Flu Season
Out of the blue on Sunday afternoon Jim got sick...all the classic flu symptoms. Now where did that come from? So he went to bed for 24 hours and felt better yesterday afternoon. I'm keeping my fingers crossed that no one else gets it. I quit kissing him but it was probably too late.
So while he tried to feel better I got out the Nikon slide scanner and started on the slow and boring process of scanning 35mm slides. I haven't done this since January because I got a bit pi$$ed off when my hard drive crashed and I lost about 10 hours worth of scanning. Took me a long time to get over that one I guess :) Also, it is a nostalgic/emotional thing to do. I'm going through pictures of our family from 1959, recalling fun times, vacation, lost loved ones. But the end result is a wonderful keepsake.
I figured I needed more old pictures to incorporate into the Family Calendar collages that I'm making. I've recovered about half of the pix I lost so I think I'm ready to start the calendar. I have photo submissions from kids AND grandkids this year so I'm sure the decision process is going to be tough.
I use Photoshop Elements 3.0 to create the collage pages. I always have to search HELP to figure out how to do it again but basically I start with a FILE\NEW and than add layers of pictures that I resize as I go. The hardest thing is to avoid duplicates! I really need to run it by a Grandkid because they catch all my errors, but that would spoil the Christmas surprise. Here's a sample of January 2006. I think there's 15-20 pix on each monthly page.
Pre-digital I had to physically cut and paste snapshots, then make copies. That was kind of fun, sort of like scrapbooking :) Now it's all on the computer and I'll take a file to Staples where they'll print up calendars for $9.99!!! Wow! We've been paying $25-30 for ink and paper in the past.
So the Calendar process is started and hopefully they'll be ready for Christmas giving....because I won't get the flu!