Jana's Radical Weblog 3

Schmesolutions

Generally I'm in the camp of New Year's Resolutions Schmesolutions, but this year one resolution was quite obviously needed after The Incident.

That one paticular resolution was the universal, "get in shape and lose five pounds." I wasn't going to put this out there anywhere public because you know, I probably wasn't all that serious about it. But then there was this conversation.

Britta: Do you remember my birthday?

Me: Yes! I will always remember your birthday because it was the happiest day of my life. The day you were born was the day our family was finally complete.

Britta: What if we get more kids?

Me: No more kids.

Britta: Well, what about Daddy? Isn't he going to have more kids?

Me: No! Dads can't have babies, only Moms!

Britta: But his tummy is getting bigger. So is yours. Are we going to get more kids?

Point taken. I've been hitting the gym like someone mistook me for pregnant! I hurt and it feels good. Hopefully this gut will disappear before I hit 40!

The other resolutions I have are for my photography business.

1. Have weekly artist dates. I did this last year and really each "date" was one of my favorite times I had last year. The Artist's Way says they need to be done alone but I'm not going to be so strict because there were a few times I felt funny out by myself. Perhaps I'll get over that! (Posts from a few of those dates are here and here.)

My first artist date of 2011 will be difficult to top however. I had lunch with Jonanthan Canlas and some other really talented photographers. Seems silly to post such a crappy photo of one of the best photographers in the nation, but for the proof factor, here it is. (Slyly taken with my iphone!)

 

2. Try some marketing ideas. January has been my slowest month since I've been in business! I haven't done any marketing yet so this year I'm going to give something (yet to be determined) a try.

3.Improve my book keeping methods. I ended up signing up for Quickbooks Online last week. Now I'd better get some business or this will be a worthless resolution!

4. Continue to live Plan A. Andy and I went out to dinner on Saturday night and started looking to the future. He is about to attempt to raise a few million dollars for his company. This brought up the "what if?" and "maybe we should have a Plan B" in place because what if he can't raise the money or his business doesn't work out? After a good half an hour of Plan B talking we realized we are just not Plan B thinkers. No way, no how did Plan B seem acceptable. So here we launch into 2011 in operation Plan A. Wish us luck or we may be moving into your garage (Plan Z).

Wishing you all peace, happiness, love, health, minus five pounds, laughter and your Plan A in the new year!

Little project

I've been really lame in the crafty area lately, but here's something I made for Britta's room:

There was a blank spot on her wall that was screaming out for something, but not something heavy and framed that could fall of and hit her. So I made letters to spell "dream" out of scrapbooking paper that I had around the house, had some photos of her with her friends printed on styrenne and hung them with clothes pins on the ribbon. I found these holders called Gorilla Picture Holders that were really easy to use. The whole shebang cost less than $20.

Now I'm collecting driftwood.. for something... not quite sure.

39 little happy things... six weeks late!

For the last two years I've tried to check off one item for every year of my life.

Somehow I've been too busy with other little people's birthdays and Life, etc to reflect back on my 39 items. This morning I woke up before the bambinos so here I type.

1. Pimp my basement. For real this time.
   Funny that this is on the top of my list. Once we received The Beatles Rock Band and it took up half the basement it deflated my ambition to redo the basement. My vision was uninspired and the basement looked hideous. That has all changed with the recent flooding of our basement. It is now a blank slate... with the Rock Band slated to go back in the basement... but who cares, I can still make it cute and usable.
2. Ride bikes. This probably means I need to buy a bike. Anyone have one they want to sell me?
   I biked through Amsterdam last summer and loved it, but have yet to do any biking stateside. I still need a bike. Maybe a Paul Frank picnic bike! I regret getting rid of my ten speed from 4th grade.
3. Take the water taxi from West Seattle to downtown with the kids to meet the husband for lunch.
   Check! My friend and I took our kids to meet our husbands for dinner on the Seattle waterfront. It was a beautiful night, and as I recall a monk wanted to take his photo with my costumed child.
4. Go to Europe with husband.
   Check! Amsterdam and Paris. Sigh. Fabulous.
5. Go to Europe by myself for a few days.
   Check! Krakow, Poland! Amazing! Next time I will lay off the Ambien though! (Lots of stories about getting rained on in the middle of the night and not caring; forgetting luggage in Amsterdam; and eating food but not knowing what I was eating.)
6. Start Project 52 (Have a photoshoot with my camera once a week).
   Check! It all morphed into a portrait photography business!
7. Take the a boat out for a picnic.
   Yes! These boating picnics (and boating everything) were my favorite memories from last summer. Unfortunately our boat is still in the shop this year. I'm really missing it.
8. Have picnic dinners with friends at the pool almost every Friday night during the summer.
   Check!
9. Kayak home from the pool because I need more moments like this.
   Sadly NO. The kayaking commute takes a lot of coordination but I'm still hoping to do this again. I haven't gone kayaking at all this summer mostly due to the stitches in my hand. Soon. Soon.
10. Get a better lookin' blog!
    Nope.
11. Create a website or an iphone app that is based on my vision, not anyone hiring me for their project.
    Yep! I did two sites that I did not run by any committee. One for the PTSA and the other for my business (which still needs a portfolio section. I miss having someone to write custom code for me.) I also did some projects for the green dollar. One for the Gates Foundation : https://www.foundationregistryi3.org/ which was announced from the White House. Wow! And an iPad app for IMDb (that Steve Jobs praised! OMG!) and an Android app for IMDb. Not bad for not focusing on design this year! I hate to say that I'm starting to itch to do more design work.
    
