Rough Draft

Wordless Wednesday, Winter Holiday Edition

(Photos all taken during December, 2012)

Hello, New Friend

Apparently 2012 is the year of electronics for yours truly.

My old computer was beginning to act up on a regular basis.  Not only act up but it was slower than molasses.  Seriously.  It was a daily frustration that was only getting worse.

I bought my Dell laptop when we first moved to Idaho back in late 2004.  Just a couple of years (maybe less) later it died a painful back-light death and we hooked the laptop up to a monitor.  It was a sight.  But, it worked and all was well.  We had that contraption hooked up for five years and across 2500 miles.  A couple of weeks ago Larry bought a new router and while its intention was to make everything else in the house run faster it actually did the opposite to my poor, dying computer and made the damn thing run slower.

So frustrating.

On a daily basis it would take minutes...seriously sit idle for THREE MINUTES...while waiting for your screen to go from a Google search to the site I was looking for.  UGH!  Start up took 20 minutes before I was able to do anything.  Slow, slow, and SLOW.  And, for someone who spends a lot of time on the computer doing research it was becoming FRUSTRATING just trying to navigate throughout the internet.  It would lock up, freeze, need to be restarted.  All. The. Time.

Larry finally suggested that maybe it is time to think about another computer.  So, after he researched some we went last week and picked up my new laptop.  It is fast and big and shiny and all the keys are intact, already a good sign.

I love being able to have a laptop again...yesterday I spent all day at the kitchen table so I could be in the same room as everyone...which I commented on until I realized that I should be grateful I have a big ole office here but it is at the total opposite end of the house.  Anyway, I like being able to update blogs, search the internet, do a little research, write, whatever...in any room I want to be in.  Of course, I still need Larry to help me unplugging all the parts, but I'll get it eventually.

I am not a big spender on stuff just because a wild hair has gotten up my ass and I want something new and fast and shiny.  However, for me to do the work I intend to do this year I need something that will be faster and allow me to navigate through the internet at much faster speeds.  I am happy with her, my new friend.

Over the weekend Larry said he was on my computer because it is his job in this marriage to make sure that my life with my new friend runs smoothly and without any glitches.  I keep him fed and he makes sure my computer is always running correctly.  Hey, it works. 

Anyway.

He said he was doing a little research and discovered some Book thing that allows me to download books a-la-Kindle.  In fact, he tells me, he found about four free Gettysburg books...and isn't that great?

Wait just a minute.

If he thinks the laptop is going to make me forget about the Kindle I just spend half a year trying to justify, he has another thing coming.  I don't think so.  Which is what I tell him.  And, honestly I can't read-read like that online.  I can research and edit but I can't focus on an entire book on a laptop.  No.  "Nice try" is what I tell him.

My old computer, you know the friend I so easily pushed aside for the newer, brighter, faster (hey!), more fun friend I am in love with now, has moved onto the desk in the laundry room and the kids have been able to go onto itunes and Jennifer can go onto Webkins because no one is allowed to even breathe on my laptop.  In fact, bells will sound if anyone comes too close.

I have never allowed my kids on my computer but as they got older it seemed hard to withhold because they had to research things and type assignments and download music from itunes.  When Larry moved back I wasn't as concerned because I knew if something happened to my old Betty that at least we still had his...because the minute the kids went on my computer I would start having problems.  Now, between Larry's computer and my old one I can now enjoy my newest BFF in peace.

And she is fun.  And shiny.  And fast.  And simply lovely.  Makes me excited for the new year and all the writing possibilities.  But, I'm still getting a Kindle.

Who's Ready To Do Some Reading??

We have officially begun our Book Club of 2012. If you are interested in joining us in person, drop me an email and I will fill you in on more details. Otherwise, if you want to participate online, all you have to do is grab the book and join the discussion at the end of every other month.

As I mentioned in my previous blog post about the book club, we have decided to pick one book and have two months to read it before the online/in person discussion.

