Yeah, Write

I'm Here

And yes, I've got lots of updating to do, including a little trip to California and a little trip to Arizona.

But in the meantime, here's a cute little winter picture for you.

My baby's walking, as of October 27, 2011. And it's adorable.

Capturing the Elusive Muttshroom

Our little "gogga" (as Keira calls her) is notoriously difficult to photograph. One problem is that her face is so much darker than her body. And the other problem? She never holds still. Ever.

Also, she somehow senses when I'm about to snap the shutter, and she closes her eyes just in time. Or runs in the other direction. Or shakes her head just enough to make it blurry. Behold:

So, imagine our surprise and delight when, after many months of trying, we finally caught Jovie in her famous "muttshroom" pose.

Every now and then, you look out into the back yard, and it appears as though a dog-shaped mushroom has taken root in the lawn. She tucks all of her limbs under her body and plants herself as deeply into the grass as she can. And she doesn't move a muscle. (Until, that is, she senses a camera lens pointed at her.) But finally, we have captured it.

Is the little beast getting slower? Or am I getting quicker with the camera? Time will tell.

But I also recently captured another of her signature moves: carrying her dog dish around the yard (and through my strawberries, naughty puppy) after she's done eating.

Good gogga, Jovie. Good gogga. Maybe next I'll be able to get a picture of her sitting on top of her dog house, Snoopy-style.

Last Week

Random ramblings from a week in the Lucas household.

A new episode of Books & Crafts was released.

Wendy and I headed to the studio to film another series of Books & Crafts episodes—a day which was preceded by several very late nights.

Keira and I spent two days in our pajamas, recovering from the heretofore mentioned events. It must be said that we didn't wear the same pajamas for two consecutive days—at least Keira didn't. Since my pajamas weren't smeared with peaches and didn't have cheese scrubbed into the zipper, I felt okay about continuing to wear them.

Despite my exhaustion, I stayed up until 2 a.m. (again) the night we filmed, reading The Glass Castle in one sitting. This true story of a staggeringly disfunctional family was told with candor and not an ounce of self-pity. It was mesmerizing. And when Keira woke me at the crack of dawn the next morning, I still thought it was worth it. I just convinced her to take an early nap with mama on the couch, and by 10 a.m., I was semi-functional.

I continued to work my way through the back seasons of My Name is Earl. I rarely watch anything live these days. It's just so much fun to discover a "new" show and watch it all the way through in a month or two, via Netflix.

I felt very inspired by the card-making fun at Ella Publishing Co. this week.

I felt sad, several times, about the passing of Steve Jobs. And then chuckled inappropriately at the coverage from The Onion (satirical online "news" site), which reported: 'The Last American Who Knew What the Bleep He Was Doing Dies," followed by a fake quote from President Obama: "This is a dark time for our country, because the reality is none of the 300 milion or so Americans who remain can actually get anything done or make things happen. Those days are over." Sad, but true. And sad. And true. ;)

I spent a delightful afternoon walking around Barnes & Noble with a new friend, discovered via my blog. I had mentioned her by name in a post I wrote last year, after hearing her speak about infertility at an adoption conference. Thinking she lived in another state and that she'd never come across my blog, I mentioned how inspiring I found her and how I secretly wished she were my neighbor. Then a few weeks ago, after she discovered the post, I received an email with the title, "Want to be BFFs?" It turns out we have lots in common: infertility, adoption, reading, writing, and a love of English scones. AND we live in neighboring cities. I love meeting new friends.

Travis and I took Keira on her first fall hike. She loved it for the first half and slept through the second half. I wish I could just fall asleep wherever I wanted and that people would tote me around while I snooze. I tell ya, being a baby is the best. (Except for the pooping your pants part.)

 

I worked on finalizing everything for the Primary Program for this Sunday, which is the end-of-the-year performance/review for all the children in my church congregation. They sing all the songs they've worked on this year and recap the things they've learned. The past 10 months of church have all been leading up to this moment, and all 45+ kids' parents and grandparents will likely be in attendance, but no pressure. No pressure at all. (There really isn't any pressure when I remember that when you combine kids and music, it's just going to be adorable, no matter what. And it's not about me and my skills as a leader; it's about them and what they've learned this year. There, I feel calmer already.)

Yep, I did lots of things this week, but I didn't blog. Until now.

The End.

The CUTEST End Ever.

