OK, I couldn't resist

Four weeks old today. Are they not just the most adorable puppies on earth. I warned you shiba puppies were cute.

Postal!

Like it or not. Win or not. My Creating Keepsakes Hall of Fame Entry is in the mail and should arrive there sometime tomorrow. If you are reading this and don't have a clue what I am talking about, each year Creating Keepsakes Magazine hosts a competition for the top 25 best scrapbookers in the nation (in their opinion). It's really a lot of work to complete the assignments, and scan, print, assemble and mail the entry. And like I said before, I wasn't planning on entering until a couple weeks ago. It's out of my hands now, and win or lose, I have 10 wonderful pages that I'm very proud of. Creating Keepsakes will make the announcement of the winners around March 15. So now begins the wait.

For more information about the contest, here is the link to the contest rules and the descriptions of the assignments:

Creating Keepsakes HOF requirements

Memory Mixer Software

I was invited to design an album for Lasting Impression's

MemoryMixer™ software program

being released at CHA next week. I just completed and sent my album to them this week for their demo product.

MemoryMixer™ is a a digital scrapbooking product. It will allow computer users to combine digital photos, scanned memorabilia, computer graphics, and typewritten text (including journaling) with digital video, digital sound, and narration into a multimedia experience that brings memories to life. This process starts with Digital Albums with pre-made pages to which scrappers can add their own pictures just by touching a few keys.

I am looking forward to seeing the demo myself!

More Puppy Breath...

Can't you just smell it?
This is boy #1 with Jared:

Jared's favorite is still Squeekers (girl #2). She's still really small compared to the others, but she is also really sweet.

Boy #1 (bottom) and Girl #1 (top)- I call them the twins.

Where's the bandwagon?

I wasn't going to do it. Really I wasn't. But several months ago,Torm started the theory of doing a book of 10 on the Pub Board of Two Peas in a Bucket (THE place to be if you are a scrapbooker). Her idea was that as you scrapbooked, always keep 10 pages set aside that no one had seen, then you would always have pages to submit for calls and for a certain contest in particular. And here I am a few months later with 10 unsubmitted, unseen layouts that just happen to meet the criteria for the Creating Keepsakes Hall of Fame Contest. So what is a girl to do with all these pages? I guess that means I'm jumping on the bandwagon with several thousand other scrapbookers, and submitting my pages to the HOF contest. I really swear I had no intention of entering when I started to do the book of 10. I just thought it would be nice to have 10 pages that no one had ever seen in case I needed them down the road for submissions.

So here's my official announcement. I am entering the Creating Keepsakes Hall of Fame Contest. I just have to scan the paper layouts. Half of my entry is digital, which will make it really simple since there is no scanning involved on those. Then it's as simple as putting the thing together and mailing it off. Which means, I AM officially entering this year.

The pictures you've been waiting for!

The puppies are growing up fast. They are two weeks old today. Tama is ready for them to leave the nest and is already planning for their college tuition (out of state preferably). Talk about difficult subjects to photograph. Would someone teach these puppies how to pose appropriately for a photo!

Boy 1: He's a pretty calm puppy. He likes to be held and petted. He weighs in at 1 lb. 14 oz. He was the first puppy to open his eyes.



Girl 1: Still very appropriately named Miss Piggy. Sorry, I know it's not polite to give a girls weight, but I'm not going to fudge it... she is a whopping two pounds. She gets the glory of being the first one out of the whelping box - in search of food of course. And she was the first one to put all her weight on four very shaky paws. She's rambunctious, starts all the commotion in the box, AND has the loudest mouth letting the whole world know when it's time to eat.



Girl 2: On the opposite end of the spectrum is Squeekers. The lightweight of the family at only a touch over 12 ounces. She is really moving around alot more. And she will nurse now if she's alone with Tama without the competition of her heavyweight brothers and sister. I am still tube feeding her at night only, but allowing her to nurse as much as I can during the day. Her eyes are not open. She is the only one in the litter with her eyes still closed.



Boy 2: This handsome boy is still the most difficult to photograph. He will not sit still long enough for me to get a good photo of him. He is also very much a calm, sweet puppy. Just like his brother he weighs 1 lb. 14 oz.

March 2006 Making Memories Magazine is in the house!

