More Europe!

Oestergard - a mile long pedestrian street. Lots of shops, churches, fountains - you get the point.

Town Hall in Copenhagen. At one of the Pedestrian street was our hotel and at the other, Tivoli Gardens and Town Hall Square.

Parliament Building - 4 dragon tails swirled. Pretty cool to see.

Statue of the founder of Copenhagen - Bishop Absalom. We were told on our tours that anything that looks like gold, is gold. This is on the front of the Town Hall Building.

Teresa is coming!!

Teresa Collins is coming to my lss. Yeah. In January. Yeah!
Tuesday January 30 th @ 7pm.
Yeah!
And the Kings don't have a home game that night - amazing! That almost never happens.
So, the Oasis needs to hurry up and open already so I can call and reserve my spot.

More pics!

The Opera Hotel. Where we stayed before the cruise.

Tivoli Gardens - one of the entrances.

Nyhaven - the canal street with restuarants and shops. And the Little Mermaid statue.

Interupting the Baltic pictures....

....for a little more love. This time, from the Union Leader in New Hampshire.

Last night provided a rock-em, sock-em 4-2 victory by the Monarchs over the Toronto Marlies that saw too many hits to count, fights and hard-earned goals that sent all 5,332 in the Verizon Wireless Arena home a winner.

Monarchs goalie Jason LaBarbera (5-5-1) once again was Mr. Everything, making 35 saves. He saved a Toronto penalty shot. In fact, a penalty shot has never beaten LaBarbera in his career. Just before Stephenson's insurance goal, LaBarbera snuffed Westrum on the blind side during the 5-on-3.
"What a great save by LaBarbera," said Morris. "That was the turning point. Just took the pressure off."

Roussin's first was a finish in front of T.J. Kemp's rebound at 7:10 of the second period. At 11:00, Toronto's Marc Moro beat LaBarbera on a sharp wrister from the left circle. And 2:34 later, Roussin got his second on a power play. He almost lost the handle on the shot as moved at the net from inside the right circle and that alone may have fooled Marlies goalie J.F. Racine (35 saves).

I will be sporting the Labarbera jersey at Staples Center tonight in honor of the win!

A little teaser...

So many people have asked for pictures from my Europe Trip in September so here they are. Just a few every day. These are from Copenhagen, Denmark.

The first one is the happy group. My family on the way to the airport.

In the air. Just before we started our descent into London.

Landing in London. Bryan was fascinated with the little plane beneath us as we circled. I HAD to take a picture of it. It is kind of cool.

Sunset in Copenhagen. Finally there. After hours in the air and battling the horrible security measures in London, we made it.

The love worked!

Jason won tonight - 4-2. I wish I could see these games, but I'm stuck listening to them on internet feed radio or waiting for the update from the Monarchs Season Ticket holders 3 hours away. Well, the reports came in tonight that he played awesome! Stopped shots on a 5-3 penalty kill and a penalty shot that was awarded. Thats my goalie!!

A little love....

For my frustrated goalie. Jason is having a tough time with these back to back games. Not sure why Morris isn't playing Brust on the first or second of the games. Jason still looks good. My sources in Manchester tell me he pretty much stands on his head most of the game. He has his off game but he's usually on top of it. The last game he played in, they lost. They said he had some good saves, but didn't really show any flashes of brilliance. So, Brust got the last two starts. One win, one loss. Ha! In your face all of you Barry Brust lovers in Manchester who have been calling for my boys head! You all suck! Jason is better than Barry Brust. Barry Brust - doesn't that sound like the name of a porn star? I'll give him credit, he's better than Hauser - the 'round mound of no rebound'.
So, here's to my goaltender! My frustrated goaltender in Manchester.

2 points!

Yeah! 2 points. A clean win too. No OT, no shootout - just a clean win over the Sharks. The Sharks. The same team that cleaned our clocks last Thursday saw the other side of the Kings. The Kings that are 'reloading'. With the talent this team has, there is no excuse for the poor play. Dustin Brown said it best last night in the post game interview that normally the team would have been deflated after the Sharks first goal, but they battled back and tied it up at 1. The Sharks scored a second goal (a soft one too) and they battled back again. They didn't let the Sharks into their zone and when they did, the defense was right there and Cloutier was hot. Did I just say that? I did. And the fact that he didn't get at least 1 of the 3 stars of the game last night, kind of upset me. He did have a good game and I do want to give him credit. I won't go any further than that, but he did have some spectacular saves. He's trying to play the short side (where most of his goals slip by) and he left 2/3rds of the net open for Michalek to score. The second goal Cloutier let in was weak. But he stayed in there.
Okay, enough good karma for Cloutier. He still has a lot of games to win before I even consider him a King. Yes, I DID say that!

So, some pictures from last night (courtesy of Yahoo Sports!):

Anze 'Saviour" Kopitar. (Fo'shizzle-kopitizzle). This kid is awesome and the future of the Kings.

Dustin Brown - 'Feelin' YOU!' What can Brown do for you?

Cammy-licious.

The Paper Source...

Just opened up in South Coast Plaza. Normally I avoid that place like the plague. Too many people and the traffic is horrible. Not worth the experience of shopping there. But, if you're going to tempt me with a Paper Source, I might have to break down. And break down I did. My husband was there to witness the breakdown.
But it was for a good cause. I have two friends expecting babies in the next few months and I need to make announcements. One boy and one girl. So, I picked up a few things.......

