Thursday, February 07, 2013

Adventures in LA LA Land: A Trip Out of the House

Today I heeded the call from the collective crafting consciousness and decided that a trip to Michael's was in order.  It was about time.  I hadn't been since before Christmas.  Sacrilege huh?  

I got up, accomplished some of my regular tasks and waited for my husband to come home from work with the car.  He wasn't supposed to work today but someone called in sick and he went in to replace them.  He had thought the shift was going to be over around 1:00 ish.  When I didn't hear from him I realized that his shift was going to be longer than anticipated so I continued checking off items on my mile long 'to do' list.  

About 5:50 p.m. it dawned on me that maybe he hadn't taken the car and had gone to work on the bus this morning.  We all know what happens when we assume, don't we?  You'd think I'd know better by now.  I figured I'd finish up what I was working on and head down to check if the car was there.  Well, I didn't have to because five minutes later he walked in the door and yeah, the car had been sitting there the entire time.

I pulled together the items I'd need for working on my projects downstairs later in the evening.  I don't actually have a craft room.  Most of my stuff is stored in our office, actually it is our little bedroom that we've made into an office, and I just drag stuff back and forth between there and our living room.  I awkwardly started down the hall with my cane and my pile and suddenly said pile shifted.  Boom! Well it didn't actually boom more of a light thud but the sound effects should match the mess that resulted.  A small plastic container holding over 300 acrylic gemstones crashed to the floor, opening wide, spreading sparkly chaos in its wake.  I swear I almost cried.  

I sat staring at them and after realizing they weren't going to miraculously put themselves back in the box, hobbled down to the floor, arranged my body into a prone position and proceeded to pick up the stones, some of which were less than 1 mm wide.  Do you have any idea how small 1 mm is?  For 20 minutes I sorted between carpet fluff and gemstones.  When I was reasonable sure I had found them all, I dragged myself up off the floor and headed down the stairs in two trips to avoid any further accidents.

When I got downstairs I realized that I didn't have the list that I had been adding items to all day for my venture out.  With an audible groan, I hauled myself back up the stairs to look for the list that inevitably wasn't there.  It had sat on my desk ALL day and of course when I needed it, the Lost Items Monster swooped in and stole it.  I went back down to look through the pile of stuff I had brought down but alas it was nowhere to be found.  Now you have to realize that by this time, between the fatigue, the increased pain and the obvious fact that my body was significantly slowing down, I just wanted to curl up on the couch; but the collective crafting consciousness' call was still singing in my ears.   So I braved through it all, bundled up and headed out to the nicely cleaned and warmed vehicle that was awaiting me.  I love my husband!  

I struggled to stay upright, my canes slipping and sliding with me.  I finally got myself seated in the car and headed first to the library.  I had a book due today that hubby was supposed to drop off but since he had no car, he had no way to get it there.  Can you believe I got lost on my way to the library?  I NEVER GET LOST not when I know EXACTLY where I am going.  By this point I'm wondering whether I should ever have the left the office never mind the house but the sirens still called...

I finally found my way and set off toward the sound of those voices..."come to us Lisa...come to us....".  I arrived at my destination, and made my way to the entrance.  I began to meander around the marvelous play-land that is Michael's and at once a creative calm enveloped me.  After making my way to the marvelous markers section, I then headed to scrap-booking central.  The Great Glitter Guardians fell into step beside me and with Princess Perfect Price joining us we I came away with some fabulous finds.  While I still have to work it all out, I'm sure I came away with over $500.00 worth of product for only $119.00.  Flourishes and other embellishments normally $12.49 were on clearance for .79 and .99 cents.  Stamp sets that were normally $16.50 were on sale for $2.99 and $4.99.  INCREDIBLE! And those are just the ones I can remember.  There were so many more bargains.  I paid full price for only one item.  Some alcohol blending solution.  Now I can't remember why I bought it.  I remember it was on my list but not why it was there.  I blame Naomi.  I'm sure she talked about needing it for something so I added it to my list but of course now I've forgotten.  Note to self:  Ask Naomi why I bought blending solution.

I say goodbye to my gracious guides (you know the Great Glitter Guardians and Princess Perfect Price) and make my way home.  When I got home I got stuck at the bottom of the driveway and the world came crashing back down to reality.  I may be sore, tired as all heck, moving the speed of a snail and beaten down a little but they can't take away the serene state of satisfaction knowing that I scored a super sale!

...And that my friends is today's adventure in LA LA land. 

So, what have I learned today?
  • stop assuming
  • next time check for car much earlier in the afternoon
  • put little containers in bags before leaving the office
  • bring GPS when travelling at night on my own
  • don't back into snow mounds at the end of the driveway

What am I thankful for today?
  • I have the most amazing husband in the world 
  • that I didn't fall on my butt in the snow
  • that while I'm moving rather slow, I'm still moving
  • that I managed to rock the car out of the snowdrift after a little while without having to get my hubby to help
  • that I survived this crazy day to tell my story

So, as a reward for making it through to the end of this rather ridiculous rambling, here is a Motivational Graphic for you, keeping with the theme of giving thanks...

