Self Improvement ... with more thoughts

I found this link embedded in Ali Edwards' newsletter. The site is touting "Freedom From Self Improvement Day".

I am pondering. Some deep thoughts will emerge eventually. Perhaps I will post them.

But I am posting so you can read. And ponder.


UPDATE

"Whatever you are, be a good one."

That's what I think. Self Improvement is good, as long as you are trying to improve you (be a better you) and not be something you're not. Say that you have always loved to read and somehow you just haven't made time for it lately. Setting a goal to read 5x a week would be a good goal. If you don't really like reading, setting a goal to read 5x a week is stupid. Yeah, it could make you a better person, but it be being you?

The thing I like about the above quote is that is says "be a good one" not "act like a good one" or "your actions should show it" etc. It is a quote about being and about self improvement.

Soccer is BACK!!!!

It's here. And my little girl was sooooo excited about soccer that she wanted to skip Daisies so she wouldn't miss a second of the game. We bought her soccer shoes and shorts Sunday night. She had them sitting in a nice pile and couldn't wait to put them on.


Here we are at the start of the game. Too bad that you can't see the shorts. They are really cool. (shiny red)



Here she is after the game... all mud spattered. I have a question for my soccer mom out there. What is the best way to get caked up mud out of cleats? I tried using the cleats on the other to get them out. Then I settled on pounding them together. The pounding? Not so good. I got pretty splattered.







Oh. And here is the big sister. I know she kind of looks like she has a lilac growing out the side of her head, but I love her smile!

Math example

Amelia has a story problem in her math packet each week. This week's had a table with ice cream types (chocolate, vanilla, etc.) and the number of students that liked each type.

You had to make a bar chart of the information, answer some questions (mostly around fractions) and then there was a place to answer "What else does this information tell you?"

Amelia wrote, "Most kids like Chocolate Ice Cream. I like Chocolate too."



Not sure that's what they were going for.

Crocs and the Scary Closet

Well, it took us long enough, but we finally got Crocs. (All the girls in the house, that is.) We were out getting soccer shoes and summer sandals for Margaret. She said, "Look Mom, Crocs." I said, "Would you like some?" YES!!

So we all got them. Pink (Margaret's), Blue (Amelia's) and Green (Mine). They are quite comfortable. Surprisingly so.



And I started on the first box from the scary closet. And it's a scary box. I think because it's in the front is gets miscellaneous memorabilia stuck into it. Anyway, I found Amelia's second grade pictures and could make the cover page of her school album up-to-date.

Thirty Five Pounds!!!

I earned my next 5 pound star at Weight Watchers today! A total of 35 pounds lost. (Good thing I only had about 4 of those Wendy's French Fries last night!)

I was 0.2 pounds short so she had me run to the bathroom, and then take off my watch and socks (in addition to the shoes and cardigan that I had already removed). I was laughing, but it worked!!

Little by little. Now I'll worry about the next 5 pounds. I see lots of walks around Lake Harriet over the next month until it gets too hot. (I'm an exercise wimp, and will use any temperature excuse I can to not walk!)

Yay me!

Do you remember Third Grade?

My older daughter had a poetry morning today at school. Parents were able to come to class at the beginning of day and read through a book of poems our kids had done. Then the kids that wanted to were able to read a poem they wrote.

I enjoyed seeing Amelia's school environment; I enjoyed reading her poems. (I'll have to post a few after she brings home here booklet today. You'll enjoy them, also.) I also enjoyed seeing the classroom and trying to remember what third grade was like.

Here's some pics from this am. (Margaret came along since she is in afternoon kindergarten.)

Tag

I was tagged by the Scraploft gals (I assume it was Sarah...since she reads blogs but never comments on them :-))

I am supposed to give seven random facts or pieces of information about myself and then tag seven folks.

Here goes:

1) I like reading people's answers from these chain information things, and I don't personally mind answering them. But I never pass them along.

2) I have become a pretty decent storyteller. My daughters have been asking for bedtime stories for three years now. They always want me to make up something different. Right now Amelia is into stories where she is a Pokemon healer (like Nurse Joy...if you watch Pokemon).

3) I used to collect a T-shirt from everywhere I visited. Then when I realized I had a giant box of T-shirts that I would never wear I switched to Pins. I have about 50 pins from places I've actually been. (Only started this about 10 years ago)

4) I LOVE the Olympics. Remember awhile back when you could buy the extended coverage. (Red, White and Blue channels)? We did. The coverage was so much better then because you got to watch the competitions and not have to watch 10 minutes of "feel good" stories about the atheletes before each little snippet of sports. My daughter Amelia was born on the day of the opening ceremonies of the Nagano, Japan, Winter Olympics. I remember watching a lot of overnight coverage (again, the good stuff) during the first week. We are considering going to the Olympics in London in 5 years. Time to start saving now!!! We went to the Olympics in Atlanta and it was soooo cool.