Therefore, there will be 6 books to read in 2012 and all of them are from a different genre. We worked hard at trying to find authors and books that were out of our norm to some degree...or, at least out of the norm of most readers...especially if you are used to reading one genre or the same authors over and over. Hopefully this will expand your reading repertoire and expose you to some new favorites. Like the books or dislike the books...it is all fine. That is the point to a book club. Not every book is going to be a winner but hopefully we will have meaningful discussions and garner a new insight or two.

If you have read any of the books and would still like to participate, that's great too! If you only want to read a few but not all...you decide. Hopefully you will embrace the challenge of reading (maybe) outside your comfort zone and for ones who enjoy the genres we picked maybe you will discover a new author.

Book One
January/February
Genre: Mainstream Fiction
"Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet" by Jamie Ford
290 pages
3.90 rating on GoodReads
Meeting date: Thursday, March 1 at 7pm

Book Two
March/April
Genre: Historical Fiction
"The Killer Angels" by Michael Shaara
360 pages
4.14 rating on GoodReads
Meeting date: Thursday, May 3 at 7pm

Book Three
May/June
Genre: Western
"Year of the Horse" by Justin Allen
320 pages
3.43 rating on GoodReads
Meeting date: Thursday, June 28 at 7pm

Book Four
July/August
Genre: Humor
"Lamb: The Gospel According To Biff, Christ's Childhood Pal" by Christopher Moore
444 pages
4.26 rating on GoodReads
Meeting date:  Thursday, August 30 at 7pm

Book Five
September/October
Genre: Thriller
"Before I go to Sleep" by S.J. Watson
358 pages
3.81 rating on GoodReads
Meeting date: Thursday, November 1 at 7pm

Book Six
November/December
Genre:  Chick Lit
"Between Friends" by Debbie Macomber
416 pages
3.99 rating on GoodReads
Meeting date: Thursday, January 3, 2013 at 7pm

There you have it.  The complete list.  I will make a list and post them on the left side of my blog for easy viewing.

You may notice that the meetings aren't always during that second month but in some instances, close.  The reason behind the dates is we tried to be careful to realize holidays, busy times, etc.  So, hopefully those dates will work and in some cases give you an extra few days.

We also tried hard to match the books and the months with care keeping in mind the busier months and the length of the book.  For instance, the humor book we felt didn't quite seem right to put that in the months where we are in the middle of lent and celebrating Easter...so, instead we put that big book (it is the biggest book but felt it would be an easy read due to the humor aspect) right in the middle of summer when days are long and carefree.  We put the thriller appropriately during the early fall when Halloween just calls out to read something with some blood pumping possibilities.  We felt the chick lit category fit easily into the "winter holidays" months because it would be a feel good, light-ish read during a normally busy time. We started with the mainstream because that seems to be the most popular genre.  And, hopefully after reading a mainstream jumping into a historical fiction (if you aren't used to reading those) will be a little easier.  Lastly, the western we wedged in May and June which may be a busy time if you have kids in school (May) but also coincides with the beginning of summer vacation and five weeks without school...plus, the western book is one of the smaller books with only a tad over 300 pages.

I will be back to discuss the books the day AFTER the book club meetings...so, please feel free to jump in at any time and offer up your thoughts, good or bad, about the book.

I'd love to hear your thoughts on the list as well...

In the meantime, HAPPY READING!

p.s. the books can all be found (at the time of this posting) at Hastings bookstores.  Most, I'm sure, can be obtained through the library as most of them are not new books so checking them out of the library should not be a problem.  I found a couple at Costco and of course there are so many other options.  We will also have at least one copy of every book so if you can't find it anywhere...just send me an email...and you can borrow our copy.

Kindle Fire Vs. Nook Color

 

Never say never.

Well, I guess technically I didn't say I would NEVER buy an e-reader but that I would NEVER give up books (I WON'T.  Not ever!) and that I couldn't JUSTIFY the purchase of one.

