Ethnic Scrapbooking

Dock E. Mickens

My Dad's youngest sibling (#13) passed away this week.  Obituaries bother me, because they are just a few lines and really don't tell the story...just the facts.  Here are my recollections about Uncle Mickey.

I remember him from a young age, always reading books (he was a bonafided genius). I especially remember him walking me around to the different shops in Masontown, PA as he babysat me and my sister sometimes while our parents (R.N.'s) worked with my uncle, a physician in his Doctor's office.

Then when I was in high school, I'd visit with him and my Grandma Jo every Sunday and we'd read through a stack of newspapers from around the world and talk international politics.

On visits home from college, we'd spend hours talking about my courses, especially Economics and President Reagan.

As a young adult, we talked mostly politics as I was living in Washington, DC and through the Clinton years we'd talk about how the applications of Reaganomics was unfolding.

In his forties, we had deep discussions about the meaning of life and he endured a quadruple by-pass heart surgery and the doctors explained he had the heart of an eighty year old man.  They were referring to it's physical condition, but I thought about it in 80 years of wisdom and intellect.

Uncle Mickey was in so many ways unlike his other siblings, he clearly was a different soul, he loved to have friends around (drank more beer than a sailor), was never afraid to hold one of my newborns, engaged in the activities the kids and I were into and to be honest, I never saw him lose his temper or scream and yell, get loud in a friendly debate... yes, but never in anger (which is saying a lot).

Throughout all my life, he was living, but highly functioning with a mental illness, and this past Sunday, I had played out in my mind the conversation I had planned to have with him on our next visit this weekend.  I didn't get that chance as he died just hours after my thought, but I was blessed to be able to pray for his soul, not knowing what was about to happen.

This weekend as we labor to get to picinics, the beach and visits with family, think about the work you do that has far-reaching and long-lasting affects.  As we rest from our physical labor, let's kick it up a notch and labor in love and in relationships.

God Bless my Uncle Mickey, to my surprise he was an organ donor and will go onto to bless those he never knew, again God Bless Uncle Mickey.

Ubuntu Village and PLAN USA

My sister, Candace is the Executive Director of Ubuntu Village and this week she's part of a very exciting project.  Six Ghanian students are visiting Washington, DC and the United States for the very first time.  Program sponsor, PLAN USA's website has a brief overview of the tour, please click on over there and check it out, if you are in the Washington, DC Metro area please plan to come to the fund raising event the Saturday night.

Our local news, Fox 5 DC did a piece on the group's visit today and included a link about Ubuntu Village on their website too!

I am so proud of my sister, she's realizing just one of her dreams and living out her passion.  I hope you can see why I dedicated my book, Ethnic Scrapbooking to her.

 Here she is on the coast of South Africa in February 2008, since then she's been to Tunisia, back to South Africa, Scotland and Senegal.  Out of the 40 cultures and countries represented in Ethnic Scrapbooking, I believe she's been to 38 of them!

 

35 minutes of crafting

Sometimes by the time Friday afternoon rolls around, I am so spent from the week’s activities, I just want to do SOMETHING creative or crafty just to let my spirit know that there’s more to life than the busyness that seems to gobble me up.

A couple of Fridays ago, I finally opened up a Stampin’ Up order that has been sitting on the table for over two weeks.  It was almost time to go and pick up Leah from gymnastics and I so wanted to play.  I only had 35 minutes available so, I set the timer on my iPhone and went to work using my new toys (watercolor crayons and a new stamp set) and pulled out some old ones too (chalk from 10 years ago and watercolors just as old, that I have never used!).

I managed to get the foundation of four greeting cards done and felt like I’d conquered a bit of the busyness that had consumed me all week. What are some ways you try to gain back control when the busyness of life takes hold?

Customer Review on Amazon

I found this customer review of my book on the AMAZON website today.  Did I tell you that my book is available on Amazon?  Yep, it sure is, but it's not autographed...gotta get that from my publishers website, see link in sidebar.

