this summer’s story

So, yeah, it’s almost November, and the weather has turned brisk and windy and rainy… tonight, at least. And I had planned to post this back on the final day of summer. But right at the end of summer I got swamped with several work projects all at once. Which is hilarious since I’m, technically, still mostly unemployed. Yet, during the final summer weeks my minimally-paid part-time job blew up, as I was responsible for two student contests that required (a) coding an online photo gallery of nearly 300 entries and (b) an essay contest for a scholarship prize. On top of that were my usual web content management duties for the company, plus a series of updates to existing forms and documents. But that wasn’t the big project. Out of nowhere I was tasked with creating 12 large-format posters built around photos that were not print-ready nor high-resolution. I had to pull out every Photoshop trick I knew (and learn a few new tricks I’d never heard before!), and the project seemed to go on and on and on. In addition to that, I also took on a few, shall we say, pro bono projects creating flyers and brochures and website elements and even a DVD cover. But the really remarkable thing about it all was that I loved every minute. Yes, I was busy every moment of every day except when I forced myself to step away and get out of the flat, but I was happy as could be working in Photoshop and using my creativity and (ever-growing) design skills. God has been faithful to cover all of my expenses and carry me through these times when I’m receiving no responses on full-time job applications, and I have been happy to offer my skills to friends and ministries because I know that I will find reward in the end. If nothing else, my reward has been the pure joy of the work and the development of my skills. Still, I’m happy that these projects are completed and I have downtime again.

I had a somewhat busy summer before the work avalanche arrived, and I was really good about capturing the days in photos. My parents have stayed in our area since the spring, so my family all made a lot of effort to get together more frequently. That was made a lot easier by the fact that my folks were housed lakeside for months at a time! We had an impromptu lake party in June, and I visited on my own for another week in July, then we all made various arrangements throughout the summer to spend time in small and large groups for one event or another. There was the last boy’s 9th birthday party, a movie outing with the first boy’s family, plus a sleepover at my place to watch MLB All-Star festivities and even an 80s hair band concert that Kiwi attended with her other aunt (my sister). Sprinkled in the midst of those were simple days of swimming – my first time in a pool in at least 20 years! – and watching movies and just hanging out together (with both family and my friend Mere). And that is the greatest blessing of not being employed full-time: there has been plenty of time for fun and family and friends.

I’m still in the midst of completing my physical scrapbook for the Summer Story, but you can click here to view the photos online. Just take a little walk through the summer with me. And don’t go far. There are a few more stories to tell.

      

while you were sleeping

I realize I’ve been away from this blog far too long, and there is a list of posts I still intend to make – including a recap of my busier-than-usual summer, tales of unemployment woe and doing my work at night because I’m still not sleeping properly, as well as the myriad of photos from everyday life with my family and a check-in on my One Little Word – but today is not that day. Instead, I’m simply dropping by to verify my continued existence and to blow off the dust of this place in preparation for the series of posts that will be published tomorrow during the Fall 24-Hour Read-a-Thon. During those hours I’ll be online from time to time, as usual, but the bulk of my day will be spent catching up on my reading. And I’m okay with that! I look forward to the read-a-thon each fall and spring, and this time I’ll even be starting three-quarters of the way through a book I’ve already begun! (Yes, I do still read on occasion, though much less than in my previous life.) As always, I hope the read-a-thon kickstarts even further reading, and I’m also hoping it lights a fire in my writing. It’s been far too long since I gave that piece of my life proper attention, and I’m finally ready to dive in again. I hope you’ll continue to hang in with me while I fumble toward a better state of life. And I hope you’ll join me tomorrow for 24 hours of reading… and writing about reading. It really has been far too long.
image from FotoSearch

Twenty years ago today… (well, twenty-five, actually)

My beloved niece Kiwi begins her senior year of high school today. In the midst of all the talk of it and her excitement of it finally arriving, I realized that this marks the 25th anniversary of my own senior year. Twenty-five years! It had never occurred to me before! But my own experiences of high school are very different from Kiwi’s life.

