ABC Thursdays: volumes D & P

I know, I know, it's Friday. I was having some technical difficulties yesterday and am just getting this up now.

Dave
Gosh I love him. I love what a wacky weirdo he is. I love the crazy things he says, the unusual way he looks at life, his agility at problem solving. I love how he admits when he’s wrong (ahem, usually) and I love how he is with the boys. Lately I’ve been appreciating how supportive he is of me. I feel like I can pitch these crazy ideas to him and he jumps on board, ready to tackle the problem. Dave is really clipping along in his career. Last week he went to AMIA 2010, his annual conference for archivists, and he gave four presentations, was invited to several dinners with people that wanted to brainstorm with him, and heard lots of kudos for his work. He kept calling home with more stories proving how far he’s really come in his career. It was eye-opening for both of us. We aren’t just out of college anymore.

Dishes
I always put off doing the dishes. Sometimes I wish we had a dishwasher just so I had a place to hide my dirty dishes. When there is a sink full of dishes I can find all kinds of other things to do instead. Maybe it’s the lack of counter space and I that feel cramped piling dishes on the stove or maybe it’s because it’s just easier to walk out of the kitchen than to scrub the dried oatmeal off of pots and bowls, but honestly there isn’t much I put off the way I put off washing dishes. But when I do wash them, when I end up facing the music and prepping the sink, I always say to myself afterwards “now that wasn’t so bad, was it?”

Dogs
Today I watched a woman with her dog and it made me wish I had a dog of my own…until I remembered that I would have to clean up after it. Then I didn’t want a dog anymore.



Project Tackler
I love a big project. I love the planning, the execution and the “I did it!” feeling. I love having and reaching a goal and I LOVE looking back at the goals I’ve met. There is something about thinking through the things I’ve done that makes me feel better about things I’ve yet to face. My most recent big project was making wedding favors for Emily’s wedding. 170 cookies, individually wrapped, individually awesome. Next on my project list? Christmas! Advent plans, homemade gifts, Christmas cards! It’s going to be great.

Photography
About four years ago I hated taking pictures. I felt like the pictures I took didn’t come out very well. I felt shy about getting out my camera to take pictures, especially in public. There was just so much about photography I didn’t like. But, a lot of that has changed. I like taking photos now. I understand my camera much more than I used to and I’m better at using it to get what I want. I take lots of still life photography for my blog. I have the perfect little spot on my kitchen counter where the window gives me great natural light. I pose my baking just so, get the camera setting right, and shoot away. I’ve learned so much about composition, angle, lighting and the buttons on my camera from taking all of those still life shots. Taking that time to fiddle with still life has helped me so much when I am trying to capture my boys’ crazy antics. I can flip through the settings quickly and get what I need before they can run off into trouble. And snapping up little bits of them as they are right now has become really important to me. I just love it.

Pickles
Every week I buy a big jar of pickles and every week it empties by Friday. Though, I never eat any of them. I never did care for pickles.