Scrapbooking my life...one page at a time

My Rainbow ...

My Rainbow

I was so happy yesterday morning as I drove to work because it wasn't raining and I was greeted by this beautiful rainbow, which, as far as I'm concerned ^...  was put there just for me!  I think someone must have known that I needed a little glorious this morning. The only thing that might have made it better might have been a Starbucks latte riding shot-gun next to me in my cup holder (but alas, that could not be - more about that later). 

I thought about following it but I decided I would probably have better luck finding the pot of gold somewhere on my desk at work much easier than by looking for the end of the rainbow.  It was a great start to my day even without the cup of coffee or pot of gold.

Speaking of work - every day when Mr. Mike gets home from work he gives me a big kiss, a hug and says, 'How was work today.' and everyday I say ... 'Well, they didn't fire me and I didn't quit so it must have been a good day!'. 

I am definitely not 'Call Center' material - It is what I imagine it would feel like moving to a whole new planet where you are not able to communicate with the other inhabitants.   This is a whole new WORK world for me and I hate to have to tell you all this ... but I'm sure you're going to be hearing a lot about it over the next few months (more about that later).  If you choose to self-disconnect --- I'll totally understand. 

But, for now ...

Mr.SmithisthereanythingelseIcandoforyoutodayMr.SmithummOkayMr.Smith
ThanksforcallingtodayMr.Smithyouhaveagreatday!
- N -

ps: I pulled over safely to take the rainbow picture.  I did not dangle out of my window, swerving and slamming on my brakes ... no matter what the reports say! HAHAHA

Meet the 'Jack-o-man' ....

 

Jack-o-Man

I know it's a little late for a Halloween post but you know what they say, 'Better Late than Never Spooked'.  Okay, so nobody ever said that but me but here is my late Halloween post.

This year, for Halloween, we didn't have any snow but lots of pumpkins so I decided to make a 'Jack-o-man' for Halloween.  He turned out pretty cute and I didn't have to 'gut' him either - All it took was about 30 seconds, 2 pumpkins and a black sharpie!  Easie-peasie! 

He happily stood guard on the fence post - grinning away at all the people who walked by. Yep, Jack was friendly, happy and innocent, almost ... too innocent,  Ha Ha Ha (wild crazy laughing in the background) ....  

 

Once lured inside the gate ... evil lurked!  Oh, he's mean looking - isn't he. Arrgg....

 

 

Mike wanted to make the yard 'Super Creepy' but I wanted to keep it 'fun - with just a sprinkling of scary'.  As I told him, most of the kids that live in our complex are younger.  We quibbled, we debated, we argued, we made faces at each other, he pouted and we ended up compromising!

We decided that we would keep the yard ... age appropriate scary and Mike could decorate himself however he wanted.

 

 

Mike, always likes get dressed up, and hand out the candy to the kids.  He always opens the door with a big 'ARGGGGG' and tries to scare them ...  I told him he was dressing up too scary this year.  Most of the kids that live around us are 6 and under.  Tiny Tots.  These kids come dressed as 'Winnie the Pooh, Tigger, a bumble bee, but ... he wouldn't listen ....

 

Oh ya, that weird worm thing hanging by the door is a motion activated dangling corpse that lights up, wails at the top of it's lungs and squirms about madly when someone makes a movement anywhere near it (and yes - it set the dogs to barking wildly every time it went off).  Quite a commotion!  It was creepy - even for me!

As I predicted - I ended up handing out most of the candy and Mike had to hide behind the door  because none of the little kids would come anywhere near him.  I could always tell when he was peeking around the door as I was handing out the candy because the kids EYES would begin growing bigger and bigger.

They were terrified!  By the end I was making him wear a paper pirate mask over his 'hanging eyeball' to cover it up so he could hand out the candy without traumatizing the kids.  

