A few cards.

Here's what we're making in my at-home class tomorrow:

No real rhyme or reason to the themes--it's mostly what's sitting on my desk at any given moment! I did use a few new stamps, though. I totally need some new inks--half of mine are dried out--and some new sentiment stamps. But I put myself on a spending freeze till May 1, so...oh well! Stamping is even more of a money pit than scrapbooking, because the inks and stamps are soooo expensive.

Not much else going on here...we're definitely in the post-holiday slump. This weekend we're going to my brother's house for my niece's fourth birthday party. My parents and my sister and her kids will be there, too, so that should be fun!

Weekend update.

Wow, this week went by fast! It was a combination of productive and frustrating...I got the downstairs pretty nicely cleaned up and organized, but there were some errands and other projects that left me spinning my wheels. I'm also very frustrated with my guitar today. I think I understand the whole Pete Townsend-smashing-guitars-into-little-bits thing a lot better now!

Other than that, I've just been reading like a maniac all week and hitting the library for the first time in literally years. Our libraries around here are sort of lousy, and I get frustrated and homesick for Columbus and its awesome libraries every time I go into a library down here, but right now I'm just sucking it up and going and trying to find what I want. I stand by my feeling that a city this size should have a much better library system than it does, but I guess libraries are at the bottom of the state priority list.

I've read:

My Life in France by Julia Child and Alex Prud'homme. Reading the Julie and Julia book I mentioned before got me interested in Julia Child's life, and this book is really inspiring. She found her life's work at age thirty-six, which is how old I am. Hmmm.

Catch a Wave by Peter Ames Carlin, which is a biography of Brian Wilson, mostly from the point-of-view of his music, and less from the ins and out of his personal life, although that does get mentioned somewhat. Carlin puts Brian Wilson's lyrics and themes right up there with writers like Steinbeck and Twain as part of the American voice, which I thought was audacious but interesting and probably pretty legitimate.

The Worst Hard Time by Timothy Egan...this was recommended by someone at Two Peas, and it's a totally compelling book about the Dust Bowl in the 1930's. I couldn't put it down...so many tragic stories and so much hubris that led to this environmental disaster.

Right now I'm reading The Great Deluge: Hurrican Katrina, New Orleans and the Mississippi Gulf Coast by Douglas Brinkley, and it's making me so angry I've had to start reading it in smaller chunks so I don't get overwhelmed. Although I don't discount, and Brinkley certainly doesn't, the outrageous neglect on a local and state level in Louisiana, this book confirms my growing feeling that the Bush presidency is the one of the most tragic things that's ever happened to this country. It's a tremendously interesting and heartbreaking book, and there are many small inspiring stories, too. I really recommend it.

Ring out the old!

Only three hours left in 2006...wow, where did this year go? I was sitting in the living room sipping a cup of tea a little while ago, thinking about the painting and packing we were doing this time last year, and yeah, this New Year's Eve is way better!

We're just spending the weekend being busy little beavers, knocking some stuff off the "to do" list. Kind of fun, actually.

Just for fun, I thought I'd make a little year-in-review list of totally random items:

10 books I read in 2006:

Julie and Julia
Snow Falling on Cedars
Assassination Vacation
A Long Shadow
The Kite Runner
Tender at the Bone
The Reading Group
St. Dale
Locked Rooms
Jane Austen: A Life

8 movies I saw in 2006:
(In a theater, that is--and this is all of 'em, not even ten!)

Casino Royale
Stranger than Fiction
Talladega Nights
The Holiday
Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest
X-Men: the Last Stand
Flags of our Fathers
Marie Antoinette

10 Movies I rented in 2006:

Walk the Line
A Prairie Home Companion
The Matador
The Reckoning
Memento
Spanglish
Mr. and Mrs. Smith
Match Point
The Prize Winner of Defiance, Ohio
Wedding Crashers

10 CDs I bought in 2006:

Wintersong
Barenaked Ladies Are Me
We Shall Overcome—the Seeger Sessions
The Very Best of Marvin Gaye
A Mighty Wind soundtrack
Smart Kid (Clumsy Lovers)
Yours, Mine and Ours (Pernice Brothers)
The Little Willies
Ricky Nelson Greatest Hits
Highway Companion (Tom Petty)

And finally...
10 Embarassing Songs I downloaded in 2006:

Play Me (Neil Diamond)
Looks Like We Made It (Barry Manilow)
Sister Golden Hair (America)
Magic (Olivia Newton-John)
I Say a Little Prayer for You (Dionne Warwick)
Baby, I Love Your Way (Peter Frampton)
If I Can't Have You (Yvonne Elliman)
Crazy Love (Poco)
Everything I Own (Bread)
...and the most cringe-inducing...Afternoon Delight (Starland Vocal Band)

All from the Seventies, Decade of Shame. And Decade of my Childhood...this is my musical heritage we're looking at here. Consider this last list an homage to our late President, Mr. Ford, who presided over a slice of my childhood, albeit a smaller slice than either Barry Manilow or Neil Diamond.

