I had to read The Post-Birthday World for a new book club I am in the process of joining. It was my first novel by Lionel Shriver and it was really really long.
And it was terrible.
The premise of the book was quite fascinating and had promise but the actual book was not good. The entire premise relied on the fact that I would like the characters or at least that I would care about them, about what happens to them. But in this case I couldn’t care less about the main character if I tried. I had no feelings towards her which made this book way more cumbersome than any novel should ever be.
I don’t think I will be reading another one by her after all. For me, it was that bad.
Today started on a really badly. Nathaniel woke up at 5:10am and I felt like I didn’t get sleep all night. Likely I only got an hour or two. And I couldn’t get out of the funk all day. I did the invitation for Cheryl and she liked it (yey!) and then the day just dragged here and there. Nathaniel was so tried he whined loudly and kept crying so I had to put him down which meant David missed school and of course that messed stuff up, too.
But the kids did play together.
And I adore watching them play together.
Seeing how curious the little boy is.
And how kind the big one is.
And they are rough housing already. I shudder to think what will happen when they are older.
My sweet, sweet boy.
And later I tried to get them to relax but it lasted for about 4 minutes.
Our neighbor came over with her son for a bit and then Nathaniel started melting down so I put him down and I am doing this so I can get ready for book club tonight. And now gotta work hard for the next hour before they get here so I can get some BPS work done.
Note to Self:
This process of making a list of things to do and then doing them for the month seems to be working so far. I know it’s only been two days but I am already thinking of all the items on my list and figuring plans for how to move them forward. It will be interesting to see if this whole month works as I hope.
Three Things I’m Grateful For:
1. Doing some more crochet. Getting the hang of it now.
2. Finishing Cheryl’s invitation. I wanted to make sure I could help her. I love Cheryl and I am so happy I can do something for her, even if so small.
3. I am thankful for how well my kids play together.
Two Things David’s Grateful For:
1. mommy (yey!).
2. my whole house!
3. also my daddy.
Catalyst One Hundred and Thirteen is: Who were your favorite relatives?
Thoughts:
Besides my grandmother, whom I wrote about a few weeks ago (and my grandfather whom I also captured in a previous catalyst), my favorite relative was my uncle Lory (my grandmother’s brother). He was always so much fun and so interested in what I said and what I did. I could tell he was genuinely present when we were together. I have always loved him and I miss him terribly.
Nathaniel had been waking up at 6am for the last three days so I was hoping this meant that he had moved his schedule. But, I find out this morning that I was not so lucky. 5:10am and he was crying. So, reluctantly I got up from bed and dragged myself to his room. Which definitely didn’t start my day on a sad note, but then something amazing happened. At 5:30 my phone rang. After I got really scared, I answered it and it turned out it was Margie Romney-Aslett calling me to give me amazing news! I was so shell-shocked I think I didn’t say anything about how excited I really was. If you’re reading this Margie, I am so sorry! I absolutely adore Girls’ Paperie and I am so excited and honored to have the opportunity to design for them.
Yey!
So that turned my day of course. Then I sat down and did my book cover and a little bit of my BPS class project while Nathaniel played. I was stunned to take this shot because his face here looks exactly like David at that age.
After we dropped off David, I worked, Nathaniel napped and then we went to pick him up, ate lunch and I got back to work. David drew some pictures and I acted all scared (those are ghosts and dynamites there.)
Then the two of them started to play together. I know these photos are crooked but they are so much fun.
And here’s Nathaniel actually playing peek-a-boo all on his own. We were both shocked when he did this.
After the kids went down, I finished my BPS project and now I am off to work on some more BPS work.
Note to Self:
I’ve been feeling really grateful and peaceful lately. I still remember those bunch of blah days a few months ago and now that I have the opposite, I am trying to ride it as long as it’s here. I feel driven, excited, motivated and inspired. I don’t stress much, I sing a lot, I smile, I hug my kids, I create without too many conversations in my head (a bunch but not so much that it drowns me like it usually does.) and I get work done and try to not let that stress me out either. I love my family, my parents, my husband, my kids, my sister and everything. I feel like that girl Jessica in the YouTube video. (here’s the link again cause you can never watch this enough.) Just full of love and happiness. May it last as long as possible.
Three Things I’m Grateful For:
1. Girls’ Paperie of course! What a wonderful first manufacturer to work for, I am thrilled and grateful.
2. I am so grateful to work from home and get to watch my kids run around and laugh while I work. It’s a true luxury.
3. Grateful for Glee tonight!
Two Things David’s Grateful For:
1. daddy daddy daddy of course.
2. playing legos with daddy.
As soon as I saw this awesome project I knew I was going to be making it. I love my book reader and use it every single day so it only makes sense that it looks prettier for me. And I love that this project is so simple.
The hardest part was picking my fabric. Since this reader travels with me everywhere, I didn’t want to make the cover very light so it doesn’t get dirty but I still wanted it to feel nice to the touch. After hours of deliberation, I picked my fabrics and got to work.
Just a few minutes later, I was done and then stitched a “k” on it too so I’d know where the cover is and so it can make me smile.
and here it is sitting on my desk. Isn’t it awesome.
Yey. Makes me happy.
Since I just finished making 31 layouts in a row, one might be inclined to think that it’s time to take a break and that I might not be interested in seeing another layout or pretty paper anytime soon.
Not so.
