We’ve had intermittent internet for the last several days, so I’m a day behind.

Friday 1.5.08:

Perfume
   

A fragrant liquid. Show us ‘perfume’ in your space.

I couldn’t decide which view I preferred so here is the original and an “antiqued” version from the effects palete in the new iPhoto 08 program.

And here’s today’s self-portrait. I’ve wanted to try this ever since I saw Kirsty’s before the holiday.

Her Space:  My Space is back in action. Lots of white here and cold too!

I’m feeling pretty successful, even though it’s only January 3rd. I’ve managed a layout every day and a photo on the photo blog each day as well. I’m keeping up with grading papers too! Here’s today’s layout which adds another page to this year’s Journal My Christmas album as well as for the Get a Load of This class on BPS.

Yesterday I finished my Creative Calendar. This will be the third year in a row I’ve kept a little calendar where I record the number of layouts, cards, and projects I complete each month.

I’m also determined to use only supplies I have on hand this month. Actually, until April when I know I’ll get to visit a great scrapbook store in North Carolina, I’m determined to buy only adhesive. It’s time to use up the stash!

I have lots of photos to share, but haven’t had time to edit all of them. I continue to be frustrated with the color calibration on my computer. It’s not too bad when I print, but photos get pretty washed out when I save them for the web.

We had a great Christmas. Two in fact. One on Christmas Day when Matt, Tracy, and I opened a few gifts in the morning. At four, Tracy’s family arrived and the party began. Here’s a layout I did of the new family band!

Journaling reads:  “Tom surprised Jill with an accordian for her anniversary. She was once an award-winning accordian player, and she hasn’t l0st her touch. Tom, Jill, and Greg created a special program for our family Christmas celebration. It couldn’t have been more fun.”

Sarah and Adam arrived on the 29th when we had our “real” (more stuff) Christmas. It’s been nice to have everyone around, although both Sarah and I are not feeling up to par. Everyone except me has one more day off. I have to wrap my mind around going back to work tomorrow. Just not ready yet.

It was a “techie” Christmas for me. Much to my surprise I got a hot shoe flash for my camera. The learning curve is not as smooth as I wish, but I’m already getting better.

One of my New Year’s Resolutions is to improve my photography skills, so now I have more equipment to play with. One way I’m planning to improve is by doing the Project 365. The link takes you to an article that explains all the benefits of taking a photo a day. I’ve tried in 2007 and some months been pretty successful. I also printed out their Photo Resolutions for 2007 to help keep me on track.

Speaking of the New Year, I chose a new word for 2008. I adopted this from Ali Edwards last year and found focusing on a single word very helpful. This year I chose commit. There are a few goals I’ve set year after year that never seem to be met completely–like the Photo-a-Day.

Paper Source’s motto:  “Do something creative every day” is another goal I work toward but never seem to meet. I’ve joined a huge group of folks at Big Picture Scrapbooking for the free Get a LOAD of  This class. Our goal is to scrap 31 layouts in 31 days. That should get me off to a good start. Here’s today’s:

Another unstated goal is to start doing some digital scrapbooking and hybrid scrapbooking. This layout has a photo I applied “soft light” to as the background paper. Not too easy to see on the scan, but I’m pleased with how it came out.

I had two big projects I hoped to finish over vacation, but neither are started. Hoping to work on them tonight. I did finish reading Bridge of Sighs, Richard Russo’s new book and our book group choice for January. Loved it, but it’s long!

Happy New Year!

Just one week ago, there was this:

Enough snow to cancel school.

Yesterday there was this:

A balmy 50 degrees.

Today, Christmas Eve, enough new snow to make everything white again.

Christmas Writing Challenge #3: Me + The Big Guy in a Red Suit

Writing Prompt: Write about your relationship with Santa Claus.

    Most families, it seems, have their unique Old St. Nick relationships.  Write about the specifics of Santa Claus in your family. How did you feel about him? When did you discover the truth, and how did you feel about it?