Happy 2007, everybody--may you have perfect peace and contentment this coming year! Thanks for reading my mutterings and crazy thoughts in 2006! Love ya, man!

The last of Christmas journaling.

I've got the final four pages of my journal done!

Here's the page for the 15th which I put off because the prompt for the day was not something I could relate to. I swapped in a later prompt for this date:

And here's the page for the 20th, which was about Christmas mail. We got many fewer cards than usual, and nothing particularly unexpected, so I just clipped some stamps and postmarks and stuck them in a pocket:

For the 24th, I wrote about a very vivid childhood memory:

And wrapped it all up neat and tidy for the 25th:

I need to figure out how to decorate the cover...if I come up with anything awesome, I'll share it. Thanks for looking and all the great comments I got...this was a fun project and it really made my holidays more fun!

A more perfect me.

The weeks after Christmas always follow the same script: Janelle tugs worriedly, hand over hand, at the skinny rope attached to the household that is slowly, slowly teetering on the brink of collapse.

At least that's how it feels. In the lead-up to Christmas, I neglect the house even more than I usually do, thinking that when January 1 comes, that will be the perfect time to pull everything back into shape for the New Year. January 1 is like my magic "do over" date.

So after Christmas, there are presents to shoehorn into storage spots, and closets to go through, and always complete rehaulings of at least one room if not more, while trying to pick up the clutter that has gathered in every room, and maybe scrape a layer of dirt off stuff, too. Oh, and all the Christmas decor to put away, which is always horrible...all the magical wonderful holiday stuff that has brightened your month, now just another loathsome chore to be added to the long list.

This is the time of year we often buy furniture or new storage set-ups, which require lots of rearranging. Last year at this time we were dismantling one household while trying to prepare a new household for habitation. I've been thanking God on bended knee every day lately that I don't have to do THAT again this year.

Finances always need attention after Christmas too--enter the receipts, bring the accounts up-to-date, file the last of this year's paperwork and set up folders for next year's paperwork. Shudder at the sums you've spent on Christmas and, worse, on after-Christmas sales, and calculate how many months into 2007 you'll be paying off your spending orgy. (The past couple weeks have been abnormally hard on my credit card.)

Now I'm up very late tonight feeling some major anxiety pangs...not quite sure about what. Just everything, I guess. I have such a long list of chores for the next couple of weeks, and an even longer list of goals for the upcoming year. Spend less, eat less, clean more, walk more, get organized, get life figured out. It's making me twitchy.

Catching up and throwing up.

This week between Christmas and New Year's always throws me off. Nothing is routine!

Todd had Tuesday off so we planned a movie marathon where we would see four movies, carefully planned according to the theater schedule. But then the first movie (The Holiday) ran far longer than we figured (why does a romantic comedy need to be over two hours long?!), throwing off our second movie (The Good Shepherd). So we killed a little time at TJ Maxx, where I found and bought a very cute brown wool jacket.

Then we skipped our third planned movie (The Nativity Story) and went straight to the fourth movie (Casino Royale). After that we had dinner and debated whether to try to catch a late show of The Good Shepherd, but we were both tired and Todd had to work this morning. So our four-movie marathon turned into a two-movie...um...mini-marathon?

I woke up at 3:30 this morning throwing up, so I laid low and slept much of the day away today. I was going to clean and tidy and maybe start putting Christmas away, but I was a little too sore and achy for that. I'm feeling steadily better, though.

I've been ripping CDs to my computer today, about the only activity I felt good enough to tackle, and I played a bit of one of my Eva Cassidy albums just now. I don't know if you've ever heard a voice pure enough to make you cry, but she had it for sure. Listen to the first track on Eva By Heart and see if it doesn't get you. I remembered then why I stopped listening to the albums--it's hard to drive with tears in your eyes!

I made an appalling discovery today--the Christmas journal class runs through Epiphany! That's January 6 for any heathens out there. I thought it just went through Christmas.

Well, not only won't my album hold that many more pages, but I am officially OVER Christmas and it will be hard enough making myself catch up with the four pages I need to finish. So I think I'll be hopping off this ride before the end.

I hope to get the final pages done and up by the end of this weekend.

Merry Christmas!

I hope everybody's having a happy day today. Joy to the world!

