Scrap Your Hands

Last night's shift went ok, apart from when i took the first dish out & the onion rings literally jumped off of the plate, but it was fine, i just got more. One of the bar staff tried to play a practical joke on me but i didn't fall for it. i am too old and wise to fall for such trickery. mwah ha! Physically, it is really hard going, but i'm quite enjoying it actually, i get to wait on my own tables tomorrow though, so my view might change.

On Friday the boys went to the hospital and did their thing. Lloyd has had more stem cells so we are just waiting for some GVHD to occur. i know it sounds bad & nasty, but we need it to happen to kick Lloyd's immune system up the bum. You have no idea how much my heart hurts when i start to think about all this, so i will move on.

Today i have mostly been sleeping. But i also had the chance to scrap this for Kirsty's ScrapYour Hands Challenge. And yes i know my page is entitled 'these hands' but only features one of them, but i scrap in 8 1/2" x 11" and it was a bit tricky to fit them both on the same page m'kay? Kirsty is trying to raise money for Muscular Dystrophy so go take a look & have a go, the comp closes at the end of the month & there are some amazing prizes to be won!

Wedding scrappyness

My cousin is getting married in one week today. There is only 9 months between us so i am a little freaked out. It always freaks me out when people my age get married. Anyways, i made this minbook for the happy couple today & thought i would share as haven't had much scrappyness going on on my blog lately. Need to dash, have work in 20 mins! Wish me luck!

Tip of the week: Don't go to the gym in your lunchtime & drop your knickers in the shower on the day that you are due to start a new job. Yes, i really did have to go comando on my first shift. How embarassing. Sometimes my life is just one comedy sketch show.

Apart from that little incident, it's going ok. I'm completely whacked out, it is physically draining. The last two days i've worked my usual 9-5.30 office job and then done a 6-10 waitressing shift, for which i'm on my feet the whole time. i'm finding it tough learning everything, the menu is huge, plus i have to learn the cocktails & there are a lot of table numbers to memorise. But everyone seems nice & it's a fun atmososphere so i think i'm going to like it. Just don't like being in the 'new girl' stage & not being confident with what i am doing.

Had an e-mail from a blast from the past this week which i was none too happy about.

It is really fun having Brad here, there is so much laughter around the place.

Had a good post day today. Been looking forward to this all week. My box of yummy goodness from Artbase. They are my fav of all time! They were the first on-line scrap shop i found i have been a loyal customer ever since, cos they have a regular stock turn over of the fabbyest stuff & give great service. i have a full loyalty card i've been saving for when the new Love Elsie line comes out. Haven't had a package like this in such a long time. It made me happy & made me feel super creative. Got a lot of green papers, because i can't seem to scrap anything lately without at least a touch of green. Been after some clear buttons for ages, even asked my mum to try & find some in the US for me, but she didn't have any luck. Also realised my brad supply was running very low. Funny how a several pieces of paper & a few basics can quickly add up! This is why i try not to shop!

i've been working on my 'When i grow up class' tonight, it's still in the planning stages. i've been writing like a mad woman, the prompts have made me think about stuff i haven't even considered for years & about where i want to go in the future. It's helped me make sense of things that have happened in the past & why i chose certain paths.

Right now i'm feeling very very sleepy. i've been yawning since about half 8 and i don't normally get sleepy till about 12! All this physical exercise is doing me in!

Quite a lot's been going on, we had our second BBQ of the year on Sunday. Everyone got here safe, but Michaela wasn't very well so didn't have the greatest of times. Mum saw Jamie Oliver come out of the departures just before them so we reckon he might have been on their plane.

Yesterday i went to see The Curse of the Golden Flower with my long time friend Adam. We were a bit disappointed with the story line & Gong Li cried in practically every scene, i found it a bit hard going so christ knows how she managed to film it! I was in total awe of the colour, the design of the costumes & the architecture though.

i got myself a second job, waitressing at a well known mexican food chain. So not looking forward to having to hold two jobs down but it will be worh it in the end. i start tomorrow. Who wants to bet that i trip up & spill something down a customer on my first shift?

