SKETCH CHALLENGE in the stand! I started a new weekly challenge. The rules are you create a LO using this sketch for you chance to win.

The weekly winners will get a sketch made from a LO in their gallery. And that sketch will be the next weeks challenge sketch. so on and so on.

You could even have your sketch featured in the newsletter. Each week you can upload as many LO's as you wish to the gallery and place a link in the http://thescrapbookstand.com/phpBB/viewtopic.php?t=3469 <--Is a link to the sketch challenge threaad.
http://www.thescrapbookstand.com/gallery/showphoto.php?photo=2579&cat=550<--Is a link to sketch challenge gallery.
Have fun with this! I cannot wait to see what you all come up with!

Blog Challenge day 3.

OK today tell us about your life...do you have a daily routine or is it total chaos?! This will aslo help to know you a bit more :)

Me
mine is different depending on the day! I never have the same routine and I hate that! Winter/spring/fall is best for me,lol....then we're on a schedule! up at 7am off to work at 7:45 work till 3 pick up boys head home. Check site. Supper. Chores. Site. Clean. Bed!

OK the above mentioned schedule really seems like it isn't hectic...but it is! I work the Truancy, the site, Mother, Wife OMG there is so much more!

Summer...Anyhow we do the usual eat, clean, chores, on the site, work, on the site, clean, eat, try to have fun somewhere in between that stuff,LOL! Summer is never it seems a set schedule of waking up, eating,etc.

I know during the summer we usually eat a MUCH later supper though. Especially when we are on the lake. It is nothing for us to eat dinner at 8-9pm...keep in mind we are not having breakfast until 10-11..which sets everything back!

OK gotta run! Oh and did I mention today is my Birthday!!!!!! Happy Birthday to me!

Day two Blog Challenge. Yesterday my friend Vanessa and I went to get our hair done then out to dinner. It was a great afternoon and I thoroughly enjoyed every moment!

I have only known Vanessa for about a year or so. And it was great being able to get to know her a bit more! We work together and of course you really can't get to know someone while your trying to get your job done...at least not very well,LOL.

Which all of this got me to thinking. How well do your friends KNOW you? Honestly? I would hope that mine know me well. But I have also heard in the past from a friend here and there (example) as we are eating and they say "I had NO idea you liked that?" And I think gosh where have you been? This is my favorite dish,LOL!

I have known so many people throughout my life thus far. And it dawned on me that I to do not know as much about them as I had wished to know...I mean after all aren't your friends supposed to know everything about you? Best friends that is?! Right? Boy I guess I must be doing something wrong then?

OK so for some of you who want to get to know eachother a bit more I have put together a questionaire for you to copy and paste onto your blogs as your next challenge. This should help us get to know you and me a bit more.

Oh BTW make sure to leave comments when you visit all the blogs.....its nice to read them now and then KWIM?! So anytime I stop by a blog I try to post a comment, small or large depends on the content! Oh also it enables others to just click on your name and take us stright to your blog to leave you comments!;)

1. How old are you? 33 tomorrow (22nd)
2. How many kids do you have if any? 2
3. Are you married, single, divorced, widow, SO Married
4. What is your occupation? Truancy Coordinator, Freelance Designer, Business Owner of www.thescrapbookstand.com
5. What are your passions? Scrap, Scrap, SCRAP! Photography and my family!
6. Are you a dreamer or a dream seeker? I am a dream seeker! Trying to make my dreams become reality!
7. Are you happy with the way you life has turned out? Yes I am. Although I like thousands of others would like to change things in the past to make life easier for today and the future. But I also realize that is not a possibility so I try harder for the future!
8. Are you a scrapper and if so how many hours a week do you scrap? Ugh this just makes me sick! I am a scrapper obviously. But I do not get near enough time to scrap any more! I hate that. It is my therapy and to not scrap is to not live. I must scrap in order to remain sane, happy, etc. I am going to change that very soon! Then I hope to scrap every day again! Maybe will have to get some challenges going on the site?
9. What do you want to do before you die? Travel to Italy. I dream of going there. Scrap every photo I have ever taken or been given so that my family has a beautiful lasting legacy.
10. What is your favorite food? watermellon
11. What is the food you hate the most? seafood,yuck!
12. What is the most embarassing thing that has ever happened to you? Hmmm well? I guess that would have to be something like while on the lakeboating, jet skiing,etc in the bikini...and well being a bit exposed. Not the entire @#($*# but close enough to make me want to just shrivel up and die under a rock,lol!
13. What is the happiest day of your life thus far? The day my children were born!
14. Are you a neat freak? Or a dirty house cleaner? I like to say I am a neat freak..but I never have enough hours in the day to be totally spotless. But it drives me insane to have the house look dirty, dirty clothes on the floor, dishes on the counter,etc. Would be great if I had others in the house that helped with out being a pain in the ars to do it. To bad I never had girls! LOL
15. What is the worst thing you have ever done? LOL OK I know I have prolly done much worse things in my life but this is what popped into my head....when I was little my parents never allowed us to have their soda. I recall days I would "fake" sick to be home all day. I would have several bottles of soda...the one day my Mother made an entire pan of fresh caramel rolls...so after eating about half of them and several cokes later I truly was feeling ill!! My Mother came home and almost made me go to school after seeing the rolls half gone...she said if you are well enough to eat them you are well enough to go to school....ROFLOL. I never did go in but I sure didn't make the mistake twice.

