Baby Girl at a Bonfire.

Baby Girl. My friend's granddaughter at a Saturday night bonfire before it got too dark to take pictures. How sweet. How innocent. Her eyes are very blue. The sun is behind her so it is hard to see the color of her eyes in this picture. Some children do better with the camera than others. She was a natural. Very curious about the camera. I would make silly noises and she would smile, but when I went to take the picture her face would puzzle up and she would look curiously at the equipment.

It was before a rain and it was so very, very humid. Everyone was sweating profusely. But a good time was had by all. Good people, good friends, good food. Good Times.

Recalcitrant.

Thorn. A thorn by any other name is just as painful. Funny how everyone copyrights the pictures of roses, but not the thorns. So, I was very recalcitrant today. Antagonistic, anarchism. Perhaps I will get written up for (dare I say it?) i-i-innnnnsubbordination! Arrgghhh! What trembling of the limbs I have when I hear the word! What spasms of mortal fear shoots through my being! Okay, so now I can add sarcastic and contumacious. I was a regular smart ass today. I was trying to be facetious, but in email it came out all wrong.

I'm just a soul who's intentions are good
Oh Lord, please don't let me be misunderstood (The Animals)

When the Moon Hits Your Eye....

Like a Big Pizza Pie...This is the moon over Ohio tonight. A little flat on one side, but no one or nothing is perfect, right? I don't have a tripod so I blurred. Either it is the movement of the Earth or my trying to stand still or both. I had to quit taking pics because the mosquitoes began to eat me alive. Just a beautiful, beautiful evening.

Sometimes people will say this season is their favorite, like Spring or Fall. If you really think about it, we find something we like from each season. It may be hard in the Winter, but when that snow is falling so softly and evening begins to fall and it starts to turn that beautiful winter blue outside. You have a fire crackling in the fireplace, hot chocolate with whipped cream, fresh, homemade bread or homemade cookies still warm on the kitchen counter.

And summer nights like this with the moon overhead and the breeze blowing through the trees, you are sipping lemonade or iced tea and you smell the roses, or the moonflowers on the breeze. Feel free to add beverage of your choice and flower of your choice.

In the Spring you may have that first really warm day when the green buds are starting on the trees and the birds are chirping and the sky is blue. You feel the warm sun on your face and everything is starting to wake up and it all looks and smells new outside.

And Autumn. A big favorite. Take a crisp, cool day. A big cool glass of apple cider or if it is night, a warm glass of apple cider with cinnamon. The sky is a brilliant blue and the leaves are bursting with color; setting the hills of Ohio ablaze with the bright reds, bold golds, warm yellows, mossy greens, and a dab of orange on the edges. I don't care for apple cider, so I will switch my beverage to iced tea. My daughter's would be cold white milk. And, in the fall how about those bonfire get-togethers? I love them. You're all sitting or standing around the fire, the glow casts shadows on everyone's faces making them romantically mysterious. No matter how well you know them they always look spooky in the firelight.

Frozen in time.

Has it only been 20 days? 20 days since I was in misery? It feels like months ago. Months ago that I had that horrible 10 day span with not one but two complete boors to tolerate. One returned home (out of state - way out of state) and the other is back in jail. It was just a matter of time, I guess. Her usual pattern still is not broken. It is nothing anyone can help her with. I enabled her for far too long. She has to break the pattern herself. I am left sweeping up her mess, as per usual. She has moved so many times and had to leave furniture, personal belongings behind. I will give her child a safe and stable place to live.

Mom, I'm Ready for the Big Slide.

The Big Slide. Life is like the big slide. They climb to the top of the ladder and are perched there for just a precious few short years, and then zoom. Down they go. There is no stopping them. When they went down the little slides you were waiting at the bottom to catch them. But, on the big slide, you can only watch and wait. Hold your breath. Hope for the best. It isn't fun. They want the thrill of the ride. They want laughter and fun. You only hope and pray they don't get hurt or land face first in the mud. You've seen the mud. You may have even been face down in it yourself. But you survived. And, so will they, hopefully. The light feeling you get in your stomach when you begin the plummet down a fast and steep rollercoaster is the same feeling you get when you see them start down the Big Slide. Let go, Mom. Let go.

