Bits&Pieces

No slammed doors or "I hate you!" pronouncements, and we're well over 24 hours into it

My baby girl is a teenager.

It started innocently enough, some 13 years and 9 months ago. Well, you know how it starts. And ends up a bit like this:

And this:

With her Daddy's skin and her mama's eyes, she came in like a lamb, even without an epidural. She was this wonderful science experiment where everything seemed to turn out far, far better than I'd could have ever hoped. I think it's because for a woman who'd never planned on having kids, I had no preconceived notions as to what being a mother would be like. I never spent any time day dreaming of what I would name a baby, or how the nursery would look, or how many strolls to the park I would take. Maternal instinct wasn't part of my wiring.

Then I turned 29 and the urge to procreate became THE dominating urge, rising up above all my other mostly dominating urges (namely, the urges to smoke and NOT procreate). And so, Project Baby began.

We were lucky. Within 3 months, I was pregnant. Next thing you know, I'm a mama.

 

And that was 13 years ago.

I've never professed to be the best mother in the world, though if it turns out that way in the end, I come by it honestly. One needs only to look at the example I was raised with. Still, I have my strengths. I think it can be proven by the fact that my girl is listening to The Cure.

 

I'd planned out this post yesterday. It was going to be a recap of her Friday night party and how much fun it was to see all of her amazing friends, and how wholesome it all was, with all the pizzas and pop and costumes and ghost stories and innocence, and how it almost felt like we were Mormon for the night.

 

And then I wanted to write about how I messed up her actual birthday by taking her out to run some errands on Saturday, completely forgetting that her unwrapped present was in the back seat. This, despite me telling Dan repeatedly: stay away from the garage, for the love of God! Aidan's gift is in my car! As she opened the door and her head cocked suspiciously sideways, I heard myself say, ""Please tell me you don't see that guitar case in the back seat."

 

I was also going to write about going out shopping with her yesterday so she could spend some of her birthday money on new clothes, and how I adore the fact that she's inherited Dan's love of vintage and second hand clothes, and how she more or less shuns anything name brand in the name of invention and creativity. And how grateful she was for everything she'd gotten.

But as I sat down to write this morning, the sentimental me crept in. The one who realizes that despite all of my potential shortcomings as a parent and a person, my kid, who is no longer a kid, is turning out to be an amazing human in her own right. One full of hope and grace and ideas and self-respect. All I did was provide the vehicle to get her here.

 

For all the stuff that might come at us in this new teen-aged era, I think in the end, we're going to be just fine. I'm so thankful that the biological clock hit me when it did. And today, the gratitude overwhelms me.

I love you, baby girl.

 

Love, Mom

13

This weekend, my baby girl turns 13.

Thirteen.

I suppose I should do something scrapbooky to mark it, and I'm quite certain I will, but it made me remember a page from my second book that I still love to this day, and the sentiment behind it still holds true. I feel like I just blinked and she turned 13.

 

Reminds me of a t-shirt I saw somewhere along the way: Life moves fast. Scrapbook it.

Duly noted.

Happy early birthday, sweet girl. I love you.

 

How can you NOT see that?

OMG, you guys. There's this game, and it's SO super fun... you draw pictures but it's like, you know, charades, and instead of acting the clues out, YOU DRAW THEM!

(When I told Dan I was going to blog about Pictionary, he said, "Yeah, that would've been great, in 1986.)

All poo-poo-ing aside, we had a family Pictionary night, at the suggestion of Cole, and seriously? I can't believe we don't play this game in EVERY WAKING HOUR.

But before I go further, you should that the Zielske's rarely hit home runs like this:

It took Aidan (who was my partner, girls vs. boys, as it were) all of 1 second to guess the obvious answer: peanut butter. It was like we were doing the Vulcan Mind Meld. THAT is how connected we felt on this one.

And it went downhill from there.

Need proof? Let me share some of our handiwork (and let's see how well YOU do on your guesses!)

I drew this:

Anything? No? Not yet. Take a look at what Cole drew for his partner and father, Dan:

I think this is a drawing that could only really be done, from both sides, from a family who started procreating in the 90s. And I think you know why, don't you?

Both Cole and I had the same idea starting out, then with time running out we resorted to something that most vegetable-hating kids in America have faced at one time or another in their lives: ranch dressing. Thank you.

That's when Cole uttered the catch phrase of the night: HOW CAN YOU NOT SEE THAT? to Dan, who really never made the connection because he had to eat his veggies as a kid as part of any number of Lutheran mystery casseroles.

