When was that taken???...

I've mentioned often enough that I am a procrastinator. I don't say that with pride... just that I yam what I yam. Sometimes, however, my procrastination skills surprise even me.

I have been busy lately framing some of Joyce's graduation photos & hanging them on our walls. Words cannot express the amount of time, effort and money that sentence represents.

First of all, our house is not small, and you would think we have plenty of wall space... but we don't. We have a lot of windows. Also, I have a lot of stuff on the walls already, what with dead animals and antique tools, and prints galore, primarily of wildlife. We are the stereotypical Michiganders in some ways. The exterior of our house is cedar and the majority of the inside walls are knotty pine. I've been removing some stuff from the walls and rearranging others to make room for a family photo gallery spot. When we decided upon knotty pine, I did a lot of research to get a stain and varnish (sealant, really) that promised not to yellow. Don't believe those promises. Whenever I move something, the shape of it is visible on the wall in a lighter shade. I'm sure I notice it more than others would, and once I slap more stuff up, even I forget to notice it. Most of the time.

I haven't been very good about getting photos framed and up on the walls in the past few years. I used to be... When both the kids were born, I took them in for a professional photo each month of their first year, then twice a year until they started Kindergarten, at which time, school photos took over. I framed & hung diligently. I have many 8x10s hanging in a row on the wall in our bedroom... which takes up a lot of wall space. We have a large bedroom, so the wall is quite large, and I decided to forego the mirror unit for our large vanity so as to have that wall space. It's a lot of photos.

This morning, while sorting through a surprising large stack of photos, I realized that sometime around 1997 I started procrastinating on the framing and hanging...

1997! Shit.

I have a tons of photos of Joyce, Sam and Joycie & Sam together that are waiting to be framed. I have entire packets of school photos that I never even distributed to family members.

I sorta know why I started procrastinating... I decided that I didn't want all those 8x10s hanging on our bedroom wall any longer, but I couldn't make up my mind where to move the family photo gallery. I still have not decided, but I'm leaning toward the basement. It is really cool to look at those photos all in a row and see the baby turn into toddler turn into little kid turn into bigger kid turn into teenager... But it is a bit overwhelming in our bedroom, even if it is a large room. The basement is really the only place left in our home with enough wall space to accommodate the quantity of photos.

But... I wanted to hang Joyce's graduation photos in a place of prominence. I finally decided to move this large print into the living room, moving the print that was there into our bedroom, moving the painting in our bedroom downstairs (into storage). I also had to remove a lot of stuff to completely clear that part of the wall for all the photos. I probably went a little overboard on the number of photos of Joyce I put up... but I can switch when I want, so I decided to enjoy them for a while. I also included some of Sam, and I have a few more photos to add, no more of Joycie, however... I'm not that loony. It's a family photo gallery in progress, indefinitely.



If you're a parent that has ever paid for graduation photos, the setting and the prints, then you know how I feel. I want to really enjoy the fruits of all that spending. (I have more framed photos of Joycie's graduation pictures hanging elsewhere in the house, too. Maybe I am that loony.) (Can you see the spot where my cuckoo clock hung until recently?... here's a hint...)

But then, the buying of frames... Ouch. Thank goodness for Kohl's. Frames were half-off, and I talked the clerk into giving me an additional 30% off that. I love Kohl's that way... those people who treat the clerks like scum and basically emit waves of asshole-ishness are clueless. Just be nice, show a little appreciation and presto! another $35 in savings. I have always been able to find frames I like at Kohl's, and I am very happy with all those I chose, with Joycie's help. She has a good eye, and long arms to reach with... very helpful.

So now my dining room table is covered with stacks of photos sorted into groups. I have to buy more frames... many, many more frames...