Do I scrap or do I blog? That is the Question

Recently, the answer is scrap. My stepson's birthday is coming up. So you know I had to scrap a card for him. And of course, not just any card but a "special" card. You know the ones, the ones that take hours and hours to make. The ones that take as long as a mini album. :) The hard part was thinking of a theme. God bless the women at 2peas because someone said scrap his hobby. Well then it became a little easier, Call of Duty 4. So I was on a mission at 2peas looking for inspiration. Thank you memrybug for your pirate CD...it was just what I needed for inspiration. The cover is a screen shot from the game and I used Photoshop E5 to add his user name and my husband's user name. (If you are ever online at Xbox, look them up.) And again, the Bind it all from Zutter was my hero. It cut through those CDs like butter. I have to say it has become my bff.

Christmas Eve at the Blancos "Joyfully"

Wow! It has been a whole year since I started my first scrapbook. This time last year I was working on my first scrapbook.. Well I did one about 11 years ago for my grandmother but it was a once in a lifetime deal and when I was done, I was done. (so I thought) It was at Christmas that I presented my very first scrapbook. It was a hit with all the family. She passed away about 3 or 4 years ago and I was given the scrapbook.

Well this year, one year into my new scrapbook adventure, I did a a video montage to music that consisted of all the pictures that were in the original scrapbook, some of them dating back to the 3o's and pictures of time that has passed since creating that one.

But this page is about Christmas. Christmas as it has been since I was a little girl celebrating it at my grandmother's house. It is still celebrated at her house. Well, my aunts house but we call it grandma's house. Her spirit is still felt and missed, especially at Christmas time. The house is full of children, as it has always been. Only now I am not the one begging to open presents early, running around the house, and laughing with all my cousins. No, it is my daughter now and her second cousins. I don't think we will ever be without children in the house. With a new one even this year, there is a promise that Christmas will always be filled with children. That is why I love this picture and why I could not wait to scrapbook it. It is us, the Blancos, celebrating as we always have...joyfully.

One more look at the years gone by

I began to reflect on the year gone by and was searching through my pictures to find the perfect one to tell my story and I found my Christmas tree. It isn't big, full or even real. But on its branches hang symbols of days gone by. If you look closely you will see one I made by hand. That was Christmas when money was so tight that we had no gifts between me and my love one. So I went to the dollar store and bought a roll of wrapping paper and some plastic doilies and took some tape from work and some paper clips and I made some ornaments. We didn't have a tree that year, I just hung them on the wall in the shape of a tree. There hangs the first ornament I bought for my little girl. Her eyes had not seen the world yet but I already loved her. I could feel her move around in my tummy and I know she was mine and I knew she was loved. There hangs one of the first ornaments she made for me, a big white angel with gold trimmed wings. There hangs a wreath ornament made of Chili peppers, the one me and my beloved bought the first time we met in person. There hangs an ornament given to me by a sweet young boy. A thank you gift he made for me. We had adopted his family one year for Christmas and their wish list consisted of things I could not afford. But by the grace of God, through others, they received their stove, beds, food, clothes and even toys...they hadn't asked for toys, they only asked for things they needed. At 10 years old he could tell you how many cans of vegetable he had in their pantry and corn bread mix. They made one of each a day, to share between him, his sister and his mother. I still cry when I think about them. There hangs the lyrics to Away in a manger, the song that tells of my saviour and how he was born so fragile yet he is the King of Kings. Even my tree itself has a story. It is the tree me and my precious daughter bought on our first Christmas alone. It wasn't big and it wasn't real but it was ours. My tree and its ornaments are symbolic of all of God's blessing. Through the good times and hard times, He was there. He loved me and cared for me when I knew nothing of Him. He worked through others to help me and as He filled me, he used me to help others. How great is our God!!

Happy New Year!!

Happy New Year!!! We had a wonderful time New Years eve with some good friends and new ones. I am excited that two of the most amazing men I have known, have found their soul mates. And what else would an amazing man have but an amazing woman?!?!?!? They are wonderful women, Godly women. We sat and chatted and rang in the New Year. A wonderful time was had by all.

