Revisiting Greece...scrapbook style

It's done! I finished the Greece scrapbook this week. Took me just about a month - give or take. My process served me well. It's efficient and it allows me to be creative and get shit done. 

I had to change things up a bit this year because my scrapbook computer is having issues and won't allow me to open a windows explorer window and then it stopped connecting to the internet when I updated my router. No biggy, I was able to work around it. 

My process always starts with organizing my photos. Over the years, and so many scrapbooks later, I know what I'll scrap and what I won't. I organize the photos by day then by event of that day. I always have a "Misc" folder because there's always random photos I take that don't really belong anywhere, but may have a story I might want to tell. For example this photo. 

I couldn't tell you what day it was, but it amused me and so I'll scrapbook it. 

Once I have the photos organized, I go through each folder and decide which photos I want to use. I create a "Do Not Use" folder and drop any photo that isn't something I want to scrap or a duplicate of a photo. I try to narrow it down to as few of photos as I can, but will still display our trip and tell my story. 

From there I go searching for a layout. 90% of my layouts are scraplifted (basically taking a page someone else did and trying to duplicate it). Most of the time they never come out looking the same. It's something a lot of scrapbookers do. The manufacturers post pages using their paper and what not hoping you will buy it. And we do. Here's an example:

This is the layout I was working with.

This was my layout. Close, but different.

Once I have the layout figured out, now it's time to scrap. This is when my scrapbook room becomes a complete disaster. I get all my travel collections out and put them on a table so they are within reach. This year I had organized them into these 12x12 plastic containers and it worked perfect. It made it easy to get the collection out and clean up after I was done. 

I'm really happy with how this scrapbook turned out. It's so much fun to look through the photos and relive the event. Sometimes when you're on a cruise/tour it has to go so fast that you don't really have time to reflect on what you're seeing or doing. Creating the scrapbook gives me a chance to do that. I look up things and document the photos as best I can. 

I have a few favorite pages this year. All were scraplifted, but with my own twist. 

This one required a lot of stamping. All those words are stamped. I saw this done and knew I had to give it a try. I love how it turned out. 

I always love a good grid. I had several layouts that are in the format of a grid. 

I used a kit from Paige Evans called "Adventurous". I'm not a huge Paige Evans fan in general, but this kit was just different enough of what I normally would use that I felt I had to challenge myself. 

This page required some painting. I don't have any paints, but I have stamping ink. I used a paint brush and the ink and I feel like it really turned out looking good. 

So now I'm done! It was fun to scrap in a 12x12 layout and be able to use all the embellishments. Scrapping in a smaller format often doesn't allow me to use all the embellishments as they are often too large. I felt my creating juices really flowing this year and am happy with each page. The full book is here in case you want to see it all. 

The Almost DUI

My friend KA is a fantastic storyteller. She thought she wanted to be a standup comic at one point in her life and the way she told stories she would have been quite successful. 

KA was arrested YEARS ago for a DUI. To hear her tell the story, you'd be in stitches over something that isn't very funny.  She used her experience to make people laugh AND to make you aware of the consequences. [Side note: the DUI changed her life - she went from drinking - over drinking - daily, to not drinking at all. To this day, she still doesn't drink and it's been at least 15-20 years.]

The news this morning had a story about how during the holidays DUIs go up. Not too surprising considering the amount of celebrations that go on this time of year. And let's face it, we celebrate with food and drink. There's something about this time of year though, where some tend to let themselves celebrate a little too much. 

I was one of those people in the early 2000's. 

I was working for a company that I loved (at the time) and it knew how to celebrate. For Christmas one year we all gathered at a bar in downtown Seattle and it was an open bar. 

We drank, we ate, we laughed, we drank some more and we watched some folks lose everything they ate. To say we were all hammered would be putting it lightly. 

Some folks took cabs home. Some walked home or walked it off. Some fell asleep in their car. Some of us drove home. 

I very vividly remember making the decision to drive. This was before Uber and cell phones. I really had no idea how I would get home if I didn't drive. I had convinced myself that I was fine. I wasn't as drunk as the others. I could hold my liquor. 

After convincing myself, I turned the key and drove home. 

I remember focusing so hard to "stay in my lane". I tried real hard to watch my speed. I stayed in the right hand lane. I focused and focused and focused. I was driving from downtown Seattle to the East side (about 10 miles by freeway) and it was a drive I did every day for years. I felt I knew it by heart. 

All the way home, I was saying to myself that I was being an idiot. That I shouldn't be driving and that if I made it home, I'd never EVER do this again.

I made it home. Safely. I didn't hurt myself, my car, or - thank goodness - no one else. 

I fell into bed and didn't think about it again that night. 

The next day I was riddled with guilt. I couldn't believe I had done that. I couldn't believe how easy it was to convince myself that I could do it. I wasn't that drunk, I'd be fine.

