according.to.kim

Planning a photo project

As I've been going through my photos from recent months, as well as revisiting some memory-keeping projects I've done in the past (because I've been posting to ScrapStacks.com), I've had a couple persistent thoughts: (1) I haven't been taking enough "everyday" type photos lately, and (2) I really adore the month-long daily projects I did in September 2008 and October 2010. They really capture our life at those times, and it's cool to see how things have changed or stayed the same. So, I'm thinking it's time to do another daily project.

Also, thanks to all the scrapbooking podcasts I've been listening to while delivering papers six days a week (The Digi Show and Paperclipping Roundtable), I'm really itching to scrapbook. One of these shows was all about doing December Daily (The Digi Show: Even I Can Do That with guest Ali Edwards). This was very inspiring! But, let's be real: I have no delusions about having the time (or desire) to do a full-blown December Daily album. My spare time time is extremely limited these days. Yet, I still want to do something. For her own December Daily project (scaled down this year), Ali Edwards created a set of 4x6 digital overlays and this appealed to me. Before the podcast was over, I decided I could handle this: take a photo each day and post it with the overlay as a very simple digital verson of December Daily on my blog - with or without words to accompany the photo; we'll see.

So, I committed myself to the project and purchased the December 2012 overlays. And *then* I remembered that December is pretty much the worst month of year for taking pictures at this latitude! Shoot. Oh well. I spent the money (just $4.19; on sale) and will give it my best shot! I might go crazy trying to get this project done (heck, December drives me nuts under normal circumstances) - but I know, without a shadow of a doubt, I'll be glad I did it.

Wish me luck! And stop by the ol' blog in December.

This public announcement will help me get it done. :)

Rounding up October 2012

1. READ

• Captain Underpants and the Attack of the Talking Toilets (read to M&G)
• The Halifax Explosion: Surviving the Blast that Shook a Nation by Joyce Glasner (Sophia)
• Dear Canada: A Prairie as Wide as the Sea: The Immigrant Diary of Ivy Weatherall: Milorie, Saskatchewan, 1926 - the French version (Sophia - for a book report)

Georgia and I raked leaves together after our mom-daughter date.

2. WATCHED & LISTENED

• TV
  • CFL football/Rider games (N)
  • Lost Season 1 (N)
  • Storage Wars (N)
  • Stargate SG-1 Season 1 (N)
  • Robin Hood Series 1 (N)
• DVDs/Movies
  • Katy Perry: Part of Me (M, G & K-half watched)
  • The Spy Next Door (girls on Netflix on their computer in the living room)
  • The Borrowers (Sophia and her friend Meghan)
• Podcasts (K)
  • Paperclipping Roundtable
  • The Digi Show
  • The Dave Ramsey Show
• Other
  • The Bippolo Seed and Other Lost Stories - Dr. Seuss iPad app (the girls, on our way home from YG)

Thanksgiving dinner in Avonlea. Yum!

