Creative Juices

I Heart Snapfish

To accomplish my summertime goal of scrapbooking one page a day (or, in my case a two-page spread which also represents one month in the life in one album) I needed to order me some pictures.

Last week I ordered October and November of 2008 and picked them up at Wal-Mart for nineteen cents a print, or a total of $16 for the two months.

(I have skipped December for the time being because after spending entirely too long trying to upload that month from Kodak onto Snapfish my computer froze and I got frustrated.  My plan is not to give up completely on December but, sigh, I will work on the pages slightly out of chronological order.  Gasp.  Besides, I'm never all that excited to work on the month of December anyway.)

I received an email from Snapfish about this promotion of 50% off everything on their site.  Hmmm.  So, I decided over the weekend to upload the first six months of 2009 and get those ordered.  What an undertaking.  Thankfully my husband had made my life a little easier by creating yearly folders for ALL my 40k+ photos in my system since 2004.  Now, I only have to click on 2009 to see ALL the photos for that year.  However, as I began uploading I realized I was missing all of April, half of May, and all of June.  Hours and hours later we found them all and put them in the right place.

Last night I began the tedious job of CHOOSING photos.  I decided I must be better at paring the photos down because I'm tired of doing pages with 20+ photos as if I can work that kind of magic!  So, that meant that I really had to pay attention to how many photos of one event I was ordering. (This will also help my "slush file" of unused photos that now need a home.)  For instance, instead of six soccer shots of Harrison I chose two.  One for his album and one for mine.  The only exception I made to this kind of "rule-a-la-Natalie" was on birthdays, major holidays, vacation, and Jennifer's first communion.

I believe I did a damn good job too.  For January, most of February, all of March and April I ordered 106 photos.  That works out to roughly 7 pictures per two-page spread.  I was quite proud of myself, thankyouverymuch.

Now, with Snapfish's promotion I got all four months, with shipping/handling and tax, for ten bucks.  TEN. BUCKS.  (Winning.)  Snapfish normally sells their prints for nine cents a piece...so, this promotion it works out to 4.5 cents a print!!!

It was now after midnight but when I realized how little I spent on months from January-April I decided to just go ahead and order May and June right now (they were bigger files and I was getting mighty tired).  I also realized at this point that I was missing half of February's photos because I failed to notice that the month had more than one "page" to order from.  Ugh.  So, I uploaded the "missing" half of February and then I noticed that those photos were in fact already uploaded the first time.  Dammit.

Anyway.

I went to order the rest of February, all of May and all of June (a total of 225 photos) and plugged in the code and got an error message.  Shit.  I could only use the coupon once.  Duh.  I was bummed.  I'm not really sure why I didn't realize that...I just wanted to do the first four months because they were smaller files compared to May and June and I was getting tired and after the first order went so well and cost so little I decided to plug through my tiredness and order them right now.

But, the second order, without the discounts, was going to cost almost $33 with S/H and tax.  I decided to go to bed.

This morning I called the customer service department, explained my situation about how I didn't realize that you could only use the coupon once and how mad at myself I was that I didn't just power through in the first place and order ALL the photos I wanted to order at ONE TIME.  The guy was very nice and said that the rules of the coupon is listed in fine print.  I told him I totally believe him...and that I simply didn't read the fine print and just assumed. (My bad.)  He told me to place my order and he would refund me fifty percent.  Really?!?!  Oh, Mr. Snapfish dude, I could kiss you! And then he said he would take fifty percent off my shipping too.  Yippieeeeeeee.  I thanked him and thanked him!!

So.

The remaining photos of February, May, and June came out to $17 total.

I got six months worth of photos for all four albums for twenty seven dollars...delivered to my door.  I am beyond excited!  I love you Snapfish.

Summer Goals

 

I always like to start the beginning of summer with a set of goals for myself.  Something about the longer, less structured days, frolicking in the warmth, lazying by the pool with a book in hand, and throwing some easy food on the BBQ that gives me motivation and determination.

Here is my list of summer goals that I will hope to accomplish:

1.  Writing related: finishing chapters, book proposals, writing and editing articles, putting the finishing touch on a non-fiction book, fine tune outline on another book, organize my historical fiction novel, and work on a book project that I am not talking about just yet.

2.  Purge and Organize:  believe it or not, there is so much more to do around here.  Last summer when we moved back I just basically did some of the bare minimums and then winter hit and holidays and cold weather and blah, blah, blah.  Enough excuses.  I want to tackle each room, closet, drawer, box (there are still several in the shed, unopened), garage, shed...and purge, organize, and clean/tidy.  My plan is to work on a different room/area per week.