I almost could justify the middle-of-the-road Kindle...the hundred dollar one...until I saw them and realized that they are just so, well, GREY.

The grey is dull, isn't it?  Maybe there are ways to change the color to white so it would, oh I don't know, pop a little more, but:  1) I didn't wait around long enough to find out because the idea of the greyness was kinda depressing; 2) I am convinced that the two Kindles (that aren't the Fire) are only operating in a dull, lackluster, kill-me-now grey...and I don't really want to be told otherwise, because:

I spotted a Kindle Fire and the Nook Color and they are wonderful in a skip through the daisies and hold onto the rainbow kind of way.

Oh. My. Gawd.

I want one.

Sigh.

Want.

I still can't justify the two hundred+ price tag.  But, they are soooo pretty.  And COLORFUL and UN-GREY.  And colorful, did I say that?

Oh sure you can play games and check Facebook but I also have a smart phone that'll do that too so that isn't necessarily the big draw for me.  Books, however, be still my colorful, riding the rainbow heart.

Books with colorful covers and a white screen.

What?  You all have known all this and I am seriously years behind the eight ball?

Okay, you're right.  And I will be the one with an Iphone in 2015 announcing what a marvelous little contraption this is.  Shut it.

Anyway.

I needed (yes, needed!) to figure out a way to justify one of these handy dandy Kindle Fire's.  So, I thought about it...

What could I use this for?  I mean, other than regular ole books because I'm sorry but I don't travel ENOUGH to really justify a Kindle and I LOVE BOOK-BOOKS.  I love the pages and the smell of a new book and flipping pages and holding a BOOK in my hands and reading the back cover and...all of it.  So, I needed a reason to spend a couple hundred dollars on something that I wasn't going to use exclusively.

Bingo.

An idea.

Well, a justification.

Remember a few months back when I discussed the Gettysburg project? If you have forgotten I am basically going to study for a test (of course the test happens to take place IN Gettysburg and I realize I WAS a mere hundred miles FROM Gettysburg and now I am 2500 miles away, but, let's not split hairs here) and that would require a minimum of one year, most likely two years of study and OVER 77 books on the subject (I know, 77+ books on three days.  Wow!).

DING! DING! DING! JUSTIFICATION! DING!

If I had to BUY all those books I would be looking at well over a thousand dollars (and as Larry would say, "yeah, but that would be one hell of a library...shit, don't say that!).  If I didn't buy them I would be forced to take them out of the library, unfortunately many of the listed books are not even available at my library (big surprise. Boise, folks) and not even available for inter-library loan. The other problem with a library book is I can't highlight, can't go back to the book later down the road, and I have a time constraint. 

So........

I could download those non-fiction books for a fraction of the cost. Sure, I won't have a ton on my shelves but I will most likely BUY in good old fashioned BOOK FORM a handful of my most favorite books...so I can have somewhat of a "library" too (for those that don't know: that was me justifying the comment Larry said about having an ACTUAL library.  See how I can spin things?).  I believe that would be my cake and eating it too.

Since I will be using this for my Gettysburg study I felt the COLOR version would be better because I could HIGHLIGHT passages...in color, yo!  I also like the idea of being able to click from book to book to cross reference and check facts against other facts...okay, that doesn't necessarily require a color version but I, well, I don't like grey and I want to highlight in color...did I mention that already?  Oh.  The color is just so pretty and bright and colorful!

The downside (more of a minor snag): I will need to make index cards for notes either way but I will need to eventually have a book with photographs because I will need to study and memorize every single key figure that walked those fields of Gettysburg (way beyond Lee) and I am not sure how I will manage that on a Kindle or Nook...but, I can always figure that out later.

Lastly, I think the Nooks are kinda cool too but I am leaning towards Kindle because I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE Amazon.  Any thoughts you readers have about either one?  Please share.

