New Fun Toy

I was determined to get a whole bunch of things done today. Ready for the rundown?

• Library to drop off Mockingjay. I got only halfway through it. I dunno, I'm just not as into the series as, say, Harry Potter. I'll eventually pick it back up to finish it.
• Gas station to gas up the car. $3.45/gal. :(
• Target for Sally Hansen Insta-Dri nail polish, which was on sale. I ended up getting the shade called Racey Rouge.
• Bank to deposit a check.
• Giant to buy a box of creamsicles.
  
• Home to drop off items and take a little break.
• Back out to the mall to walk around. New York & Company was having a really great sale, but I didn't find anything that I really wanted. Instead, I ended up at Old Navy and got some t-shirts.
• Best Buy for my new computer! The Toshiba that I got for graduate school about 6 years ago is on its last leg so I thought I'd pounce on a Sony Vaio since it was on sale. It runs so much more smoothly! I felt like I could justify this purchase by saying that it was a personal reward for doing well on my performance review and getting a raise. It's such a great feeling to buy something that you've been saving up for.

This evening, Robyn and Beth came over for Chinese food. I got the shrimp and scallop with seasonal vegetables, which was okay. In my head, I thought it would look like something else that the restaurant serves, so when I saw the take out container, my excitement kinda deflated. I ate some and gave the rest to Julie (who showed up later) to give to Dad at the house. The funny thing about this restaurant is that I've eaten there a few times, but my uncle's the one that orders so I have no idea what I'm eating. All I know is that it tastes good. Ha ha.

We watched the Olympics and made fun of the commentators who can't really seem to say anything consistently nice about anyone. They are so critical!

Song of the day: "Dance With Me Tonight"- Olly Murs

R.I.P. Uncle, Part 2

Today was the burial service for my uncle that passed away last week. I actually ended up staying over at my parents' house on Thursday night so that it'd make this morning run a lot smoother. We left the house to go to his house to do a moment of silence before taking his remains to his resting spot at the memorial park. I wasn't feeling overly emotional since the news had already sunk in for me and I've accepted the fact that he's gone, but once Dad started talking and his voice was shaky, I started tearing up as well. I teared up for him since he was the one that drove my uncle (his brother) around to doctor's appointments and was there with him every step of the way. Dad continues to handle all the legal stuff since his passing, but I'm sure that this day made everything a lot more real.

The burial service was really nice, and the weather was perfect. The funeral director was super kind and compassionate. I suppose it'd be awful to be in that kind of business and be a mean person. It just wouldn't be a good fit. Dad said a few words again and then the remains were put in the ground. A stack of his favorite books and a flower from each of us went in with him. We later joked that we should have had put his glasses in with him, just in case (humor definitely helps during these sad times). Once the service was over, everyone came back to my parents' house for a sushi lunch.

After lunch, Dad, Julie and I drove around to get some legal stuff taken care of for my uncle and then Julie came back with me to my place to make brownies to bring with us to my cousin's house as snacks to eat during the London 2012 Olympics. My favorite parts of the opening ceremony were the ode to the British literary villains and the Queen/Bond scene at the very beginning. So funny!

By the way, sleeping in my old twin bed, I'm not sure how I managed for so long. Now that I sleep in a full size one, it's tough to go back to something smaller!

An Ungraceful Moment

Good deed of the day: I went to Safeway around lunch time to get some snacks and on my way out, a pregnant lady approached me. She showed me a crumpled piece of paper that had a list of shelters on it. She looked like she was really struggling, so I offered her $5. "Actually, do you have $10?" o_0 That was totally awkward. I offered her the $5 and we parted ways...only for me to see her approach some other people down the block. That's gotta be a tough life. :(

At the office: Don't you just hate getting caught with your mouth full? Mmmyeah. I was monitoring a conference call this afternoon while snacking on crackers. Suddenly I get asked a question. For a second, I thought I thought I could finish chewing what I was eating, but I ended up spitting out the crackers and answering the question. Thankfully no one was watching because that'd be the least graceful moment ever.

Craft Show 2012: I recently received an email from the organizers of last year's high school craft show that Robyn and I did. They wanted to inform us that there wasn't going to be a craft show this year, but didn't specify the reasons why. Even though Robyn and I made some money at that event, the last minute postponement of the event and the lack of vendors and shoppers made it a not-so-great event overall. I would have thought they would have pulled together to make up for last year's event, but sadly, that's not the case.

