Creativity, Crafts, Books, Movies, Greyhounds & Favorite Things

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This is the last post on my School Memories album…well, almost. When I do finally finish it in 2013, I’ll do a “victory” post.

A couple other points of interest…

Tuesday, Freedom, Casper, Nikki and Twinkie reported that they had “won” the Christmas Card count. Today, we received this.

Not much left, but the count now is:

Freedom, Casper, Nikki & Twinkie – 52

Daddy and Mommy – 30

Have you heard of the Pet Blogger Challenge?

The Pet Blogger Challenge is on January 10. Sponsored by GoPetFriendly.com, it is a community event that gives pet bloggers from around the world the chance to get to know each other, find out what motivates them, share tips for making their blogs better, commiserate, inspire, and support each other. It’s an opportunity to celebrate what they’ve accomplished over the last year, recognize how they’ve changed and grown, and lay out their vision for the year ahead.

If you’d like to participate, you can find the questions here; then on January 10th, all the participants will post their answers to the questions. There will be a link list, so you can hop around and meet some new friends.

Daily Inspiration

Books are lighthouses erected in the great sea of time.

E.P. Whipple

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For the remaining Thursdays in 2012 (only two left), I’m working on my School Memories albums.

I wanted to be finished with it by the end of the year, but that may not happen. “Slow and steady finishes the race” will be my theme with this and future photo projects. If I work on it a little every week, it will get done.

Daily Inspiration

Ambition is the path to success, persistence is the vehicle you arrive in.

William Eardley IV

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I’m working, little by little, on my School Memories album.

I need to set aside some blocks of time to concentrate on getting it put together. December isn’t the best month for that but hopefully, between doing little bits and  a couple of periods where I can really concentrate, I’ll get it done.

Here’s something clever…

…a 3-in-1 corner punch. I was looking for something to “dress up” my photo mats. This fit the bill…one punch, three different looks.

Daily Inspiration

I have spent my days stringing and unstringing my instrument, while the song I came to sing remains unsung.

Tagore

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This is where the rubber meets the road…it’s time for me to stop fussing about and start putting my school memories album together. This is an intimidating project for me, but I’m just going to get started. One thing I know…you only get better by doing.

I’m going to spend the last few Thursdays of 2012, putting this album together with the goal of having it finished by the end of the year. Wish me luck.

Daily Inspiration

Nothing is so fatiguing as the eternal hanging on of an uncompleted task.

William James

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All this month on Thursdays, I’m writing down some of my school memories.  I’m doing this because I’m putting together my first little photo album.  Back on November 1st, I wrote down some journaling prompts, and I’m using them to “free write” some of my memories.  My hope is that this will help me pick the stories I want to include in my album.

What did I wear (school fashion)?

Girls had to wear dresses when I first started school. This was in public school. When we were first allowed to wear pants, we had to go to a “fashion show” to see what was acceptable. If we wore pants, we had to wear a pantsuit, which was pants with a matching jacket or vest. This brings me to one of my favorite memories…When I was in 4th grade, I received a box of fabric for Christmas. To say I was disappointed (and confused) is an understatement. The “present” was that my mom was going to make me some mix-and-match outfits for school. She made me 2 vests, 2 skirts and 2 pairs of pants. This was my first foray into the world of mix-and-match, and as a future fashionista, I was delighted with all the possibilities. One of my ensembles was to wear a shirt, a vest, a pair of pants and a skirt…all at once.  The first time my sister saw me in this particular outfit, she said to me, “Did you forget to stop dressing?” Ouch! Needless to say, I learned the value of editing. The picture above is me wearing a shirt, vest and skirt. I don’t know if this was after my sister gave me her critique, or if it was just a day I hadn’t selected the shirt/vest/skirt/pants combo.

Any interesting school field trips?

The only field trip I recall was our 6th grade field trip to the museums in Chicago.

What were my favorite/least favorite school projects?

My favorite school project was my first full-length story. It was a mystery, and I wrote it in the 4th grade. The last name of my main characters was Snickasneer. Whenever I read students’ writing and it includes overly unusual names, it takes me back to this story of mine. I struggled with Geometry.  We had to keep a notebook for that class,fd and I hated it.

