Getting older . . .

Sometimes reality just smacks you in the face and lets you know you are indeed getting older. Le Husband and I had one of those moments this past weekend. We traveled to the homestead in Ohio to visit with family and start off the Christmas season. We have five beautiful nieces and nephews who are all growing like weeds! As anyone knows who has watched kids grow up from afar, every time you see them they have changed. Either they have lost teeth, acquired braces, lost the baby fat, or grown six inches overnight. It is always fun to see them and see what has changed in their lives.

The oldest of the group is our lovely niece Miss E. Now I can remember this chubby baby getting a bath in my kitchen sink on a visit to my house. It seems like just overnight she has grown into this beautiful young woman who proudly showed off her learners permit to drive . . . yikes when did that happen! OK that should have been an indicator that yes, I am getting older. (Notice I say older, not old!) Not only is she a beautiful girl, but she’s a pretty amazing swimmer as well. We had the chance to see her swim this weekend and it took me back to the days sitting at swim meets watching her mom swim. OK at this point the ol’ getting older indicator started to flash red blinking lights!

We were invited back to Miss E’s house after the swim meet to visit. She and a bunch of her teammates were going to be eating dinner there after a long day of swimming. In trouped a large group of teenage boys and girls; young fresh faced high school athletes . . . ah youth! After dinner they headed to the basement to hang out, listen to music, play ping pong and generally do stuff that teenagers do today. There came a moment when Le Husband and I were alone in the kitchen and were listening to the music and sound of laughter wafting up from the basement . . . that’s right, we were the adults staying upstairs! And here it came . . . Le Husband looked at me and said “Wow, we’re getting old!” . . . the slap of reality!

After that sting wore off, I have to admit that if getting older means getting to watch these beautiful kids grow up, then that’s alright. Besides, I think this weekend I’m going to crank up the music, and get in touch with that teenager who is still inside and see if I can’t still annoy my parents!! (Just kidding mom and dad!)

xoxo

How cold is it . . .

It’s so cold my hair froze!! Yep kids it’s that time of year again, winter has arrived. Now I realize that on some official calendar out there it is still fall and winter isn’t official yet. However, it has been snowing for two and a half days; as I write this it is 14 degrees and -2 degrees with the wind chill; if that’s not winter, then I don’t know what is!!

Growing up my mom was good about bundling my brother and I up and shoving us out the door to go play in the snow. Truthfully I think it was just self preservation on her part, but we’ll say for the sake of argument that she was getting us fresh air and physical activity. Mom was always good about making sure we were dressed properly for the weather; hat, gloves, scarf, heavy coat, long johns, extra socks were all on the list. We were bundled up like the little brother in that movie A Christmas Story.

But one thing I don’t remember being told was not to go out with a wet head. There is that whole school of thought that this will cause the immediate onset of a cold! Apologies to mom if she gave me this lecture, but I don’t remember it. As an adult, I have always left the house with a wet head in the morning. Obviously I am not a slave to fashion and no longer spend the hours I did as a teenager blow drying my hair. So it was the ultimate sign this morning when walking to the office from the parking garage, my wet hair did indeed freeze. It’s the funniest feeling because it becomes stiff and crunchy. So I will take that as my sign that winter is officially hair . . . I mean here!

xoxo

Black Friday

Holy cow, is it just me or did the Holidays get here really fast this year?! I cannot believe that Thanksgiving is two days away! Christmas is 32 days away . . . for those of us who work outside the home, that means only 4 weekends. If you are like me, those weekends are already filling up. So now I need to get started on the shopping; what happened to the days when I was done by Thanksgiving? Yes, I truly used to have the bulk of my shopping done by Turkey Day, but no more, those days are long gone.

I do have to say that I am not as enthusiastic (i.e. crazy) as some of those folks who head out on Black Friday. Last year, Le Husband and I decided that there was one of those door buster deals that we just had to have. So we set the alarm for 4:00 am on Black Friday. We were up and out the door by 4:15 and at our designated Super Store by 4:30 am. On our way there we were so proud of ourselves for getting up so early and excited about the great bargain we were going to score! That is to say until we pulled into the parking lot. Our mouths hanging open, we stared in disbelief at the line of people snaking all the way around the store and probably about a thousand more people running to get in line! Our excitement quickly faded to the realization that we were literally miles away from any door buster deal and we promptly headed back home and crawled back into bed.

This year there won’t be any attempt at a door buster deal. There comes a time in your life when you realize that you simply aren’t cut out for sleeping in a parking lot. So good luck to all you Black Friday shoppers out there!

Happy Thanksgiving Everyone!!

xoxo

Wordless Wednesday

Niagara Falls

xoxo

Loss

Yesterday my aunt lost her husband and life’s companion. The man who did laundry and put up the Christmas decorations both inside and out. The man who, while rolling his eyes and grousing about all the Santas, proudly pointed out the new ones to the collection. The man who sold his car to buy an engagement ring, then waited years to buy his prized 1940 Ford. The man who taped a dime to a small plastic telephone when he got engaged and told my aunt it was a “dime-and-ring”. The man who carried her into the house because she was too “over served” to walk and who joked about helping her put on her bra when she was recovering from surgery. The man who prayed that she would be alright and come through her surgery whole and healthy.

