Inner Rambling of a Mid Life Mama.

Quick Blog break....

2011-12-09T14:08:00.001-05:00

I have been hard at it and hardly had a chance to look at anything much online lately... I'm missing my fix! So just a quick update for those of you who still bother to check up on me and see what I'm up to.... don't blame you if you skulked off and in disgust as the posts have been nothing but Crap lately!!!

So... first things first... I am totally focused and involved with all things career oriented right now which explains my absence from the blogging world. This is a new thing for me as I like to strike a good balance as a rule, but my current undertaking demands discipline and commitment... I know, two things I really don't have a ton of but I'm working on it!! It so damn hard though, I'm going to succeed and when I do I can then breathe a sigh of relief, until that time I'm all tense and focused and scary.

The photography stuff has really taken a back seat, going for well over a week sometimes between picking up my camera even for just a quicky... sigh. I need a refresher course I think... I did take a quick pic today of my lunch... it's thrilling around here people... I made a chicken avocado salad that I found on Pinterest and OMG is the most fabulous thing ever to have crossed my lips... DELISH!!! Seriously.. praise be to the person who first discovered the delight that is cilantro. I could eat it in, on and around everything. I bet it would even be good in a bowl of oatmeal. YUM!!!

Just grab some cooked chicken, an avocado, couple o' green onions, cilantro, mayo and lime juice. I didn't have the measurements either... wing it.. you can't go wrong. Mix it all up and serve with crackers or whatever you like with your salad... It would be marvelous with a crisp, cold, white wine but it's a little early for that today.. have to pick up the kids and don't want to start an international incident in the line up! Go check out the blog I found this on HERE.

Here's another little thing I did with an idea from Pinterest.... I didn't Pin it correctly and so now I'm not able to give credit to the lovely lady who provided me with the idea... sorry!!!

So cute, quick and very easy!!!! of course I only do the easy stuff!!!!

Anyway, just a quick one.. still a million things I have to do around here today, no time to be wittering away on Blogger. I promised myself a little break before I get back to it.... urgh.... I am not really sure how long I can keep up with this pace but lets hope it's long enough to accomplish my goals! I'll be back to bore you all to death again soon... until then au revoir!!!

Kids say the darndest things....

2011-11-30T19:24:00.001-05:00

So.. last night us gals were sitting at the kitchen table, I was merrily pinning away on Pinterest while Syd was busy doing three hours of social studies homework (which wasn't even required)(urgh!!) and Ash proudly announced she was about to draw a .... banana hammock. I know!!!!!

After a burst of hysterical laughter (banana hammocks always crack me up) I couldn't get her to tell me where she'd even heard of such a thing and of course she didn't know what a banana hammock is! What do you do in this predicament... dial the grandmother of course and give her the pleasure of explaining such a thing to this 7 yr old clown! Once she knew what it was she was in fits of giggles and that was the end of that.. she did scribble a little something on the paper but it didn't in any way resemble David Beckham in his BH. Bwaahaha.

Then this morning I was sporting a particularly old but f~~ugly~~ functional Ralph Lauren sweatshirt... it was cold alright... and Syd looked at it with a face akin to a bulldog chewing a wasp and said "Thaaat's Ralph Lauren??? I thought RL was supposed to be.. you know... like.... um..... yeah".
Me... "yeah, it's RL and I'll have you know I bought this in Texas before you were born". .... Syd...."Wow and it still fits???"

Seriously... I just had that conversation with my kid... it happened. I am no longer the mother of little kids... I'm in the "I have to justify my clothes selection to a tweener" stage. Oh Lord... I should probably rethink the Forever Lazy I have on my Christmas wish list.

Here she is helping this chick through an awkward feather decision.

Happy Birthday....

2011-11-30T00:01:00.000-05:00

A lot has happened since you left us... it's been almost four years. Ashamed to say I can't even remember now if you would have been sixty or sixty one this birthday! It's been bothering me and I want to call and ask your widow but I won't, I just don't want to admit that it's not right there at the front of my mind.

The girls are growing up nicely, I think you would be proud of them. We talk of you often and although Ashley has faint memories now there's lots for her to use as memory joggers, we keep the airplane that we gave you that final Christmas front and center. The books with the little messages you wrote in the front cover are a lovely reminder of your love of reading and how you wanted so badly to share that love with them. Sydney still has the First Day cover of the Rudyard Kipling stamps in her room on her notice board, the copy of Just So Stories in her bookcase. Little reminders that are kept just so we can look at them when we need to and remember the kindhearted man who was Grandpa, beloved and missed.

We all have our own versions of that horrible day when you were so quickly ripped from our lives, but one thing is for sure, we all know just what it was we lost and however it plays out to each of us, the result is the same, a loss, a terrible gaping hole never to be filled. Sometimes when we're having a bad day one of us might say "this is the worst day of my life" and then we are quickly reminded that no, it's not, not by a long shot. That's what we tell each other and guess what... it keeps it all in perspective.

Your voice still sounds so clear in my head, your memory still so alive. I have no idea why this year is so hard for me to get through, I just assumed time would heal all pain but it really doesn't. It just dulls the ache for a little while until it breaks through again and takes me hostage one more time. While all around me people are being thankful and looking forward to Christmas I can only think of your birthday, another one you're missing, and another Christmas reminding me of your very last couple of weeks. Thank God you spent those last weeks with us, selfish of me I know but thank God!! We found the video that we took that last Christmas morning, and watched it with tear filled eyes and heavy hearts. I know deep down you don't want us to mourn; but to celebrate the times we had. We try, we really do.

The tree we planted for you is growing, how, I have no idea! and the potted plant I received from a friend is still alive and well. We feel like we have you here watching over us and so in an odd kind of way it's fortunate for us, sad for those missing you in England though. Sad for Mum, missing you so much every day, God only knows how she goes on without you, I am sure she's praying for when she will be with you again. I pray for that too sometimes and imagine you guys back together and happy for eternity, maybe that would give me peace. Knowing the unit is whole again.

Well... dear sweet man... Happy Birthday! We will remember you and love you always.

Third time's a charm...

2011-11-28T07:56:00.001-05:00

I have prepared a couple of blog posts this past few days but can't seem to get them right.... I think I'm up against too much lately to organize my thoughts and share them. The first was about our Thanksgiving... but honestly it was a good day 'n all but nothing spectacular to write home about. No offense to the family, its just that every other blog says things like good company, good food, lots to be thankful for... I'm sick to death of hearing it this year...but that is totally my problem not yours. My attitude sucks right now.

You want to know what makes me truly thankful? That we even have a roof over our heads. There's a TV news program on Sunday nights here in the States called 60 minutes and last night they did a story on homeless kids in Florida; I was trying to blog but it caught my attention and gave me a lump in my throat the size of a 20lb turkey. These families were living in trucks and cars because they had lost their homes due to the never freakin' ending recession. Their unemployment had run out, they had been made homeless and rather than lose the kids they packed up and slept in their cars and remained for all intents and purposes "normal" during the day. It's heartbreaking that this is happening.... absolutely heartbreaking. So ... I am thankful that we do have a roof over our heads, and we may not be able to keep up with the Jones' but we're not in a truck worrying about the safety of our kids at night. I cannot fathom the despair that the parents feel when there is just no apparent way out of a situation like that..... and Kim Kardashian fakes a marriage for millions... PULEASE!!!!

You can check out the piece HERE.

Anyway.... don't mean to be a dolly downer... just can't seem to help but feel so helpless and sad at the way this country is headed right now. Yet on and on we see sparkly glittery things we just can't live without!!!! Put down those iPhones people... Apple doesn't need your money... the homeless in Florida do. Imagine how it would help them if you kept your old phone which is actually perfectly functional, and spent that $200-$400 on some carpentry work on your house, or a little landscaping maybe, and the guy doing the work could feed his kids for a few days. Just a pie in the sky notion and I know it's not going to happen but in the meantime I can dream. That is all.

Wait .... Thanksgiving is WHEN????

2011-11-18T14:09:00.001-05:00

OK... so the other day I looked out from under my rock and the trees were turning from all green and lush to all red and orange and not quite so lush. Hmmm must be fall or something... or wait.. it's mid November already... STOP THE BUS ITS almost THANKSGIVING!!!!

Seriously the whole perception of time thingy when you get older and have more going on so the days wiz by at stupid miles per hour is driving me nuts. I can't get a handle on being prepared and organized when things are happening so quickly.. I'm shocked by every passing season and totally worn out by running around getting crap done at the last minute. Yet there also seems to be those days which are never ending!

Thanksgiving is ONE day... that's it... not a week not even a long weekend it's a DAY and yet it seems to be such a big day. That sounds like a really weird thing to say because it is the biggest holiday of the year in this country but it is still merely one day. Lets just have a nice dinner, all sit around and be thankful and move on. Why oh why do we have to stress about it.... I know why I stress about it... not because I have to cook or anything like that because we're extremely lucky and go visit family every year. I stress because it's my wake up call to silly season... my alarm to the unending demands on time and energy in every imaginable form....parades (yes the Christmas Parade is usually the Monday after Thanksgiving.. seriously!!) parties, pj days at school, Victorian Christmas, Fun Runs, kids out of school, mailing gifts overseas (which is invariably done late) decking the halls and devouring Egg Nog. I still can't get my head around the American way of celebrating the holidays... totally backwards to me. It starts at Thanksgiving and ends at Christmas. Whereas in England we didn't really start until right before Christmas and ended at New Years. No wonder I'm all discombobulated. Sigh!!! I miss that cold brisk walk to the pub, the lengthy dinners with co-workers, the dressing up in fancy evening wear with fabulous fancy shoes... Sigh again!!!!

So ... here it begins... and not to be a total party pooper but for me personally.. I say roll on the New Year!

She called it.....

2011-11-17T08:28:00.001-05:00

Today I am taking care of my sweet, little, sickie Ash, for the third straight day. I was completely convinced yesterday that she was fine and would be on her merry way to school this morning and I would be left to concentrate on work again. Not so. The past couple of days she had been waking us up by throwing up first thing, she'd rinse and repeat a few times and then she was fine for the rest of the day. I put her back on her Prevacid thinking that we're back on the reflux roundabout and assured myself this was the end of it.

Well last night she started to get a little upset around eight o'clock and told me she was scared because she knew she was going to be sick again and that she would be missing more school (she absolutely cannot stand to miss school). I told her it would be OK and that now she's back on the medicine she would be just fine and not to worry. We cuddled for a while and I settled her into bed, she asked for her puke bowl just in case so I fetched it and left it with her and went off to bed myself... I was exhausted from two days of her early morning puke alarms. I was having some kind of fabulous dream, which annoyingly I can't remember now, when I heard a child calling Mama, Mama... what???? It confused me because obviously if it was a fabulous dream there were no kids and therefore no room in the dream for Mama Mama. I stumbled out of bed and sure enough she had a full bowl for me to clean up (she's a very neat puker) and it was game on for the rest of the night. URGH!!!!

So she's sleeping soundly now but please for the love of God this has to be the worst of it and we can move on. I'm lucky enough to be working from home so I am able to continue with what I need to do to stay on track but hells bells I had foolishly envisioned a whole new life... one where I could focus on me and my career. I guess this is my signal that I'm still first and foremost a Mom and no matter what happens my kids will always come first. I'm not going to be some kind of martyr mom though, me myself and I come a damn close second to the motherly stuff. Today will be split between work, puke, lysol and the laundry room with more work on top... and that my friend is how we keep the plates spinning.

I've had this blog for two and a half years and there are a gazillion posts about Peanut being sick... it's just a given I guess and if you plan for it and accept it's gonna happen then you can handle it way better than letting it get you down. I just hate to see her little face all pale and sicky... I hope this is the last of it and she's back to her old self soon.

Gonna be a long month....

2011-11-13T09:58:00.000-05:00

So.... looks like we're having a long November this year!!!! Please God let it be so because I can't even begin to think about Christmas there's so much we're trying to accomplish at the end of 2011 I just don't know if I can really do the Holidays justice. Do you think the kids will notice if we just kinda slide by the Yule Tide??

Funnies from my bunnies this week.... yesterday Syd was so indignant about physical activity it cracked me up. She was telling me that she had been moving ALL day and she was exhausted... really??? She's ten years old and can't stay in motion for a morning (it was only about noon). She looked at me with a serious expression "But Mom... Daddy made me RUN and it's the WEEKEND!!!". Bwwaahahahaha I can see an enrollment into a weekend bootcamp in this girls future... where did she get the idea that the weekend is a non activity sit on your ass time, wait.. I'm on the couch with Pinterest and Daddy's in the chair snoozing... sigh... got to change this and soon!!

Ash.. well she's always on the move, no worries there!! She even gets a towel out and lays it on the floor and does her "pilates" in the morning. Ash has been thinking hard about getting a new Uncle lately, I'm not going to go into it because it's not my story but it's enough to say we're on a manhunt and it's intense people. She's also been writing songs... yes ... I know!! I was amazed. She sang one to me last night at bedtime when I went to tuck her in and it was pretty good!! It really made me smile, more than smile I was just so blown away by it, it was just a little song and was funny but anyone who can write even a little song has my complete respect, she was a little embarrassed I could tell but all the same she was happy to sing to me and I was tickled by it.

Anyway peeps... I must get off this damn computer. I have been on Pinterest this morning and you know what?? I want to see some of that crap come to fruition... get off the screen and into my hands. So today is going to be a creative kind of a day...See Ya!!!

I'm crawling out of my hole...

2011-11-10T20:20:00.001-05:00

So, hello how are you? I have been in a black hole of sheer concentration these past few days and decided to take a little blog break tonight as I have a spare couple of mins to knock one out.

This has been a weird week, trying to get into the swing of a whole new way of life for the family, but, despite the weirdness it's going very well. I'm trying to be more structured with the kids and their school work, taking every evening to purposely study and read, taking a more active roll in checking their scores on the study portal that kind of thing. Poor Ash... she has a reading goal to hit of 15 points.. each book is assigned a point value and she has to take a test on every book she reads and will be assigned a proportion of that point value depending on her success on the test. If she has a book worth 1 point and scores 100% on the test she gets 1 point.. get it? Well she's been reading a LOT of books with point values of 0.5 and she had no idea what that actually means in terms of how many books she has to read and test on to reach her goal. When I explained it to her, and pointed out that we're already half way through the 9 weeks she has to reach her goal she was devastated!!! I felt awful... I didn't want to make her upset, merely point out that if she read books with a higher point value she'd achieve her goal quicker. I know she'll reach her goal, she always does, she's a very good reader; I am just ridiculously competitive at times and always figuring out how to reach goals quickly. Urgh... I could kick myself in the ass sometimes!!!! Anyhooo she calmed down and tonight when she came home from school she was happy to announce that she has a chapter book worth 2 points! Smiles.

I'm really trying to stop with the pushy stuff.... really I am. I have to remember that in the grand scheme of things as long as they're not failing their classes and they are happy then it's all good. I want them to be kids first and foremost... so I was positively giddy when they were playing out front with their friends and Ash ran into the house screaming that someone threw a ball and it hit her nuts and knocked them down!!! Hmmm yeah that goes on the list of things you'd never thought you'd be hearing from your daughter.

So.. that's it for now... plenty for me to be doing with this little bit of free time.. like sit my ass on the couch and watch How It's Made with the spousey. Toodle Pip!!!!

Seriously... you wake up and they're gone...

2011-11-08T08:11:00.001-05:00

Last night I received a heartfelt plea via text from my sister in law begging that I blog, blog ever day and don't let it slide. She keeps up with our family doings this way and although I am completely overwhelmed with all my responsibilities and commitments at this time I feel that blogging is also a commitment... one to myself which keeps me sane and one to the peeps who are far away and can check in and see what we're up to. That's what you do when you don't live next door to family.. you splash your goings on over the world wide web and it saves a bagillion phone calls explaining our ups and downs to everyone individually.

It's like our very own town crier with me doing the crying... hear ye, hear ye, the maiden Ashley finally had her damn front tooth pulled by the orthodentist, he declared it was time to get that sucker out of there. The man's damsels in attendance all squealed in shock at the x-rays showing that Maiden Ashley is most definitely in for years of expensive ortho work thus sending her distressed parents to the poor house. Maiden Sydney is finally almost done with her first session of corrective braces and her parents are to be reprieved for a short while until stage two. Note to self... maybe I should be an orthodentist in my next life; or marry a man without a genetic predisposition to huge horse teeth.

In other news. I have finally started training for my new career... yes career... not just a job. That's all I'm going to say about it because I will not blog about work. No I won't.

