Just Jot January - 2018

The prompt for #JusJoJan today is "Indelible" suggested by Ruth at Image & Word. 

The first thing I thought of was the song "Permanent Stain" by the Backstreet Boys.

My girls and I saw them twice a couple of years ago when they were promoting their album "In A World Like This" and this was one of the hits.  Here are some pages from my concert album from one of those shows. 

Indelible memories from a great girls night out :) 

What do you think of when you hear/read the word "indelible?"  

Just Jot January - 2018

As I mentioned, Saturday's Just Jot January is following the prompts on Stream of Consciousness Saturday and I have chosen to use the day instead to write about other things I am doing.  Today I'm sharing The Sketchbook Project.  

I first heard about the Sketchbook Project from Jamie Ridler on one of her BTS (Behind the Scenes) episodes.  She talked about getting one and it sounded so intriguing that I decided to get one too.  I have until April 30th to send my book back and then it will do some traveling with a mobile unit until it finally rests in the Brooklyn Art Library.

You are given a blank book that has a bar code on the back and that is what is used to identify it once it gets into the library.

You can do anything you want inside or outside but the dimensions must remain at 5 x 7 and less than an inch thick.  You can make pop ups or pull outs as long as it will fold back in to the 5 x 7 size.  They don't want glitter or acrylic paint since those may make it too messy/sticky.   

This year they have given the themes of:  UNDERWATER / THIS IS NOT WHAT IT SEEMS / TEXTURES / LINES AND GRAPHICS / LONG STORIES WITH SHORT ENDINGS / A COMIC BOOK ENDING / NO WORRIES / TACOS / CONNECTIONS / PEOPLE I WISH I KNEW  

Or you can use a different theme.   I am not sure which one I'll pick yet but I better decide and get working on it!  I'm thinking that People I Wish I Knew might be a fun one to try.  There are a ton of people I wish I could meet, both living and dead.  On the other hand, No Worries seems like something I could get into as well.     

Once you have submitted it, you can have it set up so that you get a text message when someone looks at your book.  How cool is that?

Unfortunately, the deadline for getting one of these for this year was yesterday, January 5.  They have been doing it for a few years now so maybe you can get one next year if you want. 

I'll share pictures once I start creating in it.  I think this is a terrific project to go along with my word of the year, don't you?  

Just Jot January - 2018

#JusJoJan for January 5 is "Memories" suggested by Cage Dunn.

This is an easy prompt for me.  Memories are so important.  My mom is 94 and the last of the living relatives in her generation.  All of my aunts and uncles have passed away and I only knew one of my grandparents, my grandmother on my mother's side.  I am really sorry I did not ask her more questions about how her life was growing up and the early years with my grandfather.

I have a few pictures and I know that my grandmother spoke German and my grandfather spoke Italian.  My mom was one of twin girls and she had two brothers and another sister.

Here are my grandparents with the first set of grandchildren.  

I know even less about my dad's side of the family and have only one picture of the whole Stagnaro family together:

My dad is the handsome boy on the right standing next to his mother.  I knew my aunts and uncles on my dad's side but never met his parents.  My aunt (all in white) was the Queen of the day or something, I'm not even sure what.  

I know I need to sit down with some of these pictures and have my mom explain them to me and get the particulars so that I can put them in scrapbooks for my children.  It makes me sad to think about all the people who have lost their pictures in the recent fires we've had in California, not to mention all the hurricanes and floods.  Without these for reference, the memories will be lost as each generation passes. 

Write things down!  Tell the stories.  Don't let the memories fade.  

Thanks again to Linda G. Hill and the rest of the Just Jot January gang. 

Just Jot January - 2018 - Passionate

I'm participating in #JusJoJan hosted by Linda G. Hill and today's word, "Passionate," comes from Rosemary at Rosemary Carlson, Writer.

Just like the word from the other day, Boisterous, Passionate is an extreme emotion in my opinion.  I am such an even tempered person that extreme anything is hard for me to wrap myself around sometimes.