Yesterday my cousins, who I consider my younger brother and sister, lost their father. The serious man who lost his temper over broken lamps and Aztec calendars. The man who agreed to shave off his famous perm to show support of his son’s swimming and traveled to swim meets near and far to cheer on both of his children. The man who passed on his negotiating skills to his daughter. The man who pretended to be a potential buyer when she was negotiating to buy a house so he could help her get a better price. The man who thought his daughter was the most beautiful girl in the world and proudly bragged about her accomplishments. The man who we will forever see in his son’s walk and hear when his son tells a joke.

Yesterday my surrogate nieces and nephews lost their grandfather. The man who could not wait to tell anyone about their latest accomplishments in sports and school, or a story about something they did that was bad or funny. The man who was there to cheer them on in his own quiet way.

Yesterday I lost my uncle. The man who, while being a pain the rear, cared deeply and would do anything for me or someone he cared about. The man who coached me on negotiating the purchase of my first new car and was proud of me when I got the price he suggested. The man who thought I was his best audience and could always make laugh no matter how long the joke was or how much I groaned at the end of it. The man who is the first person I want to tell a particularly good joke to and see if I can get him to crack a smile.

Yesterday, brothers, brothers-in-law, sisters-in-law, nieces, nephews, friends both old and new, lake friends, coworkers and classmates who just celebrated their 50 year reunion all lost a man they cared about and who cared about them. The man so many of you can and will tell great stories about in the years to come.

To my Uncle Brad, lover of family, friends, a good bargain and chocolate chip cookies, you will be missed.

xoxo

New Camera

My brand spanking new Nikon D7000 has arrived!! It showed up last Friday when we were heading out the door for dinner at our friends house. I was so excited that I couldn’t just leave it sit on the counter at home; I had to take it with me. OK how rude it is to show up for dinner with your new toy that needs to be assembled . . . and you proceed to do just that?! There I sat, pushing the brie out of the way so I could spread out my “getting started” instructions and unpacking all the little boxes inside the big box. I must say we are so lucky to have such gracious and understanding friends who didn’t promptly throw me out the door with my camera flying right behind me.

Saturday I packed up my new toy and I headed to Ohio to assist my dad with taking photos at a wedding on Sunday. Saturday night was spent getting the new toy set up to take PHD photos (Dad calls this the Push Here Dummy mode on the camera, meaning fully automatic). See I come from a family of RTFM people (for you uninformed out there, that’s Read The F-ing Manual) and this manual is like a small novel.  So I have a way to go in fully understanding all the functions and buttons that will allow me to take stunning photographs . . . or at least that's the plan.  Sunday was spent with two cameras around my neck, the old standby for security and the new shiny toy taking photos of a wedding.  Good thing I was just acting as back up photographer.

So, do I know how all those new photos turned out? NOPE! We just bought new software to upgrade the home computer from the dreaded Vista to Windows 7. Of course I need to back everything up before I do that, load the new operating system, load the Nikon software, download the photos from the camera and hopefully discover that I got some great shots!

So here’s to hoping that the new toy works great and that the bride and groom will be happy with the results!

xoxo

Simple Things

It was a glorious fall weekend! Those kind of beautiful days that are still warm, but not too warm. The trees are changing color, the evenings are cool, and pumpkins and mums decorate houses. The light has changed and slants somehow from a different angle. I absolutely love driving down a country road and that moment when falling leaves are hit by sunlight that is golden . . . I can actually hear Vivaldi’s Four Seasons playing in my head!

Le husband and I took a road trip home this beautiful weekend to celebrate our nephew’s thirteenth birthday. We sat outside around a fire pit and roasted marshmallow’s while the kids sang along to some of their favorite pop/rap songs . . . what they lack in ability they make up for in enthusiasm! It was fun catching up with everyone and listening to stories about recent events in everyone’s lives and some of the remember-when-we-did-such-and-such stories. I like to step back at these get togethers and just listen to all the different conversations happening at once, people laughing, kids playing . . . the general buzz of a group of people happy to see one another.

It may be a cliché to say it’s the simple things in life that make us happy, but this weekend it certainly was true!

Updates

I haven’t posted to my poor lonely blog is a couple of weeks . . . no one particular excuse. Le Husband is home, so that does have an impact on my schedule. Don’t take that as complaining, because I love having him impact my schedule. We’ve been busy visiting with friends, golfing and going on vacation. We spent a week in North Myrtle Beach golfing and swimming. The ocean was incredibly warm and we stayed at a place right on the beach. I soooo wanted to quit my job and become a beach bum . . . unfortunately I don’t think there’s any money in that profession. Actually I want to be Sandra Brown, that mousy woman on the travel channel who gets to travel the world and show everyone the great restaurants, attractions and hotels to visit. How in the world does one get THAT job!!

We’ve also been looking for a new picnic table. One weekend we had a weather front blow through; and I do mean BLOW through. It picked up our glass top table and umbrella and tossed them over our gas grill and deck railing. Needless to say, it was fun cleaning up the shattered glass. However, we’ve procrastinated just long enough to miss the year-end sales and will now wait until Spring to replace it.

We’re off to a Hockey game tonight thanks to the generosity of the Boss who has fabulous seats. So another night will go by without getting the laundry done . . . but it’s a pretty sweet choice! So that’s a brief update into my exciting life.

