Oh, how glad I am to have found you once again!

        I don't know if any of you out there can appreciate this as much as myself--if you don't, this is something that you and all those in this world need to know. The following article was found via a google search attempting to fulfill a desperate need for lost treasure. I had no idea that I would find such a wonderful display of love for said lost treasure or such a perfect resource, for that matter. This article is thanks to oliner.com and can be found at the link given above.

"What happened to my Page Lifters?"

"Sheet Lifters (or Page Lifters, or Pagelifters, the terms are interchangeable) used to be supplied in every Looseleaf Binder that was sold. It was unquestioned that they provided real assistance to Binder users.

(Note: the term "Page Lifter" is going to be used on this web page so that it works well in searches. Don't be confused: a Page Lifter is a Sheet Lifter.)

However, as in everything else, the Evil Gnomes of Corporate Bureaucracy and Misguided Penny Pinching invaded the Eden of Well-Made Products. In order to save a fraction of a cent (literally!), Binder Manufacturers started scrimping on Page Lifters.

 In order to do their job, Page Lifters have to be a certain size and strength. The correct sizes are shown on this page. If you use a Page Lifter which is too small or too weak, you may as well not use one at all. These days, when you find one of the few Binders that still has Page Lifters, they are generally too small to do their job anyway. Some of them, you might as well use Tissue Paper.

 Well, you guessed it. After the Evil Gnomes emasculated the Page Lifter by putting Lifters in their Binders that were too small or weak, they started leaving them out of the Binders all together. The sad truth is that not everyone knows what Page Lifters are for, and that there was not any tremendous groundswell of protest.

 Knowledgeable Page Lifter users picketing their local Office Supply store is a nice image, but regrettably there were no mass protests over the near-death of Page Lifters. (Or if there were, they were quickly hushed up by cooperative Mass Media Outlets, who must also have been part of the massive conspiracy!! )

 But if you are one of the Select, Enlightened group of Page Lifter Aficionados, help is at hand!! You can buy Page Lifters direct from us, the original manufacturer! Strike a blow for old-fashioned quality! Don't let those corporate drones tell you what you can and can't do! "

And that, my friends, is the most beautiful sales pitch I've ever read. I do believe I'll be placing an order by the end of this weekend and look forward to receiving the fabulous product in the mail. The lost treasure has been found. Never shall I have scrunched pages in a binder again!

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3 part card pouches

Oh my, how the days slip by! Especially as summer is winding down.

Things in my office have changed a bit. Our roles have all been redefined in some way. In good ways. My boss is great in that regard--he makes a point to put people in positions where they'll be able to truly succeed. And he doesn't want to stand in the way of our own personal progress. All in all, work is getting better again. This is a great time of year... we have the opportunity to get things back in order and learn up on the product!

Moving on... I'm making a real effort not to talk about work outside of work. :o) I'm happier that way.

I've been working away on my Montessori materials. My albums are not seeing a lot of progress--I'd like to get some more trainings under my belt to continue with that. The project has evolved and moved into the materials aspect. I have a lot of wonderful vocabulary cards, 3 part reading cards, nomenclature and classification cards to be finished! I have all of the files saved and I'm, slowly but surely, printing, cutting, mounting and laminating them.

The next phase is sewing the custom pouches for each set. I spent 1 1/2 hrs last night at WalMart picking out fabrics--and purchasing 1/4 yard of each! I know I'll be heading back for more soon enough. The first thing on my list was to figure out how I wanted the cards to fit in the pouches. I found great inspiration here. It's just the right format and style... the children love to have a surprise; opening each different pouch will be a thrill for them as well! Photos to come :o)

I also have completed the first step in completing the front yard! The first layer of mulch is down--definitely need more to fill in but it already looks much better. Next step is to put in the cedar edging. So, go me! Finally the pile of mulch bags is gone and the lawn is on its way!

Gardening

I thought I'd fall right back into my old blogging habit. But I was wrong. I found myself getting caught up in everyone else's blogs this week. Paying no attention to my own.

I guess I was in more if a listening mood. Rather than a talking mood. Please note: this is a rare moment so I hope you enjoyed it while it lasted! I've never been the type to be short of things to say :o). But I'm back now and on to the latest project. Unfortunately, it's not a fun one...

I'm going to force myself to work on my yard this week. That needs to be my project--it's looking pretty rough at the moment. I have a large oak tree in the front yard and there's an area below it which used to be landscaped. As time went by and the owner got older, the yard fell by the wayside. What's left is some edging grass in a half circle around the tree. And lots of weeds. I mean, LOTS. Several weeks ago, I purchased many many bags of mulch. I decided that I'd mulch out the inside of that half circle for a couple of reasons: (1) to make the grass edge look like it's supposed to be there (2) because it will help with the weed growth and (3) it will keep the termites away (I bought cypress mulch which is great for this area).

Needless to say, I have piled up the bags of mulch in the front yard and let them sit there for weeks now. With all the rain, the weeds have gotten a bit out of control and it's just time to get things straight. I did some research and found that I don't have to use a plastic tarp under the mulch as had originally been suggested to me. In fact, you can use biodegradable products (newspapers, old paper bags, other recyclable paper products) to help block the weeds and underlay the mulch. This way, the weeds die for lack of light and nutrients and you still have the option to plant later. There's a great book about a process called 'lasagna gardening' by Patricia Lanza--'lasagna gardening' techniques include layering leaves, manure, cardboard/paper products, etc to produce a weed free garden. What a concept!

At the moment, I just want it to look nice. With winter coming, I don't plan on planting until next year. And with the way I've put off the maintenance already, I think I just need to finish step one of the project before I make any further plans! I suppose this will need to be my accountability--I've got to get it done this week! Any thoughts/suggestions? I'd love to know what others do with their landscaping or if you have some tricks up your sleeves.

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::Please forgive the awful phone quality photos. My digital camera bit the dust::

Just a few of my latest creations. I haven't been doing quite as much beading lately but thought I'd share some of the latest. The local store carrying my pieces sticks to the blues, greens, and earth tones (colors of the ocean). Since I live in a tourism oriented beach community, those are the ones that sell the best. I end up making a TON in those colors..

The orange and pink ones are just fun for summer and give me some variety of inspiration :o)

Sundays and Mondays are my days off from work. I spent both days working on my albums. More specifically the art cards and corresponding research I've done. I'll have to share some photos of those at some point--but I don't want to bore you with all of the uninteresting details.