However, there are some things that I truly am passionate about:

My family:

I would do anything for this group and that includes our extended family and friends as well.  We may not always see eye to eye but we are the core.

Crafting:  I love making things and sharing them with others.  I love trying out new techniques, repurposing everyday objects and I love my crafting room. 

Concert going:  We went to a whopping 11 concerts last year alone.  I am able to combine my passion for concerts with my passion for crafting in my scrapbook pages:

We've been lucky enough to see some great ones, include Tom Petty and Prince who are sadly no longer with us.  We are waiting for this year's "season" to begin.


Reading:  I've been reading since I was a child and my first job was in the local public library.  I read 22 books last year, not a lot by some standards but I usually only read at night before bed so I tend to fall asleep after a few pages unless it is an exceptional book.  There were a few days that I took some time to sit on the back porch and read for a couple of hours and that was very nice.  I'd love to have a house big enough to have a library room.   

Last but certainly not least, I am passionate about smiles.  I've made it my mission in life for the past couple of years to try and make at least one person smile every day.  I believe it has a ripple effect and I think it is good for both the giver and the receiver.  I am so passionate about it, I use it as my "brand" in my blog, Janet's Smiles, and my Etsy shop "ASmile4UfromJanet."   There is so much hatred and political strife nowadays that I can't do anything about but smiling is easy.  I've had a couple of customers at Michaels (especially during the holidays) comment on how I am always smiling no matter how long the line is.  That makes my day.

I'm looking for a "smile" I can use to as my "signature."  I don't want to use just a "smiley face" because those are too generic.  I want something that is a little more "me."  That may be one of the things I work on this year, finding my right "smile."  

How about you?  Passionate about anything?  Did I make you smile today?  Make sure to visit the #JusJoJan gang for more passionate examples.  

Just Jot January - Vision Cards

On Wednesdays and Saturdays the Just Jot January follows "Wordless Wednesday" and "Stream of Conscious Saturday" prompts but I think I'll use those days to add posts about other things.  Today I'll share my vision cards for 2018:

I made five of them again and kept the same basic focus areas on each:

I'm calling this one "Smart Money Matters."  With my fluctuating income it is more important than ever that I get a true handle on our money and where it goes and how I can better use it to make sure that we have money enough for us to live a decent life in our retirement.  

This one is "Home Clean Home."  We have a lot of cleaning and decluttering that could easily be done around the house and none of it will cost a lot of money.  The biggest expense I can see for this year would be to clean out and "landscape" the backyard.  Cleaning out the garage and other "catchalls" around the house would go a long way to making things better.  We might even make some money if we had a garage/yard sale.  I think I'll try to plan for that when the weather warms up in spring/summer.

Healthy Living is this card's focus.  I did well last year but toward the end of the year I let things slip by.  I know I do better when I plan meals in advance and when I get some extra walking in.  I really enjoyed walking by the Bay and I think I'm going to give the beach a try.  I live so close there's no reason why I can't get there once in a while. 

My Crafty Life.  Of course with my word of the year being Create, this one had to get some attention.  Making more things to sell on the Etsy site is one thing but I would also like to try making some videos and of course blogging consistently.  I may not make a million but I think I might be able to help increase my income if I do better with affiliate sharing and exploring YouTube possibilities.  I don't want to be one of "those" people who bombard you with the "buy me/try me" type emails though.  I'd like to find some more craft fairs to do throughout the year instead of just at the holidays as well.

Last but not least is "Going Places."  We had such fun with the Big City Hunt last year and going to see the Summer of Love expo that I am sure we can find some new things to explore this year.  I've also seen a couple of train trips that look interesting.  One is called the Amtrak Starlight Express and goes from Seattle to Los Angeles along the coast.  The cost does not seem too bad and it looks like a fun ride.  Visiting Monterey and Carmel also is on my list.  

On the back of each card I have written my intentions and initial "goals."


