Facelifts

Tonight I have set my attention to snazzing up my online presence so I finally put backgrounds on Dylan and my myspace.com pages (Dylan earned himself a 50 cent background because he is so fricken OG) and a little header dealymabogger on the top of this page.

http://www.myspace.com/brandypolitz (aww, how pretty)
http://www.myspace.com/dylcum (the kid gets around)

I had a little fun messing with my camera yesterday, hence the photo at the top. I am determined that I have a good camera (Canon Powershot SD500) even if it isn't the pimp shizzy some people have (Rebel, anyone?), but I really think that I haven't uncovered that power because I just point and shoot pn auto and never mess with settings. The top thing was for giggles (the Mrs. Cumberland plaque was from the gang at the bank, aww nice) and the CBX photo was cool because when you pull up the pic (click on it if you want) you can see every little scratch on the hammer and in the paper. I really got the camera out to take some Father's Day pics of Dylan, but everyone will have to wait until tomorrow for that...

Brandy, you're hired...

Thought I should acknowledge that I got a j-o-b today and so if I pass my test this weekend, I should be receiving a paycheck in August...whoo hoo. How long until they realize their mistake? I imagine I will be teaching a class of Seth Cohen's and they will all be smarter than me

Also, completed a mini album yesterday but took until this morning to get an online representation completed. It's a baby album for my friend who had a shower this weekend that I missed. Got to use up an entire Crate Paper pack - it is about time! Here it is...

Boy wonder Dylan turns one...

Come Wednesday, Dylan will be officially one. I have heard people talk about how is breaks their heart and they cry, but that's just not where I am at. I am grateful that Jason and I have made it a year as parents and that Dylan doesn't look like a Lil Hobo. I am grateful that despite the rotten streak Jason and I have and how rude and obnoxious we can be, that Dylan is the sweetest little boy and will hug and kiss anyone. I know that because he reached out for a busboy at a Mexican restaurant on Sunday. I am grateful that Jason has come to the terms that a child forces you to acknowledge and socialize with the public and that he didn't even try to say anything rotten to the busboy when he felt free to pick up our boy. Anyways, I think he is hilarious, sweet and wonderful and I wouldn't change a thing about him.

Pic is courtesy of Heather, of course. Cutest kid ever.

Memorial Day at Lake Buchanan

Seems like a long time since I've been on here, but we've been going places! Saturday morning we drove out to Lake Buchanan which is about an hour and a half outside of Austin. When we stopped for lunch in Austin I peeked at a LSS that I had visited years ago and was very disappointed. You know how in the beginning of your scrap career a place may have really impressed you and now you wonder who buys that crap? You five years ago bought that crap!! Anywho, didn't buy a single thing in this huge store and it made me sad.

Anyways, Lake Buchanan was fab. Dylan tried pool water Sat night and went from loathing water to disliking it. Okay. Then Jason started his courageous journey to intoxication which always makes my mom and Jim amused (seriously). Jason talks a lot of junk in general and goes back on it, so I have learned not to point that out and argue with him on things, just to let him come around to where I want him to on his own. Like with having a baby, he said he didn't like kids, I knew better and sure enough he likes kids and asked for his own one day- but he got there on his own and as a result doesn't feel less cool for it. He did the same thing with the pool. I have been lobbying for a pool in the backyard for ages and he went on and on about how no one uses them and no one likes them. Then he got in one and said, "Pools are great. It would be nice to have one." Really? The thought never dawned on me...

Anyways, the place was beautiful and they even have little soaps and lotions from Bath and Body Works, so you know it was MTV Cribs stylin. Sunday morning, Andrea and Chad joined us and Mom, Jim, Andrea, Chad, Jason, Dylan and I joined Jim's friends Tom and Lisa on a boat they rented. We rode out to an island and parked to eat and swim. Dylan went from disliking water to laying his head down on his raft and singing to himself, so I guess that is good. Some highlights...


Look really carefully and you can see how that ridiculous burn from Wednesday has turned into a dark brown blotch. Hot. Jason may have been drunk when he tied his shirt up like that and started striking poses. Maybe. Anyways, at the end of the boat ride Jim drove for two minutes and broke the boat, so we had to be towed ashore


We cleaned up and Dylan felt obligated to give Tad CPR in the nude...


Dinner was a mess because all the podunk town had was bars (flash to Reese Witherspoon in "Sweet Home Alabama" - "You've got a baby...in a bar..."). We finally landed at a greasy spoon diner one minute before closing that had two live roosters or chicken or aliens outside. A great weekend, indeed...

Water babies

Dylan and I joined Heather and the kids on a day trip down to Galveston. I had chocolate milk for breakfast, so it put me in the mood to swim in some thick brown sludge. Lucky for me, it turns out Dylan loathes the water and he whimpered/cried every time we got in it. He did like the sand and played in that. Megan, as always, showed Dylan what was up by triumphantly splashing through the water and grinning as she ate it and handfuls of wet sand. Look closely and you will see that Dylan is giving Mother Nature the bird.