5) I think "Princess Bride" is just about the best movie ever made. I could watch it over and over. In fact...I may watch it this weekend. It's been awhile.

"Stop it now, and I mean it"
"Anybody want a peanut?"

(Note... I did get the new GinX paper line called "As You Wish" from Scraploft It's great paper. Best designs I've seen from GinX in awhile.

6) I think analyzing data and doing statistics is way cool. Very fun and the favorite part of my job. It's like a mystery that you get to solve...trying to figure out what is going on.

7) I don't really read much. I think that I think I have too much to do and just can't sit still that long. I end up getting up and doing a load of laundry. Getting up and cleaning something, Getting up and paying bills. I know that I spend a lot of time doing things other than getting things done. Somehow, reading just doesn't raise to the top of the list of things I choose to do when I think I have a moment. This fact surprises most of my friends.


That's all. Now I tag...no one. See fact #1. :-)

Happy Birthday Papa!

Today would be my father's 77th birthday were he still alive. He died 17 years ago at the young age of 60.

I miss my papa. He was a good man. I wish I could see him play with my girls. He would have been an awesome grandpa.

Happy Birthday Dad!

Donna D

I had a really awesome time this weekend at Scrapbooks Too. Donna Downey visited for the weekend and was at the crop on Friday night as well as teaching 5 classes on Saturday.

I was at the crop on Friday night and it was fun to see a few folks I hadn't seen in a while (especially Wendy...it had been ages, girl!) As usual, cropping at the store isn't my favorite. It's so cramped and not as comfortable as my cozy spot at home. However, I did get 7 pages and a Cosmo Cricket lacing card kit done. So I was very productive. Cathy Zielske came along with Donna and was delightful as well. She even called up Alli in Albuquerque on Linda's phone. Left a message. Funny.


I has mixed feelings about attending a class with Donna. I had seen her last year, and it was a bit spendy, but I am SOOOO glad I went.

I attended the last class (Saturday evening at 8:30pm) and she had been teaching since 9am. I think because she was maybe a bit tired and the class was small (maybe 12 of us?) she ended up being very real. She helped me a bit with the design on the inner pages of my album. And she was full of encouragement and little tips. It was a fun three hours creating with Donna.

Here's the cover on the 12x12 album that I made.


The buttons were serendipity. I poured out the jar of buttons on the cover to pick one for the closure. I just loved the way they sat there and decided to embellish with them.

Here's the first page on the inside. We were supposed to pick 12 words...a theme for each page inside. I had picked 12 travel locations and had plans to do a travel album. Donna talked about having the words interplay between pages (because the 8 1/2 x 11 pages inside were staggered so you can see through to the next page or pages). I was wondering about how to interplay place names and Donna suggested adding generic travel words like Journey or Escape. I ended up really loving the results.



I ended up painting another 3 hours on Sunday to finish up all the inner pages. Now I need to add pictures and the plan is for lots of handwriting (journaling and doodling). That should take a bit more time. I will post when it's done, but don't look for it any time soon!

Hope

I was out on my back deck this morning a bit before 7am. I had loaded up my stuff for the crop tonight and was standing there quietly.

There was a symphony of birds. The apple tree and maple tree and lilac bush are starting to push buds. The neighbor's lawn actually looks green (not ours, however).

And I felt some hope. It's been a hard week to have hope. I am easily affected by the afflictions of others. Some days I just can't listen to the news, afraid of what it might bring. So this week I needed some hope.


Thank you birdies.

Found...Baby Stuff!

YES!!!



I knew the closet in which this stuff was housed. The scary closet. The one I haven't de-cluttered. Boxes of negatives. Boxes of memorabilia from my life and from Charlie's and for the girls and from my parents. Heritage photos. Geneology research. School papers. It's the closet I told my husband to save if we ever had a fire. (Like you could save a whole closet.)

I found the box I needed to "start" the baby books. Yes. I have made progress. I was able to work on the books without having the "cover page" done. Without ultrasound pictures or wrist bands or the hospital picture. Years ago I would have been paralyzed if I couldn't work in chronological order.