I can say however that I am not travelling 33 miles each way to work anymore and even after the first day I can feel the benefits of working from/close to home. I love it!!!! love love love it. I do have a lot to accomplish every day and must stay on task but other than that I am not wasting almost two precious hours in my truck stressing over what a waste of time it is to commute. TOTAL waste of time. Nothing productive can be done while driving... nothing... other than listening to Martha Stewart radio but even then I can't jot down the tips and recipes... and because I'm driving for two hours I can't find time to visit her website to find said tips and recipes.. frustrating. So now I have all those lovely hours back... oooohhhh they're all mine!!!!!

Ten freakin' hours a week... back to me.. boom just like that!!! I am doing that Irish heel kick thingy right now... really I am... bbwwaaahahahahahaaaa.

And finally... we cleaned out the little ladies rooms this weekend... I say little ladies but honestly if you'd have seen what was under their beds they'd be better described as little animals... filthy little hoarders!

Here's how we did it... Ash was out playing at a friends house, so I made Syd crawl under Ashley's bed and bring out the ~~dead~~ stuff. Then on the next day it was Ashley's turn to crawl under Syd's bed and bring out her crap. Worked well. Very thorough and nothing was left behind, see, because the person under the bed was not on a mission to cover up the disgustingness... only to expose the other sister's evil ways. Not a speck was left behind. We recovered literally a bazillion socks (oddly none of them matched) and a lunch box from way back when; all disgusting and mold infested... which explained the smell of late. My mother in law is reading this and her toes are curling up right now!!! LOL!!!!! Sorry Nanny, your granddaughters are dirty little creeps and that's the awful truth... you want to have them stay with you for a while so you can train them??? fine with me, they're on their way!!!

Anyhoodles.. gotta go ..... commute to the other side of the dining room table and open up my work laptop and put a on my professional head. Kim my darling.. we love you and I promise to be a better blogger just because you asked and it made me feel wanted!!xxxxx

The love of my life... contemplating how sad his life would be if he didn't have me by his side... taking pictures of him...

Conundrum.... here's the deal...

2011-11-03T16:17:00.002-04:00

First off I love love love the word conundrum... have been using it for years.. it perfectly fits any kind of situation that makes you go Hmmmm.

Second off... my friend Misty has a new blog... yes.. and she used the word in the title of the blog and it makes me smile....

Third and final off... ITS AWESOME!!!! I constantly battle with the "what to do for dinner" thing and it gets on my last nerve. I have checked out a million different crock sites and I'm always left confused and overwhelmed. Too many recipes at once get me all crazy and googly eyed. Misty is going to do one a day (five days a week) and post about it so it's way easier to follow than a gazzilion recipes all thrown at you all together like a pot of boiling spaghetti on your head. Already she's come up with an amazingly simple way to keep your recipes organized and make a weekly menu.... love it!!!

So ... if you're looking for some simple inspiration and you want to get out of the drive thru, head over and check out the Crock Pot Conundrum and tell her I sent you!!! You're welcome!!!

no idea why I'm adding this pic... it just sums up happy stuff... even if it is all blurry and grainy.... :)

Wordless Wednesday.....

2011-11-02T16:14:00.001-04:00

Happy Trick or Treat.....

2011-11-01T16:07:00.000-04:00

This is a huge file so I apologize if it takes a million years to open up... wouldn't blame you if you don't stick around to see it although I think it's worth a look. This is the past four years of Trick or Treating at our place, I think it's neat to see the kids growing up a little more each year. It seems there's a good mix of ghoulish and non-scary costumes going on, there's a zombie, vampires, fairy princesses and jellyfish in there!

We usually have a party and I cook a big pot of chili and we invite friends to come and join us in our neighborhood, it's always been a great place for the kids to walk around gathering their goodies. This year though I wanted to keep it a low key because quite honestly I'm exhausted... and the house is a mess... and it fell on a Monday which is not exactly famous for being the best party night of all the nights of the week. So the girls had just a couple of the usual friends come over and they set out with Daddy while I sat there and gave out candy until thankfully it was all gone and I could turn off the porch light and wait for their return. It seemed to be pretty busy this year though, more little Spidermans than you could shake a stick at.
Urghhh... am I just getting old? I can't wait until the girls don't want to do it anymore but I have a feeling that's a long way off. They love Halloween, they have both said it's their favorite day of the year... can they really love candy that much??? I guess so!!!

Oh Darlin' don't you ever grow up....

2011-10-31T15:03:00.000-04:00

Yet another favorite photo from a recent trip to the beach.. you would think I only have

one daughter the way my pictures are going wouldn't you?

Well I actually have two beautiful girls but the eldest is so cool it's impossible

to take a picture of her these days.

So I will continue to snap away the little one and hang on to the memories for dear life

because it won't be long and she too will be an ultra cool tweener and there will

be no room in her life for an ultra uncool camera toting mother.

She promises me that she will always love me and always be my little girl.

But I know that can't be, she has to grow up one day and it's

only right that I allow her to do that, to embrace her independence, as much as it

kills me to even think of it. I know she'll always love me but she

can't always be little.

So I won't think about it.... I will just live in this moment, the moment when we

still hold hands walking to the shops and share laughs and secrets, the moment where

I can still be the only one to comfort her when she's sad and listen to her little

stories from school. If truth be told the older one still lets me do these things

too but only when no one is watching and God forbid I actually blog about

anything she does!!!

Big Bro's Birthday

2011-10-26T16:12:00.004-04:00

Today is my brother's birthday... Happy Birthday man... he's 49 today. Whoaaahhh... how in the heck did that happen? I never knew people who are my siblings would ever get to be in their late forties, for the love of all that is sane. Worse than that we have a sister even older still ... but not by a lot and she's aging extremely well, maybe a little too well. Not insinuating she's had work, far from it, but she's always had a super moderate lifestyle and keeps things healthy and it shows. She has great skin and very few wrinkles, she also has perfect feet... totally perfect, not a callus, bunion or a cracked heel in site... stinks!!

Anyway that's not what today's post is about, just thought I'd give a nod to the rest of the family... there's another sister in the middle who, if reading this, is pissed at me right now for leaving her out, that's 'cos she's a middle sister... nuff said.

Anywayway.... I didn't want to do a post on family... I wanted to share with you this picture I took at the weekend... we went to Jacksonville beach (never actually been to Jax beach before and I liked it). I had a wedding shoot to do, so I took the man and little bit with me because that's how I roll. It was a gorgeous evening and although it got a little nippy (or nipplish as my friends says) it was well worth the five and a half million mile drive!!!

I don't know why I love this so much, I just do! I think it's because I love to see the girls with their Daddy, I could not imagine him as a Dad before they came along and now I see it was always what he was meant to be. He's so good with them, always joking and talking and playing, he's truly there for them and that's what counts in the end. So... not getting all sentimental and girly here.... just pointing out that I love this picture! I may even drag it out of digital nomansland and hang it on the wall... yes... in my house... for everyone to see!

Who knows about this....

2011-10-19T15:43:00.000-04:00

Do you blog anonymously? Are you a lurker? you know there are actually readers out there who are.... not bloggers!!! shocking I know. Do you care who reads and what you put out there for the world to know??

This has been on my mind a lot lately and probably the reason for my bloggy block. I can't seem to shake the feeling that someone is reading that I may not want to know all my little secrets that I put on my blog.... so if I don't want it out there then why do I continue??? It's like a dirty little habit I can't break, I love blogging and I love the comments and the pictures, the words, the funnies, the peeps. But it's all so "virtual" I'm starting to feel uncomfortable about it spilling over into my real life world. I blame Twitter.

Not that I'm ever very controversial but I just feel kind of weird about being judged.... I can't put my finger on it. Who the hell cares what a forty something Mom of 2 thinks about the world anyway? My own take on blogging is that I laugh at the funny stuff, cry at the heartbreaking stuff and drool over the wonderfully creative crap people share on their blogs. So what's this feeling of weirdity hanging over me???? Where's it coming from?? maybe I'm getting a little afraid that people are taking it all too seriously sometimes, maybe I'M taking it too seriously. What if I do share the fact that John Travolta will be my next husband or that I love my shih tzu's more than life itself.. is it such a bad thing?

One of my favorite bloggers is Sassy Modern Mom... she recently posted about her own Mom finding her blog.. and what to do about it. Eeeekkk at least I know my mother is not reading but there are others I don't want knowing my inner ramblings... what the heck is a girl to do. I am not entirely anon any more!!!

In other news.... I found a couple of very dark, thick hairs under my chin. I knnnoowwww!!! there is no mole just big hairs that I have to pluck... you can't imagine how hideous it feels to find them...growing there with no notice... but on the bright side Halloween is approaching so it might be a cool addition to my old hag costume.

Happy Wednesday everyone!!!

The Golden Hour....

2011-10-14T16:02:00.001-04:00

Just a few shots we took last evening.....

there's always one with the funny face going on....

I loved how the light was hitting their little blond heads as they enjoyed their hot chocolate...

such a cute pic of Ash if I do say so....

I love to hang out with the girls.... and I don't think they mind me clicking away while they ham it up...

mighty oaks...

2011-10-13T21:22:00.000-04:00

The sun is shining....

2011-10-13T15:58:00.000-04:00

Here in South GA the month of October is mostly the best month of the year weather wise... it's sunny and bright but a lot cooler and tends to be less humid, a blessed relief from the inferno of summer.

This year though, October 2011, it's not. It has rained for much of the month so far and we're almost half way through already. Today for the first time this week I can actually see blue skies from my window as I sit at my desk messing around online picturing my perfect life. Yes, picturing my perfect life... like the rest of you online junkies I'm hooked on Pinterest. It's like a little digital fantasy right there at your fingertips, there's goodies galore to fawn over. Crafts that I'll never do, recipes I definitely will never try, furniture and design way out of my reach not to mention the clothes and jewels, I'm obviously not a size zero but I can pin that stuff on my style board and dream.... sigh. A more realistic board for me would be Peachy being Plus... Then there's the words... oh the lovely words... I think that's my favorite part of it.... I laugh so much at the funny quips and the quotes, I relate to the heartfelt observations preserved artistically for prosperity. I can think of situations to match the wise warnings; every little piece of advice is matched with the corresponding heinous act to which I just five minutes ago fell victim to. "oh yes, that soooo happened to me... Pin It".

I think we all need a little fantasy at times don't we? I read a blog recently which I totally cannot remember the name of, or the name of the author but she talked about Vision Boards. Making a board with pictures and words ripped from various magazines and pasted onto a large poster board, you're then supposed to display it somewhere you will see it on almost a daily basis. The idea is that is depicts what you envision for your future and that these things will be drawn to you in some magical way. Hmmmm don't know about all that... I would kinda like to do it just to see how my particular board would look, kinda hap-hazard I'm sure. Probably would end up a hodge podge of weird crap all piled up into a heap of a mess with no co ordination what so ever. I don't think I even have a defined idea of what I envision for my future, I just sort of stumble through the days not even realizing we're supposed to plan for the days, weeks, years ahead. Doesn't it just keep coming and we keep on keeping on and that's about it????? See how deep I can get at times!!! LOL.

If I paste a big old house and a cleaning lady on the board, will it happen??? I only want a big house so I can occasionally get away from the kids and have room to breathe... and so that I can have a "creative room" which is Blogger speak for a room where one can make and do stuff and not have to clean up the mess in order to eat dinner at the table. A nice sun room with a high end music system would also be up there at the top of the vision board, imagine spending time in a pretty, bright & sunny room, protected from the bugs with some lovely music filling the air ... absolutely no TV in there!!! OK, maybe this vision board could actually take shape after all.... I'll keep you posted. In the meantime if I do remember that chicks name and site I'll come back and update this post.... nah, that's prolly never gonna happen is it??

Tuesday October 11th......

2011-10-11T10:51:00.001-04:00

There isn't anything particularly significant about today, and nothing particularly significant has happened over the past few days which leads to the question... what to blog about?

I'm coming out of a really bad few ~~weeks~~ days of feeling under the weather and therefore mentally defeated, I just think too much when I'm on my own or under the weather. I have come to the conclusion I really should read more fiction. If I read more fiction I'd have less time to manifest thoughts of doom, gloom and downright paranoid schizophrenia! Sometimes I think I'm going nuts, literally, then I realize I'm just a mid life Mama dealing with life's every day shit balls and that I'm no different to anyone else. How aloof of me to think that my drama is worse than yours!!! So today is a non drama day. Today is only significant because it's the day I choose to be positive and forget all the little niggling soul destroying thoughts that bombard my brain when I am not at my full BS fighting fitness.

So... I'm going to blog about mushrooms and shopping lists..... yes that's right!

A while ago now a blogging friend of mine (who no longer blogs... leaving a hole in my entire existence) sent me a recipe for a lovely dish that involved mushrooms and broccoli and pasta. It's totally delish; I just printed out her email and keep it in my recipe drawer. Every time I bring it out to cook the meal I get to see a little bit of her personality, I don't have it on me otherwise I would reprint it here and you'd see why I love her so much!!! She wrote the recipe just how she talks and it makes me smile. I cooked it for His gorgeousness and myself on Saturday night and read the recipe again with a smile in my heart, can't wait to travel to St Louis soon and hopefully get a nano second to see her and give her a hug!!!!

Saturday morning I asked my lovely seven year old if she'd help me make a shopping list, the other child was sick so we divided and conquered.... youngest and myself did the weekly grocery shopping while oldest child stayed home puking and Dad cleaned up her mess! Perfect!
So, Ash was busying herself writing the shopping list asking me how to spell everything and drawing little pictures next to the items. She had written numbers down first and somehow decided we needed 25 items. When it got to number eleven she said "uh uh, I know what we need here... three bottles of wine!". I have no idea how she determined we needed three but it sounded good to me so three it was!!! It's just amazing to me what goes on in that little head of hers, I have no earthly idea how people could have kids and not listen to them, interact with them or love them. I just don't understand it. I get so much pure joy from talking with my girls and including them in the day to day actions of running the household and planning stuff I can't imagine how boring it was before they came along. Just a shopping list... but she made it a memorable shopping list and brought a smile to my face on a crappy Saturday morning filled with crud and puke and jobs still waiting to be completed. What will I do when she's all growed up???

Randomonium Friday....

2011-10-07T15:31:00.002-04:00

Hello Friends... well it's Friday and thank GOD for that!! this has truly been a week!!!!

You know when you're all single and have no worries and you get sick and you can just

crawl under the duvet and come out when you feel better??? I long for those days.

You know when you're married with kids and a job and responsibilities... you can't get sick

because there's no one there to take up the slack.. or feed the dogs... or get the kids to camp..

or do laundry... or make you something good and soothing to eat, like soup.

There's no crawling under the duvet because there is still shit to be done and if you take time

off work you're an evil slacker and they won't pay you or worse you'll be mocked while

you are at home feeling less than human... fyi .. I really don't have any co-workers so

that last part doesn't apply but I still feel bad for missing work.

Do you sense I may have been sick this week?

In other news... what the hell is up with that horrid, horrid of all fashion trends..

orange, black and white zig zags???? No ... please for the love of good taste

don't take part in this ridiculous fad. Zig zags have never been flattering and never will be.

Never ever.. stop the madness now!

Bunting... now there's a thing. It's huge.. I am sure those of you way more up to date

and cooler than me have realized this for a while but I'm just getting on the bunting

band wagon.. and I ADORE IT!!! I want to cover my whole house and back garden

in bunting... I want to Bunt my whole existence. I wonder if I could make teeny tiny

bunting and hang it around my neck? No? Maybe not... might be a little too clowny.

Just so you know.. my Mum who is just wired to spot trends a million miles away

sent me some bunting about what.. two or so years ago... see she knows what's hot.
FYI.. she's in a nursing home and hardly gets out.. and she's still cooler than me.

My youngest child asked a very interesting question this week while we were driving..

"are we rednecks or Christians?"

Ummm .. yeah that's a good question! what in the world would cause her to

think that "redneck" was a religion? Growing up South GA... shakes head and runs

off to sign her up for the National League of Junior Cotillions.....

Fall... definitely here. We threw some scary looking dollar store bought stuff out on the

porch last week... maybe that's what prompted the question above!

I actually hate decorating for Fall.. don't see the point... we never did stuff like that at

home in Blighty but the girls always want some Halloween decorations so I cave and then

cringe every time I drive up to the house. If only I had the time and inclination to make

it a super duper display of classy, divine decor suited toward harvest festival rather than

the macabre. But I don't... it's not something I have much interest in so I'll grin and

bear it until Nov 1st when it's all coming down baby!!
I did see some cool Halloween bunting on Etsy... hmmm... yes!!!

yes... it's just bokeh... SOOC... I have to be the only bozo alive who can get
a pic of just bokeh!!!!!

