OUCHIES!!! + LAYOUTS + NEWS

this is our driveway.

it's steep.
it causes many of our family and friends great problems when they try and back down it (not sure why)
in the wet it can be very slippery - as i painfully found out yesterday.
on my way down to get the bins yesterday and check the mail, i slipped and fell.
landed on my butt (thankfully IT is well padded), my left hip, elbow, shoulder and hit my head on the rocks that line the driveway. i think i was momentarily knocked out and i had to sit in the driveway on my bum, for about 15 minutes before i even attempted to get up.
saw lots of pretty stars buzzing around in front of my eyes so i sat there until the stars went away.
good thing we live in a quiet cul-de-sac and none of the neighbours drove by.
i must have looked a sight sitting on my bum, covered in mud, in the wet and bawling my eyes out.
the scrapper in me thought it might have made an interesting pic for a layout.
HMMMMMMMMMMMM !!!!!
the rest of me was just hurt and bruised and embarrassed.
needless to say i am a little sore and tender in parts today.

here are a few layouts i did while i was on the Scrap Heap SWIG last month with the gorgeous ruthy and diana.

i love this pic of kait and i have scrapped it a few times. the heart is hand-stitched and the flower trim has been in my stash for a while now just waiting for the "right" LO to use it on.
i think this is it.


this is a pic that matt and jake took on our camera as a reminder of them before mark and i went away for a few days to a wedding over easter.
i love this pic of them cause i think it shows their personalities - crazy, goofy and oh-so-lovable.


this photo of my nana and old bean was given to me by my step-mum after she had it copied off the original. for some reason dad's sisters and all my cousins were given pics of the wedding after nana passed away but sadly i didn't receive any so dad has made copies of all the pics he has and given them to me.
thank you daddy.
i love this pic - nana and old bean look so beautiful on their special day.


the amount of laughing we did i am surprised that any of us got anything done.
thanks to ruthy and diana for their advice on these LOs.
i also purchased 2 more D ring albums last week for my LOs so they aren't all crowded into one. it is a pleasure to look through them now.

and my news.....i have resigned my DT position at the craft attic.
lots of reasons why - none that i am prepared to go into - but i will enjoy doing some scrapping "just for me" for a while.

i hope you are all having a great tuesday and are getting some of this lovely rain we are getting here on the far north coast.
take care.
time for me to limp out to the ironing board and get some more ironing done.

~*~ shazz ~*~
xox

TAKING THE GOOD WITH THE BAD.

my baby sister louise arrived on friday afternoon with her husband chris and their sweet baby girl. bianca.
i can't tell you how excited i was that louise was coming to stay. raised in seperate homes (she is the only daughter from dad's marriage to erica, my step-mum) we are so similar in the things we like and the things we don't; what makes us smile and what makes us cry; we both scrap; we both married men who are similar in appearance; she knows when i need a shoulder to cry on and often rings me when i am feeling low; we both have a very weird sense of humour and will often laugh at things that no-one else does.
it was just so good to have her near and to be able to sit and chat over a coffee; to be able to watch her with my kids and for me to be able to spoil bianca and teach her a few naughty things (hey that's what weird older aunts are for isn't it...???)
i missed her as soon as they drove away this morning and i admit....i shed more than a few tears after they backed down the drive.
a good thing though....her and chris have been looking at houses and job prospects up this way. how totally cool will it be if they move closer.
hells bells....i would settle for her being only a few hours drive away instead of a whole day.

it is the annual heli rescue collection day in our area today. as a family we have been collectors for years and it is our way of supporting a service that we believe is vital to our area.
thankfully we have never needed to use it, but we have come close a few times when the kids have been very ill and possibly needed transporting to brisbane.
our company also is the main computer support for the service and they are probably one of our biggest clients so we have ties to the service in that respect as well.
i worked the admin side today - booking in collectors and counting money on their return.
mark and the kids went out collecting and between the four of them collected over $600.00.
I am so proud of them.
knowing that service is there is very comforting to me and i just pray that we never need it's services.

