It's official! Hell has frozen over!

Yup, it's true!! Hell must have frozen over for these incredible things to have happened.There are all random events from the past few weeks but totally all the proof I need.

First of all, I GOT A DIAMOND RING!! Woohoo!! It only took 15.5 years of marriage. I love it! here it is:

It's so pretty and sparkly... and I got a diamond heart pendant as well. Yay! Love them both! Thanks to my hubby for these wonderful gifts!

Any of you that know Robin well enough are probably asking yourself what I did to deserve these or what he did that he's trying to make up for. Hmmmm.... I'm still in the dark, please let me know if you figure it out. ;-)

Secondly, I went camping. I can hear your gasps already! Anyone that knows me well enough knows that I no longer camp, therefore hell must have frozen over to get me out into the woods. And the most amazing thing is that we didn't have a torrential downpour on our campsite and ruin our weekend. It was actually pretty enjoyable with nice weather. Huh, never thought I'd say that. I'm not ready to do it again any time soon but I did it and here's the proof:

Finally, you all know that I suffer badly from career ADHD. I'm almost 40 (ACK!) and am still trying to find my place. So I'm happy to report that other than some itchy feet around Canada Day which have now gone away, I have stayed in a job for a year and have no intentions to leave! Isn't that amazing!! Thankfully my bosses have got me all figured out though - they realize I'm a wanderer and keep changing things for me and offering me new and exciting things. Gotta love them! So now in addition to taking courses online to be a bookkeeper, I'm also doing on-the-job training to be a physiotherapy aide and I'm doing OHIP billing for a doctor in one of the other clinics. 

Just more proof that hell has finally frozen over! And I'm loving it!

Cross border shopping drama

This past weekend, my BFF, Monique, and I went shopping across the border. We rented a car, a cute little hybrid and that's where the adventure began. I couldn't figure out how to start the damn thing! There's no key, I understand that part but when I pushed the start button, everything came on except the dang motor. I'd put it in drive and couldn't do anything. After a few unsuccessful attempts, I thought I'd have to go back in to the rental office and shame myself by admitting I couldn't start the car when I noticed there was a little screen that showed a picture of a foot on the brake. Lightbulb!! I figured out that if I put my foot on the brake while I push the button, the motor would start! Yay! Now with some happy squealing and laughter that I finally got the car going we were off!

So we arrived in Liverpool (Syracuse area) at our hotel - Super 8. Not a bad place and it was very cheap! The rooms were clean and the beds comfy enough. We got up Saturday morning and drove to the Waterloo Premium Outlets. We did a lot of of shopping and would meet back at the car every few hours to unload. We bought tons of stuff but overall, the outlets weren't that great. I'm not a brand name shopper so I have a hard time there. Even at 50% off, you could still easily pay $50 for a blouse. Way too much in my opinion. I personally think the outlets are overrated. I shopped only the clearance racks and the most expensive thing I bought was a pair of shoes at $40. I think we can get as good or better prices here if you take your time and shop the clearance racks. The only reason to go back there was for the different stores that we don't have here.

However, after we left Waterloo, we went to Fayetteville Towne Centre in Dewitt, just to the southeast of Syracuse. TJ Maxx, Kohls, Target.... aaahhhh, that's more my pace. We each bought a ton of stuff there for very cheap prices and when we got back to the hotel, we went through everything and ended up returning hundreds of dollars each of purchases to Waterloo on Sunday. LOL! In total we still spent our maximum exemption and exhausted and wanting to get home, we headed for the border.

Those of you that cross border shop know that the maximum is $800 for 48 hours away. Not two days, but 48 hours....exactly. We entered the US on Friday night at about 7:30 and it was now 8 pm on Sunday, just over the 48 hour mark. So, I drive up to the border guard and hand over our passports. He asks me the usual questions, when did you leave the country, do you have any cigarettes or alcohol, fruit or veggies. etc. Then he asks how much we've spent and I tell him the exact numbers from our totaled receipts. Then I have to hand over the receipts. He looks through Monique's receipts carefully and says " these are all dated for Saturday and Sunday. Do you have anything with Friday's date on it? Gas, bank machine, anything?" I was utterly calm up to this point, then panic struck and I thought, "Shit, we went straight to the hotel and stayed put until we went shopping on Saturday morning. Even the hotel didn't give me a receipt because it was all prepaid with points from my credit card. Crap, we have nothing to show when we entered the US. The only thing we did was pay tolls but I didn't get receipts because why would I? Who wants a receipt from a $2 toll?" A few flustered minutes ensued while we were trying to figure out what to do and how to prove that we entered the US on Friday night, exactly 48 hours before, realizing that we're going to have to pay a whole lot of duties on our purchases and make all of our deals useless. UGH! Then totally flustered and at a loss of what to do and no idea what was going to happen, the border guard said thank you and handed everything back to me. Stunned, I said Pardon? and he said thank you again and I took our papers and drove away. Nobody followed us, so I guess we're clear. Phew.  Lesson learned, I will be getting a receipt from the Hill Island toll booth next time. Be sure you do the same!

