Little Elephants » Thinking out loud

Coming out of hibernation

Veronique Christensen — Fri, 27 May 2011 15:16:42 +0000

This past winter Tomas, the kids, and I were lucky to visit some dear friends in Vermont. While we were there, we heard that there was a hibernating bear (!!) not too far away from the house. We did not go visiting (last thing i wanted to do was wake a sleeping bear!), but there was something rather exciting to know that he was jus a few hundred yards away from us while we romped in the smow and sledded.

It’s been forever since my last post here, and I feel a bit as if I’d been hibernating, too. It’s been a rocky road, to be honest. I’d been looking for work forever & then landed a job, only to lose it a few months later. Pretty hard to keep your chin up when you’ve been rejected as many times as I have.

The good news is that while I continue to look for work (and try to figure out what it is I want to be when I finally grow up), I’ve been able to spend quality time with the kids again. Typically in the role of chauffeur for Maggie and Bjørn who are 12 and 10 now, but more meaningfully with Tor (5) who had a bumpy introduction to kindergarten — reading is HARD! It’s exciting to see his progress (leaps and bounds of it!) and to know that I helped facilitate that.

I’m also excited to start planning our summer, and will share our adventures with you here — I’ve got plenty in mind!I’m so glad to be back online & to chat with you all again.

What do you have planned this summer?

Working on writer’s block

Veronique Christensen — Thu, 15 Jul 2010 18:53:02 +0000

{excuse the lack of photos … I forgot my camera at home!}

Figure a good place to start when you haven’t been able to write in a while is with a blog post.

I’m on a plane (LOVE airplane wifi, not so in love with this airline — my plane smells like pee) — headed to what promises to be a grand couple of days of meeting & greetiing, and re-kindling friendships, and learning about what’s new with some of my favorite web destinations like Flickr & Shine. I’ll be at the Yahoo! Mother Board Summit & it promises to be a busy/informative/great event.

Every time I take a flight I find myself with an awful case of the jitters and insomnia, last night was no exception. I think I slept all of 45 minutes, and didn’t pack my bag until around three in the morning (upon blurry reflection, I’m pretty sure I have a day’s less clothing than I need, sigh…). I also left the house in a total disaster (which always happens, and which always leaves me knotted with feelings of guilt and inadequacy).

I haven’t even gotten where I’m going yet, and already I’m missing my family something terrible.

See? I think I’ve just demonstrated the why of my writer’s block. It’s much funner to post happy fun times. Creative, vibrant, alive times. Must focus on those more. Right now I’m feeling the weight of my responsibilities a bit too heavily & need to re-focus, re-group. Maybe stepping away for a couple days will be good.

I wish I’d brought a camera.

Creative block

Veronique Christensen — Sun, 24 Jan 2010 20:36:52 +0000

Oy! How bad is my creative block these days? So bad that, even though the kids are ever busy with their daily creations, I don’t have it in me to take note and capture the moments here. Instead? I’m spending time over at Huset, ogling the beautiful things they have for sale that I can’t afford just now. (bust still… I’m happy to know this online store exists for when my wallet is a bit thicker).

A couple good things are going on that will certainly help. First, I’ve won a spot on Pip’s Blog Tour. Pip of Meet Me At Mikes, one of my all-time favorite blogs, will be stopping by here with a guest post in early February. Hurrah!

Secondly, I’m taking part in Ali’s Seven Days of Specialness project, and I have the best swap partner ever. You will love Kristin’s blog, Kleas.

Have any suggestions for overcoming blogger’s block? Share ‘em here! I could use all the help I can get

So cold out there!

Veronique Christensen — Sun, 10 Jan 2010 13:35:34 +0000

I can’t imagine all that ice on our windows can be a good thing, but it sure is beautiful, eh?

Making me happy

Veronique Christensen — Fri, 08 Jan 2010 19:18:47 +0000

I’ve started making prettier food just so I could display it on this cake stand I got at Target right before Christmas. Even ugly food looks good on it.

I spy with my little eye…

Veronique Christensen — Wed, 06 Jan 2010 14:15:57 +0000

Tor was so tired after pre-school yesterday, he built himself a cave and promptly fell asleep in it. I should ask his teachers what they put in his snacks

Browsing by pictures

Veronique Christensen — Fri, 25 Dec 2009 19:59:26 +0000

Did you know you can browse my site by photos? It’s a great way to uncover what may be new-to-you content. I think it’s pretty nifty. Just click on the “Browse Photos” link up there in the top navigation anytime you are looking for a bit of the unexpected

Merry Christmas!

Busy Body Book giveaway

Veronique Christensen — Tue, 08 Dec 2009 00:25:10 +0000

I posted recently about a huge dip I’d been going through and received a ton of positive responses. Here, by email, on Facebook, Twitter… you get the picture. I was overwhelmed and strengthened by how kind people could be.

One of the good people out there runs the company that produces the agendas and calendars I’ve raved about in the past, so I thought I’d thank Joan of Busy Body Book and you here. I’m doing much better. Thank you.

As I’ve been climbing out of my dark spot I’ve used Joan’s agenda and calendar almost religiously (one bought, one gifted by Joan). I’ve been to get professional help, but I’ve also finally followed the Flylady program at my own pace (after many years of subscribing).

Many people I know have mentioned finding the volume of email from Flylady & Co. overwhelming. I don’t. I set up filters and just delete whatever I’m not interested in or ready to do (my own email 27 fling boogie — sorry for the fly-joke). I’ve been using my agendas in conjunction with the Flylady system and it is wonderful how much more in control I feel.

Joan had kindly offered a free calendar or agenda for one lucky reader here. All you have to do is leave a comment here with your email (which won’t be displayed) so I can contact you. I’ll pick a random winner for this giveaway on Friday at 5pm EST.

UPDATE! Our winner is Dorie P. – If I don’t hear back from her be next Friday at 5pm, I’ll pick another random winner. Thanks to all who entered! //vc.

Le plus ça change…

Veronique Christensen — Wed, 18 Nov 2009 22:21:44 +0000

Tomas and I tried to merge our content on Little Elephants & it was fun for a while, but we’ve decided to move his stuff onto another domain of ours (I’ll share the link as soon as he comes out of his temporary hiatus). Basically, having his comic strip on a site that’s family-focused forced him to make the strip family-friendly and it started to lose its honesty for him. I hope that makes sense to you, it certainly does to me.

So, Little Elephants goes back to being what it’s always been: me talking about the things we do with the kids, sharing things I like or that inspire me, and… well, just being me & sharing.

Also? If your company is looking to hire an amazing Cartoonist / Illustrator, do consider Tomas. You’ll find his portfolio over here: http://surfeit.com/portfolio/. He really is a rock star

And yes, the sun does rise again

Veronique Christensen — Tue, 27 Oct 2009 16:56:32 +0000

All your emails, comments here and on Facebook, and notes through Twitter were overwhelming to me and oh-so-appreciated after my post yesterday.

This week we are prepping for Halloween. There are pumpkins to carve, seeds to roast (some to be set aside to plant in the Springtime), and ghouls & goblins to prepare. Luckily for me, this year the costumes are all either out of our mongo dress-up box or store bought.

I’ll be dipping in to my list of past projects to keep the kiddos happily in the Halloween spirit while Momma takes a much mellower approach to the holiday.