Tonight i had the longest bath of all time & finished Anybody out there? i plan to start reading the Harry Potter books for the gazilionth time before number 7 comes out. i am going to be so upset when i finally finish that one. JK has said that The Deathly Hallows is her favourite. Can't wait!

i have a 'to do' list as long as my arm, but right now i have the last two disks of 24 to watch & so i am going to do that instead.

Been catching up with some of the Pencil Lines Sketches & playing with some bits from this month's Scrap-Room kit. The first one is designed by Paula Sealey and the second one by scrapbook goddess Kristina Contes, she has just uploaded some seriously droolworthy work to her blog so go check it out. My layout for her sketch didn't turn out as planned, it's a bit crazy & random and the embellishments don't really go, but it's done now.

i was naughty today & placed an order with Artbase. i haven't placed an order on-line for a long time, so i decided i was allowed. i really wanted some of the new Autum Leaves French Twist line but then i kept finding other stuff i liked too & then i remembered i needed basics like adheisve & brads & page protectors & it escalated. oops!

Nic's news yesterday was good, we just have to keep waiting. We went out last night for dinner to celebrate, went somewhere new & different, it was all good.

i discovered something today which shouldn't have upset me, but did. i realised i haven't moved on as much as i thought i had.

Tomorrow is a big day. Michaela & Tom are back from NY & Brad is arriving from Jo'berg. They arrive an hour after Brad so Mum & Lloyd can pick them all up at the same time. Brad is one of Lloyd's brothers. It is always good to have Brad here, but unfortunately it is never under good circumstances. Let me explain for those of you who don't already know. Lloyd has Lukaemia. When he was diagnosed, we were told that his best chance to beat it was if one of his siblings were a bone marrow match. He has a big family, some live in South Africa, one brother in Australia & one here. Luckily Brad was a match & he came over to do the bone marrow transplant about 4 and a half years ago. Lloyd's body didn't take to the marrow very well & he is still imuno surpressed. So every now and again he has to have a top up of Brad's stem cells. Brad has already donated these before, but they've run out, so he's here to donate some more. i cannot express how grateful we are to him for everything he's done. This time he's here for 6 weeks (he's been saving up his holiday). It's going to be weird having another person in the house for so long, but it will be cool too. So excited about tomorrow!

* 1 year & 1 day birthday *

So i forgot to post on my blogs 1 year anniversary. oops! Anyway we shall still celebrate. i do enjoy blogging, its a good place to store little snippets of my everyday life. It's wierd to look back at my posts a year ago & see where i was then. i've gone from cohabiting with serious boyfriend, living in Essex, working in a job i hate and not having a clue what i'm doing or where i'm going, to single, living back with Mum in Portsmouth, working in a job i don't like that much, but which has potential, & having a goal but still not sure what i'm going to do after that's been achieved. i think i will always be meandering through life waiting to see what happens next. i've been moving around my whole life. When i was 3 we lived in Rome for a couple of months & when i was 5 we moved to Canada for 2 years. Since then i've lived in Hertfordshire, Hampshire, Essex & Greece. During my childhood we travelled loads. i have vague memories like when i left my beloved Care Bear in our hotel room in Hong Kong and only realised when we were in the taxi to the aiport & my mum had to go back for it & when we were all sat in the car in underwear after getting completely drenched in Florida and making my dad really mad when i got us lost on the dolmus in Turkey and when i was on a French exchange trip in France & i got the worse nose bleed ever (i used to get these bad as a teenager). Luckily the father of the family that i was staying with was a nurse. Because i was so young when we did the majority of our travelling, i don't really remember the places or the culture, i only remember some of the crazy experiences, which has given me a desire to travel to these places all over again. i can't imagine ever not wanting to go travelling and i really can't understand people who have no desire to travel at all. Just don't get it. After living in Greece for 6 months i did feel as though i wanted to stay in the UK for a while, i had missed my home comforts, but that didn't last too long. i have constant itchy feet. To be honest i think i will always be a wanderer & will always find it hard to settle. it's in my bones.