Be Careful. Be Very Careful.

Email.Someone is reading your email. Remember this always. NO embellishment. Just a fact. No joke. NO hoax. And, if you were having an inter-office affair someone probably saved and/or printed a hard copy of the exchanges. Stupid people who include a copy of the senders message when they reply are in for a real surprise. I could see if the end user was an average computer user who knew how to type and click the send button, but one was an Internet LAN Manager and the other is now a Cisco representative. One was married and had a child at home. The other is now married and has a child on the way. You never know when your past will come back and bite you in the ass.

You think it's nobody's business? Think again. It was during office hours. It was on the office computer. You did it in the company van for Christ's sake and bragged about it in email. How dumb can you be? Someone saved it all to disk.

You should be very careful about who you piss off. Remember this always. Be careful Be very careful. See here.

Rosy Pink with Silver.

Rosy Pinks with silver background. I took this picture a while ago and just loved how it blurred and created this pink glow. It reminded me of Christmas with all of the pretty lights on the tree and how they would blur together when you would squint your eyes. I have some wonderful memories of Christmas.

I am sitting here listening to the haunting melody of Philadelphia by Bruce Springsteen. I did like the movie, but the song just takes me to another place mentally. Very haunting. How unfair this life really is.

And now, comes Vincent by Don McLean. Talk about haunting melodies. "now I understand, what you tried to say to me, how you suffered for your sanity, how you tried to set them free"

"perhaps they'll listen now"

Actually, I don't care for his paintings. And I like art. I am more a monet and turner. Dreamy.

Zucchini Bread with sour cream.

Zucchini Bread. I made this today using a new recipe I found that uses sour cream. I thought I would give it a try. It came out a little more moist than my other recipe. I like it. One loaf with walnuts, one without. My daughter doesn't like the walnuts. She likes this bread better than my banana nut bread. Turned out very good. Tasty. I like my bread warmed with a little cream cheese. Can't get away from the cheeses.

I finally got a chance to mow the grass. The poor mower stalled on me like 20 times because the grass was so high. I use the mulcher every time. Too lazy to empty the bagger. My mower just chewed and chewed away.

A good friend called and is planning to come and visit over the Labor day week-end. I am looking forward to it. We met in 1978 when we both worked at an automotive/hardware store. What good times we have had and continue to have. She is a soul-friend. I am very blessed.

She recently lost her pet dog that she had for 15 years. A beautiful buff cocker spaniel. She asked me if I still had my dog. (Sable). I said yes. She knew I was pretty disgusted with the dog a year or so ago when she kept having her little accidents all over my carpet. It was a new medicine for her allergies that we were trying and the doctor has since cut back on the potency.

My friend is a pet lover, like me. She cannot resist a stray. We had some really wild times running around terrorizing the local drinking spots some twenty-five years ago. We painted the town red. We had no fear. We chewed them up and spit them out. And we laughed about it the next day at work. Ahhh - good times.

Rainy Saturday.

Closed Moonflowers.

Well, it is so cool and rainy even my Moonflowers don't want to show their faces to the world. My grass needs cut, weeds need pulled, overall outside work gets pushed aside because of the weather. I saw on the news that this is the 4th coldest August in our area since they began keeping records. Sometime back in the 1800's I guess.

While blogging, I am listening to Dusty Springfield's 'I Think It's Going To Rain Today'. Moody and cool. Bluesy out. Is 'bluesy' a word? It should be. That is how I feel. Maybe a cross between blue and lousy?

While cleaning up some computer files I ran across this little piece of text that I saved from a while back. It is from one of my favorite actors, Robin Williams. Whether he actually said or wrote this is anyone's guess. Here it is.

Although I know that it is un-realistic, I find it heartening. Wouldn't it be nice to be able to do that? It reminds me of the old quip "I'm mad as hell and I'm not going to take it anymore!" Enough already.

