Kiss and Tell Scrapbooking

Just Checking In & Summer Scrapbooking Plans

Hello Scrapbookers! 

I took a few days away from scrapbooking and blogging - which I think is good to do from time to time - and I'm gearing up for some new projects and a very special announcement is coming sometime in June! 

I just want to say that I consider this "scrapbooking hiatus" part of my whole creative process; I don't look at it as "scrapbooker's block" for me that is a totally different animal.  Taking a break can be an important part of creativity.  I find I need to step away from time to time so I can come back with new ideas and come back with energy and urgency for the process.  There's a county song that goes something like "how can I miss you if you never go away"  - I love that concept, its funny, but it is true and I think this notion applies to scrapbooking and, gasp, even blogging!  

Meantime, here's a little update:

1. I am LOVING Debbie Hodge's Podcast called This Memory Keeper's Life and the latest episode with Jana Oliveria is definately my favorite - if you haven't listened in yet, I recommend starting with #5 and then going back to #1; I guess maybe just because I felt like I had so much in common with Jana so chances are you'll like her too.

2. We got the chance to pet and snuggle with real live kangaroos and it was awesome!  I don't think I've ever gotten up close with kangaroos before, but this one was the sweetest thing ever.  This particular kangaroo was 18 years old and reminded us all of our late black lab Duke since her back was so bony when you pet her just like Duke's.  We all wanted to bring her home with us.

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3. Later Allison and I went in search of the H.A. Rey book "Katy No-Pocket" which was one of my favorites from childhood; I partly loved it since it had my name, but the story is awesome too.  Its about a kangaroo born with no pockets, so she gets an apron with lots of pockets and becomes the babysitter for all the animals; I can't remember if she has a baby of her own - but there is one pictured there on the cover; but mostly I remember it is a story about making the best of things and being creative with what you can - like that apron, thinking out of the box, etc.  I love that type of message.  Barnes and Noble didn't have it, only Curious George, but Amazon's got it:

4.  Mac and I saw Men in Black 3 and it was AWESOME!  And we are big fans of Pitbull's MIB song and we listened to it all the way home from the theater.

 

5. Allison and I hit the craft store and bought Art Journals, a heat gun, and "bossing" powder, which I explained to her was a "special powder that we could sprinkle on the boys so we could boss them around more easily" - she liked that idea, but was smart enough to follow it up with "what is is really?"  I'll have some more art journaling and EMBOSSING projects here on the blog sometime soon.

6.  We've been re-arranging the furniture - just a little bit - not the typical total drastic house makeover that my husband and I tend to do every couple years or so.  Just a little tweaking.  I find that rearranging the furniture, just like the "scrapbooking hiatus",  gives me a creative jumpstart that extends not only to scrapbooking but to all sorts of things, like the flow of our home and the things that we do.  We've also been working on purging zones in the home and we've been bagging up all sorts of things and bringing them to the Goodwill and Red Cross boxes and to a couple of co-workers who conveniently have children just a few years younger than ours so they are perfect recipients for hand-me-down toys and clothes and books.

That tractor book on top would have never left my house unless I had a good home for it, I'm certain little Robbie will love it.  Thank goodness for Robbie - otherwise, I'd be hanging on to all sorts of things.  I've been in a "purge" mode.   I'm gearing up to go through my closet - and - GASP - maybe even my scrapbooking supplies, I'll keep you posted on how that last one goes.

P.S. On the concept of decluttering your house - I found a great podcast by a goats milk soap maker (with my Aunt Carolyn also does btw: Goats and Greens Website ); anway, the podcaster has 8 children and a home business and she recorded three podcasts about decluttering and somehow, she just really spoke to me and inspired me to get rid of stuff.  If you want to go into "purge" mode, check out Busy Mom's Survival Guide Podcast: Getting Rid Of Clutter!.   

 7.  We finally buried the hamsters! 

Take a careful look at that old photo of Allison in the scrapbooking room - there is a tiny hamster crawling from the star box to the bigger box on the left.  What's funny is that Allison is into the pink hair again - the look in the picture was from a glitter hair spray and we recently got a pink mascara wand type of thing that makes more clearly defined streaks, and she loves the feather and color clip in extensions, I'll have to do a then and now layout with the pink hair.

