jibber jabber

well i havent been blogging a whole lot this past 2 weeks..mainly because I have nothing happy to say and am just tired of hearing myself whine,lol. But i dont want to break my habit so here I am yappin again.
Been training the new girls all week. One is a true super star and is sooo amazingly awesome!! I'm going to put her in the one store where we just lost a manager and promote her in a month if she keeps it up...that is how impressed i am! Of the other 2 I'm not quite sure. I'm pretty sure one of them is not going to work out, but one may be trainable. I sooooooooo have my fingers crossed!!!
We did end up losing another employee in our "family" group but as we were expecting it, and it was one of the really negative ones, it is not really a loss, just incredibly inconvenient. Even a chair filled at this time by someone like her who at least knows her stuff is better than an empty or an untrained one in that store. But, i gotta figure it can't get worse, knock on wood!!
So i got a few emails on my last post surprisingly enough of people not believing that i truly had black hair so i dug up this photo. Forgive the I'm going to bite you expression, lol....i was in my first trimester with Victoria here and had just had a bout of morning sickness....and had another one immediately following his click, hehe. I dont think thephotographer liked me any much,lol.

What a difference eh? Even I forgot how different i looked. Hmmmm....maybe I will wait a bit longer before i revert to the au natural look, hehehe.

We finally made the big step yesterday. We moved Brooke from her crib into her big girl bed. :( I'm sooo sad. She hasn't as of yet realized that she can get up out of it on her own yet.....and I am praying that she doesnt anytime soon. I can just imagine the mess she will get into if we don't get to her in time. I did my first layout in weeks today, but it was kind of depressing, so i decided not to upload it. Really trying to take a positive look on things right now. I know. Kind of stupid to make a depressing layout then huh. hehehe. Never said i was the smartest bunny in the hutch.

k...i promised Jess that i would not stay up into the weee hours tonite and would hit the sack at a reasonable hour. I was working on a new look for our business cards...not quite finished yet. I can't belive how hard i find making a very simple looking business card, when i play with layouts as much as i do. I will try to upload it tomorrow when it is finished and i would just love some input. I do the ads for work, but for some reason this simple task is very difficult for me. Would you listen to that??? Jess' ears must be burning cuz he is now yelling at me to turn off the puter and go to bed, lol. ( but on a side bar-yeahhhhhh Danielle is on the block on big brother!!! yipppeeeee!!!!!! and boooooo to supernova tonite!!! i so can't believe they booted off the dark horse!! i thought he was extremely talented!! so surprised by that, i thought for sure Storm was leaving.....k..im done this time for sure.)

TAG!! I'm it!

I've been tagged by KimJ!!

rules:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::: List 5 weird things about yourself or your pets. Then tag 5 friends and list them. Then those 5 friends need to state their 5 weird things on their blog, listing the rules and then tag 5 more people. Don't forget to let the person know in their blog that you tagged them or we will never find out their weird attributes.

Well....i only just got my dog lolly...and tho im sure she has many weird bizarre attributes..i havent figured them all out yet. I however have many many weird attributes.....but having been asked the question, i found it really hard to think of a single one!! And that is weird in itself, cuz i tell ya, i have sooooo many, hehehe.
So here is what i did come up with:

#1::::::: I always feel so awesome, in control, happy organized and have a general good sense of well being when ever my house is clean and organized....weird thing is even knowing this...i am a terrible housekeeper..hate doing it, and half the time the dh is the one with the vaccuum in his hand.

#2::::::: I am one of the few women who either refuses or just doesnt care about accessorizing or whether or not I match in my wardrobe. Jewellry, earings necklaces, hair doo dads, nail painting...what a bother. Jess (the dh) got so mad at me (he is the accessorizer and very high maintenance in matching coordinates) cuz i bought a pretty nice brown skirt, wore a very nice white blouse that i bought the same day, and then topped it off with a pair of old black high heels that have definitely seen better days. He looked around for half hour for a different pair of my shoes for me to wear, while i played on puter...but me not caring, i have only 2 pairs of high heels, lol! I know.....i give women a bad name!

