PSA...Clean Your Closet

Japanese woman caught living in man's closet

By MARI YAMAGUCHI, Associated Press WriterFri May 30, 3:21 PM ET

A homeless woman who sneaked into a man's house and lived undetected in his closet for a year was arrested in Japan after he became suspicious when food mysteriously began disappearing.

Police found the 58-year-old woman Thursday hiding in the top compartment of the man's closet and arrested her for trespassing, police spokesman Hiroki Itakura from southern Kasuya town said Friday.

The resident of the home installed security cameras that transmitted images to his mobile phone after becoming puzzled by food disappearing from his kitchen over the past several months.

One of the cameras captured someone moving inside his home Thursday after he had left, and he called police believing it was a burglar. However, when they arrived they found the door locked and all windows closed.

"We searched the house ... checking everywhere someone could possibly hide," Itakura said. "When we slid open the shelf closet, there she was, nervously curled up on her side."

The woman told police she had no place to live and first sneaked into the man's house about a year ago when he left it unlocked.

She had moved a mattress into the small closet space and even took showers, Itakura said, calling the woman "neat and clean."

I guess it's a good thing I cleaned mine out last weekend. What about you, when was the last time you cleaned yours?

Wow, it's Tuesday

I almost went to bed without posting this week's edition of the 10 on Tuesday list. I think it's because today has really felt like a Monday, so much for the long weekend.

I was inspired by a layout Arleigh did awhile ago about the jobs she has had, and decided to list mine before I forget or block one out.

1. Nanny
2. Cook
3. Accounts Receivable clerk
4. Admin Assitant/Secretary
5. Pre-K teacher
6. Childcare Director
7. Trainer (aka Goddess of Mirth and Knowledge)
8. Sr. Director
9. Tech support
10. Academics Manager (aka crazy woman who knows stuff)

What Christyn Really Means...

So check out what I found on Paula's blog...next time someone asks why I think my mom chose to spell my name this way I'm going to pick one of these.

What Christyn Means

You are very open. You communicate well, and you connect with other people easily. You are a naturally creative person. Ideas just flow from your mind. A true chameleon, you are many things at different points in your life. You are very adaptable. You are truly an original person. You have amazing ideas, and the power to carry them out. Success comes rather easily for you... especially in business and academia. Some people find you to be selfish and a bit overbearing. You're a strong person. You are wild, crazy, and a huge rebel. You're always up to something. You have a ton of energy, and most people can't handle you. You're very intense. You definitely are a handful, and you're likely to get in trouble. But your kind of trouble is a lot of fun. You tend to be pretty tightly wound. It's easy to get you excited... which can be a good or bad thing. You have a lot of enthusiasm, but it fades rather quickly. You don't stick with any one thing for very long. You have the drive to accomplish a lot in a short amount of time. Your biggest problem is making sure you finish the projects you start. You are the total package - suave, sexy, smart, and strong. You have the whole world under your spell, and you can influence almost everyone you know. You don't always resist your urges to crush the weak. Just remember, they don't have as much going for them as you do. You are a seeker. You often find yourself restless - and you have a lot of questions about life. You tend to travel often, to fairly random locations. You're most comfortable when you're far away from home. You are quite passionate and easily tempted. Your impulses sometimes get you into trouble. You are a free spirit, and you resent anyone who tries to fence you in. You are unpredictable, adventurous, and always a little surprising. You may miss out by not settling down, but you're too busy having fun to care. You are very intuitive and wise. You understand the world better than most people. You also have a very active imagination. You often get carried away with your thoughts. You are prone to a little paranoia and jealousy. You sometimes go overboard in interpreting signals.

What's Your Name's Hidden Meaning?

Interesting and strangely mostly true, even the part about resisting the urge to crush the weak. I probably would have never used such strong words to describe this feeling, but it's true I have zero tolerance for weakness in the form of stupidity. There the truth is out, don't hate me.

I spent a little more time taking the various quizzes on this site, kind of fun and while we're on the name tangent, according to another quiz, Charlotte is also a good name for me... I think I can see it? Maybe it's because of the Sex in the City girls, I can most relate to Charlotte. Speaking of SITC, movie's out on Friday...anyone want to go see?

Video Thursday

We interupt your normally scheduled program of sarcasm and laughter to bring you a delightful and charming short film.

10 on Tuesday...Eye Candy

Another season of American Idol has come to an end and I'm afraid that once again my favorite will not win. Instead of watching the judges gush over baby David, I decided to compile my own version of People Mag's 'Sexiest Men' List.




1. George




2. McDreamy




3. LL Cool J (Ladies love cool James)




4. Michael Vartan




5. John Cusack (gotta love a funny guy)




6. Luke Wilson




7. Hugh




8. Usher




9. Bon Jovi




10. Eddie Vedder

Yep, I have a little thing for musicians.

Ooh La La...It's the Weekend!

and do you know what I am going to do? Have a garage sale...ok not just me but all of Scrapbook Destination and the people that bought tables. Check out the store blog for more details and sign up to win a prize. Link your bloggy and you get two entries...sorry Hickory, NC this is for locals only...unless you want to drive to our store to pick it up.

The great thing is I get to sell and shop at the same time. I can't wait to see what everyone brings. I've packed up 5 Gallon size ziploc bags full of ribbon to sell and thinking I may pull a few paper packs together.

