Photostory Friday on Sunday ..

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What a difference four months make! 

Photo Story Friday .. Sad Day

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Thursday was a sad, sad day. Truck and I were driving home from the gym at 6:00am when we hit a deer. It was so sad and horrible. First, I hurt a living creature ... aah.. I don't like to kill spiders, so I was quite upset! .. and second ... damage to my truck ... ahh! The last time I had to report a vehicular accident was back in February 1993! It was a rough start to the day... (thank goodness I had a decent run!)

Photo Story Friday .. Happy Box

Hosted by Cecily and MamaGeek While at work on Friday, I received a phone call from my son:"Mom, there is an M&M box at the door .. I must open it."me: "Is your name on it?"son: "No.."me: "who's name is on the box?"son: "yours .."me: "ahh, so it is my box ... you can't open it."son: "but mom ... I really must have it .. "me: "son, I am sorry, it is mine! It is for my birthday .. you will have to wait."

*side note: never stand between a mother and her M&M's*

When I opened the door, and saw the box, it just reminded me of a Happy Box!

Who wouldn't be happy to be welcomed home with a box like that on the counter?

AND ... on top of that .. personalized M&M's!!

My sister is so awesome ..

Photo Story Friday ..It's cold!

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This was the temperature on my truck sensor thing on Friday morning when it was time to go to school and work! (7:40am)

-23

Have you ever felt your nose hairs freeze?

Something different ...

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Picture by Noah

I love this picture .. It summarizes my being right now .. waiting and searching for answers. I wish my blog brain would return!

Photo Story Friday ..

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Our first official snow storm .. we ended with about 5" of powder snow! Three years ago I was so ready to leave the winter behind .. and when we did, I missed the winters .. so secretly I get excited when we are told there is a "disturbance" heading our way .... Bring it on, baby!! This coming Sunday they are saying "A STRONG NOREASTER MAY DEVELOP THIS WEEKEND AND BRING HEAVY SNOW ACROSS THE WATCH AREA LATE SUNDAY AFTERNOON THROUGH SUNDAY NIGHT. SNOWFALL AMOUNTS OF 10 INCHES OR GREATER ARE POSSIBLE." .. that is a direct quote from http://www.weather.com/ ... .hooowhooo!! Let me stock up the wood for the woodstove, make sure I have wine ... grab me a book .. and we are on our way!

Photo Story Friday ..

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So we had our first official "winter storm" ..a big one .. sickly, I was excited .. this is what I left Texas for! Wasn't it? .. When we moved to Maine in 1998, we had 'missed' the big ice storm that had happened that January. I remember seeing the pictures, and hearing the stories.. so when the weather folks started predicted one inch of ice .. immediately my mind went into "oh, the pictures ..". We came out unscathed, but I know there are many homes without power and lots of tree damage.

Photostory Friday - Thank you!

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Neighbor A bought me this as a thank you gift for watching her dog for a weekend. I just love it .. the more it sits on the counter, the more I appreciate it. Little does she know that her thank you gift will be a forever "thank you .." gift ...

The boot will remind me of Texas, The fact that it holds a bottle of wine will remind me of the wine times in Texas(neighbor A doesn't drink .. so she never partook [is that really a word??] in our little bit of fun!) It will remind me of so much more than just a "thank you gift" ... I am so grateful for the friendships I found in Texas .. those of A and T.

PhotoStoryFriday ~ on Sunday ..

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It's that time of year .... the Halloween candy is out .. .. .. I am a believer in "we are what we eat" .... and this weekend I am Candy Corn! I try to eat food that is "natural" .. fresh fruit, fresh vegetables ... balance out the red meat with chicken and fish ... I look at the color of foods ... if it is not a 'natural' color ... than it isn't "real" food ... silly, I know! I heard someone say this past week that corn syrup must be good for you, because it is made from corn .... WELL .. let's follow this thought process ... Candy Corn ... it must be good for you .. it's corn with corn syrup! Look at all those beautiful colors .. corn grows in all colors!(Did you see.. they now grow corn in brown, red and green colors too!)

In order not to deprive myself .. and to remain in balance .. I allow myself one bag of candy corn a year (of course I did share)! So .. a little early this year .. I have successfully succumbed to the sweet sugary taste of Mother nature's very own Candy Corn !

What is Missing Here?

