Got my roundup done for October!
What books and/or magazines did I read this month?
I read a ton of magazines this month: Blueprints, Creating Keepsakes, Simple Scrapbooks, Memory Makers, and Better Homes and Gardens. I’m trying to go through my stacks of magazines and catalogs that have been piling up around the house for the past few months.
In fact, I even did a layout about magazines!
I also read The Secret Garden out loud to my kids. It was one of my favorite books when I was a kid so it was fun to share it with them.
:::
What movies and/or tv shows did I watch this month?
Our basement finally got finished and we have a great room to watch movies in now so I have watched a bunch this month. The best movie we watched in October was Fiddler on the Roof. Just a classic movie and the music is so good. My kids even loved it, although they were so sad about how the Jewish people were treated. Good opportunity for some discussions about history.
We have been really into watching tv shows on DVD and we had a blast watching the first season of 3rd Rock from the Sun. Such a fun and zany show! I also watched most of the Muppet Show season 2 with my daughter and a lot of Alias season 4 with my hubby. We even got my parents hooked on Alias when they came to stay and we sent them home with seasons 1-3 which they are really enjoying.
:::
What special days did I celebrate and how?
We celebrated my son’s 14th birthday. We went to a play at the Desert Star Theater that was very silly and fun.
We hosted a large family dinner to celebrate one last time before my brother Zach left on a LDS mission for 2 years. Aunts came from Idaho and Georgia, and both sides of our family were there. My mother-in-law even paid to have all the food catered which was such a lifesaver and so generous! We had a really nice visit with everyone.
:::
What gifts did I give and/or receive?
Gave my son some birthday presents (3rd Rock from Sun DVD, Mr Bean series DVD, Pirateology game, and a few other misc. items)
My daughter went to 2 birthday parties so we put together some fun birthday bags with Target gift cards and treats in them.
I sent my brother Zach a Halloween goody box full of candy, popcorn, and beef jerky.
And a friend brought me flowers yesterday just to be nice!
Aren't they gorgeous?!
:::
What illnesses or health concerns did I have?
I was pretty healthy but my son just can’t seem to shake this cough he has had for months. We went to the doctor again and they seem to think it is allergies. He has been using inhalers and taking all sorts of pills for it and I’m not sure that much is helping. I guess I will have to find a specialist or something.
:::
What fun things did I do with my friends and/or family?
My parents came to visit for a week so we did a lot of fun things with them. My brother Zach was with us also for a few days before going on his mission.
We had dinner with my hubby’s grad school mentor and some associates at Monsoon (Thai food) – very nice evening.
Hubby and I got to go on a date night. We went to Gateway and ate at The Happy Sumo. My husband loves Japanese food so much so this is a favorite place to go.
:::
What new foods, recipes or restaurants did I try this month?
While my family was here, we all ate out at Hires, Chipolte, Café Rio, and of course we bought fudge at Gardner Village. I made Swedish meatballs with lingon berry sauce from Ikea for my brother Zach because they are one of his very favorite dishes.
:::
What special or unusual purchases did I make?
With finishing up our basement construction there were a lot of strange purchases like door stops, vent covers, and blinds. We also bought two shelves to organize all of our games on – I just love these!
sorry the pic is blurry. And yes, I know we have a TON of games, but they are really a great way to bond with my kids. They have also been a very valuable tool for helping my son with social skills. He is great at playing games and we have a lot of fun with them.
:::
What were this month's disappointments?
My Dad is still out of work. It’s hard not to feel bad about what happened because he totally did not deserve to be treated the way that he was. I know things will work out in the end, but it is a tough time for my parents right now. My brother Mike is also caught up in this whole mess since he still works for the company that let my Dad go.
At the first of the month I thought I would lose my marbles when we kept running into delays and problems with the basement. We flunked our inspection and had to do more stuff before we finally passed. We finished on October 15th, just hours before my parents arrived. We started the project the last week in June and it was supposed to take 45 days max (but I should have remembered that in construction you have to add several weeks to any deadline). Over 120 days later we finally finished! I’m not very patient with construction projects so it seemed like an eternity to me. LOL!
The Digi Shoppe suddenly closed mid October. This was hard for me because the week it happened is when all my family was here so I was trying to look for a new store and repackage all my stuff and make new previews. It turned out great in the end. I had several offers for great sites and I ended up picking Polka Dot Potato where I have been very happy.
However, since I moved from A Cherry on Top to Digi Shoppe in June and then just opened my own site at www.scrapbookladydesigns.com at the first of October, I wasn’t much in the mood for another store change! I have had to work with 4 different store systems this year which is a lot to learn. Hopefully, I will be able to settle in for awhile now.
I couldn’t complete the Stand up and Scrap contest. This is the first time I have dropped out of a digi scrap contest but I couldn’t make the deadline the first week in October when I got back from our trip to Albuquerque, had the stomach flu, and opened my shop. It just got to be too much and something had to give. I feel bad about that, but I have also scrapped a lot with the great collab kit that was part of the contest so that is a good thing. It will be fun to see how the contest turns out as it is almost finished. I don’t know how I would have kept up with it with everything else that ended up happening this month.
:::
What were my accomplishments this month?
Um, I pretty proud of this one…
Yep, my very own site! I have a gallery to show off layouts (from me and my creative team) that illustrate how to use my designs and ideas. There is a store where you can buy my products, and also links to my blog and my newsletter. I’m very happy with how this turned out!
I’m also now selling at Polka Dot Potato which is a great site! Lots of friendly people there and great management. They have wonderful promotions like the Potato Bar (99 cent items) and fun grab bags.
:::
Anything else noteworthy to record?
Even with all that went on in October (and it was a crazy, busy month!) I was still able to complete 7 layouts and fulfill my creative team responsibilities for Shabby Princess and Miriam Lima. I feel pretty good about that because I wasn’t sure how I would pull it all off. And I also designed and released 5 new items and I have designed several more that will be coming out VERY soon! (wink)
I posted 23 blog entries in October (which is actually a new low for me, but I still consider it an accomplishment) and I took part in Blog Action Day.
And I had a layout published!
All in all it was a good month. I’m looking forward to November and ready to greet a brand new month!
Don't forget to do your roundup while the memories from October are still fresh in your mind. Look back through your calendar and answer the questions - you will be glad you did!
