November Round Up

What books and/or magazines did I read this month?

Okay, now don't laugh. I am reading a technical book. That's right you read that correctly. My husband just laughs and says, "He has never met anyone who reads a tech book from cover to cover." What am I reading? I'm reading a book called "Digital & Hybrid Scrapbooking & Card Making" by Patty Debowski. My friend Katie the Scrapbook Lady posted on her blog about this book and I just had to have it. I was so hesitant about purchasing it because I thought I knew a lot about photoshop elements but hey, I wanted to learn more. I am so glad I purchased this book. It's a great tool and I have already learned some new short cuts and now I'm using the photoshop organizer to organize all my scrapbooking digital elements.

Magazines - I ordered Digital Scrapbook magazine, renewed my creative keepsakes magazine and ordered Family Fun.

What movies and/or tv shows did I watch this month?

For the first time in 4 years I actually skipped a whole week of Days of Our Lives! Okay, are you still standing or did you just pass out? I tivo the show so I normally watch it when the kids go to bed but after I had 5 shows sitting there and my tivo wasn't taping more shows I deleted the entire week. I just got stressed and ran out of time for me! Okay, I'm really mad I did this because I did miss John's funeral and whatever happened at the college I missed with Stephanie. I also missed the divorce of Sammy and Lucas. I did catch the wedding to EJ and Belle's wedding to Shawn. It's not like me to miss an episode.


I rented "I Now Pronounce You Chuck and Larry" with Adam Sandler and Kevin James. It was an okay movie. I thought it would be funnier though. I really like Adam Sandler movies. My husband said not to watch it as it wasn't that great and he was right. I didn't laugh at all. I don't know if that is because I have been stressed out and or suffering from depression. I haven't had a good laugh in a very long time.









My husband rented from netflix The OH in Ohio. He said I would enjoy this movie. I think he was trying to tell me something. It's about a woman who marries her high school sweetheart and never had an orgasm. Then she goes to sex clinics and learns how to pleasure herself. Okay, I hope I didn't offend anyone. This is a movie that children cannot watch. The funny thing is Danny DeVito plays a role in this movie. It certainly is a weird part for him to play.

What special days did I celebrate and how?

NO MORE DIAPERS for Naomi. Since she has been in diapers for over a week her Daddy took her to Walmart and she was allowed to pick out a toy for her success. She picked out a baby doll. Of course, it was the most expensive doll there was. She got a disney doll called Belle. It came with a tea set and she moves her arm and she says a couple of phrases. She's not a very comfy doll. She is very hard and her legs are stiff and Naomi can't get her to sit by herself so she's always asking me to help her sit. This doll was $50! YIKES! She's not even soft. Of course, Naomi wouldn't leave the store without her though. And she sleeps with her every night. Once the other two are trained they too will be rewarded for their efforts.

What gifts did I give and/or receive?

I finally bit the bullet and listed some things on freecycle. We have so much junk from the triplets that everything took over the garage and now both cars can't fit! So my goal is to get rid of all this crap so I can get the car back into the garage. It's getting cold outside and I hate getting in the car in the rain and cold.

Best gift received would have to be my new Canon Digital Rebel XT. My Sony Cyber-shot camera wasn't working properly. I was getting dark and or white photos in doors. We will be getting that camera fixed because my Canon Digital Rebel is quite heavy and cannot be taken to amusement parks and things like that. I am very happy with my new camera. I had the Canon EOS Rebel S that took regular film not digital and I loved it. So much so that I took a photography class in the local college before the children were born and received an A. I loved my camera but my husband wanted me to go digital so he got me point and shoot cameras that I was using. But they are so not like the Rebel. The best part about the new camera is I can use all my old lenses again. Way cool! Stay tuned for some great photos.

What illnesses or health concerns did I have?

