High school's never over.

I was watching The Jane Austen Book Club a couple of days ago (good chick flick, by the way). And, one of the characters, Prudie, had to go back to her home town to handle a family situation. I won't give away a bunch of details in case you want to watch the movie. But anyway, Prudie runs into some old foe of hers. She starts to tell her husband about the awful thing that this girl did to her back when they were in high school. Her husband interrupts and says, "Prudie...high school's over." To which she poignantly responded, "High school's never over." How true. I can remember being in high school thinking, "I can't wait to get out of here, be an adult, and never have to deal with this stuff again." But, we never really get away from it, do we?

Military wives are a bored bunch of women. You can do two things...find something constructive to do with your time, or succumb to the salacious rumor mill and gossip like a bunch of high school girls. That's why I scrapbook, and why, by and large, I don't befriend other military wives. I don't really care who's cheating on who; who got so-and-so pregnant; who spent all of their husband's deployment money, then filed for divorce. But, I certainly hear about it all the time. And, the guys are just as bad with the chatter. Rumors run rampant in the military circle. I guess that's what happens when you put a bunch of mostly immature individuals together with nothing but time on their hands. So reminiscent of high school, isn't it?

Then there's the scrapbooking industry as a whole...don't get me started on how clique-ish this hobby can be. It brings back all of my old insecurities from the teenage years. They just manifest themselves in new, slightly less-upsetting ways.

And, my final high school run-in of the week...snarky, inappropriate comments about the way somebody looks. More importantly...about the way my child looks. Some friend (and I use that term LOOSELY) that I was having lunch with the other day, looks across the table at Hazel. She scrunches up her nose and says, "I can't believe you can still see those veins around her temple. It's so gross! I hope that they go away before she gets to school. Kids are going to make fun of her for that." Oh, yes...because a grown adult making fun of her is SO much less painful. I know you can see the veins, but I just don't notice it anymore, I guess. That is, until it is so rudely brought to my attention. But, I still think my daughter is beautiful. Don't we all think our own children are the most beautiful things on earth, though?

Much like I did in high school when someone made fun of ME, I just sat there crying inside, but really wanted to reach across the table and knock this girl's teeth down her throat. I didn't say anything. Mostly because I was shocked that somebody would make such a rude remark. Also, because I knew that anything that came out of my mouth at that point would be completely inappropriate to say in front of my child or anyone else's. Why am I so surprised, though? This is the same girl that thinks it appropriate to call me at 8:30 in the morning EVERY FREAKING SATURDAY. Not for any reason in particular. Just to talk. And, the same girl that invited herself over to our house for Thanksgiving one year, and spent the whole night complaining that the food was homemade and DIDN'T come out of a box. Wha? Obviously, she was never taught any manners or how to behave towards others.

Rule number one...don't make fun of my child (or my husband, for that matter). It's the quickest way to end a friendship with me. My husband and I have already cut off a friendship with another couple due to some remarks made about Hazel's temper tantrums that started right after Bryan deployed. You try being 3 years old, having a new baby brother born 4 days before your daddy leaves for over a year, having Nana come and spoil you for a couple of weeks and then leave, AND have your grandpa die. All of this happened in the span of about 2 months, mind you. Hell yeah, she had some behavioral issues for a while. You probably would too. Her world was turned upside down overnight. I doesn't make her behavior okay, and we got it under control. But, it is also NOT APPROPRIATE to call my child a brat, and make snarky remarks about how perfect your kids are in comparison. Friendship effectively terminated.

Rule number two...DO NOT, under any circumstance, call me before 10 am on a weekday, or noon on a weekend. Unless you are related to me, your name is Kasie, or somebody is dead or dying...I don't want to talk to you before that. That is my quiet time in the morning with my family. That is our time to get our day started. Who calls someone at 8 am anyway? I can remember being about 6 years old, and being REALLY excited for one of my friends to come play on a weekend. I think it was about 9 am on a Saturday, and I was begging my mom to let me call said friend to come over and play. I very distinctly remember my mom telling me that, "We don't call people before at least 10 in the morning. That isn't very nice, and some people actually like to sleep in on the weekends." Words to live by.

Okay, so it's not all anger and bummed-outed-ness around here. Some pretty flowers for some pretty ladies:





These are those chipboard flowers with a vase kits from Doodlebug Designs. I had SO MUCH fun making them...totally addictive. And, the perfect gift, don't you think? Who doesn't love getting flowers, after all? And the best part...these flowers don't die! You can enjoy them forever! Or as long as paper will last anyway. ;0) I'm thinking that these are going to become the standard birthday gift for the birthday RAK group that I participate in over at Poppy Ink. Of course, I'll change them up so that they all look different (and so I don't get bored). Tee hee!

My favorite part was making these rosettes for the front of the vases:



And, finally, some pictures of my new pergola.



Don't mind the dead grass...we're in the middle of a drought here. This was my Valentine's gift to myself, and what I spent my V-Day doing. Well, of course, I didn't build it. But, I spent V-Day watching the workers build it. I have some great outdoor furniture and decorations that I am going to set-up out there. I need to finish planting those jasmine climbers, and hang my lanterns first, though. Eventually, those jasmine plants will climb all over the top of the pergola to create sort of a leaf "cealing." I'll take some more pictures of it when it's all complete. Imagine a little outdoor living room. Oh, and that cobblestone patio it's built on...I built that ALL BY MYSELF last summer! :0) I love gardening, and working in my yard...so relaxing, and so rewarding. Now, I can't wait for Bryan to come home so that we can actually enjoy it. We're hosting a big BBQ for some of the families in his company once they get home. Should be lots of fun! Actually, here's a photo from Martha Stewart that I got the idea from. It will look somewhat like this when it's done. I even have a few cases of Ball canning jars to make the little candle lanterns from!



Let's see...what else? How about some new pics of my sweet little ones...





Finally...a little help, please? Sadly, I am in search of a new kit club to sub to (I won't go into details). Here are the ones that I am considering: Studio Calico, Label Tulip, and The Scarlet Lime. I'm looking for any tips or experiences that anyone has had with these companies...good or bad. It's such a tough decision. I can only afford one monthly sub because there are other kits that I pick up here and there each month. Decisions, decisions...