on the bad side, it was my mum's birthday yesterday.
HAPPY BIRTHDAY MUM !!!
i tried several times to call her and all i got was an earful of abuse from the idiot that she lives with that she claims to love and who, she claims, loves her.
he told me yesterday, in no uncertain terms, what he thought of me and that he wasn't surprised seeing my mum was the same type of person.
i just can't comes to terms that this woman who raised me to be a proud and strong woman is involved with a man who is abusive to her in every respect.
i just hope he is worth it because i will no longer allow my children to see mum and she chooses not to come to my house to visit.
mark and i have both reached out to help her and each and every time she has returned to be with him.
the hardest part is that she chooses to stay with this man despite the fact that she has lost the respect of me, and mark but most of all my children. mum was once so close to my kids and we spent most weekends at her house or she was here with us. i can't tell you the last time she even visited our home or spoke to the kids.
i have never felt such a heavy burden weighing on my heart and i fear each time the phone rings that it will be someone telling me that he has finally killed her.
it is a bad situation and will only end badly i fear.
if it wasn't for the fact that it was my mum caught up in the whole unsavoury mess, i would just turn my back and walk away.
unfortunately i just don't know where to to from here or how i can help her.
like i said, the hardest part is knowing that she stays with him by choice because lord knows we have done everything we can to help her get out of the situation.
sorry if that all sounded a bit "rambly" - it was train-of-thought kinda thinking.

so that is the good with the bad for the past few days of my life.
i can only hope that the good keeps getting better and that the bad doesn't get any worse.

thank you to all of you who have emailed me or messaged me or left comments.
the support i get from my cyber friends is so important to me keeping my sanity some days.

i hope to get back to some scrapping in the next week.

i hope you all have a wonderful week.
i am going to REALLY try to look for the good in each day.

~*~ shazz ~*~
xox

p.s. good luck to rozzie who is goig in for a little op next tuesday.
i am pretty sure that she doesn't read my blog but i do hope that things go well for her and that she receives some good news with the results.

SORRY...!!!

i am sorry if i worried anyone.

thank you to everyone who left a comment or emailed me, especially my gorgeous, but faraway friend, marie.

have a lot going on at the moment - things i cannot change, things i just have to accept, dealing with people who i allow to bring me down with just one word.

but the line is drawn in the sand now - and i will not allow these things to cross that line and impact on my life anymore or the life of my family who deserve better.

again my thanks.....
onward and upward from here on in......
to a better day, a better life and a better me.

have a wonderful day

~*~ shazz ~*~
xox

p.s. and a HUGE thank you to my friend, who shall remain nameless, who has left such beautiful words of support on my mobile.
you know who you are, you know how i feel about you and you know what a powerful influence you are in my life.

THANK YOU
xo

BLAH !!!

i hate feeling like this.....lost and frightened and uninspired and angry at things i can't change.

i want to scrap....i need to scrap....but all i did today for a whole hour was sit at my desk, touching nothing and crying.

is it menopause starting like a friend suggested to me last week...???

or is it depression...???

whatever it is, i need it to go away and quickly.

living this close to the edge of insanity is NOT my idea of fun.

~*~ shazz ~*~
xox

FAMILY WEEKEND

mark, kait and i had a wonderful weekend in taree with my dad and step-mum helping them celebrate their 30th wedding anniversary and erica's 60th birthday.
we had a lovely river cruise up the manning river on saturday afternoon with dad and erica and some of their friends. it was a leisurely afternoon and my speech caused a few tears but it was lovely to verbalise to my dad and step-mum just how important they are to our family.
we had a family dinner back at dad's on saturday night - lots of laughs, stories of when we were young and just enjoying the company of our family.

it was also nice to get away from things that have been causing me so much grief in the past few weeks and to spend time with my darling husband and our sweet baby girl.
mark and i stayed in a motel (we had some VERY much needed "us" time) and kait stayed with nanny and grandad along with my baby sister, lousie, her hubby and their darling baby girl, bianca.
kait thoroughly enjoyed her time at nanny and grandad's and playing with bianca.
it will be lovely to have them visit us at the end of this week for a few days.

matt and jake stayed at home for their soccer committments. just so glad they are both such sensible boys and can be trusted at home. i left them oodles of cooking and they even got in and did a big clean up of the house before we arrived home yesterday
(although it was very clean when we left here on friday afternoon)

here are a few pics of the weekend

grandad & nanny

my beautiful baby girl

just look at those blue eyes - my niece, bianca

group shot - dad, louise, bianca, nanny, me & kait in the front
(where are those boys...???)

until next time
~*~ shazz ~*~
xox

I AM...

