Black Belt Living

90 Minutes in Prison

I just got home from my morning at the Lebanon Correctional Institute (LECI) and I thought I'd go ahead and get writing while my visit was still really fresh in my mind.

First, I want to say that I'm not posting any of my photos.  They are REALLY strict about photos, how they're taken, who is taking them, etc.  If you read my blog a few days ago, you know I am one to follow the rules, and when you're talking prison rules, this is NOT the time to start being a rebel.  They are SUPER serious there ~ imagine that.  Honestly, I was more scared of the guards than of the inmates that I met.  I got the shots that I needed, and even managed to snap a few dramatic ones for my own personal stash, but I will never be sharing them here.  Sorry.  Trust me, there is a lot of dramatic material to photograph in a place like that.

It was a great experience and I'm so glad that I went. 

I went with my friend Heather, and we were both glad that we didn't have to go alone.  When we got there, we got checked in and went through security, and we were then met by our guide (a really cool woman) who runs the "community outreach" programs in the prison. She took us back to her offices, where inmates who have earned their way to a very nice job, work on creating the educational toys and products that will eventually be back in Cincinnati and in the hands of underprivileged school kids. 

My first impression was one of surprise.  I guess I've just watched too much of The Shawshank Redemption and The Green Mile and was expecting the place to be dark, dirty, and depressing.  It was NOTHING like what I had pictured in my mind.  It was bright white...almost blinding bright, and impeccably clean.....truly spotless ~ the kind of clean that my house could only dream about!  And it really wasn't depressing either.  I guess the brightness makes sense, it's hard to hide or get into trouble under brilliant white lights. While prison is NOT a good place, I found the mood to be lively and active.  People were moving all over the place...it was very busy and crowded, like Walmart on a Saturday afternoon.  I learned that the majority of inmates have jobs (and it's up to them if they want to have a job or not) and those that have jobs seem to take their jobs quite seriously, whether it be in community outreach, as a plumber, or working in the print shop. 

The men that I spoke with in the community outreach room today had a tremendous amount of pride in their work.  These men were older men, probably in their 50's, and they were all serving life sentences.  It's my guess that these men had been incarcerated for close to 30 years, if not more and had long come to terms with their fate.  They knew that while they might never be able to help people outside of the walls, this was something that they could do to help others in need, and they truly took that opportunity to heart. I was so impressed by that.  I was also impressed by how smart and talented so many of the inmates were.  Many have earned GEDs and college degrees while serving their time.  In the art room, there were fantastic works of art and many of the walls had very well done murals.  I met two men who crocheted the most gorgeous blankets, hats, and baby clothes ~ that was truly remarkable!  I'm serious, these guys were REALLY GOOD....  Their finished projects will be sent to local shelters and hospitals, and they're getting ready to kick off a big project where they crochet American flag blankets to send to disabled Iraqi war veterans. It's sad to me that these guys hadn't discovered their talents or put those brains to work for good before they ended up behind bars.

Another great program in the community outreach area is called "Circle Tail".  Circle Tail (from their website)  is a 501(c)3 non-profit organization located 30 miles northeast of downtown Cincinnati, Ohio. The organization was established in 1997. Circle Tail's mission is to provide high quality assistance dogs to people with mobility, hearing, neurologic or psychiatric disabilities and promote the human-canine bond in the community by providing dog adoptions, obedience training, behavior management and boarding services.  Regular citizens can also adopt and foster dogs through Circle Tail.  Part of their program is partnering with the state prison system.   The Inmate/Canine Educational Training Program helps provide dogs for adoption and assistance dogs to individuals with disabilities.  Circle Tail now works with the Lebanon, London, Ohio Reformatory for Women, and Ross Correctional Institutes in Ohio. Circle Tail trainers provide regular instruction to the inmates in caring for and training the puppies / dogs. The inmates are responsible for all of the puppies'/ dogs' physical and emotional needs. They oversee their social development, feeding, grooming, and exercise programs, and instruct them in good house manners and basic and advanced obedience. Some inmates also have the opportunity to train the dogs in advanced service skills. The inmates are with the puppies/ dogs at all times except during meals and the puppies/ dogs sleep in crates in the inmates' quarters.The inmates participate in regularly scheduled educational programs and instructional sessions with Circle Tail trainers and correctional facility program coordinators.

