Exposure2009

Life

2009-12-31T22:33:00.001-08:00

I haven't posted since December 8th. But I mostly kept my commitment to post every day of the year. This is the end of this blog - to document my life every day in pictures of the year I turn 60 years old. And it was quite a year.

My dictionary has many definitions for life. My very first post of the year had the words to a James Taylor song that I love - the secret of life is enjoying the passage of time. I guess I did enjoy the passage of time this year - mostly. Even in the loss of my mother, I can say it was a meaningful and a learning experience for me. I'm not worried about where she is and I know I will see her again. It's ironic that tonight on New Year's Eve, I am here alone with no TV on and have been reading a book. It's a little paperback book that belongs to my "baby" sister called Life After Life. I was drawn to it tonight. I do believe in life after life.

I spent a lot of time tonight also going back over this entire blog, reading every entry and all the comments. Thank you friends and family and a couple of "unknowns" for your comments and interaction. Thank you, Joan, for this idea. I enjoyed your blog and you inspired me with your last comment to finish this out and post one last night before the year ends. Finish what I started.

I learned a lot this year. I learned that I can learn first of all! ha! I've kept journals by hand before and when I go back and read them, I'm amazed at the things I did, not realizing how busy I was. I never think I do enough. But this year I've learned that I do what I can. For the coming year, I don't know if I will blog again or not. I do love to blog but I might take a break from blogging every single day. I just haven't made a plan or decided yet. I really did enjoy going back and looking at the photos and posts on this blog and the comments people made. The middle of the year was very tough but I'm glad it's documented. I have the name of a company who will print your blog for you. I am going to check into that about the cost, etc., and I may do that to preserve it.

I've learned that I play many roles. I, of course, started out as two people's baby, then a sister, niece, granddaughter, cousin, wife, sister-in-law, mother, aunt, mother-in-law, grandmother and, hopefully, friend. And all these people have played a role in my life. If I have any resolutions for the year 2010, it is to love myself so that I may love and do for others. I've learned that lesson this year. I'm not trying to be self-centered but selfish. There's a difference. By being selfish, which means just loving myself, I'll be better able to love others, give clean gifts, and serve as a better role model of someone who loves and gives to others but also has a life of her own to enjoy.

I plan to start the year of 2010 with art classes on January 4th. There are a few other things I have planned, too, but I'm just going to try to enjoy the ride again. None of us know what the next year holds but all we can do is our best. My goal is improvement for myself in all areas possible and to love my God, the life he has given me and my family and friends. I hope everyone reading this has a very meaningful 2010. Thank you for visiting my blog in 2009. It was a good experience.

Above is a photo taken this Christmas of my immediate family - my husband, my two daughters and their husbands and my granddaughter. I love them all dearly. But I have so much of an extended family that I love dearly, too. Life has been good to me in my 60 years and I'm so thankful for that.

I'm OK But. . . .

2009-12-07T19:03:00.000-08:00

I know everyone is decorating for Christmas now and I have been, too, so why this Thanksgiving/Fall photo at this time of year? Well, the last two days I've been ok but. . . I still feel like I have these "moments" or "times" when I feel so down and I guess it's because I miss my mother. The photo above I like because I did decorate for Halloween and Thanksgiving and Christmas even though I really didn't feel like it. But I did it. And as I did it, I added in little things of my mother's that would remind me of her and make my home feel like she's a part of all this "celebrating."

In the photo above, the two little ceramic squirrels were my mother's. I remember them for as long as I can remember and everywhere we lived, I remember her hanging them on an outside wall of our house. That's why I love them - because she did and they were so important to her. They ARE cute, aren't they? I wonder where she got them. I never asked her and wish I had. She probably ordered them from a catalog. She loved to order things from a catalog. :)

After her house was almost empty, I went out on her screened-in porch on the back of her house and saw these still hanging on the wall outside. Everyone had been through her things and made lists and gotten things they wanted and no one had taken down those little squirrels. I just couldn't leave them yet I couldn't give them away so I took them home. They just seem to look perfect with the greenery and pumpkins, etc.

Today my husband and I took our granddaughter to the Shakespeare Theatre here to buy tickets to a play. As I was talking to the lady in the ticket office, somehow the subject came around to our mothers and holidays and I just broke down crying in front of the woman. I thought I was through with that but I guess not. The lady was very understanding and thoughtful about this with me. She told me that a time would come that I would treasure moments like I had today. I guess time will only tell.

Soap, Anyone?

2009-12-03T17:25:00.001-08:00

I know this is a strange photograph but. . . . this is a journal done by photography for this year, right? I am constantly seeing things I can photograph now. I was in the shower and noticed what pretty colors were bubbling up on my bar of soap. So here I am soaking wet wishing I had my camera! That's pretty obsessive I guess!! Then I thought, "well, I can go get my camera and get the shot after I get out of the shower and dry off." By the time I got my camera, the pretty little bubbles were gone. I did not let this get me down. I took the soap out and rubbed around on it with my sponge and up came some more bubbles so I photographed away in the shower!! Can you imagine?!? ha! These were just not as pretty, though, as the very first ones I saw.

I guess my point I'm trying to make here is that my vision is constantly changing since I've started this blog which, for me, is successful and makes me happy that I've worked on this blog all year. I still have SO much to learn which is exciting, too!

Good Excuses!

2009-12-01T18:37:00.000-08:00

I do have plenty of good excuses for not posting for a few days. In one word - Thanksgiving!! But it was so good. I spent it with all my girls and hubby and other family members I love so much. It was a lot of hard work, cleaning and cooking for hours and hours but it was worth it all. I have so much to be thankful for. There was a vacancy with my mother not being with us this year so I made sure I placed some things out here and there to remind me of her. And I attempted her famous caramel cake. It wasn't just like hers but it did taste good and was all eaten pretty quickly. I think she would have liked it, too.

Now it's December and thoughts are on Christmas. We already have most of our decorations out. I am almost through with shopping and have already done what few Christmas cards I am sending. For the month, I would love to enjoy Christmas sewing and I love to bake and decorate cookies. Maybe I will have time to do that, too. Simplifying things is the best way to go!

The Creek

2009-11-23T18:23:00.000-08:00

This is a little creek close to my house. I don't know why it caught my eye this morning but it did. I just had to pull over and take a few shots. I think it's the autumn leaves. I love all that color. On one side of the road, the water was running (as in this photo) and on the other side of the road, it was still. This is my favorite season. It's a shame it doesn't last longer.

Tweaking

2009-11-22T16:04:00.001-08:00

After church today, I spent the afternoon tweaking photographs. I love to do it but you can sink a LOT of time into this activity by playing around! I get lost in it.

The above is just an amazing look at nature. I was up early one morning photographing spider webs and came up with so many different designs. Some of them look like jewelry to me!

I love to stop and take a close look at the little things.

Busy, busy, busy!

2009-11-21T15:42:00.001-08:00

I have been pretty busy lately and not had too much time the last couple of days to post here. I don't want that habit to continue and want to post every day until the end of the year. So I thought I'd post another photo from the foggy morning I was out at 5:30 am snapping these pictures. I put this one on here straight out of the camera but I'd like to take time and work with this whole group. I just love the soft and peaceful look of this peaceful morning. The colors are fall-like, too.

I have been busy sewing, crocheting, babysitting, some cooking, organizing, reading, working with Photoshop to try to learn some more about it, went to a baby shower, just a lot of things like that. I am ready for some down time and plan to take some within the next few days.

Lazy Daze

2009-11-17T20:37:00.000-08:00

My days have seemed lazy lately. I've been doing a lot of reading, working with photos and files on the computer, photographing things outside, a little bit of sewing, and organizing things. I've cooked with my husband (which we used to do a long time ago when we first were married).

I've been waking up very early lately, too. Day before yesterday, I woke up at 3 am and yesterday I woke at around 5:30 so I headed outside with my camera when I saw this fog (as in the photo above). It was beautiful and I got a lot of soft photos. The one above is one of my favorites. It has the warm, fall colors in it with the hay bale and the mist.

I've been feeling a little low lately, probably because the holidays are approaching and this will be the first Thanksgiving and Christmas without my mother here. I want to draw close to my family but they're all so busy. At least we can keep in touch through all this technology. I love them all.

Art

2009-11-15T19:51:00.000-08:00

Art encompasses so much - painting, drawing, photography, writing, music, cooking, just creating in any way. All my life, these are the things I've been interested in and they all kind of mix and mingle together. But there's one aspect of all these things that I'm not doing and I want to do. I want to take a photo such as the one above and paint it or draw it or re-create it in some way or some medium. I'm enjoying photography and learning more and more but I still have this urge to paint, draw, etc.

I guess I really have no excuse not to do this but I make excuses and I procrastinate and I do all kinds of other things, tip toeing around this. So this is what I've decided to do. When this blog is done at the last day of this year, I'll will not post on this one anymore. It will be finished. I will go back to my art blog and start trying to concentrate on that and post there.

I read somewhere (in an art magazine, I think) about a woman who is an artist and she decided to take one photo and paint it or re-create it 100 times in different ways. She talked about how much she learned by doing this. I am CONSIDERING this with something simple like the photo above or a similar one. I know I would learn a lot and I have to challenge myself most of the time to make myself do things.

I know this is a weird post but I'm in a weird mood. ha! We'll see what happens but that's kind of a "half plan." Just an idea. I have lots of other ideas in the making. I'll see what materializes.

The Golden Hour

2009-11-14T15:02:00.001-08:00

Professional photographers are always talking about the Golden Hour. As I understand it there's one in the morning and one in the afternoon. I took this photo this afternoon and have titled it The Golden Cat in the Golden Hour!

