I’m a listmaker. Are you? I make huge complicated lists and itty bitty tiny lists. Grocery lists, to do lists, chronological lists of scrapbook layouts to do, list of knitting projects, lists of books (read and unread). I adore lists.

Here’s what’s on my list

Sewing

• Yellow nightgown for Emily
• Floral nightgown for Emily
• Pink polka dot sun dress for Emily
• White linen sun dress for Emily
• Jersey knit baby items
• Assorted doll clothes
• seer suker shorts for Emily

Knitting

• Baby sweater for friend
• Baby booties to match sweater
• baby hat to match others
• branching out, perhaps five times
• Stash reassesment and project planning

Scrapbooking Albums in Progress

• Emily 2001-2002
• Emily 2004-2005
• Emily 2005-2006
• Family 2001-2002
• Family 1998-2000
• Family 2004-2005
• Family 2005-2006
• Anniversary Trip 2004
• Disney Trip 2004
• Christmas Album 2004
• All About me-Vol 1
• TTC Album(hopefully only one volume)

Books on the read list

• Time Management from the Inside OUt (hahahahahaha)
• French Women Don’t Get Fat
• The Three Martini Playdate
• As I lay Dying
• The Heart is a Lonley Hunter
• Olive’s Ocean
• The Optimist’s Daughter
• Passing FOr Thin
• Reading Lolita in Theran
• The Sound and the FUry
• A Step from Heaven

Projects I’m considering

• Redecorating Emily’s bedroom which include quilt sewing, pillow sewing and curtain sewing
• Redecorating in OUR bedroom which includes duvet sewing, pillow sewing and curtain sewing as well as custom arti projects
• Other variour art projects
• Site Redesign (for eveything save these pages for the time being.

Let’s look at this in a month and see what i’ve finished. ;o) I’m thinking little.

No pregnancy this cycle. Aunt Flo showed up two days early on Sunday. It was actually a relief because my spotting Friday had me a basket case and worried about another Ectopic Pregnancy. I will take a period over an ectopic pregnancy anyday, was anyone wondering.

In other news, I’m reading a time management book right now. And an Oranization book. And a diet book. And a parenting book. And a book about creativity. No fiction, though I do have a pile here at home to choose from. And, no, I’m not reading one back that covers all of those things. I literally h ave five to six books started at this time. Typical me. Not enough time to read that one at a time, so I choose to read them all at once.

Am planning to run to Staples today or tomorrow to find out if they do color copies so I can go back to work on this gel transfer idea. My goal is to have nothing but my own art inside of my house, hanging on my walls. Pretty lofty goal, but a good one, I think.

I knitting news I am currently researching yarn with which to make branching out for my mom, MIL and the grandmothers for Christmas. You can view the pattern over at Knitty.com as I’m too lazy to go link it. I think all four of them would love it and I might even make one for me. :o) I’m also awaiting the aby pattern book I ordered through the library so I can finish the baby gift for dear friend’s dear little girl. I lost the damn pattern I’d copied before taking the book back and so now need the book again (yes, I know, I know, Copyright, etc).

We’re skipping swiim class this morning. I think we both need time at home. I know I do

Today, I peed on a pregnancy test even though I bascially knew that there was no way it would turn up positive even if it would eventually. I am fighting the urge to pee on my last one tomorrow. Eric says no. He’s right. Monday morning isn’t so far, is it?

Of course, the answer to that is yes, when you’re waiting.

I came up with three more books to read tonight. Thanks to Bookmarks Magazine. I’m obsessive about collecting books to read. Far beyond what I can actually maange to plow through. IT’s a disease.

Sometimes I feel overwhelemed with the amount of matieral that I want to share here and other times, I can’t come up with a damn thing. This is one of those “I can’t come up with a damn thing” stretches.

I haven’t been knitting (in bad news, I lost the pattern I was knitting the baby sweater from. I’m currently searching our library system to see if I can come up with the book it was from so I can go from there with it).

Good news, I found it and requested it. Hopefully it will be just a week or two before I can get it and finish up what I was doing.

I haven’t beens crapbooking either, beyond the two father’s day cards I slapped together this weekend. I did spend some time trying to do a transfer to canvas with gel medium, but I think I was going about that the wrong way and will have to work on it some more. I am also going to run to Staples to make some color photocopies to see if I can get that to work too.