Perfectionism

I didn't think I was a perfectionist scrapper. I was embracing the "you are perfect just the way you create" mantra. I was whipping out pages left and right. A little crooked? OK. Not exactly the right shade of blue? OK. A mistake in my hand journaling? OK.


Then came the baby album. I just started working on Amelia's "Baby Album". And perfectionism has reared its ugly head. This is a special album. Somehow it needs to be better and perfect.

Or so says the little voice in my head every time I start a page. "Oh. This is her first bath. It needs to be special" "Oh. This is her first smile. It needs to be special." "Oh. This is the first time I took pictures of her with carrots on her face. It needs to be special." Blah Blah Blah.


OK. On to other things.


Normally I don't like to share bookclub pages until bookclub, but I wanted to share my first "old paper" page. I like it. I have one other old paper idea in my head. Hey! Maybe I'll do another!

(Note to Minda...ok, I hear ya'. Yeah, I did cut out the stem and leaf freehand.)




And in the interest of equal time. Here is a page from Margaret's "Baby Book". I did this at CJ's, but don't think I had posted it yet.



Back to struggle with the little voice in my head...

Old Paper

I have a scrapbooking challenge this month to find the oldest piece of scrapbook paper I have and scrap it. If it's just too ugly to scrap with, then I'm supposed to throw it away and use the next oldest.

I am 99% sure I found the oldest patterned paper in my stash.



Whaddya' think? Is that it? I'll bet YOU have some paper just like it in your stash. I DARE you to use it. It comes in 10" X 12". Maybe that will help you remember where it came from (if it doesn't haunt you every time you look at your first album already).


Oh, and I found these other "vintage" pieces. Many of these might look good in my baby album.




Or, maybe not.

The San Francisco Zoo

On our first day in San Francisco, we went to the Zoo. They have a wonderful zoo. They are doing a lot of renovation, and it has changed quite a bit in the 18 years since we lived there (imagine that! Change over 18 years)

Charlie's sister and her granddaughter came along with us. My girls loved their little cousin.


My favorite exhibit is their gorilla exhibit. The gorillas live together in a family setting. We got to see antics, including this pose by the large male of the family.






We had fun watching these grizzly bears fight. It's always fun when the animals are active.




Here are some miscellaneous animal photos. Gotta love the 300 lens (that is actually like a 450 on my digital). I wish I had taken my tripod with me.








Of course we found the park at the end. LenaRose is a swing monster. It was fun to watch her.



Some beautiful flower displays, also.


I would love to spend a week of days at that zoo with my camera and tripod and time to sit and sit and sit and watch the animals. It is fun to watch the girls react to the animals, but sometimes it is fun to move at MY pace.

Because of all the renovation, we missed seeing elephants, sea lions, and we couldn't see much at the chimpanzee exhibit (another place I could sit and watch for hours). I am looking forward to going back again to see all the new great things they have done!

Miscellaneous

Taxes are done. I just like to have them sit overnight before submitting. I'll likely get them in tomorrow. (Busy night tonight!)


And remember my post about my losing things? Well... I hvae found a bunch of stuff lately.


The work badge? Found in my second purse. I swear I had looked in it four or five times. Found it the day after getting my new badge.


The make-up? A victim of clutter and decluttering in my bedroom. I found it in a box next to my dresser where I had some old clothes collecting to give away. Found it four days after buying new make-up (Hey. I have two sets now!)


The gloves? I lost a nice pair of Land's End gloves my mom sent for Christmas. They were warm and lightweight. Perfect for cold April mornings. I lost them in the middle of March and was really bummed because I loved the color and the warmth and the good quality. I found them Thursday in a zippered pocket of my nice coat. I didn't even realize the pocket existed.


The gift certificate? I had a gift certificate to a nice meat market in Linden Hills. We meant to redeem it for various special occasions. Never could find it when I wanted it. I found it Friday in among my tax stuff. (taxes = money = gift certificates. I'm sure it made sense when I put it there). Charlie bought us some delicious, tender steaks for our easter dinner. (The certificate expired April 17, so I found it just in time!)


I really am trying to de-clutter, and the house is much, much better than it was a few years ago, but I still struggle with paper clutter. One of my daughters is a collector (you know what I mean if you have one), and it is hard to keep her collections from intertangling with mine. Which makes for an even more tangled mess.
20 minutes at a time (ala' Fly Lady) it is getting tamed. But I suspect it is just something I'll have to deal with forever.

In Christ Alone

In Christ Alone
Words and Music by Keith Getty and Stuart Townend.
(You need to find the Music to this if you don't know it. This is an awesome hymn!
And read the fourth verse several times. Powerful, powerful words!)


