Monday, January 31, 2011

The Double-Nickel (031/365)

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Old is always fifteen years from now.

Bill Cosby (American Actor, Comedian and Producer. b.1937, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA)

TIME:  11:14 PM
PLACE:  Kitchen
SUBJECT:  Two nickels

I mentioned yesterday that the HandsomeHusband turns the big double-nickel today.  And in honor of that occasion, I present a photo of…two nickels.  Happy Birthday my love and I wish you many, many more.

Sunday, January 30, 2011

It’s Tart Time Again (030/365)

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“A gourmet who thinks of calories is like a tart who looks at her watch.”

James Andrew Beard (American chef and food writer, 1903–1985)

TIME:  3:44 PM
PLACE:  Kitchen
SUBJECT:  Birthday Fruit Tart

Two years ago(!) I posted this photo of a fruit tart I made for HH’s birthday. 728 days later, I’m posting another photo of said tart – no, it’s not the *same* tart you sillies, I think that dessert would be a little moldy by now.  I concocted this one today, along with a chicken pot pie for supper.  We invited my dad over to eat with us and to sing (very badly, I might add) “Happy Birthday” to the HandsomeHusband who turns the big, double-nickel tomorrow. 
~*~*~*~
I should get extra “what-a-good-wife” bonus points for making this because I had to go to the grocery store this morning for the ingredients.  It was ugggg-ly.  That place was a madhouse…an obnoxious blend of Sunday grocery shoppers and people in a mad frenzy to stock up on bread, milk and eggs to hold them over during the expected winter storm (freezing rain, snow, and sleet, temps in the single digits-woo hoo.)

Saturday, January 29, 2011

I Guess They Were Hungry (029/365)

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Hungry men don't ask, they take.”
 
Kenneth Kolb, and Nathan Juran. Sinbad (Kerwin Mathews), The 7th Voyage of Sinbad, explaining to the wizard why the men killed the baby roc (1958).

TIME:  10:11 AM
PLACE:  Kitchen
SUBJECT:  Cake

I baked a cake last night – DramaQueen was the only one awake when I made it and she and I each had one piece before we went to bed (from the frosted side, I only frost one side of the cake because MonkeyBoy and HandsomeHusband like un-iced cake).  I put the cover on the cake pan and we went to sleep.  Fast forward to this morning…I slept in until 8:30, took my shower, got dressed and headed to the kitchen.  This is the sight that greeted me - Holy guacamole!…it looks like a horde of angry locusts descended upon it…what did the poor cake do to my family to deserve such decimation and destruction?  I did manage to have one more piece before it was devoured completely.

Friday, January 28, 2011

Lampy (028/365)

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Lampy: I remember the first time my bulb burned out. I thought, "That's it! I'm burnt out! Eighty-sixed! To the showers!" And then the master gave me a new bulb... and I glowed.

*The Brave Little Toaster*. Dir. Jerry Rees. 1987. Hyperion Pictures.

TIME:  9:48 PM
PLACE:  MonkeyBoy’s bedroom
SUBJECT:  Clip-on reading lamp

The boy now has a freshly painted room and a new bed, mattress and bedding to sleep on.  His bed is a captain’s bed which has a four storage drawer chest that sits underneath the mattress platform.  The headboard has shelves for his books, clock and whatever else he needs to keep close by.  Before supper, he and I went to Target where he picked out a bedding set (blue/white/tan plaid), an indigo cotton blanket, a second pillow for his head and a lamp that clips to his headboard so he can read easily before falling asleep.  I’ve always felt bad that he and StellaDella have very tiny bedrooms and are very limited to what furniture can be place in the room.  I think right now, though, the size isn’t an issue and MB is happy with his new bed and “new” room.

Thursday, January 27, 2011

Hope (027/365)

2011 01 27 Photo206w
“There will be times when you will be in the field without a camera.  And, you will see the most glorious sunset or the most beautiful scene that you have ever witnessed.  Don't be bitter because you can't record it.  Sit down, drink it in, and enjoy it for what it is!”