 

We got the miniature Chinese hamsters during the 2008 Summer Olympics and they died in 2010 and 2011 and they've been "on ice" since then.  Literally.  When Hamsty died, the kids didn't want to bury him without Ally so we figured she'd died shortly thereafter, but she lived another year or so.  And then when she died they wanted her to be with him.  And Charlie didn't feel like digging a hole.  And so for a crazy long time, we've had the hamsters in boxes, in freezer bags, in the freezer next to the ice cream or popsicles.  It really sounds strange.  I know. 

{TANGENT ALERT: }  I guess I'm used to whole dead animals in the freezer.  Growing up with my Dad, we had a full sized freezer in the basement that usually held most of an entire moose - it wasn't quite big enough for an entire moose, so my Dad would give lots of the meat away, but that freezer would be completely full whenever he got a moose.  And sometimes, if my Dad some time of smaller animal, he'd just put it in the freezer - the regular one in the kitchen, and sometimes he'd put the animal in there whole - fur, face and all.  I'm not sure why and I never asked, but I can remember many times trying not to touch the squirrel or rabbit in the freezer while getting the Heavenly Hash ice cream tub - that was his favorite flavor.  So Edy's Popsicles (my husband's favorite) next to neat little zip lock bags with boxes - so you couldn't actually see the dead animal - was no big deal to me in comparison to the stuff I saw when I lived with my dad.  One more thing - one day after highschool, I came home with some cheerleading girlfriends.  Usually my dad was at work, but this day he was at home in the kitchen with four whole rabbits on the counter.  He was cutting them up.  There was blood everywhere and I'm pretty sure he was wearing an apron covered in blood.  It was so horror movie.  And I tried to shuffle my girlfriends through the kitchen as quickly as possible, when my Dad says, loudly and clearly, "Hey Girls - How'd ya like to have a rabbit's foot?"  holding out one in his left hand, bloody knife still in his right.   It was like a bad 80s teen movie, except it was for real.  High school can be brutal.  Fortunately, most of my friends still liked me despite my weird Dad, and they lived in Maine too so chances are, even if they didn't admit it, they'd probably seen a dead animal or two in their kitchens. 

8.  Mac loves commercials.  When he was very little, he went on a several week campaign to encourage me to buy a cat scratching post - even though we didn't have a cat!  He'd tell me about all the benefits of the product and how affordable the payment plan was and how it was the perfect product - that we didn't have a cat didn't seem to matter to him.  

So this past weekend, after we saw MIB, Mac and I went to Target to pick up some pool toys and I knew that Charlie had taken Allison to get a new vacuum, I mentioned this to Mac as we passed the vacuums and he went into a 30 minute speech about why we should buy the Dyson.  We didn't; Charlie had already gotten "The Shark"  - Charlie unpacked it this morning and I was so delighted to see that The Shark includes the "ball" technology used by Dyson - and was about half the price, we'll see what Mac thinks of the Shark.

12 Things

I was only on vacation in Colorado for 6 days but it feels like its going to take that long to re-acclimate to my life.  I'm not really sure why, its that MOM-entum thing I talked about on the blog yesterday.  Here are 12 Things I've been up to since I've been home.

1. I checked in at work and everything seems under control, I did a bunch of paperwork.  This morning I got the news that one of the laws that relates to my practice has changed dramatically so there will definately be changes in the coming year.

2. Allison talked me into going to the school's Chuck E Cheese night, Allison was amazing skeet bowler (is that what it is called?).  It was noisy and hectic but they really wanted to go.  We got a chance to talk to the principal who said he's been personally working with Mac in a small group, Mac never mentioned this, for the essay section of the FCAT which happened a couple weeks ago and the essay assignment was to write an essay about riding a camel.  We don't get the results until the end of the year.

