Creative Juices

I Beseech You

When Steve and I were first picking out all the fun stuff for our new house, and being bombarded with choices, we decided not to get a garage door opener. The lovely Mascha insisted that we could easily install one ourselves, and for much cheaper than what Beazer Homes was asking for.
Six months later, after six months of getting out of my car to open and close the garage door by hand, we finally bought an opener and had it installed (not like WE were going to install it ourselves).
Its very exciting. Who would have thought?
I'll name him George. George the Garage Door Opener.

If You're Listening

Sorry I didnt post these yesterday, had trouble ftping. All fixed now.
Here's a shot of Myveryownbag2. Isnt she cute?
And an aerial shot of Myveryownbag2
And, of course, Belle sniffing out Myveryownbag2.
Cooper was not so interested.

My Very Own Bag (2) My Very Own Bag (2)

If you're a faithful reader, you may have remembered all the way back in March, when I first got Myveryownbag. I found a girl online, that sews custom bags. She freakin rocks. You must go to girlworks and buy a bag. Not only are they perfect, but she'll sew customized pockets inside...
Today, I received Version 2 of Myveryownbag. I'll post pictures tomorrow. This bag is not only beautiful, but has perfect pockets for a pen, my cell phone, chapstick and even a reinforced loop to hang my caribiner o' keys.
I love Myveryownbag (2)!

Oh The Weather Outside is Frightful

I've lived in this area for three winters now. And one thing I've learned is that the first snow of the season is always the worst. Doesnt matter if it's 1/2 an inch or 3 feet. Baaaad things will happen.
Take yesterday.
Less than an inch of snow fell in the Raleigh/Durham area. Between the hours of 11am and 2pm. I was out and about at that time, driving, and I did advise to others that the roads werent pretty. On my way back from lunch, which is normally a five minute drive... people were sliding all around and I saw several accidents.
According to my favorite news channel, there were over 400 accidents in Raleigh yesterday. It took one of my coworkers 7 hours to get home (a drive that is normally about 45 minutes). Wake County school kids got stuck at school because the buses couldnt make it and their parents were stuck wherever. How crazy is that?
It makes me wonder though... why havent we (people as a whole) gotten better at handling the craziness of weather? If my Pampered Chef ice cream scoop is capable of melting ice because of the anti-freeze like stuff inside it... why havent we put that ultra melting stuff in the asphalt? Why arent cars equipped with little laser beams that melt the snow in front of you as you drive? I know my ideas are crazy, and there are plenty of reasons why they wouldnt work... but really, we're better than this, people. We've been trying to figure out weather forever, and the men with degrees in it still cant get it right.
Maybe we should try to be prepared... like sand down the roads BEFORE it snows.

If You Leave, I Wont Cry

Yes, yes, I survived.
It was quite the learning experience.

Things I Learned:
1. I am a "Champion Colorer"
2. Sucesses on Day 1 may not mean success on Day 2. Such as, the 'play bath' On Day 1, The Girls spent over an hour, playing in the bath tub. (my garden tub). They even whined when I made them get out because it was time for bed. They begged to take a longer bath the next day and I promised they could. Prior to our weekend, Rachel had even told me that putting them in the bath was a great way to find time for yourself (to keep from going insane, I presumed). On Day 1, I did use that time wisely. And on Day 2, I looked forward to it again. Except, on Day 2, the 'play bath' was less than sucessful. The water was too hot, then too cold. They called me every five minutes (which makes watching a tv show very difficult). And were done with their bath and ready to get out in less than an hour.
3. "Mr. Oz is a Slug." Mr. Oz is what they call The Steve (they also call him Mr. Steve and Mr. Stevie. Oz is a nickname of his at church, because there are too many Steve's). Meg said "Mr. Oz is a Slug." And then she went on to explain why. Because he slept in late, sat on the couch all day, watched tv all day, and walked around slow. These are, apparently, slug-like qualities. If I would have had an ounce of kindness left in me at the end of Day 1, I would have defended him. But instead, I agreed.
4. Two may not be better than one. The jury is still out on that one. Two, that close in age, are hard to handle. They can gang up on you, too. And, one minute they love each other, the next minute they hate each other. We all know I dont like emotional rollercoasters.
5. I'm a softee. "Miss Sabrina, you give us a lot more second chances than Mommy does." Unfortunately for Meg, after pointing that out, I was a little less generous.
6. It's not easy to define words or answer questions right off the top of your head (at least not for me). Take for instance the magnet my mom brought and stuck on my fridge, a pink ribbbon that says "Support the Cure." Well, we all know magnets are fun. And Kyra can read... "Support the Cure." But they didnt know what that meant. So, I tried to explain it. I came up with "Supporting is when you give your prayers, and sometimes money and time to something, and this magnet is talking about the cure, fixing, for cancer." But in response I get "What's cancer?" Uh. Uh. Well, bless your innocent little hearts for not knowing what cancer is yet. And how in the world do you explain something as terrible as cancer to an almost 5 and 7 year old. "Kinda like the flu, only worse." Yep. That was my response. I'll apologize to Curtis and Rachel later.

Still, we had fun. They are delightful little girls with amazingly developed personalities. I love hanging out with time, cuddling on the couch with them, remembering to feed them...

The Girls
Me and The Girls

But that doesnt mean I'm ready for my own. When I dropped them off at Benji's house he asked just that. And my "No." may have come a little too quickly.

It's Saturday Morning, And Who's Gonna Play With Me?

