Today I find myself dreaming about next week on this day. My kids start school next Wednesday and it’s the first time both will be in school all day. I’m already thinking about the projects I can dig into starting with my photos. I was scrolling through my photos to get one for Wordless Wednesday but instead found myself dreaming of getting this big project underway.

I’m a stickler for organization and backups. I like the fun scrapbook stuff too and I fringe in it but it’s not my primary device for recording memories and photos. My plan will likely evolve over time but right now I have a set idea of what I want to have done. I want digital backups of all my photos including all those that were taken long before the digital age. I also want printed copies which means a lot of catching up since the digital age for me. My goal is to get them all organized chronologically both in my software, backups and photo books. By organizing first I’ll know how much space I’ll need for books and I will buy a nice looking set with room for future additions. I’m ready to lose the many mix-matched folders I have now. Then I can enjoy doing specific books and projects with my digital scrapbooking and regular scrapbooking. It’s an elephant of a task but I keep thinking about how happy I’ll be with the results. I remember my first taste of this when I started making digital copies of all my many handouts, etc. The reduction of clutter, ease of finding what you were looking for, backups, etc. was priceless. It’s time now for me to tackle the more important content of photo memories.

By the way, I’m loving iPhoto. I’m waiting on my replacement Adobe Photoshop 6 for my Mac, but I may not use it as much as I thought I would the longer I play with iPhoto.

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Scrapbook Organizing Blogging

I’m bumming. I’m transferring over what things I can to my new Mac. I was tickled pink to see the Macromedia software stuido I have is good for both windows and Mac. The bad news is that to activate it I have to provide the previous version’s serial number. I can’t find that old software CD with serial numbers written on sticky notes in the sleeve to save my life. Customer service says they can’t do anything for me because they can’t find my previous registration information. I’m sure a buy out of Macromedia by Adobe didn’t help with that. So I have this great software that I can install but can’t use right now. All I can do is keep searching. I hate serial numbers today.

**UPDATE**
So just moments after I posted this my amazing hubby starting instant messaging me some possible serial numbers he had and one was the right one! My hero.

In other good news I learned today that the only files that don’t transfer to my Mac in a usable format are my old Microsoft Publisher files. I can live with that!

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Wordless Wednesday

It’s official, I’m converted. A PC/Windows owner for over 16 years, I am now officially the proud owner of the iMac.

I’m tired of buying top line PC’s only to find that within 2-3 years they’re dead or dying a slow death. When computer developers start choosing Mac machines I think it’s a good sign that maybe Mac is doing something better. My PC started having problems a year ago with slowness that we couldn’t find reasons for. Even with all the maintenance and PC tools to keep it clean it wasn’t right. Then a few months ago the system would just stop recognizing the mouse and keyboard during use. A complete power down was the only solution. Then the reboots starting bringing up new error screens and boot up process started getting skewed. It would take multiple off/on attempts to get the machine back up and running. I backed up everything (twice and in two different places!) and hoped it would limp along for a while longer. Yesterday the blue screen of death reared its ugly head and I knew my time was coming to a quick end. In short, a top of the line HP media computer purchased less than 3 years ago was good for 2 years, needed the screen replaced within the first year and started dying the 3rd year. Worse is it’s the 3rd time in the past 7 or so years that the cycle has repeated. That just makes me cranky.

The change has been working for a while now. I’m only married to about 3 software packages, 2 of which can be purchased for the Mac and the other has a Mac equivalent. Most everything I do is online now. 5 years ago I probably couldn’t have lived without my programs, today there are more that I don’t use than I do and those just slow a system down. The Internet connection is more important than any boxed software now for me. These things certainly helped pave the way to transition.

Add to this, for Mother’s Day I got my first iPod and fell in love (yes the iPhone is on the wish list now too!) iTunes rocks and not only does it let me get and control my own music preferences, it also has some slick movie and TV episode download options. This is a perfect fit for our TV free home of the past 10 months. And the final straw comes down to my favorite word: simplicity. One plug, one unit in a flat panel and I have everything including built-in speakers. Yes, that’s a tear of joy rolling down my cheek.

