Procrastination

I've been procrastinating a lot lately. About absolutely everything. Let me give you an idea of just how much procrastination has been going on in my life of late. I have been putting off...

:: school work - like finishing schemes of work, completing reports, sorting out piles of paper etc...

:: ordering a bikini or swimsuit for our holiday. Somehow purchasing something that is going to expose my least favourite body parts to the world at large just doesn't sound like a fun activity!

:: scrapbooking. Which is shocking as it's one of my most favourite things to do in the entire world.

:: taking pictures, which again is rather alarming to a photo junkie like myself.

:: making phonecalls - there are so many friends and family I haven't actually spoken to in person and who I miss dreadfully and would love to chat to, but here it is on the list.

:: housework. Not that this is in any way a new item here on the list of procrastination. I am a firm believer that housework is why procrastination was originally developed and it is where it firmly belongs!

:: dealing with piles of paper all over the house.

And so, you may ask, what have I been doing with my time instead of doing all the things I need to do or even just want to do more than I have been?  Well, that in itself is a bit of a mystery. I'm not really sure at all. I confess we have been watching series 7 of '24' on dvd which can become a bit addictive, but so far we haven't gone over the 2 episodes a night rule. So it can't just be that. My absence here and on other blogs I love to follow has been noticeable so it can't be that either. Which leads me to the rather disappointing conclusion that I've spent an enormous amount of time doing absolutely nothing constructive with my time at all. I must hang my head in shame and do something about this immediately before I allow guilt to take over and make me feel so bad about all this procrastinating that I wallow in it and end up doing nothing at all. Again!

I don't know about you but I find this such a difficult cycle to break out of. There is so much that I want to do and that needs to be done but I don't know where to start. And as my mother will no doubt proclaim in the comments later, I've never been one for using time wisely and having things done on time! No, I'm more of a last minute girl, a trait I believe I inherited from her mother and my aunt and so is not entirely my fault either and yet a trait that goes entirely against my inner control freak and her need to be organised. So you can see the dilemma I'm in! It's such a to-do.

I even spent a bit of time earlier looking up sayings and quotes about procrastination which you might find amusing or even, dare I say it, wise and challenging!

"Procrastination is the thief of time - Edward Young" - I knew that one and it amazingly sums up how I feel at the minute, like time is running away from me.

"Procrastination is opportunity's assasin - Victor Kiam" - see, now I feel like I may have missed out on an opportunity somewhere along the line because I couldn't be bothered doing something at the time. This one isn't helping my feelings of guilt!

"To think too long about doing a thing often becomes its undoing - Eva Young" - now this is the one I think most applies to me. Too much thinking and not enough doing.

I am hopeful that I may be on my way out of this cycle of not doing rather than doing, and so I'm going to just post a few layouts I did last week and then I'm going to go online and order me some swimwear quick

I completely adore this photo I took of the boys for the A Moment in Time event in May. If you haven't been to the website to see what was going on around the world at one particular moment you should go visit soon. It's so amazing to see how different people's lives are and what a vast place we live in. I'm also completely in love with the latest ranges from My Mind's Eye!

Patrick was reading me "Greyfriar's Bobby" for his homework a few weeks ago and the light bouncing up onto his face from the book was incredible. Plus the camera was a good foil in this case since it's such a sad story and it has always made me cry (I know some of you will find this incredibly hard to believe hehe!) And I've been wanting to document just how much he enjoys learing. It all came together beautifully, don't you think?

Finally, a quick show of a few photos I took of Michael's cousin's daughter a few weeks ago. We had been waiting for months to meet her and she was just the cutest wee thing.

Like I said, just too cute! And now, finally finally, another in my series of funny pictures for a reason I'm not sharing. This one has been posted before but it definitely merits another moment of blog glory!

* If you build it, they will come *
 

Regular blogging will resume soon...

