I have been meaning to read The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks for months and months and months but never got around to doing it. So when it was chosen for book club recently, I decided it was a sign and I finally got the audio files so I could listen to it while I worked or did art.
I’m so glad I finally did. The story of Henrietta Lacks and history of privacy and tissue samples and scientific revolutions is completely fascinating. Rebecca Skloot weaves the story and the science together beautifully, captivating the reader and making her think at the same time.
I really really enjoyed this one and recommend it.
week 1:Defining Your Unique Self: this week is a lot of journaling, figuring out who you are. I don’t mind journaling at all so I enjoyed this exercise a lot. You can also work on the cover of your journal this week. So here’s mine:
all The Girls’ Paperie products. I talk about it more in the movie below.
week2 is mostly about how these pages end up as tabs in your journal. Here’s a look at mine:
week 2 is also about your mission statement. here’s one of my mission statement pages:
week 3 is setting goals and the vision board. here’s my vision board:
week 4 is minefields: real and imagined obstacles and fears, things that stop you from getting your goals achieved. I don’t have a photo of my art journal but I show it in the video.
week 5 is about rules and how you make decisions in your life. This is a fantastic tool. I talk about it a bit in the video, too. All about how you decide what to do and what not to do. how you use your time and energy. Which is, of course all that matters.
And week 6 is about creating small and bigger tasks to do to achieve your goals/live the life you want so that you can take actionable steps towards them all the time.
This class is an ongoing process. It will take much more than six weeks to complete. But I think it’s worth the effort and I found the class to be extremely valuable.
And finally, I made a little movie to show you my book and tell you a bit more about the class. Please bear in mind, these are my thoughts and opinions. As always, your mileage may vary.
Feel free to ask any questions in the comments and I will do my best to reply. As I work on this more throughout the year, I might come and tell you more, too.
This is one of the projects I did for Authentique Paper for CHA Summer.
Journaling Reads:
Sweet little boy sometimes when i try to take photos of you, you give me the stink eye because I am not giving you what you want at that moment. but even your stink eye is so very cute. I love you.
Quiet day today even though I went to work for lunch and had to coordinate with Jake and then David went to a playdate so I barely had time to snap photos. But I got one of Nathaniel with his beloved blankie.
And then I tried to get another photo but he wouldn’t accomodate.
despite all my acrobatics, this was the best I got.
when David came back, I snapped one of him. He was considerably more accommodating. This is one of my favorite photos of him.
I am starting to believe that maybe the peace I crave so deeply is becoming more and more a part of my life. I don’t want to say it out loud in fear I might jinx it but I do feel peaceful lately. I feel like I am working on goals I’d like to work on. I am trying to read, exercise, do art, spend time with my family, journal, scrap, and of course work. I do almost all of them every single day. I also rest.
I am learning to find ways to deal with my weaknesses instead of putting myself down for them. I ask for help when I need it and I don’t worry about looking bad. I pay attention to how things turn out so I can remind myself next time I find myself leaning towards worrying. I let myself off the hook more than I used to. I work with my strengths and don’t fight my shortcomings. I try not to beat myself up as much as I used to. I am learning that I am exactly who I need to be. I will work on things slowly because I want to but not because I need to and not because I have to.
I am also trying to be more patient with myself. Not needing to know the answers right away. Waiting for things to unravel slowly and take me down their path instead of designating the path each time.
And finally, I’ve been thinking about the fall and working with my kids’ schedules. David starts a new school. So does Nathaniel. Their schedules will mean coordinating new nap times (Nathaniel), exercise time (me), moving some meetings around, and making sure I am there to support them through possibly some big transitions (especially for Nathaniel but also for David since it’s a new school and new friends.) It will also mean trying to figure out how to do my work efficiently with this new schedule, especially since my work will get considerably busier right on the same day my kids go back to school. While all this really stressed me out for a few days, I decided to just let it go. I planned a bit and then I set up some help in case things go unexpectedly. And then I told myself I needed to let go and enjoy all the days between now and then. That’s that.
So I’m working on it. I think I’m truly embracing my word this year.
Three Things I’m Grateful For:
1. I am grateful for a nice lunch at work.
2. I am grateful that I will meet my friend Holly at a bookstore tonight.
3. I am grateful for a few more weeks of summer.
Three Things David’s Grateful For:
1. I am grateful that I watched Harry Potter at Ece’s house. * {his pick for the journal}
2. I am grateful that I traced my Pokemon cards.
3. I am grateful that I played with my legos.
Well the calm, peaceful days continue here. I love love love them. I love how Nathaniel plays right next to me. Creating his own lego constructions.
And David played for hours with his legos today.
He wanted to be in his room so he could spread out and do what he likes. I went up there to snap a photo.
and then around dinner time, they get to watch a bit of a movie. This is a terrible photo, I know, but it’s just to give you context for the next one.
nothing like tiny toes that sneak out of the covers.
Love my boys. Love these peaceful days. Feeling wistful since I know the fall, school and more chaotic schedules are coming up really soon. Alas, time moves and we move with it. The goal for now is just to enjoy these blissful days while they are here.
Three Things I’m Grateful For:
1. I am grateful for getting a ton of work done today. Feeling more organized and in control.
2. I am grateful for giving myself permission to skip Nathaniel’s class today. I feel too much guilt with those decisions but today I let myself off the hook.
3. I am grateful for being in the “can’t put down” part of my novel. I love when I get to this place in a book where I am completely absorbed in the story and really cannot wait to read more.
