Woohoo! My friends arrive this evening! While I've been helping AmyJo get the March de-zine out, my husband has been packing and cleaning. I've helped where I can, but it's been hit and miss. My big responsibility was the scrap room. The table is mostly clean, I need to pick up a few things on the floor and vacuum, but otherwise we are good to go. Of course, we are waiting for our guests to help us move the futon upstairs, it was quite a chore just getting that in the house with the two of us....

I'm entering the Simple Scrapbooks layout contest and the Epson digital contest at the convention this weekend. If I can get some time tonight with my friends, I will create one more layout for the Scrapworks contest. You can't win if you don't enter, and at least I'll have three more layouts to put in my albums!

2 more days until my friends arrive for the convention! Woohoo! :)

De-zine will finish up tonight, and be in the boutique for sale tomorrow. Had some DSL issues last night that required a reboot of the DSL router, but all is fine now.

Going to go see the subdivision tomorrow with my mom. She needs to get registered so we can proceed with seeing if we can get one of the homes. My husband has pretty much decided that if we can't get acreage (3 acres or more), he wants new so he can fix it up the way we want. And given our lifestyles and jobs, we'd end up paying someone to decorate anyway, so why not build it into the house from the get go?

Well, we started packing this weekend. I packed up *7* boxes alone for the scrapbook room, medium sized UHaul boxes. :) I'm keeping a running list of the major contents of each box, and numbering each box, so it's easy to determine which ones to unpack first on the other end.

Speaking of moving, we looked at a new subdivision this weekend and liked it alot. I know, I know....DH really wants acreage, but we're just not going to get it right now, not at the price he wants to pay. So, we'll buy a new home now, live in it for at least 5 years, buy a piece of land sometime in the next 5 years, and start building our dream home at some point in the future. I'll let you know what happens. My mom, who is my real estate agent, needs to be registered with the home builder so she can get a commission if we decide to buy there.

Best part is, it's only 15 minutes from work. Much better than 45 minutes, that extra half hour will be devoted to sleep, I can tell you.

I'm frantically getting ready to do final prep work on the March issue of De-zine at the Digi Chick. As soon as I get home, it's prep time! :) I'm sure AmyJo is anxiously awaiting my arrival.

This weekend, I'm going to the Creating Keepsakes Oregon Scrapbook Convention. I have 2 friends driving in from out of town to stay both Friday and Saturday nights. One friend has booked herself classes all day long, except for lunch...the other is taking it easy and just seeing what's available when she gets on site. I have two scheduled classes (The Joy of Cardmaking 2 and Creating Your Own Digital Elements) and I just picked up helping out Courtney DeLaura at one of the Rusty Pickle classes in my slack time.

My dad borrowed my camera this past weekend. I got an email yesterday that went something like this, "I see why you had issues using my little toy camera...." :) He has it until Friday, and then my husband will pick it up on the way home, so I can take pictures of all my friends at the convention.

And I'm attending the 2peas Pubster dinner on Saturday night, with my two friends (and another friend who can only join us for dinner) in tow. They've got goodie bags, and it's always cool to meet new scrapping buddies you've only talked via online message boards.

It has been an interesting week and a half. :)

Got through my first week of work. No isuses there, just getting used to being a permanent employee again. And I even get to work on a team! :D

On Saturday, I spent most of the day glued in front of my computer, hosting a trivia challenge at the Digi Chick. Slowness aside, the game was good, and the slowness meant that folks were visiting the site! :)

Sunday, my mom came over to help us figure out what to pack and how to stage our house, in preparation for putting it on the market. Yep, that's right...we're going to move back to the other side of the pass, so it's easier to get to work. As long as we work in high tech, we'll be working in that area or just beyond, it just plain makes sense. After she left, I started a load of laundry in preparation for the week ahead. Lo and behold, my dear husband left a pair of cat claw clippers in his jeans pocket, and they managed to get stuck in the holes in the dryer, and things went downhill, ending with the motor burning out on the dryer. This poor dryer was only 15 months old. *sniff* We have a new dryer arriving on Friday afternoon.