Parting words: Congrats to our friends Sandra and Shawn on the arrival of baby Everett Grayson!!

xoxo

Wordless Wednesday

A Frog's Ass

It was all golf all weekend! Last weekend La Husband and I golfed in two outings, one for a friend’s church and one to raise money for MS. I must say that we did a surprisingly good job! We finished in second place on Friday at 10 under. I was fairly consistent, but Le Husband and our other friends were crushing the ball! It sure made for a fun day. Then our team on Sunday finished at 7 under and we tied for third place. Once again, we were pleased with how we did.

However, on Sunday the funniest thing happened. We were at the 9th hole, a par three with water on the right side. One after the other we all hit and ended up with two balls on the green. Le Husband had rolled off the green towards the water. When he went to retrieve his ball, he started frantically waiving for me to come to him, but would not call out. Not sure what the frantic waiving was all about, I headed over to where he was standing. He promptly pointed to the water’s edge and there sat his ball on the ass end of a huge bullfrog!! Right now I know you think I’m pulling your leg, but seriously his ball was sitting on right on this frog’s ass. Of course, had I brought my camera with me . . . noooo! I quickly remembered my cell phone and dashed to get it for a photo. I did take a photo (see below) but unfortunately it is difficult to see the frog in question . . . but trust me it is there!

So now, we really need to come up with some clever saying . . . “it was as close as a golfball on a frog’s ass” . . . hmm needs some work. We’re open for suggestions!

Landscaping

It’s only taken a brief year and a half, but the landscaping project at our house if FINALLY done! A year ago in the Spring I had my first call with landscapers. After repeated calls with no response . . . a friend who worked with this particular landscaper even asked them to return my call . . . I decided to give up on this referral. We moved into summer and next up was another referral (silly girl that I am I thought that it would be a good thing having a referral!) who actually showed up for a face-to-face meeting. This landscaper had great ideas, took a ton of notes and measurements, and promised to get back with a written estimate and drawings. Once again we had multiple unreturned phone calls and a not-so-gentle reminder from our friend who had referred them that they needed to call. They assured him that they would indeed be calling . . . we’ve now moved into fall and the leaves are coming down but no phone call ever came. It’s now spring of the following year and I’m on to yet another landscaper. This one actually answered the phone and agreed to meet. Once again I was thrilled with his ideas. Once again it was multiple phone calls and apologies. My sheer stubbornness kept me going. I was determined to not start over yet again! And low and behold, the project finally got started last week and finished this week. Amazing!

After all this, I’ve decided that this is a sales technique that landscapers use. They get you so frustrated, aggravated and impatient, that when the work actually gets done you are so thrilled you can hardly stand it. Fascinating business model, but the job is done!

Pearathon

As I’ve mentioned in a previous post, I have a weird obsession with pears. I know some of you were stocked to learn this deep, dark secret about me but I felt it was time to bring it out into the light of day. Apparently I am not alone. One of the amazing things about the internet is that you can pretty much always find someone out there who is just as big a freak as you are . . . it’s nice to know you’re not alone.

I was reading one of my favorite art blogs and came across this link: http://pearathon.com/cpg/ . This is a site devoted to paintings of pears . . . eureka! Someone else who likes pears enough to create an entire website dedicated solely to the art of pears. Check it out!

The Sketchbook Project

I love the interesting things you find when you are reading blogs. One of my favorite blogs is http://www.pinkindiaink.com/ which is written by Kat Rosenfield. If I ever feel the need to laugh, I just open her blog and it immediately does the trick. I love her style of writing and her sarchastic attitude. I’d love to be able to write like that!

On one of my blog wanderings I found a link to The Sketchbook Project. Here’s a link: http://www.arthousecoop.com/projects/sketchbookproject which promptly got my attention. Now there are several people in my life who could do this project way better than me, however I’m going to give it a try. Should be interesting to see where the creative juices go with this. Check it out, you might find it’s something you’d like to try.

T.G.I.F.

xoxo

The To Do List

I’m sure I’m not alone when I say that sometimes there are just not enough hours in the day. There are so many projects that I’d like to do, but somehow I run out of time. OK I’ll admit that part of this; ok ok most of it is my own fault. The first thing on my ‘to do’ list:

     1. Get your act together!

Such a simple thought yet some days, getting my act together just doesn’t happen. I admit that I can be taken off task so easily . . . a friend calls and says “how about dinner tonight?” and my immediate response is, “Absolutely!”. So what if I had a whole list of chores and errands to do. Or it’s sunny outside and I suddenly decide that instead of spending the morning doing that pile of laundry, it’s off to take photos of a field of flowers.

But then we all know those people who manage to work full time, be totally involved in their family’s lives, donate time to charitable organizations and their house and yard always look like House Beautiful is coming to photograph at any minute! Now those people have their acts together.

So with this upcoming weekend, I will try once again to get my act together and get to some of those projects on the list. What’s that, help you shop for shoes . . . I’ll be right there!

Sunflowers

Gosh it’s almost the middle of July already, I can hardly believe it. Remember when you were a kid and time moved so slowly. My mom always used to say “Don’t wish your life away!” after I’d be whining about how l wished it was tomorrow, or next week, or whatever date in the future I was wishing for. You have to be an adult to understand that statement. I’ve now moved on to the “time does fly” phase of life! That’s my long way of saying “Holy cow, it’s the middle of July and I haven’t posed anything!”

I have found some time to take some photos of sunflowers. Of course I should have been doing laundry or dusting but hey, I’d rather take photos. So here are a couple of sunflower photos, enjoy!