Lisa Sanford takes her love of scrapbooking, which is more than a hobby, and shares with readers how to incorporate their ethnic roots into the craft. Sanford informs readers that scrapbooking can contain elements of family traditions, cultural beliefs and their diverse family history. The colorful, glossy pages are eye-catching and the information helps one to think outside the box when creating memories to cherish.

Being one who has all my pictures stored in bags, boxes and crammed in photo albums, I am inspired to organize and display my experiences in a more meaningful and appealing manner. ETHNIC SCRAPBOOKING is an excellent book for beginners or advanced scrapbookers. The end results - a reflection of deep family traditions, history and culture - can be handed down from generation to generation. But, this book can be embraced by all, regardless of ethnicity.

Reviewed by Paula Henderson
of The RAWSISTAZ(tm) Reviewers

Phelps Mania

Since Michael Phelps is a Baltimore native, we can't help having Phelps mania!  I am in awe of his dedication and ability to DREAM SO BIG! I've been thinking about what is going on in my life right now where I could be DREAMING BIG and working towards it.

One area that I'm thinking of, is having all ofg my kids involved in a sport/activity that they TRULY love and encourage and inspire them to DREAM BIG.  That's a big dream for me because it requires sacrifice on my end emotionally, physically and financially.

Looking forward to him returning to Baltimore, I'm sure a parade is in order and I plan to take the kids...we've been up watching the Olympics live every night!

Yes, Joseph, one day you too will glide across the water like the great Michael Phelps!

Our Portuguese Water Dog turns ONE!

Our  Portuguese Water Dog, Sierra turned one years old last Tuesday.  She spent the whole day at the groomer, Animal Crackers in Laurel getting spiffed up.  The cut is too close, but was necessary because she was matted and long overdue for a clipping...that will never happen again.

The kids made little doggie treats to give out to the neighbohood dogs.  She's a lot of work, but we love her!

08-08-08

By now you've probably heard why the Olympic Games with begin on 08-08-08 at 08:08:08 pm.  Below is what I found over at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Numbers_in_Chinese_culture#Combinations regarding the significance of the number eight in Chinese culture.

Eight

The word for "eight" (八，捌) in Mandarin (Pinyin: bā) sounds similar to the word which means "prosper" or "wealth" (发 - short for "发财", Pinyin: fā). In regional dialects the words for "eight" and "fortune" are also similar, eg Cantonese "baat" and "faat".

There is also a resemblance between two digits, "88", and the shuang xi ('double joy'), a popular decorative design composed of two stylized characters 喜 (xi, 'joy', 'happiness').

Telephone number 8888-8888 was sold for USD$270,723 in Chengdu, China.

The Summer Olympics in Beijing are scheduled to open on 8/8/08 at 8:08:08pm^[2]

A man in Hangzhou offered to sell his license plate reading A88888 for RMB 1.12 million.^[2]

Dragon Fish Industry in Singapore, a breeder of rare Asian Arowanas (which are "lucky fish" themselves, and, being a rare species, are required to be microchipped), makes sure to use numbers with plenty of eights in their microchip tag numbers, and appears to reserve particular numbers especially rich in eights and sixes (e.g. 702088880006688) for particularly valuable specimens.^[3][4]

 

Here's a scrapbooking tip on how to use Chinese and Olympic scrapbook products:

• Sit down tonight with your kids and discuss what it took for the athletes to make it to the Olympics...how many hours a day and years of practice and conditioning, the parental sacrifices, the MONEY involved, the mental strength needed.

• Discuss the process of dreaming, aspiring to be great no matter what you choose to do.

• Sports...focusing on the unusual sports at the olympics (and the ones that should be...like baton twirling)!

• Discuss people you know from China, or those with Chinese Heritage.

• List all the ways you connect to Chinese Culture.

I'll be letting my kids know that it's never too late to start training for the Olympics...create your own little set of Olympic games in the back yard this weekend.

