things that run through my head on a rainy thursday night...

June 27, 2019 Arlene Giddings

mermaids
you better start reading that book club book!
could i drive a taxi?
damn it…i forgot about the #100dayproject
ack! patreon
i bet i totally could drive a taxi.
robots
do i have enough yarn to knit a blanket?
where did i put the knitting needles…
july bujo
oh! july…where am i going to watch the fireworks
do i remember how to knit
oh yeah, i was totally going to knit a robot!
ballet workouts
tea
i should watch marie kondo
or maybe some clint eastwood movies
goats
a make your own sundae party would be fun
art classes for kids? would anyone come?
can i rent the shop out to someone as a workspace
oh! i bet i could build a robot in the shop if i knew how to weld!
note to self - google how to drywall
sunflowers
i wish i had a camper van…just a little one…
tomato plants
i want to kayak
i should really learn how to swim
poetry books
i should get my bike fixed…
i need a new raincoat
oh! i should paint my toenails
paint…i need to get the watercolors out again….
mermaids

summer bucket list - 2017

July 22, 2017 Arlene Giddings

i know we are already far into july...
and i don't know about you
but i am now hitting that panicky
summer is fleeting...
it's going too fast,
i have to do more
or it's going to be gone feeling.

you know...
you get that sudden sick anxious feeling...

that
winter is coming
feeling...

i made myself a summer bucket list
at the beginning of this summer
because...well...no weddings...
means i can actually DO some things this summer.

i just realized there are already some more to
get checked off the list
as of this weekend...
and there will probably be more
that i will add to it
but for now, that's the list...
and t-minus roughly a month & one week
to get it done! (& cue panicky feeling again)
(although some of these will bleed over into fall...like tree-go & maybe cabot trail)

and (although it's been proven unwise
for me to ask this in the past,
i am always open to suggestions as well..
whatcha got on YOUR summer bucket list?)
(everyone DOES make one, right?
it's not just me...)

and a pretty flower picture....just...because...it's a pretty flower.

the BIG "why not" list...

June 4, 2016 Arlene Giddings

i don't really have a bucket list.
but what i do have...
is a BIG why not list.
(and when I am feeling really rebellious,
it becomes the BIG why the hell not list :) )

i started this list a long time ago,
maybe 2009...
i shared it on my blog then
but since then
there have been some changes...
some things have been added
and some
have just been removed
as i have realized over time that
that maybe that thing is just not that important to me anymore.

and...
some things have been COMPLETED!

a few people have asked about my list
so i thought maybe i would share it again
since i recently updated it to include it in my
bullet journal.

what the list actually looks like right now in my bullet journal

i apologize in advance for the length of this list...

