Paper Doll House

Tonight after work I went to a scrapbooking retreat. Mary Kim used to have a house in Downers Grove called Paper Doll House. She recently purchased a new mansion in Sycamore and is rennovating it for a scrapbook retreat for up to 12 guests. I was eager to scrap after recently deciding I was going to try to attend CK-U in Houston in September.

I called MK late Thursday night and she said she had an opening for Friday. As soon as I could get there I joined the weekend scrappers. I had missed high tea at 4, but MK saved me some scones and brownie bites. I set up my table and started scrapping. Shortly she gave me a tour of the beautiful house. The architecture is amazing and the amount of original items still in the house makes your head swim. Gas ports for gas lights on the porch? Just fascinating.

My favorite part of the whole house is the attic. It's as big as the entire house and was used for ballroom dancing many years ago. There is an amazing view from the porch off of the attic as well. I loved getting to see the house!

www.thepaperdollhouse.com

Dinner was chicken piccata with fresh Italian bread and asparagus. Yum! Later on she made bananas foster and served it with vanilla ice cream. Some coffee around 10 kept me awake until midnight when I started to pack up.

I just about finished the album for my Dad that I had been working on since before Father's Day. I have a few more finishing touches to add and a touch-up or two as well. It should be ready by tomorrow for sure if I can spend a little more time on it.

The moon was so beautiful in the night sky on the way home. Surprisingly I wasn't as tired as I thought I would be driving home. I listened to my favorite CD of Sarah Brightman - Eden. It's hard to explain - when you get the things you need in life you just feel complete in a way that defies words.

Another Day, Another Few Dollars

Well, I can already tell that the new outlook is changing more than just my thoughts. I actually am happier at work because I changed the way I was thinking about certain situations. You may not understand how important that is specifically, but the process is there. Change the way you think, and the rest will follow. Let your vision for the future lead the actions and decisions you make every day. Perhaps you will be moving toward the desired outcome if you are thinking about what you would like that outcome to look like.

Enough philosophy for today - I'm just staying cool at home in the AC and writing a little.

By the way, the inspiration for this blog started by reading Wil Wheaton's book last year and from time to time finding his blog online (WWdN) and reading it. I found out that a few of my favorite blogs (one is DogBlog) are written using this host and was very impressed. It was inspiring to find that there were things I wanted to share and now had an easy to use forum to do it with.

After reading John Grogan's book Marley & Me, I was also inspired to do a little creative writing. I'm not saying it's always been a dream or anything - just that his voice in that novel made it seem possible to let people who don't know me into my life and have some fun reading some of the experiences that I've had along the way. It made me feel connected to him and his family, if only through the common love of dogs. I missed my beloved beagle Sadie so much while reading that book it made me want to tell her stories. I think she may have her own area here on the blog.

The Beginning

I am so very excited to begin this adventure. There is so much I want to do with this blog that I can't wait to begin. Feels logical to set some goals and express why I wanted to do this in the first place. (Besides trying in vain to remove the extra flower bullet on this section....)

• Sharing news with friends and family

  Having a central place to post photos

  Displaying my new passion - making jewelry

  Making my scrapbooking work visible (forcing me to take photos)

  Expanding my new volunteer effort with Illinois Support Our Troops

  Starting to write creatively for fun

So, stay tuned - set your favorites and come back often as I figure this out.