Not just another day at the office

It's a holiday Monday in our neck of the woods.

Nonetheless, we've been hard at work -- making friends with local critters . . . 

peeping in on unsuspecting caterpillars . . .

chasing bubbles . . .

baking cookies on a stick . . .

giving up on cookies on a stick . . .

and baking cookies not on a stick . . .

which taste just as good when decorated by a four year old . . .

 

Hope you're having a yummy day!

New journal page, now complete with non sequiturs!

Update: The journal page in this post is no longer available for download. For a selection of free, printable journal pages, please visit my Printable Journal Pages collection.

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Deep thoughts and non sequiturs.  That's where we're headed this week.

I was sitting with my four year old at the park and she was digging in the sand and chatting away to no one in particular, skipping breezily from one topic to the next.  She was utterly carefree and absorbed in her own world and I wanted to capture that moment somehow, so I rummaged around my bag and found my teeny notebook that I keep close by should an idea present itself.  (The notebook also serves as the go-to distraction device when the little one and I are stuck in random lineups and waiting areas.  Its pages are mostly filled with colourful scribbles.)  In very short order, this week's lightning round was born.  I promise not to do this often, but boy-oh-boy was it fun . . .

I also found myself thinking about this week's page in the shower, which is one of the world's best places to think deep thoughts . . .

Finally, here is a shot of most of this week's page (and two rapidly greening maples in the park behind my house):

You'll find all of this week's page here (border-free and colour-free) and here (borderful and colour-free) and here (borderful and colourful).

Happy Friday, friends!

Handmade goodies and other stuff I've been meaning to write about

Today feels like a point form sort of day . . .

• As it happens, Laura from Betula`Loo and I live in the same city.  Until a few weeks ago, we hadn't yet met in person, (although we had met online) so when she mentioned on her blog that she'd be hosting a table of her handmade goodies at a local craft fair, it seemed like the perfect opportunity to drop by and say hi.  It was a tiny bit surreal; we both know about each other's crafty efforts from our blogs, so even though it was our first conversation, we were already pretty much up to speed.  I picked up a few of her lovely creations, including lots of pretty floral notecards made with colourful recycled paper and a perfect zippered pouch to keep all my markers in one place.  (Formerly, they'd been rolling around loose on a high shelf away from curious little fingers.)  So nice to meet you in the real world, Laura!

• In downloading news, we are moving somewhat closer to a resolution.  Or a stalemate.  One of those two things.  
• On one hand, it appears that many readers are able to download journal pages without any problems at all.  This is excellent and thank you so much to everyone who stopped by to let me know.  
• It also appears, that some readers encounter downloading issues occasionally, but if they wait a while and try again, they are able to download without any problems.  This is still reasonably good news and thank you, too, to everyone who stopped by to let me know.  
• Sadly, there's also a small group who have difficulties accessing pages no matter what they do.  This is not excellent at all.  Thanks so much for everyone to stopped by to let me know they were trying and still not getting anywhere.  I have only one theory so far regarding this final group.  Possibly it's a firewall issue.  I know very little about the nuts and bolts of computer security, but my limited understanding is that some folks' computers may not be letting them access my pages.  
• On my end, I spent a number of anxiety-filled days searching "known issues" help boards and researching other options and trying to decide whether to switch to another online place to host my pdfs, but for many reasons I believe that Google Docs is still my best option.
• So, this is where we're at:  If you're able to download without difficulty, that is excellent.  If you are not able to download right away, give it a try a little later and we'll both cross our fingers and if you are then able to download, while not excellent, it's still good news.  If you try a little later and you're still not able to download, please let me know via email at christie(at)graceisoverrated(dot)com and together we'll figure out a way to get those pages to you.

• Finally, to finish on a happier note, I just want to let you know that I'm almost finished a new journal page and it should find its way here on Friday.  Hopefully, you'll be able to download it.

Are you having trouble downloading my pages?

Okay, so I am starting to worry a little here.  I've received a couple of emails in the past few days from readers who haven't been able to download any of my pages.

I've tried just now in Firefox and Explorer and there doesn't seem to be a problem, but I'd love to hear from anyone who can't access my pages.  If you let me know what works and what doesn't, I'm sure we'll be able to come up with a solution that works for everyone.

Notes to self

To post or not to post.  I had sort of a strange idea this week.  It's light and positive and mildly wonky, but that's me.  The thing is, I'm not entirely sure it's widely applicable outside my own imagination, so . . . well . . . that's where we're at.

Anyhoo, I started the week thinking about how it's May now and this new year keeps right on marching along and I have completely lost my rhythm.  I've been trying to put one foot in front of the other, even though neither one of them (my feet) have the foggiest clue where they're headed and I've been making lots of lists and plans, and searching my soul for all its worth, but I still can't find the beat.

I know I'll sort it out eventually, but until then, I've been telling myself that stuff happens (only I don't use the word stuff) and life's a big freaking mess a lot of the time and get over it already and it will all work out exactly the way it's supposed to.  And these things I say to myself, these little notes to self, they're helpful.  When it comes right down to it, I think it's really important to remind yourself that you're doing fine, that you're not a failure, that this too shall pass.  (This is not to say that I don't have a lot of positive input from outside my own head.  Every comment on this blog is a blessing and tremendous source of encouragement and I have an extremely supportive circle of family and friends.  But sometimes, I don't know; I need to silence the inner critic, who is quite relentless lately, and hunt down that part of me that believes in herself and force her to speak up.)

So, as a person who thinks in words and loves to see thoughts and ideas written down, I doodled out a few spaces to write out the various and sundry notes to self that become necessary every once in a while.  They're love notes really. 

Here are a few of mine, right over my computer where I can see them:

I'll write more of them as the mood strikes.  Maybe fold up a few and put them in my purse or the back pocket of my jeans to find on laundry day.

Like I said, a little wonky, but nice too.

I made up a pdf, just in case you're in the mood to write a little love note to self . . .

Happy Thursday, friends!