Book Club

When I moved to Pennsylvania, Corinna and I formed a book club that I shared with all of you on my other blog (which I am not updating at the moment)...it was a lot of fun picking books right on down the alphabet.  However, upon returning the book club lost some of the spark that we had when 2500 miles separated us.

Anyway, we officially ended that club in 2011 and now looking to form a NEW BOOK CLUB.  However, this one is going to be a little different.

1.  I will post the information on my blog but if you are in the area and would like to be apart of the book club, in live form, we will be meeting every other month to discuss the books. 

2.  We are going to read 6 books this year which means you will have two months to read them and we will meet at the end of the second month at my house for discussion and book club goodness.

3.  We are going to pick the six books AHEAD of time.  In another words, you will have a complete list of the books and can therefore pick and choose the ones you want to read and participate in.

4.  Each book will be apart of a totally different, yet specific, genre.  We are going to branch out even further and read things that you may not normally pick up.  A few ideas we were throwing around consist of historical fiction, thriller, supernatural, romance, maybe western.  We just want to shake up our normal reads by something that maybe you have never given much thought to and who knows? You might find yourself enjoying a certain genre more than you expected!

I was recently talking with a friend who doesn't read a lot of fiction and the fiction she does read usually is quite simple and MUST have a happy ending.

Sigh.

Okay, I get it that you want happy but if you want to really stretch yourself and read beyond the cheesy, syrupy (I'm thinking about Nicholas-Yawn-Sparks here), must have a happy ending kind of book than perhaps the book club isn't for you.  I'm not saying you have to forgo all your favorite books and authors but I am suggesting you at least TRY to branch out a little bit and find something that you may really like....and, if you didn't like it (that is OKAY too!) then you allowed yourself some learning and growth to happen because if we only read the SAME STUFF we become trapped in a bubble and the only way out is to pop out of the bubble and experience something different!

"If you only read the books everyone else is reading, you can only think what everyone else is thinking."   -Haruki Murakami

I will have the list of books for 2012 to announce hopefully next week so be on the look out.  If you live in the area and want to participate in person, email me or leave me a comment.  Our first meeting will be sometime towards the end of February.

Happy reading.

12 in 2012

I don't make new year's resolutions.  I find them to be simply a waste of time and entirely too cliche.

I do, however, find moments throughout the year when I like to set certain goals.  January seems to be a natural time but so does the beginning of summer and the beginning of fall.  If nothing else January seems the right time to stand up tall, dust off the crap from the previous year, and walk straight into a new year with new hope and new dreams and new ambitions...and leaving all the other stuff that weighed you down in the previous year on the ground with the streamers and empty champagne bottles.

I sat down on the first and in between reading, football, and taking down Christmas decorations I came up with a list that I would like to FOCUS on during 2012.  It is more a list of things that become my mantra of sorts.  Goals that I will keep close by when the lows hit and I need to refocus my efforts.

1.  Make relationships matter.  I am tired of the fake.  I am tired of the one-way street in so many relationships.  I am tired of being lied to.  I am tired of being pushed to the side as if I don't matter.  I am tired of being the only one who always extends the invitations.  I am going to focus on the people that seem to obviously CARE about me and begin to shed the excess weight of the ones that don't.  Life is too short to waste with people who are not genuine, who are not in your court, who are so selfish that it is painstakingly obvious, and who are too busy thinking of themselves and all their problems to even be courteous to me to see what is going on in my world.  So, in this new year, a new focus on making relationships matter with the ones I care most about and who care about me and my family too.

2.  Say No.  This has been my mantra for awhile now.  I don't feel guilty saying NO at all.  I no longer wear that brick on my shoulder called Guilt and allowed to be guilted into saying yes for something I really want to say NO to.  Saying NO is freeing and liberating and incredible and all you Yes-Men don't know what you are missing by agreeing to everything and everyone ALL.THE.TIME.  Try it.  My time is important to me and I choose wisely what I want to do with it.  Time goes too fast to waste it on doing shit you really don't want to do.