I know, I know, I've become lazy and slovenly in my blogging these past few weeks. I shall blame it on the good weather, because living in our climate you have no choice but to down tools and get out in the sun when it bothers to shine in our direction! I have much to share, photos to post and tales to tell, but that is all going to have to wait a few days longer while I indulge myself in a bit of humour therapy - who knows, it may have a positive effect on you over the next few days. I make no apologies to anyone appearing in the photos I shall be posting and for any potential embarrassment they may suffer - if they were happy enough to have the picture taken, then I retain the right to amuse myself and countless others with it! There is also a rather trite, if totally unrelated comment under the photo. There really is a very good reason for all of this so if you can just bear with me or ignore me and check back in next week I'd really appreciate it. One of these days I will be able to share the reason behind my apparent loss of mind. If the picture has raised a smile then go ahead and leave me a comment, and please come back later in the week for more normal posting:)

* Patience is a virtue*

One moment in time

A couple of weeks ago I came across a post on lucky number 13 which got me pretty excited. Amy alerted me to an event on the New York Times photojournalism blog Lens which wanted to capture a moment in time across our world. All you had to do was check out what your time was and then take a picture during that minute and upload it to their website. Well, the photogeek in me was beyond excited to have the chance to take part in a worldwide photo event! So I duly found out my time - 4pm - primed the camera and waited patiently. In the time that I waited I planned many fancy dancy photos which would show my photographic prowess to the world at large - stunning portraits of the boys, or close ups of bluebells in the hedge. Perhaps I could walk down to the beach and shoot a perfect landscape. The possibilities were endless in my mind. But the reality was this - it was a Sunday afternoon and there is a football net in our garden. The only shot I was ever going to have the opportunity to get was going to involve both a ball and a net. And 2 giddy boys! This is the best of what I got during that minute of time.

I love it so much more than any of the shots I had planned in my head. And just now I checked out the virtual globe of photos (tens of thousands that were uploaded!) and found my shot right here! The photogeek in me is nearly bursting with excitement over the whole project. You should check it out if you have a few moments (or a lot of moments because you'll be going nowhere for hours once you start!). So amazing to see what's going on in thousands of lives all over the world at exactly the same moment. I love photos. And the internet rocks!

Incidentally, the bluebells in the hedge did get a brief look in!

2557 days

That's how many days it's been since Patrick was born (well 2558 if we're being picky since his birthday was yesterday). When I look at the number like that it seems impossible that that's the number of days I've been a mum. You'd think with that amount of time I'd feel a bit more of a pro at it than I do, but that's not really where this post is heading so let's move on! What it really amounts to is 7 years. 7 years during which he has grown from a tiny baby into an amazing boy who lives his life to the full and makes us so proud in so many different ways. I could easily ramble on for pages about his humour, his ability to make any type of clothing look cool, his love of music, his absolute belief that God is in charge, his clever little mind, his cheeky smile and contagious laugh, his squeezy hugs, his sensitivity and so on but you've probably got the picture by now.

He was ecstatic that this year his birthday fell on a Saturday so he was able to have his party on his actual birthday. He's all about football at the minute so a football party it was. 16 small boys on an indoor 5-a-side pitch followed by hotdogs and cake at home. Lots of noise, a bit of squabbling (hand ball was a bit of an issue!) a lot of rubbishy food and presents galore. Our boy was in birthday heaven! Please note in the collage below the birthday cake which I baked and decorated with my own 2 hands in a very Jane Asher fashion. So much effort for something which was literally decimated in a matter of minutes!

I don't think I need to add anything to the pictures except to add - for the purpose of any international readers - that he's sporting the new Liverpool kit with the name of his favourite player, Torres, on the back. We are now hoping and praying that Liverpool don't sell him over the summer or we're scuppered!

As I was planning the party I started thinking about all the fads and crazes that Patrick has gone through over the past few years. He's always really into something and it's pretty obvious to those of us who live with him or spend any amount of time with him. It prompted a layout featuring some of his most obsessive crazes.

I'm so pleased with how this turned out, and with my cunning use of the new Star Wars paper I recently added to my stash. It's funny looking back at how the things lying around the house have changed over the years.