Cam had a good time too, between playing in the ocean and being buried by his mama. He looks miserable, doesn't he?

Finally, me and my screaming boy. I would put Heather's family shot, but I should get her permission before I put pics of her hot bod on here...

I got an awesome burn that is all blotchy, like I put sunscreen on poorly. I actually didn't put it on at all (I know.) It looks like angel wings, but that pic will not make it on here as well. Dylan didn't burn thankfully, although in some of our pics you can see the sun reflecting off of his pasty white skin nicely.

Diaper Duty

Saw this on Jason's blog and LOL'd. I think he found this trolling around on Flickr. Dylan's diapers don't usually require such scrutiny, since you can feel his spearheads a lot of the time through his diaper (I think you can figure out why we call them spearheads, yummy). This also reminds me that Dylan pooped on the bathroom rug the other day. He had taken a bath and I sat him down on his towel while I finished drying off. I looked over and he was bent over going "uhhhhhhhh." Mmm good.


Here's me playing catch up with getting all my scrapped stuff onto my blog. I have been working on a Book of Jason/Book of Us and it has been taking forever, so I haven't had a lot else to put on here.



The last one is really cool because it has a mini album under that pic of Will on his throne.

My baby boy is almost one...

and I have invitations to get out. I made these on the computer and am matting them on white cs with green inking. I will print the rest of the info on the back so people know where to go.
The invite:

And some of the choice picks from the shoot:

Who doesn't loooove those sobbing, pouty "U" faces?!

Heather Crocker

The cookies Heather mentioned in her blog for everyone's viewing pleasure...please note that I had the chance to decorate my cans based on the cookies and that Wilton warrants Doodlebug - Heather's FAVORITE line, or FAVOURITE for my non-American friends. Send her all your old stuff, she will put it under her pillow and have sweet dreams. Oh yeah, the cookies...mine turned out awful so only like one of mine is being gifted and hers are being used and some even regifted. I will be the hit of Mother's Day, all thanks to Heather...

Bye Derek

Cate just let me know that an old friend of ours, Derek Lindsey, passed away this weekend. I am sad because I didn't find out until after the funeral, and I was unaware that at 26 I need to be watching the obits.

It has been years since I hung out with Derek, he and I hung out daily for awhile when I was 18 and casually hung out since I was around 15 or 16. What I loved about Derek was his joy and the fact that he was able to pull anyone into it. He was fun, crazy and loved attention and was usually the center of it. It was hard not to laugh when you were with Derek, and now there's a little more laughter in heaven I guess.



This pic is of Derek and a friend of ours that I nabbed from his memorial site from back in the days, I haven't dug up mine somehow. His obit and memorial page:

http://www.legacy.com/HoustonChronicle/DeathNotices.asp?Page=LifeStory&PersonId=17652537
http://www.mem.com/display/Biography.asp?id=1348670

Dylan is tyke trash

Jason sent me this link today about this lady who is lamenting about how some of us choose to dress our children in shirts with naughty messages. She says our kids will be in therapy, as I am sure hers are as well for having to deal with the stick that is so far up her you-know-where.
http://theedge.bostonherald.com/lifeNews/view.bg?articleid=137636&format=text

If they were cheaper, Dylan would own more of these types of shirts because frankly I am more amused by "Cuter than Baby Jesus" or "Daddy drinks because I cry" than seeing one more Carter's onesie with animals and pastels. Unfortunately, you have a rather limited audience for shirts like the baby Jesus one, and as a result the shirt hasn't left the hanger. I thought about it for Easter but that is more of a Christmas shirt since Jesus is grown up on Easter and not a baby at all. Then, it turns out a lot of people worship Jesus and would be offended and though I like to make people laugh, I am not inclined to want to offend people. Especially people like Jason's dad or something.

Here are more funny shirts. Don't click on the link if you are the least bit likely to be offended because a lot of it actually is. I am a nice person, please don't think any less of me because of this...
http://www.tshirthell.com/babyhell.shtml
I think I am going to order Dylan the Hug Dealer one tonight.

And frankly, if you want to address how parents allow their children to dress and how that creates a need for therapy and pole dancing lessons, step into the little girls' section of any department store, Limited Too, etc and try to explain to me why it is okay to dress your six year old like a teen ho. Heather and I saw a 13 or 14 year old at the zoo yesterday with a shirt that said "My shirt would look good on your floor". Yeah, if I was interested in going to prison. Over some kid who hasn't finished puberty. And still carries 4 different forms of venereal disease. Now that's trash...

