I Want to be a Rock Star!

I got a tip from Hans earlier this year about a new game called Rock Band, which is similar to Guitar Hero. But with this game, instead of having only two guitar players, you can have the full band: bass, guitar, mike and drums. And what do you know, Santa delivered this game on Christmas morning.

I'm not exaggerating when I say that it's crazy fun! It's definitely going to be somthing that both the kids and the adults can enjoy.

When you create your band, you start our with a very small fan base and a limited selection of songs you can play. But as you master more songs, your fan base grows, you collect more money (hopefully), and eventually you'll be able to rock some pretty large stages. Maya and Tony both have their own bands. Tony's is called Hot Strawberry Jam, and we rocked it all night! Yes, we did get boo'ed off the stage a few times, but now that we're getting our groove together, it's coming along. Maybe soon we'll be able to earn ourselves a tour bus.

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At first I was addicted to lead guitar . . but drums are now my thing! Check out my high score!

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Scrap Room in the Making

Woo hoo! I'm so excited! For the last four years, I've used every room in our house to indulge my scrapbooking passion. I've longed to have a space that was just mine, one where I could leave stuff out and sit down to continue when time permits. I've made mess after mess on the dining room table, the coffee table, the floor of our bedroom, the basement, the bar -- you get the point.

Honestly, I can't complain. My family has been more than patient, and did have a dedicated armoire in the front living room, although its main purpose was for storage and left no room to actually work. If you're not familiar with the craft of scrapbooking, it takes up a lot of space . . . and any die-hard crafter (whether she's into stamping, cropping, knitting, etc.) has got a TON of crap. So you need room to store and when you work, you need room to spread out. For the last few months, I've had my eye on a few craft workstations, namley one from Scrapncube.com, but they averaged well over $1700! I'd even considering asking Tony to build me one . . which would be awesome and 100% custom-made, but he's just recently finished the basement and the bar and deserves a much-needed break from carpentry.

So while making our traditional Goodwill run after a delicious lunch at Slopes, I found an ultimate steal! Except for the fact that the 7-piece set was painted in pastel colors (which I'll soon be changing to off-white), and that I only wanted 4 of the 7 pieces, it had all the components I was looking for. Unfortunately, they wouldn't sell them separately. But no worries . . . I've got two little girls that would kill to have those ugly little side and corner tables in their rooms. Win-win!

Or so I thought. When I got home, I realized that the tables didn't fit into the space where I'd envisioned they would go -- a little nook in the basement. They were exactly one inch too big. But then Tony suggested that we just convert the office into "my space." How sweet was that? So we moved my scrapbooking armoire into the office, slid over the one we use for office supplies, removed the reading chair (that no one uses for reading), and everything fit perfectly. I am esctatic! I've got my printers, the computer, my storage and my work space all in the same room!!! It's not fully stocked and organized yet, but I've got a 4 day weekend coming up, so I'll have something to keep me busy. Check it out!

Christmas Shows and Movies on TV

I don't know about you guys, but I still LOVE many of the classic Christmas TV shows I grew up with. And while I may not get a chance to sit down and watch while each one is on, I'll probably use this list to set my TiVo and record stuff for the kids. Enjoy!



December 18th (Tues)
* Rudolph’s Shiny New Year (ABC Family, 7 pm)
* National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation (TCM, 12:30 am)

December 19th (Wed)
* Santa Claus is Comin’ to Town (ABC Family, 7 pm)
* Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer and the Island of Misfit Toys (ABC Family, 9 pm)

December 20th (Thurs)
* How the Grinch Stole Christmas (Movie) – (ABC Family, 8 pm)

December 22nd (Sat)
* A Very Brady Christmas (ABC Family, 11 am)
* Elf (CBS, 8 pm)

December 23rd (Sun)
* Elmo’s Christmas Countdown (ABC, 7 pm)
* How the Grinch Stole Christmas (movie) – (ABC Family, 7 & 9:30 pm)

December 24th (Mon)
* Jack Frost (ABC Family, 11 am)
* Frosty’s Winter Wonderland (ABC Family, 2 pm)
* ‘Twas the Night Before Christmas (ABC Family, 2:30 pm)
* Rudolph’s Shiny New Year (ABC Family, 3 pm)
* Santa Claus is Comin’ to Town (ABC Family, 5 pm)
* The Polar Express (ABC Family, 6 and 8:30 pm)
* It’s a Wonderful Life (NBC, 8 pm)
* A Christmas Story Marathon (TBS, 12:00 to 10:00 pm)

A Tribute to Bear

I think my friend, Dave (aka Bear), is really onto something. So Dave, here's to you!

Gonna Be a Bear

In this life, I'm a woman. In my next life, I'd like to come back as a bear.

When you're a bear, you get to hibernate. You do nothing but sleep for six months. I could deal with that.

Before you hibernate, you're supposed to eat yourself stupid. I could deal with that, too.

When you're a girl bear, you birth your children (who are the size of walnuts), while you're sleeping and wake to partially grown, cute, cuddly cubs. I could definitely deal with that.

If you're a mama bear, everyone knows you mean business. You swat anyone who bothers your cubs. If your cubs get out of line, you swat them, too. I could deal with that.

If you're a bear, your mate expects you to wake up growling. He EXPECTS that you will have hairy legs and excess body fat.

Yup, gonna be a bear!

Funny Time in the Foyer

My daughter is a nut! She's an amazing athlete and is pretty good with imitations. In the beginning of this clip, she's either doing Cory in the House or That's So Raven. (I can't figure out which it's supposed to be.) Anyway, she loves to jump rope and becomes such a ham when the camera is rolling. This would've been a perfectly decent video had she not announced her bodily function at the end.

If you're unable to view this link (as I am at work), you can also check it out from here.

Walking In a Winter Wonderland

Contest time again! After knocking out our Halloween cube decorating contest, we're competing once again (this time in groups) to decorate designated areas in our office. So far, three teams have accepted the challenge and have put their creative minds together to create:

• A Charlie Brown Christmas (Mary's team, kitchen)
• Winter Wonderland (my team, front entrance)
• The Sweetest Time of the Year (I've heard Brad's team is going to use consumables and edible items to decorate the conference room. Hopefully, we'll remain bug free after the holidays.)

Hans likes to think he knows who's gonna win this contest, and to that, I say "Whateva." Technically, it doesn't matter who wins what. We have three categories of prizes and only three teams. I can't deny that I'm a tad competitive and have my own opinions about which creation is the best (of course, I'm biased). But in all honesty, what I mostly enjoy is how our office always embraces the spirit of the holidays and transforms our otherwise drab accommodations into something creatively enchanting and beautiful.