the BIG "why not" list

Do 100 ideas for creativity by keri smith.
Read something of my own out loud in public. COMPLETE
Go to Cabot Trail again with my parents. (date is set for this! Sept 16, 2016)
Go to Disney with Stirling and kids...if they want to go, hahaha.
See a real 3D movie at an IMAX.
Build a studio (not just for photography but with good light).
Make a wedding topper out of fimo.
Have a gallery show at a different venue.
Be a part of a writing group. COMPLETE
Start a writing group in Summerside.
Take a writing class or workshop. COMPLETE
Take a creative writing class at UPEI.
Do ten tutorials about Photoshop.
Design my own business cards and logo.
Have something I have made in a shop.
Write a long story.
Drive a race car.
Drive to Moncton by myself. COMPLETE
Bungee jump
Do yoga regularly.
Try judo, tai chi or kickboxing.
Have one thing published somewhere.
Participate in a bridal show. COMPLETE
Start a real letter correspondence (a grown up way of saying i want a penpal!)
Participate in a Christmas craft fair.
Learn how to drive a standard.
Learn how to change a tire.
Have a photo published in a magazine.
Be interviewed.
Meet a blogger that i read in real life.
Make a quilt. (I may remove this one, I'm not sure it still holds interest for me)
Take a drawing class.
Try mixed media art (Kelly Rae).
Take a course in something.
Enter Island literary awards.
Choose a theme for one month (photo & words).
Make bread.
Make a large paper cut image.
Go to Italy.
See the Skydiggers. COMPLETE...TWICE!
Make my own salsa.
Grow sunflowers.
Reread all of Margaret Atwood.
Invite my parents over for supper.
Write a short story.
Take a sewing class.
Play scrabble.
Teach the kids how to play SCAT, play with my parents.
Find a job that I love ALL the time. COMPLETE
Go rock-climbing.
Ride a real roller-coaster.
Photograph all the churches & graveyards on PEI (this one may not make the list much longer either)
Own a hammock.
Build a tree-house.
Knit a robot.
Knit a sock monkey.
Make a blurb book of my blog.
Learn how to play one song on guitar.
Make peppermint bark.
Hand carve something from wood.
Write a letter to someone I am a fan of.
Do the second Simple Abundance book.
Hear Margaret Atwood read in person. COMPLETE!
Color every page in a coloring book - start to finish.
Try doing a latch rug kit.
Make cinnamon rolls.
Re-read Constance - Patricia Clapp
Try watercolor painting. COMPLETE
Play checkers.
Go to Ireland.
Plant a kitchen herb garden.
Make my own poetry/photography book.
Join a photography club.
Read all of the Harry Potter books.
Go to Scotland.
Read the Outlander series.
Make the 1001 ♥ shadowbox idea.
Go on a photo walk.
Go to Newfoundland.
Make a Halloween decoration out of paper mache.
Make a mushroom out of fimo.
Finish my Anne painting and post on Etsy. COMPLETE
Find Panmure Island.
Take photos of graveyard on trail.
Become a member of Women's Business Association.
Have a gallery show at Beanz.
Read War and Peace. started
Grow my hair long and tangly.
Journal every day for one month straight.
Write a kid's book.
Try karate.
Own a Mark camera.
Learn to crochet.
20 minute walk outside every day for a month.
Be debt-free.
Read and do "Writing Down the Bones" again.
Start and complete a 365 project of some sort.
Make apple butter.
Read at least one book on photography.
Own polka dot rain-boots. COMPLETE
Buy new docs. COMPLETE
Develop our forgotten rolls of film.
Buy a typewriter.
Plan an overnight escapade with 2 certain friends.
Go on a road trip with Stirling.
Attend a retreat (ideally...liz lamoreaux's)
Tree-go
Take a painting class with Suzanne O'Callaghan.
Act in a play. COMPLETE
Switch home movies to digital.
Learn to play the drums.
Add to my tattoo.
Get the dandelions to birds tattoo.
See the Redwood forest.
Get a new mailbox and cool house numbers.
Finish the house.
Buy a necklace from Liz Elayne
Make an inspiration board.
Take a photography class.
Finger-paint.
Bake a red velvet cake.
Learn how to cable knit.
Donate blood.
Go on a train ride.
Try a zip line. COMPLETE
Make a stop action movie.
Be in Artful Blogging.
Be in Where women create.
Do the "Drawing on the right side of your brain" book.
Make stamped metal jewelry.
Make meat pies.
Do an Alicia Burke class online.
Do a Mondo Beyondo class.
Make wonton soup.
Drive in a transfer truck.
Read all of LM Montgomery's books.
Hang glass bottles from a tree.
Move to the country.
Put some photos to music in a video.
Own a goat.
Knit a big comfy earth toned blanket for me.
Container garden. COMPLETE
Drive a snowmobile.
Sled down a giant hill.
Make caramel apples.
Go to a demolition derby.
Fly in a fast plane.
BE IN a demolition derby.
Make strawberry freezer jam.
Knit a dozen dishclothes.
Make a calendar out of photos.
Try Zumba.
Make my own pop up book.
Go to Canada's Wonderland.
Read and do Inner Excavation.
Drive a dirt bike.
Get my taxi driver licence
Shoot a month of sunsets
Go to Peggy's Cove
Get a little pug puppy friend for Pugsley
Shoot a month of sunrises.
Hike ALL the trails on PEI.
Go somewhere with zero gravity.
Go berry picking.
Hot air balloon ride.
Read the Robert Jordan series.
Watch a meteor shower.
See Blue Rodeo again.
Go to Niagara Falls.
Try flying trapeze lessons.
Raise chickens
Have a house with a sunroom.
Build a greenhouse.
Learn to meditate.
Read kids books to kids at a library.
Try glassblowing.
Go to Grand Manan.
See a murmuration for real.
Try mountain biking.
Make a coloring book.
Be a bingo caller.
Ride a mechanical bull.
Perform a wedding ceremony.
Segway
Go go-kart racing
Drive an ATV.
Own a jeep...orange...or purple.
Make an "all family" involved haunted house at halloween
Try horse back riding.
Do a big jigsaw puzzle

I warned you...it's a long list.
I just read something that talked about the Golden Rule of the bucket list
being not to focus
on completing the bucket list,
just the tasks that are on it...
but it's good to keep adding to it.

So I guess I'm doing it right, heeheehee.

And by sharing it, I'm throwing it out there to the universe.
Take a chance, see what happens.

happy happy happy happy happy happy

January 6, 2016 Arlene Giddings

every year, i pick a word
to use as a focus for the year...
some years, it works great for me.
some years, well...they have been duds.

last year's word was
RISK
and it worked pretty good for the 2015...
it was the stepping stone to this year's word choice really.

part of my reason for choosing RISK last year
was because I was thinking about slowing down on the
photography business...
but i was scared to.

but i did it.

for 2016, i have about 8 weddings booked
which far different from the 18-20 i have been doing the past couple of years.
and, although it still gives me a little fear...
what if i stop...will people forget me...will i lose out...what weddings will i miss...
how much regret will i have...
you know...that kind of thinking....the scary kind.

but i am also feeling happy...a sense of relief...
and am making plans.

my new years resolutions consist of a lot of the same items
i add every year...and every september...and every spring...
weight loss, walking, water, fitbit, yoga, eating better, etc, etc, etc.

but this year, i have intentionally added items
FOR FUN...things that will make me HAPPY :) :) :)

cause really...that's what i want this year....
just a big mess of giggly, loud, a-little-in-your-face,
hold your sides laugh out loud HAPPY...
(with a little bit of weight loss, cause really, who am i kidding?)

the BIG "why not" list

of things i may do with all my free time