Tuesday, I had a root canal. Yes, it did hurt after the anesthetic wore off. Yes, I do have pain pills for that. :) I get the crown next Friday, right before the scrapbooking convention. I actually think I'm in more pain from the root canal than I was from the broken filling. Sigh.

I can't wait for tomorrow (Friday). Jeans day at work. One of the hardest adjustments to my new job is wearing business casual (dockers and polo shirts) instead of jeans and t-shirts. While I'm not going to wear a t-shirt tomorrow, at least I get to wear jeans! Woohoo! It's the small things in life, ya know. :)

First day of work went fairly smoothly! Well, they didn't have my computer ready first thing when I got there (8:30), but by the time I got out of benefits orientation (11:00) I not only had a computer, but two monitors. :) Then my manager took me out for lunch. Day went by pretty fast, got signed up for benefits, and started learning about the industry.

They had no issue with us parking our second car overnight Monday-Thursday nights, so we don't have to drive both cars over the pass every day...and it saves on gas & wear and tear on both vehicles. The only problem is how early I'll get there, but I'll just head to the gym to workout, instead of going into work at 6:45....*shudder*.....wish me luck! I'll need it, starting exercise back up again!

I love weekends.

I get to sleep in until 7:30 (a luxury when you wake up at 5:30 a.m. Monday - Friday), I can leisurely play on the computer while my husband sleeps on, and just in general relax.

Today I did two loads of laundry, partially reorganized my walk-in closet, and created one layout. Did I mention I got a nap? Another good thing about weekends! :)

I had a wonderful day off yesterday!

I met with my friend Dean for coffee, and we went to the mall so I could buy my "business casual" clothes for my new job. We also picked up his stretched canvas painting at a local frame shop.

Then I met with my friends Amy and Lisa for a late lunch, stopped by the scrapbook store to pick up my pictures (and a few new hot papers), and headed on over to pick up my husband from work.

We went to "the geek's mecca" - otherwise known as Fry's. I needed a new external hard drive, and he wanted to look at fax machines. So we braved the big store and found what we were looking for: a 300GB external hard drive from Seagate, a new cel phone, a couple of geeky computer books, and a memory card for my husband's PDA.

I've now got my new cel phone charged and ready to use Yahoo IM. So, while I was at the mall yesterday, I stopped by the T-Mobile store and asked how much it would cost to buy a new phone, without adding a year or two onto my current month to month contract. The salesperson pointed at the invoice price. I looked, and the very basic (no camera, no music player) cel phone I wanted was $179. No thanks. Fast forward to Fry's. Fry's is an authorized dealer of T-Mobile services (and Cingular and a couple of others). They have the EXACT same phone I wanted at the store, in a *prepaid to go* phone package. Price? $59.99. They verified that all I'd need to do is insert my existing SIM card (instead of the prepaid SIM card) in the slot, and I'd be good to go. So I got it - at a 1/3rd of the price the retail store wanted me to pay for the same package. Hmmmm.

Here's the book I picked up:

Photoshop CS2 Workflow

I've been busy wrapping up things here at work. I'll really miss the people I work with, but I'm excited to take on a new challenge at a new job. Working with someone I like, even better! :)

Today is my last day, so I could have a day off between jobs! I'm going to meet friends for lunch, another friend for coffee, shop for some more business casual slacks, and possibly get a replacement phone. That is, if I can convince T-Mobile to let me buy a phone without "extending" my contract. You'd think that after 6 years as a customer, they wouldn't try that anymore. :D

Ah....I feel so relaxed and recharged now!

We drove down to Astoria and Seaside today, and just got away from it all for a few hours.

Saw the blue skies, the ocean, smelled the fresh air, walked on the sand...


Used a sepia filter on this one. Here's the information about this building:

The big red building out in the river was a net drying and mending shed or net loft. Natural fiber nets, which often were made in the fishermen’s homes during the winters, needed to be dried between uses. Fishermen could navigate their boats right up under the building where a hoist would lift the nets to dry. The building was used in the movie “Free Willy II.” A local artist and art professor has purchased the building and is renovating it to be artist studios and small shops.

