Greece Trip: Travel and Sea Day

Oh travel day. How I dislike you greatly. The worst part of traveling is the traveling. All the people and all the … blech.

Alas, you have to get on a plane and deal with people in order to get to a destination to visit.

Our flight was on time and packed. Nothing overly exciting about it. The meal was gross. Thank goodness I had my snacks. I slept like crap too so I figured I'd sleep on the next leg from Amsterdam.

We had 5 hours to kill so we wandered the airport and found something to eat. Then we stumbled into a duty free store and we just HAD to buy a huge box of chocolates that had Cresta bars in it. I mean, it's the right thing to do.

After that stop, we had to find a bathroom. I was - ahem - backed up so we had time to sit. I put my phone down on a shelf in the bathroom and left it!

We took off to our gate and it was only then I realized I had left my phone. I hustled back to the bathroom that was .5 miles away. I **gasp** jogged to get back quickly. I thought I was going to die of exhaustion.

Once I got there it was, of course, gone. I asked some of the stores around and no one had turned in a phone.

I walked the .5 miles back to our gate and started figuring out how I was going to manage without my phone for two weeks. I planned on using it for photos. I didn't bring my other camera. Then I remembered that we had the Find My Phone app and my phone was attached to Sherrie's. We saw it on screen towards where the bathroom was.

I was exhausted, but Sherrie took off to find my phone. It took, what felt like, forever.  I was starting to get worried that she might miss our flight, but finally she appeared victorious.

What a nightmare. It was definitely my lesson learned to bring a camera so if this happened again I wouldn't worry about all the photos I wouldn't get. I was seriously thinking about whether the ship sells cameras. It's insane to think about losing your phone on a trip internationally. I now have a new rule, "Ask where my phone is before I leave a restroom?" And maybe don't take it in with me.

We made our flight to Rome and found our luggage without any big issues. Our hired car was there and we were off to Civitavecchia (Pronounced chee·vee·tuh·veh·kee·uh) which is the port the ship was departing from.

Our driver, thankfully, was hired by our hotel or we may never have found this hotel. The owners met us out front, which I thought was odd, then walked us into the hotel. The hotel was in this relatively dark short alley with a VERY nondescript front door and sign. I'm not kidding, we never would have found it.

The owners took us up to our room. Mister Owner told us in Italian what we needed to do to get into the building, into the small landing where our room was and into our room. Now, I don't speak Italian, but his miming and my little knowledge of the language did ok. He showed us how to work the coffee machine and that breakfast would be outside in the small landing for us in the morning. It was all very bizarre.

They left and we settled for just a moment. We were starving and had to go get dinner. We walked around the corner and ultimately found this little restaurant. Nothing gluten free for Sherrie so she had a salad and roasted potatoes. I had myself some spaghetti carbonara…it was divine.

Back to the hotel, we both showered of the ick of travel and promptly fell right asleep.

Up the next morning and we were off to find the shuttle to the cruise terminal. We were unsuccessful so we flagged down a cab and we got there in no time.

Boarding is made super easy these days. You get an assigned group number when you get in line to check in. Checking in is really a matter of showing your passport and getting your on board cards. We waited just a little before they called our number and we were off.

Once on ship they direct you to your muster station so you know where it is. No longer needing to do the full muster drill I guess. As we were standing there I started to get that throwing up feeling in my mouth. You know, the extra saliva that starts showing up. And I knew…I had to find a bathroom NOW. The poor gal doing the explanation pointed to the nearest bathroom and looked like she was worried she'd have to clean up after me.

I made it, barely. It wasn't a empty you stomach kinda thing. Just bile. And then I realized, I hadn't drank too much water. So the combo of walking a metric crap ton - especially the extra mile and a half in Amsterdam - and lack of water, I was probably overly exhausted and dehydrated. I felt better immediately, which is odd.

We headed up to have some lunch and I was surprised to find that I was hungry and felt fine.

After lunch we found some lounge chairs and decided to just hang out until our room was available. We both fell asleep. Thankfully we were in the shade or we would have burnt to a crisp. They announced our room was available and we went immediately there.

It's a nice room. Odd in some ways. Like there isn't a bath"room". Most cruises have a room that has the toilet and the shower. This has the shower on one side of the room and across from it the bathroom. Both with frosted glass so you have some privacy, but there's no door to close. It's just weird. BUT the room has a ton of storage which is unlike any other cruise ship room I've been in. It'll suit us just fine for the several days were here.