This is Peekie (short for Peek-A-Boo), one of our three cats. He IS a beautiful cat and the sweetest cat in the world. He followed me around outside this afternoon as I was roaming around with my camera. I kept trying and trying to get a photo of him but he just wouldn't settle down. Finally, he did and was sitting out close to the pond in the front yard cleaning himself and I got one. I love our Peekie and he does look beautiful in the Golden Hour, doesn't he?

A Haunting Question

2009-11-13T19:07:00.000-08:00

This is the toughest post I've made this year and it is a haunting question. I've thought about it all day.

Above is a photo from yesterday when we took Paige to the zoo. They have a nice playground there which she enjoys so much. It is one of the first places we took her to enjoy. When we got home, I loaded the pictures on the computer and she was sitting in my lap looking at them. When we came to this picture, she got really excited because this was one in which she was trying to help a little boy come up the slide. He was younger and she just loves to be a helper when she has an opportunity.

She asked me why I didn't take a picture of the little boy :( That question really made me stop and think. I remember the moment. I considered taking his picture with her but decided not to do it and just have a picture of her. She wanted him in the picture because she was helping him.

I'm not proud of the fact that I left the little boy out of the picture and I won't do it again. This has really bothered me all day today. I'm glad she pointed out this character flaw of mine by asking this question. We can learn so much from little children if we'll only listen with our hearts.

Zoo Trip Again

2009-11-12T20:08:00.000-08:00

We took Paige to the zoo again today. The weather was perfect and there were only three families at the zoo, including us. It was great. The above photo is my favorite from the whole group. I didn't tweak it at all because I'm too tired but I just like the expressions I caught. They were both saying, "cheese."

I did play around with my camera a little today and I used the bracketing feature. It just shoots three exposures in a row and I can choose which one I like the best and delete the others if I like. And I found that at this same spot where I adjust this, I can also set up continuous shooting, self-timing and remote control shooting. So I'm having fun and learning at the same time.

I also played around with Photoshop tonight a little while and learned a few things. But I'm just so tired that I'm going to call it a night.

Cinderella's Grandmother

2009-11-11T20:15:00.000-08:00

You can barely see her but this is Cinderella's grandmother in the mirror on the merry-go-round. I didn't tweak this photo at all.

Cinderella's grandmother had a lousy day today even though she was productive - cleaning house, doing laundry, went to choir practice and even cooked a very good meal for tonight. She has just been in a lousy mood. Guess even members of Cinderella's family have those kinds of days.

Front Yard Wildlife - Five Views

2009-11-10T16:47:00.001-08:00

Yesterday I saw this turtle in our front yard. Even at a distance, he looked huge! So I stepped into the front yard a little closer to him and decided to go in and get my camera. I decided to put on the long lens because I was a little apprehensive about getting too close to him. I was scared he might be a snapping turtle and I didn't want to get "snapped!"

Hello!

A close-up of his tail. This looks very prehistoric!

And here's a side view of his head.

Goodbye!

I looked him (or her) up on wikipedia. It IS a snapping turtle. They can weigh from 10 to 35 lbs. and even up to 75 lbs, the shell on an adult can grow up to 20 inches (he was pretty close to that in length, I believe), they have very strong jaws and can also injure by their claws (especially the back claws), can defecate, urinate and/or musk on you and should be avoided. The females lay 25 to 80 eggs a year.

He was headed for our little pond in the front yard probably to eat well. They will eat other reptiles, small mammals, and even snakes which I like!

So I kept my distance and photographed him and let him go!

Dolly Park

2009-11-09T15:52:00.000-08:00

I'm back from Tennessee. The four of us had a wonderful time although I hated my oldest daughter did not get to be with us at "Dolly Park", as Paige called it. The above photo shows how beautiful the lights were there.

Paige was CRAZY about Dolly Parton. We went into her museum on the park and we could NOT get her out of there! She loved looking at her clothes, shoes, photographs, musical instruments, listening to her music, etc. She wanted to go to Dolly's house!

It was a good visit with Erin, too. We spent the night with her the first night and had a great time. Then we rode from Nashville to the Sevierville/Pigeon Forge area. Erin had a gift show to attend while we went to Dolly Park. Then we were able to shop some, eat out and enjoy some more time with all of us together. I love my girls. :)

A Mini Vacation Coming Up!

2009-11-04T19:05:00.001-08:00

Here are my three favorite girls! Tomorrow I'm leaving with the two on the left and going to visit the one on the right! ha!

We're headed for Nashville and then to Gatlinburg for a mini vacation. I'm very much looking forward to just being with my girls. :) May not post again here until I get back but hope to have a lot of good photos to post.

An Aha Moment!

2009-11-03T16:48:00.000-08:00

This is the back of our house. This was Halloween night and I know it's dark and difficult to tell anything about it but it's a pretty big house to clean - two story. (*As a side note, one of our neighbors that lives across from the back of our house came over the day after Halloween and told Johnny that it looked like our house was on fire! ha!*) Anyway, most of the time I don't like to clean house but somebody's got to do it and we really can't afford to pay anyone so that leaves me. Sometimes I AM in the mood and actually enjoy it. But I ALWAYS enjoy having and being in a clean house.

Last night, I decided that today I would take Paige to her Mothers' Day Out school and then just come straight back home and use that four hours to clean house. I didn't finish but I did get a lot done. Being surprised about how much I did accomplish, I had an AHA moment! I thought, you know, I could do this every Tuesday (or Thursday) if Emily's working on Thursday and I'm taking her to school. I could come home and clean house and get some things done around here instead of wasting time just looking around, etc. in the area where her school is. Then having that done, I could run any errands or do any shopping with her after I pick her up! What a grand idea!

I still have some cleaning to do but I got most of it done today. I will definitely do this again!

A Sewing Day!

2009-11-02T19:22:00.001-08:00

Today was a sewing day for me and I thoroughly enjoyed it. Above is one of the things I worked on. It was very tedious with little bitty pieces of fabric to cut and applique but turned out cute, I thought.

For more, go to my other blog, bearbear to see. I think this is the first time I've posted one photo the same on both blogs.

Decorations Came Down Today

2009-11-01T21:06:00.000-08:00

I have never in my life put up decorations for any holiday one day and take them down the next! But that's what I did for Halloween this year. It all went up amazingly fast and taking it down was fast, too. I think my husband and I enjoyed it more than anyone! Had a great Halloween with only one trick or treater but she was a special one. :)

Happy Halloween!

2009-10-31T21:55:00.000-07:00

Our pumpkin this year was a gift from Paige and her mommy. Paw Paw and Paige carved it together. We decided at the last minute this afternoon to decorate a lot for Halloween. It was so much fun and a perfect night. It was chilly, foggy, full moon and while we were decorating, we could hear coyotes howling. Spooky!!! Here is the jack o' lantern in all his glory!

Cinderella was our only trick-or-treater. Here SHE is in all HER glory! She's making a scary face for me in the mirror. I took about 20 photos of her tonight and only about three of them were in focus! Just too much excitement, I guess. But we enjoyed her visit so much and haven't laughed so much in a long, long time.

We had a wonderful Halloween.

Blount Park Outing

2009-10-30T19:37:00.001-07:00

We have a very beautiful park here called Blount Park. Above is just one area of the park with the red bridge. A lot of photographers bring their subjects here to photograph engagement photos, children's photos, etc. because it is such a beautiful location.

Today I took Paige to the park just to have a picnic and play ball and enjoy the day. The day before Halloween, we had a beautiful, sunny 80 degree day!

We took a big blanket, got our "picnic" lunch at Chick Fil A (ha!), took a big ball plus a bat, ball and glove, about four stuffed animals, books, some bread to feed the ducks and, of course, my camera. :) We gave Mommy a day "off" to sew in peace and quiet.

Hammin' it up for the camera while we were feeding the fish, turtles and ducks. I think Paige ate more of the bread than she fed the creatures!

I wanted to include this photo because I thought it turned out so unusual. Paige is always noticing the flowers, especially wildflowers (aren't children wonderful?) and she's constantly picking flowers for me. Here's a wildflower she found and I snapped just as she was handing it to me which distorted the hand giving the flower which I think emphasizes the gift. :)

As Paige would say, it was a beautiful day!

A Visit From Cinderella :)

2009-10-29T19:40:00.000-07:00

Had a visit from Cinderella today. She and Paw Paw wanted to carve a pumpkin together. Here they have removed the top and I don't think they're enjoying the "aroma" of a pumpkin! ha!

I think I took over 40 shots of Cinderella but she was so excited and had so many treats today that only a few were not blurred. Her school Halloween party was today. I think her mother got better photos than I did. She also had pictures of Tinkerbell and Snow White along with a cowboy and an astronaut. Cute, cute, cute!

Laundry, Reading and Sewing Today

2009-10-28T20:49:00.000-07:00

Just using a public photo today. Nice shot of a beautiful autumn day which is what we are having (when it's not raining - we've had a lot of rain lately!).

I was going to read all day today and try to finish a book in a day but the laundry had to be done and my sewing machine kept calling me! Had a good day.

Brother Bob's Birthday!

2009-10-27T19:19:00.000-07:00

Today is my brother-in-law's birthday. His wife, sister, my husband and I met for lunch to celebrate. Above are the siblings:)

Brother Bob and wife, Kay:)

Brother Bob and Moi :)

Life's A Beach!

2009-10-26T13:38:00.000-07:00

I haven't posted in a few days because we went to the beach. Left on Thursday, the 22nd and got home last night, the 25th. We had a good time. For me, it was relaxing and just getting away for a few days.

The guys played golf every day and one of the women played with them. We "girls" just relaxed and did go out to eat a lot which was good. We went to some consignment places the first day and the shopping I loved the most was traveling to Panama City to a very nice quilt shop. That was the highlight of my trip!

The photo above was taken at a little secluded area that I'd never seen or visited. I really enjoyed this, too, with my camera. I have a lot of photos from this little hike we took thru a trail on an island. It was very swampy but well kept.