We had a relaxing day yesterday, with lasagna and Christmas cookies for dinner, and wine in snowman mugs because I didn't have time to run out and find wine glasses. Then we went to a late candlelight service at church that was really beautiful. Great music.

This morning we both woke up way earlier than I had planned, just in time for an early call from Todd's sister Lisa. Opened presents, ate breakfast, and now we're just hanging out. This afternoon we'll go spend some time with my friend Cheryl's family.

Here's my Christmas journal page for December 23. I finished this page last night, so I'm just two behind! I think I'll work on them tonight and see if I can get this project done!

Day 22.

My relatively short to-do list...I thought the snowmen scurrying to and fro on this paper were too cute and appropriate to cover up:

Journal. Almost there!

Here's Day 21 of my Christmas Journal...we were supposed to take a picture of our home "as is" and see how it shows our state of readiness. Or words to that effect, it's all a little fuzzy now.

Day 20's prompt was about unexpected Christmas mail, but as we have yet to get anything really spectacular in the mail yet...I'm postponing that one. There's still a few days left to get something awesome, right?

Pooped.

Oof. I hit a wall sometime yesterday and now I want to sit by a crackling fire with a cup of tea and a British mystery I've never read before with a blizzard whirling outside and Christmas cookies on the table...and not have to do one blessed thing at all.

However. It's still in the 50's here, so no snow and no real need for a fire...I have no British mysteries to read...and I'm too tired to make cookies. Hm.

I guess I'll just have a cup of tea. And fold some laundry. And get dinner started. Sigh. I'm pooped today! Anybody else feeling that pre-holiday energy pinch?

One more.

Christmas Journal for Day 19:


I think this may be the first letter I ever wrote to Santa...we didn't do Santa when I was a kid! It felt weird, but that was what Shimelle said to do today, so...!

C is for Cookie.

One more post for today--the challenge at Two Peas is to blog about your favorite Christmas cookie.

I love cut-out sugar cookies, but they have to taste GOOD, not cardboard-y.

For years I made my mom's stand-by Betty Crocker cookbook recipe, which is good and tastes like home...but then five or six years ago, a friend shared her tried-and-true recipe with me.

Eva's Sugar Cookies

2 cups butter or margarine, softened
2 cups granulated sugar
3 eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 teaspoon almond extract
6 cups flour
1 teaspoon baking soda

In a large bowl, cream butter and sugar. Beat in eggs and vanilla and almond extracts until light and fluffy. In another large bowl, combine flour and baking soda. Gradually stir flour mixture into butter and sugar mixture until blended. Chill for one hour, then roll out on a floured board and cut into shapes. Bake at 350 degrees on lightly greased (or parchment-lined) baking sheets for 8-10 minutes, until light golden brown. Makes 12 dozen cookies.

It's the almond extract that makes the difference here--these are some delicious cookies. The last time I made them, they never made it to the frosting stage--Todd and I devoured them all plain! But when I do manage to get them frosted, I usually add a drop of almond extract to the frosting, too. I just use whatever generic white frosting recipe is in my Better Homes and Gardens cookbook.

Mmmm...now I'm craving some!

Day 18.

Here's my December 18 page. I'm starting to get a complex--every single journaling prompt is about what do you always do for this and how do you always do that, and the fact is that in my life, no one Christmas is like any other one!


So...a typical Christmas dinner--there is no such thing! I'm going to put a couple recipes in the pocket, probably for the braciole and for my mom's rolls that I may try to make this year. I keep thinking of all these things to do and try and the fact of the matter is that time is rapidly running out to do or try anything!

Best thing since sliced bread.

Just a quick note: my friend Cheryl was asking me about the Krylon pens I mentioned yesterday, so I thought I'd mention them again, as they are one of the all-time bestest, most wonderful tools I've ever used. They are called Krylon Leafing Pens and they come in five colors. They don't really show in the pictures of the canvases I posted, since I used them on the edges, but trust me, the effect they give is wonderful.

For a while there it seemed like I was using them on every last thing I made, because they are so easy to use and look so great. I'm trying to find something where maybe they show up a little better so you can see...well, I can't find any saved photos at the moment. But they're perfect for edging things so you get just a little glimmer here and there. Love 'em! That's my commercial for today.

More journal.

I managed to whip out Days 16 and 17 this afternoon. I'm skipping Day 15, because the prompt just doesn't fit me and I can't think of a way around it. I'll come back and fill it in once I've finished the book--I'm sure there will be some thought I'll want to include that won't be covered in the journaling prompts.

Here's the last collage I did--it's a little different from the first three, as I used Basic Grey papers and didn't go quite as vintage-y with it. I am soooo loving the vintage look, though!

Humbuggery.