Today is a sea day. I slept for 10 hours over the night, which I never do. We got up, had breakfast and have decided to just laze around all day. It's really a perfect day.

Tomorrow starts the Greece part of this trip. We'll be in Athens. Stay tuned for more.

 

Greece of Bust

Here we are! The day before leaving for our Greece cruise. I'm both excited and apprehensive. I both love and hate cruises, and I know exactly where my hot points are and the more I think about those the more anxious I get. 

In typical Jenn fashion I have lists upon lists upon lists to get myself ready to leave. 

The Packing List

This year packing was super easy. I hadn't done laundry in 4 THOUSAND years. So, last weekend I did all the laundry. Instead of folding and putting it away, I put it in the suitcase. 

That started the printing of the packing list. I've worked on making this packing list perfect for years. After each trip something gets added and/or removed. I like to have everything I could possibly need and then adjust based on where I'm going. 

This year I added a new check list for my backpack. I felt like I was a bit out of sorts thinking about what goes into the backpack this year, so figured I'd start writing it all down. 

The Post Mortem Review

Yes. Yes, I do a post mortem after the trip. It often involves just a conversation with the travel buddy about what they think. I also make notes throughout the trip when something comes up. Last year it was all about being sure enough Imodium was packed! Ahem. 

The start of a new trip prep starts with reviewing notes from last year. The typically then creates a shopping list or updating the packing list. 

The Cruise Prep

For me the real prep begins about a week before the trip. That's when I start making sure I have everything purchased or together that I think I'll be taking with me. 

When you prepare to board the cruise, you have to print out your luggage tags at home and then "attached" them with a stapler to your suitcase before you get to the port. Paper. Every time I did that I was sure that my "paper" tag was going to be ripped off and I'd never see my suitcase. 

While checking in last year I noticed the woman in front of me had her luggage tags in a plastic tag holder. So I promptly got home and bought myself one (or 4). So as soon as I could print the luggage tags, I plopped those bad boys into my new plastic tag holder. 

Finish Trip Research

I like to know where I'm going and what I'm going to see. Part of that is researching the excursions. I not only research and read about the city, but I do some research on photos as well. I like to put in the name of whatever it is we're seeing and look at all the images on Google to see it. I often find different, unique angles to take a photo too. Or something I might not have even noticed and now I'll watch for it. 

This is where I tend to start getting really excited. It feels real now. It feels like it's more than just a thought and the trip is actually going to happen. 

Travel Docs / Money

I like to make sure my passport is out and in my backpack. It's the only thing I'm paranoid I'll forget or lose. I take a photo of the opening page as well JUST in case it gets lost while I'm traveling. 

I make sure I put travel notifications on all the credit cards and I know the cash pin just in case. This I forgot one year and that was a disaster. 

I make sure I have any purchased tours on their specific app (usually Viator) so that I don't have to look for them. 

I make sure I can log into the airline app and the cruise ship app. 

The Suitcase

Usually the suitcase is out early. This year I didn't get it out until a week before when I did all that laundry. And immediately upon getting the suitcase out I have to deal with this. 

Take me! Take me! If only he wouldn't put me over my weight limit for my luggage, I might consider packing him. Not this time Bubba Boy. 

I have packing cubes I use to pack, so once those are in, I feel like I'm 90% packed. I like to be mostly packed a couple of days before the trip so that the day of I just have to toss in the toiletries. 

Each year I get annoyed that my suitcase - empty - weighs 10 lbs. Every trip I try to find a suitcase after the trip that weighs less. It's hard to do that when I don't like the hard shell suitcases. So I just deal with it for another year. 

The Ship Research

This year I decided to add to my research to check out this ship. We'll be on the Norwegian Epic and it's one of their HUGE ships. 4100 passengers. Ugh. I already hate that. 

I've been on so many Norwegian cruises that their ships are familiar to me. This one was not so I started watching some youtube videos and looking at the layout. The videos were a little positive and negative. I take it all with a grain of salt because everyone expects something different when they travel. 

Frankly I think this boat is ugly. And once I started seeing it in videos, I really think the interior needs a freshening up. One video said it was supposed to go through a refresh in 2025. Not sure if has or if it'll happen later. We shall see. 

