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DO. NOT. CUT. CORNERS. WHEN. BACKING. UP. YOUR. PHOTOS.
I was getting happy while trying to free of some gigs on my nearly four year old Mac and I let a tech savvy spirit inhabit my body and mind. I now only have 32 -64 KB images of every. single. picture. i. have. taken. since.i. got. my. new. camera. in. december.
I know, I know…there are many tragic things that happen in life and in the grand scheme of things…IT’S NO BIG DEAL.
But, I am still experiencing a bit of a mourning process and it’s taking me a little time to assess the situation and salvage what I can of our year in pictures so updating is clearly going to take a bit longer than usual. Couple this with a reorganization of my office space and the impending school year (year 10 for me, year 1 for Lucas! Big!) and there are sure to be delays.
To answer the obvious questions:
1. No. I had not yet burned to CD/DVD.
2. No. I had not uploaded to my photo processing/online back up site.
3. No. I had not properly copied them to my external drive.
4. Yes. The being that took over my body still knew how to empty the trash on the desktop.
5. No. Copies of the files are not somewhere else on the hard drive.
6. No. I do not use Blogger so I do not have a back up on Picasssa.
7. Yes. I resize all my blog photos in Photoshop before uploading them to WordPress.
8. Yes, I have splurped my blog to Booksmart and I can print a coffee table book with thumbnail sized photos from Shoot. Post. Repeat Daily. I imagine the same results with Notes for Tomorrow. I welcome other suggestions.
Lesson learned.
Once more, with feeling:
DO. NOT. CUT. CORNERS. WHEN. BACKING. UP. YOUR. PHOTOS.
There has been much buzz online in the paper crafting communities about Creating Keepsake’s Kit of the Month for January. Many people jumped on the bandwagon and my friends and I are no exception (they posted about the kit most recently here and here). Yeah, it’s a KIT. Sure, there’s limited personal creative expression, but it has inspired folks from all over to preserve their “every day existence.” I can’t even count how many blogs just cropped up devoted to this “Project 365″ or “A Picture a Day” phenomenon. My favorite professional blogger, Dooce, has been doing this since I began reading her website a few years ago, so I know it’s not a new concept, but I can’t recall when I’ve noticed so many people fired up about the same thing. It’s kind of cool to be a part of something so big. I’m having an opportunity to connect with people I might otherwise never have. That’s not why I’m doing it though. Let me tell you exactly why I was motivated to jump on board.
Since somewhere around July of 2006 I have been nearly paralyzed by the demands placed upon me by my second child. Of course I adore him, but he’s a home wrecker. He tears books, writes on walls, breaks toys for a start. And yes I realize that other people have greater challenges; believe me I’m grateful for my wrecking ball. Just know that I too get looks of sympathy from people sometimes when I take him places. Hell, I get them from my friends.
The other issue that has prevented me from keeping myself active in my craft room is the sheer number of pictures I began taking once I finally got a digital camera. I used to joke that digital was the worst thing that ever happened to me. I was only half kidding at the time, but I wanted to keep every single expression that I captured. I’m in a twelve step program for this now and I’m making progress. So, instead of working on Evan’s scrapbook, I continued to stockpile supplies and take pictures, all the while reading magazines and books by the big names. Then, something magical happened.
I allowed myself to abort my quest for chronological order.
Sure, some of you have never had this problem. But for those of you who have; this is a very big deal. I made a mini album of Lucas’s soccer season and I was so proud. I loved the feeling of actually completing something. It was liberating. And the best part was that I could sit down with my son and we could look at it together. Granted, we look at this blog often, but there’s something very special about something you can hold in your hands that your mother made for you. That is not lost on him. And I want that for my darling Evan too.
(Yes, I realize he doesn’t have any clothes on. After the fourth time he took them off today I decided he might benefit from a natural consequence, the cold. And yes, that’s my husband in that picture on the lower left goofing around and taking his own photo while I’m having contractions in the background. I had two epidurals that didn’t take, so I basically went natural. It was quick and not really so bad.)
And so, Project 365 is important to me because I plan to do the following things as a result of using it as my only family album of 2009:
I will complete Evan’s “baby” book since he’ll be three in April (I cover everything for the first three years). This is where I left off:
I do still have a few more layouts to go in Lucas’s too, if we’re talking full disclosure here:
(I need to learn how to take photos of my layouts without the glare too, apparently. Oh wait–advancing my photography skills is that other big reason! Oh, and taking fewer pictures; that’s HUGE on the list of reasons why I’m doing this.)
I will follow through on the conceptual projects I am currently undergoing concurrently:
I have one of these for each boy where I have reserved a page for the letter I write to them at each of their birthdays. I’d like to also include their birthday picture, maybe even a listing of some of their favorite things and foods, friends and the like. (8.5 x 11)
This is what each of their 8 x 8 albums for Christmas’s looks like. I think it will be so cool to have year after year in the same place, just one after another.
And I plan to do the same with the two of these I picked up recently for all of their Halloween costumes. (4 x 6)
I have two of these 8 x 8 post bound albums and have been printing 5 x 7s of “moments” that stand out to me. There will be two of these as well, of course. Here I am leaving the hospital with Lucas. We were there much longer than we intended and it was overwhelming to see the sun again. The full story doesn’t belong in his baby book, but I could tell it here.
This is a one up that I plan to convert in a family cookbook. I’ll take photos of our favorite meals and put the recipe in there. I’ll cover the “Memo” section with card stock and share a tidbit about where we got the recipe or the person we got it from.
Maybe I could even begin work on “Baby Carrie’s” book. The outside looks like the ones for the letters to my boys, but the album itself is a 12 x 12 instead. I think Evan looks a lot like me.
I will undoubtedly be able to finish this album, Going Green, about our first family camping trips last summer. Thanks for the use of your Zutter, Amy! You’re so generous with your tools and talents! Did I mention that she’s the one that brought us all together in the first place?
I also look forward to converting the two ATC/gift card holders I bought (thanks for the gift card to the scrapbooking store, honey!) into “Baby Teeth” holders for each boy.
And finally, this is a 6 x 6 that I’ve started working on just for me. Things I like, experiences I want to reflect upon. It’s place for me to play with the more feminine embellishments that I can’t manage to work into albums full of boys!
As you can see, I’ve got my “work” cut out for me. Better get to it. Snapfish is offering free shipping for a couple more days, and as you can see, I’m a little behind on my printing.
Oh, and look! Here’s my Project 365 album all loaded and ready to go! I’m pretty pumped!
This is why I need the toy library system. I always said I didn’t want to limit the kid’s access to books, but I’ve done gone and changed my mind.
Amy sent an email at the start of the week saying that she had an opportunity to have an impromtu Friday night craft night, did anyone want to come? I jumped on board right away. Last time I was there I managed to make two or three cards and simply exist in my own head, but it was enough. I ended up being the only one over and we just got crafty with it. We’re quite pleased with our projects as she mentions here and I am delighted to have made such a fun thing after being on hiatus for nearly two years. The soccer mini-book is the only thing I’ve been able to make in all that time!
Her picture is better because it’s in the moment, but I’m making a real effort to continue to "tell my story," even when it’s a little late. Work is really intense right now and I’m just hanging in there until Summer. It’s been a topsy-turvy stressful time, but we’re all getting through it. We miss Mark like crazy but the benefit last Sunday night was a great time for all. Can’t believe it’s been two months.
