WooHoo! I'm Employed!

Whew! I got a job offer today from the company I had hoped would offer me a job. I interviewed with them on Monday and it felt so comfortable and meant for me. Today, they offered me a very generous offer! I'm so relieved. Of course, this means I have to give up my lady's life of leisure (LOL!) I think the thing I'll miss the most is the whole SAHM thing. I never thought I would enjoy that lifestyle, but in a way I do. I enjoyed the quality time I had with my oldest son, Geary. I got to help him with his homework everyday when he came home from school. But, he misses being at the daycare after school. His little brother Adam is there and they miss seeing each other in the afternoon. I miss the independence of having my own money...asking dh for money is not something I'm used to doing. Well...

In NASCAR news, my boy DJ was fastest in morning drafting practice on Wednesday! Go 88! We want you to race the truck! We LOVE the truck! LOL! Maybe this will be his year to win his 4th Daytona 500. The surprise of testing, to me, has to be Sterling Marlin. He's in an under-funded team. Maybe that's not entirely fair. He's not racing for one of the Super-Mega teams, so he doesn't have the funding he may be used to. Although he's not the "fastest", he's been consistently at the top of the speed charts during testing. Might be a good sleeper pick to win his 3rd 500. And what about Smoke? Will he have good luck at the 500 this year. Tony doesn't normally have good luck at Daytona in February. All I can say is it's 30 days until the Daytona 500 (and my wedding anniversary). BTW, where did I spend my honeymoon? At the Daytona 500 baby!

Photo taken in the backstretch (superstretch) hospitality area). My best friend worked for Square D at the time, so she was able to get us into the hospitality area for the Busch and Cup races.


And in scrapping news...I did finish my latest addition to the Simply You Challenge at Scrapartist. I used Kim's 2-page sketch to do this layout.




Everything from Kim Christensen's Casablanca kit (alpha's re-papered)
Photos from the Internet (some from the Italian Tourist Board)
Font - Albermarle Swash, McGanahan
Layout based on Kim Christensen's 2-page sketch 1-18-06

Oh, and doesn't Kim have the cutest stuff in the sbb store? As soon as my first paycheck comes in, I'm gonna be buying more of her stuff!

It's been a little crazy the last couple days. Looking for a job does that to a person! I had a wonderful interview with a local company on Monday and I am on pins and needles waiting to hear if they want to hire me. I don't want to get too excited about it, because of the disappointment that would follow if they decide to hire someone else. But, it seems like a good fit. Besides, one of the people I interviewed with followed a similar path to me...working in accounting for many years, then switching to IT. We also have several acquaintances in common. Talk about a Small World. I have a couple other leads, but nothing that sounds as promising as this job. Besides, it's very close to my house - I wouldn't even have to get on the Freeway to go to work. How cool is that? Well, I'm leaving it in God's (and the CIO's) hands and letting go of the worry. Can't do anything else about it, right?!? Any prayers you want to send my way would be greatly appreciated!

I went to 2 crops last night at sbb. I haven't done any crops in a Looooooong time! It was a total blast. If you get a chance, you need to stop by the 2006 Autumn Leaves Calendar Challenge. The women who host are a total blast! It's not a speed crop, either. You have until Saturday to post your layout, which leaves more time for chatting :) After the AL crop, I stayed for Kim's 2-page sketch crop. Another really fun, non-stressful crop. Kim gives you a 2-page sketch and you have a week to post a layout. More time for chatting and getting to know your fellow digital scrappers. Come on by next week and say "Hi!"

Although I didn't get any scrapping done during the crops last night, I have done a couple new layouts. I combined challenges for this first one. I've been following the Heritage Challenge over at Scrapartist. Robyn posts a new challenge each week. And of course, my current fancy with Susan's Digi Scraplift. So Voila! My parents wedding photo from 1961:


Stitching - Shabby Princess, Background Papers, Brushes - Lighter Shades of Pale Michelle Coleman @ scrapartist, Lace - Roundabout Traci Simms @ scrapbook-elements, Fonts - Jeana, President, McGanahan, Filter - Virtual Photographer Radiant


And I had this layout I did last week of my parents at Christmas:


Papers - Signature 01 (jenwilsondesigns.com), Schmootzy Frame #2 - Nancie Rowe Janitz scrapartist.com, Fonts - MA Sexy (Title), High Strung, Scraplift of Jen Wilson's Layout, I am your sister, brother and friends at sbb.


So, my plan for the AL Challenge for this week is to combine the photos into one layout. I'll probably head over to Scrap-Maps to see what Bree has on her site for sketches.

I also participated in the current Photography Challenge at sbb. It's titled Reflections. I took this photo back in 1997..specifically going for the reflection because I had seen something similar in a Travel Book. The other interesting thing about this photo is that it was one of the few views where you couldn't see the construction going on around the Chateau. Many of the Chateaux in the Loire Valley were undergoing repairs in 1997.


Chateau Azay le Rideau, Loire Valley France
I used a Pentax K-1000 35mm, 200 speed film. Sorry, I don't remember any of the other settings.


That's it for now...I've got my "Honey-Do" list to try and tackle, especially if I want to scrap later before my oldest gets home from school

A Scrapping Fool

I've been a scrapping fool the last couple days. It probably comes from me trying to get over not getting a call for SS5 or a Creative Team I thought I wanted to be on. (But that's a discussion for another time). Instead, I decided to put my energy to much better use (thanks to blog entries by Becky (webchyck) and various links from there. )
During my blurfing (thanks for coining that wonderful phrase, Becky), I have found a WONDERFUL site called Digi-Scraplift. The wonderful Susan started this blog with a different lift most days. She puts the challenge up for herself, but has invited anyone who cares to to join in the fun. I've done two challenges so far:

Merry Christmas from the Family:


So how many of you know that HYSTERICAL Robert Earle Keene song? If not, you should check it out. He's a local legend here in Texas. And a total blast in concert. Credits: Papers, Ribbbons, Tag, Brad: Dianne Rigdon at scrapartist
Clippie: Michelle Coleman at scrapartist
Metal Alpha: Jen Wilson at scrapbook-bytes.
Fonts are Pharmacy & President


Peek-A-Boo:


My youngest was playing around with me when I snapped this picture. I really didn't know what to do with it until I saw Susan's lift challenge. It's a lift of Sarah's Love that Grin layout at 2peas. Check it out! Credits: Papers, Vellum Tag - Gina Miller's Joy of Scrapping MudPie Kit (sbbytes)
Book Plate, rivet - Jen Wilson's Grass Stains Elements (sbbytes)
Stitching - Katie Pertiet's Messy Stitching (re-colored) DesignerDigitals
Fonts - Stamp Act Jumbled (Title), President (Date)

Hooray for Testing!

Well, I'm thankful that NASCAR testing has begun. It means that there are only 33 days until the Daytona 500! Man, it just can't happen soon enough! So, from last week's testing, the fastest by manufacturer:
Jeff Gordon (Chevy) 188.466
Elliott Sadler (Ford) 187.594
Jeremy Mayfield (Dodge) 186.521

Other notables: Smoke did not test his own car, Mike McLaughlin did (could it be because of Smoke's injured wrist?). Bobby Labonte was lighting up the track in the King's car. Ken Schrader wasn't too bad in the Wood Brothers' Car and poor Kenny Wallace just didn't get his car up to speed during practice.

There was practice today for the other half of the field with Sterling Marlin, Scott Riggs & Jamie McMurray fastest of the Chevy, Dodge and Ford drivers. We'll see how things go the rest of the week.

If you want to keep up with this a little more closely, Jayski has links with up-to-date stats on testing.