What do you want to be when you grow up?

What do you want to be when you grow up? OK first I’m willing to admit that I might be too old to be asking myself this question, “Hey watch it! I’m not that old!”, but I am seriously giving this some thought. I recently had someone tell me that they wanted to talk to me and “see where my head is” about my job. Yikes, I didn’t know my head was missing and I’m always a little nervous when someone says the want to talk to me about my job.

So it’s got me thinking about what new direction I want to go in. Notice I say new direction, like I’ve actually got a direction. The question is, picking out a direction and going with it. Do I want to stay where I am or go somewhere new? Does new mean changing companies or does it just mean changing roles. Does it mean physically moving; which in my life is something I’d normally be doing about now?

I must say that I envy those people out there who know exactly what they want to do with their lives. Maybe it’s having a passion for something that drives them down a course towards a specific goal. I think my problem (ok I know I have a bunch of them!) is that there are so many things I love to do. I just haven’t figured out how to turn those things into something I can do to earn a living.

Anyone out there looking for a traveling baker who’s an amateur photographer and golfer and can set up a meeting that involves all of those things?

A Baby and High School

I spent this past weekend in the lovely little town of St. Charles, IL. How the heck did I end up in St. Charles, IL you may ask . . . well it was because of a baby and high school. No, I don’t have some secret child stashed away in St. Charles! This trip started out with a conversation I was having with a pregnant girlfriend who was telling me that her baby shower was going to be in St. Charles and gee, wouldn’t it be great if I could come. The wheels started to turn. Hmmm, doesn’t my old (not her, just a time in the past) high school friend who recently found me again, live near there? We’ve been talking about trying to get together to see each other . . . it’s been a few years, ok a lot of years, since high school when she had to move away. Folks who know me know it doesn’t take much to convince me to take a trip.  After a quick email and a check of flight schedules, I was off to see an old friend and attend a baby shower.

Chris was my high school girlfriend who lived across the street and was there for more than one “first” in my life. We tried out smoking and drinking together, fell in love with boys and had our hearts broken together. We borrowed each other’s clothes (she wore my brand new peach Bobbie Brooks before I did!) and skipped school together. When she moved away, I was so sad. I remember calling and asking her permission to date a boy she had dated and “broke up” with, because I felt like I would be betraying her by going out with him without her blessing. By the way, he didn’t work out for me either!

Our lives went in very different directions; she lives in a small rural town on a farm and has lived in Illinois since she moved away. I’ve lived in seven states and two countries since then. She became a mom and just by the way she talks about her sons, I can tell she’s a good one. Her son, Tony was very concerned that his mom was going away by herself to meet with a “virtual stranger”. He said, “You know there are a lot of weirdos out there mom!”. Hopefully by now she’s convinced him that I’m basically harmless!

Within five minutes that sixteen year old girl I remembered so well was back and it felt like we just picked up our conversation right where we left off. Except this time there was no passing notes or scheming about how to sneak out to a party!

Wrap Up on Photography Class

I mentioned in a previous post that I was taking a photography class. This past week, the class wrapped up with our final projects. This was a small class with just six students and the teacher. Let me say that at least half the class could be professional photographers, so this amateur was way out of her league. However, this was a great opportunity to learn and I feel like I got so much out of this class. The wonderful thing about the final project was that they were all different and all really good. I am inspired to keep working and experimenting with the camera. I had nice compliment when one of the students said that one of the photos in his final project was inspired by my work.

For my final project I chose to photograph flowers. A subject I love and also one that works well with macro photography. So here are a few examples from my final project.

Close up of a Dalia

 

This has a more traditional feel, probably because it is a simple pink rose.

This is blown up macro photography.  I was going for a watercolor look.

 

Not sure of the name of this flower, but I liked the water drops.

It was fun!  xoxo

Miss Zelda

Miss Zelda 1993 - 2010

We lost a fuzzy member of the family yesterday. Miss Zelda passed over the rainbow bridge and is hopefully sleeping in the sunshine with big brother, Uncle Harry. It’s one of the really difficult things in life, losing the wonderful companions in our lives. Miss Zelda lived with my parents from the time she was a kitten in 1993. She was a beautiful gray and black tabby with white markings and beautiful turquoise eyes.

Back in ’93, my mom was visiting me in North Carolina when her good friend called to tell her that she had two new fuzzy babies for my mom. I can remember how excited my mom was and anxious to get home and meet them, Miss Zelda and Uncle Harry. Miss Zelda immediately moved in and began rearranging things. She quickly learned where things belonged and was equally quick to knock them off a table, dresser or where ever they didn’t belong. She had my mom well trained and when she couldn’t get what she wanted jumped back and forth across her pillow in a “gentle” reminder that she was there demanding attention.

She also became my dad’s buddy and loved to have him carry her around draped over his arm, purring away. She would snuggle up to dad in his chair and had him trained as well with her routine for belly and head rubs. She loved sitting outside on the deck, especially in the fall when she could chase the falling leaves . . . much braver than her big brother, Uncle Harry who ran inside when the wind would blow.

I’m sure my parents are going to really miss her companionship and I’ll miss her welcoming me on visits. She was a really sweet kitty and was well loved. We’ll miss you Miss Zelda.