So that's it from me... another crap post to make you wish you'd just blown on by
me in your reader... sorry! Still fuzzy headed and longing for a little rest and recuperation.
Stop by tomorrow to check out chicks... yes... Fall chicks.. like Easter 'cept in October.
I know.

Wordless Wednesday....

2011-10-05T19:37:00.000-04:00

Macro Monday

2011-10-03T15:08:00.003-04:00

This weeks link up to Macro Monday comes to you from Panacea Fl.

A little fishing town in the Florida Panhandle it's located on Dickerson Bay, we walked

along this little beach and checking out the plants and wildlife!

This little fellow is a sand spur (this is the first time I've seen on actually on it's plant) they are

usually found embedded in the most tender part of one's foot!!! EEoooucccchh!!!

Monarchs find their way to this part of Florida every year.. very pretty.. if you like that kind of thing.

We all know that moths and butterflies are not my cup of tea...can't stand all that fluttering!

Schools out....

2011-09-30T15:14:00.001-04:00

So... Fall break already!!! Can you believe it. Where in the world has the time gone??? I literally feel like the kids just went back after summer and now they're out again for a whole ten days. My head is spinning at how quickly time is flying past me... leaving me wondering what the hell is going on.

Look at that pencil go!!!!!!!

I wish we had somewhere to go during this break but unfortunately we're still working

stiffs and the girls will go to the YMCA instead of a trip to the mountains... sigh.

Trying not to dwell on it, regrets and coveting the fortunes of others are something I really need

to work on . In my next life I want to be a teacher.. or a trust fund baby or something.

On the bright side, it is FALL!! It's still hot here but the 'idiot not to be trusted" on the radio

just said we're in for a cold front.... yay... 80 degrees instead of 95.

I'm starting to feel like spending a little more time in the kitchen, I love love love

pumpkin recipes so this is the time of year I make pies and pancakes and everything that

smells so good, spicey and homey... yum!!!

Don't get me wrong I'm no Suzie homemaker but I have a darn good stab at it for ...

umm... about three weeks in October!! a girl can try!!!

What are your plans for October? by far the most delicious month in the year!!!

Monday.. a great day for some Randomonium...

2011-09-26T16:31:00.001-04:00

I wanted to join in with Macro Monday over at Lisa's Chaos but guess what.. no macro shots to share. I have had a definite slump in the picture taking lately. A huge cavernous void from which I'm finding it hard to climb out of. It's my fav hobby so how can it be so up and down??? weird.

In an effort to get out the slump I have signed on to Scott Kelby's World Wide Photo Walk, I will be joining a bunch of camera wielding maniacs and walking around Tallahassee.. yes the Capital of Florida....snapping anything and everything. We will then converge on a lovely restaurant and eat lunch and talk about the great pics we took.... nerdalicious!!!!! I even got my sister in Wales interested... check it out people there are walks all over the World.. hence the name.

It's about four in the afternoon as I type, this has been a very unproductive Monday at home with sick child and I am feeling very sleepy.. very sleepy indeed. The remedy for this is to sit down and bang out a random post whilst enjoying a very delicious cup of coffee and an apple fritter... yes it's my way of starting the day again!!!

At last I am no longer a member of the "have not seen Bridesmaids" gang. The hubs and I watched it Saturday night (which is why I'm probably so tired.. that movie is loooongg!). It wasn't what I thought it would be but I thoroughly enjoyed it... and will watch it again soon. It's def up there with Pretty Woman and Dirty Dancing.... only better... alot better!

Ash has decided to switch back to taking her lunch to school again... which is a good thing because then at least I know she's getting something good. Her reason for the switch.. so that she can sit with the cool kids! Whenever I think of taking lunch to school I think of Tab, my mother made me take Tab because I was a fat kid. In the seventies if you took Tab to school you were a fat kid, and didn't sit with the cool kids. I can't even think what else I had in my lunch box except an apple and Tab. Maybe that was all I had!!! Sheesh!!

If you are a member of Sam's Club here's a tip.. you have to go try their garlic something or other chicken sausages.. .they ... are .... to ... die ... for!!!!!!

and finally.... it's that time of year again... when I have to get out of bed in the pitch black and I CAN'T STAND IT!!!!! Looking for a school for the kids that starts at nine and a job for me that starts at ten, all with the same stopping time in the afternoon of course. Any ideas????

Thanks for tuning in folks.... hopefully the groove will be back soon and I'll be my old creative, witty self!!!!

Food coloring, paper and straws.... I call it... cheap entertainment!!!!

Silent Sunday

2011-09-25T16:58:00.002-04:00

...........

..............

.......

OK not so silent... I'm so proud of my lovely Syd, what makes her smart is knowing

that homework and studying are not an option. She's going to do great things!

Just because you can doesn't mean you should...

2011-09-22T11:16:00.001-04:00

For the love of all that is SANE.. can we just go back to do things in the

old way.... can we stop with the back linking and suggestions and the finishing

of words and sentences???

I don't really give a flying rats ass about the new layout of FB, it's just a little

distraction in my day and it's not enough to throw me into a frenzy.

Which in itself is shocking because the teeniest thing will throw me into a frenzy

as you know.. if you're a regular here.. are you?

What I do care about is all the effin' thinking for me that not only FB is trying to

do but actually Google and all sorts of other sites are doing.

I use Gmail... I love it... but today I noticed (and it's probably been there for a

long time but I just noticed today) that when I sent an email there was a little

"suggestion" as to who else I'd like to include in the email.

Excuse me but I know who I want to send the damn email to and I don't need

interference from the stupid program... what are you my Mother???

Yesterday I wanted to send a FB message to a friend who is a tad older than me and is

a very respected kind of mentor figure. She lives close by and I adore her, she's

such an inspiration to me when I need guidance.. PS.. everyone should have a mentor.

Anyautolink... I wanted to include the name of my company and do you think

FB would let me do it without trying to link it to other friends I have on FB...

other not quite as "mature" people who I knew in years gone by but still stay in touch

with but don't necessarily want linked into my conversations.

Google+ has the right idea.. you don't want certain friends seeing certain stuff you

would gladly share with other certain friends.

I don't even know if respectable mentor lady would even see these links or not?

Urgh... too much pressure. Just go back to the good old days of adding the

little @ if you want to link someone into your messages.

We are adults, we know who we want to link to and who we want to send

emails to thank you very much! Just leave us be, give us the toys and then step

back and let us decide how we want to play with them, it's what every good

parent should do!!!

I'm ready to go back to good old pen and paper.. you???

The Cross Roads....

2011-09-21T14:21:00.000-04:00

Well well well... I kinda find myself at a junction of sorts...

I have spent the last few weeks undergoing the rigors of a very thorough recruiting process

necessary to progress to the next level of my career.

A level which will eventually lead to a fantastic opportunity for my family and I, an

opportunity to provide us with a certain amount of security for our future.

Whoop whoop for me right? yes I am excited but it also means the commitment

of ALOT of time and effort on my behalf so I have to make some

decisions about my blogging and photography. I just won't be able to do it

all going forward. Right now I'm weighing up my options and considering how

best to plan my time. When thinking about closing down the blog I realize

I will miss it so much... the therapy, the camaraderie, the laughs, the bullshit...

it's like losing a little friend one turns to in times of need. Maybe I can just post

when I want to and not actually think to much about it... oh wait... isn't that what

I do now??? pretty much!!!

I'm going to have to make my time with the family count extra because there will be less

of it. Instead of thinking in terms of a blogger listening to their chatter and thinking

"ooohhh that would make a good post".. I'll have to be fully engaged thinking.."ooohhh

these are our memories". I am sure I will continue sticking the camera in their faces

at every available opportunity. I don't think that will ever stop.

The hard thing for me is that I want to be good at everything I do... such a freak!

I want to be the best ever parent in the world, I want my kids to look back and think

that I was a good Mom and taught them well, helped them grow in to good, productive and

kind citizens. I want to be the best photographer I can be, to learn the art and be able

to produce fantastic pictures to look back on, whether it be as a "pro" or otherwise.

I realize that if this new opportunity means I can no longer have my own photography

business then I can still keep it as an uber-hobby. I can continue to learn and read and

absorb all I can, maybe focus on it in a little different way, more for personal

pleasure than as a way to make a living. I actually think my foray into professional

photography has taught me a valuable lesson but that's for some other time .. some other

post. I am envisioning that this new path my life is about to take is going to be a

huge change for us, I don't know if I will even have time to dwell on how

super perfect I want to be.... I'll just have to be super perfect without thinking

about it!!!!

"It is time for you to stop being an extra in other people's movies, and be the

star of your own." ~Alan Cohen

Thanks Liz.. The Fragrant Muse for the quote!!!

Lovely eggs....

2011-09-20T10:36:00.002-04:00

I never thought I'd be marveling over a crate of eggs.

Maybe I need to get out more.

But they are lovely n'est pas???

When will the madness of mass production stop and let us all

get back to lovely little eggs, the way they should be...

different shapes, sizes and colors.. just like people.

Goodies for photographers and bloggers....

2011-09-20T09:40:00.002-04:00

Hey all you guys and gals out there who are hooked on the

fascinating world of photography and editing, textures and actions and all the goodies that

go along with them... .

You have to check this out...

Reverie is having an enormous giveaway...

Now then.. I have to go..sorry... there is so much to check out it's like a box of

deliciousness all in one place. Even if you don't win you'll discover all kinds of

spectacular sites out there ready to inspire you in your artistic adventures.

See you in a day or two!!!!

being the youngest...

2011-09-18T16:31:00.003-04:00

"it stinks being the youngest!!".

yes it does my friend... yes it does!!!!

Grandparents Day....

2011-09-16T15:54:00.001-04:00

So.. this week at school included the much anticipated Grandparents day for both my kids, you know.... Grandparents Day.... remember that well known day set aside to honor and acknowledge our Grands... you don't??? me neither.

We never had a special day set aside for the parents of our parents when I was growing up, no special songs or poems, no dedicated mornings with refreshments and little objet d'art.... not a damn thing! As much as we love those of the previous generation who offer attention and gifts to our kids I'm not entirely sure we need a day at school dedicated to the demonstration of such love. Oh.... but wait... of course.. there are those kids who don't have parents and miss out on that other special day... wait.. what special day? They make us little mother's day cards and father's day cards which honestly they don't really have to... but a day when we get to go to school and be honored for being the fools responsible for these crazy ass kids being in the world... nope don't remember getting that invitation.

So back to Grandparents day... we don't have any Grands in the vicinity therefore it's up to one of us parents to beg for a couple of hours off so that our kids don't feel all sad and alone on this special day which they have prepared for during the course of the SIX weeks prior!!! This year it was Dad's turn, apparently Ash remembered it as being we had both gone in prior years but I really don't think we could have... anyway she had a meltdown the morning of because she wanted us both there because it's not fair she doesn't have Grands around... totally my fault for that one...and don't I know it. She settled down and apparently once Dad got there and watched them sing a couple of songs all was well again. The performance was lovely and when they were done the assistant principle said a few words and invited all the grandparents to spend some time with their little darlings and go visit the Book Fair which just happened to be going on at that time in the Library.... Ahhhh I see.... get the Grands all huddled in one place, soften them up with some darling songs in their honor and then herd them and their wallets to the damn book fair!!!

Such a cunning plan, the brainchild of a mastermind no doubt... who in their right mind is going to refuse to buy a child a book while they are in the school... in the library... under the scrutiny of the librarian who just oozes with importance of reading at an early age. No one.. that's who!!! It's called Grandparentgate... favors for books.... songs for literacy..... we will herd the old peeps in there and close the door.. no one escapes until the bookshelves are bare.

Hubs was quite frankly beat down by the time he escaped....but he did have a brilliant idea... why not send a note home something to this effect... OK folks, we're having a book fair, you don't have to come, just send us five bucks and we'll call it good. The school gets their cash and the families get left alone to go about their daily lives without all the brew ha ha and the kids can go about the business of learning to read and write and rithmetic.... see what a good life it would be.

This article has been brought to you by the Coalition for Realism and the Campaign for Life Ain't a Bowl of Freakin' Cherries People.

Chicken... no head....

2011-09-10T13:10:00.000-04:00

Running around like a chicken with no head this morning!!!

Three different birthday parties to get the kids to, a little photo shoot of a fund

raiser for a cancer charity and chaperoning one of the birthday "parties" which

is herding a bunch of wild tween girls around the mall and a pizza place!

Not to mention trying to get some picture orders in and make some well overdue

phone calls and return library books.. also overdue..... I have a little headache brewing.

With five minutes to spare before Ash gets picked up for the pool party she can't

find the sunscreen... fits of hysteria.....I assure her that the friends picking her up

are bound have some but she continues to whine in her oh so aggravating way until

I'm about to SNAP!! The friend turns up and thankfully has sunscreen but no

towels... guess who did all the laundry this morning.. phew.. I am happy to let them

use my freshly laundered nice smelling towels. That NEVER happens!!!

Now a ten minute peaceful interlude while Ash is gone, Syd is with Daddy at a

neighbors house borrowing a pressure washer (he blew the motor in ours this morning!)

and I can decompress before the next session of chaos with the tweens at the Mall.

I swear.... weekends are getting more and more hectic around here. I seem to recall

there was a time when they would play quietly and take naps in the afternoon, I could potter

around and do little projects here and there and life was charmed. Not so now!!!

Would I change it... sometimes yes.. but mostly no... my blessings are

well and truly counted!

That's that then.....

2011-09-07T21:17:00.000-04:00

So... the tomato plant of 2011 is gone... caput... deceased... in the shitter. I think I got maybe about seven tomatoes and they were DELISH!!!! Between the birds, squirrels and my tomato loving shih tzu it was a fight to get one that hadn't already been tampered with.
Next year I'm going for a ton of those hanging upsy daisy, topsy turvy things and I will adorn the back porch with them!!! Until then it's adeiu to Tommy... thanks for memories.

Men behaving badly....

2011-09-06T16:42:00.000-04:00

OK I am pissed.... pissed that I haven't had a chance to download the new Texture Bundle II from Kim Klassen, let alone use it!! I want you to go check out her site and see what goodies she has to offer in the way of Textures, Kim was the first person to introduce me to the world of textures and I loved her Skinny Mini classes. By the way she hasn't asked me to toot her horn or anything... I just want to share the lurve!!!

Today is Texture Tuesday and I don't have anything to add because I have been gallivanting around South Florida with the family and didn't pick up my laptop one single time I was there. I purchased the bundle on Friday and still haven't downloaded it yet... slacker!!! I did take some pictures but honestly I probably will never even share any of them because I just wasn't in the mood. I was so damn hot!!!! You can't really cart around the big girl camera in that heat (not to mention the fact I'm afraid I'll drop it in a swamp or something!) and the little camera died on me... wtf... it just died with no indication of a pre-existing condition. This being so I realized I need to get the D60 fixed and use that to take some good family fun shots without the hassle/worry of the big camera or the unreliability of the little girl camera. So complicated!!! It's been almost a year since the demise of the D60 so it's time I got my act together and get it seen to... again with the slackerness.

So, yes, there we were out in a State Park and they had a little cafe/gift shop thing where you can actually buy a beer... in a State Park... I know!!!! We decided to take the air boat ride which I was a little disappointed in because it was a huge air boat, not a little thing that would speed across the lake, top speed was probably what... 3 miles a YEAR!!!! So.. when purchasing the tickets the helpful chap at the kiosk lets us know it's thirty minutes to launch and we're welcome to take snacks and beverages on board with us which can be purchased upstairs in the snack and beverage department. I send hubs and father in law in search of such... they come back with four deliciously cold and yummy beers... only to be told we can't take them on the damn air ~~tug~~ boat!!

So we're trying to chug them when we're herded down the ramp onto the boat, I still have my beer because I'm a lady and can't chug it like my sister-in-law did in three seconds flat. The she-man at the end of the ramp tells me to get rid or go back up the ramp and drink it before boarding the boat... yeah... how the hell you gonna get a rotund chick like me back up that single file ramp when everyone else is heading down it???? My only option was to get rid; she ceremoniously dumped my delish beer into the lake rendering all the wildlife totally useless for the next three hours. Bitch. I pointed out that they may want to tell the helpful chappy at the kiosk to let peeps know there's a 'no beer on the boat' rule... which is a stupid rule if you ask me... who the hell goes on a boat WITHOUT beer...anyone???? no didn't think so. She then proceeded to list all the places where they had a damn sign.. I just walked off but she kept on talking... there's a sign here.. and there's one there... and if you had looked there's one on the wall there and blah blah blah... By this time I just wanted to take a sign and shove it down her throat!!!! URGH!!

