Whaz Up?

OK, so Becky (webchyck) reminded me that I have not posted in my blog since I got the new job. Point taken. I haven’t done much since I got the new job. It’s not that I’m working lots of hours (I’m not); I’m just EXHAUSTED at the end of the day. I forgot what it feels like to put in a full day at the office! It’s a great job: The people I work with are super nice. The work is interesting. I’m more a Project Manager now. Before I was your everyday support person for Oracle Financials. Now I’m running an implementation project in Aberdeen, Scotland. YES! I get to travel! I’ve made one trip to Aberdeen already, and I’m going back again right after Easter (for 2 weeks!). Then, about every 2 months, I’ll be making a trip over there for 2 weeks at time. Dan is pretty cool with this. I mean, this is a HUGE opportunity for me professionally. But it is also a HUGE change in routine for all of us – Dan, me, the boys. Fortunately, through the power of the Internet, we were able to chat on IM over the weekend I was gone. I was also able to send pictures home to the boys, which seemed to help. The funny thing is what they wanted to see pictures of – my hotel room! They really didn’t care about seeing me in front of an old church; they wanted to see my hotel and my room



OMG! Let me tell you how COLD it was there! This poor little southern girl just didn’t have the wardrobe for this type of trip. Fortunately, my wonderful, beautiful, ever-practical mother-in-law had a wool coat from when she used to live in Connecticut that she let me borrow. It was perfect! So, armed with her coat, a hat I’ve had since forever and a pair of gloves, I made it through a week of snow. There was 18” of snow on the ground and it snowed the first 5 days we were there. The locals swore that it was the worst winter they’d had in 3 years – I DON’T BELIEVE THEM!





One of the things I realized when I took this job is that I don’t have the right kind of wardrobe. Here in the States, we’re Business Casual. But in the UK, they are much more formal. Plus, it’s so much colder than it is here in Texas. So, my trusty Bernina has started to hum. For the first trip, I made 1 Navy jacket, 1 pair of Navy Wool Crepe pants and 1 Dark Gray top. They don’t necessarily coordinate with each other; they just filled in some missing pieces so I didn’t have to pack an enormous amount of clothing! I also have 1 jacket and 1 pair of pants that are almost completed for the next trip and 1 lighter weight coat cut out and ready to assemble. I’ve got fabric picked out for some new wardrobe pieces. Not all of this will get made before I leave – there just isn’t enough time. But it gives me a good plan for the rest of the year. I’ve also got some great inspiration for a couple skirts I want to make for later in the year (to wear here in Houston, not in the UK)


I saw the whole collection in Foley’s when I went in to get new makeup (another story). This is why I sew – I can’t justify spending $150 for a skirt, no matter how cute it is, if I then have to take the time to alter it because it’s too long. And, the amount I would have to alter it would ruin the proportion of the skirts. So I can make these with 2 patterns in my stash, adding the ruffle--for about $50 in fabric. Pretty good deal, if you ask me!

OK, so I haven’t scrapped in FOREVER! I haven’t even been on scrapbook-bytes, scrapartist or any of my other favs. SHAMEFUL! I haven’t even read all the blogs I used to read! So first thing I did was look around and see what’s going on! Wow! The things in the stores are just amazing! Plus all the new layouts on Susan’s DigiScraplift blog, the All About Me and Heritage Challenges at Scrapartist. Whew! Great stuff going on! Go check it out! So now, I’m started to feel the urge to scrap again. That and Dan asked me for the page that I made of him and the boys modeling together. Hmm? What’s that you say? You’re right! I never got around to doing that page for him. What kind of person am I? J So now I’m back checking out the stores at all my favorite places to see if I can find something PERFECT to use for this long overdue layout for my boys! Wish me luck!