The room is weird. There isn't a "bathroom" per se. On one side you have the toilet and the other the shower. And the sink is around the corner from the shower. Thankfully they put a curtain in so you can have some privacy. I think it's weird though and it means we won't have as much counter space for all our girl crap. 

See the toilet on the top and the shower on the bottom to the right? Weird huh? 

It looks tiny. I realize it's just the two of us but sheesh. 

I already requested for them to have twin beds in the room instead of the big bed. I like Sherrie but not that much. 

The Photo Scavenger Hunt

The last think I do is print out the photo scavenger hunt. I started this several years ago and find it so much fun. Sherrie's never experienced this so she'll have to be trained to look for these odd ball photo ops. Janet was always game and often would see things before I did. 

This year is a big one! I'll be shocked if we get 80% of them. Some are too specific and some we won't be in the area of what the requestor has asked. 

So here we are. All ready to go. The only thing remaining is to clean out the fridge and take out the garbage. 

The weather doesn't look great for us sadly. We specifically picked this time of year because the weather was supposed to be sunny and mid to high 60s. I didn't even consider it might be rainy, but it looks like all of Greece will be rain soaked. 

Linus knows something is up and he's been a bit out of sorts today. He'll be watched by a new Rover guy and I'm sure he'll be fine. I'll miss the little fur ball though. 

Stay tuned for daily blogs of our adventures.

Me versus Cat versus Pill

Some of you may remember Pookie. He was the perfect cat. He never had vet issue up until the very end of his life. I remind Mr. Linus of that daily now. 

Linus now has hyperthyroidism and it requires a daily pill...TWICE. Linus also suffered from UTIs as a kitten and so after a 4 day stay at the VET he has been on expensive food since then. Pookie ate Friskies and never had to stay in the hospital. 

Ok, maybe Pookie wasn't the perfect cat, but he was the cheaper cat. 

Because of the twice daily pill, I have had to learn how to give a cat a pill. Have you done that? 

To prepare for this even, I did some research. The vet explained giving the pill and sent me home with instructions. That's not enough. I went to YouTube to watch video after video of a vet tech or someone who's done this a thousand times, give a very docile cat a vet. Those aren't helpful videos. 

Show me how to give a stubborn, little cranky cat a pill. A cat that wants NOTHING to do with that pill. Oh and given by a person who's never done that before. That's the video I want to see. 

Once I got the pills, the vet recommended a pill plunger to make it easier or a pill pocket. 

The pill pocket was off the table because he won't eat them as a treat already, so one with a pill won't work. 

And so we begin. 

Day one:

I decided to give the pill plunger a try. It worked! And the reason it worked is because Linus had no idea what was happening. He was a little confused and took the pill easily. I had been warned to not think this was how easy this was going to be. Now he knows. 

That night we struggled with the pill plunger and after stressing him and myself out we got the pill down. 

Day two: 

Another battle with the plunger. It's an awkward thing and I found that trying to open his mouth and REACH for the other end of the plunger just wasn't doing it. 

That night I decided to give wet food a try. I "hid" it in a mount of wet food and watched. He ate it! Success...or so I thought. I heard a little "plink" sound and when I looked down, the bowl was clean of food and there sat a little pink pill. 

He did not get his pill that night. It had already been a struggle in the morning and I just didn't want to stress him out any more. 

As I tried to fall asleep I was thinking about all the other options. The medicine can be put into a liquid. That might be easier. And it might not be. 

They have topical option where you rub it into his ear. That's an option to consider too. The danger there is if I get any into my skin it can cause some health problems to me. Gloves resolve that issue. 

Day three:

Finally on the morning of day three I thought, just give it the old fashion try. Use you're own hand, open his mouth and shove it in...gently. Then give him breakfast. 

It worked! Like a charm in fact. It was super easy, he took the pill with little to no struggle and after rubbing his neck I gave him breakfast. 

That has now been successful three times in a row. He still doesn't want to take the pill, but it seems like he prefers this method of this long pole thing headed his way. 

I also think feeding him immediately following the pill helps it stay down and clears his throat a little. 

He's been a trooper for sure. He and I both hate this, but in order for him to live out the rest of his nine lives we need to do this. 

Side note, I did ask the Vet if we didn't do any medications, what would happen. It wasn't horrible, but it wasn't good. Obviously his life would be fewer years. He'd have vomiting issues and continue to lose weight. We don't want any of that, so a two pills a day it is. 