What are some interesting school stories I would like to remember?

A fun story…My girlfriend was a little daredevil. One day she had the idea that we could climb out of our second floor classroom window, lower ourselves to the ledge between the first and second floor, turn around and them leap down to the ground. She demonstrated this and then it was my turn. I couldn’t bring myself to do it, so she ran all the way back into the building and did it again to show me how easy it was. At this point, I had to do it or be labeled a “chicken,” so I crawled out the window and as soon as my feet touched the ledge, our teacher rounded the corner and  hollered at me “to get down from there.” That type of luck has followed me throughout life. I had to just give in a behave myself.

How did school shape me into the person I am today?

Art Every Day Month – Day 29

I’m participating in Art Every Day Month.  Every day during the month of November I’m going to start a painting. They will vary in their completeness…from “just started” to done.”

Daily Inspiration

First say to yourself what you would be; then do what you have to do.

Epictetus

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All this month on Thursdays, I’m writing down some of my school memories.  I’m doing this because I’m putting together my first little photo album.  Two weeks ago, I wrote down some journaling prompts and I’m going to use them to “free write” some of my memories.  My hope is that this will help me pick the stories I want to include in my album.  Here we go…

What did I want to be when I grew up?

I wanted to be an archaeologist, specifically an Egyptologist.  I had a book about the treasures of ancient Egypt and that’s what started my interest.  This was in junior high school.  I remember we were given a test to see what career we’d be good at.  I want the test to come back saying that I was best suited to be an archaeologist because I figured that would convince my mom that this was the career for me.  I selected answers that I thought would lead to that result.  So, the perfect career for me…FBI agent.

Who were my favorite and least favorite classmates?

My favorite classmate, my best friend, Ellen.  We met in kindergarten and we’re still friends today.  The first time I got in trouble at school was because of her.  Every day we had a “rest period” where we had to lay our heads down on our tables and rest.  We set a different tables and one day Ellen lured me over to her table for rest period.  It didn’t take much for her to lure me.  She was my new best friend and in the way of small children, I always wanted to be close to her.  Miss Cichowicz saw me, snapped her fingers at me and pointed me back to my table.

Fortunately, I didn’t have to deal with any bullying in school, but there was a little boy name Dimitri who made more than one of us cry in elementary school.  He made me cry by pushing me against a bulletin board.  From what I remember, the teacher was out of the classroom and he was acting up, so I got up to go get her and that’s when he got me.

What are my memories of my teachers?

I had good teachers all during my school years.  There were a couple stinkers, but no horror stories like I know some folks have.  One of my favorite teachers was Miss Smith, my fourth grade teacher.  I think we were her first class.  She was young, beautiful, stylish and an awesome teacher.  She was the creator of the Easter egg method of learning our times table that I told you about last week.  She made learning fun and was a great teacher.

What did I do during recess?

Hmmm…I remember getting blisters on the monkey bars.  Our playground had a lot of large oak trees and I can remember playing make-believe games around their roots, but I don’t remember anything specific.  I remember enjoying recess, but no standout memories.

Art Every Day Month – Day 15

I’m participating in Art Every Day Month.  Every day during the month of November I’m going to start a painting. Most won’t be finished, but I’ll get something started…a lot or a little.

Daily Inspiration

“Be yourself” is about the worst advice you can give some people.

Tom Masson

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All this month on Thursdays, I’m writing down some of my school memories.  I’m doing this because I’m putting together my first little photo album.  Last Thursday, I wrote down some journaling prompts and I’m going to use them to “free write” some of my memories.  My hope is that this will help me pick the stories I want to include in my album.  Here we go…

What schools did I attend and what were they like?

