Fiiiiiinnahhhhhlllleeeeeey. gosh.

Hey All!

Feeling much better, although I still have a pesky cough and scratchy throat. Cold air and spicy foods? Not so good right now. Both throw me into a gross, painful coughing frenzy...for a long. time. Quite an annoyance. Other than that- I'm doing much better. Spent the early portion of the week home from work and other obligations, which I felt bad about- but I just couldn't physically do anything but schlepp around at home. Haven't felt that miserable in a while and I'm GLAD it's almost done!

Spent today with my baby girl. Matthew is spending the weekend with his cousins, so last night Robert and I took her to get a movie of her pick and then we got some Chinese takeout and were homebodies the rest of the evening. Today Robert was gone all day helping a friend set up his computer and so Josie and I ran a few errands and then mosied around Target. Haven't been there in FOREVER and it's all dolled up for Christmas! FABULOUS paper cutouts hanging from the ceiling as soon as you walk in. I searched high and low for them in the Christmas section but to no avail. I'd be scared the kids would toss something in the air and ruin it if I had one anyway...so I'll just have to visit again several times before they take them down. We bought some fun stuff for Pepper...a set of reindeer antlers and elf shoes for him to wear at Christmas time--can't wait to see what he does! lol. Also some foofy coconut doggie shampoo and in-between baths refresher spray and more treats to put in his Kong toy. We also got a slew of things from the dollar section to put in Operation Christmas shoeboxes that the kids do every year at school. I had remembered (thank goodness!) this occasion during Back To School sales and picked up crayons and some other fun stuff to add at bargain prices too- so we're in good shape already and they're not "due" for another 2 weeks--always a nice feeling to be ahead of the game both in organization AND financially. Coolness.

Stopped into Starbucks and got an Eggnog latte. They do NOT make a low-fat version of this at all. sniff. I suppose that will force me into great moderation with them this season. dangitalltoheck. oh well. I'll just appreciate them with great vigor at each (rare) occurance. Eggnog mixed with WHOLE milk. Oy. They're using their holiday cups now--love the sihlouettes they're doing in red and white with black script...very cool. And I appreciate this better than some of the "free thinking" messages that were posted on the regular cups. I was getting ticked with every cup of coffee (yeah. I know- I could've stopped being a patron. and perhaps I should) but kept buying them anyway. Anywho... perhaps I just need to refrain and fine tune my java skills at home!?

So things have been keeping me very busy the last few weeks... lots of church related activities. We had The Strength Team at our church all last week- doing shows every night and visiting local schools everyday doing assemblies. We had an amazing turnout every night and although it's definitely not my cup o' tea- it was great to see so many be excited and moved by the experience. A blessing to be a part of it! Of course the kids LOVED it- EVERY night. I didn't take my camera- the lighting conditions were NOT point-n-shoot camera friendly at all- so I didn't even bother. Plus I was running around quite a bit- not much time to even try.

Nothing much in the manner of creativity has been happening. For weeks. Hate that. I need to MAKE some time for it because I miss it. Plus i have ALLLL this fantastic product to use!!! My sweet, generous girlfriend Christy sent me a TON of goodies. I'm talking two big ol' packed to the brim boxes!!! I felt SO spoiled and loved. Each and every thing was perfect. Things I've wanted but refrained from buying. Things I haven't been able to find locally and am too cheap to order online and pay shipping. lol. Just OODLES of goodness. I haven't put it all away yet- it's still sitting in the boxes- and it's on my desk, next to my computer. I just paw through it and drool during my work breaks (telecommuting days)- wistfully daydreaming about tossing my paperwork and pulling out the FUN kind of paper and all the scrap goodness beckoning from the boxes. (sigh) Now that I'm feeling better I'm RARING to create!

Speaking of creative goodness and feeling blessed- about a month ago a groovy Bliss Girl, Jen J. emailed and asked if she could use a layout of mine for part of her monthly design team assignment. Each design team member had to use a general gallery members layout and "lift" it. I was SO bowled over!! Completely flattered. Amazed. I'm sure I scared her with all my gushy thanks.lol. And speaking of Jen, she deserves a HUGE congrats on her most recent work, delivering a beautiful baby girl!

Gosh, I can't think of anything to say. I don't have any interesting pics to share. Just boring business-as-usual stuff around here. Promise to post something of visual interest soon!

Have a wonderful weekend, friends!
~S