I woke up this morning to the sound of a cricket somewhere nearby in the house. Every so often it chirps and chirps, but I haven't been able to locate it yet. I'm always surprised that critters like this - especially crickets - can survive in a house with boys clomping around, two cats, and a large dog who quite likes to snap at insects.
It's really quiet in here this morning.
Randy has gone back to work after his Christmas break, and the boys are away at a friend's house for a couple of days.
Maybe the cricket has been chirping for a week and this is the first time I've heard it.
Last year around this time I took a few days and made myself a planner for the year. It stemmed from having used planners for 20+ (gulp) years, and not really ever having one 'fit' my life. For a long time I loved the Polestar Family Calendar, but found that it had more pages than I needed and whole sections that I didn't use, year after year.
The one that I made last year worked really well. There was enough room in it for all of life's unpredictability, and for the rhythm of the week. The boys could add important (and goofy) messages to it, and it spent most of last year firmly parked on the kitchen counter within 2 steps of the whiteboard that we use to keep our whole family's week straight.
By some miracle, I kept the template from last year with the stamps, and was able to put the one for 2012 together without much fuss or bother.
There are a couple of modifications, but not many. The main one is that I made the date numbers substantially smaller, and the month itself doesn't take up quite so much room on the page. The basic layout is the same, with a week per page, and all the page's dates close to the spine. I cut the corner off the pages last year as the weeks went by, and occasionally lost part of a phone number or name, so this year will be a bit more mindful about where things will be written. The new book has a 'contacts' area, and a 'frequently used numbers' section, as last year's did. There are dividers with pockets at the point at which the school year becomes summer, and where the summer meets the school year again. There is also a pocket divider at the very end of the year (this was really handy for receipts and other papers that had a longer shelf life than a week or two, but not a long enough one to warrant filing).
Once again, I used stamps to show certain things...days with a bird stamp are loved ones' birthdays, and days with a peacock feather stamp are anniversaries. The above photo shows the week of Randy's and my anniversary last year, and in the year to come. It would seem that summer is not about relaxing! Last year I pasted little things into the book throughout the year (pictures, fortune cookie fortunes), and doodled. I can see that this year's will be the same in that regard.
I've been pretty decadent about my time over the holiday. I found time to finally finish the sweater that was started in the summer, and to start another sweater. Nelson's needlework and craft store closed this week (sniff), and I bought myself a little cashmere yarn as the doors were closing.
I still need to buy proper clasps for the completed sweater (the photo here shows it being held shut with stitch markers), and block it. In the meantime, the new sweater I'm working on is coming together rather quickly as there is plenty of sitting-around-in-the-evening time right now. The new sweater is acid green and seafoam stripes...mmmmmm, cashmere......
Randy has been finding time during the holiday to work on the house. He built doors for the boys' bedrooms, (yay!) and the caps for our posts. Bit by bit, the house is coming together.
We're all getting ready to jump in to the new year around here. Last year my resolution was about drawing, and I managed to keep it going in the intended way for about 3 months. After that, I started including drawings I was doing for work or other purposes as my drawing 'resolution drawings', but knew that I was cheating myself! It's funny how we can convince ourselves of things that are so contrary - part of the point of that particular resolution was to ensure that I had a place to invite drawing back into my life in creative, non-commercial ways...and promptly started mentally using my 'work' drawings as my 'recreational' drawings. Hrm.
So this year I've opted to do a similar (non-commercial) thing in a new way. I've joined the Sketchbook Project. The whole works has to be wrapped up and sent in by April...and that's about as long as I was able to make my resolution stick last year. I have to pay to participate in this one - hopefully that will help with my stick-to-it-ive-ness...and at the end of it all the book will be available online for all to see, and in their library in Brooklyn. I like the idea, too, that all the books will travel around the US, and that someday I or people I care about could go and view the book in it's new home. I loved the themes and was able to choose one that has a lot of meat on it's bones for me, and can't wait to get in there and start working on it. I've already been doing a bit of research and getting some ideas down.
