Sunday, August 10, 2025
Me versus Cat versus Pill
Saturday, August 02, 2025
Currently in August
Sunday, July 27, 2025
Travel Plans and Over Organization
I've been told that I'm a bit of an over organizer. I'm not sure that's an official term, but it does describe me perfectly. I tend to "over organize" when there's a perceived need from me that I have to remember everything and I KNOW I won't remember everything.
Some people can think through a process/event/whatever and remember everything they need to. That is not me. Writing it down. Organizing it and then thinking through it is how my brain works. It's why I'm such a good project manager.
This years trip is coming up fast and I am feeling the tickle to start the over thinking process. Each trip I've taken in the last 5-9 years I've done this exercise. For me, it gets me excited about the trip, and even more excited that all the details are in one place and organized.
I've been teased about this and for the one's who've teased me, why is it you're the first to ask ME something about the trip? Hmmm...me thinks you should be organized.
So here's what I have. It's a OneNote Notebook that contains the following pages in it. Over the years I've modified and adjusted these slightly. After each trip I do a post mortem, yes I do it, and I reflect on what may have made the trip better, or what made it great.
Side note: When Janet and I travel, each night we ask what your favorite thing about today was and what your least favorite thing was. It's nice to take a moment and think about what you had just experienced.
OneNote Travel Package
Itinerary: Just like it sounds. It's the day by day itinerary. Where are we going to be. It's not complicated just al list of the days and the name of where we are. Sometimes I add notes, but not too often.
Air Details: We all get the emails. We all put them in a folder or track them some way. I do that too. But by putting the details here, I only need to go to this one spot to check my details, should I need to.
Hotel Details: This becomes important when you're going to be in multiple hotels. It allows for all the details, again, to be in one place. I often link to the hotel's home page and put their phone number too just so I don't have to look it up.
Packing Checklist: This is the page that gets adjusted the most. After each trip I find something that I need to add to "consider" for the next trip. It's also the page that gets items taken off based on where I'm going. This is a "full" list. It has everything I might need. I add/remove depending on the trip. I've shared this with so many friends. No idea if they use it, but they've asked for it.
Activity Planner: This is where the meat of the trip lives. All the things we're going to do and see. All the details of the fun. I usually copy the descriptions form the cruise site or adventure site and put them here. Those descriptions is what I use to start my research. They aren't overly detailed, but it gives enough of an idea to start the research. Each event gets a section.
Scavenger Hunt: I started this "game" 4 or 5 years ago. I ask my friends to give me a list of things to photograph throughout the trip. Janet and I have found it tremendously enjoyable. What it does is it gets my head OUT of tourist mode and has me really looking at things. Most of the suggestions are things I'd be photographing normally, but sometimes friends get creative.
Daily highlights: I use this to write my blog normally. And I use this for when I scrap the trip later. It's amazing how much you forget or the things you think you'll remember. Each night I take the time to type in the details. Though for this years trip, I got a hard copy book that has some of these notes in it. I will most likely use that instead. Just for something different.
The last part of my travel kit are pages I add for things like, restaurants to visit, specific things I want to look for, research, photo ideas, pronunciations etc.
So that's what I put together for each trip. I get ridiculously excited about filling it out. And while doing it, my excitement of the trip takes over. It feels good to be organized and prepared. I have yet to regret it. So tease me if you will, but do not come crying to me when you don't remember the name of the hotel, or what we're seeing in a day.
Ciao!
Saturday, July 26, 2025
Sunday Dinner Project
- 3 months effort; my best guess is over 40 hours of work
- 122 pages
We've celebrated birthdays along the way and had several with themes beyond the ones above.
It’s hard to believe that it’s been 15 years since the
first Sunday dinner. So much has happened in those 15 years and I'm thrilled we're still going strong. Will we go another 15? Hard to say. But I'll keep doing these until I can no longer do them.
Sunday, June 29, 2025
Salty's has Crabs
Sunday, June 22, 2025
Hello Hello Fresh
Monday, May 26, 2025
Scrapbooking and how it’s part of my identity
You all know the story of how I started scrapping. TLDR version: In 1998, my aunt Jean showed me one of hers and I was hooked. Now some (gets out calculator) 27 years later and I’m still going. Scrapbooking has changed tremendously in that time, and I love it more today than ever. It’s a huge part of my life and definitely part of my identity.
I started scrapping with the idea that I would somehow tell the story of my life so that one day my children could look back and see how cool their mom was. It was what scrapbooking was about then. The Mormon’s started it with the idea to document the history of the family. Makes sense.
About 15 years ago I had a moment where I realized I wasn’t going to have kids to share these with (though my niece has become the kid I’m sharing these with. I joke with her that her inheritance is hidden in my scrapbooks and she has to look through them all to find it). I had a crisis on my hands. Who was I scrapping for then? Maybe this was all for nothing. I took a couple of months off to deal with this mental crisis. I started thinking this was a waste of time and I should just hang up my scissors and move on to another hobby.
