Capturing Christmas Vacation

One more day to go ...

I feel kind of like a kid on the last day of school. Just one more day of work and then I don't have to be back until Tuesday. Something tells me it's going to be a long day, though. In this picture, Marcy is trying to catch a snowball, but I think it looks like she's doing some sort of happy, school's out dance. It's like she knows she gets to go to Grandma's.

I'm really excited for this Christmas, because I got a new camera and I can't wait to play around with it. I love taking candid portraits of my family members when they don't know I'm doing it. I think people look so much better in pictures when they have no idea they're being taken.

So, to be a covert photo sneak, it's essential to not use a flash. I hate using a flash anyway, because it makes people look totally washed out and blows everything out so that all you have left is contrasts.

Being very poor, I have a very low-end camera that I got on sale on Black Friday. Among the joys of living in a small town is having specialty stores where you're addressed by name upon walking in the front door. You receive trustworthy advice and a never-ending free pass for asking questions of people who are experts in their field. Such is the case with Hokenson's, the camera store here in town.

Both Bill and Bob are excellent photographers who know what they're talking about, but also know how to explain everything in layman's terms. I took photography in high school, so I used to know how to use my 1970s Canon AE-1 fairly well. I also used to know how to develop black and white film. But, those days are gone, my Canon is broken and I don't have a darkroom. Seeing as film is quite expensive to develop, I decided I really wanted a digital camera.

Enter the Black Friday sale. I found some cash in a pocket and had some more money in my savings account, so I decided to check out the sales. I told Bob what I wanted and how much I had to spend. For $70 -- which was $20 less than usual -- I got an Olympus T-100.

So far, it's a great little camera. It's a 12 megapixel with 3x optical zoom. There are these neat art filters, which can distort the image and you can manually adjust all sorts of setting.

I am by no means an expert photographer, but this Christmas, I'm hoping some of the things I've learned from having to shoot at work will help out in my low-light settings.

The biggest thing is your ISO setting. The lower the light, the higher you want to set this. On my little camera, the ISO goes up to 1600, which I was recently advised is the highest you really want to set it. Any higher, and you start to get a lot of noise -- the grainy, pixelated look.

There are other settings, which I don't quite understand. Though they're the same as they were on the old AE-1, I haven't had time to read the manual to figure out which is which and how to use them. But one neat feature of my camera is it has little screens that show how changing each setting will affect the exposure. Playing around with the camera before the big event you want to shoot helps a lot. I've been having fun, and I'll continue to share tips I pick up along the way.

In the meantime, I really have to go to work. As anxious as I am not to start what promises to be a long day, I'm already late. But, with the promise of lovely vacation time on the horizon, surely my mood will be much more cheerful than my bah-humbug attitude of late.

Progress?

I suppose eternal optimists would look at this and say "well, you did something." While I'm really good at being optimistic for others, I'm too honest about my own shortcomings to acknowledge this as progress.

I can say this -- it will be done for Christmas. I'm just not sure anything else will be. My Christmas gift list is going to have to be modified, and store-bought gifts will need to be added. Which is such a disappointment. I was really excited to give handmade gifts for Christmas.

All hope is not lost, however. I began making a doll ages ago which, as it came together, was clearly meant to belong to my niece. While it's not what you would call "done" it's close enough to know it will be by Christmas. So, I'll at least have two gifts done for the tiniest of those on my list.

If I modify my expectations -- become a little more practical, perhaps? -- I think I could make two smaller amigurumis for my other young nieces. The original intention was to have larger stuffed animals to give them, but the 4-inch versions are still adorable. Am I justifying? Perhaps.

Once Christmas is over, I'll post pictures of the completed projects (however many I get done) and links to the patterns I used. Until then, I don't want to ruin the surprise for any recipients (or really their parents) who read this.