Snail Mail

Remember the good old days when people actually took the time to write a letter, lick a stamp and put it in a mailbox? Remember how good it felt to get a letter. You were excited to take it out of the envelope and read it. You kept it and read it over and over. I think that most people like getting mail, as long as it’s not that junk mail stuff or bills. When we wrote letters, we did stuff like dotting our “i”s with hearts and actually drew smiley faces. On the back of the envelop we would write S.W.A.K. For those of you too young to remember that, it means Sealed With A Kiss!

These days it’s all about fast and faster communication; OMG my BFF made me LOL. We email, text, tweet, update our status and post to our blogs. While I love technology and the convenience that comes with modern day communication, there is just something to be said for the tactile response and anticipation of opening that mailbox (the one that sits out by the street, not on your computer) and holding that letter, card or postcard in your hands. It never fails to bring a smile to my face. The front of my refrigerator always holds a hand written thank you (yes people do still send them!) or a postcard from a friend.

I recently discovered a website that will bring a little bit of that old feeling back. It’s called Postcrossing and the website is http://www.postcrossing.com. The premise is that you sign up (it’s free) and you receive an address where you will mail a postcard. The really fun part is that when you do this, your name is given to someone else on the site who will mail you a postcard from somewhere in the world! So I’m signed up and have sent my first postcard off to Hilary in Cheshire, UK!! Now the anticipation begins . . . where will that first postcard come from?? Hey, was that the sound of the mail truck?!

xoxo

Got Talent?

This week I finished my fourth digital photography class. Our assignment for this class was to bring in photos that we had to take while thinking about them printed in a square format. Square, as opposed to the traditional rectangle format. Seems like a simple change, but it does change the way you approach your subject. So off I went, thinking square.

Each week everyone breaks out their prints of that week’s assignment and we all look at them while the instructor critiques them. Let’s just say this process is a humbling experience for me each week. The only other woman in the class is doing her big project for the class on photos that represent important literature in her life (meanwhile I’m out shooting photos of daisies). One of the guys is experimenting with pinhole photography (I had to ask what the heck is pinhole photography?) and another is practicing on local wildlife while preparing for an upcoming safari (do photos of my cats count?). Their photographs are amazing and beautiful.

While I have moments where I think I should just put the camera in a drawer and forget about it, the truth is that I am inspired by the incredible amount of talent that is out there. It just makes me want to be better. So back to those weekly critiques; the one consistent comment my instructor makes is that he’d like to see my work in a large print . . . I’m talking something like 40 x 48 inches. Of course this is going to mean a new, more robust camera and a move to a larger house with more space to hang big huge prints!

Mother's Day is Coming

I was out shopping last night when I overheard this conversation between a dad and his small daughter.

Dad: While strolling through the shoe department, “What should we get mom for Mother’s Day?"

Child: “I think she would really like some dark yellow shoes!"

Dad: “Now when have you ever seen mom wear dark yellow shoes?”

Child: “mmmm”

Dad: “I think you are the one who likes dark yellow shoes.”

Child: “I really do like dark yellow shoes and besides, mom will say she really likes them! She likes anything I get for her!”

This little conversation took me back to shopping with my aunt and my brother for a Christmas present for mom. I found what I thought was the most beautiful gold satin quilted robe (think shiny gold really warm robe!). While my aunt tried to gently dissuade me and I’m sure my bother tried to be completely practical about the choice, I simply could not be deterred and was adamant about getting mom this robe! OK couple of things you should know about my mom. First she never wears anything in the yellow color range. Second, in those days she was always hot; the kind of person who wore just a sweater outside in winter. And third, I don’t think I’ve ever seen the woman in satin. Now something you should know about me, if it’s shiny and gold, I’m going to love it!! So you might be able to see where this is going . . . or maybe not.

My mom wore that gold satin quilted robe until it fell apart. Now that is a mother’s love!!

A beautiful day in the neighborhood!

This past Sunday was absolutely beautiful here. It was sunny, warm and the air was fresh and clear after rain showers the day before. If every day could just be like that . . . ok it will never happen in this part of the world, but still a glorious day. Since I’m currently taking a digital photography course, a perfect day to grab the camera and head out. Wow, if one could just earn a living driving around taking photos. OK, you can, but National Geographic is not knocking on my door. So here are some of my photos from this past weekend.

This is a local farmer's field, ready for planting.

A beautiful field of yellow flowers.

This tree is in an old local cemetary.

This cow stopped grazing to stare at the crazy lady with the camera.

Made a stop at the local landscape nursery to look at all the flowers.

Just loved these dark purple, almost black, panzies.

xoxo

Administrative Professional's Day

Yesterday was Administrative Professional’s Day. This was previously Secretary’s Day which then became Administrative Assistant’s Day which became Administrative Professional’s Day and who knows what it will be called in a few years. AP Day is one of those delightful holidays brought to you compliments of the lovely folks down at Hallmark. As one of those AP people, I suppose I should be thanking the folks down at Hallmark for thinking of me and planning a special holiday in my honor. However, I have to say I have some serious reservations about celebrating this holiday. I’m much more about living the golden rule all year, instead of picking me out one day of the year. I now realize that Karma is probably going to thump me on the head as I sit here looking at the beautiful flowers on my desk.