So after all the party preparation and the birthday celebrations yesterday I am well and truly exhausted and I can't believe it's Monday again tomorrow! I am planning a whole lot of nothing this week, apart from maybe some blog hopping and magazine browsing. What will you be up to?
 

A busy head

I suffer terribly from this, just ask my husband. Symptoms generally include having too many thoughts for the relatively small space that is my mind, flitting from one thing to the next and having a semi-permanent frown between my eyebrows. I'm fairly certain it's hereditary and that it's my mum's fault for passing on that gene! Things which are fighting for space in my head right now include:

:: coursework folders - although today was the deadline for those so that should free up a good 10% of brain space I should think!

:: ways to lose a smidgen of weight before our summer holiday and my sister's wedding. I'm trying to work out a way to do it without giving up chocolate which makes the task all the more difficult!

:: a ton of layout ideas which I just can't seem to get around to doing.

:: decorating ideas for the playroom which we just painted last week - how does one make a 6'x4' train set smaller?

:: Patrick's birthday - present ideas, party ideas, cake ideas......  Although I have created some fab invitations for him to give out. I'll share them later as I don't want to give the game away just yet :)

:: building myself up for buying new jeans. I used to be able to lift my size in Fat Face and just know they would fit, but they recently changed all their sizing without consulting me and it's causing a jean disaster. I know you know the feeling!

:: wanting to sew something but not really knowing what. I'd love a summer skirt and I also love this pattern at Sew Liberated.

When my head gets busy like this I tend to procrastinate, which makes the problem even worse. But this weekend I managed, with the help of a friend, to complete at least one layout. We challenged ourselves to use some products we got in our recent order and this is what I came up with. I've fallen into my old grid habit, but it works and I love seeing 8 photos of our holiday last summer on one page.

I'm hoping that the busyness in my head will ease soon and that I can motivate myself to do more creating and less thinking! What's going on in your head? 

Simple pleasures

When the sun shines in these parts you have to make the most of it before it disappears again. So that's exactly what we've been doing this past week or so. It's been so lovely waking up to a bright room and having that feeling of hope that maybe, just maybe the boys might get outside to play and you might get to sit on the garden bench with a cup of tea and a magazine. After weeks of constant rain there is something so refreshing about being outside. The extra space to run around, the freedom to shout at the top of your lungs (the boys, not me!), the fun of the cute little kitten who thinks she lives here and the smell of the sea when the wind blows our way. Outside rocks! I've even cracked the camera out just for fun - it hardly knows what to make of being out of its bag so much.

:: cherry blossom at the bottom of our road. So pretty.

:: amazing sunset, made all the redder by the volcanic ash, so I'm led to believe!

:: cutest 4 year old on the planet who is in his glory squirting his hose :)

:: lots and LOTS of football, thanks to a new net. Cricket has been temporarily blown out!

:: last few weeks of mini rugby - they've been learning to tackle! It's the cutest thing (I know, rugby isn't cute, but he is!)

I've also been thinking a lot about how the boys are changing at the minute, especially as Patrick will be 7 in a couple of weeks. In my head he's still my little boy, but in reality he's not! All this football and collecting football cards, fixing his school tie so it looks just how he wants it to look, choosing green Converse as his summer shoes. He's his own man, no doubts about it! So I decided to do a layout about what I love most about each of them right now - time really is so fleeting and I don't want to forget this bit. I really love how they both turned out.

Check me and my not white cardstock! Next thing you know I'll be posting 2 page spreads! Ok, probably not, but given the lovely box of goodies that arrived just a few days ago, I'm pretty sure I'll be making a few more layouts very soon. 

So tell me, how have you been spending the lovely sunshiney days?
 
 

Scrap happy

So this is what happens to me when I'm off school and have a bit of time for some blog hopping:

1. Find a blog I'm relatively new to and read backwards through some of the posts. Generally be amazed at the creativity and stunning photography.