The boat ride kinda sucked... it would have been better with a nice cold beer... but hey... you don't know until you try right. As we were leaving we saw a chalkboard sign which read "Please.. no alcohol beyond this point"... I died laughing as my dear father-in-law just happened to casually erase the word "no". Funny stuff !

Sorry Florida State Parks.... we promise to behave next time!!!

On this day in {my} history...

2011-08-31T13:48:00.002-04:00

Being that most bloggers talk about themselves.. and why not... it's what we know most about.. I am taking a look at what I was up to on this day in 2010 and in 2009. Loving the fact that I can just scroll back and take a quick look see!!

2010... looks like I actually finished a challenge.... whoop!!!

So this is it... 31 posts in 31 days....

urgghhhh i'm exhausted. I thought it would be a pretty easy

challenge. Alas not.

I though "I post every day anyway, piece of carrot cake"

obviously, I really don't post every day, every single day.

I take a break when I have nothing... it's not forced.. not squeezed out

just for the sake... Blog for Blogs sake!!!!

This has been pretty draining to say the least... but after all I did it!!! I

actually completed the challenge... something is finished, done,

executed to the bitter end.

Now, can we all get back to normal around here and have some

pure, unadulterated, blogalicious FUN!!!!!

Yipppity Dooo Daahhh.

and in 2009... I'm not showing the whole post here ... rather showing what I have learned in the past two years about the importance of post processing and churning out a much better picture than that which is sometimes delivered right from the camera.... or SOOC if you wanna be hip 'n' cool.. like me.. heh heh!!

Ashley had just had her ears pierced on this day in 2009 and I obviously took the picture without a care in the world about tone or white balance or any of that stuff.... so today I worked a little PSE magic on it and voila.... she's looking a lot prettier than she did two years ago!!!

So what's happening on this day in 2011.. not a great deal... just happy with the outcome of that picture and now wondering if I should rummage around and find some other disasters to fix from my archives.... just think.. wouldn't it be great if we could go back and fix some life disasters like this... hmmm. Happy last day of August y'all.... see you in September!

is it just me or has the world gone completely nuts??

2011-08-30T16:00:00.000-04:00

It is just me?? OK then good, for a minute there I thought everyone on the planet was headed

to hell in a handbasket with me! phew.. for yous guys!

So I went blog hopping today into territories unknown, I have a little (well about 584) regular

blogs I try and keep up to date with... and by up to date I mean I visit once ever y584 days if you're

lucky and I'll comment every 2608 days if you're even unluckier!

So what I found today were some fabulous, funny and occasionally freaky blogs... I love it!!!

Bloggers are awesome... pat yourself on the back and pour yourself a

large one.. on me...you're welcome!

I'm having a little trouble with my best friend Mz Toshy the netbook, well I seriously think the

problem is with Mz Toshy's battery... glad I just pointed out she's a net book otherwise you

dirty minded little freaks would be imagining all kinds of kink!!

You see, and if there's a techy out there I need you to verify this theory, when I'm using

Mz Toshy and she's not plugged in I get this crashy thing happening where a dreaded blue

screen pops up and then it reboots. This doesn't seem to happen if I have it plugged

into the wall... hence my deduction that it's the damn battery. I have had it two years

or maybe a little more... can't quite remember. Think I need a new battery????

Answers please people. I cannot afford to lose all the precious stuff I have stored

on this baby... like the little voodoo post it stickies I make when I'm grudging...

see....

In other news... I'm waiting for some news... nothing I can actually blog about which I know

is ridiculous to even mention it if I can't actually mention it... forget I mentioned it.

In other, other news... my kid made a weird comment last night which is nothing new to be

perfectly honest.. weird comments are her specialty. She said that her little black friend only knows

one white singer and that's Justin Beiber... Huh??? why would that even be something they'd

discuss... I know we live in South GA and to be honest it hasn't exactly changed much in

the past 50 years as far as mixing the pot but really... do kids discuss the color of the artists

these days??? I hadn't even thought about it... good music is good music regardless of the

race,color, creed or dare I say "orientation" of the musician. sheeeesshh.

One more before I go.. seem to be on a roll here.. other than the roll of gelatinous butt

I'm sitting on I mean. Father of my children and man I'm married to... can't say his name for

he is all mighty... has the task of being Ballet Dad this year. I am not in a position to be

available at the times of their classes so he has kinda graciously stepped up to the

plate and is involved in all things ballet this year! hee hee... giggles.

He calls me from the car and says.. it's storming and the girls don't want to go to ballet

tonight because it's a metal building.... Ballet Dad say WHAT???

Almost speechless I reminded him that we are spending an ugly amount of

hard earned cash on classes, shoes, little chiffony skirts....yes, my friend, they can take their

graceful little butts to class and suck it up.

Surely if there was a danger the class would not be taking place ... right??? right???

Once again.. I call upon you experts to leave me a comment as to the

safety of ohhh a hundred or so little ballerina's in a metal building during a storm.

And that my friends is it for tonight's episode of thoughts from the depths of Mama hell.

Tune in next time where we talk about shih tzu hairballs and how to cover the

scratches on the front bumper of my Jeep where I drove into a metal railing.

güle güle

Snippets of conversation..

2011-08-29T20:30:00.000-04:00

10 yr old.. "it's a guy"

7 yr old "uh uhhh.. it has pigtails it has to be a girl, boys don't have pigtails"

10 yr old... "well he's a boxer, girls aren't boxers"

7 yr old..."helloooo there are boobies it has to be a girl!!"

Yes it's another edition of Guess the Gender from the Just Dance Wii game.

Macro Monday... droid style!

2011-08-29T15:30:00.000-04:00

It's Monday again folks... seems to come around pretty quick doesn't it. I'm happy to say that this week again I have found myself willing and able to join Lisa for Marco Monday.

This little offering was taken using my Retro Camera App for Droid. I don't have a fancy iPhone people even though I kinda sorta wish I did only for the camera. The Droid cameras really not that great!! BUT... the Retro App is not bad for fun little shots like this one. It's a gumball machine and I actually very much like how this turned out. Very periodesque.... even though the machine was actually stamped in 1989.... which isn't that old for goodness sakes!!! So my lovelies why don't you head on over to Lisa's place and join in on the fun.

So you think you can weather the storm...

2011-08-27T08:41:00.000-04:00

Hurricane Irene is ravaging the East Coast of the US, in particular Nags Head North Carolina as I post....I have never been to the coast of NC but it's on my list of places to see. High on that list, just not this weekend!

Its riveting, I can't seem to keep myself away from the weather channel... I think it's because it's so ridiculous.... TV peeps get themselves out there in the mash-up and broadcast live while they're have their hair literally ripped from the follicles by the winds and their faces sandblasted... yes with SAND! What makes these people think they're above it all? Don't get me wrong, I'm glad they do because I love to just how bad it gets but I can't explain my fascination with it all. I think it's the frustrated roving reporter in me... in another life I would be that person coming to you live from the eye of the storm!!! I'd be there teetering at thirty degrees trying to find the words to sensationalize the situation...hooorahhh!!!

I tried it once, I know... idiot. I have blogged about it before but it's worth repeating.... when a hurricane comes to town (unless you are a weather channel reporter) stay in a safe place and let it pass. Do not, repeat, do not head out in your little Jeep and try to get action shots of the storm ripping apart your hometown. It's not a wise thing to do and you'll realize that fact when the pine tree topples and hits your Jeep and scares the freakin' bejesus outta ya!!!!! Ever wondered what goes through your mind when something dramatic like that happens??? As I recall it was literally "HOLY SHIT!!" We were fine and I remained calm, the worst part was that I had the hubby and kids with me, and I felt like a complete asshole putting my kids in danger like that but the wonderful thing about me... I learn from my mistakes. I will never, ever do that again...no never!!! Oh and just to clarify, we actually live inland, yes inland, these storms are not to be messed with, if you're on the coast... get outta Dodge!!!!

My hope is that Irene will not be as bad as the dramatists are forecasting and that she will have mercy on the East coast... I am going to keep one eye on the Weather Channel while I go about my Saturday morning business of laundry and blogging... a fabulous combination I know.. don't you wish you had my life!!!

There ARE no family photos...

2011-08-25T12:11:00.000-04:00

You ever get one of those days when you're just... well irritated???

It's no one specific thing that's got my goat, just a general irritation that's festering

under the surface ready to ravage some poor unsuspecting do-gooder.

I have been listening to Cosmo Radio for a long time now, in particular I love the

Wake Up with Taylor show, a while back I had a little obsession with it but

I'm over that now. Back in the real world. Anyhoo.. I was listening today and they

mentioned something about the peeps on their FB page, so I thought I'd pull up the

page and check it out. I can't freakin' find it!!!! I know I had "liked" it at one point

and although I haven't looked at it in forever it has to be there somewhere!!!

How freakin' irritating is that??? I poked around a lot and couldn't see anywhere to find

the stuff that I "like" rather than actual friends... where the Eff is that stuff????

This kinda thing really pisses me off... I'm like a crazed freak trying to find that stupid page!

Someone help me!!! I'm starting to get all paranoid thinking they blocked me for my

stalkerish behavior!! .. ????

Secondly, while poking around FB looking for the Wake Up page I was distracted by

photo albums of friends... I like to see what they're posting.. how the kids are

growing.. where they've been all that shit... and now I'm getting all fired up again!!

Where are all my FAMILY pics??? Nowhere.. that's where... we don't have any..

no family pics involving the four of us. No... well there's one taken about

three years ago at a wedding which sucks.... prior to that there's one that

my good friend who's a pro photog took FIVE ..read it.. FIVE YEARS AGO!!!

There aren't even that many of the girls actually with either one of us parents.. in fact there are

practically none of me in recent years. I can't stand having my pic taken any more.

I was on one friends page and there were pics of the four of them on trips and at Christmas

and at home and blah de blah blah.... All the while I'm smiling thinking .. awww

what a sweet family they are... then my smile fades as I get in a little frenzy thinking

we're a sweet family we should have pics of the four of us plastered all over the net.

I won't let anyone else use my big girl camera but I do have two other perfectly above

average camera's that they can use... but who is "they".. when are we with someone

else who can take a picture? urgh... I allowed an old guy take a pic of the four of us when

we were in Tennessee but I hated the picture! I looked like a full term pregnant

hefalump and the kids were making weird faces!!!! It wasn't like I could take time

to pose us all and make sure we were all in the correct light and have him take three

hundred shots to get the perfect ONE.... not to mention it was the middle of a three

thousand degree day and sweat abounded. I get all agitated when I ask hubs to take

one of me and the girls... I can't relax... I feel like firstly I'm bothering him to take

the pictures... and secondly it's so posed, stiff and awkward.

I feel every one of those extra ten pounds the camera is adding not to mention every

one of the thirty pounds I've gained in the last few years...sigh.. irritated effin' sigh!!

To add to the irritation today, I have a hair appointment booked after work.

I'm going to go in there thinking that she's going to change my life and come out all

pissed that I'm still the same old me but with shorter hair, there will be no miracles on

54th street or extreme makeovers, just a trim that may look good until I have to "fix" it

in the morning by which time it will have morphed into something like Mickey Dolenz.

The morning grapple with the do and trying to get the kids do's done is enough to send

me over the edge. No wonder I'm constantly irritated!!! One day I'll be all

glamorous and I'll wake up to breakfast cooked by a house keeper, my bath drawn and then a

little pampering by my personal stylist before I leave for the morning school run, I'll drop the

kids off with a cheery smile and a wave; I'll move on about my business with the light

and breezy disposition of a lady who's catered to. Sigh... one can dream!!!!

Randomonium Roundup...

2011-08-24T15:06:00.001-04:00

OK, summer is officially over.... despite the fact its still a gatrillion degrees here in the

Deep South. For those of you outside of the US I'd like to clarify that the "Deep South" is

anywhere below Virginia(ish) and to the right of Texas/Oklahoma; it's always

hot, humid, hospitable and homely.

There's ain't no one gettin' in a hurry in the Deep South, bless 'em!

I recently "found" an old friend, an old best friend by searching the internet

profusely until she could hide no more. Actually she was right where I left her

about ten years ago which is wacky right? and no she's not in fb so it was quite

the accomplishment to track her down and make contact again. It made me so freakin'

happy to almost have her back in my life, at least to exchange emails, she's in Scotland

so it will be a while before we get together but get together we will, I can promise you that.

I have been racking my brain to decide which of our many teen/early twenties stories

to recount on the blog and I'm sorry to say that I'm coming

up with a very short, shortlist of escapades which are actually publishable.

I am however having a ridiculously good time sifting through the memories!

If hairspray could talk... we'd be in trouble!!!

Have you guys been listening to "Whatever" with Jennifer Hutt on the Martha Stewart

Channel on Siruis radio? You should.. and go check out her website... she's awesome!

I'm thinking she's gonna bring out the stalker in me, she has a blog and a fb page

and she's very intelligent and witty so I'm following all her social media outlets.. could this

be a bloggy crush!! LOL... whatever... just tune into the radio show and you'll

get it...Sirius channel 110 from 5 - 7pm.

Yesterday was one of the most bizarre days that I have experienced in a long time.

Some asshole good for nothing called a bomb threat into the school system of the

town in which I work. So they proceeded to evacuate something like sixteen schools in

the area, sending kids home on buses and having parents come pick them up.

What a freakin' nightmare for one small town!!!!! It was Crazytown USA for the best

part of the afternoon, I am happy to report they have arrested the perp.

Add to that the fact that there was also an Earthquake in Virginia (which didn't have any effect on me

personally, other than to make me wonder what the heck is going on!) and it was quite

the day. I mean... what happened to just going about ones daily business without the drama?

We are shopping for new tires for my Jeep... I learned what the numbers on the size of

tires mean. You see I don't like to call up and give someone a random number not knowing

what that number measures... I hate being given information without knowing the

background. So now I know, I'm informed in the world of rubber meets the road, and I

am one step closer to being a Modern Mom... all informed and shit.
fyi... we spell it tyres in England, you see all this stuff I've had to learn in order to live in the US.

I mentioned Virginia twice in this post, now that's random.

Well that about wraps up the randomonium for the day, I feel I have only scratched

the surface of the junk going on in my world but you get the picture!!!

Au revoir tout le monde.... y'all come back now y'hear!!

Macro Monday....

2011-08-22T09:13:00.000-04:00

Hi, my name is McGillicutty and I'm a macro addict.... well sort of. I do love

taking macro's...but getting them up and linked to our beloved Macro Monday is another

story. It's been several weeks since I linked up although I am still chasing

tiny critters and stopping the capture the minutia of life as I go charging around at a

million miles an hour.

What do I love about this one? Well his blue helmet of course, just in case he

should misjudge and hit is head on something while he's flitting around.

It's a pity he had to rest on the ugly clothes line, I did snatch a couple of pics while

he was on the flower basket hook but not nearly as detailed as this, which by the

way is sooc... not even a crop (although it could use one!).

Just one more thought about Macro Monday... I'm so glad it's on a Monday because

this particular Monday I need some cheering up and what better way than to

share a macro and then go check out the other beautiful pictures posted

by everyone else today. It soothes the soul to immerse yourself in art and creativity

when all around the drama of suburbia rattles on.

Hope you are enjoying the offerings of MM today too... stay a while, relax

and put your feet up!!!!

wishing for a silent Sunday....

2011-08-21T11:26:00.000-04:00

Silent Sunday... supposed to be silent anyway but I usually have to say something!

I could quite easily live without TV... there I said it!!!

I know if I said it out loud everyone in my family would GASP in horror and have

me committed to the nearest mental facility immediately...but it's true. I am so sick

to death of the damn TV being on and it sucking the very existence out of us.

I would rather be online creating pretty pictures, checking out interesting stuff or

having little chats with my peeps all over the world. Reading a book is way more

satisfying that watching a movie and being outdoors actually fishing gets my thumbs up

over watching the Outdoors channel every time. So lets start a movement... shut it off..

and live your life!!!!!!

That is all.

p.s. all that has absolutely nothing to do with a dragonfly.

Snapshot of a coffee table...

