Learning Spanish

I've been taking a Spanish conversation course through Adult Ed at a local high school; and I'm surprised at how much I've learned in just 7 weeks. Our final class is this week on St. Patty's Day (wonder how "Top o' the mornin' " translates into Spanish!) I don't think any of us who enrolled realized it was a conversation class; but I was fortunate to have taken Spanish I a couple years ago so I have some background in pronunciation, basic vocabulary, and verb conjugation. We now know a few of the more useful tenses (on a good day, that is):

Yo trabajo (I work)
Yo estoy trabajando (I am working)
Yo voy a trabajar (I am going to work)
Yo estaba trabajando (I was working)
Yo iba a trabajar (I was going to work)

Hope I got that right before it's burned into my brain incorrectly. I find that I can now read a few simple things; and in South Florida signs in Spanish are everywhere-- at the bank, the supermarket, and billboards. I had almost the same feeling of excitement that I did when I was six and first learning to read when I realized that the billboard advertising a local lawyer actually means "You have rights too!" I also got a children's book out of the library and am struggling through "El Sombrero del Tio Nacho". And I can sometimes catch the drift of a conversation. I've also found all sorts of free online sites that help; and God bless google translate!

Besides the fact that I really love languages, I'm hoping that I can learn enough to communicate better with my Tuesday night little ones, many of whom speak no English. I already know enough to say "watch out",  or "get down" and understand them when they don't want to eat their dinner. And fortunately "pee pee" is pretty universal!

Now if only there is enough funding to have a Spanish II conversation class before I forget everything I've learned!

DT Surprise!

Well, you could have knocked me over with a feather last week when I got a private message from Jamie asking if I were interested in assuming some Design Team responsibilities at Coordinates Collection, such as the Monthly Kit contest and the Question of the Day (QOTD)! I'm on the Forum every day anyway, and always leave comments about the work in the Gallery; so it's no stretch for me.

I am now officially the Forum/Gallery Coordinator! I truly enjoy the nice people there, and was honored to be asked. Don't tell Jamie, but I would have done it without the free product and discount compensation! I had to submit a bio and Jack took a decent head shot which should be up this week. And even though I don't actually design anything, I get to use the cute little Design Team blinkie! Fun! Just hope I don't run out of QOTD's!

I would love to think of some ways to attract new customers. It's such a great kit club, and even if you don't get the kits, you are free to enjoy the Forum, put up your work in the Gallery, and participate in the contests and crops.  And besides the fact that I want these nice folks to be very successful, I also want the kits to be around for a long time because I love, love, love it when my box of goodies comes every month!

Red for Ryan

Kimberly Madrid, one of the much-loved members at Coordinates Collections, lost her 7-year-old son this week to leukemia. It's been a long, hard struggle for the whole family. The funeral is today. As a show of support, many of the CC members posted a picture of themselves wearing red today, Ryan's favorite color.

As a parent, I know Kim and her family are living every parent's worst nightmare -- to lose a child. I can't begin to imagine their grief and anger. I know from my own experiences that time will take the edge off, and some day they will be surprised to find something to smile about, but today, oh, today -- today is just too much pain to ask of anyone. Today is too hard. Let today be over and let the healing begin.

I bought one!

I've been thinking I "needed" a Bind-It-All ever since my friend Lynn bound a mini-cookbook for me (a prize I won at Coordinates Collections!) and before that, one of my crop friends bound mini-cookbooks for all of the girls who brought a decorated recipe card. 

So for the past year I've been checking prices, unwilling to spend $75 plus shipping for something I don't expect to get all that much use out of. I finally found one for a decent price on e-bay; and the seller included the space bar and a couple coils of o-wire:

Not that he minds that I spent money on it, but Jack's first question was, "oh, what are you going to make with it?". To which I replied, "um......I have no idea!"  Now I have to think of a project or two to justify buying it!

       

Coordinates Collections February Blog Hop Challenge

I've been having so much fun with all of the challenges at CoordinatesCollections.com. This month's Blog Hop challenge was to scraplift a layout from the Coordinates Collections Gallery. There's an abundance of great projects in the Gallery, but I was able to narrow it down by checking out projects I had saved to "My Favorites". This fun layout by Kimberly Madrid is a great way to use those wallet-size photos that we all have a gazillion of. I loved the clustered embellies and the white space:

I knew it would be perfect for these old wallet-size photos of Brian, although I can't place whether this was kindergarten or first grade (Note to Moms: always, always, always throw a date on the back of a photo somewhere! I promise you that you won't remember 30 years later.) 

I used the new Blue Skies kit that just arrived, as well as rub-ons from last year's Rumba kit, a journaling spot and sheer journaling tag from a journaling grab bag in the CC store (grab one if they're offered again!) and Basic Grey micro-mini letters, also from the store. The red spray mist from the kit colored a couple of the corrugated embellies, and I threaded a couple pieces with raffia I won at a crop. I kept the journaling in a light color so as not to break up the white space too much. 

Love these fun challenges!

Look What My Valentine Gave Me!

My day started out with Jack bringing me this beautiful orchid to wish me a Happy Valentine's Day:

I love how simple and Japanese-style it looks! It was a typical thoughtful gesture and made my day!

Amazing Egypt

I have been watching events unfold in Egypt for at least the last week; and I am overjoyed for the Egyptian people who are celebrating in the streets today the departure of Mubarek. Their weeks of peaceful and determined demonstrations -- even in the face of violence against them and disappointment in lack of a suitable response --  have been completely amazing and inspiring. I wish for them a successful transition to the democracy they so long for.