2. Follow that blog's links to other blogs and repeat step 1 several times over, jealousy at new and fun photo processing techniques building all the time.

3. Progress from the blogs to the flickr photostreams of bloggers I am now practically stalking.

4. Lose countless hours of my life looking through photos, joining flickr groups, checking out new techniques.

5. Begin to feel like my own photography is rubbish in comparison. Who wants a timeless photo of a newborn with his smitten parents when you can have a lovely polaroid of cupcakes or a still life of vintage notions?

6. Spend more hours on Photoshop trying out techniques to make my photos look like the ones I've seen online, wondering constantly why photos of lego and grubby boys don't have the same vintage vibe.

7. Wander away from the computer for a few days, enjoying the days with my boys and feeling no pressure to blog or take pictures for anyone but me.

8. Potter around my study during which time I am alerted to bits and pieces of scrap stash I had forgotten about (don't tell Michael or he might hijack the parcel of goodies I ordered earlier hehe!) Enjoy the newly organised space and newly discovered stash and make some layouts.

9. Run around texting photos of said layouts to my scrap chums and finally remember why I started my blog in the first place - to share silly stories from our lives and the layouts I made to document them.

10. Promise myself not to be so silly next time we're on school holiday, all the while realising that it will happen all over again in approximately 12 weeks!

It's always a bit of a surprise to me just how happy a couple of photographs, some patterned paper and pretty bits and pieces can make me. I must write it down on a sticky note somewhere I can see it and then do it more often.

 
So I am entering my weekend feeling scrap happy and, with any luck, I might just make a few more of these. What about you?  

No realities.....just blessings

Today it seems only right to push aside any of the realities of the past week that have irritated me or upset our plans (like the shocking rain and the almost fatal virus on our laptop) and stick to the blessing of this weekend's celebrations. Particularly as it was so aptly included on some of the Easter cards Patrick designed.

 

Love the onoing line of evangelistic art he has going on! Also, the amazing action I used on this photo is by Johanna Riddell - she most kindly posted them for free on her blog! Love the vintage look it's given this picture.

As an additional nod to Easter, I thought I'd share some of the beautiful Easter-ish images I found on flickr recently. Really, the inspiration on there is nothing short of amazing and I have been known to lose almost days of my life just moving from one photostream to another!  Really, look how lovely these pictures are.
 

1. *** *** ***, 2. Blue Jelly Beans...., 3. Untitled, 4. Target Tuesday: Easter Egg Dishes, 5. Spring Pastels, 6. 93/365 - Green, 7. Bowl Of Paper Flower Eggs, 8. the vase~, 9. Painted Eggs

I have lots more to post about, photos of the boys and some layouts, but I'm going to leave that for a day or two because the sun has come out for this glorious day and I intend to enjoy it to the full. I hope you have a great Easter :)

it's {mostly} all good

I've been spending a lot of time in blogland of late, reading what other people are up to, being amazed by the beautiful images they post, and generally being inspired in all areas of life. That much definitely is good. One blog in particular, Life Set to Words, has become a daily read. Not only for the absolutely amazing (and I do mean AMAZING!) images posted, but also for the inspiring, encouraging and often humorous words that accompany them. The author, Maegan, has been running a series of posts on Fridays where she recounts some of the not-so-lovely parts of her week but looks for the good in them. Which got me to thinking, what a great idea! Like l said in my last post, it's very easy to see the bad stuff in an average week and believe that's all there was to mention when the reality is that there is much more good than bad. So I'm jumping on the bandwagon and hoping it's somewhat cathartic and will set me off on a positive note as we head into our Easter holidays.

Reality :: Today Conor went to the paddling pool in Ards leisure centre with his playgroup. It was an outing that had 'potential nightmare' all over it what with him not liking change and preferring that I tag along on such ventures. I worry far too much about how he does in unfamiliar situations (I can remember all too well the sinking feeling in my tummy when faced with such occasions when I was small and painfully shy). I had decided, along with his teachers, that it would be good if he could do this without me. And while this is what I want for him, it's another signal that he doesn't need me as much as he used to. Which is a bit sad.