Currently in August

HOW is it August?

I haven't done a "Currently" list lately and it got me thinking about what am I doing currently? Anything new and different? Likely not, but a girl can dream.

Reading:

I'm ahead of my arbitrary reading goal this year. I've had a good run this year of good books. I'm currently reading Rock, Paper, Scissors from Alice Feeny. Jury is still out whether it'll make the favorites list. 

Eating:

Hello....HelloFresh! I started HelloFresh on June 22 and assumed I'd get bored in a couple of weeks. And here we are in August and I can hardly wait for this week's delivery. They have really got me hooked. The recipe options are varied and I rarely see a duplicate of a previous recipe I tried. Much to my disappointment for some I want to remake. Every week I look forward to the meals and am actually eating leftovers. It's a win win. 

Stressing Over:

Phew. The last couple weeks of work have been a bit stressful, but that's work and that's how it goes sometimes. BUT...the recent stress is my little boy Linus. That booger has been diagnosed with Hyperthyroidism (common for cats) and he gets to go on medication. A small pill twice a day. Isn't this going to be fun? What worries me is when I go on vacation and have to have a pet sitter come in and dose him. I found someone (a recommendation from my previous sitter who retired from pet sitting) and man alive is it expensive when you have to have medications administered. He's worth it. I think. I did tell him he might have to get a job. He apparently decided to "sleep" on it. 

Crafting:

Scrapbooking continues to keep my creative mind occupied. I recently finished a project of scrapping all the Sunday Dinner photos over the last 15 years. What a trip that was! The 15 year anniversary is coming up in Sept and I thought it'd be fun to walk down memory lane. It sure was for me. Two crafty friends and I started doing weekly challenges. The first week from F was a layout. The second week from A was a real live challenge ( use map background paper, wood veneer, washi tape, stamping and something black). 

F's layout

My representation of her layout. 

A's challenge: Map pattern paper, Washi tape, Stamping, Wood Veneer and something black

I decided to scrap the travel books for Greece. I've been wanting to do that and use some stash I had laying around. It turned out to be easier than I thought. Though finding the wood veneer was tough. I don't have too much of that. 

Planning: 

Greece is coming up FAST. I started doing my research of the places we're going to and am starting to get more excited about the trip. I also started getting my butt to the gym to start walking more. I know I can't be in "shape" in time for the trip, but I can be in better shape then I am in now. I went 5 days straight last week. My goal is to go every work day I can. Weekends are up for grabs. It's gonna depend on how I feel. Stay tune for that. 

Watching:

Same old. Same old. True crime. The summer has some interesting series I enjoy. It keeps me entertained.

Happy August everyone. Christmas is right around the corner. 

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!

Sunday Dinner Project

Everyone who knows me knows that I have a monthly Sunday Dinner. It started in 2010 and has gone continuously since. September will be 15 years of Sunday dinners. 

Each Sunday dinner, with the exception to the first one, we take a group photo. It started as a "normal" photo where we're all sitting and smiling like normal people. Then we take a "goofy" photo where everyone makes a funny face. I love this so much. 

I decided that I wanted to document the Sunday dinners and their photos. So, I made the decision to scrap all the Sunday dinner photos. 

My original thought was to use up a bunch of kits I have from the Hip Kit Club. I get monthly kits from them and as you can imagine, they start to pile up. So I grabbed 4 of the most basic kits and decided I would use those up. Along the way, I used other of their kits that had more themes to them, like October and Summer themes. 

Well my friends, today I finished this project! I'm all caught up with Sunday dinners, with the exception to July's of this year. But since that just happened I feel like that's ok. 

Stats:

• 3 months effort; my best guess is over 40 hours of work
• 122 pages

This project was a ton of fun. To go back and look through all the photos, I found myself smiling from ear to ear.

The first years of Sunday dinner I was WAY more into it. I wouldn't let anyone bring anything to dinner. I did it all, from appetizer to dessert. And I was way more energetic about the meals. Making them masterpieces in a way.

I also had a lot more people attending. The biggest Sunday dinner was 18 people. The house I was in was bigger so it could contain 18 hungry souls. The house I'm in now, 10 max really. 

It was interesting to see the people who have come and gone over the years too. Some we've lost. Some moved. Some just stopped coming (or being invited). Some are still here. I have now what I consider my core tribe. Each month a combination of the same 10 people. 