I definitely believed in Santa Claus. We left a plate of homemade cookies and a glass of milk out for him every year. Our Christmas stockings were knee socks hung on the ends of our beds. No gift from Santa in your stocking was wrapped; he didn’t have time for that. Interestingly, I don’t think I ever had an opportunity to visit Santa and sit on his lap. If I did, I certainly don’t remember it. There were never presents under our tree until Christmas morning. I remember being so excited on Christmas Eve that I couldn’t go to sleep and I would lay there and try to wish myself asleep. I knew Santa wouldn’t come until I was fast asleep, and I knew that once I went to sleep, time would fly. My brother and I emptied our stockings in our rooms and then woke up my parents. Whoever woke up first showed up in the other’s room–stocking in tow. When did I learn the truth? No idea, but it must not have been traumatic.

We did things a bit differently with our kids. We went to Breakfast with Santa. Sarah’s first experience was at two years old, and she found it rather overwhelming. We visited Santa at the mall. We have photos from some of the breakfasts but few, if any, from visits at the mall. That seems very strange now. Perhaps I ought to sort through old albums and be sure. Stocking gifts are wrapped—although rather casually. For years, all the gifts from Santa were wrapped in special giftwrap. We’ve always put presents under our tree way before Christmas (as I finish wrapping), but never the ones from Santa. They were added to the pile after the kids were asleep. Stockings are a big part of Christmas morning, and we still fill them although we are all adults. We do stockings first and then presents. When did my children find out the truth? No idea about that either. But I intend to ask when they come home this year.

The prompt at HS: MS is frosty and it is. There are several school delays in districts south of here.

Here’s Amy’s second writing prompt for Christmas. (Now if I could just keep up with Shimelle’s Journal My Christmas prompts as easily.)

Writing Prompt: When you think of your childhood Christmases, what is the most vivid memory you have?

I found my immediate response to this prompt somewhat surprising as I really hadn’t thought about Christmas at my Aunt Alys’ in years. But those after-Christmas celebrations are among my most vivid Christmas memories. My mother had two brothers and a sister who lived in Toledo, Ohio near my grandparents. After celebrating Christmas at home south of Columbus, we drove to my grandparents and had a second Christmas at my aunt’s. There were thirteen cousins and it was always a noisy event, but to me, one that was truly celebratory. Christmas at our house was a rather quiet event, and this was a huge contrast. In addition, my aunt had an elaborately decorated house with two Christmas trees. One (green) was decorated totally in blue ornaments and sat in the living room. The other (white) was covered in gold ornaments. It was a Martha Stewart house well before Martha’s day. The icing on the cake was the consignment shop my aunt ran from a downstairs room. We (the girls) could go in and try on clothes, shoes, jewelry, furs. . . it added to the aura of elegance. In reality, my mother’s family was not the elegant sort, but that’s how I remember Christmas at Aunt Alys’.

Amy Sorenson has started a Writing Challenge on her blog. I took one of her BPS journaling courses and loved it. Ever since then I’ve subscribed to her blog and decided I’d join in on some of the challenges. I had no trouble writing to the first prompt.

Writing Prompt: Write about a photo you wish someone had taken

    I think that we have clearer memories of the experiences we have pictures of, because the pictures help us involve another sense (vision) with the memory. But I also think that the majority of people twenty or thirty years ago didn’t think about taking pictures the way we do now (obviously, digital cameras have a huge impact on how many photos we take and what we photograph), so we don’t have very many pictures to help jar our memories. Maybe this writing prompt will help you remember something you’ve forgotten. You might want to give some of the back story before you write about the wished-for photo, like I did here. Happy writing!

I wish someone had taken pictures of my mom. She died when I was twenty, and I don’t think I ever saw a camera in my father’s hands. There are so few photographs of her and the few I’ve found recently were taken by me as a child. They are of poor quality and most of them are very unflattering. One in particular is of her washing dishes. She’s not smiling and she looks so tired. It’s just not the way I remember her. She was always self-conscious about her weight, and she never looks comfortable in the few photographs I have. One exception are some black & white snapshots taken on her wedding day.

Actually, my memories are pretty vague, and Amy is correct—many of my memories are tied to photographs. I’ve never been one to recall past events with much clarity or detail. (Probably one of the reasons I think scrapbooking is so important.) I do know from stories that my mom worked too hard and tried to do too much. My father once sat me down after I had made a comment about all I needed to do and told me that I should back off my list. He said my mother’s expectations of herself were so high that she caused herself a lot of unnecessary pain. It’s taken me a long time to put my To Do list in perspective, but I hope I’ve learned a lesson from that story. And I do try to get my camera in other people’s hands so there is a better record of my presence in our family.