DeGriff

TIME:  5:26 PM
PLACE:  Home Depot parking lot
SUBJECT:  Sunset (taken with my cell phone)

I thought one gallon was going to be enough for MonkeyBoy’s room, but the walls seemed to suck up the paint.  I was about a 1/2 gallon short to finish the second coat.  So off I went to Home Depot to get another pail of paint.  The sunset was looking especially beautiful ~ you know why?…because I didn’t have my camera with me. (It’s a conspiracy I tell ya)  So I used my  cell phone with it’s tiny 1.3 megapixels.  Even though I didn’t get the best picture, I’m glad I witnessed it.  It was beautiful – it gives me hope that spring will be here soon.
~*~*~
You want to know something odd?  I don’t take many photos with my cell phone camera, but last year on this day, the photo I posted was also taken with my cell phone. *cue Twilight zone music*

Wednesday, January 26, 2011

Bob (026/365)

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“I have learned the difference between a cactus and a caucus. On a cactus, the pricks are on the outside.”

Morris K. Udall (American Congressman, 1922-1998)

TIME:  8:20 PM
PLACE:  DramaQueen’s bedroom
SUBJECT:  Cactus

This is DQ’s cactus, which she purchased from Home Depot last year and named “Bob” <= why?  I don’t know…because she could I guess.  All that green – the wall, pot, cactus flower and cactus rind – is natural.  So are the shadows.  The one on the left is from a piece of MonkeyBoy’s furniture that is temporarily residing in her room while I’m painting his and the one on the right is from a display case that sits next to the cactus on the top of the bookcase.  I like serendipitous surprises when I take pictures.  I couldn't have colored/lit it that way if I tried.

Tuesday, January 25, 2011

Henry VIII & Captain Crunch (025/365)

2011 01 25 IMG_7945w
“Divorced, Beheaded, Died.
Divorced, Beheaded, Survived.”

Rhyme telling the fate of the wives of Henry VIII.

TIME:  10:00 PM
PLACE:  Kitchen
SUBJECT:  Book & cereal

I spent most of the evening painting woodwork in MonkeyBoy’s bedroom.  It will need 3 coats of paint on the woodwork and probably 2 coats of paint on the walls when all is said and done and I want it done by Friday.  One coat on the woodwork down – 2 more to go.  I’ll get the walls painted – they should go pretty quick - after the woodwork is done (and some spackling repairs to the plaster).  After I finished with the 1st coat of paint tonight, I was hungry and decided to have a bowl of cereal and read a little bit while I ate.  Captain Crunch and Henry VIII (His life and the lives of his wives fascinate me) – always a good combo.

Monday, January 24, 2011

Curled Up (024/365)

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“Cats never strike a pose that isn't photogenic.”

Lillian Jackson Braun (American writer, well-known for her light-hearted series of "The Cat Who..." mystery novels. born 1913)

TIME:  8:37 PM
PLACE:  DramaQueen’s bedroom
SUJBECT:  Tessa

Tessa’s favorite spot to nap is in DQ’s room nestled in her zebra printed, plush covered butterfly chair.  No one (kids, other cat, or dog) usually bothers her while she is in it and she stays all warm and snuggly while she sleeps.  Of course, I took the opportunity to bother her this evening as I had no other ideas for a photo today.  She tolerated the photo session fairly well.

Sunday, January 23, 2011

Spot Of Color (023/365)

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There is no blue without yellow and without orange.

Vincent van Gogh (Dutch Painter, one of the greatest of the Post-Impressionists, 1853-1890)

TIME:  1:23 PM
PLACE:  Home
SUBJECT:  “Liberty” paint

It’s time to paint another bedroom…MonkeyBoy’s room this time.  We just bought him a new bed and mattress today - currently his mattress is on the floor and somehow he managed to break his box spring.  The new bed has 4 very needed storage drawers underneath and a bookcase headboard.  His room is very small and it’s tricky finding things that fit.  Since we will be moving everything out to rearrange, it is the perfect time to repaint.  We went to Home Depot and unlike his sister, who took 30 minutes to choose the perfect green for her room, he chose this blue for his walls in about 2 seconds.  Boys are so different.

Saturday, January 22, 2011

Happy Chairs Laugh At Your Lack of Trivia Knowledge (022/365)

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“The utmost extent of man's knowledge, is to know that he knows nothing.”

