I'm back....ish

I'm back baby...

Well in fact I was meant to be back last night... and I'm not really technically back tonight either.

You see our middle kitty Opal went missing for 24 hours. Stressed out mama I was, walking the neighborhood, dropping flyers in mailboxes, calling all the vets and the SPCA.
We figure she was locked in someones garage as she turned up again at pretty much the same time she went missing. So our family's back together...whew... so relieved.

Works been flat out... Back to School 2010 ordering landed on my desk last week so I've been up to my ears in book covers, pencil case and should I order 3000 or 3300 of that HB pencil... plus we are in full sales mode at the same time.

And for some reason I decided that as I've moved to Firefox and my blog layout went all weird in it I needed an overhaul. Hopeful you have figure out the READ MORE function from the main page,must have or you wouldn't be reading this...it's a little different but it'll do the job for now. Oh I've overhauled my tunes too.

It's been exhausting!
But as I say - I'm back...
...tomorrow...
...with more of these...

Update time

I've not really had a lot of home time lately and when I have I've been so exhausted from the rest of the day. I've had to use the bulk of what time I've had to do all the boring things like tidy the house, cook and just blob to recover :)

But FINALLY I've had a bit of spare time to whip together some more Little Things kits so I'll be popping them up over the next couple of days. I do struggle with all these ideas for kits in my head... have to start a list to get them out so I can create them with a bit of sense of order.

I wanted to share that Mike and I headed to the "winterless North" last weekend where it was blowing and gale and pouring with rain. We went to see my birth family (if you don't know - I'm an adopted kid) as it was my birth-fathers 50th birthday.

It was so good to hang out with them but there really are no words to explain just how strange it feels to be around people who are so much like you but you don't really know. They are so different in so many ways than my family and that just makes them even more interesting to be around. I have 3 bio-brothers who are as weird as I am.... actually weirder ;) Mainly as they know bigger words than me.

As proof of the weirdness... I ask for a group photo and get a brother on brother lap dance routine instead. Sat up til about midnight on the friday night watching these with Daniel the eldest bio-bro...

My birth father is an artist. His medium is lithography and I am totally in awe of the detail he puts into his work... I snuck a couple of photos...

Their house is like a gallery and Mike and I spent ages just walking around and taking them all in. It was also cool to talk to some of their friends who are artists too. These people are passionate and fasinating to the point where I felt really dwarfed and didn't really know what to say. They are equally as passionate about music and I found a fellow Imogen Heap fan of sorts so that was a wwheew moment.

Another cool thing, my birth-mother and bio-grandmother are both into scrapbooking too! They both pulled out their pages for me. I'm heading back up there in September to go to my very first scrap weekend in Kerikeri... yip it'll be a mammoth drive.

Oh and just to end... token photo of my lil nephew... 3 months now...

MJ

This is just for me... to remember that he was and he went. That I felt so moved. That I cried. That I remember, remember singing and dancing along to HIStory in my room... a CD my dad brought and I claimed as my own. He used to get mad when he'd see those 2 empty spots in the CD spinner. I never had posters, tshirts or a sequined glove.

But I heard the frustration in his later songs and they spoke to my teenage angst in the 90s. I would Scream with him and still tear up to Man in the Mirror.

He was for and of the world... I am up this morning watching his memorial and am so glad I am. Sitting in the middle of the lounge singing along to Heal the World and tears streaming down my face. I will remember this too.

Cropping in the Tron

9 chickas... Vicky, Bridget, Maria, Penny, Raewyn, Vicki, Tracey and myself....
...oh and THE Trina McClunie... ;) haha.

A guest who turned up on his motorcycle ;) The super cute Mr Arlo.

...fresh from a icecream date with his Aunty Bridget.

Free Prima goodies from SBO...

A nice warm room... it's the sunday school room so has all sort of goodies stuck to the walls and hanging from the ceiling... my fav was the orca with the cup jelly fish hanging underneath, cute.

Sugary goodies and Marias yummy cooking....

Paper and glue....

Good times.

We seriously plan to do this again in about 3 months... will keep you posted :)