Adventures in Co-Gardening

Having discovered the joy of vegetable gardening two years ago (which was a HUGE surprise considering how I loathed working in my parents' garden as a child and teen), I desperately wanted to plant again this year.

But with a new baby, a busy husband who wouldn't be available to help, and a small business to run, I was sure I wouldn't have the time.

Enter Lisa, my friend and neighbor. She also had a new baby and the desire to have a garden. But her biggest roadblock? No dirt. Her entire yard is finished and landscaped. So we hatched up a plot to plant, weed, and harvest together, using my dirt! We have plenty of dirt at our house. (Incidentally, why is it that the word "soil" is so much more attractive than the word "dirt"?)

Theoretically, the babies would play quietly on a blanket under the apple tree while we tended the garden just a few feet away. And it actually worked some of the time! Most of the time, one or the other of us was rolling a baby back over or retrieving a binky or toy while the other one of us yanked weeds or planted seeds. But we'd usually get a good 10 minutes in before anyone started to fuss (including ourselves). And little Emmy loved this apple tree; she was mesmerized by the rustling leaves.

Here's Keira with her little friend, Emmy, back at the start of our co-gardening adventure in June. It's amazing how much they've both changed in 3 months. These two have sprouted even faster than our garden did!

The garden back in June. We planted corn, carrots, purple carrots, green beans, snow peas, onions, lettuce, spinach, tomatoes, zucchini, cucumbers, cantaloupe, watermelon, butternut squash, and pumpkins. And my husband planted a battery-operated electric fence, which deterred Jovie from digging up all our hard work. :)

And here's our jungle of a garden now—three months later. At some point in the summer, and we can't exactly say when, we really scaled back our weeding efforts. And yet, despite our recent lack of weeding, the garden* is still thriving, and we're enjoying a bounteous harvest.
*Apart from the snow peas and spinach, that is, which never thrived in the first place.

The sunflower row is one of my favorite features! And the bees love them, too, it seems.
Behold: our Sunday-afternoon harvest from last week. Much of this was consumed for dinner that very day, apart from the mystery vegetable in the upper-right corner.

Neither of us had ever planted watermelon before, and it was scrumptious! Everything (except for the mystery vegetable) tastes better when you plant it yourself.

Now to unveil the mystery vegetable. It is, allegedly, a canteloupe. That's what we planted. But as you can see, it is NOT. And there's another one ripening on the vine.

And (drumroll please) it turns out to be... a cuceloupe!

It looks like an elongated canteloupe inside, but it smells exactly like a cucumber, with a mildly cucumber-ish flavor. Apparently, our canteloupe and cucumber plants were being a bit naughty when we weren't looking, and they cross-bred. The funny thing is, there were plenty of closer plants to get busy with (zucchini, squash, and pumpkin), but the canteloupe must have had his sights set on the attractive young plant down the street.

Honestly, this is my favorite time of year. Every night for dinner, I round up a quick main dish (usually something grilled) and then head out to the garden to find a side dish or two. Some nights this summer, we've had four or more garden veggies on our plates come dinner time. And I'm dying to try a recipe from my sister that involves fresh tomatoes and cucumbers, quinoa, bleu cheese, and a few other ingredients. If it's amazing, you'll be the first to hear about it.

Oh, how I dread the arrival of the frost!

Why So Quiet?

For the past several weeks, this blog had to take a backseat to, well, life in general.

Tragedy struck some close friends of ours when their 16-year-old daughter (a friend of Jeremy's) was killed in a car accident, along with her grandmother and step-grandfather. I've thought of little else for the last couple of weeks, and it has just seemed wrong (as it tends to do) that life was carrying on as normal for everyone else. But life has to carry on. That's the way of things. And it's good that it does, becuase it keeps our hands occupied while our hearts try to heal.

And in the meantime, Keira Jane figured out how to crawl, which means a whole new world for this first-time mama.

And Keira's boyfriend, Calvin, came into town (along with his mom) for the funeral. I was so grateful they stayed with us, since babies are the best distraction in the world, and I needed more than anything to talk about and process my grief with another close friend who knows and loves the family, too.

And I've had this nervous energy that won't go away and seems to require physical activity at all times. I've been cleaning my house non-stop, cooking for my family and others, tackling projects in my house left and right. (I'm not complaining about that part; I'm just going with it.)

