Writing to myself...

I think I've lost the few blog followers that I had because with all those posts last month, I had few comments. And I suppose that's fine since I've not been a very good blog reader/commentator myself lately. I wish I could figure out why my demeanor has changed, but I just can't put a finger on it. And as much as I'd like to see it different, I just can't get there. But I'm going to keep trying.

So what's new? Well, maybe I'll work backwards. This past weekend we painted Melanie's bedroom finally. She's been begging for a long time. She selected aqua and her Dad thinks it's awful! I like it for her and hope she's happy. She calls it one of her summer colors, along with yellow and salmon. The whole project was more than she expected. Taking down (and putting back up) a water bed is much more time consuming than we all remembered! Now we remember why we only do it every 8 years or so!! So she's now ready for summer! (Pictures coming soon!)

About 10 days ago I got a new cell phone - a droid! I wasn't exactly looking for one, but somehow I got hooked into the novelty and I am now enjoying it. It is still way more powerful than I probably need, but as long as I can read the screen, I'll be father into the next century than I was before when my phone only rang! Haven't mastered that touch screen texting quite yet, but I'll get there someday!

Been working on scrapping some old hiking pictures lately. I am really enjoying seeing the progress I'm making at finally finishing a complete book! Well, the book will never be finished as long as I keep climbing mountains, but caught up would be nice too! I hope I can keep on the roll this summer. Maybe if I will be able to feel better about myself. It's worth a shot!

Planned out about 5 camping trips for this summer and a family reunion visit to North Dakota in June. (I know, why oh why ND??) We'd like to take another trip to a beach destination this summer but haven't found the best deal yet. Oh that leads to my scuba diving aspiration. A few weeks ago we stopped at a scuba shop to find out if I could actually do it. I was worried about my vision and being able to see the gauges. Well, I think that was solved, the only hold back now is my heart condition. If I can get the cardiologist to clear me, I should be good to go! And if that happens (appointment in about 3 weeks) then we'll be taking lessons here shortly! I really hope there will be no problems. If I can't, I'll still be happy snorkeling, but you can't see ship wrecks from the surface!!

OK, so before I forget, Patti please forgive me for not shipping my pages to you yet. This weekend got away from me and I didn't finish. I hope you'll understand. I'm so sorry I haven't been as reliable lately. I'm working on it.

On a roll....

Not very fast, but at least it's moving forward! Here is another LO that I completed earlier this week on one of my 14er hikes! This was our summit of Mt. Democrat with my brother back in August, 2008. It was a rather cloudy and cold August day and we had zero views from the summit, but at least we could prove we made it! I thought using monochrome grays would be the best way to depict the mood of the day! And I printed my text in vellum and cut it out in the shape of a cloud... I liked that look! It was a fun hike, but very disappointing for my brother who came 1000 miles and got zippo views! I am pleased with how this came out.

This inspired me to keep working on my LO's. I have 2 more hikes to scrap to complete my book to date! I think it will be awesome to finally have one project completed! So to get started, I cleaned up my desk last night and tonight I'll dig up the remaining pictures that I'll need. For all I know I already have them here in a pile somewhere!

And I have about 10 days to scrap my “Day in My Life” pages for Patti’s album! I kept a log and snapped a few pictures on Monday as I progressed throughout the day. Now to figure out how to scrap it all. This will be somewhat of a new project for me! I hope she isn’t bored to death from my story!

Oh and another thing I managed last night as I was cleaning up – gather cards for the troops. I have a stack of 40 ready to go! Operation Write Home is a great organization and I can’t wait to reach my personal goal of sending them 100 cards this year! I’ll be back later this week with some pictures of my stash!

Challenge

Here is my take on a challenge from Taylor Expressions from last Friday. Inside it says "Sweet Birthday Wishes". I liked this sketch and found it fun to work with and a great way to use up scraps.

Scraps... I am terrified to throw anything away and still have 2 drawers full of them. Many of the papers don't even appeal to me anymore, but I just can't throw them away. I should just let them go but every time I try, I think about the dozens of cards I could make with them! Ugh, is there a 10 step program for this???

Mt. Yale Remembered

I would still say that this was the toughest mountain we have climbed so far and it had nothing to do with the fact it was right after my knee surgery! As much as I dread switchbacks, they definitely make it easier to climb steep stuff! This mountain had NONE! It just went straight up!

Anyway, I really love the LO that I created with these pictures! It stepped away from the traditional green/blue/brown color scheme and used the colors of the day - Red, White and Blue! And I was able to get about 1/2 my pictures onto it without cutting away too much of the scenery! That's what always bothers me about scrapping the mountain pictures - I hate cutting anything away! I just have to try to look at it as if I'm just seeing what in the lens instead! TFL!

