10 Things

Shimelle started a wonderful tradition over at her blog, where she documents 10 Things on the 10th of each month.  There are no other rules.  Just 10 things.  Hmmm.  I always get so excited about the possibilities, that I end up flustered and can’t figure out how to narrow my ideas down to one topic (I tend to be that way on most things, unfortunately). 

So this month, I decided that I would come up with a list of ten things that I want to blog about for future 10 Things posts.  That will take away some of my own personal drama.  LOL. 

1. Favorite Holiday Traditions:  Our family doesn’t have a lot of them, but I’d wager a guess that I could come up with ten that we currently have or add in a few that I’d like to incorporate in the future.  Do you have any holiday traditions to share?  It could be any holiday, really. 

2. Favorite recipes:  Since I’ve been wasting spending a lot of time on Pinterest, I’ve bookmarked quite a few recipes that I’d like to try.  There are also several I have tried, so I could mix it up. 

3. Good Causes:  Toward the end of the year, I always receive so many requests for last-minute funds/donations to all sorts of worthy causes.  One of these days, I’d like to pick some of my faves and write up a bit about each.  Do you have specific causes you favor?  Or volunteer activities that mean a lot to you? 

4. Things That Have Been Inspiring Me: Again, Pinterest has a load of inspiration, but there are other sources of inspiration as well.  Different music, videos, blogs, magazines, designers, artists, etc. 

5. Music That Conjures Up Memories of My Dad:  My dad and I were never very close, but it bothers me a lot more lately.  He committed suicide three and a half years ago, and there is just a lot left hanging around in the corners of my mind.  I have some songs on my playlist that always remind me of time spent with him when I was young.  I’d like to explore that further.

6. Poems I Need to Write: Sometimes, I think I have too many ideas, and that is why I never get anything accomplished.  If I listed out a bunch of my poem ideas, they’d be there, germinating, and I might be more inspired to complete them.  Same goes for stories.

7. Good Books: I’ve read some great books in the past couple of years, yet anytime someone asks me about something good I’ve read, I can’t remember specific titles.  I’d like to have a fun list of them to look back on in the future.

8. Letters to Grandbabies: Ali Edwards posts occasional letters to her kids.  They are really wonderful, and they provide a great snapshot of what is going on in their everyday lives.  I’d like to start creating those for Little Mister and Coco so  I have them saved.  Since I am saving those for future posts, I’ll just share a couple of quick scrap layouts of the boys. 

 

9. Topics I’d Like to Learn More About: There are so many things I’d like to learn about, it isn’t even funny.  Maybe if I sketched out a top-ten list of those, it would be easier to make the time to tackle a new topic every now and then.

10. Creative Projects I Want to Tackle: Like number nine above, there are tons and tons of creative projects I want to do at some point. Most of the time, I end up just creating a new scrapbooking page or something in lieu of starting a new creative project because I just freeze up when I think of all that I want to accomplish. 

Ugh.  Looking at this list makes me wish I didn’t need time to sleep.  Life would be so much easier if science could solve that little issue for me. 

What about you?  Do you create lists for yourself?  Do you have a to-do list that is a million miles long?  How do you juggle everything you want to do and still maintain your sanity (and a reasonable sleeping schedule)?

Busy busy busy

Lately, it seems that no matter what I try to do, there is never enough time.  I'm making better use of my time and energy, but it still seems like the days are definitely not long enough.  Is it just me, or is insane that it is already the first of July?  {insert shocked face here}

I realize that I missed blogging during the ENTIRE month of June.  Sheesh.

I just finished up a stint on Meghan Mullens CT at SSD for the month of June.  I am not one that usually applies for CTs, but Meghan ran a contest and I had just bought one of her kits, so I created a layout, not expecting to be picked since I didn't really have a portfolio.  But she offered me a guest spot, so I jumped at the opportunity. It is interesting to be on a CT because it really made me realize how much I mix and match kits when I create a layout for myself.  It is hard to stick to just using one kit for layouts. It was fun to be on the team, but I felt like I let her down.  Hmmmm.

Are you a strict stick-to-things-in-one-kit kind of person? Or do you mix and match for several kits?  If you mix and match, do you stick with one designer, or do you opt to go for color or style and/or elements?

I found that I tend to buy kits for elements these days.  I used to really be a sucker for luscious papers (Eva Kipler, Susan Bartolini, Zoe Pearn, etc.).  I still am, don't get me wrong, but now I have such a hoard stockpile I am focusing on unusual elements for any new kits that I might buy.  I also assess a kit for the can-I-make-it-myself factor.  I may like a kit for one or two elements, but if I think I could do something similar, without a whole ton of effort, I may pass and buy something that I would have a harder time creating myself.

All in all, I ended up creating 15 layouts with Meghan's products, so that was pretty productive (as far as my scrapping history).  :D

Here are some of the layouts that I created...

