A View of Lisa's World

whew!

I passed my test. I can't really describe how good it feels to have that off of my mind. Seriously. Now, when I hit my deadlines for Amy...I'll really be sitting pretty!

Productive....

I have to say, as I sit here on Sunday night I'm feeling like it was a pretty darn productive weekend. I got 4 layouts done...and we cleaned the house from top to bottom...and I mean cleaned. Things have been going well since the break up but today was big deep cleaning day and we did a bang up job if I do say so.

Every room was done except for my scrap space, which is continually a disaster, and when I'm on deadline and creating a lot, the disaster takes on epic proportions. For a long time that room had been half work space and half scrap space. When I moved my work out to the front of our house, I didn't do anything new in the scrap room. We kept the old work space for the desktop computer (which Todd would play on since all of my work is laptop based now) and I went about my business. Eventually I still hope to move my whole scrap space so I haven't wanted to spend a lot of energy on it in its current location. So I've just been plugging along.

Well last night I was chatting with Miss Nora and we were discussing her possible studio move within her house etc. I was complaining that my table is just too dang small and all of my stuff falls on the floor. She commented on how great L and U shapes are. All of a sudden a light bulb went on. How the heck I didn't think of it before I have no idea. The desk that used to be my work desk, that has been housing the desktop that finally died a couple of weeks ago is a big L....and all of about 5 feet from my current too small everything fall on the floor desk.

Ummm....DUH!!

So today at about 4:30 pm I decided to tear into it and flip flop the room. It is about 90% done and I am totally inspired to get back to creating in there. It still isn't my beautiful dream space, but it is going to be oh so much more functional.

photo share....

I've done so much yapping the last couple of days, I thought today should be more of a photographic entry. So here are a few shots from the week...

Last tennis lesson was Thursday....we may have to do one more session this summer, it was pretty fun. Todd is sad it is over.

For some unknown reason, my mother let my son bring this toy home from her house the other day. It almost cost him his life because I told him it was ok to squirt daddy with it while he (Daddy) was napping and then I had to jump in from two rooms away and save Todd from daddy turning the squirt gun into a pretzel. oopsie...my bad!

I didn't have a fabulous day on Friday, then I got home and found these on the counter with a love note from my husband. Instantly my day was so much better. Thanks honey.

Today was soccer again...even though they don't keep score it is pretty easy to keep track when you get totally creamed!

Todd was so cute though, he and one boy on the other team were really going at it the whole game, taking the ball from each other, really challenging each other etc.. At one point I saw them having quite the discussion. After the game Todd told me that the boy from the other team was "clucking and saying that they were winning and we were losing. I told him that if you cluck you are going to lose, and that he should shut up. Right Mom?"

"Right honey...clucking isn't good"

"But then how come he still won mom?"

Yeah well...that took us to the discussion about being a good winner as well as a good loser. I'm sure he'll bust that out at a birthday party sometime soon!

My final photo share is a question for you....which of these do you think has the worst attitude?

or

speaking of plans....

Moriah and I are concocting one. We are going to have a little scrap night with the girls. But the twist is that it is mini-album night.

So I’m having a few girls over in a couple of weeks and the goal is to get a mini album completed in between gossiping and giggling. It is totally do-able with a little plan and packing up only what you need for this one project.

Because I know that Steph and Candy and Kelly read here, it seems like as good a place as any to lay out some details.

Besides, maybe someone else wants to host a mini-album night too.

So here is what I’m going to tell my friends to bring:

• A blank mini album (or enough pages to make one with my bind it all)
• Photos…enough to complete their album
• A plan for journaling. I usually find myself using pre-made journaling cards, but computer printed journaling, or cardstock squares works too, but a plan is a must.
• Patterned paper. I’ve been known to use more than 25 different patterns in a mini album. Scary right? (Steph is hiding in the corner) It totally can be done. I’m going to ask my friends to bring at least 8 different patterned papers.

