Blogging like I’m famous.
As a graphic artist, it feels like a cop-out to use the pre-made Christmas card designs from Walgreens. But as a practical person, they are cheap, easy and not at all horrible. I would rather have a Walgreen Christmas card in hand to give to my grandmothers for their refrigerators than a Laura Catoe original languishing on my desktop because it’s not yet “perfect.”
For instance, here is how far I got on my own creation, about a month ago:
And here is the Walgreen’s one, completed in minutes:
How is Christmas less than a month away? Was there a memo?
I’ve lucked out a bit. I had saved my personal days at work in the hopes that Kris’ parents would take a trip to the beach in the fall and invite us. They did not take such a trip and so I still have those personal days. This will give me time for some Christmas shopping.
For the cookie swap this weekend, I have made a practice batch of gingerbread and discovered the secret to making it into men. (Refrigerate the dough overnight.) However, a perfect Ginger Man is like every one out of four cookies, so instead I will be making Ginger Stars.
I put Ben in his Christmas onesie (it’s got a reindeer on it) because it’s December. Sure, I bought it like a month ago, but I have holiday standards! I have yet to order the photo cards.
Another of my holiday standards is making a Christmas mix cd on even years. I have about a dozen songs collected but no time to arrange them artfully and design a snazzy cover.
We have been thwarted every-which-way when it comes to a single candle light for the round window in Ben’s “big boy room.” All you can find these days are battery-operated ones and let me tell you, they suck.
When I was a kid, I always wanted colored Christmas lights on the house. (The ones we got are LEDs, so dim but enviro-friendly.) My parents didn’t do much outside lighting, but they did put the phony candles in the windows (trios downstairs, singles up) and that’s why I wanted them this year. Apparently, they are outta style. Another memo I missed.
I expect there to be some sort of holiday inflatable in my yard next year, because as I explained during the Iron Bowl (I know ‘Bama won, though I didn’t see a lick of the game), I am dedicating my 30s to small children. Colored lights, easy-to-clean surfaces, toys and junk everywhere and a willingness to pull boogers from another person’s nose. (Hopefully, that won’t mean you, but if you’re in a pinch, I can probably help out. I got the mom gene now.)
When Ben woke up this morning, I got him out of his crib, gave him a couple of toys and stumbled back to bed. He was not content to amuse himself, so he got in the bed with us. He sat there between our heads, happily jibbering and then started giving me kisses.
“He sure woke up happy,” Kris mumbled groggily.
“Why wouldn’t he?” I asked. “We did all of his favorite things yesterday. We went to Lowe’s, we played outside, we dipped things in ketchup, we popped bubble wrap, he fell asleep while we watched a movie…”
“Oh yeah.”
Ben is having an excellent Thanksgiving weekend. We’ve gone visiting, Carol came over and tamed our azaleas and today’s the Iron Bowl. The fun don’t ever end.
(See the larger version and a 5×7 alternate here on Flickr.)
This is a scrapbook page I made for Angie for Lyla’s second birthday. I ordered prints from Flickr with enough time for them to arrive before her birthday party. They did not. I e-mailed them last week with a “what gives” and they re-issued the order.
Yesterday, the Flickr pics arrived, thankfully in time for Thanksgiving. I took them to Angie at work today. And when I got home? Another set of the Flickr photos. Oy to the vay.
A few years ago, the Times, the Gadsden Public Library and Premiere Cinemas hosted an evening called Harry Potter and the Magic of Reading. I found the flyers, ads, article layout and whatnot I made for it on an archive disc recently.
I know I’m not “in the market” for a house, but I kept an eye out for such a long time that I can’t help but look now, too. I’m not looking on purpose, so it’s only the downtown area that I see on the way to work.
The house Kris and I tried to buy when I was still pregnant? Is on the market again – third time since us. It’s not that it won’t sell – the seller finds a buyer every time… and then backs out. For real, I think this lady has a problem. I see the sign in the yard and I wonder if the real estate agent knows what’s in store.
There’s another house that is a cartoon Smurf blue. I noticed it was being repainted lately. And then it went on the market. Who paints a house a fresh coat of Smurf blue and then tries to sell it?
