Dismal

Here's what all the slop outside looks like while it rains.

And the poor snowmen from last Friday....losing it...

Sloppy Day

What do you do on a warmish (45 degree) sloppy day with no school? Well...


Put on boots, mittens and a hat, and ride your bike.



Ride through puddles.


Make a snowman...

Kids make me laugh

Conversation tonight:

Mom: Do you know who wrote "The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe"?

Margaret: No. But I know who wrote "Lyle the Crocodile".

Another Classic

Love this one. Big Bro Steve with Mom.

Big Brother Steve... ca.1960

I'm starting up on scanning the family slides again. I don't arrive for two more years, so I have to endure many more pictures of my cute big brother. Ain't he a doll? This picture is precious.. he is with Grandpa and Grandma Shaler. I think Grandpa died within a year or two of this picture, because he was gone before I was born.

Steve's first born? Named Ross, after Grandpa here. My first born? Named Amelia, after Grandma here. Obviously they were two very, very special people to us.

Lists of lists of lists

Yeah, there has been a break in my blog writing. Since anyone that follows my blog probably follows my Facebook, you should all know that I was laid off from Seagate that day after I wrote that last entry.

I have been working on the resume and contact list, but mostly I have been in denial and am finding other things to distract my mind.

I think the biggest thing on my to-do list (this would be the "master" to-do list) is to declutter my memorabilia stashes. I went through one box today and threw over half of it. I hate to mess up the layers too much, because like an archeological dig, I can date items by what I find around them. But to share what a mess I am (and mess is a compliment), in this same box I found...

A list of "10 things I want my Children to Know" (A nice list that I will share with you all someday.)

All my performance appraisals from a period of about 6 to 10 years ago.

Vegetarian recipes (Yeah. I went through that phase. Too hard for me to really commit to. Plus I like ham too much.)

A sheet on "Why do Yoga?"

A packet of bible studies on the Healing stories of Jesus

A note from our ex-next door neighbor that she wrote us shortly after she moved. Um...8 or 9 years ago?

A random airline ticket.

A copy of a magazine with a cover article about laughter at work.

Father's Day cards from kids to Charlie from about 4 or 5 years ago.

And the funniest thing ever... It is a list of scrapbook projects. I made the list on August 18th, 2003. I know because I dated the list. And I dated the date I made a revision..., January 27th, 2004. On it I have 16 albums listed that I wanted to complete. For each album there is an entry for each of these items:

% done, Album type, complete goal, and then an empty column where I hand wrote status. I even crossed out due dates and put in new due dates. You know...so I could see the due dates "slip". Just like a project at work. It is freakin' hilarious funny.

I remember when I ran my entire life like that. Things went smoother. I think I felt less overwhelmed. But I don't think I can go back. It just made me giggle. Giggle. Giggle.

Of the 16 albums on this list, I have completed 4. (not so bad) Four that I still haven't completed are the "missing years" of my life right after Margaret was born and I did not handle life with 2 kids so well. Two incomplete are the kid's baby books. I only have ever done a cover page for each. I may as well punt on those. Two are heritage type albums that I will still do someday. I have punted on the rest of the projects...mostly vacation albums. Those don't make much sense if you do them 6 years after the vacation is over.



OK. Back to serious job hunting, but I am vowing to get through at least one pile of this stuff every day. Hopefully I'll be starting a new job before I get all the way through them, but it would also be nice to be done with them. I just won't wish for being out of work that long, ok?

A leprechaun story

Here's a repeat story from my blog. Amelia is now in 5th grade, so this is almost 4 years old! (I know, I'm so popular I get to repeat greatest hits. Well...this is one of my favorites. I am cleaning out some files and found it again, so I thought I'd share...enjoy!)


I was getting Amelia (my 1st grader) ready for school this morning and she
asked me to help her get dressed. I picked out jeans, a white shirt
and a green cardigan (for St. Pat's day).

She proceded to tell me that she needed green EVERYTHING. So I picked
out Green pants.