Here's a mirror wall I started working on before Keira arrived, and which has taken a backseat until now. I made paper templates so I could figure out the arrangement I wanted, and I finished painting and decoupaging the frames. Now I just need to hang them. (Here's hoping that doesn't take another 10 months!)

And all the plans for Ella Publishing Co. that were put into place months ago had to march on, and really it's been good to keep busy.

First, I was a guest on Paperclipping Roundtable last week, and we covered a topic that was near and dear to my heart: personality types and how it affects your crafting! Another very welcome distraction, to discuss things I'm passionate about with people I love and respect. Some people loved the show, others didn't, but one thing's for certain—it drew out a lot of comments.

Second, we've had Digital Scrapbooking Month going on at Ella Publishing Co., which meant articles to edit and upload, a new eBook to edit and project-manage, and lots of stuff happening on the blog. You've got to check out the latest, by Liz Tamanaha, all about digital kits. It's got one of my favorite mini-albums I've seen in a long time.

 

And third, Wendy and I have been putting the pieces together for Ella's upcoming Boot Camp event (September 19-24). It's going to be so amazing. Click this link (or the banner below) to view the video Wendy and I finally managed to record yesterday, after weeks of trying to synch our schedules, complete with pink-camo hats and everything!

Well, that about brings us up to date. My new routine (now that the baby is mobile) is starting to take shape, and we're just adapting as each new milestone and event comes along.

And just like always, I'm experiencing great joys alongside great sadnesses, and the key is to try to keep it (and everything else) in balance. Some weeks, that's easier than others. But that's life.

Baby Horse Teeth and Other Adorable Photos

I sat down to post Keira's 9 month photos (because, after all, she's now 10 months and 6 days) but I got sidetracked by a treasure trove of everyday shots. So with my apologies to my sister Alli, I'm delaying the posting of the 9 month photos for another day or two.

I simply cannot resist sharing these everyday scenes from her life right now. July was such a BIG month for my little one.

She spent lots of time with her big brother, whom she adores.

She met a baby horse for the first time (and immediately grabbed him by the nostrils).

Sidenote: Aren't baby horse teeth the CUTEST thing ever? (Perhaps even cuter than baby human teeth. Perhaps.)

She figured out how to pick up Cheerios with those two tiny fingers.

And feed them to herself.

And feed them to Jovie.

She went swimming for the first time, in Aunt Michele's swimming pool.

She made her first trip to the zoo.

She saw the ocean for the first time.

And dipped her toes in the surf.

And to top it all off, she was placed inside a baby-sized pot by her big brother. Because...why not?

 

Trend or Foe?

I love Hipstamatic photos taken with our iPhones. I love the crazy filters, the borders, the instant nostalgia, the way they mask or elevate or transform everyday scenes into something magical.

And above all of that, I love that the Hipstamatic filter hides those flaws in the photos I take when I'm out and about and don't have my "real" camera with me. Besides, as Travis recently said, "The best camera is the camera you have with you." So true.

Thus, it is so tempting to take most of my photos with my iPhone and its Hipstamatic app. And as I import our pictures, from both Travis and me, I notice the percentage shifting each month. More and more iPhone photos, fewer and fewer images taken with the DSLR.

And yet I wonder: Will we one day regret this? Will I look back at this time in my life and wish I had more pictures that showed the scenes from my life realistically, rather than transformed into some ethereal, filtered version of my life? Will we all collectively look back at this trend the way we now look at the days of cutting photos into stars, hearts, and other cutesy, outdated shapes in scrapbooking?

Trends scare me. Because they depart as quickly as they arrived, and if you embrace the wrong one too strongly, you end up looking foolish. And fickle. And where's the line between the two anyway?

I tend to value the real. The authentic. I'm constantly weighing whether I like something because I like it or because I want to appear to other people to like it. What is my authentic reaction? Do I like Hipstamatic prints because they appeal to me, or because they appeal to everyone else?

Then I read my first paragraph again, and I realize that there is a reaction in my core that draws me to this look, trendy though it may be. I LOVE these images. The filtered effects almost make them MORE real to me; they're a better representation of how I feel about them and how I'd imagine these scenes in my mind's eye. These photos are my feelings and impressions made visible, tangible (even though these three examples were taken by my Hubster, Travis, because, let's face it, his are better than mine).

So, I feel okay about it. Because if I'm doing something for no other reason than to fit in, I feel like I've lost a little bit of myself.