There’s a house on Randall that was remodeled over a year ago and has been sitting for sale ever since. I checked to see its listing price out of curiosity:
TOTALLY REMODELED-3Br 2 Ba w/New windows, hardwood & tile flrs,Granite ctrs, new cabs, appliances, BAs w/wp tubs.12ft ceil. $128,700
Y’know, those are great things, but I get the feeling this is somebody who watched too much HGTV. Because a house two blocks further down the street fetched less than $30,000 when it sold in the spring. Ain’t nobody gonna buy this one for over $100,000 (I’d say upper 80s) on that street.
That reminds me of the house on South 11th that was similarly remodeled and listed at $99,999. Clearly not a local seller, because who would list a house for nearly $100,000 directly across from a gas station with the nickname “Murder Mart?”
Last year, I read some lyrics to an Ani song that I thought I’d like. It wasn’t on an album yet, so I couldn’t procure it and then I forgot what the lyrics were, just that it had something to do with motherhood. But today as I scoped out the freebies on iTunes, I noticed Ani had a new release and something about the title “Present/Infant” looked familiar and yay, it’s that song!
lately i’ve been glaring into mirrors
picking myself apart
you’d think at my age i’d of thought
of something better to do
than making insecurity into a full-time job
making insecurity into art
and i fear my life will be over
and i will have never lived unfettered
always glaring into mirrors
mad i don’t look betterbut now here is this tiny baby
and they say she looks just like me
and she is smiling at me
with that present infant glee
and yes i will defend
to the ends of the earth
her perfect right to beso i’m beginning to see some problems
with the ongoing work of my mind
and i’ve got myself a new mantra
it says: “don’t forget to have a good time”
don’t let the sellers of stuff power enough
to rob you of your grace
love is all over the placethere’s nothing wrong with your face
love is all over the place
there’s nothing wrong with your facelately i’ve been glaring into mirrors
picking myself apart
Also, how come nobody told me that a volume 4 of Enter the Worship Circle was released over the summer?
Because I cannot afford to hire a real CKBD.
I’ve been working on plans for a kitchen remodel sometime next year. I’ve read articles, I’ve drawn schematics. I pick my friends brains. Today I ran across this quote that sums up my goal:
I wanted it to fit the style of the house but include modern conveniences for a growing family.
From Country Living
I need an article on Built-In Kitchen Nooks for Dummies.
(Yes, I know that in WebTime, a week after an event is a bit long for this type of gushing day-after post, but I actually wrote this last Saturday and was waiting to post it because I wanted to add links and quotes and such…)
When Carol and Nicole told me the Nerdfighting Tour was coming to Gadsden, I knew I didn’t need to know exactly what the Nerdfighting Tour was to know I’d feel at home. As a card-carrying Nerd, I felt an obligation to attend. I am so glad I did.
I tried to discern what the Tour was about from the website, but it’s an entire community and the simple entry pages such as About and the FAQ weren’t working. So I showed up on Friday knowing only that one guy writes young adult novels and the other guy sings songs and that maybe they are brothers.
The songs were great, the reading was great and even though I know nothing about them, even the Q & A was good. Adding to all the awesomeness was sitting next to Cookie, who totally lost it when John said “Vampires in Suburbia or Wizard School.”
But the absolute best was Accio Deathly Hallows, a song Hank wrote three days before the book’s release. He made the crowd sing along if they knew the words and oh, they did. It’s rare for me, outside of church, to sit in a room full of people singing a song. Maybe that’s why I felt like it was a spiritual moment. This community of nerds has found one another online and traveled to meet in person. When he sang “I couldn’t care more about Harry Potter if Hogwarts was my Alma Mater,” you could feel that we all felt the same way.
And I smiled, and yes, this nerd is such a softie, because I teared up, too. They don’t know what it was like for us thirtysomething nerds, drifting through adolescene without the anchor of fellow geeks. Or how when you did find somebody who geeks out over the same things, it was monumental. (Jaimie and I forged our friendship over quoting lines from Monty Python.)
Here endeth the gushfest. Check out Hank’s song about Helen Hunt:
But this quote (from Scotty-boy) sums up why it’s all gonna be okay:
If friends and love = $$$, then you two are like Gadsden’s own Lovey & Thurston Howell III, without the shipwreck-part.
For we are, in fact, awash in friends and love.