3.  Garden:  learn how to preserve (can, freeze, dry, make jams and spreads, harvest seeds, etc.) the crop so we can enjoy the fruits of our summertime labor all winter long.  Also, learn how to make one bed a "winter bed" so we can grow vegetables in the colder months too.

4.  Read at least 12 books.  Understanding that many of those will be either book club selections and library books, there are a few in my own personal pile that I would like to get to: "Harry Potter #7" and "Mason and Dixon", to name only two.  So far I have read 25 of my yearlong goal of seventy.

5.  Eat healthy and exercise often.  I am going to try and walk everyday, or almost everyday.  With farmer's markets, growing fresh produce in my backyard, and the grocery stores overflowing with the glorious summer fruits I love so much...it should be a wee bit easier.  I need to get focused on exercising again!

6.  Stitch a handful of tea towels.  Really for no other reason than some of the ones I currently have in my drawer are beginning to fray.  Now, if I can get totally motivated and my ass in gear I would start stitching some of the holiday themed towels.  I actually haven't stitched in awhile and I am beginning to miss it.

7.  Scrapbook the rest of 2008 (October-December is all that is left) and all of 2009.  I plan to do a two-page spread every single day.  Crazy? Impossible? Maybe.  But, I'm thinking if I just leave the stuff out in here I can come in at any time of the day or night and move photos around.  Also, the way I scrapbook now (2 page spread per month per album...in my case, four...so I can complete a calendar month of scrapbooking in a matter of four days!!! And this doesn't even factor in all the Friday night scrapbooking where I can complete even more pages!) this goal should not be that difficult.

8.  Do ONE THING every day.  Okay, I made a list of over eighty "things" to try and do.  Some are minor, little things like clean out the drawer in the end table in the family room, journal scrapbook pages for fifteen minutes, or clean nook chairs...to bigger things like going through Jennifer's closet and toys and purge, hose house of cobwebs outside, file loose recipes.  I like having a list and being able to cross as many off as possible.  And, doing only "one thing" a day will help me from becoming overwhelmed and tired.

Of course not listed here are crafts and activities with the kids...learning new things and having simple family fun.  Maybe a day trip or two.  Possibly a drive to San Diego (not sure yet).  Hours at the swimming pool.  Cleaning house.  Doing laundry.  Cooking dinner and baking bread.  Sleeping, showering...

I will keep you updated on my summertime success via this blog. 

Bring it on, Summer! I'm ready!

ABC BOOK CLUB!!!

Us executives at the ABC Book Club headquarters have decided to change the book club ever so slightly as we attempt to round out the club by the end of the year.  Beginning in January, 2012 we will be back with a (new) book club but no longer following the alphabet and the board members couldn't be more excited about THAT.

Here is what we are going to do.  We technically have eleven letters to go from P through Z but we are going to wrap it all up by the end of 2011 and here's how we are going to achieve it:

We will read certain letters: P, R, S, T, Y, and Z; combine UVW into one; and skip Q and X.

The other change is this: I am going to give you all the names of the books and authors right here as well as the list on the sidebar so you can plan ahead, read ahead, follow along, take a couple of books with you on summer vacation, request some at the library in plenty of time, find them at your favorite bookstore, download them onto your Kindle, etc.  You can read all of them or one or two but if you do read them please swing by at the end of the chosen month and leave a comment about what you thought about the book.

We tried to come up with a decent variety of titles ranging from historical fiction, mystery, intrigue, mystical, to a couple of lighter reads as well.  Look them up on GoodReads for more information and get your hands on these books and plan on spending the rest of the year reading along our book club as we complete the alphabet.

One more thing. I will be back at the end of each month, like normal, to discuss the book and that is where you can feel free to add your own two cents about the book.

JUNE, Letter "P":
"Wench" by Dolen Perkins-Valdez
3.64 rating on GR; 294 pages

JULY, Letter "R":
"Bridge of Sighs" by Richard Russo
3.71 rating on GR; 528 pages

AUGUST, Letter "S":
"The Lovely Bones" by Alice Sebold
3.65 rating on GR; 328 pages

SEPTEMBER, Letter "T":
"Angelology" by Danielle Trussoni
3.17 rating on GR; 464 pages

OCTOBER, Letter "UVW":
"The Proper Care And Maintenance of Friendship" by Lisa Verge-Higgins
3.73 rating on GR; 368 pages

NOVEMBER, Letter "Y":
"The Monstrumologist" by Rick Yancey
3.87 rating on GR; 434 pages

DECEMBER, Letter "Z":
"The Book Thief" by Markus Zusak
4.34 rating on GR; 550 pages

There you have it.  Please join and read any book from our list and pipe in at any time to share your thoughts and opinions.

