Birthdays, shmirthdays!!!
That's seems to be my mantra these days! From expensive venues for a 4 yr old's party to a non-initiative-taking hubby to plan my 40th, I am OVER it already!!!
(I will apologize right now for venting on your screen but I just have to get this all off my chest so that I can sleep at night!! For those that don't want to read all of this, I did do something crafty this week 7 I posted it towards the end - scroll on down!)
The 4 Year Old...
Maggie's party has been a little less of a headache once I finally gave up on trying to hold it outside the home! I tell ya, Denver-proper isn't the best location for a kids birthday party in the winter time! (we wanted to stay close to home since Maggie's classmates have been invited & we don't want people to have to venture too far off their turf to come!) With the weather being to iffy around here for anything outdoors, like the zoo (which is almost $300 anyway), we are stuck with something like Chuck E Cheese, pottery or bounce-houses. But after looking into all the fees these venues want for a mere 2 hours of fun (anywhere from $175-300!!), we simply can't afford to do it! So, I had to break the news to Mags that mommy & daddy don't have the money for the party to be anywhere but at home - a hard concept for a pre-schooler to get! Surprisingly, after I mentioned that we would have a cupcake-decorating game during the party, she was happy as a clam! Oh, to be 4 again!! Once that was out of the way, I had a great time adding some new stuff to her Toys R Us wishlist! So many cool books & things out there!!
The 39.9 yr old...
Back to me, because it is all about me! (Right Rach?) Nick, family & friends have all been bugging me about what I want to do for my birthday for weeks now. Ideally, my scrapbooking pals would hop on a boat for a scrapbook cruise or maybe caravan to some hideaway, but since $$ is tight & everything local is booked, my FABULOUS sister has so graciously kicked her family out of the house for the weekend after my birthday so that we can craft & hang out with the girls all weekend!! I had really hoped that Nick would be planning something big - whether it be a party or a short trip somewhere, but as I discovered the other day, this wasn't going to be the case...
It all started with a bit of a meltdown. It could have been the 2 days worth of bad sleep or it could have been the PMS. Or, maybe it was because my husband, who CAN be sentimental, endearing & considerate on a
really good day (like the anniversary surprise trip to Chicago last year), didn't manage to get me anything for Valentine's Day! Then he has the nerve to TELL me he has to go out & get me a card! DON'T TELL ME THAT! JUST DO IT & I wouldn't have even batted an eye!! Then, he goes to the store/out (for 2+ hours) & manages to leave the unpaid cards in his shopping basket, so that there's still nothing for me - he did manage to get some ice cream for Maggie though! Grrrr! So, I stew on this for about 24 hours...
The Stinker...
During dinner the other night, he tells me that my great & awesome friend Shirley emailed me about a guest list for a party that the "two of them" are supposedly planning (I know that she'll be doing most of it!!). At first I thought, great! Finally some sort of action is being taken, but then I just had to ask, "Ummm, where is this party going to take place?" "Here of course." was his response. And mine was, "So, I get to bust my butt cleaning the house to get ready for my own party! Wahoooo! Can't wait!"
I know, not very delicate, huh? But I was irritated & was beginning to feel like a total afterthought on his behalf! If it weren't for my sister, mom & Shirley, we would probably be doing the "date night" thing on my birthday, which just doesn't fly for a 40th celebration!
I was really upset by my husbands lack of initiative here & felt pretty depressed about it for a couple of days. But in the end, I agreed that having the party here would be the lesser of 2 evils (having it out would be pricey, plus finding a place for all of us is a pain; & it's likely that more of the people they invite will come to the house anyway!) & be happy that we'll be celebrating in some fashion!
ENOUGH!
Back to the good stuff...
I recently re-arranged our front room a little bit to create a make-shift hall tree for coats & things. While I still need to make my coat rack to go under the mirror instead of my collaged window, (like this one pictured here), I got this idea to put up a vintage-style sign by the telephone, where incidentally, I put my fabulous vintage red metal stool! So, I made this great collage on a 16x20" canvas.
I had this great vintage postcard of a girl on the phone, so I scanned it & enlarged it for the main pc in the collage. I also had seen a vintage sign for sale on ebay that gave me the wording for the canvas tag I made from cotton duck & stamps. I then found some great graphics online
by Studio Manu at Scrapbook Graphics & promptly set to cutting the little details out (I gave up on the scrolled iron work around the street lamps as I was afraid my skills weren't up to those tiny pcs!). Then I finished it off with some little found objects in my stash to bring it all some dimension.
I just love collage art & I think it's such an interesting piece to have on the wall now! I am hoping to bring a class together like this for Scrap-a-Teeny soon!
Thanks for letting me share the drama & the fun with you today!
There's just something about a little kid in their snow-gear sitting in the snow that makes me smile. They seem so small all bundled up like the Michelin Man, barely able to put their arms down at their sides! and nothing beats plopping down into the snow to make a few snow angels - although Maggie hates it when the snow goes down her neck, so she won't always bless us with an angel! But really, her favorite thing to do when it's snowed like this? EAT SNOW! Every time I turned around, she had a mound of snow in her hands pressed up to her face! And later that day, she would run outside to fill a container with snow to eat while we watched a movie! At one point, I was in my studio working, and she brought me some snow soup, aptly decorated with the cupcake sprinkles she found in the cupboard! She's a resourceful little girl! (I found sprinkles for days after that all over the house in little piles!!)
