Computer crash.

Just a quick "I am still alive" post.

My computer crashed. It is being fixed.

Come to think of it, everything I have touched lately has turned to crap.

Our Suburban needs a new transmission. The washer is freaking out. I made copies at a copy center and blew the copier. Sparks even. It was so bad this last week, Sam didn't want me touching HIM.

Oh well.

Anyone reading this?

To the 100 or so regulars that come here...thank you! Thanks for making me feel like I am sort-of communicating with adults.


I have no idea how to respond to your comments, it directs me to an empty blogger e-mail page. Just know that you have made me smile, and feel a little less like a psycho.

Weather extremes.

We came back from 85 degree weather, to Autumn in full force.

I have always loved Fall.

I love the rich colors of the leaves. I love crock-pot meals, and warm homemade bread. (Bread-maker!) I love having the holiday season right around the corner, and a good excuse to bring out the Christmas music. Cranking the Trans-Siberian Orchestra always puts me in a good mood.

Most of all, I love breaking out my sweatshirts and track pants again. I love the warm, comfortable bagginess of my cold season attire.

The razor gets used less too.

So...here's to Autumn. It's no beach in Puerto Rico, but it's still pretty cool.

Apologizing in Advance

I have been home from our trip for two days now.

For two days, I have been on the toilet. Constantly.

No, not sick, just normal happenings. I am relieving my bowels of a weeks worth of...um, "collection."

I have this thing, where whenever I go somewhere, could be overnight, could be a week. Could be a foreign country, a cruise ship, or camping in my own tent in the canyons 20 minutes away from my front door. I can't *go.* It's like my butt gets anxiety.

It's not that I don't "need" to *go.* I get the stomach cramps, the bloating... I just can't *go.*

And in Puerto Rico, I ate fresh fruit, greasy fried crud, pastries with cheesy-like substance in the center. I even drank water right out of the tap. One would think I would have the opposite problem that I did. One would think I would be able to produce stool O' plenty.

Nada.

Butt-anxiety. The toilet paper in the hotel mocks me.

Sam doesn't get it. He can *go* on cue. Anytime. Anywhere. Sometimes several times a day. My kids are fine too, in that respect.

It's almost like as soon as I hit my front door, and the smell from my paint, or sawdust or the general Wadley family stench--sent the signal to my bowels. Home Sweet Home.

And the bowels unclenched.

Knee deep...

...in laundry and photo editing.

And hopped up on cold meds.

Here are a few photos from the rain forest in Puerto Rico.
Happy Thursday!!

I'm home.

This past weekend was the Utah Education Association (UEA) weekend. Which basically means the kids were out of school, so Sam and I had the bright idea to take off on a quick vacay with the offspring. We dragged my Mom and Dad along with us, and flew away to Puerto Rico.

I am telling you--this was the coolest place I have ever been. Beautiful! And there is a rain forest in Puerto Rico. I have always dreamed of seeing a rain forest, and it was freaking awesome! Dense and green and lush. Saturated. That was the word that kept coming to my mind. You know when you edit photos in Photoshop, and you keep adding color until it almost looks unnatural...that was this rain forest. And the earthy smell, and the thick stillness. It was one of those "wish I could bottle this up and save some for later" moments. Sometimes just pictures and words alone don't do justice to an experience like that.

The beach was gorgeous. The colors of the whole island, and the people, and the local food...such a great place. Sensory overload. We plan on going back.

Some point in the middle of the trip I caught a cold. I feel like dog-crap. Just completely drained. And a cancelled flight, and Sam ditching me with all five kids. No luggage. Needing a vacation from our vacation.

I just wanted to check in. More later. Need to pack my oldest for Clear Creek (a 5th grade over-nighter...yipee!!)

Still running.

I went running again this morning. Hurt my knee again. Dang! I am really bummed.

I dropped down to one mile last week, and did fine, so I bumped it up to three this morning...

A few of you have asked about my iPod playlist I like to run with. So, here it is. A rather eclectic mix, but works for me. The beat is particularly great for use while LIMPING HOME.