November was horrible. First Justin and Victoria complained of ear pain. I took them both to the doctor. Justin had an ear infection yet Victoria they said had only a cold and we had to wait it out. Justin got antibiotics. Meanwhile, Victoria continued to cough and had runny noses. Then Naomi started screaming a couple of days later that her ear was hurting so again we went to the doctor with her and Victoria as she was still not feeling herself. Naomi did have an ear infection. Victoria they said she had just a cold and again she was sent home without any medication. Naomi received antibiotics. Then Victoria started to get worse. Her fevers weren't going down. She was laying on the cough lethargically for a couple of days. She was still coughing and green stuff was coming out of her nose. Yuck. She even vomited a couple of times and was not eating. This was on Saturday. Doctor said to switch from tylenol to motrin to try to get her fever to go down and if that didn't work to come in first thing Monday morning. So there we were Monday morning. Victoria wound up with an ear infection and pneumonia. She was put on antibiotics and in just one day she was back to her old self. Meanwhile, when all this was happening I too developed a sinus infection and my husband too had a bad cough. Both of us were put on antibiotics. While we were sick my friends from MOPS (mothers of preschoolers) sent over food for us to eat. I am very thankful for that as we were so out of it for 2 weeks. Thank you guys. They made us meatloaf, scalloped potatoes, carrots, strawberry pie, baked ziti, pasta dish with olives and cookies. Wish they were around when I first had the triplets as the meals would have helped so much back 3 years ago. We are all back to normal. Knock on wood!

What fun things did I do with my friends and/or family?

I hosted the MOMS Club Annual Thanksgiving Feast. It was a lot of fun. The best part was that they had 2 people set up and 2 people clean up so I actually didn't have to do anything.

We also hosted Thanksgiving for our family. Unfortunately, my sister-in-law didn't attend and my grandfather was ill so he didn't attend. My grandmother, my parents, my in-laws and my sister and brother-in-law were here.

I taught a class (scrapbooking) at my friend Lucrecia's house. It was our 2nd meeting. Unfortunately, only 2 people showed up. They didn't even call to say that they weren't coming. It's very disappointing when you have no shows. At least they prepaid for their supplies. There was only one person who didn't pay and I still have their supplies.

I also did my first craft fair selling cards that I had made. Unfortunately, that didn't go very well. I sold only 14 cards =( I certainly am not a good sales person. I did wind up buying some Creative Memories (new adhesive), pampered chef (new items that I didn't have) I'm very addicted to their products as I've been to many many parties. I also ordered from Discovery Toys some new games for the kids. They are so into playing games now.

What new foods, recipes or restaurants did I try this month?

I did not try any new restaurants this month. I did try some new recipes for thanksgiving. I made this cranberry relish. Only my dad liked it. So I probably will not make that again. I also made my very own pecan pie. I made it from scratch along with the crust. It came out really good.

I'm still struggling with the question "What's for Dinner". I just cannot get my act together. If only I had time to preplan everything. Why does dinner stress me out so much? I always wait till the last moment and then I am frantically trying to get dinner on the table. I have been using Menus for moms more and more. It really helps most nights.

What special or unusual purchases did I make?

I didn't purchase this in November but I did prepurchase books at memory makers a month or so ago. I finally uploaded my layouts and ordered books for each kid for 2007. Since I went digital I haven't printed any of my layouts until now. I haven't yet received my books so I can't recommend them quite yet. Last year I used shutterbug and was pleased with the book.

What were this month's disappointments?

Only 2 people showing up at my scrapbooking class.

Only selling 14 cards at a craft fair.

Many potty accidents.

Getting in trouble for posting e-mails in MOMS Club about cookie exchange and scrapbooking club. Can you believe they are only allowed one night out a month!

What were my accomplishments this month?

Getting my 2007 layouts printed in a book. Nothing like waiting till the last moment to print all your pages up. Well, actually I didn't print everything up but I did print most of my layouts for my children.

Finally put things up on freecycle.

My husband made me a wall unit for my laundry room. I didn't think he'd get it done as it takes him forever to just change a light bulb but he did do it in like 2 days so I'm very thankful it wasn't a project he wouldn't complete. I organized my laundry room and got rid of a ton of things both in the garbage and had a garage sale.

All 3 in undies. NO MORE DIAPERS.

Anything else noteworthy to record?

Backup your digital pictures to cd/dvd and upload them to an online site or two for an extra backup. Send the links to the online albums to friends and family.

Choose photos (or digital layouts) to be printed out and get that done while you are thinking about it.

Make sure your scrapbooking area is cleaned up and organized. Put away new purchases (or organize your hard drive if you are a digi scrapper)

Look over the calendar for the coming month and make note of upcoming events you will want to capture for your scrapbooks.