....happy because i can log on and see the smiling faces of my dear friends (well marie on the right, is actually the friend i am referring too...LOL) smiling back at me.

...happy that my elise book arrived yesterday and hopefully i will be inspired to scrap and produce something i can be proud of.

...honoured that my gorgeous friend marie, liked a LO i did so much that she scrap-lifted it. and what a stunning job she has done too. have a look.

...angry at myself because i left it too late to get the cartridges for the printer last week and i had to wait until today for them to come in and i have an album to finish to take away this weekend and so much other scrapping to do.

...happy that i have completed and album for my friend as a tribute to her faithful dog who died a few years ago. it was mailed off yesterday and i am sooooo nervous waiting for her reaction to it.

...excited that mark, kait and i are heading to taree this weekend to celebrate dad and erica's 30th wedding anniversary and erica's 60th. it will be a weekend of surprises and tears and happiness.

...excited that i will get to see my baby sister this weekend and my adorable niece. kait is super-excited that she will be seeing bianca again.

...inspired to get my self and my scrapping space and my life organised. just like this amazing, uber-talented, all round nice gal.
Z, you are one of my all-time favourite scrappers.

...proud of myself because i am still walking every morning - with the excpetion of a few mornings. it is definitely my "me time" each day - i scrap LOs as i walk, have conversations with people...yes i know...i am a little odd but getting fitter each day.

...blessed because i have my gorgeous husband who loves me unconditionally despite the crap our extended families put us through.

...blessed because despite the misgivings i have about my skills as a mum, i have three gorgeous, well-adjusted, "normal" kids.

...sad because i have a very close friend going through some "stuff" with their spouse and there is nothing i can do to help but "be there" for them.

...getting off this computer now to clean up my kitchen and head down to my scrapping room.

have a wonderful day everyone - wherever your day takes you, whatever the universe gives to you and whoever you choose to spend it with.

~*~ shazz ~*~
xo

and a huge thanks to all of you who offered such kind words after my last post.

IT'S CERTAINLY BEEN AN "INTERESTING" WEEK !!!

ever had one of those weeks....???
sometimes i think i seem to have more problems in my life than others and then again maybe it is because i always put all of myself "out there"....dunno.

in the ever-growing popular "point form" my week included
* my mother being assaulted by the man she claims loves her and a frantic phonecall from my brother, while we were on our way home from brisbane, saying she had run off and he couldn't find her. i told him to call the police and to have this "idiot" dealt with once and for all.
he did, they found her and then she refused to press charges *SIGH*
in my heart i just know it will be a matter of time before the phonecall from my brother will be telling me this man has murdered my mother and yet she STILL goes back to him.

* our friends broke the news to us this week that she has cervical cancer. it's aggressive and she is having a full hysterectomy in a few weeks. she is only 41, they have 4 small children.
the good news is that the doctor thinks that he will be able to get it all and that they have caught it early enough for her to make a full recovery. we are all staying positive but man...that was NOT the news i thought i would hear when they told us they wanted to talk to us.

* a close friend is having a particularly tough time at the moment after a marriage break up. you know who you are and you know that even though i can't "be there" for you in person that i am always here for you. stay strong, stand your ground.....you are a good person and deserve to be happy.
love ya babe xxoo

* GOOD NEWS - the ATO owes US money. after several years of monumental stuff-ups on our part, our accountants part and bad financial advice, they owe US money.
and without giving too much away - it ain't small change either.
*WINK*

* jake got the best school report.
glowing comments about his standard of work, his attitude in class, his caring attitude to others.

so proud of my boy - well done jakey.
love you baby.

* not much happening on the scrapping front. i am still waiting for my "elise" book to arrive - i hope it comes soon though. i hear it is great and maybe it will get me scrapping again on a regular basis.
i have to scrap an album of the grandkids this weekend for dad and erica's party next weekend.
and.....my darling baby sis - *hi louise* - has asked me to do "the speech" for the party. she tells me i am pretty good at it after i made a speech on dad's behalf at her wedding (dad was very ill and didn't feel he could speak) and made everybody cry.
talk about pressure.

so that is my "interesting" week.
a mixture of good and bad and that's life i guess.

hope to be able to share some scrapping with you over the weekend.
have a fantastic weekend everyone - whatever you do, wherever you go and whoever you choose to spend your time with.