2011-08-17T15:38:00.001-04:00

Hmmmm what do you have on yours????? yesterday it struck me rather odd that we would have such a random assortment of crap on the coffee table. I slumped on the couch after work and this is what confronted me.... tv remote (at least it's not stuck in the couch cushions) a rubber snake, ball cap, nail clippers, two #2 pencils and a wireless keyboard and mouse. Apparently these little acoutrements are what my attempt at home decor needed; the lovely Italian silk embroidered runner, picture frame and dainty little flowers just aren't cutting it. Oh and the lovely monogramed coasters that I usually arrange in a neat pile are clearly happier strewn across the table in a hap hazzard style akin to abandoned frizbies on the lawn.

Thank you family for your contribution to the neat little center piece of the family living room... nice, real nice!!!!!

Gah.... in which Daddy had no part...

2011-08-16T16:21:00.001-04:00

So, interesting conversation was had in our household last night, one which will probably make me giggle for the rest of my life.... or at least until the memory of it fades and something else takes it's place. That's what happens with funny conversations, unless of course you blog about them, in which case they are preserved forever! But even blogging about them sometimes doesn't do the whole essence of the interaction justice.... sometimes you just had to be there. This was one of those times.

I don't even really remember what sparked the conversation to be honest, but it was along the lines of my adorable seven yr old Ash praising me for something that I had done for her. It then progressed into what a fantastic person I must be because I actually 'made' her and gave birth to her... at that point she very pointedly told Daddy that he had nothing to do with it!!!! Of course I just had to jump in and let her know that she was totally right... all he did was hang around the maternity ward and tell me to breathe and stuff (even though he really didn't even do that because both my kids were C-sections!). I was getting a really big grin on my face now... it was so funny to encourage her in this direction when he was struggling to justify his part in the whole creation of little girls debate. His retort was to let her know that without him there would be no Ashley... or Sydney.... and that I hadn't in fact done it all on my own. He quite assertively let her know that women can't have babies without men. Oh yeah?.. well she wasn't having any of it, not a bit, it's all just a Mom thing and the Daddy doesn't help at all. Of course I was taking her side and declared that women were having babies quite happily these days without the involvement of an actual man... so what exactly had he done???? He squirmed and ended the conversation the way he always does when backed into a corner... awkwardly... telling her "you just don't know!!" while we all laughed at him.

OK the conversation was pretty funny but the cutest, funniest part of it all was that the older sister who is now ten and feeling pretty worldly wise was listening in and very coy about the whole thing. She has this way of giggling and turning a little red when adult themes are discussed, she thinks she knows stuff and loves it when she might just know something that her little sister hasn't even dreamed of yet. So although she didn't totally join in and have her say, she was obviously on Daddy's side but didn't seem to want to commit for fear of having to explain exactly why. Her pretty eyes just sparkled and her cheeks glowed as she watched me make Daddy more uncomfortable and Ash became more sure that she was right about my super powers of making babies all on my own. Syd had that "in on the joke" kinda look about her and she was loving it.

Yes.. the talk is imminent... I did actually approach it once before and kinda shimmied around the subject; I'm well aware that now Syd is in middle school I need to get my skates on before some snot nosed little brat fills her head with nonsense. I just don't relish the thought... it's only going to confirm my worst fears that she's growing up and needs to learn more about her parents than I'm willing to let her know... EVER!!! Eeeewwwww!!!!!! I know I'm making this more about me than it really is but I just can't help it, and I don't feel mature enough to discuss the monkey dance with my own offspring... it's just not right!!! I mean, I still have memories of those ridiculous "films" they made you watch way back when I was a pubescent pre-teen... you know the ones before pubic hair stylists existed and Brazil was still famous for football players and not runways.

So just gimmie a little longer and I will get to it, like Hubby will get around to finish painting the house (which is now approaching the fifth anniversary of the start date). I guess my true fear isn't really having the talk with Syd who obviously knows something already... but having the talk with Ash later on and shattering her little illusion when I tell her that he DID have something to do with it!!! Now.. she's the one who will leave me needing a large brandy!!!! Why oh why did I think that having kids would be a walk in the park???????

yes.... these are nuts!!

paint the moon.....

2011-08-14T13:12:00.000-04:00

Have you check out Paint the Moon yet? I think I may have already posted about Annie and her fabulousness... well this morning I purchased her Dancing Light collection of textures. It's so frustrating to me because I'm having some of my own technical difficulties in PSE... mainly because I'm so useless at retaining things and don't tend to bookmark tutorials like I should... urgh!!! I want to be able to do it and do it now.

So.. despite my own learning curve I have managed to crank out a reasonable effort at doing some justice to her fabulous textures... and my fabulous pictures!!! I tend to get a little crazy when trying to work new stuff by myself but I know I"ll get there in the end. If only I had a million free hours in the day to play it would be marvelous!!! Check back later when I have something really fabulous to share... at least I hope I will!!! LOL.

back to school....

2011-08-13T21:03:00.001-04:00

It's been a really busy week... kids are back in school and LOVing it!!!

I am still coming to terms with being the mother of a middle schooler but honestly I

think it's a better fit for me. At last my kids are growing up to be kinda the age

kids I should have at my age, does that make sense? I don't have to try

and look all young and hot because now I have a middle schooler.

Ash seems to be large and in charge in second grade, no worries there!

The mornings are going well, we have managed to be on time everyday so far.

Hip hip hooray!

Honestly I had done a much better post about the first week of school but I

accidentally did it on my other blog! urgh...and now I am a little too tired

to get all creative again. So this is it!!!!

lame i know!!!

Insane!!!!

2011-08-09T15:08:00.001-04:00

That is all.

Ten things I adore....

2011-08-06T12:42:00.002-04:00

I treated myself to some fresh daisies.... absolutely beautiful, simple, bright and colorful.... and they have inspired me to make a list of ten things I adore...daisies being at number one!

2.... the quote in the picture, one of my favorites because it's true

3.....gin cocktails in the summertime

4....the smell of fresh laundry right off the line

5....a walk on the beach right before sunset

6....a good book, all well read and loved

7.....my sweet little dogs all cuddled into me

8.....the smell of freshly cut grass (this is hint to his gorgeousness)

9.....the way his gorgeousness will find documentaries that he thinks I'll like.. such as one on Duran Duran that we watched together last night

10....making a collage and then blogging it

What's making you happy today?

moving on...

2011-08-04T15:03:00.000-04:00

i haven't been too good at keeping up on this here old blog lately have i?

although it really is my favorite thing to do

i love blogging, and i am a self confessed addict of messing around in editing

programs and downloading fonts....

this particular one being my latest love... thanks to a kindly fellow blogger

Grey Street Girl.

honestly tho' is summer really coming to an end.... i can't quite believe it.

i always thought August is just way too early to send the kids back

to school and me back to early mornings and piles of papers

at the end of the week.

the last couple of weeks have been pretty hectic with one thing or another and

i miss sitting here chatting to no one in particular. there are things going on

in real world that are scaring me to death to be honest so i'm taking

the 'one day at a time' approach to life right now.

and this is how i relax...one post at a time. don't you love these little birds?

i love the way they chase the waves in and out and

run busily along the shoreline on their fragile little legs... it's almost

as if they are completely weightless.

what are they thinking about? do they think? or are they just being?

what would life be like if it was this simple; uncomplicated and pure.

one wave at a time, one day at a time.

hmmm sounds good to me.

She sells sea shells....

2011-08-03T15:00:00.004-04:00

wordless wednesday....

Ladies of the lake...

2011-08-01T20:39:00.002-04:00

Nothing like playing in the lake to help cool you down on a hot summer's day in Georgia!

I suck... have been incredibly busy with one thing and another and no time to blog.

I will just post when i have something interesting to share... and I hope this is interesting enough.

Hope everyone is staying cool... remember pets and elderly neighbors!!!

transatlantic collaboration...

2011-07-28T09:56:00.000-04:00

my sister took the picture...all the way over there in North Wales.... and I processed it using a Nature's beauty texture from Kim Klassen and PW warmer action.

Wordless Wednesday...

2011-07-27T21:10:00.000-04:00

a do over...

2011-07-24T11:11:00.000-04:00

I pulled this picture out of a few that I took a couple of years ago for our Christmas cards..

and I gave it a makeover in PS Elements using an action from Pioneer Woman... soft and faded.

I love this action, it's definitely one of my fav's!!!!

If you're interested in taking your own pictures of your kids in this kind of way just let me

point out a couple of tips... firstly, don't take them in the bright afternoon like I did, see

how the sky is blown out. Also pay close attention to posing, I didn't realize this at the time

but her left arm looks like it's been chopped off!!! You can see a tiny bit of it but the

puffy sleeve really makes it awkward.

Hope you like it despite the tiny details that bug me.

Thankful Thursday on Friday...

2011-07-22T12:36:00.001-04:00

I forgot to do Thankful Thursday yesterday... too busy.. dealing with other people's bullshit if you must know.....

Anyhoodles... without further ado (and yes people it's ado... not adieu... that's something completely different!)

I am thankful for....

My emerging mature side.... (I said emerging!!)
A little girls voice on the phone saying "love you Mama"...
Ibuprofen
Amazon.com.... I may have added that in a previous week but I truly thank God for Amazon every day!!
my sisters... who know me extremely well and love me anyway...
delicious fresh cherries perfectly ripe and ready to eat... yum.

That's it from me... I actually am using this post as therapy today... feeling a little crazy so instead of letting lose with a torrent of passive aggressive rants I figured I would head to my happy place and find things I'm thankful for and it worked. I may now go on with my day in peace..... sigh.

Wordless Wednesday....

2011-07-20T20:33:00.001-04:00

Monday Morning...

2011-07-18T12:02:00.001-04:00

So today is Monday, nice huh? the start of a brand new sparkly week, a day full of possibilities, there'll be an opportunity to learn something today. These are the positive things I'm saying over and over in order to drag myself out of this self imposed slump I seem to be in. There's nothing I can put my finger on, just a blah feeling that gets on my last nerve, I can't stand to be like this. So what can I do to shake myself out of this self-pity shitfest I seem to have let myself become entangled in???? Suggestions please, really... I mean it. Comment only if you have some sound advice to get me out of this mood.

In other news, I found a freakin' flea on my arm at work this morning... yes a flea... on my arm. Where the eff did that come from? it jumped off my arm onto my desk and disappeared for a few minutes. That in itself is enough to send me into a frenzy, I can't stand fleas, and I can't stand that there was ONE ON ME, and then I couldn't see the damn thing. So I obsess, yes really obsess over it for about twenty minutes until the damn thing shows up again and taking the advice of a good friend I squash it with my finger nail, apparently the only way to kill it. So it's gone but I'm still obsessing over where it came from and how it got on me and where are it's friends and family?, there's never just one flea, impossible, there have to be more. Are they in my carpet at work? Did it just hop on my this morning from one of the dogs? was it in my closet and in my clothes? Did it come from the upholstery in the car, I drove husband's car this morning so if it was from the car then it's his problem and note to self, don't borrow his car until it's been bombed. Did it just happen to be a freak lone flea waiting for me at the door of the office this morning? Arrrgghhhh!!!! See I told you I'm obsessing, probably due to my funkadelic mood, at least if I'm obsessing over a flea I'm not obsessing over my miserable, boring old life. That flea has (well, had) more excitement in the final minutes of his life than I've had in a long time. Summer is almost over for the girls and I feel like I let them down, we only went to the beach once (for about three hours, pathetic) we didn't do any theme parks, no zoos, no fishing, hardly any swim time and not one barbecue all summer long!!!!!!

OK, I'm off to smash my Super Mom mug against the wall and will hopefully be back tomorrow with a fun packed agenda for the rest of the summer, lets see if I can fit everything into the next three weeks!! Adios Amigos.... Sorry for the downer post, it's been a while since I let myself do this.

Trinkets.... i love trinkets!

2011-07-14T15:37:00.000-04:00

I guess I may just have a future as a product photographer if all else fails. What I was actually trying to do here was play with the f-stop on each of my lenses. I don't have anything that will go less than f4...sigh... time to get a new lens methinks. It's always time to get a new something... used to be shoes or hangbags now it's lenses and camera bags... Kelly Moore I'm looking at you... one of these days I will win her giveaway!!!

If you like the bracelet, it's from Premier Jewelry and I won it at a party I went to a long time ago .... not a Kelly Moore bag I grant you but it's pretty and I love wearing it.

The other thing I messed with today was the party bouncer.... no not a big burly guy checking names at the door.... just a little business card folded around the pop up flash on my camera to diffuse the light. A trick to remember in a pinch when you want to take impromtu pics of friends and family in bad light. I'm actually super pleased with this trick because I often avoid using the big girl camera when we're inside or on occasions like Christmas etc because they look so "snapshotty" with a full flash, this way the bouncer will diffuse the light (pretty) evenly and create a better ambient light and give you something to work with.

This was taken in a very low light room with no lights on and the blinds closed and no editing.....

et voila....not a fabulous example but you get the picture.. do try this at home!

In which there was no toilet paper....

2011-07-13T01:52:00.000-04:00

So, here's another little anecdote from the annals of my parenting experiences... this one won't be soon forgotten.. but just in case I'm recording it for prosperity in this here blog.

I'm not completely sure when this happened to be honest, sometime not so long ago on one of our many excursions as a family unit. We were having lunch at a restaurant and as is common when you're the mother of two girls you frequently have to visit the bathroom with one or both of them in tow. Will I ever again be able to tend to personal bodily functions without a posse? Anyway, on this particular visit it was Ash who came with me to the restroom, and there were two stalls so we each went into one. I was halfway through relieving myself when I noticed there was no paper in my bathroom... urgh... annoying.. more annoying that I didn't notice before I started because I ALWAYS check first. There's a sequence to my public bathroom visits that rarely varies, it's a tried and tested method of checkpoints; clean stall, check, no lurking doo doos, check, no drips on the seat, check, lock is in good working order, check, paper in good supply, check and somewhere to hang my purse so it's not on the floor, check. When my checklist is complete, and only then, I can proceed with my personal doings.

So back to the restaurant, I quietly called to Ash and asked if she had paper in there and she replied in the affirmative. I then requested that she get some and pass it under the stall to me as I didn't have any, there was a pause, I heard someone else come into the bathroom and as we were already occupying the only toilets in there, this person had to wait.

Ashley still hadn't passed the paper, so I said "Ash.. pass Mommy some paper please!" a little angst in my voice as I was growing impatient. She replied "well Mama, did you do a number one or a number two?"...and there was a giggle from outside the stall.... "Ashley, just pass me some paper!!!" this time through gritted teeth in that I"m about to ground you kinda voice. Ashley then proceeded "I need to know how much to give you; number one or number twoooo???" at this the person waiting didn't even try to hide it.. she was laughing so hard she was probably on the verge of peeing her own pants!!! So by now I was really ticked (but cracking up on the inside) and yelled "Number one now gimme the damn paper!!!"....at which a little hand appeared holding a wad of the sacred stuff.

All done, I tried to walk out of the stall with some dignity but it was too late, Ash came out giggling, the lady waiting was hysterical and I was rolling my eyes at them both. This one is going down in the book of things to tell future boyfriends..... bwwaaahahahahaha!!!

What the HECK???? Canadian????

2011-07-11T20:09:00.000-04:00

Just a short one for Monday.... Syd walked out of her room tonight with a wool hat on her head, the hair all tucked up into it and her ears sticking out...quite hilarious. For a ten year old she looked really little and her ears cracked me up, she told me she had her thinking cap on and proceeded to make funny faces. She was really making me laugh by hamming it up, trying it this way and that, then she pulled it down over her ears and I said "oh, that looks better" to which she replied "what?? I look like a Canadian!".

No I couldn't figure it out either... all I can gather is the random gene has found her... and I love it!!!!

Happy rest of the week Bloggers!!!!

Before n After... bits n bobs...

2011-07-10T11:56:00.000-04:00

We had a massive thunder storm yesterday, but as luck would have it the

spouse and I had completed our scheduled morning of working in the yard and

trying to salvage what we have out there.

I know we both hate yard work because we bitch at each other the whole

time we're out there. It's a given, day out in the hot sun working the land and

you'd think we were mortal enemies battling it out for plot domination.

We never work real well together to be honest, now playing that's another

thing, we really enjoy doing fun things together.

Maybe we should split up the chores and do them separately, teamwork is

for the Angry Birds when it comes to this blessed Union.

Ash was frightened by the storm when she was out there trying to film the storm

for Sydney (which was a moot point anyway because Syd was only a mile away experiencing

the same storm at a friends house) you can see the hilarious video on

my FB page. Yes have you liked me yet? Go on....

I am going to send it to AFV... if I can ever get that upload thing to work! Urgh!

