Happy birthday to me!!

So today is my 29th birthday....YEAH!!! I took today off to chill & hang out with my best friend. So far we've had lunch & are headed to the spa for massages, facials, manis & pedis! I hardly ever get to treat myself (even on my birthday) so this is a welcomed treat :) I hope you all are enjoying your return to the grind, I'll be joining you tomorrow.......But until then, have a drink with/for me!

Organization: Part 1

So, I mentioned that I wanted to get my house more organized and that I wanted to start with my shoes. Here are the details..... I'd like to do this in the small reach-in closet (9h x 2w x 3l) in our master bedroom. The only thing in this closet is a 'standard' Closetmaid clothes rack. It's not big enough to hold my clothes, so all I store in there now are my handbags and luggage. The other closet in our bedroom houses my husband's clothes and shoes so there's no room for my shoes (that's another post). I have about 100 pair of shoes & boots that I need to store. Here's a pic I took with my Centro (sorry, I deleted the pic on my point-n-shoot):

This is just some of the shoes. I kept finding more pairs after this. I love strappy stiletto heels and hardly ever wear tennis shoes. Some of the shoes that I rarely wear will be donated to Goodwill or a local church. So, does anyone have ANY suggestions? I'm desperate here, so any and all suggestions will be taken into consideration :-)

Bad Blogger, Bad bad blogger *pic heavy*

OK, so I've been MIA for a while......sowwy. So let's catch-up :-) Monday was RJ's birthday! My baby is TWO YEARS OLD now, I can't believe it! We had his party in my hometown (which is 70 miles away) to appease the grandparents *smile* They complain constantly about having to travel to parties that we have or to see RJ. I'm sad to say that I didn't get very many pics of the party. I was too busy running around playing 'hostess' and playing on the kids' playground! My favorites of the few pics that I did take are here:

Here's a pic of my little man with cupcake all over his face & in his nose.

Here's a pic of RJ with his uncles and another of just his uncles. They REALLY think they're the shit & I need these lil' girls to stop making them think that......PLEASE!!

I'm still working on the baby boy album I mentioned before. Here's the progress I've made on that (still haven't figured out the scan-n-stitch feature):






The rest of my time has been consumed by work. I'm spear-heading our benefits open enrollment this year for the entire hospital & all of the clinics. That's about 3,500 employees and 50 vendors to be responsible for! I've enjoyed the added responsibility, but it has been a TON of work. I'll be glad when it's over!




This weekend was pretty easy-going. I've been sick with a sinus infection & was pretty much home-bound all weekend. I did make it out to Michael's to pickup a few items for a baby shower I'm planning. I'm also in the process of trying to get my house organized. First up is shoes & trust me, I need MAJOR help in that department! Watch for updates with pics this week.........


Later

Mojo's Rockin' & New Hire No-No's

It is very rare for my mojo to be on-point for 3 of 4 days straight. So I figured I'd better take advantage while I could. I finished another 2-page layout for the baby boy book I'm working on. Here it is:

Did I mention how much I love to stitch on my layouts, LOL! My goal is to complete a 2-page layout each night until I've finished the 42 pages needed to complete the book. Lofty goal......I know but I'm sure I can get it done! *fingers crossed*

On the work-front, we had a new hire show up yesterday for orientation that shouldn't have been there. We tried reaching her numerous times the week before to clarify the situation.......to no avail! Of course, when we inform her that she cannot start because she failed to disclose a misdemeanor conviction on her criminal background she flipped out! She kept saying "Why would THIS keep me from getting a job? It says it's only a misdemeanor!" The associate explained that it wasn't the actual charge that prevented her from being hired, it was the fact that she falsified her application by not disclosing it. Then we get yelled at, cursed at and a lil' mean-muggin' for good measure....LOL! I tell ya there's nothing like the folx that come thru here.....NOTHING! Moral of the story: do not falsify your application and if you do, don't sho' out on the HR staff......this ensures any and all future apps will be brushed aside ;-)!

Weekend Recap *Pic Heavy*

Whew! That about sums up my weekend! Friday was a crazy day and it all started with work. Have you ever had someone come to you in the 11th hour and demand request something that they need ASAP? My director did this to me on Friday. No big deal because he's a good guy and an even better boss. Another thing, why is it that this ALWAYS happens as you are about to leave for lunch or decide that you are leaving work early?Add in the commotion coming from the daycare lobby and it was a hectic day! Who brings FOUR children with them to apply for a job? It wouldn't have been so bad IF they were mannerable or quiet. These children were jumping from chair to chair and playing with the computer workstations! Of course, the applicant got a few 'side-eyes' and a little unsolicted, but very much needed advice about controlling her children. After work, I had to pack up my supplies for the all-day crop that I was attending on Saturday. I couldn't decide what I wanted to bring so I brought a lil' bit of everything.......sad shame :-(

One of my LSS usually has one of these crops at least once a month and I make every attempt to attend and show my support. My friends and I had a great time at the crop. We got a lot done (pictures to come)! I finished 7 pages of a baby boy album I'm working on (can you say PROGRESS). One of the ladies in my group was a newbie. I was LOL observing her reaction to some of the things you could do with paper, pictures and adhesive! I think we've converted another one, LOL! We played fun games and had excellent food and snacks! I won three 20% off 'everything within your reach' prizes and my table won the Scrappin' Squares game to earn 40% off any one item (which completely blew my budget)! Here are my 20% and 40% off purchases:

I love minibooks, they're my latest addiction. I've wanted more of the Bazzill In Stitch'z line since I purchased my 1st set of templates. I've also been stalking all the craft stores for the scalloped square punch, no one ever seems to have it in. I guess it was my lucky day because I found everything I wanted and I got it all on sale :-)! Here are the pages I completed for a 'baby boy' album I'm working on:

*sorry about the quality of the pics. I'm working on figuring out the scan & stitch technique*

Sunday was a cleaning and laundry day. Well, what I could manage in between watching NASCAR, NFL and the women's final at the US Open...LOL! Did I mention that I love sports? Of course, at this point I was missing my little man so I put down the remote long enough to scoop him up from Granny's. Now I have to "re-train" him to get rid of all the bad habits he picked up this weekend :-(! What is it about grandparents and their need to spoil and cater to everyone of their grandkid's needs? So, what did you do this weekend?