6 Degrees

"Why is Ellen Gay?"

Sam and I are snuggled up watching American Idol together tonight.

We've also been watching The Amazing Race, which started up again 2 weekends ago. The boys love to watch The Amazing Race. They love the competition and seeing different parts of the world. 

If you happen to watch both shows, you know where this is heading...

This season on the Race there's a lesbian couple. They don't hide it on the show, it's just out there.

I've talked to the boys in the past about what it means if someone is gay.  If you're a boy, you like boys and if you're a girl you like girls.  That's pretty much it.  Nothing to hide in our family, but at the same time there's really no reason to make it overly complicated at this point either, right?  Especially with Sam.

 So Sam and I are watching Idol tonight and he asks if Ellen is gay because she looks like one of the woman in the lesbian couple in the Amazing Race.

And I say yes she is.

And he asks why she's gay.  Very matter of fact.  He's not passing judgement, he's just curious.

Now remember, he's just 9.  He doesn't really understand what it means.  So I figure now is as good a time as any to chat a little more about it.  

So I tell him that some people believe that people are born gay and others believe that people decide to be gay.

And I give him some examples.  Like some people are born with brown eyes and some people are born with blue eyes.  And some people are born liking to play with dolls and other people are born liking to play with trucks.  And some people are born to be short and some people are born to be tall.  And some people are born to be gay.

And then I figure that's about enough explanation for a 9 year old!

And he sits there for a few seconds and as innocently as only a child can be, and VERY matter of fact, he says...

'Oh, I get it.  You mean like some people are born with more than 5 toes'? 

And I sit there for a few seconds and say

'Exactly'.

Oh, to be 9 years old again.  Or to be inside that head of his and understand how that sweet little mind put the 2 together!    

A Little Bit 'o Sugar

Happy Valentine's Day!

Thought I'd share a little bit 'o sugar today.

Some with calories, some without, and more with ...

The 'with calories' kind - we had our annual Valentine's cookie decorating party at our house yesterday.  Nick's mom does it every year.  Pre-bakes heart cookies ahead of time to cut down on the chaos, makes the frosting and brings it all down to our house and the grandkids get busy.  She still brings 2 small balls of dough so the kids can roll out and cut some cookies too.  This way they can have their cake cookies and eat them to, so to speak!

The 'without calories' kind - a layout I did for CHA using our Sugar Rush line.  This one of my favorite pictures.  My friend Jessi shot photos of our family the summer of 2008 and this was one of them.

And because it's Valentine's Day, there has to be a bit more of the 'with calorie' kind.  Dinner tonight.  Not so much sugar, but definitely the calorie-ladden kind.  It's my favorite dinner of all time.  The one I would eat several times a week if I could.  

'Could' being the operative word there.

Cheese, baguettes, salami and fruit.  And Chardonnay, can't forget that.  YUM.  If I had to pick a last meal, this would be it.  Anyone else with me and love this treat?  If not, what is your favorite?  If you had to choose, what would be your last meal?

This is the 2nd year that we've done this for Valentine's Day.  My choice!  I think after 2 years it's now a Valentine's Day tradition.

(thank goodness for the 'mood lighting'!  Jack made me get in the picture and he took this shot.  no make-up, hair in pony tails....  Ah, that's what lazy weekends are for.)


Just finished watching The Amazing Race - the boys love it.  Now for a few hours of Winter Olympics.  I'll vicariously work off dinner via the atheletes.

Yah, if only it was that easy....

Incidentally, I just realized this is my 600th post on the blog.  That's a lot of me blabbering out there into no man's land... 

;)

The Girl's Loft

On Saturday I mentioned I was busy playing with products from a kit club of a friend of mine.

That kit club is The Girl's Loft, started by my good friend Margie.  She's a sweetheart.  One of the good ones out there in the industry.  She's been through a ton in the past year, most recently the launch of her brand new line with Advantus called The Girl's Paperie.  If you haven't checked out her new product line, you really must.  It's so exciting!  So proud of her!

Anyway, Margie also has a kit club.  Super fun kits with a great mix of product. 

February's kit is called Cherry Chocolate.  Super yummy and versatile! 

Margie asked me to be her guest designer for her February kit.  Here are the projects I made with it -

When I Grow Up. - This layout is about what Jack says he wants to be when he grows up - a chef.  He certainly doesn't get that from me!  :)


She's the Little Sister. - Look at those two little toe-headed girls.  And look at the date at the bottom of the photo.  Does she look familiar?!  Sam says it looks exactly like me.  But way younger.  And smaller ears.

