Week 194: Busy not blogging

I have undertaken the monumental task of putting our pictures in photo albums. This has been a resolution of mine for, oh, the last four years. I have albums completed up until Sydney was born, or rather just before she was born. Just now I'm getting around to dealing with the folders and folders of photos that I have saved on my hard drive (and an external for back-up). It's quite handy that my pictures are so marvelously organized by month as it makes this whole project much easier.

I have to say that I'm really getting a great deal of satisfaction out of choosing pictures and then designing the layout for the page. It brings back grand and glorious memories of the days I used to teach yearbook. My mind is a running monologue of words like white space, eye lines, and thematic design elements. I have dedicated a certain number of pages to each month, and the page that introduces the next month is a consistent design throughout the album. Instead of using traditional albums, I've decided just to go the route of using My Publisher. Yes, it's more expensive than just printing the pictures at Costco and putting them in an album. No, I don't care. I can swing $35 for a 100-page album. (Note to my dad: you should totally be doing this! REALLY. It's a matter of family urgency that you get the photos in order since we'll never be able to figure out your organizational system to do it ourselves.)

(Here's a spread from the Christmas pages, and yes, I broke the eyeline on this spread and have come to terms with it. Turns out it's very tricky to keep eyelines in My Publisher. No big deal.)

The plan is to do two albums per year, one for the first six months and one for the last six months. The plan was also to complete a month a day (beginning with last July and then working forward), and I started this whole photo project last Friday. Tomorrow I finish book one. Right on schedule.

 

Unfortunately, I've gone from "I'll get around to organizing the photos sometime," to "I'm organizing the photos now! At this moment! Get out of the way!" That's good for keeping momentum going, not so good when I should have mailed out Valentine's cards last Saturday and will instead be mailing them out tomorrow. I feel awful about my tardy cards, but nothing I can do about it now. Except do better next year.

*****

I gave up daytime blogging and websurfing for Lent (which is to say, no Internet stuff except email while the girls are awake). I don't miss the websurfing. It was time for a change because over the last few months I  found myself just migrating towards the computer to check on this, check on that, and before I knew it, an hour later I'm reading the court transcripts from Britney's child-custody case while my girls pull on my arms begging me to come play with them. Bleh.

So, after some soul searching, it seemed like I needed to back off a little. I just didn't need to be on the web that much. I didn't. I don't. I get frazzled that I've wasted my time, frustrated that things that should get done aren't getting done, and impatient with my sweet little girls who need me way more than anyone needs my comment on their latest post. Hard to believe, but it's true.

It's oddly freeing, keeping away from reading news on the Internet. However, it's been a lot harder to keep away from blogging, whether reading, writing, or commenting. It had become so much a part of my daily life that stepping away--even if just for a few hours--was really hard. It was a habit that needed to change though. My advance apologies if you post some critical news and I'm not johnny-on-the-spot to comment. I think about you though. Honestly.

And speaking of Lent, if you're looking for a book that doesn't dwell too much on the denominational aspect of Lent and instead focuses on the spiritual journey, I am thoroughly enjoing the book I'm using as a daily devotional, Small Surrenders. Very thought provoking. Highly recommend it.

*****

Sydney had a dentist appointment today, and I've figured out the way to make her look forward to that is to schedule an eye appointment the day before. As she said today, "Dentists are fun. Eye doctors are not fun. That new toothbrush is very funny!"

The dentist appointment went splendidly. The eye appointment still has me blinking slowly, warming up to the idea that Sydney needs bifocals. Already her prescription is +6.00 in her right eye and +6.5 in her left eye; the bifocals add another +3 to the bottom half of her glasses. I didn't think it would bother me that her eyesight is unchanged and in some cases worse, but it does. I started to write about it last night, but it was too emotional for me. I'm not as brave as Sydney is.

*****

I baked eight dozen cookies to take to my students today as an early Valentine's gift. Even though I have class on Thursday--which would be a more appropriate time to give them cookies--several of the students will be gone on account of baseball and softball games. I thought they deserved cookies too, so I stayed up until 11 o'clock last night finishing off the last batch.

