Payback Time has drawn nigh....

This is a quick interruption of the Granny Panty blog for me to officially apologize to my parents for all the grief, angst and agony I caused you in my adolescent years. Yes, true to your wishes, I am getting my pay back. Little did I realize that the problems of the Terrible Twos, Troublesome Threes and the first time they got a D on a spelling test were such small potatoes compared to the Trauma Filled Teen years.

What the teens fail to realize is that when their heart breaks, our heart breaks. And we've been dealing with two very different teens with two very different heart issues, but one thing is common. It hurts.

Now back to our regular programming....chic Book reviews is a new blog that my friend Amy has started. If you love to read, check it out. She's kicking it off by doing a giveaway on April 1st! Me? I'm a super fan of Chick Lit and the not so guilty pleasure reading. Most of the time, my nose is in a book geared towards working with children, so when I read for pleasure, I do not tend to go for the downer, depressing or deep inwardly thinking tome. I read for sheer fun. Amy's new book blog looks like it will be sheer fun, so I can't wait to visit regularly!

What tends to tempt me to pick up a book to read? Well, a pink or seafoam green cover of course! Seriously, if it is pretty, I pick it up. If the teasers on the back and inside covers are light & witty, I flip through it. If what I read makes me smile, laugh or nod my head in agreeable recognition, I may carry it up to the check-out counter (with my coupon of course). This is my confession, when it comes to reading I am brazenly simple and I like it that way!

Oddly enough, after 2 weeks of heartbreak with my own teens, I'm about to head for a conference with almost 30 more. Pray for me. No seriously, pray for me and them and all the other adults going. You know where there are 2 or more girls gathered together, there will be drama. That is not what this weekend is supposed to be about and I don't want dramas to overshadow what should (if all goes according to plan and prayer) be an amazing weekend they will always remember. Where there are 2 or more guys gathered together, there is a large possibility for a trip to the emergency room. I really don't want some bone-headed big puppy of a teen boy knocking himself silly and sitting in the ER for hours.

If I'm still alive on Monday morning, my plan is to have a majorly huge cappucino in hand and spend time visiting every single lovely blog I haven't been able to spend time at because I've been nursing wounded hearts and wringing my hands at my inability to make it all better.

Until then, playing with art supplies is always good therapy. I highly recommend it. This is some of my Prozac:

Everything is still being pulled from my copious stash, but I confess I totally broke the no-buy with a little of Jenni Bowlin's new designs and pretty much ALL of Heidi Swapp's new product. My defense? It was perty? Really though, their stuff tends to cross so many applications and isn't pigeon-holed into only one type of genre. And truly, I love gazing at the new lovelies and whiffing off that little adrenaline rush of retail therapy.

Not sure why the next 2 pics turned out blurry. They didn't seem that way earlier, but since I'm about to pack and run, I'm sorry I don't have time to fix them. You see those stickers down below? Every month, when I get my Lucky (or Domino) magazine, those stickers are there for you to mark your favorites. They are just too, too cute. Too cute, not to use them for a card or two. I'm so sad that Domino is going, going, gone now. They had some of the best color combos for their little stickers.
This photo album was inspired by a tutorial on the Joli Paquet blog. Instead of paper though, I used some old feedsack fabric, seam binding and a vintage flower. Ssimple, but so fun to do. Check out the Joli Paquet blog and scroll down for the original tutorial, then have fun creating your own little albums! I've since made more of these and will probably save them for Mother's Day little gifties.