Joseph Addison (1672-1719), British essayist. "Essay on Pride," Interesting Anecdotes, Memoirs, Allegories, Essays, and Poetical Fragments (1794).

TIME:  9:48 PM
PLACE:  Holy Trinity Cafeteria, Trivia Night
SUBJECT:  Chairs

Trivia nights always seem to drive home the fact that there are so many things out there that I do not know.  Our table (HH and I, Dad, Aunt Alice, my sister Cathy, and brother-in-law, David and my niece and her friend from college) didn’t come in first, but on the other hand, we weren’t last either…we ended up being in 6th or 7th place out of a room of 20 tables.  There was no reason for the chairs to mock us as they did.

Friday, January 21, 2011

Old Industry, Feeling Guilty & An Encounter With The Law (021/365)

2011 01 21 IMG_9824w
“When we played softball, I'd steal second base, feel guilty and go back.”

Woody Allen (American Actor, Author, Screenwriter and Film Director, b.1935)

TIME:  10:29 PM
PLACE:  Our town
SUBJECT:  Old grain elevator

I decided to try to take some snowy night pictures.  Luckily for me, DQ was spending the night at a friends, HH was home, SD was ready to go to bed and poor MB was in his bed trying to make it through his turn with the stomach virus (I picked him up from school at 1:30pm – he decorated the school sidewalk on the way to the car.)  I borrowed HH’s window mount tripod, picked up a coffee at Quick Trip and off I went.  At first, I felt kind of paranoid, like someone was watching me and thinking that I was up to no good.  I was feeling guilty like I was doing something wrong, but I pressed on.  After a while, I started to feel kind of stealthy and a little bit more confident...until these photos:

2011 01 21 IMG_9847w2011 01 21 IMG_9849w
This was at a Pre-K school playground in our school district.  I was taking the photos when a vehicle pulled along the passenger side of the Jeep and a bright light shone into my car.  It was the police.  The officer (younger than me too, *grrrr*) asked me if everything was ok and what I was doing.  I told him I was just trying to improve my photo skills by taking some night photos, was I doing anything wrong?  No, he said, but you are parked on the wrong side of the street.  *gulp*  Sorry officer, I was just trying to get closer for the shot and because my window mount was on the driver’s side…I’ll move along.  He had already run my plates apparently because he asked if I still lived on “XXXX St.” and then he asked me if I was trying to take a photo of the house.  House?  I said…ummm, no, no, no…see that ball playground thingy?  That’s what I’m trying to capture.  I asked him if he wanted to see what I had taken photos of this evening and he said yes.  I un-mounted my camera, exited my car and let him see my shots on the screen.  I guess that was satisfactory enough for him; he wished me a good evening and went on his way.  Gah!  My heart was racing!  These shots were going to be my last ones anyway, so I decided now would be a good time to call it a night myself.  I do wish I would have had more time to compose those shots better…I think they really could have been spectacular.  I know the officer was doing his job; he was polite and respectful and I have no complaint with him or the way he handled our encounter, but, ack! I wish that I didn’t feel so guilty about what I was doing.  And I guess I wasn’t as stealthy as I thought, darnnit.

Thursday, January 20, 2011

View From The Front Door (020/365)

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“Nature has no mercy at all. Nature says, ‘I'm going to snow. If you have on a bikini and no snowshoes, that's tough. I am going to snow anyway.’”

Maya Angelou (b. 1928), U.S. author, poet. repr. In Conversations with Maya Angelou (1989). "Maya Angelou: An Interview," (first published Oct. 1974).

TIME:  4:40 PM
PLACE:  Front porch
SUBJECT:  Porch railing

The snow fell yesterday evening while I was sleeping away the stomach virus.  It fell enough for us to receive the automated message at 11:22pm last night from the school district that school was cancelled for today.  Which was a good thing, ‘cause I still was not all that great this morning.  I spent my day bleaching and sanitizing the bed sheets and sitting around playing “Plants vs. Zombies” on the Xbox with the munchkins.  DramaQueen did get out and go sledding with her friend Erin this afternoon, so at least somebody had some fun in the snow.  It would have been a great day to get out and take some wintery photos, but, alas, it was not meant to be.  Standing at the front door was as far as I was going to go today.