I like blue.

My Blue Lamps. This is one of my two blue lamps in my living room. The entire room is blue. Walls, ceiling, carpet - all blue. Okay, the furniture is cream with blue in it. It is sort of a memorial to my Mom. Her favorite color was blue, too.

The coffee tables and t.v. stands are light oak. So, I guess my living room is "mostly" blue. Light blue. My pets have done a number on my carpet. Must get it cleaned. I let them live.

It is very peaceful to sit and watch t.v. at night. The T.V. is silver chrome and sets off a blue glow anyway, so everything just glows a soft neon blue. I have a big picture window, with 'guess what' - sheer blue drapes! It was all blue when I bought the house. I just had it repainted the exact same color. The painter almost talked me into getting the ceiling and baseboards painted bright white. I said yes at first, but changed my mind. I am so glad I did. What an effect.

I am sitting here waiting for the dishwasher repairman. They said I was third on the list for this morning, and he should be here soon. I hate wasting a whole day waiting. I have things to do. I am recycling today. The county is having a recycle collection week-end. I have batteries, newspapers, plastic, old drain cleaner (smells like rotten eggs and I can never use again because of migraines), moth balls, an old computer (really old - Windows 3.1 - no ethernet port) that someone dropped off on me and never picked back up, maybe I can stick a cat in the mix. Aw, I am just kidding.

My last week day of vacation and it is payday. That always gets me moving. Payday. A little motivation. Back to work on Monday and the schools will be opening back up. The offices are already up and running, they usually need my help more than the regular schools do. Secretaries and Treasurers usually need to be online more than the regular students do. This will probably be a no-movie week-end. I was lazy last week-end and watched movies most of the time. Because I had twisted my stupid neck and couldn't move around. I was angry because what kind of (working) vacation is that to have? I wanted to do stuff around the house, but couldn't even move unless I popped two advil every 4 hours or so.

She has won my heart.

Sable with white markings.

Well, I guess I will go and walk my thigh-high, black, scruffed-up, pound rescue. She (Sable) is black of course, but has strange white markings on her left side and a little on her back. It looks as though we were painting with white paint and cleaned our brushes off on her coat. She also has been traumatized. There are patches of skin on her that will not grow back hair. My guess is that she was hit by a car and drug on the road or burned by a tire. She is also very timid of water. She can be a sweet dog, when she wants to be.

Very Hard to Resist.

This Little Yorkie. See, this is what I had to deal with a couple of weeks ago. I wanted so much to stick her in my pocket. My brother has 5 of these with one newborn puppy. He is keeping the puppy. They can't resist them, either. Yorkshires can be temperamental, and they usually were with one another. But, they all were vying for my attention. I followed my brother's advice and just laid in the floor and let them jump all over me. They are as small as kittens. This was the tiniest one. Some of the older and bigger males were a little gruff, but I discovered that he needed the most attention. Because everyone would give all their attention to the tiny little females, he was usually pushed off to the side. I would turn gruff, too.

My Red Lillies are blooming right along with them.

Red Lily

I have also planted some orange tiger lillies today. I can't wait to see them bloom. They may not until next year. My Moonflowers are rambunctious as ever. I don't know what happened to my other pics of my flowers.

Sweltering heat today. Humidity high. Then the rains came in. Tornado warnings in surrounding counties. There were no sightings close to me, though. I made the kids come home and stay in the basement. Lots for them to do down there. One time we looked out the block windows and the outside was very, very pink. I have seen green and yellow, but never pink before. Seems that the worst is over for now.

My Day Lillies are blooming bright yellow

Yellow Day Lily

Back to School shopping

Took my daughter back to school shopping today. We are getting a late start this year. Ouch. I can't help it. I will not charge anything. I like my cards at a zero balance. I waited until I had the cash.

She likes PacSun, Hot Topic, Kaufmanns, and we have yet to go to the Deb Shop.