"No mommy, I need a green shirt, too!"

After much searching for a green shirt...

"But mommy, I need green underwear and green socks and shoes, too"

"But honey, we don't have any green socks or shoes. (I had found the
green "days of the week" underwear by this time, that she refuses to
wear any other day because she doesn't like the way they look)"

"But mommy, if I'm not wearing all green my Leprechaun will PINCH me!"

"Pinch you? I don't think your Leprechaun will pinch you if you don't
have green socks. He won't even see them!"

"No mommy. He'll pinch my toes! I don't want Max to pinch my toes"

"Who's Max?"

(looking at me, quite exasperated by this time) "MY LEPRECHAUN!"

"Oh. I didn't know you had your own leprechaun."

By this time I am darn glad I am a resourcful mom with lots of craft items at
my fingertips. I drew shamrocks on her socks with a pigment marker
and tied green ribbons around her shoes.

So she looks at me with her big smile and asks, "There mommy, how do
I look?"

I replied "Good enough to pinch"

She sure gave me a look for that comment! (lol)



Then she started on her 4 year old sister, who was very happy that I had
let her wear a pretty dress, tights, and the shoes with the hearts on
them. "Margaret, you're not wearing green! Your leprechaun is going
to pinch you!"

I was quite distressed at this comment as we were already running
late and I had no idea how I would produce another set of green
clothes.

Margaret saved the day. Her reply? "I'm too pretty to pinch. My
leprechaun is going to DANCE with me!"


Have a Happy St. Pat's Day...no matter your background! And if your
leprechaun asks you to dance, make sure you say yes!

American Girl Journey

Well, I had said I wan't going to, but I did. Since we were staying right on Michigan Avenue, we trekked on down to the American Girl Doll store. I told each girl they could have ONE doll. That we are not collecting them. That we are not buying any additional accessories. We really did have a lot of fun. Here we are on our walk back.


Amelia has Kirsten.


Margaret has Felicity.

Why did I have these?

They must have been gifts. I can't believe I ever allowed them to be played in my house.

I am now listening to John Rutter direct the Clare College choir. So wonderfully beautiful. I have tears in my eyes at several junctures because it is just so rich and lovely.

One of my other resolutions is to listen to more good music this year. I had forgotten how much I loved Choral music. I guess the demise of WCAL (St. Olaf's classical radio station that they sold to MPR) contributed somewhat, but I just haven't pulled the albums out much lately. This one is rich enough to listen to all by itself for many, many days, weeks, or months.

The above pictured CDs are now safely placed in the donation bag. I supposed I shouldn't ever expose anyone's ears to that music again, but maybe someone wants it? The future of pop music depends on it.

(Oh...and yes, I did call them albums. Sorry. Habit. I'll put them (the Rutter that is) on the MP3 player, but it's just not the same as listening to them in a room with unfettered ears!)

Oh... and for the record... Margaret came into my room as I was listening to the Rutter and the first words out of her mouth were "Ooooh. Pretty."

Christmas Concert at IDS Crystal Court

The fifth grade at Amelia's school does a Christmas/holiday concert every year at the IDS center in Downtown Minneapolis. They have a large court and with the skyway system there is tons of foot traffic through there at lunchtime. Amelia was sooo excited about it and is still talking about how cool it was.

Here's a shot of the whole class from the 2nd floor balcony.


Here's Amelia giving it her all. I think this was while they were singing "Amazing Grace".




Bye now!!

Field Museum Chicago

On Monday this week (December 29) we went to the Field Museum in Chicago. I remember going when I was in grade school (I grew up about 1.5 hours away from it, so it was a usual field trip in grades school). All I remembered from the Field Museum were the stuffed animals. Glad to see they were still there. They have a T-Rex skeleton, and a super lovely building.



