« March 2005 | Main | May 2005 »
I have been missing because I was working on Photoshoping my brother's wedding photos so I can give them a My Publisher Book. Since I was the photographer for their wedding, they did not get a professional album, so I had fun photo editing (using a lot of Midnight Sepia). I even made a few of the poor quality photos looks pretty darn cool. I had it bound in black leather and I am so excited to see the final results.
Shopping with my mom and buying this:
Finding out that my friends, Pat and Melissa, may be moving (temporarily ::whew:::) to London (just long enough for Bob and I to visit them in the fall). Melissa below:
Sosa, decides to "Chill" on the new furniture....it is HERS you know...
How can I resist? We seriously bought leather because it is easier to clean off the dog hair...
...but they are "my girls" and I love em'..hair and all!
Do you love movies? Have you ever checked out this site? Rotten Tomatoes. Whenever I am deciding on a movie to go to or rent, I usually check out this site first. It tallies all of the published critical reviews from major newspapers to specialty zines, and then averages the reviews together to get a rating. 60% or better receives a fresh rating and under 60% is rotten. I still go to crappy movies from time to time, but at least I have a general idea of what I am getting into after reading the site.
Last movie watched in a theater: National Treasure (2nd run)
Last movie paid full price: Sideways
I am not kidding! I know...I know... There seems like there are much more important things to read than kids books, but I am telling you, if you haven't read any YA fiction (other than Harry Potter) in the last twenty years and/or you think of Judy Blume when I mentioned the genre...you need to give it another try! I was recommended this book, Touching Spirit Bear, on Friday by a friend of mine. She told me to read it aloud to my 10th graders. I am doing that, but I found I couldn't put it down today, and I finished it this evening! It is a beautiful novel about anger and forgiveness, sin and redemption. Read it to your kids...read it yourself. You will love it!
Conferences are over, photography class is over, my scrapping obligations are temporarily over and grading is on hold for a couple of days. AHHHHH. Can you hear my sigh of relief? Unfortunately I had the toughest conferences ever this time around. I am not sure why. I know I must be discreet, but let me at least say that one of the parents questioned me about 1 point. I took 1 point off her daughters assignment and she felt that I should not have done so. ::::sigh:::::. Does that give you an idea of the type of meetings I had? On a different note, it was very difficult because one of my students, Joe, has a brother in the hospital because of a bar fight. His mother came to conferences and told me the extent of his injuries St Cloud Times. As of today, I understand Joe's brother will be taken off from life support.
OK, sorry for the scanty downer posts. I will be back to normal tomorrow, and I will find something fun and lighthearted to post about! I promise!
OK, I noticed that a lot of scrapbookers have done a "signs of spring" blog post. I love spring, so I am going to jump on the bandwagon; however, I live in Minnesota, and
there were NOT any signs of spring until two days ago! We have no pretty flowers blooming in our gardens or baskets hanging from our front porches. We are just glimpsing the more subtle signs of spring as the frost leaves the ground and the lakes are moving towards "ice out" status. The snow is rapidly melting (just a grimy dirty little patch persists against the pine tree line in our backyard) Most importantly we have BUDS! Now, sometimes buds get a little bit of an head start by an early thaw, but this year they stayed dormant until we had plenty of "warmish" days. I took some photos in my backyard for a photography class assignment. I caught these small signs of life. The long hard winter is finally vanquished.
In typical Midwestern fashion...I am not comfortable tooting my own horn. Of course, like most human beings, deep down I want "the love." There is that fine line between self-esteem and self-promotion...between confidence and vanity...between celebrating and gloating, and growing up a good German/Catholic girl these little nuances plague me.
So, in accordance with my prescribed upbringing, I guess I would like to announce (and I am not trying to be vain or anything...I just thought you may like to know) that I won this scrapbooking contest thing. I know it is just a scrapbooking contest, but it is not like the scrapbooking that you think of right away (not that there is anything wrong with a different type of scrapbooking), but my scrapbooking is more like graphic art...sorta. Anyway, see, it is this contest that is a really big deal in the scrapping world, so I totally understand if you don't think it is a big deal, but it it this contest called Creating Keepsakes Hall of Fame, and I was one of the 25 winners...so I am considered one of the top scrapbookers in the land (or at least of those that entered...I am sure that there are a TON of people who are better and did not enter...oh yeah, and there are a TON of people who entered who are equally as talented...it was just the luck of the draw.) So anyway, it is pretty cool, I guess. It is not like it is a big deal or anything...I just...well...feel pretty good about it...you know...
How was that? Not too vain? Am I too "full of myself?" I wouldn't want that! ;-) ;-p
OK...in reality...it is satisfying to actually accomplish one of those "lifetime goals." Winning Creating Keepsake's Hall of Fame is one of those goals that I never thought I would accomplish, but I thought it was a nice goal to set for myself...a dream. Three years ago, when I first entered, I thought about how cool I would be if I won that contest. I dreamed of the opportunities I would be handed and the prestige that those around me would acknowledge. So, three years later, and I won! I WON! I WON, I WON, I WON!!!!! (just had to get that out) But, I am not any cooler. I am a little more confident, but I am painfully aware of how fickle the "industry" is, and after working at my LSS, I realize that there is really only a small segment of the population who know what Hall of Fame is and assign any prestige to it. So, in other words, I am a better scrapbooker than I was three years ago. I was lucky enough that the "powers-that-be" thought my style worked with the "vision" for the next year (and it may not be fresh by the time the magazine even comes out), and most of the people I personally know are happy for me, but few people beyond that know or care about some"scrapbooking contest."
No, I am not bitter...not at all, and I really am proud of myself. I like the fact that I am able to put this contest into perspective. I hope that it opens doors for me. I love that this contest has allowed me to get to know some fantastic women in the past and now in the present, but I know it is not the be-all/end-all. I accomplished a goal...now it is on to the next one.
Of course I am not THAT level headed about the whole thing.... every time I think about the fact I actually won, I think
..and yes, that is how I REALLY feel! Some days it is good to be me...(now, if I catch you whispering behind my back...)
| Sun | Mon | Tue | Wed | Thu | Fri | Sat |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 |
| 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 |
| 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | 21 |
| 22 | 23 | 24 | 25 | 26 | 27 | 28 |
| 29 | 30 |
WARNING: This is a slideshow I created that contains images of my 22 week old son, who passed soon after these photos were taken. Thank you to Heather Lombardo at NILMDTS for these amazing images.