3.  Be Creative And Have Fun.  This is why my list is not resolutions.  I am always creative in one way or another, year after year.  I don't need a resolution to be more creative.  But, I want to FOCUS more on creativity this year because last year I spent the first half alone and couldn't pick up enough momentum when Larry returned...so, this year I want to hit the ground running and not only scrapbook with my friends but also HAVE FUN.  Laugh and share stories and make EVERY FRIDAY NIGHT a routine that we can count on like we have in the past.

4.  Read 52 books.  Last year I read 44 and almost 14,000 pages.  This year I am aiming for one book a week and I think I can manage that.

5.  Spend less and live more.  Sometimes I think we focus way too much on buying and shopping and SPENDING and not enough time just living and having fun and being simple.  I always like to start the new year with more money in the bank, debt free, and conscious of what I am spending money on.  Sometimes after the busy spend-spend-spend of December it is hard to rein in all back in come January  but we like to reevaluate our budget and by February we are not looking so much at ALL THE CRAP WE CAN BUY but how much money we can be putting in our savings account...and therefore LIVE in the moment by relaxing on a Sunday afternoon, baking some yummy dessert, playing a game together, watching a movie with popcorn, reading a book, going out for a small treat, or taking a drive.  I don't want a big, expensive life.  I want a happy, simple life where my kids are content and we are filled with joy that only a simple existence can provide.

6.  Time with my kids.  Time flies way too fast and there are moments when I realize that pretty soon my oldest will be off to college or flying the coop and won't be around on a daily basis anymore and that is such an odd moment as a stay-at-home mom.  My not working may have cut into our "bottom line" financially but I would not trade one minute the blessing it has been to stay at home with my kids and hopefully raise kids that are prepared to enter this big, bad world as honest, hard working, good human beings.  I could have worked and at times it seemed to maybe make sense for me to do so, but it would have meant jeopardizing my kids and I did not want to do that for whatever amount of money I would have brought home (please, no comments about how you have to work.  I am not even addressing the state of our economy and how many families MUST do what they need to do to survive...this was only intended to refer to my situation and not a vague statement about how I feel about working moms).  I hope to take the time to really be present with my kids and not just feel tired and overwhelmed but to enjoy each of them for who they are right now.

7.  Do something fun every month.  When we first moved here we managed to see SO MUCH of this state! It was really a lot of fun! We did the same in Pennsylvania too...exploring as much as we could depending on the weather.  Exploring new things is one of my most favorite things to do.  Now that Larry is back I hope to just get out...maybe once a month...and see something new or do something different.

8.  Health.  Ah, this runs a fine line with resolutions, I realize, but I'm not running out joining a gym...all I am focusing on right now is losing 10%.  A small, hopefully attainable goal that can do wonders for my health.  After the 10% I will work on another chunk.  I have been exercising again regularly for about six or eight weeks and now that the holidays and ALL that FOOD is behind me I am focusing on simpler meals and weeks where we eat no meat at all.

9.  Work more.  Last year I began a workable system that allowed me to focus my weeks on writing and being creative.  I got a little off track when I flew to southern California for a couple of weeks and again at the beginning of summer when my husband announced his return.  Since then, my work has been okay...November probably being the best month when I wrote a 60,000 word novel...but I want to step it up even further this year.  Most people don't really get what I do and I struggle with the misconception that because I "write from home" I am lazy or don't really have a "job"...true in some way: I don't have a boss, I don't have to clock in my time, I don't get a weekly paycheck, and I don't have a boss there to tell me how I'm doing.  I guess I can't change the perception of what other people think but I will say that I am working hard every single day on trying to make it as a published writer.

10.  Focus on what I really care about.  I will elaborate more on this but I want to focus on the issues that truly matter most to me...and there are a few.  Hint: it has almost everything to do with FOOD but there isn't just one issue...more like three or four.