#3:::::::: I absolutely love photography! I carry my camera everywhere! I bought one that cost a pretty penny...and am ready to buy another one as soon as the dh turns his head....but all i know how to use on it is the auto button. One day I have every intention of learning everything there is to know about it, but for now i thank the lord for digital software, for without it i would have the worst pictures anywhere in the whole wide world. I dont think i have ever taken a photo that hasnt needed at least a zillion touch ups!

#4:::::::: I dont like mint...but my favorite chocolate bar is chocolate mint...and my favorite ice cream is mint chocolate chip...go figure.

#5:::::::: I'm kind of whacky...loud (like you couldn't figure that out, lol), always a chatterbox...i laugh out loud and often, and most always am in a pretty darn good mood. But yet people always think im grumpy. I dont get it...but i think that is pretty weird.

Sooooooooooooooooo! those are my 5 weird attributes. That i could think of on the spot. I swear to god i have some wierd doozy's but this is what I came up with!
And now I have to tag 5 more people. hmmmmmmm. who should it be? who would i love to hear 5 weird things about????? How's bout...

Tania, Melissa, vicki, danny, and jennifer??
Sorry you guys!!! If you didnt want to be tagged, you are going to have to blame KimJ. She made me do it!!! lol

So here is what I have been doing lately. No scrapping unfortunately. I hired three new employees...and then another one quit. This is a real disappointment as she is the only one with a good head on her shoulders and with out her manning the one store leaves me really fumbling around with untrained employees tha will not be able to work alone. Jess and I have been scrambling trying to figure out how we are going to move people around just to make sure all the stores are covered. I literally almost had a breakdown. I mean, this last month has been by far one of the most difficult that I have ever had, and work is just killing me. When we bought these stores from our corporate office, I had no idea that the staff had been treated soooo badly. It doesnt even matter that we are good to them and treat them respectfully and give them raises etc etc. They even tell us how much better boss' we are. It has been 6 months and we are still bearing the brunt for everything that the corporate reps did to them and i just dont know how to fix it. What makes it worse, is that half our staff is related. So if one leaves...it will be more than one. So we have to hire 3 more just as a precaution since our one manager is leaving. At this point I just dont know what to do, and poor Jess is trying to help, but since he cant work in any of the centres yet, it all falls on my to be in about 4 places at once . but enough crying. Whenever i feel like this....what do i do to make myself feel better?? Well i shop of course, hehe. I went into the states and when scrap album crazy!!! So much better selection there. I bought some books from autumn leaves, that you can't get here in Canada, and then since Brooke has been growing like such a weed we went looking for a new bed to get her out of her crib. I think I found a nice one, but we are going to check out one more place tomorrow, and then decide. And then if there is time i might get the rest of Victorias school shopping done. After that I should feel much better, and hopefully refreshed and ready to take on what is sure to be the first week of a 2 month trip to he double hockeysticks.
I have to tell you guys tho..when i was shopping in the good old USA I was sooo jealous of you guys! You have all the great scrapbooking stores! With all the awesome everything! including magazines!! I finally was able to get my hands on a Scrapbooking Trends magazine. We so dont get that over here. Sadness.
I've been thinking of doing something pretty drastic to myself lately. Letting myself go natural. And what I mean is I want to go back to my natural color. Im pretty blond right now, but would you believe my natural color is black? The only reason i havent done it yet is that jess has never seen me except in photos with dark hair, and he is sooo against it. But i have to tell you I really hate having to sit in a chair for 2 hours every couple of months to get foils in my hairs to touch up roots. I'm too lazy. One day he is going to come home and see me and my dark locks and have a complete melt down, lol!! Im so going to make sure I have my camera ready, hehehehe!!!
k,...gonna go check out what is going on around the boards, let the dog out, and then off to bed I go! Busy shopping day tomorrow!!