Here are my tips  for choosing patterned papers

• Stick within a select group of manufacturers. I may have used 25 patterns, but they all came from just four manufacturers. Choose one or two (or four) manufacturers and work within their pattern choices.
• Take advantage of two sided patterns. You use less paper and get twice the designs.
• Choose papers that have a similar texture and “feel”.
• Choose a “style” and be sure the vast majority (say 80%) of your chosen patterns match that style. For instance, choose either whimsical or vintage patterns, but not both.

Truth is...that is all my girls need to bring. Lord knows I have enough of everything else to share....but just for kicks I'll note a the other components I always make sure I have when I create a mini album.

Lettering: I like to choose a couple of lettering types to run through the whole album. Letter stamps are great because there is no running out of a letter. Some of the letter stickers or rub-ons with lots of letters work too. I’m going to tell my friends not to worry about letter stamps because I have plenty to share…but if they have their hearts set on using a certain kind of lettering that is cool too.

GOODIES…when I taught one of my previous classes at BPS I was finally able to put into words the difference between “goodies” and “embellishments” It is something that I’ve always kind of differentiated in my mind but I hadn’t really thought about why. Because it is late, I’m going to cut and paste from there:

Embellishments are items that I use to enhance a page, they do not have words or sentiments of their own, they are purely decorative accents. I use them to enhance what is already on the page with texture, color, or shine. Embellishments are also items that I may use more than one of on a page. Some examples of embellishments are buttons, brads, shapes in any and all materials, rhinestones, buckles etc.

Goodies are unique items that when added to a design, give it that final wow and add more to the story than to the design. For me, goodies most often include a word or a phrase. Again they are unique so no need to repeat them. Some examples of goodies are words and phrases from rub ons, stickers, chipboard etc.

So I’m going to tell my friends that they can totally rummage through my stuff but they can also bring goodies that apply or that could apply to the theme of the album they want to make and embellishments that go along with their colors etc.

Something to note...When I do a mini book I almost always choose two or three types of embellishments only. Like all clear things, and buttons….or all rhinestones and tags. Whatever floats my boat...I like to keep things consistent throughout the book.

Also, ribbons and trims don’t count as embellishments for me, so I use them with abandon.

One more thing, I pull all of this stuff out and put it in one basket (or bag to pack etc) and that is all I use for the project. This saves me time from going back and forth through my stuff. It also keeps me focused (I need that). Most of the time I don't end up using everything I set aside, but that is cool too.

OK...enough....I'm getting too excited and have to wait two weeks from tonight to hang out with these crazy chicks. But I wanted plenty of time for them to get ready!!

If you plan your own mini-album party let me know!

photos...

not as in sharing photos...but as in going through a lot of my photos lately. As I've said (and will probably keep saying, so sorry about that). I've got a lot of scrapping to do right now. So between that and switching over to the Mac etc. I've been going through a lot of photos lately. Which then gets me thinking about which photos I want to scrap and what stories I want to tell.

It is always a little bit of a mixed bag when I do this. On the one hand I get really excited and inspired and I can't wait to get down to the creating part of things. On the other hand if I let myself, I could get a little overwhelmed.

So I make a plan. First, I don't scrap chronologically, I haven't for years. This is the single best thing I ever did to make scrapbooking more enjoyable (thanks Stacy). Still, I keep my photos in chronological order (and now with Aperture, I'm doing the keyword thing etc so I can find things other ways if I want to...but that is neither here nor there for this story).

Anyway I grabbed a notebook (big surprise) and started to make a list of layouts I want to create. Now I'd like to say that I have a wonderful layout idea book that I sketch in and brainstorm in, and that it is all artsy and cool, but you saw the pile of notebooks I work in at any one time, there is no such beautiful book in my world, it is mostly in my head...or sandwiched somewhere on a page between a loan number and a Target list.  But in pretty short order I was able to brainstorm a list of several layouts I want to create...and I made notes about which photos I needed to find or take for those.