I'm pretty sure the only thing they'll remember about today's class is that they got cookies.

I'm okay with that.

*****

I'm so glad you all approve of Trader Joe's. Which isn't to say that I'm searching for approval, except that sometimes I am. Also, I should note that Corvallis DOESN'T have a Trader Joes (thanks, Jen, for pointing that out). Eugene has one. Now I know what I'll be doing while Jason is running the Eugene Marathon in May.

(c) 2008 Creature Bug. All rights reserved.

Comments

[Jen]

I finally turned to the same tactic for family photos, except that I made the book in Apple's iPhoto. I was very pleased with the result, and with only a few days of work I was able to take a whole year of un-filed photos and get them into a beautiful bound album. To me, that's worth the extra money, because with actual prints that I have to physically insert into an album--it never gets done.

I also have the same situation with the computer as a time-waster. It's so convenient to use it for a thing or two throughout the day--yet far too often I find myself mindlessly clicking around because that's easier than accomplishing actual tasks in the actual world. Bravo to you for giving that up!

[Jess]

Wow, your albums look beautiful! I bet your girls will love looking through them. I know I enjoy my mom's photo albums from when we were kids...I think your idea for Lent is brilliant! I feel like I waste so much mindless time surfing around on the interwebs. One of these days my brain will just spontaneously become cotton candy from all that Go Fug Yourself and People.com...

Btw, I had glasses--bifocals--from the time I was 3 until I was 25! They were a pain at the pool when I was blind as a bat, but otherwise I just accepted them as part of me. I never got teased (er, not about that, anyway). I didn't get my contacts 'til before our wedding. Now I can't wear my glasses without feeling seasick!

[Alida]

I've always admired you, but now that you are putting photo albums together, you are my new found hero!

I have boxes and boxes of pictures. (Honestly, I'm not even a camera person.) I feel so guilty because I keep them in the (gasp!)garage.

Oh, someday...just not today.

[violetismycolor]

I was in yearbook in high school and loved it. But like you, I need to get my albums together. I used to do it in those books with the sticky pages, and I had one for every year. But they deteriorated and the books are falling apart and I need to start over. I am thinking of doing only digital albums, though. I think it's the wave of the future. Hope I'm right.

[Margaret]

What a great way to do photo albums. I still do prints in a sticky album--very old-school. I don't daytime blog because I'm at school. It keeps me away from the computer for anything except grades and e-mail. However, I have pretty grown up kids, so I have more time to fiddle around. (waste?)

[Rachel]

Sydney is such a trooper. The best part is that she's going to be able to see better. But I know it's hard.
I can't wait to show you the blog book I created and ordered from Booksmart. It turned out so great!!! I think I'll do a blog on it as soon as life calms down a bit.

[Sarah]

Granted our eye problems are probably very different, but it might be worth getting a second opinion on the bifocals thing. I had bifocals for awhile as a pre-teen, but when we went to a new eye doctor when we moved to a new town, he said they had been unnecessary. Just food for thought. :)

[Goslyn]

Ah, I started doing albums your way around Christmas. They are the best. So much easier than the old traditional style.

Also, I have found that a forced separation from the computer is really helping at home and with the kids too. So, good on you for your Lenten resolution!

[Jaime]

hi, it's alison again, not jaime. :) Just wanted to say I'm glad to hear you're doing those photo books and that's it's worth the money. I have a jillion amazing scrapbooking friends (well, at least five or six of them) and i have tried and tried, but it's not my thing. so all our pictures from before lily was born to the present are on our computer where no one can enjoy them (except occasionally when our screen saver comes on). I think i may start putting birthday and extra money toward "my publisher" and scrap the scrapbook. :) you've inspired me. (BTW, I love trader joe's too and am lucky enough to have one close enough to shop there whenever I like) (and thanks for your sweet valentine's post...I liked your comment about your job being to teach your girls how to love. I never thought about parenting that way before...)