Verification

Sorry to announce that I've added word verification to comments. I dislike having to decipher the codes and assume you do too. But there's been a ton of spam comments on my blog and I need to stop them somehow.

Happy New Year!

This usually is the time when bloggers reflect on the past year and set new goals for the new year. And I've got lots of thoughts on both, but just haven't gotten around to putting them down in words. I'll just say that 2012 passed too quickly and I think I need be more mindful in 2013. And thankful. Thankful for you, my faithful blog readers (all six of you, lol), and thankful for good neighbors. They sent over these treats earlier today; they're filled with red bean paste, yummy!

Thinking about a name change

I've been a pretty absent blogger lately, partly because I don't feel inspired, partly because I'm trying to avoid the computer, and partly because I'm overworked at work (we're down two people and we could barely keep up when they were there). Sooo, in the past, when I've needed a change or some inspiration, I've been pretty drastic about it. Like quitting college. Or breaking up. Or changing jobs. Or moving. Or going back to college. Since I don't plan on doing any of these, what can I do?

I feel that I outgrew the title of this blog a long time ago. When I changed to Look.cook.scrapbook, I was bit more into posting photos and recipes and was trying to spread my creative wings. But now I feel stifled by the title. I need another direction. I'm not sure what it will be, but I'm feeling more introspective, more frustrated with life. Just wanted to forewarn you that change might be coming. I'll still be here, just not sure what I'll look like.

Five (excuses) on Friday

Why I haven't been blogging much:

1. We went on vacation. A REAL vacation that involved sightseeing and going out and gaining weight, lol.
2. I had a visitor for a few days. My SIL (and one of my best friends) came to visit so no computer time when I got home from work.
3. My computer is really old and really slow, so I am avoiding it.
4. I'm still catching up on my TV watching from all the shows we recorded while we were gone.
5. I haven't been in the mood (hey, at least I'm honest).

Review: Finding Educational Activities in the Most Unexpected Places

Sometime being an aunt is hard. I don't have the patience of a mom and I'm just not used to kids since I'm not around them that often. That's one reason I enjoy reading the blog Many Little Blessings. Angie writes about everything from crafts to going green to family/kids and sometimes all these at once! I'm always interested in posts about her kids and their activities since her kids are a bit older than my youngest nieces/nephew. While I don't get to babysit as often as I would like, I'm always on the lookout for activities we can do together.

That's why when Angie announced her book, Finding Educational Activities in the Most Unexpected Places, I was so excited for her and for me. Angie has a Master's degree in Special Education and does in-home therapy for young children. According to Angie, this book

was written as a reaction to comments that many of the families that I see doing in-home therapy have said. I often bring toys for the children to play with while we’re working, and many families have said things like, “I need to get something like (that toy)” or “You have all the cool toys.” I wanted to show those families that there are so many activities that can be done with just objects in and around their own houses. So, I wrote this book with them in mind. (I am giving the books, one section at a time, to those families at no charge.)

This 58-page e-book has over 200 activities to keep any child busy using common (and inexpensive) household items. The book is organized by props including such items as lids, poker chips, and blankets. While I don't have any poker chips, I do have other things I can use for the activities. See, she's already got me thinking! Given Angie's background, I'm confident the activities she's given will be fun and educational.


What I liked:
* In addition to the fun ideas, Angie noted the benefits such as hand-eye coordination or if the activity might not be appropriate for a child (for example, child with sensory defensiveness).
* Well organized.
* A list of her favorite books for toddlers and preschoolers. While I am familiar with most of them, there are a few that are new to me.
* The PDF format, which is low cost and easy to browse, but allows me to print out pages if I want hard copy.

What I would have liked:
* More details on which activities would be appropriate for what ages or age range (as a non-mom, I'm not sure what activities would be best/appropriate for a two year old or a four year old or a six year old).
* An index (but I'm old school that way).

You can purchase a copy of Finding Educational Activities in the Most Unexpected Places at Many Little Blessings for $7.50 US. Through the end of this month (May 2010), you can get a 20% discount by using this code: Scrapbook20.

