Yesterday we had our big family Christmas, an event that usually lasts for hours and hours. Forecasters had been telling us about the impending doom of a weekend snowstorm for days, though, so much of the conversation was centered on the weather and how we’d be getting to our own homes during a real storm, especially since the entire time we were at my parents’ house it was raining.

My thoughts were less involved with tackling the roads, but more on my need to find that remote control that went missing last weekend. I mean, really, the most important accessory for a snowed-in day? The remote. Really.

So, my sister mentioned that she had found a lost remote in her recliner after she’d moved it THREE times. I, of course, had already checked between the cushions of the couch and recliner, but what the heck…why not try again?

This is important business, you know?

So, when J went to bed (soon, since he’s got his first ear infection and isn’t exactly in the most energetic of modes), I flipped the recliner over.

I found:

1. A blue plastic part for J’s stacking toy
2. A blue sock, one of my favorites that has been missing for a least a year; it was covered in dog hair and dust. Eww.
3. One grey remote control of indeterminate age with its battery cover taped on by a bit of black electrical tape. I don’t remember this remote, but since the recliner was new when we bought it, I’m pretty sure it was ours. I think.
4. One black, dusty remote from at least two years ago. I remember getting pissed that it was lost and having a really hard time replacing it with another that also could control the stereo, DVD and TV. It took weeks and we actually had to get up to change the channel. That lost remote may be why T finally agreed to start the adoption process–we needed someone to change the channels, and kids are great at that, as we well remembered.
5. Our very wonderful, fully programmed DishTV remote. Thank god, because I was really not wanting to have to reprogram everything again. It takes so much time…it gets in the way of valuable TV-watching time.

Now, what do I do with all the remotes?

And now, if you haven’t just come from there, go visit Best Shot Monday’s new home: Mother May I. There will be (are) a ton of comments with great links in them :)

I’ve been working on a little project lately, and I like it so much that I want to share it with you.  A while back I started working on lifebook pages for J and then kind of got sidetracked, which is easy for me to do, especially when something gets a little too tedious.

By March, tedious definitely described how I felt about the lifebook.  I was digital scrapbooking, which was nice, but way too much work.  I don’t know if any of you do scrapbooking, but the style that’s popular right now is pretty…detailed.  There are tons of elements, and I was drawn to using Photoshop a little too much to create little pieces of artwork.  It was too much for me, considering I’d rather spend time with photography and photo editing.

So, Friday I started all over.  Mpix has finally started offering both soft and hardcover book printing, and since I love their quality, I thought now was the time to start.  So, seven pages into the creation of this small 24-page book, I am completely happy with the new direction.  My mother-in-law would be very disapproving of the color scheme, which is predominantly black and utterly devoid of angels, but I’m doing it for J, not his grandma.  Here are pages 6 and 7–what do you think? I’m LOVING it!

I knew why so many of us go somewhat silent after our babies come–time is nearly impossible to come by. I didn’t realize that sometimes it was less that time is scarce, but that there are just so many other things to focus on.

Between the lifebook and the announcement I’m doing for my new niece, I’m just about at my limit. I love to be creative, but working on these things under deadline is not where I want to be anymore, I’ve found.

But that’s beside the real point here–I’m sure I’ll get over it. I really wanted to give a few resources to anyone who’s interested in doing some digital scrapbooking for a lifebook.

First, take a look at these forums and the stores linked to them. Within these pages, you’ll find lots of help and some great resources:

• DigiscrapDivas
• DigiShopTalk
• Digital Scrapbook Place

Personally, I gather “paper,” which is really a big digital image file that is suitable for professional printing at 12×12 and a few doo-dads, otherwise known as embellishments and doodles. Then, grab a few pictures I’ve taken and use Photoshop to slap it all together. Usually, I sketch up the page in advance to get the look right or at least have a firm picture in my mind of what I’d like it to look like.

If you’re intimidated by the process, designers also sell quickpages and templates with quickpages being the easiest–you just slap the picture in a blank spot, type in a few things with the program of your choice (I use Photoshop, but there are a variety of image editing programs out there that are easy to use), and you’re done.

That’s it.

Right now, I’m on a creative team, meaning that in exchange for paper and embellishment kits from a specific designer, I create a set number of layouts for each of her kits and post them out in the forums–it’s a form of advertising for her. For me, it’s free kits, which is nice.  The problem is that while when I started a few weeks ago, I had a set plan for the types of pages I would do and what forms of journaling would be placed on those pages, I’ve been so focused on making layouts that the plan has sort of flown out the window.  Hopefully, I’ll get myself back on track…as soon January is over.

Maybe that’s a topic for another day–January and its jam-packed craziness.  Well, jam-packed for me.  I used to spend entire weekends at home, tethered to the computer desk.  No longer, apparently.

Stop.  I won’t go there.  If you do have any more questions or requests about scrapbooking info, let me know and I’ll post more :)

My favorite layout, yet…

First, thank you for all the assurances that I’m not the spawn of the devil for not feeling bad for using daycare. T laid the guilt trip on me tonight, but I think he was trying to get me going, and now that he knows my blog address and has become a regular reader (took you long enough, hon) he knows exactly where my weak spots are. I’m thinking about blocking his IP. Oh. Yeah. And then I wouldn’t be able to log on, either. Damn. Back to the drawing board.
Last night was the night from hell–for wimpy little me, at least. J got up at 2 and I couldn’t go back to sleep, which is the problem with me working and him getting up in the middle of the night. I’m tired and a teensy bit frustrated that he didn’t take a bottle yet again tonight at 8:30, so I know he’ll be up a time or two tonight. T usually handles the first one, but the second time is hard enough on me when I can’t get to sleep again. Ugh.

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