trying something new

I've been playing with typepad this morning and will probably continue to play all day (I shouldn't have to work on my birthday, right?!) For the next month I have a free trial so you'll be able to find my blog entries there. We'll see if it lasts!

http://jesshunt.typepad.com/enjoying_the_ride/

with friends like these....

Once again I'm reminded of how lucky I am to have such wonderful people in my life. Today after work my girlfriends took me out for dinner and drinks at my favorite Thai place. We all had drinks with umbrellas and everyone was fully cooperative in having their picture taken! We laughed so hard that we cried - it was a wonderful birthday present :)

Back to work....

I forgot to take my picture this morning before school!! lol...I was going to do it, then I forgot....oh well....maybe next year ;)

I have boring trainings much of the week but there will also be time to re-organize my desk and get new forms and test kits ready to go in between calls and emails from teachers and parents. I talked to two parents today and everyone was very nice and in a good mood - perfect way to start a new year! My co-workers are a different story - so many of them seem to be in a constant state of stress!!

This year I'm trying a new thing that I call my personal bubble of calm. It's an imaginary bubble of space around me that is calming and soothing - anyone who is freaking out may not come near my bubble of calm! So far so good - had to back away from a couple people today who were within striking distance of my bubble...lol...could be an interesting year!

Off to watch Big Brother and Rock Star INXS - I think Wil missed me when he was away last night because he even agreed to watch the shows with me! Could be a birthday week treat too :)

it's a school night....

Yep, it's true....my summer vacation officially ends when that alarm goes off early tomorrow morning. Mind you I've been getting up quite early all summer long, but it's going to feel MUCH different tomorrow morning. Technically I was "invited" to my first meeting with parents today - at 7:30 this morning to be exact! I had glanced at some work email when I got home from my trip, but as I was re-reading it this morning I suddenly realized I had to get in the shower and to one of my schools in a quick hurry. And so it begins...the next week will be filled with lots of last minute details as we prepare for the kids to arrive at school. As a school psychologist, most of my job revolves around making sure that new kids are placed in the appropriate setting for their educational needs. This morning's meeting was for a 2nd grader with some significant behavior problems. I certainly applaud parents for letting us know what's going on upfront so that we can be prepared and help the child be as successful as possible - I just wish we didn't have to do it at 7:30 this morning :) Oh well...it really is all worth it in the end when you see children happy and learning. As I was thinking about the first day of school I remembered this layout that I had done for a slumber party scrap at SBB awhile ago. Then I got to thinking about what going back to school used to be like. Mom would arrange my brother and I on the front step of the house and take our picture before the bus came (this tradition must have stopped somewhere around middle school I'm thinking...lol) New clothes, new school supplies, and most importantly...new backpack and lunch box! Good stuff :) I still get a bit of a thrill looking through the school supply aisle at stores and always buy myself some back-to-school treat. This year I found some cool mechanical pencils that I'll be able to use when testing. It really is the little things like cool pencils and a fancy sticky note pad that make work a little more fun! No bus picking me up tomorrow morning...and Wil won't even be here to take my back-to-school picture since he's gone to Seattle to watch the Mariners/Yankees game with his dad. Just me and the kitties...oh...and Matt Lauer of course....my back-to-school routine always involves catching the first 20 mintues of the Today show :)

Hazel - aka Tilly

Sunday is the day that I visit Hazel (nicknamed Tilly - and that's how I most often refer to her!) I met Tilly through my mother-in-law who handles all of her finances and such. When she went on an extended vacation she asked me to check in on Tilly - I've been visiting with her almost every Sunday since then! She is now 101 years old and still quite sharp and witty!! I was challenged at the Scrapartist All Day Crop to get a picture of her today at my visit and then scrap it along with a little bit of her history. Well when I went to visit I figured out pretty quickly that today was not really a good picture day. She was a bit anxious about an upcoming doctor's appointment - so instead I asked her if she would let me take her photo album for a week. She seemed quite excited that I wanted to do something with her pictures! The picture above on the left is from her album - her husband Ray passed away a very long time ago - but she still speaks so fondly of him and the time they spent together. They were married in 1932, but I'm not sure when that picture was taken. The picture on the right is one of my own that I took at her 100th birthday party. I really look forward to my Sunday visits with Tilly - I feel very lucky to know her!! I'm hoping to scrap some of the photos she gave me in the very near future :)

In other news (as my friend Danni likes to say!) I had such a fun day at the All Day Crop over at Scrapartist and am happy to announce that I hosted my very first crop today - how fun!! Everyone was hillarious and I think they had a great time too :) All of the crops were a lot of fun - kudos to everyone that hosted, created freebies, and attended the crops today! I'm heading off to the gallery there now to comment on layouts - lots to see!

highlights from my trip

Just a disclaimer that these are not the actual scrapbook pages - just a summary of the trip for my family - wanted to get the story and photos out and I know it will take me time to scrap them. Check it out if you have any interest!

SNAKE RIVER RAFTING ADVENTURE

Come visit me.....

At my very first crop hosting gig tomorrow at Scrapartist.com!! There is a whole day full of events and you can read about all of it here - ALL DAY CROP SCHEDULE - there are special treats at each crop too that you can add on to a free paper pack that we are giving away. Look forward to seeing you there!

Home Sweet Home

While I am happy to be back with all of the comforts of my home I have to say that I had a BLAST out there!

Many stories to tell and pictures to share - will get everything sorted out this weekend I hope so I can post as much as possible. I have a waterproof camera that I need to get to Walmart for processing and there will be pictures from others too....so many scrapping opportunities coming up! This is a favorite picture already though - me and Wil on our boat. This raft that we rented came with some problems, but all in all it kept us afloat for the 5 days.

So I think I'm finally through all of the emails and blogs that I wanted to catch up on - I'm doing my best to put off any unpacking/laundry types of tasks. Unfortunately, I will have to get to it sooner rather than later as work starts up again for me on this coming Tuesday.

For the moment I think Walmart just opened so I will go and get those pictures developed (I can't remember the last time I had real live film developed!!) More story to follow!

Packed and ready to go....I think!

Tomorrow morning we pack up the car, pick up our raft, and head east toward the
Snake River! I spent the day cooking/baking and packing and I think we just have a few little things to do in the morning before heading out. It's a bit different than packing for other trips when you think you can just pick something up if you forget it...once you're on the river there's really not anywhere to pick anything up from! We certainly won't go hungry - I have enough treats and snacks to feed a small army :)

I'll be away from my computer until we get back home next Friday or Saturday - I will miss my little scrapbooking world but look forward to discovering a whole new world out there on the river. (and I'm sure I'll come back with a great many pictures to scrap!)

Have a great week everyone and I'll chat at ya when I return!