Of course, there are a few things for me in this stack. How could I resist? It was hard to keep focused with the wall of coordinating card supplies. Envelopes, cards of every shape and size, scalloped cirlces, squares and ovals..... All to be drooled over.

Christmas Lists.......

Do you know how hard it is to wait for Christmas? I'm this instant gratification person. I don't like to wait. I have gifts already purchased for some people and I can't wait to give them out. I hate waiting. I hate waiting for my stuff and to give my stuff. I'd rather just go out and buy what I want. I only have two things on my list this year. My husband wants more ideas, but there are only two things I want.

An Anze Kopitar jersey and a new 30 GB iPod.

And along with that new iPod, I can get a new skin. Since Apple doesn't make a blue iPod (in anything other than a Nano or Mini) I must dress my regular iPod with cool clothes. I've begged and pleaded with Apple to reconsider the blue iPod. They really need to come in colors other than Black and White. Thats just so.....boring.

So, my new iPods first outfit will be......

A Los Angeles Kings skin. You just have to love the NHL shop. www.shop.nhl.com

The Ribbor Jar

If you haven't checked this place out, do it. www.theribbonjar.com They have monthly jars with a color/seasonal theme that you can buy. They come in cute jars - different jars every month. And then they have yards of ribbon for sale. I couldn't resist last months jar - brown and green ribbon. My favorite color combo. I have two of the dress forms to decorate, and they might be getting a green and brown dress.......

Scalloped everything......

With this baby, I can scallop everything. Thats right, I bought one of these little suckers. No more trying to cut in a straight line with those scissors - I never did scissors. I'm kicking myself for not buying the extra package and getting the other two blades. But, there is always the next Expo right? :) So, I've scalloped a few things already and I love this thing. So easy to use. I have no use for the deckle or victorian blades so they'll stay neatly tucked away. I will be purchasing extra scalloped blades though. :) Lots of them. If I could scallop my house, I would. Everything in this house would be scalloped with lots of swarovski crystals on those scallops.

Last weeks loot.....

Shopping - internet and at the store. I don't care, its all the same. This was last weeks haul.

All kinds of goodies. New Lil Davis Designs Rock Star and Vanderbilt.

Bazzill Mini Blossoms.

Stamps (Technique Tuesday, Hero Arts and Cats Life Press)

Lots of goodies......

Back to the Charity game....

So, the other big names were some of the old Kings - Iam Turnbull and Rick Chartraw. Bobby Hull Jr - the son of Bobby Hull - The Golden Jet. Some actors that were there included Michael Vartan (Never Been Kissed), Jason Priestley (yuck, Beverly Hills 90210) and Alan Thicke (Growing Pains). You can find out more about the Freeze the Disease Foundation at www.freezethedisease.com

More pictures from the Game:

Bobby Hull Jr.












Igor larionov - 4 time Stanely Cup winner with the Detroit Red Wings.

Ducks @ Kings

So, that Kings Ducks game I mentioned in the last post, well, I took some pictures. not the greatest, but it will remind me that at one point in the game, we led them.

Until they tied it up and we had to go into OT and a Shootout. O'Sullivan and Kopitar had a chance to win this one and they both kind of blew it.

Charity hockey....

is always fun. Especially when you include igor Larionov and Mr. Hockey himself, Gordie Howe. Forget Gretzky, Howe is the real deal. Gretzky doesn't hold a candle to this man. He did it all. he could shoot, skate, pass, score and most importantly - fight. This man has fists of steel.
There was a charity hockey game at Staples after the last Kings Ducks game (which the Kings managed to squeeze a point out of...) to benefit Cystic Fibrosis. A worthy cause. the Staples Center ushers screwed the seating up. Even though you paid for seats, they stuck you in the non-paid seats. I didn't know you didn't have to pay to see the game. I thought it was ticket purchases only. I still would have bought the tickets because it went towards charity.
Well, come to find out, I could have sat in the good seats, the ones behind the player benches but because all of the ushers at Staples never graduated from High School, they can't follow directions.
It took almost an hour for the game to start - they had to go through the player introductions and a presentation by someone who has Cystic Fibrosis. The one bad aspect - the fact that Gordie Howe didn't sign autographs. In the email I received from the Kings it stated that there would be a Meet and Greet with Gordie. When I got there, I found out they were auctioning off 2 lucky winners to meet with him and get their pictures taken. Only two. People were walking away. Do you know how much money they could have raised for CF if they guy had sat there and signed autographs? But no, only two people won that honor. That sucks. I really wanted to meet him. How often does someone like Gordie Freakin' Howe come to town? Seriously.
So, how close did I actually get?
Jumbotron close. Thanks to the Ushers at Staples Center....

I guess that will have to do for now. One of these days, I'll get to meet him.

Blogger has been horrible lately....

I haven't been able to post pictures. I just tested and it worked. Okay, so all of my posts from the other day are coming up.

First.....
Can you say Cammilicious? My husband cut his head off - this would be why I handle the camera in this family. No missing heads - especially off my hockey players. I wish the Kings would have thought before they had this printed. They should have had the pose where he scored the goal on one knee. Thats more Cammy-ish.

