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.

The bags are packed.....

The money is exchanged and the camera is loaded. We're off to Europe for two weeks. I'll be updating my blog every couple of days, but I won't be noting it in the 2peas Blog thread when I do. So, if you want to check back, bookmark this!

So, our flight on Terrorist Airways leaves tonight. Got my Ativan ready.

Not looking forward to dropping the dog off at the sitters for two weeks, but I'm sure he'll be fine. There will be two english bulldogs for him to play with so he should be fine. Won't miss us too much. I got him a new toy to take along and of course, his favorite blanket. He'll be fine. I just have to keep telling myself that......

And I leave you with a picture of the man I love!

2 more days.....

2 more days....2 more days...

If I keep repeating it, those 2 days will be come 1 and then I can count the hours. Just checked the Princess website and my boat is docked in St. Petersburg. Very cool sunset over there.

I made a very difficult decision this morning. I won't be taking my Digital Rebel with me on this trip. There is too much that could happen. Sure, I can take it on the plane with me Friday but (God forbid) if something should happen while I'm over there and they change the carry on restrictions AGAIN, I'll be forced to pack the camera. I'm NOT packing that camera. I paid WAY too much money for it to subject it to the 'security' personnel and the baggage handlers on the tarmac. I've seen the way they 'handle' bags and there is no way anything is surviving the 'luggage toss'. I'm convinced those guys are in some kind of competition with their co workers on the tarmac to see who can throw what further.

So, the Canon A80 will be making the trip. And to think, I rushed my husband into getting this back in June so that I had time to learn the functions. This camera was purchased for this trip specifically. Its not like I go to Europe every day and I wanted to bring back some really awesome photos. Guess that won't be happening......

So, in honor of no camera, no photos today.

Extra hockey tickets.....

have been secured. Yep, I called and purchased some tickets for the special games this year. Opening night, the Rangers and Islanders, the Jersey retirement ceremony for Luc in January.
Of course, I still have my awesome seats now. Lets take another look, shall we?
I'm loving these. Can't wait for the season to actually start.I worked on some projects this weekend. I finished the layout from the Kelli Crowe class I took at the Oasis a couple of weeks ago.

Lots of stamping and water colors. Loved the idea though and Kelli was too cute! I know, the LO is about a hockey player. Sorry! I'm obsessed. And I really didn't have anyone else to use the LO for and Luc just popped into my mind as we were working on it.

I also made the little shell covered book from the Jenni Bowlin kit from a couple of months ago. I love these little books. 7 Gypsies 4x4 mini books. Book is painted with Ice colored paint from Lil Davis Designs, then coated with some of the glitter in the kit. I ModgePodged the shells over that and then covered them with clear Glitter Glaze (LDD). I printed out some beach and sunset pictures in wallet size and added them to the pages. Nothing too amazing but a cute little book to keep on my desk at work. Something I can look at when I don't want to be here.

Busy, busy, busy....

So, busy these days. Busy working, getting ready for the trip, cleaning. Busy. I can't believe we leave in 4 days. We booked this trip over 400 days ago and I've been counting it down. People at work were laughing at me when I posted the first count at some 400 + days.
Well, it creeps up when you aren't paying attention. And I wasn't. With work and other vacations planned in between, time really flew. I finished up the travel journals for my mother and I and we've ordered the money from the bank. Still lots to do. My family is pretty much packed, but I'll wait until the night before to do ours. Why? Because I try to wear myself out for the flight. If I stay up all night packing, I'll be exhausted and sleep on the plane. Trust me, I've done it before. Well, with the aid of some Ativan. I'm not a good flyer these days. Terrorists and turbulence are my biggest fear. so, if I sleep through it all, I could care less.
Some pictures of the travel journals....

I used the Sarabinders with the lined papers for journaling. A few pockets and envelopes are stuck in there to hold the good stuff. With a full 14 days over there, I should fill mine up. I've booked us on every tour that takes us to historic castles and other places. I love the history.
Can't wait. 4 more days.

Of course, I can't be ALL happy about this trip. There are several things I'm going to miss while I'm gone.

2 Michelle Hill classes at some of my LSS.
1 Frozen Fury - the best preseason hockey game in the entire league and several parties in Vegas with the LGK crew
Birthdays
The Long Island Scrapbook Expo - My mother and I were going to fly back and go with my cousins.
I'm sure there is more that I'm missing, but they don't matter. The above items matter. But, what the hell, I'm going to EUROPE baby!!!

We're #1!!!

Well, the Kings fans in general are #1, according to the Hockey News 2006-07 Yearbook.
Yep, of the top 5 things every hockey fan should experience before they die, partying with the Kings fans is #1. Wow.

Don't believe me, here it is in black and white (with a little purple and silver for flavor)!

Go Kings Go!

Is it almost that time? Yes it is. Hockey season is creeping up on us. Slowly creeping up. So I finally finished the book for my friend Brian. I like his better than mine. I managed to find an actual patch from a jersey on ebay (love that place sometimes) and glued it to the cover. makes it look more official. Inside is plain purple and silver photo mats cut to fit mostly 4x6 pics and some other sizes. My second favorite page is the first page - dedicated to Luc Robitaille - the King of Kings.


Speaking of Luc, I just received an email from the Kings that they'll be retiring Luc's jersey on January 20th. Its a game against the Coyotes, which means that whiney biatch Gretzky will be there. He better not try to hone in on Luc's night. So, I'll be wearing that 2005-06 Season Ticket holder Luc jersey one more time before its retired. Okay, I'll wear it once more when he's inducted into the Hall of Fame and THEN I'll retire it.

