Bits&Pieces

Where are my sexy sixes?

Whew! Okay…now where was I? (Mystery Box Madness is just so dang fun, no?)

This past weekend was the Best Weekend Ever and I think it all boiled down to weather. The weather was perfect. Absolute meteorological perfection. 72. No humidity. Light northwesterly breeze. No bugs. Perfection.

We kicked off Friday night by going to see Ironman, and i just have three words: Robert Downey Jr. Yum. (Okay, so I added a fourth.) Although it was a bit violent in spots, I absolutely loved it. So much so, I dreamed I made out with him that night. I recall the following exchange of words: I know you're married, and I'm married, but call me!

Then on Saturday, Cole convinced me to take him and a buddy to see the new Indiana Jones movie. (Yes, my cumulative dollars spent at the AMC Rosedale 14 likely topped $100 with that extra popcorn run halfway through the Crystal Skull. Ouch!) I liked the movie okay. I kept hoping Robert Downey Jr. would show up. (SPOILER ALERT: He does not.)

But perhaps the most memorable moment happened as Cole, his little friend, and me were making our way to the theater, hands full of sodas, heavily buttered popcorn and an assortment of previously purchased candy contraband stuffed discreetly into various pockets and purses.

We came up to this kid, who was maybe around 15 or 16, talking very loudly (which is the ONLY way teen-agers can talk these days in public) on his cell phone. Right as we passed by him, I heard him say the following into the receiver: "Where are my sexy bitches?"

The feminist in me wanted to deliver a swift, decisive backhand to his lower jaw, but the 12-year-old boy in me won out, and I let out a quick, nervous chuckle. I was hoping that Cole and his buddy didn't hear, because that's just not something precious little 8-year-old ears should hear. And I should know, because I have an entire collection of my own verbal nuggets that I can guarantee you Coleman should not have heard over the years.

So I quickly compose myself, and casually glance down at Cole to see if it registered. He looks up at me and starts to giggle the giggle of a boy who KNOWS he shouldn't have heard, but can't deny this one fact: that was pretty damned funny.

We both exchanged knowing glances and smiles, and moved on.

Later that night, we were playing another high stakes game of family Yahtzee at the kitchen table, and I decided to share the story with Aidan and Dan. Clearly, it wasn't as funny to them.

Soon after I was working on my Four of a Kind, and I decided to go for my sixes, when it just kind of slipped out: WHERE ARE MY SEXY SIXES?

Cue hysterical laughter of boy and mom.

And now, it will never NOT be funny.

And the winners are…

And what does that translate to?

These lucky—and super positive—blog readers:

#482—Jenna
I exercise almost every day and inspire people by working hard.

#770—Jenn
I'm a great party planner and I love the color of my eyes!

Yay for Jenna and, no relation, Jenn. But kind of freaky coincidence, no?

Ladies, e-mail me at: czdesign@comcast.net so I can get your mailing addresses and ship of your lovely boxes of mystery scrapbooking goodness!

Thanks everyone, for participating! I really appreciate everyone putting good stuff about themselves out into the internet, and world at large. Go all of you.

I'm off to continue reading comments.

Cheers!
Cathy

Presenting Monday's Scrapbooking Box of Mystery Madness Giveaway

[Comments are now closed, y'all! Back later with the lucky mystery box lovin', positive talkin' blog readin' winners]

It seems like an ordinary shipping box. But let me tell you this: Box R386 is no ORDINARY box. Au contraire! This box has been carefully filled with a joyous abundance of scrapbooking goodness following the weekend organization of my unwieldy collection of stuff.

And I would like to give it to you. Yes, that's right... YOU, cute blog reader. But not just you. No, you AND a friend. Well, maybe not your "actual" friend, but I have TWO boxes of such goodness to give away. One for you, and one for some complete stranger on the Internet that you've never met.

Sound too good to be true?

WELL, MAYBE IT IS! Because it's not quite that easy people. Yes, you have to leave your name in the comments, but in my own personal effort to rid all of that wanky negative self talk out of my own brain, I'm asking you to do the following: tell me one thing about yourself that you really dig and that you actually BELIEVE to be true.

That's it. Simple. Goodness. About you.

Here, I'll start: I have really thin wrists and I'm funny. (HEY! Look at me! That's TWO things. I actually believe them, too. I'm not just blowing smoke up my own... well, you get the drift. Because remember: I DON'T SMOKE!)

So how about you?  What do you like about you? It's a positive self talk, no holds barred, balls to the wall celebration! And I don't even HAVE balls!