I have a lot to say about having done Layout a Day in May but that’s coming Saturday. But one of the things I discovered during this project is that I have two sections in my day where I practice what I call “killing time.” This happens early in the morning from 5:30-7:30 and at night from around 6:30-8:30. During both of these times I am really tired (physically and often mentally, too.) and I just lie on the couch and either surf blogs, facebook, or watch TV. I don’t do anything productive. And I’ve also noticed that the more I do an unproductive activity, the harder it is to get out of the funk.
During May, instead of spending my morning lulling around. I’d nurse Nathaniel and then get right to work. And in the last two weeks, because I’ve been working on my BPS class, I’ve been spending the nights writing up my lessons. And it’s been great. I produce more and I whine less and I feel less frustrated. I then read for an hour or two after 8:30 and go to sleep.
So I decided I wanted to try this for June, too and see if I can keep it up. I made this long list of things I needed and/or wanted to get done and mostly randomly assigned them to dates in June. Some are writing, some are art, some are sewing, etc. Just a collection of things I want to get done. Some of them I will share while I am doing them and others, I will share when the time comes. But in the name of making myself accountable and having the list in an easily accessible place, I thought I’d share it right here.
Dates and projects might move around but this is my plan:
- June 1
- Morning: Sew cover for book reader (done)
- Evening: Finish project for BPS class (done)
- June 2
- Morning: Invitations for Cheryl (done)
- Evening: promo materials for BPS class (done)
- June 3
- Morning: Cross-stitched hearts (done)
- Evening: Record BPS audio for weeks 1 and 2 (done)
- June 4
- Morning: A Million Memories June Kit LO 1 (done)
- Evening: Record BPS audio for weeks 3 and 4 (done)
- June 5
- Morning: A Million Memories June Kit LO 2 (done)
- Evening: Put together BPS trigger emails, weekly emails weekly descriptions, project PDF and anything else I need (done)
- June 6
- Morning: A Million Memories June Kit LO 3 (done)
- Evening: Creative therapy catalyst 114 (done)
- June 7
- Morning: A Million Memories June Kit LO 4 (done)
- Evening: Creative therapy catalyst 115 (done)
- June 8
- Morning: Ali Edwards Summer Layout & BPS project 1 (done)
- Evening: Write up steps for BPS project (done)
- June 9
- Morning: BPS Project 2 (done)
- Evening: Creative therapy catalyst 116 (done)
- June 10
- Morning: BPS Project 3 (done)
- Evening: Creative therapy catalyst 117 (done)
- June 11
- Morning: Counting Bean Bags (done)
- Evening: Creative therapy catalyst 118 (done)
- June 12
- Morning: Crochet a doily & butterfly (done)
- Evening: Creative therapy catalyst 119 (done)
- June 13
- Morning: Order Nathaniel baby photos (done) and Weekly Gratitude photos (done) for printing and Create detailed plans and weekly schedule for BPS class for 2011 (done)
- Evening: Creative therapy catalyst 120 (done)
- June 14
- Morning: Fabric balls (done)
- Evening: Creative therapy catalyst 121 (done)
- June 15
- Morning: do a layout for MME blog (done)
- Evening: Creative therapy catalyst 122 (done)
- June 16
- Morning: create digital downloads for June, July, August (not done. decided not to do)
- Evening: Creative therapy catalyst 123 (done)
- June 17
- Morning: Booties (not sure if i can do this one) (done)
- Evening: Creative therapy catalyst 124 (done)
- June 18
- Morning: Watch Carriker’s portraits lesson 3 (done)
- Evening: Creative therapy catalyst 125 (done)
- June 19
- Morning: Watch Carriker’s portraits lesson 4 (done)
- Evening:Creative therapy catalyst 126 (not done)
- June 20
- Morning: Crochet necklace with beads (done)
- Evening: Create Weekly Gratitude art for July and August (July done, August done, September done)
- June 21
- Morning: Put together Weekly Gratitude Album (done)
- Evening: Carriker portraits lesson 5 (done)
- June 22
- Morning:Camera strap for new camera (coming Saturday)
- Evening: Schedule books I’ve read to blog (done)
- June 23
- Morning: Fabric Keychain (done)
- Evening: Schedule upcoming weekly gratitude art to blog (done)
- June 24
- Morning: Monster chunks (done)
- Evening: Schedule upcoming 52 things to blog (done)
- June 25
- Morning: Make a flower ring (done)
- Evening: Schedule upcoming creative therapy to blog (done)
- June 26
- Morning: Put together and finish Nathaniel’s baby album (done)
- Evening: Sew something for myself (done)
- June 27
- Morning: Create a Zentangle (done)
- Evening: Write a letter to someone I admire (not done)
- June 28
- Fingerless Gloves (done)
- Evening: Painting for me or Crochet borders on a layout/page etc. (done)
- June 29
- Morning: Fabric basket (done)
- Evening: Art for Leila (done)
- June 30
- Morning: Wreath (done)
- Evening: Art for Yona (done)
I will likely move this schedule around in the next week or so. I can already see some things I want to move back and forth but here we are, this is the list anyway. I’ll add links etc. later today/this week and link to my creations as I post them.
June, here I come!
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projects for twenty twenty-five
projects for twenty twenty-four
projects for twenty twenty-three
projects for twenty twenty-two
projects for twenty twenty-one
projects for twenty nineteen
projects for twenty eighteen
projects from twenty seventeen
monthly projects from previous years
some of my previous projects
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