I Stood In the Driveway

and looked at this run down old house of ours and decided that it really needed some sort of pick me up. Something to distract from the run down part. I knew that it had to be fairly cheap as we're on a very tight budget these days what with a car that seems it will die soon, a baby on the way, etc. Any residual money is being funneled away at present. We've done quite a bit on the inside these past nine years, but have mostly ignored the outside. Quite literally ignored it. I just refuse to see it. Anyway... As I stood there looking at the house it hit me. Window boxes. It was like a shining beam of light in the parting clouds. I've tossed around the idea of window boxes in the past, but it was always part of a grander scheme. This time it was purely a solution. A simple way to show the house some love. Nothing else required. Wow. Nine years it took me to come to that. Wow.

Photo links: L to R Volpaia Tuscany window box, flowery window box in Bavaria, O'Neills pub in Boher Ireland, maintaining the window boxes in Venice

I Am Bewitched...

Since we got back from Sea World we have been trying to figure out the best way to handle our family videos. We bought the recorder before we left and now it's 6+ months later and we've got lots more video to deal with. Just like my photos... we're glad we have them, but what are we supposed to do with them? I'm trying to look at them from different angles. Just like I do with my photos:

I'm not just taking these for me so I should leave an unaltered original filed somewhere of all photos/videos. Just because I like extreme cropping and photos of legs for my projects doesn't mean that everyone likes that, and my favorite photos may not necessarily be theirs + vice versa. I may not want to see the dirty dishes in the background or hear me hollering at one of the kids in the background, but one day that will be a reminder of life. So it should be saved... out of my line of sight.

I want to crop out all of the unnecessary and keep the expressions and the mannerisms. I want to make it the way I see it. Not necessarily the way it is [though I'm not really sure what the problem is with the camera. You'd think it would capture what I see...]. *B* says I envision life with twinkling lights and fairy dust and that I get upset when it doesn't come out that way. That's just fine with me [minus the "it doesn't come out that way" part]. I like those things.

So... sorry about the rambling, basically I've been trying to figure out the video editing software we have and trying to alter our videos. I'm not very good at it and I'm not very patient, but today Kara shared this video on her blog... This is what I want to do. It's magical. How the heck does one go about doing something like this? I will figure it out and when I do I will share our stellar family videos. Until then I will keep my hollering at the kids a secret!

PACOVOLUME "CookieMachine" from discograph on Vimeo.

First I will figure out how to shoot manually with my camera. I'm thinking I probably won't even use the manual mode once I learn, but I want to learn so I have a greater understanding of the concepts as a whole. Yes, someday the camera will capture what I see and I won't have to do altering after the fact. I know it's possible. For the most part, Hula Seventy doesn't alter/edit her photos. Someone commented on her photos in Flickr and asked what editing program she uses and I'm pretty sure she said she doesn't. A true photographer. I think it's amazing [when I popped over to grab her url for the link I quick read her post and she was talking about capturing life as it is... including old home videos. You should read it. She is so great with words and imagery. Love her].

enjoy the journey!

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p.s. Today *A* came home with an orange and black striped witches hat and two collapsable trick or treat pumpkins. He wanted me to get him a cup holder so he could take his water bottle on his bike with him. I was standing in the kitchen at the time and my synapses collided and now *A* has an ice cream bucket hooked to the front of his bike for a basket. I'm so glad that Blue Bunny has started putting their half gallons in plastic cartons. I've been using them for all kinds of things, but this is by far my favorite.

As he rode away on his bike he kept looking back at me grinning and waving and grinning some more.

#2 [cheap thrills]

Today I picked up a few things I hope to finish soon so I can share them as cheap thrills because I am very much excited about them. I only ended up making it to the D.I. the girl isn't the greatest shopper in the world. Oh well. I did find a few things to work on...

As I was grocery shopping the other day [something I never do anymore by the way... it is *B's* assignment now] I got a little lost + overwhelmed in the store and ended up wandering the aisles thinking, "am I missing something?" I felt like I had to see everything to make sure I got what we needed. While I was picking up some Chow Mein [I know... gross! It is a cheap + easy meal and we keep it on hand] I noticed the fortune cookies there. I have been trying to make things more special and, honestly, what needs to be spiffed up more than Chow Mein?

We ate it Thursday night and the boys loved that the cookies had fortunes. At first they didn't quite get it, but later *I* started asking more questions and now he his waiting [not so patiently] for this to happen: "happy news is on it's way to you." He asked yesterday morning, "any happy news for me?" and again this afternoon when they got home, ""any happy news yet?" I keep giving him happy news, but it's not what he's looking for. I'm not sure what he expects...

*B's* rough times are behind him.

*A* has many unexpected and thrilling surprises in store for him.

and I will be called in to fulfill a position of high honour and responsibility [oh yay. I'm really looking forward to finding out what that one could be...].

So, I've always known that I love fortune cookies. I get a huge kick out of them and when *B* stuck my engagement ring inside of one that said [and he promises he didn't even look at the fortune... it just happened to be the one that didn't break apart when he wedged the ring in]: "you and your spouse will be very happy together." It just tied my infatuation up into a neat little package.

Yeah, I like fortune cookies + now my kids do too.

enjoy the journey!

No. 1 [cheap thrills]

So this is my newest project. To share the projects that I actually do [as opposed the ones I wish I was doing...] I promise they will be cheap and I promise they are just to make you happy [and occasionally to make someone you love happy, but mostly you]. I will include photos of said project and I will include instructions by me. Aren't you lucky! It won't be every week, but I will try to share everything I do that makes me smile when I look at it. As promised, here is installment no. 1: clearance mother's day flowers. yes, they are slightly worse for the wear. yes, I had to toss some. I've told *B* not to buy me fresh flowers. They just die. I didn't ever consider clearance flowers. I don't know how long they will last, but they're sure making me happy today. I bought 2 bunches and made 2 arrangements [if the girl hadn't interrupted my flow I could have made 3]. So... $10 for two vases [um... one vase + one wide mouthed mason jar] full of flowers. Definitely a cheap thrill in my book.

...so go to it + remember to enjoy the journey.