I got to meet all of the LECI Circle Tail dogs and their inmate trainers, and as a dog lover, I couldn't be more impressed.  Other than show dogs, these were the best trained and most obedient dogs I've ever seen, and it was clear that their trainers truly loved them.  They work with the dogs 12 hours/day and the dogs are allowed to live in special crates in the inmates' cells and are with them 24/7.  I would adopt any of these dogs in a heartbeat and was ready to take the one golden retriever home right there (in fact, I just looked her up on the internet)! The inmate trainers told me that they had the best job at LECI, but the worst part of the job is letting a dog go, because they love their canine roomates so much.  I can totally understand that.

It might also sound like a cliche' ~ and it is ~ but I got to tour the license plate factory.  LECI is the only prison in the state of Ohio that makes plates, and they make ALL of the plates and registration and county stickers for all autos in Ohio.  That was one IMPRESSIVE operation!  So if you live in Ohio and drive, those plates and stickers on your car were made at LECI.  I was told by the manager that the year Ohio switched to red, white and blue plates, they cranked out 16 million plates in twelve months!

So anyhow, as you can see, there are a ton of positive educational and vocational programs going on behind those bars, and a lot of good hearted, hard working people who go there every day to help these inmates make the best of their time and make them better people.  But don't be fooled, it's not all good either. It's still prison. I think it's easy to see friendly, hard working people and bright clean walls and kind of forget where you are.  We were constantly reminded that while the prison population as a whole has a large percentage of inmates who follow the rules, there are always those who don't.  These are the guys who end up in solitary, or in prison court for doing the same things on the inside that they did on the outside. These are the guys who don't believe in rules and think that they have something to prove.  They were the scary guys.  I got a glance into some of the cell blocks where the gang-bangers-with-attitude live.  Our guide says that if she had to work in there, she would quit first.

People get hurt, attacked, and sometimes even killed in prison, and as a visitor, and employee, or even an inmate, you can never forget where you are and let your guard down.  As a visitor or employee, you can't make friends with the inmates, or you leave yourself vulnerable to physical attack or a swindle.  That was pretty sobering, as was watching them do "movements" where large groups of inmates were moved from one area to another as a part of their day.  When I saw that, it really hit home what it means to lose your freedom. 

Of course we all know that when you're incarcerated, you aren't leaving the building.  But what I now think would be worse than that was the realization that in every second of every day, other people are monitoring what you are doing and where you are.  You are accounted for 24/7, 365.  While you might have some choices as to what you might do...like go to the library as opposed to the art room, you are constantly scheduled. You never wake up when you want. You never eat when you want.  Your time is never your own and you can never just disappear.  As somebody who loves her alone time, I think this kind of monitoring would drive me completely insane, and that's the heart of what it means to be in prison. It's not about whether or not you have access to cable television, it's the fact that nothing you have is your own, not even your time.  All you really have is your thoughts. 

Well I could go on all day, but this is long enough!  I think everybody should spend 90 minutes in prison, and maybe there would be fewer people doing real time in there.  There's just nothing more chilling than watching and hearing those huge iron gates click behind you.  At least I knew that they would open up again for me.  Thank God!

Feeling Like Santa Claus!

The designers that I work for were SO STINKIN' GENEROUS to me yesterday and gave me lots of great stuff for my birthday giveaway.  So I don't just have two winners today, I have EIGHT!  And keep on checking back, because I'll be giving goodies away every day this week!

