Wednesday, December 30, 2009

not too much to say...

i am still working on getting the family tree organized with documentation, getting it added to my file sharing site, and getting ready to share it with the world - if they ask :) so today is going to be focused on my art websites. hopefully i will have something to add here soon, because in gathering all my documentation, who knows what i will find.
peace and luv
laura

thoughts for today

so, i am watching the news this morning and they took a moment to mention kwanzaa. here are the princeples of kwanzaa from wikipedia:
Principles of Kwanzaa

Kwanzaa celebrates what its founder called the seven principles of Kwanzaa, or Nguzo Saba (originally Nguzu Saba—the seven principles of blackness), which Karenga said "is a communitarian African philosophy," consisting of what Karenga called "the best of African thought and practice in constant exchange with the world." These seven principles comprise Kawaida, a Swahili term for tradition and reason. Each of the seven days of Kwanzaa is dedicated to one of the following principles, as follows:

* Umoja (Unity): To strive for and to maintain unity in the family, community, nation, and race.
* Kujichagulia (Self-Determination): To define ourselves, name ourselves, create for ourselves, and speak for ourselves.
* Ujima (Collective Work and Responsibility): To build and maintain our community together and make our brothers' and sisters' problems our problems, and to solve them together.
* Ujamaa (Cooperative Economics): To build and maintain our own stores, shops, and other businesses and to profit from them together.
* Nia (Purpose): To make our collective vocation the building and developing of our community in order to restore our people to their traditional greatness.
* Kuumba (Creativity): To do always as much as we can, in the way we can, in order to leave our community more beautiful and beneficial than we inherited it.
* Imani (Faith): To believe with all our heart in our people, our parents, our teachers, our leaders, and the righteousness and victory of our struggle.

now in looking over these, i am thinking that all people need to take the week between christmas and new years to also look over these aspects of their lives. this should be a time of reflection and hope for us anyway, so why not use the princeples of kwanzaa to help us organize our thoughts and help us make goals for the new year? so today's is Nia (Purpose): To make our collective vocation the building and developing of our community in order to restore our people to their traditional greatness. ok i dont need to restore my people to their traditional greatness, although maybe we as a whole need to remember where it is we came from and how we got to where we are today. but building and developing our community is a good thing to focus on. what - as an individual - can i do to make my community better? do i have the time to volunteer for anything? do i see a need that i could perhaps fill? I have decided that when i go to look for my apartment in port townsend i am going to try for a larger apartment so that i can get licensed for foster care. i may not be able to do a lot in the way of work and volunteering right now but i can take in a child who needs a home and give them all the love they can soak up while they are with me. I am also going to spend the day revamping my websites and getting them ready for a relaunch on new years day. so take some time today and focus on what you - as an individual - can do to improve your community.
that is all for today,
peace and luv
laura

Tuesday, December 29, 2009

new year coming up fast

so with new years coming up at the end of the week i am trying to decide where i want to go with this blog. my thoughts are to keep it as is and try to post a photo or scrapbook page for each day of the year or i can turn it into more of an internet diary about what all i go through with my disability and such. or i can combine them both into something. also thinking about my goals for the new year. i want to get all my family tree people documented correctly. i want to get way better at taking photos of lights and fireworks. i want to do my best to do what the dr's tell me to do even when i am not going to want to do it.
anyway that is about all for today,
peace and luv,
laura

