Feeling My Age

Even though I just had a birthday, I sometimes forget just how old I am.  I see people I graduated with, and I think, “Wow!  I look so much better than that!”  I’m sure the person I’m meeting thinks the same thing, though.  And while I’ve noticed a few extra wrinkles and some gray hairs, they’re mostly on Mike, not me!  (Ha.  Don’t I wish.)  But, really, Mike & I don’t think we look our age.  Most of the time.  We do get a few reminders, though.

Last week I was waiting for a student that I’ll be accompanying this semester.  Most of the people walking through the area where I was waiting were in the 18-20 age range.  One young man, who had noticed me waiting, asked, “Are you waiting for someone?”  Several answers came to mind.  “No, I’m just stalking young college guys.”  “No, I wanted to sit on this hard bench for a few minutes, just to see what it would be like.”  But I just smiled and said, “Yes, I’m waiting for (student’s name).”  And then he asked, “Oh, are you her mother?”  *sigh*  Yes, I could be.  In fact, if I had been a teenaged mother and my child had been a teenaged parent, I could be her grandmother.  Fortunately this little twerp, who I’m sure was just trying to be helpful, bless is underaged heart, didn’t ask, “Are you her grandma?”  Because then I would have had to beat him with my walker.  If I had a walker.  I do have a very heavy purse that I could have smacked him with.

Another day, Mike & I were talking to one of the servers at Piccadilly’s.  Emily is one of our favorites.  She’s smart and very driven, and she just entered the Physician’s Assistant program at the university.  We asked her how it was going.  In the course of the conversation, we learned that she really doesn’t want to deal with sick people.  She’d rather work in a plastic surgeon’s office.  Then Mike, my dear, sweet, naive husband, said, “Yeah – that’s a huge market with Baby Boomers.”  Emily’s horrified response – “Oh, no.  I don’t want to work geriatrics.”  I don’t think Mike “got” what she was saying, because he said, “No, not old people; Baby Boomers, who want botox and face lifts and tucks…”  I leaned over and said, “Sweetie, to Emily, Baby Boomers are geriatrics.”  He looked stunned.  “Dearest,” I tried to explain, “while the youngest boomers are 47, the oldest ones are 65.  And to Emily, that’s geriatric age.  They’re probably older than her grandparents.”  I thought Mike might cry.  But we had a good laugh later, and Emily is still one of our favorites.

Here are some projects that are great for the young – and young at heart!  Monika Davis, a demonstrator from Georgia, saw the treat bags in the Holiday mini catalog (on page 5, I think.  And Monika’s photo is on page 3), and she had the absolutely brilliant idea to use the packaging paper in Stampin’ Up!® orders for the bags.  Take a look.

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All you do is fold the paper, place the folded edge just inside the scallop square die (so that edge doesn’t get cut), and run it through the big shot.  Then glue to two sides and decorate.  These are Christmas ones, and the one on the left is what we’ll be making at our team meeting on Thursday.  Obviously, the one on the right is not the packaging paper; it uses the Frostwood Lodge designer series paper*.  Other products – the shaker frames*, mica flakes*, and Christmas Lodge* set from the Holiday mini catalog, the Bells & Boughs set from the 2011-12 Stampin’ Up!® Idea Book & Catalog, and the crimper.  I added some Moonlight Smooch paint to the bells, too.

Wouldn’t these be perfect with a couple stamped cookies wrapped in a cellophane bag?  Can you imagine coming to work and finding these on your desk?  Or leaving them on the pillow for someone in your house?

Here are some fall ones.

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These use punches (for the owl, branch, moons, and sentiment under the raven).  The one on the right is fabric.  I ran some of the Spice Cake fabric* and fabric adhesive through the Big Shot with the Fun Flowers die, layered them to the treat bag and added a Spice Cake designer button* to the top.  The raven is from the Dark & Dreary set.  It’s a great project for football fans from Baltimore (or a project about Edgar Allen Poe!).

All products with an asterisk (*) after them are from the current Holiday mini catalog.  All other products are available in the 2011-12 Idea Book & Catalog.  These are great workshop “make & takes,” and they’re super easy to create.  If you’d like to learn how to make them, contact me to schedule a workshop!

That’s it for now.  Have a wonderful day – and thanks for stopping by.