Sleeping Scully (310/366)

TIME: 6:09 pm
PLACE: Kitchen
SUBJECT: Scully

*~*~*

We had some beautiful fall weather today - sunny and temps in the 70s.

The dogs were in the yard much of the day.

All the fresh air must have made her tired.

Stormy (179/365)

TIME: 6:14 PM
PLACE: Home
SUBJECT: Rain

Tornado and flash flood warnings.

We had a deluge of rain and high winds.

Dad’s wooden fence didn’t make it through the storm.

Mulder in Black & White (085/365)

TIME: 6:55 PM
PLACE: Home
SUBJECT: Mulder

He’s getting to be a better boy….be it very slowly.

He does take a good picture though.

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.

Table Number (055/365)

TIME: 10:35 PM
PLACE: Event Center
SUBJECT: Table marker

This was our table number for a trivia night.

It also happens to be the jersey number for Jackie Robinson.

Jackie Robinson was an answer for one of the trivia questions….

“Name 3 of the 4 Robinsons who are members of the Baseball Hall of Fame.

Jackie, Wilbert, Frank and Brooks.

Now you know.

Shingle Snow (035/365)

TIME: 5:40 PM
PLACE: Backyard
SUBJECT: Snow on garage roof

Supposedly this is just a tiny preview of what is to come on Tuesday evening.

I’m good if this is all there is.

Birthday Boy (031/365)

TIME: circa 1958?
PLACE: Probably outside of Troy, IL
SUBJECT: HH

60 years ago, he was 2 years old and sitting on stuffed dog.

Today, he has a wife, three kids, two dogs, two cats, more stress and less hair.

Happy Birthday my love!

Jalapeño Is No Bueno (054/365)

TIME: 7:42 PM
PLACE: Downtown – outside Casa Maria
SUBJECT: Squashed jalapeño

Out to dinner with the HH and SD this evening.

This poor, single, mutilated jalapeño was on the sidewalk outside the restaurant.

SD kicked it in the street after I took the picture to put it out of it’s misery.

Dust Looks Better in Black & White (187/365)

Dust is a protective coating for fine furniture.
—Mario Buatta

TIME:  12:57
PLACE: Living room
SUBJECT: Tessa (& a dusty TV armoire)

Tessa made one of her rare appearances downstairs.
As you can see, I’ve better things to do than dust.
Like sleep.

Employee Meeting (112/365)

People who enjoy meetings should not be in charge of anything. 
~Thomas Sowell

TIME:  9:18 AM
PLACE:  Sheraton Hotel
SUBJECT:  Water Glass

I attended our quarterly All-Employee Breakfast/Meeting this morning.
No Kindle Fires were given out this time.
That’s okay.
I’m good with the breakfast.

Street Light Shadows (061/365)

“Poetry is the shadow cast by our streetlight imaginations.”

― Lawrence Ferlinghetti (American, poet, painter, b41919)

TIME: 8:07 PM
PLACE: Backyard
SUBJECT: Rake and bee enclosure

The snow on the ground emphasizes the shadows in the backyard from the street light in the alley.
There may be no snow on the ground by tomorrow evening.
Tonight, it is suppose to rain & sleet.
Tomorrow they are predicting a high of 52 degrees.

Withdrawal (206/365)

“We can often endure an extra pound of pain far more easily than we can suffer the withdrawal of an ounce of accustomed pleasure.”

Sydney J. Harris (American, journalist for the Chicago Daily News and later the Chicago Sun-Times. 1917–1986)

TIME:  6:54 PM
PLACE:  Kitchen
SUBJECT:  DramaQueen

*Someone* had her cell phone, computer, Facebook, Xbox and Wii privileges taken away from Sunday afternoon until tomorrow morning because *Someone* wasn’t behaving like she should.  *Someone* is suffering social network and texting withdrawal (I swear she has the shakes).  *Someone* thinks we will break down and give the cell phone back to her sooner if she behaves.  Ha!  *Someone* will just have to suffer until tomorrow morning.

Some Assembly Required (158/365)

“All of us are born with a set of instinctive fears - of falling, of the dark, of lobsters, of falling on lobsters in the dark, or speaking before a Rotary Club, and of the words "Some Assembly Required”

Dave Barry (American Writer and Humorist best known for his weekly newspaper column. b.1947)

TIME:  7:39 PM
PLACE:  Basement
SUBJECT:  Hardware for MonkeyBoy’s birthday present

I found out yesterday that I will be having some hardware installed in my body on Friday – yes, I did such a good job of breaking my wrist that I won the prize of a titanium metal plate, which will be inserted into my wrist.  Can you hear the studio audience applauding wildly?  Sigh.  Well, I guess things could be worse – it could have been needed in my head. ~*~*~ MB picked out his 12th birthday present (the big day is on Saturday) this afternoon with his dad…a home gym.  They are bonding by assembling it over the next couple of days.  It has a lot of pieces.