A few comments about international shopping. Is it just me or are  many people really rude? It was a very busy day at the outlets and there were a lot of tempers being tested of parents shopping for school with their beastly offspring. But really, is it necessary to interrupt when I'm talking to a salesperson or jump in line in front of me? In one store I kept crossing paths with an older couple and each time said excuse me or smiled and let them go first. On our last interaction, the man asked me if I was from Ontario. When I replied yes, we had a polite conversation about how rude people were and how he can often tell the Canadians from the other shoppers because we wait our turn and say please and thank you. It was really incredible. Of course there are lots of rude Canadians, but I've gotta say that New Yorkers were hard to shop next to. I think if I go to the outlets again, it would be on a weekday when presumably it would be less busy. 

Another experience that made me shake my head and go HUH? was when I found a cell phone in the bathroom at Waterloo. It had a password so I couldn't figure out who owned it. The info/security office was literally on the opposite end of the shopping centre from where I found it and I had some returns to make so I put it in my purse and went to make the big return then head over to the security desk to turn it in. When I was in line at the Children's Place, it rang so I answered it and it was the owner so I told her where to find me and we each gave a description so we'd know who to look for. She showed up a minute or two later and I gave her the phone. We chatted for a minute and she thanked me profusely then left the store and I continued to wait in line to make my return. The woman in front of me turned around and asked me how that all happened. I told her the story and she was looking at me as if I had 10 heads. She couldn't believe I was honest as to return the phone. Her shock was shocking to me. Of course I would return the phone, it didn't belong to me. I'm still bewildered by that.... hmmm... fits with my feeling that it is hard to shop next to New Yorkers.

Overall, it was a productive shopping trip - my children won't be naked at school, Robin has a new wardrobe that actually fits him and I have new shoes!! It was fun to get away and have some adventures with  my BFF too. We will do it again, just not anytime soon... I don't think Robin will let me!

My love/hate affair with Pinterest, with a few Epic Fails thrown in for good measure

Aaahhhhhh Pinterest... Gotta love it! I could browse the arts, crafts and DIY boards for hours. Sometimes I do. I always walk away feeling inspired but marginally ticked off with myself that I just wasted all that time looking at other people's ideas and not using the time to be crafty myself.

I've found some really interesting things and some really not-so interesting things. I mean, who is actually going to furnish an entire house with re-purposed wooden pallets? ugh! Anyway, I have found inspiration many times and had some successes that I'm quite proud of. Here's a couple of my latest projects that I'm quite pleased with:

ART:
Pinterest inspiration:












My interpretation:


This is the first time I prepped and stretched my own canvas and while it's far from perfect, I'm quite happy with it. This piece goes great with our new paint colour that Robin painted and because I did this myself, it's the size we want for the huge wall in the living room. (5'x2.5')






CAKE STAND
Pinterest:

Mine:

I absolutely love how this turned out. It's smaller than a cake stand (if you read the intro to my blog, you know I'm not much of a baker) so I use it for a cheese or something server. Or I should say "I will use it for a cheese or something server once I actually serve cheese or something on some unknown future occasion."

The only downside of this project is melting plastic makes the house reek! And the stink sticks around for a really long time! (yes, before you get all up in arms about it, I know it is toxic too)  Since I'm now obsessed with making them in all sorts of colours and sizes, Robin had the idea that maybe I should do this project on the BBQ. So, here comes EPIC FAIL #1...

June 10, 2013. I was feeling particularly proud of myself for multi-tasking all morning long before going to work. I cleaned, vacuumed, ran errands and was ready to cook some beads by about 11:30 am. Since I go to work at 1pm on Mondays, I thought "what great timing, I'll put the pan of beads on the Q and go get dressed for work. It has to cook in the oven for 30 minutes so it will take a while on the BBQ too, right?" Side note: I should mention that my sense of smell is quite non-existent in most cases. I can only smell a few things, melting plastic isn't one of them unless I'm right next to it.
Back to the story: So I'm upstairs getting ready for work, less then 10 minutes has elapsed, and the beads are melting nicely in the pan on the BBQ, or so I thought. Suddenly, my doorbell starts ringing frantically and I run to the door to find a neighbour, who lives quite a few houses away from me, concerned for my safety and about to call the fire department because apparently there's a fire in my backyard. (I should mention that I really can't smell smoke either unless I'm in it too) So I grab the fire extinguisher and head to the back yard. There are huge flames shooting out of the BBQ! I spray the extinguisher on it and then use some oven mitts to open the lid where the beads are on fire. Not just a little fire, but a raging burning mess of flame and black smoke that is now filling all the backyards downwind of mine. The fire extinguisher quickly took care of the fire, but the resulting smoke and stink, well that took a while to dissipate. There was a bit of a wind that day so after an hour or two it was probably ok, but hey, I can't smell so I don't really know. ;-)

The funniest part is that my friend who lives next door (downwind) to me had been out running errands and got home shortly after. Unfortunately, all her windows were open so her house was very stinky. (sorry!) After she checked to make sure it wasn't something in her house on fire, she realized that, oh right, it was me. Who else would burn plastic for fun? We've only been friends for a short time, but she's got me pegged. :-0

Follow-up: the BBQ is fine, I cleaned it and it has been cooking our meats to perfection ever since.