Looks like a great place to spend the day reading a book or doing some needlework with an iPod, doesn't it?

An Electrifying Day!

2009-10-21T17:43:00.000-07:00

All I have to say is WHEW!

An Inspiring Day

2009-10-20T17:33:00.000-07:00

I took this sweet little angel to her Mother's Day Out today. This month she is staying an hour afterwards for art and really seems to enjoy it.

While she's in MDO, I usually go to Books A Million and relax just looking around. I am taking a 12-wk. course (on my own) to help the creative process called Finding Water by Julia Cameron and it is wonderful!! Today my assignment was to go to a children's book store and look for an hour through children's books. It was quite an experience. Not what I expected at all. I was SO inspired and it was very interesting to see what books I chose. They parallelled what I choose in adult books! Very interesting.

Celebrating 82 Years!!

2009-10-19T20:21:00.001-07:00

I didn't post yesterday but we did go to my mother-in-law's 82nd birthday celebration at my brother-in-law and sister-in-law's home. The meal was fantastic, like a big Thanksgiving or Christmas meal! Emily, Garrett and Paige came and as you can see, Paige loved helping Maw blow out her birthday candles.

It was a fun family time and we're so happy for Maw's 82nd birthday. I think she celebrated all week with her friends, too. Her birthday was really the 17th but she just kept celebrating. The more they come, the more special they should be. I wonder what it feels like to be 82. Happy Birthday Maw!

A Shocker!

2009-10-17T17:06:00.000-07:00

I shocked my husband today and did some work outside! ha! Just went for a little stroll around the yard to breathe in the cool air (which is now very cold!) and saw so many things that needed to be done outside. So I went into the garage and got the clippers and trimmed the crape myrtles, stacked up the trimmings into a pile, pulled up some dead flowers in a long planter and thew them away, swept the porch, and brought in the outdoor pillows to wash. It was about 45 minutes of work, not much.

But, a SHOCKER to my husband! Gotta love it!

I Need to Pay Attention More!

2009-10-16T22:17:00.000-07:00

I went for kind of a meandering walk today around 10:30 to 11:00 just looking around to see what I could find interesting in our yard. This was the most amazing thing I found, I think. These "pods" were all over the ground underneath our small magnolia tree that is right next to the house.

I was just looking over the magnolia tree and then looked down on the ground and these were everywhere. I've noticed them when they're green and on the tree right before they bloom but never knew they turned like this and fell to the ground. Then I noticed the beautiful red seeds (and some white) in them. I never knew this existed! How interesting and how beautiful!

I'm so happy life is still full of surprises and things to learn. I will start paying attention more!

Fair Day!

2009-10-15T20:01:00.000-07:00

The sky was NOT this blue today at the fair! I played around with color because we had such a good time, I just couldn't stand to post a photo with the grey skies. It never rained on us for the 7 to 8 hrs. we were there, but the threat of a storm brought us wonderful breezes and cooled things off very nicely.

I think we covered everything pretty much that we could that was age appropriate. We looked at the exhibits, had cotton candy, fudge, ice cream, hamburger and fries, rode just about every ride that Paige was "qualified" to ride, watched the sea lion show, went to the petting zoo, visited with some old friends we saw, and saw a puppet show at the end. I'm sure I left out something but we had a great time and everyone should sleep well tonight:)

It just wouldn't seem like Fall without going to the fair.

Reflexology Again!

2009-10-14T22:31:00.000-07:00

Of course, these sweet little feet are not mine. They belong to my granddaughter. But I had another hour of reflexology today which was heavenly and made my feet feel this young:) I would recommend it to anyone!

As for my post yesterday - my youngest daughter informed me in her comment that it was funny that I posted Rudi's photo because the day before was his birthday. I didn't realize that but that was the day that I took his picture! ha! Happy Birthday Rudi!

Playing Around

2009-10-13T15:23:00.000-07:00

This is one photo that I made while just playing around with using old and new equipment together to try to get macro photos.

Very tired tonight. Stressful day driving on the highway today. A man ran me off the road this morning and it just seemed like there were so many crazy drivers out there. I just couldn't wait to get home and "nest" on my couch. whew!

Orange, Orange, Orange!

2009-10-12T19:36:00.000-07:00

Out and about today and saw this cute pumpkin patch.

Happy Fall Y'all!!

The Boat

2009-10-11T17:45:00.000-07:00

This is our backyard. And this is straight out of the camera! I did not do anything to this photo which is amazing. I saw that clouds were in the sky and it looked like it was going to be a beautiful sunset so I just walked down to the water and waited. Then when the color started appearing, I just started shooting and thought the boat would make a good silhouette against that orange water and sky.

I really, really like this photo!

Yard Sale

2009-10-10T18:24:00.001-07:00

My youngest daughter and I had a yard sale today and did twice as good as I expected to do. I think she was pleased, too.

So we decided to do it again tomorrow afternoon after church and reduce our prices on what's left. We'll see how that goes.

Great Day! Hard work but great day!

Strange Day!

2009-10-09T18:18:00.000-07:00

"It's a beautiful day, Paw Paw." That statement will make you feel so bad when you wake up with the devil in you as I did this morning. I don't know what was wrong with me! I was in such a bad mood. Johnny left (for which I don't blame him) and took Paige to the park and then when they got home, rode the 4-wheeler. During that time, I cleaned, cleaned, cleaned and then I started feeling like the devil was leaving me! ha! I felt so much better.

I also got hot and sweaty and it WAS a beautiful day. The sky was a beautiful blue with beautiful white clouds and a breeze blowing, in the 80's, so I asked Paige if she wanted to go swimming. The water temp was 80 degrees and it was just a little bit chilly but the sun was so warm that it really felt great. We went swimming in October! You know you're in the deep south when you can go swimming in October when people are decorating for Halloween and Fall! ha!

So, all in all, it ended up being a beautiful day (just as Paige said). Out of the mouth of babes:)

Calgon, Take Me Away!!!!!

2009-10-08T17:23:00.000-07:00

Those of you out there who are old enough to remember this phrase and this commercial know what this means! I'm am exhausted. Still have work to do. Woman's work is never done! I'm eating and going to bed to have peace and quiet and read and gear up for the weekend. Keep Paige tomorrow and yard sale Sat. Church Sunday. Whew!

2009-10-07T18:26:00.000-07:00

I've been working many, many hours getting ready for a yard sale lately. I hope it's going to be worth it. Worked just about all day today.

I needed to get the photos ready and on a disc for the director of the concert I photographed last week (program pictured above). I just haven't had time to work on them but hope to get it done and in his hands by Sunday.

2009-10-06T20:16:00.000-07:00

This is #1 of about 135 photos I need to work on and then get transferred to a disc for the music director of the Capitol Sounds band/orchestra by tomorrow night to give to him at choir practice. There aren't enough hours in the day lately. I have been so busy with so many different things. This is almost a post just to have a post tonight. My year of turning 60 is almost over and I really would like to have it printed in book form to keep if it's not too expensive. But I will get to work tomorrow working on these photos. This is a photo of the First Baptist Church in Montgomery where the concert was performed right before the sun went down. It is a beautiful building and, of course, I love the dome. But I'm so tired tonight this will be cut short. Tomorrow is another day.

Every Day is an Adventure with Paige!

2009-10-05T20:55:00.001-07:00

One adventure after another over here! Today Paige got into my "bowl" of lipstick and chap stick. At first, she got out some cherry chap stick so I wasn't worried so much. Then she found a little sample of Avon lipstick hidden down in there and I took her to a mirror and showed her how to put on lipstick and rub her lips together, etc. She really liked it and seemed to be satisfied so I left the bedroom, thinking she was putting the little tube of lipstick back in its place. The next minute here she comes with this! ha! I just ran and grabbed my camera and asked her to smile like Cinderella and this is what I got! Priceless!

Happy Fall Y'all

2009-10-04T12:11:00.001-07:00

This weather is wonderful lately! Enjoying the cooler temps AND sunshine. Am going to get up in the attic today and get out my fall decorations. The one pictured above was a gift from my little angel:) I just love it! Thank you, Paige!

Hope everyone is enjoying Fall! It's my favorite time of year.

Still Wrong

2009-10-03T22:03:00.001-07:00

On the way to a birthday party today for a cute little one-year old, I read up some more on the polarizing filter and I still don't have it right but I'm too tired to go into it tonight. *sigh* I will on another post.

I went up to my sewing area to sew after I got home from the birthday party and 9 hours later (!), I had NOT sewn a stitch! I spent that long cleaning out and organizing all the junk I have up there but I really got a lot accomplished and have got it better organized than it's ever been. I have just a little, tiny bit to finish which I hope to do tomorrow. I just can't concentrate to work in such as mess as I had up there. I had emptied out the entire closet. But now the closet is all clean and organized and everything labeled and sorted. It is so nice :)

My legs and feet are aching from staying on them for 9 hours but it will be worth it all to go back up there tomorrow to finish up the little bit left and sew in an organized space. Hopefully, now I can get something productive and creative done!

P.S. - The photo above was another one using the polarizing photo yesterday which turned out good. I didn't take a photo of my sewing closet or sewing room. I need to so you can see how organized it is. Now to keep it that way!

Polarizing Filter

2009-10-02T19:34:00.001-07:00

Well, I am sometimes known for doing things "backwards". ha! But. . . that's the way I learn a lot of times. This is an example:

I read a brief note about polarizing filters and I still haven't read a lot about them. When I went to the camera shop yesterday to have my cards put on CDs and cleaned up for this photo session with the band/orchestra, I bought a polarizing filter. The employee there (who teaches photography classes) did give me a little "crash course" on it before I bought it. It's main purpose is to prevent glare and, he said, unwanted side light from coming in. He said it would make blue skies a more intense blue and take glare off green leaves on trees, etc.