Thursday, December 24, 2009

Merry Christmas Everyone

Well Christmas Eve, but close enough!! I have posted photos today, this first one is sunrise on Dec 18th in Port Townsend. it was my best friend Vicky's birthday so I was happy that it was so beautiful.
this next photo is my other mom's grave - it was her one year anniversary on the 20th so Jamee and I went out to put one rose at her grave. Jamee said she hopes to do this every year adding a rose each year.
Other than that, I have actually been busy in the family tree this week. I sent a copy to one of the cousins, who asked if i could then do her husband's line as well. So i did - it is always a great joy to go and find new information and I got it back to her - minus the copies of actual documentation - yesterday so that they can take it with them for Christmas at her hubby's family. I really hope they enjoy it. Today I do have a Christmas story for you - and it is the story of Christmas 2009. That is right, it is about this year. I figured that this year we would just be thankful to have a roof over our heads, and perhaps hit a dollar store for a few little gifts. But my God and my family had other plans I guess. for starters, you should know that up until last year when I was struggling to even do Christmas being on unemployment, my family has always chosen either a foster child or family to give to. Even when jesse was a toddler, we would clean out all his toys and clothes and he would help to donate them so that some other child could have a good Christmas. So that being said, my son Jesse was online in his favorite anime chat room and they were all talking about Christmas and what they were all hoping for. Jesse said that he was hoping for nothing, and was happy that he had a roof over his head, food for his tummy and family that loved him around. So his one friend that lives in New Jersey asks him, if you could have a gift, anything, what would it be. Jesse's answer? A PS3 with 4 controllers and Little Big Planet so that my mom and family can all play it together. it is the one game my mom has been excited about in years and i want to see her happy. The guy sent it to us. All brand new. Then Jamee, who is just ending her first year of grief after losing both her parents, found out that her brother's pug had puppies. All she could talk about was puppies and how much she wanted one. So David, her hubby, and I rationalized all the reasons why a puppy was not a good idea at this point in her life. So we waited for her to go house sit for a co worker and David went and got her a chocolate lab puppy. She will be here this afternoon and will get puppy just a little early. We are all so excited for her to see the puppy.
anyway, i am off to play with the puppy, and get the house ready for Christmas,
peace and luv,
Laura

Merry Christmas Everyone

Well it is actually only Christmas eve but still. And how cute is my great-niece Kailiana? Yesterday my sister and I had a deep discussion about the pro's and con's of teaching your kids to believe in Santa. Her view - Santa is a lie and you should not lie to your kids because they will resent you for it in the end. My view - Santa is based on a real person, Saint Nicholas, who was granted sainthood due to his spirit of giving, and that by teaching kids to "believe" in Santa you instill in them early childhood faith - believing in something you cannot see. Then as they get old enough to let them know that mom and dad are Santa, you explain that Santa is based on Saint Nicholas and the spirit of giving and Always it is (in my house anyway) explained that Christmas is first and formost about Christ. That you may not get everything you want, but by giving to those less fortunate than you, you will get the gift of peace in your heart. In the end we agreed to disagree - as we do with most things political/religious. But that is ok. In life it is good to have discussions like this with people who completely disagree because it confirms for all to see how deeply you believe in something. Anyway, Merry Christmas to you all,
Peace and luv,
Laura

Tuesday, December 15, 2009

the days roll by.......

so here we are 10 days till christmas. who knew!! probably everyone except for those of us who are just thankful to have a roof over their head for the holidays. so jamee and i went into town the other night for groceries and stopped to take photos of the pretty lights that they have in downtown sequim - and of course i am still not so great at taking pictures of the lights but i try and i will eventually get it right. this top one i just decided to move the camera on purpose i think it looks really cool.
this photo i didnt mean to move, but of course i did :)

so tonight is store run night again, i really am not used to not being able to go to the store whenever i want yet, and when i get my apartment in port townsend i will be much more mobile since they have a good bus system. also, i am looking forward to january. i know it is crazy but i know by the end of january i will start to notice the days getting longer again. i love living in washington and dont want to live in any other state, but the dark winter days really get to me. i need to call the dr's office back to make an apointment with dr nelson so i can be good with dshs as well as getting some of this stuff started like different meds for pain management and making sure that the dr's will have all my medical info even from my dr from years ago when this knee/back stuff really started getting bad - and that was like 5 years ago. anyway, that is my life this week, making phone calls and taking bad light photos lol maybe i will get out for a walk today. i have not been doing my walks since it was icy out for a week, plus i am kinda scared of getting myself lost out here. so i hope you are all having a good week,
peace and love
laura