Trash (152/365)

“Trash has given us an appetite for art”

Pauline Kael (American Critic and Author, 1919-2001)

TIME:  7:09 PM
PLACE:  West End ball fields
SUBJECT:  Trash can

We had a beautiful night for playing baseball – it would have been even more beautiful if our boys would have won (we lost 12-11).  The team played a good game and my MonkeyBoy had some nice hits and base running going on.  This trash can was sitting outside our dugout – that’s MB’s water bottle behind the chain link fence on the left.

BFFs (035/365)

“God gives us our relatives—thank God we can choose our friends.”

Ethel Watts Mumford (1878-1940), U.S. novelist, humorous writer, Addison Mizner, U.S. architect, and Oliver Herford (1863-1935), U.S. poet, illustrator. The Cynic's Calendar (1903).

TIME:  11:53 PM
PLACE:  Dining room
SUBJECT:  DramaQueen & Erin B.

Erin B. is spending the night…again *heavy, put-upon sigh*  I’m kidding – she’s a good kid and I don’t mind having her here.  Since she was here, I put her to good use - I made her and DQ pose with two of the chunky crayon lips StellaDella and I created the other night.  Aren’t they just the most adorable girls you’ve ever seen?

Eaves and Icicles (012/365)

“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.

Grumpy (353/365)

Dory: Hey there, Mr. Grumpy Gills. When life gets you down you wanna know what you've gotta do?
Marlin: No I don't wanna know.
Dory: [singing] Just keep swimming. Just keep swimming. Just keep swimming, swimming, swimming. What do we do? We swim, swim.
Marlin: Dory, no singing.
Dory: [continuing] Ha, ha, ha, ha, ho. I love to swim. When you want to swim you want to swim.
Marlin: Now I'm stuck with that song... Now it's in my head.
Dory: Sorry.

DeGeneres, Ellen, and Brooks, Albert, perf. Finding Nemo. Dir. Andrew Stanton and Lee Unkrich. 2003. Pixar.

TIME:  9:55 AM
PLACE:  St. Augustine’s gym
SUBJECT:  DramaQueen (photo taken by HH)

Already it is the last Sunday before Christmas…gah!  We had a family session at Sunday School this morning.  DramaQueen was a Grumpy Gus the entire time…then she got even more grumpy when I won Christmas Word Bingo and she didn’t.  My “Winner, winner, chicken dinner!” chant apparently annoyed/embarrassed her even further.  *Giggle*  It’s so much fun to pester your children in public.

Hoop (301/365)

“To win, you've got to put the ball in the macramé.”

Terry McGuire..Dick McGuire's (American professional basketball player and coach, 1926–2010) wife, explaining the strategy of basketball.

TIME:  4:42 PM
PLACE:  Back yard
SUBJECT:  Basketball hoop

Grade school basketball season is in full swing now.  MonkeyBoy had a game this evening at 5:00pm – Our team lost by about 18 points but…MB actually made some baskets this game and he did not foul out – hooray!  That’s progress.

A Rough Day (035/365)

“We do not live an equal life, but one of contrasts and patchwork; now a little joy, then a sorrow, now a sin, then a generous or brave action.”

Ralph Waldo Emerson (American Poet, Lecturer and Essayist, 1803-1882)

TIME:  9:24 PM
PLACE:  Living room
SUBJECT:  Oreo

Today we said goodbye to my Aunt Dolores.  During the church service and at the gravesite, I though a lot about Mom.  I hope Aunt Dee wasn’t offended by that – I’m pretty sure she would understand though.  After the services, we went back to the church for a luncheon and family visit.  I returned home about 1:30 and laid down on the couch until HH and the kids arrived home at 3pm.  DramaQueen had a basketball game (they lost 25-5) and a Cadette meeting tonight.  She also lost cell phone privileges for 24 hours due to her smart mouth being disrespectful to her mother.  *SIgh*  Here’s to a better day tomorrow.

A Sign Of The Apocalypse (355/365)

   
Remember that as a teenager you are at the last stage in your life when you will be happy to hear that the phone is for you.

Fran Lebowitz (b. 1951), U.S. journalist. "Tips for Teens," Social Studies (1981).

TIME:  4:25 PM
PLACE:  The kitchen
SUBJECT:  Cell phone

Well, we did something we will probably end up regretting – we purchased a cell phone for DramaQueen for Christmas.  We’ve been thinking about it for some time now.  I’ve been wavering between her being too young and wishing she had one with her when she is at functions without me or HH.  One thing good about it, we can use it as a disciplinary tool, e.g. we can take it away from her if her behavior is not acceptable.  Sigh.  I think mainly I am just not prepared for the teenage years that are rapidly approaching our doorstep.  It means that I am getting older and that is something that I am not ready to accept at all.