No sewing and just a little reading.

it’s been a long 24 hour period. I’m tired. TOmorrow will be long too.

Good night.

and I say that I am blessed. Not only for having a wonderful father,b ut for marrying a man who is one as well. I can’t thank Eric enough for being my partner in life. For being Emily’s Dad. :o) I know he’s not actually perfect, but he’s perfect for me and I’m so grateful in light of all the things that go in the world, that I have Eric to walk along with me. :o) I couldn’t ask for me.

We had a nice day today. Lolled around in bed until late. Had a big breakfast. Gave gifts. Enjoyed ourselves. Much better than Mother’s Day (but I swear you didn’t hear that from me).

We have such a busy week ahead of us. Eric will be working OT all week trying to get the business situation straightened out (and maybe we’ll get a tax return! Whoo hoo! Or at least get the taxes done which is positive). Emily starts swim lessons tomorrow and I don’t even want to talk about the nightmare of Tuesday and Thursday

Tues/THurs:
8:40-Leave for Swim Class
9:00-Swim Class Starts
9:40 Swim Class Ends
10:00-Summer Preschool
12:30-Summer PReschool Ends
2:15-Jamie Leaves for Work

In this time, I have to do my chores and make dinner. Urgh! Tight! I’m thinking that Tuesday and THursday MAY need to be crock pot days. Or Hot dogs. Either way. On Friday we leave on a trip to visit family which should be fun. ERic is heading North with Dad. I’ll miss him.

In other news, I’ve been card making. Father’s Day cards and just cards to use up some of the excess created by almost a year of Self-Adressed kits. I actually used ALL the cards in the past kit and think I may take some time and make up some more. SO they’re on hand. SO there are no excuses for sending cards out (but with me, there’s ALWAYS an excuse for not sending cards out).

In any case, here they are

#1 for friend who had baby that I should be knitting fotr

#2 for cousin and wife to be’s shower this weekend.

That Britney Spears has grown a big butt during her pregnancy. God bless her. Doesn’t it make you feel, I don’t know, normal to know that women like her get fat butts while they’re pregnant to.

Well, even if you don’t, I do and not in a sadisitc way. Just a very equalizing “It happens to all of us” way. That’s all.

I swear.

I talked a while to my friend in GA today that had a baby two weeks ago. She’s finding Motherhood to be not as easy as she had read. I know she’s going to be a fantastic mother and told her as much. I hope she believes it. I do.

However, that aforementioned baby gift. Must. Knit. It. Also, a trip to GA to see her and the baby would make me very happy. I’m not sure when I can swing it though.

Eric and I have also discussed our anniversary trip. I think what we may do is block out a long weekend, hit one of the Internet travel sites and just book something. It sounds like so much fun and we’d both love it.

Now to block out some time. Of course both of my co-workers have vacations planned for the week before AND after our big day, so we’ll have to pick something some other time. Couple that with a trip to MN that we REALLY need to make and you’ll get a busy summer afterall.

BTW, I’m getting this for my anniversary. :o)

or maybe this…

Which do you think?

1. Attempt to get this family into some better eating habits. We have been out of control for too long
2. Attempt to get this family into exercise-a walk a night, the weather willing
3. Walk for fitness myself in the morning with the long suffering dog
4. Get onto a schedule. We’ve been off one for too long and it shows
5. Not get obsessed with TTC, even though I know that I will

I also spent the day working on our budget. We have some aggressive saving goals that we’re going to try and meet in the next year which includes (but isn’t limited to)paying off any debt (we don’t have much) and getting together a down payment. My ultimate goal is that we will be ready to move into a house by this time next year. It’s doable, but it’s going to mean that we need to adhere tightly to a budget–something we’ve never been good at. We’re hoping to go to a cash only system. Withdrawing what cash we have available for the week/month/whatever and working with it. It will be hard. We’re spendy folks.

I mentioned I scrapbooked, right? I am trying to decide the best way to complete a couple of albums. I have two albums that are on a low priority, but only have a few pages until completion (few being a relative term, of course). I’m debating whether they should just be finished.

Here’s some work done over the weekend.

also

I have more, but that’s what I’m sharing. The second is inspired by Jennifer Ditz-Maguire’s layout in the AL Designing With 2005 Calander.

