Over the years, I’ve had many different notebooks where I keep track of my life and my todos. For the last 5-6 years, I’d been using the Moleskine grid notebooks and I still love them. They are big enough to fit my needs but small enough to carry in my purse. But I always find myself looking at other options just to see what others use and see if I might want to try new things.
Over the last year, I kept coming back to the traveler’s notebook posts on pinterest, instagram, etc. I didn’t want to buy it just for the sake of buying since I’m pretty happy with my existing system and my one foray into planner-land last year reminded me that I like my system and I can easily spend a lot of money on a different system which ends up being a huge waste and I can’t stand wasting money. (or food!)
After hemming and hawing for months, I finally decided to give it a try. I bought a notebook that seemed reasonably priced. I bought three inserts: grid, weekly planner, and blank (which I had read would be great for watercolor – it is not.) I told myself I could buy more if I used this for a month and liked it.
After three weeks, I broke down and bought a few more things. The zipper pouch so I could store my pen and they wouldn’t keep falling off, the note holder for my stickers, a few little pockets, and the watercolor insert. All in all, it was still a lot less money (and time) than I invested into my planner which is sitting in a box. (Actually I have three planners, all of which are not being used.)
I’ve used the watercolor insert for my July (or august) art project.
I’ve used the grid insert for journaling and the weekly planner, you can see above. And here’s the pouch below. I only put 4-5 pens inside and it adds very minimal bulk to my notebook.
So far, I love love love this notebook and it’s making me really happy. For my trip to Sydney, I have some big plans for it so we’ll see if that works but even if it doesn’t, I love that I can have different books for different things I like to do. We’ll see if this system sticks around or if I go back to my trusty Moleskines.
Stories from 2017 is a year-long project for 2017. You can read more about my projects for 2017 here.
This post is going to be a bit weird so feel free to skip it but since, for me, it’s an important story from 2017, I wanted to make sure to document it.
My kids go to a school that focuses on “gifted” education. To get in, you need to score two standard deviations above the norm on an IQ test. And while none of us in this house believe in any value that comes from scoring higher on an IQ exam, this school happens to be a very good fit for my kids for a multitude of reasons so we look past the fact that it considers itself to be a school for the gifted.
Two weeks ago, I was at the school for an all-day Parents’ Association meeting. On the agenda we received, it said that the day would culminate in a talk by our school’s activism teacher who would speak to what it means to be gifted. I figured I would sneak away right before the talk and drive to work instead.
As things worked out, there wasn’t an easy moment to escape so I stayed for the beginning of the talk and about ten minutes in, she said something that completely changed the way I saw my life. (My *own* life from when I was growing up, not my kids’ lives now.)
She put up the above slide on “overexcitabilities” which is a poorly worded name but what it means is that gifted kids/people experience the world in a qualitatively different manner. It’s not better or worse, it’s different. This might have been a “nothing” slide for many others in the room but it was a major shift for me. For as long as I can remember, I’ve had a story around not belonging and not being like others. Especially around my childhood with my family and friends from that time.
What I realized looking at this slide was that I wasn’t just “feeling” different. I actually was experiencing life differently. It wasn’t a feeling, it was a fact. I don’t really know how to put into words what this means for me and why it was such a jarring moment. It mostly made me realize that I was different and that was ok. It made me think differently about my belonging issues differently. Like I was trying to belong into a world that I wasn’t even experiencing the same way as the ones in it. As I said, hard for me to explain.
I also feel obliged to take a moment here and point out that I am not saying I am gifted and aren’t I awesome and all that crap. All I am saying is that I was different. I actually was. And this came with a lot of suffering at the time for me. A lot of trying to reconcile the world people around me felt and the one I felt. Seeing this slide made it all come together for me.
She then put up this other slide and while I have many of these (rapid speech, major issues with smell and sound, and definitely an intensified emotional connection to the world) it was hard for me to tell how generalizable these are. Maybe everyone falls into one or more of these buckets so I am not sure how much of a “thing” this is. Nonetheless, it was interesting to see a slide that talked about some of the quirks of my personality.