Next up, I drew this for Aidan:

 

Have you got it? Was it instant? I thought this was also a slam dunk, and it would have been for Cole, who was absolutely obsessed with the Astrodome after hurricane Katrina. Nevermind the fact that I put Houston on roughly the same patch of land as San Antonio. And when I realized Aidan wasn't going to get it, I went with the phonetic approach, but I guess you can't fault a 12 year old for not seeing the "ass" clue and going, "Ohhhh... ASS-trodome!"

Next up, another drawing from me to Aidan:

 

If only I'd had more time on this one. Cole and Dan went in a totally different direction, and Aidan was left shouting, "CAT? DEAD CAT?" Okay, so maybe I don't really know how to draw Batman. I'll be honest, she was never going to guess Robin, even if I'd  had a police sketch artist to assist me. Sometimes though, in Pictionary, you start with a bad idea and you say, "Ah, to hell with it... I'm too INVESTED now."

But somehow, the cat thing stuck in Aidan's head, when she drew this for me.

 

I actually ended up guessing correctlly, after guessing "Flying Cat" and "Dragon Eater". It was Den, but honestly, how many cats do you know that hibernate?

The next one I thought for SURE Aidan would get, because she took wood working classes when she was 11. I thought wrong.

 

She was too stuck on the exploding flower/hand, and never made the connection. Um, hello? It's whittle? Duh. HOW CAN YOU NOT SEE THAT?

Next up, Aidan drew this for me.

 

She started with the building, pointing furiously to the windows. I'm thinking, "office?" "work place?" Then she draws the people who I find out later are laying on a bed (because EVERYONE knows people sleep on beds in motels), and when time runs out she says, "MOM! It was motel!" And I'm all, "Then why'd you draw an office building?" And she says, "Since when do people sleep together in an office building?" 

We haven't had that talk yet. Next.

I drew this for Aidan:

 

Other than the logical guess of "animal pizza," time ran out, and I was embarrassed to say I really only knew a few signs of the zodiac. And apparently, one of them has ears like Piglet.

But even though Aidan and I closed the night with a narrow defeat, we did end on a high note, getting this next one in a matter of seconds.

 

Aidan guessed, "Double chin?" And I knew… Vulcan Mind Meld back on!

But I think it really addresses a larger issue here that Dan has never really understood what the words "weight issue" really mean. His drawing for Cole would've been great, if the clue was "Beavis & Butthead":

 

I don't mean to come off as trying to be overly wholesome here, but playing games with your family is awesome. 

It's also a good explanation of why I work in print design, using a computer, and not a pen.

Because there is no space too sacred or too safe from the reach off my organization mojo

I have a spice problem.

It started the day I walked into Penzey's Spices, right here in my hometown of St. Paul, and I've never really looked back to grocery store spices since.

Don't be fooled by their decidedly unsexy website. Penzey's Spices are the BOMB in terms of value, selection, quality and price. Over the years, I've pretty much replaced every single old jar of dried this and powdered that with a fresh, affordable and tasty replacement courtesy of Penzeys.

And because I'm still filling my days with all that stuff I never had time for as a full-time, she-works-hard-for-the-money graphic designer, the spice zone was the most recent recipient of my unemployed cleaning attentions.

Where do my spices live, you're wondering? I keep them here:

 

In an old house, you have to be creative with space. I will never know the joys of a walk-in pantry, and so I improvise, finding places for things that might not be ideal, but that work nevertheless. And what's the cute little reddish orange door?

That's just the express elevator to hell... also known as my laundry chute. It's such a convenient set up. I can toss down my dirty dish cloths AND grab some Albanian Rubbed Sage while I'm at it!

And I don't know about you, but there is something undeniably exciting at the thought of my sage being rubbed by an Albanian before it finds its way into my stuffing. But I digress…

Here's the long shot of the spice zone:

(And yes, this shot was taken from one of my more recent organizational projects, the mud room, which a week later is still looking mighty fine, if I do say so.)

I guess the point of my story is this: my spice house is in order, and if you've never checked out Penzey's, you really owe it to yourself to do so. And soon.

Because you never know what spices will soon be on your list of all-time favorites.

PC Users—A Great Deal on Photoshop Elements

My friend and photog extraordinaire, Tina Cockburn, just informed me that for those of you thinking of getting Photoshop Elements, Costco is rockin' a deal. FYI.

See it here. It'll end up costing you $49.99. Not bad!

Answers about Everyone Can Write a Little

I don't know if few questions are a good sign, or a bad sign, but they are a sign, nevertheless, and I have answers to your questions about my upcoming workshop, Everyone Can Write a Little at  Big Picture Scrapbooking.