Protect. - photo of Jack and Sam almost 7 years ago.  Journaling talks to Jack and how it's his responsibility as a big brother to watch out for and protect Sam.

An Officer & a Gentleman. - I'm so thankful to have so many old photos of my grandparents at my disposal to scrapbook.  This is my grandma and grandpa in the 40's.  He was headed off to WWII.

Did I mention how versatile I think this kit is?!

4 completely different layouts and styles from this kit, ranging from graphic to vintage/shabby chic.

And last but not least, a quick tag I did with some leftover bits in the kit. 

A New Toy!

I have a new toy!

I've wanted one of these forever.  Well, maybe not this particular model, per se, but an electric typewriter.

This baby is huge.  Almost 22" wide.  It looks pretty archaic, no?

That's ok.  It does what I want it to do.

Type.

And at almost 22" wide, it does what I want it to do.

Type on a 12x12 piece of paper.

Perfect for scrapbooking!

There's a funny little story that goes along with this baby.

Last weekend I went shopping with friend and Sam tagged along with us.  We walked into an antique/consignment store.  Sam took a quick look around and said "This looks like a pawn shop". 

A pawn shop!

Now mind you, we've never been in a pawn shop.  Not that there's anything wrong with pawn shops.  But we've never been in one.

But we have watched a few episodes of Pawn Stars on the History channel.  If you haven't seen it, it's a show about a pawn shop in Las Vegas.

So, back to the story.  When Sam said that, he said that in typical Sam style, at the top of his voice.  First thing that ran through my mind was how many people in the store would be wondering how a 9 year old knew what a pawn store looked like.

Second thing that ran through my mind was this definitely wasn't a pawn shop and I didn't want the owner to be ticked off that someone said it looked like one, even if it was only a 9 year old.

And then a guy (turned out to be the owner) stopped & I thought 'oh crap'!  But the guy was super nice and said, 'you're right little guy, it does look like a pawn shop'.  And then we had a nice little conversation about Pawn Stars.

And so, Sam has been indoctrinated into my hobby of junking. 

(I promise this story has an end, keep reading...)

Walking through the store, the prices were nothing to get excited about.  Way overpriced.  No deals to be had.  I did see a cool old blue metal typewriter, but I already have a cool OLD typewriter that sits in our kitchen - more form than function, though - it's super old.

But this one was no bargain.

So I passed it by.

That night I was telling Nick about our day and what Sam said in the store.  And that I saw a cool old typewriter, but it was really expensive, and that I needed to check out Ebay for an electric typewriter.  Because I've been wanting an electric typewriter.

And Nick said, "you want an electric typewriter?  we have a bunch at my office that no one is using, I'll see if you can have one and if so, I'll bring one home".

And this week he did!

So this baby was free.  Yippee!

Sam and I have both been playing with it today.  Look what he made for me -

And here's a little peek of what I've been doing with it -

A few layouts in the works for a friend's kit club.  I'll be back Monday to share!

More Cowbell

Have you seen the skit on Saturday Night Live called 'More Cowbell'?  It's a hoot.  Seriously.  I was introduced to it back in my old IT days.  Apparently it's quite a big thing in the technology world.

It's a spoof of Blue Oyster Cult with Christopher Walken and Will Ferrell.  And a cowbell. 

And yes, I am actually that old that I know the song. Not only do I know the song, but I know all of the words.  In fact, if video cameras were as common back then as they are now, I'm quite certain there would be video of me floating around, standing on the bed stage, screaming the lyrics into my hairbrush microphone.

If you're lucky, you might be able to find it on You Tube (the Saturday Night Live skit, not the video of me), although if I remember it's pretty tough to find.  I guess NBC doesn't like seeing them up there.

Anyway, you might be wondering why I'm writing about 'More Cowbell'.

The post really should be titled More Hand Sanitizer, but I thought More Cowbell sounded more fun. 

Came home from the show late Wednesday night, thoroughly exhausted.  Had Thursday and Friday off and did absolutely nothing.  For the first time in about 6 weeks (including weekends), I did not work or think about scrapbooking.  I stayed in my sweats, watched movies and just relaxed.  It was wonderful.  And much needed.

Sadly enough, come yesterday I realized I could should have used more hand sanitizer at the show.

Came down with a head cold yesterday and feeling icky, icky. 

So if we chatted at the show, and you're starting to feel icky, it's not me!  I'm sure it was someone else at the show.  Had to be....  ;)

Now, on to more fun things.

The random winner for the $20 gift certificate to the BasicGrey website is

Lou Stiner!

Yah Lou, congrats to you!

I'll be back later this week with some fun, crafty goodness!