A Bird in the Hand (142/365)

TIME: 7:07 AM
PLACE: Back porch
SUBJECT: Bird

There was a bird flying around Stella’s room this morning.

Apparently, we have a breach in our security system.

Stella’s New Hand (086/365)

TIME: 6:52 PM
PLACE: Home
SUBJECT: Claw and hand

SD decided she “needed” this claw grabber when we were at Walgreens buying Easter candy.

Throwback Thursday (074/365)

TIME: 3/15/2009 – 4:32 PM
PLACE: Living room
SUBJECT: MonkeyBoy’s hand

MB took this photo 9 years ago.

Who knows why.

Floam (181/366)

“Mold anything!
Mold everything”

Floam slogan

TIME:  9:46 PM
PLACE:  Home
SUBJECT:  “Purple Power” Floam

SD and I went out to eat (her favorite place – Fazolis) and then stopped by the bookstore to look around.  She spied her current heart’s desire – Floam (an “as seen on TV” modeling compound marketed by Nickelodeon).  Her just given allowance was itching to be spent.  I did talk her into going to a couple of other stores to see if it could be purchased any cheaper, but where where we went, no one carried it.  So back to the bookstore we went.  Since I have missed passing out a couple of allowances (shhhhhh, don’t let her know), I went ahead and bought it for her.  It made her day.
~*~*~
I have since found a website that give a recipe to make your own “Floam” – probably a better thing to do.

Quitting Time…Finally (142/366)

“The best way to appreciate your job is to imagine yourself without one.”

Oscar Wilde (Irish Poet, Novelist, Dramatist and Critic, 1854-1900)

TIME:  5:25 PM
PLACE:  Work
SUBJECT:  Clock

This was my first day of “10s”.  During the summer, I have opted to work from 7am to 5:30pm on Mondays and Tuesdays: I’m off on Wednesdays; and then work 7am to 5:30pm on Thursdays and Fridays.  This way I can have at least 1 day off a week to do something with the kids or get stuff done around the house (yeah, like THAT’s gonna happen).  I think I’m going to like Wednesday’s off because I only have to work the 10 hours 2 days in a row.  Today, I had officially clocked in at 6:55am so out I went at 5:25 this evening.  Yeah…I made it!

Scenes From A Mall (118/366)

Buffy: I was thinking about shopping. As per usual.
Willow: Oh. There's an Arden B. in the new mall.
Xander: Oh, good. I could use a few items.
Giles: Well, now aren't we gonna discuss this? Save the world or go to the mall?
Buffy: I'm having a wicked shoe craving.

Buffy the Vampire Slayer: Season 7, Episode 22. Chosen. (20 May 2003)

TIME:  8:46 PM
PLACE:  Macy’s
SUBJECT:  Ceiling above cosmetic department
(taken with cell phone – but NOT Instagram!)

It’s been quite a week in more ways than one. I’ll just have to leave it at that for right now. Anyway…DQ, SD and I went to the mall after supper to look for a dress/outfit for DQ’s confirmation next week Tuesday. She found a skirt and shirt at Hollister (a very dark & loud place to shop BTW) so our mission was a success.

TIME:  8:49 PM
PLACE:  Macy’s – swimwear department
SUBJECT:  Disembodied mannequin hand
(taken with cell phone – but NOT Instagram!)

Mud-luscious (076/366)

“The world is mud-luscious and puddle-wonderful.”

E. E. Cummings (American poet 1894-1962)

TIME:  5:21 PM
PLACE:  Backyard
SUBJECT:  StellaDella

This is the sight that greeted me as I pulled into the driveway this evening - SD wallowing in a mud puddle.   We had waves of thundershowers most of the day and the rain collected in the ruts that had formed underneath the swings.  It turned the depressions into lovely, muddy quagmires, perfect for sloshing and mucking about.  And of course, that is one siren song that SD cannot resist.

Slime Stained (276/365)

Lady Macbeth: Out, damned spot! out, I say!

William Shakespeare (1564–1616). The Oxford Shakespeare. 1914. Macbeth.
Act V. Scene I.

TIME:  11:59 PM
PLACE:  Bedroom
SUBJECT:  StellaDella’s stained hand

SD found a recipe for homemade “slime” in science experiment book.
She asked if I would help her make some.  The recipe called for a few drops of food coloring.  I had red, black, green, blue and yellow for her to choose from.  Can you guess what color she chose?

Scratching His Brain (265/365)

Gus: Clark, could you not pick your nose in front of me?
Clark: I'm not picking, I'm scratching.
Gus: Scratching what? Your brain?
Clark: Yeah, 'cause it's huge

Schneider, Rob, and Jon Heder, perf. The Benchwarmers. Dir. Dennis Dugan. 2006. Sony Pictures. DVD.

TIME:  9:09 PM
PLACE:  Dining room
SUBJECT:  MonkeyBoy

My sister and I were at Target today and found these silver plated skeleton hand salad tongs in the Halloween section.  We had to have them.  And we plan on using them all year round.  MB fooled around with them so I could take my picture.  I’m definitely going to have to sanitize them before I use them to serve salad.

Dear Photograph (200/365)

Dear Photograph:  Thanks for reminding me in this 100 degree heat that before we know it, winter will soon be here.  Then we will be complaining about how cold it is and wanting the heat again.

TIME:  8:15 PM
PLACE:  Front yard
SUBJECT:  Photo of HH pulling DQ & MB on a sled, Christmas Eve, 2002.

