Day 116 - You Rock

Just an interesting photo. I liked the colors, lines, and texture of this picture.

Day 115 - Canning

I wish I could say that my first experience with canning was a piece of cake, that I was a natural. It seems so simple for so many, like it is as easy as making a batch of cookies. The process didn't seem necessarily over complicated, just time consuming and tedious. I bottled ten jars of Salsa and it took in all probably over 4 hours. (That includes picking, blanching, cutting, boiling, etc.) During this process, I said, "I am never doing this again", but now in the light of day, I think I would like to try again. Let's just hope I did it right and we don't get Botulism. (That could seriously change my mind.)

Day 114 - Killing time

How to solve the age old question of what to do with bored kids? Yesterday was the day we attempted to answer that. Whether or not it was actually a success depends on who you ask. First, the boy and I created this little masterpiece. Dracula's castle. It was fun making and then he spent at least an hour playing with it. Next, we used water and paint brushes at grandma's. They painted wonderful leprechauns, rainbows, robots, etc. with water on the cement that magically disappeared as the water dried. The little kids seemed to enjoy it but when asked what could be improved next time, the oldest grandchild said "real paint".

Day 113 - Let it snow

Winter is here! How do I know?

Signs of the times...

Notice snow hat, snow boots and coat. Like I said, It must be winter... or 90 degrees outside.

Btw: If you look closely at the picture below (Day 112), you just might see those pink snow boots making yet another appearance. I promise, I do not dress this child. She dresses herself, usually after I dress her in appropriate attire that last all of 5 min. before it is ripped off and traded for something more ridiculous. I go with it now.

Day 112 - A beautiful day for a walk

Husband: "I think I am going to take the kids for a walk before dinner."

Me: "It looks like rain."

Husband: "A little rain never hurt anyone."

Wait 3 min. Grab camera and run out the door following them. This is the picture I caught as I opened the door. Is this one of those opportunities for "I told you so" ?

Day 111 - Determination

This shot reminds me of one of those inspirational posters. This one would say something like:

DETERMINATION: Resoluteness. The act of deciding something's outcome.

Or maybe he is just willing it to move with his mind.

Day 110 - Amicable

I love how cozy they are on that little chair, sort of a forced amity. (Otherwise mom turns off the word game and no one gets to play.) Isn't it amazing how the fighting just stops?

Day 109 - Idle hands

Those of you who are mothers probably have a similar photo stocked away in your "Mom Hall of Fame", sort of your rite of passage into true motherhood. Just thought I would add mine to the mix.

Day 108 - up, up and away

To all those naysayers, who doubted that pumpkins can grow vertically, this picture is for you. We got some odd looks, snarky comments, and scoffs, when people found out we were growing these pumpkins in such a small area and vertical. Currently we have 4 pumpkins growing at various stages and a few more potentials. So if you have ever wanted to grow pumpkins, but didn't think you had nearly enough space to grow them, think vertical. It is possible.

Day 107 - Dog Days

Farewell to the Dog Days of summer.

Day 106 - Tangled up

Every sports has its hazards.

Day 106 - (insert title here)

You choose the caption.

Day 105 - Night vision

While this shot may appear to be a bad, out of focus shot (Which technically speaking it is), It was actually taken this way on purpose. Last night, I picked up the husband from the airport after one of his regular business trips. As we traveled home we were experimenting with exposure times. Of all the random shots we took, this was a favorite. I loved the row of "four" signs and the general fuzziness added to the bus and lights. You can literally see the bumpiness of the road we traveled on from the light above. I also like how it looks as if you are looking at the scene through water.

Day 104 - Quack, Quack

This duck looks how I felt tonight. Slightly frazzled. Bedtime took just a little too long tonight -say an hour and a half too long. Kids are now in bed quietly sleep. (Btw: this duck plays a wonderfully shrill song where the words are replaced by quacks. The dog really wants to shred it to pieces and after tonight, I might just let him.)

Day 103 - The Bags

Our goal was to donate 50 bags. Quite a feat when you consider that each bag needed to be sewn and filled with school supplies. After all was said and done, we were able to donate 74 bags, plus 9 extra empty bags. After touring that facility and watching a video thats sole purpose is to make you cry, I am so grateful for organizations like this and so many others that work so hard to make others lives better.

Day 102 - Back to school

The last few days this has been on my mind nonstop. (I have even been having these bizarre dreams about it) But not because school is starting, but because of a project our young women have been doing for the last month - making school bags for the Humanitarian aid center. These bags go to 3rd world countries and disaster victims. It has really been an eye opener for me and in some ways more challenging than I would have thought. I called around several fabric shops to finally have one person willing to donate material. And just when it looked like we wouldn't have enough supplies to fill even 1/4 of our bags (even after buying a ton myself), I find people whose generosity just amazes me. There are those people who don't make excuses, but just give what they can even if it is small and I want really want to be more like that.

Day 101 - Bath time fun

I just loved his face - peering up over the side with bubbles on his head. I am not one to take bath photos, especially at this age, but when he kept peeking over the side, I thought it was too cute.

Day 100 - Songs of paradise

Nothing like the sweet, melodic chime of a Ukulele to remind you of whiling away your hours on some sandy beach and wishing you were there right now.