Other trends I wonder about:

• In photography, I wonder about angel wings added to children in photos and adult-size butterfly wings worn by grown women wearing June Cleaver-style dresses to give that fairy-tale effect to a photo. Where is the line between it looking sweet (which it can be) and becoming self-parody?
• And in music, I wonder about all the ladies with the red lipstick who look like 1940s pin-up models and sing with their baby-doll voices that barely whisper at times, as if they're telling you an intimate secret, as they sing about balloons, soda pop, and dreams (and also, I'm certain, some of them sing about unicorns) with plinking piano music in the background. Which of them are expressing their real selves this way (Zooey Deschanel, I think, is) and which are simply following along?
• And in the blogosphere, I wonder about the women who refer to their spouses over and over again with a cutesy nickname. (Pioneer Woman may have started it all by calling her hubby "Marlboro Man," which was and is charming. But it seems others think it's a requirement in order to have a blog.) If he had the nickname before you had your blog, that's one thing, but if the nickname was generated specifically for the blog, is it simply for effect? To fit in?*
• And in general, I wonder about the members of the hipster subculture who try so hard to be different and unique from the mainstream world, and in doing so, end up all looking exactly like each other. Some of them, no doubt, have always dressed this way (like my brother-in-law, who's been wearing Chuck Taylors nonstop since 1994). But are others just riding the wave?

Why do these things both attract and puzzle me at the same time?

I think the fascinating part is that if it's real, and if it's YOU, and if you find a trend that strikes a chord with you, and thus you embrace it, then I admire that. But if it's just an attempt to fit in, then that's the part that, for me, doesn't ring true. (Of course, I know I've always been one to think and care about "authenticity" more than other people. It's a curse, thanks to my Myers-Briggs personality type. But more on that another time.)

Hipster Attributes include:

1. Men wearing Chuck Taylor Converse, skinny jeans, a button-up shirt and a bowtie, with black-framed glasses and gelled hair that's parted too far on one side
2. Women dressing like June Cleaver, with a large handmade necklace or headband up top and either '40s-inspired heels or converse sneakers on bottom. (I only wish I had the body for such dresses.)
3. Cat-eye glasses and pin-up girl hairstyles. (My mom rocked this look in the '60s!)
4. Androgynous hairstyles with sideswept bangs on both men and women.
5. Thrift-store clothing (or expensive clothing that is carefully designed to look thrift).
6. Riding vintage (or vintage-looking) bicycles, with baskets of flowers on the front. Or perhaps riding one just long enough to be photographed doing so.
7. Horizontal striped shirts, super skinny jeans, and a scarf or a retro-style hat.
8. And, according to Urban Dictionary, possessing no more than 5% body fat and very little muscle tone. (That rules me out on both counts.)

It reminds me of a game my friends and I used to play when we'd go out and about. If you see a duo or trio of teenage girls, they are often dressed quite similarly, if not exactly alike except for the colors of their shirts. The game is, "Which is the original and which is the copy?" And it's usually quite easy to determine.

What about you? What are your thoughts about trends, fads, and fitting in? Where's the line for you personally?

There's always been a side of me that's far too practical to ever be a true artist (and definitely not an arTEEST). And this may be the blog post that proves it. And I may also be showing my age... :)

* Note: Did you notice the introduction of a snarky new nickname for Travis? Yeah, "Hubster" was just a joke--a little precursor to bullet point #3. You can't blame a girl for trying to fit in.

It's All About Perspective

Shot with my Hipstamatic for iPhone
Lens: John S
Flash: Off
Film: Ina's 1969

The view from my back yard. That hideous tangle of power lines gives me a jolt of annoyance every time I look out my back window. Or it used to.

Enter a houseguest, visiting from one of the flatter states. She and I were standing on my back patio, and just as I had opened my mouth to apologize for living in an old neighborhood with ugly, exposed power lines (when so many of the surrounding neighborhoods have buried lines), she said:

"Look at that view! I'd love to have such gorgeous mountains right in my back yard. You are so lucky."

My mouth snapped shut.

Of course. It really is a stunning view. My focus has been all wrong.

It's my choice to look past the ugly and drink in the beauty just beyond, rising majestically in the distance.

Journaling Prompt
What areas of your life could use a new view? Have you had a recent epiphany that changed your perspective about the blessings in your life? What ugly scenes, memories, and moments have hidden beauty looming behind them, if you'd only open your eyes and see? Take a moment to write about it.