As I looked at these cards and did some thinking about the year ahead and what I want in my life I realized that I had left out a major component...Relationships.  I made another card which I am calling Heart to Heart:

I have mentioned before that I am an introvert so going to parties and being with a lot of people is not exactly my forte but I do have some really great friends and I do love to spend time with them.  I also want to be conscious of being a good wife to my husband, mother to our children, daughter to my mom, sister, aunt, neighbor, etc.    

How fortunate the first full moon of the year was on January 1 so I was able to send these intentions off to the Universe right away!

I've been doing these cards for several years now, starting with the guidance of Jamie Ridler in her Vision Cards class.  You can check that out if you want to make your own set of cards.  I'd love to hear about them if you do!

Just Jot January - 2018

January 2 -  Today's word is "Boisterous" suggested by Dan Antion at No Facilities. 

Boisterous is not a word that anyone who knows me would use to describe me.  I am definitely an introvert and people who are boisterous tend to scare me a bit.  I am definitely not attracted to people who drink too much and are boisterous.  They irritate me. 

Interestingly, my husband can occasionally be very boisterous.  Here we are at a concert.  While I am sticking out my tongue, you can definitely tell the difference in the amount of energy we have.  They say opposites attract so... 

I have been known to slap a high five at a baseball game and cheer when we are scoring lots of runs but that's about as boisterous as I get. 

Thanks to Linda G. Hill for sponsoring this Just Jot January.  You can find the rules and prompts on her site.

Are you boisterous? 

Just Jot January - 2018

I've got big plans for this year.  Blogging more is one of them.  I had 21 fewer posts last year than in 2016.  I'm hoping to get at least 180 in this year, that would be about 15 a month.  Should be able to do that, right?

To help me accomplish it, I've decided to join a few more groups.  One of them is Just Jot January or #JusJoJan sponsored by Linda G. Hill.  I like that abbreviation because it is like a combination of my name and my sister's (JoAnne).  I really miss her and I know that she would have jumped on the writing bandwagon.  She passed away before the blogosphere really got going or I know she would have had some kind of a blog for sure.  She was a writer at heart and her closest claim to fame was the time she submitted a story to a magazine and came in second place.  The winner?  Earl Hamner - you may remember him from his little story about the Walton Family.

I was introduced to the Just Jot January by my A to Z blogging friend, John Holton and I've been wanting to stretch my creative writing so I thought this might be fun to try.  In any case, the prompt for today, January 1, is Drama, suggested by Ritu at ButISmileAnyway.   (Hello, was I meant to find that blog or what?) 

So, drama.  I'm just going to say that in my experience (through my children - two girls with a boy in the middle), girls have way more drama than boys and it doesn't just last through the childhood/high school days but even into adulthood.  I don't think I've ever had my son come to me complaining about something that one of his friends said or did that irritated him but I can't even count the number of times my girls have come to me to vent about this, that or the other thing that one of their friends was doing/saying that irritated them or caused a rift in their relationship, not to mention the tears.  I don't remember experiencing this drama when I was in school myself but then again, I went to a Catholic grammar school and had very few really close friends.  Besides, I'm sure the nuns would have found drama to be some kind of a sin.  Once I was in high school I started working my freshman year and had little time for such foolishness.

I'll end this jot with a couple of pictures:

The last moon of 2017.  Tonight is the first full moon of the year.

I'm going to continue my habit of taking a selfie a month and this is from today.  My kids make fun of me for the fact that I close my eyes when I have my picture taken and I guess that's true, even when I am the one taking the picture!

Uncommon Type by Tom Hanks is my first book of the year in my 2018 reading challenge.  I'm following the categories given by PopSugar again.  They are here if you want to play along.  This will be in my "book given as a gift" category since I got it for Christmas from my daughter, Amanda.

If you'd like to play along with Just Jot January, the rules are in the link here.

How about you?  What are you planning for 2018?  Love to hear about it.