Shauntes Songs to get you MOVING!!
(1) Baby One More Time
(2) Oops I Did It Again
(3) Lucky
(4) I’m a Slave for You
(5) Stronger
(6) Toxic
These first songs are Britney Spears. I am a closet fan. Yes, she is skanky. But dang if her music doesn’t get you moving! My dance moves could use some work. You could skip them if you wanted- but give them a chance if you haven’t relived your high school drill team years recently. Could be toxic.
(7) Strip
A classic by Adam Ant. A two hit wonder- he also did Goody Two Shoes. “…we’re just following ancient history…if I Strip for you, will you Strip for me….” Yeah, but only in pitch black with maybe one tea-light.
(8)You Sexy Thing-Hot Chocolate
A little 70’s number. I sometimes have to fight with myself, because it is so tempting to stop for a minute and just "do the hustle" right there on the street corner.
(9) Hey Baby
(10) Hella Good
Two in a row from No Doubt. The first being Shiannes favorite song. She insisted. And the second I think it a Gold’s Gym staple. I have never gone there when they haven’t played it. Brings back fond memories of me sweating my balls off on the Elliptical machine.
(11) Cotton Eyed-Joe-RedNex (their real name)
In my opinion, Country music at its best. Tim McGraw ain't got nothin' on the RedNex.
(12) Whenever, Whatever
(13) Ojos Asi
A little ethnic flavor from Shakira. Also, because on the first song-my favorite line…”lucky that my breasts are small and humble, so you don’t confuse then with mountains.” I can relate...
(14) Peek-A-Boo-Siouxie and the Banshees
I don’t care who you are- this is a great song. One of my faves from High School. It wasn’t until I was an adult that I listened close and realized the song is talking about a lonely prostitute that gives, um...satisfaction to very specific body parts.
(15) 99 Luftballoons-Nena
This is the German version. Sometimes I sing along, and I think my accent is getting pretty good.
(16) Holding Out for a Hero-Bonnie Tyler
And aren’t we all still holding out? Where have all the good men gone? Were there any to begin with?
(17) Come On Eileen-Dexy’s Midnight Runners
Oh yeah. What a great song. If this song doesn’t make you want to go out and buy some new lingerie you need your hormone levels checked.
(18) Solsbury Hill
(19) Sometimes
This list wouldn’t be right without a little Erasure- the greatest band ever. I put it on the end of the list for the grand finale. They rock.

So there it is. My current playlist.

Cuckoo-Nut alert.

Last night I dreamed I went to an Erasure concert, well, a dress-rehearsal concert, actually. It was at my old high school, and all my high school friends were there, but older and fatter and a little wrinkly, like we are now.

I took Mikayla with me...and Andy Bell kept pulling her up in the stage to help him out. She was so cute, she had pink pants on and piggy tails.

It was a great dream. The concert was awesome! They did all my favorites. But we couldn't clap, you know, cause it was a dress-rehearsal.

Man, someone really needs to get out more.

House stuff.

Well, this last week has been insulation week. A boring step, but a necessary one, especially with the cold Utah weather rolling in.

Sam has been working two jobs, one a graveyard shift, so he is rarely home, which leaves him scratching his head to my frequent break-downs.

"Honey, when the boys pee, it freezes before it hits the bowl. When did you say the insulation was coming?" (this of course muffled by my sweatsuit and parka)

My dishwasher chops food particles into a fine mist and sprays them evenly over all the dishes in the cycle.

The doorbell isn't hooked up. No one knows this, and stands on my porch, ringing and ringing, until telepathically I feel them there.

My washer is possessed by the devil. Periodically it just stops, for no apparent reason, and I have to slam my fist down on the lid in the top left-hand corner to get it going again. The repair man came out, and it worked like a charm for him.

These are things I work around. But Tuesday took the cake. I had some insulation guys show up. Sam had gotten home at 4:30 am and was in bed. So I answered the door. They were a couple of hispanic workers. I have no problem with this, I *do* however have a problem with the fact that they didn't understand a word I was saying to them. They looked at me with that doe-eyed blank look, and then turned to each other and rattled something off in Spanish.

