It’s so good to be home.

I have been M.I.A. for quite some time, why you ask – a major computer virus. I lost everything on my hard drive. I had to reinstall all of my programs. I am still trying to make up for the lost documents. It was a little traumatic for me because I invested a lot of time on some of the things and – poof - in a blink of an eye they are gone. Luckily I did create a backup disk for some of my pictures, but others are lost. I’ve invested several dollars in anti-virus software and have gotten into a backup routine, so I am on the way to recovery but just not 100% yet. In other news so many thing have happened since my last post. My best friend gave birth to twins – Ashley and Sonny – July 20, 2006. Everyone is doing well. She just emailed me pictures (we live in different states) and the babies are beautiful. My youngest grand-nephew turned one. My sister had a big party for him at the Camden Children’s garden, we had a good time. I think he enjoyed every moment. Other little summer things happened but mostly we’ve just been dealing with the heat like the rest of the country.

In scrapping news I have had two major events. First and foremost I purchased the Cricut!!!!! Here’s the story. I do not have any other die cut system, technically. I do have the sidekick and a few dies and I have a few Coluzzle templates but nothing major like the Sixxix or Quickutz. So I have been debating making this kind of financial investment for a while, yet I have gotten increasingly frustrated with hand cutting letters. So once the Cricut premiered I had to have one. Now thanks to the power of the internet, I have been able to monitor the reviews and at first there were some kinks. First rumor had it that it would not cut bazzill paper, which was definitely not good. Next was the price. How could I justify that to myself? Then Stephanie told me major Craft stores would be carrying the Cricut and allowing the use of the coupon. Glory!!!!!!!!!!!! Next obstacle – it has been sold out for months. So since May I have been going back and forth to AC Moore to catch it in stock and this past Wednesday, right after the shipment came in I struck gold, got a Cricut and used a 50% off coupon. Total purchase price $150.00. So worth it. This machine is so awesome. The options are great, and as long as I can use my coupons the price is reasonable, considering a complete sixxix alphabet set retails for $149.00 and I can get a Cricut Cartridge for $56 (after coupon) with more cutting options. Lisa and steph I am bringing it to the next crop!

My second scrapping update is that I fell in love with the new American Crafts papers. Believe it or not I purchased the entire collection and I am determined to use it. I love the colors and patterns and can’t wait to dive in.

I am slowly recovering from my slump. Losing my computer really got me down but I like Gloria Gaynor “I Will Survive”
P.S.
Can you believe it is the middle of August? I have started shopping for school supplies and uniforms. What’s next - Christmas!!!!!! Uggh, where does the time go?