment is Dan Dan noodles from PF Chang's.
• She has been known to visit upwards of 7 Staples locations in one day on a frantic hunt for clear paint cans.
• Her favorite author/speaker is Beth Moore.
• Kids loved her as their social worker.
• She is an avid baseball fan, and loves the Angels.
  
• She is not afraid of public speaking.
• She shares a birthday with Confucius, Brigitte Bardot, Ben E King, and Moon Unit Zappa.
  

...and she is a wonderful friend. I'm so glad she was born!

Happy Birthday my friend!

Twitterpost

Yes, I used to twitter. I also used to myspace and facebook and virb. I still tally and gmail. However, in the interest of keeping things in relatively one place for family, friends, and fellow weblanders, this is going to be the main me place. In other words, I can't find the balance between 79 websites and everything else in my life. :) We still have lives to lead, right? So, here is my up-to-the-moment update for anyone who could possibly care:

• Kirk is playing the guitar right now while I check e-mail and blog. It's nice.
• I was at Walden's San Diego office yesterday and today for a training about our upcoming adoptions program.
• I have something on my nose that I am convinced might could maybe possibly be a basal cell carcinoma. (The internet can be dangerous for us symptom-checkers.)
• Yes, I am going to call a doctor tomorrow.
• I haven't been to the doctor for a regular exam in....many, many, many moons.
• Yes, I know that is very bad.
• Kirk and I just had Jamocha shakes from Arby's.
• Yes, I know that is also very bad.
• I feel perfectly fine otherwise.
• I am working on several "swap" projects with my fellow tallygals. (halloween cards, holiday "inchies," some scrapbook pages, and holiday cookie recipe ATC's)
• Tomorrow is a day full of home visits to children in foster care.
• I am planning a road-trip to Colorado to see family and friends in October. Yay!
• We helped my brother move into his very first home this week. I think that means he is more of grown-up than me, even though I'm officially just slightly older.
• I am planning to attend some local activist events, maybe we can help get Obama elected...Even though he isn't far enough left for my liking.
• This Saturday my friend Danielle and I are having a girls' afternoon to celebrate our birthdays (we are both September babies) together. Looking forward to that!
• Had enough? I thought so.

Thanks for checking in with me. I have done some more art/papercraft/scrappy projects, photos coming soon. Now would also be the time to put in your requests for handmade holiday gifts! Calendars, wall-hangings, altered items, scrapbooks anyone? I'm poor, so even if you don't ask, you might just receive...in lieu of store-bought gifts, I'm aiming for at least an 80% handmade/DIY gift list this year.

Happy Hump Day Everybody!

Just Another Work Week

I thought this was the perfect video to start the week, from one of my favorite bands of all time, who are apparently rocking the children's podcast circuit now (this is what happens when we get old, only, I wish I was as cool as the Johns...and it's much better than those 80's hairband reunion concerts....yeah, saw one of those last summer and that guy from Cinderella freaked everybody out trying to sing like he used to. Sex, drugs, + rock-n-roll = One scary old guy reunion tour!)

Have a great week! :)

Holiday Cards...

These are the 1st of my holiday cards for 2008...yes, it is still 100 million degrees here in SoCal, but before we know it, the holidays will be upon us, and I am trying to get a head start on cards, so I can focus on my annual holiday CD in Oct/Nov. For those of you who don't know, I make a CD of a mix of holiday music every year for my family and friends as a little gift.

Last year, the computer with literally ALL of my holiday music (we're talking nearly 200 CD's worth) crashed and I am dreading going through the CD's versus using iTunes which saved me loads of time. I send out about 100 of these CD's each year. If you want to be added to my card list, I'd love it, just pop me an e-mail or leave me a post so I can get your mailing addy.

And now, on with the beginnings of the holiday cards. By the way, did you know that October 6 is National Card Making day? I only learned of this last year. I'm not sure they really needed to make a day for it, but anyway, that is my geeky craft trivia for the day. Anybody want to get together that day and make cards? It'd be a good excuse to get all messy with glue and paper and ribbon and MAYBE some wine or martinis? Anyone? :)

Here they are...

So I'm Inconsistent....

...what can I say? I'm a woman of too many interests and not enough routine. I don't think I'll name any more posts with days of the week titles because that means I have to remember to do it weekly and that just doesn't seem to be "how I roll." :) So, in other words, you might see more "Saturday Night Clips" and you might not. I don't like rules, that's all.

In crafty news, no, the postman has NOT rung my doorbell, there was a shipping mix-up so I have not yet received my Tally kit, but our trusty leader is on it and I will still post projects when I DO get it in my hot little crafty hands.

In the meantime, I've been working on this stuff: My contribution to the "Halloween Fantasmagorique Swap" hosted by Rachel and Chris is this little ornament hanging I made from a Coaster...I made 17 of these, along with little boxes to put them in. "Mefiez-vous le chat noir" means "Beware of the black cat" in French to fit the theme:
And this was the monthly card challenge at TallyScrapper, called "Pieces of 8" after the song by STYX. Well you know me, if STYX is involved, I'm there. The challenge was to use 8 pieces of patterned paper and something metal. I punched a flower from a Pepsi can....because I have them in great multitudes. It says "just breathe" and I plan to give it to a yoga buddy who's going through a stressful time.More to come. Happy Lazy Sunday. I have laundry calling my name. I'm ignoring it.

The Postman Better Ring Twice!

because I'm watching for him to bring me this:This is "Vintage Brew" - the September Kit from TallyScrapper. This bundle of goodies goes on sale on September 15th, so mark your calendar and stalk the tally shop HERE to get one! This is sure to be a quick sell out - it was designed by the lovely and talented Christi Otis, and just look at these goodies!! I'm seriously checking for the package every 10 minutes, lol. Can someone say....addicted?