Three Things David’s Grateful For:
1. I am grateful that I played with my Legos. * {his pick for the journal}
2. I am grateful that I watched Stuart Little.
3. I am grateful that I came up with a few lego designs.
In June, I had the honor of guest designing with Little Yellow Bicycle’s Sweet Summertime collection. Here is one of my layouts:
Journaling Reads:
My sweet boys, i know summer can be a lot of work for a work at home mommy like me and i am trying o make sure you have a lot to do so that I can work without interruption as much as possible. But I am also looking forward to summer so much because it means David will be home everyday and I can watch the two of you play together. That is my very favorite thing to do lately. It makes me feel so very grateful and deeply happy.
And some details:
Happy Sunday. This morning, I exercised and then it was family photos time. I now snap a few as I set up.
That’s how I get these gems.
See Nathaniel crying? (cause he didn’t have the remote.)
and then getting antsy. He did not want to sit still today.
so we started the tickles early.
but even that was more challenging today so we just took a few. you have to go with the flow with these.
Then David went up to his room to play and Nathaniel lined up the legos.
One fell so he grabbed it.
I just love the way he’s so focused.
And I love that he loves playing with legos.
After a bunch of surfing and reading and napping, I finally got up to sketch and do some art. I love that Nathaniel read next to me while I worked.
And David finally decided to grace us with his presence so I snapped a shot of him, too.
Then it was dinner time and family night time. We played the Dino Math game my sister sent me (thank you Yona!) and then a few rounds of Boggle. Now the kids are doing their bedtime playing and I am going to have a little more snuggle time with Jake before he leaves for a dinner. My plans tonight involve either reading or doing some art, I haven’t decided yet. Maybe both?
Three Things I’m Grateful For:
1. I am grateful for a super-relaxed day even though I didn’t get any of my todo list done.
2. I am grateful for family night.
3. I am grateful for a few more hours on this Sunday night.
Three Things David’s Grateful For:
1. I am grateful that we have family night. * {his pick for the journal}
2. I am grateful that I played connect four with daddy.
3. I am grateful that I played with my legos.
David says:
I gave this story five stars because I liked the story was an adventure and we kept hoping Lina and Doon would find the other city and they did.
I thought it was sad that Ember was so dark all the time. And that they were running out of food. I didn’t like that the mayor was stealing from his people and hiding things in the room. It was also sad that the lights flickered so often.
I thought it was nice that Lina took Poppy along in the end. I liked how she was clever enough to run away from the Mayor. I liked Doon’s bug book. I liked that Doon cared about the city and wanted to find a way to save everyone. I thought it was great that they together found the way out. I think because they found a clever way to get the instructions to Ember and Ms. Murdo found them, they will get to get out.
Reading a book a week with my six-year-old son David is a weekly project for 2011. You can read more about it here.
Our day started with exercise and then family shots.
The little boy wasn’t looking at the camera.
Then he was obsessed with my watch.
even when I got him off that, he still wouldn’t look.
so we just gave up and called it tickle time.
during which no one looks at the camera.
Then there was naps, art journaling, wii, sketching, and when Nathaniel woke up, I tried to get him to let me take a photo. This is what he did.
I told him there was a bird behind me and snapped one more.
His older brother was much more accommodating.
We made a trip to the grocery store and filled the fridge with fruits and salads and protein. Then the kids took their baths and now I am off to read to Nathaniel and then it’s Jake and Karen cuddle time. Yey for lovely Saturdays.
Three Things I’m Grateful For:
1. I am grateful that I made an art journal page.
2. I am grateful for Bones which is what I watch when I sketch and do art journaling.
3. I am grateful for cuddle time with my awesome hubby.
Three Things David’s Grateful For:
1. I am grateful that I Lego Star Wars, Clone Wars on my Wii * {his pick for the journal}
2. I am grateful that it was Wii day.
3. I am grateful that I got a candy at the store.
jake
Jake had a great week. Some important meetings and big potential possibilities. It’s amazing how resourceful and bold he can be. I am so awed by him and so proud of him. I pray every day that his business becomes exactly what he wishes it to be because I truly do not know anyone more deserving. This is truly his passion and he puts his all into it. He spent a day in Marin and one in Berkeley and a lot of time down here with the interns. He even worked at home one morning so I could go have breakfast at work. I love him so.
karen
It was a relatively uneventful week for me. I did a lot of work and some art journaling and sketching. I’ve made some changes in my food intake and routine. I read a book from start to finish. I took Christy’s Color Inspiration class and watched all of her videos while I exercised. I did a bunch of journaling (though not as much as I would have liked to.) and I spent time practicing multiplication tables with David and reading to him. We read a lovely book called The World According to Humphrey. All in all, a peaceful and wonderful week.
david
David has been playing with legos. I think they give him more joy than anything. Even more than the Wii or the computer. When he’s on the computer, he looks at galleries of what others have built with legos and gets ideas for his own creations. He’s doing excellent at the multiplication tables. He has also changed his handwriting so it’s super-tidy and really a joy to look at. His swimming and soccer are both improving. Last week we checked out a few books from the library and he’s already finished several including Alvin Ho. I love that boy madly.
nathaniel
Nathaniel is completely obsessed with a library book called Dig. He asks me to read it to him every time he goes for a nap or down for the night. It’s his very favorite thing. I read and he points at the photos and tells me the name of things. It’s one of my very favorite moments of the day. I might have to end up buying the book.
Oh how I adore them. All is well here. Quiet. I am playing with my kids, watching movies together, walking, art journaling, reading. All around wonderful days. I wish you a super-awesome weekend.
Three Things I’m Grateful For:
1. I am grateful for smiley-face photos.
2. I am grateful for a lovely book.
3. I am grateful for a quiet weekend.
Three Things David’s Grateful For:
1. I am grateful that I had a private soccer class * {his pick for the journal}
2. I am grateful that I watched a movie.
3. I am grateful that I played with my legos.