New Offices

Today my husband started a new job with the Maryland Department of Business and Economic Development and he e-mailed me a photo of the view from his office window, which overlooks the Baltimore Inner Harbor. So I thought I'd share my new home office.

This room is technically the "study" but it has had many lives in the past eight years.  It was Talisa's study hall for a number of years, then her graphic studio, we even converted it to a guest room for a few months, of course it was a scrapbook room at once and for the past year it has been unused, as I took away the internet from the desktop to keep control over what the kids were doing.

New life has been breathed into this room, and I'm happy that I have a new space, a new work life deserves a new office.

Here's where I was working before in the family room, which served me very well as three of my kids were raised in this room while I worked from home.

Here's the study, before I embarked on this recent transformation.  It was becoming Jerry's golf corner and was on it's way to becoming one of those rooms you see on TLC's CLEAN HOUSE.

Redesigning the room was quite simple...the gigantic desk can only fit in the room two ways, the bookshelf is only a year old and is super heavy so it wasn't about to be moved.  I really didn't want to face the wall...already been there, done that for 7 years.  So I just pivoted the desk around so I would be facing the door and have a view of my yard.  Next, I got rid of the clunky printer/scanner that doesn't work and replaced it with a laser printer, gave Jerin the desktop computer and cleaned out the corners in the room.  So without spending a ton of money, we've got a brand new space for momma, complete with textiles, favorite colors, fabulous scent and lush greenery.

For more details on the desk organization and how the book shelf is organized, see this previous post from last August.

The new configuration does attract haouse visitors, but I'm hoping that after the novelty wears off...the family will stop visiting me in here!

12 hour days

Yes, that's what my nine year volunteered to do for the last two weeks.  She rose at 8 am and volunteered her time working at a summer school with special education students until 2:30 pm, got home at 3:00 and was off to 4 hours of gymnastics training where she didn't  get home some nights until 8:30 pm and NEVER once did she complain...she even fixed her own breakfast, lunch and snacks everyday.

On the last day she was appreciated with a certificate and a gift certificate to Barnes & Nobles, which made her very happy.  She has the perfect personality to work with special needs children.

The Blues-Journal Your Grief-Scrapbooking as Therapy

Joseph really grieved for his brother Jonathan on Thursday and Friday, while Jonathan was off visiting with his cousin for a few days.  It really was a pitiful sight.  He had his face painted and the "monster" was really reflective of how he was feeling...angry at the world because of his grief.

Photo by Talisa Mickens

A few people I know are grieving the loss of loved ones and I received these journaling tips and prompts in the mail today and I think they can really help some of you.  I'm going to use them to help me through my recent divorce from my employer of 11 years.  Give this form of therapy a try and let me know how you felt about the process.

Journal Your Grief

I recently received these tips by mail as a follow-up from the Montgomery County Maryland Hospice program for when my husband’s grandmother passed away.  Try working your way through writing out responses to these prompts and a photo to your entry and you’ll have the start of any extremely valuable memory album.

Self-Healing Through Writing

­   1.  Clarify and express your thoughts and feelings

­   2.  Gain insight into what is really going on inside you

­  3.   Record experiences and memories that you want to keep for yourself and possibly pass on to the next generations of your family

­   4.  Express some of those thoughts that you never want to share with anyone else, but that keep going around and around in your head

­   5.  Reflect in another way the death of your loved one

­  6.   Reflect on the meaning and significance of what you have and are experiencing

­ 7.    Express the pain of your grief and loss

­   8.  Help you to re-experience the wholeness of your life- your past as well as the present and eventually to explore your future

 

 

Ideas for Topics to Help You Begin Writing

­   Special memories which I have for you

­   What I miss most about you and our relationship

­   What I wish I had said or not said

­   What I would like to ask you

­   What I would like to tell you

­   What I wish we had done or not done

­   What I have the hardest time dealing with

­   Ways in which you will continue to live on in me

­   Things I learned from you which I cherish

­   Special ways I have for keeping my memories of you alive

­   The times of the day or year I miss you most