I'm so sad this will be my last kit as a member of the Tally Design Team...*sniff*....the term has gone much too fast, but I have had a GREAT time, and am excited to see who will be the next team! I highly recommend giving it a try...so all of you tallygals out there, JUST DO IT! Christine, Rachel, Shirley and Leah at Tally are truly creative, talented, and amazing, and being a part of their team has been an honor. Okay, enough mushy mushy.

If my postman is good to me today, you'll be seeing some of my creations with this kit later today or early tomorrow.

I'm also participating in the fabulous "Halloween Fantasmagorique" swap, you can see the details here. I'm in group 2, and will be posting photos of my contribution as soon as I get it finished. Too fun!

If you're on the gulf coast I hope you're safe and sheltered....and to all, a restful and fun weekend. Fall is in the air!

Mixed Media Progress

I'm enjoying my online mixed media class...the instructor, Suzi Blu, is very inspiring and we are learning to draw/paint/collage a particular folk-art style - "le petit dolls" she calls them...cute little drawings of girls...here is my first attempt at shading:

I'm really loving the feel of art materials in my hands again... Ultimately we are supposed to end up with a wood-burned girl that we draw/watercolor pencil/paint/collage/stamp/decorate on a flat piece of birch plywood. I will continue to post my progress.

Until then, here is an example of one of Suzi's paintings:

Is the U.S. ready for a REAL woman?

I've found my candidate for '08! She's brilliant, educated, she knows what she wants, has demonstrated leadership skills, is pro-choice, pro-women, pro-art, and pro-change. She REALLY wants no child left behind and wants your government to work for YOU. I can't believe I only just heard of her today! Let's get behind this candidate and rock this election!

You can see who I'm talking about by clicking HERE!

Plus, her husband would make a hot VP!

I've Been Blog Tagged...

A first for Heidiology! This is basically a game of "tag" to answer the following questions, then I get to "tag" some of the blogs I read! So, here are my answers:

Ten years ago:
I had been married for 3 years and was working full-time as a child therapist at Loma Linda Children's Hospital (I sure miss that job and those colleagues!!!) I lived in the same apartment that I do now, with the same lovely husband that I do now. I am not sure I was as happy then as I am now, but I think it was close. :)

Five things on today's to-do list:

1. reschedule to take pediatric cpr
2. laundry
3. olympic challenges at tallyscrapper
4. pay bills
5. send thank you's for birthday gifts
   

A snack I enjoy:
cinnamon bears...pistachio nuts...grapes...hummus & nan bread

Things I would do if I were a millionaire:

• pay off student loans & debt
  
• do part-time work assisting teen foster youth with emancipation skills
• quit working for somebody else
• start a foundation for foster youth
• travel as much as possible with Kirk
  

Places I have lived:

• Arvada, CO
• Riverside, CA

Real exciting life, huh...

5 people I am tagging:

1. Danielle
2. Simon
3. Kirk
4. Kristina
5. Kris

Today...

...I had a really long meeting
...My boss told me I was "defensive" because I was giving my opinion
...My supervisee told me I was the best supervisor she's ever had
...I started researching how we could swing a move to the Portland, OR area
...I visited some wonderful children in foster care who inspire me with their resilience
...I indulged in a few new patterned papers at a little scrap shop on my break, & got $5 for my birthday month!
...I drove 142 miles
...My friend Elaine called to invite me to a birthday lunch this week, and I forgot to call her back! eek!
...I sang along, really loudly, to 80's "monster ballads" in my car
...I am "in the spotlight" at tally, you can read about this here.
...My drawings for the mixed media class I'm taking are coming along well
...I was licked all over my arms by a big gross dog, eww
...I was given a picture drawn by a 5 year old who "never responds to adults"
...I came home to a nice, quiet, peaceful house. Kirk is out w/a friend.
...I plan to finish up a scrap layout for a challenge that's due by Friday
...I am going out late for a small bite to eat with my lovable husband.

All in all, it's been a good day, and I'm thankful for being alive and well.

Mini Layouts, Lots of Feasting and No Labor

My brother, Dan, came over yesterday and asked me to "scrap it up" using some photos of him and his girlfriend, Kate. Cute photos, but his little itty bitty photo album was made for 4x6's...so here is the result: cute little itty bitty scrap pages that he put into the album to include in a care package for her:



Aren't they cute together? Awww. Ok since this is likely embarrassing enough for Mr. Cool, I won't mention OR upload the photo of the 5th and most amazing of the pages because it was not created by me, and I promised I wouldn't tell anyone. :) So, to anyone reading this, all scrapping and/or crafting of any kind is only done by me. No testosterone involved over here, right?

Hope she loves her care package, it's full of great goodies. I can tell he misses her, and Kirk and I are no substitute...but he's welcome to crash at our place and watch Deadwood and Sopranos anytime he wants.

As for us, it's been a really nice, social, and lazy Labor Day weekend 2008. Saturday we had our semi-annual hedonistic repast with Mack & Martha, which is essentially a feast of the best of treats (shrimp potstickers, focaccia bread, feta & cucumber dip, garlic green olives, grilled veggies, spinach dip, bread, LOTS of good red wine, and chocolate sticky cookies) and good conversation by their pool in the warm evening air. Ahhh! That was divine.

Yesterday we lazed about the house, and scrapped it up in the evening, as previously mentioned. Tonight we were invited for the traditional Labor Day BBQ with our friends Simon & Danielle, who recently moved into their home in Hemet. Yummy food and good fun all around. I think I must have gained at least 7 pounds in 3 days, it sounds like all we did was sit and eat! :)

I hope you had a good holiday weekend, too. Here's to another week packed full of love and happiness for all.