Today marks the first day of my blog challenge on www.thescrapbookstand.com I am excited for this daily challenge because as you look at my past posts...I really have been so busy to update daily. I want that to change.

Imiss being able to check back at my entries. As many know you forget things if they are not written down sometimes...I am one of those types of people...I have freakin notes EVERY where it seems,LOL!

Well the first challenge is to write about your favorite family memory and include a photo(s). So here is my photo. Not a good one but the best we could get having a stranger take our pic,lol! Either way it is nice to have this pic! We have VERY few photos with all 4 of us together.

The favorite memory is when we recently took the kids to Seaworld. OMG if you have not been to Seaworld you MUST go! It is my favorite place...amazing! I was sad that we had only planned to have one day there! So we were there literally the entire day that they were open. I know we still missed some things, but maybe another time!

We all had such a great time. There is honestly nothing better than being able to fully enjoy each other and enjoy what you are doing! It was a perfect day. I was able to get alot of good photos. That I have yet had the time to scrap (hate that) but I hope to some day!

We watched a couple of the shows...our favorite was the Clyde and Seamore (?) show...OMG it was so good we watched it 2x that day,LOL! We were (some what) bummed that we couldn't go up in the needle tower (not sure what its called) to see the entire seaworld. I am afraid of heights so I was OK with not being able to go due to the wind. OMG it was freaky looking up at it and seeing it literally swaying in the wind, Ackkk! LOL!

The weather was perfect. Warm with a slight breeze to stay the perfect temp! The day was perfect! The kids loved the sharks, whales, polar bears and dolphins. We all wanted to swim with the dolphins and feed the sharks but we couldn't find the area they were in. Honestly I do not know how we would have had the time to do them anyhow,LOL!

What a day...my knee did pretty good. Which was great because it allowed me to walk alot with a mediocre amount of swelling and bruising. And just a bit of limping. THe next day was hell though! Really bad as I think I pushed my self toooo much, I had bruising from the thigh to the calf area and swelling, major swelling. But I was able to fully enjoy the day at Seaworld!

OMG I almost forgot the McCracken ride,LOL....I cannot go on rides because I barf! So Jon and the boys went on it while I held everything waiting to snap some shots. Of which never came...dang camera batteries went dead! Argh! Anyhow we bought the photos that the cameras take, you know the ones they have mounted on certain areas of the ride. ROFLOL well we got the best photo ever from them. Jesse my poor jess man cannot handle rides to well either. But dad said you just have to try it cause I know you will love it. Well he enjoyed part of it but the photo says it all.......that He was scared to death! OMG the look on this poor childs face...people were walking past the photo area cracking joke about "this" photo and we look over to see that it was our jess man! Oh he felt so horrible...he didn't want to tell dad that he felt like barfing because he knew dad was so proud of him for going. And he didn't want to let him down. But he came to me and said "Mom I really didn't like the ride all that well and I really feel like throwing up" Oh my jessman I said...I am so proud of you! I told him to just keep breathing and think of something else and soon enough your mind will be off of barfing. He tried his best and did very well. ONly once in a while for the next 2hrs I had to ask are you ok. He never did upchuck thank goodness. but I am still so proud of him for going on the ride and staring fear in the face and saying I can DO it!

Ahhhh what a day,lol! I love every memory of it! There is so many more but I am sure you don't care to read a book,LOL! So for now ciao

SCHOOLS OUT FOR SUMMER!

OMG it has been forever it seems since I have made an entry! So much has gone on in the last month..where to even begin?

Well school is out for me..and summer vacation is here! I was so ready for a break from my Truancy position! A few short months ago I was actually ready to resign.....NO don't be shocked I say I am DONE every year around feb/march/april....because that to me is the busiest time of year. And the most emotionally drainging!!

I get to the point when I get sick of hearing the same stuff over and over. To have my job or any job in this field or directly related you MUST have some thick skin and a hardened hart I have been told. OMG I want to flip out on people when they tell me that!!! What the hell!

