From the comfort of my armchair::February 28th

Last night as we were watching "The Voice", which I have to say is one of the BEST tv shows on right now, I decided to take some pictures from the comfort of my La-Z-Boy recliner:

Even Michael likes it, which is great because this boy is *not* a couch potato. It really is that good ;)


At the beginning of the evening, the balloon was high on the ceiling.


Then it suddenly fell down to the level of the lamp. I have never seen a balloon do that!


My favorite lamp. Cost=$5 at a yard sale 20+ years ago. Value=priceless. I really, really, really love this lamp.


One of the pictures on my wall. I love irises, so a watercolor painting of a beautiful coral one is perfect :)


And yes! I am still wearing Christmas pj pants. My favorite pair :)


And my Sweetie. This was actually taken while he was watching last Thursday's "Grey's Anatomy" on the internet because I really wanted him to get caught up on my show. I love talking to him about tv shows, movies, music; he is the one person I love sharing it all with, and he is wonderful about taking an interest in what interests me. He really *is* perfect like that. :)


Life really is that good. I hope that you are savoring the best moments of your life too :)

Saturday Centus - The chair dominated the small room::February 25

The rules:
The prompt this week is: The chair dominated the small room



Number of words: 100 PLUS the six words of the prompt for a maximum of 106 words.
Style of writing: Any
Pictures: As many extra pictures as you like

The chair dominated the small room. They made me sit on that chair, while they circled, circled, circled like sharks. They wanted to know where I put it. I wasn’t going to tell. They couldn’t make me.

They thought that they could intimidate me, but they didn’t understand that I couldn’t be intimidated. Whatever they did to me me, I would never crack.

The light above me was hot. Sweat dotted my upper lip.

Then they unleashed the worst torture known to man: they took the pacifier from the baby’s mouth. “I’ll tell you! Please make it stop! The t.v. remote is in the clothes hamper!”

(No actual picture available, so picture this: a frazzled mom sitting on a chair while her children and husband make a ring around her chair. It isn't such a terrible thing to limit tv time, right? ;)

Post Processing Play::Thursday, Feb. 23

I took this picture this morning after I took the kids to school:


It is an unused factory just a couple miles from their school. The lighting was a bit tricky, and I over exposed a few pics, just trying to lighten up the scene a bit.

I had decided to go back in the afternoon when the sunlight has shifted from east to west, because while the pic was ok, it wasn't spectacular.

I came home and looked at the pic and I liked it, even if it was a bit drab and boring. I cropped the original, to focus more on the windows. Then I decided to play with the coloring a bit, which is something I play with sometimes, but rarely like enough to save.



This one is different though. It is unusual, but I like how the color sets off the scene and makes the picture look old.

I've been sick for the past few days and have missed posting and have missed going out and taking pictures, but I think that what I've got is the true, blue flu: the one you get vaccinated against. Achy, cold & hot, sore throat, runny nose, headache, blah. I think I'm feeling a bit better today, though, and for that I am truly thankful.

Have a wonderful Thursday!

Our weekend so far....::February 20

On Saturday, we loaded up the family and went to the city.

I LOVE the big library there! We spent lots of time and found lots and lots of books. I got quite a few to teach me photoshop.... my next thing to master.

Then, over to the thrift store. I found a few great things, including two rocking, swiveling, reclining, in-great-condition, wonderful La-Z-Boy chairs (in the color of our living room to boot!) like we've been looking for for years! Score!

Then over to look for shoes for Jared at GenX. Do they ever get new shipments in?! After watching them for a month for a shipment of shoes that he likes (they have 2 different styles that he likes) in a size 11, we still had no luck!

Then, Michael was restless to go home, but nobody else was, and we had about 90 minutes before Jared had to be at work, so we went to the PARK!

Emily and Matt mostly played on the playground equipment:



Steve, Jared, and Michael threw around a frizbee for awhile:



And me? I took a walk and took pictures.


Last night, while Steve was intently reading What the Dark Knows by Dean Koontz, I took a few pics of him, and this was my favorite:

I really like these pics that I got of him! He has a hard time relaxing in front of the camera, but I think these last few are perfect :)

Today, while still a holiday from work and school, will be filled with catching up on homework, working on some projects/work for ourselves, paying bills, doing laundry, cleaning the house... all the stuff that has to be done but gets put off to the last.

I hope that you have a wonderful President's Day!