So. . . I got home today and grabbed my camera, put the polarizing lens on and got outside during the golden hour. I took photos of the sky and clouds and it was a beautiful day to do that. There were so many beautiful white clouds and at that hour, some of them were tinted in pinks and oranges from the sun.

Most of the few I took turned out really pretty and I could see a difference but tonight as I was reading a little more about this lens, the correct way to use it is at a 90 degree angle to the sun or having the sun to your back. One of the photos I took with it was looking straight into the sun as it was setting!! I did notice that it was more difficult to find a "stopping place" when turning the filter on that photo. It was still a beautiful photo. But do and learn. That's me!

The sun was to my back with the above photo. I love it!

One more note: The author of the photography book I'm reading said the ONLY way to get a great photo is with a polarizing lens and good luck! ha! Can't wait until we have another rainbow!!

I Decided Not To Sit It Out!

2009-10-01T21:43:00.000-07:00

What a great experience I had tonight! I photographed the Capitol Sounds band/orchestra of about 55 musicians at the First Baptist Church which was huge. It was a last minute thing because the director only asked me last night if I would do it. At first, I hesitated and then I decided, what the heck, I'll do it.

So I went to the church during the day today to learn my way around and look at the lighting, etc., talked to a friend that I admire her photography about it, talked to a guy who teaches at a photography shop, and took their advice. It was very well lit so it was really no problem. I haven't "played around" with the photos yet because I took 135 of them and that will take a while so I just posted a group picture of them right before they started performing. It was taken from the balcony. The stain glass was beautiful and I got some shots of it. I also took one shot outside during the "golden hour" that I think is beautiful - another dome!

We were enchanted by three women musicians, an organist, a trumpet player, and a soloist with the most wonderful voice I've heard in a long time - a powerful voice! It was just beautiful! I was doubly blessed tonight because I heard beautiful music and got to do what I love (photography) while listening. I will post some more photos from this shoot because some of them I really like. And all because I decided not to sit it out but to dance!! Life is full of opportunities and I am learning to start taking them when they come up!

Photo Gig!

2009-09-30T22:31:00.000-07:00

Our choir director greeted me tonight as I first walked in the door with asking me to photograph the Fall concert for the Capitol City Band at the First Baptist Church downtown. At first, I thought no, no, no! I can't do that! He seemed to think I could do it and after a few questions about it, I told him I would think about it during choir practice and let him know.

As we were having choir practice, I said a prayer about it and the song came to me if you're given the choice to sit it out or dance, I hope you dance and I've decided to dance!! I'm excited and scared at the same time. But I think it will be a good experience even if I fail and every photo doesn't turn out. It's a volunteer service for them and I'll do my best. I'm just nervous about the indoor lighting situation. Those situations are usually difficult to photograph.

I did call a friend who knows more than me about photography and she's photographed in that church and told me it was well lit and just calmed me down and I feel better about it. So we'll see how this goes and I hope to have some good photos to post!

My Favorite Little Girl

2009-09-29T20:50:00.000-07:00

Today I took Paige to "school" and then while we were waiting to go to swimming lessons, we stopped by the library. In a field across from the library was a little garden and a creek.

She was so funny because she asked me if I had my camera with me. I said yes. Then she said, "will you take a picture of me, bearbear?" I loved it!! So she posed sitting on a big rock in front of the creek. Cute:) Gotta love that little girl. She was so sweet today.

Chillin'

2009-09-26T20:39:00.000-07:00

This girl knows how to chill in her Paw Paw's chair!

Macro Photography

2009-09-25T22:05:00.000-07:00

I love macro photography. This photo above, as you can probably guess, is a very close-up of the aloe plant below. But I've noticed that I can only get "so close" and focus, manually or automatically. I talked to a guy at a photo shop about it and he suggested getting a macro lens (the expensive way - anywhere from $500 to $1000!!) or a set of filter lens that you screw onto the end of your lens with different "powers" that will let you get closer and focus (the less expensive way - about $70 for the set). I have a set of those but they won't fit the end of the lens of my digital camera. So. . . I'm going to experiement a little tomorrow and take my lens from my film camera and see if it will work on the digital body with these macro lens. If not. . . I may be spending $70 soon. I asked him about extension tubes, which I'd read about, and he acted like that was the worst thing I could do. I don't know what to think. If anyone out there could make a suggestion, I'd sure appreciate it.

Here's a photo of the aloe plant with natural light coming in from the side. I really like this photo, too. Then I saw the drops of water where I had just watered it and decided to go macro but think it could be better than the results I got.

It's a fun hobby but sometimes expensive!

What Are These?

2009-09-24T15:07:00.001-07:00

I see these planted along the brick wall at a drive-thru at a Chick Fil A I go to and I love them. Does anyone know what these are?

Oh to Be Young Again!

2009-09-23T20:46:00.000-07:00

Found this at East Chase shopping area!

SOMEONE had a great time and I just had to get a photo!

Spider or Spyder Lilies?

2009-09-22T19:05:00.000-07:00

When I went to pick up Paige today at her little Mother's Day Out, as we were leaving, we saw this beautiful arrangement of flowers. I see these flowers everywhere this time of year that look like they grow wild. I'm told they're called Spider Lilies. Or the spelling could be Spyder, for all I know. I've not taken the time to look it up. I used to think they were kind of ugly but not anymore.

When I saw this arrangement, I thought it was SO pretty. Now I enjoy them along the roadside as I'm driving more than I did!

Here's a close-up of one of these lilies. Just gorgeous!

Beauty is all around us if we'll open our eyes and our hearts to let it in!

Amazing Lessons From Nature!

2009-09-21T20:43:00.000-07:00

I got so lucky and got this photo of Canada geese flying over our backyard this week because they fly so fast! I notice that they always fly in a V shape and I heard in a sermon, I think, why and had forgotten. So I googled it and this is what I found. What a lesson!!!

Go to theleadership.wordpress.com and type in flying geese v in the search box and be amazed!! One of the most interesting things I've read in a long time. Nature is awesome! God is awesome!

The Hunter

2009-09-20T20:53:00.000-07:00

Don't let this beautiful creature fool you! She can take care of herself and she's quite a hunter or should I say huntress?

You can see what a beautiful coat of fur she has but look closely (click on the photo if you'd like) and look at her ears. They have long hair inside them. Also, you can't see them in this photo but she has long hair over her paws. A friend of my girls ( a young man ) told me once that if you see a cat that has these features, he or she is a hunter.

Lately, SOMEONE has been hunting or maybe ALL are hunting! One morning this week, as my husband was leaving the house, he saw a yellowhammer woodpecker on our back porch on his back and Halle, the cat above, was hovering over the bird so we figured she must have knocked him down and was there for the "kill". We both didn't want the woodpecker to be killed by the cat, so I guarded him and shooed the cat away while my husband went to the garage to get a shovel and a box to put him in. He was still alive. After that, we didn't know what we were going to do with him and decided to worry about that later but as it turned out, we didn't have to worry about it because before my husband could get back from the garage, I stood there and watched the woodpecker turn over on his stomach and fly off! I really think he trusted me and thought I was guarding him from the cat!

After I told my husband goodbye, I went back into the house to finish vacuuming the house and found about a 5 to 6 inch frog hopping around in the foyer! Thank goodness, my granddaughter left her butterfly net here and I thought about that. I got the net and captured the frog and let him go outside!

Then last night, we had just gone to bed when our little dog went into the kitchen and was barking incessantly and it was keeping me awake. I tried to get my husband to go in there to see what he was barking at because I was afraid it might be a snake! He was so tired, he just couldn't get up so I got up and went into the kitchen. There was my little dog barking at another frog! He had the frog cornered and finally grabbed him into his mouth and went through the pet door outside. I opened the door to follow him to make sure he turned him loose outside (which he did). So I felt comfortable going back to bed and went to sleep.

We never know what we'll find inside the house that either the dog or one of the three cats bring inside. We just have to guess most of the time which one is the culprit. It was clear who got the woodpecker.

Halle brought a snake inside the house about four years or so ago. I was rearranging furniture in the extra bedroom downstairs about 10 am when I saw this snake coiled up next to the wall. I know she did it because she was in there with me and very excited about seeing it. I just had this feeling she brought it inside. So I called my husband at work and told him about it. He said to kill it. I asked how. He said to get a broom or mop or something and whack it but shut the door so it couldn't get out just in case I missed. I got a flat sponge mop and whacked. All this snake did was try to run up under the rug so I called my husband back and begged him to come home and kill this snake. He did. A co-worker's husband worked at the zoo and asked him to put it in a container and bring it to her at work and she would find out what type of snake it was for us. Her husband told us that it was a very popular kind of snake for pets and if we saw any more, could we catch them and give them to the zoo because people were asking constantly for these snakes for pets.

No thanks!

A Special Day!!

2009-09-19T14:04:00.000-07:00

Today is my only brother's birthday. My husband and I met him at The Cracker Barrel for a brunch celebration. Above he is pictured in the parking lot with his new truck. Like it!

This morning when I woke up at 5 am (which is VERY unusual for me!), I got on the computer to try to find coupons for The Cracker Barrel. As I was looking around, I saw that forty years ago today (September 19, 1969), the first Cracker Barrel opened in Lebanon, TN. What a coincidence!

Happy Birthday, Craig! I love you!

Photo Booth - A LONG Time Ago!

2009-09-18T20:18:00.000-07:00

Here's a photo I scanned (still learning how to do this) a while back when I first bought my scanner. I am guessing that I'm about 15 years old and my brother is about 12 years old. I think it's cute.

Guess I'm posting it because it's a photo with both of my parents when they were young and I really like it. It also reminds me of the different traits I inherited from both of my parents.

