Catch up

Saturday 7/11/09

Yesterday went just about as smoothly as it could have possibly gone. I awoke to a peaceful house around 6:30 a.m. as I predicted…just me and Missy-Prissy, the dog. I quietly went about packing my clothes and picking up this and that. Then, I began the daunting task of deciding what “stuff” to take and what to leave behind. I figured as long as I had some pictures, some paper and some stickers/adhesives I was in good shape. I still had to load up a bit more stuff than I anticipated. My goal for one of these future retreats is to pack only the stuff I need to finish a set number of pages of a particular theme. In other words, I want to be able to look at a finished product by the end of the retreat. For the past several scrapbook retreats I have completed stacks of pages, but none of them have found their way into albums. I just complete pages and then have to wonder: are these for Alisa’s album, Aaron’s album, the family album? Am I doing a personal album? If so, what should I put in it vs. the family album? It can get pretty complicated trying to figure out all of this. The end result is: stacks of pages with no complete albums. Like my friend Robin summed it up: “You don’t get to see the fruits of your labor.” I think you get the picture…yet another reason to get my act together.
Around 10 a.m. I had the van loaded with my stuff, breakfast was eaten, the dishes washed, and the trash was on the curb. Mom had only called once around 9:45 to declare that she and Betty Harris were ready to go and to inquire about my whereabouts. Well, let’s see, if you’re calling my home phone…. Our original plan was to meet Dawn at Wolf Camera, where she had to pick up some photos for the trip, at 10:30 a.m. When Dawn called at 9:15 and said she still needed to gas up her car and run by Michael’s, Hobby Lobby, the bank before heading to Wolf Camera, I surmised that we would not be meeting at exactly 10:30. I took Missy for a walk around the block since I knew she would be cooped up in her “home” (i.e., her kennel) for most of the weekend. I started to give myself a pedicure to kill some time and tame my talons, but I thought better of it. I didn’t want Mom & Betty ready to strangle me! Around 10:20 I headed on to Mom’s to load up their stuff. Dawn called while I was en route and asked if 11:00 would be okay as she still wasn’t quite finished. I agreed and continued on to Mom’s. We stopped by Jack-in-the-Box for Mom & Betty to get a bite to eat before hitting the road and arrived at Wolf Camera just at 10:55, but there was no sign of Dawn’s vehicle. I called her on the cell phone. She was just about to leave Michael’s which was just down the street. While Mom and Betty snacked on their “value menu chicken sandwiches” I shot across the parking lot to Office Depot and made a color copy of Sasha’s dance recital program cover for the couple of photos I had taken that night.
We were finally ready to hit the road around 11:25. We hit I-20 eastbound, and Betty regaled us with laughter and conversations for the next 79 miles. The last time we went to Bailiteal Farm we followed the directions from Expedia.com and ended up taking the scenic route through Grand Saline. This time I was going “by feel” from previous trips I had made riding with my friend Robin Nolen, who is the one who originally introduced me to the world of scrapbook retreats. We made it without a hitch, and were actually the third group of guests to arrive. Sherra, our coordinator, arrived Thursday, and was already busy working. Delia had just arrived from College Station and was unloading her van. We unpacked, met everyone and went to work.
We all scrapped and visited and got to know one another, then Wanda (the owner and cook) came by to announce that we would have breakfast for dinner and was that okay. The menu was to consist of quiche, croissants, Mexican cheese grits and homemade peach pound cake for dessert and would be served at 7 p.m. No one objected or took her up on her offer to go into town and get a hamburger instead (smile). I ate a light snack (chips and Velveeta/Rotel queso) around 5 p.m. By 6:15 I was at a crossroads. Dinner was only 40 minutes away, but I was tired. I felt like if I wouldn’t get much done just sitting there being tired but if I waited until after dinner to “rest a spell” then I may not get back up. Who wants to waste all of that precious scrapbooking time. So, I opted to go to the big barn and catch a half-hour nap (remember naps must be up to 30 minutes of over 2 hours to be “effective” and not leave you feeling worse for the wear), then go to dinner. It worked!
After enjoying the ham and spinach quiche, cheese grits casserole, a wonderful salad with fresh basil, sliced tomatoes (from their neighbor’s garden) and marinated mozzarella cheese and miniature cinnamon rolls, Jerry and Wanda served the peach pound cake. Do you think they stopped there? Of course not. They included a dip of vanilla ice cream and wonderful warm amaretto sauce with toasted almonds to complement the pound cake. Ummmmm! Even after eating all of that, we returned to the scrap building to press on into the wee hours of the morning. Mom, Betty, Dawn & I locked up around 2 a.m. after everyone else had retired. We watched SNL-the best of Will Farrell, Mama Mia, 13 going on 30 and 27 dresses while we worked. Tomorrow will be a “Harry Potter-a-thon.” Jennifer (who sews and and crochets but doesn’t really do much scrapping) brought all 5 movies. Good night/morning. Until the next time…