Friday, December 11, 2009

happy friday to all

so, not working, friday does not mean that much to me anymore - except that it is one more day i have survived. I am trying to work on the family tree but at times find myself falling asleep due to it being the same thing over and over - not really getting that rush of finding new things. so i took a while today and worked on my second cousin's wife's family - that was interesting. i will have to add all that i found and make a report for his daughter so that she can show it off for the holidays. also, it dawned on me i have not been adding family stories lately. so today you get one :) for my little family - remember until my mom remarried when i was 14 it was just her, me and my brother and grandma lived very close by - we had a rule for christmas and birthdays. christmas was for things you want and birthdays were for things you need. so christmas - toys and birthdays - clothes. so christmas was just that much more special to us as kids because we knew we would get something that we wanted. so every year we got the sears holiday toy catalog and would spend hours going through it. making a first draft of the list, then taking off what you knew would just never happen or that you realized you could live without. then a revised list - due to media influences. then when it was time to go see santa you showed mom your final list so "she could make sure that santa made all those things" and you went proudly up to that jolly old man's lap knowing you had worked hard on your list and that something from it would indoubtably end up under the tree with that magic "from Santa" tag on it. i am happy that the babies in the family will be getting to that age way sooner than we would like because it is so much more fun when you see the light in their eyes because they understand just how special it is.
anyway, i am off on my family searches
peace and luv,
laura

charlie brown christmas trees

so, anyone who really knows me, knows that i have an affinity for charlie brown christmas trees. you know the ones - literally a branch that you try to decorate to look like a full blown christmas tree. so when i was taking photos of our dusting of snow (which is still here due to the cold temperatures) and saw this little baby tree trying to survive i had to take its photo. that is an ultimate charlie brown christmas tree. i hope you all love it as much as i do :)
anyway off to my boring life which i am loving
peace and luv,
laura

Wednesday, December 9, 2009

still cold out

the cold snap continues here. our daily highs are not even reaching freezing (32 degrees ferinheight) but it makes for pretty photos. this was not what i was trying to do, i was trying to focus on the ornament, but it focused on the branches - for a "mistake" i like how it turned out.

anyway, i am off to work on the family tree - great indoor thing on these cold dark days :)
peace and luv,
laura

wow kinda done

so i am done adding all the stuff i already had in files to office live to test out with a few people hopefully i can get a few recruits and some good feedback on what i did right and what i need to improve on. then it is on to making sure i have everything for every person in the family tree - this will also be good for me making sure that things are verified correctly. luckily right now the days are short and cold so i have no desire to even go for a short walk - just work work work on the family tree. anyway, i am off to do more research,
peace and luv,
laura

Monday, December 7, 2009

organization update

so i am making headway now on my organization of the family tree. i have come up with a spreadsheet that has a checklist, census info and other info on it, as well as my research sheet that will show what i have as well as what i am still researching and looking for. i have started loading some files onto officelive which is an awesome way for me to share all this information with the family - even if they dont have access to office products. and while i have been using this program for a while now for other ventures, i cannot wait for google to go live with their version of it. so for the next few days i will be adding what i have already added to the files - then i will have jesse go through and let me know what all needs added still - make sure each one has a checklist as well as a research sheet kinda thing. then i will get that part done and will be able to start going through the family tree again adding files but it will be easier knowing exactly what i want in there. oh and i need to add photos too :) that will be a big undertaking as well. but if i am gonna do this, i want to do it right. also, jamee has been spending time sitting with me while i am organizing stuff and she is going through the trees on ancestry looking through the hints for me. which is actually nice. we both may be sitting in silence working on kinda our own stuff, but we are doing it together and getting it done. so all that being said, i am off to do my "work" for today - which includes starting the christmas card addressing - so.......
peace and luv,
Laura

first snow

so sequim got it's first light snow of the season, and while pretty for me it is dangerous. i have developed a huge fear of falling. it seems to me that right before my grandma had to go to the hospital/nursing home and all she started falling and before my mom admitted she needed to go to a nursing home because she couldnt take care of herself anymore (even though she never made it to a nursing home) she started falling, so i dont want to start falling as that seems to be the beginning of the complete end. so i know it sounds crazy but anyone who knows me knows that that is not crazy for me lol so here is a photo of the snow :) and now i am off to my other blog for my genealogy then back to family tree organization - time consuming but necessary.
peace and luv
laura

Tuesday, December 1, 2009

December 1?? How did that happen??

Good morning everyone,
I am not sure how it happened but it is December 1st. My sister has been busy decorating her yard, but it is still not complete yet. but i have been using what she has done to practice my photo taking of lights in the dark. still not so great yet, but am liking the movement look i get at times. perhaps i will go out today in the sunshine and take photos of what is out there - you never know. my son says i need to wander down the street some after dark cuz there is another house all done up. we will see :) anyway, off to do some graphic work :)
peace and luv,
laura