Tuesday, July 2, 2013

Ten on Tuesdays: About Me

When I was a teenager, my mother read an article in a women’s magazine about multiple intelligences. She picked one that she thought described me perfectly. It was “Intrapersonal Skills” – meaning, I know myself. Now, at age 36, I can see that as a compliment, especially for a teenager, since that seems like a rare thing. At the time, I was a little offended that she’d overlooked my other considerable intelligences, lol. The truth is I’m just an introvert and I enjoy and need to spend time alone – which is not always easy as the mom of four. Summer is especially hard on me. There’s no naptime and school time for me to recharge. It’s funny, but it seems working is actually when I get a little time to myself.

Things I’ve learned about myself this past year:

1. I’m an artist. Seriously, not a way I would ever in a million years have described myself prior to now. I can’t draw or paint. Put such tools in my hand and you’d wonder if I’d lost my mind describing myself as an artist. But give me a computer and drawing program and I’m not bad. And something I’ve always known, even when I didn’t think of myself as an artist, I have style and taste. My style is not everyone’s style, which in the past has had me doubting myself, but I’m learning that’s it’s okay and nothing personal.

2. Possibly pursuant to number 1, I love color. Not just in my house, which I already knew. I love to wear bright bold colors and design with bright bold colors.

3. Again, probably related to the first item, I am a sucker for red shoes. I just bought another pair yesterday. This might also have to do with a lifelong love for the Wizard of Oz.

4. I’m ambitious. I tend to think of myself as a slacker, but only because I could be for so long.

5. I’m becoming a leader. I’m actually in charge of our local Girl Scout organization (not the council, just our service unit, which is entirely volunteer) and have been president of our local arts council. My mother has long told me that I have a strong personality, but I’ve never really understood what that meant, since I consider myself quite shy.

6. I’m still shy.

7. I’m still unfocused in terms of long-term career goals. I have way too many things that I like enough to do for a living. I want to be a graphic designer and librarian and photographer and web designer and…

8. I have trouble saying no.

9. I want things done right and I’m willing to do them myself to get them done right. Sometimes this is not good. I need to let others do things and trust that they will and even if it’s not done my way, it will be done and no one but me will know the difference. This is advice relating to volunteers as well as my household and marriage. Sometimes this refers to planning an event for the Girl Scouts, sometimes it’s doing the dishes, sometimes it’s putting the kids to bed.

10. I still have a lot of rethinking to do. Sometimes I still think of myself as a painfully shy, painfully self-conscious fifteen year old with no self-confidence whatsoever. I’m not. I haven’t been that girl in a long time, but it’s still how I would first describe myself to people.

Tuesday, June 4, 2013

Ten on Tuesdays: the Summer Bucket List

So it seems the more time I spend on the computer at work, the less time I want to spend on the computer playing around at home. Funny how that works. I love my job and I really love what I’m doing right now. I’m learning how to use Drupal for website building. I already knew a good bit about Wordpress and web design in general from personal projects, but Drupal is a whole new ball of wax. It’s been an exciting challenge and I’ve really enjoyed tackling it. The end result, though, is that my brain is basically fried at the end of the day. I just need to not think at all.

My list this week is my summer bucket list. I have a few things I want to do this summer with my family and I’ve decided to call it our summer bucket list.

  1. Fossil hunting.
  2. Flying kites.
  3. Hike part of the Appalachian Trail.
  4. A day at the beach.
  5. Visit a historic home.
  6. Go berry picking.
  7. Have a picnic lunch.
  8. Teach the kids something crafty.
  9. Go to a parade.
  10. Take lots of pictures. (This may sound like cheating, but I’ve been in a creative low and not taking as many photos as I normally do. This is just a reminder to me)

Tuesday, February 26, 2013

Ten on Tuesdays: Movies…

A new blog feature? Maybe. But for today, the idea of an illiterative list really makes me happy. So I’m writing a list of my top ten movies. These are not necessarily my favorite movies. No, I would describe them more as the movies I reference often enough that in order to get me, you need to have watched these movies. They’re not really in any order, other than when I thought of them. I think this list says an awful lot about me, when it gets right down to it. And some of these ARE in my list of favorite movies ever, but some of my favorite movies aren’t on this list. That makes sense, right?

1. Clue

2. Pretty Woman

3. Spaceballs

4. Clueless

5. The Parent Trap

6. Idiocracy

7. So I Married an Axe Murderer

8. Groundhog Day

9. Say Anything…

10. Toy Story (is it cheating if I count all three of them?)

Bonus TV Show: Friends.