12. Go on class field trips with the kids.
    I was able to go on three. The kids were really excited to have me there. I'm glad I was able to go while they still want me to go.
13. Carve out craft time with friends (my busiest friends Shawna and Becca are on the hook again.)
    Check. My mom and I did a whole crafting weekend.
14. Take the boat to Blake Island or Vashon Island for an overnight camping trip.
    Andy did this while I stayed home and worked on the PTSA website! Oh well. The plan is go again very soon -- if our boat is working.
15. Have an outdoor movie night.
    Check! I'm ready for another one.
16. Make at least one video with my Nikon d90 HD video -- and put some sound to it.
    Half a check. I recorded a few things but did not do any editing. I'm worried that would open a new can of worms for me in that I'd have to create professional level videos!
17. Paint Britta's room pink.
    Check. And now it is the prettiest room in the house. Her words! I agree!
18. Take my kids to a concert.
    Check. Recess Monkey!
19. See something at SIFF.
    Check!
20. Volunteer with LB for the Salvation Army on the holiday gift selection day.
    Sort of check. I volunteered but then my son came down with the stomach flu and no one would watch him and I had to cancel.
21. Go shoe shopping and museum-ing with Becca.
    Check! I love the Henry art museum. And I picked up a great sweater while shoe shopping.
22. Create a photo album encapsulating 2008.
    Nope.
23. Take each individual member of the family on a "date night."
    Check.
24. Frame pages of my vintage ABC books.
    Nope.
25. Rent a lens for my adventure.
    Check. What a great experience renting from them. Highly recommended for photographers wanting to try a new lens.
26. Make more thoughtful gifts instead of last minute less purchased gifts.
    Nope.
27. Create custom holiday cards.
    Check. In fact I'd say I went overboard. I made custom mailing stickers even! I had to try it though so I could offer such services to potential clients. :)
28. Dare I type it? Put something for sale in my Etsy store.
    Nope!
29. Make a few baby blankets.
    Check! I pre-made a few cute girlie blankets but then all my friends had baby boys. I bought material to make some boyish ones to have on hand.
30. Cook with my kids.
    Check. My son is getting into it, although his specializes in hot dogs.
31. Finish my family friendly cookbook "Good with Ketchup."
    Nope. We started trying to eat gluten and dairy free so that screwed up our typical menu. We're back to eating in a free-for-all state though so I might get back to this.
32. Finish the effing bag I started sewing when I was 36 and tried to finish when I was 37.
    NO.... hanging my head in shame!
33. Make a pillow.
    Nope, but I just received fabric to make a huge pillow yesterday, so there is still hope.
34. Make homemade ice cream. Extra points for me if I figure out how to make them on the boat.
    Nope.
35. See the tulips blooming.
    Nope.
    
    
36. Find the ultimate summer chic lit book to read. Suggestions please!
    Yep, just finished Shanghai Girls and loved it!
37. Add pink highlights to my hair. Rebel mom!
    Nope. Maybe later today.
38. Read a classic book to my kids. Really this is for my pleasure more than theirs.
    House at Pooh's Corner and The Nutcracker! Now we're reading How to Train a Dragon. Awesome.
39. Sign Karsten up for music lessons and Britta up for dance lessons.
    Done and Done.

Hello hot cocoa!

This cocoa recipe I found on the back of my carob powder mix was a gamble. Usually the kids prefer corndogs to any "healthy alternative" I try and cook up. However, I have found the exception. We are forever ruined from drinking powdered cocoa from a mix after drinking this. I can no longer keep this secret to myself, here is the recipe.

In a small saucepan, combine 1 cup of milk (this is the only way I can get my kids to drink soy, rice or almond milk), 1 tablespoon carob powder (I have Chatfield's carob powder), 1 tablespoon of honey and 1/2 teaspoon of pure vanilla extract. Heat until hot (do not boil.)