11.  One Year To Make It Work.  I will elaborate further on this too.  I was inspired by something that Bob Newhart had said and when I heard it back in November, I immediately thought I would try it too at the beginning of 2012...so, here we go. 

12.  Chill.  Breathe.  Smile.  Laugh.  Cry.  In another words, LIVE.  I am not about fake and I am not about feeling blessed all the damn time.  I don't always find joy in every waking moment but I do want to figure out a way to relax and smile and chill out more.  I want to make each breath count because life is short and can end at any moment.  I want to cry when I feel like crying and laugh when something is funny.

I am hoping for a productive, happy, fun 2012 filled with surprises and excitement and kids and a content family life.  I am hoping for a good garden, more freezer/refrigerator space, and downtime spent reading plenty of books.  I am hoping for BIG CHANGES and for a little luck.  I am hoping for health and lots of onions in my garden.  I am going to continue to drink more coffee than I should and perhaps let drama steer me into dark waters more times than I should allow but I also know that drama is just a part of life (and the ones who constantly say they don't "do" drama or that they don't "like" drama are usually the ones knee deep in it.  Chill, people, about the drama! It is there.  It happens).  I am going to be thankful that for the first year we will not have expenses related to moving.  I am hoping for even more time spent HAPPILY AT HOME, because I LOVE BEING HOME.  I am hoping for an ease and patience as we enter into some uncharted waters.  I am going to do the things that make me happy and say no to the rest.  I am going to stop feeling insecure and fearful about my writing and just go for it. 

I am going to be me.  And hopefully me with a focus.

The World Of Paper And Scissors

In the latter part of 2011 I finally got myself back into scrapbooking on a somewhat normal schedule.  I feel confident heading into 2012 that most Friday nights, and an occasional all day, will be spent scrapbooking.

I can't say that the world of scrapbooking is as intriguing and all-consuming as it once was in my life, but I still enjoy it enough as a hobby. I love the creative spark it gives me, I love telling stories, I love looking over the photos, and I love putting something together that will hopefully last long after I'm gone.  Over the past couple of years I have even gotten more simple in my scrapbooking to the point that I am looking around at my foam stamps and glitter and thinking, "is it time to purge these things?" I don't have the heart to at this point but I see that coming around the bend.

Bottom line is that I am about as far from what I walked into when I came to this town almost eight years ago but I am closer to the feelings I first felt when I began scrapbooking.  I no longer want it to consume my every waking moment but I enjoy the outlet, the creativity, the fun, the laughs, the girlfriend time.

I don't bother with the magazines nor the websites anymore either.  In fact, I don't remember the last scrapbooking magazine I even picked up.  I was never really that into the websites, even in the heyday, but for some reason this morning I thought I would look around and see what was going on.  I didn't really find much other than more of the same.

Which made me wonder: how is the world of scrapbooking these days?

Surely people aren't into all those design teams like they were a decade ago, right?  I mean, give it a rest already.  And those so-called "super stars" are surely not feeding their ego still, are they?  (My Gawd.)

When I clicked on a few websites I was immediately reminded why I have happily stepped out of all that...crap.  The projects, the egos, the layouts, the insults.  Why is it that every unhappy or jaded scrapbooker out there calls other women lazy, fat cows?  And don't get me started on the stay-at-home-mom haters.  It is really quite sad for such a happy, positive hobby.

Maybe that is the problem.  Maybe when you take something like scrapbooking and turn people who can match colors and add buttons to a layout and then we crown them and give them a float in their honor because, by golly, they are now super stars we have lessened the purpose of scrapbooking: creating stories and memories for your family.

I don't want to get all Mormon-Perfect-Family-And-We-Couldn't-Be-More-Happy-And-Blessed here but I do like the idea of documenting our everyday lives so my kids and grandkids will one day see what life was like for me/us in the times we live in. 