Well, I didn't get the "call" from PaperDillies. Ah well. Moving on...

After today, only 4 more days at my current job. I'm excited to move on, but not excited about leaving the people behind. I'm sure I'll make a new group of friends at my new job, but it's always bittersweet to leave a contract behind.

I took this sunrise picture yesterday from work - I had my camera with me because I went to a banquet last night.



I'm going use a filter in Photoshop to make it more dramatic in B/W, so look for that in the near future.

I've been tagged by Diana!

WHAT SCRAPBOOK LINES/PRODUCT ETC. DO YOU DISLIKE?

Stickers.

WHAT IS THE HARDEST THING YOU EVER HAD TO SCRAP?

I haven't been able to scrap the death of my cat, Alokut, since she passed away in July 2002.

WHAT TECHNIQUE DO YOU USE MORE THAN ANYTHING?

Matting every photo.

WHAT'S THE SMALLEST SCRAP OF PAPER YOU SAVE?

It has to be big enough to be able to at least use a punch on.

EVER HAD ANY SCRAPBOOKING RELATED INJURIES?

- paper cuts
- cuts on my fingers from picking up the trimmer by the blade
- tendonitis from tracing out letters and cutting them out

FINISH THIS SENTENCE: "IF I WASN'T A SCRAPBOOKER/STAMPER, I WOULD SPEND MY MONEY ON..."

- books
- electronic gadgets
- movies

GIVE US YOUR BEST STORAGE OR ORGANIZATIONAL IDEA:

- Label everything
- IRIS carts are a scrapper's friend

YOU JUST WON A WEEK LONG SCRAPBOOKING CRUISE FOR 5, WHO IS GOING WITH YOU?

My friends Brookes, Lisa, Trudi, & Dana. I have a lot of online scrapbooking buddies I'd love to take too, if I could bring more than 4 friends.

Still waiting on the PaperDillies DT call.

In the meantime, I visited the Grand Re-opening of Shabby Princess' Shabby Shoppe.

Here's a peek at what I got:


Taran Conyers' "Girly Girl" kit, the *shabby* version


Shabby Princess' "Bluebell Road" kit


Shabby Princess' "Faux Jewels" embellishments

Well, in less than 2 days I should know about the PaperDillies DT.

And 2 weeks from today, I start my new job. Got the "official" offer in the mail on Friday, signed it, and it is winging back to the company via the USPS. I am so excited to start a new chapter in my life. This job is opening up some interesting decisions in my life, and you'll know about them soon enough.

Well, all but one piece of furniture got moved over the weekend. Couch went to my sister, queen sized bed went to my friend, and we picked up the couch and loveseat (futon style). We still don't have the coffee table, but the person who sold them to us is bringing that into work today, and I will pick it up on the way home, along with a stop at the employee store....looking for business casual clothes that will work for my new job.

Another disappointment. I didn't get a "call" for my Blueprints layouts I submitted. Sigh. Moving on again. I'm very happy for my friend Becky though, who got calls for 3 of the 5 she submitted. And the 2 that didn't get picked up for Blueprints? She submitted those with 2 others to another magazine, and they were picked up within a couple of hours. Go Becky Go! :)

The chat at the DigiChick was so successful tonight, people couldn't get in! I left the chat after about 30 minutes, because as a de-zine team member, I already had the password (see layout below) and wanted to give others a chance to get in. I never made it back in! :)

Well, the "Great Furniture Move" rolls along. Dad is showing up Saturday morning (11 hours from now), helping us load the couch into his truck, we follow him to my sister's house with our car, we drive back with his truck. And on Sunday, we drive our queen sized mattress, boxsprings, and frame to my friend, drop it off, and then go pick up our new couch, loveseat, and coffee table. Way too much maneuvering for me.....*blink*.....

Well, I didn't make it on to Jan Crowley's Creative Team (CT). Ah well! Life goes on!