Starting at 7:30pm tonight, I (with the help of The Steve) will embark on my longest ever mommyhood trial. For 48 hours, I will be the the one of charge of The Girls. You know The Girls...
Curtis and Rachel are taking a well deserved vacation, Rachel's parents bought them a cruise for their 10th anniversary. Awesome, huh? So, while they're gone for the week, I've got The Girls through the weekend and then I get to hand them off to my pastor and his wife (Benji and Amy Lynn). They already have four children, so whats two more?
I'm excited about hanging out with The Girls for this long, though. We should have fun. If I can remember to feed them lunch (though I'm sure they'll remind me), it should be good.
My poor cats probably wont enjoy their extended visit... you can only hide under the bed for so long...
Well, maybe I'll take some cute pictures to post on Monday. If I survive.

Maybe I'm Amazed

Leave it to me to find God in a love song on The OC Mix 2 soundtrack. Sung by Jem (though I wouldnt say she's truly outrageous).

Maybe I'm amazed at the way you love me all the time
Maybe I'm afraid of the way I love you
Maybe I'm amazed at the way you pulled me out of time
And hung me on a line
Maybe I'm amazed at the way I really need you

Maybe I'm a girl and maybe I'm a lonely girl
Who's in the middle of something
That she doesn't really understand

Maybe I'm a girl and maybe you're the only man
Who could ever help me
Baby won't you help me understand

Maybe I'm amazed at the way you're with me all the time
Maybe I'm afraid of the way I leave you
Maybe I'm amazed at the way you help me sing my song
Right me when I'm wrong
Maybe I'm amazed at the way I really need you

Maybe I'm a girl and maybe I'm a lonely girl
Who's in the middle of something
That she doesn't really understand

Maybe I'm a girl and maybe you're the only man
Who could ever help me
Baby won't you help me understand

Maybe I'm amazed at the way you're with me all the time
Maybe I'm afraid of the way I leave you
Maybe I'm amazed at the way you help me sing my song
Right me when I'm wrong
Maybe I'm amazed at the way I really need you

In The Mood

So, New Years Eve.
We had a Murder Mystery Party with our Small Group from church. You might think boring, but it turned out to be tons of fun.
I bought the game from Dinner and a Murder Mystery Games We had a large crowd, 18 people. Most sites once went up to 10-12 characters, but Dinner and a Murder had scripts for large groups. We did "Murder at the Four Dueces" which required very fun 20's style costumes.
Here's how it worked. I was just the host, so I did all the organizing, casting and answering questions during the night. Next time, I'll probably play along, but for this one, with it being everyone's first time, I'm glad I was on the sidelines. So, I casted the parts (very well, I might add) and sent out character descriptions to everyone. The person being murdered (which happens at the party) and the murderer know who they are beforehand.
So, everyone arrived, all dressed to their parts (which was impressive in itself, see pictures below). Several people had things to accomplish in their character descriptions and the character being murdered had a checklist as well. Once he had everything done, he nodded to me, I cut the lights and played a gun shot. Andrew (the one murdered) did an excellent job of falling down my stairs. And Rae, Holly, and Cindy (his casted wife, daughter, and mother) did an excellent job of screaming.
And so it began. Andrew quickly returned as the inspector for the evening and then they spent the next two hours trying to figure out who the murderer was.
I served drinks, answered questions, took pictures and laughed and laughed.
The game ended close to 11:30pm, just in time to announce the murderer (I wont tell you who it was, just in case you buy the game), give out prizes and pour champagne.
It was wonderful to ring in the New Year with our new friends.
Have a look!
Group Shot
My Pastor and His Wife
Rachel and Andrew
Steve & Kimberly (my next door neighbors), Brad and Brian
CJ & Holly
Brad, Christine and Rachel
The Hostess with the Mostest

Should Auld Acquaintance Be Forgot

Happy 2005 Everybody!
I had, what was probably, my best New Years thus far. The Steve and I hosted a Murder Mystery Party, with a large group of great friends from church. It was super fun! Pictures and details will be blogged tomorrow.
But for now, I thought I'd follow suit. Suit being Nick, who followed Tim, who followed... I dont know.
The trouble with this would be that I have to actually remember things. I'm not very good at remembering...

Here is 2004!
Movie: Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (the only movie I saw twice in 2004)
CD: The OC: Mix 1
TV Station: The WB
TV Show: always a tough one... today I'll go with Alias, cause I'm anticipating its return this week.
Concert: Dave Matthews Band
Biggest Letdown: I cant think of anything, lucky me.
Weblog: Buzz's blog (ocfan.blogspot.com) (which no longer exists, and I dont know why)
Corporate Restaurant: Red Robin
Mom and Pop Restaurant: 518 West
City: NYC, of course
Friends: Slava
New Friends: (I have been overly blessed with new friends this year), Curtis & Rachel, JJ & Angela, Josh & Mamie, all the couples in my small group...
Project: The Kitchen's (beautiful) Stripes (from hell)
Gadget: GBA SP (LECE)
Computer Program: iDVD (so I dont own it, but I got to watch Nick put Emily's wedding together and the program is very very nice)
Best Day: July 30
Worst Day: July 8
Food: Plain Bagel, Plain Cream Cheese from Bruegger's
Best Money Spent: The Island in my kitchen, or The Steve's eyes
Book: America - The Book
Trip: Charlotte, for Creative Memories Regional Convention
Holiday: New Year's Eve