Wednesday, January 19, 2011

The Only Thing That Will Stay Down (019/365)

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“There is one consolation in being sick; and that is the possibility that you may recover to a better state than you were ever in before.”

Henry David Thoreau (1817-1862), U.S. philosopher, author, naturalist. Letter, June 27, 1855, to Harrison Blake, in The Writings of Henry David Thoreau, vol. 6, p. 254, Houghton Mifflin (1906).

TIME:  1:12 PM
PLACE:  Kitchen
SUBJECT:  Sprite soda

Whatever stomach virus HH and SD had, I got.  I knew around 9pm Tuesday night that my evening was not going to end well.  The supper I ate was just sitting at the bottom of my stomach like a heavy rock.  I went to bed, got the shivers, and lay there just wishing that I would throw up and get it over with.  At 3am I got my wish!  It was not pretty.  When I get sick like that, the only thing that I want is a nice cold glass of Sprite.  Luckily, we had some in the house and the HH made me a drink with tons of ice.  I drank that and went back to sleep.  HH took the day off and got the kiddos to school so I could rest.  I did have to drag myself into work to do payroll (très important!) and complete some election committee reports that had to be at the Board of Elections by Thursday.  Then I came back home and collapsed again.  I’m hoping Thursday will be a better day.

Tuesday, January 18, 2011

Gas Flame (018/365)

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“In everyone's life, at some time, our inner fire goes out. It is then burst into flame by an encounter with another human being. We should all be thankful for those people who rekindle the inner spirit.”

Albert Schweitzer (German medical Missionary, Theologian, Musician and Philosopher. 1952 Nobel Peace Prize, 1875-1965)

TIME:  9:33 PM
PLACE:  Kitchen
SUBJECT:  Gas burner on stove

Oh my it is utterly blah and blech around here!  Whatever way like to spell the color, it is grey, gray, grey, gray, grey, gray, grey outside.  And cold.  And without inspiration.  And did I mention it is grey outside?  Anyway, I tried taking pictures of the gas burner on my stove this evening.  I used the tripod and my Rebel.  I tried fast shutter speeds, slow shutter speeds, wide apertures, narrow apertures, high ISO, low ISO and everything in-between and a kabillion combinations thereof.  I could not get a decent shot – frustrating.  So I said, “&$#% it!” and grabbed my Canon PowerShot S2 IS (which is having some tremendous lens issues by the way) and clicked away on Auto without the flash.  This is the result. *shakes head* 

Monday, January 17, 2011

Balloons (017/365)

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“Nobody can be uncheered with a balloon”

Winnie the Pooh

TIME:  8:09 PM
PLACE:  Home
SUBJECT:  Water balloons

StellaDella found a white, plastic, round container of water balloons in the basement last month and after blowing up many, many “baby” balloons, she abandoned it in the upstairs hallway.  As I was walking by it for the umpteempth time today, I realized how bright and colorful they were - in marked contrast to our gray, depressing weather.  So, before I put them away (finally!), I decided to take a picture of the balloons at the bottom of the container.  I don’t know why, but this photo makes me smile.

Sunday, January 16, 2011

Controller (016/365)

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“One of the best lessons children learn through video games is standing still will get them killed quicker than anything else”

Jinx Milea

TIME:  9:14 PM
PLACE:  Home
SUBJECT:  Xbox 360 wireless controller

MonkeyBoy received an Xbox Kinect for Christmas, but hasn’t been able to use it as his bedroom (where the Xbox was) did not have enough space for it to work properly.  Late this afternoon, after hours of bugging asking me, we moved the whole configuration to the living room.  I got to spend a good 30 to 45 minutes figuring out how to get everything re-connected and in working order.  I must say, I done good – there was minimal cursing and it worked the 1st time we turned it on.  It might be better having it in the living room – since it’s connected to the family TV it will really limit the amount of time he gets to spend on it, plus parental supervision will be easier.  I don’t think he thought of that before asking to move the system.

