Happy New Year!

Just wanted to wish my family and friends a very blessed New Year. Here's to all great things in 2007. Remember to live for today and tomrrow will take care of its self.

Another Christmas Over

Well all the preparation and hoopla has come and gone for another year. We had a great Christmas here. We had some friends over for lunch and I cooked them some typical dishes you would find at a Caribbean Christmas lunch.

Menu
Salad
Potato Salad
Rice and Peas
Peas and Dumplings
Caribbean Macaroni Pie
Baked Whole Chicken with stuffing
Baked fish
Rolls

For dessert they brought us this delicious Amaretto cake from Montilio’s Bakery that had fresh strawberries on top, and that was to die for yummy. Wine was the drink choice to top off the day. I must say a great time was had by all.

Christmas Preparations

I finally have all my Christmas cards written up and addressed and the ones to be mailed will be in the mail box tomorrow. Most of my tins of cookies are out the door and I am almost finished with gifts. I just have two more things to make and then I will be done.

I also made some Punch-a-crème on Saturday and I have some sorrel that I had saved from some Sheryl –Ann sent me in Jan soaking to be strained and sweetened. So I think things are looking very Christmassy here for us. Oh I also put Christmassy center pieces on my dining room and coffee table.

So I think I am ready for Santa to come. Yes I sill believe in him LOL!!!

Cookie Monster

I spent the day yesterday making my Christmas cookies. Only did 19 dozen this year and I was hoping that would be enough. But after putting them in tins this morning I realized that I am about 3 tins short. So I will be making one more batch tomorrow

Oh and now that my mum has received her birthday gift I can post it here. I also did another one of these as a how –to article for Diversity Designs. I think it makes a great gift.

Oh Christmas Tree

My tree is finally all decorated. I started last night but after stringing 600 lights I was all decorated out LOL. So I took a break and finished it up this morning. I also altered our stockings from last year to match the blue in my tree. Here are some pictures of the tree and the 2 styles of ornaments that I made from clear glass ornamets, my favorite store bought raindeer ornament, my candy shop house and kitty figurines under the tree and the stockings that I altered.

Snow!!! And its beginning to look a lot like Christmas

We got snow today!!!! Not much but it was coming down this morning. By 11 it had stopped and started to melt. But consider that last week it was in the 60s here, snow and 35 degrees was a shock to the system. Guess the good weather we have been blessed with had to come to an end at some time. Oh well.

At least the snow and cold have put me more into a Christmas mood so I guess it was good for something. I changed my car radio over to my favorite Christmas station today. They only play Christmas music from the day after Thanksgiving until Christmas day. I also googled them and found them online so I am listening to them on my puter as I scrap and surf the internet – yay. I put my “candles” in my windows and I think I will get my tree tomorrow and decorate it. It’s time to add some Christmas to this apartment.

Where did the year go?

Reading Francine’s last two entries about Christmas preparations made me realize just how close we are to Christmas. Eeeek – where did the year go? Well at least my Christmas cards are finished. I just need to address them and mail/deliver them. But I still have a list of stuff to do before Christmas.

Finish decorations for tree
Get tree
Decorate tree
Make cookies
Deliver cookies
Finish handmade Christmas gifts
Make Caribbean Christmas cake also know as fruit or black cake
Make punch-a-crème, sorrel, and ginger beer
I am sure there is more but this is all that comes to mind for now.

I think I also want to copy Francine and do a journal about my Christmas preparations. Think I will do the 25 days of Christmas so will start it on Dec 1st. Hopefully I can get both the journal and the above list completed by Christmas Day!!!

Thankful for friends and family

Yesterday was Thanksgiving Day here in the states. We went to our friend’s Jeff and Lan as we do each year to have Thanksgiving Day dinner with them and their kids and another friend Japheth. It is usually just the seven of us but this year we were thankful to have my in-laws who are visiting form Barbados join us.