3. I did the stepper twice and burned about 800 calories each time but I'm feeling a bit heavy.  I did bikram yoga this morning and I feel like I'm way out of shape and practice, its been a week or so since I've been to yoga, I need to get back in there several times a week.   Even though I skied all day everyday of my vacation, I really need to focus on exercising.

4. Allison insisted that I go on a field trip to "play in the dirt" which turned out to be a trip to Myakka River State Park and we saw several very large alligators, lots of water birds including white pelicans, and wild turkeys in the woods.  We walked on a very high wooden bridge and climbed a tower to get a canopy view of the forrest.  The guide had one leg, she joked that it was because an alligator bit it off during a school field trip but then explained that she had cancer and they took her leg to save her life.  She had a really cool artificial leg and the top part of it had sea turtles painted onto it and she shared that she has the same doctor as Winter the Dolphin from A Dolphin's Tale.  I got to talk to her husband for a bit and he told me about their trip to a cancer hospital and the day he got off on the wrong floor, pediatrics, and that we should all just think of that anytime we think we're having a bad day.  Wow.  Crystal Clear Perspective There.  I am doing the Relay for Life Cancer Walk coming up in a couple weeks.  We've known several people in a short amount of time who have been diagnosed with cancer.  I've got to get up to speed with my part in the relay including the fund raising part.

5.  After the field trip, Allison and I went to the Ellenton Outlet Mall which is a bunch of outlet stores, we don't get there very often.  I don't particularly love shopping but my girl Ally does.  She was in heaven in the pre-teen store Justice.  I was still sticker shocked at the prices in Justice, even in the outlet mall.  She got some very fashionable outfits.  We also did some shopping for me, I bought a few work dresses and a few weekend outfits at Tommy Hilfiger and Ann Taylor, I think Allison was a bit unimpressed with the boring nature of my choices - she picked out and had me try on some "fashionable" things but none of them seem to work on me.

6. Allison and I also came up with a plan to reorganize her Barbie play area.  I am right now trying to muster up my gumption to attack that project.  I'm not sure I'm up to it, we'll see.

7. On my Scrapbooking Agenda:

* Do the posts for District 2, District 1, The Capitol, and District 13 for my The Hunger Games Scrapbooking Challenge.

* Catch up on the last 2 weeks of Project Life.

* Get some 12x12 layouts done for the BPC Twelve class I am taking.

* Catch up on One Little Word and Move More Eat Well BPC classes.

* Make a photobook of our three ski trips this year, it has been awesome to take three trips in three months.  I'll be grounded for a while which will give me time to get back to my routine.

8. I would also like to do something with all of my Pinterest Boards.  Specifically, I have a "word up" board with sayings I like and I would like to use those in some way.  Also I have a "homemade" board with ways to alter t-shirts and easy sewing projects and I'd like to do a closet overhaul and make some projects with my old clothes.

9.  I need to tend to the garden we planted a few weeks ago, the marigolds were completely eaten by something but the basil and mint are doing well and we have several sprouts.

10. I'd like to get on my kayak this weekend.

11. I did a major grocery shop and cooked curry chicken and we've been eating leftovers for days, it is delicious.

12. I am re-committing to my goal of losing 50 pounds.  I was doing really well and then too many people gave me compliments and I got lazy and somehow I'm back to only about 10 pounds down from my original weight - which means that I've put on 20 pounds since my lowest weight at 30 pounds down.  I'm a little frustrated since it seems like I have worked really hard for the past two years and that losing weight and keeping it off is a 24/7 hard work constant kind of thing and that I really love to eat and not worry about what I'm eating.  I'm totally fine with a very rigourous exercise routine, but I'm a little less excited about getting super strict with my diet again, but I'm even less excited about how my thighs look right now.  So I'm back on my weight loss goal routine and I'm hoping to make some significant progress by my birthday which is coming up on June 6.  I don't think I'll attain my goal by that time but I would like to get there somewhere over the summer and maintain it until Christmas and beyond.

 

Improv Scrapbooking: How to Use the Principles of Improvisational Comedy to Become a Better More Authentic and Prolific Scrapbooker; Plus: SNL Mini Book & Being PRESENT in your Scrapbooking Process and Scrapbooking Videos!

