WWC - and bonus shots

The Place we go when we don't have Time to make dinner

Tells Time
My happy Place to spend my Time
Helps me find the Place I need to go to
BONUS SHOTS

Sunrise?

Nope, building reflecting the sunrise

And, SUPER cute Caleb #1


And SUPER SUPER SUPER cute Caleb #2

Say it with me now......"Awwwwww"

Happy Autumn

The shoes are back! I think this is one of my favorite pairs yet. The don't get much sassier.

So, here are some pictures of fall as it heads our way. I love this time of year because everything is still either green or turning. Nothing has died or fallen off the branches yet.

I can't wait to see how much things have changed when we head up North this coming weekend.

On the drive up to the cabin last week I saw two bald eagles on the side of the road enjoying some tasty fresh road kill. They were so beautiful. There was also a hawk enjoying dinner with them. By the time I stopped doing the "that is soooo cool" dance another car had driven past them and they had flown away. I had no time to pull over and take pictures. *sigh* but I was thinking about you all. And I decided that my one big wish is to have a camera put in my brain so I won't miss any more perfect blogging opportunities like that one.

Tomorrow: The cutest puppy picture EVER!!!!!

Walk'n for MS

Summer is over *sigh*

But we raised $475.00 for MS!

Do the happy dance!

Do the happy dance!

Today I made the contribution to the MS Society in honor of our blogger friend.

Donation tracking code: 1638-13181-1-2920223-2936704.

I can't get the stupid screen shot of my payment confirmation to post.

(I swear to you I made the donation)

You know how I much I respect the Karma Cow. No WAY would I lie about this one.

The dude would totally shat on my life if I was lying.

But seriously, if you want a copy of the screen shot let me know and i will email it to you.

I will also attempt to get something to load that shows proof of donation.

*update* Ha! I got it!

Insert evil laugh here

Happy Friday Dance!

I'm going to hell here for this one. But I would have LOVED to have been able to add the commentary "Don't let the door hit you in the ass" when they escorted one of my co-workers out of the building yesterday.

I should feel bad but I don't. Finally, one of those people that make everyone else's life miserable actually got what was coming to them.

It got to the point that I was starting to wonder who she was sleeping with or blackmailing that allowed her to stay employed.............

Hats off to my new boss. She started a month ago. She recognized we had a very serious problem on our hands and she took care of it.

And now, my entire group will be happy people all getting along.

It's like the sun is shining again. Like a big weight has been removed from our shoulders. It's like we can breathe again.

Yes, I'm a bit callous here. I admit it. But sometimes, hey, you gotta calls em as ya sees em.

A Book that made things a little clearer

The Gargoyle by Andrew Davidson was getting these massive write-up's and nods of awesomeness for a first time author.

Costco had it for $14.95 which I couldn't say no to.

The first 50 pages of this book are hard to read. Not because they are badly written but because of the focus of the first part of the story.

The main character is in a car accident, is trapped in his burning car, and suffers severe burns. The author goes into great detail the accident and then the initial medical care. Trust me, it's hard to get through.

At least it was for me. See, I've been there. Not the trapped in the car, or the cooked alive part. But the 3rd degree burn part. The skin graft part. And maybe, having to read it, was a little too close to home for me. But on the other hand, it made several of the things I went through make more sense. I never read up on burn treatment because I really didn't want to know any more about what happened to me. But this book sort of forced the issue. And so, now, many years later I understand a lot of the things I went through.

Thankfully, I was not burned the same way, or any where near the extent this poor character was. He's burned on like 90% of his body. Where as I just had the lower half of one leg suffer 3rd degree burns.

Anywhoodle, the book is excellent. He deserves the attention he is getting. I found myself caring about all of the main characters. And LOVING the stories that are woven throughout this book.

I had no expectations for this book. Other than curiosity. I almost gave up in the first 50 because it was so hard to stomach. But then, suddenly, we turned a corner and from then on it was sweet sweet literary music to my mind.

Last year I found a way to turn my ugly burn memory into a beautiful symbol of rebirth and survival.

This story, in and of itself is a beautiful story about life, pain, loss and love. And finding a way to be okay with who we are.

The last sentence in the book, when I reached it, was bittersweet. I didn't want the story to end. I wanted to stay with the characters a little while longer.

I still am not ready to let go.

I LOVE when books have that effect on you.

What do JFK, Roosevelt, and Nixon have in common you ask?

My father recently got some pictures from his aunt that we hadn't seen before. Which lead to a story and the realization of an interesting odd habit in my family:

So, my family has had a few odd brushes with former presidents and their families.

When I was young I went to a friends beach house. While riding our bikes I managed to collide with a limo. The passenger happened to be Nixon.

But ladies and gents, that is not all.

Back in 61 my father got the chance to be a runner for the Kennedy campaign. See back then they needed people to run film to get developed. Well, my Aunt was dating a gent named W who was with the A/P. He helped my dad score the runner job. And then he got him a special pass to be out on the main floor. And then, the big score. Access to the Shrine auditorium on the night of Kennedy's acceptance speech.

So Dad was running film down a hall and managed to run into a sweet lil' ol' lady. Who just happened to be Eleanor Roosevelt. And then he had the honor of arranging all of the Kennedy children (cousins, nieces, nephews) for the big family photos.

The below photo is the one that started the conversation. From left to right, my Uncle Gary, My Father, his mother Flo (my grandma) my great grandma, W, and my great grandfather.

My aunt and W parted ways and shortly after she met my uncle G. They had 62 years of beautiful loving bliss together. On the night of the Kennedy acceptance speech W told my dad his biggest mistake in life was not marrying my aunt. Dad wasn't sure what happened to W but he was a good man who hopefully found true love.

Dad said that he spent a great deal of his childhood with my great grandparents. He said that Great Grandad was a good man. Not the typical old world Italian. He helped my GG in the kitchen, cleaned, and treated her like a queen. She was worth it. I wish I could have met him though.

WWC - This, Last, and bonus photographs!

Sorry that it has been a while. Lots of work to do. And we had two teenagers living with us for a week. They kept us very busy. But we had the most wonderful time. And then their folks and their other two sisters met us up at our cabin for the holiday weekend. It was a perfect couple of days. 8 people, 5 dogs, and 2 cats. Not to mention the bats in the garage :-) Our lil' house by the lake was filled with so much love and laughter. Simply wonderful.

Moody

As in Moody Girl we adore

Bright

Bright morning sun through our woods

And last weeks WWC:

Salty

Edamame

Sour

Sour gummi bear race

Bonus photos

River Otter

LoonSpider webs at dawn

Lil' Frog

Dew on Evergreen