Post #1 for today

There will be many, so keep checking. I have a lot of photos to upload.

Just checked nhl.com and it looks like Garon is sitting near the top. Not too bad for a goalie who was supposed to be the #2 this season. My boy Labarbera got the boot to make room for a goalie who can't stop a beachball. Is it wring to want someone on your team injured? Cloutier may end up with whiplash if he keeps up his current play.....
So, even though I'd like to have Labarbera back in LA, I'll Garon his due.

So, with that posted.....bring up Labarbera! He's 3-3-0 with a .901% GAA. Cloutier is 1-6-0 with a .879% GAA. Okay, no comparison right now. And the Kings sadly, signed this moron to an extension before he even played a game. So tell me, why is Labarbera in Manchester???

SOPEL-tastic!!

That is the word to describe the game last night. SOPEL-tastic! 2 goals and a great block in the crease last night. Saved a Ranger shot from sneaking in the net behind Garon.

And then there's Garon. A little off on some of the shots, but he was right on when he needed to be. When it counted. Which is so much more than I can say for Cloutier.

Do you know how nice it was to quiet those Ranger fans last night?
I think the pedicure is working.......

Kings fans only......

Look what I found. Its an iron on transfer (I know, so 80's) made by Me and My Big Ideas - a scrapbook company. They're putting out several different iron-on transfers to make your own shirts. Do you see this? Were they thinking of hockey fans when they made this? Because I bought every one I could find. I'm going to make myself some shirts!!

And how cool is this? I'm the hockey fan in this family, not my husband. This SO fits. This is me. And it comes with a little bling. Who doesn't like a little bling on their clothes?

And yes, that crown is purple. :) Team LA Store - eat your heart out!!!

Go Kings Go! Beat Dallas!

More layouts......

A few more layouts from last weekends crop at the Oasis.

The Brown and Green one is a kit from a Michelle Hill class. Still cute. I didn't have a picture for it, but I found one. I love this photo. Its my dad walking with my cousins' son when they were out from NY. Too cute.

Want to see some of my loot? I won a few things at the crop. Good stuff. New Stuff. Stuff that hasn't been sent out to the stores yet. :) An SEI album, some new SEI papers (Boy and Girl) and the new Piggy Tales papers (Lil Red Riding Hood and another one which the name escapes me).

And who could resist the new Basic Grey papers? Yep, my trusty website for BG came through again. :) And they sell packs of the matching cardstock too.

Okay

So the ooutcome of yesterdays game wasn't what I was hoping for. At least they squeezed another point out of it. They had the game in the bag, but instead of trying to increase the lead, they just tried to defend it. Sad too, because they were playing like they deserved to win. The fact that it took 7 shooters in a Sudden Death Shootout to decide the game was enough for me. Next game, the Duckies are going down. Them and their stupid orange Cal-Trans looking shirt wearing fans of theirs. All 7 of them.
Garon was in net. Don't get me started on that other pice of poo the Kings picked up. Still trying to make sense of that move. If he'd been in goal, god knows how many Duck goals he would have let in...
On a bright note, my boy Labarbera is 3-1-1 in Manchester. I'm currently scheming, trying to find a way to get out to Manchester for the weekend to see some games......
I'm also scheming for a Kopitar jersey. Fo' shizzle Kopitizzle. :) I'm going to have his sign it "Hockey God".
Next season, I'll be scheming for a Patrick O'Sullivan jersey. Yep. And I'll have him sign it "Irish'. The Kings are giving away free St. Patty's day hats on St. Pattys day this year. the last time they had a hat promotion, Pavol Demitra scored a hat trick. Looks like everyone must tune in to the Kings game on March 17th to see Irish score a hat trick. :) Must see T.V. folks!

Oh, I was surprised when my husband got the cable bill this month and alerted me to the fact that I do indeed have Center Ice. Yes folks, that means everyone will be seeing a little less of me as I hibernate in front of the tv for the long winter months. Family who? Where? Holidays? Must have missed them. See, I was trying to be the 'good wife' and save a little money. I mean, Bryan was nice enough to let me renew my season seats again this year so I thought I'd give something back. :) I didn't renew my Center Ice package. Little did we know that they will continue to enroll you in it until you tell them to stop it. Ooops! So, I've been missing all of these great games thinking I don't have it when in reality, I did. I've started looking at the schedule now to see which games are a must see over the next month. :)

Anyone wondering how the crop went on Saturday - it was awesome. Won some new Piggy Tails paper thats not out yet and an SEI album - those cute, pre-made little albums. Those make great gifts. Lots of sneak peaks at the new stuff and as always, the Oasis was awesome. Karen and Wendy always put on a good show. I didn't make it the entire time though - but I hung on for 11 hours!! So many projects were finished including these:

I used the chipboard flower from MM. Covered them with the new Basic Grey and I can't remember what brand the green paper is. Paper Salon maybe? Added a few primas and HS bling.

More projects to follow shortly. I'm still scanning and stitching.....

Croppin'.....

... at the Oasis tomorrow. So excited. Lots of new product and previews from the Memory Trends show. Its an all day thing 10 am- 1 am. See link for Scrapbook Oasis at the right.