Card: For today's card I challenged myself to use only two sheets of patterned paper. For the strips, it was all from one sheet of paper: the A side, B side and the strip of paper that says the paper's manufacturer and collection. I was also pleased that this card turned out fairly gender neutral.

Card Specs:
Ink: Colorbox chalk ink in Charcoal. Tim Holtz Distress Ink in Weathered Wood.
Stamps: Studio G
Paper: American Crafts- Peachy Keen, Chatterbox
Punch: We R Memory Keepers Corner Chomper

CPS #275

Open house: The townhome that's 2 doors down from me went on the market this past Wednesday, and today, they had their first open house. The listing price is $24,000 more than what I paid for my place last year, even though the set up is exactly the same. Sure, they installed brand new carpet and updated their kitchen and have lots of shelving in the closet, but I didn't think it was enough to justify a jacked up price. I have a friend that's put in an offer for the house, but I'm not sure if they'll take it since it's lower than the listing price.

Movie: Last night I watched 21 Jump Street. While I am a fan of Channing Tatum, I can't say that it was the best movie ever. Entertaining, yes. Hilarious awkward scenes, yes. DVD worthy, mmmno.

Card: Here's my take on CPS #275. I had a strip of the hot pink gingham paper next to my paper trimmer, and it was exactly the right about of paper that I needed to fold three origami hearts. I chose the green paper because I thought it'd be a great complement to the hot pink. Originally, the sentiment was stamped on the pale green paper, but then I wasn't able to stamp it straight despite using a stamp positioner, so I tried it again on another piece of patterned paper and adhered it right on top. Whew, crisis averted!
Card Specs:
Card base: Recollections
Ink: Colorbox chalk ink in Blackbird
Paper: American Crafts- Letterbox, Recollections
Stamp: Studio G
Other: Brown Sharpie Ultra Fine Point marker

R.I.P. Uncle

Some sad news to report...my dad's older brother passed away peacefully early Tuesday morning from his long battle with cancer. I was lucky that I was able to go see him on July 4 and this past Sunday to say goodbye. As sad as I am that he is gone, I'm relieved (?) that he is no longer in pain since he was suffering for quite a while.

Dad's been taking care of my uncle's estate and paperwork the past few days. He asked me to make a few thank you cards to keep on hand for the people that helped out during this tough time. I, of course, wanted to help out so that was my activity tonight.

Card Specs (birthday):
Ink: Colorbox chalk ink in Chestnut Roan, Warm Green. Stampin' Up in Certainly Celery.
Stamp: Stampin' Up- Lovely as a Tree, The Paper Company Studio- Greetings (sentiment)

CPS #273

My friend Morgan's birthday is on Wednesday, so I wanted to make his card tonight and send it along tomorrow. Many of the card elements were already on my desk (brown polka dot paper, kraft cardstock, envelope pattern stamped piece of white cardstock), so that made the card super easy to piece together. I used CPS #273 as inspiration.
Card Specs:
Card base: Recollections
Ink: Colorbox chalk ink in Blackbird, Chestnut Roan
Stamps: Studio G (sentiment), Hero Arts- Envelope Pattern
Paper: American Crafts- Abode
Brad: American Crafts
White Gel Pen: Uni-Ball Signo Broad White Gel Pen

Update on 2012 Movies and Book

Movies: On Friday, I watched the movie Warrior on Redbox which was surprisingly good despite its intense violence. And last night, I went to see Magic Mike with Meg and Robyn (finally). We had originally planned to go see it opening weekend, but with the huge storm and power outage, that was just not going to happen. We were really surprised that there was a family of several children in the theater. Did the parents just not do their research before they came to the movie? The previews alone would give them nightmares! Fortunately, the parents were smart to leave within the first few minutes of the movie. The movie was very entertaining, despite there being a disturbing drug background story. Channing Tatum, sigh.

Oh, by the way, this was a super funny clip of him with Jimmy Fallon. "Ew!" Ha ha.

Book #4 of 2012: I forgot to mention that I finished Catching Fire during the whole power outage event a few weeks ago. I thought the beginning was a little slow (I almost gave up), but I stuck it out since, well, what else could I do with no power? I'm glad that I did because the last half of the book was more action packed. I started Mockingjay when I was waiting for a friend to go see Brave a few weeks ago and was able to find it at the library not too long after that.