As promised

Here is the LO that I completed on my knee surgery. Let me know if you think it needs anything else on it. The text reads...

#18 Eliminate the pain in my left knee
Despite the recommendation not to fall when I’m skiing, unfortunately I do it a lot! In November 2005, on the first day of our ski season, I took a fall at Beaver Creek and pulled something in my left knee. I managed to ski down the mountain, took a day off and then kept skiing the rest of the season in moderate pain. In fact, I skied 2 more seasons before in early 2008 I finally decided to have what I thought was a meniscus repair and ended up being an ACL repair as well. 6 weeks of recovery turned into 8 or 9 months, but I didn’t let it stop me. 1 week after surgery I was in full brace climbing up Castle Rock; 2 weeks after surgery I climbed the Fire Tower; about 5 weeks after surgery, still in full leg brace I was climbing the rocks in Moab; and just 2 months after surgery I climbed up Mt. Yale, our toughest mountain climb to date!

So, we were blessed with about a foot of snow in Castle Rock yesterday! It was that really wet, heavy stuff! As I said, the day was wild - it rained, sleeted, snowed and even the sun came out at one point! Up by the office there was no accumulation, however as you crossed over Surrey Ridge, it changed to winter again! Even the kids got sent home from school early! It continued to rain/snow throughout the night, however there was no more accumulation to speak of. Much of it melted today and hopefully the rest will go tomorrow. They're calling for more tomorrow night - we'll see if they're right! Did I mention, I done with snow already???!!!

It's Ranining, It's Snowing...

and this poor lady has to go to work... wah!

Weather in Colorado in April is fun! Yesterday we had a tornado warning at the office. The company choose to evacuate from the (top) 14th floor and we all headed to the basement garage for about 30 minutes. Eventually we got the all clear and our "recess" was over! On he way home last night, it didn't start pouring until I got off the bus to meet Dan and then it came down in buckets! I woke up really early this morning to hear more rain, but before we left for work at 6:25 it was SNOWING!!! We had about 1/4" and it was that wet, heavy, slushy stuff! But as we drove North up to Denver, the snow turned back to rain and it's just wet, damp and miserable here. I wish I would have called in sick on a day like this!

This has been a busy week at our house. Melanie has been busy at school every night preparing for opening night of the "Steel Magnolia's" play. She is in charge of costumes and must remain backstage to assist the actresses with their costumes. Last night was opening night and she said all went well on her end and the girls only forgot a few lines. There will be 2 more performances next week. I think she's really enjoying herself.

Last night Dan and I discussed our next trip to Asia. We think it will be China, but are still considering some other countries. We really wanted to go to Thailand originally however with all the problems there right now, it's out of the picture. Vietnam might be a consideration and we are still researching. We have 195,000 frequent flyer miles, so we can now fly anywhere in the world for free, so let's make it a good place!

I completed my first layout page for my 101 Things scrapbook - "No Pain". I will have to post a picture later, but I am pleased (mostly) with the way it turned out. It is not embellished at all and I think it needs something, I just don't know what. Next I've turned to some photos from our climb up Mt. Yale on the 4th of July, 2008. For my mountain climb pictures, I usually scrap in green, blue or brown based on the scenery, but this time I choose red, white and blue for the date! Well, the white is tan, but you get the picture! I plan to finish that one up tomorrow when Dan is at work, so I should have pictures of that one soon as well. Finally I'm back into scrapbooking and I'm loving it! I have such a mountain of pictures and albums to work on that it gets overwhelming to think about. But if I take it one day at a time....

Well, I really must get to work! Later!

Quick Cards

I had a few pieces of leftover cardstock from Rhonda's project so I decided to whip up a few simple cards and send them to her along with her pages. I think they turned out cute! I embossed the stamped sentiment, incorporated the ribbon through the flower and lined the inside with white cardstock. I made 2 of each color so the second set will go to Operation Write Home as part of my 101 promised cards this year!

I picked up some (old) pictures last night from Walgreen's so that I could start scrapping again! I've decided it's time to start working on my book - "101 Things" since I've accomplished around a dozen of them already! The first page will be about the elimination of the pain in my knee - my surgery from 2 years ago! I already have the layout spread out on my desk and I'm trying to get the colors and details picked out! It feels good to get a page worked on! I sometimes get so overwhelmed with all the "unfinished" projects I have started! One step at a time, huh?

Off to create...