One is temper which I lost last night and was still angry this morning. I was so angry with my husband last night that I didn't think I would go to sleep but, surprisingly, I went right to sleep and slept a very good night's sleep until about 7 this morning. But when my feet hit the floor (and immediately, I might add!), I was still angry. So I immediately took my vitamin and calcium with a glass of milk and started vacuuming the house with furor.

This is what made me so angry last night. The silliest thing. He said he would like for "us" to get in a routine of cleaning and vacuuming the house. It infuriated me. I tend to over-react just like my daddy and can have a temper like he had. So I woke up still just as angry as when I went to sleep for some reason and just started vacuuming.

But, you see, I used to hold in my anger and would end up depressed, sometimes very depressed. I'm trying to find ways to vent my anger in a healthier way and physical things are a good way for me. My husband calls it over-reacting but I call it a healthy way to vent my anger. I also wrote in long-hand how I felt and then shredded it. It was almost like a prayer for help and it works for me!

When I got home today, my floors were clean and my husband was nicer to me and I had gotten over my anger. Whatever works, right?

The Beauty of the Rain

2009-09-17T07:24:00.000-07:00

It has been raining here for at least two days very heavily. It was much needed rain. Paige and I have been discussing rain. She told me she didn't like rain. I told her I loved rain and she gave me this confused look. I told her that when it rains, I love to go sit on my screened-in porch in the swing and listen to the rain, look at the rain, and smell the rain. I explained to her how all the animals that live outside all the time really need the rain. We talked about how the little birds take baths in the rain, either in a puddle or a bird bath someone has put in their yard. I think her attitude about rain has changed after that. It was fun to talk about it with her and watch her little expressions and eyes and listen to her questions and comments. When I was talking about the little birds taking a bath, I could just see her imagination churning. She was picturing that in her mind. I know it! :)

Anyway, when I went to do something in my laundry room this morning, I caught a view of these raindrops on a shrub just outside the door window and, of course, went and grabbed my camera. I just thought it was beautiful - all that greenery with those beautiful raindrops hanging there. Beauty is everywhere if we'll just take time to look.

New Self Portraits

2009-09-16T21:25:00.000-07:00

Close

Closer

Closest

New haircut, new hair color, all dressed up so I thought I'd do the self portrait thing in the mirror!

Another Groovy Day At Chick Fil A

2009-09-15T17:57:00.000-07:00

Free breakfast every Tuesday in September at East Chase Chick Fil A.

Isn't he cute? :-)

Go With the Flow

2009-09-14T17:35:00.000-07:00

Some days you just gotta go with the flow! Today I had Paige with me at home and it was laundry day for me. She was LOADED with questions for me today (more than usual, for some reason). Why, where, when, who, how, etc.

But we did get a lot done and did get the laundry done. But even on days like this, there are some times when you see something as NOT a problem, but a cute photo op! I love this photo! I love this little girl. :)

It's such a privilege to have her with me a few days every week. I am a lucky grandmother and a blessed human being.

Sprouts Growing Sprouts

2009-09-13T12:12:00.000-07:00

Here are a few different angles of our little sprout grandchild growing sprouts!

She brought them over here one day back in the middle of summer and we just never got "around to it" until one day last week. I should have photographed the little ladybug gardening tools and seed packet, too, but will do it the next time I photograph the progress of these flowers. It all was just so cute!

These are supposed to become African Daisies and the back of the seed packet says to plant the seeds in spring or summer. Well, it's still summer, isn't it? Until the 22nd of this month! AND, we planted them about a week or so ago. It's still hot. So we'll see. We're keeping them watered and outside for sheltered sunshine.

You really cannot tell how small the pot is because of how I photographed it. The next time I photograph it, I will try to show how little bitty the pot is - so cute!

It's so much fun to grow things with children and see it through their innocent, magical eyes. :)

Big Accomplishment!

2009-09-12T19:19:00.000-07:00

This is the closest thing I had of a photo of a pencil or pen! I did this on a program called Picnik. I took a photo of the plant and with the program, made it into a pencil drawing.

But that's not what my Big Accomplishment is for this post. I dedicated my entire Saturday today to finishing thank you notes concerning my mother's sickness and memorial service and filling out her book with information that the funeral home gave us. I did it! I did it because she did it for my daddy, my grandmother, my uncle, all sorts of relatives. So she must think it's important to fill out those books so I did hers. What a great feeling. I hate to have something like that "hanging over my head". I think it affects other things I want to accomplish because I'm so worried about this getting done in a timely fashion. And it could be affecting my sleep.

So now I can move on to other pursuits. I have to admit this one was not a fun thing to do although I feel like it was necessary. I also realize that not everything in life is fun. But now I feel like I can move on to some fun things to accomplish! Yay!

My Mother's Home

2009-09-11T20:59:00.000-07:00

Just wanted to preserve a photo of my mother's home here. It is on the market now and the realtor is taking down wallpaper and painting in the two bathrooms and the kitchen. She is a very hard worker.

I still have a key and tend to use my mother's house for my bathroom stops when I'm there doing other things like shopping, running errands, etc. The last time I was there, the realtor was there painting the kitchen and we were talking. I was telling her how I found this house for my mother by just the two of us riding around. Then we got a realtor to take us inside and as soon as my mother walked in, she said, "this is it". It just had a feeling of home to her and she loved it. She didn't care that the wallpaper was outdated or the colors were outdated or it needed new flooring. She just loved the "at home" feeling of the house.

Right before she passed away, she told me that she knew that God placed her in that home to be near her neighbors because she had such good neighbors and loved them so much. They were so good to her and we could never repay them for what they did for her.

I was passing along this info to the realtor and she told me that it was a very well-built house and did have a "homey" feeling and was in a good neighborhood with good neighbors. She told me that the last people to come look at the house stayed about two seconds and walked out. She said she told my brother that those people didn't deserve to live there, that the ones who deserve to live there will be the ones who feel the way my mother did about the house. I loved that.

I'll Photograph ALMOST Anything!

2009-09-10T18:43:00.001-07:00

This was the scene I ran into earlier this week! My first attempt did not work out. My vehicle was in the position where you see the white truck, turning left at this light. I rolled my window down and was really, really close. The two "cows" even posed for me and I snapped and looked at the photo only to see the photo and then a statement on my LCD screen that said no card in camera!! Ugh!

But I had another card in my bag and put it in the camera when I was able to park. When I came back out of the shopping area, this was the best angle I had.

I have started carrying my camera with me everywhere I go just about all the time now. But I need to remember to take my card out of the computer and put BACK IN THE CAMERA!!

Yesterday I was in line at a fast food place and saw the most beautiful, large butterfly! I reached for my camera, rolled down the window but was not quick enough. You just never know what you'll see or come in contact with when you're out and about. Might get a lucky photograph!

Reflexology

2009-09-09T21:07:00.000-07:00

About 3 or 4 months ago, my youngest daughter gave me a gift certificate for an hour session of reflexology. This was something I was very unfamiliar with and she explained what it was all about. So I made my first appointment and it was heavenly. Now I think I am addicted to it. I went to my third session today. I've decided to indulge myself once a month. It is really relaxing, not just for the feet but for the entire body.

As for the photograph in blue, I had my white balance set for daylight and as this photo was taken inside with tungsten light bulbs, I got this bluish effect, which I like very much. It looks soothing.

I would recommend reflexology to anyone. Please give it a try!

Those Eyes. . .

2009-09-08T20:12:00.000-07:00

The eyes are windows to the soul, right? I love this little girl.

Short but sweet post today.

Labor Day

2009-09-07T20:38:00.001-07:00

I hate to use a photo twice on my blog but I've done it before. I actually like this photo. It's my computer and I love it and I like the colors in it. But the reason I posted it is because I spent the morning playing on my computer with Photoshop (finally!). I stayed up way too late last night playing with it, too. I ordered Video Professor to learn it and I've had good experiences with Video Professor. I popped in the first of three CDs and just am going through them listening (not playing along yet) and I actually think I can do this. I was surprised. I thought it was going to be way over my head but I think I can do it!

Then after lunch, I went to my youngest daughter's house and helped her paint a bedroom downstairs that she wants to make into a guest bedroom. She chose a really pretty color to use. It's called Snowdrop and it is so light, light, icy blue that it looks like the colors in pics of Alaska I saw at my brother's house yesterday from his vacation a year ago. Beautiful blues! At first, the paint just looked white but as it dried, it turned into this beautiful icy blue. She wants to make it a "cottage" look in this bedroom which I think will be very pretty. I told her I was ready to go out and buy the bedding! ha!

My husband was very sweet and had dinner cooked when I got home and I helped him clean up the kitchen. Then I had a little time to package up some correspondence to my sister and check my email and Facebook and post on here. Now I think to wind down, I will draw for at least 30 minutes. Another productive, day, feeling good that I helped someone again but at the same time, I took time for myself to learn something new and play around a little.

Football, Football, Football

2009-09-06T16:37:00.000-07:00

This photo is not from this year but football season has begun at our house. In the not too distant past, we did order season tickets and go to the games but decided to stop that. We can "enjoy" it from the comfort of our home now.

I am just not a big football fan, never have been. The last game of the regular season is the only one I'm interested in watching. Of course, I love to have bragging rights over winning any and all games because I graduated from Auburn University, as did my husband, both my children, and both my sons- in law. My dad attended but never graduated. We've just always been an Auburn family and Auburn IS a great place. I just don't care for football that much. There ARE other things at Auburn! But. . . . . WAR EAGLE!! And I wish the best for the football team this season! And we did win our first game last night!

Closets Revisited

2009-09-05T21:27:00.000-07:00

This weekend my sister from Kentucky came to visit and to pack the things she's chosen to keep of Mama's and take back home with her. She rented a UHaul truck because she had some big pieces of furniture and a few big boxes. While they were doing this, I went back into one of her extra bedrooms where I had an experience that I won't forget and took a picture where it happened. Above is a picture of this teeny tiny closet where she kept her sewing and creative treasures. This was the last place I looked through and I can't figure out if I was saving the best for last or was scared of it and saved it for last.

