Anyway, I slept in a lot later than I really wanted to (I think going to bed late could have been the culprit), but after gulping down only half of my coffee and throwing a few things in my bag for the crop, I hit the road. First stop was Target. My darling friend Steph was having a baby party tonight and I had decided to wait until the absolute last minute before I bought them a gift. They’ve already received tons of stuff so I wanted to get them something on their list that wasn’t already purchased.

The registry computers were down unfortunately. Yes, all 3 of them. A convenience and a curse in one. I ended up looking up their registry on my iPhone. I was even able to give the cashier the registry number when I checked out! Technology, YOU ROCK MY WORLD.

Then I made a quick pit stop at Hobby Lobby. I was planning on working on some Christmas cards today, which required me to color a reindeer. I didn’t have a medium brown Copic so I figured I would pick up a E37 Sepia along with a B32 Pale Blue. There was a bit of a crowd at Hobby Lobby that day, which I guess is typical for a Saturday afternoon.

I jumped on the Bush Turnpike and made my way toward my friend Lisa’s house. It was then that I started to search for my phone. The last time I remember using it was at the checkout counter at Target, but I couldn’t remember having it in Hobby Lobby. For a split second, I worried I had left it on the shelf where the Copic markers were kept because I had momentarily paused to test out a marker on a piece of paper. I wasn’t finding it in my purse and there I was already a few miles away from the store, phone-less. I swear, I need a bungee cord for that darn thing. I took the next exit and turned around, hoping that the art marker aisle was left unvisited. It was when I exited to give my car a full search that I found my phone. Where? Sitting underneath my Target shopping bag on the front passenger seat.

So with that moment of drama passed, I got back on the highway and made my way to Lisa’s. By the time I got there, 30 minutes later, I was only in my seat working on my project for like 10 minutes when Mindi and Jill talked me into going with them to Cracker Barrel. Seeing as how I hadn’t had a bite to eat all day, I was easily sold.

Mindi’s GPS took us on a tour of the neighborhood (but we did get to see a new Toyota Venza, which Mindi declared would be her next car). I’ve only been in a Cracker Barrel once or twice in my lifetime, but I loved it. Is it wrong that I still love eating here despite the history of controversy associated with this restaurant?

I ended up ordering the chicken and rice special with a side of dumplings and fried apples. Jill had the chicken and dumplings and Mindi had some weird jack chicken. Afterward she wished she had gotten the chicken and dumplings instead. But at least we had gone because now we were satisfied and ready for a nap.

The rest of the afternoon flew by in a blur. By the time 6PM rolled around, I knew I had to get on the road and drive back to Addison for Steph’s party. Thankfully there wasn’t much traffic on 635 (which always makes me nervous anyway).

The party was held at a little pavilion at Addison Park, which was nestled among a quiet, upper-middle class neighborhood. They had strung white Christmas lights around the pavilion and set up a table with pumpkins, pumpkin cupcakes, pumpkin everything. It was adorable and so amazing. I finally got to chat with Gabby, who is definitely as awesome as Steph has always said! BTW, should I mention this girl has some mad sewing skills? She made these totally adorable outfits for baby Bella!

After giving my love to the guests of honor and the hostess Emma, I snagged a couple pumpkin cupcakes to take home to Jabari. Thank goodness home was only a few blocks away.

So that was my Saturday, how was yours?

Izzie looked exceptionally sad when Jabari went to the bathroom. So of course she had to hang out right outside the door and wait.

I actually posted this about a year ago but I figured I would turn it into a video tutorial.

Supplies:
1 sheet of 4.25 x 5.5″ card stock
1 sheet of 4 x 5.25″ patterned paper
1 library pocket (3.5 x 5″)
1 sheet of 3 x 4.75″ card stock
Ribbon and embellishments
Sticky strip or any kind of ultra tacky tape (preferably 1/4″ or 1/2″)
Slit punch from Stampin’ Up or something comparable
1/4″ hole punch

Totally unrelated, but I couldn’t remember the name of the muppet that always forgot stuff so via Google’s Suggested Searches, I found out his name was Forgetful Jones. This then brought me to an entire wiki dedicated to muppet knowledge. You can find it here. Amazing what comes up in Google search results!

So here’s another video tutorial on how to make a simple library pocket using your Scor Pal. If you don’t have a Scor-Pal, you can download a simple PDF template here: Library Pocket Template (12).

Coming up tomorrow: a video tutorial on how to make a gift card holder. I’m actually putting together a video for this one since it’s one of my most popular posts

Fail Me Not, Coffee Grinder, originally uploaded by krisalis903.