Wednesday, January 30, 2013

Pinned this week…January 30

Possibly I will screw this post up royally. I have a headache so I took Excedrin (the fake stuff, not the real stuff – despite the fact that they sent me not one, but two sample packs to get me to resume purchasing the real thing, which freaked me out that any store without a loyalty card knew my shopping habits that well). My typing, she is not so good now. But I’ve been pinning like a madwoman this week, so I thought I’d try to resume my weekly pinning share.

Garden:

 

Blog and Other Design:

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

Photography:

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

 

Crafty:

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

 

Food:

Tuesday, January 29, 2013

Hey, there sports fans…

It’s been quite a year for my favorite teams. The Baltimore Orioles played like they meant it. The Notre Dame Fighting Irish went to the BCS National Championship game. I’m not going to discuss what happened once they got there, except to say that I hope it is in no way a predictor of my other favorite team’s success in their upcoming national championship game. Regardless, the Irish had a great run up to the game and it’s something longtime fans like me have been waiting for.

So what’s happening this weekend? Super Bowl something something. I lose track of all those Roman numerals, although I wonder if that’s why they keep teaching them in school (yes, my kids learned Roman numerals – and cursive). The Baltimore Ravens are heading to the Super Bowl for the second time. I have very fond memories of their first trip there. I was six months pregnant with my first child living with DH in my parents’ house. We watched the game in their basement, while they went out to a party.

In case you don’t have a photographic Super Bowl memory (I can’t even remember who played or won last year), the Ravens beat the New York Giants (oh, wait, I think they won last year – I seem to remember rooting for them because I hated the other team more. Plus, a chance to quote Madagascar is always a plus. “All hail the New York giants!”). My “baby” I was waiting on during that game is turning twelve this year. Twelve! How did that happen?

We’re supposed to go over some friends house for the game and, as always, the issue is what food shall we have. I’m thinking Purple Velvet Cupcakes. Why not?

Wednesday, January 16, 2013

So it’s maybe been a while…

I looked at my last post date. It was in September. So what’s so freaking important that I haven’t posted since September? Well, I got a job. It’s not, like, saving the world or anything, but it suits me. In fact, I come up with new reasons it suits me more every day. I work three days a week, which is exactly the right amount for me right now. The Viv is in preschool, so I might pick up another day next year when she starts kindergarten. 

My New Year’s resolution was to stay off the computer so that I might be more product. So far I’m failing at that pretty miserably. It’s a work in progress. I picked my word for 2013. It’s Persevere. Why? I feel like I’m really on the right track on a lot of things, but I’m not there yet, so it’s a reminder to stay the course and not give up. My word for 2012, for the record, was leap. I thought it appropriate for a leap year, plus it was an encouragement to take risks and put myself out there.

While trying to get my feet under me with my new job and balancing housework, four kids and their activities, and my husband and his activities (he also started a new job as a high school band director, which is no small time commitment), basically all of my hobbies got dropped. I have a crocheting project that’s a massive WIP. I work on it in the car when I’m waiting for the bus or soccer practice to end. It’s a huge granny stripe afghan, which will hopefully be keeping us warm by 2015. At the rate I’m going, that’s a little optimistic.

I’ve taken only a very few photos lately – the obligatory Christmas shots and a rainbow on Monday. 



I’m feeling kind of down about that, but I’ve been coming to a bit of peace about that. I’m just not sure I am capable of being a professional photographer. I don’t really doubt my photography skills (well, sometimes), but I am not naturally a people person and I’m very shy about talking about my business. So I think I’m closing shop and taking photos for friends and family for fun again. I’m not sure yet how I feel about this in the long term, but for right now, I think this is the right thing.

I haven’t knit anything lately, but I did buy some yarn today to make a gift for my sister. I found this yarn that makes a cute scarf. I got it in a variegated purple and hopefully I can finish it in time for my sister to wear it this weekend for the Ravens game. She’s a major fan. Me, I like the Ravens – they’re my hometown team and I have a strong sense of place. Her? She freaking LOVES the Ravens.

Wednesday, September 12, 2012

Project Life: Quotable

Walking home from the bus today, Scarlett said “God knits and makes the animals’ fur. And butterflies are how God paints. And God cooks with grass because it’s shaped like spaghetti.”