I opened it up (and you can see how small it is from the above photo) and started sorting through her fabrics, thread, buttons, scissors, thimbles, and when I got to the patterns, I lost it. I just broke down and boo-hoo-ed because there I found the patterns that she made my wedding dress from, my prom dress, my bridesmaids dresses, my sisters' things, brother's shirts, my daddy's things that she made - just the whole family. All of a sudden I felt this burst of love coming from that teeny, tiny closet. It's just amazing to me that much love, over 60 years worth, could come from such a tiny place. It was then that I realized how much she loved us, how smart she was, how industrious she was, how caring she was, how creative she was in many, many ways, how unselfish she was and how much I love her and miss her.

They don't make "mamas" like that anymore!

Closets

2009-09-04T19:58:00.001-07:00

I'm on a mission of getting my closets (at least) cleaned out and storing things up for a yard sale hopefully sometime in October with my youngest daughter.

Today I cleaned out a linen closet which had a lot of things besides linen in it! There were a couple of bags/boxes with high school, junior high, and elementary clothing. I also came across baby, toddler, and small child clothing and toys.

The little dance outfit above was one thing I found and it brought back such good memories. Both my girls took gymnastics and dance and this was one of the recital outfits for my oldest daughter. I remember how much they both just loved it so much. Instead of putting it in the yard sale, I decided to see if Paige would like it.

Boy, oh boy, did she! As soon as she saw it, she wanted to put it on. Their visit was brief today so I didn't get a photo of her in it but I will soon.

After I finish my closets, I will try to tackle the attics. We have two. One in the house and one above the garage. They are so full of things that we never use and don't need. It's almost overwhelming but I just take it one little step at a time and every now and then, take a break from it all.

Each little nook and cranny that's organized and clean makes me feel so good. :)

Color!!!

2009-09-03T20:47:00.000-07:00

Here are two more I like because of the color! Others have commented on the one above and how they like the colors in it. This is just a photo of the kind of grass that's cut for hay. Not being a farmer, I don't know what it's called but it's red and I think it's very pretty. Then to get up under it and put the sky behind it just makes it more beautiful to me. Of course, I played around with the color and it was so much fun to see!

Minnie is always cute, isn't she? Here she's keeping watch over the golf tees for us and looks as if she's admiring them. :) A fun day of photography trying to find different things and ways to photograph away the day!

I Like It!!!

2009-09-02T21:56:00.000-07:00

I don't know why I'm so taken with this photo. I took it two days ago at the golf course. Then I played around with it a little and got a couple of images I really liked. I think it's the softness of the butterfly or moth against the steel of the golf club. And the colors I love, too. As I played around with saturating the color, I got some fantastic colors. I don't really understand how all this works. I just love it. I am ~~fascinated~~ obsessed with it!!

2009-09-01T17:42:00.000-07:00

Today was a golf day and I have ~~many~~ too many photos but I decided to post one from yesterday to show the scenery in the background. My daughter texted me this morning and asked if we had seen the newspaper. Paige and I were in the newspaper today and the little article below said that I was taking pictures of my granddaughter feeding the ducks and we were just enjoying the weather.

So here's a picture of her feeding the ducks although there are no ducks in the background! ha!

It was another wonderful day. After golf, we ate out and then came home and did things here.

Movie night tonight!

Nice Day For a Picnic!

2009-08-31T20:10:00.000-07:00

We started out this morning after breakfast with planting seeds in a little clay pot with Paige and put them on the porch to grow and keep watered. Then I painted her toenails blue and massaged her feet with lotion which she loved. Then she was so sweet. She wanted to put lotion on my feet and massage them. :)

Then I packed us a picnic lunch and we headed out for Shakespeare Park for a picnic. We spread a blanket under a shade tree by the water and were in the middle of our picnic when I spotted across the other side of the water a young lady with a nice-looking camera taking photos and pointing our way. I really didn't think very much about it, just thinking it was someone like me enjoying the beautiful weather and taking photos at this beautiful park. In fact, it even crossed my mind that I hated that we were in her way and she might be trying to get a good landscape photo. In just a few minutes, she walked over to us ( a pretty good little walk ) and asked if she could have our names explaining that she was with the local paper and just taking photos of people enjoying the beautiful weather in different locations around the city. So I told her our names and she asked where we were from and I told her. Then we had a wonderful conversation about mother/daughter relationships, photography, Photoshop, and a lot of different subjects.

Paige was just in the paper a few weeks ago and now I wonder if this one will be in the paper one day this week or maybe even tomorrow. I checked the website when I got home and nothing had been posted for the day. I'll check again tonight and tomorrow.

After the park, we went to Books A Million and enjoyed reading a few books and Paige played with the big train set and looked at a few toys. Then we went next door to the pet store and looked around.

It was a wonderful day. We enjoyed the weather and our activities. Paige took a nap on the way home and on the couch after we got home which gave me time to finish our dinner and we ate with her daddy and sent her mother a plate. Paw Paw is eating now. It was a full day and, again, I am so tired but it is a good tired feeling like I helped people who appreciated it.

I do have to say that these vitamins I'm taking are doing wonders for me. I have so much more energy and a better and more positive outlook on life. I am so thankful I found out about them.

Oh, and by the way, the photo above is of Paige at the Shakespeare Park, a beautiful, beautiful place.

Isn't It A Lovely Ride?

2009-08-30T20:54:00.000-07:00

About a week ago, I decided to go back to my very first post of this year and read it. It was really a strange sensation reading it. I felt the very same excitement as I did that day beginning this blog and something very new for me. If you want to read it, go here to read it again. I love James Taylor's words - sliding down and gliding down, try not to try too hard, it's just a lovely ride.

I think I've been trying too hard lately and worried about a lot of things I had no control over. But I guess that's just the human condition. I did the best I could and didn't expect the unexpected. Who know what the rest of this year that I turned 60 will hold?

I love the photo above. I think it illustrates the lyrics to the song. Here is Paige, with a cast on her arm, and she's just holding both arms high up in the sky, sliding down and gliding down. She's trying not to try too hard and just having a lovely ride. :)

Feline College Kitties

2009-08-29T23:07:00.000-07:00

I just went through a long post about these kitties and blogger didn't accept it. I don't know what went wrong and it's after 1 am here so I'm going to shorten this post.

These cats were feline college buddies. The one in the top photo that you see the best is Rudi, my youngest daughter's cat, that she nursed and saved his life. He was found as an orphan. She even got up during the night while she was going to nursing school to feed him.

The next picture, bottom one, was my oldest daughter's cat. She was rescued, too, and almost died in the very beginning. When my daughter got married, her husband was allergic to cats so we got her. She is a hunter. She caught a hummingbird once. That's how fast she is.

We love them both even though we had just gotten a new dog and cat and didn't expect to have any more pets - just a dog and a cat. :) But these two new additions have made our life interesting and more loving. We love our pets, one dog and 3 cats!

Strange Photo!

2009-08-28T22:34:00.000-07:00

Is this not the strangest photo you've ever seen?!? ha!

I went to help my daughter today. She's been a little under the weather and I helped her clean out her room she's trying to make into an office so it can be painted and refurbished. The walls have already been primed and we cleaned it up enough so that the baseboard can be finished and we can paint.

While we were cleaning and going through things in there, we came across a couple of cameras. One was a digital camera that used the same card as mine and since my daughter's digital camera used a different type card, she gave it to me. Naturally, curiosity was getting the best of me so almost as soon as I got home (after I unloaded the car), I put this card into the computer and there were 27 pics on there. Some were from a cruise they went on back in 2005 and this particular photo above was the strangest-looking photo! I don't know what happened but it reminds me of one of those children's books where you have three columns and you can change the top, middle and bottom to get a different picture. haha! The rest of the photos were ok.

We got a lot accomplished and I'm tired but it's a good tired of knowing that I helped someone today and they appreciated it. :)

Sentimental

2009-08-27T20:12:00.000-07:00

Why in the world would I post a picture of this old dishpan on my blog? This was the very last thing that I lovingly brought home from my mother's house. All the family had already pored over all of her "things" and had carefully chosen what they wanted to keep. I think we all did this over and over. Some of us even brought things home and would take them back again. Then my sister-in-law had a yard sale and included some of Mama's "things" in it. Some of them sold. Some didn't. Then we called a mission to come get some things. Then Habitat for Humanity. Some things were taken to the curb for garbage pick-up. When all was gone, my brother and I were looking in her old shed in her back yard to see if anything was left and there was this old dishpan. Nobody wanted it. I looked at it and memories came flooding back of seeing that old dishpan in my mother's hands for different reasons. I slowly bent over and picked it up and just gave my brother this look that he completely understood (and I'm sure my sisters would, too) and said, "I can't leave this here. I'm taking this home to shell peas in or something." He just gave me an understanding smile and shook his head as if to say, "go ahead. I understand."

Today I spent the whole day in my kitchen cleaning out and rearranging which gave me such a sense of accomplishment. The last thing I did in the kitchen tonight was give that old dishpan a good scrubbing with a feeling that I was so glad that I kept it. My husband and I will put it to good use. Mama would be so proud. :) She did not like to waste anything and liked to put things to good use. We will Mama. You'll be proud of us.

I looked up the word sentimental in the dictionary before I decided to post this. My dictionary gives the definition as: easily affected by emotions such as love, sympathy, sadness, etc., often in a way that seems silly to other people. That's me! It may seem silly to some other people to keep that old dishpan but I guess I'm just sentimental. :)

Busy Day

2009-08-26T20:43:00.001-07:00

It doesn't look like much but it took a long time! My day started with freezing okra from the Farmer's Market. It was a labor of love because I only like okra breaded and fried (or maybe you could bake it? I'll have to check into that!) but my husband loves it boiled and now my grandchild does so I froze it in the whole pods. Anyway, that's done.

