Anyone who has known me for any length of time knows that I have a sense of humor that veers to the quirky.  Just look at my blog design and total strangers can figure that out!  Recently I was doing some shopping in Marshall's when I came across this beat up little notebook that gave me a laugh-out-loud belly laugh that caused heads to turn.  The cartoon pictured on the front is funny all by itself but when coupled with a story about my mom, you'll see why I not only laughed so hard but why I just had to buy this for her.  My mom worked for KKNU radio station in Fresno for several years as the secretary to the owner and the first building they were located in had all the announcer's booths located down one long hallway, with the office cubicles and entrance at one end and the restrooms, copy machine, and rear exit at the other end.  So every time you went to and from the restroom, you walked past the announcers who you could see through glass half walls that separated the booths from the hall.  I remember running back and forth down that hallway as a kid, waving at the announcers each time I ran past, which they always good naturedly endured.  My mom is a very attractive woman and I was always so proud of how detailed she was about her appearance, especially when going to church or work.  And she always made sure everything was in place when going to the restroom:  lipstick, hair, outfit...all were perused before walking out.  Well, one day she didn't quite check her appearance well enough before walking out of the restroom at work, down the hallway past all the announcers, who all got quite a show as she walked past with the back of her full skirt tucked up into her pantyhose!!  If my mom reads this, she's going to kill me!  I don't remember all the details of the story but I know my mom was mortified.  I've said all that as the intro to show you this picture of the journal I got for her:

I haven't blogged in FOREVER and it feels good to be back in The Land of the Blogger.  Pinterest has become my new crack...I'm lurking on there daily, looking for new ideas and project inspiration but I'm determined to be a doer and not just a lurker!  Sounds sordid, I know.  Anyhoo, I thought I'd post a pic of a project I recently finished that was based off something I saw on Pinterest.  If you follow my boards, the original umbrella idea is pinned on my "Crafty Stuff I Wanna Make" board.  Okay, are you ready?!

Even with the park overcast and dreary, we still enjoyed the beauty of the park.

I can hardly believe that it has been over two months since my last posting. So much has happened in the past two and a half months, including the fact that today is the first time I've done any crafting since my last post. At the end of March I flew to California to help my family as my uncle required care during his recovery from open heart surgery. My uncle is the primary caregiver for my grandmother, who is in the latter stages of Alzheimer's Disease, and there was no way he could take care of himself and my grandmother at the same time so off to Fresno I went. My time there had its share of ups and downs but I will always be grateful for the time I was able to spend with family: my uncle, my grandma, my dad and step-mom, my in-laws, and my mom. It was the first time since the beginning of my marriage that I really got to spend a little time with my in-laws and that meant so much to me. And I will especially cherish the time I spent with my mom and the opportunity we had to draw closer through the circumstances that brought me to California. After three weeks, I flew back to Germany and it has been the usual whirlwind of activity since then but somehow I couldn't get myself back into the spirit of crafting. In a way, I think I've been a little depressed (skip ahead if you want to pass on my little pity party). My kids are growing up, with Jordan having just turned 10 and Alex about to finish up her junior year of high school which means discussing college and goals for her senior year. Joe has been coming and going quite a bit. My business has grown pretty quiet and for some reason, I couldn't bring myself to sit down and make anything or get things going again. But a ray of light came through the clouds last night as I spent some time talking with Joe. As a result, I gave myself a good talking to and this morning I finally sat down in my decrepit office chair and crafted. Ahhh, to have ink on my fingers, glitter on my pants, and a few projects finished...a little heaven on earth! I wish I could say I came up with some stunning project but I needed to make some thank you gifts for customers and friends so I opted to start small and get out project leftovers that needed to be finished, which is how I ended up with the project featured in the photos.