As I perused the websites I spotted an interesting discussion about these women who spend hours and days on layouts that they need to submit either for a design team or for the magazines and ultimately miss out on the family time they are documenting.  Irony? There is something wrong with THAT picture.  I admit there was a time that I was so concerned with capturing a ton of photos of an event that I missed out on the actual event because I was too busy behind the lens of my camera.

I was there.  I was in the middle of all that hoopla.  I went to trade shows and expos.  I subscribed to the magazines.  I followed the movers and shakers.  I wanted the newest and greatest.  I wanted to eat and drink the scrapbooking world.  And, I did for a few too many years.

So consumed, I was, that I was missing out on what was happening right under my nose and certain situations that I will never, ever have back and for that I will gladly shed my scrapbooking obsession and go back to the bare roots of this hobby back when I did it because the sheer act made me happy...not because I wanted my layout to be published or because I HAD to use the newest product or because some woman somewhere was whoring out projects that I too had to do...but because I enjoyed being creative and I loved looking through pages and pages of albums and reading jouraling that I would never have remembered otherwise.

My friends laugh at me when I said that I wanted to try and find a Creative Memories Fast Formula book.  You see, when I was using those fast formulas-a-la-Creative Memories, circa 1999, I scrapbooked happily and simply and without a care in the world.

I did my pages using stickers and lots and lots of journaling and spent many a happy afternoon while my two little boys took naps, and uncovered such a fun hobby!

So, part of me felt that if I had those books again of fast formulas that I could somehow grab hold of that FEELING again.

Okay, I was wrong.

The books are lame today, thirteen years later.

It was like deciding to have big hair again.  Or, long floral dresses of polyester.

It is outdated and you just can't go back.

But, during the discovery of these fast formula books I realized that my heart really likes scrapbooking and maybe even simple scrapbooking and that I definitely don't want to go back to idolizing women because they managed to hop on a bandwagon just as it was passing through their town.  I'm sure they have tons of followers...go for it...but I am not one of them.

I deleted all their websites from my list of favorites.

I no longer care about their word of the year and projects they pimp every other week.  I no longer care about layouts that get published or attending scrapbooking expos.  And I most certainly don't care about this design team or that design team.

I just wanna scrapbook.  I just want to push paper around and laugh at the photos of my kids with silly faces...and cry at the photos of my dad holding the kids or giving Jennifer a kiss...and feel a sense of sadness when I look over our difficult year on the east coast.  Not perfect little documented lives of idyllic times and perfect children living in a perfect house on a perfect street where no one cries and if they do they wipe them fast because, after all, we are blessed.  No.  I want to FEEL the emotions and write down what I can remember and laugh my ass off with my girlfriends and stick Dymo words like "freak" and "you suck" and "tubas" on our scrapbooking tools while laughing so hard that we are almost peeing our pants.

I just want to have fun with the hobby...and not make it everything.

Because it isn't everything. 

The Holiday Vacation To-Do List UPDATE

 

I had a list of ten things that I posted just before Christmas that I had hoped to get to while the kids were all home on Winter Break.  What I didn't know when I wrote the list and shared it with all of you was that my husband was going to be on vacation during the entire time the kids were home.  I had initially thought that I would have some time to do things like work on my scrapbooking sketches because the kids would be sleeping in and Larry would be at work.  However, there is a different energy when he is home and we ended up tackling other small "home" projects in addition to spending A LOT OF DOWNTIME doing absolutely nothing but reading, watching our DVR shows, and watching movies with the kids (and my Gawd, it was GLORIOUS!).

That being said, I managed to get 5.5 of the ten finished.  Not bad.

Here are the results:

1.  Jennifer's Room.  If you remember, her bedroom was a freakin mess!  She had toys and trash and way too much of just...stuff and CRAP.  I walked in there one night determined to get to this task and walked out immediately overwhelmed.  The next day I took a deep breath walked back into her room and emptied EVERYTHING in one big heap on the floor.  Her and I sat down on the floor and sorted piece by agonizing piece.

