Smash Books

Okay so who has heard of Smashbooks??  I saw them in Walmart... They are kewl. It's basically a book of preprinted pages kind of like a scrapbook/journal style. You add pictures and write in it about whatever. They do come in different themes like wedding, nostagia, travel...  They sometimes have questions to answer. There are a lot of products to use from the company K & Company Smash*. They have decorative tapes, ribbons, markers, envelopes, stickers, and fun little embellishments to make it your own story.

I like what the company said in a video about the smashbook... "It's a catchall for the things that make you smile."  I just kinda make my own though... it's easy enough to do with a 3 ring binder and a buncha different scrapbooking papers. Add a buncha stickers and other stuff to make one kinda like it.

And I also came across the Photo Journaling craze. Where for a whole month you are given a topic per day. You use pictures and journaling to cover that topic...  I did a cross between a smashbook and Photo Journaling and Digi Scrapbooking to make a few pages... I thought they came out kewl but I couldn't keep up with doing one a day.. not with Working and sleeping.. LOL.

Here are the few I did...

Now I might not be able to keep up with 1 a day.. but I might be able to add 1 a week in addition to my other postings... I'm hoping to have things to post more than a few times a month.

Digi Scrapbooks

I love scrapbooks! I started a scrapbook from the first year I went to the North Carolina Renaissance Faire. It was quite an Experience but was fun. And I got to know alot of people.. the cast of volunteers who take time out of their busy schedules every year to put on these plays that last all day long. They entertain and teach some history.

My scrapbook for it was the cut and paste kind. I used stickers and lots of pictures and tried to capture most of the behind the scenes jokes that went on. Then when I started actually volunteering as one of the Street Actors (for the Fantasy group) I started getting people (from the cast) to sign near their pictures. Everyone kept saying how kewl the scrapbook was.. That they wished they had artsy talent or even the time to do one for themselves.

That got me to thinking... I've had some training with Graphic Design. And I my Stepfather had a program that did slideshows of pictures.. What if I turned each slide/picture into a scrapbook looking page. I kind of used my original scrapbook as a guide to get it started. I asked people if they could send me pictures they had from the years renaissance faire. I ended up with 100+ slides, each slide had up to 5 pictures on there. It really turned out good. I made copies on CDs for the volunteers. All they had to do was pop it in a computer and it would run the slideshow. The Director of the Renaissance Faire and The Historical Society ordered a slideshow cd for each member on the Board. That was kewl. I was working on a promotional CD for them to use to help get grants but I ended up moving and never got to finish it. I might be able to if I get a lil more info from them again.

I made like 3 different years worth of  scrapbook CDs. The last one was very hard for me cause it was after I had moved. I wasn't able to actually get to the faire. I had to rely on the others to tell me about little stories that went on and get me pictures. It was okay just not as personal as the first 2 were.

Here are a few examples:

This is just a few that I've done. Now I'm into scrapbooking digitally my life stuff... but that's another post!!!

My Personality... RICAS

My niece posted on Facebook about her results from taking a Personality test... I was curious so I went and took it too... She came out as "The Provider" while I came out as "The Composer".

It was interesting to see how close they are with what they said.. the only thing I didn't agree with was the point they kept saying that I didn't like puzzles and intellectual exercises... I do word puzzles all the time. I love doing Sudoku. I play games that exercises the memory skills.

Luckily my personality is what helps me get thru the day at work.. it's what people tend to see and respond to more and more than the fact that I'm "Different" in looks. I still feel uncomfortable when children are staring at me or commenting to their parents on things. Though it is nice to see parents actually reprimanding children for being kinda rude even though I know the kids are just curious. Luckily the tiny kids don't care... they wave, smile and say hiyas. I still have bouts of Awkwardness and discomfort. It's not as bad as when I was in school. I'm still emotionally driven and self-conscious.

I am still guarded with relationships and have a hard time telling how I feel. Or at least face to face I have a hard time telling how I feel. I can write it out okay sometimes. Or I use sarcasm to get my feelings across, or attempt to anyways. I have a hard time looking people in the eyes.

I'm still my happy-go-lucky bubbly personality though.. I find good in the little things. People know when something is wrong when I'm not bouncing all over the place with smiles... I either am not feeling good or I have a migraine (of coarse the sunglasses tip them off on the migraines LOL)

The website I did this personality test at is : Personality test @ LearnMyself

Random Acts of Kindness

Working as a Cashier I'm in a good position to see Random Acts of Kindness... Some are more pronounced and some are so small you could miss them if you blinked.

Some of the small things are people who leave their pennies or small change for us cashiers to use for someone who needs it. Sometimes people who have big baskets of stuff will wave someone with 1 or 2 items to go in front of them.

