creative check in {tally-up-week-one}

last saturday, i made a commitment to myself
to come to the plate every saturday
and do a little creative check up on myself...
just to see where my time had been going,
just to see where my focus was...

i thought i would start with ideas borrowed from
here and here
so, to start me off
here is my list of
37 things i accomplished in 2007:
  1. renovated my kitchen to pretty green and brown.
  2. added another year of successful happy marriage.
  3. got my driver's license!
  4. changed my job...twice...
  5. became the mother of kid in junior high
  6. got my new camera
  7. survived caring for the brood of children that was nearly my downfall
  8. tried asparagus
  9. revived friendship with best friend M, much beyond emails
  10. made gravy successfully
  11. got a laptop
  12. volunteered for fund raising committee for band parent group.
  13. blogged for another full year.
  14. changed template on blog myself.
  15. learned how to burn my own music cds
  16. put gas in a car
  17. put air in a tire
  18. took kids to the drive in by myself, even with misadventures along the way
  19. attempted skydiving, was not my choice that we couldn't jump (too windy)
  20. planted a garden
  21. read 6 books {only six??? this astounded me}
  22. did the artist's way book
  23. did the simple abundance book
  24. started my photograph a graveyard manifesto
  25. bought cute shoes
  26. learned how to do the basics in simply accounting
  27. planned out text for a website
  28. applied for new jobs
  29. passed 2 tests that i wrote
  30. backed into a ditch and got back out again...BY MYSELF...
  31. knit a pair of socks (pink and white)
  32. made a sock monkey
  33. made my own christmas cards
  34. made plans to open a bed and breakfast {still on backburner}
  35. fell in love with victoria-by-the-sea
  36. took a crochet class
  37. joined the self portrait challenge, after 3 years of blogging...
i have been doodling a lot this past week, right up until i got sick
{which is why this is being posted tuesday and not saturday...}




5 really good things on a wednesday...


found hearts


the gradual disappearance of the killer headache
i woke up with this morning
(and even worse, i dreamed i had a headache all night)


the creativity and imagination of kids


blue sky...finally...blue sky


rock band...
my kids loved it...
and twelve rocks at paranoid by garbage...
{in her mom's opinion anyhow}

now...go see the inspiration for 5 really good things
she's a really good thing all on her own.

straight into the sun...

there was recently a post
and a superhero challenge on
shutter sisters
by andrea of superhero designs
{creator of necklaces i totally covet,
but that is beside the point}

the challenge is to shoot your pictures
into the sun, rather than the usual way...
i believe that the challenge was aimed more
at having people in the photo
and also to actually try for flare
rather than to try to avoid.

i was obsessed with this,
but not with people...
{unfortunately, it is much too cold here
to subject anyone, namely my kids, to an
outdoor photo shoot}
but liked the photos that i got...
i liked them alot.
i love shutter sisters,
i love the encouragement to try something new.
it is interesting to see what kinds of interpretations
come from challenges and suggestions...

looking for clarity.


it is february
and i feel like i have been spinning my wheels
creatively
so far this year.

like i am doing things...vague things...
and yet
not feeling like i am getting anything
accomplished.

this feeling
coupled with reading this and this
and being a part of this but
unsure of how to define it for myself
so that i was doing more than just
saying i was a part of it
{i like things in measureable quanities...
it keeps me accountable}
led me to choose my own word for 2008.

focus.

last year felt like a year of change and growth
for me...i changed my field of employment
and creatively, i spent a lot of time dreaming,
planning, imagining, researching and taking notes.
but this year, i want to focus. i want to begin to do.
i reread what i wrote while journalling about this:

"maybe my word for this year should be FOCUS-
which feels right to me in so many ways-to apply
myself to what i want to do, to narrow down,
to concentrate....and then the whole photography
side of the term appeals to me also. if only i could
stop and focus, perhaps i could do some of those
things that i always have on my list- i need to
stop listing things and get to the action."

that said,
i have decided to make myself accountable
by having saturday be a check in day for me.
i chose saturday because it is the end of the week
and i want it to be a chance to take a tally of my
week, to take inventory of where i am and how
i have been spending my time.

it will become my "tally up" day.

i invite you join me, if you feel so inclined...
i know saturdays are not good for everyone,
and you can choose any day or any way to tally
that you like...but really, i need to do this for me.
i need to be able to go back and say
i have done this...i have tried that...
i have focused on my goals and followed through.

happy saturday!

edited to add: i am in good company with the word focus,
the-talented-and-oh-so-cute-daisies had chosen this word
also in her mondo beyondo manifesto...