Sure Better Than Monday

Wow, what a day.

Last night I updated at Facebook with something along the lines of this weekend was great, but Monday sucked and I have high hopes for Tuesday. Something like that.....

Anyway, I woke up this morning to a comment that needed to be moderated from Isaiah Mustafa, who is the star of the current (very funny) Old Spice commercials. He made me a personalized video, which I posted earlier today. What a thrill. I love working with that company and their body wash smells darn good, too.

I took a few pictures of my garden and had them printed out to be used in what is now a full art show. Oh well, maybe next time, but here's the thing, I am going to fix them for my mom and I to use in our kitchens. I think they'll look pretty good. I can't wait to show them to her tomorrow.

Here's my 365 photo for today. Now I'm off to hang out with my kids. Night all!

Monday Sucks Sometimes

I woke up feeling all excited about the bliss, but then real life hit and I got off track. Some days suck. Really suck. Today was one of them.

I basically hid out in my room, getting my work done, writing, sending out a request for new products to review, which helped a lot. I took a few pictures of a new body spray that arrived - they sent it with little shells, the box had all these stickers saying it was from France all over it. I used the shells in a few shots and at least ended up with one photo for my 365 project. Not a great photo, but at least I'm getting back on track.

Now it's the end of the day, I have my run in, I'm watching The Bachelorette long distance with my sister and I made it through one more day. Tomorrow will be better.  I can't get where I'm going all in one day.

I Love Good Huggers

It's a been a long week. Max is finally feeling better, I'd say he's kicked the pneumonia, but he had hard to work pretty hard at it. It concerns me that he got that sick so soon after the last time. (Last Winter).  I think a lot about pulling him from school, but they have so much more in terms of position equipment there. And his teacher is truly wonderful. Plus I met a couple of her friends who have "adopted" the class and one of them says that Max is her favorite. She was talking to me about working with him at the tea party, not sure if I mentioned this before, and her eyes teared up. She seemed embarrassed, but I appreciated her affection and caring for my boy. I'm the kind of person who tears up easily, as well. There's nothing wrong with strong emotion. And my son is a special kid. I want him to be spend his life with people who love him.

I ended up sick, too. On Sunday night, I felt like I could not get a good breath and it scared me. I wasn't getting any work done, because I felt so unfocused - lack of oxygen will do that I guess. I decided to go to the Dr in the morning and he said I had sinusitis that turned into Bronchitis. He gave me a shot in the hip, a breathing treatment, antibiotics, and prednisone. He wanted me to take something for the cough and a pain pill, but I don't like to load up too much on that stuff. By the afternoon, I felt so much better, I could breathe a bit and I could think. I was able to drive for the first time in a week. Thank goodness.

This week I've been talking to a couple of men. Well, a few men, actually. Feast or famine, that's how it goes with me. I decided to switch my photo at one of the online dating sites and all of a sudden things got active. One man sounds almost too perfect, which scares me a little. We have a lot in common and for the past few years, the men that I've dated have been good guys, but not men that I had that much in common with. I suspect they found my way of looking at things frustrating. Too positive, rainbows coming out my butt, crazy California-dreaming.........okay, these are my words, not theirs.

One called me "quirky." One of my quirks - good dental hygiene. What the........?? It's now considered quirky if you brush regularly and actually use floss?  Hey, I  can't afford the dentist. I want to keep these teeth. No quirks involved.

I've also been talking to an old friend who is going through a rough time. He thought he was on his way to marriage, a growing family, but suddenly it's all gone. It's hard to watch/listen to a friend in pain, but to be a good friend, I've got to give it a try.  I keep trying to remember how I felt lately, out of sorts, lonely, sad. What helped me? What made things worse?  I don't want him to feel that he has to be up for me, because I'm trying to cheer him, so I'm trying to avoid putting pressure on him to "have a great day," although I'm sure I've said that, it is on old stand by of mine.  I'm trying to follow his lead. He's a strong man, he's been through a lot, and he always makes it through.

Why do some people end up getting more than their share of the challenges life likes to hand out?

I'm looking forward to being able to give him a big hug soon. He's one of those great huggers. I've known him since he was about 10 years old - he was a classmate of my younger sister. I was older, an 8th grader and he was one of those jr flirts. Pretty funny. We were talking about that the other day. Funny kid.