I was cashiering and the lady I was checking out mentioned to me that she wasn't use to having to get her bags off the turnstile. The guy who was waiting behind her came around and started putting her bags of groceries into to her basket for her.

A young guy was like 15 or 16 cents short so he was going to put something back. The guy behind him pulled a quarter out of his pocket and gave it to him so he didn't have to put something back.

The one that really got me was when I had a couple who were checking out. For some reason their card wasn't working. They were in process of calling the bank to figure out what was going on. A young couple behind them asked me how much their purchases were... which it was plainly seen so I went ahead and told him it was like $30 or $40. He told me he'd pay for their purchases... he pulled out his card and ran it. Then paid cash for his own purchases. I was like wow... not many people will pick up someones tab that is that much.

And it's so cute how excited kids are to be able to pay for their stuff on their own. Granted Mommie or Daddy might have given them the money but they get to put it on the belt separately. It makes them feel grown up some.

I celebrate in my head when I'm able to help someone that some people just aren't very patient with. It could be why some people come back thru my line. I do have some of a following. I'm fast, patient and helpful. I can sometimes be entertaining.  :)    I get a lot of families who have deaf members, children with Autism or otherwise unique peoples. I just wish I was more confident with sign language but it's been years since I took my class at the local community college in North Carolina. I remember some of my signs but am not confident I'll understand their signs. Finger-spelling would take too long.

Z-Clan History

I've been helping some cousins with the Z-Clan family tree. I've been piecing together different peoples to make a big family tree. The goal is to get back to where they came from... Germany. I also have a goal that I always like to do.. try to piece together as many peoples with the last name to the family tree.. I like trying to connect the dots.

Luckily most of the family lived in or around West Virginia for many generations. West Virginia is one of the states that has gone thru all their old documents and scanned them. They are posted up for free. So I can find birth, marriage, and death records (scanned copies of the actual documents) for people who lived in 1800's to the early 1900's.

Right now I'm going thru the Births... so far there are 127 with the one spelling. Though like most long germanic names there are many different ways to spell it. Change out an A here for a E there... it makes for a very long and confuzzling search sometimes. I've found ways to help though.   :)

Once I'm done I'll work on the Deaths as they usually have family listed on them. Lastly I'll connect the dots with the Marriages...

It's been fun looking at the different stuff I've been able to find. It's also kewl to make connections with other people who are distant cousins also researching the family because I can help them.

My latest connection is the sister-in-law of Pappal's Niece. She's helping her SIL research her Z-Clan family. I was able to show her some pictures and a letter her father wrote to the family farm that a cousin scanned and shared with me. They were excited to see the pieces of history that connects to the father.

Halloweenie Fun!

Pouts... I had to work on Halloween but I still had fun.

I hung out on Tuesday with a bunch of my guy friends... We usually do "Holiday/Birthday" stuff on whichever Tuesday is close to the actual holiday. So I decorated for Halloween at my friends house... Tuesday was our game night.

I had fun with the Rice Krispies I made for us to snack on...  I got to "Kill" the Rice Krispy treats LOL.

I found cute little chocolate knives. I found some glittery gel frosting to use for "Blood". I thought it worked out kewl.

Halloween I dressed up for work.. I finally got my outfit done that I was working on last year. Not really sure how to describe it... It's vampirish colors but kinda looks like a saloon girl but I had a witch hat on.

                                     

The boots were a kewl find last year at the Good Will thrift store. They fit and were in good condition for only $4.99. I hate that in the pictures you can't tell the bustle and train are a black leopard material... it's kinda see thru except the spots.. those are velvety.

Lil Miracles

I sometimes click on places people post on Facebook... I follow them to see where the links lead me... sometimes it leads me to several different stories.. several little miracles...  you can't help but smile!

Tonight I landed on Kaylee Rae's Facebook page. (https://www.facebook.com/KayleeRaesStory) She has many speed bumps in her little life... Obstacles she's slowly learning to overcome or get around. Her main obstacle is from Polymicrogyria  (basically translates to Many small/tiny wrinkles in the brain). It hasn't stopped her from learning to sit up by herself, enter toddler beauty pageants, go swimming with her cousin. She's a happy little girl. I loved looking at her pictures, at all the smiles. I like reading about the stuff she's done or is learning to do.