Anyway, in between yard work and storms and power outages I managed to find

time to create an ad on FB for my photography site, now worried about the cost

of this as they make it kinda hokey. Still, I did get nine more likes by this morning!

I also discovered a new awesome website for Photoshop addicts and enthusiastic

dabblers like moi.... Paint the Moon...check it out. I did this one this morning

in about five seconds flat... yay!!

So lovely peeps... go have fun in the real world and I'll be talking atchya later.

Time to head to the mall with my fashionistas.. wish me luck.

Learn something new every day...

2011-07-08T10:56:00.002-04:00

That is Martha Stewart's tag line and look where it got her... yes my friends... a personal fortune, fame and glory (we won't talk about the jail time but I'm sure she learned from that too) so there may be something in this learning something new everyday stuff.

I feel it's becoming my mantra, I've been researching all kinds of things on the web about photography, writing, web-hosting, Photoshop and running a small business, as well as gaining useless knowledge along the way such as apparently William Shakespeare invented the word 'hurry', thanks RedHead Riter. Hmmmm. I'm a mine of information, I feel like John Travolta in Phenomenon (if you haven't seen it, do so, now!). If you don't know the answer to something, then do your homework, track down the people who do have the answer, try to figure it out and don't stop until it clicks. You will find that a lot of smart people want to share what they know, so called experts can't wait to tell you the little tricks of the trade that they have discovered. They know that it's so fulfilling to pass on the knowledge to someone else, there's a joy that comes from seeing a person's reaction... when the light bulb goes off and they feel enlightened. (did you like how I did that?).

Yesterday I was struggling with something in Photoshop and who did I contact? Kim Klassen of course, you HAVE to check out her website, she came back to me lickity split with the answer and voila... I created a new banner for myself. Some of you may be saying well duh, there are plenty of how to posts and videos out there, and you'd be right, but for some reason I hadn't found one that worked for me. I'm more of a hands on figure it out for myself kinda gal and when Kim answered that one question it opened up a world of possibilities for me! Whoop, whoop.... I do all the blog tweaking myself, and I do my photography website myself too. Can't be spending money on expensive designers when I can learn as I go and put together a halfway decent site, IMO.

So my friends, whatchya learn today? What was it that made you open your eyes wider and say.. "aahhh, I never knew that!"???? Do tell.

This pic really has nothing to do with the post, it's just me and a bunch of fantastic bloggers I hung out with in Reno and I'm glad I have this pic to make me smile!!

Thankful Thursday and on this day in history....

2011-07-07T15:40:00.001-04:00

So, I'm linking up to Miss Buckle today and expressing my gratitude for some of the fantastic things in my life....

*fresh home grown tomatoes all sweet and delicious

*the opportunity to run my own business and take pictures of fun people

*a friend who likes to call and talk to me for hours at a time

*Amazon.com.... I love Amazon.com

*the amazing things one can learn every day from listening to others

*red, white and blue balloons

ignore the cheesy cns on them!!!! LOL.

And... on this day in history....

July 7th 2010... I lost my job, one I loved. But here we are a year later and all is well. I'm enjoying a new opportunity with new people and a promising future. I also backed into the neighbor's mini van on the same day, I should have known then it was going to be a bad day.

July 7th(ish) 2009.... we came home from a weekend trip to find our house flooded by a faulty water heater, 200 thousand gallons of water later and we were forced into a tiny apartment for six weeks while the house was restored to better than it's former glory... aaahhhh the awsomeness of homeowners insurance.

That's as far back as I can go.... you wanna know why??? because I didn't have a blog before March of 2009 therefore I probably didn't exist! See, the benefits of a blog, it soooo helps out an old woman like me who can't remember what she did three years ago!!!

Leave a comment... tell me what you're thankful for and what you did on this day in history....thanks!

Pausing for thought....

2011-07-05T21:55:00.000-04:00

I know, I know, I'm overloading on pics of the Ashbooger right now but I can't help it she's so darn CUTE!!! She has been hanging with me a lot this summer and I'm totally sucking up every moment because I'm well aware that soon she'll be 10 like Syd and I will not be as uber-cool as I am now. Also she loves to be in front of the camera so I don't have to beg her to pose, and I love the way she does it so naturally. Sigh... sorry to be such a bore but I love my girls so much it's unbelievable! Anyway... we're two thirds of the way through this summer and although we've actually done a whole lot it seems like it's flying by too quick. I'm trying to pause a little and savor it before it's too late......

Gasp!!!!!!!!

2011-07-02T12:51:00.000-04:00

I don't know that I really need to add anything do I? Hope you all have a great weekend... and enjoy a safe Independence Day on Monday if you happen to be here in the US. If you're not in the US, have a great day at work on Monday! hee hee.

Randomonium Friday...

2011-07-01T14:37:00.000-04:00

Once again I have left a huge gap between this and the previous Randomonium Post... no reason other than that's just the point ... totally Random!! Lets get started shall we????

July 4th is upon us, already? yes I know, this year is careering on by at breakneck speed.... what do you have planned? We are left kind of at a loose end after original plans with the out-laws were cancelled... much to my youngest's chagrin. Poor baby is terribly upset so in true modern parenting style I am left guilt ridden trying to find a way to make it up to her, I know I should just tell her to hitch up her britches and get on with it but I just can't. I'm a bad mother what can I say!!!!

Can you believe I used the word "chagrin"... no me neither, it always sounds so pretentious to me but it seemed to fit that last piece... y'all know I'm not a fancy nancy word user really; although I LOVE words.

Irrational fear of the week, there's a place across the street from my office that cleans cars, it's an old gas station and looks pretty dicey to put it mildly. Someone once told me it's a cover for drug pushers... maybe that's where this irrational fear comes in. I desperately need my car to be cleaned inside and out, it would be so convenient to take it over there but I think they're gonna A) steal my car B) steal some of the useless shit that's in my car C) kill me and stuff me into the back of the car and leave me in an ally to be discovered by a skinny abandoned dog.

Would you like to know what the most useful gadget I have discovered this week is??? "Why yes, yes please" I hear you all cry... it's called PDANet, an app that you can download for your Droid (don't know it it's avail for iPhones, and since I don't have an iPhone I don't care) it enables you to tether your laptop to the internet using your phone, without the pesky fees from the phone company. Why would I need this you ask since my laptop is already equipped with WiFi??? well not everywhere I am has a WiFi hot spot available when I want it. So ... coolio ... I can now connect EVERYWHERE on the planet. Whoopity Whoop Whoop. That is HUGE if you live in the Boondocks of South GA...take it from a gal who knows. It's working very well too, only it scared me because when someone texts you it pops up on your laptop screen and I thought someone was messing with my mind the first time it happened.

I have spent some time this week trying to organize myself in respect to visiting my blog peeps, it's hard to keep up. There are so many GREAT bloggers out there and for some reason my Reader and the list on Blogger are not correlated or something, I feel like I'm only actually seeing a feed from a fraction of the blogs that I really follow. So it's hit and miss but I'm trying... I can also see from my stats on blogger that only a wee fraction of my visitors are commenting. Why? am I not comment worthy? are my visitors all spammers? whatev, please yourselves and if you feel you would like some banter back and forth I welcome it... :) does that make me sound needy??? I am a little needy at times..... just a tad.

Here's something I would like to share.... created by the daughter #2... so lovely.. complete with magnet on the back to stick to the fridge... nice huh????

She sees hearts in just about everything, lets hope that never changes.

and finally...
I urge those of you who loved and remember Char at Rambins to head over to Beth's blog Be Yourself Everyone Else is Taken and see what she's made to honor Char's memory. Beautiful badges for us to add to our blogs in order that others may also share in the loveliness that was our good friend. Thank you Beth, you're a sweet, kind person and I'm glad to know you.....

Adventures in White Balance

2011-06-29T05:00:00.002-04:00

One of my biggest obstacles in my photography in the early days (and today if I'm honest) is the getting

the white balance correct. I didn't even realize to begin with how far off I really was, sometimes I
even thought that the color casts looked pretty cool, giving my pictures some kind of ambiance! Duh!
There are filters and effects for that, you can't do a photograph justice when your white balance is all over the place.

I recently found a great video on You Tube through a site called Photographytalk.com; check it out here.... it's for the D90 but you can get the idea for your own camera. I personally prefer the preset because I feel it gives you a better balance of true color than the little auto settings you can use, but the quick set icons also work really well. I also sometimes use a tip from Ken Rockwell and use the cloudy setting even on a pretty sunny day, works well at least with the D90.
So ignoring the general ugliness of the above example, you can see the difference, the first was on a totally incorrect pre-set that I was using in another room (worked well in the other room btw) and then I quickly flicked it to incandescent light and voila... a truer duplication of the colors in my kitchen. Now if only I had chosen to present this in a more beautiful manner than a Krups toaster and a skanky hairbrush!!!! The monkey's cute tho'.
My point is clear though, if you want to take some lovely pictures you can concentrate on all kinds of details but if your white balance is off your whole pic is shot. Hope you enjoyed this episode of "stuff I sometimes forget about even though it's paramount in good photography!!".
Do you have a little sticking point? feel free to share, we all learn from each other!

Texture Tuesday....

2011-06-27T21:42:00.002-04:00

This week the challenge was to use KK's Golden texture.... I love how delicate it is.

for more texture tuesdays go check out Kim's blog...

Funny Faces

2011-06-27T09:53:00.001-04:00

Pioneer Woman Photography | Ree Drummond
Just popping in today to share my appearance on the PW blog...the competition is funny faces and I just knew I had to submit the pic of ashley and the bubbles. I'm just a wee bit excited !! Just a teeny weeny bit....well a lot, its made my day.
How is your Monday coming along???

Published with Blogger-droid v1.6.7

i do....

2011-06-25T22:08:00.002-04:00

Last week I jumped in at the deep end and helped a friend of mine shoot her first wedding... it was my first too of course...regular ramblers already know I am just getting started on this foray into pro or really semi-pro photography.

I can't think of anything more nerve racking than photographing someone's big day, and boy was I in for a shock at how demanding and exhausting the whole thing was!!! I couldn't even think straight at the end of it, but it was well worth it. I have a long list of things I learned from the experience and a list of things I'd like to try next time. I told another photog friend of mine that I am realizing the thing I love about photography is that you never stop learning, there's always something to discover, play with and give your own spin. I have a couple of other weddings tentatively scheduled for the end of the summer which is exciting.... so watch this space.

I think I'm a real romantic at heart... I love a good wedding... don't you?

Fresh Tomatoes......

2011-06-24T17:56:00.003-04:00

I know a lot of bloggers are also quite self sufficient in that they grow their own vegetables and fruits, seems like we've come full circle from the seventies and once again it's trendy to have a garden.

Well, I very gingerly hopped aboard said horticultural bandwagon and decided to grow my own tomatoes this year, mostly because of the fact I have found it incredibly difficult to find a 'mater with the flavor of the ones we eat in the UK. Yes, I know it's really unfair of me to disparage the American tomato so much but I will, mainly because I maintain that the need for such mass production in this country is affecting everything even down to the little common tomato. I want some flavor and color by God and I'm gonna get it!!!!!

and here it is my little 'mater lovers... all juicy and red and delicious... just demanding to be paired with a little piece of crumbly, sharp cheddar and a crisp white wine. I would also like to point out the incredible color is straight out of camera is totally ROCKIN' thanks to all that lovely Nikonness, no help whatsoevah from those good peeps at Photoshop. It's been a little challenging to keep my one tomato plant going, what with the watering thing and all... I just don't need all that responsibility but thankfully I have two ~~slaves~~ daughters who will gladly mess with the hose for a while each evening; then there's those meddlesome squirrels to contend with but over all I'm super impressed with my darling tasty treats. Where will this lead.... prolly nowhere... but for now I'm imagining a fruit and veggie stand at my local Farmer's Market!!!

Tip of the day; if you put a couple of Rolaids in the soil it will help keep them disease free....you're welcome.

l linked up to Murrieta 365

quote of the day.......

2011-06-22T15:27:00.001-04:00

"I'm not a genius. I'm a tremendous bundle of experience"....R. Buckminster Fuller.

Now if you want to learn something new and interesting you'll google R Buckminster Fuller and enrich your mind that much more!

Have a wonderful Wednesday..mmuuwwaahhh!!!!

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Texture Tuesday... sweet peeps edition

2011-06-21T20:20:00.004-04:00

OK this is my second attempt.... I did the first post on my other blog!!! URGH!!! more haste less speed.
So here's my effort for the sweet peeps week, using Kim's Serendipity texture, I applied it twice and used at clipping mask to take it off her skin. Hope you likey!!!!
Check out Kim Klassen for more texture love.

2011-06-19T23:41:00.004-04:00

Well, well, well... looks who's all grown up...... seven years old and just as special as the day she was born.

Actually, and this is me being completely candid, she's way more special now than the day she was born. The day she was born was a stormy day in Florida and we didn't know if she was going to actually make an appearance that day. You see, Ashley was born in the summer of 2004 and it was a turmultuous year weatherwise, hence her nickname of Hurricane Ashley, she was a force to be reckoned with from the beginning. Having said that it was a tall order living up to the reputation of Tropical Storm Sydney, the elder sibling who had already set the bar for wonderful kid and all around heart stealer.

Still since the early days of being second in command, Ashley had held her own and gradually became a showstopper in her own right. I used to think that Sydney was the most beautiful and intelligent little girl I had ever laid eyes upon, although I tried hard not to be "one of those mothers" I couldn't help but mention the wonderful accomplishments of my lovely daughter. Then Ashley came along and although she was just as cute as could be for the first three years she never quite lived up to the incredible acheivements of daughter nunber 1. Until of course she set about changing the world all by herself.

Ash was quick to walk, very quick to talk and amazingly speedy to steal the hearts of those around her. She was our second child and even though I initially thought one could never really love their second as much as the first I found myself equally in love with both of my gorgeous, smart and witty children. It's incredible to watch them grow and jockey for their position in life, each of them battling for first place in the hearts of their parents and family.... one day they will realize without a doubt that there is pleny of room for both. Still, I recognize the competition, I was the youngest of four, it seems that every day you want to prove yourself to be better than one's siblings. I hope that they do know I love them both equally, be it for different reasons, I will never be able to choose one above the other.

I look at the pictures I take of them growing up and I hope to capture a moment, capture what I see in them every day. I hope that one day they'll look back on these pictures and it will stir a memory in their minds, a reflection of how they felt in that very moment of time. I have no idea if they will even be able to imagine how I felt, as their mother, probably not, still I hope these pictures will help to piece together their childhood. I cannot believe how time passes so quickly, and how, at seven, my baby can look so grown up... but guess what? we can still cuddle on the couch and she will still kiss me and tell me she loves me when she feels it neccessary and thankfully that's quite often.

My heart swells when I think of these little girls I adore so much.

Thankful Thursday....

2011-06-16T19:35:00.039-04:00

Today I am linking up with Miss Buckle's Thankful Thursday... I feel it's time to be appreciative!!!

I am thankful that....

dinner is served..
fun with friends at the Y is easily accessible....
bright pink toe nails help to show off tanned feet....
tomorrow is Friday!
my husband understands I don't like him looking over my shoulder when I blog...

Fun in the sun

A tribute.... to a friend I never had the privilege of actually meeting...

2011-06-15T18:00:00.055-04:00

If you know someone, only in an online capacity, do you still know them? Should you still be entitled to grieve because they are gone too soon? Should you allow yourself the tears, the lump in the throat, the quivering chin?
Is it your right to have your heart broken by the loss of someone you know only through some lovely exchanges in email and chats online and in sharing each others creativity?

Today I learned of the unexpected death of a fellow blogger, Charlane, she was taken from us too soon and that my friends is a fact. I know it's a fact because on many occasions we talked about getting together and having a little 'blogapalooza'. We planned to take pictures, and talk, and laugh and share our experiences with one another, me hoping to learn from her amazing talent and she no doubt hoping to share her knowledge with someone younger who obviously needs the benefit of her amazing abilities. Of course, life happens and you tell each other, well maybe in the fall when it's cooler, or maybe in the Spring when there's less going on... maybe after the next business trip, the next family vacation... and so it goes until it's entirely too late... and all too soon .... she's gone.

It's been a very strange few hours since I learned the tragic news, I have gone through a myriad of emotions and thoughts about the last exchange we had... actually... just the other day I had checked on her blog and saw that she was extremely busy and had a lot to look forward to. I remember typing a comment something like apologies for not stopping by, thinking about you, will email and catch up... but the comment was not there when I looked today. Did I not hit the "submit" button? How many times has that happened in my haste to keep up with my onliners?? I was a little confused and thought, well at least I know that her last post was a very happy positive one, but honestly most of them were, that's the person she was, upbeat and positive.