Improv Scrapbooking:

I took an intro to Improvisational Comedy class last summer with Toby Martini and while taking the six week class, I had a spark of creativity that went beyond the class, learning the principles of improvisational comedy didn't necessarily make me funny, but it gave me a new way to think about my creative process and applying these principles to my process of scrapbooking has been a revolution for me.  I am more prolific than ever, in October I made 40 layouts in 7 days and last month I made 60 layouts.  Making a million scrapbook layouts is not the goal. Being more present and authentic in my creative process and product is.  Telling better stories is the goal.  Spending less time on stuff that doesn't matter  is the goal.  Spending more time on what makes my heart and soul sing is the goal.  I'm there and I want to share.

In Improvisational Comedy, one of the first principles you learn is to be present.  To listen to what your scene partner is saying and to respond to that, not to be thinking about what you are going to say next, but to be listening and then just opening your mouth and saying whatever pops into your head.  Improv Business Consultant Marcia McGilley of Limelight Presentations says  "I've also been a stage actor in plays, infomercials and 'improv' comedy shows. Improv is short for 'improvisational.' That's a fancy word which means thinking on your feet. No scripts or lines to memorize, you just say whatever pops into your head in a given situation. Improv was great training for real-life situations in business and consulting. I know how valuable it is as one of your communication skills." 

This principle of being present, listening and saying whatever pops into your head can be applied to the process of scrapbooking.  Think of what that little voice in your head is saying or what is on your mind or heart right now.  What has you worried or excited  or experiencing any heightened emotion right now.  Listen.  It is there.  Scrapbook about that.  Don't pre-plan it.  Don't write it down in a list of things to scrapbook later.  Just scrapbook it right now with what you have available to you right now.  Even if that means it won't be as awesome as you think it would be / could be with better photos, better embellishments, or better more thought out writing.  Chuck all that planning out the window.  Remember the Nike ads?  Just do it. Right Now.  You have 15 minutes to spill your guts on the page.  Don't edit.  Be real.  Say it (write it down) before you think much about it.  Don't worry about grammar.  Don't worry about anything that you think it should be, just go with what it is, what is in you that wants to get out.  Listen.   Listen and then Go! 

Here is an example of what I mean by Listening to What Your Heart is Telling You, Being Present, and Being Improv about how you respond to that in a scrapbooking kind of way:  (Hey - ppssst - blog reader - You can skip over this part or skim it - as I am a bit "improv" in my description - in other words, I am long winded - I'll highlight some important stuff).    Today is Valentine's Day, I intended to make a scrapbook page about Valentine's Day or at least the theme of love.  I started the page yesterday in anticipation of today being Valentine's Day - check yesterday's posts for the videos in which I made that and other projects.  But, this morning  when I woke up, I was thinking about Saturday Night Live and about the Grammy's Music Award Show, about Whitney Houston's death and about how Paul McCartney did the last number at the Grammy's; about how music and certain songs can instantly take us to a time and place and bring back memories; and about how the show Saturday Night Live also does that for me.  When I see or think about an SNL sketch, I am also reminded of the time in my life when I first saw it.  For example, the Coneheads and Gilda Radner bring me back to the 70s when I used to spend Saturday Nights at my Grandma's house watching the Barbara Mandrell Show, Love Boat and Fantasy Island, and then if I was still awake and Grandma would let us, we'd watch some Saturday Night Live, I don't remember it too specifically, but I knew it was cool.  In the 80s I can remember my friends in AP Calculus Class (my most hated class), imitating Dana Carvey as the Church Lady - "Now isn't THAT special?"  In college I used to spend the weekends with friends who were married with very young kids and we loved Kevin Nealon "I'll Pump (clap) You Up" and Mike Meyers in Wayne's World  - I'm pretty sure Dana Carvey was in both of those sketches too (without googling it  I think I'm getting his name right).  When I first met my husband and we were dating, we'd often watch SNL after dates and that one night in August 1997 or 1998(?) when we turned to NBC at approximately 11:43  (so we knew SNL had started and we were on the right channel) and we were horrified that they were trying to do a sketch about Princess Diana being in a car accident and then slowly realizing it wasn't SNL, it was real.  And now, my kids and I love Andy Samberg and his SNL shorts like Lazer Cats and Space Olympics.  The show has been a constant in my life.  It is like an old friend who knew me way back when.  I am reminded of the different people I watched the show with depending on the sketch and when it aired.  There are Deep Thoughts, like the ones Jack Handy used to do (miss those):  1. How powerful it was when Paul Simon sang The Boxer with the FDNY behind him right after 9/11 - I still get a little teary just thinking about how deep the emotion was at that moment; 2. How tender Chris Farley was when he did the awkward interview of Paul McCartney and he asked about whether it was true when McCartney sang "The love you take is equal to the love you make" and how Paul McCartney closed last weekend's Grammy Awards with that line and how the Beatles and Rolling Stones and U2 and Madonna have been musical constants  and all have been on SNL (well at least members of the Beatles have been on the show).  Music and this long running show of Saturday Night Live have been a constant in my life as I was born in the 70s and that show started in 1975 when my parents got divorced and that show has been the backdrop to my Saturday nights for as long as I can remember.  If I never scrapbooked about something as random as seemingly random as Saturday Night Live, my story would be incomplete; but more importantly, if today, when I took time to scrapbook, if I didn't scrapbook about Saturday Night Live because it was on my heart and mind, whatever else I did would have been forced and not as real, it would not make an impression on me; whereas if I scrapbook what I am passionate about right now, chances are in 20 years when I look back at that page, I'll be taken back to today and that page will be a better memory trigger for me of time and place, like when you hear an old song, than if I hadn't been present and listened and then scrapbooked using these improv principles.  Improv will make the memories more authentic and real.  There will be more of me in what I create.  I think this goes beyond scrapbooking; improvisational comedy principles can be applied to any creative process.

