Leaving...

...on a jet plane! Of course, I know when I'll be back again. I am heading to the center of the Known Stamping Universe...Salt Lake City, first thing Tuesday morning. And by "first thing", I truly mean it. My wonderful friend and downline member, Tamzin, is having her equally wonderful hubby, Allan, drive us to Bergstrom at 5 a.m. so that I can calm down before our 7:10 flight out. Since I believe in full disclosure here I had to confess to Tamzin that I am a nervous flier.

I believe that I have a genetic mutation, inherited from my father, that makes it impossible for me to be fully comfortable on a plane. It stems from a number of factors, which are, in no particular order:

1. I like control. I like to know that at any given point in time, I am, or am capable of becoming, fully in control of my surroundings and actions. I do not get this feeling on a plane, particularly when a peach-fuzz faced pilot gets on board and is given the "knuckle bump" to the surfer dude sitting in the bulkhead seat. I want to ask, "Does your mom know you are here?", but I refrain and just silently pray that when death surely comes it will be quick and painless.

2. I see danger. Not like everyday folks see it. One of the drawbacks in having worked a long time in EMS is the fact that you see a lot of unbelievable things. People have a funny way of taking everyday objects and somehow seriously hurting themselves with them, and paramedics get to see it all (and hear the stories) firsts hand. So if I get to sit back and ruminate too long on the fact that I am in a glorified Coke can with wings on it, hurtling at 600 miles per hour and an altitude around 30,000 feet, my mind starts doing the statistics on the fact that if the flight attendant hands me my tasty bloody mary as we hit a little patch of turbulence, there is a strong possibility that the piece of celery in it will shoot up my nose and straight into my brain and I will no longer be me. It could happen. Don't judge me.

3. Ever see Apollo 13? One little part goes bad, and three very intelligent astronauts had to use all of their skill, plus the skill of a Mission Control that was jammed packed with physicists, just to make it back to Earth in one piece. How confident am I that the chick with purple hair at Lockheed-Martin was paying attention the day she soldered that wing into place?

4. I know that deep down, in the depths of my soul, the Twilight Zone writer who thought up that whole, "There's a man on the wing of the plane" bit had some kind of super-secret insider information that there is some weirdo flying cousin of the Yeti that can land on the wing and if not for an observant flier, such as myself, will bring the whole thing crashing to the ground.

So, to keep my mind off of the fact that I do not like to fly, I decided to do some more work on my swaps instead. You want a look? Just remember, if my little jet does not make it to Salt Lake City, Center of the Known Stamping Universe, that these were my last two really cute cards, and I left them here for you to enjoy.

I have churned out 100 of the "Artistic Etchings" one, and am finishing up around 50 of the "Friends Never Fade" card before Tuesday. I think my big plan is to leave all the adhering for the time in the air, so that my mind is busy doing something very mundane and Tamzin doesn't have to feed me Valium like a momma bird giving her babies a worm. Pray for Tamzin, she might need it!

I will be posting updates and as many pictures as I can from Convention starting on Tuesday night. I hope that you will follow along, and feel free to ask questions in the comments section. After I make my first run through Memento Mall (which T. and I are referring to as "Diagon Alley") there might be some prizes to try for here, so stay tuned and tell your friends to come check out my little blog as well.

I hope that everyone had a great weekend and is looking forward to a fun-filled week. Until next time...Happy Stamping!

Kim