Next my husband starts complaining about not being able to find a lid for a certain "Tupperware" container so I pull out all those type containers and start trying to match the tops. I have about 50% success. ha! It's all still sitting on the counter. I left. I took him with me and went to Target to shop. That was more fun. Then we went to an hour and a half choir practice, came home to eat and I've been on the computer watching TV. The tupperware is still on the counter. I'll tackle it tomorrow.

I'm trying to do a little cleaning out for a yard sale, hopefully in the fall, as I go everyday anyway. So I just looked at it as an opportunity to clean out for the yard sale instead of getting upset about the complaining. Now he's complaining that the counters are full of tupperware. ha! Can't win. But I will stay positive and will finish that little job tomorrow morning.

I also enjoyed talking to one of my mother's sisters and packaged up some goodies to send her that I know she'll enjoy.

It doesn't sound like a lot but the day's gone. They sure do go by fast nowadays. As I said in my very first post, you might as well enjoy the ride, right? Thank you, James Taylor!

Paw Paw Day, Ducks in a Row, and Composition Mistakes

2009-08-25T18:33:00.000-07:00

Today was "Paw Paw Day"! We had Paige today and had our day planned. First thing in the morning, we played golf and, of course, Paw Paw was everything. Then we had lunch and went to get my mother-in-law to help her with some banking and then on to the park to play and feed the ducks. She would not let anyone do anything for her or with her except Paw Paw. It was so funny. But we had a wonderful time.

Here are my "ducks in a row"! ha! I didn't realize they were in a row like this until I imported them onto the computer and looked at them. I took probably a half dozen shots of these cute little baby ducks and as I was looking at them tonight, I realized it all was just point and shoot and wanted to point out a couple of mistakes. Paige really brought my attention to this one above. She wanted to see the pictures I took of the ducks and when she saw this one, she said, "you cut the Mama's tail off, Bear Bear"! And I did! But I do love the three little ducks in a row!

Here's the second mistake I found. Since I was shooting in a hurry and not paying attention to any details or composition or anything, I saw this mistake later. You can see the shadow of my head reflected in the water. Of course, with today's cropping tools, etc., a duck or two could be cropped into an ok photo.

Another "fresh", positive day!

Fresh Outlook!

2009-08-24T18:32:00.000-07:00

It's been WAY too long since I've posted and I am really mad at myself for this because I made a commitment to do this every day of this year. But what's done is done.

Today I took a fresh outlook, I hope, for the year. I really didn't sleep very well last night and had weird dreams but I got up early and decided to walk. The weather was great today. It felt like Fall!

After my walk (which did wonders for me), I got Paige and we headed to the drug store to get some new vitamins I'm going to try. She was a little too whiny in the drugstore but I just still tried to keep my positive, fresh outlook and just decided she was that way because it was first thing in the morning.

After the drug store, we went to the bank to get cash to spend later on in the day and to Wal-Mart to get a picture CD with index prints made. I kept telling her I had a surprise for her later in the day and she seemed to be excited about it.

We finally got to the surprise. We went to the Farmer's Market and bought the fresh food pictured above. She loved it. It was a different kind of shopping and she loved smelling the food and talking about what it was and how you cook it, etc.

So we had a feast tonight for supper. We had fresh green beans (which she helped me snap), fresh corn on the cob, fresh cucumber slices, fresh sliced tomatoes from our garden, and fresh peaches for dessert with vanilla ice cream on top! Yum! I bought okra to freeze and my husband loves it boiled or fried. I don't like it boiled but he boiled some for himself and tried it on her and she ate about 7 pieces of boiled okra plus beets! She loved it! I don't like beets either. I bought the zucchini squash to make zucchini bread. Maybe I can do that tomorrow when I freeze the okra.

So we did have a fresh day and I'm hoping tomorrow will be just as fresh!

Our Beautiful Sunsets!

2009-08-15T19:32:00.000-07:00

We enjoy the most beautiful sunsets here. A couple of nights ago, I was in the kitchen working and looked out the back window and saw this. I grabbed my camera with no tripod and took a chance that it would show up in the camera the way it really looked. Sometimes it just turns out too dark but I got lucky this time!

Gosh, this is beautiful!

Sharing Beauty of the Season

2009-08-13T12:46:00.001-07:00

This rose is a Betty Prior rose. My youngest daughter gave it to me a few years ago and it always flourishes. In fact, it needs cutting back right now because if is SO full of blooms that have finished blooming. I caught this one in beautiful bloom. The color is just wonderful. When a bloom from this rose is open completely, it looks like a dogwood blossom.

These next four photos are from the four Knockout Roses we have in our backyard. They are constantly blooming and so easy to take care of. I love the color of these, too.

I just love the combination of the sun setting behind these blooms and how the colors "shine" through the blossoms. Knockout really does describe this rose!

I Think I've Turned a Corner!

2009-08-11T06:09:00.001-07:00

Yesterday I felt like I had sort of "turned a corner", or at least a little corner. I did go upstairs to my sewing room and start organizing things I got from my mother's house that I wanted for my sewing room and cleaning up in there so I can get started with my hobby again. I had a lot of things to wash and the denim quilt above was one thing I washed and put it outside on my screened-in porch to air dry.

After my mother died and my brother and two sisters and I started talking about the things we wanted to keep of hers, the quilt pictured above was the first thing that came to my mind. This quilt is about 45 years old. I really didn't know what kind of shape it was in or even if it was finished but it is finished. There are places that have worn or frayed or stitches have come loose, etc. and it is very primitive in design but the reason I love this old quilt and wanted it so badly is because of the good memories it brings to me.

I think I was about 15 years old when my mother and I worked on this quilt together. It was her idea. She just wanted to cut up old jeans of ours into these little squares and do some sort of design on each square, then join them together into a quilt. I hadn't done any kind of sewing much at that time. I did take what they called home economics in high school and hated it but I think this was after we worked on this quilt. My mother at that time owned a Merle Norman Cosmetics store and we would work on this quilt there when times were slack. I just have such fond memories of doing this with my mother. Then she put it together. I think she must have zigzagged around each square and then crocheted them all together. I don't know when she had time to do this because she worked all day and had four children at the time, the youngest being probably around two years old. She was just amazing at the things she accomplished!

Here's a close-up of one of the squares that I did. You can see how childish my stitches were but I was so proud of those stitches and that design. We made up all of our designs. We didn't have a pattern of any kind. This was all made up in our minds and we just used whatever scraps of materials that we could find. I remember my mother praising everything that I did. She was building self esteem and love of sewing with me as well as a bond.

Here's one of her blocks. There is one little place by the 3 on the right that's frayed from just age but you can see the difference in her stitches and mine above. I wonder how she chose the time, 3 o'clock? Maybe because that's when I got out of school and rode the school bus to her place of business every afternoon to help her until closing time? This quilt is full of memories and I love it.

More Beauties

2009-08-10T07:04:00.000-07:00

Some golfing buddies of my husband gave us a bush two years or so ago called Bridal Wreath. I'm not a gardener and had never heard of it. We planted it out back by the pool in a corner and it just stayed green, I think, the first year. Then it bloomed the next year with these beautiful white blooms all over. If I remember right, it only bloomed during the spring.

Well, last week I was just outside taking photos of all the pretty flowers around and I thought I saw a bloom on this bush and here it is August! As I looked closer, I found about three blooms so I just had to get a photo.

Isn't it beautiful? Does look like a bride, doesn't it? And I don't know why it's blooming now but I sure did enjoy it while it lasted. Thank you Raymond and Shirley. :-)

This Bud's For You!

2009-08-09T14:36:00.001-07:00

I think I like rosebuds better than the open rose. I don't know why.

So here are a few shots of rosebuds from my backyard.

What a beauty to behold!

Looking Under Skirts?

2009-08-08T18:29:00.000-07:00

Have you ever "looked under skirts" of flowers? My husband planted these zinnias a couple of months ago, I guess, and we've enjoyed all these wonderful colors! I love zinnias but these did not grow as I'm accustomed to seeing zinnias grow. He planted the seeds in a big round rather shallow pot and when they grew, they "weeped" over like a fern. Unusual but rather pretty. Above is a yellow one.

And here is a pretty orange one. Has anyone else seen zinnias weep instead of standing tall?

Still Counting!

2009-08-07T16:14:00.000-07:00

Here are some wooden spools that I found at my mother's house. I was really amazed at how many I found. I knew she had some but thought just a few. There are around 45!! (I seem to be counting things lately - Barbies last night and wooden spools today! ha!)

Last night as my husband and I were watching a movie, I took the thread off all 45 spools! Then right before I went to bed, I googled wooden spool crafts and found all kinds of things you can do with them, some I would do and some I wouldn't dare.

But I think they look pretty just sitting in this old bowl of my mother's on her old tea cart. What do you think? Any ideas?

Twuly, Twuly, Twuly Outwageous

2009-08-06T20:04:00.000-07:00

Here she is - Barbie!! This morning I got up and went in the attic of our garage to get some empty boxes to use to pack things for the LAST DAY at my mother's house. As I was looking around, I saw this box labeled on top - BARBIES. I was in a hurry and didn't have time to check and see if there really were Barbie dolls in there and decided I would check when I got home.

When I got home tonight, I went upstairs in the garage and brought that box down. In the box were 22 Barbies, 2 Barbie little sisters, 5 Kens, and four dolls called Jem dolls.