 Here are 3.5 videos that you can find on YouTube about the process of applying improvisational comedy principles to scrapbooking and my actual process:

1. Watch as I use improvisational comedy principles in my scrapbooking creative process:

 

I use the principles of improvisational comedy for my video making too - I just press record and talk, there is no preparation and I say what is on my heart and mind, I am in the present moment, not thinking about the next thing I'm going to say - this is improv - it isn't always funny or interesting - but it is real and the more real you are, the better it is in an improv way.

1.5 Here's my improv fix for the 20 minute video that wouldn't upload to YouTube - This is The Middle (which is also a great show by the way)  - I tried to get it to a point where there isn't too much overlap - but it is not perfect - it is improv!  And just ask Seth Godin about how he feels about shipping when it is not completely perfect - I'm pretty sure he'd say ship it. So here's the fix:

 

2. Here is part 2: (Darn it! There is a gap between #1 and #2 so I'm going to upload a 1.5 to bridge the gap).

 

3. SNL Mini Book Cover & Applying the Improv Concept of Using What You Have and Getting It Done Now:

 

If you are interested in learning more about applying the concepts from improvisational comedy to scrapbooking or to any other part of your creative process, please leave a comment and/or email me.  I am working on some projects that will expand on this concept and I need some guinea pigs. 

Meantime, if you wish to support my blog through the Amazon Affiliate Program, you can check out these books and Paul McCartney's new album, Kisses on the Bottom (which sounds like an improv concept of "taking it the wrong way") that dropped today:

Sing it Paul:  "And in the end, the love you take, is equal to the love you make. " 

I think you you can substitute the word love for memory keeping or the creative process; in other words, what you get out of your scrapbooking or memory keeping hobby is what you put in to it - so put good stuff in OK? 

Scrapbooking My Saturday Morning Routine

Hello Saturday after the holiday hoopla.  When I was in law school I always found that that I'd get through the study crunch and exams and after all the action was over, I'd often times get a cold - like my body knew to wait.  I'm warding off a cold right now, its not quite there but I'm feeling like I need a restful day after all the holiday and December action.

