One more down...

One more to go. Can't show the whole thing yet cos it's for a class...I bet this is the worst scrapbooking blog in the whole world (votes on a postcard please)! I only show bits of layouts! I enjoyed creating this layout though because I love love love doodling ...I find it so relaxing.

I also saw this cartoon today which made me literally snort my drink at the computer.

On Tuesday evening Linz (the owner of Crafty Pastimes for those of you who don't know her) and her two girlies came to stay for the night, and then on Wednesday we headed to the beach with Debbie, her daughter and her daughter's friend, Molly. Well, Linz and I made the most amazing discovery. Linzy-Loo is from Swindon originally and as we were chatting on Tuesday evening I mentioned that I actually spent a very short period living in Swindon as a kid. "Where? What road? What part of Swindon?" were the questions put to me, to which I replied, "Iiiiiiii don't knooooooow!!! I was FIVE!" We lived at my cousin's house while our house was being built in Basingstoke...I do have very distinct memories of it, and some photos too, but the grown-up type details are understandably missing. So I rang my cousin Gwen to pick her brain. So, she told me we lived there for 6 months and the name of the street and the estate we lived on, and Linz looked at me grinning incredulously and said, "But that's just around the corner from where I lived...I lived on that same estate!" Well, as Linz and I are only a year apart in age, it then occurred to me that if we lived so close (how mad is THAT!) then we probably went to the same school. I do have vague memories of being at school with my cousin Jeff. And...get this folks...Linz and I were at the same infant school at the same time. Just one class age apart from each other. Cerrrrr-aaaaazy!! Funy how we should become friends through scrapbooking, although we now live in South Wales and Gloucestershire, miles apart from each other! Ooo, ooo...AND one of my main memories of living there is having chicken pox, lying on Gwen's sofa covered in calamine and feeling miserable and itchy. Well, Linz was only at that school for a couple of years (they moved to the other side of Swindon) and she said SHE had chicken pox whilst there too. It was probably the same chicken pox infection going round. Too funny eh?

Anyway, the kids had a wonderful, wonderful time together...Celyn got on like a house on fire with Alanna and Sabrina, and they all slept together in Celyn's bedroom that night - a real 'sleepover' - awwwwww! They were all kneeling on her bed at one point, in their PJs, seeing what stars they could find in the night sky...so so so sweet. I read them all 'Dogger' (by Shirley Hughes) and nearly came a cropper trying to straddle the camp bed to sit down (which Linz found highly amusing - bwaahaaahaaa!)

Our trip to the beach was fun because we just kept laughing at ourselves. It was blummin' FREEZING!!!!!!! It was grey, windy, cloudy and kept spitting with rain. How nuts are we? Well, the kids had a good time, and Molly and Hannah even braved the sea in their wet-suits. Debbie, Linz and I just stayed in our camp chairs, under BLANKETS and TOWELS to keep warm, drinking hot chocolate and eating chips! LOL!!! I actually honestly did have a red face and chest this morning...and I tell ya, it was WIND burn (or possibly frost bite)...not sun burn, that's for sure. I couldn't even use it as a good opportunity to get some arty photos because my camera battery died. Ho hum. Still, we had a total laugh and it was lovely to hang out with these fab ladies.

I would upload the photos Linz took but Blogger's being norty again - tsk! It let me do the first two but has now gone on strike. Ho hum.

There are, as I type this, 2.5 hours left of summer. September (to me) is an autumn month. While autumn is oookaaaay I get so sad that summer is gone (and gone early too...this weather is naff). I so look forward to summer all year, and it just seems to have flown by this year. I need my husband to earn lots and lots of money so we can afford to go off to sunnier climes in February for a few weeks, so I can get some happiness sunshine. Perhaps if we all wish really really hard, we can have an Indian summer at the beginning of September. Come on everybody...and WIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIISH!!!!!!

Published!

How exciting is that!? My layout is in this month's Scrapbook Inspirations (out today :D *Chrissie holds on to her hat as people stampede past her to get to the shops selling the magazine*). It was part of the Ready, Steady, Scrap challenge and I was up against myScrappers Unlimited team member Sue. And I won! Not gloating you understand (truly), just excited :D It's ALWAYS nice to see your stuff published.

It seems ages ago I did this page (I remember it was sunny and warm because I was able to go in the garden to have my photo taken with the layout - looking out my office window, it sure ain't warm and sunny now!!). I kept snorting with laughter when I was working on it. The smaller photos are of me and my cousin Jeff, and we had obviously been completely obnoxious that day. I can clearly remember standing on the path with Jeff, refusing to smile (with him nudging me on). Heh heh...brats! The larger photo is with my cousins (l-r) Mike, Gwen and Bill (Jeff's parents), and Doreen, and my Dad (on the right in the cowboy hat). Obviously we had driven them all barmy with our behaviour, and when they took these shots they were happy to show just what irritants we were. I'm about to get shot, and Jeff's mum is on the verge of stabbing him with a bread knife! Waaaaahaaaaahaaaaaa!!! Hilarious! I really do completely love these photos!

This was the home I lived in in Swindon when I lived around the corner from Linz - see this post here.

When I was putting the layout together I rang Gwen, Bill and Jeff to get some ideas on what title I should give the page, and Jeff immediately said, "Childcare ain't what it used to be!" *cue my cuz and me creasing up on the phone!* My family have all been blessed with a fantastic sense of humour...I love them!

I haven't actually seen my copy of the magazine yet. Mmmm...what excuse can I find to nip up to Borders?

PS. Who loves my fluffy slippers then?

Earley, Reading Seminar - 28 April 07

M'enfin!

Which means, "At blummin' last you big ol' procrastinator!" in French. Yes it does. True story.

