Book of Love

All my Christmas/Holiday decorations are finally put away. That's right. On September 29.

You're probably thinking that I'm either 1) a big procrastinator or 2) a big Christmas lover. Yes on the first, not so much on the second.

But with holiday decorations now for sale in all the stores and musicians tweeting about the release dates of their Christmas albums, and even having to make some Christmas plans already, this is on my mind. I may do a separate blog later about how I feel about Christmas and why, but today I will tell you about something I love about Christmas.

Getting photos and cards from friends and family!

In this age of electronic everything, I treasure getting an envelope in the mail with a real photo of someone I love (or at least am mildly interested in). And there's no time I get more of these than the holidays. As you've seen from previous posts on the roses and letters, I tend to keep things people give or send me. Along with holiday photos (I don't keep just cards, only the photos), I keep baby announcements (with photos), wedding invitations (from people who send photos along with or after), and just recently (as a true sign of getting older), graduation announcements.

From the arrival of the first holiday card, usually from my friend Shannon in November, through mid-January, my refrigerator is decorated with the smiles, creativity and thoughtfulness of friends and family from all over the world.

I actually took this picture in January, when I intended to do this project and blog about it!

They are usually put away towards the end of January. By "put away" I mean organized and placed into a photo album. This year, though, they sat on a shelf in a growing pile until today.

One big pile of love

Organized by relationship or event

I started this album in 2005, the year we got married. It's full of stories now. The stories are mostly of families' changing dynamics, from the wedding invites to the baby announcements to the holiday pictures with one, two, then even three new faces added in these five years. For some, the narrative of the years shows heartache and redemption: one year a happy couple and their babies, the next the split-up couple and their kids separately, and maybe the next a new face in the happy couple with an extra kid or so. There are also the rare ones of single friends, celebrating the adventures of their unbound lives (I do not keep pictures of friends' animals only... eh hem, you know who you are).

I love flipping through this album from time to time, reading the stories in these faces. I remember days with some when the faces in their pictures were the substance of things only hoped for.

One of my favorite pages this year, my grad school girls' lovely girls! (and also a good reason for Blueberry to be a boy!)

I look at others and imagine what new faces will be added in the years to come, what other's answered prayers will look like.

Today, as I finally added almost an entire year of new entries, I used the last page in the album. And I got just a tiny bit excited about the holidays coming, which means, in part, the start of a new album! I want to run out and buy it right now, but it's raining and I'm still in my pajamas, so I probably won't until sometime mid-2011!

Doctor, Roses and Letters

Yes, it's random. So was today. And this week, come to think of it.

Today I went to my primary care physician to get my stitches taken out, which of course meant another round of people to whom I had to explain how I sat on a knife in my car. The good news is that I learned that my doctor is a family doctor, which means she sees babies and kids, so I don't have to find a pediatrician for Blueberry. (Unless there's a good reason I should have a pediatrician as opposed to a family doctor. Anyone, anyone?) I really like the idea of the same person seeing us every time, which is what I have with my OB now.

I also took care of a problem that has been bugging me for a long time. See, I've dried and kept roses that people have given me for years. Seriously, like since high school. And I've packed and moved these dried roses from place to place as I've grown up. For the past several years, they've been hanging out in a basket and moved from place to place in our house, but with stems poking out and leaves and petals falling off at every move, this just hasn't been a good way to preserve them.

Their last home on the floor in the corner in the spare room (future nursery)

 I was at my friend, Sarah's, house the other day and saw a vase full of dried rose buds and decided to steal that idea. Now the only decision is where to put my new decoration. Please vote:

Bathroom

Living room

Finally, another thing I've kept forever is almost every letter or I received from friends and family. My mom finally tired of my tattered collection of shoe boxes taking up space in her attic and sent them home with me when I was there for Christmas. They've been taking up space in my closet ever since.

So today, they all got new homes in plastic boxes and were labeled (until my label maker ran out of paper). It was interesting going through some of them and seeing who I was pen pals with. Honestly most of the oldest letters are from people I don't remember at all, but I feel like I should still keep them since I've kept them this long.

I do have a good collection from my BFF from 8th grade. She and I were only in the same state from 90-91, then her family moved and letters kept our friendship going. Many years later I was in her wedding and many years after that, she was in mine. And of course, now FB keeps us in touch, just like old times! I don't know if she kept my letters (did you, T?), but I always imagined we'd read them to each other when we were old ladies. Until then, they are nice and safe in their new home.

What did you do today? How do you store or display your collections of memorabilia (if you keep such things)? Where should I put my roses?

What's in Your Drawers?

You know how when you're at a friend's house and you're helping them in the kitchen and if you haven't been there before, you kindof have to explore or ask where everything is? I kindof have a knack for figuring out where people put stuff, but I can be wrong from time to time. I still like to snoop explore and see what I can learn about my friends from how they organize (or don't) their kitchen.


Today I'm interested in yours. If you have a set of drawers, please share with the class what goes where. I don't want to know what's in every drawer in the kitchen, just if you have like a stack of them.


Mine go like this:
1st drawer: silverware
2nd drawer: storage goods (saran wrap, tin foil, wax paper, baggies)
3rd drawer:: overflow plastics and random stuff
4th drawer: oven mitts and kitchen towels


If you don't have a set of drawers or a kitchen, but still want to leave a comment, feel free to tell me anything you want.