A New Layout, a Freebie and Road Rage

Michael pointed out a news item to me just the other day. He said that studies have shown that folks who have their cars plastered with a lot of bumper stickers are more likely to dish out a little road rage on their fellow drivers. I think he was filling me in on this tidbit because I have my van plastered with magnetic mod flowers. I love it! Now you might think that sweet little flowers are pretty innocuous, but the article specifically mentioned that the content of the bumper stickers is actually irrelevant. Apparently, folks who cover their cars with personal touches are very territorial. Yup, that's me. Here's the article if you're curious: Bumper Stickers = Road Rage I think territorial describes me to a tee. In fact, it really explains a lot. So, if you see a threatening Sea foam green Toyota Sienna covered with crazy daisys bearing down on you in your rearview mirror, well…you'll know it's me. Reminds me a little of the Stephen King story, Christine.

Now I have a treat today. A new scrapbook page. I just finished this one. I'm doing a guest spot for Lorie Davison for July, and I'm tickled pink, by the way! So, I used three of her kits, the newest is a Collaboration with Edeline Marta and is called A Walk in The Meadow, and the other two are Faerily Moonlit and Water Spirit. Here's what I came up with.



I also used my great grandmother's reading spectacles in the LO. I photographed them, extracted them and then, for my little learning experience this week, I figured out how to make them transparent (without making them disappear…thank you Thena!) So, since I went to all the trouble, I thought I'd offer them as a little token of my appreciation, as a blog freebie to you. You can download them here:

NanniesSpecs.png.zip

The rest of the credits can be found in my DST Gallery

Read anything good lately? I just finished Loving Frank, by Nancy Horan. It's historical fiction about Frank Lloyd Wright and and affair he had which lured him away from his family in the prime of his career. Fantasic book, actually horrific in many ways, but a great read, I must recommend it. Well, I'm a bit all over the map today, but, after all, that's why I called this "mental detritus!" See you next time!

A Day for Cute Quotes

Okay, first business is to tell you about my mysterious trip. Kenneth and I went to Baltimore for the Davidson Young Scholars Summit. It was really enjoyable. Kenneth and I both had a great time. He got to learn chess from a grandmaster, attend a class on the solar system taught by Frank Summers…who is so awesome at teaching classes on the Solar System that he has a DVD for sale through the Teaching Company. He also got to hang out with some of his buddies from previous years, like Madison and Dominic, for instance. Way Cool!

Then we were off to Colorado for a family reunion and that was plenty of fun too. We went to an aligator farm, where yours truly held a gator for the family photo, I was the only one present who was even willing to consider it. I guess the McCalpins are more squeamish than the Reids (wink!) We also visited the Sand Dunes National Park and the creek was running so we got to play in the sand and eat a pic-nic lunch with Grandma & Grandpa. It was a wonderful visit. The highlight of the trip had to be our participation in the Great Crestone Parade and Waterfight. Uncle Jim Drove his old Army Truck and the boys in the back were armed and dangerous. I was sitting in the cab with Eleanor…I repeat…in the cab, and we were drenched. There was water dripping from the ceiling. Eleanor finally said at near the end, "Dat 'nuff water!"

So, for todays quotes. All three children were kind enough to provide me with quotes today.

First Reid: I picked him up from his first day of Lego Early Structures camp and this is the conversation we had:
Me: Did you Have fun?
Reid: Well, sort of.
Me: What did you do?
Reid: Well, all the other kids built stuff with Legos while I played in the swivel chair.
Me: You didn't want to build anything with the Legos?
Reid: Well…ya know, I know you wanted me to have fun, Mom, but I have fun all the time at home with you.

That was $90 well spent.

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Next Quote Kenneth: This is also when I asked about his Lego camp which was, "World of Droids."
Kenneth: We were talking about Wall-e in my camp today. My teacher said he didn't get a chance to see it because his wife dragged him off to do something else. I was listening to him and thinking, "Hey Mr! Don't let your wife push you around!"

Umm Hmm.

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Final Quote from Eleanor. We were eating our pic-nic lunch outside on the grass after the boys' camps and Reid, never one to sit still, had dashed off to go climb a crepe myrtle, in which he promptly got stuck and required my help to get down. We walked back to our blanket, he took off and nearly immediately climbed the tree again. Eleanor, who had wondered over there with him and was down on the ground looking up at him, put her hands on her hips, turned toward me and yelled, "MoooOOoooM! Reid's stuck in the tree again."

I guess I just have funny kids! They certainly make me laugh! Hope you are having a wonderful day.