If I had a hardened heart how could I be any good at my job? Honestly? How could I? I CANNOT BE!!!!!!!! Some of my clients have raised themselves for years, have druggy parents who spend their life focused on drugs and their next fix instead of their children, kids who are neglected, abused-physically, verbally and sexually by their parents, family or family friends. Clients who are emotionally beyond my reach (and that kills me), clients who have or have had parents in jail or prison, many who are or have thought that they were or have been preggo and lost their babies both by man and by nature.

Many clients who just want someone to love them, show that they are worthy, someone to count on. SOMEONE!!! You all have NO idea how this kills me! I literally have tears right now this very second I am typing!!!!!!

I know I cannot save the world. I know that I cannot save every child I work with. I know that not everyone wants to be saved. I know that I cannot always reach every child I work with or come into contact with. I know that I as one person cannot. But I know that me, ME as ONE person can make a difference! Even if it is in only one childs life. It is worth all that I do! All the hell that I put myself through. It is worth the emotional upset!

So on this REALLY bad day, the day that I had a case of a child and Mother who just disappeared into thin air..many hours and days of searching, calls, etc I was told by someone (state job) that there really isn't anything that you can do...just wait to see if you hear anything. WHAT?!?! OMG I hate that! NO I don't want to wait! I want you to act NOW. Do something NOW! This really bad day was actually weeks later...about 3 to be percise. I had all this build up of emotional crap because I felt as though I am not good enough in my job...I cannot locate this Child and his Mother..and I was ready to give up!!!

So I sit in my office typing up my resignation. When all of a sudden from out of no where this person appears sitting in the chair in front of my desk saying "Well hello there stranger, how are you? I wanted for so long to stop and talk to you. I wanted to thank you for all that you do. I want to thank you for making a difference in MY life" She continued to tell me that my job and the work I do is very important. She also said that even though I may have not been able to help her immediately then....that I have helped her in years after I worked with her (insert more HUGE tears here)...that she is so grateful for all of that I do for all the kids I work with and all that I did for her because I CARE!!!!!!!! Did you hear that she said I care! I cared for her! I still care for her and each and every child I have ever worked with. She proceeded to tell me that she did have a child shortly after I dismissed her case...she did get her GED (I had that court ordered), but that she is doing well! She is a single mom who is attending college classes and working full time making almost 2x minimum wage and is trying to make a difference with her life and her childs life. She said I knew I could do it because you told me I could! You believed in me when no one else did she said, ugh can you believe it she let me make a difference in her life..she let me in long enough to teach her a few small things that would make a HUGE impact on her life!

At that point....she is still in my office and still talking about her beautiful baby and all the glorious reasons why it is such a great thing to be a Mother that I looked to my puter screen, glanced at the resignation. My mind drifted for a few seconds...thinking of this is why, this is why I do the job, this is why I care, and this is why I try...I hear her voice still speaking and I try to not show how emotional this is really making me! I try extremely hard to not cry in front of her. I try so hard! I wanted to just scream out my emotions...it was so difficult not to cry...I just smiled at her. At that moment she stopped smiling as if she knew what I was thinking...like she was reading my mind literally as I thought...and she smiled as she tilted her head as to say...I know! And at that very moment we just sat there smiling at each other feeling so complete until I looked down and saw my puter screen one last time. Within a split second I reached for the puter mouse and clicked the X. When the screen came up asking me do I want to save the new file...I looked at her smiled again and thanked her SO much for coming to tell me these things that she has NO idea how much it means to me to hear her say those wonderful things and I clicked DO NOT SAVE!!!

Then she was gone. As I sit there I felt so good. I just sat there thinking of one million and one things every second when I notice a teacher walk by my door..who turned back and was staring at me...he asked "everything ok?" and I say with a smile "yes, yes everything is ok, it couldn't be any better"

It is so hard! But to have one person come forth and tell me that I have made a difference makes it all worth it! And for now I will try my best to enjoy the vacation I have. Because I know that in 6mos I will be right back in the emotional hoopla of saying "why do I do this?" to only recall this very moment, this very conversation I had with this young Mother and to think to myself I know why!

Well if you all are still reading this I am amazed! LOL honestly I am amazed that you could listen to my long story! If you are still reading this you must be as caring as I! Why do you ask would I know you are as caring? Because this is not what alot of people want to hear..only the people who care and who try to make a difference would continue to read this! So with that said THANK YOU!!!! Thank you for caring!

Just remember that you NEVER know who you will make a difference in! So never give up trying. Never give up your compassion, efforts thoughts words and prayers because YOU can make a diffenece!!!