Both of my girls just absolutely loved playing with Barbies but my oldest daughter especially loved those Jem dolls. One was blonde, one had purple hair, one had hot pink hair, and one had bright blue hair. They were in a band and the one song I remember was a song that said they were truly, truly, truly outrageous. Erin substituted a W sound for all R sounds at that age so she would sing that song as twuly outwageous and it was SO cute!

Now that I'm through at my mother's, I'm wanting to go through boxes up in our garage and see what I can find.

Pictured above is the only Barbie that was completely dressed right down to her little white high heel shoes.

Here's a close-up of the Barbie above. I wanted you to see that she has on heart earrings!

Rock n Roll!!!!!

2009-08-05T21:22:00.000-07:00

Oh, Paw Paw, I want to be a rock star!!!! What a little groupie!

Our Mushroom Garden

2009-08-04T19:16:00.000-07:00

I think this is the biggest mushroom garden we've ever had! I love it and just had to photograph it. My sister was visiting while this little garden popped up and her photos are much better than mine, I think. I hope she posts them on FB.

Just playing around with color on this one. It looks like sunshine bathing them in light. I tried to make a psychedelic look but just couldn't get it. Fun!

Feeling Like Cinderella!

2009-08-03T21:57:00.000-07:00

I feel like Cinderella trying to get this post in before the clock strikes midnight but I don't think I made it! ha!

I love this photo. We spent this past weekend in Nashville. Erin really does a great job at finding us girls something different and fun to do every time. This is just one of the fun things we saw and did this trip. We went to a park called Dragon Park (I think she said that's just what the locals call it - I don't know the "official" name). But it had a huge dragon made completely from mosaics and it was beautiful to look at and photograph. I just love all the color.

They also had slides, a big sandbox way up high (I was just told about that. I didn't actually see this.), a seesaw that looked like a ladybug but I didn't photograph it. It was a nice day weather wise to do this.

Afterwards we went to a popsicle place that was fantastic. I had a cantaloupe popsicle that tasted just like fresh canteloupe. There's more to post about this trip to Nashville which I will do tomorrow.

But I don't think I made it under midnight so two posts may show the same date. Oh well. . .

Rudi and My Sister

2009-07-30T05:55:00.000-07:00

This is a painting I did a while back in pastels of our cat, Rudi, when he was really not our cat. He was our youngest daughter's cat and was a teeny kitten. I painted it in an art class from a photo I'd taken of him sitting in a chair. He was such a cute little kitten. :)

Rudi was raised by my daughter when she was in nursing school. The vet predicted he was about five days old when she got him. She bottle fed him, waking up in the middle of the night, etc. even though she was in nursing school. I know it was tough to do but she "loved" him back to life.

When my daughter had been married for a little while, we "inherited" him along with our oldest daughter's cat, too. We didn't have any cats for a while and I had just adopted a 4 month old kitten so now we have three cats (and a dog!).

Anyway, my purpose of posting this painting of Rudi this morning is that I'm a little worried about Rudi and my sister, who is flying in today to be here through a long weekend, getting along. The last time she was here and stayed here, he attacked her. I still don't understand what happened but my sister ended up in PriMed with antibiotics, etc. Rudi had to be "sequestered" for about ten days and since he's been out of jail, he's been a much nicer cat.

Our vet told us that now the only chance Rudi has is to live with some family like us that he loves and who understands him because of the attack. The Humane Shelter could never adopt him out because of his "record". He really can be a sweet cat. He's just misunderstood sometimes and you have to be "careful" with him. Our vet said that because he was raised by a human and not a mother cat, that he thinks he's a human and can never be dominated. Of course, I don't think ANY cat could be dominated! ha! Cats are so different from dogs.

But we will be gone to visit my oldest daughter and her husband part of the time that my sister is staying here and I just hope and pray no attack or any altercation of any kind takes place between the two of them while we're gone and everyone just gets along!

How Twins Are Made!

2009-07-29T19:44:00.000-07:00

I don't know these boys but a friend of mine sent this to me lately and I thought it was so cute. I needed a cute little laugh and this was it! I'm amazed at the creative people in the world!

Head, Shoulders, Knees, Toes

2009-07-28T17:54:00.001-07:00

New Cast - first one, thought was wet and when they took it off, she had a rash. Dr. thought she might have had an allergic reaction to the synthetic wrapping. They put on new cotton wrapping and new cast. This one will come off by Monday to check the rash and a THIRD cast! ha! Autograph party still going on!

HEAD

SHOULDERS

KNEES

TOES
I love every little part of her!!

Going To NashBille!

2009-07-27T16:31:00.000-07:00

I'm getting very excited about going to NashBille! This is what Paige calls it. She told her Paw Paw today that she and Bear Bear went to NashBille today and we saw Brown, and we went just for the day! ha! We didn't see Aunt Erin and/or Uncle Chris (pictured above), just Brown. Brown is their chocolate lab. I don't know where she got this!

Maybe she's just as excited as I am! We haven't been in a long time and we are all looking forward to it. I will try to get more photos than I usually do when I'm up there.

I know the guys will probably play golf and the girls will find something entertaining to do. We can ALWAYS go shopping!! We talked about going to a water park up there but now that she has a cast, that's out. We might find a kids' science center or something like that to go to that's nice and cool and something to do on the inside.

As far as our day went today, Paw Paw did play golf (of course!) and I was trying to find something entertaining for Paige and me to do so we went to the movies. It all turned out ok but the original plan was changed a little. Paige's mommy called and said she had an appointment to get her cast taken off and a new one on because they thought the first one might be wet.

I still thought we had time to see the movie that I'd already gotten tickets for so we go on to the movie and as it turns out, the sound is so blasting loud that it just scared her. The original movie I wanted to take her to see was Ice Age and she saw the posters out front and said she wanted to see the "rat movie", that she liked "rats". It was a movie called G Force with Gerbils in it. We didn't last 5 minutes in that movie so we just moved to Ice Age and stayed until time to go to the orthopaedic doctor's office to get the new cast. But as it turned out, it was the same time that the "scary" part started on the movie for her so it all worked out ok.
We had our popcorn and drink and had a good time anyway. I really enjoyed her today and am looking forward to being with all my "peeps" this weekend. :)

Bear Bear's Autograph!

2009-07-26T14:35:00.000-07:00

Oh, poor Bear Bear. She wanted to be the first one to sign Paige - ee's cast :( but didn't get to be first. But she saved me (and Paw Paw a good spot)! ha! When this photo was taken, Paw Paw hadn't signed it yet. I'll have to get a photo of that!

Never in my life did I think I would be signing a cast of my grandchild, especially at two years old! (Knock on wood) neither of my children have ever had a broken bone, nor I nor my husband.

But she just keeps on truckin' like nothing's happened. :) Her mommy says it'll probably have to stay on for about three weeks and then she might have to have a little physical therapy and, hopefully, everything will be fine. And right before her 3rd birthday!

'Maters!!!

2009-07-25T16:34:00.001-07:00

No post yesterday - a "down" day. Today still feels like a "down" day. But I wanted to keep posting so here is something quick to post. Look at them "maters"! My husband can grown some tomatoes! And they are the best tasting ones you'll ever find. He says they're Atkinson tomatoes.

He's really proud of them, as he should be! He loves to give them away. Sometimes I think that's the main reason he grows them! ha!

Lullabies - Another Memory Found

2009-07-23T21:08:00.001-07:00

I found yet another fond memory of my childhood as I was going through my mother's things - a lullaby. The dictionary defines a lullaby as a slow, quiet song sung to children to make them go to sleep.

All my life, this song has been in my head and I knew my mother must have sung it to me. So one day when I was visiting her after she moved down here (which was about five years ago), I sang the lyrics to her and asked her if she sang that song to me. She said she did. I asked her if she remembered who sang it and where the song came from and she said she couldn't remember that.

So. . . . what did I do? I googled it and came up with ALL the lyrics. I only remember two paragraphs of the words to this song. The information I got said it was written by Patsy Cline. Probably a lot of people recorded and sang it. It's called:

That's How Much I Love You

If I had a nickel, you know what I would do

I'd spend it all on candy, and give it all to you

'Cause that's how much I love you, baby That's how much I love you.

If you were a horsefly, and me an old grey mare

I'd stand and let you bite me, and wouldn't move a hair

'Cause that's how much I love you, baby That's how much I love you.

Now I need to find it on uTube and see how many versions I can find to listen to!

I have sung it to Paige in the past but I need to remember to keep singing it to her and pass it along.

The Skydiver!

2009-07-22T20:39:00.001-07:00

It seems my granddaughter has a new hobby - skydiving from the steps going up to the slide!

She fell early last night from the ladder going up to the slide. Her mommy took her to the ER and they took xrays, put a splint on it and she did get to talk to an orthopaedic doctor who suggested she call tomorrow morning to come in for a look. She probably will get a cast.

This morning I got a call from her mommy asking if I'd like to go to Target with them as a fun day just for Paige since she hurt her arm. I said I'd love to!
So off we go. But before I left, I cooked our nighttime meal (theirs and ours) and took it with me when we went to their house to visit and see how she was doing. It was the first time I've cooked since around April 28th!

You see, I have this wonderful husband. He has cooked every meal (or either we have eaten leftovers from what he cooked or have eaten out) every night since then.

Anyway, we went to Target and no other place. We stayed in Target about 3 or 4 hours! Paige did NOT let this "bad arm", as she called it, stop her one bit. She just kept on truckin'. She had a blast playing and looking at toys, trying on boots and shoes (some of them all by herself with one arm and ones that zipped!). She ran and sang and was so happy. And she behaved like a happy child. She didn't whine and cry and feel sorry for herself. She was just wonderful. Do I need to sing her praises more (as a grandmother naturally would!)? ha!

I guess I just expected her to be pitiful but neither she nor her mother were pitiful at all. They were wonderful and uplifting to be with and helped my spirits. I am very tired but I thoroughly enjoyed my day!