Our coffee grinder chose the wrong time to bust. I woke up this morning with Thor pounding on my head with his mighty hammer. I wonder if it was perhaps the really terrible wine I had the night before (everyone at the party was cutting it with 7-Up–it was THAT disgusting). So the first thing I do after taking the dogs out is make a pot of coffee. I pressed the button down on the coffee grinder and 3 seconds later I hear a snap-pop!

I opened the grinder and see the plastic thing inside had somehow come loose and was now mangled by the blade. Yep, awesome.

So I finish grinding the coffee in my little food processor (worked surprisingly well) and brewed a cup of coffee.

I ended up going out to Bed Bath & Beyond and buying this shiny number: Cuisinart DCG-12BC Grind Central Coffee Grinder. Usually I check Amazon for reviews before making an appliance purchase, but for some reason this time I didn’t. I wished I had though. They were NOT good Hopefully this one won’t be a lemon.

I can’t believe it’s November already. You know what that means, right? National Blog Posting Month! Yes, I’m participating for the 3rd time and boy am I excited. I don’t have the patience to tackle NaNoWriMo, but a blog post a day? That I can handle.

In addition to NaBlo, I’ll also be preparing for Ali Edwards December Daily event this year. I love the idea of journaling the 25 days leading up to Christmas. “The Basics: gather up a bunch of holiday supplies, create an album with 25 pages (one for each day), and then when December rolls around you will have a foundation upon which to document you and your family’s story. The idea is to take the time now to set it all up so that on December 1 you are ready to experience + to capture the memories for the day and add them into your album as you go.”

I’ve never actually documented the entire Christmas season so this will be a new experience for me. I am looking forward to it though

He was browning the meat in a cast iron dutch oven and had the heat a little too high. Surprisingly there was no grease fire, but when he emptied out the fat and poured in some of the beer, that released some kind of weird toxin into the air that left all of us (even the dogs) gasping and coughing. We ended up having to not only open all the windows really wide, but also the front door, just to breath easily. At one point I think I had quoted Will Ferrell in Anchorman and said, “The smell stings the nostrils,” and Jabari laughed.

Despite the burned pan, which I had him clean out, the chili actually turned out really tasty (and ridiculously spicy too). I had made sweet corn cake to go along with it perfectly which helped to balance out the spiciness. We had a lot of fun in the kitchen together though and made plans for a future collaboration.

AJ is spending the week with us. He’s definitely a lot more accustomed to being back here, though not completely comfortable, but hey, that’s better than the first time he stayed with us.

Last night was interesting though. Jabari has issues sleeping sometimes so he’ll get up in the middle of the night and go out into the living room. However, last night, when he came back into the room AJ got startled which set Izzie off. And Izzie figured that just because AJ was uncomfortable with Jabari coming into the room, that Jabari was probably a burglar and needed to be scared off with her incessant barking. All of this at 3:00 in the morning. Yep, perfect. And like clockwork, I oversleep the next morning and feel like crap. I wonder if this is what it’s like to have kids. Except I don’t have to pay college tuition.

Ok so here’s my first how-to video. Sadly the quality stinks, but hopefully once I get the right cable in the mail this week, it’ll look better.

I gotta say, editing videos on the Mac has been amazingly easy. I didn’t even have to read any manuals or watch any tutorials, but I was able to easily figure out the controls, transitions, etc. I’m still trying to figure out the voiceover and timing thing, but I figure that’ll get easier with practice.

There is something very liberating about not having to sit at a computer, but rather having the computer sit with me.

I’m actually typing this while tucked beneath the bed covers and watching TV. Does it mean I’ll write more? Let’s hope.

Today was a very quiet but productive day. I got more things done at work than expected for a Friday afternoon. I think having an almost-empty office helped because I had fewer distractions and therefore fewer interruptions.

Tomorrow will be a good day. Not jam packed, but packed enough. My friend is picking up my dining table and chairs and I have a bit of tidying up to do around the house.

Speaking of houses, I’m faced with the possibility of moving again. My lease is up at the end of this year and I’ve been itching to move into a larger place.

We’ve considered staying in the same apartment complex, but transferring into a larger floor plan, possibly the 2-bedroom one. The advantages are, well, more space. Disadvantages? Moving. And not really moving anywhere new, just to another building. I dunno, there’s nothing really exciting about that.

I dunno, maybe it’s just that I’ve been in this neighborhood for almost a little too long but I’m kinda ready for a bit of a change–even if it IS just a few blocks away.

