for the love of fresh air.

holy crap where the hell have i been?

i didn't realize it's been a couple of weeks since my last post. what a freakin slacker, LOL! bennett and i are chillin' at the lake this week while brynn and braden are enjoying knott's berry farm with their dad. all of us are heading for home tomorrow and will attempt to ready ourselves for the new school year that starts monday morning. gah.

the kids and i went camping at greenhorn last weekend and had a lot of fun, well...until it was time to break camp. that gets me crabby. plain and simple. we brought sutter down with us - she is still recovering from her surgery - and i'm thinking she won't be wanting to go home anytime soon. she loves it here. she chases lizards and bunyas. she watches the coyotes from a safe distance and seems to enjoy just roaming around. she is healing nicely and there is no sign of any new lumps. she got her first bath in about...oh, i dunno - 8 years...the other day. she was so filthy from camping, i had no choice. she is definitely being spoiled though, she slept in a tent with the kids up on the mountain, and here she is quite comfy indoors with a big ole comforter and her own fan. sheesh, even the dog has an easy life.

i wish i had tales of shawna-style camping to tell you. nothing incredibly funny happened, nor did i do anything particularly stupid. my girl did not bellow across the campground this year, wondering if i was ready to tie one on at 7am. no one put anyone else's eye out with flying woodchips and/or horseshoes. it was simply relaxing and beautiful. the weather up there (at appx 5500 feet) was absolutely gorgeous - around 83 while it was 100 down in the valley.

we didn't have any interesting visitors in the night, although we were awakened a couple of mornings by some seemingly pissed off chipmunks. oh and by the daily warming up of the meat-bee indy 500. we saw a gorgeous doe (a deer, a female deer) and her twins - spots and all, OMG they were adorable. they were very casually wandering through the backside of our camp in single file stopping to nibble flowers here and there - very peaceful and calm. we tried to follow the movements of a couple of combative squirrels up in the tree tops. they would squawk at each other and the take off running, leaping from tree to tree, knocking crap down all over everyone. only twice this year did they attempt the art of murder-by-pinecone...i'm happy to report that they missed both times, but they definitely managed to skeer the bejeebus outta me. these cones are probably a foot long, maybe 5 inches in diameter and they are green so they weigh a TON. drop that pup from a height of about 70 feet and they become dangerous little bombs. little furry bastards.

anyway, sorry i haven't posted, i still have stories to tell from my trip to the coast. ugh. hopefully i can transition back to the school-year routine easily enough and get back into a schedule of my own. i love the freedom of summertime, but look forward to the FOOTBALL and cooler weather that fall brings.

back soon.

yeppers, i knew her when.

my friend Becky Fleck (i don't capitalize for just ANYone sistah!) has announced in the August issue of the PageMaps newsletter that she has teamed with memory makers and will be releasing her first book of maps at CHA anaheim in february 2008 - holy crap! titled Scrapbook PageMaps: Sketches for Creative Layouts, it is a dead ringer to kick the scrapbooking world's ASS! if you are a scrapper and haven't seen her work yet; a) how dare you call yourself a scrapper? and 2) get yer ass over there, cause you be missin out!

not only is she one of the coolest chicks i know and an amazing scrapbooker, she has an unmatched talent for sketching out some incredible layouts. as far as i can tell, her only major flaw is that she is a minnesota vikings "supporter" (get it, she's a jock strap...athletic supporter - yea, nevermind. but seriously, how can you call them fans?) and, shitsticks, i suppose i *must* mention that she just happens to do her best sketching when my beloved Green Bean Packers (notice the caps again? oh yea.) are losing (cripes chick, challenge yourself already.) so i'm taking some credit right here, right now - let it be publicly acknowledged that fleck owes her entire celebrity, fame and fortune to my boy brett. 'nuff said.

love ya fleck, and congratulations. it could not have happened to a snarkier chick!