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So, Saturday night came .. I was completely out of wine .. I went to our local grocery store where they have this wonderful idea of "why buy 1 when you can buy 6 and save ...". All too familiar with this practice since it was something Tommie and I shared all the time when our husbands were out fighting the bad guys in the big sand box, far, far away .. (almost)every weekend she and I would split a six pack. (We weren't THAT bad! ... were we?!)

So what's missing in this picture? Not just a mere 3 bottles of BAREFOOT Pinot Grigio ... but a whole lot more ...

My sisters, SeaDog moments, Coffee mornings at the Bakery .. Maine ...

This week was a tough week ... I'll stop whining now .. and have a swig of red wine! (where's the chocolate??)

Color My World ...

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Yesterday Aletta received a letter from her best friend who is at summer camp for two weeks. She was so excited to receive an actual letter! It brought back so many memories .. We lived for the mail! We didn't grow up in one place .. (kind of like this military life) which meant every time we met someone, either they would move or we would move. No one stayed in one place longer than three or four years; the friends we met also became our pen pal. Letter writing was our only way of keeping the link open to our friendships.

When Aletta announced that she wanted to write back to her girlfriend, I immediately told her all about how we used to write letters .. .. .. I was waiting for the usual roll-the-eyes, "here-comes-the-walk-in-the-snow-uphill-both-ways-to-school" stare ... but there wasn't! She actually was listening!!! My sisters and I used to spend hours creating small novels ... I loved writing letters (and so much more, I loved receiving them!) .. we used coloring pencils, stickers .... fancy stationary ... you name it .. it was just another way of today's scrap booking or making greeting cards!

So today, as I sat in front of my laptop .. responding to an email, I watched as she wrote her letter .. taking time to draw a sunset .. adding a bear sticker, then drawing a cartoon balloon enabling the bear to speak.. then lots of words.. .. Was it really that long ago ...?

PhotoStoryFriday ~ Klondike Bars

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Klondike Bars ... I love them .. haven't had them in a very, very long time until this past week! Let me explain! You see, my motto is "if it's not in the house, I won't eat it..." .. so when it is grocery shopping time, I try very, very hard to only buy the "good for you" foods . Okay, occasionally the bag of M&M's or Peppermint Patty's find their way in my shopping cart ... but on the whole, I try to be good.

Every week I create my grocery shopping list .. and every week I ask my wonderful teenagers what they would like ... last week my loving son said "Klondike bars" . I looked at him (trying hard to conceal the jubilance of the mere idea that we would have Klondike Bars in the freezer!!! Yippee!) , I asked "Klondike Bars??" he said "Yes, you know .. especially the ones with M&M's in them!". Noah is a very constant personality .. so to ask for Klondike Bars was really something different for him. As mother, who am I not to grant him his only wish for the week ... Klondike Bars .. WITH M&M's in them! (He is also NOT a junk food eater .. so this was really HUGE!).

So .. fast forward to the freezer section of the local Super WalMart .. who knew there were SO MANY choices of Klondike Bars ?? Last time I looked there was only the "original" and now there was Dark chocolate .. Oreo .... but alas, No M&M's! Husband looked at me .. what to do? My son wanted M&M Klondike Bars .. the best solution ... buy two kinds: Original and Oreo's ..after all, he loves Oreo Cookies ice cream (hmm, which is my favorite) ..and if he didn't like the Oreo, surely he would enjoy the Original... it's all about choices isn't it??

When we got home, and were unloading .. I proudly announced to Noah that we bought the Klondike Bars .. but explained that they didn't have M&M's. We promptly put them in the freezer .. (imagine .. TWO packs of Klondike Bars in the freezer ... that's a total of 12 Klondike Bars ..... mmmmmmm!). Every night Noah has dessert after dinner, so this night was no different than any other night. He picked up his plate, put it in the sink .. then went for the freezer, and pulled out an Oreo Klondike Bar. He opened it up, took a bite ... then another. (All the while I am thinking ... "mmm which one, Original or Oreo ??")