I was inspired by Mou Saha's Weekly Challenge at the Creating Keepsakes Blog: "Document You Right Now":

Mou encouraged the use of photos of stuff rather than of people, and this is what my stuff looks like right now - instead of taking pictures of all the stuff, I used the wrappers and packaging from stuff that I actually used this morning.  I also grabbed a random sunrise from our house photo.  It is fun to actually use some of the everday ephemera from life every once in a while - and the circles on the strip in the middle provided a great place to put odds and ends embellishments, while none of the match - they are lined up in a uniform way so that they seem to work together despite being mismatched, at least IMHO.

I also used some old comic sans stickers but used an American Crafts "S" so I think the lettering isn't horrible despite the inherent badness of comic sans - I think it does communicate that Saturday mornings around here are casual and there is a vague reference to the fact that Charlie reads the paper all morning long (what is left of our St. Petersburg Times - which is now called the Tampa Bay Times - boo hiss).

 

I Interupt the Scrapbooking Frenzy to Show Off the LOVELIEST APPLE PIE Ever Made!

No, I don't normally make apple pies, or any other kind of pies.  Normally I'm making a ridiculous amount of scrapbooking projects, just look through my blog archives if you have any question about the quantity of scrapbooking pages I make.  Its a crazy lot. 

But.  Tonight.   Allison and I made a pie.  An apple pie.  In my not-so-humble opinion, it is the LOVELIEST PIE that ever was created! 

The photo doesn't even do it justice, it is perfection.

 
Mmmm. Seriously, it is perfect in every  way. 

I'm checking "Apple Pie Baking" off my Fall Bucket List - but in truth, I may have to repeat this experience again and again.  It was exceptionally satisfying.

 
And again and again and again. 

 

5 Notes About Maine, Music and Area Rugs. ( Random I know)

So I'm trying to be very diligent about writing stuff down everyday - and its late and my photo program isn't working - and so here are few short random items from today:

1. I had a big long dream about Maine last night & did a layout about it this morning but I can't seem to upload anything right now - so no pictures. 2. When I got to the office I got into a random conversation with a client and it turns out she is also from Maine and we had so much in common and she asked me to join the DAR - it seems like the Maine thing was going to be a theme for me today. 3. Then I found a big box of my dad's photos and stamp collections - seems we had something in common - he had post bound stamp albums and I've got (some) post bound scrapbook albums. 4. Charlie and Ally had a date tonight and went to a music jam and Allison played drums with a band, the band is made up of Charlie's extended family. 5. We aren't the kind of people who put down dogs for peeing on the rug; so I got rid of all of the area rugs tonight while Charlie was out - I'll get new rugs after the dogs are gone, but I'm not going to choose the rugs over my dogs, I also sewed an extra dog bed so they'll have another comfy place to sleep - since all the rugs are gone.

I promise the blog will get more interesting again soon in a scrapbooking sort of way - bear with me.

RIP Ally the Hamster

 
Ally the Hamster lived three times longer than predicted and one year longer than her brother Hamsty.

She survived an air freshner incident; being dropped and/or lost more than a handful of times (thankfully the dogs weren't very interested in her); getting completely flattened-out-smushed once; and getting bullied by the late Hamsty.

She was always friendly, and only bit a little bit and with good reason.  She made trips to both of the kids's rooms, enjoyed scrapbooking, and was even the star of a kindergarten show and tell.  She and Hamsty were the subject material for almost all of Mac's writing and drawing from 2008-2010. 

We'll miss the noise of the wheel all night long.  We'll miss saying "hi'" when we walk by the bar on the way to the guest bathroom or gym.  We'll miss putting her in that clear plastic ball to see what she'd do. 

Allison was actually home sick from camp today.  Charlie stayed with her this morning and then we switched and I came home from work this afternoon.  I noticed that Ally the Hamster was laying on her side with her feet sticking out of the cage, not typical hamster behavior.  So Allison and I blew on her a little bit and she seemed to perk up.  Then I went to yoga and later after I got home, Mac found her and came up to tell Allison and I that Ally was gone.  When Hamsty died, the kids cried for hours.  There were no tears tonight, but sweet goodbyes and one last pets and a bit of wondering if we could now get a bunny (um, no!).   The kids and I all said prayers for her and hope that there's a giant wheel waiting for her in heaven.