I’ve been fascinated by this blog and decided to give it a try.  These aren’t the best photos to use, but I wanted to show the contrast between the greenery in the height of summer and the snow and starkness in the winter.  I’m not really happy with these and need to play with the camera settings a bit to get more depth of field.  If I had to grade these, I’d give these attempts a “C”.  What I really want to do is dig out some older family photos taken at my Dad’s house and do this there.  I think that would be really cool.

Concert (124/365)

“It's my favorite part of the business, live concerts.”

Elvis Presley (American Singer and Actor widely known as the "King of Rock and Roll", 1935-1977)

TIME:  6:30 PM
PLACE:  Junior High School gym
SUBJECT:  MonkeyBoy & his saxophone

At MB’s spring band concert this evening.

Manicure (106/365)

Bugs Bunny: Oh, for shame! Just look at your fingernails!
[Rushes off and immediately returns with manicurist's table and equipment and begins to do the monster's nails]
Bugs Bunny: My, I bet you monsters lead interesting lives. I said to my girlfriend just the other day - Gee, I'll bet monsters are interesting, I said. The places you must go and the places you must see, my stars! And I'll bet you meet a lot of interesting people, too. I'm always interested in meeting interesting people. Now let's dip our patties in the water!
[Dips the monster's hands into two bowls where two mousetraps snap shut on them]

Hair-Raising Hare. Dir. Chuck Jones. 1946. Warner Bros. Pictures.

TIME:  4:33 PM
PLACE:  Kitchen
SUBJECT:  DramaQueen painting my nails

DQ, StellaDella and I went to Target to pick up a few things and DQ talked me into buying her a new bottle of nail polish – Sally Henson Hi-Definition Nail Color #14 “Spectrum”.  When we got home, she then talked me into letting her paint my nails with the new turquoise color.  Why not?  I haven’t had a manicure in a couple of years. ~*~*~ And FYI? I hate - HATE! - the term “mani-pedi.”  In fact, just typing it gave me the heebee jeebees.  Why? Well, because to me, “pedi” sounds like the plural of “pedophile,”  Ick-y.  I know it’s standard for the industry, but I will just continue to say the entire word and not the shortened, “cute” version thankyouverymuch.

Dime-In Ring (087/365)

 
“Say you don't need no diamond ring and I'll be satisfied
Tell me that you want the kind of thing that money just can't buy
I don't care too much for money, money can't buy me love”

Lennon, John & McCartney, Paul. “Can’t Buy Me Love.” A Hard Day’s Night. Parlophone, 1964.

TIME:  7:21 PM
PLACE:  My desk
SUBJECT:  Dollar bill origami ring

Well, I survived the camping trip.  It started raining late last night and all morning so we did not get to hike again today.  I was in charge of making pancakes for the troops – 23 girls and 6 leaders.  I think I made about 80 pancakes in all.  I told the girls that I spit in every other one and they had to figure out which ones they were.  The looks I got in return were priceless.  We returned home about noon and after eating lunch and taking a shower, I took a nap.  My bed never felt so good.

After we ate supper tonight, MonkeyBoy tried following directions to fold an origami ring out of a dollar bill.  He had some difficulties with some of the folding and asked me for help with it.  I did and after I finished, he gave it to me.  He said he wanted to give me a “dime-in” ring.  *smiles* I love my boy. 

Flawed (267/365)

 
“I cling to my imperfection, as the very essence of my being.”

Anatole France (Jacques Anatole François Thibault, French poet, journalist, and novelist, 1844-1924), The Garden of Epicurus, 1894

TIME:  2:50 PM
PLACE:  The study
SUBJECT:  My thumbs

Today you get to see one of my flaws, my thumbs.  HandsomeHusband took this photo for me.  As you can see, my left thumb is not as long and has a visibly shorter nail bed than my right thumb.  It was first pointed out to me during grade school.  My class was working on a project that involved tracing our hands when a classmate pointed out to me that my thumbs were different.  I still remember the hot feeling of embarrassment over my flaw.  Even now, when I get manicures, I always apologize for the shape of my thumb and I still have the habit of hiding it, tucking my thumb under my palm so that no one sees it.

Wake Me When It's Over (125/365)

 
"Every kind of music is good, except the boring kind.”

Gioacchino Rossini (Italian, Composer of opera, sacred music and chamber music, his best known works include "The Barber of Seville" and "William Tell", 1792-1868)

TIME: 7:38 PM
PLACE: Junior High Gymnasium
SUBJECT: Mom's hands covering StellaDella's ear

DramaQueen plays the clarinet, and Monkeyboy plays the alto saxophone in their grade school band.  Tonight was the spring concert at the Junior High school.  My Dad even joined us for the big event.  StellaDella was less than impressed with the quality of the playing.  She told me that it was too noisy.  She did declare however that she was going to play the cymbals when she got in school - "Those banging things" as she called them.  She was very wiggly and restless throughout the evening's entertainment.  We had to visit the restroom twice.  About three-quarters through the concert, she laid her head on my lap and asked me to cover her ear so she didn't have to listen to the music.  As my hands and lap were full of SD tonight, I did not get to take many pictures.   Luckily, HandsomeHusband brought his camera and therefore, gets all the credit for this photograph.  He is my guest photographer today. Thank you so much for the picture honey, you really know how to help a girl out-love ya!