Disclosure: I received a free copy of this book in exchange for my review. I was not paid for this review nor received any other compensation.

Blog update

I did it. Changed my blog title (for the third time since I started this blog). I'm hoping it will inspire me to include more photos, write more in depth thoughts, and blog more regularly. Wish me luck!

Thinking, thinking...

and not blogging. I've got stories to post and photos to post, yet they are still in my head or on my memory card. I could come up with lots of excuses...work, FIL's illness, work, FIL's passing, work, family, work, hmmm, I'm noticing a theme here.

To add to all the fun, the bad news is my FIL's siblings have been in the hospital sometime in the past month, some more than once. Aunt M went in just before FIL's passing; Uncle J went in the day after the funeral (or was it two days?). And we just found out that Aunt G was in for a few days earlier this week. The good news is everyone is home now, almost everyone has recovered. Hopefully everyone, including us, will get/stay healthy.

With all that's going on, blogging falls to the bottom of the to-do list. I'm thinking about changing the title of my blog to something more meaningful/inspiring/motivating to me. Thinking...still thinking.

Happy Friday!

I've been feeling a little down lately, not sure why, hence the radio silence. I assume you don't want to hear me whine about being middle aged or wishing I had more money or complain about work (at least I have a job, right?).

We're not too busy at work this week (well, the Localization team was pulling their hair out, but the English team wasn't busy), so the timing was right to take a vacation day. I'm supposed to be domestic and take this opportunity to catch up on housecleaning since we're having someone over on Sunday, but instead, here I am at the computer again. My plan was for every 40 minutes of housecleaning, I can spend 20 minutes on the computer. Let's see how long that plan lasts. Time's up so it is back to housecleaning. Catch up with you later.

2009 wrap up

It seems to be a blogger tradition to reflect on the past year or give a summary of highs and lows (or lows and highs if you want to end on a positive note), so here goes.

Overall, 2009 was a trying year. We weren't sure what our income would be with Mr. Fix-it being in construction and bonuses continually slashed for me, but we managed to finish the year about even in pay. That's the good news. Unfortunately, our expenses went up quite a bit and I can't find too many places to cut back so it was fiscally difficult year and I expect next year to be even worse.

I am thankful to have a good paying job with good benefits. But the do-more-with-less attitude is wearing on me. Every year, the workload increases (both the number of projects and the complexity of the projects), but there isn't a corresponding increase in staff.

It has been a joy watching the local nieces and nephew grow. The twins are now toddlers and I miss the cuddly joy of babyhood, but it has been interesting watching their personalities develop. And G still talks a mile a minute and has a million questions; I hope I can keep up with him. I'm thankful we live close to my FIL to support him.

My weight fluctuated a bit throughout the year, but I finished within a pound of when I started so I'll take that as a positive. No moaning and groaning about losing holiday weight here.

I blogged more in 2009 than in 2008, probably due to my attempt at Photo of the Day. I didn't end up with 365 photos, but I'm pleased with what I did manage to post.

We upgraded our electronic gadgets, not by my choice, of course. Our dying TV (so what if the corner is fuzzy) was replaced with a new flat screen Hi Def version. I'm still figuring out the new remote, lol. And my phone died so we finally got new phones after 4+ years. At least we have bluetooth now.

My two favorite online scrapbook stores closed. I'm devastated by this since between the two of them, I didn't need to shop anywhere else. But more important, the message board at Lifetime Moments is also closing. This is where I hung out, shared my layouts, shared recipes, vented and was comforted, and in turn comforted others. I feel like I'm losing a huge support group. I hope that Facebook and blogging can fill the void.

Since I mentioned it, yes, I did join Facebook, but only to keep up with my scrapbook friends and select family members so if you don't fall into those categories, I won't be friending you, sorry.

We took a vacation! A real vacation that was more than just a couple days drive. It was relaxing and a great getaway and I'm ready to do it all over again!

Auntie S passed away after a long illness. I was so worried about Mom, but I think she's handling it okay. Thank you to my cousins for supporting her, even as they needed their own support.