Anyway, tomorrow is big scary news day for Nicky noo. i hate these days, my stomach is all tied in knots & i can't concentrate on anything till i've heard from her. i have faith that she'll have good news, but after all the rubbish i've been through sometimes i can't help using the defence mechanism of expecting the worse. Because she thinks that i'm always pouting in photos (not sure where she got that idea from) i thought i'd post this. So at least if it is bad news (which it won't be) then she will have something to laught about. Good vibes.

i made something...

This is Crackers. She is 13 years old, which is fairly old for a cat. i'm worried that she might leave us soon because of her age, but she is super fit & healthy so hopefully she'll be around for quite a bit longer. She takes really good care of herself, look at them cute little white tootsies, you would never see a speck or dirt on them because she keeps herself squeaky clean. She is very independent and does as she pleases, only cuddles when she wants to, sleeps all day and lurks the streets all night. No other cats dare come into our garden, and if they do dare they don't stay long. She is a catcher of birds and frogs and sloworms. But in a niceway, she leaves them as presents for us. i don't like the sloworms tho, they resemble snakes too much. i freak out if she catches them. Recently she has become interested in the grey quirrel that is hiding his nuts in our garden but she is too scared of him to jump him.

i love her so much i could squish her. If ever i am really upset she comes to find me and gives me a lick on the nose and a look that says don't be sad, don't worry, it'll be alright, stop being silly. Really really. Also she can open doors herself and she talks to me. She has several different miaows. The most common one is the 'feed me now' miaow. By now you are thinking that i am crazy, but honestly my cat does have a personality.

My Scrap Room kit arrived today, so i mostly used stuff from that. Apologies, my scanner has chopped off some of the edges of ths page.

My Crumpler bag didn't sell on e-bay. i think it's a sign. i will keep it a bit longer.

Got some hopeful news at work today, all will be revealed when i get the green light.

Hey hey hey!

Sorry about the lack of non-crafty posts lately, but my focus has shifted onto other things & i find i can only channel my energy into one thing at a time. Pretty much. And i haven't really had time to do any scrapping anyway.

My sister is NY for a week & i am green with envy as i've been desperate to go ever since Friends aired in the UK way back in the 90's. However, she has promised to bring me back some crocs, which eases the pain a little.

i am full of cold which is making me feel bleuch!

Had a dvd, pizza & cake night last night with the girls.

Did overtime at work yesterday. It's preety rare to get given the opportunity to do overtime so i jumped at the chance, trying to make money however i can (within reason!). i feel guilty if i even think about spending money at the moment, which just goes to show how focused i am.

Nan & Grandad came round today for out first barbie of the season. My ma is pretty obsessed with BBQ's so this year i decided to take a picture of every barbie we have & then scrap them at the end of the summer.

i have been reading, researching, making notes & reading some more. It is very tiring. Oh & watching the entire first two discs of 24. Love it!

On tonight's episode of One Tree Hill Brooke had a scrapbook. How cool! Just goes to show how big the industry is in the US, i mean you wouldn't catch Sonja on Eastenders with a scrapbook would you!?

During my research i came accross this website. It's a global art project in which anyone is invited to stick a yellow arrow on an obscure attraction & then text the description to the central database. Check it out & then think about you would stick your yellow sticker.

i had a good day today. i went to the gym after work & i was enjoying listening to music in my car with the windows down and then i had butternutsquash soup for dinner. But then mum had a go at me for selling my camera bag, because 'i will loose money on it' (obviously). My sweet precious camera bag which i love with all my heart. i am going to dearly miss it but i have me reasons for selling it (and they are good ones!)and i don't need her questioning me & making me feel bad about selling it, when i really didn't want to in the first place! Grr!

So that is all i have to say for now because i am in a mood. i was trying to do something good to help make a little money for my future, a tiny step towards my goal, and she has thrown it back in my face. Double Grr!

On a more positive note, i am very much liking this band: Elliot Minor

And the first disk of Season Five of 24 arrived today. i have had this on my rental list for months now. All good things come to those who wait....

Capture the Dream...

Comedy Genius. i urge you to go see it. Can't wait to see the outtakes on the dvd.

