Saturday, July 30, 2011

Nostalgia


Recently, I got a tweet from Pioneer Woman about a website that "sucked her in." When I went to check it out, I could instantly see what she meant.

The "Dear Photograph" site seems to be pretty new and what an awesome idea. It has people taking an old printed photograph and then snapping a picture while holding that photograph in the same place it was originally taken. Pretty cool to read the comments people include with their pictures.

Part of why I think I'm intrigued by this site is that I can't imagine living in the same place long enough to be able to take the picture of the past in the present. I have tons and tons of pictures but I'm no longer anywhere near where they were originally taken. Sometimes I think about how nice it would be to have grown up in one spot...to have friends who have known you since you were little...to remember when the giant oak was a newly planted seedling...It must be nice to have roots.

Then I think of how lucky I am to have lived so many different places. To have met so many people and encountered different things that I never would have had I stayed in one spot. I am not the same person I would be if I had never moved - and since I like the person I am (for the most part) I'm glad I've had those opportunities to live in different places and to visit even more.

Maybe someday I will retrace my steps and be able to take some pictures of the past in the present. In the meantime, I'll just have to be nostalgic looking at someone else's pictures and reading their thoughts...Not a bad way to pass some time.

Friday, July 29, 2011

Stir Crazy

Is it possible to go stir crazy when you have a ton of stuff to do?

We still have boxes in various places and piles of stuff we took out of boxes but have no place for. Yet all I can think of are the projects I want to be working on. Finishing my flag quilt, making pillow cases for Bubba's new kid-size pillow, working on the scrapbooks for my time in the AF, writing in my book journal, actually reading a book...the list is long. What I should be doing is finish getting moved in. Put things away, unpack the last boxes, and take stuff to Goodwill if we don't want and/or don't have room for it.

I feel as if I haven't had any "me" time in forever. Which is crazy since every day Bubba is at school is potential "me" time...it just doesn't feel like it when I'm doing stuff that has to get done instead of stuff I want to get done. I guess the sooner I get the "have-to's" done the sooner I can get to the "want-to's"...

Wednesday, July 27, 2011

PCS #8?

I think we can finally arrived call this Permanent Change of Station (PCS) a success.
We actually left Illinois about 6 weeks ago and got our stuff delivered shortly after that but then we had the week at the beach, five days with the grandparents, and lots of boxes to unpack....Everyone thinks that since this was our 8th move that it should go smoothly and be easy as pie. However, it was our first move with a baby and we moved back into our townhouse which is quite a bit smaller than the house we rented (and no craft room!). It wasn't the worst move but wasn't the best either. Though come to think of it, who ever really has a good move?

Luckily, my husband didn't have to start work until this past Monday so we were a bit spoiled having him around so much. You'd think we would have gotten everything done around the house but we spent a lot of time just hanging out.

We also found a day care that seems to be pretty good. Bubba is going for about 6 hours, three days a week. If only he would stop crying when I drop him off then maybe I wouldn't feel so guilty. It makes me feel like a bad and/or selfish mom. After all, part of why he's going is to give me time to get my own stuff done (and give me some time to myself). Granted, the bigger part of why he's going is to be around other kids and have some time away from me so he realizes the world doesn't revolve around just the two of us...but I still feel guilty. Like if I were a better mom then I could expand his horizons while at the same time keeping him home with me. Not sure how I'd do that but then I guess that's why we're sending him to day care...

I'm hoping now that work and day care have started I can get into my own routine. I just need to figure out what that's gonna be...there's so much I want to do - finish my scrapbooks, write (on the blog, maybe a book, etc.), quilt, start working out, decide if I want to do volunteer stuff (how much and where, too) and maybe get involved with the officer's spouse club here, etc. So much to do, so little time...