3. EVENTS & OUTINGS

• I attended 3 set-dancing classes - worked on the Cashel set mostly
• Neil took the girls and cousin B to the Science Centre on a day off school - they really enjoyed the new exhibit, Imaginate
• Sophia went for a sleepover at Alissa's; and she came to our house for an afternoon
• we enjoyed a delicious Thanksgiving dinner in Avonlea at Donna and Lou's - Grandma Louise (97) and L&B were there, too
• Sophia went to K4J Captain's training, and all three attended K4J
• I went out for breakfast at Denny's with my manager (Dana) and coworkers (Braden and Logan)
• I participated in Scott Kelby's World Wide Photo Walk with my friend, Mary - with 48 others, we took pictures for 2 hours in the Warehouse District and then went to Bushwakker to chat - fun!
• Sophia went to the Science Centre with her friend, Meghan
• Georgia had a couple playdates and a sleepover with her friend, Elise; she also went to a church Halloween party with Elise (they dressed G up as a witch for the party)
• Sophia went to her first and second EDGE youth group meetings and loved them
• we all went to church where Sophia helped lead the Rosary and Madeline greeted people as they arrived
• Madeline had her friend, Mattea, over for supper a couple times, and a sleepover; and Madeline went to Applebees for supper with Mattea and her family for Mattea's birthday
• the girls enjoyed having Henry and Ainsley at our house all day on a day they didn't have school
• my work group had a full-day planning session and we enjoyed some team-building activities at the Science Centre
• I went to O'Hanlon's briefly to wish my friend and former co-worker, Atef, good luck as he moved to another company
• we enjoyed attending Oktoberfest in Yellow Grass and visiting with my relatives (Grandma M, Aunts Gloria, Janet, Val, and Bev; and Richy and Bailey), and my family and friends who live in my hometown
• Neil attended home Rider games
• we all attended Sophia and Madeline's first couple ringette games; Georgia is delighted to have one of her best friends, Victoria, at Sophia's games because her older sister is on the same team
• Madeline and Georgia went to Emma's birthday party at the North YMCA (and, happily, came home with a goody bag for Sophia, too)
• Neil, Sophia, and I picked up Wok Box for supper one day - ironically, it was the same day we made homemade sausage, kombucha, kefir, and soaked oatmeal
• the girls enjoyed Hot Lunch Day at school - and we supplied home-baked squares
• Neil took Madeline and Mattea to a Ram's game (while Georgia and Sophia had other activities)
• Steve and Chloe came over for a dog playdate (Dash, Daisy, and Chloe)
• at my work place, we had a barbecue lunch (our Director cooked hamburgers and hot dogs) to celebrate one year of Self Serve, and to welcome new team members
• Sophia's class had a potluck at school on Halloween day - at Sophia's request, Neil made bison Irish Stew for it
• Neil and I both attended the Halloween costume parade at school - fun to see all the costumes!
• I went trick-or-treating with the girls, while Neil stayed home to hand out candy - I took our 3 and Mattea to trick or treat with Sophia and her friends (Alissa, Emily, and Michyla) around Alissa's neighbourhood, and then I took Georgia, Madeline, and Mattea to trick or treat in Mattea's neighbourhood - this is getting too complicated! (It's my fault, though; I wanted our 3 to be together for some of the evening.) We got home about 8:30 pm and Sophia was dropped off at our house just after 9 pm. All came home with a boatload of candy, of course. We let them eat, sort, compare for an hour before bed.
• 12 activities with Mom in 2012:
  • Georgia chose to go for haircuts (we both needed one) and then to Le Macaron for a milk steamer
  • Madeline chose to go to Cold Stone Creamery where she had a Dirt & Worms Halloween special (orange cream ice cream, Oreo cookie, fudge sauce, and gummy worms)
  • Sophia chose to go to Cold Stone Creamery (where she also had Dirt & Worms) and to the Halloween costume store on South Albert

Sophia had fun trying on a few things at the Halloween store.

4. RECIPES TO REMEMBER

• Beefy Mac and Cheese without bread crumbs (Food Network Mag, Oct 2012)
• Beef (bison) Vegetable Quinoa Soup (Quinoa 365)
• Faux-tatoes (steamed cauliflower, mashed and mixed with cream cheese, S&P) - we all love this! (and we used cream cheese we made from kefir)
• Spaghetti sauce on spaghetti squash - I love it! Who needs pasta?
• Greek Salad (The Complete Canadian Living Cookbook)
• Hot Links (Bruce Aidells' Complete Sausage Book)
• Classic Sausage - with bison instead of venison
• Mind-blowing Meatloaf (my name for it) - bison with rolled oats, frozen chopped spinach, chopped cooked bacon, and cheddar cheese in the meatloaf; topped with strips of bacon and Garlic-Herb Glaze (Mix & Match Meatloaf, Food Network Mag, Nov 2012) - best meatloaf ever (even better than Alton Brown's; yes, I said it!)
• Sloppy Joe Baked Potatoes (50 Stuffed Potatoes #5, Food Network Mag, Oct 2011)
• Chocolate Chip Blondies (for school)
• Roasted Cabbage Wedges (Martha Stewart)
• Southwest Ranch Dressing/Dip - I searched for a homemade version of my favourite dip (Marzetti Southwest Ranch) and found this recipe; it's pretty close - I love it!

Daisy and Dash.

5. GIFTS
    •   we bought birthday gifts for Madeline's friends

6. SPECIAL PURCHASES

• very good used skates for Madeline
• new Sorel winter boots for M - from UsedRegina.com
• items for Madeline's diner waitress costume (Value Village)
• supplies for Sophia and Georgia's Halloween costumes
• Kolbe A Index and Career MO+ for Neil
• 16-quart stainless stock pot from Costco
• Cultures for Health milk and water kefir grains

Ringette started this month (Madeline and Sophia).

7. HEALTH

• Sophia went to the orthodontist where we received both good news and bad news: her teeth continue to improve, so they'll do nothing for another year - but she'll still need braces and the average cost is $6200 - huh?! That's insane. I'm not sure she needs braces that badly. (Madeline will, though.) :(
• Georgia threw up at school after lunch one day; Neil took her home for the afternoon and she was perfectly fine to go to her dance class at 5:30 the same day - so strange
• I had a bad sinus headache and neck pain for a couple days - I'm glad it went away without a trip to the chiropractor

Madeline said goodbye to Butterscotch to make space in her bedroom.