You may recall my mentioning that the teen years were less than pleasant for me, having moved away from my childhood home between freshman and sophomore years of high school. I was already an awkward and introverted fifteen-year-old by that time, uncomfortable with my physicality and even more uncomfortable with social interactions, so dropping me into a town I’d never before heard of with people who had essentially grown up together since birth was nothing short of devastating. I’d lived in my previous town since second grade, had finally reached a level of acceptance and comfort with a small group of friends whom I adored and who loved me back, and during freshman year I finally began to feel like I belonged and that my high school years were going to be epic. I was crushed, then — shattered, even — when my parents announced my dad’s promotion and subsequent need to move to a town located more than an hour north of Dallas and within only a few miles of the Oklahoma border. Oklahoma! It was the end of civilization for me! And I wanted no part of it.

I’d love to say I adjusted to the change over the course of the next few years, but I never did. I spent my entire adolescence feeling sorry for myself and angry at the state of my life, and by senior year I was thinking only of how I could get out of that town — it never did feel like “home” to me — and how life would certainly be so much better when I was “on my own.” Looking back I can only shake my head and laugh at that miserable young girl. But I also can’t say I’d do anything different. I’m still no better at entering new situations than I was at fifteen, though at least I know how to pretend a bit now. But not in 1986. Back then I was hopeless.

In ’86, as my first day of senior year arrived, I still had no close friends and no big dreams for the future. My niece, on the other hand, is filled with hope and joy. She’s had the benefit, so to speak, of living her entire life in one small country town and going to school with many of the same people every year of her life. She has some of the same friends now that she’s had since elementary school. People have watched her grow up since birth. And in Kiwi’s mind, senior year has always been one of the greatest times of life. She’s wise enough to know that it’s not the ultimate phase of life, of course, but she also knows it could become the stuff of legend. She’s grown up hearing stories of “the glory days” from her own father and friends, who all spent their high school years in the same town she lives in now. Kiwi has never expected her senior year to be anything less than glorious, and to finally arrive is one of her first dream-come-true moments. It’s hard not to get caught up with her in such excitement! Today she will experience a senior caravan to the campus, a senior breakfast before classes, a decorated locker by senior parents (her own mom / my sister), and a class schedule that reflects a bit of ease in academics. During the next few months she will experience the football season as a drill team officer and leader among her peers, and in the spring she will begin to have a series of “lasts” that will be both fun and bittersweet. I felt very few of these things twenty-five years ago. I’m thrilled that Kiwi’s experiences are so much greater and more special than anything I ever even dreamed of having, and I can’t wait to watch her walk through these days. I hope I can help her document them, as well, so her memories are established for years to come.

Congratulations, sweet girl! You are truly awesome and these are most certainly great days!

 
 
 

a Summer Survey

I love the idea of completing a personal survey on the first day of each new season, and I did just that on Tuesday for the Summer Solstice. But this year I’ve decided to make a journal for the summer, — a SMASH Book of sorts — and I used the seasonal survey as my first entry. These pages were most definitely an experiment, a return to using my own handwriting in memory-keeping, and I’m not entirely pleased with the look of it. But I need the practice so I’m forcing myself to stop thinking so much and just go with the flow. Other entries will likely include a mixture of handwriting, basic art techniques, simple ephemera pastings, and printed fonts. The entire project is simply to capture the pieces of my summer, so I’m hoping to find a lot of freedom in it. The SMASH Books are definitely my inspiration in this. There will definitely be more journal pages posted here throughout the summer, but for now I begin with just this one. Happy Summer to You!

 

 

she’s a senior now

“So, how are you feeling?” I asked. “I’m feeling weird,” she said. “I can’t believe it’s here!” All I could think is how quickly the time has passed and how soon this next year — her senior year — will come and go. She’s officially a senior now, but she’ll always be our little missy. My one and only niece. Love you, Kiwi! Love you so much.