Once in a lifetime

Going back to work after more than a week of vacation isn't as easy as it sounds! But I'm not complaining.

Outside my apartment building, the path that leads from the street to our door is full of snow. Thigh high. I kid you not. In the school yard, some kids could easily sit on the fence in some places (we didn't let them of course!)

I'm not feeling chatty tonight. Maybe I'll actually go to bed early for once...

Art Cards

Busy times. I've been asked to fill in for one of my coworkers yesterday and today morning. It's only one hour each time I do it but it's that much more money on my paycheck too! Plus, today we had an extended meeting (an hour and a half instead of the usual 30 minutes so even more money!) This morning, as I was on my walk, I kept thinking that this week is a great week for extra money (no particular reason other than I would like to have a bit more money these days.)

Yesterday was Catherine's Open House for the new Stampin Up! line and catalog. Lots of people showed up. It was fun. I saw an ex-coworker I hadn't seen since almost a year (we used to work together at the store) so that was nice.

A lot of busy days/weeks coming up. I might not be able to blog as regularly as I have lately but I will be creating daily! And I'll definitely blog for the OWOH giveaway. I know what I'm giving away now I just have to complete it! And I'll do that as soon as I put this post to bed. ;-)

Images for today are art cards from the last few days. The first and second one are my Daily Art Cards and the third is my fourth entry for the Deck Of Me Challenge. The theme was "a symbol you love" and I chose the fleur-de-lys, a symbol of my heritage (being french canadian and all...)
And apparently I have a thing for hearts these days!


Thanks for looking and come back before the weekend for the giveaway!

Back to work it is then...

Today was the first day back to work. Starting with a ped day can be fun and hard too. Luckily, today I was working with Anik and we always get along great.

Yesterday's cooking was a fun experience for me and I plan to do it more often. I used to by frozen dinners or pre-prepared meals. No more (well, I'm not saying never but not as often as I did before.) I plan to use my Sundays for cooking and baking. Now if only I could have someone to share my cooking with... ;-)




Daily art cards 5 and 6 are what you see here. Very simple. Painted background. Patterned paper on the top one and Perfect Pearls dusted over the whole thing. Doodling and watercolour on the bottom one. Now I'm off to do tonight's card which will be the 7th so my first goal will be accomplished. Now to see if I can make it til the end of the month with these cards...

Recycle wrapping

This year, I decided to use whatever I have on hand to wrap Christmas presents. On this photo is a gift, wrapped in red-dyed "handmade" paper bought at the dollar store more than a year ago. The ribbon and bow/flower are made out of strips of paper cut in a gift-idea junk mail pamphlet. I got the idea for the flower from Hanna a while back. This particular pamphlet produced two bow/flowers for two different gifts. I loved the results and so did the recipient (one was for a gift exchange at work and the other for CeeCee last Friday.)

The other presents I wrapped this week for my parents and my brother are all in recycled paper whether it be old wrapping paper or scrapbook paper. One gift is even in a box of cereal that I gessoed and then made red and green stripes with electrical tape! I love how it came out. I'll try to post a picture of it tomorrow.

Now... tomorrow is the last day of work before the holidays. Huge sighs of relief will be heard throughout the school tomorrow. As a treat for the kids, my colleague, Anik, and I are providing a special snack in the afternoon. The kids get to decorate their own Christmas cookie and then eat it. (Found kits at Costco that are great!) Even though it's not always easy working with them, they still deserve a little reward.

Last weekend, I got Diesel to sit still long enough with my Christmas hat on to take this picture. Isn't she cute???

Snow Day

One of the perks of working in a school is that when there is a snow storm and all the kids get to stay at home, I also get to stay at home. And I still get paid!

So here is my wreath, hanging on my bedroom door. My ornaments are either gifts from kids at the other school where I used to work or bought at the fair trade store. I also hung the little gift I received from Mahala and an ornament I made in a class (the big purple and green one on the left) a couple of years ago.

In my five years living alone, this is the first time that I've decided to decorate for the holidays. It's not much but it's enough for me.

Now, I'm going to enjoy the rest of this snow day by working in my journal and reading.

PS There's still one spot in my Pay it Forward post if anyone is interested. Or you can visit Candace or Mahala to sign up there. Spread the word!

My new mug

Two weeks ago, mom and I went to paint another piece of ceramic. This time, I decided to go for a huge mug (for cafe au lait) and painted it with fun colours. Mom painted a cute little piggy bank. She picked up the finished pieces this week and I was able to finally use my mug this morning. What great timing! Making a huge mug of cafe au lait while getting started on my novel!

That's right! NaNoWriMo has started. I stayed up late last night so I could get started at 12:01 precisely. And I did start then.

So far, I wrote 1941 words which is pretty good for my first day. I might continue tonight after watching CSI and Grey's Anatomy. I'm telling the story from the point of view of a bird. And so far, it's about a girl named Miss T (or Misty but I wanted her name to count for at least two words!) She understands the language of animals and insects. Plenty of possibilities can arise from that! I'm excited. I'm tired but pumped at the same time.

Now I should eat lunch before going to work. It's a ped day (no classes, just daycare program) and I'm working a bit more hours. I was supposed to work 12:55 to 5:30 but I was asked if I could come in this morning from 8:00 to 9:00 which I did (AND I'm getting paid an extra 15 minutes because I agreed to do it!) I swear to everything holy, I am loving LOVING my job at this school. So different from the last one. So much better. And Anik and I get along so well working together. It's wonderful.

Now, if only the Universe could send me that wonderful, loving man I asked for! :-D

Oh yeah! I'm getting a Nikon D40x tomorrow! My brother bought a better model and is selling me this one for less. Woohoo! (One more answer from the Universe!)

Summertime...

...and the living is easy! Yup, school year is over. I'm on vacation. I have nothing specific planned so right now, it's one day at a time.

Last wednesday, I finally went to the library to be a member and I borrowed two books: SARK's Eat Mangoes Naked and Kurt Vonnegut's A Man Without A Country. Saturday, as usual, mom and I went shopping and I bought Rhonda Byrne's The Secret. I've already finished reading SARK, I'm halfway through The Secret and I'll probably have read Vonnegut by the weekend. I'm feeling good. I will definitely create something this week.

Good news: next school year, I will be working a bit more: 18h45 instead of 17h30 per week. AND I will be with a group of either 3rd, 4th or 5th graders. Good changes are coming! :-)