Blessing:: He was absolutely fine! He scuttled off with his little chums to get changed without so much as a backward glance. He even managed to fool the teachers that he ate all his party food afterwards, when he had actually kindly donated the sausages and crisps to one of his obliging friends! He is smart and becoming more independent, which in turn will make the transition to primary school in September that much easier. He is also deadly cute - even while aiming a bow and arrow!

Reality :: I was particularly frustrated today when I eventually went to buy my copy of New Moon (the special 2 disc version, obviously!) at HMV. However, it turned out that all their card machines were down and as I wasn't prepared to run up the street in the bucketing rain to extract cash, I came home empty handed.

Blessing :: I have saved a whopping £3 by ordering it from Amazon who will deliver it to my door (thereby allowing me to keep my car in the driveway and not take it into the centre of Bangor which is hell on earth for traffic at the moment). The parcel will also be bringing a cd for Michael and an Oliver Jeffers book for the boys as an added bonus! I love online shopping!

Reality :: I seem to spend an inordinate amount of time tidying up after the boys at the minute. Lego, paper, Match Attax, pens and pencils. And for the seeminly hundreds of things I tidy it seems there are hundreds more just ready to take their place.

Blessing :: The boys are in an amazing creative phase right now. It's all about the drawing, colouring, experimenting and building. This makes me smile and feel a bit smug since the creative gene mostly came from me!

Reality :: It strikes me a lot at the minute that I can't properly remember what Patrick was like when he was Conor's age. I looked at some photos of him earlier today and was amazed at how small he looked and how much his expressions were like Conor's. I really don't remember him like that even though it was only 3 years ago. In my head he has always looked and acted like he does now. Time is going so fast and I'm not doing a very good job of documenting all the things I want to remember about him.

Blessing :: We had a meeting with his teacher yesterday and she had only the loveliest things to say about him. She commented on his fluent reading, his vocabulary (love that he loves words!) how popular he is with his classmates and how kind and generous he is. He is growing into an amazing little boy, who is soaking up all his world has to offer him. And he still thinks I'm the best mummy in the world, which isn't bad after almost 7 years of fumbling along as a parent!

See, now all that searching for the goodness must surely make my weekend all the lovelier! Other things that will be helping my weekend along are:

lovely tulips - a veritable Tesco bargain!

lovely cupcakes - yet to be made, but I shall keep you posted!

I hope your weekend is filled with as much sugary goodness as I intend mine to be :)  

spring gratitude :: day 1

It has been brought to my attention recently that I have been looking at life with a somewhat negative attitude. And much as it pains me, I would have to admit that's probably quite true. Completely unintentional, but true. The last few months have been frought with little annoyances, stresses and inconveniences, all of which have combined to suck the humour and frivolity out of me. In light of this I have decided that it just won't do and I shall have to make amends, especially since spring is doing its best to cheer me on my way with its fresh green buds and promises of warmer days. So this week I am going to try to focus on the blessings. The good stuff that just won't be squashed down no matter how many pupils fail to produce long overdue coursework! My spring gratitudes. Today I am grateful for...

:: a pile of Country Living magazines on the staffroom table at lunch. I have no idea who left them, but I have very much enjoyed a flick through some of them this evening.

:: the joyful enthusiasm of the boys when they want to show me something they've done or made.

:: only 2 more days of school before I finish for the Easter holidays.

:: unexpected gifts from the science department - I hope to put them to excellent use over the holidays :) 

:: where we live. It's still a novelty to me to be able to walk less than 10 minutes and see this.

Blessed indeed. It really doesn't take much to make you forget the stuff that gets on top of you. I suppose sometimes you just have to make the effort to notice it and then enjoy it. 

So what are your blessings today? I dare you to leave a comment telling me, and I bet you feel all the more blessed for thinking about it and noticing the good stuff!!