Saturday, January 15, 2011

Peeling Bark (015/365)

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“As the poet said, "Only God can make a tree" - probably because it's so hard to figure out how to get the bark on”

Woody Allen (American Actor, Author, Screenwriter and Film Director, b.1935)

TIME:  2:00 PM
PLACE:  Josephine’s Tea Room – Godfrey, IL
SUBJECT:  River Birch trunk

I met up with three friends from high school for lunch at Josephine’s Tea Room in Godfrey, Illinois today.  I left about 10am and didn’t get back home until almost 4 – it was a nice “Me” day.  HH was home with the kids, but unfortunately, he was sick, as in can’t-get-out-of-bed sick.  That didn’t stop me from leaving though.  (I mean, if the roles were reversed, do you think it would have stopped him from going?  Um, that would be a big, fat “No”)  I fed the kids breakfast before I left, but they had to fend for themselves for lunch - which they have done many, many times before – it should have been a no-brainer.  But apparently, they had issues with all the food that was in the house, because the second I walked in the door, I was bombarded with whining...“We’re starving Mom!” “There was nothing here good to eat!” “What’s for dinner?”  Awww, those poor babies. *rolls eyes*  Well, there was no way I was going to cook anything, so I was a bad mom and just picked them up McDonalds.  And that was my Saturday.

Friday, January 14, 2011

Still Blooming After All These Years (014/365)

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(On what her longevity is attributed to)
“Red meat and gin.”

Julia Child nee McWilliams (American, Chef, author, and television personality, 1912- 2004)

TIME:  8:03 PM
PLACE:  Dad’s house
SUBJECT:  Christmas cactus bloom

We think this Christmas Cactus is at least 55 years old, if not more.  My Dad says that it was at my maternal grandmother’s house when he was dating my mom back in the early 1960s and Grandma D-- had it for some time before that.  Dad keeps it on a northern facing window seat where it gets indirect light – apparently it likes it there as it blooms every year, although some years it has more flowers than others.  ~*~*~  We (me, SD, DQ, DQ’s BFF-Erin and my sister and her two kids) were at Dad’s tonight visiting and mooching some dinner – Chinese take out – then we introduced Erin to the joys of playing dominos.  I was the big winner.

Thursday, January 13, 2011

Cold Cat (013/365)

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“As Mother Nature turns down the temperature, we tend to turn up the thermostat.”

Michelle Mueller, vice president of customer services for San Diego Gas & Electric.

TIME:  7:45 PM
PLACE:  Kitchen
SUBJECT:  Jack

You know it’s cold in the house when the cat sits on the heat register.  I might need to rethink the thermostat settings.

Wednesday, January 12, 2011

Eaves and Icicles (012/365)

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“I had stopped to watch a family of brilliant icicles drip- dripping from the eaves of a frame house….”
 
Vladimir Nabokov (1899-1977), Russian-born U.S. novelist, poet. "The Vane Sisters," Nabokov's Quartet (1966). The beginning of the story.

TIME:  4:03 PM
PLACE:  Looking out the back door
SUBJECT:  Icicles hanging off the porch eave

Shortly after I took SD’s photo yesterday, she started involuntarily emptying the contents of her stomach and continued to do so until about 1am this morning.  I wasn’t feeling to up to snuff myself.  Needless to say, she didn’t go to school and I didn’t go to work today.  It was very cold today, I don’t think it got out of the teens, so it was kind of nice to be able to snuggle under the blankets with her and watch TV and nap all morning.  We are feeling much better now, so it looks like school and work are both back in the picture for us tomorrow.

Tuesday, January 11, 2011

Bubble Blowing Concentration (011/365)

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I had a stick of CareFree gum, but it didn't work. I felt pretty good while I was blowing that bubble, but as soon as the gum lost its flavor, I was back to pondering my mortality.

Mitch Hedberg (American Comedian, 1968-2005)

TIME:  4:07 PM
PLACE:  Home
SUBJECT:  StellaDella

SD talked me into buying her some bubblegum yesterday and she’s been diligently perfecting her bubble blowing technique since then.  I think I’ve been alerted to - and shown - all 42-hundred bubbles (as well as another 42-hundred misfires) she’s blown in the last 24 hours.  This is just one of the many success.

Monday, January 10, 2011

Geodesic Dome (010/365)

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“Let architects sing of aesthetics that bring Rich clients in hordes to their knees; Just give me a home, in a great circle dome Where stresses and strains are at ease.”

