May Madness

Hello blog! Long time no see. I think it has been close to two and a half weeks since my last post. Sheesh! That's definitely the longest I have gone without stamping since I started creating on my own. Things in my world got a bit crazy over the last few weeks between bridal showers, airplane flights, Open House, the Tour of California, and just life in general. I did manage to take my camera along for the wild ride and thought I'd share a few pictures with you. And warning... There's a lot of them! Grab some chocolate, or popcorn, and enjoy!

First off was Mother's Day. I had promised my dad a little less than a year ago that I would take him to a Dodger's game. Well, last season came and went and we never made it. Ah, life. So, we finally made it happen. My mom was going to be up north for Mother's Day, so we figured a Mother's Day game wouldn't be a problem. When Mom surprised us by decided to come to So Cal for the weekend! A new ticket purchase later, the three of us had a blast at the game. It helped that we won. :)

Not as great of a picture, but it's the only one we got of the three of us.

Next, I went away for a weekend (and ya didn't even know it!). I left on an airplane for Bend, OR two weekends ago. My bf Heather was having her bridal shower up there, mostly with church ladies, but I was so lucky to have that weekend free to share the moment with her! I only snapped a couple pictures, but here's a little taste.

Such a beautiful table spread. We accidentally ate lunch right before the shower, completely forgetting that there would be food at the shower. Oops! I still made a little bit of room for some strawberry shortcake. :)

Silly me didn't take any pictures while she was actually opening her presents. I was too busy making her ribbon & bow bouquet for her rehearsal. Darn crafty gene, lol.

Third up, Open House! I most definitely have a love/hate relationship with this event. I hate all of the prep time and work that goes into "decking" out our rooms. For the two weeks leading up to OH, I literally worked 12-14 hour days at school, and then would come home, sit at my computer, and keep on working. Typing labels, student poems, creating tour handouts, etc. But the end product makes it all worth it. And the kids' faces... The parents' faces! And you've got to love the "shoppers" for next year's group of first graders. :)

My classroom! I'm standing in the back corner looking toward my front door. My room was decked out in life cycle craziness, lol. We studied life cycles, animal classifications (mammal, insect, etc.), and did tons of writing. But it looked great and really was fun (sometimes, hehe).

Now looking from the front door to the back corner. The kids' desks were covered in work as well, but I took this picture after they had all come through.

Ok. Next up is a little trip with Mom to the hair salon! I was waaaaaaay overdue to get my hair trimmed, so I had a nice, clean palette for Bogart (yup, that's his name!) to work with. Mom got a trial run on her hair for my sister's wedding in July. We'll get trims one more time before then.

I swear this man can work miracles with my stubborn, straight, thick hair. It does previously impossible (good) things when he touches it! Love!

After grabbing a quick lunch at Cantor's Jewish Deli (gotta indulge the good Jewish girl in me) of matza ball soup and latkes, Mom and I jumped over to the Staples Center to catch the seventh stage of the Tour of California. The ToC is the largest stage road bike race in the US. Mom and I, especially, are big bicycling fans. My life is dedicated to the Tour de France every July, lol. So the opportunity to see these professional guys from all of the the US and Europe is such a treat! I've attended the Southern California stages for the last three or four years, but this was the first time Mom could make it. We had a blast! This stage just happened to be a time trial, meaning we got to see each rider individually ride to beat the clock. It was such a great chance to really see the riders.

This is Dave Zabriskie, whom ended up taking second place in the entire race.

Phew! Almost done!

Finally, to end the madness, was the second day of my ToC experience. This time with Dad! Dad and I drove out to Thousand Oaks to catch the 8th stage on Sunday. We made it in time to catch the start and then drove over near the finish line (and the fun vendors) to catch the rest of the race. They were completing a four-lap circuit, which meant that we got to watch them all go by four times instead of just one quick blitz. Yet another great day! The weather was absolutely picture perfect. And there was a Mellow Johnny's booth at this stage!!! Mellow Johnny's is Lance Armstrong's shop in Austin, TX. Mellow Johnny's (according to Lance) is how Texans pronounce Maillot Jaune (yellow jersey in French... The yellow jersey is worn by the race leader... Lance has 7). I totally scored myself a Mellow Johnny's T-shirt, lol.

I digress. Here are the last of my pictures for this already way too long post. :)

Standing on the start line route about 1 minute after the riders went through.

That's Levi Leipheimer on the left. He's won the ToC for the last four years straight. He finished in third this year. He rides on the same team as Lance Armstrong (whom crashed out of the race two days prior so we didn't get to see him this year. So sad!).

And "Big" George Hincapie. As famous as Lance is, this man holds the heart of America. And here he's sporting the US Champions jersey. And stretching his legs, lol.

Well, hope you enjoy the picture tour of my life over the last two and one half weeks. I actually sat and stamped for the first time today. I made 1 card and 2 flops, hehe. I hate the learning curve getting back into the stamping groove. It always takes a few days for the mojo to return. Know what I mean?

It's good to be back amongst the living (for a little while at least! This summer is going to be just as crazy!).

Thanks for stopping by!