Feline Friday: My, how you've grown!

Our Lily, then and now!

Found at the pumpkin place....

Yesterday, Daughter, boyfriend, and I took a quick trip to the local pumpkin place. Guess what we found in addition to pumpkins! A boyfriend kitty for Lily!

This is Itty Bitty! He is so sweet, and he looks a lot like Lily, except in the face. His face is sort of elongated, as you can see here. I know his name because I asked the store owner if I could take him home with me. :-) He told me NO! Itty Bitty guards the pumpkins and must stay there.

But oops -- Itty Bitty ALMOST accidentally came home with us anyway! I'm not above cat stealing, you know. Especially for such a sweetie. Wouldn't he be cute with Lily? They would make a purrrrrfect couple!

*****

If you missed my post yesterday, I'm still looking for input on the article I'm writing. If you have thoughts on the questions listed in yesterday's post, I'd love to hear them. Thanks in advance!

An exciting day

I don't post much about our daughter's activities, but this one is too exciting to pass up!

Yesterday she was selected as one of twelve high school percussionists state-wide for our all-state band. To be chosen on any instrument is a huge honor, but to make the percussion section is quite a feat because of the extensive requirements and small number of students selected. This was her third year of going through the audition process.

To audition, percussionists have to perform a variety of etudes, solos, and rudiments on snare, marimba, and timpani. If they make it to the second round of competition, they have to repeat everything they played in the first round, plus demonstrate a variety of skills on crash cymbals and tambourine. The audition process, which took the entire day, had me on pins and needles while I waited for news. But she's cool under pressure and obviously fared just fine!

Our daughter was actually one of two students in our high school who had qualified to audition for either the all-state band or the all-state choir. Because she plans to eventually become a band director, she chose to audition for the band this year. But she still prepared all of the vocal audition material, in addition to the percussion requirements, so it has been a busy summer and fall. Next year, she plans to audition for the all-state choir.

The all-state band and choir will perform in concert at the end of November. We're very proud of her and excited that she will have this experience during her high school years!

Feline Friday Gone Bad

Sometimes on Thursday evening, I realize that the next day is Feline Friday and I have no blog material. NONE. The kitties have done nothing spectacular all week. Nothing has been broken. Nothing unusual has been eaten.

It's on those Thursday evenings that I say to Lily and Tinsel, "Do something cute. NOW."

Sometimes they respond and do something cute, but more often they just look at me and yawn.

It's on these Thursday evenings that I find myself frantically digging through boxes of Daughter's old baby clothes, looking for something that will fit Lily.

BECAUSE IF ALL ELSE FAILS, DRESS YOUR CAT. (This is actually good advice for any troubles that beset you in life.)

Last Thursday was one of those times. In a desperate attempt to dress Lily for a Feline Friday photo shoot, I shut both of us in the bathroom with the camera.

(click on the collage to bigify!)

As it turned out, Lily did not like the cute top I selected for her. Not even one little bit. She growled and tried to use her claws. She even tried to bite. Truth be told, the top was a little bit big and tended to fall off her shoulders.

It really wasn't attractive on her anyway.

But it was good enough for a Feline Friday. :-)

Low-tech...That's Me!

When it comes to scrapbooking I'm very low-tech. I'm even somewhat (actually, VERY) tool-impaired. Sure, I can operate a pair of scissors, but Tweezer-Bee reverse-grip tweezers are beyond me. :-) And the Making Memories tag crimper-thingy? I mangle tag after tag. I'm even Bind-it-All impaired. I can make holes with my BIA, but do you think I can get the wire to work without flattening it?

None of these things bother me, because I'm a very simple scrapbooker. Give me some cardstock, adhesive, and photos, and I'm good. I don't need anything fancy.

With one exception: My Canon wide-format printer. I'm not tool impaired when it comes to that. It's my all-time favorite scrapbooking tool. I use it all the time to print directly on my background paper.

Because I love my printer so much, I have never invested in a fancy die-cutting system. For many years now, I have been using my QuicKutz Squeeze...quite happily, I might add.

Until this week, that is. After considerable thought and research, I decided to purchase the Sizzix Big Shot, a decidedly low-tech tool! I'm pretty excited, because now I can use wider dies from QuicKutz and other manufacturers. And I CAN turn a handle! This tool is within my skill level!