Richard Buckminster Fuller (US engineer and architect, 1895-1983)

TIME:  6:21 PM
PLACE:  Grade school
SUBJECT:  Structure made of rolled newspapers

At StellaDella’s Daisy meeting tonight, we rolled newspapers and taped them into triangles to create a slightly wonky-geodesic-type dome.  I don’t know what the girls enjoyed more, building the dome or trying to stick as many pieces of tape as they could to the adult leaders.

Sunday, January 9, 2011

Closed Gate (009/365)

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Trust in dreams, for in them is hidden the gate to eternity.

Kahlil Gibran (Lebanese born American philosophical Essayist, Novelist and Poet. 1883-1931)

TIME:  6:53 AM
PLACE:  Main Street
SUBJECT:  School playground gate

The HandsomeHusband has a habit of getting up early on weekend mornings and taking pictures.  I invited myself along asked him if he would mind if I accompanied him this morning.  We stopped by Quik Trip for coffee (it was freezing this morning!) and drove around town looking for interesting things.  He even let me use his window mounted tripod I bought him for Christmas.  There was some frustration on his part as I wasn’t familiar with the tripod and had some blonde moments trying to adjust things, but overall I think his what-the-hell-was-I-thinking/urge-to-kill-me level remained on the low side.  It was neat seeing what the camera could do with longer shutter speeds.  I took this photo just a few minutes after dawn and I love the color of the sky.

Saturday, January 8, 2011

Squirrel Haiku (008/365)

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Eating a cashew
Bushy tail curled on his back
He sees you watching

Sujomi, Original Squirrel Haiku, 2011

TIME:  1:49 PM
PLACE:  Front porch
SUBJECT:  Cashew eating squirrel

I placed some cashews on the front porch for the tree rodents, hoping that I would be able to take some photos.  It worked – of course I had to put the dog in the kennel, because she was lunging at the storm door, scaring them away each time they climbed the porch steps.  We had three different rats on the porch at various times, giving me plenty of photo opportunities.  This guy (I can tell this one is a male, can you?) was the fattest of the three and I could see why…he ate most of the nuts.

Friday, January 7, 2011

“S” Is For Somber (007/365)

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“To watch this crystal globe just sent from heaven to associate with me. While these clouds and this somber drizzling weather shut all in, we two draw nearer and know one another.”

Henry David Thoreau (American Essayist, Poet and Philosopher, 1817-1862)

TIME:  3:31 PM
PLACE:  Backyard
SUBJECT:  Fence ornament

”Somber” is a good word to describe the weather today – “Dreary” would be another, but I was unable to find something to photograph that resembled a “D” so I went with “S” and a side trip to the thesaurus – *ahem*.  Weather-wise, we were dealt grey skies, cold temperatures and snow flurries today.  I am done – so done! - with winter.  What I wouldn’t give to be sitting on a sunny beach with 85 degree temps, warm water and a cold alcoholic drink with an umbrella in it by my side…and oh heck, I guess I’d want my husband there too.

Thursday, January 6, 2011

Double Vision (006/365)

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The neurotic has perfect vision in one eye, but he cannot remember which”

Mignon McLaughlin, The Neurotic's Notebook, 1960

TIME:  3:50 PM
PLACE:  The optometrist’s office
SUBJECT:  Phoropter and DramaQueen

January is the beginning of the year and also the beginning of our insurance (medical/dental/vision) year.  DQ last visited the eye doctor in January of 2010 and had run out of disposable contacts.  Before we ordered any new ones, we needed to see if her prescription had changed.  I picked her up at school a a half-hour early (she loved that) and drove her to her appointment.  Her eyes have stayed the same – she has an astigmatism in her left eye which became a little more pronounced, but nothing to change her prescription.  That’s good – I hope her eyes don’t become as bad as mine.