I just spent several hours packing my bag for tomorrow. Lots of goodies. I started some layouts a few weeks ago and have finally started scanning them in. With the hockey season started, there is going to be little time for scrapping.

I looked at the Kings schedule today and there is a home game every Saturday for the next 7 weeks! The first Saturday they have off is the one before Christmas. Crazy stuff.
Here is one of the layouts I completed. Still trying to perfect the stitch feature. Its a little lopsided.

Brent Sopels hit on Scatchard

http://s26.photobucket.com/albums/c124/rascal1004/?action=view&current=061019_sopel_boynton.flv

If you are a Phoenix Coyote fan, you've been warned!

3 hard earned points

So the game against Minnesota could have gone either way. It didn't go the way I wanted it too, but the Kings did get a point out of it. Cloutier looked better in goal, except for a few mistakes. Avery coughed the puck up in OT - 25 seconds into OT. Personally, I would have had a different line up against Demitra and Gaborik, but Crawford went with Avery. Oh well, like I said, it was a point.
And I was there, with my JLB jersey pressed against the glass during warmups again. Yep. I'd like to take some credit for Cloutier's slight improvement. I think I pissed him off. :) Hey, if it forces him to play better, than why not? Just because we are in a rebuilding year doesn't mean they have to suck.

Speaking of suck, have you seen Jeremy Roenick lately? Invisible. The only reason I knew he was out there - because the Kings color guys mentioned him. Apparantly, Gretzky was quoted as saying that JR is an asset to the team, blah blah blah. And people wonder why I have little respect for Gretzky the man. Gretzky the player, fine, but the man - I wouldn't give you two cents for him. And to think the Kings payed him $5 million to suck last year. The Coyotes got him for the bargain price of $1 million.

So, one player that we acquired last year has really surprised me. Brent Sopel. Okay, so he was playing hurt at the end of last season, but I still didn't see any promise there. I kept asking myself why Dave Taylor would got out and acquire an injured player and another one who didn't really want to be here? Well, Mark Parrish (Mr. I'd rather play in Minnesota) got his wish and is playing in the hockey mecca while Brent Sopel is soaking up the attention here in LA. Freaky little dude fits in here too. And someone over at the Kings board just HAD to post this the other day. Too funny. But I can see how at times, he could be considered sexy. Whatever, he's a great defenseman. http://www.freewebs.com/sexysopel/index.htm

And his hit last night on Scatchard was priceless. Scatchard make the mistake of turning around to pick up a pass from a teammate. Brent skated out of the penalty box and just stood there, like one of the concrete pylons. Scatchard, who was busy looking over his shoulder, never knew what hit him. Completely clean and legal hit too. I love Sopel. Sexy Sopel.

Let Sleeping Dogs..........

...Sleep? Look at that face! He crawls up on the back of the couch and burrows a hole in the cushion. There is a permanent dent where he usually sleeps. After the busy weeks we've had, I don't blame him.
I'm looking forward to more sleep. The Kings home stand has finally ended. Don't get me wrong, I love the games, but they need to space them out a little more. This was the longest home stand of the year. Add to that, the free tickets to various Ducks games in my company's suite. I was going to games every night! Crazy! 4 games in 5 nights. AND I had to be at work by 6 am. Thats a 4 am wakeup call for me, people. Anyone who knows me, knows I'm not a morning person. I may be up, but I don't communicate any other way than short grunts and facial twitches. The snooze button is my friend. And I don't do people this early either. Recently, more people have started coming into the office earlier and its killing me. They want to talk, make conversation, sing, whistle and whatever else. This is my quiet time, where I get a lot of work done. Add to my usual non-morningness the fact that I'm averaging just a few hours of sleep a night and I become a serious grump.
But its HOCKEY season!

......we will return to our regularly scheduled program in June......

Much better...

I'm still exhausted, but at least the day started out better than the last one.

Want to see what made me feel better? I got to watch the pregame show from Monday's Kings game and guess what I saw? My jersey! On Fox Sports Warmup Show. Haha!!

See that slightly blurry '35' held up to the glass? That's my Jason Labarbera jersey. He was sent down to Manchester this season because Kings Brass decided to bring in a proven goaltender to be out #1. Well, that 'proven' goaltender was none other than Dan Cloutier from Vancouver.

Anyone who knows me, knows how I feel about Labarbera. He had some personal issues last year to deal with and let his game slip. He was still the best goalie we had and you could see that when he played. (My friend Brian will argue that Garon was the better goalie......).

So now we're stuck with the promise from Management and the coaching staff that Dan Cloutier is a 'proven' #1 goalie and that he is an upgrade from the Garon/Labarbera tandem we had last season. Whatever. Every once in a while, management does something that makes me seriously question them - this would be one of those things. Cloutier sucks. He just stands there. Never moves. I've even seen him duck. Yes, he actually ducked out of the way of a shot during the Dallas games. Sad.

So, Jason sits in Manchester now. I haven't given up. I wear his jersey to every game Cloutier starts. During warmups before the game on Monday, I had an idea. I should have made a sign (although there might be one at the game tonight......) to attach to my jersey that says "Someone in Manchester wants your job" and hang it right below the name on the back. For now, it was just a jersey hanging against the glass for the moron to see. It was all over the jumbotron during warmups but that is closed captioned video. I had no idea it would actually make it to the pre-game show, but there it was. A quick shot of it as Blake whizzed by. Thank God for Tivo and that awesome pause feature. I paused that puppy and took a picture for posterity. I think I might send it to him. My husband thought I was nuts as I danced around the room trying to think of the people I had to email this picture too.