I was ~~probably~~ definitely wallowing a little in my own feelings of sadness and grief wondering what in the world could have happened? I'm like that, it's all about me see. But then, out of the blue the UPS man arrived at the door, and I was embarrassed to be seen in such a sniveling state on a Wednesday afternoon but I didn't bother to offer an explanation. He left and I opened the package which was the most beautiful box of cookies... in a bright green and yellow box with a lovely ribbon. They looked divine... and I didn't have my camera on me... should have used the phone but it seemed they deserved more justice than my crappy phone camera. Immediately I saw it as a sign, I know I'm weird with all my signs lately, this is the comment on Char's profile; Life is too short to waste a single day, eat cookies, dance when no one is looking and try to be as happy as you can.

So my friends although the label said something else, I saw it as a sign from my friend, a reminder that although she's gone her spirit lives on in so many ways. I will treasure the advice and encouragement she has given, especially with my newly formed photography business. Char was the first one I turned to for advice and as ever she was very happy to help me out, for that I'm eternally grateful.

I celebrate you my friend, I hold dear the place you occupied in my life and heart, I will miss you tremendously but will always hope to follow your shining example of friendship and giving. I promise to pay it forward and be glad for the time we knew each other, and yes I'll eat cookies and be happy.

The difference between ordinary and extraordinary is a little something "extra."
–Jimmy Johnson

Wordless Wednesday....

2011-06-15T12:00:00.003-04:00

TextureTuesday with Kim Klassen

2011-06-13T21:23:00.011-04:00

This is the kind of Texture Tuesday I like...anything goes!!!

I find it difficult to control my ADD/OCD/sheer lack of discipline to work to

a set theme! must try harder!

So here's my offering, it's an old picture but one that I really like.

I love that she has a kind of far away look about her and the way the hat

sits on her head.

I used Kim Klassen's Serendipity on this one, just enough and not too much.

It still has the warm colors and sunlight. I am still very much in the early stages of working with

textures but it's easily something I can mess with for hours given the chance.

Head over to Kim's site for more Texture love!!

What’s your passion? The sequel…sequel...

2011-06-13T18:23:00.000-04:00

So, over the last few days I have pondered on the question posed by my good friend Spud, what's your passion? I'm linking to her post and presenting an answer of sorts.... gather round and make yourself comfortable.

Ever since I was young I wanted to be a photographer (kind of) or a writer (kind of) or combine the two and be a photojournalist (kind of). Nothing has ever been an actual passion for me. It was always luke warm with me which is weird because I am sort of an all or nothing person and tend not to be a wishy-washy fence dweller. I think that my career aspirations were wishy-washy because I honestly really wanted to jaunt around the world taking pictures and writing about my experiences whilst being taken care of by my uber-rich aristocratic husband; and no I don't mean it was a daydream... it was an all out technicolor fantasy of epic proportions!!! That's what I was passionate about, being free and answering to no one and marching to my own tune. Unfortunately those high hopes didn't amount to much when I finished school and started a career with the Civil Service. Meh... how in the heck did I let myself get caught up in all that desk job melodrama I will never know.

Since that time there has been enough going on in my life (a lot of it very exciting I might add) to keep me occupied if not totally passionate. I seem to have concentrated heavily on my family and their needs for the past ten years and although I have dabbled in hobbies here and there it wasn't until recently I rediscovered my love of photography and writing. I pleaded with colleagues and co-workers to let me produce monthly newsletters, I tried to be ultra-creative on crafty little committees in various groups I was involved with...

I even got hooked on scrap booking for a while, which by the way I was almost completely passionate about; while I had to time to do it! Enter child number two and my return to work and that was the end of my Creative Memories era.... deep sigh.

And then I found Blogger... oh what a revelation it was to me. Here I could write about crap going on in my life and post pictures and tell my story. I had originally intended it to just be kind of an online journal which people could read if they felt so inclined, but it has turned into so much more than that for me. It reignited in me a purpose and a means of stretching my abilities in writing and in photography and ultimately in connecting with other bloggers all over the world allowing me to do what I do best... make friends.

So maybe, just maybe I'm passionate about blogging (and all the little tangents associated with it) I have a love hate relationship with it. I actually get really fired up when I write something I think of as being halfway decent.. and then there are times when I have no ideas, zilch, zip, nada and it feels like there's something in the pit of my stomach, frustration is a horrible, horrible thing. That being the case I can only conclude that to have this spectrum of emotions about something must mean that I am in fact passionate about it. Now, don't get me wrong, I"m well aware that I should be doing myself more justice because to be perfectly frank, there has been some drivel on this blog of late. I attribute it to lack of time and concentration; I really need to give it more thought and planning than I do... sigh, sigh, and sigh again. At the end of the day it's what I love and if I continue to learn from it and enjoy what I discover through blogging then I'll continue to do it, my blog is two years old... that has to account for something, right?

So... your turn, think about it, find your passion, feed daily and let it grow....

Not my passion.....

2011-06-11T21:34:00.001-04:00

Hate to be a downer here but I'm about to launch a rant.... recently Chez Spud has been talking about "passions" and what it is that gets you all excited. Well how about the shit that doesn't get you going? Here's some food for thought... and my apologies to Spud... yes I'm taking the negative on this.. it's been a while since my snark has had a chance to air itself.

TV.... so sick of the freakin' lack of imagination quite apparent in todays programming. I mean, American Idol... please... you've had your day and you're scraping the very bottom nae butt cheeks of the barrel and you ain't coming up with much. This formula has also been stretched over into other crap talent shows, didn't we already do all this??? Theres' nothing new... move on before you turn into a sad old circus act.

Electronics... now don't get me wrong, I truly adore my little ingenious electronic nik naks... where would I be without my cameras, my laptop, my ipod etc?? but really, you people aren't giving us a freakin' nano second before you come out with something else. Let's take a moment to rest on some laurels here shall we? Give a mid lifer like me a chance to get to know her devices before the next one comes out, I mean, why don't they just slow it down, it can't be good business sense? Surely Apple has a gazillion obsolete items that they now have to move at a lower price while they produce more of the newer stuff which probably has cost a lot to develop and make. Just slow it down people because I'm telling you one day we're all gonna say ENOUGH ALREADY!!!!

The Weather.... what's the deal man? Horrid winters; hot, dry summers; tornadoes and hurricanes. I've about had it with this shit. Just ask my patio pots... all withered and nasty full of dead pathetic plants. Thanks a lot nature, good job there ace.

Kids... they think they know it all don't they? Where they hell does my ten year old get off asking me if we have flood insurance????? Did I ever ask my mother that kind of impudent question? hell no I did not. Flood insurance is a personal, grown up matter and should not be discussed openly with the kids. Sheesh.

Well that's it... rant over. I'll try and muster up some positivity before tomorrow and maybe do a post on just what my passions actually are. In the mean time, this is what's been getting my goat.. how about you???

BTW... this is a pretty good way to vent your frustrations!!!

Odds & Sods from home

2011-06-09T19:24:00.000-04:00

How lucky I am. I feel a little happy dance coming on.

Being an ex-pat is nice n all, you know, having the best of both worlds.

If you're going to be anything Anglo/American is the way to go.

The most fabulous thing of all is when I get little gifts in the mail that are

sent remind me of home, I LOVE it.

Sometimes I feel like a little girl again when I open the packages and when they are

full of things like sequined Union Jack pillows I am positively giddy.

My little Burberry teddy bear in particular approved of this accent pillow, a nice

little addition to the chair he occupies in the corner of my boudoir!

Thank you big sissy for my lovely gift, I adore it.

Then there was this surprise parcel in the mail...... from a fellow blogger no less.

If you're a regular here you'll definitely recognize this mug.

Yes it was sent to me by non other thans Spudballo... check it out there where it

honestly looks a lot better but I'm doing all I can to make it feel at home Stateside.

I thought I had been keeping up with Spud's whitterings rather well until I just

scrolled through her blog looking for the link. I'm sure she squeezes in posts after

the fact because I seem to have missed quite a lot, and although one can never totally

keep up with every blog, Spud's is one you ought to get to more than most.

So my dear friends, should you find any little trinket in your travels that may remind

me of home, don't hesitate to send it to me. I am easily pleased and just adore

getting things in the mail, especially unexpected little treasures like the ones above.

I'm also known to stuff a gift or two in the mail myself so you never know!

Happy Thursday Tous Les Monde.

There is light... at the end of the dark, dark tunnel.

2011-06-07T19:48:00.002-04:00

Camping lantern, originally uploaded by McGillicutty1.

Someone very near and dear to me is going through what I can only describe as sheer hell at this time... well for a while now actually. I would not wish this type of misfortune and anguish on anyone, not even the vilest of characters.

She's a pillar of strength and a beautiful soul, I can't imagine anything worse than being thrust into circumstances beyond your control and feeling that helplessness as you struggle to figure out an escape. I rack my brains for solutions and tiny pearls of wisdom to offer comfort at this time but just keep coming up empty. I feel inadequate as a comfort and find myself hurting for her on a regular basis. It's just a horrible and heart wrenching situation that can't be rationalized no matter how hard you ponder, analyze or break it down, and believe me I have tried all of the above.

I'm not a good at having no solutions, after all for every problem there is an answer, there has to be, otherwise how do we go on? How does she go on? what choice does she have? Every day is another blank page, a day filled with opportunity, that's what I believe. One day will be her day, her opportunity, her golden ray of sunshine when she's released from all this purgatory into a life of love and happiness, peace and security.

The lamp is my gift to her... a symbol so that she can hold on to the knowledge that there is a light at the end of the darkness, it's not a tunnel, it's complete and utter all encompassing darkness, but the light will come. I'm holding out hope with everything I have. So my friend... I'm on your side... I don't always have words to comfort you but I'm using all I have to support you from my corner, this light will soon be yours.

Wait... wtf is this?

2011-06-07T07:37:00.009-04:00

So, been gone a week, just a little short break with the kids while they

are on summer vacay, something for them to talk about when they get back to school.

I'm back and what the hell happened to Blogger????

I'm gonna have to check all this out before I do a proper post and I don't have

time this morning, the real world beckons. (bleuugghhh, hate the real world)

in the meantime, check out TN.

Talk at ya later!!!!!

Memorial Day.....madness.

2011-05-30T09:02:00.000-04:00

OK, it's a three day weekend, extra time to get stuff done right? wrong?

My kids have been out of my hair for most of the weekend and instead of getting a

jump on all the chores around here I've been ....wait for it... relaxing!!!!!

Yeah, the queen of making the most of situations and squeezing everything into the

time without kids has been chilling and procrastinating all over the place.

I have taken a lot of pics this weekend which has been so much fun but then having

to edit them is a chore... a chore! Although I have to say most of them don't really

need much more than a little crop here and there... cool.

I snoozed through the Indy 500 yesterday, yep, snoozed on the couch with my

little shih tzu laying on my lap with me. How indulgent is that???

Peace and quiet... it's totally what I needed. I feel ready to take on the

preps for our camping trip today. There's still a ton of laundry to do before we

pack but I can do it, because I'm feeling good people, feeling good!

The girls are SO excited and are ready to help pack up, I'm so happy

they are finally at an age to REALLY help with packing! So my friends, it's out

into the ~~wilderness~~ crowded campground we go. Hubby is worried we may

need a gun in case we come across a bear, hmmmm now he's got me thinking.

Just when was the last known bear attack in Chatanooga? anybody? no,

didn't think so.

We do have wifi at the cabin (I know) so I may post from there at some point this

week, no I haven't had the forethought to prepare and schedule posts. I'm not

that good a blogger!!!! but you know that already.

Have a great Holiday Monday and if you see a service man or woman today

hug them hard!!!! tell them I sent you!!!!!

All the Randomonium I can stand.....

2011-05-27T11:33:00.003-04:00

hmmm don't know how this got in here... and those are not my feet... this is what happens when you leave your phone lying around!!!

Its been too long since I did a randomonium.....here goes.....

My new little photography business is slow, I know its early days and it takes work but I can't help having anxiety attacks about it being a complete bomb... why do I doubt myself all the time? If you are a marketing wizz and want to work for nothing please apply within.....serious applicants only...no time wasters or weirdos.

There is a little place in my hometown (in England) where people have walked their dogs and cycled and exercised for a million years; apparently some woman has closed off access to it and a friend of mine is rallying the townsfolk into having it reopened....it warms the cockles of my heart! You go Martin!!!!!!

Seven year old kids have their own brand of comedy that can make me pee my pants. I wish we could all be seven again.

If you leave a fan on all night the white noise is very soothing and will help you sleep, really, then you realize one is just a bitch and the lack of sleep has nothing to do with ones own personality flaws.

Leaving a fan on all night will not stop a whiney ass shih tzu from waking you up! Only placing the kennel three blocks from your home will do that.....you're welcome neighbor!

His gorgeousness and I had lunch together this week and witnessed something so hideous we were stopped in our tracks, a "lady" in the diner was wearing a tank top with the slogan "biggest breasts in town" blazened across the front. (She was a complete moose by the way). My lovely hubby commented it wouldn't be socially acceptable for him to get a shirt that said "biggest dick in town"....there's just no equality these days. And no....neither slogan appears to be completely accurate....although how would one really know? Or more to the point care?

The "I have to have the last word" brigade are irritating the shit out of me lately and I think fb is to blame. Just say something and move on, don't pollute the atmosphere with your meaningless quips and mindless cliches....not to mention that thing they do when giving a compliment...pause....then add a zinger! You look great today.........for a change. Eff you, zingerman...its all Karma.

And finally if you must talk about karma, learn to spell it correctly. That is all.

Published with Blogger-droid v1.6.7

Summertime......

2011-05-25T20:55:00.000-04:00

I think that for most of the my friends and family it's Spring, but for us here in the deep south it feels distinctly summerish.

The girls finished up school last Friday and have spent three days at summer camp, yes three days, and this is how Syd looks already. Blonde highlights, tanned skin and a lovely relaxed glow about her. They spend the days playing games, getting lots of exercise and swimming.... bliss. The past couple of years we had teens coming to the house to take care of them in the summer but this year decided to send them to camp at the local YMCA instead. My reasoning for this was that it cost about the same, they would get plenty of exercise and have a routine and mostly because for the last two summers they ate us out of house and freakin' home!!!!!! It was quite astonishing to see how much food a couple of kids and a teenage sitter could get through in a day never mind nine weeks. I think they had to have eaten at least the equivalent of three baby hippos every day quite happily. Unfreakin' believable.

The emphasis this summer is exercise and the great outdoors; activity, activity after wonderful activity. Tonight we took a walk around our local lake, at lease we thought we were taking a walk at the lake. It's been a few weeks since we have been over there and obviously they are doing some maintenance drainage type stuff. Where the waters edge used to be now there's nothing but mud flats, and yes, despite the warning signs we did see a group of young boys playing in the mud, and it made me nervous. What the heck do you do as a responsible adult... do you shout "Oi, you little shits get outta there or I'll call your mothers"... not knowing who their mother's are... actually we did know one of the little boys and I know his mother quite well. I wished I had taken my Droid with me but alas I had planned an unplugged walk with the girls and left it at home. I worried for a moment that they would get stuck in quick sand or something, do you think there is quick sand in the middle of a little town in GA with a dredged pond? I don't know, I guess anything is possible. Well I think they got out alive and all is well apart from some muddy clothes and maybe a lost tennis shoe or three. Why do boys have to give us mothers such trouble? even when they don't belong to us? Thank God I have two girls and although I have to worry about the youngest being a little too inquisitive and courageous at times I don't have too many occasions to get all fearful hense pissy because she's doing something potentially dangerous. This could be the excuse I need to get out of all this physical torture "sorry kids, it's just too dangerous to be outside in the summer!".... cough, cough... "yes there's mud and sun and nasty little boys, not to mention gnats and killer Canada geese"..... "prolly should stay home and let me take pictures of you all summer!!" Hmmm now that sounds better. Tune in next week when I'll be blogging from the mountains of Tennessee, yes you know that means more activity and more creative excuses from me!!!!

Silent Sunday

2011-05-22T10:27:00.000-04:00

ok..can't be silent... just have to add that his look of disdain is because of the crap hair cut we gave him, yes a homemade do. sorry mac, it will grow, and we DO love you!!!

Her Third Eye.......

2011-05-19T21:10:00.000-04:00

When I first started blogging I "met" several bloggers online who seem to

have stuck with me and I with them over the past couple of years.