Loving the Black Frame Polaroids!

We do have a nice Nikon camera around the house, but photos taken with the 1960s-era vintage Polaroid Land Camera seem so much more REAL somehow. More poignant. Instantly nostalgic.

I love having the immediate print shoot out of the front of the camera. I love the new black-framed film Travis found online. I love that this is the same camera that witnessed much of Travis's childhood, and that he now he uses it to photograph our little family.

These are perhaps my favorite photos Travis has ever taken of Keira.

And here's a very REAL, in-the-moment shot of Jeremy:

And you can see more gems like this on the official Travis Lucas Flickr photostream. This is exactly what they looked like, straight out of the camera—no digital filters or effects. He just scanned them and uploaded them. :)

New Fees Effective Immediately

You may or may not remember this post from the Yeah, Write archives. (If you DO remember it, you deserve a gold star, my friend. We have been blogging pals for nearly two years.)

It was inspired by this page from Real Simple magazine:

And here are MY new fees, effective immediately:

• Eating cold cereal in my presence when I am not also eating cold cereal: $.50 per spoonful
  Pet peeve of all pet peeves. The slurping of the milk, the scraping of the spoon, the overall cacophony of unpleasant sounds! If solo cereal eating begins, I must immediately depart the room, lest I charge the fine listed above.
  
  
• Diva baby clothing: $12.99 per outfit
  Clothing manufacturers, please do not put the phrases "Little Diva," "Brat in Training," or similar on any baby or child-sized outfits of any kind, especially when they're hidden at the bottom of a three-pack of bibs that were otherwise cute and innocent. They might as well say, "Future Heinous B*tch." I personally am doing my best not to raise one of those.
  
  
• Posting vague, veiled "Facebook bombs" as status updates: $650
  Example: "When will a certain person grow up and realize that the whole entire world doesn't revolve around YOU, you selfish cow?" And then all your Facebook friends scan their recent interactions with you to discover if they're the culprit. I've seen many variations of this childish antic, and it must stop!
  
  (Exception: It is fine to publicly slam the anonymous lady who cut in front of you at the grocery store, or the driver who flipped you off on the freeway, because all of your FB friends will know that they are not the guilty party. If you're going to lecture someone on Facebook, be at least a little bit specific, so those you're NOT lecturing can rest easy. Can you tell I feel strongly about this? I've had too many conversations with people wondering, "Do you think Tracy was referring to me? Should I say something to her? I really didn't know she took it that way!")

• Discovery Health Freakshows: $5 per episode
  Since Keira was born, I'm watching a lot more middle-of-the-night television. I love freaky medical mysteries as much as the next person, but it's starting to border on circus-style exploitation. The show 30 Rock gave a nod to this trend by listing a fake (and hilarious) show called: "The Real Transvestite Hoarders of Orange County Penitentiary." To that I add my contribution: "Half-Ton Pregnant Teens who are Addicted to Eating Laundry Detergent."

• Teachers who are Facebook friends with your teen: $9 per student
  Especially when said teacher has dedicated her entire FB profile to a narrow political platform, from which she is preaching to your teen. Inappropriate! I LOVE the approach a teacher friend shared with me, "All of my students think I'm the same political persuasion they are."

• Machine callers: $35 per call
  Recently, 24 Hour Fitness was attempting to reach me. I'd get a phone call from a machine that wanted to leave me a message. If I'd answer the phone, the message would not play. If my answering maching picked up, the machine would leave a phone number to call them back. When I called back, they were either closed or had ridiculous wait times. Argh!

• Fiskars Fingertip Craft Knife: $50
  Worst. Product. Name. Ever. So it's a craft knife that cuts off fingertips? This is indeed a fabulous product that I use regularly (and all of my fingertips are currently intact), but it has a most unfortunate name.
  
  
• Doctor's Offices with a 3-Step Appointment Confirmation Process: one office-visit copay
  Keira's pediatrician is wonderful, but I detest the office's appointment reminder system. I make an appointment, and I write it down. Then I start getting reminder calls a week before that require me to call back and confirm that I will indeed show up at the appointment. (The making of the appointment WAS the confirmation.) I keep getting calls until I respond to one. I vastly prefer the "call us back if you won't make it" policy. And if I don't make it, feel free to charge me for an office visit. Just STOP CALLING ME.

Thank you.