What’s funny about our Thanksgiving dinner is that neither Sheldon nor Japheth really likes turkey, and I don’t eat meat/poultry so no turkey for me, so every year Jeff does boiled lobsters for us and turkey for him, Lan and the kids. A bit untraditional but oh so yummy!!!!

So our little gathering consisted of:
4 from America
3 from Barbados
1 from Grenada (me)
1 from British Virgin Islands (BVI)

In addition to the lobster and turkey we had, candied sweet potatoes or as they are called here yams, string beans, mashed potatoes, rolls, corn, Lan’s wonderful pumpkin bread and this year she did banana bread as well, homemade apple and blue berry pies, brownies, éclairs, ice cream, and cherry pie – yummy in my tummy!!!

Hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving!!

Where did the days go!

Wow it’s been a long time since I posted. Where did the days go. My in-laws are here visiting from Barbados. They came on Wednesday so I was busy preparing for their arrival and I have been hanging out with them over the last few days. Thursday was their anniversary so we went to that awesome Portuguese restaurant in New Bedford that we discovered in Aug - Adega. Discovered that they have an awsome Martini menu - yum!!! I tried one called a Yellow Cab that is Navan, crushed pineapple and lime juice. To die for!!!! The food was awesome too of course.

On the scrapping front I have come out of lurk dome on The Pub at Two Peas and I am trying to do the layout a day challenge. I also tried my first digital layout today. I really like doing digi but it will never replace traditional paper scrapping for me. I love playing with paper and embellishments and ink way too much. Here is the layout I did today. Of course it is of one of the cats – they make the easiest subjects to scrap. The kit is by Rhonna Farrer and it is called “Perfect Pet” and is available on Two Peas as a free download.

Fall is in the air

So Excited!!!!

I am so excited. I was asked to join the Creative Team for the new and improved Diversity Designs. The site is moving towards a more educational focus offering online classes and how-to projects and they asked me to be a part of it. I have known for about a week now but I could not say anything until it all became official.

I think this is the side of the scrapping business that I am most interested in, teaching people how to do create awesome projects and layouts. Must be because I grew up with parents who are teachers that I find I have a knack for being able to explain things.

On another note it is starting to get very cold here. We may even have our first frost tonight in some areas. Oh well I guess it was bound to happen sooner or later. I personally was hoping for later LOL!!!

What's new

Well I am so proud of myself. I have all my Christmas cards finished and it is not even November 1 as yet. I am the one who usually starts their cards like 2 weeks before Christmas and then is scrambling to get them mailed and delivered on time. So needless to say I am very very happy and I am also scaring myself (LOL). At this rate I’ll be finished with all my Christmas projects by the end of November – now won’t that be great.

In other news, I have started to apply for Design Teams. I am giving myself six months before I throw my energies into something else. I figure if it’s meant to be it will be. The thing about it is that I love the layouts that I do and that is why I scrap. If my style does not fit in with what others are looking for that’s ok with me because whatever happens I will always keep scrapping. Okay off my soap box.

Laughed till I cried!

Last night I went to an Aids Benefit concert at UMass Dartmouth. One of the Frats puts it together and this is the fifth year that they have done it. I went with my friend Tricia and it was a blast. The MC was this guy Kevin Brown who was on one of the past seasons of Lat Comic Standing and just got cast in that new show on NBC called “30 Rock”. He is also a Frat brother and he comes in to host the show for them every year and also brings an up and coming comedian with him to close the show. This time he brought a comedian from CA (of course now I can’t remember his name) who was the closer on Def Comedy Jam about 2 weeks ago. He was hilarious. Between Kevin Brown and this comedian I was laughing till tears were streaming down my face.

Yesterday was also the BBQ for alumni homecoming weekend at UMD so I stopped by during the day to hang out for a bit. It was fun. They had a really good turn out. Joe the new Alumni Director did an awesome job. In my years working at UMass this was the biggest turn out I have seen. Way to go Joe!!