Day 99 - The Evil Temptress

My wonderful husband was in Chicago this past week on business. He was informed by his local co-workers that the absolute best popcorn shop is Garrett's and that people travel great distances just to get it. Knowing what a fan his wife is of popcorn, he brought me back some caramel cashew corn. Of all the popcorn varieties Caramel is probably lower on my list, but for some reason, this corn speaks to me. I can't stop eating it. It does say on the package that it "is made fresh, without preservatives in our kitchens daily" and it is recommended that you enjoy it immediately. So I guess I shouldn't feel bad if I polish it off quickly.

Day 98 - Spiders in my bed

Early this morning, I had a small visitor in my room. I asked, "What are you doing in my room?" To which the two-year old intruder replied "I am going to sleep in your bed." (As if I was dense in the head for even asking such a moronic question.) "No, you need to go back to your bed and sleep" I said. She protested "NO! There are spiders in my bed!"

"Oh no, well, we can't have spiders in your bed. We need to tell them to go home." She then enthusiastically responds "Go home spiders! Mom, they are in the street now, they are going to bed." After that, she went peacefully to bed. In the morning, I asked her about the spiders. She said "they went home and they didn't even wake their moms." What nice spiders to leave on command and let their mothers sleep.

Day 97 - Occupied

Occupied.

I realize that I have been MIA from this project, but I have a few good reasons. The lung incident has made me unusually tired and winded over small tasks. As a result I have taken a break for a bit. I am doing better and as of my appointment today, they expect the bleb (yes, that is a technical term the Dr. used today) to be healed. Incidentally, he said that I shouldn't go Scuba diving. I said, "Fine, I have no plans." He said "ever". I suppose I am not really that heart broken over it though. I wasn't much a fan of snorkeling. It just seemed weird to make it so final. I guess having this increased my odds of getting it again and it is too risky. I have a 30% chance of it occurring again within the year and 10% after that for the rest of my life. Also on the list of things I am not allowed to do: travel to Park City or on an Airplane for the next 7 weeks. Isn't it funny how when you are told no to something, you develop this incredible urge to want to do it?

Health update:

I have had a bunch of people ask about how I am doing and I thought I would post an update.

After my second appointment, there was no change on the x-ray, but since I was feeling better, they saw it as a good sign. I go back again on Wednesday for my 3rd x-ray. The idea is that the lung should have healed itself, trapped air will have dispersed on its own, and I can resume regular activity. If for some reason it hasn't, then I will have to proceed to more intense measures.

Overall, I feel pretty good, just a bit winded and tired. If I get worked up or try to do too much then my chest hurts. Each day seems to feel a little better though, so I am optimistic that things are healing nicely.

Day 96 -Even flowers sleep

The other evening, I noticed these pretty purple flowers had closed up completely. I looked around and realized that most of our flowers had done the same. Even flowers sleep. They close their little blooms for the day and welcome night.

I have waited to post this because I didn't want to jinx myself. For the past week or so, my 2 year old has been napping everyday for 2 hours, almost entirely on her own, no fighting, no arguing. It has been heaven sent. I believe that as a result of these naps, it has helped her get back on track with her nightly sleep schedule. She sleeps so much better at night and we can put her to bed usually just once without doing it 50 times. After almost 2 months of struggling with the girl, she appears to finally sleep regularly.

Day 95 - Doctor's orders

Doctor's orders: a little R & R and quite honestly anything but hurts. We took it fairly easy today- so easy in fact that this shot is from earlier yesterday! :) I thought it was a sweet little shot of her being a good little mother. Speaking of being a good mother, this collapsed lung has really taught me to calm down. It is almost like shock therapy. When I get at all upset over something, instant pain. I have had to slow down, mellow out and not get upset. It has been good for all of us.

Day 94 - The Downside to tall and thin

As you have probably guessed, I didn't take this picture. This is similar to a picture that was taken of me tonight. It is a picture of a pneumothorax (aka: collapsed lung). Usually a collapsed lung occurs as a result of some sort of trauma... gunshot, knife wound etc. But occasionally it happens spontaneously for no apparent reason (such was my case). I am feeling better (thank you modern medicine), but we are in a "wait and see" situation. Small collapses will heal on their own, larger ones require the insertion of a tube - mine is borderline. You are apparently more likely to have a spontaneous lung collapse if you are tall and thin. Who knew?

Day 93 - A lesson from Mother Nature

Nature really is resilient. I read an article about how life is bouncing back after the oil spill and doing quite well. This flower was practically dead when I planted it... between two rocks no less and now it is blooming and growing beautifully. I love the angles of the shot.

Day 92 - Butterfly

I rarely can get a shot of her looking at the camera and mostly I like those shots, but every so often it is nice to see her face. To capture this moment, I had to bribe her with candy. (For shame! I know) She sure is cute though.

Day 91 - Sky lights

It was an amazing night for pictures. The clouds seemed epic. We really had a hard time narrowing it down (which is why I will probably post some cast offs elsewhere.) I picked this one because of the 3 colors and the layers. (You'll want to blow it up to do it justice.)