I figure with this new little machine, I'm pretty much set for life.

Planning classes

I'll be spending the next few days getting ready for a class this weekend and planning classes for first quarter of next year. Hard to believe that we have to plan that far in advance, but it's true! Our newsletter will be published in December, and it will include all of our class information for the first part of 2008.

Planning classes is generally a very fun process because the possibilities are almost unlimited! Of course, that makes it challenging, too. Once I figure out the kinds of classes I would like to teach, the next step is to design the sample projects and order the necessary product. We have to allow several weeks' lead time to ensure that we receive the product when it is needed. As soon as the sample project is complete, I write detailed instructions. While this is a tedious part of the process, I actually enjoy it. A good set of instructions makes it much easier for me to create class kits, and it allows customers who don't attend class to make the project at home.

If all goes as planned, you can look for some samples of class projects in the next few weeks!

Tabby Tuesday

Tabby Truth #17: A large tabby body can fit into even the smallest box when it is time for a nap.

Marching band performance

For your listening and viewing pleasure, here is our marching band performing Music from the Lion King. If you can find the snare drums, Daughter is the shortest one in the middle. :-)

Enjoy!

End of the season

Our marching band competed in another invitational last night and won! This was our third invitational win this fall, making this our most successful season ever. But more important than the trophy was the fact that the kids had been working to achieve higher point scores from the judges at each performance, and yesterday they beat their own goal!

But with all the excitement comes some sadness. This was the final performance of our marching band for the season, and the end of marching band for 31 members of the senior class. No more Friday night football games hanging out in the end zone. No more early morning breakfasts before competition. No more early morning practices in the freezing cold.

Now we move on to warmer (inside) activities, like jazz band, concert band, and show choir. All of those are great fun, but nothing can replace the magic of marching band season. There is nothing like it.

7 Facts

I was tagged by blogging buddy, Sarah C.

RULES:

• Link your tagger and list these rules on your blog.
• Share 7 facts about yourself on your blog, some random, some weird.
• Tag 7 people at the end of your post by leaving their names as well as links to their blogs.
• Let them know they are tagged by leaving a comment on their blog.

My facts:

1) I can’t stand Kleenex with lotion. They make the inside of my nose feel slick!

2) When I sleep on my side, I always have to have a bit blanket or comforter between my knees. One knee cannot directly touch the other one!

3) I have NPR playing on the radio ALL NIGHT LONG. I never turn it off because if it’s quiet, I can’t sleep. Poor Spouse. I tell him that it's making him more intelligent while he sleeps.

4) Certain scents make me sick, notably hot apple cider, beer, and sometimes yeast. All of these scents involve something fermented.

5) My toenails are always polished, regardless of the season.

6) I frequently sleep with socks on.

7) I have perfect pitch, although it seems to be diminishing as I get older (which, I understand, is common). This simply means that if I hear a note on the piano, I can tell you what it is.

I'm tagging Cheri, Kristina, Fonda, Sue, Benita, Heather, and Toni. Have fun!

Special note: Those are NOT my socks in the picture, although I wish they were! The image is from Sock Club KAL.

Feline Friday: Kitty Love

She swings from the chandelier, she paws my peanut butter, and she knocks over my drink in the most unfortunate places in the house - but I still love her like crazy.

It's like a hairball in my heart.

~Audra Foveo-Alba~

Design Your Life color inspiration project

We're starting the third week of the Design You Life class over at Big Picture Scrapbooking. Hard to imagine a person could have so much fun taking a class with 1700 people!

This simple project features the inspiration colors of pink, orange, and brown. I mounted the 8x8 pages on 12x12 cardstock. Again, I would not normally do this but I'm not mixing sizes in the albums I have underway right now. When I switch to 3-ring binders (hopefully soon!) I definitely plan to mix page sizes.

click to bigify so you can read the journaling!

The poem on the left is one I wrote awhile back and posted on my blog here. When I started my blog a couple of years ago, I had hoped to use a lot of my posts on layouts, and I really like it when I can actually do that.

Notice the very old product on this layout -- hoarded Scrapworks paper and Heidi Swapp patterned tape! It's great to use up some of this stuff.