If anyone's looking for great, easy-to-read patterns, check out Lion Brand's website. This site is genius and I love it. If you sign up, you can download patterns and it saves any notes you want to make. Additionally, there is this neat little stitch counter that can be dragged around to point at which row you're on. It's really useful when you have lots of rows where you're doing single crochets over and over and over and over.

I'm also working on a pattern right now from Caron International Yarn's project website, and it's also really easy-to-use. When I started this project, I found the same pattern which someone had re-posted, but it was rewritten in a really confusing manner. When I accidentally deleted the pattern I wanted and the website it came from and realized I was using a different (and really ugly) one, I googled the text of the pattern. Both the one I wanted and the one I was mistakenly using were from the same site.

But instead of sending me to the re-posted site, Google directed me to Caron's site, and what a blessing that was. Just the simple matter of using a clearly written pattern has saved me hours and hours of trying to figure out what I'm doing.

Well, must run. It's almost time for work. But I wonder, is anyone else having a hard time completing their overly-ambitious Christmas projects? I'd appreciate hearing about them. I guess it's true, misery does love company!

All I Want For Christmas

Dear Santa,

Please can I have a Baby Panda for Christmas?

Baby Panda born at Zoo Atlanta on Nov. 3. (Photo courtesy of zooatlanta.org)

I'd take really good care of it. I'd sit all day long, just like a Panda Mama and hold it and love it to pieces. I'm really good at taking care of animals. Just ask the five that call me mom already.

As for them, they'd really like a Panda Baby, too. I swear.

I've been really good this year. I go to work every day and I only spend enough time watching Zoo Atlanta's Panda Cam on my work computer to KNOW I would be really good at taking care of one.

Anyway, if you bring me a Panda Baby for Christmas, I'll never ask for anything ever again for the rest of my life.

Love,

Jodie.

P.S. I'll be spending the night at my mom's house on Christmas Eve, so if you could just leave the Panda Baby under her tree, that'd be awesome.

Dear Everyone Else,

To watch the panda, go to Zoo Atlanta's Panda Cam.

But beware ... you may be caught cooing and awwing over it while sitting at your computer, mesmerized by cuteness. It's a bit dangerous, really. If, like me, you just need a dose of adorable every once in awhile to get you through the day, you may find your coworkers saying "Are you looking at that baby panda again," after you sigh audibly for the 27th time in five minutes. But, it's worth it.

On a complete separate note, my sister created my beautiful new blog header. Isn't she the talentedest?

How to make bows

Luckily, I don't set lofty and unattainable goals for myself or procrastinate ...

I just counted and I have 15 more days until Christmas. I'm counting today (thought it's after midnight and it really is tomorrow), because I will crochet until 5 a.m., as I have the past three nights in a row, and I'm counting Christmas Eve, because some of my presents won't be given until Christmas Day and last minute finishes can be done before or after the festivities.

Fortunately, and true to form, I decided to take the easy road and crochet handmade gifts for 12 people. Which really wouldn't be that many, if I had spent the whole year working on them -- that's only one per month. Actually, that line of reasoning doesn't make me feel any better.

I led this post off with a picture of my Christmas tree, which I felt some accomplishment in getting up the first weekend of December. The best part was I had help. Mommy came up, and in festive tradition, we listened to the Carpenter's Christmas album while trimming my tree.

My favorite part is the bows:

I was going to buy bows, but I decided that, with Mommy's crafty genius close at hand, we could make them. So, we started with a spool of ribbon and a package of ornament hooks.

With her uncanny mind for working things out, Mommy realized that if she cut the ribbon to a point in the middle at the ends ...

the next could be cut to two points at the ends, eliminating any waste of ribbon.

Step 1: Once your ribbon is cut, fold it in half over your index finger.

Unfortunately, I had to use myself as a hand model, so these pictures are full of my crazy witch fingers. If you can avoid being distracted by how ugly my hands are, read on …

Step 2: Twist the ribbon once. This will make a loop around your finger that will become the center of the bow. Hold onto the twisted material with your thumb. This is the back of the bow, where all the pieces will come together.

