a penny for my thoughts?

I find it amazing that books, fictional or no, have the ability to bring me to tears or have me laughing out loud instantly when my usual person finds difficulty showing any abundance of emotion whatsoever. I typically come off as mildly pleasant to others when inside, I'm so excited I could burst my spleen with anymore happiness. (Anger appears more readily, however.)

I've evolved into a crier. Yes, Mother, a crier, just like you. Most things make me cry these days, whether sad or happy. I haven't read a book in the past year and a half that hasn't brought tears, and if you look at what I've been reading, you may question me on that. I didn't cry during my wedding though, which is weird because I always cry as a guest at others' weddings. I even cry while reading about someone else's wedding. That's what I'm trying to say, I guess, is that I'm filled to the brim with emotions when they involve other people's lives, not my own. It's very strange. I must admit that I did weep silently on my wedding night, long after all the guests returned home and the only people left were my husband and me. What a relief...followed by four days of illness during my honeymoon. I guess the release was too much. I still managed to enjoy myself very much in Victoria. And, I got a little reading in while there.

I'm so blessed to have a career that allows, or demands, reading books so often. I'm naturally drawn to text. What can I say? I'm a reader. I love being able to free my emotions, even if through empathy alone. Maybe I'll be able to someday look back at the various events in my life and put the feelings I felt down on paper, giving them life after all. I'm thinking of a book of sorts here, but another thought has surfaced. What about scrapbooking? I've recently become very motivated to start creating books of memories, and I think journaling on the pages will accomplish this need to externalize my inner expressions, emotions as I feel them, not as I show them. I'm inspired anew. 'Til next time...

Put your back into it.

You know how it goes...on your birthday each year, someone or many someones ask, "So, how's it feel to be XX? or one year older?" If you're like me, you usually respond with something like, "pretty much the same." Well, I can honestly say that I've discovered something I've lost at turning a quarter of a century old, my ability to plop down and sleep wherever my body takes me! I can no longer sleep on hard surfaces without tossing and turning and waking to an achy hip and moaning back. Now, I don't feel any older than normal; however, my body keeps me in check. I'm enjoying life, and I hope that stays with me as I progress.

...this won't keep me from camping, you'd better believe it!

Creative Memories Party

I had an inspirational afternoon where I met with others interested in preserving their memories through scrapbooking. I've never been very good at designing pages and sticking with them through completion. I usually have tons of ideas, become overwhelmed, and give up altogether.

Well, my high hopes in scrapbooking were restored today at a Creative Memories party because I was introduced to new ways of organizing memorabilia and great new ideas for page layouts. I'm excited again about tackling my huge boxes of photos and what I like to call junk (i.e. ticket stubs, playbills, etc.). The person giving the presentation today gave me some sound advice: "Start with the most recent pictures. Then you'll be able to finish a project. Once you feel that you've actually got something accomplished, you can move on." I think I can do this. I've got my most recent pictures handy, and I can actually remember what was happening when they were taken! It'll be easier to start with those because they're all in one place, not scattered between several boxes.

Take a look at what I did today! I made three mini scrapbook pages just to get me headed in the right direction. If I like, I can put these small pages right inside a larger scrapbook when I am ready. I think I did a great job for my first go 'round. I can't wait to find time to do more!

NEW Flour Tostitos!

Dalzell's Darwinist Causality OR Propaganda??


These are two reactions to Tostitos' campaign for their new flour tortilla chips. I rarely view television because I only get two stations at my house, but I recently caught Tostitos' new commercial. I liked it, mostly because it gave me that warm, fuzzy feeling, and if you've seen it, you're probably thinking I've really lost it this time. Well, I didn't really pay any attention to what these other bloggers saw; I was simply floored by the idea that a parent would continue providing answers to the redundant "Why?"

Growing up, most adults would give up after oh, say, the second why and start answering with, "Just because," which is what I'd probably do in the situation given my prior training. This commercial really opened my eyes. The more I work with children, the more I realize how important a role I, and all other adults, play in their lives. We're the examples; we're the "models," so to speak. I'm constantly teaching parents in my preschool storytimes to model proper behavior for their children to pick up. Eventually, even the most rambunctious 3-year-old will pay attention and start participating because hey, that's what mommy or daddy is doing!

While my narrative skills are lacking, I am learning from my career as a librarian that I can (and should) take some things from my professional life and use them in my personal life. What I mean is this: I am constantly saying that librarians don't have to know everything, they simply need to know where to find the answer. If I took this home with me, I'd be able to say to a child who asks why that if I didn't know the answer immediately we could search for it together. That way, I'd not be putting the child off or skating around the answers. That child would feel that he/she is deserving of an answer and he/she would hopefully learn through my example to try very diligently to address concerns, instead of brushing them under the rug.

Winter Wonderland 2007

Here are as many pictures as I could take before my camera's battery died this morning. I'll add more when I can.