I also skimmed through my blog archives, because lets face it, some of the best stories are right here, and the journaling is already done! So from there I made some notes too as well as copied and pasted some journaling into a Word document, and noted the dates of the stories so that I could easily go in and find the high-res images.

Then I scanned through the past year's worth (more or less) of photo folders 1 month at a time to see what jumped out at me. I pulled out the event type things that I know I want to make pages of, birthday party, pumpkin carving etc. and then any other photos that spoke to me about stories I might want to tell.

So I now have a HUGE list, and after an upload to Shutterfly and Costco I  also have the photos I need. NOW I am excited!!

my day....

So today was my Real Estate Broker's Exam. It is a toss up to whether or not I passed, I really should have spent more than 4 days cramming. Most of all, I'm pretty damn proud of myself for not rescheduling for a 6th time so that is a victory unto itself. I really don't need this license right now, so there isn't that kind of pressure.

Anyway....I got up early and headed out to Oakland. I got there in plenty of time, and had a pretty easy time finding the building.

Now the coolest thing that happened doesn't have a photo to go with it. You see, as I sat down for the morning session and the proctor handed out the test materials my test booklet was number 00033. Thirty-three was my Aunt's number, and it is often my sign that she is with me. I almost keeled over when I got that book.

When I was done with my morning exam I had the following conversation with the proctor lady (who let me tell you, takes her job really seriously).

Me: I have kind of a strange question, do you think I could take a photo of the cover of my exam book?
PL (proctor lady): No, sorry I can't let you do that
Me: Even if I turn in all of my materials and just take a quick shot of the top corner with this number?
PL:NO
Me: You see, 33 is kind of this magic number for me, and I'm kind of a photographer and I have my camera in my purse so I thought maybe I could take a photo.
PL: Oh wow, but No
Me: Ok, gee...you know it just would have been so perfect for this project I'm working on. I didn't want to photograph the questions or anything.
PL: uh huh...No

As I skulked out of the door totally defeated Proctor lady said "by the way, you are right, that was a strange question, no one has ever asked me that before".

Anyway....the test is broken down into two sections, the morning and the afternoon. Each one is 100 questions and you get 2.5 hours. I finished the morning session with 2 hours and 5 minutes to kill before I had to be back for the afternoon session. I planned to walk around a little with my camera, but without really knowing where I was or the neighborhood etc. I wasn't sure I could kill 2 whole hours.

Then I saw this:

So I wandered in and dropped a pint which killed about 45 minutes...then I grabbed a bite and took that walk with my camera.

Then I went and took the second half of the exam....which was test booklet number 00043 and I have to say, it didn't feel quite as easy as the first section. Ugh. Oh well, at least I did it.

So, I grabbed one more shot of the glass state seal on my way out....

and headed back across the bridge for home....

Tomorrow I go full force into Big Picture mode. Registration for my new class is opening VERY soon and I've got lots to do!

It sure is quiet around here....

Tomorrow morning I have to leave early to get to Oakland to take my exam, so Todd is having a sleep over with my folks. This is only the second time he's stayed away from home and last time we were gone too. It is weird to be here without him. He's having a ball though, and claims he is going to get up early when the alarm goes off and go to breakfast with Papa.  I remember what a treat it was as a kid to go to the fisherman's breakfast at the harbor with my dad. I didn't do it too often, being a girl and all, but when I did I felt so special. I'm glad Todd gets to experience that too.

confessions....

OK...we are all friends here right? I may as well confess a few things that I've been keeping to myself. Things that I need to write down. So in no particular order...

1. I just started fooling around on Facebook. I have no business on Earth spending any time doing anything other than the many things I have to do (see numbers 2 & 4). One of the moms at the kids party yesterday was talking about it, and I knew I'd know a few other people (but I had no idea how many...wow) so I decided to check it out. Anyway, I signed up today and it is kind of cool.
   
