snow.

A little sampling of the snow we got up in the Seattle area last Thursday...
I pulled-in my focus to get that snow globe effect. You can see my parents' bird feeders in the background.

i'm back.

I think I just committed one of the cardinal sins of blogging.
I was out of town for a week and didn't tell you all I'd be gone. For a whole week.
(Not that I think you were waiting by your computer to get an update from little old me.But I felt bad nonetheless. There's that guilt again.)
I almost brought my laptop with me, but I knew if I did I'd be tempted to spend too much time staring at the screen, instead of staring at my lovely family. And yes, my parents and inlaws are lovely people.

We headed to Seattle for the wedding of one of my husband's high school buddies. It was a second, mini 20 year high school reunion of sorts, as the bride and groom met-up at their 20 year reunion back in 2009. Quite cute really. We partied it up into the wee hours of the morning and spent the next day recovering. Well, my husband had a bit more recovering to do than I. We'll just leave it at that.

Husband and dog headed home Tuesday, and Max and I headed to my parents. YAY!

Wednesday night I met-up with a dear girlfriend from college for a quick bite to eat and some chit chat. The forecast called for snow and cold temps, but we waited it out and by the time dinner rolled around we decided we were in the clear. No snow. Just COLD!
But by the time we left the restaurant the flakes were falling. Nothing big. No blizzard. Just teeny tiny flakes.
We hugged, parted ways, and headed home.
Mine was a short, five minute trip.
My friend's was not. And not long after I got home, she called.
A much different brand of flakes were falling where she was headed, and it didn't look good.
Long story short - she stayed at our house that night.
And can I just say it was such a fun impromptu night! We just stayed up late talking. (What else do best friends do??)
I guess the snow gods had a different plan for us that evening. A good plan!
And imagine my son's suprise when he awoke and was told that someone else was in the room I usually slept in...(No, I wasn't up to witness what happened. But I guess he wanted to peek-in on the guest. So cute.)

I could go on and on with little stories...
We got snow.
We got brrr freezing temps.
I saw a few more girlies from college.
I had some scrumptious cupcakes!
And even better - some home cooked meals (That's right! I didn't have to cook for EIGHT days!!)
I got to chat with my dad about photography (He's got more gear than I could ever dream of having. AND the Scott Kelby books I was looking for!)
I put in a handful of pieces of the puzzle my mom is working on.
I managed to drive into downtown Seattle in our manual transmission car and make it up those steeeeep hills. (Ok, so I used the e-brake and did burn the clutch just a wee bit... But I did not roll into any cars behind me! I must add here that the hills in Seattle were never a problem when I lived there. No sir! But I've been away almost seven years now. Rambling....I know...)
I had coffee with a friend from high school who I've reconnected with thanks to FaceBook. (So fun Kim!)
I took some pictures - though not enough. (Why am I so scared to carry my camera around with me wherever I go?...)
And I captured a few pics of snowflakes falling.

So, I will stop talking now. Like I said - I could go on and on and on.
I need to download and edit my photos tomorrow.
But don't you worry - you'll see photos tomorrow.
And a lot less of me blabbering.

Anyway - I'm back.
And I know you missed me.
(I missed you too.)

A

tis the season!

Some people go crazy eating and drinking up a storm during the holidays. You know, Thanksgiving, Christmas, New Years...(and then everyone joins a gym and vows to diet when January 1st rolls around.)
Not me.
Girl Scout Cookie season is here! And all portion control has been tossed right out the window!
(Good thing I've started running again...sigh...)

writing.

I am not a writer.
I wish I was.
I wish I could say that when I sit down to say something new here in blog-land I know exactly what to say, and how I want to say it.
I'm a thinker. A thinker who sometimes has a hard time finding the right words in my noggin' to put on virtual paper. I tend to ramble. I can honestly admit that my vocabulary of big, fancy words is quite small. Well, at least smaller than I'd like. And maybe that's why I ramble - if I talk about something enough the right words will come to mind. I don't know.
(It's really amazing to think that I actually wrote a Master's paper for grad school 13 years ago. But when I look at it now, I didn't use many big words even back then. HA!)
So, when you come to this little world of mine, you will on occaision see some blabbering by moi...hopefully accompanied by a picture or two or three. But sometimes there will just be words staring you in the face (like this post). And my hope is that my words will convey something to you. Give you an idea; make you look at something from a different perspective; make you take a look inside at who you are, where you've been, where you're going, who you want to be.

