So many friendships...

were created through Scrapblog.com. Many of my friends here on the blog first met each other through that site. We would create digital scrapbook pages and visit each other's creations, leaving messages and "loving" them. That's how I came to know Annemarie (Mommy Victory), Peggy (Miruspeg), Wendy, and Julie (Octamom). Tonight as I looked through some of my scrapblogs, I even saw a message from Mummy McTavish! (I didn't remember that link; she probably doesn't either!)

I saw on Facebook over the weekend that Scrapblog has been bought out by Mixbook. I haven't visited that site yet, so I don't know the capabilities, but I'm kind of doubting that the scrapblogs with embedded videos will work.... Fingers crossed, though, just in case. As I looked through my creations, I had to take the time to watch the video clips in my August Rush scrapblog. I loved that movie, the music, the characters.... If you haven't seen the movie or just want to watch the clips, I'm adding it here. It should work at least for a while.


The company is allowing us to download free print quality jpgs of our scrapblogs until February 28. Books or cards must be printed by January 31. I've downloaded five so far. That's also where I make my blog headers, along with a little help from Picnik.

*sigh*

I don't like change very much.

...feeling free

This is the first weekend since September that I haven't had to worry about grading essays. Talk about feeling free! I woke up today feeling like a huge weight had lifted from my shoulders. It's not that I don't enjoy grading essays.... I actually do. I love to read good sentences and paragraphs that really say something. I love to see my students become better writers. It's just that it takes so much time, I feel like I'm missing out on life when I have essays to grade. So finally, none to grade, none waiting to be graded. None. Instead, I have hours spilling forth in front of me with the freedom to do as much or as little as I want. And that, my friend, is what feeling free is all about.

It doesn't always cover the ground....

Snow days in the South aren't the same as snow days up North. For instance, it doesn't take tons of snowfall to earn us a snow day from school. A little bit of snow or ice and temperatures below freezing will do the trick. No snow chains on our tires down here. Up until a couple of years ago, snow days were pure fantasy for my daughter and for most of my students. Nary a flurry to coat our roads from the time they were four or five years old until they came close to being teenagers. Now, though, we're getting a little comfortable with annual snowfall, although I must confess that we had a little more ice than snow this year.

A few spills made it even more exciting....


Did you notice the type of sled she used today? It doubles as a boogie board during summer trips to the beach.


Nothing like a little repurposing.... and a day in the snow!

Driving down the highway...

you would never know that a long, winding trail lay hidden in the trees and vegetation beside it. The three of us traipsed along the trail yesterday afternoon, dogs in tow (or perhaps people in tow), as twilight began flirting with the last rays of the sun.

I had dropped back a bit, enjoying some solitude as the others pushed forward. As I walked, I couldn't help but make the metaphorical connection to life.

I noticed how at times the trail curved ahead of me, leaving me wondering where it was leading. Isn't life often like that? We know we are traveling a path in life, but we're not quite sure where it will lead. It seems we have to have faith to keep moving ahead, even when our destination is none to clear.

In some spots along the path, trees and bushes closed in on me, making it a bit more difficult to see my way. Vines hung low, causing me to duck under them. I even saw caution tape in a few places along the route. Caution tape. I guess the caution tape in our lives are those hunches we have.... the feeling that maybe this isn't the best idea afterall. We don't stop. We don't turn back. We just move along a bit more carefully.

And then, there are times when the path is wide open and easy to follow....

Even then, don't we wonder sometimes what would have happened if....

I think of Frost's poem, "The Road Not Taken," as I watch my daughter on a switchback coming toward me... almost. It seems true that we can never go back, but we can come close to picking up the pieces.

And as darkness begins to descend in these woods, I look up to see a fiery sunset. A reminder it seems, that there is a light at the end of every journey. And that the sun is always shining, somewhere, even in the darkest of times.

Sometimes You Just Need To ...

Write it down.

Live your dream.

Make it happen.

It's been a while since I made to-do lists

and checked off what I accomplished

each day.

Maybe that's what's been missing.

Maybe this year I'll write down my goals,

live my dreams,

and make it happen.

I hope you get to live your dreams, too.

Happy New Year!

The art work is my second mixed-media piece. I used charcoal to shade around the girl, her wings, and her clothes... something I didn't do on my first piece. The charcoal really seemed to add some dimension I think.