When I learned how to tie my shoes, my parents told me to make two "bunny ears" and then tie those in a knot. I think the bunny ears idea is helpful here.

Step 3: Take one of the ends of the ribbon and, to one side of the center of the bow, make a bunny ear with the nice side of the ribbon facing out. This will form the first side of the bow. Make sure to leave enough of the end hanging down for the bow's tail. Where this half of the bow meets the back, twist the tail so that its nice side is facing out also.

Step 4: Pull the tail of the first bunny ear down, so you have room to make the second. With the remaining half of the ribbon, fold it into the second bunny ear, meeting at the center and leaving a tail. Twist this tail, also, so the nice side is facing out.

Step 5: Still holding with your thumb, feed the end of the ornament hook in between the back of your index finger and all the layers of ribbon.

Step 6: Fold the ornament hook up and wrap the end (that normally secures the ornaments to the hook) around the top of the hook. Tighten everything up by pulling up on the top of the ornament hook and squishing all the pieces together.

Step 7: Your bow is going to look a little bit wonky …

so fiddle with it until it looks pretty.

The beauty of using the ornament hooks is, you can twist the top of the hook to the side and it's ready to put on the tree. Also, they are very easy to manipulate. If you don't want to hang your bows on the tree, just use the cutty part of needle-nose pliers to cut off the end of the hook, and fold any pokey edges in behind the center loop. (I really hope no one is confused by the technical jargon I use.)

It was kind of providence that we decided to use the hooks. We originally searched high and low at Kmart to find the spools of twist-tie like stuff, but to no avail. Then, Mommy had the genius idea of using the ornament hooks. She's super handy.

I hope this helps. I think these bows ended up tons cuter than the bows that were already made that I was going to buy. And I got about 15 bows out of one spool of ribbon.

Good luck to the rest of you procrastinators out there. I hope your Merry Christmas Crafting is going much more quickly than mine. But, I'll keep you apprised of how it goes. Right now, I'm working on one of many stuffed animals I hope to make, but it's slow and each night I think I'm going to get so much more done than I do.

I'm off to work my ugly witch fingers to the bone.

An Examination of My Successes and Failures

I'll limit the list to this summer. I could write several volumes on the successes and failures of my 29 1/2 years in this world. However, I tend to believe I'm at least six months shy of an age that even warrants a memoir.

These are the successes and failures I achieved, primarily through gardening, this past summer -- with pictures. I had thought to list them like with like, successes with successes and failures with failures, but seeing all the failures lined up like that was too depressing. So, here goes. In no order of importance.

Success: Growing Lettuce

I was really good at this. At least until it got really hot and I went out of town for a weekend and came back to kind of dry and shriveled up lettuce plants. I heard this happens, though, and next year I plan on doing two rounds of lettuce -- one in spring and one around midsummer.

Doesn't that look delicious?

Truth be told, I'm so good at growing lettuce, I refuse to eat salad now. That stuff in the bag just tastes nasty and I want nothing to do with it.

When I started the garden, everyone told me how much better homegrown vegetables taste. I believed there would be some merit to this, but didn't necessarily understand that its truth is absolute. This lettuce was the first thing ready to harvest (doesn't that sound gardenery?) and my first bite was scrumptious. I'll probably never have a salad during winter months again.

Success: Nurturing Lilacs

I have to admit something. I talk to my plants. More than that, I listen for them to answer back. For example, when my friend D gave me this lilac, I asked it where it wanted to live and it said "right over there between the fence and the house." So, I planted it there. It flourished this summer, and I can't wait to see how it does next year.


Failure: Nurturing Lilacs

At the same time, the other two lilacs D gave me said, "we want to live between the fence and the house too!" And I said, "no! I want you to live along Mrs. Wilson's fence." So, I planted them there, where they spent the summer deeply unhappy and slowly fading away.

I didn't take a picture. It was too sad.