Here are my lucky winners in no specific order:

• Brandy (9:26pm EDT):  Free digital kit from Katja Kromann at ScrapScandiStyle.com
• Heather Manning (9:34am EDT):  $6.50 gift certificate for Heaven's Gate Designs at Scrapartist.com
• Renee (5:42pm EDT): $6.50 gift certificate for Heaven's Gate Designs at Scrapartist.com
• Kip (5:21pm EDT): $6.50 gift certificate for Heaven's Gate Designs at Scrapartist.com
• Neverland Scraps (Wendy, 9:09am EDT): Storyboards kit from Christina Renee Designs
• Melissa (11:57am EDT): Storyboards2 kit from Christina Renee Designs
• Margaret (1:14pm EDT): Tulips Tiptoe paper pack from Sherrie at Christina Renee Designs
• Caylynn (10:06am EDT): Free kit from Gina Marie Huff at Weeds and Wildflowers

Congratulations to my winners!  If you're not a digital scrapper or you don't scrap at all, let me know and we'll work something out.  Please email me to claim your prize codes ~ I'll get them right out to you. 

Thank you all so much for the great birthday comments ~ I had such a fun day yesterday and it was nice to see so many people drop by here and say hello.  The only other day I've ever had so many visitors was when I put up THIS post and ended up with 5000+ hits that day!  All I can figure is that I must have popped up in a bunch of Google searches that day with people like me checking out recording artist Yael Naim.  Who knows?  Even with those 5000 hits, none of the visitors bothered to say hello, and I really appreciate it when you do! If yesterday was your first visit here, I hope you keep on popping by because I've always got something to yap about.

I have a very interesting day today.  Since I do freelance photography for some local non-profit organizations, sometimes I have the opportunity to do some photo shoots that are a bit out of the ordinary. Today is one of those days.  In two hours, I'll be in the process of checking into (as a photographer!) the Lebanon Correctional Institute, our closest state prison.  I have no idea what to expect.  More importantly (ha!), I have no idea what to wear!  No stripes, no orange jumpsuit, nothing sexy.  What would Stacy and Clinton suggest?

 

It's interesting....I can't even use my own equipment, I have to use theirs and in a few days, they'll send me the photos. Yikes, I'm out of time here.  I promise to fill you in tomorrow about what it was like, along with give away some more love to two more visitors who leave me some love today! 

If you're one of my winners from today, don't forget to drop me an email ~ there's a link at the top! 

Off I go to the pokey...the joint...the clink....the slammer......

 

Recipe Tuesday ~ Breakfast Casserole

I mentioned yesterday that I was in charge of Mother's Day Brunch at the office.  That confused a few people, so here's the deal.  My job as Social Chairman (er....marketing coordinator) at PHRC requires me to come up with unique and clever ways to keep patients calling for appointments.  Nothing motivates people to come into the office than a good, old fashioned buffet table!  So this year, instead of giving roses to the mothers, I thought it would be a good idea to feed everybody who IS a mother, HAS a mother, or HAD a mother.  That pretty much covers it all.  I did the planning and the home cooking and my co-workers filled in the gaps.  I work with a lot of 20-something single guys, so every time I bring homecooked, man-pleasin' food into the office, I get big props.  Yesterday was no different! 

I admit, that I did not spare the fat grams, the calories, nor the cholestrol yesterday unless you balance the egg casserole with the fresh fruit salad.  Yeah, that works.  Here is my breakfast casserole recipe that brought into the office yesterday.  I also served leftovers for dinner last night with a big salad and it was really delicious!

Note:  If you would like to reduce the fat and calories here, you could do any or all of the following:

• Use reduced fat cheddar cheese
• Instead of a dozen eggs, use 6 eggs and 10 egg whites
• Substitute water for the half and half
• Use turkey breakfast sausage instead of pork sausage and "rinse" it well
• Omit the potatoes (but that would be a crime, I have to admit!)

Barb's Breakfast Casserole

• Frozen Hash browns, thawed
• 1 lb. bulk breakfast sausage
• 1/2 medium onion, diced small
• 1 small red bell pepper, diced small
• 1 dozen eggs
• 1/4 C half and half
• salt and pepper
• fresh parsley
• tobasco sauce

Layer hash browns at the bottom of a 9X13" baking pan and set aside.

