Waaay Too Much!

Jenn and Sarah run Scraploft, an online scrapbook store. They are two of the most generous gals EVER! They had a recent giveaway on their blog. All I did was post a comment and they drew my name as the winner. Whoo-hoo! How exciting, right? No. I had no idea the amount of goodies they would send me. When I took the package out of the mailbox, I couldn't believe how heavy it was. Good grief! What could be in here?! Well, let me tell ya - a huge wooden box of Prima flowers, Scenic Route Sumner and Ashville paper and stickers, Cherry Arte paper, Crate paper and chipboard letters, American Crafts flowers, and Cosmo Cricket rubons. Thank you gals so much!

But the generosity and winning doesn't stop there. They're having another contest right now where you can win more goodies. See the details on the Scraploft blog. (Don't worry, I won't be entering this drawing!)

Time, Time Time - See What's Become of Me

Time is speeding by. I blinked and it's October. And the way the calendar looks, October won't be hanging around long either.

So what have I been doing the last few weeks? I went to Louisville, KY to attend a 2-day class on writing macros in VBA - Visual Basic for Applications. It was a pretty good class and was geared toward using Microsoft Word in law firms. I'm frustrated that I haven't had much time to put my new knowledge to use yet. It's only been a week, but the information won't be in my head long if I let it collect dust.

Von and I made it to Isleta Casino for the first time. We played Bingo - all the cards you can play for $6. While neither of us hollered Bingo, we had a good time together. We always do. Such a bummer that we only get to spend one day a week together, and only see each other (awake) four days a week.

Coming up - lots of excitement! Von's friend Kevin is coming from Phoenix today to visit and stay with us for a few days.

October 6th - BALLOON FIESTA begins! We're going to the 7:00am mass ascension on Sunday the 7th to celebrate our 6th wedding anniversary. There's also a car show that morning at Balloon Fiesta Park.

October 11th - not only is that Heidi's birthday, but it's also the day I get to drive to the airport and pick up Jenny, Derek, and Lilly! (Derek not pictured. Sorry Derek!)

Later in October, Von's sister is coming to visit from California, I'm going to a 2.5 day scrapbook retreat, and heading to Los Lunas to attend a friend's Angel Company open house.

And coming up in November. . . VEGAS, BABY! VEGAS!

Balloon Fiesta

Only a couple more weeks until Balloon Fiesta! I'm getting so excited! Lots of balloons gearing up for the big event, I think. I've seen quite a few the past few weekends.

Tinseltown

Yes, I live in the new Hollywood. Movie studios and filmakers have decided that Albuquerque is a great place to make movies and film TV shows. A couple weeks ago, Betty White and Billy Zane were in my building filming Love N' Dancing.

Today I took a walk around the block during lunch since I heard filming for To Live and Die closed a couple of nearby streets. I was told by a security guard where I could stand. His job was to make sure pedestrians wouldn't be in the upcoming scene. A small crowd gathered to watch as a smoke machine started up and someone (presumably the director) yelled, "ROLLING!" I couldn't see much from my vantage point, but I heard a fake gun shot and saw a man in a suit run across the street. The scene didn't last long, and I knew as soon as it was over when a whistle blew and all the crew began shuffling around again. I'll have to make a point to make a list of all of these moves so I can rent them after they come out. "I was right there (pointing just off-screen) when they made this!"

Decadence

We went to the New Mexico State Fair today. I felt like a tourist all over again - taking a park and ride bus like we did when we visited during Balloon Fiesta last October. Von flashed his work badge and we got a free bus ride and free admission to the fair. Yes folks, that's a savings of $16. However, we did our part to support the food vendors. Between the two of us, we had a breakfast burrito, BBQ ribs, snow cone, ice cream, and even a deep-fried Twinkie. SO YUMMY! It was like a Twinkie wrapped in a warm cozy donut topped with powdered sugar and chocolate sauce. Once in a lifetime treat, so I don't even feel guilty that I ate the whole thing!

What New Carpet Looks Like

Unfortunately, we have to go through this --


-- to get to this.

Letters Let Rest

According to my birth certificate, I am a rational smell.
After I got married, I'm his animal-lover moron.

What does your name say about you?

I say have a great weekend, but others might see the weakened ravage...

Another Reason Why 9/11 Should Be a Holiday

From: Building Management [Bank of Albuquerque]
In remembrance of 9/11, the Albuquerque Fire Department will be running the north stairwell for ALL 22 floors, 5 times, the morning of September 11, 2007. We are requesting that all tenants respect AFD’s use of the stairwell on this date by not using and/or opening any of the stairwell doors during this time.

NM and MN

We went out to dinner on Saturday night at the Flying Star Cafe in Corrales - such great food and comfortable atmosphere. Right next door is a store called Papergami. It's kind of an upscale, classy Hallmark store with cards, calendars, journals, stationery, and huge sheets of decorative paper (36" x 12"). One of those places where you can really lose track of time. And get this -- they have three locations: Albuquerque, Santa Fe, and Minneapolis. So friends in Minnesota, you too can visit Papergami on Hennepin Avenue. Maybe you'll be lucky enough to find the cutest ribbon I've ever seen. And I've seen (and own) a LOT of ribbon!

Even though it was $4.00/yard, I had to buy some. Really, did I have a choice?!?! Look at it! It's going to go on a scrapbook page that hangs on the wall so I can bask in its gloriousness. The other purchase we made at Papergami is this rice paper globe. We have a few light fixtures I'm not fond of. One down, two or three to go.