kapachino

Author: Kathleen

  • Good Things: March 2012

    At the end of each day I write down at least one GOOD thing that happened, then I share them all here monthly.

    ***

    1 – An easy work day

    2 – A favorite patient finishing chemo & giving me a gift card; our A/C getting fixed for only $80

    3 – Walking the Stride for Stroke 5k with work friends; Pappasito’s for dinner and seeing Meredith eat lemons

    4 – Dinner with my parents at 59 Diner

    5 – The adorable artwork Meredith made at daycare, and how she went to bed so easily before 7

    6 – Meredith’s reaction when she saw me at daycare and when David came home, and how she laughed at the dogs

    7 – Playing on the couch with David and Meredith after work

    8 – Meredith being so happy & fun in the evening

    9 – Hanging out with my parents after work; quality time with David at home

    10 – Seeing my friend Emily & her son Elijah

    11 – Scott’s birthday dinner where there was delicious food and I spent a long time playing with Meredith on the floor while the family chatted

    12 – Meredith wanting to play WITH me; scrapbooking & reading time

    13 – A surprisingly easy work day; the drive over & back from David’s parents’ house chatting & laughing together

    14 – Handling a busy work day well; how easy Meredith’s bedtime routine has become

    15 – Family time with all three of us on the floor in the play room

    16 – A patient telling me I did better on his IV than the “expert”

    17 – Touring Bayou Bend; Meredith laughing over and over (more than ever!) dropping her toy, especially when I caught it –  it was a game!

    18 – Buying a new computer

    19 – Getting through the day intact

    20 – Free burgers for lunch with delicious buns

    21 – Home to take care of a feverish baby; she slept in my lap all day forcing me to relax

    22 – New shoes, belts, & headbands

    23 – Feeling so rested and having lots of energy for work

    24 – Getting everything done that I wanted to, plus brunch with Lauren & going running

    25 – A shorter haircut & visiting Emily; meeting a neighbor

    26 – Meredith being so happy to see me – hugs, cuddles, laughs, joy. Making a good dinner that David loved; crafting while he read in the same room.

    27 – Sitting outside with Meredith and reading while she played with the grass

    28 – First church life group game night

    29 – Dinner at my in-laws’ house, Meredith waving to me for the first time

    30 – M crawling a bit; seeing my friends Karlene & Krisann and learning about essential oils

    31 – Craft club, David’s sweet text, getting a 3DS from the lovely Nintendo folks!

  • Photo A Day: March

    I still love this photo a day challenge created by Fat Mum Slim.

    up • bedside • fruit • my neighborhood • a smile
    5 p.m. • something I wore • window • red • loud • someone I talked to today
    fork • a sign • clouds • car • sunglasses • green
    a corner of my home • before/after • delicious • kitchen sink • moon • animal
    breakfast • key • my name • feet • toy • where I relax

    I missed two days this month. One was “funny” because I had a really bad day that day and I wasn’t feeling inspired to find funny anywhere. Another was “trash” because I was super busy that day and didn’t want to just take a picture of a gross or boring trash can. Oh well. I think it’ll be fun to look back and see all these little details of life that I ordinarily wouldn’t give a second thought. Onward to April!

  • Currently

    The weather has been so nice lately that we’ve taken to sitting out on the front lawn to relax. Meredith loves to play with (and eat) the leaves and grass and I love watching her. We’ve also already met several more neighbors this way!

    Time // 9:16 a.m.
    Place // at home in my office/craft room.
    Eating // nada.
    Drinking // water.
    Watching // Meredith turn the baby gym upside down.
    Reading // The Proper Care and Feeding of Marriage by Dr. Laura Schlessinger.
    Wanting // a new printer and an updated copy of Photoshop Elements.
    Thinking // about what a bummer it is that Meredith’s pediatrician is closing her practice.
    Creating // some Easter cards.
    Hoping // to purchase a starter kit of essential oils and begin using them for health purposes.
    Needing // to change up our cloth diaper wash routine.
    Anticipating // two days off next week, and being able to drink coffee & eat chocolate again soon!

    ***

    This has been a very successful and productive week. After I wrote about my “goals” last week I did research and made plans and followed through. I joined Emeals, which I already love and know will make cooking do-able for me, and I cooked dinner twice this week and am planning on cooking tonight. (For the other nights we had leftovers or ate with family/friends.) I was also able to take the jogging stroller out for a run a few times, and I’ve completed week 1 of C25k and one day of week 2. It feels great to be exercising again. At work I was in charge for two days (which I hate doing, but we have to rotate the responsibility) and didn’t encounter any real problems. AND we ventured out to a small group for our new church!

    Other things to note are that Meredith started somewhat waving goodbye to me in the morning – so cute! – and she also had some forward locomotion that we can finally call crawling! Right now it’s only one or two “steps” but she’s getting better at it every day.

    Today I’m heading to my craft club and don’t have any other plans this weekend, so I hope to get some things done around the house! Have a great weekend, friends.

  • project life 2012 : week 7

    That’s week 7 for me, since I started at the beginning of February.

    I’m a week behind in posting my progress because lately I haven’t been finishing until halfway through the next week. But that’s just how it has to be and I’m fine with it. It’s getting done. Still loving it.

    I was really strapped for time to complete this week so it’s extremely simple. Mostly just photos with very little journaling or embellishment. However, we did visit Bayou Bend, which lent itself to some really pretty pictures, so I included those in an insert.

    For the insert I just cut a 6×12 piece of cardstock and taped the photos to it. I slipped it inside a page protector and added a fabric tab.

    I print almost all my pictures using Snapfish and pick them up at Walgreen’s. For the 3×4 photos (perfect for iPhone) I just combine two into one 4×6 using the Diptic app and then I can print them regularly. If I want a square photo I either place it onto a 4×6 canvas in Photoshop Elements, or I print using PostalPix – but that takes longer since they have to be mailed. I don’t have a photo printer so I have to work with conventional sizes if I want to be able to pick up my pictures the same day I order them.

    The picture in the top right of me in my sunglasses is a good example of how I place a square photo on a 4×6 canvas. It’s all one photo, and I just wrote directly on it. That “celebrate” card in the lower right is from this.

    Overall I’m just keeping it simple, and I’m finding that the sum is much greater than the parts. It’s going to be SO much fun to look back at. When I have extra time to play with it I love adding more embellishment, but if I don’t that’s okay too. Such a great project.

  • my first embroidered card

    I’ve been making my own cards for years, but I was only recently introduced to the concept of embroidering paper. Now a whole new world has opened up for me! This is the first one I made:

    I wanted to keep it simple and just feature the embroidery since this was my first try. I got the pattern for the smiling cake from the stitchalong at Feeling Stitchy. I just printed it out, placed it on top of the cardstock, then poked holes with a thumbtack where I wanted to stitch. I widened the holes with my needle from front to back, then did a back stitch.

    I was worried about the French knots because I was afraid the holes might tear that close together, but it worked out.

    Inside I taped some cute paper over the back of the embroidering and stamped a sweet birthday message. I think it turned out really cute!

    It took me several days to finish because of work, baby, etc., but I think it was worth it. I had a lot of fun making it and my friend loved it. The only sad part is that she never got to see it in person because I set it on top of my car while I buckled Meredith in to her car seat on our way to brunch, then I drove off. Hopefully someone somewhere will find it on the road, open it, and smile. :)