Saute onions, peppers and breakfast sausage in a non-stick skillet until the sausage is cooked and the onions are transparent.  You can omit the onions and peppers if you don't like them. You can also use bacon if you like, it's all good!  Drain the fat off of the sausage and layer the sausage, onions and peppers over the hash browns.

Crack a dozen eggs into a large bowl.  Add half and half, salt and pepper, parsley, and a few dashes of tabasco sauce.  Mix well and pour evenly over the sausage and hash browns.  Cover with shredded cheddar cheese (Pepper jack is REALLY good too, if you like it spicy, but I was cooking for a crowd).  Bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes.

If you want to prepare this ahead of time and bake the next day (that's what I did!), it works really great.  Do I need to mention that homemade cheddar biscuits are REALLY good with this?  No, I didn't think so.

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So today is my birthday.  I got a big birthday present yesterday (will blog about that later this week) and we're celebrating tomorrow night, so today I have a day off with very little to do.  That is so great!  Actually, I have housework that is really calling my name, but I'm going to completely ignore those calls.

Shannon wrote me a "birthday song" today, and it's just darling.  I might have to scrap it.  Here it is:

Mom it's your birthday
Thanks for all the love and care you give
I just really need it to live
I love you and you're the one I adore.
You help me up when I fall,
You pick me up when I'm down,
You turn my my frown upside down,
And I love you forever more.
Happy Birthday Mom!

Isn't that awesome?  Well I sure love it. 

I'd like to keep ignoring the fact that I'm getting up there, but I guess it's true.  Most days I certainly don't feel old. Somedays my knees are killing me, or my shoulder, or my wrist, (or all of the above!) but that's more the life of a jock and less having to do with my chronological age. 

I can't deny, however, that when my grandma was my age, she was a grandmother already.  Yikes!  And when my mom was my age, I was already graduated from college and living on my own.  Double yikes!  I guess having a fifth grader certainly keeps one young.  At least that's my story and I'm sticking to it!

The cicadas haven't poked out of the earth yet (any day now....ewwwww!) so I might get out there this morning and go on a nice long bike ride because it could be my last one for a good six weeks and by then, the hot and humid Cincinnati summer will be here.  Today it's sunny and about 55 degrees ~ just perfect!

Finally, and unexpected surprise came to me overnight...I got an invite to join the creative team for JanaM at The Digichick.  I love Jana's kits, they're colorful and fun and seem to suit my style perfectly.  Of course I'm saying yes, and I'm really excited!  Here are some peeks at some of Jana's recent kits.  I can't wait to get started helping out!

Thanks for reading down to here so far.  And since it's my birthday, I'll be giving away a gift to two lucky winners who leave me birthday comments today....yeah, I'm fishing!  It's my day!  So go ahead and leave me some love and you might get some goodies in return!

A Little Public Humiliation

If you want to perk up your Monday morning, be sure to click over to my friend Ashley's blog HERE and get a good dose of some really bad 80's hair and fashion!  I was certainly an 80's fashion victim back in the day and I"m honored (I think) to be her retro feature for last Friday.  I do recipes on Tuesdays, she does bad 80's photos on Fridays. 

Ashley is really funny, so keep checking in with her every day and you're guaranteed to laugh out loud on a regular basis! 

So we got the cast put on.  Look at this thing....it looks like something out of a Dr. Seuss cartoon!

Here's a closer look at this monster:

It looks even crazier now, because there are signatures all over it.  Oh, and it glows in the dark, of course. I guess when you're 11, that's important.

I thought she might be able to go back to sports and such once the cast came on but I was totally wrong on that one.  Five weeks, no sports, no showers, no fun.  I guess it's probably a good thing, it's so big that she could kill somebody swinging that arm around.  We were pretty surprised that she got a cast that goes all the way up, but because of the location of the break and the way the rotational pain was bothering her, the doc decided that "this one goes to eleven!".  In two weeks, we'll most likely have it changed out for a below-the-elbow one. 