Saturday Centus - Autobriefagraphical::February 19

As I was visiting No Excuses - Musing of a Procrastinator a couple of weeks ago, I noticed that she had this logo and had written a short story based on the website's weekly theme:



I thought it looked fun and thought that perhaps I might do it too, someday. Well, today was the day ;)

So I ventured over and saw this instruction for the assignment:

Saturday Centus - Autobriefagraphical
Directions: "THERE IS NO PROMPT THIS WEEK. BUT YOU HAVE 6 WORDS TO WRITE YOUR AUTOBIOGRAPHY. Period. FEEL FREE TO USE A PICTURE IF IT WILL HELP!

And here are my six words:

Born. Trained. Loved. United. Raising. Living.

I think it sums my life up quite well. :)

Sunday, Sunday (AKA: I ♥ Naps :)

Exactly what I like to do on Sunday's, too! I ♥ naps!

Snowy Shots, Macro and the Garden::February 17th

At Gardening Gone Wild, Saxon Holt was talking about gardens in winter, pruning, thinking like a gardener, and other ideas. Me? I like to garden, but I don't even think about the garden in the wintertime. It is a time to do other things. But, I am a little facetious, so I took a picture of my garden in winter and how I prune my trees in my garden:



Cut 'em down! ;)

Actually, there is a tree that I keep having Steve lop branches off of each spring. It isn't in the picture, but it is a tree on the south east side of the garden. When it grows too tall, it shades my garden plots. Really I'd like to cut it down, but it is too big for a one man job since it is so close to the house.

While I was out there, I took other pics too. Some macros, in fact: (you can click on the pic to make it larger)



It was interesting to me to see how fuzzy the branches on the Sumac Tree are. It makes for interesting textures, that's for sure!

I hope that you have a terrific Friday and a wonderful weekend!

Happy Birthday dear Steve....

Yesterday, all of our family came together to celebrate Steve's birthday.

I felt badly setting up his birthday party after I realized that Tuesday, which is when I invited our adult kids to his party, was also Valentine's Day. I had only paid attention to the fact that they all had Tuesday off... but nobody complained and everybody showed up.

So we ate dinner, ate Valentine's Day candy, ate cake, and then, once we were super full, we played Sponge Bob rummy, which is regular rummy with Sponge Bob cards. I had bought the cards for Christmas, thinking that I was so smart to get a jump start for next year.. but the kids saw them when we came home and unloaded groceries, so they became a Valentine's Day gift instead. ;)

All the while, while we ate, and ate, and ate, and played, Aiden was asleep. When he woke up, he was very excited to find the candy, and he helped himself to as much as his mommy and daddy would let him have.

I am the luckiest person to have such a great family and I'm especially thankful to have such a great husband! He is truly such a blessing to me.

So Steve, again I say: Happy Birthday to you! And many more!

I Already Know I Love You::February 13

(no, Peter Cottontail's mom doesn't play a part in this story; I just needed a way to keep the book open :)

I picked this book up at the bookstore a few years ago when it was in the bargain bin. I love it!

It is written from the perspective of the potential grandpa, but I totally understood what he was saying.

There is just something about your children having children. It isn't really your child, it is your child's child, but there is a connection there that makes it yours too.

I bought the book even before I knew I was going to be a grandma. I have looked forward to being a grandma since I birthed my own children; the cycle of life is an amazing, exciting ride.

I get to babysit Aiden a lot, and because of that, he knows me well and loves me, just like I know him and love him. Dearly, I'd say.

He still won't call me grandma. We've tried. It used to be he'd call me mom. Then it was mama. Then last week it was pan; I was told that pan was short for panda, a toy that he loves and drags around with him. Okay, I thought, I can be pan. But this week, he has forgotten all about the pan business and doesn't call me anything.

I've been told that he gets confused when Karen and Josh tell him that they are going to go see grandma, and then he winds up at some other grandma's house. So, I've decided to be Grandma Mema. That way, if he wants to call me grandma, that is great! If he wants to differentiate between grandmas, then he can call me mema. Or he can say the whole thing out: Grandma Mema. I'm fine with any of it.

This weekend it snowed while he was here. We looked out the window together and I asked, "Where is the snow?" And then while he showed me, I snapped a picture. Well, I overexposed the window area, so you can't see that he is pointing at the snow; it just looks like he is pointing at the hearts on the window, which is fine and cute too. Take a look at how cute and adorable my little man is:



I also tried it in black and white for a more timeless effect:



Any way that I look at that little guy he is adorable!

I'm so glad that I am his Grandma Mema Pan :)

this moment::February 10

{this moment} - Inspired by SouleMama (but adapted to my needs by me :) A Friday ritual. A single photo - no words - capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember.


Michael, sticking out his tongue. It makes me laugh. As you can tell, he is way more of a smiler than a tongue-sticker-outer.

Awww! So cute :)