I've been determined to hang onto my Christmas cheer, but I must confess, I'm just not feelin' it today. I must have missed the memo that declared today Mental Defective Shoppng Day in the city of Newport News. And they were out in droves! How hard is it to drive like a normal human being and get through a simple shopping transaction? Apparently it's really hard for some people.

And it's like 75 degrees today, which would be wonderful in, say, April, but on December 18, driving around with the AC on makes me extremely grumpy. I was hot all dang summer long--I really was looking forward to being COLD for a few months at least.

And the music, the horrible, horrible Christmas music assaulting me where'er I go!

Came home to a house that looks like a bomb went off in every single room, and my neighbor doing something with a power tool that sounds like an enormous dental drill boring right. Into. My. BRAIN.

Time for a long cleansing sigh.......ahhhhhh.

In the mailbox today was a Christmas card from my sweet grandma, who wrote, "We are sorry you won't be able to be with us at Christmas but are glad for the new job, and thankful Christmas blessings don't depend on where you are."

Christmas blessings don't depend on where you are--I'm thankful for that, too.

In other news...my computer chair broke under me on Thursday, and the weekend was busy, so I'm four days behind on my Christmas journal. Now I have a new stinky chair (what in the world are they putting in/on these things that make them smell like this? It just can't be good for you!) and hoping to get caught up. Over the weekend I worked on these:


Which will all be belated Christmas gifts for my aunts on my mom's side, whom I hope don't read this blog! There's a fourth, but Blogger is being difficult as usual, and won't let me post it.

The squares are pasted on 8x10" canvases and varnished. I covered the raw edges with Krylon gold leafing pen, which is my absolute favorite thing in the world. Then I applied a few 3-D embellishments to the front. I'm pretty happy with them! They're a take-off of Ali E.'s holiday project from her November e-zine.

Little people.

The boxes are mailed, what a relief! Now I just need to finish my cards, come up with a few more things for Todd, and do a couple more odds and ends. But the boxes were the big Christmas hurdle--five of them to various homes in Ohio and Pennsylvania.

Here are the little ornaments I stitched for the kids on my side of the family. I got the patterns from Hillary Lang's Wee Wonderfuls site. I mailed them to my mom to stuff and slip stitch them closed, as I was down to the wire with no time to spare. So they're deflated here, but still darling, I think. I can't wait till she comes out with the winter set!

The prompt for today's journal entry has me scratching my head, so it may be a bit before I get to it. I may have to come up with my own idea instead.

Today I'm packing up some project supplies to take to a crop in Virginia Beach tomorrow. Later I'll make some fudge to take, too. Tonight is Todd's office party, so I'll need to doll myself up, as I have to make a good impression on all these people I haven't met before!

Fa la la la freaking la.

Heh. The one thing this journal was missing was a good old-fashioned rant. Since today's topic was Christmas music, I got to unleash a few of my feelings about it. Fun!



In the pocket, I'm either going to put a CD with some of the Christmas songs I do like, or else a list of some of my favorite Christmas albums. The latter is more likely than the former--easier, in other words, so more do-able.

The little chorister is cut out from a piece of Daisy D paper, and he just slays me...so soulful and sappy. Like he could be the star of a Christmas special called, "The Gayest Choirboy of All."

Day 13.

This one is a semi-quickie. Topic: the present-giving ritual in your family. I substituted some random memories instead, as there really is no ritual.

I'm going to have to curb my "lumpiness" on the remaining pages, because the binder is getting full and I'm only half done! Oh, me.

Day 12.

I did a two-page spread last night for my December 12 entry in my Christmas Journal, because I found two pictures I wanted to use and needed the room.

The topic was sort of a pondering of Christmases past, present, and future, which made me think about the Spirits in A Christmas Carol. I ended up going in a different direction than I had planned earlier in the day, and although the spread is a bit of a mishmash, I got all the important stuff in. Here's the left page:

And the right page, which is an envelope page:

Journaling is on a card in the envelope page, with two more old photos:

In A Christmas Carol, Scrooge is visited by three ghosts: Christmas Past, Christmas Present, and Christmas Yet to Come.

I dwell a lot on Christmas Past, which is a happy but dangerous place to visit. I pine for times and places that have come and gone, and the sorrow over what is past dims the joy of my Christmas Present.

Christmas Yet to Come I can hardly imagine. I’m afraid it won’t be as happy as times in the past, and yet, each happy Christmas Present was once a Christmas Yet to Come, as they were in these childhood photos. How could I know as a baby and as a child what joy was in store for me? But it was there waiting.

“Joy to the World” is my favorite Christmas carol…joy is the ultimate Christmas present…joy is what I will look for in this Christmas Present and all the Christmases Yet to Come.