Hope you had a good Mother's Day!  I'm coordinating a Mother's Day brunch at the office this morning and ironically, I'm the only mother and the only one cooking.  Hmmmm....

For you Survivor fans, what did you think of the finale?  I wasn't too thrilled with the winner, I was really hoping that Cirie would have held on to that challenge and won the whole thing.  The reunion was great, however.  I love it that James won the fan favorite again.  He was my favorite, both times!

Important Answers......

Well, not really.  Most people who answered the questions about me the other day were spot on, but some people were way off!

For one, I absolutely do NOT smoke....never have, never will.  That's one bad habit that I'll never pick up, thank goodness.

About the only music I don't like is jazz, so that one was way off.  Right now I'm more into Top 40 pop, like Maroon 5 and Natasha Bedingfield. I'll never give up my silly 80's pop, however.  I'm listening to some Men At Work as I type this!

My eyes are brown/green hazel.

Things I like to do....sports, cook, scrapbook, take pictures, watch reality television.  What do I dislike....folding laundry, unloading the dishwasher, gardening and yard work. 

My middle name is Ann with no "e", and I have one brother, younger than me, who lives in the Chicago area.

I may be outgoing, but I really like my alone time too and sometimes I don't want to be sociable. 

As much as I'd like to be a rebel, I'm a total rule-follower and don't have much patience with people who break the rules.

I have one child, and a dog.

If I ever got stranded on a desert island, I'd like my camera, my baby Mac, but first and foremost, electricity!

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It's finally Friday and I'm looking forward to a nice, laid back weekend.  We all need it after the crazy week that we've had. 

My birthday is coming up really soon and tonight my inlaws are hosting a birthday dinner for me with my favorite food ~ Alaskan king crab legs, YUM! Now that I've watched a couple of seasons of The Deadliest Catch, I appreciate those crazy crustaceans even more!  I would never want to catch them, but I sure like to eat them!

Today I'm going to make some handmade Mother's Day cards, do a little Mother's Day shopping (involving flowers and plants), and get some scrapping done ~ yay! I'm also going to try to get out and ride my bike as long as it doesn't rain.  Gotta do that before the cicada invasion hits, and that's going to happy any day now.  Gross!  I hate those things!

That's it for now....happy TGIF!

Pizza Lawyer

A while back, there was a pizza chain who did a commercial poking fun of the "30 Minutes or it's Free" offer by Domino's Pizza.  Basically, the pizza delivery guy was a laywer who delivered your pizza with a bundle of legal disclaimers regarding the free pizza.  In other words, there were so many catches with the free deal, that there was no way you'd ever get it free.  When he rang the bell, he greeted the customer with a cheery "Pizza Lawyer" greeting and followed it by some crazy fast talking disclaimer, like you see on television commercials with "some restrictions do apply" type rules. 

These commercials really cracked me up because believe it or not, my husband really IS the Pizza Lawyer. His good buddy is the founder of some pizza joints, and Andy does a lot of the legal work revolving around the establishment of new stores.

Last night we got to attend a "Friends and Family" night for the newest restaurant that's opening on Monday.  It was basically a dress rehearsal for the staff, and we got to eat and drink for free.  Their pizza is really delicious and the service is always great.  We had such a great time, and a fun family night out really perked up Shannon, which was really needed! 

Anyhow, if you live in Cincinnati, Dayton, Cleveland, Northern Kentucky, Columbus (coming later 2008) or St. Louis, get to Dewey's and check out there stupendous hand-tossed pizza, service, and music!  Andy's buddy Andrew had a vision of his perfect pizza joint and he has made it happen.  You can read more about it here.  Yummy stuff, with no fast talking lawyers or disclaimers, I promise!

Is it Only Wednesday?

Oh, this week is going SO slow!  I'm just not used to spending the entire week in the office. I think we only have seven patients scheduled today, so the day is going to drag for sure!

If you know any good blogs, please leave a comment and let me know.  That'll give me something to read today, since I can't sit there and read a book!