Now I'm off to tidy up and reorganize my workspace...my little corner of the loft is completely torn apart right now as I prepare for the art-ing and craft-ing year ahead.
Cheers!
Lisa
It's really quiet in here this morning.
Randy has gone back to work after his Christmas break, and the boys are away at a friend's house for a couple of days.
Maybe the cricket has been chirping for a week and this is the first time I've heard it.
Last year around this time I took a few days and made myself a planner for the year. It stemmed from having used planners for 20+ (gulp) years, and not really ever having one 'fit' my life. For a long time I loved the Polestar Family Calendar, but found that it had more pages than I needed and whole sections that I didn't use, year after year. The one that I made last year worked really well. There was enough room in it for all of life's unpredictability, and for the rhythm of the week. The boys could add important (and goofy) messages to it, and it spent most of last year firmly parked on the kitchen counter within 2 steps of the whiteboard that we use to keep our whole family's week straight.
By some miracle, I kept the template from last year with the stamps, and was able to put the one for 2012 together without much fuss or bother.
There are a couple of modifications, but not many. The main one is that I made the date numbers substantially smaller, and the month itself doesn't take up quite so much room on the page. The basic layout is the same, with a week per page, and all the page's dates close to the spine. I cut the corner off the pages last year as the weeks went by, and occasionally lost part of a phone number or name, so this year will be a bit more mindful about where things will be written. The new book has a 'contacts' area, and a 'frequently used numbers' section, as last year's did. There are dividers with pockets at the point at which the school year becomes summer, and where the summer meets the school year again. There is also a pocket divider at the very end of the year (this was really handy for receipts and other papers that had a longer shelf life than a week or two, but not a long enough one to warrant filing).Once again, I used stamps to show certain things...days with a bird stamp are loved ones' birthdays, and days with a peacock feather stamp are anniversaries. The above photo shows the week of Randy's and my anniversary last year, and in the year to come. It would seem that summer is not about relaxing! Last year I pasted little things into the book throughout the year (pictures, fortune cookie fortunes), and doodled. I can see that this year's will be the same in that regard.
I've been pretty decadent about my time over the holiday. I found time to finally finish the sweater that was started in the summer, and to start another sweater. Nelson's needlework and craft store closed this week (sniff), and I bought myself a little cashmere yarn as the doors were closing. 
I still need to buy proper clasps for the completed sweater (the photo here shows it being held shut with stitch markers), and block it. In the meantime, the new sweater I'm working on is coming together rather quickly as there is plenty of sitting-around-in-the-evening time right now. The new sweater is acid green and seafoam stripes...mmmmmm, cashmere......Randy has been finding time during the holiday to work on the house. He built doors for the boys' bedrooms, (yay!) and the caps for our posts. Bit by bit, the house is coming together.
We're all getting ready to jump in to the new year around here. Last year my resolution was about drawing, and I managed to keep it going in the intended way for about 3 months. After that, I started including drawings I was doing for work or other purposes as my drawing 'resolution drawings', but knew that I was cheating myself! It's funny how we can convince ourselves of things that are so contrary - part of the point of that particular resolution was to ensure that I had a place to invite drawing back into my life in creative, non-commercial ways...and promptly started mentally using my 'work' drawings as my 'recreational' drawings. Hrm.
So this year I've opted to do a similar (non-commercial) thing in a new way. I've joined the Sketchbook Project. The whole works has to be wrapped up and sent in by April...and that's about as long as I was able to make my resolution stick last year. I have to pay to participate in this one - hopefully that will help with my stick-to-it-ive-ness...and at the end of it all the book will be available online for all to see, and in their library in Brooklyn. I like the idea, too, that all the books will travel around the US, and that someday I or people I care about could go and view the book in it's new home. I loved the themes and was able to choose one that has a lot of meat on it's bones for me, and can't wait to get in there and start working on it. I've already been doing a bit of research and getting some ideas down.
Now I'm off to tidy up and reorganize my workspace...my little corner of the loft is completely torn apart right now as I prepare for the art-ing and craft-ing year ahead.
Cheers!
Lisa
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