So much so that we've exchanged little gifts and cards etc in the mail and

kept up with each others lives here and there.

One such blogger is Mari Mansourian who you can find here.

She's a very talented EVERYTHING!!!

She writes, take fabulous pictures, cooks, raises her boys, blogs,

runs her own business and now is setting about changing the lives of

any unfortunate soul that she happens to run across when she next visits

her home country of Armenia.

This is where you come in, Mari has made some of her fabulous prints

into greetings cards and is selling them for her project... you can read

about it here....Postcards for Smiles.

Please check out her work, I promise you'll love it!

Good Luck Mari. xxxxx

Awards, Honors and all around Congrats....

2011-05-19T07:26:00.000-04:00

it's been very busy around here this week.

the kids have been getting awards and honors left and right and i'm as proud as

can be. honestly i love how well they have done this year and it's

all to do with the teachers they have had this year and the

support of everyone in the schools.

i am in awe of these people who do so much to help the kids

and they genuinely love what they do. i feel so humbled

when they tell me how much they love my girls and they are

happy to have taught them and want them to stay in touch

as they move on in the school system.

the principals know the kids by name (for a good reason) which shows they are out

there, being involved in the school and really making an effort to enrich the lives

of each student. i am so thankful for our little town, the fact that i have such

great people rooting for my girls and helping us raise well rounded,

intelligent, happy people.

Thank you Thomas County School System... YOU ROCK!!!!

Feeling like a new Mom again...

2011-05-17T15:32:00.001-04:00

You know the feeling of complete and utter exhaustion when you're a brand new parent?? well that's how I'm feeling right now. Urggghhhhh if I don't get some serious quality sleep soon I swear I'm going to fall off the deep end. I'm not sure what's causing it other then I will hear every tiny itty bitty sound, or the fact that I just have so much to do I'm in bed later than I like to be and up before I like to be. I'm just one of those people who do not function well on less than nine hours a night.

Yes you heard me... nine hours!!!! of good quality shut eye... not just laying there thinking, thinking, thinking or listening to the damn dog licking themselves.. eeewwww!!! I NEED it... I can't think straight without it, I'm grouchy and miserable to be around. Sleep is very important to our wellbeing and completely underrated by modern society as a whole, particularly in the US (in my humble opinion). I have been telling his Gorgeousness that for years now, he's one of those aggravating asses who can just fall asleep wherever, get four hours and be good to go for the next sixteen or so and then do it all again. He doesn't understand why I am so tired or why I need more sleep than he does; I would say that if you take four times per week and multiply it by 52 weeks in the year then times that by the 14 years we've been married, it seems we've had the same ~~argument~~ conversation over 2912 times with no resolution. After almost three thousand times of being told "I need more effin' sleep than you do!!" you'd think he'd stop asking why I'm so tired in the mornings. Dang it we've had that convo more times than we've well you know.......done the wild thing!!!! There's something just sad about that!!

So recently he had to take a defensive driving course and there was a whole segment in there about driving your vehicle while fatigued... I think it made him sit up and listen. He's now completely impressed with the Spanish who have "got it down" with the common practice of taking a siesta, you see the body has a natural tendency toward fatigue during the noon hour of the day and that is why there are so many traffic accidents in the middle of the day (apparently). We should all be heads under wings and beaks under blankets at that time instead of out there narrowly avoiding death and destruction on the highways. I am wholeheartedly in agreement with that suggestion.... can we get a lobby on this please??? Also he actually conceded that I may have a point about the amount of sleep we need and that you can't catch up on lost sleep overnight... yeah you know what I mean. It takes a few good nights of a little extra sleep to catch up on that wild weekend of burning the proverbial at both ends. It's far better to have a regular sleep pattern, go to bed at the same time every night and wake up at the same time in the morning. Is this ever going to happen in my house????? Doubtful, one can but dream, if one could get some damn SLEEP!!!!!!

Now, if you'll excuse me, I took this afternoon off to be with my children following their recent successes at the respective school honors days, we are about to cuddle up, and take a nap!!!! Yep, they love to snooze as much as their Mama does and it won't be long before they won't want to nap with me so I'm making the most of it while I can, doux rêves mes enfants!!!!

first tomato .... for many a year...

2011-05-15T19:07:00.002-04:00

first tomato, originally uploaded by McGillicutty1.

I haven't grown my own tomatoes or anything much for that matter in a gazzillion and a half years. I don't know if we can count the cress that my Mum sent for the kids... and by the way I loved it on my egg sandwiches. YUM.

So I am over the moon to see my little plants producing the first fruits of my labor (well my fannying around, really), it's like giving birth all over again without the drugs. I remembered to tickle the flowers with my fingertip although there are enough bees around here I don't think pollination would have been any problem at all. I have almost trained Syd to water my little plants every day when she gets home from school, there is that slight problem with the nozzle on the end of the hose in that it's almost impossible to adjust it from anything other than pressure washer mode. Those poor plants are a little weary from the tornadoes inflicted on them once (almost once) a day! They start out standing up eagerly awaiting a drink, looking all bright and pretty, and end up flattened and soaked and wondering wtf hit them... poor bastards they don't deserve to be in the care of my family, they ain't done no wrong mister.

So... here it is... my first baby in about ahem... what... squirm.. twenty seven years??? I have to say it's like riding a bike, although now that my sense of fear is good and established I couldn't help but fear nothing was going to become of all the love and tender ~~tornadoes~~ care that we have bestowed upon it. I wonder how long it takes for this little beauty to grow big enough and red enough to embellish a salad or tasty up ham sandwich. Oh Lord... all that care and then I'm gonna eat it!!!

YUM!!!!!

Dang It Friday... and other stories....

2011-05-13T20:13:00.000-04:00

So I weaved a wonderful tale of how my electronic equipment sometimes fails me and how frustrated I get. It was brilliance, I was very happy with it, which is a rarity in itself these days.

And guess what, Blogger ate it.

So here's just a little regurge of what i can remember.... there was a question asked on a FB page about how long photographers give their clients to order their prints. I read the comments with interest and came across a comment that mentioned something called Instaproofs, so I had to investigate and I decided it was essential to my new little business adventure. Well it's totally sucked me in and I have spent a lot of time getting my account up and running and working like a dream. All this time I had to ignore my nagging need to get that red box out again (see previous 2 posts) and do something different with the pics I took. Sigh... I should have been playing but all the while the real world and real obligations were getting in the way.

I set up my laptop again last night to finish up the tweeking of my instaproofs site but the damn thing was limping along like a sad kipper, frustration bubbling under the surface I enlisted the help of his Gorgeousness (who is sometimes extremely helpful in this area) his suggestion was to defrag it. He then offered up this nugget of genius... "perhaps that thing is outdated and it's time for a new laptop". Whaatt??? this thing is less than two years old and I don't think after paying what I did it should be shuffling off it's coil so soon. I'm so cheap when it comes to electronics, they are expensive and therefore should last longer... lots of money = length of service in my book. So we set to defraging and it took a while... precious time ticking away while I could do nothing to help my fledgling business!!! URGH!!!!!

When finally I could use the darn thing I did my stuff, customized, adjusted settings, played with this, messed with that.... when I went to add some links to my blog what do you think happened... could not use Blogger for Ef's sake!!! I tell you I was more frustrated than the style advisors to Princess Beatrice and Eugenie!!! Those poor people have to be either laughing their asses off or have gone into the Witness Protection Program never to admit to their part in the fiasco of the outfits worn by both Princesses to the Wedding of the Century. Anyhoodles... suffice to say there are days when I love, love and squeeee technology and days when I could cheerfully throw my laptop across the room.

So apparently sometime today all is back to normal and the global crisis of Blogger outage has been averted. I don't want to hastily hop over to wordpress like a fickle teenager, Blogger who has served me pretty well, wordpress is not without it's problems either. I will continue and keep the faith because it's rare to experience this kind of interruption in service, it's been pretty good to me these past two years.

OK.... back to the Red Box.... I used Pioneer Woman's Boost action in PSE... c'est tres jolie n'est pas?????

Here's to a lovely weekend and I hope that all you Blogger users out there have calmed down and are now happily blogging away again. For more little red box adventures check back over the weekend!!! Au revoir mes amis!!!

Texture Tuesdays with Kim Klassen...

2011-05-10T20:33:00.000-04:00

Yes yes yes... I know I put a version of this picture on the blog yesterday when I linked up to Macro Monday but guess what, I'm using it again. I have added a couple of Kim's textures, KK believe and warm vignette.

I also adjusted the levels and took down the saturation alot.

Maybe I can use the same picture all week for several different link ups... lets see!!!

Head back to Kim for a look at all the other SUPER DUPER links.. really they are awesome!

Macro Monday

2011-05-09T20:00:00.000-04:00

I live for little gifts in pretty little boxes... don't you?

for more macros head over to Lisa's Chaos.

Kids in Sombreros

2011-05-08T19:11:00.001-04:00

I really must get back to using my moleskin notebook to jot down my

ideas. I have had a lot of ideas lately but for some reason when I sit down to blog

absolutely nothing at all comes to mind.

It's the same when I go to the grocery store, I walk in with a vague idea of

what I may want to get then I become all overwhelmed and simply cannot think!!!

It's like being paralyzed by the enormity of the consequences of not getting

the right thing, or forgetting a key ingredient or having to try and think of the

shopping list in terms of three meals a day for four people who have differing

tastes, not to mention remembering the dog food.

or the toothpaste.

I'm getting worse as I get older, I have said this before on this blog that I

have no imagination when it comes to preparing dinner so that when I get into

the store I just CAN NOT THINK. This weekend it happened again, I was

trying to plan Sydney's birthday party, yes I was planning it 8 hours before

it was actually due to begin. We were at the party store and it was like I was having

a panic attack. You would think a list may have helped.... luckily Syd and her

friend had made a list. Phew... then we went to Walmart for the rest of the

components to make this do a success and once again, panic stricken.

I just could not muster up a clear vision of what this party was going to look like and what

these poor kids were going to eat and drink, except that it was a Mexican theme.

We got all the stuff home and threw together a little gathering in the back yard.

All the stress of the day only showed one time, when I felt like Mother of the Year.

Ash had gone to a different birthday party earlier in the day and I was supposed

to have picked her up at 5:30 (or at least sent his Gorgeousness to get her).

Well at sixish she comes running into the back yard with her little friends mother!!!

O.M.G!!!!!! I had forgotten about my youngest child.

Luckily this family are good friends and brought her home and laughed it off.

I felt like a total ASS!!!!!

Oh well, it happens, I can only feel shitty for a while before some other major

Duh comes along to take it's place! Things could be worse, they could have

left her at the bowling alley where the party took place. Thank GOD

someone is a better parent than I.

It seems the thrown together stressed over party was a success though.

The fake mustaches and sombreros were a hit, the girls had fun and it was over for

another month. Ash turns seven next month; this time I'm making lists.

Thursday Morning {hurried} thoughts...

2011-05-05T08:42:00.000-04:00

For crying out loud I'm always on a freakin' tight rope when it comes to having

time for doing things... it's squeeze in this and throw together that.

URRGGGHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!

It's been three days since my last post and I like to check around other blogs, twitter,

my inbox before clicking away at the keyboard and getting my next post together.

Unfortunately ~~effin' life~~ time has not allowed me the luxury of a

couple of hours of research before this post.

So it's gonna suck.

What I wanted to carefully craft was a post about how lucky I am in the

grand scheme of things. I have to be particularly careful and not be my own true

foot in mouth self with this post because the last time I laid it out in

plain speak I got Dooced.. if you don't know what that means.. go back to sleep.

I have been particularly pissed at the world lately, seems like I can't get ahead and

it's wearing a little thin on the old nerves. The older I get the less patient I'm becoming

and them more vocal I am with my pissed offedness.... yes I made up that word

and I like it.. you may use it if you wish.

However, it appears that there's a higher power willing to show me that it ain't

so bad, and he/she (remember God was Alanis Morrisett in that Matt/Ben movie)

is trying to give me a sign on a daily basis that I should put on my girl panties and move on.

He/She is telling me that I have in fact got it pretty good and that I should be

thankful; well I get it, I am thankful... ya hear me... Thanks... now will you just stop already.

You may think there's some snark in that offer of gratitude and you'd be right, there is.

That is because the signs I'm being sent are all involving people I love and care

for. I am thankful these things are happening to me personally but I am very upset that

they are happening to those near and dear... and not just little things either but life

altering situations that are causing pain and heartbreak!

I can't keep up with any more stories that make me want to cry, or that leave

me speechless and angry, I don't know that there's any more empathy left in me.

So dear heart.... just lets leave it alone for a while shall we, no more drama, I get

it. My life on the whole is good and I'm very appreciative of the gifts I have.

Now leave everyone around me alone.

Thank you and have a great day.

this collage has nothing to do with the post... it's just pretty

Ten Years Ago...

2011-05-02T18:58:00.001-04:00

Ten years ago today, I became a mother.

I'm reading that phrase over and over because I still can't believe it.

My first born is ten years old. She's growing like a weed and is very bright, witty,

loving and kind. I want to be just like her when I grow up.

Here's to you Syd the Kid... I love you more than you can imagine...

and here's to ten years of incredible experiences all rolled into one fantastic package!

Just some random shots from her little life... 'scuse the quality... had to scan

them, we had a computer failure a couple of years ago and lost a ton of
pictures on the hard drive... lesson.. back up your hard drive!!
Happy Birthday my lovely young lady, sorry about the lame post,
I'm tired, depressed and just plain out of mojo tonight.

in which she does in fact lose her mind...

2011-05-01T20:13:00.000-04:00

I realized yesterday that we have reached a milestone in our household.

We have moved into another phase of our family life, we're totally done with the

infant and toddler stage... the preschool stage is a recent memory but

it is behind us all the same.

We are about to embark on unknown territory, Syd has three weeks of fourth grade

left before she officially becomes a rising middleschooler.

In three short, hot, fun-packed months we'll be dropping her off at the Middle

School and she'll be in a totally new phase of her life. As will I (and of course Dad).

Ash will be heading into second grade, she's no longer reliant on me for the

little things like washing her hair (she still likes me to brush it), or dressing her in

the mornings or even helping her to read a book.

We took them out to eat yesterday lunchtime, it was quite a drive to the restaurant we had

chosen and they had books in the car. There was no whining, no drama, no screaming

or fisticuffs in the back seat. WTF??????

When we arrived at the restaurant we sat at the table and they busied

themselves with the kids menu's and the crayons.

His gorgeousness and I didn't have to help with the word search or games, there

were no outbursts of frustration or interruptions; we, the McK family had a

lovely lunch in a restaurant and didn't have to suffer the "looks" from childless people

surrounding us. And then it hit me.

They are not babies any more. We are a family of two adults and two children.

Not little kids but growing girls who can read and write, ride bikes, help

themselves to snacks and drinks, help around the house and do the dishes or the

laundry when I beg them to. They are intelligent and have, from what I can see, a good

grasp of what's right and wrong and they know how to be kind to others.

As I was processing all this I mentioned to his gorgeousness that the hard

part is over, then Ashley held up her kids menu and she had drawn a picture on the

back of four people, two kids and two adults, at the top she wrote

"I love my family"

And then I lost my mind. How could it be that we're doing so well raising

these girls when it seems like we suck at everything else. Our lives seem in chaos most

of the time and I'm a grumpy old biotch!!! I forget appointments, I'm late with

projects, I shout at the girls when I'm pissed (at myself) and I still haven't

taken care of that damn root canal I was supposed to have three months ago.

Apparently none of that matters to them, so maybe I need to lighten up and let it go.

I'm not sure that I'm ready for this next phase of motherhood, I still don't feel like

I mastered the baby stuff very well, but hey... it's behind me so I can let it go!!!

I am so in love with those girls and so thankful for what we have as a

family, and I have a lovely husband who stands by me when my mind is lost, what more

could a mid life mama ask for????

A day off maybe... well Mother's day is next week.. maybe they'll send me to a spa

to find my mind again... hint hint.

And the Winner is......

2011-04-30T21:41:00.000-04:00

Well although I didn't get the entries I had hoped for I went ahead and

used the random number generator and the winner of my lovely

Scentsy giveaway is....

drum roll....

The one and only Brian Miller at waystationone

yes that's right... he's always (almost always) the first to comment on my posts and

therefore I am thrilled he won the scent warmer and two scents which my good

friend Courtney will pick out for him based on these facts.....

a) she doesn't know the first thing about him

b) he's a dude......

So thanks to all who left comments and followed me and blah blah blah.

Let's do this again sometime shall we????