oh my...

I received a slew of circle journal albums a couple/few weeks ago... but I was so busy I couldn't get to them. So this week, I cleaned my studio (wow - there really was carpet under there!) and I did a layout for one of the albums. yay!! This particular layout is for my twopeas childfree group. The theme is "My World." Doing the journaling was actually kinda fun - I don't generally enjoy that part of scrapping, but just rambling about my life was interesting. :-)


If you are actually interested (or really bored), this is the text:

My world… let’s see… My life tends to be very hectic. I always seem to be on the go. I play sand volleyball usually 1 or 2 nights a week, sometimes 3 – year round. There is massage therapy once every 3 weeks, and hair appointments once every 5 weeks. I donate blood platelets about once every 5 weeks. Other things fill the “free” days – work outings, doing stuff with friends, etc. Motorcycling takes a lot of weekends during the summer. I scrapbook year round – I go to conventions (inc. CKU and ScrapFest), weekend crops, day crops, and I scrap at home too. Not that I get lots done; I’m a slow scrapper! During winter I get to the gym more; last winter I took up swing dance. I think I’ll take classes this winter, something fun or creative. There are so many misc. events too: downhill skiing, holidays, beer and wine tastings, festivals and fairs, weekend getaways, family get togethers … I love to travel, especially cruises. Yeah baby, I love cruising. It’s the best thing ever. :-) I try to cruise every year – I’d prefer more, but I can’t talk DH into that – he prefers motorcycle vacations. I enjoy researching cruises, figuring out which one to take next, what to do at each port, etc. … My hubby’s name is Greg. We met at college in 1986, started dating in 1989, got married in 1994. He’s a great guy; I love him dearly. He keeps me grounded. When we first talked about having kids, he said 1, I said 2, we said none as a compromise! And now we back that up with “there’s no sidecar on the bike” and “there’s no back seat in the ‘Vette.” … I have a fab 2000 Corvette convertible, cop-target red, black ragtop, black interior. I LOVE it! It makes summer even more fun; it always puts me in a better mood!! And it’s hysterical when guys, particularly young ones, think they can race me. HAH! … My occupation isn’t the thrill of my life. I’m an accounting/finance analyst. I have worked as a contractor for 7 years now, there’s good and bad with that. I don’t have a lot of pressure and I work my 40 hrs/week and that’s it, but I don’t get very challenging work. But it’s all good. Greg has a plan – he’s always had the plan – for early retirement. We plan to retire when he’s 45, which is SIX years away! Woohoo!! That doesn’t mean we will never work again, it just means that we don’t HAVE to work, and if we do, it can be on our terms. So maybe I’ll have a career change! I often consider changing my career, but the things I am interested in would be a total change, going back to school, etc. And that would mess with “the retirement plan.” So no go – at least for now. … I love kitties (and cats) – I love their attitude, their independence – so yes, I have two orange tabbies that are fun, fun. They are brothers from the same litter, but their personalities are SO different! … I come from a large family. I am the youngest of 7 – basically my parents had a family of 5, then 10 yrs later my sis, then 5 yrs later me. I have 16 nieces and nephews, 4 of whom are older than me. I have 20 grandnieces and grandnephews, with another on the way. Yep, I’m a great aunt, and have been since I was about 22 yrs old. Weird family! And it’s super chaotic when everyone, including spouses, gets together. … I’ve always loved school. I attribute that to both my daddy, who read to me from encyclopedias rather than children’s books (heck – he sure didn’t want to read kids’ books!!) and my sis closest in age, who wanted to be a teacher. I have my BS in accounting and my MBA. I always scored really well on aptitude tests – I was in the top .5% of students who took the GMAT, the graduate business school exam. One of my big goals is to get a PHD or doctorate, but I don’t know what in yet. …
Each year I make it a point to do something new. I have gone skydiving, ziplining, hot air ballooning, parasailing, ridden the tallest ride in the U.S., walked inside the Great Pyramid, joined the polar bear club (jumped into Lake Michigan on 1/1/2000!), done an Iron Butt run (over 1000 miles on a motorcycle in less than 24 hours), held a stingray and a sloth, gone underwater in a submarine, snorkeled, etc. This year a Nascar driver will drive me around a racetrack, hurtling at speeds around 140 mph. … I am definitely a Pisces, two fish swimming opposite directions. I have so many opposing characteristics. I am creative yet analytical, versatile and intuitive, I like solitude and dreaming, am good natured and compassionate. I tend to see the good in everything, yet am still a realist. I adapt myself to suit those around me. … I am a Democrat – I believe in the rights of individuals and am a tree-hugger. It freaks me out when I think about the rate at which humans use up finite resources and destroy the natural environment. The sad part is that when earth finally gets its revenge on us, it will affect all other wildlife and vegetation. … I’m an odd female. I don’t like to shop (except for scrap stuff), I play poker, I drink beer (especially thick chewy dark beers), I whistle at hot cars and I love to motorcycle. I’m not fond of girly things or hanging with giddy giggly girls. MY female friends of course are cool, but some chicks I just can’t handle! I usually prefer hangin’ with the boys – I get them – they have one-track minds, they don’t backstab, they say what they mean. Gotta like that! … I hate cold weather. Even tho I was born in WI and have lived here all my life, I REALLY hate it! I’ve tried to talk Greg into moving somewhere warmer, but I’ve given up until retirement (SIX years! – but who’s counting?!), when we will probably snowbird. … I am totally a night owl. In some ways I’d love to be an early bird. I could hit the gym first thing, still get home early from work, have a nice early dinner before the night’s events. And early mornings can be so peaceful and beautiful. On the other hand, late nights are when I get things done. Greg’s asleep, the house and streets are quiet. I can get into super creative mode during the late hours. But whatever I think/say/do, it doesn’t matter. My internal clock keeps me up at night, and makes it hard for me to wake up in the early hours. … My daddy was my hero, still is my hero, even tho he’s been gone for almost 5 years now. He was the kind of guy that everyone liked; he gave folks more than a fair chance, he seldom got upset, he was understanding and insightful and down-to-earth. He always wanted to learn; he taught me that there is a huge world out there to explore. He was definitely the single biggest influence on my personality.