Suddenly he started to wrap up the half eaten Oreo Klondike Bar back in the wrapper, and said .. I don't really like it, want it?" as he began to hand me the blue packet. "You don't like it?!" (is this MY child?) I asked with complete confusion .. "No," he said, "I don't think it's what I wanted .. you know, the Klondike Bars come in a box .. with M&M's .. there's six in a box .. I don't think you put them in the freezer ..... you used to buy them all the time, as snacks for us ..." ...My mouth dropped open "you mean GRANOLA bars?" ... "Yes, I guess .. they come also with chocolate chips .. " .... "yes, son ... those are called Granola Bars, not Klondike Bars ..."

AUGH! Now I have 9 Klondike bars in the freezer (yes, do the math!!).. .. .. .. .. how many miles do I need to run? I need to call bf J, she is my accountability food manager .. she is not going to be pleased!

There is Beauty in Dead ...

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I know it is not Friday, but I still wanted to participate in PSF ..

Let me start by saying that I have been spoiled by the beauty of Maine. I took for granted the mountains and the lakes we have ... and when we went for our hikes in Acadia and Baxter State Park, or the paddling at Abol Bridge .. I didn't always stop and admire the beauty... NOT until I came here. (Although I did ALWAYS admire Mt. Katahdin .. which, btw, is my most favorite place to be ..)

We live in the middle of Texas .. not a lot of beauty .. however, as one of our affirmations at work states .. "there is beauty all around us, I will open the eyes of my soul and embrace it ..." ..so in my further quest to "love life .." I try very hard to find the beauty in the things we see around us. A couple of months ago we went on a hike during Spring break. I stopped to take pictures of the shrubbery around us, when my loving son said "Mom ... what are you taking a picture of?! Everything is DEAD!" .. Well, to try and keep a positive note with all the dead that surrounded us, I said "There is beauty in dead .." {click, click .. as the shutter kept going ..} "OMG" as he rolled his eyes (did I mention he is 14??) .. "it's all dead!" ... "yes,I know it is all dead .. there is character in dead ..." {click, click} ..... I am sure he had more facial contortions that I would want to be aware of .. my focus was in the 2.5 inch LCD screen .. probably safer that way!!

Last year, Central Texas had a lot of rain .. so much so that Stillhouse Hollow Lake suffered major flooding. (check out pictures of The Flood of 2007 ) Every Sunday (well .. almost every Sunday!) we try and take the dogs out for their run and their swim. We take them along a trail around the lake, and often times there are openings for them to jump into the water and swim around. Today I decided to take the camera, because each time we go I am always astounded by the amount of "dead" ...

Here is to beauty in dead! Happy Sunday!!

Friday's Photostory

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So this will be my first posting with Photostory Friday .. what a fabulous idea. I have started to enjoy doing fun photo projects .. so when I checked out tommie's blog and saw her new Friday entry .. I played copy cat! .. Actually today's blog will be more like "copy dog" ..

The rules are simple .. basically post a picture that you took, and tell the story .. well, there is ALWAYS a story here in our household .. as I was wondering what to post, I was cleaning the kitchen .. (somehow the phrase "the kitchen is closed" doesn't work anymore with teenagers ..), and at the same time I was dodging Demi, the Weimaraner. She doesn't drink water like the rest of the dogs .. instead she bites the water, and then keeps her mouth open as she walks away from her water bowl. Then she likes to come to you in shear appreciation and share the water that she hasn't swallowed yet. When my children were babies, I remember walking around with a cloth diaper for the spit ups ... I find myself keeping a paper towel close by just so that I can wipe my legs from her show of affection and appreciation! So, as I was wondering about the latest blog .. it finally came to me during a moment of aggravation .. my sister's words rang in my head "you know, she is quite ugly ...". My sister meant Demi! Demi was the latest addition about 8 weeks ago .. I sent out an email with her picture .. and my sister, the big dog lover that she is ..(NOT).. came out with "she is quite ugly!".

Weimaraners are supposed to be known for their photographic pose .. if you remember on Sesame Street .. they were always dressed up, and acted like sophisticated dogs ..

Well, what happened with Demi? "Ugly" my sister said?! Well, today I decided to try and prove her wrong ...

She tends to look like a hound dog, with her big nose ..

She still has so much skin to grow into ..

"unfair .." she barks ...

This is when I appreciate her the most ... quiet and asleep!

Did I mention we have a Golden Retriever with the name of Bruce? We didn't really plan it like that .. when we took Demi on, it was her given name! It didn't turn out well for the original Bruce and Demi .... oh dear!