 

Connie asked: Hey Cathy! Naturally I want to take this class because, well, it's your class! My concern is that I work full-time in a corporate environment. That makes for some pretty dull days. Not to mention that I am away from my family most of the day. I am wondering if I will have much to say worth capturing. I mean, how many times can I say "Connie is going to another meeting"???? Any suggestions?

Connie, one of my goals in this class is to help you look at your everyday life a bit differently. I've got some ideas for finding stuff in that everyday environment and seeing it in a new light. I do pretty much the same thing day in and day out, leaving my house only to grocery shop and shuffle kids to and from various commitments. In other words, my life can be pretty monotonous. I'm going to hopefully offer inspiration to help you see stuff a bit differently, and challenge you to try and write about it.

Karen asked: Sounds very cool. I am wondering which version of Elements is best. I have 3.0 but have considered upgrading. I have been reading reviews and I am flummoxed.

Karen, I currently use Elements 6.0, for Macintosh, and the templates for this class are all .psd docs. If you can download the test file I will attach here, then you will be able to open the templates. If you can't, you can always download a 30-day trial version of Adobe Photoshop Elements by clicking here. Considering the workshop is 4 weeks long, you would at least be able to create and print out the pages you've worked on, as well as getting a taste of the most recent version of Photoshop Elements.

Still, try downloading and opening this file below. If you can open it, you'll be okay with the version you have.

Download Testing

Quinna asked: Question: Will you be teaching us how to drop photos into our pages? I have Photoshop 3 old old old version....Should I be updating it before class or will this work.

Yes, you will learn to drop photos into your pages, and see the above question!

Katie Paterson asked: Okay I have signed up and I am so excited, I just signed up for Twitter yesterday. I also have a photoshop question... I don't have any version but wondering if I can get my hands on an older version if that will still work?

Katie, i would say in some cases, yes. But you can download the test file and try it out.

Holly O'Keefe asked: Crazy question...do I have to do Twitter AND Facebook? I can't just do Facebook, right?

You do NOT have to do both. Pick the one you're most comfortable with. I only do both because i'm an internet junkie. Both provide you with the space to write a little.

Madeline St Onge asked: Cathy I have a question. I am reading the supply list and all I see is 4 sheets of 12x12 patterned paper to cover the binder, we are not going to need any for the pages themselves, just the cardstock for the pages? I need to order online so would like to get all that I need at once.

You will only need little 1/4 inch strips, leftovers really, to put into the page protectors in a fun way (if you are using American Crafts page protectors). 

If you have a scanner, you can use it to scan your paper to make a digital tie in to the paper you use on the cover, but that is an optional digital extra step. You an do it with your leftover pieces of patterned paper.

Darlene asked: Cathy, I can't get your intro message about the class to work properly??? It goes about 45 sec. and then just stops. Waaaaa!! I wanna hear you!! Help!

Hmmm. Could just be your internet connection acting buggy. I would say try again and if you're still having the trouble, you can always email admin@bigpicturescrapbooking.com to see if they can help.

Melinda asked: Is there a limit to the number of students that will be allowed to enroll?

No limits. Whoever wants to take it, can.

AnnieB asked: Class question: What sort of photos will we be needing?

Good question! I wish I could give you more of a specific answer, but the cool thing about this class is that the photos you pick are really simply an afterthought. Meaning, you will be working on writing and then collecting your favorite writing bits, THEN finding a single shot to go with each writing snippet. I talk more about the photos in class. I'm encouraging people to just grab whatever snapshot will best support what you write about.

Shawna asked—I don't have facebook or twitter but I have a blog. I would really like to do this class but don't want to take on another commitment. I like the idea of creating an album of my blog posts. Will the class still work for me?

Honestly? It won't. What we're doing and what we're making doesn't have a lot to do with taking full on blog posts and photos. Sorry!

EDITED TO ADD THIS:
Michelle had a good idea that she just emailed me, for those who just don't want to use Twitter or Facebook, she said:

Hey, read your post and had a comment about one of the question/answers. The one about if a blog would work. I was just wondering if she limited her posts to short bursts, just like twitter, if it would work? I do that sometimes, when I need to post but can't come up with one really strong topic. I'll "twitter blog". And if you write the post in Word then you can get a character count so it's legit? Wouldn't that work?

In other words, if you have a Word Processor that will show you the word/space count, you could easily keep a running list of entries in a document, and keep them short, forcing you to edit and tighten up your writing as you go. Thanks for the idea, Michelle.

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GENERAL QUESTIONS (from email)

I don't have Photoshop Elements, or Photoshop. Will you be giving instruction to create pages in other programs, like Paint Shop Pro etc, ?