Trucking along

on my Holiday album, I would love to have this thing done by weekend end, but we will have to see on that. Here's my latest contribution that took several days for some reason. It is BG Blitzen and I busted out the sewing machine for it. The little rhinestones I put on Miracle and Nolda don't show up in the picture and that is a crying shame


Heard me talking about gardening and wondering if I was lying for attention? I have the proof right here, here's the fence Jason and Paul put up and the little bed I did this week. It was plain grass and wall before, and still needs addl soil and mulch. Those are both in the garage and too heavy for little ol' me to bring out.


The fence has cool molding on top so we look special, and they did the pickets on both sides so there is no bad side. While that is cool, I wonder why we just didn't make a second fence with it around the TC Jester side of the house. Oh well, one day I guess...

My muse is napping

and yet I am still scrapping. It resulted in this non-impressive blob:


This week I need to get on the phone and start setting up times to go to the different schools get in classroom observation. I need 25 hours, which is a lot considering I have to find someone to watch Dylan everytime. But I have had some lovely offers from some lovely people, so I will start this week. I went to the orientation this weekend, so I am feeling a little excited and a bit more prepared.

Bad habits

It never fails, it is just my pattern. I have an obsession with purging my collection of ugly stuff, and so I tend to try and use it and get rid of it resulting in many LO's in an ugly pattern and pretty paper left to rot in my stash. Smart, Bran. Anyways, I was at Heather's the other day and she had a pack of Bazzill that she couldn't recall the origin of. I recognized it as the Feb kit of Center City Designs that I was not crazy about. To put it in perpective, I had used it once, which is pretty unlike me. Some of the patterns aren't that bad, but some are ugh-a-roo. So of course the mission is planted deep within my heart to purge my stash. Among the things I have made today, several more things will be posted tomorrow though, and sorry about the crappy copies, they look all uneven and bendy:
(a redo)
(redo too)
(grad card)
Also felt like embarrassing my small child, so here are these photos of Dylan reading on the potty... we interupted a good part of story I bet...

Rent this LO

I was watching the film version of Rent before I was scrapping and I thought the lyrics to "Seasons of Love" were perfect for a LO on NYE 2005. The lyrics:

Five hundred twenty-five thousand six hundred minutes,
Five hundred twenty-five thousand moments so dear.
Five hundred twenty-five thousand six hundred minutes
How do you measure, measure a year?

In daylights, in sunsets, in midnights
In cups of coffee
In inches, in miles, in laughter, in strife.

In five hundred twenty-five thousand six hundred minutes
How do you measure
A year in the life?



Those are the lyrics in white all around the LO, thanks to Heather for the superfly pen!

Ho ho ho

It's about time, but I am finally working on my 2005 holiday pics. I went over to Heather's today and though I had great intentions for scrapping, Dylan was cutting a monster tooth and he lacked the good attitude to let me be. I got home and finished up, but not before Heather had a chance to tell me how god awful ugly this paper from Arctic Frog is. She was pleased to hear it was an old Trusty Red Wheelbarrow kit and not something I intentionally sought out at a store.

Jason gave me the idea about the ornaments, and I did a little bit of doodling that didn't make me want to barf. It is done, yay! As for Dylan's tooth, I think we are in for one loooong night. Luckily, my mom has tomorrow off and so if I am teetering on the edge of insanity, she can take the boy. Either way, we are hanging out and that means she'll hog him anyway and I am sure by tomorrow I will let her

Muchas mas

Here are those cards as well as the altered cigar box and birthday card I did for Cate. Jason says his friend has a ton of the cigar boxes, so I may do some more. For now I will go rest my weary eyes...

You should see the other guy

Here's something for CPS, Dylan's first shiner. In this instance, the other guy was the bathroom floor. We bought this baby toilet a long time ago because Jason's grandmother said they trained his cousin really early by having a baby one next to the big one and having the kid sit on it while they use it. I couldn't see any harm just letting him sit on it, so I started letting him hang out on it while I go really quick. TMI, maybe.

Anyways, he loves the toilet and when no one is going he sneaks in and tries to get on it. I saw him do it and helped him up and after a minute he acted like he wanted up. As I was trying to get him, he made a super push to get up and suddenly his face was flat on the hard tile. He cried for less than a minute and moved on, but I got to explain to every cashier and my mother why the boy had a red forehead and blackeye. Fun!

Crap Crop

There is no better way to trim the fat off an ample scrap supply like having a Crap Crop. That's what I am calling my little weekend of using up the remnants of kits or stuff I bought that are wasting valuable space to make room for whatever extras I piled into my cart. This weekend I worked on getting rid of some old Chatterbox, KI, some Granny's Kitchen, Grandpa's Attic and pics of stuff from the Urban Lily kit are on their way. I made these 4 LO's and a crap-crop-load of cards that I will have to make pics of later.




The last one is cool because I used the computer to print journaling around the grouping of pics. Pics of cards are to come later...