We have some annual themes we do for Sunday dinner too. It started as Pumpkin carving being the first "annual" theme. Then I added the December theme of "Cookie Exchange". Now we have two more fun ones to go along with those: Low Country Boil month and Paella month. 

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.

Salty's has Crabs

WAY....BACK...WHEN...Mom and I used to go to Salty's when she'd be in town. She loved their Sunday brunch buffet. They had raw oysters, and Mom would eat her weight in oysters. It made her happy. 

The Mother's Day before mom passed away she and I did our last Sunday Brunch at Salty's. Neither of us knew it then, but it would be our last one. 

Somewhere in the following years, I thought it'd be fun to go to Salty's in memory of mom. We'd go in January around the day she passed. We'd bring her photo and we'd get one oyster for her. It would sit uneaten because none of us liked them. 

Then Covid happened and Salty's stopped their buffet. We went one of the following years for lunch, but it wasn't the same. So we kinda stopped. 

Then on a whim I thought I'd check to see if it was back...and it was! They brought it back in November. So, the usual suspects and I went to celebrate Mom again. 

Their brunch is massive and you really can have just about anything you want for breakfast. 

Mom joined us again as did the crab hats. I can't believe we never thought to bring the crab hats before. This time, for some reason, we thought it'd be fun. So...Salty's had crabs for a morning. 

We're not sure who that man in the weird hat is. No not the main with the crab headband...we know him. 

The buffet is more expensive now than it was. I hope we can do this annually again, but I can understand why people may not want to. I'd go for sure. It somehow brings me closer to Mom. 

Hello Hello Fresh

I've got myself in a small financial situation that I am not happy with. I did a lot of work keeping my credit card in check and paying it off every month. It felt good. I felt like an adult. 

Recently, though, my credit card is at a limit I am unhappy with. See, Sherrie and I had to pay for our cruise and our flights and our excursions withing a couple of weeks of each other. That added an amount to the card that didn't allow me to pay it off by the end of the month. 

Now, my credit card balance is small in comparison to the average US citizens credit card balance. The average household carries around $7-$8 thousand in debt. I'm not near there, could easily get there, but my plan is to not get there.

Naturally, I start to look at my budget and find areas I can pull in the financial belt a little. The first thing that YELLED at me was my monthly grocery bill. 

See, I like cooking. And I like cooking new recipes all the time. I tend to have a goal every year of how many new recipes I can try. It's great fun and I've made some really great meals. I've made as many equally gross meals too, but that's not what's important here. The point is, cooking new recipes every night of the week costs $$. And as a single person, it's harder because when you need one ingredient, maybe a tablespoon of it, you have to buy the whole jar/can/package. AND, since I don't particularly like leftovers, it feels like a lot of $$ going to waste. 

I started thinking about where I could cut there and came to a couple conclusions: 

1. There's no need to cook a BRAND new recipe each night. I could cook some old recipes and possibly some favorite recipes. 

2. I need to use what I have. I inventoried the freezer and pantry and will focus on recipes that use up those items. 

3. Consider a service, like Hello Fresh.

I did Home Chef back in 2017 and I loved it! Mostly. It was still new and I think they were still figuring out quality. I had some terrible tasting beef a couple of times, which limited me to just getting chicken/pork/fish. And frankly, I got bored with their options. There wasn't a ton compared to now. 

So I figured I would give Hello Fresh a try. 

Here's the thing, my grocery bill was anywhere from $200-$250 per week. That's insane for a single person who doesn't like leftovers. So my goal was to drop my grocery bill to be no more than $150 per week. To do that, I felt I had to get creative. 

I was surfing the Interwebs and an offer for Hello Fresh came up. I took a gander and for three meals, for 2 people per week it's around $70. So I figured, why not give that try and supplement the other three meals by using what's in my pantry/freezer and seeing if I can get my grocery bill less than $150. 

I was not as successful as I thought I'd be today, but I can say my total bill (including hello fresh) was less than $200. That's progress to me. 

Tomorrow starts the first Hello Fresh meal. I'm excited to do this. It makes so much sense as a single person to have this type of set up. The ingredients you need are already measured out for you so I'm not buying an entire jar for just one tsp for a recipe.

The recipes will all be shared over on my cooking blog, but I may check in here to let you know how it's going. 

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.

Happy Mother's Day

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.