utter bliss

This was the bliss that was my weekend at the Scrappin Shack (July 22-25). In the lovely mountains around Lake Arrowhead, I and six other ladies spent four days of sleeping, eating, talking, eating, scrapbooking, eating, and movie watching - - basically, pretending we had no responsibilities for an entire long weekend.

Three stories of a beautiful cabin with plenty of space to relax

Bottom level - the scrapbook area

Comfy chairs, sturdy & large tables, and three TV's for viewing from every seat

I didn't record specific amounts of time, but I suspect we spent more time eating than actually scrapbooking. Here was my contribution: Pretzel Hug Treats.

Very easy to make - the hardest part is unwrapping all those Hugs. You'll start questioning your mental state halfway through, but then before you know it, you're done. Pop these little unwrapped Hugs on a square pretzel and heat in the oven for about 8 minutes at 200-220 degrees.

After they are taken out of the oven, pop a couple of M&M's and press down gently. They take awhile to cool, especially if it's a warm weekend like we experienced. (These are great to make for holidays - just use holiday colors like red/green for Christmas, red/pink for Valentine's, etc)

Didn't know you were getting a recipe, did you?

As the lone non-alcoholic beverage drinker, I instead sipped Cranberry Martinellis (sparkling cider) with our meals. We'd eat outside on the deck and talk for hours. One of my favorite parts of this trip was only having to worry about preparing one meal the entire time (mine: lunch on Friday). We divided meal duties and ate out the other couple of meals.

Above is proof that I did indeed scrapbook on my scrapbooking weekend. I intended to complete Kyle's first year album and nearly accomplished it - a feat that would have likely taken over 15 more years to complete if done entirely at home.

One of two sleeping quarters - I was in the bed in the upper right corner. I don't know why you need to know that, but it seems an important detail nonetheless.

The scrapbook area took up the bottom level, the large bedroom the third level, and the living/kitchen/dining area was on the second level

Lake Arrowhead

I can't even describe what it was to experience this weekend - reminded me of being a single gal again where you yourself were the center of your own universe. You ate your meals when you wanted to, slept in (for the most part) when you wanted to, and your every thought was centered on what you wanted and needed to do.

Aaahhh....that's all I can say. I loved every minute of it and hope I get to do it again soon.

Lest anyone think I hesitated returning to my life in mommyville - I was quite excited to get back to these boys. Sure, I'm somewhere near the middle/bottom when it comes to who-gets-what-they-want in this house, but this won't last forever. Someday these boys will be grown and I'll give anything to make them little again and spend more time with them. Now, if only I could remember that when Grant's dumped out all my cocoa powder or when Kyle senses a moment he can dart away from me and takes off as fast as he can.

I'm happy to report that Daddy did great with the boys as well. Based loosely on the expression in the picture above, I think Daddy gained some appreciation for the full-time mom lifestyle. Methinks he was all too ready to go back to work on Monday.