So off Julia and I went to Reading a week ago last Friday for our Shape Up for Design seminar there. I picked up my mate Simon in Cardiff on the way (as we have mutual friends there (The Smiths) AND they live right behind (literally RIGHT behind) our other friends' house where Ju and I were staying. AND Celyn was playing with said Smith children on the Saturday. Small world, ain't it.

We arrived and then I had heart failure for we all became aware that one parcel that I'd ordered to arrive at my friends' house had duly been delivered, but *hyperventilate* the other, full of Bazzill cardstock and buttons, had been delivered and then TAKEN AWAY AGAIN *reaches for paper bag* by the dimwits that are DHL. Never mind...Shaun and Judith introduced Julia and me to the delights of Buzz to take our minds off of it. Blummin' marvellous game and I shall be purchasing our own family copy in the not too distant future. Julia already has! LOL We had such a laugh playing it. I highly recommend it.

I awoke at 5.40am on Saturday in a bit of a stress about the Bazzill that we DEFINITELY needed for the kits that day (yeah, yeah...so I should have ordered it further beforehand... give the girl a break... I had just organised a retreat too ya know!). I decided that since I was up I should make good use of my morning and zipped off to Savacentre (all Reading people will know where I mean by that!) and was wandering around picking up juice and cakes (for the seminar) and flowers (for my friends) and hair bobbles and a school pinafore dress (for Zoe and Celyn) before the clock had struck 7! Best time of day to shop...there was hardly a soul in there! And I was back before anyone in the Pine house was awake still. We always stay at the Pine's house when we do seminars up there and (amusing side story) Julia walked out of her (downstairs) bedroom, walked straight over to the appropriate cereal cupboard, opened it and as she stood there staring at the boxes on offer, said, "I think I've stayed here too many times. I know where they keep their cereals!"

Well we laughed anyway.

On the very stroke of 9am I was hopping from one foot to the other outside the DHL office (I think I (obnoxiously) rang the doorbell 3 times on the very stroke of the hour). I reeeeeeally needed to pick up 'that' parcel and be back at the seminar hall by 9.15! First problem was that it was addressed to The Pines and not me, so I had to convince the Gestapo-esque woman behind the desk that the parcel was in fact MINE. And then she wanted me to produce some sort of ID with my name and address on. I just looked at her (how I kept myself from raising my voice even slightly is beyond me) and said, "I don't usually carry my gas bill with me around the country. I don't live here. I live in Swansea" *said through teeth that were starting to grit* and then *smiling as sweetly as I could muster* "But here are several debit cards...see!" *thrust* She did relent, not without a headmistress type telling off which included the immortal "...just this once...but NEXT time..." but I had legged it out of the office with my package of Bazzill before she could change her mind.

And after that the day went swimmingly. Our hall was fabulous...airy, spacious, full of light...and we had a room full of lovely scrappers from all over the South/South-East. We gave spot prizes for our favourite versions of each of the class layouts. Here's one little group of winners (although Erica of The ScrapCafe looks like she's been on the sherry during lunch. Sssh. Don't tell. Hic!).

It was a thoroughly good day and everyone has said how much they enjoyed it. Also big shout out for La Baguettes in Blagrave Street who delivered our lunch for us. In NAMED BAGS. Oh how much time and faffing they did save us. AND they were delicious baguettes (etc.) too.

After the seminar we went back to pick up Celyn and Simon who (separately) had also had a lovely time all day. One had slobbed on the sofa watching football with mate Andy (I'll let you guess whether that was Si or Celyn...) and the other had played merrily with the Smith children and Zoe Pine (who is just lushety lush...Celyn adores her). Rachel Smith (who was born just a few weeks after Celyn...Christina Smith and I were pregnant together and used to waddle into the central swimming pool once a week to blob about in the water together) cried buckets when Celyn left. Must go back again soon for her to have another play date with them. Before we headed back up the M4, I grabbed some shots of the kids in the Smith's back garden

Will 'Fresh Prince' Smith, Zoe, Celyn and Rachel - such fab kids!

As we left Reading I once again pulled into Savacentre for petrol and some food and realised that I was actually completely hanging...I HAD been awake since 5.40am remember. So Simon drove home. Which was exceedingly exciting at first, as his car (a little Suzuki) is, like, run on rubber bands, and my Renault is a 1.8. Va Va Voooom is right! He got the hang of it by the time we got to...ooo...Swindon. *And breathe*

We stayed at Si's brother and SIL's house (Rob & Katie-Jane's) that night in East Wales (which meant I didn't have to drive so far home in one go). I was so tired by the time we got there I parked about 5 feet away from the kerb and Rob was so embarrassed he had to go out and move it "in case my neighbours think I've got a patient from the mental home staying here." LOL

Anyway...sorry to burble on. My blog is also my diary of sorts, so you get all the bits inbetween as well as the scrapping! Church the next day was in Caerphilly ward which is held in the Ysgol Cymraeg (Welsh School) in Caerphilly. And, did you know (for I saw it on a display) that bananas don't grow on trees? They grow on HERB BUSHES. I never knew that! And Celyn learnt stuff too. This is our conversation on the drive home later that Sunday (which my LDS friends will find more amusing perhaps):

Celyn: *suddenly says out of the blue* Angels don't have wings.

Me: No they don't. Did you talk about that in Primary today?

Celyn: Yes. They just appear and disappear.

Me: Did you talk about the Angel Moroni [from The Book of Mormon]

Celyn: Yes

Me: Oh cool. What did he do then?

Celyn: *adamantly* Nothing!! He just appeared and disappeared.

So, it was a great few days, even if I was tireder than the last sausage roll at a party.

I shall blog some more tomorrow, about our upcoming Scrappers Unlimited events. I'm off to sleep on my new bed now :D M'enfin!