~*~ shazz ~*~
xo

"WARNING...PROUD MUMMY ALERT"

yesterday mark and i took kait to a physical culture inter-club comp in brisbane.
for those of you who don't know, kait has been doing physical culture ("physie") for the past 2 years. she has competed at several inter-club comps as well as zone for a place at the nationals in sydney but never placed or even finalled.
and that's ok....it's all about her enjoyment of the "sport" and the fact that she loves competing and just getting in and "having a go".
so after a year of her just toddling off to classes and being more interested in the socialising before and after classes, this year she decided to really knuckle down and put in the extra effort of practising at home (we put a couple of full length mirrors on her cupboard doors which has helped with her getting her body positioning right, etc); paying attention in class and really really trying.
about a month ago i said to mark that it looked to me like the penny had finally dropped for her and she knew what she had to do to improve herself.

so she went off to sunnybank yesterday with a determination that she would do her best and a quiet hope that it would be good enough to get her a place.

it is a real eye-opener for the uninitiated to go to a physie comp.
the competition can be fierce between certain clubs and certain competitors.
thankfully we approach it a little more light-heartedly than that. if kait performs and has fun doing it and is happy she has done her best then we are happy.
sure we like her to look good - i spent hours choosing her leotard colour and practising on her hair (and in the end all she wanted was a straight forward plait with some ribbon tied around to match her leotard) but in the end, just to see our baby girl out there competing and just having a good time was all we could have hoped for and what we saw.
even the judges commented on her smile and said that she looked like she was having fun.

because she has never placed or finalled at a comp before, kait was eligible to compete as a novice. these girls are jusdged seperately to the other competitors although they all perform at the same time.

and she performed so well in the first round. she remembered all her moves, her straight back, her body positioning and she just got out there and had a ball. both mark and i sat there with tears in our eyes watching her (ok, ok....i had tears streaming down my cheeks much to the amusement of my friend's husband)
in the second round she got a little bit lost but still performed well.
it was a LONG afternoon to wait and see if she placed.

so you can imagine the cheers and tears (from mummy) when they called out her name as the FIRST PLACE WINNER in the novice section for her age.
she bounded up onto the stage to receive her ribbon and trophy and then bounded back down the stairs into her daddy's arms.
all her friends from her club crowded around her and kissed her and congratulated her....it was soooo exciting.
i am sooooo proud of my baby girl.

she took her trophy to bed with her last night when we finally got home.
i imagine it will be her news story for school this week.
here a few photos from her big day.

on stage after receiving her trophy - sorry it is fuzzy.

with her friend courtney who came 5th overall - well done court!!!

we are so proud of you baby girl - love you heaps xxoo

have a great day.

~*~ shazz ~*~

THE "IMPORTANCE" OF SCRAPPING

i was watching sunrise this morning while i got the lunches ready and they had a story about a young mother of four from tassie who recently died of S.A.D.S.

it was a very emotional story about a gentleman who was so touched by the plight of the young dad and his for children that he started up a trust fund for the children that will see them receive money for their education, etc. well into adulthood.

i'm not ashamed to admit that i stood in the kitchen bawling my eyes out as i watched this young father try and cope with not only the loss of his young wife but the daily struggles of raising four young children.

just before the story ended the reporter said that each of the children wouldn't easily forget their mum because she had put together an album for each of them about their lives and how much she loved them.
they showed the children all sitting up looking through their albums.
but they weren't just any old photo album.

you see, this young mum was a scrapbooker so each child's life and their milestones and the funny things they said and her love for them was lovingly scrapped.
what a beautiful and precious thing for each of these children to have.

and THAT, my dear friends, is why we scrapbook.
because you never know when we won't be around to tell our families just what they mean to us.

have a wonderful weekend and don't forget to tell those you love how much you love them.
and if you can't, at least scrap a page so that they will know.