The short answer is no. Doing a class with digital instruction, I chose to focus on Photoshop Elements because it is the most universal. Keep in mind, you can download a free 30-day trial of the program to use during class. I'm not 100% sure it will let you save your files, but, it should let you print them out. I will find out about the saving part!

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I've also had questions asking if this will be offered more than once, and my answer is that if it goes well, I would hope to be able to offer it again later in the year. I realize that people's schedules don't always align. So, it's definitely a possibility!

I will continue to answer any questions you might have. You can always email me at czdesign@comcast.net, and i'll do my best to get back to you quickly.

ALSO, any questions posted here today, I'll answer in the comments! Have a great weekend.

Registration for Everyone Can Write a Little is open

Registration for Everyone Can Write a Little is live. Woo hoo! Click here to learn more specific details about the 4-week workshop. Everything you need to know, along with a master supply list and a class syllabus, is up for your viewing and possibly registering pleasure.

The class runs from May 14 through June 10 and is $35.

Take a read through the info on the registration page. If you have any questions about the class please post them here and I'll answer every single one of them. Sound good? Hope to see some of you in class with me, where we get to write, well, you know, a little.

 

p.s. There is a Class Intensity Ranking Scale, which gives you an idea of what to expect on several levels. I ranked this class based on what I felt was appropriate. When I got to the part that said, "heart warming" i thought, "I don't show any pictures of newborn puppies, so... I'm putting that one as low." YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED! ; )

Easy now, ladeez…

I had to make this hat to illustrate something fun to do with photos for that last special issue of Simple, Scrapbook Play with Photos.

I told him, "You wear this hat to work, and you might just get more lovin' at home." So far, he's only tried to take me up on ONE of those options.

I'll let you guess which one.

He always has had a hard time with understanding "if-then" statements.

Three Years Smoke Free

Three years ago today I quit smoking.

It was a good decision.

It has not been easy thing to do.

I'm 30 pounds heavier, but smell much better and have much pinker lungs.

As a moderately self-righteous ex-smoker, I often act like I know all the secrets to kicking addictions of every kind, but I think it's pretty obvious that I don't.

But I do know this: You quit doing what you know is bad for you when you are ready to do it. End (and beginning) of story.

Apparently, I'm still ready to stay a non-smoker.

Go me.

Thank you.

Touché

Dan got ambitious last Friday night and tackled one of the numerous projects on our ever-growing list of Things to Do So That We May Have a Perfect Life. The project? Organizing and alphabetizing our CD collection.

One would think this would be much more of a Cathy kind of job, given my penchant for order and my fondness for being able to locate Journey's Greatest Hits with minimal profanity because JESUS, MARY AND JOSEPH, WHERE THE HELL IS IT? I NEED TO HEAR "STONE IN LOVE!".

Yes, one would think, but one would be wrong. For all the order-lovin' genes camped out in my DNA, CD and album organizing just aren't part of my unique genetic sequencing.

Dan, surprisingly, does have the CD and album organization gene, and it became increasingly clear as he went from room to room, gathering renegade CDs and letting his highly refined classification skills whip their asses into alphabetical submission.

Now, before you get this image of one glorious wall of CDs from A to Z, you should know this: we keep them in three areas.

Area 1: an IKEA CD tower in my office that holds Abba's Gold through Jools Holland's Big Band Rhythm & Blues.

Area 2: the place where the actually CD player resides (i.e. the logical place) that holds Janet Jackson's The Velvet Rope through the Stray Cats' Runaway Boys: A Retrospective '81 to '92.

And last but not least, Area 3: The wrought iron CD tower that Dan says "doesn't take up any valuable living space so why in God's name would we need to get rid of it?", and covers The Strokes' Room on Fire through Neil Young's Decade.

 

I made the mistake of asking him if we could find a way to do just that—get rid of the CD tower. I asked, "Couldn't we clear out some of the photo albums on the other side of the fireplace and put those CDs up in the empty space?"

This was when Dan once again presented the Valuable Living Space Argument, which I'll admit is a hard one to counter. But that's what triggered the stuff that does live in my DNA, in other words, the real reason I've come to despise the tower:

"True, it doesn't take up that much space. But it gets really dusty and looks like Hell."

"Oh, it doesn't look THAT bad."

"How many times have you dusted it?"

"How many times have you been to Hell?"

Duly noted.

Just remember though, when I do show up in Hell—because at this point, it's not really a question of if, but when—and find I've been assigned to clean in a super heated room full of dust-caked CD towers for all of eternity, don't be surprised to get a call from Jesus telling you to check your email for a rather pointed told you so message from me.