On her page she had a link to 2 of the cutest little boys... They were born with complications from CMV. They too are knocking their obstacles out of their way. Both boys are learning to sit up by themselves. They too are happy little toddlers. (https://www.facebook.com/CmvFightersLiamAndBrody?ref=profile)

A few weeks ago I read about a boy who had cancer in his eyes when he was a toddler. His mom has a very hard decision to make. In the end, after chemo, she felt he would have a better quality of life without his eyes. He has prosthetic eyes. Though the older he got the more he realized he could see by making clicking sounds. It was kind of like bats and echo location. He could ride a bike, play video games, and roller blade. All of that without having any eyes what so ever. Sadly he died from cancer in his teens. (His You tube Video Story )

I've met many different kids who will astound you with what they are capable of doing. With love, patience and the tools needed anything is possible to overcome or get around obstacles that are thrown in your path. A lesson I've learned from personal experience of my own and my family.

Styxx!

I'm currently reading "Styxx" by Sherrilyn Kenyon. I love her Dark Hunter series and this is the newest installment of that series. I'm about halfway thru the book. It's a rather thick book too.

The story is engaging and descriptive. It has Greek and fictional Atlantean gods running about terrorizing the lives of the mere mortals who worship them. This story zeros in on Styxx, the son of the King of Didymos. He's also the Twin of Acheron (who has his own story and book).

Through out the story of Acheron I had a roller coaster of emotions floating about in my head. That is the sign of a good story and a good author... She gets you hooked into the story and becoming somewhat emotionally involved. It is the same way with Styxx.

All he wanted was the love of his parents and his sister Rissa. His Twin brother was born with "God eyes" that set him apart from the rest of the family. Acheron was shunned by the King as a freak who should die. Styxx just wanted to spend time with his brother but somehow always got him into trouble. The king was always pulling Styxx away from Acheron. They soon learned that they couldn't "get rid of" Acheron... as his life force was tied to that of Styxx. Whatever happened to Acheron was felt by Styxx though no one understood that connection. Styxx was just thought of as a wimpy brat. His own sister thought he was jealous and vindictive when all he wanted was to be loved and to help his brother. He just didn't know how to. His father was King.. He was threatened by that King who was his father. As both boys grow up the one comes to hate the other while one still craves the love of the other.

Enter Bethany, the Atlantean Goddess of Wrath and Misery. She is sent to the mortal lands as a blind girl to look for the son of the Queen of Atlantis. He was sent to the mortal world to be raised mortal to hide him from his father who wanted to kill him because of a prophecy his half sisters told their father. While in the mortal world she meets "Hector" and falls in love... only to find out later that "Hector" is the Prince Styxx.

That's really paraphrasing the story... I didn't want to go into much detail of what goes on. Right now my emotions are running on Anger at the Gods who think mortals are play toys and frustration that his family abandoned him during his life. His father is a pompous Jerk of great enormity. The sister comes across as a whiney witch towards Styxx. She basically believed he could do no good despite all the good he had done. She never knew or saw that he was trying to protect her from their father.

Still I can't seem to put the book down no matter what emotion is raging at the time. I got the other half of the book to finish... I hope it has a similance of a semi-happy ending for Styxx, Acheron, and Bethany...

No longer the "Toy Lady"

I use to work in the Toy Dept of the local Wallie World (Walmart). I am no longer the "Toy Lady" though I think I will still always be the Toy Lady. I am now a Cashier. I get to talk to peoples .. alot... while scanning their food. I'm still not use to standing in one place for long periods of time... I'm constantly walking around my cash register area.

Being a cashier is okay... not my favorite job but for now it's a break. It's a bit less stressfull. The stress level had gone up some over the years as I worked in toys. Many of the customers think it's a step up to be a cashier. I'm not so sure.

We are kinda tied to our registers... We aren't supposed to leave them for anything. And sometimes it's hard because I know where something the customer was looking for. I wanna just run and get it for them but I can't. I seem to be one of the few in the store that knows where most of the stuff is. I get people (including other employees) asking where stuff is. Though I'm becoming lost in the store. I don't get to keep up with what is going on or where things are moved as much now. It kinda irks me to say "I dunno" sometimes now.

Little Z's all over

Wow... "Z" Clan Cousins are having little Z's (well technically the Momma's were "Z"s but now have other last names.. I think)...   Anyway.. Cousin Jennifer is having a boy this summer sometime... she's having fun getting baby stuff... And Cousin Sara is having a boy too or so I've been told. This will be her second child. She has a little girl already. And Cousin Brian is new Daddy to baby girl Zenna..  Which makes Xia a big sister now...

It's all soo kewl...  And it's really kewl that I can see most of the babies grow up from a distance on Facebook. I'm on the west coast and most of the "Z" clan cousins are on the East Coast. I hate being sooo far away.

My Niece is a Young woman now and my nephews are teenagers. Well except one but he's heading into that teenager stage soon. I haven't really been able to be around much while they are growing up. Think it's been at least 10 years since I've seen my niece. I haven't seen my sister's kids for like 5 or 6 years... I just don't always have the money to fly out there.