Wednesday, January 5, 2011

Why My Windows Always Have Fingerprints (005/365)

2011 12 05 IMG_7188w
Cleaning your house while your kids are still growing is like shoveling the sidewalk before it stops snowing

Phyllis Diller (American comedienne and actress, born 1917)

TIME:  4:34 PM
PLACE:  Kitchen
SUBJECT:  Steamy windows

I was boiling pasta for dinner this evening when DramaQueen went outside with the dog.  She left the main door open and the steam from the pot covered the storm door with a layer of condensation.  StellaDella noticed this and was attracted to the windows like a moth to a flame.  I didn’t have my camera out quick enough (I left the card in the computer, so I was fumbling about for a little bit) to catch her in the illegal act of drawing on the window.  She “erased” her pictures before I could snap a photo.  However, I did manage to capture some evidence of her masterpiece in the bottom right corner of this photo.  Busted.

Tuesday, January 4, 2011

Snow-Werewolf (004/365)

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I bet when neanderthal kids would make a snowman, someone would always end up saying, 'Don't forget the thick, heavy brows.' Then they would get all embarrassed because they remembered they had the big husky brows too, and they'd get mad and eat the snowman.

Jack Handy (American Writer and cast member of Saturday Night Live from 1991-2003. Famous for his Deep Thoughts comedy sketches.)

TIME:  9:07 PM
PLACE:  Kitchen
SUBJECT:  January Family Project

StellaDella brought home a family project to complete for school.  It is to decorate a snowman using whatever we want however we want and officially, it is due on Friday.  This morning, SD told me that we had to DO IT TODAY because some classmates already brought theirs in and IT IS REQUIRED BY FRIDAY MOM!!!!  Obviously, she didn’t want to wait until the last minute and needed me to get with the program.  We worked on it this evening.  Her idea was to make a snow-werewolf (of course it was…although I was a little surprised she didn’t want to make a snow-zombie) and she wanted to use the leftover fur from her werewolf hat I made in back in 2009.  Lucky for me, I was able to find the fur without too much digging and we were able to put it together.  The snow-werewolf is a girl.  She is wearing a jaunty, striped scarf and is going to heave a snowball at you…because that is what snow-werewolves do.

Monday, January 3, 2011

Frozen Peas (003/365)

2011 01 03 _MG_7111w
Orson Wells: Yes, Rosebud Frozen Peas. Full of country goodness and green pea-ness. Wait, that's terrible.  I quit... Just a handful for the road.
[takes a handful of peas and walks away whilst munching loudly]

"Eyes on the Prize." The Critic. Perf. Maurice LaMarche. 2 Mar. 1994. Television.

TIME:  5:09 PM
PLACE:  Kitchen
SUBJECT:  Frozen peas

So I don’t have to rack my brain all the time for subject ideas, I downloaded the 53 Weekly Themes list from the Digital Photography School website.  This week the theme is “Cold” - and what would be a better subject than a bowlful of frozen peas, complete with ice crystals, sitting and waiting to be microwaved for supper?  Well, I’m sure there are colder things out there, but this is all I could come up with today.

Sunday, January 2, 2011

No Thanks, We’re Going Straight (002/365)

2011 01 02 IMG_7103w
Guy #1: Do you need directions?
Guy #2: I'm all set. I have the address, a GPS, and a GPS override.
Guy #1: What's a GPS override?
Guy #2: My wife
.

Joke, Unknown

TIME:  7:24 PM
PLACE:  In the Jeep at US-50 intersection
SUBJECT:  Garmin

We went to my sister’s for my niece’s birthday party this afternoon.  Yes, we know how to get to my sister’s house, but I wanted to use our new Garmin to see how it works.  It’s original calculation had us going a way we don’t normally go (major highways), so it had to recalculate a new route based upon our preferred drive.  The same thing happened on our way home.  After I took this picture, we went straight ahead at the intersection instead of turning right as the Garmin lady told us.  Yeah, we’re rebels.

Saturday, January 1, 2011

Twenty Eleven (001/365)

2011 01 01 IMG 7033w
TIME:  2:46 PM
PLACE:  Main Street
SUBJECT:  2011 Address

Well here we are at the beginning of another year of photos.  As I look back over the last two years, I’m glad that I documented our lives with pictures and journaling.  Time just goes too fast.  Before I realize it, my youngest will be grown-up and out on her own...

_MG_6995 copyw

TIME:  12:30 PM
PLACE:  Home
SUBJECT:  StellaDella

…but I think we’re going to have our hands full in the meantime.