Oh, They're Good . . .

So this summer I've finally been able to get our wedding pictures framed. Yay! I figured I'd just pick up a frame from Walmart here and there and it wouldn't be that big a deal because I only needed four. Yeah, I bet you can all see where that went. :-)

So I had this brilliant idea . . . well, I thought it was. We got three 5x7s in our package, and I cleverly chose two pictures of Luke and me (individually) looking out a window in opposite directions and one from that pedestal kind of by the Lion House. And I'm thinking I'll put them all in one frame with the individual pictures on either side so it's like we're looking out these windows at us. Yes - it's totally cheesy. But I like it, dangit! :-) Just one problem - Walmart apparently doesn't carry frames that hold three 5x7s. Three 4x6s, sure. Three of varying sizes and kind of ugly, of course. But absolutely nothing for the size I had . . . blargh. And neither does Shopko. Or Kmart. Grrrrrrrrrr. So I finally caved and went to Michael's a couple of weeks ago. Where the plethora of choices for exactly what I was looking for was, quite frankly, disgusting considering that no one else around here carries them. But after spending more time than I'm willing to admit debating my choices (and probably driving Luke nuts since it was a spur of the moment stop one day while we were out and about) I finally picked one and we headed out. And then - the machine spit out a 40% coupon along with the receipt! Yay! Because that makes the prices pretty much match Walmart, and I like their frames much better. So I head back last week to use it . . . and I got another one, yay! Although at this point and I can totally sense a monster being created. :-) Because when I went back yesterday and got the last frame and - yep! - got another one. And now, even though I have absolutely nothing to buy there, I want to go back and use it.

Okay, let's get one thing straight right now: I am not a crafty person. I am not artistic in the least. I do not sew, I do not paint, I do not build things. And I sure as heck to do not scrapbook. I have tried that one though . . . I suck. Seriously, I can not make a decent looking scrapbook page to save my life. They all look terrible. You could give me an pre-designed page so detailed that there are outlines that say "put this picture/sticker/cut out here" and I would follow it to the letter and it would still look awful. It's pretty ridiculous, so feel free to laugh. I suck, but I've accepted it. And I do not scrapbook.

There is one vaguely crafty thing that I do - embroidery. Specifically, cross-stitch. More specifically, stamped cross-stitch. That whole counting thing is beyond me (need I remind you how math and I get along?). Aunt Sandra gave me a cute little mouse and a cute little bird for Christmas years and years ago, and I've kinda been hooked ever since. And back in the day you could get all sorts of things as stamped cross-stitch. But somewhere along the line it seems that my crafty hobby fell out of fashion or something, because for the past few years all I've been able to find is baby crap (quilts, bibs, etc.) and linens (pillowcases/napkins/tablecloths), neither of which I'm really interested in. (side note: when I was 12ish I did by a cute baby quilt top that took me a good five years to finish. And by finish I mean finish the embroidery. It's still just a quilt top, no batting or back. I really should finish it one of these years . . . ) So depressing. I suppose it's not that bad, because while I love doing it, I haven't a clue what to do with the finished product. It's not exactly my decorating style, you know? Not that I really have much of a decorating style, as you might recall, but what little I do have does not include the cutesy little things I thoroughly enjoy making.

Anyway, so I'm wandering around the needlework section of Michael's yesterday knowing I'm probably going to get another coupon, and really wanting to use it, but having no idea what to use it on and definitely not needing anything, especially from a craft store and kind of sad because they don't have anything other than baby crap, but also sort of relieved because that means it'll be easier to convince myself not to spend money just to use the coupon. Good times. And can I just say that those crafty people are . . . well, crafty? And pretty brilliant? The thought of getting anything from that store would never occur to me randomly but now I find myself trying to come up with something to get just so I can get another coupon and go back again the week after and get something else. Well played, Michael's, well played. You're good.

Maybe I'll just by a pack of gel pens every week for the rest of my life. I looked at those yesterday too. That was a really hard purchase to deny myself, which probably comes as no surprise to anyone, since everyone is aware of my intense crush on gel pens. Because none of you have anything better to do than memorize my blogs. :-)

I probably sound so self-absorbed to random passers-by who don't realize that almost everything here is meant to be read as dripping with sarcasm and silliness. Oh, well. No time to worry about that now - I'm off to start a lifetime collection of gel pens!! :-)

P. ost S. cript
Because anytime is a good time for another cute kitty clip. :-)