2009 - Simplify, 2010 - Capture

For the second year I participated in Ali's One Little Word for the year. At the beginning of the year participants choose a word to be their "theme" for the year.

My word for 2009 was Simplify.

So, how did I do? Well, I think I did pretty good. I still had a lot of times where I was running around, crazy busy, but I was able to keep things fairly simple this year. I was able to spend more time just doing simple things and enjoying the simpler moments of life. I was able to spend more time scrapbooking, although not as much time as I would have liked.

Overall, I think it was a year where I spent time just enjoying being with my family and friends.

For the upcoming year, I wanted a word that refelcted where my life is right now, and what my priorities are. With one son in college, and another one going off in September, my life as a stay at home mom is changing drastically. My role is not as defined by the lives of my boys. While they are becoming more and more independent and moving off into their own lives, I know that our time together will become less and less.

I've also become aware that my memories of the past are fading somewhat and aren't as clear as they used to be.

With all this in mind, my word for 2010 is CAPTURE. This year I want to focus on capturing all these moments and getting them on paper, whether it is scrapbooking, blogging or just journaling. I want to capture moments of my childhood and my toughts and feelings on things. I also want to capture whatever time I can get with my family and savour the moments that we're able to spend together.

So? What's your word for 2010?

It's all over for another year!

Yes, Christmas, 2009, is a thing of the past now. Since I last blogged I feel like it has all been a blur of activity.

The week before Christmas was filled with wrapping paper, tape, tags, cleaning (lots and lots of cleaning) and a funeral.

My great-aunt passed away just before Christmas. Aunt Ivy was a great lady. She turned 90 this year and we were able to celebrate her birthday with the family. The service was very touching and brought back so many childhood memories spent with her and Uncle Bert at their cottage. So many wonderful memories. I will really miss her.

Christmas Eve our Christmas celebrations started when my parents and Rick and my inlaws arrived around 4 p.m. My sister and her husband arrived at 6. We had dinner and celebrated my mom's birthday. Then we settled into some serious Wii games. Mom, Dad, and Rick left with Cathy and Don later in the evening.

John's parents stayed over night and spent Christmas Day with us.

For the first time, ever, the adults were all up before the kids. We had a leisurly bowl of cereal and cup of tea, enjoying the peace and quiet of the morning before mayhem hit.

The boys seemed to like everything they got this year. The big gifts were a leather jacket for Matt, a cell phone for Spencer (we figured it was about time he got one since he's 17) and a camera for Cameron, a Kindle for John, and a jill-e camera bag for me.

The rest of the day was very relaxing. Everyone happily checking out their gifts and each other gifts.

On Boxing Day we traveled to London for my family's Christmas. The family gathering was a little smaller than usual (only 19 of us this year) but we still had a great time ... although we missed getting in our game of spoons.

Yesterday we went to Guelph to John's parents', to help them out with a few things.
Today I'm exhausted. 4 days of meal prep, serving, and clean-up has taken it's toll on me. I've been curled up in a chair all day with my laptop, surfing the web, and reinstalling programmes from when my computer was in for service before Christmas. Other than heating up some leftovers, I don't plan on moving.

I've managed to upload what few pictures I took this Christmas and am sharing a few here. Some of them ended up edited too much as my computer was very low on battery power and so the screen was dim and I didn't really notice until I was done. Now, I'm too lazy to fix them.

Our tree in the family room on Christmas morning and our tree in the basement.

John always talks about his favourite toy when he was a kid. Rock em sock em robots. So, I had to get it for him.

The Chrismtas table this year.

Dinner time.

Boxing Day

My Dad with his Great Grandsons, Owen and Ethan.

Need a giggle?

The Countdown is on!