Goodbye Sweet Ally Hamster.  She's in a box in the freezer in between the box of Edy's Tangerine Popsicles and right next to Hamsty - who's been waiting there in a similar box for a year so we could bury them together.   

A funeral  and proper burial is planned for this weekend. 

RIP Ally the Hamster.

Becoming a Morning Person

Started my day at 3 am today. I want to be a morning person. So I did some blogging, some ustreaming, some office work, family time, and now I'm working on burning my daily 1000 calories. As soon as I'm done I'll head over to the office. My hope is to get more done earlier in the day so I can have some better after school time with the kids and so we can have more regular family dinners.

Not exactly sure where my scrapbooking time is going to fit in but I'll figure it out & when I do I'm planning to check out the Counterfeit Kit Club - which is such a brilliant idea btw.

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Sunday Afternoons

Wishing Sunday afternoons never ended; if only I had the nose twitching powers of Samantha on Bewitched.

Notes from today:

1. Went rollerblading (& kid scootering) today. The weather is perfect today - sunny but still a little bit cool - I'd guess mid to low 70s & no humidity. It is paradise.

2. Feeling frustrated that I did a giant house clean / toy purge a couple weeks ago & it looks like I need to do another one. I'm reminded of that Phyllis Diller quote - cleaning house with kids is like cleaning during a tornado - or something like that.

3. My cousin's baby shower was yesterday - she's due in 5 weeks. It's a boy. She's planning to use cloth diapers & not use a service - curious to see how that goes. I admire her ambition, but am really glad we had disposable diapers.

4. Have 4 organic chicken breasts cooking right now. Marinating some meat for later this week - I guess I'm not actually ready to go vegan; I do try to stay away from mammals & stick to fish & fowl.

5. Laying in the hammock - listening to more Foolish Aventure podcasts - my rollerblading friend does video stuff for ESPN & that screen capture tutorial thing would be perfect for her - she knows super technical stuff about video - text at the bottom of the screen stuff - I'm not even sure what that is called.

6. Hoping I'll have enough time to get over to the island on the kayak this evening. I've been doing standing up paddling on my ocean kayak.

7. Completely convinced I have the most talkative children on the planet. Mac has been talking nonstop to the dogs for the last hour at least.

8. I've started ustreaming again.

9. Tomorrow I'm going to get up at 4 or 5 am; I want to retrain my body clock & the family's clock too. High hopes - but we'll see. Hoping to switch my workout to the morning.

10. Planning to do a bit more blogging & then print out my notes & use them in my Project Life album.

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Foolish Adventure

If you've ever thought of starting an online business - take a listen to Foolish Adventure. For my ScrapBooking blog readers - one of the hosts of the show is Izzy Hyman - husband of Noell Hymann of PAperclipping & the Paperclipping Roundtable podcast. Highly recommend both podcasts.

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Everyday exerciser

I've been stepping almost everyday since around 4th of July.

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Iphone Scrapbooking - Disney

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January 20, 2011

 
1. I've been cleaning every inch of our house and office like I've been possessed by Peter Walsh and Martha Stewart - clean sweep organizing and deep cleaning.

2. 2011 is going to be the Year of Awesome.

3. This morning I'm last minute packing and  heading out for wild adventure with my boy - going somewhere I've never been before.

4. I am slightly nervous about getting on a plane, but feel like as Allison says "if your plane crashes then you could die easily" (thanks for that) that at least I've said "I love you" a bazillion different ways to my family in my scrapbooks.  So there's a little life insurance with pretty paper attached.

5. Am really happy that I have an iphone to travel with.

6. Printed my tickets and boarding passes at home - remember when we used to have to "drive downtown" to pick up the tickets.

7. I've been sort of keeping up with Project Life - the 365 Album.

8. Too busy for much scrapbooking lately, but I am bringing a little notebook and of course my camera with me for the trip.