Cyber cropping

This weekend there is a cyber crop at Crafty Keepsakes from Friday - Sunday. I love doing cyber crops because I don't have to pack anything, I can wear what I want, and snacks and drinks are only a few feet away.

I hope to get some of the challenges completed and join in some of the fun games an maybe even win a prize or two.

Here comes fall!

Wow!! I can’t believe it is the end of September already. Where did the year go? It seems that the older you get the quicker the days go by. So of course you all know what the end of September means – means that fall is quickly approaching and my love hate relationship with these seasons continues. I love the colors of fall but hate that the days start to get shorter and the temperature starts to steadily decline. But I am trying to look at everything in a positive light so I promised myself that I will not whine and complain about the cold and dark this year. We’ll see how long that lasts – lol

Our Deepest Fear

Our Deepest Fear
by Marianne Williamson
from "A Return To Love: Reflections on the Principles of A Course in Miracles"

“Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness that most frightens us. We ask ourselves, Who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, fabulous? Actually, who are you not to be? You are a child of God. Your playing small does not serve the world. There is nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people won't feel insecure around you. We are all meant to shine, as children do. We were born to make manifest the glory of God that is within us. It's not just in some of us; it's in everyone. And as we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same. As we are liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others.”

This quote was featured in the movie “Akeelah and the Bee” which I finally got around to watching today. This is an awesome movie that everyone should see. It is much more than a movie just about a girl’s journey to the National Spelling Bee; it is a movie about life for all ages. I challenge you to see this movie and judge for yourself.

Reconnecting

Today I went into Boston to have lunch with my childhood friend Laurel who was visiting from Miami. It was awesome to see her because even though we have talked and e-mailed it has been about five years since we have seen each other. I also got to see her mum and one of her sisters before they all left today and talked to her brother on the phone and promised them that I would go to Miami to visit them with in the next 12 months. It’s so great how a true friendship survives the test of time. Laurel and I have been friends since were about 11 an although over the years we sometimes don’t see each other for years when we do see each other we just pick right back up like if no time has passed.

Good friends and good food

Yesterday was a fun day filled with good friends and good food. I met my friend Tricia for lunch at Ixtapa, a Mexican restaurant in Dartmouth. The food there is totally delicious and also authentic. It was fun catching up with her in person rather than on yahoo messenger. Then for dinner Sheldon and I met Jeff, Lan, and the kids at Turks for sushi. Well they had sushi, I was still too full from lunch to have much but I had the most delicious lobster bisque and some lobster tempura – yummy oh and a spicy quahog too!!! Then we went back to their house and hung out on the deck and ole talked. Summer is quickly coming to an end so we have to make the most of the outdoor time we have left because before we know it there will be snow on the ground – aaarrrggghhhh.

Mail from home

I went to the post office today to collect a parcel from my mum (thanks mum). She had bought us these books when she was in Grenada called “Recollections of an Island Man” written by a Grenadian (Anthony W. DeRiggs) who now resides in New York. I love getting mail and it is even better when it’s from home. I don’t know what it is but whenever I see my mum’s handwriting it always brings a smile to my face and all these memories from home come flooding back. Of course this brought an idea for a scrapbook page to mind, so I had to take a picture of the book and the envelope on which my mum had written my address. I can’t wait to start this book. I love reading about the Caribbean and about Grenada in particular. It keeps me in touch with my roots and keeps my childhood memories fresh in my mind.

Now if only I could read and scrap at the same time. hummm lol!!!

Here comes the sun again

Well after 2 days of rain and rather cold-for-August weather the sun finally came decided to reappear yesterday afternoon. Just in time for my lunch and play date with my friend Jen. She is out on sick leave after having surgery on her foot and is on crutches. So I picked her up and we went to out favorite lunch place Thai Taste for lunch – yummy!! I will never get tired of that place. The food is just so scrumptious and the service is awesome.

Today the sun is still out which is good because I have a few scrapbooking projects to do that are all due today (procrastinator as usual LOL) and if it was rainy I would just end up doing nothing but surfing the net and reading a good book.