So? How's it going for you? I know that it is just as crazy for everyone as it is for me. I don't have a lot of time to blog, but I thought I would just do a quick "what has Barb been up to" post.
It's not too interesting, but here it is:

- Matt had his second interview and it went well. He hasn't heard anything back, but the manager said that he would take a look at the schedule and see where he could fit him in. If nothing else, the interview experience was good for him.
-school is winding down for everyone for Christmas. There are lots of events, parties and concerts to attend these days. I'm on my way out shortly to help Cameron's school band as they go to an assited living facility to play.
-I had a lovely lunch out with my peeps on Tuesday. We had a table of 12 right beside a table of 12 older ladies. It was pretty loud, but they definately beat us out. It was funny because that will be us in a few years time.
-I'm heading out today for a birthday lunch with two of my friends. We all have a birthday within three weeks of each other.
-my shopping isn't done yet, but it's getting close.
-Cameron found all the cookies that I got from the cookie exchange. Half of them are gone. Arggggg!
-John's family (or those who could make it) were here on Saturday for their family Christmas. It was a very relaxed, and enjoyable day.
-We had our Church's Carols and Candles on Sunday. Lovely.
-the boys are almost done their driving lessons ... and I still have hair. Now if the testers would just get back to work!
-Spencer had to play in a small combo in Toronto on Friday night. After dropping him off (it wasn't the kind of thing for parents to stay and watch) I met John after work and we went for dinner and then did some shopping. We don't get enough time like that together.
-My computer was still sick so I took it in to have it fixed. Yay, it's fixed. Now I have to find, and reinstall all my programmes. Ummmm .... finding them is the problem.

See? Pretty boring.

OK, off to more craziness.

Daybook

FOR TODAY

Outside my window... it's not looking much like Christmas. Yes, I'm one of those who loves to have a blanket of white on the ground at this time of the year. Good news for me, we're getting a little bit today (at least I hope so) and a snow storm on the way for Wednesday. Sing with me ... "It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas ..."

I am thinking... that no one in this house is getting enough sleep these days. It's too hard to get everyone up in the morning and then I have to look at grumpy faces, mine included! Early bedtimes all around tonight. (so, just how do you get 17 and 19 year old boys into bed early anyway?)

I am thankful for... this past weekend being behind me. It was a very busy one with lots of running around, events, and things to get done. (no wonder I'm tired)

What I learned this past week ... OK, it's not a new revelation to me, but it certainly was a strong reminder for me that I don't handle time pressures very well.

From the kitchen... today is cookie making day. OK, stop laughing, it's true. I don't bake often (I'd much rather cook than bake) but I joined a cookie exchange and the exchange is tomorrow. Yes, I'm a procrastinator.

I am wearing... very comfy and cozy sweat pants, and a sweat shirt. I will have to change shortly, though, because I need to go to the chiropractor.

I am creating... well, not much. I went to my sister's on Friday to scrapbook and finished off some layouts I was working on. I also have a very cool calendar kit thingy to make up so I hope to do that tomorrow (or at least get started on it.)

I am going... to stay home as much as possible today. I have a chiropractor appointment, a school run, and Matt has his interview, other than that I plan on staying in.

I am reading... the Twilight Series ... yes, still. (I'm a very slow reader.) I'm very hot and cold on these books. There are parts of them that I can't put down, and then parts where I don't want to carry on.

I am hoping... that Matt get's the job.

I am hearing... the Weather Network telling me about all the snow that we're going to get on Wednesday. I hope they're not be lying to me.

Around the house... yikes! The vacuum has been broken for a few days. That's all I'm going to say about that.

One of my favorite things... Christmas decorations

A few plans for the rest of the week: shopping, cleaning, shopping, cleaning, shopping, cleaning ...

Here is picture for thought I am sharing... my favorite decoration on my tree. My mom gave me this the year Matt was born. The baby is crying because he's hanging by his shirt.

If you want to participate in the Simple Woman's Daybook, go here: http://thesimplewomansdaybook.blogspot.com/

Do You Know What This Is?

This is my 500th blog post. Several months ago my brother, David challenged us to set a blogging goal. Mine was to hit 500 before the end of the year. I made it. In one way it's pretty sad because I've been blogging now for 4 1/2 years and am just reaching this milestone now, but on the possitive side, this challenge has made me blog more.