When I finally got down to asking why I wanted to still do this? To what end? I discovered that I fell for the story the scrapbook had told us, we’re doing this for our family history. That the entire reason we do this was for someone else. But that’s not the case, at least for me. I realized that I scrap because I WANT to scrap. I took a completely different view from “having” to scrapbook to “wanting” to scrapbook. I took some time to write down the pros and cons of scrapping and realized there were some very definite reasons I still wanted to do this.
The Story of Me
Let’s face it, we all like to
talk about our accomplishments and about our lives. Scrapbooking allows me to
tell the important stories and the mundane stories. Frankly, I kinda like the day-to-day
stories. You know, like what kind of coffee you get from Starbucks on the
regular. Life isn’t about the BIG stuff, it’s about the little stuff. All the
little things that come together to make us who we are. Mom’s death taught me
this. I miss all the little stuff with her now. And the best part about scrapping the mundane,
day-to-day life, my older self can look back and marvel at just how far
technology and life has come. The “remember when” moments is something I’m
looking forward to.
The Process
It’s not surprising to anyone
that the actual process of scrapbooking is on the top of my list. And the process, for me, goes beyond
selecting the layout/paper/photos etc, it’s about the actual process of putting
it all together. From organizing my photos, to organizing my stash, to tracking
the outcomes ( doesn’t everyone have a spreadsheet tracking their pages?), to
the data that comes out in the end. I know it’s very nerdy of me and that’s a
part of my personality that fits perfectly with scrapbooking.
The Creative Outlet
THIS is the key for me. Life
gets stressful and knowing I can go into my scrapbook room and be creative
resets my stress levels. I never think about work, or the list of chores that
need to be done, or the tires for the car I need to get, or the laundry that’s
piling up. No, for me, the scrapbook room is my oasis. Even if I’m not
scrapping, just shuffling through my stash gets the creative juices flowing.
The Memories
Scrapbooking isn’t about just
creating a layout and walking away. No, it’s about reliving all those memories
again and again. It’s not just about reliving that memory as I build the layout,
but when I flip through the scrapbook I relive them again. AND since I do the
smaller scrapbooks, I can relive them when family and friends flip through
them.
And so I decided 15 or so years ago that I would keep on keeping on with scrapbooking. I don’t care if all these books get thrown out upon my death (I do hope they at least flip through them). I’m going to keep scrapping anything I want and keep my scrappy self happy. When I’m happy, everything around me stays happy. Scrapbooking brings me joy, helps me remember the past, and allows me to pull at those creative strings and feel proud of the pages I make. My books may not ever be viewed by other people, and coming to that conclusion opened the door for me and freed me to just scrap.
Part of my identity is
scrapbooking. It defines a very large part of me. I can’t just leave it. I need
it. I’m going to continue to embrace this hobby and continue to scrap my heart
out. Because at the end of the day, my memories, my stories, my life is really
all I have. I hope someone finds joy in these albums some day. But if they don’t,
I’m ok with that. They have already given me so much.
Sunday, May 11, 2025
Happy Mother's Day
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Photo: Mother's day 2001, Redmon WA |
"I haven’t heard your voice in years, but my heart
still has conversations with you every day. Grief hurts and nothing or no one
can replace a loved one who’s gone. It’s an emptiness that doesn’t go
away."
Happy Mother's Day Mom. I miss you.
Thursday, January 16, 2025
Hey Mom did you get your wings
Eight years ago today we said goodbye to mom. It feels like yesterday in so many ways and yet it feels like a lifetime in others. I miss her the same today as I did that first day.
Those first weeks I was sure I couldn't live without her and yet here I am. The grief is continuous. Some days it hits you like a ton of bricks. Some days you just smile as a memory floats across your mind.
I thought it might be appropriate to share the Eulogy I wrote for her to be read at the Celebration of Life in Tucson. The guy reading it got the pages all mixed up so it was a disaster when he read it. Still, as I reread it tonight, I smile at her life and who she was.
Eulogy by her daughters,
Jennifer Wraspir, Billie and Melanie
Our family would like to
thank you all for being here today to celebrate the life of JoEllen, our mom. For those of you that knew JoEllen, she
was not only the life of the party but often the reason for the party.
She used to always say to us kids "Don't be so serious, life is too short,
just have fun".
We always knew what an amazing, generous and kind woman she was, and in
these last several weeks since she passed, the outpouring of love and support
has proven this to be true. Hundreds, (and that is not an exaggeration), of
emails, texts, calls and messages have come to us kids. She redefined the
phrase “social butterfly.” She’d be humbled at the outpouring of love, and yet secretly
she’d be thrilled to know we were making such a fuss over her. Our one wish is
that SHE knew she was so loved.