Two weddings! Two opportunities to get dressed up, lol. I had to buy new makeup, mine was so old. Both events were out of town, but I'm so glad we were able to attend both. Family get-togethers are so rare these days.

And so, enough about me. Thanks for stopping by my corner of the blogosphere. Come again soon. I hope that 2010 is a great year for you.

Jazzing up the blog

Nope, haven't done it yet. Though I'm considering changing my banner. But that would involve designing a banner and then I'd probably get all anal about it and want to change it every season or every month and who has time for that? I'm not too into widgets or gadgets either, but I am looking for a good word cloud, if you have any suggestions. And while I'm asking, what's your favorite site meter?

Project 365, POTD

With the new year, the blogosphere is buzzing with new projects. The one that seems to be resonating the most with scrapbookers and photographers (yes, they are related) is the concept of taking a photo a day. The purpose is to capture the everyday moments in your life, improve your photography skills, share with your friends, clog the information superhighway with more crap (opps, that last one just slipped in, sorry). But hey, not wanting to miss out on being part of the crowd, I am going to attempt to take (and post) 365 photos this year. Of course, I'm already way behind. Stay tuned.

Waaay behind on blogging

I'm finally back to the old grind or I will be tomorrow. We're back from the wedding, so no more out of town trips, no excuses for not posting. I've stuff from Christmas to post still so if it seems like I'm behind the times with my posts and photos, I'm just trying to get caught up.

Not feeling the blogging mojo

A week without posting, ack! Not a good way to keep my readers engaged. Sorry.

I could have posted about the election, our politic process, the hypocrites out there, but this isn't a political blog and I'm no expert on the subject. I don't even have very strong opinions on the subject, if you can believe that. Hopefully, I'll be posting more soon.

New readers?

My counter (at the bottom of the page, in case you didn't notice it) has been increasing faster than it used to. And I noticed a few new locations on the traffic feed.

Don't be shy. Come out and say hello! Leave me a comment (I love comments) or drop me an e-mail or a PM. If you're reading this, you know how to get a hold of me. Let me know who you are so I can say hello.

It's bloggie time!

Nominate your favorite blog at bloggies.com. No I'm not asking for votes, lol. Just thought you might find this fun. I did think it was interesting that there are very few repeat nominees. And I guess I shouldn't be surprised that several blogs have been discontinued. That's the nature of the internet. Which reminds me. I need to update my blogging list on the side since some people don't update their blogs anymore.

Time for a change

In case you didn't notice, I'm trying out a new name. Let's see how long this one lasts, lol.

Blog name

I'm considering changing my blog name, but I can't think of anything clever. Maybe I should change it to something boring like "scrapper al's life and more." I'm tired of the current name and the mini-tribute to the Junkitz company doesn't really matter anymore since they've declared bankruptcy. Rumor has it, they weren't financially responsible. I don't know the truth. But I still want to change my blog title. Suggestions are welcome.

Playing catch up

We just got back from a little vacation to AZ and I'm so far behind everything. Need to unpack, need to do laundry, need to go grocery shopping. Why is coming back from vacation such a chore, lol?

I just checked Google Reader and I've got 35 blog posts to catch up on (and that's just the blogs that I've put on there. There's another dozen or so that I check sporadically). I still need to post about Christmas, Auntie M's funeral, and gasp! China. Sigh. Someday I'll be caught up.

Blogging etiquette

Or should that be blogging netiquette? maybe that's redundant? In any case, when someone comments on my blog, am I supposed to comment back, even if just to say thanks? If someone asks a question, of course I try to answer. But otherwise, am I supposed to thank people for their comments? Maybe if I did, I'd get more, lol.

I've seen both practices and have no idea which is "correct."

Blogging

It looks like I've picked up a new reader or two. I'm not sure how, but I'm happy about it. I finally finished updating Google Reader with all the blogs I follow regularly, along with some I don't follow so regularly. Hopefully, this way I'll spend less time checking up on people.;) But I admit I'm disappointed when there aren't any updates. Come on people, talk to your fans!