I am racking my brain trying to conjure up Spanish words that I know. I can count, and I know the months of the year, and how to say things not remotely related to "garage" or "power source" or "in addition to the original bid." Nothing is helpful. I tried hand-gestures and pointing...and finally, defeated, I went up and woke Sam, who speaks fluent Spanish.

He got dressed, and stumbled down, bleary-eyed.

Ten minutes later he came back upstairs.

"Why didn't you just tell them to open the garage, and start on the back wall?"
"Because I don't speak Spanish."
"Well, they were speaking English to me."

Whaaaaa?
They were playing DUMB with me??

Back that bus up.

Sam started out speaking Spanish, and that broke the ice, I guess, and made them remember that they really do understand and speak the English language.

It made me mad. So I left. I wandered around Target, and Costco, and the local scrapbook store. And then stopped in my Mom's house to kill more time.

And when I came home, the insulation was done.

And I have some new dishcloths and a pair of shoes and some Fancy Pants chipboard letters.


Que tenga un buen día!

Dirt Cheap.

I can't see how they would be making any money with these prices...

If you have ever been curious about the Clikit (an eyelet setting tool) now is the time to buy one. Last year they came out with the Jumbo eyelets (on clearance too) and the Jumbo adapter. Didn't think I would be doing eyelets again, but I love the huge ones! They have sayings around the perimeter.

Here is the link:

http://www.scrapbookpaper.com/tek9.asp?pgID=4&pg=products&grp=633

Don't forget to check out what is left of the mini-chipboard albums. (For $1.50!)
Here:
http://www.scrapbookpaper.com/tek9.asp?pgID=&pg=products&pbk=1&grp=373


If your order is over fifty bucks, the whole thing ships free. I hate paying for shipping...

Happy Shopping, heh, heh.

Imaginisce

I have been doing a few layouts for the Imaginisce booth at Memory Trends. I really love working with their product. Lots of shiny embellishments, perfect for my inner squirrel!

Want to see?

So...that is what I have been up to. I have completed 67 layouts in about three weeks. Last night I designed a mini-album for a class, and today I am waiting for a package so I can design a calendar. You know what? As much as I love it...

...If I don't happen to see a paper trimmer until the CHA Winter rush in December, I don't think I will be sad.

Socks.

I used to have a few pairs of those bootie socks with pom-poms on the back, right where your heel goes. It was in Junior High, and quite fashionable, I believe. Of course, this was right during the height of LA Gear High-top popularity, and it was such a bad mix.

I remember hitting gym, and I either stuffed the pom-poms into the high-top, thus causing a painful lump right over my Achilles tendon, or I would simply and sadly yank the pom-pom off. This caused another major problem...When I would run, the stupid bootie sock, stripped of apparently the only elastic woven into it (when the pom-pom was severed) would gradually slide down into the shoe, and end up being balled up towards my toe. It still makes me frustrated just thinking about it. I called them creepers.

Sometimes I didn't even have clean socks to wear. Growing up in a family of five girls, anything left unattended was fair game. Bra's, shirts, chocolate, and yes, socks.

And we wore the socks, until literally I think they disintegrated into a puff of lint. What I hated more than the creepers were the quitters. The socks that lost the elastic up top, and when you walked, would creep down your leg, and hang out the bottoms of your pegged jeans. Pull them up...Down they slide. Pull, slide, pull, slide. All day long. Some genious that had a drawer full of quitters, started the "roll two nested pairs of socks down to the top of your LA Gears", just make sure they exactly match your off the shoulder Flashdance sweatshirt.

This was the beginning of my sock obsession.

When I got my first job, I started buying Hanes Crew length white in those bulk packages. No sliding down. Enough elastic everywhere to gently cup your foot. I was in heaven. And I hid them, from my sisters.

There is nothing like a new pair of socks, right out of the package. No stains, or stretchy bulges. Thick cottony goodness. No quitters or creepers.

I still wear Hanes Crew length. When they start to show signs of quitting, I retire them. I know they aren't in style. Everyone else is wearing No-Show booties again.

HA! I scoff at you.