Interview day!

wow! what a day that i have had! Today was interviewing day and talk about crazy! Jess and i worked late last nite, so never got the chance to brief over the prospecting employees, so we had to get up nice and early and read through there applications and make up direct questions, etc, etc....the usual preinterview stuff. Interviews started at 9:30 and proceeded every 15 minutes and are still going on now at 6 oclock. I abandoned jess, hehhehehe...and left him there to deal with the rest. I was done! (poor jess tho, lol.) The first 2 interviews were awesome!! and the other ones all bombed with one possible exception. We had the smart idea to do all the interviews in one day to get them all out of the way. We are silly, but now know better!!
And, to top it off 5 minutes before the first interview, one of our employees call us up crying her eyes out so much that we couldnt even understand what she was saying. So i had to run over to see if she was ok, and it turned out she was bothered that one of the other employees got a raise and she didnt.
sigh
soooooo glad this day is almost over.
I feel bogged down by work..hehe...tomorrow i have to head over to the states to discuss radio advertising with one of the stations there, and with the traffic over the detroit bridge it will take forever.
ok, enough complaining from me. for now. hehehe
Im going to do something completley relaxing and nice for me this wkend and nobody is going to talk me out of it!!!!!

Just wanted to give a big CONGRATULATIONS !!!!!! to Denise D!!!!! who is bringing another beautiful little baby into this world!! sooo happy for you!..

now im off to make some dinner for my hungry children..and get in some scrapping before big brother comes on at 800..and then hopefully i will scrap some more.

i hate mondays!!

I'm sooo totally dragin today. Woke up this morning with my cell phone ringing off the hook, and a zillion work things to do right from the get go. sigh. mondays have to be the worst day ever. Got 3 ad copies done, and altered a few others. Looked over a few radio promotions, etc. blah blah blah.
Got my shopping started yesterday...not even close to being finished, and spent a fortune on victoria already. I just can't believe the price of school clothes! It is crazy!!!!!!!!!! Gonna try to finish the rest on wednesday work permitting. Scary visa bills!! I never even got me anything :( . ah well...i spose the kids have to come first, lol!!
Watched Big Brother last nite and was wayyyy psyched!! i actually got the live feeds on a whim so knew what was going to happen already, but watching the edited version is still kewler, as there is no possible way to catch everything that is happening on the feeds unless you are glued to it for the whole day! insane!!.....but it sure gives you a better idea of what the people are actually like!!! I love what is going on right now!!...won't tell you what it is cuz i dont want to spoil it, but if you love janelle like me, things are looking up!!!!!!!
Going to do my very best to get some scrapping in tonite! it has been soooo long, im going thru major withdrawels, but i just dont feel normal or creative for work unless i get a layout or 2 done.
k...hi ho, hi ho....it's off to work i go..........

Need another sunday!

Today is sunday and the wkend is over :(. This wkend wasnt anygood for me at all and i really think we need one more sunday before the week starts! Don't you hate starting a new week feeling like you never got a break? Jess and i have been arguing most of the wkend...we don't argue very much but the times we do it is extremely straining and it is always about the exact same issue. In the years that we have been together we only ever argue about one thing, which i suppose is good, but it just never seems to get resolved. I am just tired over it all and mentally exhausted. He is sorry...just like he always is....and he really does mean it...but the next few wks are going to be very trying I think. For the first time he has acknowledged the root of the problem and is ready to face it, so that is a start..but it is going to be a long road, and i'm just going to have to pray and hope that I am strong enough to help him through it (and me too). It was very difficult for him to admit why this issue keeps popping up, and it just tore at my heart watching him go through it. But it gave me hope that we may actually for the first time have made some progress this time. It was the first time he was actually able to talk about it out loud, since he has such a difficult time admitting and showing his insecurities. Okay, enough about that, just keep your fingers crossed for him please, and im gonna pray that this is not too difficult for him.

So today I am taking Victoria shopping for new school clothes. She is going into grade 5 already. Sheesh! where does the time go??? She is starting a new school this year, and as she is not somebody that adapts to change very well, i'm a little worried for her. She is soooo wary that no one will like her. :( I keep telling her that everything will be all right but at 10, it never really seems like it will does it? But shopping always puts her in a good mood, and me too! So Im gonna make sure i pick up a few things for everybody today! and give us all a happy.
Our cute little puppy is still refusing to be potty trained!!!!!!!!! Anybody have any tips??
So guess what I watched last nite to cheer me up?.....and dont laugh! But I am a total Buffy the Vampire lover, lol!! She rocks! So I watched Buffy the Musical, which we have on dvd. Victoria and I kicked back and had Buffy and popcorn nite,, hehehehe. I really miss that show, lol!!
Well I'm going to pop over to a few blogs and sites and then run off and shop til I drop!...Then i'm going to come back online and check out the shops to see if any fabulous designers have any new kits for me to purchase today! My motto today is spend spend spend, hehehhe!!

a question for women everywhere!

why is it that men are born needing a boot to the head? should we actually give them one? would that make a difference ya think??
inquiry minds would like to know!

