Fire Update and other stuff

A few cooler days and some wind and a bit of rain really helped to clear out the smoke. The cooler temps, increased humidity and that little bit of rain have also helped the fire crews out on the front lines. The fires still burn, but are a little more in hand now. We are not out of the woods yet, though. Hotter temps and still no "real" rain in the forecast mean we could be fighting the fires for some time to come.

Other stuff includes Katie and Dani moved in on Thursday and we are settling into baby mode at the P household. Katie is back on the RW rotation and she's been added to the chore chart. Who says you can't go home?

Tomorrow night is Sundaes in the Park (meet the neighbors/say good bye summer/ welcome home Val) I have 40 RSVPs so far. Pretty fun. Everyone is talking about it. I was stopped by a couple more neighbors at the mailboxes today. It doesn't take much to entertain this bunch, apparently.

Monday is the first day of classes for Sarah and Allison. They are both pretty excited. Did I mention they both made the Dean's list last semester? They did. Pretty proud of them for that.
Sarah has a payed position in the costume shop. She's very happy about that. She's still working for us and her costume job ends at 5pm every day. So happy happy, joy, joy.

Sept 4 is first day of school for Alex and Brittney. Gotta get the school shopping done next week and then we'll be set.

Sept. 28 is Camp Scrappy and I'm really stoked about that but then this morning I look at the newspaper and what do I see? Elton John is coming to town on Sept. 28. WTH? They announce this earthshattering news a mere month in advance? Who's in charge? I have issues. Would it be totally shitty of me to leave my campers on Friday night and go to the concert? I would only have a half hour drive. I'm seriously considering it. It will all depend on the cost of the tickets. If they are over $100 I won't even think about going. Why do I think they'll be over $100? Anyway, that's my life in the nuthouse.

I'm Not a Smoker

But you'd never know it if you looked in my lungs lately.

Remember my gorgeous view?

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Well, the latest fire in the area, the Black Cat, has the entire valley just socked in with smoke.

My view now looks like this .

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Visibility is less than a half mile. What does this mean? Well, according to the Health Department, it means you should not be outdoors. You certainly shouldn't be exerting yourself outdoors. So you can bet that I'm not. Not outdoors and not exerting myself. Hey, the Health Department said so. The proof is right here.

Who doesn't love a good freebie?

I'm totally hooked on free digi kits and templates. Have you tried the digi templates yet? OMG they are too fun. Now don't for one minute think that using a digi template is really that artistic. You do have to pick the papers and embellishements but other than that you just have to show up and click. I've been in a bit of a funk creative wise lately and this has been the answer to my scrappy woes. In fact last night I attempted to sit with friends and paper scrap and I almost couldn't do it. Almost...I did complete one page, but that was it. So today I sit down and knock out two. Hmmmm. Me thinks that I'll just do this until the paper fairy comes to visit again.

Anyway. Here are some that were done with free kits and templates.














































Lovin' the Freebies this week.
Some of my favorite freebie sites are

Shabby Princess
Digital Freebies
Scrap Outside The Box
You can find loads of fun stuff at these sites.

Its a Beautiful Day In The Neighborhood

Dani's in the house. Of course so are her parents, but Dani's in the house. What bright little spot of sunshine she is. She currently likes to pull hair, bite the eyeballs of her stuffed frog, slobber and drool, kick and squirm, and delight us all with her sweet baby antics.

The aunties and uncle are in mad competition for her attention and sometimes she becomes a bit overwhelmed by it all resulting in a brief thunderstorm of tears followed almost immediately by sunny smiles and coos. Such a funny monkey.

That's about all for today, but did I mention that Dani's in the house?