So here’s my new baby.

It made its arrival not a moment too soon. I plugged her in, she welcomed me, took my picture for my profile, found my wireless connection, located my Apple account information and starting working like a dream. It gave new meaning to plug and play. She so quiet I can’t believe she’s running. Her speakers and sound are awesome, the 24 inch screen is a thing of beauty and the crisp images and photos are unreal. I’m adjusting to the sleek, flat keyboard and the typos are decreasing with each passing hour.

My only critique at this point is wishing I had more USB ports and media card reader. However, both those can be remedied with inexpensive add on devices. The learning curve has been pretty speedy, I’m still learning how to navigate my new system and organize things the way I want but it’s been fast and fun so far. The mouse is pretty cool with the ball on top allowing rolling in all directions not just up and down. I haven’t found the “right click” solution/option yet but no worries, I’ll find it eventually. My daughter foamed at the mouth with the little remote that came which pulls up a full screen control for media of TV episodes, movies, music and photos. She can’t wait to dig in to that. As if all this isn’t reason enough to make me happy, my kids work on Macs in their schools which means I’ll be better equipped to help them and what they do at home will be more familiar on the computer for them. It will also make my volunteer time there more helpful, now I’ll know both systems.

So I’m a happy, learning, busy bee today. So much to learn so little time…

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Shopping Blogging

One thing that really makes my heart rejoice is watching dads and grandpas playing with their kids and grandkids. I can’t explain, it’s just a magical sight to me.

It’s heartwarming to see any adult taking time to play with a child, but I especially appreciate it when the men in their lives stand up in this way. I can think of no better way to teach your children what matters most.

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Family Parenting Sharing Relationships

I was just out visiting some friend’s blogs and felt compelled to share a message of how sometimes less is more. It’s a standard truth that can be applied to many things. I wanted to leave a comment on one of my friend’s blogs about some technical woes she’s having but the page wouldn’t load the required anti-spam word for me to type. So I figured I’d touch on what I wanted to say this way in hopes it would help her and maybe some others.

Often we begin doing things simply because they are available. As more becomes available we find ourselves delving into more of those things. In the long run we may be clogging some vital things without knowing it. The fact remains that just because you CAN do something, doesn’t necessarily mean you SHOULD. Let me share an example of something super simple but that illustrates the point well.

When I began e-mailing I delighted in the ability to so easily correspond with others. As it caught on, a new wave of customizing e-mails surfaced and I thought it was pretty cool. I could add stationery backgrounds, images, etc. After a while it became a little cumbersome so I backed it down to just adding a cute picture in my signature line. I was happy with it and although I hate to admit it, it was one thing that had some impact on my decision to use a different e-mail service/program that didn’t support images. Up to that point I had been using Microsoft Outlook, now my husband was encouraging me to try Gmail. Now the major difference is Gmail was developed by an Internet search engine company, namely Google who specializes in the area of Internet services. They understand how plain text versus html message formats work. The bottom line is that as cute as all my images and things were they were sent with every message as an attachment. Spam filters know that virus e-mails contain attachments and are set up accordingly. As soon as I made the switch I found more reliability with my e-mails reaching their destinations unfettered, and I began to really appreciate the way Gmail filtered my incoming mail. I’d unknowingly sacrificed functionality for frills before.

Blogging is a classic example of more becoming more. Plug-ins, gadgets, widgets….all these things are enticing and offer enhancements to the basic web page, to say nothing about ads. But they can also really slow things down. When I redesigned my blog a few years ago I moved all the “blog stuff” onto it’s own page so every page view wouldn’t be trying to download every unrelated but “cool” thing on my side bars. I can’t tell you the difference it made. I took control over my blog navigation and cut out all unnecessary elements. It was a good lesson.