So yesterday, this lovely bouquet of flowers shows up from one of my bosses (I currently have many in my life!). This guy even sent me flowers without me having to remind him it was AP Day; did it all on his own! Actually I secretly believe his wife reminded him (yikes here comes another thump from Karma!). So I quickly dashed off a thank you email (I know mom, the handwritten thank you note will be on his desk tomorrow!) to this boss. Later in my day I needed to find a previously sent email and there it was staring me in the face . . . I sent the email to the wrong boss!! Now for those of you who work in Outlook, you know it pops in the most used name after a few letters and this guys last name starts with the same couple letters as the other guy. Oh crap, Oh crap, Oh crap! I quickly tried to recall the mail, but noooooo . . . it’s too late!

So now, the boss who incorrectly got the email thinks I’m a moron for sending it to the wrong guy and on top of that he’s now faced with the fact that while I’m a moron, he didn’t remember it was AP Day and is probably wondering if this is my not so subtle reminder!!

Thanks a lot Hallmark . . . next year I’m just calling in sick!

Back to Life, Back to Reality

Did you ever notice how you spend lots of time anticipating vacation, imaging yourself doing whatever it is you love to do on vacation? Then vacation arrives and you have a blast, eat too much, drink too much, take naps, stare at the ocean and just have fun laughing with people you love. Then you get back home full of that after vacation glow and one minute after you walk through the office door, the glow is gone. Poof! Back to reality!

Well I want to escape back to my vacation glow. So today I spent time editing the vacation photos and going back to vacation. Then there are all the wonderful snapshots in my head. What fun cheering for the golfers on the 18th hole. By the way, way to pull the string on your approach shot to the 18th Le Husband, truly impressive! Thanks to the Pagan God of Aviation for the sand shot lessons, you made it so easy. Now I just need to work on the rest of the game! From one curly head to the other, the hair is not huge, it’s beautiful! Thanks to our shopping tour guide, love my pear candles and new shades. Plus the lunch was divine and delish. I wonder how Miss South Carolina and Wade are doing? If I close my eyes I can pick out the each person’s laugh and hear the cheers for Acey/Deucy . . . nice finish bro! Close my eyes again and I’m sitting at a corner table overlooking the intracoastal and having a great dinner to celebrate the parent’s 54th anniversary.

Thanks to everyone for a fun vacation on the beach and golf course. It was so much fun catching up with everyone. I hope you all had as much fun as I did. OK, I’ve now got a little of the glow back to get me through the weekend. Until the next time. . .

xoxo

Are we having fun yet?

There are times when I ask myself “are we having fun yet”? I’m usually asking myself that when I’m in a situation where I’m supposed to be having fun . . . key word there, supposed. So, next week is the big family vay-cay in South Carolina. We’re off for some golf and beach time in warmer climates after a long cold snowy winter. Le Husband and I will be joining the parents, brother, sister-in-law, niece and niece’s boyfriend, and long time family friends.

So, time to put up the ski gear and break out the sticks. Le Husband has been taking me to the driving range so that I can blow the dust off the golf swing. Now golf is a sport I have developed a strong love/hate relationship with. Let’s face it, it’s a sport where you have this little white ball (or pink if you prefer) in your hot little hand. You set the ball down and take a club and whack the ball as far away from you as you can . . . then you go chase it and repeat the process . . . all with the goal of hitting it into a tiny hole in the ground. You do that 18 times and call it a day. I think to truly enjoy golf, you have to put logic and common sense aside.

So, back to the driving range with Le Husband. This is year four in my golf odyssey and every time I start again it feels like year one. I must say I started out not too bad, however things rapidly went downhill. Hit the ground, hit right, hit left . . . watch the frustration build. Le Husband steps in to help/coach. “Move closer to the ball, change your grip, stand up taller, slower back swing,” . . . “what are you doing???!!!” “Take a break.” “Get back here and hit the ball!” So I ask myself, now say it with me, are we having fun yet?

I’m sure your asking yourself after reading that, why would anyone bother. Well I have to admit that once out there on the golf course with Le Husband and usually family and friends, the sun is shining on the beautiful green golf course and you finally hit that perfect shot that goes long and straight; the answer to the question is a resounding “yes, yep, you betcha, we are definitely having fun!”

So I plan to be having lots of fun next week and playing plenty of golf. And if that golf swing just won’t work . . . well then I’ll be forced to sit on the beach with a beverage and a book. Life is good!

Fuzzy Kids

We have fuzzy kids. That’s right ours are fuzzy with whiskers and the amazing ability to talk back or ignor us . . . probably just like your regular kids. The plan was to be that typical two kid family, however this is life on Plan C and there’s that surprise, I mean of course we planned on three, addition to the family.

We have had two since the spring of 2002. There is Tarquin, the queen B (you can guess what that B stands for!). Then there is our sweet, gentle, lover boy Clancy, aka Clancyman. This September while on a trip to NC, a friend helped me rescue our feisty, then 5-week old, Miss Keely. As you can imagine, bringing the youngster into the house created turmoil. Tarquin said “You can’t possibly be serious bringing THAT into my house!” Clancy simply took one look and ran the other way.

The other day Keely had to have surgery and so she was gone from the house for two days. I swear that I heard Tarquin humming “ding dong the witch is dead” and Clancy spent the two days reclaiming all of his favorite places to sleep. So, you can imagine their disappointment when Keely returned home from successful surgery. Tarquin, who glared at me, hissed at Le Husband, and growled at Keely said “I thought you had gotten rid of that thing, what’s it doing back here?!”