When I was in Junior High, I went to Mr. Wiggs and Robert Hall and Harts.Does anyone remember those clothing stores? Am I telling my age? After I graduated and got a job, I was able to shop at my then favorites - Jean Nicole, Kaufmanns, Brooks, Carlisles, The Deb Shop, there were others, they have just slipped my mind.

Any way you look at it, it cost a small fortune. At times I tend to be a bit on the frugal side, so I can splurge when it comes to school shopping. For years my daughter didn't even like clothes. She never wanted to shop for new clothes. I used to have to guess and buy her things. Most of the time I ended up taking things back. Until I learned to buy the exact opposite of what I liked. Ha Ha! Or, that was the way it seemed sometimes. The both of us hate shopping. We don't look for bargains. We go straight in - get what we want and straight out. I get migraines so the lights and smells really bother me. The quicker we get this over with the better; as I say. I took medicine before we went shopping and that worked fine. The only problem was the slow sales people. There were not near enough of them and they moved so slowly, I wanted to scream. Stop talking to your co-workers and ring us up!

It is all over with now. My daughter is happy with what she got and we will finish up later this week. Now, I have a couple of months to rest up before Christmas.

Grandparents

This is my maternal great grandmother and great grandfather. They look as if they came right in off the prairie. They raised my Mother after they had already raised their own children of six or so. Although, they were farmers without much income, they doted on my Mother. I am not sure the exact year this was taken, but Mom said they pretty much looked the same the entire time she knew them.

Naomi is the one who suffered the headaches and would tie a bandana around her head. I know how she felt. I believe that this fellow helped to teach my father's cousin to play the fiddle. I understand that he passed away in 2003.

I would have enjoyed being in the same room with these old-time musicians. My Father was a clogger, so I hear. I would like to learn to clog. We have a group close to me. I need to look into that. Good exercise.

Paternal grandfather

Here is my paternal Grandfather. This is my project for the summer. I am scanning all the photos from the old family album and editing them the best that I can. He lived in West Virginia.

What a trip down memory lane. I never met this guy. He passed away before I was born.

Positive Assertiveness.

Well, my new approach will soon be put to the test. I have a relative who is on the outs and will probably be wanting a free hand-out. I must resist the emotional blackmail. I am also going to try not to alienate the relative. I love(d) my Mother and I know that she would not want the family to split. But, my Mother was an enabler, as I am. I need to break that pattern.

The health of my family depends on the way I handle the next month of my life. I need to be on top of things. I have become the family nurse-maid. As nurturing and sweet as that sounds, I have become a victim. Only I can free myself.

Movies

Watched Chicago last night. Fast moving, good dancing. I was most impressed with the Amos character. I had only seen Mr. Reilly before in small parts, most noticeably in Georgia. In that film he played a drugged out loser. So, I was pleasantly surprised to see him sing and dance very well. If it is him singing and dancing. I hope so.

I had just seen Queen Latifah in Bringing Down the House. Funny movie. The kids liked it. It is nice to see that Steve Martin has not lost his touch. What great facial expressions. I like QL. I hope she goes far in the biz.

And, Jean Smart be looking darn good! If she has had cosmetic surgery she spent her money wisely. I have always liked her, too. Although, I never liked Designing Women.

OCD

I think I used to have this one Obsessive-compulsive-disorder. Every time I looked at a digital clock, I had to add up the numbers. So, if it was 4:21, I had to say in my head "7". It was NUTS! Harmless, but nuts.

Do you do anything obsessively? I once worked with a lady (and we shared a ride to work) who went back into the building and checked and re-checked to make sure she turned lights off and other things. It was nuts! I didn't know about OCD back then, but I knew she was a bit off her rocker.

I liked the movie "As Good As It Gets" The part of Melvin Udall suffers from OCD. Although I would find some of his remarks unforgivable, the story is touching.

Last week-end we rented Hidalgo. I could take it or leave it. And, today we watched 50 First Dates. It wasn't exactly what I expected. I guess they wrapped it up the best that they could do. Strange. And, I could have done with a lot less of the character Ula. That guy creeps me out.

I do like Drew Barrymore. Not so much her '90 flicks, but the more recent ones.