I didn’t get to stay for all of her talk because I had to drive back to work but I am so glad I was there for that one moment. Even if none of this revelation is true, I know that what matters most is not the truth but the way we think of life so if all this did was change my perspective, it’s exactly what I needed.
I will also say that I am not sure if any of this is true for my kids, but if they feel even a small bit of what I did as a kid, I am so grateful that they are going to a school that’s paying attention to the fact that people experience the world in different ways.
Stories from 2017 is a year-long project for 2017. You can read more about my projects for 2017 here.
A week after the little boy finished second grade, this big boy finished sixth grade. Sixth grade! How did that even happen?! I can’t believe my kid is going to be a seventh grader!
This was a milestone year for David. He started middle school at a brand new school and really stepped up his game. He went from having no homework to practically two hours a night. He completed a collection of challenging multi-month projects throughout the year and he learned so very much. He adjusted to the new school, the new expectations, and the new work beautifully. I couldn’t be prouder if I tried.
Monday night was his culmination, where we get to see some of the work he spent his time on during the second half of the year. We started the night at the Social Studies lab where we watched his video on the artifact he researched (The Enigma Machine.) On the way out, I took a photo of his previous math homework which studied patterns:
We then went to the library to see the monument he and his friend built in honor of Oppenheimer. (seeing a pattern?)
And then all of his writing from the second half of the year. Poetry, creative writing, Washington D.C. observations, and more. As well a sculpture he did in art class.
We ended up at the cafeteria where he displayed his Solar House project. Where he researched, documented and built a solar house in the country he was studying (Puerto Rico). He was given a budget for this three-person house (a grandmother, a mother and a daughter.) He had to make the floorplan, calculate the angle at which the sun would hit the house, do all the math on how much he could spend on every bit of building the house (as well as the land.) Study Feng Shui on how to decorate the house, and design a brochure in Spanish.
I think it’s fair to say he was quite proud of his end-product.
We even strung some lights to make it stand out and we built some mini-furniture for the bedrooms and the living room.
quite a fantastic ending to quite a fantastic year. Super super proud of you, my son! Onward to seventh grade!
Stories from 2017 is a year-long project for 2017. You can read more about my projects for 2017 here.
And just like that another school year is over. How is that even possible?! Nathaniel finished second grade this past Thursday. We then went to a class party at a friend’s house where the kids played and the adults chatted. I was quite sick but showed up any way. It was wonderful just to see Nathaniel experiencing so much joy.
This was our last year at his current school. So it was saying good-bye to second grade, to his friends, to his school all at once. We’ve loved this school and we also look forward to the next one.
Since I was a room-parent this year, the teachers got a mug for me and had each kid sign it. They also gave me a card and a Starbucks giftcard. It was so very kind of them.
i’ve loved every day of second grade and I hope the new school, the new class, the new grade proves to be just as amazing.
Onward, my wonderful boy!
Stories from 2017 is a year-long project for 2017. You can read more about my projects for 2017 here.
I started dating Jake in 1994. We have been together 23 years. I am 42 so that’s more than half my life. I’ve spent more time with Jake than any other human being. I’ve lived longer with Jake than I have in any home, in any city, in any country. Longer than I’ve had any job. The only person I’ve spent more time with is myself.
This week, we celebrated our fifteenth wedding anniversary. We went to a lovely dinner on the way to the airport to pickup David from his DC trip. We didn’t do flowers, presents, fancy celebrations. We don’t tend to do that. I have nothing against couples who do or those who don’t. I’ve just learned over the years that, for me, what matters most is that he’s stood by me in all of my moments. Good ones, bad ones, sad ones, crazy ones, incredible ones. He’s been there the whole time.
He held me, he sat with me, he made me laugh.
He has made my life so so much better and I am grateful for every single moment we’ve spent together. Twenty-three years later, I am still as much (if not more) in love with him than I ever was.
Here’s to many many many more, my love.