Layouts and some gabbin

Just popped in to upload a few layouts i did using some of the sponsors at Rakscraps kits this month. The first one is using paper from Elizabeth Lanes Journey kit.


I sooooo love these photos of brooke!! She is sooo melodramatic how can i help but giggle?? she will do anything to get a sucky hug from mom sometimes...course other times she wont let me near her of course, lol....kids are flippy arent they?

this is brooke playing peek-a-boo on our patio stairs. she is just getting so entertaining to watch!...well she always has been but such a personality she has gotten!! I used papers and flower element from Raks sponsor Lynnie Smith..her funtastic kit. Seems forever since i actually had time to scrap, but i did these last week for the newsletter and am able to upload them now that it is out.

Any body see Big Brother tonite????? I was sooo glad that Chicken George won HoH!! I soooo don't want Janelle to go home yet so this was just perfect!! How awesome if James got his but kicked out?? I am way tired of hearing how season 6 is abusing his trust when all he has been doing for a month now is lying to them and trying to find a way to get them voted off!! Keep your fingers crossed Boogie doesnt use his ulitimate power card!!!

Got a few more applicants in today...only 2 look promising so we set up some interviews for next week...that will give us time to hopefully receive some more. I just found out that my one employee will only be able to work 2 days come fall....this is the centre with the new worker that isnt even fully trained yet or looking to be anytime soon by the way that she is going. When it rains it poors i tell ya!

I tried to get myself way ahead of schedule this month, so last nite i made my contribution for Septembers mega kit, lol! Talk about wayyy in advance, hehehe. Even got the prize for next month all done and waiting to go. Feeling kind of proud of myself for being so on top of things!! (patting myself on the back here).

K, gonna go grab a nice warm shower! The kind that feels all warm that when you put on your big pink fluffy housecoat after you feel all drowsy and can't do anything but go to sleep!! ta ta for now!!!

mega kit!

yeahhhhh!!!!! Rakscraps newsletter is out and that means that the megakit is now available!! whoo hoooooo!!!! And since my link is up first I thought I would give a preview of my contribution so of course you can run over and grab it, lol!!! It will only be up for a few days so dont wait to long! All the designers at Raks did a super job this month!!
Hope ya like it!....this was my first school kit.
Been pretty busy the last couple of days with work. Been advertising for help wanted and have gotten some feedback but i'm not totally thrilled with any applicants yet :(.
PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE!!! work gods send me a couple good ones!!!!!! i neeeeedddd!!!!!
We took Lolly to her first doggy groomers today! She is all fluffy and soft and cute again!! But boy does she smell strong! I am a big fan of vanilla...it is my favorite, and coincidentally that is what they used, but they used sooooooooo much of it i don't think i want to smell that again for awhile. Lolly is still not potty trained and this is making me very sad!!!!!! How long does it usually take?? I thought they caught on alot sooner than that! sigh.
Well, it is late here and I have to run, early day tomorrow! Here is wishing Friday would hurry up and get here!...or better yet, Saturday, lol!
nite all!

ok...so it was a small fib!!

