Journal/Scrapbooking Group (7) - Dreams

From June 2007
In February, one of my friends in our journaling group assigned the topic of Dreams as that month's page. She really didn't define exactly what that meant, whether it should be about our dreams for life, for the future, etc. Or, if it should be about dreams we have while sleeping. Later she stated that she was focusing more on the latter, but she also knew that some would go in the direction of what they dream for themselves or their children in life. Since I rarely remember my dreams once I wake up, and I felt like in some ways I had already covered what I wanted out of life in other pages, I decided I would go a different route and talk about daydreams.

I struggled a bit with how to create my page and with what to write. Part of it was, I think, that I just wasn't in the mood to scrapbook that month. So, I kept it really simple. I thought about daydreaming as being light and airy, peaceful, and happy, and somewhat youthful. I picked papers and colors that resembled the light airy part. Then I wrote a simple, somewhat humorous poem (mine always are) about the kind of daydreams I have, when I take the time to let them float through my mind.

DAYDREAMS by Buffy

"Lazy afternoons, daydreaming of what life could be... should be... I dream of beach houses and ocean waves; of novels I've written about romantic days. I dream of financial security and yummy cheesecake; of a child of my own to be my namesake. I dream of hairless legs and a year-round tan; of holding hands with a very cute man. I dream of a house with a porch and of having a skinny waist; of really, really low interest rates. These are a few of the things out of many; to hope for, to wish for, to dream of, to believe..."

Journal/Scrapbooking Group (4) - If I Had A Million...

From April 2007
It has been a while since I entered one of my scrapbooking pages into my blog. To catch those of you up, who haven't read my early entries, I am part of a journaling group. We meet once a month, taking turns hosting and picking a topic for that month's journal page. Most participants, including myself, use a scrapbooking format along with some journaling to portray our thoughts and feelings on the assigned topic each month.
As I mentioned above, I am really behind in entering them on here. So I thought I might catch up a bit! The above picture is of the fourth page I created, back in October (2006). It was actually my turn to host that month and so I got to pick the topic. After a bit of pondering, I decided to ask the group to write about what they would do if they were given or won a million dollars (without the responsibility of taxes, of course). I gave them three stipulations: 1) a third of the money must be spent on something pratical, 2) a third of the money must be spent on something frivolous, 3) a third must be spent on a charitable act or organization.
I divided both pages into sections and below is what I wrote:

If I Had A Million…
Let’s pretend for just a moment that I have just won a million dollars. Tax free even! In today's world, one million dollars doesn't seem to go far. But it would still be a blast to experience what it would be like to try and stretch it as far as it would go. There were many ways and ideas that came to mind on how I would love to spend my winnings, but the ones I finally came up with seemed like the most rewarding.

I Would Travel the World
I have always loved traveling. But money, or lack of it, always seems to get in the way of me being able to travel to the places that I have always wanted to go. To make my travels even more rewarding I would share my experiences by inviting a different loved one to join me as I traveled to each destination. One third of a million may not take me too far, but my first destination would be to Europe, including France, England, and Italy. I’d then set a course for Australia and New Zealand. And once I returned to the states I’d make sure to visit the New England states in autumn and Hawaii in the winter. Man I love to dream about money!

I Would Pay Off My Debts
Spending money in practical ways can be almost as fun for me as those things that are considered frivolous. The relief or the contentment that is felt from taking care of things that are needed is quite rewarding. With the second allotment of money, I would first pay off all my debts, loans, credit cards, etc. especially my mortgage and my school loans. With what was left over, I would divide up and invest some, put some in a retirement account, go back to school for my Masters, and make sure that my mother had enough of everything she needed to live comfortably for the remainder of her life.