I will draw two winners, via the good old random integer method, tonight at 9 p.m. CST.

Good luck and thanks for reading.

Who's a good blog reader?

Thanks so much for the response to my question about what you'd like to learn about design. It's very helpful. Indeed.

And as a thank you, I give to you, 46 or so seconds of Chester.

And thereby simultaneously offer my best Spongebob impersonation.

I know! WAY better than a giveaway!

Have a great weekend!

Because I know what I would want to know, but...

June is in full swing, and for me, right now, that means I'm getting ready for really nailing down what I'm going to be presenting for my 12-week online course at Big Picture Scrapbooking, which runs from October through December. (Registration is still a ways off, but I'll be sure to keep you posted!)

The class is called "Design Your Life." The goal? To help you to embrace design from both a philisophical and real-life stand point. Why care about design? That is a good question, and I'll answer it with a question that is often asked of me: What is your process? How do you make the choices you do when you create a layout?

I get this a lot, and my answer always seems lame because many times, I'll say: I just do what feels right.

Well here's the deal: the more you understand design at a gut level, the easier it is to make choices while creating your pages. Design understanding is as much of a scrapbooking tool as a trimmer or an adhesive.

And guess what? Design can be learned. I should know. I didn't go to school to have the career I've created for myself. No. I just went about learning every little thing I could about design.

When you learn more about it, things just start to feel right. And when things feel right, that means you're getting it.

Remember: the point of this class won't be to make pages that look like mine; it'll be to make pages that look like really kick ass versions of YOURS. Capeche?

Long story short: this class will rock, because I know what I want to do with it (and keep checking back for some cool information and calls to action to my students, coming soon!) and I will stress out over every single little detail right up until the day it starts, but for those of you who are either planning on taking the course, or just thinking about it, here's my question to you:

What would YOU most like to learn about in this class?

The phone lines are open…

SAVE THE EWOKS! BUY MY BOOK!

I mean, seriously. Get OUT, cuteness.

For those who are wondering, Peanut is a Pekinese, and a very sweet mellow one at that.

My Auntie Lynn and Uncle Murray have just hit the road, headed deeper into the American heartland, on their way to Mount Rushmore. We had such a nice visit. I never see relatives from my side of the family and this was such a treat to have them here.

Especially for rounds of high-stakes yahtzee.

And I think anyone who knows anything knows this: Canadians don't mess around when it comes to dice games.

But it wasn't just us that had fun. Chester will miss his new little friend, too.

But we are definitely going to plan a trip to British Columbia in the next few years. We're even talking about going up for the 2010 Olympic Games. I mean, we've got prime lodging just waiting for us, with my Aunt and Uncle in Pitt Meadows. I think it's not just talk.

So thanks, Auntie Lynn and Uncle Murray, for coming to visit.

We miss you already.

You know what they say…puppies and babies can sell just about anything

Well look who's decided to come for a two-week stay:

Hello to you, Chester. Who's a good boy? Who's a good boy?

And what's this? Who else is visiting? Is that a tribble? No. It's just Peanut. My Auntie Lynn's sweet girl.

And she IS sweet. Not anything like my parents little 8-pound marauder, Murphy. (Sorry, Mom. You know I love you and Dad, but your dog could and possibly should be featured on the new season of It's Me or the Dog.)

Yikes!

But here are my new temporary canine tenants together, and blurry:

Now, here's my second book:

Do you have the sudden urge to buy?

Get it? You know. Puppies...sell things? Get it?

Of course, I am JOKING.

Except that I'm not.

Happy Monday, Dog Lovers of America (and Canada, the UK, NZ, AUS…oh what the heck—of the entire WORLD.)

A dispatch from Denver

I am tired of airports. Today. It's not always like that. Sometimes I don't mind. But right now, I'm minding, and so I write the following haikus:

I was wondering,
Could you talk any louder
On your stupid phone?

What made you decide
That perfume was a good choice?
Forever Charlie.

Back Monday with so much more.

Knew he used to smoke, didn't realize he was into scrapbooking. Think he's read Clean&Simple, Part Deux?

good

1. Getting a video chat from Donna this morning, who is in France. Vive le France!

2. It's Me or the Dog
I love this show. I love that it comes on at 8 a.m., and me and the kids watch while they're eating breakfast before school. I love that she wears black boots and looks like some kind of Mary Poppins-esque dominatrix.

3. Year-round school.

And while I'm sure there are far more things that I can could come up with that fall under "good", I'll just leave it at that for now.

Heading out to Utah today. Meetings and more meetings. See you soon, SLC.