OK…Let me start by saying that I am NOT going to say that I will vow to blog more. We have all seen that by uttering those words and putting them down digitally does nothing for my motivation. I won’t even set any goals for blogging….with that stated – on to the update.

Since it’s been a looooooooong time, and most of us have aged over the near year it’s been…..I want you to know that I’ve been OK. We’ve moved into a new house. A real house, not a double-wide. Not that there was anything wrong with the trailer. It’s just nice to be grounded and in a neighborhood.

I am trying to get more serious with my photography and digital scrapbooking and other digital work. I’ve updated my website with examples. I need to evaluate pricing. I did read a good book that I would recommend to anyone wanting to turn their hobby into a business – Craft, Inc.: Turn Your Creative Hobby into a Business by Meg Mateo Ilasco. Informative and a good read. I must admit that I did skip some parts, but I will go back and read them when necessary.

I think my problem is that I don’t have an interested market to cater to at this time. I’ve been snapping photos and giving them to the recipients in hopes that they will be impressed and become paying customers. This probably isn’t a good idea, but I’ve only done it twice. Hoping for word of mouth, I guess.

I know that I’m talking to myself and frankly, I’m OK with that. I can always pretend that someone out there is reading this and silently scolding me when they don’t see that I’ve updated….or mebbe they’re outright cursing me. Anywayz…on to excitement.

Right now my house smells like a charred briquette. No, we didn’t have a house fire…a couple weeks ago DH overflowed the meatloaf in the over with no pan underneath. Now, every time we fire up the oven, a li’l smoke leaks out and makes this woooooooonderfuuuuull smell. Of course, I don’t know how to clean the oven – isn’t it supposed to be one of those self cleaning things???? So I live with the smell from week to week…hoping that with time it will fade. At this rate, I’m thinking it will take an eternity.

DD is still asking me about her turtle. I mostly got it done….well all the pieces are done and only the legs need stuffing and the whole thing needs assembly. Possibly before she turns 4 next month????

I’m still working on my website for my digital scrapbooking stuff. I need to put my pricing pages up. I’ve got most of my work up there now. I should make a portfolio book. Heck there’s a lot that I should do or have intended to do, but haven’t done it. I wanted to make a scrapbook of our trip to Vegas…I’ve only got about 4 or 5 layouts done. I wanted to scrap our wedding….haven’t done anything yet except to put one of our pics faded onto a background. Wanted to make a portfolio book – not sure what I would put in it. I also want to get more creative with my digital work. I want to be able to create my own embellishments and kits to work with.

Well….back to a lightly toasting roasting scent for another half hour or so…..

OK. No knitting done this weekend. Why? How? What?!?…I know. I was working on school this weekend. I had 3 movies to watch. 2 to analyze and the 3rd to also analyze, but not so in depth as it pertained to a team assignment. So far I have 2 down and 1 to go. The last one being one of the individual assignments. I looked in our team folder (my classes are all online), and noticed that one of the other girls on the team had posted that she did the wrong portion of the team assignment and wondered if I could complete mine and hers (in the beginning when I thought we would not have enough people to divvy up the assignment, I had offered to complete 2 portions). Well, now the other team members want all portions done by tomorrow. Uh…I don’t think that they’ll get the portion she was supposed to do by then. I have my individual assignments to complete. Now, I’ll probably end up helping her, but it will probably be tomorrow at the earliest. I can’t just let the team assignment fall apart due to someone else’s error. Plus this is my last class and I only have a week left. Then I’ll have a big ol’ bachelor’s degree!!! Does it really mean that much? The only way we can tell is to get it, let people know, and see if better jobs or higher pay come my way.

Next week I start official training for my new position. This past week was kind of a joke. We basically looked at some of the programs we would be using. Being as I worked at the company before and am just switching departments, I am familiar with most of the software we will be working with. We did go to visit sales, which was fun, but we were unsure of our purpose there. We think it was to just see how their processes work. It will be nice to be back on an 8-5 job with decent pay.

There is so much that I want to do, but I don’t know how to go about doing it. Like I want to start promoting my own talents and maybe turn them into a business. I do digital scrapbooking, photo restoration and colorization, and photo CD/DVD creation. The problem I have is getting an audience. Who needs this type of work done? Who knows what this type of work is? How do I market the idea? I don’t want to spend a ton on getting the word out and generate no work. Any ideas?