I'm really hoping they are still alive in the spring, at which time I will move them so they are planted where they always wanted to be -- between the fence and the house. Then, I will spend the spring, summer and fall apologizing for not listening to them in the first place.

Success: Crocheting a Present for New Baby Next Door

While I intended to have this done in time for my neighbor's baby shower but didn't give it to her until after the baby was born, I still consider this a success. After all, I think it's totally adorable.

It's a giraffe, though I don't really think I need to point that out. However, after several people at work laughed at it and asked what it was, I guess it's worth mentioning. My neighbor said it was her tiny son's first handmade gift, so that made me feel good.

Crocheting is a lovely pastime, and I really enjoy doing it while I watch TV. It also serves as a reminder that Mommy is right, I can do anything I put my mind to. I decided about a year ago I wanted to crochet, so I got a book from the library and I've made several of these little amigurumi animals and two scarves. I'm working on an afghan, as well, but once I started making animals everything else was forgotten for awhile.

Failure: Nurturing Ferns

This one is tough for me to admit because at the beginning of the summer, I thought I would be the best fern grower in Manistee County and that, before long, my yard would be full of their leafy loveliness. However, this is pretty much as big as any of them got:

 

Then they shriveled up and died.

Imagine my dismay every time I looked around. There were huge ferns growing wild all over the forest untended by anyone but Mother Nature. All the while, mine just died. To give them credit, they kept trying to come back, and then they would die again.

I also had an iris and some phlox planted in the same area, and neither of those did very well either, so I'm going to move them next spring when they start to come up and hope it was something about that location.

Success: Container Planting

I never planted containers before this year, but I really think they turned out quite pretty.

I loved this one. I was pretty good at maintaining these, too. Though it was really hot and dry this summer, and occasionally they would get a little wilty, I always nursed them back to health.

I also discovered a love of zinnias, which I will forever more plant in abundance. They are such happy, hearty flowers and have such vibrant colors. They did well in both my containers and my beds, and they were purchased later in the season when everything was on sale. Even the ones that looked a little rough ended up thriving.

I also love the green and white plants that are with the zinnias in this planter. I planted some that were pink and green, which also looked nice. These were extremely hearty and I'm going to look for them from now on too.


Success: Outdoor Living Spaces

I can't really take credit for this one:

Mommy, Uncle Keith and Uncle Pat came up for a week and one of our activities was to cut down the mulberry tree in my yard. Bittersweet though it was to say goodbye to the beautiful tree, it was so nice to not have to worry about the mess of the mulberries and the stains the dogs were leaving all over the house after traipsing through the purple mush that was my backyard.

This bench was made from the trunk of the tree, and all the credit goes to The Uncles. They also used other pieces from the trunk to make planter stands for my patio and the effect was totally charming.

This became my favorite spot and every morning I took my coffee and book out and sat on the bench.

Failure: Maintaining Outdoor Living Spaces

While the one pictured above remained blissful all summer, my patio was often a mess and the lovely birdbath and feeder set up I wrote about in June was no longer visible behind the pile of brush from the mulberry tree.

See, the idea was I would drag the brush out to the street because the city provides a chipping service. But I never did and it continues to sit there as a constant reminder of my laziness and ineptitude.

One of my favorite Mommyisms is "tomorrow is the first day of the rest of your life," and just as I can start becoming who I want to be tomorrow, I can also be the gardener and yard guru I want to be next spring. So, number one on my list of things to do come warmth is drag the brush out to the road.

I'd take a picture, but it really is embarrassing.

Failure: This Blog

What I began with such gumption and surety of success was quickly discarded by the wayside for other more important pursuits like marathon sessions of watching "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" and "Angel."

I've spent a lot of time beating myself up for not being what I want to be ... but there's a reason this blog is called SEEKING Practical Perfection. I'm on a quest, and though I continuously set expectations for myself -- lofty, unattainable expectations -- I need to stop criticizing myself for not achieving them. Instead, as every quest involves a journey, I need to set forth on my path to practical perfection, and see where it takes me.