Hope to see everyone...doors open at 10! This is truly a case where the early bird gets the worm so don't be late.

Video Thursday...57 states?

A special treat for you politicos...



and he hasn't been to Alaska or Hawaii...so in his mind there are 59 states? Also more than slightly disturbed that he states 'he wanted to visit, but he wasn't allowed to visit...his staff wouldn't let him' Shouldn't the President be able to go whereever he wants.

I was really hoping the 'you tube' comments would also provide some additional humor, but alas most are rooted in the 'my guy is better than your girl/your guy' line of thinking.

I did find this one amusing...
"hillary has to take confort in knowing that there are seven more states that she has a chance to win, before is all over. i wonder how manny delegates they each have? who in the hell told him that, john edwards? good lord. i wonder what his plans are for this other seven states? and where is the tax money from this going too? where is it.....".

10 on Tuesday...Inspiration Addition

This morning I got out of the shower singing 'I love a Rainy Night', but not so much a rainy morning and thought I should blog about it. Then I remembered that Ducky requested that we all blog about how we're inspired by each other and that that was my plan for this week's 10 on Tuesday. All the sudden my mind was singing 'inspiration' to the tune of the Chili Peppers Californication. Which reminded me of the Shell Silverstein poem 'ation'. Which reminded me of high school debate(yep nerd and proud of it). Which reminded me that I have that experience to thank for much of my success later in life. Mind you all of these thoughts rolled through in the 2 minutes brushing my teeth.(yes I have a timer on my toothbrush) All worthy blog topics, but not today.

Today is about inspiration...I know I've said it before, but it's just one of those things you can't say enough. The ladies listed to the right have all been such an inspiration and joy to get to know and without a doubt the best thing that's happened since I moved here.

1. From Heather...Journal, baby, journal. And not just the easy, happy stuff. When I think about my books and what I hope to pass on I hope that my pages will me as meaningful as this one of Heather's. It will forever stand out as one of the best.

2. Vivian...using my beloved circles in a new ways and reminding me that I love the look of a cardstock frame. I agree with Arleigh that her love for Thickers is contagious.

3. Rachel...lower right hand corner. :)

4. MK...challenges, oh the challenges, I can work with 'scary papers'

5. Speaking of scary papers...Ducky is just about the best in the biz at working with patterns that have me running for the woods. When MK issues one of her challenges, Ducky's gallery is the first place I for inspiration.

6. Emily...take pictures of and journal about me, bonus points if I can work in buttons, hand stitching or ric rak.

7. Houston...Houston's love for birds is also contagious, but I love that she's always willing to try and incorporate new techniques on her pages.

8. Tara...I am inspired by Tara's story telling ability. Her blogs are always entertaining.

9. Kelly...who doesn't have a blog, but should to show off her wonderful cards. You can see some her great technique ideas on the Scrapbook Destination blog on Friday.

10. Becky...inspired me to do my first(and only at this point) digi page and to use digi elements on gridded paper.

Pure Cuteness

Not that I'm biased or anything, but have you ever seen anything cuter than this...

Video Thursday

I know this one is flying around on the Internet, by it's title you might not have thought to click...but it's worth it.

10 on Tuesday...Life's Soundtrack

Did you ever think when you were a kid that you would have access to every album from every artist, maybe if you won the lottery...thank god for the internet, now our dreams come true through a variety of sites. One of my favorite sites is Pandora(check out the link on the nav bar) if you haven't visited before you are totally missing out. You can put in your favorite artist and not only will it search for tracks by that artist, but will also return other artists that you may like based on some common musical elements. Talk about art merging with science...while you can't always specify the exact song you wish to hear at the moment, you're guaranteed to find a new artist or two or five. You can also bookmark songs as you hear them and download from ITunes or Amazon to add to your permanent collection.

Here are the last 10 songs I've bookmarked...
1. Listen...Beyonce
2. Weatherman...Kris Delmhorst
3. Keep it Loose...Amos Lee
4. And I Am Telling You I'm Not Going...Jennifer Hudson
5. Ex-Factor...Lauryn Hill
6. Jealousy...Liz Phair
7. You and Me...Lifehouse
8. It Might Be You(yep the Tootsie Song)...Stephen Bishop(no clue who he is)
9. Hymn to Her(Live)...The Pretenders(I still want to be Chrissy Hynde when I grow up)
10. Boys Don't Cry...The Cure

What about you...what are you listening to right now?

It's a small world...

As you may have heard, Scrapbook Destination celebrated it's first anniversary this weekend. Lots and I do mean LOTS of people came to help celebrate yesterday. It was great to see so many customers we've come to know and love over the past year.

What I didn't expect was to see a customer from my days at The Scrapyard. Yes, that's right I reunited with a customer from our Alaska store. I wasn't sure at first if she was who I thought she was, but I risked sounding really stupid and asked if she had ever lived in Alaska...sure enough it was Judi, she also had been wandering around the store looking at my pages trying to figure out how she knew me. How's that for a small world...it's moments like these that make me remember why I love the scrapbook industry and working the retail end. Even though the some aspects of the industry can down right ugly, at its heart it's still about people connecting with each other and celebrating all life has offer.

Mamas don't let your babies grow up to be...

beauty queens?

You may have seen this before...apparently this made the Internet video rounds last year. I don't know how I missed it...I wonder what her high school social studies teacher thought of this?