Thursday, May 21, 2009

tweet, tweet, document

I'm taking Cathy Zielske's Everyone Can Write a Little class. It just made sense since I was already on twitter and facebook doing just what this class is about. As I learn to document the everyday as it happens, 140 characters at a time... these are some thoughts I've had.
  • Use hashtags to categorize. You can aggregate them into a single scrapbook layout later. Here are some good themes: #grateful, #prayer, #wish, #whatif, #proud (of someone & why).
  • Fortunately/Unfortunately. There is this book I love on this very topic. And really, for every negative there is a positive and vice versa, right?
  • CZ has mentioned dialogue. I love this. For me, I label my immediate family "Me", "JT" and John is "Hubz". Again, a great way to do a layout or aggregate the conversations that happen in your house.
  • Picture this: the prefix to use for those times when your camera isn't handy. Write a blurb that describes the scene you wanted to photograph. Maybe if you get a collection of these, your eyes will begin to see things differently and your photos will evolve? I'm just projecting here.
  • Tell a story as a knock, knock joke. I can't wait to try this.
  • Say something... then pose as the reader and ask a question. "What's that you say?" State the obvious question and answer it. It can be done in 140 characters!
  • Dear ____, I prefer to address inanimate objects. You know, like the darn printer at work.
And in the spirit of using the same tools to keep in touch with your friends and network and note the everyday, I propose doing each of the following each day:
  • Take a picture and link to it. Cameraphones are awesome for this. Or link to someone else's pic or anything that inspires you that day. Focus on visual inspiration.
  • Link to music, a book, or art that is inspiring you. Could be any medium. Could be new or old. Maybe you'll see some trends and can scrap a page about it?
  • @ someone. Reply to someone else. Laugh at their joke, commiserate with them, or just say hi.
  • RT something someone says. If you hear about something cool or funny, retweet it. Others may also enjoy. And it documents what you are finding interesting on that day. Worthy of noting.
Now follow me on Twitter or Facebook to see what transpires. :)

Tuesday, May 19, 2009

baby shower

Have I mentioned that I'm going to be an aunt? Did I mention that I get a baby without any of the pain, recovery, late nights, or full time worry?! I'm pretty darn excited that my brother and sister-in-law are having this baby for me. So happy, in fact, that I threw Theresa a shower!

bunny-themed baby shower invitations

Family and friends joined us at Broken Rocks Cafe and Bakery in Wooster. It's a gorgeous restaurant with amazing food. Glen, the owner hooked us up with a great menu of sandwiches, soup, and salads. We just ate, chatted, and opened presents...

gorgeous room, guests

Theresa looks awesome. She has a sick schedule between teaching high school and taking classes for her master's degree right now. I would be asleep at the table if it was me!

opening presents

I'm not even pregnant and I have been too tired to finish all the projects I had in mind for this baby. I did manage to pull together a few purchased things and some handmade. I made a blankie and a scrapbook for baby. There's also a wooden bunny teether in there from Little Alouette. So cute!

shower gift

To top off the event... we had dessert. Strawberry shortcake and chocolate custard. YUM!

Theresa's baby shower

Wooster has such a great downtown. I think several of the ladies sneaked off to shop before or after the shower. There are a couple yarn stores, a scrapbook store, and a bead shop to name a few of the cool places.

I can just imagine the summer days we'll spend strolling around, sipping lattes and shopping... with my little niece in the stroller... oh, did I mention my prediction for the baby is girl? I'm pretty sure of it. Heee!

Monday, May 18, 2009

he loves trucks

On Sundays, John and JT usually head down the highway to to drop off the citin' (recycling). This past Sunday, John was out of town and I had other errands to run, so JT and I tackled the task. I should point out that I wasn't going to take it, since it's not my chore, but JT reminded me. "Drop 'citin'?" he asked. Ok, ok... we'll drop off the recycling!

As luck would have it, we arrived at the drop-off location just as the truck was emptying the bins. To a 22-month old who loves trucks, this was a golden opportunity! And how convenient that Mama had a camera! We watched every bin get dumped. It was thrilling.


When we finished there, JT reminded me that Dada took him to see the planes at OSU Airport last time they were out. Not to be outdone by Dada, we went to the airport. We got to see a small plane land and one take off. THEN we saw a jet take off!


And then I forced a toddler into his car seat while crying and screaming "Mama, jet! Mama, jet!"

Saturday, May 16, 2009

keeping up


May 12, 2009, originally uploaded by brungrrl.

This month is flying by almost as quickly as April did. I'm so glad I started the 12 of 12 project. I haven't scrapped much lately. So at least I have my 12 of 12 pages every month to document what's been going on in our lives.

Last week I was really sick, so that totally threw a wrench in the works. Kind of hard to do any of the extra fun, creative stuff when you can barely get through the essential and necessary things in life - like working, feeding the fam, and keeping up the house!

I'm taking a class called Everyone Can Write a Little that combines my Twitter love with scrapbooking. Can you imagine?! So hopefully that will help to kick start the scrappin' around here. I'll keep you posted. Or at least tweet about it. :)