Eleven

Times change.

You wake up one morning. The number after your name ticks up by one.

And you realize something just isn't quite right with your little world.

The sun peeks through your windows and its light is set further ablaze by the color of your soundings.

This can not stand.



And so ... we change.



But as we do, we have to remember. ...

Some things always stay the same.

Where I Live

It's been a while since I've really trolled around on flickr. Oh, I go there quite a bit to store photos and check in on my favorite photographers. But I'm not a tourist anymore, looking carefully at all the places I may never see in person.

So many things these days take turns pulling my attentions in different directions. It's strange to think the baby days - when little someones were entirely dependent on me for survival - were the ones that afforded me the most time for myself. Mostly I just did my own thing as someone napped in a sling and another someone slept in a stroller.

I knew it would be this way.

I knew once they were ready for school everything would change. I knew with school buses, homework, school functions and extra curricular activities it wouldn't be just us anymore, going with the flow.

It would be us against the current, trying to keep up. Scrambling every second.

Yesterday I surfed back into a favorite place, just for a few moments really but long enough to remember what it looked like and to miss it like an old apartment.

The cracks in the walls are still there, but someone's installed a new carpet and painted some rooms. You don't quite see yourself fitting easily back into the space what with all your new baggage ...

But, ah ... to be back ... and to remember ...

I'm a little tempted to try and pull together something for the latest project, Where I Live.

UPDATE Here I am.

Out of order

I know I'm out of order with the sequencing. ...

But I'm kinda thinking I'd like to remember how we started.

They were all kind of breathing fire.

In need of a Craftacular intervention

We're going on day three of Operation Parade Dragon and I can seriously see this entire project taking until next Chinese New Year to finish.

Every day we add a little something to the dragon.

When the paint dries it will be a feather boa for a beard ...

or for eyelids ... maybe both.

I'm trying to go slowly ... since we have MONTHS until "People's Parade," which we've decided will be optimum for a dragon dancers ... but also because I'm procrastinating until I've figured out how to proceed.

Already friends have provided me with really WONDERFUL links.

Do we want a ground dragon?

A half hoop dragon?

I never even considered the tail!

I'm thinking that I need something light-weight but somewhat strong, but that won't end up being weaponized along the parade route.

If you have any ideas you'd like to share, I'm all ears.

(Not so random) Random Request Thursday

As some of you may know, The Record newspaper in Troy, NY (where I work) is embarking on an interesting exercise to create a paper - both in print and online - that is meaningful to the community but that uses little or no proprietary software.

The initiative, which our parent company has dubbed "The Ben Franklin Project," is set to run company-wide on July 4 - Independence Day.

My component of the effort (beside my usual column) is something I've dubbed "The Wedding Project." *I know ... committing to a union of two humans is technically anti-independence, but I think the power of togtherness is really the key factor here ...

*BUT I DIGRESS*

Simply put, what I hope to do is gather a collection of your photos and stories for publication.

WHAT I WANT
* A single photograph - jpeg format, 200 dpi (although I will scan and return photographs if you send SASEs).

* A paragraph describing a memorable moment from your wedding (it doesn't have to be the one pictured).

Send your submissions to sconnally@gmail.com

QUICK QUESTIONS?

Does the moment have to be from the wedding itself?

No, it can be a moment that took place any time from the proposal, planning, or honeymoon. The cake smash? The bouquet toss? What you
thought when you saw your soon-to-be-spouse at the end of the aisle. It can be romantic, poignant, funny or funny a decade later. It's totally your call.

What will happen to the information?
*Text will be edited (lightly) and embedded in photographs for use in an online slideshow
*Selected submissions will (hopefully) appear in print on July 4th

What is the deadline?
June 25 (I am hoping I will need a lot of time to format your submissions for the Independence Day publication).

Where do I send my stuff?
siobhanconnally@gmail.com


Thank You . Thank You . Thank You . Thank You.

In advance.

We have a visitor

mosaic, originally uploaded by toyfoto.

Little Flat Annabel has returned and brought with her Little Flat Jaylene for a visit. For those of you who may not remember, last October we sent off Annabel's two-dimensional emissary to spend some time with her pen pal in Taiwan.

While she was with her hosts in Taiwan, Little Flat Annabel visited scenic places, participated in some crafty goodness and even went to school. She celebrated both Jaylene's and Annabel's birthdays, Christmas and both the American and Chinese New Years.

Jaylene carefully recorded their exploits in the holidays celebrated in this drawing.

The Chinese characters in red say: "Ping Ping An An, which means "a peaceful year to you."

Now it's our turn.

Of course Annabel couldn't stop commenting on how many gifts the real Jaylene (and her mom) packed into their travel containers. Toys and books, handmade goodies, chocolates and teas, even lanterns to celebrate the upcoming holiday.

I tell you, we've been learning a thing or ten from this girl. (Although the Chinese language may not be among these things, seeing as how Annabel insists the words in the books are Spanish and "she already knows Spanish.")

Hopefully we'll be able to send Little Flat Jaylene home after her visit with some surprises of our own.

The first stop of her travels ... besides vising our new house and seeing the room that is to be Annabel's ... was to preschool, where Annabel introduced Little Flat Jaylene to her teachers, Pat and Marcia, and learned the introduction was fortuitous as the class was celebrating the letter "T."

A timely theme for talking about a tyke from Taiwan.

She's on her way

flat annabel, originally uploaded by toyfoto.

Little Flat Annabel has a window seat (and a tiny bit of extra cushioning) and she's on her way to meet Jaylene in Taiwan.

We know the Ks are going to take good care of her. We can't wait to see all the wonderful places they show her.