In Christ alone, my hope is found, He is my light, my strength, my song;
this cornerstone, this solid ground, firm through the fiercest drought and storm.
What heights of love, what depths of peace,
when fears are stilled, when stivings cease,
My comforter, my all in all, here in the love of Christ I stand.


In Christ alone, who took on flesh, fullness of God in helpless Babe!
This gift of love and righteousness, scorned by the ones He came to save.
'Til on that cross as Jesus died, the wrath of God was satisfied.
For ev'ry sin on Him was laid; here in the death of Christ I stand.

There in the ground, His body lay, Light of the world by darkness slain,
then bursting forth in glorious day, up from the grave He rose again!
And as He stands in victory, sin's curse has lost its grip on me
for I am His and He is mine, bought with the precious blood of Christ

No guilt in life, no fear in death, this is the pow'r of Christ in me;
from life's first cry to final breath, Jesus commands my destiny.
No pow'r of hell, no schemes of man,
can ever pluck me from His hand;
'til He returns or calls me home, here in the pow'r of Christ I'll stand.


A Blessed Easter to all of you!

Let's all Procrastinate!

My list of items to do this weekend is very short. Now that Charlie is off buying items for our simple Easter Dinner, all I have left to do that REALLY needs to be done is taxes. I kind of wish some of the other items that need to be done around the house had deadlines like that. Once a year.So you really can't put them off.


The taxes are almost done; i just need to review our charitable deductions an check the whole thing.


So what have I done instead? Clean the kitchen. Including cleaning out the refrigerator and washing the shelves in there, and cleaning out the bread door.


Now I'm going to blog.

One other high item for the weekend is to get pictures from California printed. It will take a lot of time to upload them, so I want to get it started and just let it run while I do something else. (Other than taxes, of course)
I suppose I'll print between 100 and 200. (At least). Plus some enlargements for the grandparents

The other item high on my list for the weekend is scrapping. I am trying to save that as a reward for completing taxes. My topic for the weekend is baby albums. Yep. I've never done baby albums for the girls. My Pine Cone Press Bookclub book this month is Babies, so I decided to jump in.

I found the albums I had purchased for baby albums. First I had some Creative Memories albums, then these K&Co.


Part of me says...just use the K&Co albums. They are pretty, even if they are a bit dated. Part of me wants to get rid of every post bound album I have. I just don't like the way they lay and sit on shelves. Still contemplating and welcoming your advice.


I also plan to scrap kits over the next month. I have a few kits leftover from bookclub and some that I've purchased (Coordinate Collections and Jenni Bowlin). I thought I would just pull them out one and at time and use them for as many pages as I can and then move on to the next kit.






So... on to take a shower and take the girls to the library (our new Saturday morning tradition). Then I think I'll do a scrapbook page. And THEN do the taxes.


Yeah. Right...

Internet Withdrawal

So on my vacation, I learned that not every household has a fast computer with a fast internet connection. My dear SIL is a case in point. They have a home computer, but it is of the slower variety and their DSL is not blazing either.

It ended up being too much of a pain to get to the internet.

So I went FIVE days without e-mail and blogs. I felt disconnected and disoriented. I am still catching up on blogs. (Thank goodness I could count on Sue's blog to not have been updated during that time period. One less blog to catch up on.)

I'm not sure I like the fact that I am addicted to the internet. And I'm sure I won't be giving it up for Lent anytime soon. (especially since Lent is almost over for this year :-) )

Santa Cruz

On Monday (April 2) we didn't have firm plans. We thought about going into the city to ride cable cars, but decided to go to Santa Cruz, instead. I am so glad we did.




The boardwalk was open, but not busy.

Here are Margaret and Amelia "measuring up" to see what rides they could go on.



Here's a view of the old wooden roller coaster, The Giant Dipper, I think.



Here's a view of the beach from the sky ride.



The beach was sunny (cool breeze and cold water for sure).



We drove back on Highway 1 north to Half Moon Bay and then across to the San Mateo Bridge.

Pictures don't do this scenery justice, but here is a nice one.


Here are some Sea Lions we found lounging in the sun off of Pescadero Point.



Lovely day.

The snow is flying in Minneapolis

We arrived back safely from San Francisco an hour ago or so.

Yesterday I was getting sunburned on the beach in Santa Cruz.

Today in Minneapolis it is snowing.


It was absolutely gorgeous the entire time we were in San Francisco. I have a lot of pictures to sort through; I will likely get a few posted tomorrow.

I have been without internet since last Wednesday. Can anyone say withdrawal?