We laughed so much that we almost peed in our pants in my brand-new van!

Good thing we stopped by the washroom before leaving, otherwise my 10 day’s old van would have been baptized... When we left the Scrapbook Centrale crop on Sunday night, we laughed so hard, we had to stop in a parking lot, where it took us at least 15 minutes calm down and stop laughing! My glasses were fogged up! We were both crying from laughing so hard! No make-up left (we probably had raccoon eyes)! Why? Maybe you had to be there.... because we got up at six, I filled my van with half of my scrapbooking stash (I have the room, why not? And I want to do a lot today!), we drove for 2 hours to get there, paid $75 for the day... and all we have to show for it is that we put pictures and embellishments on the 12 tiny pages (about 4X4 inches) of an exploding box (that was already built)... That’s it! Nothing else! Where did the day go? We had been waiting all year for this special day, like little kids at Christmas. And all we did was 12 tiny pages!

OK, it’s true that when we arrived we spent time looking through our goodie bag (filled with lots of cool stuff), we ate some snacks that were provided and examined the prize tables, and the material from Scrapbook Centrale that we could use. Then we looked at fishing papers and embellishments we brought, because we wanted to do a lot of pages of our husbands’ fishing trips. After that, we drove to the store (a mere 3 minutes from the crop), where we spent at least an hour and a lot of money. When we came back, it was time for lunch. And then, they gave us coupons for 2 for 1 at Second Cup, and since we can't pass a deal, we got back in the van to go there. On the way, we kind of got lost in a dollar store, where there wasn’t that much scrapbooking stuff. When we came back to the crop, there was a make and take, then snacks and games and draws. We walked around, looking at the beautiful things the other ladies were working on (because the others seemed to be scrapbooking - one lady even made 6 pages) and learning from them. We did a bit of scrapbooking.... Then, it was dinner, and more draws, and snacks and prizes... and suddenly it was 9PM. WHAT? It’s over already! But we had just found our groove and our mojo! Oh no! Time to go home!

And then we remembered that I had been very surprised that Linda brought so little to the crop, but in the end, she did not use most of it! So, let’s not talk about my truck load of stuff that I had to cart back home! This is why we laughed so much! It is so silly!

Oh yes, also Linda was VERY busy winning prizes : she won 7 times, no major prizes, but a lot of fun stuff. No sucky face for me, I won a respectable 4 times (small prizes).

Are we happy we went? Oh yes! Are we going back next year? Oh yes! Did we have fun? OH YES!

But now, I would like to find some time to scrap a bit, when I am finally done putting all my stuff away!

Happy National Scrapbooking Day!

Yay! I soooo love my new blog. It is so pretty. Thank you again and again WILNA! You rock!

Tomorrow I am celebrating NSD with my SIL (sister-in-law) Linda and we are going to the annual crop at Scrapbook Centrale in Montreal. Yay! I can't wait! We went last year and loved it. However, I hope we are luckier than last year and come back with some goodies! They have lots and lots of draws... but we were really not lucky. I will try not to have a sucky face tomorrow! Last year around 7 PM, I started making a sucky face because I swear everybody but Linda and I had won at least a couple of things! We eventually won little things at the end of the day. I would be happy with just a chocolate bar (at least it would keep me quiet for a little while)!
Celebrate NSD and keep smiling!
LoveXXXX

Thanks for the wonderful week-end!

We just came back yesterday from a most wonderful week-end visiting with our great friends Kath and Tom in New York State. We had an amazing time. Everything we ate, everyone we saw, everything we did was perfect (even the flea market in the desert at noon, with not a cloud in the sky in 200 degres temperature!)

I am so thankful that Kath's sister and brother-in-law came to see us. I hope you feel better soon Brennie, you have such courage, you are in my thoughts. And thank you also to Sheri and Joe, the newlyweds who spent a good part of their Sunday with us. We are fortunate to know people who are so generous, real and so easy to talk to. Sheri, we found Lucy the travelling pinata! Beware! Lucy is a boomerang, she will come back to you.

Let me tell you Lucy's story : Lucy was a pinata who took quite a beating at Kelly's sweet 16 party. We felt sorry for her. She became a sort of mascot who finds her way everywhere! She reminds me of the garden gnome of the movie Amelie. She has driven a car, hidden in numerous beds, in a wheel well, she has been on a cruise in the Carribbean, been to Florida, Maine, New York State... and Gatineau. Her foot was covered with money and presented as a weedding gift to Sheri and Joe. She is a sorry looking paper pinata, but we sure get good laughs out of her.

Follow up from Saturday

I did it!
The information I had was perfect, I found the grave right away. It was nice to have flowers for him. It was very emotional.... I talked to my dad for a while. I also decided to get him a tombstone. It is never too late to do it right.

Later in the day, I realized that after the initial shock or upheaval, I felt very at peace and serene. I went to the funeral and focussed on the people there, instead of remembering my dad's funeral and being very upset. I may be done grieving... after 37 years. Time will tell...

Now I have to decide if I will tell my siblings about the tombstone, I may be opening a huge can of worms (no pun intended). They have mixed feelings. I guess if I were in their shoes, I would like to be informed and consulted. I think I will give them the opportunity to participate, while at the same time, I will entertain no expectations and will be prepared to do it on my own...

A Special Saturday...

Tomorrow, I will attend the funeral of the father of a friend. It’s in the city where I was born. And I added 2 cemetery visits, because I guess it wasn't enough... I will visit the grave of my grand-father, my grand-mother and my aunt. And...

I will do something I have always wanted to do : visit my dad's grave. It is in another cemetery in that city. He passed away when I was 15. My mom was very angry with him and she never took us to visit his grave, at the time we lived 2 hours away. He doesn't even have a tombstone. I have been meaning to go for ever, but I very rarely visit that city, and when I do it's very rushed.

Well, I have decided to go this week-end. So I found the cemetery and phoned to find out where the grave is and got directions. I will bring him flowers, because I think he never got any, except on the day of his funeral 37 years ago... It will be very emotional, but I think it will be a good thing. When he passed away my heart broke and that part never mended. I loved him so much and still do. The rest of the family did not care much because he was an alcoholic and was very sick. But I always saw the dad I knew and loved as a little kid, not the sick man.

I know he lives on in my heart through my love, and I talk to him often.

So I guess, it’s no use to put on any make-up tommorrow and a big box of kleenex is in order.

I don’t dread this, I feel happy and serene about it.

Daddy, here I come.

Blog under construction

This blog will be under construction for a few days. It will be redone and improved by (gasp!) the one and only Wilna Furstenberg!!!!!!!! I am so EXCITED. I can't wait to see what she will do! Isn't that cool? I promise I will post a lot more and layouts also. YAY! Back in a few days with a new and improved blog! YAY! YAY!