Back to the hugging....... he has a lot of friends, one of those people whom every body loves. Some years back, I was out with a group of old girl friends from high school. I can't remember how I ended up with the group, I was a young mom and never went out....... Anyway, there were about 6 or 7 of us and as we ran into him on the street, he put out his arms and we each automatically went in for our hug, taking turns. We only talked to him for a few minutes in passing, but he had time to give each of a us a good, strong hug. He's a very sweet man.

I love hugs. Especially hugs from men. Getting hugs from the kids, they are wonderful, but there is something about getting a hug from someone who is bigger and stronger than me, it's so soothing and comforting, as if for just a few seconds I can hand over the reins of being The One Who Protects to someone else, just briefly.

I better bring this to an end. My kids want to eat......and hopefully give me a hug. Here's my latest 365 Project photo. I got so behind when I was ill.

Running On Empty-ish

I'm running out of ideas for my Shutter Sister's 365 Project. I've taken photos of my patio before and after the flowers bloomed, before and after the rain fell, plus the rubber lizards, plastic spiders, the little Eiffel Tower, and the cherub.

I've shot Sarah mulitple times, Kitty even more. I've shot Bay and PJ, Mom and Pam. I've shot my fish, Goldie,  and a few dinners. Breakfasts, lunches, too. I've shot inside my car, outside my car, and my reflectio,n as caught in a puddle, on the way back from my car. I've shot a bit of the park and the front of Raley's Supermarket.

What next?  Tonight I shot my dinner - a beer and peanut butter toast (girls were elsewhere). Boring.  Also, shot the patio, yet again, but the light was bad. About 11:30 pm I picked up my camera and shot Goldie, but he wouldn't hold still. I shot a photo of a photo - Max when he was little, then the mini bird clip that holds my time card until time card turn-in day. I'll share a few below.........

My Project

Max and I are still sick, so we missed my nephew's 2nd birthday. I am so sad about it. Sarah got to go with her Grandma and I took the picture (above) of her goodie sack stuff. I needed something to use for my 365 Project photo and I liked all the bright colors and the texture of the pink ball.

I'm really interested in the photos that are being posted to the project. Many of them seem family in theme. I see a lot of babies, kitties, meals, and coffee breaks. Sometimes people do really interesting self portraits. I love those. It's hard sometimes (most of the time) to be in front of the camera, much more comfortable behind it. My favorite self portrait was a shoulder and a bright bra strap. It sounds racy, but it was very pretty.

It's so much fun to get this peek into other people's lives. They are sharing a piece of themselves. A gift. I tell my friends about it and try to get them involved. It will be so much fun to see how our photography improves throughout the course of the year.

I think I've got Bay talked into it, too. She took some photos of her boyfriend PJ today. One of them was so sweet, it made me do this sort of breath-catch thing when she showed it to me. He has these big brown eyes and he's looking at her with so much love. So many times I try to catch something special with the camera. I think maybe I've got it, maybe this will be exactly what I'm trying to show, but then I look at what I've got and it's just not what I was trying to capture. I don't know what she was trying to show with this photo, but it's really something special. I hope she sees that.

I have some exciting news. Robin, my sister, and I are going to run a 10K together on the 13th of February,down in her hometown. This means that I get to see her whole family AND I get to have a fun adventure with one of my favorite people. We decided to do it last night, while we watched Philosophy on QVC, while texting. We've texted through a few shows. I was also eating dinner at this time. I was pretty proud of my multi-tasking abilities. I did it all, but I can't say that I did it well. :)

Here's a picture of Robin and I that used during retro week at Facebook. I'm the bigger little hippie kid.

Watch Kitty & I Got A Wake Up Call

Yesterday, I woke up after a long night of rain. The flower beds right outside my bedroom window were totally flooded. No birds for Kitty to see - she takes her bird watching very seriously, as you can see by her intense gaze and posture here. My bed is right under the window, so if Kitty thinks I've slept too long, she tries to pull the blind up on her own. So, I open it a bit and she lets me pet her for a few minutes, but only if I pet her on the back half of her back. Get near her face and she nips at you.

Last night, Max was sick and Kitty was like his watch-cat. She would meow if he choked and call me in to his room. When I got there, she'd be pacing on the floor, near the foot of his bed. She's never done that before. She must have sensed something. Smart girl. I had to suction him quite a few times, poor kid. Sarah slept through it all.

This weekend, today being the last day of it, was a weird weekend. I woke on Friday with an idea of how I'd like to see my life play out, I had a plan and I really wanted to figure out how to make it work. I wanted to compromise and be open to possibilities. I was pretty excited, because I thought hey, this could work! By Sunday, that idea was completely gone.