Madame Librarian....Marian

Do you remember the movie...The Music Man? Well there is this scene in the library where the Music Man declares his love to Marian, the librarian. Well, I have only seen the movie once, but I have to tell you, anytime I come to work at the library, that song comes to my head and I hum it. I thought I would get over it but it has been 4 months and it still kicks in when I get here. But I have to say I am surprised at what you can do at your local library and the programs they offer.

For example, at my library, you can take Microsoft Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Publisher, Digital Photography and Computer Basics classes.....for free!!! And you can take them as often as you like.

There is an online database for family heritage that has records from way back when. And if your family came via Ellis Island and they signed in, you can get a copy of the page of where they signed in....all for free. Need information about a company? Check out Reference USA in our database and you can get their financials, home office information, gross income etc. What if you want some stock information? Check out ValueLine, we have a paid subscription to it so you don't have to pay. There is this series of books that you heard about and you can't remember the name or author of any of the books...check out Novelist and you can type in the plot line and it will give you a list of books that meet that description. Narrow your search to books in a series and wahla....you found what you are looking for.

Our Young Adults have a whole area to themselves. 12 computers dedicated to them and a reference librarian if they need help searching for information. The teachers can email her before the projects are given out so that she can be prepared for their questions. They also have an anime club, the traveling pants club, they make Christmas cards, eat chocolate from a chocolate fountain ( not all the time) and play Runescape all day long.

We have study rooms that you can reserve for up to 4 people at a time for up to two hours. Some tutors rent our rooms all evening (under the students names) and run their tutor business from here. We have meeting rooms that fit 150+ people and it can be reserved all day and for free!!

Did you know you can check ebooks via the library and audiobooks? It's true. I know Iknow...I didn't know it either until I started working here.

Let me encourage you to check out your local library, you will be amazed at what you can do there.

VHS vs Beta

For those who are old enough...and you know who you are, remember when VCR's first came out? Those big bulky top loading machines that were going to change how we watched TV? Remember, the debate over which was better--Beta or VHS. To say the least, VHS won and all those mislead Beta people had to convert. Well at least until DVD came along.

Well I feel mislead. Some time ago I discovered Photobucket. I loved it. Even purchased more storage but as months went by....all I see are people with Flickr. For months, I have stood my ground and refused to view any Flickr sites but I soon discovered, everyone I knew that wanted to share pics were using it. And now I am trying to set up a slideshow on my blog and guess what? Flickr interface works but not the Photobucket. So, here I stand....defeated. I broke down and opened a Flickr site....now if I can only get it to show the pictures that I want to show.

2007 Christmas ornaments

I love Christmas!! Sometimes it is cooler in Houston, other times, well it is just less humid. but I love all the colors and how somehow the air feels with joy and giving. Since my little girl, Gabby, was in my tummy, we have bought an ornament each year. This is one of my favorites. We got this one when she was two and this is the first one she picked out. Which is just awesome because I love Mickey and Minnie. But as much as I love this one, I now have another favorite because of the story it tells.

You see, a few years ago, as a single mom, I bought a real inexpensive fake tree. I know...I know...you are asking why? I don't know why but I did. In any case, this year I really wanted a real tree but my husband did not want to go buy one. And the truth be known, we didn't even put up our Christmas decorations until December 21st. So as we are pulling out the fake tree, that I have to fill with garland because it is so lean, I notice a funky smell. We stored it in the garage and it really smelled musty. I continue to complain about the smell and when my husband goes to the grocery store for a midnight run, I ask him to bring home a Pine smelling candle to help with the odor. After searching high and low at the store, the only thing he found was a car freshner, ironically shaped as a Christmas tree....come on...we have all seen them. Knowing that I really wanted a pine tree smell, he brings home the car freshner and hangs it on the tree. And by the way, it does not smell anything like a pine tree....just chemicals. Well we have a huge two story foyer and family game room, where my scrap room resides, is upstairs. And only God knows why, but that smell travels straight up to my scrap area.

But despite the horrid smell, I leave the car freshner on the tree. Why? Because it is a symbol of how much my husband loves me and what means he will do to make me happy. So the Christmas ornament for my husband and me for 2007? A car freshner, and I wouldn't change it for the world.