I'd choose the same...
I don’t know if I’ll be able to suppress my gag reflex long enough to actually write a post about how much I dislike America’s political system (and am frustrated by people who have unflinching loyalties to their chosen political parties). Maybe I won’t…it would just make me grumpy. We’ll see.
Random tidbits from this week
- I’m giddy because it smells, feels, and looks like it’s going to rain soon.
- I just now had something from a top shelf in a closet fall onto my head. I thought that only happened in movies. (It was a bag of paper boxes, so no damage done.)
- Yesterday, I geeked out over Natalie’s brand-new Fuzzi Bunz diapers. They’re so pretty and soft!
- I nearly told a painter all about my day. His head appeared in my living-room window as he was painting color samples on the front of our house. I’d just gotten Natalie down for a really late nap and was so relieved that she fell asleep that I nearly bombarded the unsuspecting fellow with details of my at-home adventures.
- I’ve made more than 70 Christmas cards to date (60 of them are for The Spotted Box).
Behold the Green Lantern ... limited time only
We recently had our house painted (it’s not quite as bright in reality as it looks in this photo)...
If you are aware of my penchant for the color green, you’re no doubt assuming that I chose the color of our house. Well, the truth is that Bret and our neighborhood’s homeowners association (HOA) board president chose the color scheme.
However, the rest of the HOA board members did not like the colors (neither did they like the fact that the board president didn’t run the scheme by them), so they’re repainting our house in the near future (they have to vote on new appropriate color schemes).... Fortunately, we don’t have to pay anything out of our pockets.
In the meantime, our house has been quite the conversation piece. I had no idea people could have so many opinions about a house color! We’ve heard many a suggestion on what would look better (thanks, mom), and we’ve had many friends proclaim that they love the colors and that the board doesn’t know what’s good for the neighborhood (thanks everyone).
Anyway, our house is still our home, and green is still my favorite color…
Crop rotation
In case you haven’t noticed, I’ve not been writing very much. It’s true in every aspect and outlet of my life—not just this blog. I haven’t journaled or even written in Natalie’s baby book. Neither have I freelanced as much as I assumed I would at this point in my life/career.
Until I e-mailed a friend about God revealing the seeds of a future direction in our lives, I had been having a difficult time understanding the nature of change in my life. How could I just stop writing? I’ve been writing for so many years. The seed analogy planted a seed of its own: Perhaps this stoppage of writing can best be explained as crop rotation of my talents.
At the time I wrote to my friend, I’d been wrestling with being in a place where my endeavors seemed rather insignificant—shallow, even—in comparison to what I had previously been employed to do and what I aspire to do one day. At the same time, I have to remember that I’m doing the most significant job anyone can hope to do: raising a child. I know there’s much more inspiration and aspiration growing inside me, and now is the season to give my writing a rest.
When that thought occurred to me a couple of months ago, I was intrigued and briefly researched the definition of crop rotation and fallow (when I searched Wikipedia for the latter, it directed me to the former).
From Wikipedia:
“Crop rotation or crop sequencing is the practice of growing a series of dissimilar types of crops in the same space in sequential seasons for various benefits such as to avoid the build up of pathogens and pests that often occurs when one species is continuously cropped. Crop rotation also seeks to balance the fertility demands of various crops to avoid excessive depletion of soil nutrients. ... Crop rotation can also improve soil structure and fertility by alternating deep-rooted and shallow-rooted plants.”
There we have it. Dissimilar types of crops (writing and crafting) in the same space (me/my time) in sequential seasons (four years of college education focused on journalism and six years as a journalist giving way to time at home raising Natalie and nurturing inspiration in a different way) ...
I’m not sure about the build up of pathogens and pests specifically—cynicism, ego, selfish ambition were certainly pesky weeds that I had to uproot often, but they can be found in just about any field.
Balance—I was happy to see that word in the Wikipedia entry. I feel balanced right now with regard to creative outlets, something I’ve always needed. I’m excited to express myself visually not only through making greeting cards and other craft projects, but through photographing Natalie and our adventures as parents. If a photo is really worth a thousand words, then I’ve actually been quite a prolific writer… But I digress.
Coming to the crop-rotation realization felt good—it makes sense and gives me hope and ultimately frees me to enjoy what I’m doing right now.
Spam Comments...
Our poor infrequently-updated site has gotten some spam comments lately, so I’ve started requiring an email address for comments. I know that probably won’t help much, but I’m not going to have a chance to do anything more comprehensive for a while.
So if you see bizarre comments using words like paleontology, pay no attention to them.
(Unless they’re from a known big word-user known-big-word user, like Ryan Miller.)
Now open!
My Etsy store is now open! Check it out at rookspaperscissors.etsy.com.
I’ll be uploading cards and gifts as I make them, so keep checking the shop… There will also be a link and thumbnails of featured items on my craft blog.
A special thank you to everyone who’s encouraged me and supported this endeavor! I would not have gone out on this branch if it wasn’t for you.
5 seconds of fame
One of my cards was seen on a TV show! Get the full story here.
Thanks, Bret!
Bret finished drawing and perfecting the image for Rooks Paper Scissors. I love his sketch style, so it made sense to ask him to create my logo. Once it’s made into a rubber stamp, I can finish the sets of cards I’ve been making to sell on Etsy.
Other things topping my Etsy-launch to-do list include:
- build inventory (I’ve got more than a dozen sets of cards ready to sell)
- photograph inventory (I get to display up to five photos per item)
- write descriptions of each item
- finalize my store policies and welcome page
- create a store banner image
- set up PayPal account
- upload inventory
- announce my grand opening!
The heat
Yes, we’re surviving the incredible heat here in SLO (I’ve gotten a couple of phone calls from concerned people).
Depending on who you ask, it was 104, 107, or 111 degrees today. I know that to some of you hot-weather veterans, 111 with no humidity is no sweat (well, very little sweat, relatively). But you’re also equipped with air-conditioning and pools. We on the Central Coast are not. We have fog, delicious, elusive fog. So, when the fog remains far at sea, causing the proverbial mercury to creep up past 80, we SLObispans get cranky, tired, and desperate.
This desperate mother of a cranky toddler sought relief through several steps:
1. cool bath
2. nap with a fan pointed directly on ourselves
3. air-conditioned car trip to
4. air-conditioned Wal-Mart and
5. air-conditioned scrapbooking store
6. frozen yogurt and water at Costco (enjoyed outside in the most welcome breeze)
7. a dip in a tiny tub outside (for my feet and all of Natalie)
8. no cooking (Bret and I agreed that Costco should do dinner for us tonight)
I sincerely hope that the fog cools us down soon…
Rooks Paper Scissors
My craft blog is up and running. I make no promises about how often I’ll actually update it, but I’m happy with it so far.
I’m trying to find that magical balance between living life, taking photos of said life, writing about it, and blogging about it. Currently, I can usually only do the latter three while Natalie is sleeping or, as is the case right now, rubbing dinner into her hair.
How do you, Fellow Bloggers, find the balance between living and documenting life, especially if small children are in the mix?
PS Congrats to Ryan Miller for earning the prize for coming up with “Rooks Paper Scissors.” I’m in the process of coming up with just the right creation for you…