I was lucky that day. Very lucky. And I kept my promise. I have not gotten behind the wheel of a car after drinking more than a glass of wine or a beer or two. Though now that I type that there was this one wine tasting day that we had to have some food before we drove home because we may have been too tipsy to drive. In this case, I really was fine. We took the precaution to have Mexican food to soak up anything left in our system.

If I think about that night, I break out in cold sweats. I was very, very lucky! I know that. I appreciate the fact that I "got away with it". It could have been so much worse. I could have been my friend KA. I could have gotten arrested, spend a night in jail, paid THOUSANDS in fines and attorney's fees, I could have ruined my life or someone else's. 

The moral of the story should be pretty clear. Don't drink and drive. You are NOT ok to drive. If you have to ask yourself that question, you are not ok to drive. You can call me and I will come and get you. No matter the time of day or night. 

Be safe everyone and have a brilliant holiday season with or without alcohol. 

RIP Uncle Johnny

He was the last. The last of that generation. He's now gone. My mom's brother, Johnny passed Oct 11, 2025. His passing was quicker than we expected, but he's at peace now and that's what he needed. 

Uncle Johnny was my favorite uncle. I don’t have a ton of memories of him—partly because I was so young when we lived near him, and partly because we didn’t spend much time around Mom’s side of the family in later years. But every memory I do have of him makes me smile.

He was such a goofball—always cracking jokes, laughing, or doing something silly just to make everyone else laugh. He was that kind of person who could light up a room with his humor.

My fondest memory of him is from the summers we spent at Grandma and Grandpa Spaid’s house in Azusa. He worked a late shift and wouldn’t get home until after 10 p.m., but my sister Melanie and I would always stay up waiting for him. As soon as we heard his car pull up, we’d race into the living room—he slept on the pull-out sofa when we were there—and jump on his bed to wait for him.

Without fail, he’d come in carrying a bag from In-N-Out Burger. We’d sit cross-legged on the bed, sharing his dinner and watching The Three Stooges—his favorite. He could impersonate them perfectly, and before long we’d be in tears from laughing so hard.

Most of my other memories of him are with my mom. The two of them together were pure chaos—in the best way. They’d get each other going, laughing nonstop, and you couldn’t help but join in.

When mom was dying, he and his family were there to support and say their goodbyes. Even in a sad time, he tried to lighten the mood. I was in Mom's room with him as he was retelling her stories of their childhood. And apologizing to her for all the "grief" he caused as a little brother. 

He struggled later in life. After he retired, I think he just got lost and had demons he was dealing with. He and my aunt split and he just seemed really unhappy. He'll be missed regardless. 

Here's his obituary my Aunt posted. 

Johnny Gordon Spaid, Born November 28, 1952, to Louise M. Spaid and Ward. A Spaid in Grants Pass Oregon. His older sister, JoEllen Spaid, also welcomed the new arrival. They did not stay in Oregon for very long, around 6 years or so, because Johnny was allergic to the saw dust from the lumber mills.

Ward, Louise, JoEllen and Johnny headed down south to Azusa California. He was surrounded mostly by his Mother's family the Emery's. His childhood was filled with sports, music, laughter and friendships. Johnny attended local schools graduating from Gladstone High School in 1970.

The Vietnam War was in full scale and Johnny decided to voluntarily enlist into the United States Air Force in December of 1970. He was headed to Lackland Air Force Base in Texas. After completing basic training he was assigned to a unit of the Strategic Air Command at Seymour Johnson Air force Base in North Carolina. From there, Johnny was headed to Hahn Air Force Base in Germany. Boy did he love Germany!!!

One year, while stationed at Hahn, he picked grapes at a local vineyard. He saved a bottle of wine, from that vineyard, for a special occasion, we opened it on our honeymoon. He traveled, while in the service, to Morocco and Greece, picking up a few mementos. He and I talked about returning to Germany, Morocco and Greece while looking at pictures and slides of his adventures.

He was released from active duty on August 19, 1975. While attending Citrus College, he and I met in September of 1976 in an Economics class. We began dating in December of 1976, were engaged by March of 1977 and were married on August 27, 1977.

The next four years we dedicated ourselves to each other and getting acquainted, lots of fun and hard work setting up our home and continuing our education. Our first child, Steven Emery Spaid was born on October 27, 1981, followed by Taryn Brittany Spaid, born November 15, 1984 and last, but not least, Michael Justin Spaid, born April 1, 1987.

John worked for Monrovia Nursery for approximately 4 years as one of their Sales Representatives. He even met Gregory Peck while working at Monrovia Nursery, it was special.

We purchased our first home, a townhouse, in San Dimas. This is where we started our little family. We lived in San Dimas 3 years and purchased our first home in Glendora. The family continued to grow, we both changed jobs and ended up working for Kaiser Permanente. He worked as a Radiology Clerk until he retired at age 65.

We were married for 42 years, raised three beautiful children. Johnny began to decline rapidly and we eventually lost him on October 11, 2025. We will miss him dearly, but have very fond memories which can never be taken away. Rest in Peace my Love.