Day One: The Keys

As I sit here waiting for Olympic pairs figure skating to come back on I thought I would upload some photos and write a bit about our first day in the Keys.  Papa and Emma were up first and went up to a bakery on Big Pine Key to buy croissants and bagels for breakfast. Papa thinks they are the best croissants he has tasted outside France!  We ate these on the screened porch and then Emma decided it was time for a swim even though the pool water was only up to 70 some degrees.  After she got out we walked out to the end of the pier to check out the view both of the Atlantic Ocean and of the house.

I decided that if I got warmed up I would get in the pool so I went with Hazel and the dogs for a nice brisk walk after which I felt like I wanted a swim. It was quite warm in the sun and in the pool, but a bit chilly in the shade.  We spent most of the afternoon alternating between lying in the sun and swimming.  This place is fabulous -- in fact Emma declared "this is paradise."  Not only does it have a two person hammock under a tiki hut, and a pier and swimming pool with a fountain -- it also has a small private beach area which is separated from the pool and neighbors by a hedge.  I took a lovely nap there and did some reading too. 

We headed into Key West around 5 pm to check out the street performers in Mallory Square.  The main act we watched was terrific.  You can see the photo of him juggling fire while riding a unicycle. The thing is he was so funny and entertaining and had terrific timing.  It was driving me nuts for most of the performance because his voice reminded me of someone and it took forever for me to realize that he sounded like James, the hairdresser, from Athens. After watching him we had dinner at the Bistro in the Westin hotel looking out over the water.  I very much enjoyed my citrus mojito!  Emma took the great photo of me and of the little boy looking through the barrier.  It was the same little boy, about 2 or 3, who had run away from his Mom at their table and came right over to our table, then when she told him to come back he actually just starred at her, as toddlers do, and then crawled right under our table. It was so amusing for us, but I know that she must have been embarrassed! He did finally come out after she got down and talked to him.  We had a GREAT day! Thanks Papa and Ga.

Photos from my sister in VERY snowy Baltimore

That's my brother-in-law.  He got to celebrate his birthday by shoveling snow before it and after it, and by having to drive to Godard Space Center because he was essential personel for a satellite launching of some kind. 

Here are some photos from my sister in Baltimore taken after the most recent snowful.  Note that the snow is up to the windows and the house is up 7-8 steps from the driveway as well.  It's so deep that my four year old niece and nephew can't/don't want to play in it because they get lost and can't walk.  After all -- it's as deep as they are tall!  The noreaster fizzled out before it got to our house near Providence, RI.  We just have a few inches on the ground and the roads were clear almost immediately thanks to sunshine, above freezing temps and of course experienced road crews and the requisite equipment. 

Library of Memories: Least frequent layout #LOM10

Week 2 of the Library of Memories class with Stacy Julian at Big Picture Scrapbooking started today, before I start reading the materials and listening to the audio I thought I'd go ahead and post my week 1 layout.  I found that my least scrapped theme was Places We Go and that many of my layouts were lacking in answering the Question Why.  So I chose to do this layout on a place: Roly Poly in Athens, why it's special to me.  It's also about my friendship with Wendy as I noticed I had no pages about her.

Library of Memories class starts today!

I just signed on to my Big Picture Scrapbooking account and have been reading the forums and looking at week 1 materials for the Library of Memories class with Stacy Julian which started today.  I am so excited about this class and am chanting to myself to "just focus on one thing at a time, one assignment at a time, one week at a time" and to not get all stressed out about the whole thing.  There is already a live chat tonight at 10pm Eastern time (I so wish I lived in Central time because 9 is a much better time for me to "chat"). Ten o-clock is usually bed-time for me. 

My goal is to be open minded about a new approach to organizing my photos both printed and digital. I already scrap in a non chronological way a lot of the time, but have always organized photos chronologically.  I've experimented a bit with my digital photos which are in chronological folders, but which I want to tag in non chronological ways.  I'm using Picasa right now and have been working on the people tagging feature -- where the software pulls faces out of photos and you can tag them with names. Once you have done some the software "assigns" new photos where it thinks they should go and you can edit them.  It's actually pretty freaky -- especially when it assigns a photo of you as a child to your daughters tag.

As a catalog librarian I think I am getting too caught up in creating the perfect tagging system with consistant and controlled tag names.  I think I just need to start, document what I have done and tweek as I go.  So, let the class begin.

Some things I am loving right now

I was thinking about how huge a difference the addition of two plants to my living space has been.  That led me to thinking about other things I am loving right now so I wanted to write them down before the moment passes.

1.) My new jasmine plant and my new paperwhites (just starting to bloom today). 

They are sitting next to my one lonely existing plant that I've had since college.  I fertilized my old faithful plant and she perked up incredibly so I thought I would get some more plants.  I smile everytime I walk by them and can see them from the dining room and sun room.

2.) Walking with my 9 month old puppy Chloe and all of her energy

She is so excited about her walks that even when I don't want to go out (Say in the cold!) she gets me out.  She even has a coat now.  We ventured out yesterday dispite very cold temperatures and I at least arrived home re-energized enough to tackle cleaning out my drawers and closet. 

3.) Hanging out and talking with Emma

She's almost 10 and a half and she's really interesting to talk to and do things with.  She also asks lots of questions which take awhile to explain, but even though the answers (or my opinions/values) are old hat and familiar to me I keep reminding myself that it's all new to her.

4.) Trader Joe's Mocha Chocolate Crunch Squares

These are fantastic and so tasty and you really only need one to satisfy a chocolate craving (well maybe two) and with only about 60 calories a square you can't go wrong!  I just restocked last Friday.

5.) Friday night Pizza and movie (or TV show) with Jim and Emma. 

Lately we've been ordering Dominos Brooklyn style extra large Hawaiian pizza (with pineapples, ham, bacon and red peppers).  We've been watching episodes of the 60s TV show "Lost in Space" on Hulu.com.   We could watch more than one -- but we wanted Emma to experience TV 60s style when you really did have to wait for the "same time, same place, next week".