Thank you for marrying me. I love you madly.
Stories from 2017 is a year-long project for 2017. You can read more about my projects for 2017 here.
There are four kids leaving Nathaniel’s class this year. Two of the moms got together and organized a Good-pie party (named after this book). The whole class brought pies (pizza, savory, sweet) and the kids each signed these lovely boards per kid.
Nathaniel got sick so we ended up having to go home early but this still was the most magical good-bye from his class.
Stories from 2017 is a year-long project for 2017. You can read more about my projects for 2017 here.
Take your kid to work day was a few weeks ago and even though I was scheduled to take each kid, David decided he didn’t want to miss school. Nathaniel had no such concern so off we went!
We played with this fun Android emoji thing first.
You make a face and it turns it into an emoji.
Nathaniel had quite a bit of fun with it.
He kept trying to stick his tongue out which I think wasn’t a setting they had.
Then he built a lego robot.
He was very attentive.
putting on the axels I think.
Almost there.
And here we are. He then got to race it down a lego track.
Next up was Coding with Chrome.
He spent time chatting with all of them.
He got to code this robotic arm to pick up the chess pieces you see in the back and drop them to the green bucket. He did it in record time and it was awesome!
Then he made some paper parachutes and put them into a wind tunnel to see how well they did.
And then we looked at the dinos.
I told him he had to do a different pose and this is what I got.
But of course he can’t help himself 🙂
Looking for fossils.
He was in such a happy mood the whole time.
We went to see a bunch of animals they were showing (from Africa.)
And finally we went back to the cafe to have lunch with my friend Ramesh who was here from Sydney and then had some ice cream (him) and coffee (me) before it was time to head home.
We took some photos together and you can see he really had fun.
And that was it for Take Your Kid to Work Day. All in all, I think we can call it a success.
Stories from 2017 is a year-long project for 2017. You can read more about my projects for 2017 here.
This was the third year David did the San Jose Tech Museum’s Tech Challenge. This year’s challenge was to cross two ravines. Which translated to crossing two tables without leaving any pieces behind. The second table was higher as well. The kids worked really really hard on this extremely tough challenge.
As always they went to have an interview with the judge before the challenge itself where they were asked a lot of questions. We got to watch this from above. And then they did the challenge itself. Their amazing gondola made it through the first table but then fell on the way to the third. And then they ran out of time, so they didn’t get to fully complete it.
They were all dejected as they walked away to get their medals and their photo taken.
But we were all so proud of their incredibly unique design and creative thinking. and incredible work.
As it worked out, they ended up winning an award anyway. They won Outstanding Engineering Journal which was almost funny because it was such an uphill battle getting that journal together this year.
In the end, it was all worth it and another year of wonderful memories, hard work, and very proud parents!
Stories from 2017 is a year-long project for 2017. You can read more about my projects for 2017 here.
Nathaniel turned a wonderful eight this week!! We started our celebrations with a big balloon and a cupcake to wake up to as we always do.
I tried to take some fun photos as he ate his cupcake but he was too busy eating it and being mischievous.
Which is Nathaniel’s favorite thing to be.
He then got to open one present before school. This was a fidget cube we’d ordered for him months and months ago. It turned out to be a pretty popular gift.
While he was at school, I decided he needed more balloons so I went and got 8 colorful ones and waited for him at pickup with all of them. It was a hit and he was quite happy to have them!
We took some shots while we waited to pickup David.
When he came home from school, he got to open all of his other presents and have Oreo ice cream cake which was his choice (in the end he ate all the icing but none of the ice cream!)
I love this boy madly. 
Especially watching him laugh.
He got some legos, a circuit board, some other circuit board like toy, a remote-controlled car, and a book this year. He was quite delighted.
Over the weekend, we had a little party for him at a Jumping place and he was in a good mood as always!
How can you not love this boy!
Happy happy birthday little boy! Can’t believe you’re eight now!!
Stories from 2017 is a year-long project for 2017. You can read more about my projects for 2017 here.