Sure, I'm doing this blogging thing for me, but if it was just for me I'd write in a journal (haven't done that for about two decades...doesn't appeal to me anymore.)
But I'm also doing this for you.
Come and visit. Take what you will from my simple words and pictures and leave a comment if you feel compelled.

A

bath time.

I cannot WAIT for my son to take showers. Really.
If you asked me what one parental duty I just don't enjoy doing, it would be bath time. Isn't that awful? You'd think it'd be being woken-up in the middle of the night by my son because he wants me to sleep in his room. Or taking him to the doctor for shots. Or putting him in time-out for not-so-great behavior of some sort.
But no. It is bath time.
And really, I don't have any good reason for not really liking to give baths other than it's the end of the day and I just want to get him in bed so I can have a little quite time. (I sound so selfish...)
But I think all of us parents would agree - there's that ONE thing that's just not your favorite thing to do.
(This all leads to guilt. I'm so so good at guilt. Maybe it's a bit of Jewish guilt in me...I don't know. But I'm good at it. Anyway, I digress...and I will have a whole separate post on that guilt. Mom guilt to be exact.)

Last night bath time was a little fun. I brought in my camera and tried to get a few shot of Max having a grand old time splashing. 'Cause even though I don't like bath time, Max does!

valentine's day.

A loving heart is the beginning of all knowledge.
~ Thomas Carlyle

 

maggie monday.

I caught Maggie laying in the sun last week. 

Old, happy dog.

sunny day.

We've had some super foggy mornings around here lately. But that usually turns into a super sunny day.
Max and I headed outside to bask in the glorious sun, both of us working on our art.
I've been trying to capture some nice sun flare on my camera on the sunny days. I enjoy the challenge.
And of course I love photographing my favorite little man.
The sky looked like this...

My sun flare looked a bit like this...

(Not bad for a newbie...)

 (I like how Max was sitting right where the four lines in the pavement all met. Totally not planned.)

So far I've mainly been using Picnik to edit my photos. And as you can see, I really like the cross process effects. I've downloaded the trial version of Photoshop Elements 9, but I have no CLUE what I'm doing. I've got a long ways to go before I figure-out even the basics.

The important thing is that I'm out there cultivating a little somethin' for me. AND I'm having a good time. I've read and re-read my camera manual and have been mostly shooting in manual or aperture-priority mode.

It's all good.

a.

eyelashes.

Does my little man have eyelashes or what?!

(Ok, so I lied... Max does sit still and smile for me when I grab my camera. In this case he was stuck trying to get down from his chair. I told him I'd help him out if he gave a smile for the camera. In the end - he got off the chair and I got my smile. Good deal!)
Tomorrow I will post some of my wonderful sun flare photos from today.
This momma needs some shut-eye.

wise old lady.

Dogs are better than human beings because they know but do not tell.
~ Emily Dickinson

cheese.

Max rarely stops and smiles and looks at me when I take his picture.
He's four.
He's busy.
That's why I just love this photo.
CHEESE!

weather.

There's been a lot on the news lately about the big storm blowing across most of the US.
Snow, blizzard, freezing temps, wind chills. Trapped motorist on roads, closed down businesses and schools. (It all sounds a bit like what happens in our neck of the woods when we get more than 2 inches of snow.)
It has left me wondering if the rest of the country is getting the "worst winter in 50 years" they had predicted for us here in the great Pacific Northwest.
I won't lie. I'm a little disappointed they made these promises (ok, not promises, but great predicitions) about how we'd get dumped on with snow. But then I hear the news reports about the rest of the nation and I think, Yea, I'll take my rain, grey skies and on the rare occaision -
Sun! Glorious SUN! (It should be noted that sunshine around here usually comes with a hefty dose of east winds that usher in some colder temps - and by cold I mean in the mid 30s. I know, I know, balmy compared to some parts of the nation.)

But I'll take my sun. And blue skies. And wind. And cold.