~*~ shazz ~*~
xox

TAG - 2

zina tagged me a few days ago so i thought i better get it done too.

What time is it? 10.34 a.m.

What's your full name? Sharon Janet Pratten (aka shazz, mum, mummy, birth-giver, darls)

What are you most afraid of? something happening to mark or one of my kids

What is the most recent movie that you have seen in a theatre? ummmm...it's been a while...i really can't remember - it would have been a kid's movie with kait.

Place of birth? murwillumbah, nsw

Favourite food? mexican, seafood, chocolate - i can't decide on just one

What's your natural hair colour? dark brown

Ever been toilet papering? yes AND got caught

Love someone so much it made you cry? yes, only just this morning as a matter of fact

Been in a car accident? yep...a few but none were my fault

Croutons or bacon bits? definitely croutons

Favourite day of the week? sunday - big time vege out day for our family after a hectic week and saturday

Favourite Restaurant? the mexican restaurant in lennox head *DROOL* + a restaurant mark and i went to at broadbeach to celebrate our anniversary this year

Favourite flower? natives

Favourite sport to watch? soccer - you HAVE to ask...??? especially when my talented boys are on the paddock

Favourite Drink? a good cappuccino; coffee in genral and of course, champagne (with a strawberry in the galss

Favourite ice cream? choc chip

Disney or Warner Brothers? either/or

Favourite fast food restaurant? subway after being initiated by my kids last year

What colour is your bedroom carpet? butt ugly beige

Before this one, from whom did you get your last e-mail? our isp notifying us of spam

What do you do most often when you are bored? only boring people get bored...and I'M NOT BORING !!!!

How many times you failed your driver's test? none

What time do you go to bed? try to be in bed by 11 but going to sleep is another matter

Who will respond to this e-mail the quickest? dunno

Who is the person you sent this to that is least likely to respond? dunno

Who is the person that you are most curious to see their responses? *shrug*

Favourite TV shows? any of the CSI shows; All Saints; any of the Law and Order shows; Medium

What are you listening to right now? blissful silence

What are your favourite colours? green

How many tattoos do you have? none but i would love to get one one day

How many pets do you have? 2 dogs who think they are human + a fish i think is in love with me

Which came first the chicken or the egg? is it really THAT important to know this...???

What would you like to accomplish before you die? become financially free; see my kids grow up as happy with the lives they have chosen; become a grandmother but not for a few years yet thanks; open a scrapping store/retreat and have all my friends come over to play; confront the people who i have allowed to do wrong by me and have them admit it (sorry - that's a bit deep)

How many people are you tagging? whoever feels the need to waste some of their day

TAG - 1

the gorgeous miss marie tagged me ages ago so to keep in her good books i better do this
*wink*

Four Jobs I’ve Had :
1) cleaning a pub my aunt and uncle managed
2) bar maid
3) school teacher
4) part time clerk for our IT business

Four Movies I Can Watch Over And Over :
1) Gone With The Wind
2) Armageddon
3) ANYTHING with Brad Pitt in it
4) City of Angels

Four TV Shows I Love To Watch :
1) Any of the CSI series
2) Any of the Law and Order series
3) All Saints
4) Medium

Four Important things to me :
1) The love and friendship I have with Mark
2) The love I have for my children and their well being and happiness
3) The friendship I have with certain people in my life.
4) Being happy and being the best wife, mum and friend i can be.

Four Tunes That Play In My Head :
1) "Don't Wanna Miss a Thing" by Aerosmith
2) "Imagine" by MercyMe
3) An "Il Divo" song - and the name escapes me at this moment in time
4) Kait's Physie music that i have heard 50,000 bloody times in the past week as she prepares for her comp tomorrow...LOL

Favorite Food Dishes :
1) Seafood except oysters, mussells and octopus -BLAH !!!!
2) anything mexican
3) anything i can plonk curry in
4) a BBQ'd steak - medium rare of course

Four Websites I Visit Daily :
1) My Blog
2) Numerous other blogs
3) The Craft Attic
4) The Scrap Heap

Four Scrap company's I like :
1) Heidi Swapp
2) Daisy D
3) Tarisota (does that count)
4) K&Company

Four bloggers to tag:
whoever feels the need


And now you know it all *wink*

~*~ shazz ~*~