I got a quiz in the mail yesterday, you know....one of those internet tag things, only this one was turned around and made the reader fill in the blank about the sender.  Here are the questions.  See if you can answer them about me!

1. Where did we meet?_________
2. Take a stab at my middle name?______________
3. Do I smoke?______________________
4. Color of my eyes?_____________________
5. Do I have any siblings?__________________
6. What's one of my favorite things to do?__________________
7. What's my favorite type of music?______________________
8. Am I shy or outgoing?____________________________
9. Am I a rebel or do I follow the rules?_______________________
10. Any special talents?_____________________________
11. How many children do I have?_________________________
12. If you and I were stranded on a deserted island, what is one thing that I
13. would bring?_________________________________

Last night I thought it would do Shannon some good if we got her out of the house, so we went to Andy's softball game.  I played around with my 85mm lens that I got in February, but have really never fell in love with. It's sharp and fast, but I'm not very comfortable with the focal length.  I should have bought a fast wide angle instead.  But after last night, I'm liking it more. I was also playing around with different color applications while watching Idol last night (what was that bad Bob Marley imitation last night?  Yikes!)

And again, my photo blog is all caught up so run over HERE to check out my latest.  I've taken a lot of pictures in the last several days!

Have a great day!  I'm going to try, because yesterday was pretty awful. 

We Interrupt Recipe Tuesday

....with a message from the Emergency Blogcast Network.  I didn't get organized to post a new recipe today because we were at the Emergency Room all evening.  Needless to say, that was NOT how I expected to spend my evening!

I worked late yesterday and when I got home I immediately got my jammies on.  Andy was at the hockey game and not expected to be home until late.  Shannon was at my parents, having dinner, riding her bike and hanging out.  So I figured I could put on my pj's, eat whatever I wanted for dinner and plunk down in my chair to watch The Devil Wears Prada.  So I made a big salad and was in the middle of it while watching the movie when my mom called. She said that Shannon had crashed on her bike and she suspected that she had broken her wrist.  So I weighed my options for a few minutes and decided that by the time I'd pick her up and get her to urgent care, they'd probably be closed, so we went straight to the ER.

The bad news.....her wrist is broken.  She's got it splinted right now and has to go back to the orthopaedic dude later in the week to have it casted.  She's pretty bummed because she was supposed to test for second degree in taekwondo on May 31st and if she doesn't she'll have to wait until September because she'll miss a lot of training in the summer.  I swear it's just like last year when she broke her foot ~ it set her back six months. Hopefully this won't set her back too long and she'll be able to test with her cast on (yeah, kids do that!).  She's also really bummed that there won't be any violin practice for a while either. 

The good news......we had a bit of reality television fun.  Our nurse was the handsome and funny Alex Linz (that's him on the far right), one of the four Linz family members who won The Amazing Race (one of my two favorite reality shows of all time!). He was so much fun to talk to and it was great because all the Race talk kind of distracted Shannon from her arm and leg pain (yeah, her leg is all torn up too).  She's excited because he's going to send her an autographed family photo, so we'll be looking for that in the mail.

Well, I need to get running.  I'm working all day today again, but first I have to get her to school and get her into her classroom.  She's got a test today which she didn't get to study for because she spent her whole evening in the ER!

 

***** UPDATE *****

Why do these things have to happen on a week where I'm the only person in the office (everybody is out of town at a seminar, so I can't call off)? 

I just got off of the phone with the Orthopaedic group (who unfortunately knows me all too well!), and Shannon goes in on Thursday afternoon to get her arm casted.

I've also arranged for her to be picked up by one of my friends and go to their house after school because she is probably going to need assistance. Figures that there is no way that I can be home before about 5:30.  And then, of course, there's the "your kid can't take a pill at school thing".  I've got to leave the office during my shift, drive to the school, give her two Motrin, then go back to the office. Ridiculous, especially when gas went up again this morning to $3.69/gallon.  Gripe, gripe, gripe....

 

Cinco de Mayo ~ Ole!