**I edited a big portion out of this post. The point is I'm going to do things differently from now on.

Is This Thing On??

Pictures of Self

I picked up a new helmet for Sarah today. I told her that since she was getting the helmet, she was going to have to take a ride with me. She was outraged at first, but eventually she followed me outside. She made it around (3/10 of a mile each lap) 4 times to my 10. She kept stopping to pull up her pants or adjust her belt. I planned ahead. I wore a big t-shirt that used to belong to my brother-in-law Matt, so I was covered.

I get so goal-oriented when I ride or walk or run. I have to have something to work toward. I had already worked out earlier, so I thought, hmm, 3 miles is fine. Nice and short. I can ride it in my flip flops. (Yes, I was wearing flip flops. It was so warm out there).

Another thing that I thought about while on my bike - it's my favorite thinking spot - I watch a lot of TV, but not too much TV. I spend plenty of time on other pursuits, so if I have a conversation like the following exchange, I won't freak:

Bailey: Mom, what day is it?
Me: Well, Tony Dinozzo was on last night, so it's Wednesday.

My first thought was that I should not tell the days of the week by my TV boyfriends, but whatever. It's harmless. At least I knew what day it was.

The End of A Long Day 365:8

Long, long day. I'm exhausted and my stomach is upset. I can't wait to get into bed with my book.

Bailey and I spent about 3 hours at the Dr. She has bronchitis. Poor kid. Her temperature was 104 and it hurt when she breathed, so she was given a pain shot. When a kid will voluntarily accept a shot, you know they feel horrible.

Basketball officially starts tomorrow. I sure hope I'm better in the morning.

365:7 Sarah's Light

These beads hang from Sarah's bedroom light. They are a sort of chandelier thing that say, "Bratz" on them - well on some of them. I picked them for my 365 Project because.....

*I forgot to shot something else and it was dark outside and......
*I spent a part of my day clearing crap out of her room.
*They were a part of her room that is clean.

Sarah is a packrat. She wants to keep everything. Everything. I'm talking about little ripped pieces of paper and broken toys. This morning I had one of my your-room-makes-me-crazy freak outs and by mid-afternoon I carted two huge bags of stuff out of her room. Unfortunately one of the things that I threw away - a ripped and broken backpack - also held her iPod. (Where else would you keep it, right??)

I made her climb into the dumpster to get it. Yuck. I'm horrible. The dumpster was actually empty except for our things. Lucky. But yucky anyway. I will never forget how it smelled so strongly of parmesan cheese. I made her take her shoes off before going in the house, then she had to strip at the washer. Straight to the shower with you, kid!!

I thought she'd get it and actually get to work on her room, but instead she is listening to her (rescued) iPod and reading. I would close the door on it and be done, but Max lives in there, too, and I worry that she's got mold growing in there or maybe huge spiders.

Now Wednesday, On Wednesday

Here's photo 365:6. It's one of my Christmas presents from Mom. When light shines through it, you see pretty prisms. I need to find the perfect spot to hang it.

My shoulder is a mess today. About 4 minutes ago I remembered a way to fix it. I apply pressure to this spot below the shoulder and it releases a lot of the tightness (I've got a knot). I'm not about 50% better. Not bad. I'll take it.

I cannot wait to go to bed tonight.

Making Up For Tuesday On Wednesday.

The above goldfish, Goldie, has been a member of my family for 6 years. That's a long life for a goldfish. He thinks that he's a puppy - wags his tail when he wants me to feed him. It's adorable.

Just now, I looked at his tank and he's watching me. I'm everybody's mommy around here. Hey fish, take a picture it lasts longer! (Proof above). What a cutie, that Goldie is.

The photo below is my 5th 365 Project photo. Met the school bus with a camera. I like the big mirror - it makes the front of the bus look funny. Whoosh..... doesn't the photo look like it should have a "whoosh" sound effect?


I'm off to work now. That means, I'm closing this window and opening another one. My neck and shoulder are a mess today. Very annoying and painful. Dang. Oh well. I must (sore) shoulder on.......

I Need A Hug 365:2

Here's my second photo for the Shutter Sisters 365 Project. I'm calling it I need a hug, because it looks like the flowers are loving each other.

Over the Rainbow

Eek, I almost forgot to post today. We've been so lazy around our house. Watching the Food Network, watching movies, still wearing our pjs. I hope you are enjoying your new year so far.

Below is my first entry in the Shutter Sisters 365 Project at Flickr. Cheers!