The end of a year always brings a re-evaluation of everything that's going on. We've done the re-evaluation and come to a rather sobering conclusion.
My year off is not going to be a year off at all and long term, I have to return to the workforce. It's not a choice, it's not an option, it's just something that has to happen. I'm not coping with the idea very well at the moment so please excuse me if I sound a bit down in the dumps. It's because I'm down in the dumps.
It will get better.
Eventually.
This is going to sound really weird, just occasionally I feel as though I have wandered into some strange fifth dimension or alternate reality. Nothing works, simple questions elicit odd responses or the individual questioned looks at me as though I have suddennly started speaking in Greek, or I have grown an extra head or limb or something. It never happens when Mister Bear is there - or anyone else for that matter - and as soon as I have someone else with me this "alternate reality" goes away. I am starting to get quite paranoid about it.
Today is a good example. Yesterday I went to the plaza to buy Mister Bear a Christma present. I wanted to buy him the next book in the Rome series by Colleen McCullough. I heard Kerri-Anne interviewing her during the week about the book so I was fairly confident that I'd be able to buy it.
In short, no.
I went to three different bookshops. In the first it was nowhere to be seen and I hunted high and low. In the second, not only could I not find the book I was after, I couldn't find any hard back books at all. In the third shop the sales assitant was free so I asked about it. She looked at me as though I was aksing for a kilo of prawns in a bookshop and claimed she had never heard of it. She looked it up on the computer, more to humour me than anything else and claimed it was not there.
I gave up and bought something else instead. I was shattered because I knew Mister Bear really wanted that particular book. I told him of my woes when we met up in the Plaza. (Actually I sobbed into his shirt front outside Big W...not having such a good time at the moment, as it happens.)
Today we went looking together. The first shop he tried, yes, it is available but it's out of stock at the moment. The second shop - the one with no visible hardbacks...the guy picked it up off the shelf and handed it to Mister Bear. I swear it was not there yesterday. I looked at every single book in the fiction section of the store and it was not there!
It's bought now and awaiting wrapping but I am left with this awkward feeling that my reality is not quite like everyone else's reality and that I am totally losing my grip.
*If* you get a handmade card from us this Christmas, you are in the "in" group.
If you get a commercially produced Christmas card, you would have received a handmade Christmas card if I had begun making them in about February of this year. Keep your fingers crossed for a handmade one next year.
Is it just me, or do floors have a secret magnetic quality that actively attracts things onto it? I cannot keep up with all the stuff that just seems to gravitate to the floor. The craft room is the worst offender in the house, but all the floors are, in some way, guilty of this crime.
What on earth am I supposed to do about it? Reverse polarity??
has got to be the longest song in history and guess who had to lead the (most unenthusiastic) class in singing it - a cappella - in front of the entire school this morning??
I don't get paid enough to do this.
In early 1997 when Mister Bear and I married, one of our friends gave us a most unusual wedding gift. It was a box of beautiful wooden ornaments and three huge tinsel garlands. In Christmas 1997 when we were strapped for cash, those ornaments were wonderful. Our tree was small but magnificent. We decided that each year we'd buy a set of ornaments for the tree and so as our life together grew, so would our tree. Not all years are represented here, but you'll get the picture.
Snagged this from kiwiria
1.) When you walk in your front door, which room do you enter?
The lounge room and it ALWAYS looks like rubbish, but it especially looks like rubbish at the moment cos we got a fake tree with fake snow and the fake snow is everywhere!!
2.)Do you have a dishwasher?
Yes. An ancient one, but hey, it does the dishes.
3.) Is your living room carpeted or does it have hardwood floors?
Carpeted. And it is filthy.
4.) Do you keep your kitchen knives on the counter or in a drawer?
Counter, except we call it a bench.
5.) House, apartment, duplex or trailer?
House
6.) How many bedrooms is it?
Officially, three, but in reality could be up to five.
7.) Gas stove or electric?
Electric.
8.) Do you have a yard?
Yes, a very big one. Seriously overgrown a the moment and in desperate need of dealing with, but with the drought breaking in the last month we have had constant rain and it's all we can do to keep the lawn mowed..
9.) What size TV is in the living room?
19 inches. It's so old that the Foxtel man laughed at it when he came to hook up Foxtel..
10.) Are your plates in the same cupboard as your cups?
Yes, but on different shelves.
11.) Is there a coffee maker sitting on your kitchen counter?
No. It lives in the cupboard. It was a present for my 21st birthday. 16 years ago.
13.) What room is your computer in?
Study/Craft Room.
14.) Are there pictures hanging in your living room?
Three photos of the kids, a big picture that we are minding for my sister of the moon over the ocean, three smaller pictures of the kids, a photo of Mister Bear with Michael that is possibly one of the best photos I have ever taken, a photo collage of the kids, that originally sat on my desk at work, and a picture made with bark of a couple of elephants that SuperJ brought back from Uganda for us.
15.) Are there any themes found in your home?
Not unless you count "perpetually untidy" as a theme.
16.) What kind of laundry detergent do you use??
Either Spree, Surf or Duo - whichever is on special. Yesterday I got a 3kg box of Duo for the same price as two 1kg boxes of Surf. I was very chuffed.
7.) Do you use dryer sheets??
When I remember to buy them, which isn't often.
18.) Do you have any curtains in your home??
Yes, but not in all rooms yet.
19.) What colour is your fridge??
White.
20.) Is your house clean??
Nope. Never.
21.) What room is the most neglected?
We have an egalitarian household. All rooms are neglected equally.
22.) Are the dishes in your sink clean or dirty?
Usually.
23.) How long have you lived in your home?
Since November 30th, 2001
24.) Where did you live before?
A small 3 bedroom villa with one living area, a minute kitchen and a bathroom with separate loo. It got way too small when Chickabid came home from the hospital.
25.) Do you have one of those fluffy toilet lid covers on your toilet?
I have two young children. What do you think?
26.) Do you have a scale anywhere in your house?
Yes. Both a kitchen scale and a bathroom scale. The bathroom scale tells lies.
27.) How many mirrors are in your house?
Dressing table master bedroom, dressing table Ladybaby's room, bathroom, lounge room, inside the hall door, two not in use in bedroom cupboards.
28.) Do you have a garage?
Yes, a one-and-a-half car garage but there's no room in it for the car.
I think it has something to do with perfectionsim, but I would have to be the world's slowest scrapper. I've read about - and met - scrapbookers who grab photos, cardstock, PP, embellishments and then throw together outstanding pages in a couple of hours and make like 48 pages in a month. I am lucky to complete 10 in a year. It's not a paucity of photos, or a lack of supplies. It's not being able to get it perfect and if I can't get it perfect, I won't do it.
Take a gander at my current project:
THEME: Christmas Traditions
As you can see, I have CS, PP and die cuts which complement the photos perfectly. In line with the cybercrop challenge I want to incorporate some hand stitching on the page and I know roughly how I am going to do that, but I cannot for the life of me figure out how to put it all together. I wind up leaving everything out on the craft desk and fiddling, shifting things around, trying out different combinations and waiting for ages before deciding to go ahead and complete it. With a little luck this layout should be ready for Christmas 2008.