Have you ever hit a point in your life, or in your day, when suddenly things became clear? I had an ah-ha moment yesterday at a crop I was attending.

I like the women there well enough. I never got the impression that I would be good friends with any of them. I hold the vague impression that we share different philosophies. Nothing tangible. Nothing discussed. I wasn’t feeling well last night and just quietly worked on my pages.

One woman said she was approached by someone’s mom at school within the last week or two. The woman talked to her for a while and the woman at the crop thought she was “weird”. I’m not sure if she labeled her weird because she just launched into conversation or if the woman IS just weird. I’m assuming the former. The mom introduced herself, but the woman from the crop just brushed her off.

“I already have enough friends”.

I swear my mouth dropped open. Worst still was that more than one person seconded that opinion, another saying that she had older friends try and get in touch with her, but she was cutting them off becuase she doesn’t have time for more friends.

I was relating the story to Eric and I said “This is the reason I don’t talk to people”.

And you know what. Clarity! It’s true. It’s the exact reason why I’m afraid to approach other people. That rejection. That even though there is nothing “wrong” with me, I’ll be rejected just based on the fact that I’m not worth that consideration.

Anyone want to be my friend? Must have time for more friends.

In other news, my friend had her baby. Must. Knit. SHe came early, but is healthy. I would love to call my friend, but I remember getting settled with a new baby and I don’t want to call while she’s busy or napping.

I have lots of scrapbook pages to share from the crop. Several I like and maybe one or two that I love. One that I think is a stinker, but there’s one in every batch, right?

92 degrees this afternoon by the car’s thermomemter, which is pretty accurate. However, we’re blessed to only be at 50% humidity right now which makes the heat tolerable. Emily and I sat outside today playing in her new wading pool. For two hours. That’s got to be a record for me in 90 degree heat.

I got two rolls of film back today-pictures from swim class and graduation. I got some that were good, some that were bad and some that I wished for better. I’m still struggling with focus more than I think I should be. I feel like I”m always rushed to get the shot I want with Emily and probably don’t have as much time as I’d like to set the shot well. I’m working on it and took what I hope will be a couple of good shots today.

Overall, I’m happy with what I’m getting. I know that photography (at least for me) is trail and error and lots of shots. Obviously my goal is to get it to be FEWER shots in between good ones, but that will come in time to. I believe that spending my time with a film SLR right now is forcing me to think more about what I shoot. I COULD correct my mistakes in photoshop, but worry about print quality of an altered, scanned image. I’m hopeful that having to compose the perfect shot RIGHT NOW (instead or tweeking light and exposure in PS) will help me tons.

As you can see in this one, I’m a little out of focus and have a little blur along the edges of her skirt.

I’m only using it for my scrapbooks so it’s not totally unusable. I may take some the next time Em’s in the naughty chair, which should only be a day or so.

I’m also particularly in love with this one. I know there are some possibley distracting landscape behind her, but I’m hoping with the aperature I shot out they’re not too miserable. I’m “unpressed” with the colors my scanner is putting off. Em’s skin actually looks very lovely and creamy in the original and the scanner is making her look more blue. Of course, that could be my crappy old moniter. Who knows.

I’ve rambled enough. :o) Goodnight.

for creativity.

It starts out in the pit of my stomach, I guess. Just a little seed. A calling. “Wouldn’t you like to create something?” I mull it over. Somtimes life is calling louder and I listen to life. Yes, I’d like to create something, but I’d rather read/sit in the sun/clean the house/play with my baby/snuggle with my husband. You’ll have to wait.

And so it grows. Asking constantly if I’d like to create something NOW? I let it grow until I can say yes. I’ve been mulling over that layout that is waiting for me. I went out today and found Instructions on how to make my own rub-ons which I think is exactly what I need to finish out the layout in question.

But Id on’t think I’ll be scrapping tonight. Tonight I think I’m going to watch Finding Neverland and finish up that baby sweater. At least the knititng part. At least work on it.

FOr now, I have a short to-do list. Emily needs a few minutes. We’ll tidy her room and read a chapter of of June B, put away some laundry. TOmorrow I MUST clean the bathroom. I’m afraid we’re growing thing.