Usually I Like Pink, But Even I Had Second Thoughts About This One, originally uploaded by krisalis903.

LOL…ok, so before you judge me, continue reading.

Earlier this week, Jabari bought Guitar Hero 5 for the Wii and of course I start playing it. The only problem is we have 1 guitar which is actually Jabari’s.

So tonight I went out to go find another guitar so we could play together. Target didn’t have one and considering it was a rainy, nasty night, I wasn’t about to drive all around town to find one. I ended up stopping by the Game Stop that was in the same shopping center as the Target.

I walked into the store and looked around. They didn’t have much of a selection–mostly Rock Band sets and Guitar Hero World Tour sets (too expensive). The only other wireless guitar they had for the Wii was $69.99 (uh, no thanks).

And then they had this one: Wii Aly & AJ Heart Shape Guitar for Guitar Hero.

How much? $20. Yep.

Normally I like pink. I mean, you know I do. But even this thing tested my limits. Ultimately it came down to a difference of $50. And I wasn’t about to spend more than $30 on a wireless guitar. I searched the store from top to bottom, looking in every nook and cranny hoping to find one that may have been misplaced in another stack. I came up empty handed.

I buckle down and take the hot pink abomination to the counter. I asked the guy, “So.. uh, do you guys have any other wireless guitars for the Wii that aren’t hot pink and heart-shaped?”

The guy kinda laughed and asked his coworker, who responded with, “No, that’s pretty much it.”

I sigh and shake my head. “Ok, well I guess this will be mine and my boyfriend will get the other one.” They laughed.

On my way home, I called Jabari. “So I got a guitar,” I said.

“Oh really? That’s awesome.”

“Yeah, but you won’t believe the kind I got.”

“Is it hot pink and bedazzled with rhinestones?” he asked.

“Close. It’s hot pink and heart shaped,” I said.

Silence.

I start laughing. “It was the only one they had!”

“You didn’t have to get it!” he said. “You could have waited.”

“But we wouldn’t have been able to play together tonight!” I said.

“You’ve lost all your shopping privileges,” he said.

When I got home, I brought the guitar in and I show it to him. All he could do was shake his head. Then, he picked up his guitar and said, “C’mere, dude. Don’t look,” and hid it on the other side of him.

I couldn’t stop laughing.

Today’s lesson, kids? Humiliation DOES have a price. And that price is $20.

This is Izzie with her new toy, Mr. Elephant. Mr. Elephant was a gift to us from the vet because we bought a 6-month supply of heartworm preventative. It hasn’t completely become her favorite toy just yet, but she’s definitely spent a lot of time trying to get it to squeak.

The best part of this photograph? I was able to snap the photo, download it to my computer, edit it, and upload it all without leaving the comfort of my own couch. Yipeee!

Dear Old Computer,

Hi there. How are you? I’m doing fine. The weather is nice isn’t it…? Yeah, I’ve–oh, shoot, I’m just going to come out and say it.

I bought a new computer. A MacBook Pro.

Sigh. There I said it. Out loud. It’s been weighing on my mind the last week when I learned that I would be getting one. Over and over in my head, I thought of how I would tell you this. Should I send flowers and a note? Should I send a basket of very expensive gourmet food items and a notarized letter?

Whatever method I came up with, it always just seemed so cold and heartless. But really what I want to say is this:

You have been such a huge part of my life for the last 9 years. I still remember the first time I bought all your parts, how proud I was of your speed and power. And when I assembled your motherboard, hard drive, various cards, and installed that questionable copy of Windows, I knew we would never part.

Since then, you’ve gone through considerable hardware upgrades to keep up with the changing technology. New motherboard, flat panel monitor, new sticks of RAM, Windows 2000 Pro and then Windows XP, and countless new hard drives.

Remember that one time when I bought a new motherboard for you and you wouldn’t start Windows? I was up till 1 or 2 in the morning that night and when I finally got you to boot properly, I ended up falling asleep in my contact lenses.

In the last year, I noticed a change in your demeanor. You slowed down significantly. You stopped opening websites consistently. I mean, I would sometimes have to refresh the browser just to load a page. You were even having issues with Farmville! HOW COULD A HUMAN BEING LIVE LIKE THAT?

So here it is. This isn’t the end of us. This is the beginning of a new us, one in which we will have a new member in our family. I will still use you when I have to do some of my Windows-only tasks. After all, you are carrying all of my music and Adobe CS3.

I will always love you, Old Computer. And you and I will still have more years together as long as you hold up. And then of course, I will wipe your hard drive and reformat you to run on Kubuntu

Very Sincerely,

Kristine