About a year and a half ago, I decided to reclaim my passion for scrapbooking and start a "club" of sorts with some of my friends. My original idea was to have it be sort of like a book club, only instead of assigned reading, we would have assigned projects we would work on and share throughout the year.
Well, the assigned project part never really took off, but I have been getting together with my friends on a regular basis--every four to six weeks--at our favorite local
Crop Shop. I look forward to these nights, as some of the friends in the group don't live close by, and this is one of the few times I get to see and spend time with them. We usually get dinner at the nearby Chipotle, and have a typical scrapper's stash of plentiful diet drinks and M&Ms.
This is me with my friend Barbie, who teaches classes at the Crop Shop and is our "in" to scheduling private crop nights! She is one of the most cheerful people I know and always has that pretty sparkle in her eyes.
This is me with my dear friend Linda, who I have known for more than eighteen years. She was a newcomer to our gathering, and had to be convinced of the intrinsic value of self-portraiture. She was a good sport, however, and favored me with this one. I hope we can convince her to be a regular.
Melissa, a long-timer, was not feeling photogenic, but humored me as I tried to snap a group shot. I still need practice with larger self-portrait groups, as evidenced by the missing part of her head below:
We didn't stay as late as we sometimes do (we have been known to stay as late as 2 or 3 a.m.), and I didn't really accomplish as much as I had hoped to this time, but I realized that a large part of the enjoyment of this monthly get-together is the friend therapy. I also realized, with much gratitude, that I have incredible friends. The three who attended with me last night (as well as Janice, the one who wasn't able to make it) are all women I could count on for anything--the kind you know in your heart would do anything for you. How many of those kind of friends should one person be allowed to have?
I'm a pretty lucky girl.
2) Sarah has another sore throat, not sure if it's strep, but I think her tonsils are going to have to come out. She has been getting sick about once every month or six weeks. This is the pile of Puffs left in her wake. I can't seem to convince her that she can use each tissue for more than one wipe of the nose.
3) We took the car in today for a pre-road-trip diagnostic check. Mark says it runs sluggish when accelerating. I think only men (at least in my family) can hear car noises; as long as it starts and the A/C works, I think everything's fine. It turns out it needs new spark plugs and the fuel lines flushed. Who knew?
I like our local mechanic, Dustin. He owns the Lube and Latte.
4) John went on a Boy Scout camp out last night. They hiked into the campsite with all of their gear. This is John before he left on Friday afternoon (note Sarah's paper chain bedroom door curtain in the background--her own design):
And this is where his stuff got dropped this afternoon before he crashed for a nap on his bed:
5) I savored the last piece of my birthday cake (it had been patiently waiting for me in the freezer) which was a little more emotional than usual since it was the last cake my mother ever made. If I had known that when I had written the description on the Ziplock bag I certainly would not have added the exclamation point!
6) My dad generously took us all to Red Robin for dinner tonight. He and Mom used to like to go there for fish and chips regularly. They would always share an order, finding it to be just the right amount.
Tonight I shared the order with him.
I think she now realizes that painting, as I have repeatedly tried to warn her, is not quite as much fun as it looks. 