What to know the funniest thing? I think the lard ass goalie saw it. He played better than I've seen him play all season during the first two periods. Of course, once Detroit scored their first goal, he suddenly froze up again and sucked. And he'll probably get the start in goal again tonight so it looks as if the Labarbera jersey is going to this game too. Normally I switch out between my many jerseys and give them all a chance, but I might have to stick with this one for a while.

Speaking of jerseys, I've got my eye on a cool replica Road jersey for Anze Kopitar. I need one. I have to have one. I can't live without one. A nice, clean, shiny #11 jersey. Mine, mine, mine. (If you couldn't hear the Smiegel (Lord of the Rings) tone in my typing, it was there. My preciousssssssss.) I've got my eye on it. And I think I might want an O'Sullivan one too, but I might wait. I have a feeling they're going to be sending him to Manchester for 'conditioning'. I'll wait till next year to get the O'Sullivan jersey.

I have to include this picture. Its the full shot of the Labarbera jersey - won in a silent auction straight off his back. That was a good day. Autographed and everything. And here's a picture of my boy! I have to try and find the good one of us together at Tip a King last year.

Ever had one of those days......

....where nothing goes right?

Not only was I subjected to less than mediocre hockey last night, but I was so upset about it, sleep eluded me. I shouldn't care. Its just a team, right? No, I've seen better from these guys and to watch them play like crapola makes me sad. Well, we're supposed to be 'reloading' this season..... Not rebuilding, reloading. At least thats the current buzz word from Kings brass.

With little sleep, I drap my sorry butt out of bed this morning and get ready. For once, I'm on time for work, however fate has a different plan for me. The normal way I go to work in the morning was blocked with an accident. The road isn't a major one, so when there is an accident, its closed down completely. Nothing is getting through there. So, I have my one other option, the major highway that is so congested now, it takes me almost 2 hours to get to work. This is why I like the early shifts - less traffic. However, since no one could take the other road, we were all forced to shared the measly 3 lane highway. :(

Not a happy camper. So I try to call the office and let them know I'll be late, but there isn't a soul in the place. Funny, there should be someone in my office 24/7 since we need to monitor servers every minute of every day. Nope, no one.

Whatever. Not my problem. Four attempts at a phone call are more than adequate. Once I finally get there, I find that my boss beat me in. Normally she saunters in around 9 so to see her sitting there at 6:30 is a bit of a shock. She's cool, knows about the commute etc and knows that I put the time in to cover.

Now, lets add to this the pile of work that gets dumped on me. We're in the middle of a huge integration getting the processes documented and approved is very time consuming. Not what I want to look at today.

Yesterday, I spent 45 minutes at Target uploading photos. Why Target and why 45 minutes? Because the Savon by my office is semi closed this week as it turns into a CVS. Fine with me, I prefer CVS anyway. Of all of my options, Savon/CVS has always been the easiest, quickest, cheapest way to get my digital photos burned to CD, printed etc when I don't have time to do it. Lately, I don't have the time. I usually spend all of 5 minutes uploading in Savon, but Target's Kodak dealy took 45. For 100 measly photos. If my cousin wasn't begging for a CD of these pictures, I wouldn't really care. But I stood there and waited. I could have been driving to the Staples Center to see my team warm up......
So, I go back today at lunch to pick them up. Not only did they forget to burn the CD, but they ran out of paper. They tried to sell me the half pack of photos. What I really wanted was the CD. Sorry, the machine is down today. Yeah, I think it was on its last leg last night. Uploading my all of 106 pictures must have killed it. So now, i have no options. I have to find some other place. Some other picture dealy to upload and print from. I stopped going to Target two years ago - I'll never be able to explain what made me think I could go back there and be happy.
I miss Savon/CVS......

With the few minutes of my lunch left, I raced over to Carls Jr for a quick burger. I'm picky, so we're talking meat and a bun. I like to apply my own ketsup - I know, I'm odd.
Do you think the lasy could get the plain burger order right? Nope. Some cutsey little Brittney Spears wannabe in her daddys Mercedes in front of me orders a burger - that was a burger with no specification as to what was on it. They gave her a burger - with the stuff on it. She gives it back to them and they promptly give her my plain burger. What do I get left with? A burger with everything on it. Probably Brittneys burger that she fondled and is now rewrapped.
I just want a plain burger. I'm almost 2 hours late for lunch because of a crappy meeting.

Not my idea of a great day. Not my idea of a great post after nothing for the last 3 weeks right? Sorry. Maybe tomorrow will be a better day.........

A mountain of challenges....

from 2 peas. I just went through the challenges from the last two weeks and updated the blog.

9/6 Challenge

What handmade items are you making for Christmas this year? Anything? Any Ideas?

I made my own cards last year and never got a chance to send them out. My FIL died in a fire before Christmas, so the holidays weren’t so cheerful. I luckily have them ready to go for this year and just need to stick a family photo in them.
The only other thing I plan on making are small scrapbooks for my family. I retyped the quizzes from the Simple Scrapbooks Quizzes book and passed them out to everyone. This will be their gift from me.