Bad blogger! I am such a bad blogger. I know that I haven’t written, but there has been so much going on. Hmmm….let’s see where to begin.

I’ve got work to do, but I don’t feel like doing it. Nowadays it just seems like busy work. I’ve looked for jobs in the paper, but nothing seems to interest me. If something does catch my eye, then it’s so far below my current salary that it’s beyond laughable.

Sis had an interview with a company about 30 minutes away this week. She’s supposed to go to the company today to see if she likes the drive and the surroundings and what-not. It is more pay and opportunity for growth. Her friend and I have made a pact that if she doesn’t take this job, we will beat her senseless. The position that she is currently in she has held for almost 8 years. There is no room for her to grow. She is basically at the top of the food chain here. Maybe it is time for her to move on. I don’t know what her boss will do without her because it might be like removing her right hand. Oh well, we live, learn, cope and adapt. She’ll get over it.

I have found some really cute patterns that I would like to try to knit. The problem is that they aren’t in my size, so it would be knitting for others. Not that I mind that. I mean, knitting is knitting as long as it is appreciated, isn’t it? I am currently working on a baby blanket (simple stitch with simple border) for our secretary. She just found out that she is pregnant. I have tons of the multi-pastel-colored baby yarn that I will probably never, ever use, so this is a perfect opportunity.

I met with the lady who wants me to make a scrapbook for her. She paid me half up front. I have scanned in the pictures. Basically, she has given me creative license on this one. We sat together and picked out the pictures that we could use and grouped them together. She says that the colors and any quotes or anything like that are of my own choosing. She will pay me the other half when the book is delivered. That doesn’t seem like a bad deal to me.

DH wants a gaming computer! Why, I don’t know. Well he tends to want expensive things, especially when we don’t have the funds to afford them. I told him that if he could find something within the $200-$300 range then we might consider it, but his price came out to over $800. Little over budget there.

I’ve got someone who actually wants me to do a scrapbook project for her. Two projects! I know I mentioned it before, but she actually sat down and talked to me about it today. I’ve got to make it good quality for the price that I am charging. I guess I shouldn’t bet on doing it until I actually get the stuff from her to begin. She said that she was willing to pay me half up front and then the other half when the project is completed. This is exciting. She said that she would definitely pass on the information and show other people if it looked good. I’m not worried about my work. I’m just worried about the printing. Hopefully it will come out in good quality.

I finished the shrug for my sis. It seems a bit big on her. I want to start another one. Possibly to sell or at least to show to other people. I was going to start on it today while I am filling in for the secretary, but the director is still here, so I don’t think that would fly.

I didn’t have the energy to put a title that meant something today. It’s been draining. We’re trying to get ready for school, but we’re placed in different places because our computers don’t work. Well, more specifically the network setup in our office doesn’t work. We’re waiting for the district techs to come out and look at it. Speaking of district techs, I haven’t heard anything on that job, yet. I don’t think that they want to hire me for either one. I only say this because it’s been a week and both positions are still posted on the website. It would be nice for someone to at least call me or e-mail me and say that they weren’t interested in hiring me. I guess time will tell.

DH has taken DD to see her first movie today. I wish him the best of luck. Have you ever taken a 2 1/2 year old to a movie? I can just imagine it. The theater is dark and scary. The music is loud. Will she really want to sit for about 2 hours? She does well with movies at home, especially Elmo. She will get up from time to time, but continue to watch. In a theater though, there is no place for her to go. I’m sure I will hear all about it when they get home.

I’m working on finishing a lace cap for my SIL. She told me that she wanted one, so I’m making her one. I’m on decreasing the top of the cap, so we’re almost there. When I finish with that, I have another hat waiting in the wings. A friend of mine wants a warm hat for the winter in northern Texas. I told her that I would try.

I’ve got people who want me to do digital scrapbook work for them. One lady wants two books done. One for her granddaughter and one for her mother. She wants them for Christmas presents, so I really need to get with her to see what she wants. I think I’m going to order them from mypublisher.com. They seem to be the most reasonable with high ratings from people. The other lady wants me to do a picture DVD for her parents’ anniversary. She’s going to talk it over with her sisters to see what they think about it and then get back to me. It’s a little extra money in the pocket, right?