Here we are at the end of one week and the beginning of another. I don't think I managed to accomplish a lot this week. Here's my list:

-got the Christmas decorations up (OK, that in itself is a huge accomplishment)

-went for lunch and dress shopping with Deb and we found and bought a maid of honour dress

-the band played at Sunnybrook hospital on Tuesday night

-we played on the Salvation Army Christmas Kettle yesterday in the mall

-I managed to get a few things purchased on my shopping list

Oh, and this is pretty big. Matt applied for his first part-time job. I know this doesn't sound like much for most young people, but for someone with challenges it's a big step. He applied to work at Tim Hortons (we think this is a good match for him at this time). He went for an interview on Friday and it went really well. He's going for a second interview on Monday so that sounds very promising. The look of pride on his face after the interview was worth the price of admission.

Pray for him on Monday.

I figured it's about time I put this layout up. It's from Christmas last year with John's family. Since his family Christmas is next weekend I thought I'd better get this one up before I have the pictures and layout from the next one. (yes, I'm a procrastinator)

Something else you need to check out

OK, I know that I'm talking to my scrapping friends here, but there could possibly be some others who may want to check this out. It doesn't just appeal to scrapbookers.

On the weekend my friend, Joy, showed us this book she bought. It is a Memory Logbook. It's set up like a dayplanner where you can journal each day. On top of that there are journaling prompts, a list of questions each month, to help jog your memory of old memories, and record ongoing memories. There are weekly challenges with more journaling prompts and then you can get those onto your scrapbook page and into your books. There is a section each week for planing out your pages as well.

Lately I've been thinking that I want to branch out into more of a journal/scrapbook where I can record my own history, thoughts, feelings, and dreams. What a perfect tool for me.

I came right home and went on line. You can purchase a bound book (for either a month, or the year) or you can purchase a cheaper version where you download the copy and print it at home. I did both. I couldn't wait to get started, so I purchased the print-at-home copy for December, and the full version for 2010.

Very cool! Thanks Joy!

You can check it out here: http://logyourmemory.com/. The log books are listed on the left side.

I just found a use for the Christmas Paper that seems to reproduce in my stash!

Isn't this so cool? It doesn't look like it would be that difficult to make either. I think I may need to go through my stash and see if I have enough to do this. What a great way to use my stash.

For instructions on how to make this go here:
Christmas Wreath

It's Heeeeeeere!

Yes, Christmas time is here. Yikes! How did it sneak up on me like that? As I was falling asleep last night I started to have a panic attack. I haven't started shopping yet, my trees are in place but there are no decorations, I mean, it's December 2nd already ... what's wrong with me?
OK, I know, I know. I still have lots of time. Maybe the panic attack had something to do with the fact that the radio station I listen to is now all Christmas music, and last night was our first official Christmas event with the Band.

Maybe I need to turn the radio off, and have a cup of tea. I like that idea.

So, the retreat this past weekend went well. We had a really good time. As usual, I took too much stuff, got far too few things accomplished, ate way too much, slept too little, and laughed until my sides hurt. Perfect weekend! It doesn't get much better than that.

It was our 22nd anniversary over the weekend. Can you beleive it? How is that possible? It has just gone so fast. I know it may be cliche, but I would marry John all over again. He is my other half and together we are whole. No matter what life throws at us, it just makes our relationship stronger.

OK, enough of the sappy stuff, LOL!

It was also my birthday on Monday. 48! FORTY EIGHT!!!!! I spent the day with my friend, Deb. We went for lunch and then we went dress shopping for her wedding. She already has her gown so we were looking for a Maid of Honor dress. We found one, and I love it!
We were going to go out for dinner as a family, but by the time we were all home, I had a headache and I was still exhausted from the weekend so I ended up crashing on the couch and we ordered in. Much better! The best part of the day ... getting a kiss from all my boys!