Scrappy Bug - Where have you been?

Have you ever been so busy that you forget what day it is? Your alarm wakes you up and you can't remember why you set it. Well that has been me these last couple of weeks. I've been busy with home improvement projects (which I will share later) that seem to take up all of my free time. Before then....I'll blame the holidays and pure laziness. But I am back with a vengeance. Expect several posts the next couple of weeks.

A good friend of mine was pregnant with twins (she delivered a boy and a girl a few weeks ago) but before these bundles of joy came into our lives, her friends and I gave her a baby shower. I was in charge of invitations, party favors, & banner. Three of my favorite things to make.

We had an animal theme baby shower. Or maybe it was safari theme....I don't remember now. My friend is not very keen on traditional girl and boy colors i.e. pink and blue so her invitations had  earthy tones.

In case you can't tell from the picture, these are elephant heads raised with dimensions. Other invitations had monkey heads and giraffe heads as well as an animal combination. These were super simple to make and not your typical baby shower invitation. I loved them and more importantly so did the mom to be.

In a few days I'll share my party favors. They were a little over the top but I couldn't help myself.  

Toto, I don't think we won

Although Halloween has past there is something I have to get off my chest. There was a pumpkin carving contest at my place of work. Two co-workers and I decided to join the competition.

We came up with this brilliant idea.

How cute are they. I don't even have to say who they were right? You can totally tell.

Here are a few other entries. There were 11 in total.

These are lovely pumpkins as well but we felt we had a real shot at winning.....we came in third. Technically we did win something...but we didn't win it all.

I wasn't planning on blogging about this. But I just came across these pictures and wounds were  re-opened.  I was hoping blogging would help in the healing process.

Addiction

Addiction is defined as the uncontrollable compulsion to repeat a behavior regardless of its negative consequences. A person who is addicted is sometimes called an addict.

Hello, my name is The Scrappy Bug and I am a Words with Friends addict. A good friend of mine introduced me to this game. It's just like scrabble but better. There is no argument over the validity of a word because the system automatically tells you the letters you played are not a word. You don't lose your turn when you make up a word. And, you can play with multiple opponents at once.

I am constantly checking my phone to see if my opponents have played a word. And because there is no penalty, I check all letter combinations to see if they make a word - Coz, Qi, Raj are all words that have been used and have scored a ton of points.

I was sick last night and didn't end up falling asleep until 4am. I woke up at 10am and the first thing I did was check my phone to see if it was my turn. I still wasn't feeling 100% but I must say entering KURTA for 38pts did make me feel just a little bit better.

If you can, I would recommend downloading this game and inviting a friend or two or three. All addiction doesn't have to be bad. This one is educational...as long as you look up the definition of the word you didn't know.

The Funk

As I mentioned in a previous post, I graduated from a masters program about a month and a half ago. I was a full time student with a full time job and a need to craft. My day was scheduled from beginning to end. At times, this included my lunch hour and my bus ride to and from home. I didn't have weekends. At least not in the sense that most people have weekends - I forgot to mention - I had a part time job that took up my Saturdays. In short, I was busy.

So of course when I graduated, I took some time off. I deserved it. I earned it. So after work, I would come home and do nothing. And I mean nothing. No cooking, little cleaning, no crafting, and sadly, no blogging. I just watched TV and then watched some more TV. My weekends still include work, but on Sundays I do nothing. All day. In my PJs. It's fabulous. Marvelous. The best thing ever.

But all good things must come to an end. I have craft orders I must fill and craft fairs I must prepare for. I have to start cooking or take a third job to pay for my restaurant debt. And the dust layer is starting to look like furniture padding.

I have to get out of my funk. So I am starting with my blog. Hopefully I will have something of interest to post real soon. Wish me luck.

The Story of Larry and Bob

***PARENTAL ADVISORY****

This story is not for the timid.  

I spent the majority of my vacation in gorgeous, breathtaking, Maine. ( I have actually sent a letter to the state of Maine telling them they should change their name to Gorgeous Breathtaking Maine.  I'll let you know if they reply.)

Of course, all you hear and all you see are signs saying, "Find the best lobster rolls here." "Fresh lobster here." Even fast food restaurants get in on the action.

So of course I had to try the famous Maine lobster.

Enter the Lucky Catch.

And Captain Tom

We had so much fun on the Lucky Catch. Captain Tom was awesome. He and his staff will take you out and teach you all about lobstering. I can tell you how to identify if the lobster is male or female. I can tell you what you do if you catch an egg laying lobster. I can even rubber band a lobster claw with one twist.

But more importantly to this story, I can also tell you how tasty a fresh lobster is.

Enter - Larry and Bob.

We caught these two lobster just 30 mins before this picture was taken. They were the right size in order for us to keep and they didn't wiggle very much in your hand - two important aspects when picking your own lobster off the boat.

In this picture above, Larry is on the left. Bob is on the right.

In this picture above, we believe Larry is on the left. Bob is on the right.

I warned you, this story was not for the timid. 

More to come....

A Reward for a Job Well Done

As I posted earlier this week, I recently graduated from my master's program. As a reward to myself, I took a vacation and visited Boston, Massachusetts and three cities in Maine - Camden, Bar Harbor, & Portland. It was the best vacation I have ever taken and one I will never forget.

Sadly, we only had two days in Boston. Both days rained nonstop. But even in the gray and gloom, the architecture, the history, the spirit of Boston showed through.

Some of our excursions were canceled due to the rain but that didn't stop us from exploring the city on our own. I plan on going back and making Boston it's own vacation.

More to come....

I See The Light

A journey that started 2 1/2 years ago has finally come to an end. I have successfully completed my master's degree. The light at the end of tunnel was there, just like everyone said.  I am filled with emotions; happiness, relief, excitement, uncertainty about the future.....

My family through me a party to celebrate. I of course provided the invitations. I kept them simple yet elegant. It's amazing what some ribbon, pattern paper, and just the right font can do.