9. Loving the collage feature of Picasa:

10. Saying goodbye to Charlie & Ally and (we are so morbid but in a strange funny way) we briefly discuss (yet again) if we happen to die in a firey plane crash (what you worry about won't happen according to my Grandma Grace); and Charlie says "Then Allison and I would just live here quietly"  and I add "because all the noisy people in the family had left?" and he says "well, yes, but I didn't mean it that way."  I love you too honey, have fun with my girl this weekend. 

Today...

Today I'm 40 years old and someone asked if I ever thought I'd have to reinvent myself at this stage, and I said no, but I welcome the challenge.  Bring it on, I'm ready.

Today I got to eat sushi with lots of wasabi for lunch.

Today I got to see and talk to several long time friends and that did my heart good.

Today I told those friends that I'd plan a house party - even though Charlie and I said we were swearing off parties.  This one will be smaller, I'm looking forward to it, & need to pick a date.

Today I spent some time being concerned about the politicial environment in my state.

Today I made a ustream video and just talked and talked and talked.  I've got lots to say.

Today I am having Charlie stop by the office supply store to buy a 2nd webcam so I can do more ustreaming from the office and he's also getting some extension cord for each of them for better camera angles.

Today I am attacking a paper monster at work.

Today I gave a friend an extra copy of Seth Godin's book Linchpin (I ordered 5 extra when I ordered mine because I knew it would be awesome).

Today I am reading a mountain of medical records.

Today I got myself all sappy and shed a few tears (I could say this just about any given day) while I told stories about my life.

Today before we got up and it was overcast I had a lively discussion under a tent made out of a blanket (complete with glow sticks for a fake campfire) with my kids about whether the sun was going to come up & that maybe it had been having a party in China and it was just a little late (it was overcast in the Sunshine State today).

Today I ate a few pieces of Halloween candy.

Today I committed to 21 days of 21 minutes of weight lifting everyday.

Today I wore pig tails this morning.

Today I talked on the phone to people from all over the country.

Today I wore flip flops to work.

Today I told someone who was going on a hunting trip about how I used to have my hunting license so my Dad could have an extra entry in the moose lottery in Maine every year and about how I was so happy that my number was never choosen!

Today I am diligently drinking more water.

Today I did a scrapbooking page about my daughter's old room before work.

Today I'm going to do my stepper and burn 1000+ calories.

Today I had a team meeting.

Today I watched a little more of that Mr. Rogers interview on YouTube.

Today I almost couldn't get into Facebook (gasp!) because I couldn't remember my password.

Today I got to brag about how I took the cover art pictures for Charlie's books and brag about the fact that they are selling!  Go Charlie!

Today I am full of ideas and stories and energy and enthusiasm and optimism despite that everything in my world may not be perfect and despite that many things in my world are now harder than they have ever been.  Its ok, I'm up to it.  I like a challenge  - like I said before, bring it on!

Today I am thankful for what I have and I am happy to be me. 

Today I was yet again inspired by Stacy Julian (for this post and in general).

The Air Mattress Story

I've got a giveaway going right now for Ella Publishing's new book "Journaling that Matters" (see the lead post until 11/7/10).  So I've been thinking about stories that our family tells over and over but that I've never scrapbook-ed because I don't have any pictures that go with the story.  So I solved this little dilemna with respect to our "Air Mattress Story" with this simple scrapbook layout:

 

Journaling reads: "Long before Charlie and I had kids or a house or dogs or the office, back when we were dating and Charlie was still living at his parents' house, we were in the backyard in the swing and I said how I wished we could go explore the little island if only we had a boat.  Ever creative, Charlie blew up his parents' air mattress & we rode it over to the island; while we were exploring the air mattress floated far far away leaving us stranded.  Charlie swam thorugh shark infested waters to get it & get us home."

I used a picture of the kids in my row boat at the island and a picture of my Fisher Price Happy Family Boat and wrote with a Sharpie in the corner about how that was "My 1st Boat."

I guess I should have written moral of the story / long story short:  Both Charlie and I love boating & to be on the water and chances are, we'll figure out any way to get out there on the water; and that oddly enough - we're boatless right now (with the exception of my ocean kayak).