8. ACCOMPLISHMENTS

• I finished Gamification at Coursera.org and earned a certificate!
• we purged more stuff from the basement on Thanksgiving weekend (and didn't get back to it after that)
• Madeline worked very hard on cleaning her room (I helped a little)
• Neil took a big bunch of stuff to Regina FreeCircle's Free4All event, including M's large toy horse (Butterscotch) - she couldn't let him go in the summer, but decided to do it now
• I said no (but I'll help) when asked to be manager for M's team - there's no way I can add that much work to my life at the moment! Thank goodness another mom volunteered!
• we made 32 lbs of bison-pork sausage (20 lbs using our deer sausage recipe, and 3 lbs each of four other recipes) - Neil did all the prep work (measuring, etc.) and cooked samples; Sophia mixed all of the meat and seasonings with her hands (huge help!); Neil's dad and Sophia did the linking; I washed things continuously during the sausage making and after; Neil smoked and packaged all of the sausages later that day and the next day. Donna, Laurel, Bronwyn, Madeline, and Georgia helped with quality control (tasting samples). :) It's a big job!
• we updated Neil's resume and wrote a fantastic cover letter so Neil could apply for Education Assistant at Prairie Sky School
• Neil attended a 2-day course and became certified in OHS Standard First Aid, CPR-A, and AED from St. John Ambulance
• made Halloween costumes for the girls: French fries (Sophia), diner waitress (Madeline), and a milk shake (Georgia) - they turned out very well and the girls were thrilled! They received many compliments at school and while trick or treating. :)

Trick or treating with Mattea (mouse), Emily (minion), Alissa, and Michyla.

9. DISAPPOINTMENTS

• not getting the paper route I first wanted (it included our block)
• I had to go back to get my haircut fixed the same day - much better, but still not my favourite
• Prairie Sky School had already filled the position when Neil applied - before the deadline!

Neil's pumpkin carving (based on a picture he saw on the Internet).

10. GOALS

• July photos - check! (tons of photos; took a long time)
• August photos - check! (tons of photos; took a long time)
• took our family photo after rushing to complete the girls' Halloween costumes - it was snowing out so we took our picture indoors for the first time

11. NOTEWORTHY

• Sophia and Madeline finished Cross Country (details in September round-up)
• Sophia and Madeline each had 3 ringette evaluations - we all enjoyed seeing familiar faces from the past two seasons
• Sophia and Madeline learned what ringette teams they're on: Sophia's team is Mojo (coaches Kelly, Crista, and Vince); Madeline's team is Whiteout (coaches Colin and Leanne - same as last year) - so far, so good! Both are happy to have several past teammates on their teams
• Sophia's first three games with Mojo were super exciting, ending just 1 goal apart - great to see evenly matched teams
• Sophia had to play defense for a couple games - she didn't like it but it's good for her (she normally plays forward and now centre quite a bit)
• Madeline's team beat BP Black, last year's strongest team by far - so exciting for them! And Madeline scored a goal in this game!
• I did a Kolbe A index at work, and Neil did one at home; mine is 8624 and his is 4286 - almost completely opposite! This explains a lot. :) (I asked Neil to do this to help understand what kinds of jobs he should pursue; I think it was very helpful)
• registered Sophia for the Kidproof Babysitter Training Home Study course - to be done with L&B at their house
• I tweeted about a BPC giveaway and then they asked me to do another giveaway for them (Boot Camp) - and for my efforts promoting the Boot Camp, BPC gave me a seat in the class; I enjoyed the content, but didn't have time to do anything. I still hope to do some of the exercises/projects!
• Sophia enjoyed her weekly band rehearsals, in which four schools come together at a nearby high school (she's playing trombone)
• my Grandma Mantay turned 93 and she's doing well!
• Neil and I both voted in the civic election
• we were saddened to learn that Uncle Jim Rhoades passed away, not long after he had another stroke
• we enjoyed having Ron and Carol's dog, Daisy, at our house for the weekend while they were in Calgary
• I enjoyed added layouts to ScrapStacks.com - makes me want to do some scrapbooking!
• I signed up for A History of the World since 1300 at Coursera.org - even though I have zero time to watch the lectures - I want to watch them someday, and Neil is interested, too
• we only had 16 trick-or-treaters at our house this year - about half the usual number! and it was pretty good weather
• we started a flyer route on October 22 and a paper route on October 31. Neil and I both deliver the Leader-Post before 6:00 am Monday to Saturday (we split the route), while Neil delivers flyers Wednesdays and Fridays (I help when I'm off), and (if all available) all 5 of us deliver the Sunday Sun (double the addresses) - the girls earn a few bucks when they help

World Wide Photo Walk

Here are my favourite five shots (of mine) from Scott Kelby's 2012 World Wide Photo Walk - Warehouse District, Regina, SK. I enjoyed participating in this event with my friend, Mary, and 48 others on October 13. I'll definitely do this again! (It's neat to see other photos from the Regina Walk, here and here.)

And here's most of our group before we started. I'm near the middle, with a pink hood peaking out of my grey jacket.