A Year’s Worth of Photos

It's one of those things I have been putting off since last summer. As much as I swore I would never get behind on printing photos for photo albums and hanging framed photos on the walls around my home, those very pictures have been looming over me, unprinted and unframed, for over a year now.

So I made it my 'project' over my vacation to get caught up. After all, my boys are still 'cute' and I have some wonderful memories to hang on my walls that they will be great to see....if I can track them down!

I have also spent a ton of money on their school photos, in 8 x 10, because they came out so beautifully. But now I have two rounds of those... still in their envelopes. Because I have to purchase frames and pegs to hang them up!

And so it began this week. First I went through the stacks of photos that I had already printed and started by updating all the magnetic frames for my refrigerator, 'cause the boys love seeing photos of themselves and their friends in the kitchen where they spend so much time going for drinks in the fridge.

Then I tracked down the school pictures and bought a few nice large frames. And a cool (tv ad) tool that punches pegs in the wall (and it has a level attached to it too so you know you're not crooked) and I was able to hang the large photos in the living room and my bedroom all by myself.

Then I cut out the other copies of their school pictures and made folders for family members that I have to send them out to. (These are the grandparents and great-grandparents, aunts and uncles who won't go online and order their own.)

Next I had to go back through a year of emails to locate all of the photos that had been sent to me from various friends and family members of my children from events we've attended this past year. And finally open and download them.

Then I had to download all of the pictures from my cell phone, which is now filled to capacity, and get them sent out to Snapfish.

At this point I was too tired to download the pictures from my camera...over 500 since last fall...so I went to see my buddy Steve, the manager at MotoPhoto in Wall/Belmar...and he took the card out and did it for me, all the while making me laugh at the stress of dealing with all of these pictures.

I had also, in my art/creativity mode, captured some beautiful pictures from the beach and other gorgeous natural locations, to have my own art for the walls of my house. So I had to get those blown up to wall-size and now I have to go back out and buy frames to hang those.

And I also have to run to the store for bins...lots and lots of storage bins....to store the photos that have already been printed.

And then I sat down and picked out my favorite memories from the past years to put in coffee table photo albums so that my boys can share these pictures with family and friends that come to visit, as a conversation starter when lounging around on the couch.

Now I know a lot of you will say 'why bother', and to just keep everything on the computer or cell, but these are tangible memories that my children like to look at and talk about. And I know that growing up, much of my life was recorded in photos. After all, there are only so many screen-saver pictures you can have up at once, and who wants to sit still in front of a computer screen for hours watching a slide show?

With all of today's technology, you can have everything stored digitally, but never take the time to look at it.

Besides, my walls have been bare for close to two years since I've been in my house....and I really wanted to finally be able to add the warmth of my sons' smiles to see each time I walk in the door.

Now maybe someday I will get around to tackling the chore of transferring all of the videos that I have on digital media to dvd discs so that the boys can actually watch themselves grow up from infancy.

And now that I have 'deleted all' from my camera and cell phone, I have made a promise to myself: I will NEVER AGAIN allow pictures to accumulate. They will be printed, sorted, hung, etc. in a timely manner. Famous last words!