well last time i posted i said i was back...turned out that was a small fib, lol. This time i mean it!!! I am back! i spent the last two days just cramming on sponsor layouts and my contribution to the rakscraps megakit. I have to tell ya...I have seen the sneak peak at all the contributers kits and it looks like a good one this month for sure! Like to tell ya more, but i cant, hehehe. Just make sure you pop into grab it! It should start going out next week i think? Mine is usually one of the last ones given out :( . Does that mean they save the best for last???, hehehehhe...just jking.
I have had no time to do any scrapping this past month. I really find that when my scrapping gets set back, i really lose all motivation to do anything at all. My creative juices disappear and have no enthusiasm for work. Jess (the dh) even notices that.....so of course that means that he should pick up my share of the work load so i can scrap so i wont' be completley useless. dont ya think??, hehe.
Lolly is driving me batty. (our new puppy). Brooke always wants to play with her...and then as soon as lolly looks her way brooke starts screaming and running away. But no more. Lolly is frisky...so Brooke has learned "the voice". As soon as lolly looks her way she bellows in the voice and the dog listens, hehe. It is kind of funny. I cant get her to listen to me and i thought i had a pretty good "voice". guess i will have to work on it.
Spent today printing out more of our photos and trying to get the frames filled on our wall. So far it is looking pretty good. I did a whole collage of Jess and me along our wall border and got a couple beautiful ones of the girls that the grandparents are just drouling over. Going to make them an album this year I think.
We even started cleaning out our garage today...well jess did mostly...i watched and told him what NOT to throw out, hehe. The whole point being that once the garage is cleaned out we will have the space to put boxes that are downstairs in what is supposed to be the kids play room so that we can finish building and painting that out for them. I have it painted right now with all clouds sky and green grass, and it is a pretty huge room too. I painted it just after we moved in. Now however we have decided to totally redo the look, and paint it in sections. We are going to set up a dance area for Victoria to practice so will paint a ballerina theme...an arts and crafts area will have an artists theme and a cozy knook for the reading area...with either a reading theme, or some kind of cozy princess throne room , lol..or a combo. I cant wait to get started......well, i mean i cant wait to get finished, lol!!!
K, jess bought me a cheesecake today...and i soooo need a bite, lol!!! he was very sweet today. gotta go munch!! mwah!

I'm Back!!!

okay, so i know it has been awhile since i have been blogging but i can't even tell you what i have been doing since it would take soooo long. So suffice it to say...it has been very stressful, incredibly worrying and time consuming and hopefully now at an end with everybody involved having a happy ending. So I will skip all that stuff and move on to the good stuff!!! Here is our newest family member!!




Her name is Lolly...short for Lollipop, named of course by Brooke, lol! We picked her up when we dropped our godson off who was staying with us for a little while on Wednesday. She will be 8wks old on sunday, and she is such a hoot! Victoria has bonded soooo much with this puppy, and is a bit sad that Lolly follows Jess all around the house and not her. But she is still a bit timid with her whenever the puppy wants to play so we are trying to explain that to her. Brooke however is a complete terror. sigh. Did anybody see finding Nemo?? Rember the little dentist's niece that was going to get the pet fish? Well that unfortunately is Brooke. She is going to love this puppy into extinction i think, lol. Although in 2 days she has already made alot of progress and the term gently is used quite a bit more now. The whole litter that the breeders had was just gorgeous, and Jess almost talked me into getting 2 as there was a beautiful white one left to be sold. Jess didnt want Lolly to be lonely, hehehe. He is such a sap. But commen sense prevailed...mine not his, lol...and we drove away with just the one. She really is a beautiful pup and in 2 days has already changed so much! Jess has even taught her how to fetch already! He is convinced she is the most clever dog ever, and Victoria thinks she was always "destined" to be ours. hehehehehe.
So while I was otherwise occupied, i noticed that one of my fave designers Anna Aspens has now relocated herself from Scrapbook graphics to Designing Digitals. I was kind of surprised as I really liked how the sbg turned out, but am happy that she has found a place to sell where she will be happy. Kudos to her for making such a brave move like that!
Have you seen what has been going on on Big Brother??? I can't believe how truly manipulative it is this season!! I feel really bad for Janelle who i love! I think she really shot herself in the foot this time! Keepin my fingers crossed!!
Other than all that we have been fully occupied computerizing my centres. I tell ya the staff just hates me!! They are giving us soooo much stress and problems are popping up everyday! They have been installed for 2 wks now, and every single day at least 2 centres have screwed up, crashed or otherwise broken the computer in one way or another. Jess is running around all over town and county trying to put out the fires, and i am not much help either. I have no idea what so ever how to work the software that was installed. And as soon as he gets all the staff up and going on it, he is then going to have to take the time to teach me as well, hehehe.
Feels good to have things getting back to normal out here.....we are trying to get caught up on what we let lapse over the last few weeks and it is hard! But here i am sitting at the puter blogging so it is definitely getting better!!!