9/7 Challenge

You love to scrapbook. You love to create something with paper. With all the cool papers out there, or the ones you already have, what is something on your heart you really wanna start… an album, a layout, a project – anything…!!!

I have too many things. I’m trying really hard to get caught up on all of my trip pictures. I’m about 3 years behind. And my dogs album is behind. I just started a book of “us” that I need to start doing pages for as well. I have hundreds of ideas and haven’t really sat down to work on them.

9/8 Challenge

What do you do when you are feeling down… to get your spirits lifted?
Exercise?
Music?
Friends?
TV?
Reading?

It depends on what I’m doing, where I’m at and what I have access too. And who is with me. I really love to just relax and cuddle up with Rascal. He always makes me feel better. Like Charles Schultz said “Happiness is a warm puppy.”

9/9 Challenge

Blog about your top 5 fave songs right now.. and your top 5 latest movies you’ve seen…

5 Songs:

Hate Me by Blue October
Anything by the Killers
Steady as she goes – Raconteurs
For you I will & These Walls – Teddy Geiger
Juicy – Better than Ezra
Chasing Cars – Snow Patrol
(Okay, more than 5 but these are the ones on repeat on the Ipod, so they must be my favorites.)

Movies – that would actually imply I go to the movies. Everything I see is through Netflix and is several months old.
Curious George
Sisterhood of the traveling pants
Eddie and the Cruisers (I know, its old, but it’s a good one that I just recently saw for the first time)
Casanove
Finding Neverland


9/10 Challenge

A challenge about what you believe in.
What things in life, do you know.. FOR SURE?? As Oprah would say…

I know that family is the only sure thing in life. No matter what.


9/11 Challenge

Answer this question…
What do you know now that you wish you knew when you were younger?

That my mother WAS right. That you turn into your mother at some point. To enjoy every day to the fullest when you’re young because once you’re an adult, life isn’t all its cracked up to be. Yesterday I was 18 wishing I was older and now I’m pushing 30 wishing I could turn back the clock.

9/13 Challenge

If I had a motto, it would be:

Uhm…….


9/14 Challenge

Autumn Season
What do you do for this season around your home?
Do you decorate for the season? And if so, what do you use..how do you decorate??

I have a box full of stuff to decorate my home, but I haven’t pulled in out in two years. I fully decorated my home the first year we were in it, but since then, I haven’t done much. Where I live, there isn’t much of a change of seasons and that kind of kills holiday spirit. I usually go back to New York to get in the mood for Christmas because So Cal doesn’t exactly offer a holiday atmosphere.
I don’t have any plans other than to carve some pumpkins this year.

9/15 Challenge

What kind of simple things do you like to surround yourself with? And why?
What ordinary items in your life give you the great comfort and/or joy?

My dog. The little piggy faced pug that follows me around the house waiting for me to drop treats as I cook. The one who follows me into every room because there might be an adventure and he never misses a good adventure.

9/16 Challenge

Who is to blame? Who got you hooked on Scrapbooking.

My friend and old neighbor Karen. I saw a little puppy dart out her door one day that looked just like mine. After a few minutes, I realized that we both had pugs. She invited mine down for a play date. As we got to know each other, she started telling me about scrap stuff and then we visited a store. It was all over after that. She now owns her own store – which is one of the premier stores in So Cal.

9/17 Challenge

Food Preferences:
--How do you take your coffee/tea? Lots of sugar and cream. I don’t do coffee and only drink tea when I’m sick
--How do you like your eggs? Blech. If I do eat them, scrambled and very well done. I can’t do runny or wet eggs.
--Favorite breakfast foods: Glass of milk or bowl of cereal (I know, I’m boring.)
--Coke or Pepsi? Either. I don’t care. For a more politically correct answer, it would be Pepsi.
--You’re feeling lazy. What do you make? A bowl of cereal.
--You’re feeling really lazy. What kind of pizza do you order? – Always pepperoni and extra cheese
--You feel like cooking. What do you make? In the winter, I love a good roast or stew. Any other time, teriyaki chicken or pork.
--Do any foods bring back good memories? Anything made at Christmas. I love baking with my grandmother.
--Do any foods bring back bad memories? No.
--Do any foods remind you of anyone? Home made ice cream – reminds me of summer holidays with my family
--Is there a food you refuse to eat? That list is too long to even start…..
--What was your favorite food as a child? Another long list….
--Is there a food you hated as a child but now love? I’m such a picky eater, its just not funny.
--Is there a food you loved as a child but now hate? See answer to the last question.
--Favorite junk food. Anything Chocolate
--Favorite dessert? Anything chocolate.
--The perfect nightcap? Anything chocolate.
--Do you have any weird food habits? I’m picky. If I don’t know what it is, I don’t put it in my mouth.


9/19 Challenge

Share one of your favorite cold weather/fall recipes.