And I'm in the magazine twice (or at least my scrapbook pages are). My Seattle layout from when my sister visited us two summers ago is on page 73. My layout about the rainy weather that we have here entitled Synonymous is on page 102.

I also heard a rumor that the Making Memories Pet Book is out and available. I haven't seen it yet, but if it is, watch out for two of my pages in there as well!

The girls...

At 4 days old the girls are in contrast of each other. The bigger girl is already a pound. Her sister is only 8 ounces. But they are both so totally adorable!

I began tube feeding the little one in hopes that she will gain some weight in the next couple days and be a little bit stronger to compete with her sister and brothers for the food from their mama!

They're here...

Starting at 7:05 this morning and finishing at 9:45, Tama has had not one, not two, not 3... but 4 beautiful puppies. Right now they look like little rats, but in a couple weeks, they will be the most adorable puppies that you have ever laid your eyes on. Shiba Puppies are just too darn cute for their own good. So here they are in their birth order...

Boy #1 - Weight 8 oz


Girl #1 (It's hard to tell by the picture, but boy #1 and girl #1 look almost identical) Weight 9 oz


Girl #2 Weight 7 oz


Boy #2 Weight 8 oz


They are all big puppies for such a small girl. No wonder Tama was huge.

Ready for Spring...

I was noticing yesterday and today that the crocus and tulips are already growing. For me that's a good sign that spring is just around the corner. For the past month, all it has done is rain - day and night. I'm pretty tired of the dreary, cloudy skies, wet shoes and clothes, and especially smelly wet dogs. This former Arizona girl is solar-powered (as my friend E would say). I really need a dose of sunshine to chase the gray away.

Soon to be a mama...

...Any day now! Tama is absolutely huge. And that's not weight from overeating during the holidays. Tama's tail wags constantly. She brings me all her toys as if to say, "I'm going to be a good mama dog." So this will probably be one of the last photos of her pregnant. Hopefully the next one I post will include the babies...

Happy Happy 2006!

Today is the day that I turn over a new leaf. Lately, I have been unhappy about many aspects of my life. My career is withering away through the responsibility of mommyhood, all the moves we've made over the past few years, buyouts of companies I was working for, and not pursuing new clients where I live.

Also, my weight has been bothering me for awhile. This is not me. Mentally, I am not an overweight person. But since I gained 65 pounds while I was pregnant. I have not lost a pound. I lose 10, gain 15, lose 15, gain 10. So here I am, almost 6 years later at the same weight that I walked out of the hospital. I've tried every diet. I do exercise. But I mope around feeling sorry for myself, telling myself that it will never go away. It's too much of a chore. Today, that will change.

The move was hard for me. I loved living in Arizona. And that is where my friends and my heart is. I don't often appreciate where I live now and how much better we have it here than we did there. And instead of being proactive and making friends here and inviting them to do things, I sit in the house and pine away that no one calls and invites me to lunch or to go shopping. But I don't call them either.

Today, two months before my 40th birthday. I resolve to accept who I am instead of mourning the loss of the goals that I had set for myself when I was younger. For that is what I have been doing for the past 6 years. Every goal that I set was suddenly uprooted when a little one entered the world, and six years later, I have not accepted that even though where I am now was not a goal of mine at 30, It is me. It is who I am.

So, today I quit feeling sorry for myself. I am going to put myself back on track, and maybe, just maybe, the other aspects of my life that I am unhappy with will fall into place. No, I'm not the childless, owner of a successful advertising firm, slim, athletic woman, living in a mansion in Scottsdale, driving an expensive car as I pictured myself being at 40.

But I'm not a failure either. I have the cutest child on the planet. I live in one of the most amazing places on earth. I have a nice house and a nice lifestyle. I have good friends and family that care about me. I still have clients that think I'm the best in the industry. I still have the drive and motivation that I had when I was younger buried beneath the "wo is me". So for my New Year's resolution, I'm not going to try to lose weight like my last 5 failed New Year's resoultions. I'm not going to force myself to cold call new clients to rebuild my business (failed resoultion 2005). I'm not going to stress about every detail in my life and how it isn't going as planned. I am going to accept. My new buzzword - "ACCEPT" who I am right now and the rest will fall in place.