Now to focus on the next thing: PaperDillies DT Contest. I sent in my entry several days ago, and the deadline is tomorrow. The 10 finalists will be notified by next Wednesday. Fingers crossed. :)

Slowly proceeding on the job front. I passed the criminal and reference checks - I'm squeaky clean! Today was the "pre-employment" drug test that it seems like every company wants you to do. I showed up bright and early at 8 a.m., and the testing lab had no idea I was showing up. I sure hope that got straightened out after I left.

I turned in my official notice yesterday. My last day at my current job will be Thursday, 2/23. I'll start my new job on Monday, 2/27, giving me a nice long weekend to enjoy.

Plans are moving along to get the new furniture. The couch is too long (and most likely too high) to go in the back of our SUV, so we're borrowing my dad's truck. This, of course, always has to involve logistics. Dad is going out of town for the day on Sunday, so we are switching vehicles with him on Saturday night, so he can have something to drive. We'll pick our stuff up on Sunday, then Dad will drive out to our house and switch vehicles again. There is a *slight* chance he'll be going from our house to my sister's house with our old couch...but that's not set in stone yet because we have no idea when my sister can move out her old couch (which also requires using Dad's truck). Ah, the trials and tribulations of furniture moving. :)

This is a layout I did last night for the upcoming DigiChick "New Designers" crop (Friday, 2/10, 9 p.m. Eastern/6 p.m. Pacific). It uses the "Heart's Desire" kit created by the new designers. The password for the kit will be given out at the chat.



The Heart's Desire kit preview:



On Friday night, I will be participating in another event: Scrapbook Jungle's ScrapOlympics. Starts at 9:30 p.m. Eastern/6:30 p.m. The chat room is here:

http://www.scrapbookjungle.com/chat/cbpic.htm

Yesterday, my husband agreed to purchase a "new to us" mission style futon couch, loveseat, and coffee table. Well within our price range, and the kind of furniture we've been wanting to get. Now, we need to get guest bedroom mattress set out the door - and it's already got a taker, we just need to get it there. :)

We got a car!

2003 Ford Taurus SES sedan, white....

My husband is the primary driver on the car right now, but I'll drive it on an occasional basis. It is definitely more fuel efficient and meant for commuting...and since he's got the 46 mile drive one way to work, he gets to drive it. Not that I'm crying...I get the vehicle with the heated seats! :)

Saturday's task:

Time to buy a car.

We knew when we moved out here, everything was at least 30 minutes away (friends, family, jobs)....but that was before the layoff at my husband's work. Since then, jobs have moved around.

Starting Monday, he'll be working 46 miles from home. It's about an hour commute, one way. I work about 35-40 minutes from home, at my current job. It will be about the same at the new job, but in a different direction. Unfortunately, we only have one car...we've been living with that situation for about 6 months now...but now it's a dire situation that must be corrected.

We have researched cars, dealerships, prices, loans...and we've narrowed it down to 2 cars: one local (2003 Ford Taurus sedan) and one not so local (2005 Saturn Ion 1). Both are almost the same price and have about the same mileage. Just a matter of what we want and what we can live with.

I'll take a picture once we get the car....

I got the job! Woohoo! :)

Now my wardrobe has to change - going from jeans and t-shirts to dockers and polo shirts. Ah well......guess I have to start looking like a professional! :D

I survived! Now if I could just fall asleep! My mind is whirring, and the book I read to "shutdown" my mind didn't help. I finished up The Archer's Tale and did not realize I'd be reading so many pages of a long-drawn out battle that late at night.....visions of archers and foot soldiers and horsemen and knights, dancing in my head.

Okay, okay, I know...you want a recap of the interview, right? Actually, it was 6 interviews, between 30 - 45 minutes each. I thought I did really well in each interview, until I got to the last, which was with HR. I'm not sure if she was pushing because it's in her nature or if it's just part of the HR schtick to do the behavioral type of questions (although she seemed just a bit more aggressive than I've seen before).

I found out I am one of two candidates in serious running for the job. I know the other candidate, and she would also be a great fit for the job, but I really want this job! :) Let's hope I impressed all 6 interviewers so overwhelmingly that they choose me....:D

I will find out, at the latest, by Monday. You, faithful blog readers, will probably know the outcome shortly after I tell my husband. :)