Keely, on the other hand, has not stopped expressing how happy she is to be home. So while we readjust to life with the third fuzzy kid, that unconditional love feels so great. Prrrrrrrrrrr back at you kid!

Pears

OK what is it about pears? I guess it’s time to confess, that I have some weird obsession with them. I love the shape of them. Any time I see one, they just attract me like magnets. I can be flipping through a magazine and see a pear in the background and that’s what draws my attention. We had friends in for dinner the other night and my friend made a comment that she didn’t realize how much I liked pears. At the time, she was taking candy out of a pear candy dish and on a nearby table was a glass pear. She probably wouldn’t have noticed if I hadn’t recently showed her a series of photos I had taken of pears.

So I guess my secret obsession is now public . . . yes I love pears. There is just something about that shape. Can’t be that subconsciously I’ve got a pear shape (no such luck) I’m more of a mango! And as for actually eating them, I do like them, but can’t say that I eat them all that often. I have a glass pear, a pear necklace, an enameled pear that sits on my nightstand, a pear candy dish and two sets of pear salt and pepper shakers.

Recently I was in the mood to try some creativity with the camera and different photo treatments on the computer . . . the subject I chose . . . that’s right a pair of pears! The first time I sat down to paint with my artist mom what did I paint, that’s right a pear!!

So what is this obsession with pears trying to tell me? Hmm, maybe I just need to eat more fruit!

Attack of the Ski Bug

Years ago I spent my free time in the winter skiing. So early on in my relationship with the man who was to become Le Husband, I took him skiing. I wanted him to love it like I did and thought it would be great fun spending time together on the slopes. Le Husband was a beach boy, so that white cold stuff was foreign to him. So off we went to a small local hill, strapped on the boards and watched the magic happen. Or not! After working hard on his snow plow and falling downing the hill a few times . . . a valiant effort on his part . . . skiing was quickly voted off the list of fun things to do.

Through the years lots of other stuff, like getting through college and building a career, interfered with any more attempts to get Le Husband interested in attempting skiing again. Being the beach boy that he is, when winter snows roll in, his reaction is less than enthusiastic. I get the same question every winter, “Tell me again why you like this weather?!” And my comments of “maybe if we found something fun to do in winter, you’d like it better” were usually ignored or met with some mumbled comment about beaches or surfing.

So recently when good friends invited us on a weekend ski trip, I thought Le Husband was being such a good sport by agreeing to hit the slopes for an entire weekend. So we headed out early so that he’d have an opportunity to take a lesson before our friends arrived. The ski gods were smiling upon us this weekend, because we had beautiful blue skies, warm sunshine and perfect snow conditions. The ski lesson went wonderfully, the friends arrived and we all hit the slopes!

Something very strange began to happen to Le Husband. It started out small, just a twinkle in his eyes and a turn up at the corner of his mouth. However, by the end of the weekend Le Husband had definitely been bitten by a serious case of the Ski Bug!! How serious you say? Well it’s now been two weeks since that ski weekend (yes only two weeks!) and he is equipped from head to toe in new ski apparel and equipment. Along with that, is the shiny new 2011 season pass that was purchased before we even left the slopes on that fateful weekend!

On our last ride up the chair lift at the end of a perfect weekend of skiing, Le Husband looked at me and said “Why haven’t you insisted that we ski every winter?” Go figure!!

Updates

Life is sure funny and ironic some times. In a recent post ‘Lost and Found’ I mentioned that we had recently found some friends of ours who live in Santiago, Chili. Anyone on the planet who owns a TV has seen the recent story about the earthquake in Chili and the devastation is caused. When we woke up to this news last Saturday, we immediately thought of our friends and wondered/hoped that they were safe. I am so happy to say that they are all safe and healthy. To paraphrase her words, while the damage they personally suffered was minor, they are truly saddened for their country and the many people affected by this. We are just extremely happy that our friends and their family are doing well.

Another update to a previous post is about Mr. Smalls adventure with Mr. Squeaky. It seems that it took a surgical extraction to remove Mr. Squeaky. Mr. Smalls, after an allergic reaction to surgical staples, is now recovering nicely. Mr. Squeaky, on the other hand, unfortunately did not survive the procedure.

It’s great that we’ve had two happy and positive outcomes!

Mr. Smalls ate Mr. Squeaky!

OK I’ll admit, just the title of this makes me smile . . . and it’s really not a laughing matter. Anyone out there who has pets, knows how involved our lives can become with them. I have a dear friend who lives out in Seattle and along with her hubby and their boxer Deuce, she also lives with Mr. Smalls. Now Smalls is a French Mastiff who weighs about a gazillion pounds and has a head bigger than a basketball! I know the size of that head because as a six-month-old he about knocked me unconscious after bounding across their back yard to say hello. I stupidly bent down to say Hi back and the two of us head butted each other . . . he simply grinned while I tried to remaining standing with those stars and little birdies circling my head!

So this morning while working diligently I received an IM from my friend. Why, yes, I can multitask while at work and never lose focus . . .OK that was for The Big D’s benefit. Anyway, her opening comment was “Mr. Smalls ate Mr. Squeaky!” So now I think you can see where I’m going with this. Smalls, while playing with his favorite toy, aka Mr. Squeaky, had gotten annoyed with Mr. Squeaky and GULP he was gone. On a positive thinking note, perhaps Smalls really loves Mr. Squeaky and this was simply an effort to get closer to him.