Beef Stew

Boil 4 cups of water with 2 Bay leaves and onion soup mix
Add stewing beef and simmer for an hour or until meat starts to get tender.
Add a cup (or more) of barley and simmer for 2 hours.
Add potatoes and celery
Add 2 tbs of Worcestershire sauce
Simmer until celery kind of dissolves and the sauce is getting thicker
Add salt and pepper to taste
About an hour before serving add chunks of potatoes that are cut in large squares.
Simmer until the potatoes start getting soft
Add baby carrots and simmer until they are soft but not mushy (unless you like them mushy) They should be fresh, just a little cooked.
At the last minute, add a bag of frozen peas.

Serve.

I just throw everything in and let it go all day, adding the vegetables at the end. The longer you cook it, the more tender the meat will be.


9/21 Challenge

How did you meet your significant other.

We actually worked together at Frito Lay. I had a good relationship with a lot of the other guys there, but he was too shy. He used to keep to himself so I made it a challenge to get him to talk to me. I’d find things to talk to him about. Two of the women I worked with stated hinting around (I had no idea they were doing this, but they knew I had a crush) to him about me and finding things out about him. About a month before the company Christmas Party, he asked if I was going and that maybe we could go together. I accepted before he finished the question. Our first date was the next weekend. We saw a movie and had dinner at an Italian restaurant. That was 8 years ago this November!


9/22 Challenge

Blog about your hair. The good, the bad and the plain ugly.

I should have pictures to post. I have naturally stick straight hair that I hate. Its not just straight, but flat. Imagine a really ugly hippie with flat hair. It parts in the middle no matter what I do. Since I love curly hair, I take the time and spend the money for a perm. Its really kinky curly right now and I LOVE it. Its starting to relax and looks awesome.


9/24 Challenge

Blog about your favorite fragrances. What do you love smelling/wearing as a perfume? What do you love to smell as a room spray in your home?

I love Bath and Body works Gardenia, Pear Blossom and Coconut Lime Verbena. I have the shampoos and conditioners that match the body washes and sprays.
For home scents, I love Yankee Candles or the candles that have a strong scent. I usually stock up on a bunch of scents and then burn them one by one. Right now, I love their citrus scents they came out with this summer. I have a Buy 2 get one free coupon that expires this week……. Might be time to stock up again.

2007

Well, we took advantage of the great discount on booking future cruises on the boat. $300 shipboard credit and a smaller deposit. We have all of 2007 booked. A coastal cruise in May up to Vancouver and a 15 day cruise, round trip to Hawaii in September.
I'm trying to convince Bryan to book 2008.........

Poland

Not sure why everyone makes fun of the Polish.....
Very nice country, nicer than in some of the other places I've been this week. Saw the best castle yet on this trip - Malbork castle. Had lunch there. It was a Teutonic Knight castle built in the 12th century.

On our way to Oslo now - the last stop. One day at sea and then we stop in Oslo and then back to Copenhagen. Can't believe its over already. Well, 3 more days of feasting and then its over.

Had to check the Kings pre-season schedule and I was VERY happy to read that they beat the Ducks last night 7-1. My Jason Labarbera stopped all 10 shots he faced. Garon stopped 13 of the 14 he stopped and Cloutier stopped all of his. Thats my boy, Jason. He'll be the #2 goalie this year. He should be.
I'm going to miss Frozen Fury 9 in Vegas - should be a good one. But I'll be back in time to see the last home pre-season game on the 25th. At last, hockey is back!

From Russia with love.

I love Russia. What a country. I wasn't ready to leave - I know there is so much more to see. I'm thinking about one of those river cruises now. Maybe 2008 (2007 is all booked up). A trip down the Volga River. Yeah, sounds like fun. Now I just need to convince my husband that its a good idea.

I saw Yusopov's Palace today - where Rasputin was murdered. Church on the Spilled Blood where Alexander II was assasinated, ate lunch at a place called "The Last Palace" where I had beef stroganoff. The story behind the meal was that some rich person named Stroganov was too old and couldn't cut his own meat. So they made the dish with sliced beef and boiled potatoes for him. At least thats what the guide told me. Makes for interesting stories.

Visited the Hermitage Museum. Now there is a museum. They said it would take you 7 years - going 7 days a week and spending 1 minute on each painting/piece of art etc to see everything. We got the quick tour. Some amazing stuff in there.

And now we're cruising out of the city headed for Estonia. Now there is a place I never thought I'd visit, but now that I've done some research on it, I'm excited. This is one heck of a cruise and I highly recommend it to anyone.

Definitely spend some time in Copenhagen either at the beginning or end of the tour.
Now if only I was booked on the extension of this cruise. After dropping off in Copenhagen, it heads home to New York. 15 days and it stops in several ports in England, Scotland and Ireland. I might have to quit my job - anything beats flying home......

Has it been two days?

Boy, this trip is flying by. Not sure if I want to go back to work or not. Well, I know I don't, but sometimes I miss having a reason to get up in the morning. I know, I'm sick and twisted.

Day ??? something or other on this cruise. Helsinki was awesome. Saw some more castles and a glass blowing factory. Picked up some cheap china in the store there. A lot like Ikea, but they have seconds - which are perfect. Picked up some new plates and serving dishes. I should have bought the coffee cups and bowls to match too. MIght have to order some when I get home. Loved the colors of everything. Very basic - colors and styles. Love the simple lines over here.