If you would just prefer the sentiment by itself, here it is... 

Oh, and in case you are wondering where LA LA Land came from, my maiden name starts with an A so L.A. are my original initials.  So while LA LA Land may be a place that is a little out there for most people, it also happens to be where I take my day to day journey through life.  I'm glad you were able to join me and hope that you do so again in the future.

Until next time,




Challenge I am entering this digital design into:

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The medallion image used in the background is one I 'purchased' for commercial use from Pixel Scrapper so you should be free to sell handmade items if you use it.
 

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uick summary of those Terms of Use:    

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9 comments:

Crafting Vicky said...

ohhhh my that was quite an adventure!!!! I really hate when I go from one room to the next and then don't remember why... And yup I've made messes as well and it seems to happen in the worst time (when extra tired or in a hurry) lol but through all this you moved and got going and didn't let it overwhelm you good for you and to top it off you got some awesome deals out of it!!!! WOW! ;)

Lisa Minckler said...

My gosh, what a story! You had me at BOOM! ;) I can't even imagine the fun you must have been having, but to think that you were rewarded so well later for your diligence is fantastic news!! You certainly overcame the hurdles that flung themselves at you and you're a beacon of light and inspiration to all crafters!!! :D
Any chance you can introduce me to your friend Princess Perfect Price?
hugs,
Lisa x

Unknown said...

Oh Lisa, what a day you had, I relived this adventure (well not exactly the right word but)as I read on and my heart went out to you but then this amazing side of you that I adore surfaced at the same time showing your resillance to life, you have the ability to let life play out instead of resisting what it is doing to you and even greater than than you can put it all into perspective and instead of feeling trapped in it to the point of complaining you come out on top with this amazing attitude and gratitude. You are my inspiration!!! Did you hear that? I really mean it, I don't know many people that would turn a day like that into having Gratitude, how amazing is that!!!! I love your sentiment and will have to use it. Keep shining my sweet sweet ever so strong friend and I hope your body didn't eventually crash. I fully take the blame for the alcohol solution and so happy you got similar amazing deals as I did!!!!! I will call you later if I can recover my voice.. you are beautiful. Lots of love, hugs

ike said...

OMGoodness Lisa - what a day !!!!
I was smiling to myself whilst reading.... NOT at your expense of course, but realising that those kind of things happen to me too, and enjoying the way you wrote about them :-D
I am so glad you got some wonderful goodies at 'Michaels'. I hear about this a lot but have no idea what it is (assuming it's a huge store for crafters ?) but I wish I could go with you :-D
Many hugs my Friend xxxxxxxxxxxx

ike said...

Oh yes - and La La Land caught up with me today.... dogs got in after my chickens... 2 now have no tails... the dogs ate the eggs... 3 chickens and a rooster loose in the garden and now too frightened to go back in.. car port covered in feathers and dog poo !!!!!
I have had enough of trying to chase the damn chooks round the garden so I've come back in to craft instead :-D xxxx

Denise Pustelniak said...

COOL! Sorry you had such a tough day but you are right, you survived and now you can laugh! Thanks for sharing at Digitally Sweet!

Suze said...

Thank you for sharing the thoughts of your day. You always find lots of things to be thankful for. I am now finding it a little easier to do that myself thanks to you. You are the second person who has blogged about the amazing bargains at Michael's. We don't have a Michaels nor anything that has such amazing bargains. Have fun playing with all your new crafty items. Thank you for the freebie sentiment - as per usual I found it because I took the time to leave a comment!!! Hope you have a good fun day with your new goodies.

Nikki said...

Hi Lisa I came by to see how you where doing and I came across an adventure of your's the dropping of the sparkles would drive me mad for sure next time you pop into a dollar store by the mini baggies to hold them in YIKES!!!
Congrats on the sales it's so nice to pop in a store when you go only to find out all you wanted is less then over 1/2 off YAH to that.
And your sentiment is just fantastic to have seen I'm always thankful for the little things they always make you smile and to let people know is just the right thing to do
So Thanks for your wonderful story
of your day
hugs Nikki

Made by Mandy said...

ARRRRRRGHH I feel your pain, I too have spilled tiny brads and gems all over my work surface, floor, and bags that were at the end of my desk and in a cramped space it is a complete bugger to pick them up and you then find that somehow you have gems stuck in the most inappropriate of places such as the bottom of your slippers, hems on your leggings and goodness knows where else.......

At least though you have Michaels. Although I would LOVE to have them in the UK I just know that would be a totally dangerous shopping trip, especially with the kind of bargains they seem to do. At least that was a nice reward for you :)

Love Mandy xxx