As for the 2 peas Blog question for this morning:
What do you look forward too during the middle of the week?

I look forward to the weekend. Especially when I have fun things planned. I have a class this Friday night at the Scrapbok Oasis in Irvine with Kelli Crowe. Two classes actually. And then Saturday, I'll be driving down to the Pink Pineapple for a class with Michelle Hill (Yes, I follow her everywhere I love her classes.) I'm dragging my lucky mother along to both of these. Pictures to follow......

Altered letters.

I love these things. Just finished my 'e' that I ordered from www.lettersbyjanna.com.

Heidi Swapp paint (brown) and Little Davis designs cream colored paint. I think I used the LDD Marmalade font foam stamps to stamp my name. Outlined my name with LDD Glitter Glaze. Crystal in the center of the stamped flower.

Flowers are mixture of Bazzill blossoms and HS Flowers. Coated them with glitter glaze and attached with a MM jewel brad. I'm thinking it needs a little more, but not sure what else to add.

Sitting here in Salt Lake......

....just waiting for the stores to open. That's right. I'm going exploring today before I fly home. I heard there are some amazing scrap stores here and I intend to find some of them. Now that I've figured out the way the streets are organized, I might be able to find them. It only took me 3 days to figure it out, but the next time I come back, I'm prepared.

Before I left, I had a chance to renew my season seats and possibly pick out new ones. Since nothing was available in my section that was better than what I had, I started looking elswhere. I found that section 106 had some decent seats. My husband wasn't too excited about the extra money, but he said to go for it. My mother is excited and has made it very clear that she'll go to any game. :)

So,

this is the view from my seat. Row 14 Seats 1 and 2. Sorry for the dark pictures, but they had the lights off in there and it was hard to get a better picture.

A couple more pictures from the locker room tour etc:

They have all kinds of pictures from the history of the team hanging on the walls as you walk in. This was my favorite. The 1993 team that went to the Finals. This has to be the best season in Kings history. I remember how excited I was!

The locker room. I think that lonely seat in the corner is Sean Avery's time out seat. :) I would love to know where Jason Labarbera sat...

The view from the bench. This is what the players see when they look up at the Jumbotron. Nothing like getting a players perspective.

Okay, I'm off to find those stores!

Clean!

My room is clean and organized. I finally have the proper paper storage. It took two of them, but the paper racks from Target fit perfectly in the corner and now sort out my paper by brand. Still labeling everything. I reorganized my Bazzill cardstock too. No more 'collections', its all soted by color. All of my chipboard fills up one very LARGE drawer. I never imagined I had that much chipboard, but apparantly I do. Better stop buying it......

For someones post on 2 peas, you can sort of see my ribbon storage in this picture. Its two dowels hung across the desk. My dad hung something to support them in the middle since they were so heavy. I made this entire desk out of closet organizers from Target and Lowes. Just the cubes and drawers with a piece of matching laminate 8 feet long x 48 inches wide for the desk. Then I stacked more cubes on top. My dad drilled two holes on each side and we stuck the dowels through. The book case in the background in gone and was replaced with an Expedit bookcase from Ikea this weekend.

Bazzill by color. If I felt like wasting more time, I would have actually sorted based on the Bazzill sample thing, but I wanted time to scrap this weekend.

Remember that chipboard drawer I told you about? Well its that bottom one. The big white one. Yep, its full of chipboard. Lots of it. Rows and rows of it. Boxes of it. Apparantly I'm obsessed with chipboard.

But my room is clean and organized. I know where everything is and I got three major projects done this weekend.

Long week.

It's hard to be away from home for so many days. You get nothing done. I spent the entire week communting from a hotel room by the beach. Sounds nice, except for the fact that we were never really down there. We both worked so many hours this week that all we did was sleep down there. It was still a nice change and the commute took about 15 minutes compared to our usual hour long (or more) drive. Cute little room. We had a balcony but we were on the side of the building so we had to look to the right to see the water. Still nice.

And I finally got my husband to watch the Curious George movie with me. I love that monkey. I even had a Curious George birthday this year. My last birthday. No more after this one. I'm going to stop at 29 and pretend that life at 29 is where its at. Of course, 30 may not be too bad if the few things up my sleeve happen. We'll see.....

Where.......

....have I been? I've been down in Dana Point this week. My husband, wonderful man that he is, had some coupons for a hotel down there right on the beach so we've been hiding there. I didn't take the laptop (even though the high speed in the room was tempting). We still have two more nights. Rascal is staying with my mother since he's not welcome at the hotel. :(
He'd be enjoying the down mattress and fluffy pillows though. So, technically, I'm on vacation but I'm not. We're 50 miles from the house but very close to both of our offices which makes the commute very nice in the morning. Yes, we're still dragging ourselves to the office every day. I've been working crazy hours and copious amounts of OT while I train my replacement so I can move into another position. Not easy, let me tell you.

One of the perks of my new position is a trip to Salt Lake City this month. Can you guess what I'll be doing while I'm there? Yep, sniffing out the best stores. So if you have any recommendations, let's here them. I'll be staying in SLC andI'll have a car. :) Hey, I can't save ALL of the OT money!! :)

I'll leave you with one picture - this is a little preserve beach in Dana Point Harbor at sunset. The little cove is located on the ocean side of the jetty just below the Chart House restaurant hill. I'll post a few more pictures when I'm officially 'home'.