Docked in St. Petersburg this morning and had a busy day touring the city. I'm glad we get two days here - there's too much to see. We also had our first day of cool weather. Only 14 degrees celsius. In the mid 50's. Nice. Actually, with the wind, it seemed cooler. You could see your breath. I love the cold weather so today was perfect. Hope tomorrow is just as cool.

So, I saw Peterhof palace today. Then we went to St. Isaacs Cathedral and some other cathedral. It was a long day and I can't remember the name of the third place. There was lunch in there somewhere. A traditional lunch with vodka, caviar and all the other stuff. I don't eat half of the 'native' foods over here, but its fun to see what they do eat. I will say that the bread is fantastic over here. And I LOVE lingon berry jam. Or anything made with lingon berry. :)

Can't wait to get home and start posting some pictures. Nothing too fantastic since its only my Canon point and shoot camera. I didn't want to rish my Rebel over here. I don't know what I'd do if they made me pack it. I've heard some airlines are very restrctive and will not let you carry anything on. I won't pack that camera. I can only think of my mental state if they lose the bag its in or break it in transport. No, I'll just live with my little Canon A80. It takes great photos. Not as nice as the Rebel, but nice photos. I think I've up over 500 photos now. I'll have to sort through them when I get home and can actually view them.

On tap for tomorrow is more St. Petersburg. Tsarkoye Selo, Church of the Spilled Blood and more. I think she said we have a canal tour in there somewhere. Good, I love boat rides. And for anyone who remembers the old Rocky and Bullwinkle cartoon, our bus guide sounds like the character Natasha.

The city (St. Petersburg) is beautiful. Old and beautiful. Its clean but not clean. There is no litter and very little grafiti. Very little. Only in the areas down by the dock. But the buildings are so old and not very well kept up. Its funny (olay, not funny, but odd) to see the people living in poverty while the palaces and cathedrals are being restored. There is money somewhere here in St. Petersburg, just not with the people. The amount of gold leaf in some of these buildings is incredible. It is real gold leaf - 24k. And some of these rooms are just coated in it.

Since I love Russian history (especially the Romanovs) I'm just loving the tours. I've read so many books about the life of the family - how they lived, what they did, where they lived and now I'm actually seeing the places. Thats what I love. Reading about a place and then actually seeing it. I love anything about European history anyway so you could drop me in any city, in any country and I would find something.

I better finish this before I rack up too much on the bill. 35 cents a minute! Its a good thing I type fast!

The internet cafe...

...is busy tonight! Not sure what the deal is, but EVERYONE on this boat is lined up to use the computers. Better type fast.

Toured Stockholm Sweden today. Saw the Royal Palace and the entire Old Town. Awesome city. So much history. I'll say one thing for these Euro's, they know how to preserve their history. Not like Americans who tear down the ruins and put up a plaque to commemorate what used to be there. The stories are amazing. So much to see and not enough time to see it in.

Tomorrow, I'll be in Helsinki, Finland. Not sure what tour I have, but it most likely includes at least one castle and one church. I love castles. I want to live in the castles.

Had drinks in the Sjkywalkers lounge on the back of the boat. 18th Deck on the very back. Its like 200 feet in the air and you bounce around like crazy. A lot of fun. Great sunset and views as we sailed out of Stockholm. The weather has been a little warm, but cool enough to survive. It could be cooler though......

Bryan is busy playing golf on the simulator on board. He attempted to win the closest to the pin competition, but that didn't go so well. He said some scratch golfer just showed up in flip flops and took over. Nice. He could have won two tour tickets valued at $664 for the two days in St. Petersburg.

So, I ate at a traditional Swedish Smorgasbord today. Well, I only ate the bread and jam, but everyone else attempted to eat the 57 dishes with herring in them. Herring smells very bad, in case you wanted to know. Stinky fish. And they put it in everything. Everything. Did I mention that they put that stinky fish in every dish???? Blech.

So, the line of people is growing so I'll post this entry and update again tomorrow.
For all of my little friends at the office - hope you're having fun working while I'm on VAY-KAY-SHUN!!!

WWW

I love the internet. Isn't it great? The boats have internet access now and I can update the blog, check email etc.

Its great.
No pictures - can't upload any from here.
It's been an awesome three days in Copenhagen. The trip here wasn't so great. London was such a hassle. Remind me never to fly through there again on a connecting flight.....
Once we got through the 87 screenings and transfers and other such things they had waiting for me, the connecting flight to Copenhagen was hassle free.
The city is amazing. Can't say enough about it. The history and stories in this city could fill several blogs. I already have 200 photos. Some good ones to scrap and some just for posterity sake.
Took a couple of tours while we were there and tried to see as much of the city as possible. I need another few days just to take in the rest and see everything in detail.
No SUV's over here. Everyone drives a little compact car. By compact, I mean COMPACT. The Mini Cooper is a luxury vehicle over here. All of the cabs are Mercedes Benz' and it seems that everyone rides their bikes. I saw one pregnant lady over here who had to be past her due date and there she flew past me, her knees banging on that ever-so-pregnant belly. I've walked more in the last three days than I have in months. It almost allows me to justify the food I'll be putting away over the next 10 days.
Its almost 9 pm here and the boat will be leaving the dock soon. I have to get up on deck so I can watch.

I'll update more in a couple of days. Our first port is Nysanham (sp?) Sweden.