I'd like to know when exhibits started all being in the dark, however. One of my daughters had really quite an entirely horrible day because she was a bit spooked by all the exhibits. Every one is now dark, with spotlights on posters and artifacts. I am not happy to have spent all that money and had one of the girls basically clinging and whining all day. However...the other one LOVED it. Amelia wanted to read every poster, see every video, view every artifact. Wow. She just soaked in the Indian exhibits. They have a very nice selection of artifacts of native groups from the Americas...Mayas, Incas, Eskimos, Aztecs, all the "US" groups that Amelia is studying right now in school. So that part of the day made me very happy and made the whole money thing worth it.




Most of the pictures are crappy, I'm not happy with my camera at all. Really. I just cannot figure out the lighting/exposure stuff with it. The flash just is not working for me. I am not a camera idiot. I have taken some very nice pictures in my day and I knew how to handle f-stops and aperatures to get what I wanted. I was much happier with my film SLR. Maybe I just need a point and shoot digital and continue to use the film for pictures I care about. And I know I can post-process a lot of these pictures to improve them. But the point is that I don't have the time to do that (I barely have time to get pictures ordered), and with film I always loved the way they came out. sigh.

New Year's Resolution = More Blogging

I have done a pathetic job of writing anything lately. I usually don't do resolutions, but this year I resolve to blog more. I have to remind myself that it's ok to write even when one feels one does not have something profound to say. Because often what we think is not profound really is, and vice versa...


Little girls waiting for the ball to drop to the bottom!!

Haircuts

Here's my "after"... you can see my "before" in my previous post.

Here is Amelia "after". We cut about 3 inches, just even-ing it up. That 3 inches makes a huge difference in keeping it neat!

And the always shaggy Margaret?

Of course she wanted it short!
Here's the end result!

I voted!

Wow. I need a haircut. It's a fuzzy mess...

If you give a kid a paintbrush....

In a follow-on to my popular "If you give a kid a trophy...". They helped us put the sealant on the deck this past weekend.

Also occuring.. "If you give a kid a screwdriver". We got help putting together an 8 drawer IKEA dresser. I think the younger kid actually figured out how to put one all together by the time we got to #8. No pictures on that one, but I can tell you... after IKEA and deck staining, my arm and shoulder are sore, sore, sore...

Tally Scrapper!!!

Some of you may have noticed the button on my sidebar to a site called "TallyScrapper". It is a great on-line community where I have shared so many of my layouts, as well as made many cyber friends.

Well.... I made the design team for October - December!!! I am so excited, but a bit overwhelmed! The DT at Tally does more than layouts...we are "cheerleaders" for the site and are asked to get involved in all aspects of the site...not just posting layouts. I was already involved quite a bit at the site, so I didn't think it would be tough, but it still has been a bit overwhelming to me. And fun!!!




On October 15, the new monthly kit goes on sale. It is designed by a favorite at Tally (and at many other sites, I'm sure) named Staci Compher. You should check it out if you are a scrapper. They often sell out within hours...so don't delay! Start checking at about 1pm central time..




This was the kit that I received for Design Team. The layouts/projects in this post were done wtih product from the kit. It really is a great kit and I love how the Tally kits always mix new products with some older stuff in a great way!!

If you give a kid a trophy...

Could her smile be any bigger?

This is her coach giving her some personal praise as he was handing out the trophy. He did it for each kid and each one just beamed with pride!

My little girls didn't think this was funny...

but I did.

I was getting kind of tired of finding my tape and scissors and stapler all over the house. It seems to be working...

Risk!

Look what my 7 year old (almost 8 years) did to me.

Yep. She's red. I'll admit to being a bit distracted, but she basically kicked my butt with very little coaching from me. I think I'd rather play Sorry!. Or Scrabble. I think I can still beat her at Scrabble...

First Day of School

Here is Amelia. She is starting 5th grade!! Wow. She is excited to have sponge curler curls in her hair. She is wearing a skirt we made together. She is not looking forward to math homework or doing response journals for reading.


Here is Margaret. She is starting 2nd grade. She is excited to be wearing her "Hannah Montana" outfit. She is also excited to have a calculator, highligher, and red pen in her supplies.



Here they are together.