Now apparently Mr. Squeaky is either terrified or really likes it in there and does not want to “come out”!  So Smalls is now at the vet and they are trying to convince Mr. Squeaky to find his way out. I know this is wrong on many levels, but I did have to ask my friend if Smalls squeaked now when you press on his stomach! The answer, sadly, is no. Hopefully this situation will pass . . . literally . . . without too much trauma. Stay tuned for updates on Mr. Smalls and Mr. Squeaky!

Lost and Found

Today is a really good day, today I found an old friend who I had lost. Long ago in a land far, far away when I was younger, and of course thinner, I had a dear friend who was from Santiago. She was cute as a button, a phrase which until I met her only applied to babies, toddlers or kittens. She was adorable, funny, chic, cultured and made me feel that way when I spent time with her. She was there for me when I had a bad day at work, she was there for me when I was going through a tough time in my life, and she was there to be that fun girlfriend who you loved going out with.


Along with all that, there was a bonus . . . she had an adorable husband. He was getting his Ph.D. from Princeton, so let’s say he was rather bright, with a quick wit and this wonderful mop of curly hair. Together, they were the ‘it’ couple, the cool kids . . . you just imagined them getting picked first on the playground. So it was even greater when this couple got along great with my man and me. What a blast (do people still say that?) we all had together. Then can the time they had to go back to Santiago. So through tears and hugs we promised to keep in touch with each others’ lives.

The plan was to some day visit them in their part of the world. Ahh the elusive Plan A! We started out so good writing letters (gosh does anyone remember the days when you actually put a pen to paper and wrote a letter?!) sending cards and photos and the occasional international phone call. Then life happened; we moved a few times, they moved, and the letters, cards and phone calls slowed down. Next thing you knew, poof!, they were lost.

Over the years I wondered what happened to her. How was her life? Something would happen and I’d think, “oh she would love to know this”. I’d hear from a mutual friend who would ask about her and I’d get that pang of sadness, not knowing where she was or what was happening in her.

But today, life gave me a great surprise. After looking, yet again, the big ol’ World Wide Web (for you youngsters out there, that’s the internet) found my long lost friend!! And yes, she’s still cute as a button!

Snow Day!

Remember when you were a kid and you woke up to piles of snow. Then you waited with anticipation to hear them call your school’s name on the news and let out a woop when they called out the name! I had one of those moments recently when my cell phone buzzed at 6:30 am with the news that my office was closed for a snow day . . . Holy Cow a snow day at The Big D! All together now, WAHOO!!

Now what? An entire day to do whatever I want. Hmm Plan A, clean out the linen closet, get that 12 inch stack of papers filed, or maybe get caught up with the magazine stash (and anyone who knows me, knows that I have a serious magazine issue, yes pun intended!). Nope, not a chance. Why be productive when you can spend the day surfing the net and getting caught up on all those shows recorded on the DVR. I must admit that I did tell myself I could certainly work on the stack of magazines while catching up on TV. After all, how seriously does one have to watch to keep up with discovering Dwight’s next step in his plan for world domination . . . or taking over at Dunder- Mifflin?

Without even thinking about it, the plan for the day seemed to morf . Do we see a trend developing? So we’re off and running, or should I say lounging, getting caught up on the TV. During my productive TV catch-up-fest, I learned a new word, ‘manscaping’. Wow, see if you can figure that one out. But I digress. So on to that stack of magazines, which is threatening to take over my family room! For me to make some serious headway, I needed to be brutal in my approach . . . if it was over a year it would go in the trash pile no matter what tempting promises were made on the front cover. I’m afraid to tell you how many fell into that category or older. So several hours were spent collecting recipes (My recipe obsession we’ll save for another post!!), articles, clip art and miscellaneous stuff that I wanted to read. So now, while having gotten rid of a surprisingly small stack of magazines, we’re now looking a new stack of papers which now have to find a home. So ultimately, not sure much progress was truly made, I think I just created more work for myself! However, we now know that I’m still lost with Lost, Dunder-Mifflin has been sold and McDreamy is now the Chief at Seattle Grace.

Let's get it started . . .

Life on Plan C, we’ll get back to that. I have a beautiful, bright niece who recently made a life changing decision to move away from home for the first time ever. Not just away, but across the country from home, family, friends to start a new chapter in her young life. Along with that decision she, the social/media-networking-princess, decided to start a blog about this adventure. And low and behold, after reading her first ‘post’, inspiration struck. That’s my nice way of saying it’s her fault if her aunt sucks at this!

This social/media-networking-adverse-aphobe person has decided to start a blog. I know this will be a big shock to my friends who have asked nicely (harassed) me to join their favorite social networking site, only to have me launch into a tirade about wanting to maintain my privacy . . . besides there’s that whole witness protection thing.

What does one blog about you may ask, well after reading several I’ve decided that there aren’t a whole lot of rules and it can be pretty much whatever the heck you want . . . a journey you’re taking in your life, your political viewpoint, who ate the last bowl of Coco Puffs and left the empty box. So the planner in me took over and started the process for planning my blog . . . which leads me back to that Life on Plan C. I made one of those life changing decisions a few years back when I was about the same age as my niece and had Plan A all worked out. Well Plan A turned into Plan B which turned into Plan C (truth be told I’m probably approaching Plan Z!). So this blog will be about living life on Plan C; figuring out what comes next and most likely something different all the time!