I attended four schools.  I went to Ardmore Elementary School (K-6), Coquillard Junior High School (7-8), Dickinson Middle School (9), and LaSalle High School (10-12).  My favorite school memories where in elementary school.  Ardmore was a small neighborhood school, so I was with basically the same kids from kindergarten until we “graduated” 6th grade.  I became a lot less interested in school when I went to junior high school and beyond.  I was in that group of kids that were stuck between the change from junior high schools to middle schools.  I always did well in school, but I did not like school past 6th grade.

School bus memories.

Thankfully, I don’t have many school bus memories.  I say, “thankfully” because I’m thinking that memorable school bus memories would probably be bad.  Oddly enough, my most vivid school bus memory occurred in the 1st grade.  My bus driver, Ernie, was a sober man who ran a tight ship.  For Christmas, my mom wrapped up a candy bar for me to give to him.  When I gave it to him, he smiled at me and I can remember being so surprised and a little scared because I had never seen him smile.

What was I good at in school?

I have always loved learning.  I remember loving anything to do with stories.  One favorite memory (connected with math of all things), was learning my times table in 4th grade.  It was around Easter and for every “times” we learned, we got a little white construction paper egg.  We could color it anyway we wanted and then it was glued on a chart.  We also got a jelly bean…any color we wanted, but just one.  When we finished all our times table, we got a large marshmallow egg.  I loved the whole process.  I know my multiplication table because of jelly beans and those little construction paper eggs.

What activities did I participate in?

I was in a spelling bee, 4th & 5th grade.  I was in band, 5th through 10th grade.  I played the flute.  That’s all I can think of.  Surely, I was in more than that!

Art Every Day Month

I’m participating in Art Every Day Month.  Every day during the month of November I’m going to start a painting. Most won’t be finished, but I’ll get something started…a lot or a little.

Daily Inspiration

A word is not a crystal, transparent and unchanged, it is the skin of a living thought and may vary greatly in color and content according to the  circumstances and the time in which it is used.

Oliver Wendell Holmes

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I’ve never put together a photo album.  For years, my photos have sat in box.  Every Thursday this year, I’ve done a post about things I wish I’d done “if I died today.”  One of the things on my list is to organize my photos in such a way that I can enjoy them and share them with friends and family.  I decided to start with a small “School Memories” album.

I sorted my photos and memorabilia, bought an album and coordinating papers and started to play around with how I want the album to “look,” but I don’t want to forget the most important thing…the stories behind the photos.  So this month, I’m going to work on writing my stories.

Now to decide what stories and information to include.  This week, I wrote down some journaling prompts to get me started.

What schools did I attend and what were they like?

School bus memories.

What was I good at in school?

What activities did I participate in?

What did I want to be when I grew up?

Who were my favorite and least favorite classmates?

What are my memories of my teachers?

What did I do during recess?

What did I wear (school fashion)?

Any interesting school field trips?

What were my favorite/least favorite school projects?

What are some interesting school stories I would like to remember?

How did school shape me into the person I am today?

I would LOVE to hear your ideas about journaling prompts.  What else would be interesting?

Art Every Day Month – Day 1

I’m participating in Art Every Day Month.  Every day during the month of November I’m going to start a painting. They will vary in their completeness…from “just started” to done.”

Daily Inspiration

Hope begins in the dark, the stubborn hope that if you just show up and try to do the right thing, the dawn will come.

Anne Lamott

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 I’m putting together a “School Memories” album.  I spent time this week looking at layout templates.  It’s probably just “beginner jitters” but I feel like I need a roadmap.

 

You can make yourself crazy if you look for too long because there are millions of ideas out there.  I found this picture on A Cherry On Top.  Hopefully this will get me started.

Daily Inspiration

 

There is little success where there is little laughter.

Andrew Carnegie

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I’m putting together a “School Memories” album.

This week, I cut out my background papers.  I’m using a coordinated paper pack from Stampin’ Up! called “Storytime.”

I spent time “auditioning” my photos against the different backgrounds to see which colors I liked.

It’s interesting to see how the photos look against different colors.

I’m not sure if this is the best way to go about putting an album together.

If anyone has any suggestions, I’m all ears.

Daily Inspiration

 

Too often we… enjoy the comfort of opinion without the discomfort of thought.

John F. Kennedy