I was intending to do a Week in the Life this week, but after the day I had on Tuesday, I just decided I didn’t want to do it. So the only day I took a lot of photos ended up being Monday. So I figured it could be a Day in the Life even though it wasn’t really an ordinary day because David had no school and so we let Nathaniel skip it, too. And I took the day off work. None of these are typical. But still here are snippets from our day.
I wake up to find Nathaniel reading on the couch. This is very typical for just about every morning. He’s since started reading the Percy Jackson series.
He also turns on all my shiny lights. I think this is because he wakes up when it’s still dark (and also he loves the lights just like I do.)
A quick early morning shot together. David’s still sleeping.
It’s time to wake up David because Nathaniel and I are very hungry. David got this from HarryPotter land and it’s one of his favorite things to sleep with, it’s extremely soft. The other blue/pink one is his favorite Pokemon which was handmade by a wonderful lady on etsy.
I told Nathaniel that he always has his mouth open in all my photos. Here’s what I got in return. You’ll see he made me live to regret mentioning it.
We went to Cafe Borrone for breakfast, one of our favorite places. His mouth is still open and you can see David didn’t think it’s funny either.
We’re back home and while the kids played, I checked out the new Facebook group for my wonderful Life Restoration class.
Then it was time to do some painting while listening to a book.
During the camp, one of the ladies was wearing LuLaroe and it was so soft that I decided I had to get one (I have since bought one more.)
While Nathaniel played in mine room, David watched some movies on the stairs.
I decided these rocks would be my June art project. I loved the ones I saw at Melody’s ranch.
Shine cards are my May project and my homework for One Little Word in April. I took the time to journal a few.
Then it was time to go out again so we went to Palo Alto for some super yummy food. We love the waffles with nutella and bananas and strawberries at Coupa Cafe.
And I love the cappuccinos, too.
Then we went to Rocket Fizz which sells just about any candy you can imagine. David got a chocolate bar with cake batter and Nathaniel got gummy roulettes.
We dropped David off at his Tech Challenge session and got back home. I love how the tree is so big right now.
While Nathaniel read, I spent some time working on my Life Restoration work.
And planned the rest of my week.
Then it was time to go to Kepler’s to see one of Nathaniel’s favorite authors. The first three rows were full of his classmates.
He spent time chatting with all of them.
And then got to have his books signed and we loved listening to Andy Griffiths again. He is absolutely amazing and if you have little kids and he comes to your town, you must must go see him. He’s amazing.
Then it was time to go home, shower and go to bed. David was also home from his session. He listened to a bit of music while I made lunches for the next day and listened to more of my book. It was an unusual day but also a magical one.
Stories from 2017 is a year-long project for 2017. You can read more about my projects for 2017 here.
I spent last week at Life Restoration Camp. This is a multi-part story. I need to write about this one for a few weeks but I first need to digest everything so I can write about it. But one of the highlights of the week was meeting Melody and Kathy in person. I’ve worked with these two amazing women for quite some time and it’s been a dream of mine to get to meet them, hug them, and hug them some more. I got to do all that and more this week.
To say that I am grateful would be the understatement of the year.
There are thousands of words I will write about Life Restoration Camp. But this week’s story is dedicated to honoring the two women (and many others who work with them) who have changed my life permanently.
Stories from 2017 is a year-long project for 2017. You can read more about my projects for 2017 here.
I don’t have a story this week but I have this lovely photo as the weather finally got a bit warmer for a little while (it’s cold again now.) and we decided to take out the hammock and enjoy the warmish days. I love sitting in the yard and so do the kids. i love watching them sit together, laugh together and be together. may they have each other forever.
Stories from 2017 is a year-long project for 2017. You can read more about my projects for 2017 here.
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projects for twenty twenty-four
projects for twenty twenty-three
projects for twenty twenty-two
projects for twenty twenty-one
projects for twenty nineteen
projects for twenty eighteen
projects from twenty seventeen
monthly projects from previous years
some of my previous projects
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