Feeling much happier lately, i'm very positive & focused. Think it's all the sunshine we're getting.

Favourite song of the moment (especially the Love version).

i wish i was around when these guys ruled the world.

Lexa has been a very busy girl. In the last 24 hours i have:

Planned a budget for next year or so. Took ages, i don't like numbers & i hate money. bleuh!

Put away winter clothes & got out summer clothes (yay!). Look how boring my winter clothes are compared to my summer clothes. It's good to have a bit of colour back in my wardrobe. i have way too many black clothes. Infact, i have way too many clothes, thoose pictured above aren't the half of it. i don't even buy clothes very often, i just hoard them for years as i can't bear to throw anything out.

Tidied room (took most of day) and sorted through loads of stuff to sell in places like e-bay. Realised that i need to make some cash quick so have decided to sell everything i can from flip-flops to my precious crumpler bag (boo-hoo) and from camera to handbags. Have also sorted through loads of craft stuff to sell including my sizzix & dies (boo-hoo). Seriously people, you don't know how much this has pained me today, i am selling some of my favouritest stuff. But i understand it must be done if i am ever to realise my dreams.

Sorted through travel brochuers & made fun collages to keep me motivated. i even made a mini one to take to work to put on my desk to keep me going through the day. Isn't the baby orangutan the cutest? i want one!


Listed stuff on e-bay. Took forever. It's changed loads since i last listed anything, it's all super duper now.

Had a really good night out with the girls on Saturday, i always have the most fun with them. We took some really funny photos but i don't think they'd appreciate me uploading them here, so i won't. But i probably will scrap them, so watch out girls! ;)

i had a bit of a realisation yesterday: that i'm the only one who has any control over my future. Now obviously, i have always known this on some level, but yesterday was the first time i REALLY thought about it. And i started to panic. If i don't get my act together soon, time will have slipped through my fingers, i mean it's April already! WHAT!?! How did that come around so quick? If i don't sort myself out i won't be able to do the things i want to do. But there is SO MUCH to do! And everyday life keeps getting in the way. It's so hard being responsible for yourself, to look forward & realise that if you don't make small changes now, it won't be any different in the future. But i am getting there, slowly.

i've been working on a little project to keep me focused. My main weakness is my lack of self-confidence, so i made this to remind me to believe in myself. i know that it sounds cheesyer than a four cheese pizza, but i question myself & my abilities so much that i honestly do need to remind myself of these things. Anywho, all products are from the January ModScraps kit except for 7Gypsies stickers & Basic Grey magnetic buckle.

Today was good day, despite oversleeping by nearly 5 hours (yes really!) i got to wear my summer gear outside for the first time this year. How i have missed my flip-flops. i truely believe in the power of sunshine. Everything seems so much better when the sun is shining, there is hope in the world and you can't help but feel positive.

Mum took Michaela & i to Gunwharf & i bought some stamps for just 99p each in Papermill and the yummiest ever flocked wrapping paper in Paperchase. We discovered that Zizzi's has opened down there, so happy about that as it's one of my favourite restaurants. It was cool to see so many people enjoying the weather with friends & family. And that's about as exciting as it's got today, but it feels SO GOOD not to be at work.

Highlights of the weekend

Going to the cinema with Jen & learning that they weren't showing the film we wanted to see so catching up in the pub instead.

Getting the bonnet of my baby blue fixed for free.

Going to Cath's 50th party & discovering on arrival that it was a free bar.

Enjoying free bar, giggling & getting up to general sillyness with Michaela.

Spending time with friends i don't get to see often enough.

Being given a huge bag of dolly mixtures to take home at end of night.

Visiting Nan & Grandad & laughing our heads off when learning of Nan's decison to buy Grandad a beanie hat because she thought it would look better on him than his flat cap.

Chasing an ice cream van round the block with Nan & Michaela this afternoon.

And speaking of highlights, here's a a LO i did at the crop on Monday. It's sketch 18 from Pencil Lines. They've got a new sketch up tonight, so go have a look. The little pictures i used are from Moo.