Credits can be found in my gallery at SSD

Add Writing to Your Day

Tonight I’m hosting a poetry workshop at the library… this is part of the material I’ll be sharing:
Add Writing to Your Day (Every Day)

• First you need to commit to writing every day. Don’t wait until next month or next year to make a resolution. Do it now; there is no time like the present. Don’t start out thinking you can sit and write for an hour or two a day. Start small. Set a realistic goal. If you are struggling, start out with even ten minutes a day. It may help to actually put it on your calendar and not let the time get diverted by other activities. Let friends/family know that this is your time. If you ride public transportation, use that time to write. If you need to get out of the house to find peace and quiet, take a walk with a mini recorder. Visit a local coffee shop to grab a cup and write for a few minutes. If you are stuck waiting at a doctor’s office or other appointment, pull out your pen and start writing. You could even use a ten-minute break at work to write. Carry a small notebook, mini journal or index cards with you at all times so you are always ready to write when you have a free block of time.
• It really doesn’t matter what you write as long as you are writing. If you want to write poetry and get stuck, write something else:

Confession Tuesday

• Sometimes I dislike people immensely.  Not all people.  Just some.
• This is my last Tuesday at the “job.”  My soul is singing.
• I’m craving KFC like a minx.  I don’t know why.  It reminds me of “So I Married an Axe Murderer” though because the  dad goes on a tirade about conspiracies and KFC putting a secret chemical in that makes you “crave it fortnightly.”  Probably true.  It scares me that I want it. 
• I am dreading the day when Jessica will move out on her own and take Kennedy.  For some reason, that just hit me today.  I don’t know what I will do.  I mean… I do, but it will leave a big emotional gap.  How do grandparents handle it when they don’t see their grandkids all of the time? 
• It is the last Tuesday of April and my goal to write  a poem a day was stalled by the first Tuesday of April.  Sad.  At least I have a lot of good ideas and a note or two and plan to work on them once I have the time and am more focused on writing/school (aka after my last day of work). 

Bad Medicine

I am tired of having a back “injury.”  I say “injury” because I’m not really sure what happened to it in the first place.  All I know is I was fine one minute, and the next minute, I felt like I had a sore back, and it progressively got worse until I ended up in urgent care: crying, shaking and struggling to climb off the x-ray table.  I had “compression issues” and a “severe pelvic tilt” which meant that one leg was over an inch shorter than the other.  Fun times. 

No work.  Off to PT, Chiropractor, back to the doc, on muscle relaxers, ibuprofen and ice packs.  They gave me vicodin (the cure-all for the medical profession these days) but it does nothing for me, so I skipped it.  Now I’m on the  last work day at home before the weekend and the eventual return to work on Monday.  I’m kinda scared to return to work because I know my problem is not resolved, and I don’t want it to get back to the way it was before.  It has improved, but last night I was in tears from pain, and cranky from the steroids that they made me start taking on Wednesday.  They cause sleeplessness and irritability… just what someone needs when they are in pain. 

I’ve been doing some painting today, hoping that the creative therapy will stall the pain and make me feel better.  So far it is better than yesterday, so that is good.  I’m working on three paintings now.  I am finishing one that I started quite some time ago, re-doing one I wasn’t even close to finishing before, and laying the background for another that I’ve had in mind for awhile.  All in all, I’m realizing that I have a definite color palette that crosses all of my stuff lately.  Maybe that will be my signature?  Probably not a good idea.  Maybe I will just finish these and get the colors out of my system. 

Here’s a little mini scrapbook/art journal layout I threw together this afternoon.  Kind of gives the feeling of the day. 

The elements are all from Fiddlette Designs at Scrapbookgraphics.com. 

New Year... New Quarter... New???

It is already starting into the third week of January (2nd full week) and I feel like I'm already falling behind in life. 2008 came in without a lot of fanfare for our family. I think we were still worn out from the complete craziness that we took on for the Thanksgiving/Christmas holidays. It took days to recoop from back-to-back Christmas Eve and Christmas day extravaganzas. I think our dishwasher went on strike. Last week we found that it had blew the electrical outlet and needed to be repaired.

School started last week. I'm taking 17 credits this quarter, and unfortunately, may have to have five days of class. That will be completely insane, but I don't know that I'll be able to get around it.

There is a lyric essay course I've been checking out. It is put together by writers.com. They have a lot of great class offerings and I wish I could take a bunch of them... finances will keep me from doing so, but hopefully I will be able to squeeze one in from time to time. Next quarter, I will do the lyric essay for an independent study course. :) They also have free writing groups you can subscribe to. I haven't done that, but it sounds interesting. I've got enough on my plate right now as it is. I took over the Tacoma Writers' Meetup right before Christmas. Kirsty was stepping down as organizer and I've been itching to do something like this for years and years, so I snatched up the opportunity and am very excited about it.

Yesterday, I took some stuff (supplies like crazy) out to my "studio." I stood there, among my many treasures, and wanted to cry over all of the neglected babies that are out there. The big canvas taunted me with its blank stare, daring me to attack it with a bout of creativity. But I had laundry to do and organizing of the closets, meals to prepare and homework to do. So I turned the key in the lock and sighed a big sigh as I headed back to the house. It is awful. It feels like everything in the universe is pointing me in the direction of doing some creative crafts/art, but I can't seem to find/make the time. Maybe that is a direction I can take for spring quarter. Maybe I can put together some art workshops and have play dates with myself and create a whole course surrounding everything I want to do... if only.