   
2. I failed my Real Estate broker exam when I took it way back in January. I've had it rescheduled seriously 5 times now. Every time it gets close I reschedule because I haven't studied, because I have too much going on. I clearly always have too much going on, so waiting for it to be a "good time" seems a little silly. I'm scheduled again for this week. I just started studying 3 days ago. I keep telling myself that I'm not going to reschedule again. I can do it. I can do it.
   
3. Speaking of things I can do. I was going to wait until I hit 20lbs to share that I've been feeling pretty darn great about the healthy weight watchers lifestyle I've been grooving for a while. But tonight the blog is about confessing, and I'm at 19.5 pounds so what the heck it is as good a time as any. I'm not a big sharer about such things, but suffice to say that not eating like crap feels pretty great.
   
4. I owe my BPS editor content for no less than 3 major projects all due in no less than 3 weeks and I've barely started....but I feel more or less ok about it (don't panic Amy) I've got a plan and I do my best work under pressure.
   
5. I'm three months behind in posting my Photo a day...but I am taking the photos. I'm so over thinking my new photo-organization system with the new computer and software that I'm practically paralyzed. I'm getting it though...and when #2 and #4 get taken care of, this is next.
   
6. The amount of notebooks that I have notes in at this particular time is beyond embarrassing. I must consolidate or I'm going to lose my mind.
   
   

Parenting lessons....

My parents have been getting a good chuckle for a long time now because Todd is paying me back for so many things that they claim I did as a kid.

Today I got a small glimpse at how my Dad must have felt when I was about Todd's age and  punched the neighbor boy right in the mouth as he stood on our front doorstep with his mother. You see, Johnny had punched me earlier in the day....and when I came home and told my dad about it, he taught me how to defend myself if it happened again.  I think the story was that his mom had brought him down to apologize, but before anyone could get a word out, I clobbered him....and then turned to my dad and said "just like that, right dad?"

Today wasn't quite that bad, but it was my first experience of my parenting advice coming back at me in full 5 year old mode.

You see, were at yet another gymnastics birthday party with the usual preschool kids on our circuit. There is one particular boy that Todd has had some problems with on and off for about a year. They just don't really get along, and Todd and I have had to have many discussions about it. Mostly about it being ok for Todd to not be friends with him etc. The latest report that came home from school a few weeks ago was that "S, hates me". So we talked about hate being an awful thing, and that the people doing the hating are the ones with the problem, not the people they claim to hate. You know, great parenting stuff like that? I felt pretty proud of myself for that one.

So today at a party with about 25 kids plus parents it is mad chaos and pizza and birthday cake and there is one of those weird lulls when a loud room gets quiet. You know how that is? So Todd yells from way across the room..."Hey Mom....S says he hates me, and that is his fault right? He's the one with the problem not me right?" I feel like the whole room is waiting for my answer. So I smile and say "lets talk about it later honey" and he is yelling "but it is all his fault right?" and I nod to him and say "yes honey, can we talk about it later?"...he turns to the kid and says "HAH, she said YES!"

better late than never?

What a day. Started out at a 9am soccer game and it was already REALLY hot (at least for us). Like the coach pouring water on the kids' heads hot. I don't know what the actual temperature was, and I'd probably be laughed out of blogland if I did, because compared to the rest of the country, hot here isn't all that hot.

Then we hung out for a while and headed out to the Zoofari. One thing about living in such a beautiful place is that on sunny days everyone wants to come here. So it took us what felt like forever to get where we wanted to go. By the time we met up with Geoff, Moriah and Alex and had dinner, we got to the event pretty much at the tail end.

Todd kept talking about seeing Elvis there, because he was there last year. The things that this kid remembers never ceases to surprise me. Anyway, we did manage to get there in time to hear a little Love Me Tender....

I also got a few shots of the many men in my life....