And remember, the complete list is at the sidebar on the left.

Enjoy and happy reading!!!

Summer Activities

It happens every May.  When suddenly I am D.O.N.E. with school, homework, and my alarm going off annoyingly at 6am.  I want to sleep in, enjoy the sunshine, and go swimming.

This is also the first summer in two years that we are not moving.  Gawd.  How lovely to spend the warm summer months doing something other than packing up those mothereffing boxes!

So!

Here we are!

I am knee deep in compiling a list of the crafts and activities in which to provide endless enjoyment for my three offspring.  Of course, two of the male variety are somewhat skeptical (but secretly they love it) and so I need to adjust my plans...as I have been doing since the beginning of time...well, since the summer of 2000...so all three will be equally challenged and entertained.

I am going to share with you the themes for the ten weeks of summer in a few days when I am finished ironing it all out and I will list a few of the crafts/activities/outings we plan to do each week...then as summer moves forward in sunshiney bliss I will share in more detail what we actually did and photos.  I think it will be a fun summer!

Besides our weekly themes and activities, crafts, and outings there are a few things that will be a bit different this year.  Not necessarily different from years and years ago but definitely a change over the past couple of years when moving took center stage and I didn't have the time, patience, nor energy to do much else but move our asses across the country, twice.  Sigh.

1.  Reading.  I am going to insist the boys read at least one book this summer.  I'd love to suggest more but one will at least keep some of their skills sharp (maybe?) and it is the very least they can do in this Ipod world they live in.  Jennifer, on the other hand, reads a book a day.  We went to the library on Monday and she checked out five books.  By this morning she has read almost three already.  Her and I will be in happy book reading joy all summer long!

2.  Summer 2011-sans vacation.  Ah, boo hiss.  But there are factors at play here like Larry not being here and money and if we are looking for a big change come the end of the year we need to save as many pennies as possible.  I'm not ruling out fun little day trips around our gorgeous state and a car trip to southern California isn't totally off the table (but it is sliding off quickly) yet, we'll see.  Otherwise, we are going to stay home (yeah!) and relax.

3.  SWIM.  We are back to our neighborhood with the pools in our subdivision.  I love a morning of doing some work keeping the kids minds active and sharp (it won't kill them, surely), having some fun, doing a little craft (mainly Jennifer at this point), watering our garden, listening to the air conditioner hum, reading, having lunch, and heading to the pool for an hour or two.

4.  Garden.  I haven't planted a garden since the summer of 2008 and with a layoff looming and three camping trips that summer it was hardly a decent garden.  The kids also planted a ton of things too so we will spend the summer tending to harvesting all kinds of healthy vegetables and herbs.

I will be back with more detail of our summer plan.  What are you doing this summer?

Brought To You By The Number Twenty

This is apparently the week of the twenty.  Yesterday, my 20th anniversary.  Today, 20 books read so far this year.

On GoodReads I have willingly signed up for their book challenge to read as many books as you decide upon.  In my case, I picked 70.  Perhaps a bit lofty but I resisted the urge to shoot for a hundred.  I am only human.

I love it because it tells you how far along you are in your goal and then it kindly informs you that you are falling behind.  I am apparently 3 books behind.  I expect any day now to log on to GoodReads and have a librarian-looking woman shaking her finger at me telling me what a disappointment I am and surely I could read faster if I tried harder.  Bitch.

My stack of books on the half wall separating my dining room and the hallway are growing higher and higher.  I realize that this is probably not (aesthetically speaking) the best place in the house to store three dozen books I want to read in the near future, but I don't care.  I love walking by them many, many, many times a day and seeing them.  Fondling them (yes, okay, I fondle).  Flipping through their pages with love and eager anticipation. Ah, books, how I love thee.

The completion of the last book I read marked a total of twenty within the first four months of 2011.  And, twenty was the total number of books I read in all of 2010.  I do believe I can reach that goal of seventy!!

What are you reading? I will share my list for summer soon.

 I should note that this photo was taken in mid-February and my stack has grown leaps and bounds compared to this modest stack. I love books.