Add delicious, over-processed transfat laden marshmallow to the top and you'll have a happy, happy day.

One day to go....

I need to frantically do a few things so I can have a few more items checked off of my list:
http://janakleitsch.typepad.com/jana_kleitsch/2008/06/37-happy-little-things.html

Overall I did better than I thought I would. I really should have printed out my list and put it somewhere where I could have looked at it every day.

I'm going to let a few of these goals spill over into 38. Bring on the 38th year. I am feeling like this is going to be a really good one. I don't think I've felt this much optimism since age 24.

Update: I'm totally making a list for 38 things to do before 39. This is too fun. And holy CRAP. 39?! Is it too early for the freak out?

Update again: Checked two more off tonight. Ordered a pocket wall strip to use for an inspiration board. Think I'll get some clip boards to decorate to put on the wall strip. And I ordered some Moo cards. Woo!

Getting back on the crafty track

I took a bit of a break from blogging to get the stuff done that I've neglecting the last six months. I tell you, Andy knocked out most of the summer on pain pills and then him having back surgery and then traveling every week really left no time for nada. And then came Christmas and snowpalooza. I let a lot of things slip so January was a get stuff done month. As in get the stuff I hate doing done. Just when I started feeling like things were getting better and I could go back to my fun projects my accountant sent a hurking package with a tax form in the mail. More unfun stuff I dread. I can feel it in the air though, and soon I'll be blogging, crafting and enjoying my friends again. Yesterday I took some more photos of my nephews so I had a little bit of a creative outlet. I even watched the DVD on how to use my camera finally. I really should have watched it about seven months ago when I ordered it. Here's Aiden who is now four months: I like this one but Andy thought it looked like he was getting some business done: and Kaj who is one and half (but a two-year old at heart!)

New year's resolution warning

The serious photographer
Originally uploaded by B-TownMom.

My last year's new year's resolutions have become this year's problem.

Last year I vowed to take a photo every day for a year. Well I failed at that but I'd say I came darn close enough. I also vowed to floss my kids teeth every day, and eat less sugar. All resolutions probably had similar outcomes of moderate success.

The good news: my kids teeth are getting flossed...and I learned a TON more about photography. I'm eating less sugar. The eating less sugar is probably the best thing I've ever done.

The bad news: Now this photography hobby is becoming a problem. I constantly want to upgrade... new camera, more lenses, better monitor, the list goes on and on. The kids hate having their teeth flossed. And I'm getting known to people as The Health Nut.

And that is why last year's new year's resolutions have become This Year's Problem. Especially the really expensive camera gear part.

I'm taking some time off from making resolutions for '09 just yet. I still need some recovery time from 08. In the meantime I'm just going to continue working on my 37 Happy Little Things List.

Fridge wall. Cool or college?

I told Andy I had an idea post a bunch of photos collage style on a column in our kitchen. He said, "great, so our house can look like a college dorm room." While he was in San Francisco this week I started posting them to the wall. I still have more to hang but I think I like it. Our fridge is stainless steel so I miss having a place to gather family photos. I call this the fridge wall. The other nice thing about the fridge wall is that all of these photos are from the last 4 months. I was getting frustrated with photography lately but printing out some images encourages me that I'm getting better with my new camera I should keep at it. And now I'm encouraged to go hang more photos up. Good night bloggers.

Good with Ketchup

This is the dinner we ate tonight: Garden Pasta with Spinach Pesto (from my favorite cookbook). Here is what the kids had for dinner tonight: Garden Pasta with Spinach Pesto (disguised with marinara from a jar.) I'm going to start taking pictures of my disguised meals and put them in a cookbook using either Blurb or Tastebook and call it Good with Ketchup. I think a collection of our family-friendly recipes disguised in ketchup would make nice gifts for my friends having babies. At my current rate of getting things done, the estimated completion date for this project is 2020!

A little late but DONE

My friend Brooke invited me to do a kids craft swap with another family. I did the mental calculations and decided I might be in a mental institution by then but oh well, the kids would love getting something in the mail. I said yes. Sure enough, things were even crazier than anticipated when I had to shave a week off of my timeline for being sick but I got it done! Only two days late. Not so bad. I made a concentration game out of all the photos Karsten has been taking. The photo of my mom's rooster timer in her backyard finally had a use! He's been taking my camera and posing his stuffed animals in various poses too. Those all came in handy! I made an extra game for my kids and it was a hit, and Karsten liked that his photos were used. Now that I have it down I think I'll make another concentration game for one of Britta's friends for her birthday. Michelle from Kids Haus created some great banners for her swap. I may have to steal that idea too. I've never done a swap before but I can tell I will be waiting for the mail just as eagerly as the kids.