We probably don’t have to
tell you our mother was a special woman. She embodied all of the attributes of
a “perfect” mom. She was caring, thoughtful, hardworking, compassionate,
loving, tough on us when we needed it and so much more. It was so difficult to think of all of the
words that described mom as a person and how much she meant to us. Our mom was our
best friend, our idol and we looked up to her all of our lives. We swore as
teenagers we would never turn out like mom. And now we’re proud to say we are
our mother.
Mom was born on Nov 5,
1947 in Grant’s Pass, Oregon. She died on January 16th, 2017
surrounded by her family and friends. Her life, to put it mildly, was something
else.
She was a career woman
her entire life. She started working at the Boeing company in the late 70’s.
She struggled in the “man’s world” of Boeing, but proved time and again a woman
could do the job, and in some cases better than any man. She retired from the Boeing
Company in upper management and was so proud of all her accomplishments during
her time there. She would use her experiences there when giving advice to us as
our own careers started taking off.
When mom and dad married in 1981, we added to our already large family, the even larger Wraspir family. We used to joke that we didn’t have a family tree, but a family hedge.
Mom cherished her family
above all. And family to her was anyone from a real relative, to friends, to
members of her community. Her house was always filled with friends and family.
All of our friends called her “mom”, because she was like a mom to everyone. She
would talk to anyone, and any dog, most likely she’d speak to the dog first…
She was the communicator for all of us. If you
wanted to know anything about what was going on with someone in the family, you
called mom. That’s not to say mom shared everyone’s secrets, but she was
definitely in the know. And her family loved her back – tenfold. She was the
one everyone called for advice because we knew she’d tell us how it was. She was happy to dole it out and expected you
to listen. And while we may not have followed all her advice over the years, we’ve
discovered that she really did know what she was talking about.
Mom loved to cook. Together
she and dad would try new recipes and taught us to be open to trying new
things. Entertaining and having people to dinner was one of her favorite things.
Any given weekend you could guarantee someone was coming to the house for
dinner. And no one ever left hungry.
Mom and Dad loved to travel. They got the travel bug when Dad was transferred to Saudi Arabia in the late 80’s. That afforded them the opportunity to see the world. And see the world they did. Together they visited England, Spain, Italy, Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Greece, the Caribbean, Mexico, South America, Australia, New Zealand, Thailand – to just name a few. And they traveled to every single state in the United States by RV. While they loved exploring other countries, they especially loved exploring their country.
The list of things mom
loved is extensive. She loved to read, to sew, to quilt, to cook, and to play
games on her iPad. She loved her animals. And she loved her Seahawks. If the
Seahawks were playing you knew not to bother calling because you could
guarantee she would not answer the phone.
We feel like we could spend
all day speaking about mom. She was an amazing woman who taught us a lot. The
most important lessons were not verbal; they were in her actions. We know we
are the people we are today because of her influence and guidance. She always worked hard, complained when she
needed to and was there when you needed her. She was our mother, but also our best
friend. We will miss her every day for as long as we live.
Sunday, January 05, 2025
EOY Wrap Up
- The Women - Kristin Hannah - What's not to love about this book? It was everyone's favorite this year and Kristin Hannah does such an exceptional job of telling the story of a female nurse in the Vietnam war.
- The Paper Bracelet - Rachael English - Fascinating of a nurse's life in a Ireland Mother and Baby home. Unwed women who were pregnant were sent here to have babies, and then those babies were sent off for adoption. This woman saved the little bracelets from many and with the help of her granddaughter track down some of those babies. Such an incredible story.
- The Guest List - Lucy Foley - My new favorite author this year. This book blew me away. It's a mystery and up until the "whodunit" was revealed I had no idea. I immediately read The Paris Apartment right after this book. And while that was a decent book, I was aware of her recipe for writing and I was a bit more a ware of whodunit. Still good, but not as good.
- The Tattoo Artist of Auschwitz - Heather Morris - wow. This one was heavy. Like most WWII stories it has some serious stuff that as a human you just don't want to read about. It's brilliantly written and such a beautiful story of survival, but the going's ons in this camp was heartbreaking. I cried and cried reading this one.
- The Lost Letters of Aisling - Cynthia Ellingsen - A grandmother requests to return to her home in Ireland before she dies. Letters are found and the granddaughter helps uncoil some tragic events in her grandmother's past. Gorgeous story of love. And I loved the setting in Ireland.
- The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society - Mary Ann Shaffer, Annie Barrows - Another WWII era book, this one post war. A writer looking for her next book topic. She receives a letter from a guy in Guernsey and it starts a correspondence with the writer and people from Guernsey. The literary club was set up as an alibi when members were breaking curfew. As the writer corresponds with residents she starts to understand and learn what they dealt with during the war.