We made three piles:  To Keep, To Donate, and To Put Away (for those items that she isn't playing with but have some sentimental purpose that I put high on a shelf in a tote).

 Before:  Oh. My. Gawd. The. Mess.

 Before:  The Pile.

 After.  Ah, glorious.

 After.

2.  Craft cabinets in the laundry room.  Oh, the intentions! If I had had one more day...maybe this one would have gotten done.  I have hope, still.  One winter Saturday morning I WILL get these cabinets-of-mess completed.

3.  File Folders Filing.  One word: FILING.  Another word: UGH.  Another, not so pretty word is coming to my mind right now.  Okay, filing I hate and therefore this one I almost KNEW wasn't going to get done but I had hoped that by writing it out for all of you to read would give me the needed push.  Yeah, it didn't.  However, I did buy a new 2012 3-ring binder so I can start fresh this year along with some plain white labels and more dividers because while I hate filing I do love me some office supplies.

4.  Recipe Filing.  Another filing task, sigh, but recipes thrill me much more than school paperwork, bills, and receipts.  Of course, I sat down one morning with a cup of coffee and two days later, endless cups of coffee, and many meals LATER...I finally finished and vowed to never tear out another recipe from a magazine again! Oy.  But, at least now ALL the recipes are ORGANIZED BY THEME and in ONE 3-ring binder instead of the binders, the file folders (holding cell), AND the basket because I was too lazy to even put them in the holding cell folders on a regular basis.  I have issues, stop judging me!

 Before: the file folders, aka: holding cell, filled (duh) with loose recipes that need to be filed into the 3-ring binder, by theme/subject.

 After: empty file folders.  Of course, I won't show you the small (it IS small, dammit) pile NEXT to the file folders on the nook desk that I refused to put into the file folders where they will stay most likely until Christmas vacation 2012 so I want to file them immediately into the 3-ring binders.  Ah, the dreams of the foolish...

 After: Here is the drawer where I keep my current month menu and the corresponding recipes.  I also FILL the basket with all the used up recipes that need to then go into the file folders while it holds still until I can manage to pop them into a 3-ring binder.  Oh my god, suddenly I know for a fact that I am fucking nuts.

5.  Read at least a couple of books.  Check.  I read a book called, The Kitchen Daughter.  Then, I ordered myself the newest book by Stephen King, 11/22/63 and so far I'm about 500 pages in...out of 850.

 Larry and I both reading ginormous Stephen King books.  Of course he finished his 1100 page book in less than a week and I still have a few hundred pages left going on 8 days.  Whatever...

6.  Scrapbooking.  I wanted to sketch and get my scrapbooking organized and ready for the new year.  Didn't hardly WALK INTO MY OFFICE let alone do anything productive in here.

7.  Christmas planner.  See above.  My notes are sorted and in file folders on my desk...if I'm going to get to it I gotta do it before I start planting my garden. 

8.  Embroider tea towels for myself.  I did one.  Hey, it is one more in my drawer than I had before.  My basket is near the couch and when we watch our DVRed shows or movies I have the option to whip out the embroidery.  Sometimes I feel like it and sometimes I don't.  I did go through my huge stack of towels with ironed on patterns on them already and put the ones I hope to complete soon in my basket.

  After: my one finished tea towel.

9.  Upstairs hall closet.  Larry and I tackled this together (I forgot to take a picture though) putting the matching fitted and flat sheets into the pillowcase and then stacking the sets that way on the shelf.  We folded towels and blankets as well and discovered a lot more room in an otherwise fairly small hall closet!

10.  Butler's pantry.  This is where my half point comes in.  The napkin drawer got organized and cleaned out but the cabinet below didn't.  Hey, it's something!

 Before:  The napkin drawer of mess.

 After:  The napkin drawer is clean but now I need to go through the two drawers in my dining room hutch because a lot of the Christmas napkins landed in there and they had to be...um...shoved in there.  Oh shut up.