I hope everybody had a good weekend!  We celebrated Cinco de Mayo in our own way on Quatro de Mayo with some neighbors...big fun!

I can't believe it's Monday already....where did the weekend go?  It was party city here, with a work outing on Friday, a Derby party and another party on Saturday afternoon and evening, a brunch yesterday, and margartitas with our neighbors last night.  Whew!  We even did a few productive things, like yardwork and a long family bike ride yesterday, so it wasn't a total food fest. I probably should have rode to Cleveland and back, however, to try to offset the caloric intake.....back to the gym at lunch today, no doubt!

Now here's what you've been waiting for.... I loved reading all your answers about how you got started scrapbooking!

The three winners (chosen at random by Random.org) of my "Will Scrap 4 U" contest are:

Mona
Love your blog. Your blog heading is fantastic and your latest layout is stunning (new kit from Annie Manning, I didn't know that). The drawing is so cool, my daughter at 10 cannot draw like this!

Posted by: Mona | May 02, 2008 at 06:56 AM

Diane
Your layout is absolutley gorgeous as is Shannon's drawing. Amazing for a 10 yr old. Have fun with your Derby party tomorrow. But make sure you get all your shopping done, lol.

I started digiscrapping because my SIL is such an awesome paper scrapper that I knew it would take me years and years to reach her level but I also wanted to scrap. I actually started with Smilebox and then got led to the digital community. I'm so happy I did, cuz I have a ton of new, great friends and an outlet to call my own. And if by chance I should be one of the lucky ones, I already have an idea on a series of photos that I know you would Rawk on.

Enjoy your weekend!!

Posted by: Carjazi | May 02, 2008 at 09:12 AM

Carla
Hi Barb!

I've been cutting and pasting stuff since high school, but I started formally scrapping in 2000 the same way almost everyone does--I had a baby! Didn't start digi until last year though.

Posted by: Carla | May 02, 2008 at 03:27 PM

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Ladies, I'll be in touch later today.  I'd love one to five photos, with a bit of journaling or a story behind the photos and this week I'll get busy scrapping for you!  I'm excited to get started!

Now I'm off to the shower...busy day today, I'm working full time in the office all week.  More jumbled schedules and I'm always the "swing person"!  Feliz Cinco de Mayo for all my Latina friends out there, and if you're just another gringa like me, I hope you have a great day as well. 

Will Scrap 4 U

Shannon had made this oil pastel drawing several months ago and it's been hanging on my bulletin board in my office. I think it's really cool, and I really should frame it and put it in a better place. The more I look at it, the more I see in it.

This is her combo of the devil and God, of hell and heaven.  On the left is anger and fire, on the right is happiness and flowing streams, clouds, etc.  If you look at it as a whole, you see one face, but there are really two faces combined into one.  It's an optical illusion and I think it's cool!  I think it's pretty insightful for a ten year old.

And speaking of art work and crafty things, tomorrow is National Scrapbooking Day.  Well, every day is scrapbooking day for me if I have anything to do with it.  Actually I won't be doing any tomorrow, because we're swamped all day.  It's also Derby Day and since we live near the great Commonwealth of Kentucky, we'll be venturing across the river to our friends' house to their annual party, where we'll dine on deep fried turkey, bet on the horses, and wear fun and funky hats. 

I do want to do something for NSD, however, so if you're interested, I've decided to do my own giveaway.  Leave me a comment and let me know how you got started scrapbooking, and on Sunday I'll draw three random names.  If you're a winner, I'll do a digital layout with your photos for your own album.  I always think it's fun to scrap somebody else's photos, so everybody wins on this one!  If you don't scrap, leave a comment anyways and we'll just figure something else out.  I hope you'll play along!

Unfortunately, it's Friday morning and that means that I'm off to the office this morning.  Time to refill the coffee and get moving.  Keep those comments coming, I can't wait to read all about how you got started!  Happy Dos de Mayo!

Oh, and just for fun, I leave you with a layout I finished yesterday using Annie Manning's new Violet Drops kit over at Shabbypickledesigns.com.  Confessions.....