Happy Lunar New Year!

January 23, 2012 | 1 comment

It’s the year of the dragon!

My straw blown/painted dragon has been hanging around since last year, happy to be a part of the celebration.

I found this clever Chinese New Year project and had to try it.

And so did the kids.

Technically, we had Thai for dinner (Husband made an awesome curry), but we all enjoyed reading and eating many fortune cookies.

Now, go read something else:

  • Happy Belly, Happy Smile Rachel Isadora
  • Fortune Cookie Fortunes Grace Lin
  • The Ugly Vegetables Grace Lin
  • Lissy’s Friends Grace Lin
  • My First Chinese New Year Karen Katz
  • Lucky New Year! Mary Man-Kong

winter precipitation event

January 21, 2012 | No comments

Or what I like to call, snice.

A bit of snow did fall, but had iced over by the time the kids could to it.

My favorite snice image.

verve

January 18, 2012 | 1 comment

“Life is a verb, not a noun.” Charlotte Perkins Gilman

“Be bold. If you’re going to make an error, make a doozy, and don’t be afraid to hit the ball.” Billie Jean King

I want you to succumb to failure so that you can learn how to stand up again.
I want you to feel stuck and discover what it takes for you to get going once more.

I want you to feel accomplishment and pride after a job well done. Patricia Zapata

“Don’t put the key to happiness in someone else’s pocket – keep it in your own.” Unknown

“To your enemy, forgiveness. To an opponent, tolerance. To a friend, your heart. To a customer, service. To all, charity. To every child, a good example. To yourself, respect.” Oren Arnold

40 is on my horizon and I’ve spent my thirties having babies and figuring out parenthood.  Before my chronometer flips to the next decade, it’s time to include myself again.  As a part of the including me project, I’m taking two e-courses: Stephanie Levy’s Creative Courage and Susannah Conway’s Photo Meditations course.  Each are great fun and I can participate when it is convenient in my daily schedule.

An exercise from Stephanie’s course is to think about what would you like to let go of this year? “Releasing and letting go is important because we all need to make space for the new and positive things that are coming into our lives.” As I pondered this question, I decided I need to let go of my disgruntlement with 2011.  Not just the difficulties during the year, but the loneliness in the midst of them as the silence from the outside world was deafening. After wallowing a bit and mourning the loss of how I perceived some relationships, I’ve regrouped, pulled up my hip boots and continue to wade through the mucky marsh of life. Although the fun never ends as a parent, I am doing my best to guide our kids through their own friend issues: s/he said vs s/he said; bragging vs the right to say something; a friend’s unsupervised YouTube viewing; the death of a parent of a classmate. Crocodiles, snakes and quicksand are everywhere and at the moment, we are maneuvering through fairly well, no anti-venom needed just yet.

See you in the marsh!

Who’s Afraid of Friday the 13th?

January 13, 2012 | 2 comments

Around here, certainly not the wind.  Wind chills of 20 and below for our region reminding us that it is indeed winter.  Brr!

Taken while at a stoplight and I’m tickled with the windshield filter effect.

My milkweed suncatcher bathing in the afternoon light.

Thankful for Thursday

January 12, 2012 | No comments

As the day began, #2 pointed out this photo moment.

Breakfast then bus stop for most and errands for my girl and I.

Clouds make me happy.  Pay attention before they morph!

Do you see the kokopelli dancer too?

After errands, my girls and I went for a walk.  Hard to say no to the 10.5 year old who bounces like a puppy when she hears the word.

Roots and shadows appeal to me this week.

As well as my regular sidekicks who took turns…

walking each other (making me smile and giving me more shadows to enjoy).

Taking the picture I want of my shrimp plant in bloom at a certain time of day has become a personal challenge to figure out (and no, I haven’t read the camera manual yet).

The only one I like from today I shot from underneath.

Missing scissors and glue sticks, I decided to flesh out an idea inspired by a guitar valentine I’d seen.

For #1 to give his strings teacher next month to which I have been given his nod of approval.

Year of the Dragon

January 9, 2012 | 1 comment

2012 already underway but two weeks from today, The Year of the Dragon begins. Some proof that it is going to continue to be awesome.

  • Michigan won their bowl game.  And I have a nine month break until his the next season begins.
  • The recycling truck took all the extra I had set out!  (The trash men were fickle and didn’t take something I’d left out before the holidays.)
  • The winter has begun mild despite today’s flakes.  (And my fingers and toes are crossed for it to last through the entirety–I have not yet recovered from 2010′s Snow My Goodness!)
  • Thanks to the grocery store incentive program, I paid $1.77/gal for gas! (Anyone else remember a time when all you needed was a $20 to fill the tank?)
  • My Christmas wish came true and now I get to figure out how to use a big girl camera to record all the goodness 2012 is offering.

In elementary school, my fascination with the Polaroids of my mother and my grandmother eventually led to my own camera–110 instamatic. Disposable cameras by college and my own 35mm panoramic after that.  Ten years ago we invested in a digital point and shoot to capture the beginnings of parenthood.  Two cameras later, I decided it was time to ask Santa for a big girl camera.  And today, I was able to take a walk around the neighborhood to play with a little bit.  A cloudy January day that eventually saw snowflakes was probably not the ideal, but here are a few of 100 photos I snapped.

Two trees near the creek behind our house caught my eye.  The first reminds me of a cloak for a woodland giant, the second, the giant’s knee.

My favorite rock along the creek.

With all the rushing water smoothing things down, how is this one still so angularly detailed?

I really like how defiant the snakey roots have anchored and flourished despite the remains of the man-made path.

In a neighbor’s yard…wheel of wonder as well as variations of green harmoniously cohabiting.

Back home, my plant is shrimping, again!

And our dog is outside wanting in, again!

First flakes at lunchtime…

Dusting by dinner.

Now that I’ve had a good test run, probably time to sit down and read the manual.

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