A foot of snow and yucky bananas

This is the view from my back door. You can't really tell how deep it is, but it snowed about a foot in the last 24 hours. No school. Thank goodness it's sunny, though. Makes the snow not seem so bad. It's kind of pretty, but it's totally a hassle when it comes to getting around. They've done a nice job plowing the streets and my driveway is pretty clear. My husband kept up with it last night and this morning and I shoveled once after that. I've been trying to work from home, but now my work computer is not cooperating.

This picture shows the view of my driveway and better illustrates just how much snow is piled up out there! It also shows the big shadow that our house makes on our driveway. Even though the sun is out, it hardly touches my driveway and it never melts!

My son is at a neighbor's house playing. I drove him there, but I think that I'm walking to pick him up so that I don't take a chance getting stuck and so we can play out in the snow a little bit. It's pretty cold, but there's no wind now, so it's not too bad.

I had some yucky bananas, so I whipped up a quick batch of banana bread. The recipe I have makes two loaves. We like the bread around here -- my daughter loves it -- so we go through two loaves pretty quickly. The house smells so good! If you want the recipe, let me know and I'll post it. It's really easy. Do you have a favorite bread recipe? If so, please share!

Latest layout - Ode to my Simple way of scrapping

This layout titled "All tied up" was a quick one but I love how it turned out. It's made from just two pieces of cardstock -- the 12x12 background and a scrap for the photo mat -- two scraps of patterned paper, some ribbon, and letter stickers. I love it when all the elements come together just perfectly. I captured the memory of my son tying his shoes all by himself for the first time in under 30 minutes. And even though he wouldn't smile for the picture to commemorate the occasion, I love the layout anyway!

I start a BPS class next Thursday with May Flaum. I'm hoping it will get me in the scrapping mood. I haven't done much lately.

2nd Birthday and "Snow" Day

It's hard to believe a week has passed already since we celebrated my daughter's birthday. She turned two last Sunday. She really liked the balloons and all the presents. I think the presents got a little overwhelming for her, but she had fun at her party. It was a good time with lots of family and friends. I really need to get the thank you notes done!

It was so cold here that school was cancelled on Friday. My son's best friend came over to play and we made hot chocolate. You can tell from the picture that I also did exciting stuff like empty the dishwasher. Actually, I worked most of the day in the office while they played. They had fun and it was nice for the day off to include a play date.

Looking forward to having time off on MLK day. Then back to work. Need to get running and working out again. Training starts soon!

Sad news in the scrapbooking world

I know the economy is bad and lots of people have lost their jobs, so in the scheme of things, this isn't that bad. However, it's all related to the economy. A few months ago, my favorite local scrapbook store (and the last one in my area) went out of business. I felt at home there. I knew the people. It was one of my happy places. Now, my favorite scrapbooking Magazine, Simple Scrapbooks, is going to cease publication. Again, I felt at home with its philosophy and I felt like I knew the people. I guess all good things must come to an end. I have every issue ever published and I'll hang on to them. I hope that Creating Keepsakes really does incorporate the Simple philosophy into its content. Simple is really what got me into scrapbooking. I had done a few things prior to that after buying some stuff at a local scrapbook store that is long gone now. But Simple gave me the basics and then their philosophy inspired me to really stick with this hobby. So, I say good-bye, Simple. Glad I was along for the ride.