I can’t remember if I shared it here before or if I just talked about it with someone else, but in the recent Indiana Jones movie there was an early scene that stretched believability to a breaking point. Sadly, it wasn’t necessary to the story line and it has now coined the phrase “Don’t nuke the fridge.” In other words, less is more. In my experience 99% of blogs nuke the fridge.

No matter the realm or situation, the truth that often less is more resounds with truth and clarity. If there is clutter in your life or surroundings, you’ll feel cluttered and messy. Sometimes we don’t recognize building clutter in our lives and projects but if it builds you can rest assured that eventually it will catch up to you. So my advice when you’re having problems is to step back and see if you’re nuking the fridge. It’s likely that if you work on simplifying you’ll regain much of what you desire, control being at the top of the list. *smile*

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Sharing Organizing Perspectives Balance

I’m in search of some motivation today. I’m having a hard time getting to the projects that are awaiting my attention. As I go looking for it I can’t help but think about how often we underestimate the value of motivation. And how even more often we use the wrong kind.

Have you ever noticed how often we use negative motivation to influence ourselves, others, teach, or encourage something to go the way we want? Guilt is one that comes immediately to mind. I see this a lot, especially where important principles of productivity, compassion and service are involved. Instead of helping someone grasp how wonderful these things are, making them so desirable that it becomes only natural to work for it, we use guilt to make them feel bad. As a parent I catch myself giving my kids all the terrible consequences as reasons for them to not make certain choices. By contrast, the adversary paints a glamorous picture of all the wonderful (all be-it often short-sided, incomplete or complete fraudulent) reasons. Is it any wonder why it’s so hard to choose good over evil? So hard to be anxiously engaged in good things?

As I sit here thinking, I realize one thing I often do and how much it helps. I find myself picturing the desired result or finished product in my head for any task or project. Sometimes I need to picture that to find enough motivation to dig into something. Now what I need to master is channeling all this into not just beginning but finishing other projects. You know, those projects that aren’t critical like doing the dishes. The ones that hide in forgotten files, boxes and books. It’s about time to blow some dust off the many photo projects, scrapbooks, scanning, etc. that have been started but not completed.

So what do you do to keep yourself going? How do you stay on task?

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Positive Impact Inspiration Blogging Deep Thoughts

These flowers are all wild in Island Park, Idaho!

In a word it’s simple; you do what you know and know what you do. Yet there’s something magical that happens when we see someone doing what they know and you just sense how right it is and how good they are at it. This is what I feel every time I spend a moment with my Uncle Bill.
Last week he went out of his way to hitch up his team and take us all on a wagon ride:

To him, this is just every day life. He loves working with his horses on his ranch, he loves widdling away his hours in his basement/studio making new creative works from wood, canvas and wax. But to me, this is magic.

I managed to capture a small glimpse of it when I did his website for him several years ago. The man is just amazing to me.

And then there’s the fact that he takes my daughter under his wing and teaches her in the most simple moments this way of life. Like how the horses know their names and they respond with verbal command and sound not slapping of the reigns to get them to start. She loved learning how to steer them. I felt a knot of emotion as I watched him coaching her doing something for her that I can’t. Because while I grew up around it, I didn’t live it like he has every day of his life. To him, this stuff is like breathing air and these horses are part of him.

In fact, the one on the left, Babe is not only 16 years old but she’s the mother to Bally (sp?) on the right.
Now you can say you’ve had a view from the top…er make that back? *giggle, giggle, snort*

I hope I’m tapping into the things in my life that I’m good at and that I know. I hope I’m sharing those things and making the world a better place for my having lived in it. There’s more to doing what you love and loving what you do and I think the key to that is somewhere in this piece of knowing it.

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Family Sharing Positive Impact Inspiration Memories

It’s nice to have family blogging now. My sister-in-law just posted a fun video clip of the kids doing sparklers. So I get to cheat and just post the link here:

Happy 4th of July

You’ll hear Blake in the background as well as some crazy sparkler happy kids.