I Would Give to Charity
“Oprah's Angel Network is dedicated to inspiring people to make a difference in the lives of others. It grants awards to organizations and operates projects in under-served communities that provide educational initiatives as well as assist people in fulfilling basic human needs and regaining dignity.” ~Mission Statement

It was certainly fun to dream -- who doesn't love to dream of how to spend money, especially when there's a lot of it! Now i just need to start buying lottery tickets so that I might even have a "smidgen" of a chance in winning!! (Yeah right! )

JOURNAL / SCRAPBOOKING GROUP (3) - IF I COULD TURN BACK TIME...

FROM OCTOBER 2006
I guess it's about time that I enter my September's Journal Group page. It's been completed and the group met quite a while ago, but I've just been a bit preoccupied with other things to get a photo of it posted.

September's dare or challenge was to create a page on something that you would like to go back in time and either witness, participate in, or even change (including a regret). I had so much fun with this page, because I've always been fascinated with the 60's and 70's and would love to spend just a bit of time there. Within a pocket on the first page, I included a photo of my siblings and myself in 1969 -- of course I was just an infant then. I also included the lyrics to 3 songs from the era: "Blowin' In The Wind, Let's Get Together, and Turn! Turn! Turn! On the second page I added two CD compilations that I burned of many of my favorite "Flower Child" tunes and of course a folder that contained my journaling.

Here's what I entered in the journal portion of my page:
My sign is Aquarius.
I was born in 1969.
And all my life I have been fascinated by the “Hippie Era” of the 1960’s.
Maybe it’s because of my love of the music that I heard my teenage siblings play while I was very young.
Maybe it’s because I’m fascinated in the cause and beliefs behind the political unrest that played such a role in shaping the country during that time.
Maybe I’m envious of the “free” lifestyles many lived and experimented with.
And maybe I just really liked the way they dressed!
If I could turn back time…
I would like to live as a student attending the University of California, Berkeley in 1964 and witness, possibly participating in the demonstrations and protests that occurred.
And then if I could jump forward just a few more years to 1969, I would love to be in attendance at Woodstock and hear the music there.
I realize that I have a bit of a romantic and probably unrealistic view of the events of the 60’s. But if I could experience these things for just a few days, I’d be able to return to my present life with a deeper appreciation for the arts, for people who stand up for what they believe, and for creative and free expression. I’m sure that I would learn a valuable lesson in how to not be so judgmental, but more grateful for the talents of others. I would also wonder if I would return a bit disappointed in how little our country has advanced in how it views its diverse population but continues to repeat the same mistakes.
But most of all, lessons put aside, visiting the 60’s and being a “Hippie Chick” would just be far out man!!

BACK TO THE GRIND...

FROM TUESDAY, JULY 11, 2006
Well, it was back to work today. It always takes me a while to get my brain functioning back into that work mode. But today was fairly easy, so it was nice. I work at a non-profit preschool program (Head Start) and have been with this organization for quite a few years. This morning we had a track and field day with the two centers still open during the summer. I was put in charge of the 50 yard dash -- whoo hoo! Who knows if it was really 50 yards. I know the 4 and 5 years olds didn't know the difference. But they sure like to run and compete with each other. I was just glad to get a piece of shade. DANG it was hot today!!

Speaking of work, just a few days ago, I had this strange dream that I got fired! It was so weird: I received a letter in the mail that didn't include any details... just that I no longer had a job. So I went storming into my supervisor's office to find out why. She said it was because I wasn't teaching the Seven Habits for Highly Effective People to the staff who attend my CDA classes (I'm responsible for training teaching staff including those working on their CDA credentials). I responded that I didn't know that I was supposed to be teaching that and why hadn't they discussed it with me before just firing me. She then said that she and the Director had previously given me a warning for not doing so. I argued that she hadn't and that it wasn't true. And I asked her how she could fire me when I was such a good employee?! (Nice to know that my subconscious is confident of my skills and abilities enough for it to come out in a dream.) In my dream, I eventually filed a grievance against the Director and my supervisor and the Board made them give me my job back. The sad thing is, is that this type of poor human resources management occurs at our organization quite regularly. So I must have been working out some issues that I have with past events. Today, when I saw the Director, I was angry with her... I soon realized it was left over feelings from my dream. lol