So now comes EPIC FAIL #2
Most of you know I scrapbook. I usually use a paper trimmer to cut my paper but when the blade is dull and I don't have a replacement at hand, I use a small utility knife. You can see where this is going already can't you? So this is June 11, the day after the burning bead inferno. Again it's morning before my shift starts at 1pm. I'm making progress on some pages and cutting away like crazy when all of sudden I rip the knife right across my index finger. Great, just great. After the ensued panic calms a little in my brain, I accept that there's a lot of blood gushing from my finger (but not one drop got spilled on my desk, I always keep tissues close at hand) and I get a hold of myself enough to go next door to see my friend (the one whose house I stunk out the previous day) who is an EMT. I don't remember what I said because I was still in a bit of shock but she sent me to the clinic to get stitches. Thankfully it's right at the end of my street so off I trudge with an umbrella and some gauze tightly held around my finger.
One tetanus shot later, the doc determines I don't need stitches - Yay! It gets bandaged but I can't get it wet and I can't bend it because it's cut across the knuckle. So, all I can think is "great, do you know how many times I was my hands at work because I've got ultrasound gel all over them?" I pop in next door at my office and tell everyone the story. Everyone agrees I need to stop crafting. Maybe, just for a bit. We all decided that a crafting moratorium was in place for one week. After all, bad things come in threes and my boss actually wants me to show up for work.
I have a nice scar to remind me of the incident.

Thankfully, it is actually hard to see but it goes diagonally from the cuticle down across the knuckle.










And now time for EPIC FAIL #3....

Now before you get all worried and think I dismembered a limb, this story caused no personal injury. Hmmm, maybe it did. Breathing lots of smoke can do damage right?

June 26, one more day of school (notice there were no crafting related injuries or fires during the moratorium period?): Robin and the kids are going to our friend's annual end of school sundae party tomorrow (I'll be at work). Robin is to bring peanut-free ice cream and brownies. In one of my perusing of Pinterest sessions, I find these really cute cookie bowls that are "so easy to make". All you do is place a muffin tin upside down and spread cookie dough on the raised muffin parts and bake. Sounds easy! I thought it would be so cool to make these and send them along to the party. Of course I was smart enough not to tell anyone they would be brought, after all, I have quite a reputation for not being able to bake. So, remember how I said in my intro post that I always set off the smoke detector when I bake. Yup, I did it again. turns out that I used too much cookie dough and it spilled out over the edge and BEEP BEEP BEEP, I managed to set off the smoke detector once again. So now my house is filled with smoke, and not just a bit of smoke in the kitchen, I mean a smoke visible and smellable - is that a word?- all over the place from burning cookie dough. And of course the cookie bowls are don't look like cookie bowls at all, they're more like "cookie mess".
Here's the pics from Pinterest:
Nice huh?

And  here's mine: LOL!!

Clearly, I should just give up. I've accepted that I'm not a baker, yet I keep trying. Why is that? I always think, maybe this time will be different. NOT! At least the cookie bits are edible, it was only the stuff that spilled over that burned. Anyway, my kids are now bringing cookie bits to the party tomorrow to have on their sundaes. Not as cool as the cookie bowls, but tasty nonetheless.


Yup, I love Pinterest. I'm sure there will be more fodder for you to laugh about soon. My craft moratorium has been over for a while now so it's only a matter of time before something else happens. I hope you have enjoyed laughing at me. :-) More to come...     N.

Some truths about me and why I'm writing this blog

I figured I would start this blog because Facebook isn't big enough to handle all my goofs that are just too funny (in a shake your head like "I can't believe you just did that" kind of way) to not share. I'm a crazy crafter/scrapbooker/budding artist, reader of smut, and mother of three (five if you count my husband and our cat) and I do some crazy stuff sometimes.

Let me start with a few truths about me.
1. I'm a terrible baker. If it's dessert and it goes in the oven, I will set off the smoke detector - EVERY SINGLE TIME! (Keep that in mind for one of my stories coming up.)
2. Much to my husband's chagrin, I have Career ADHD. I'm almost 40 and still trying to figure out what I want to be when I grow up.
3. I HATE ham and all things pork, except BACON! I mean, really, who could hate bacon?
4. I'm a cut and then measure kind of gal. I like to fly by the seat of my pants and forget instructions and patterns. (I'm sure this info will be pertinent for you to know very soon as well. teehee)
5. I used to be really really fat. Now I'm just 30 pounds overweight like everyone else.

Watch for some interesting stories coming up....... :-)