Most of the little kids would not come out from behind their parents until I brought them the candy bowl and even then I would only  see a little arm and hand come out from around the side of their Dad or Mom's leg to grab some candy out of the bowl.  Mike says they loved it and will want to come back next year to the scary house.  Hum, maybe but I'm not too sure about that.

He was pretty excited & happy thought because after the rush had slowed down and by rush I really mean s.l.o.w sporadic trickling of kids (we did get our largest crowd to date - 15) and I had gone upstairs to get ready for bed (hey it was 8:30 by then) Mike got one last group of kids.  They were older and loved his costume.  He said they told him he had the scariest costume they had seen all night ....

Happy Halloween Mike!!!

I hope everyone has a great day!

- N -

 

 

20 Years Ago Today ...

  Today, November 9th, marks the 20th anniversary of the Fall of the Berlin Wall!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Snaking along, cutting through fields and streets, yards and gardens, the 28-mile-long Berlin Wall stood as a border between East and West Berlin from 1961 to 1989. 

Construction of the Berlin Wall

That all changed on Nov. 9, 1989, when an inexact translation, a confused border guard and a natural longing for a better life opened a hole in that wall that would eventually end the Cold War.

Drawn to the city’s historic Brandenburg Gate as word spread on the night of Nov. 9, 1989, both East and West Berliners clambered up the wall and crowded Pariser Platz to take part in the opening. Two years earlier at this spot, Ronald Reagan had implored Mikhail Gorbachev in a speech to “open this gate,” to “tear down this wall.”

Today, the entire area around the 18th century landmark gate, just south of the Reichstag building where the German parliament meets, is a pedestrian plaza.

Brandenburg Gate - 1989 / 2009

Today, evidence of the Berlin Wall is embedded in the pavement of streets it once divided; here, a long, double cobblestone line shows the former location of the wall along what is now bustling Ebertstrasse.

 

A reminder of the Berlin Wall remains 'embedded' in Berlin's Streets

The wall cut off the eastern end of the Lohmuehlenbruecke, the bridge over the Neukollner Schifffahrtskanal, leaving the part of the city called Neukoelln in West Berlin and its neighbors in Treptow in East Berlin. Near here, the first watchtower was erected in the so-called “death strip” between the outer and inner walls, and various buildings were razed to give guards a better overview. The border strip, which contained anti-vehicle trenches and other defenses, has been redesigned as a park.

 

Where East meets West

I can remember watching the news coverage of the Fall of the Berlin Wall - which was the first domino in the collapse of Russian communism and the end of the Cold War.  What began in Poland, moved to Hungary, East Germany, Czechoslovakia, Bulgaria, Romania, Yugoslavia, Albania and by the end of 1991 the Soviet Union had dissolved and 14 new nations declared their independence from Russian Occupation.

(stories from www.nytimes.com  & www.wikipedia.com)

"The Soviet Union has no moral or political right to interfere in the affairs of its East European neighbors. They have the right to decide their own fate."

-- Soviet president Mikhail Gorbachev in Finland, October 1989 --

Have a great Day

- N -

Old & Dusty ....

“What we do not see, what most of us never suspect of existing, is the silent but irresistible power which comes to the rescue of those who fight on in the face of discouragement.”

- Napoleon Hill -

 

Old & Dusty - Worn & Musty,

yup - that's how I'm feelin' these days!  While going back to work has been tougher than I thought it would be ... I am actually loving it!

I enjoy being out of the house and having something to do - being productive but I will admit that by the time I get home from work at 6pm - I'm pooped.  I am usually in bed between 7:30 - 9pm and until last night... I was sleeping like a log!

My goal this week is to not only stay up until 10pm every night BUT to actually do something when I get home.  I thought about closing down my blog but after thinking about it this whole weekend I decided that I wanted to keep it up and to start writing on it regularly.

I keep telling myself - I used to work full time, come home, cook dinner, do laundry, take Kate to horse, chat with Jessica on the phone and still have time to watch TV before going to bed ... now I just need to remember how I did it .... what a difference 20 years makes!

I hope everyone had a great weekend

- N -