How was your Weekend?

Can you believe that another weekend is gone? Poof...just gone. But the good news is, next weekend is a 3 Day Weekend! And it's a day just for us worker bees. The story goes that it's a day to celebrate the contribution of the American Worker to the U.S. economy. That's the story according to Wikipedia. It's funny that I had a (most likely incorrect) memory of this holiday being bundled with FDR's holidays to stop the runs on the banks in the depression. But Wikipedia didn't seem to suggest that. But I'm almost sure there IS a holiday that was designed just to be able to close banks "legitimately" to give the consumers time to calm down and leave their money in the bank.

Wikipedia does allude to a more "political" reason for the holiday. Ya know, Congress didn't wake up one day and say to themselves...."You know what the American Workers need? A DAY OFF". Although...in all honesty, it's always what this American worker wants. I love every three day weekend that comes my way!

What will I do with this extra day? Oh, I'll think of something. (Counting Down.)

SMASHing

I learn so many things from fellow bloggers. One thing I find is that I have to watch my desire to buy the new rad thing....like for instance so many people are sporting this necklace in the blogosphere:

Sold by: Cheerfully Charmed

You should check out the site to see pics of models wearing this. It will give you an idea of scale.     I have to realize I cannot pull off this necklace.  I need to stop thinking about it. I think it would hang down to my belly button. But it looks so good on others. The weird thing is that I haven't seen anyone in person with the necklace...only people I know in the blogosphere. 
So, anyway, I have to be sure that I balance my appreciation of how cute something looks on others without allowing my brain to turn into that ugly creature in The Lord of the Rings.  {My precious.} (Side note: I didn't see this movie because the trailer scared me.)
Anyway, I digress. Back to my point. I heard about Smash Books somewhere in Blogland and I'm not completely sure which blog was the first place I saw it. You know how I go over to my Sis's house and paint? Well sometimes I don't paint. Like, the last time I didn't paint. I went to Michael's to get some art supplies and just couldn't get excited about painting that day. But I did see a Smash Book in shocking pink. I LOVE Pink! So...that day, I decided that a Smash Book was a reasonable creative thing to buy and would not break the bank. In fact, it will take me quite a while to "fill". 
Both of my sisters and I enjoy a good glossy magazine (actual paper pages). I know I had too many subscriptions in my past life. Not "too many" because I didn't read them. In fact, I read all of them. But, they were "too many" because I never wanted to purge the old issues. I always had at least one article I wanted to refer back to. 

At some point, my sisters began to trade their magazines with each other. Hubby and I eliminated all my magazine subscriptions and I try not to buy any because we did this whole downsizing thing a few years back and we eliminated our "extra" things...one of which is wonderful, beautiful magazines. 
A few months back I was out of work for almost a week (sick). My lovely husband brought me tea and magazines to comfort me while I recovered. I haven't seen so many wonderful magazines at one time in years. 
What to do? SMASH them. --I said I always have a few articles or pictures I want to refer to...so I took my mags to Sis's house and we both made sure we had read every word that we wanted to. Once read, I got to enjoy those reference articles again as I created snippets and pasted them down in my Smash Book. 
Here are a few of my Smash Pages:



BTW, Smash Book (the company or its parent company) does not know I exist. I have not been compensated to write about their product. I paid for my Pink book with real money (probably not actual cash...but my money...you get what I'm sayin'). So this is not a sponsored post. 
BUT, I want to state for the record: Smash Book:  If you would like me to write a sponsored post for your product please get in touch. I'm sure I can review a few more labels and tape and lots of fun things. The easiest thing would be if you sent a nice box with a sample of everything and I will be able to write several posts of how much fun I can have with your product. {So, just send an email and we can talk}
Some other beautiful people have written about their Smash Books. I want to give them a shout out: Jessica @ The Thriftiness Miss wrote: "Do you Smash". CAS @ An Oasis in the Desert wrote: "A "Smashing" Experience". Miss Angie @ My So Called Chaos wrote: "Are you Smashing?"  (There's a strong chance that this was the blog post that introduced me to Smash Books and helped me recognize them when I was at the store.)  Miss Angie followed up with a Blog Party. I haven't checked out the other posts...but plan to go back to see other ideas. And, Ricki Jill @ Art @ Home is hosting another party & a Giveaway. I'm SO there!
Other Posts about my love of all things Magazines:

My Life in Magazines
Libraries and Bookstores

Summer Vacay is OVER

School is about to start again. College students have already gone back {I think}. It's funny how I don't have to keep up with this now that my daughter is out of college and in the working world.

My sister is a teacher and tomorrow she returns to work. I guess this is the teachers getting ready for the students...I don't think students go until next week {maybe?}.

Anyway, Sis & I were going to go Kayaking on one of the local lakes today. It was our last HURRAH to her Summer Vacation !!

Well...we woke up this morning to an amazing rain. It rained from sometime early before dawn until late in the afternoon. It was buckets and buckets of rain. Perfect for lounging in bed watching and listening to the rain and feeling cozy inside. But for being on the lake in an open vessel? Not so much.

So I don't have any cool, fun, or funny stories to tell you of Sis & me on the lake today. I'm hoping she's not too bummed about that. We will definitely be doing this soon.

In the meantime, I gathered up some snippets of things that make me laugh and some of them have to do with school. So I wanted to share them here...in honor of teachers everywhere.

You are welcome! Enjoy

Keeping It Real

I've been off-line since Tuesday. I've been cranky. I didn't want to write/blog in my cranky mood. Actually, I'm being too nice when I say I've been cranky. I've been sullen. Maybe that is a better world. Yes, I believe that is a more honest description of what I have been. I hesitate to write when I'm this way. I hesitate to write because of several reasons:


I want this to be a place for fun. And I hope it is {sometimes, at least} funny. I'm completely okay with biting humor. I don't want this to be simply a venting venue. That's almost too easy.

Interestingly, I'm not the only person that struggles with trying navigating this boundary. I participated in the #blogsmarts twitter party yesterday. For me, the answer to "biggest" {blogging} struggle question revolves around this.

I mean, I love to read other blogs...and I enjoy being allowed to see a little snippet of the blogger's life...but I'm not under an illusion that the blog showcases the entire life. After all, a blog is not a diary.