Photo Scavenger Hunt

Leave it to Emily to get me back here blogging. Shame on me.

As a little welcome-to-fall contest, Emily listed 10 photos to take and we were to pick 8 to blog about. I'm not sure if this will count because I didn't specifically take these photos for the contest, but I needed an excuse to update the blog before September ends. So, here's my list.

#1 Something I need every day Easy. I need coffee. Every day. Black. Hot. Strong. Many cups. I'm sipping one right now. Yum.

#2 Something I've once lost, finally found I used to do all sorts of crazy things back in my younger days. But moving out to the DC area from Colorado, settling into a marriage, buying a house, becoming a mom. Somewhere in there I seem to have lost my sense of adventure. I found it again on our recent trip to Hawaii where I was very reluctantly convinced to take a sunrise bike ride down the side of a volcano. It was awesome.

#3 A happy place in my house I love our house, it has a lot of little happy places for me. But my favorite right now is the floor of Ellie's bedroom where we cuddle and read books before bed.

#4 A picture of a picture I made these little photo cubes for Father's Day this year. Aren't they cute? It's on my list of things to blog about.

#5 A favorite book One of the things that I'm really enjoying these days is the creativity that's inspired in me by some of my on-line mommy friends through various "swaps" that I've participated in. I'm not usually satisfied with my contribution, but I'm amazed at, and in awe of what I have gotten in return. One of those things was a beautiful scrap book of Ellie's first year, artfully crafted by Jennie using the photos I took every Tuesday. It is now one of my most prized possessions.

#6 My favorite color I just love the deep rich color of blue that water imparts on the world. The color of the water and the sky in the tropics contrasted with the white of billowing clouds and breaking waves, it's breathtaking.

#7 Something from my childhood This summer we took a trip to the tiny little amusement park in my home town that has been there forever. It has four or five little rides, most of which have changed since I was a child. But two of them are exactly the same - the merry-go-round and the little train. I have many fond memories of riding the huge (to me) Ferris wheel, picking which animal I wanted to ride on the carousel, eating snow cones and cotton candy, and impatiently waiting for the train to complete it's long, slow loop so I could have a turn. Ahhhh, memories.

#8 Something from my to-do list This is actually rather embarrassing. The blog isn't the only thing I'm hopelessly behind on. I hung this set of picture frames up way, way back in June in anticipation of receiving the beautiful photos that Emily took while she was here (something else on my list of things to blog about. Actually this whole post could be called "something I will blog about some day"). Photos that I still haven't ordered. It's at the very top of my to-do list, and has been for months. I WILL order these photos SOON. I NEED them. My house looks very silly with empty picture frames hanging all over the place.

And there you have it. My entry into the photo scavenger hunt, and a very belated update to the blog containing many previews of entries to come. Hopefully before the end of time.

Bedside Table Philosophy

A fabulously creative friend of mine did this a few weeks ago and I'd been meaning to join the fun, if just to have an excuse to finally straighten and dust my bedside mess. In so doing, I realized that the stuff collecting on my bedside table is part who I am and part who I'd like to be. And that the state of said table is mostly who I am, and not so much who I'd like to be. Someone could do a Ph.D. thesis on what collects at people's bedside and what it says about them.

Here are the reads collecting on my bedside table (straightened for the purpose of the photo).

First, the table itself is a garage sale find that I love. I got it with the intention of refinishing it right away. I still intend to, right away, 10 years later. It's the prefect size, with a little drawer and a shelf that allows me three tiers of books. The little drawer is perfect for holding bookmarks since I always lose the one I'm using. I've thought many times of replacing it with something more matchy with our other furniture, but I can't part with it.

Tier 1: Books I am intending on starting/finishing as soon as I'm in the mood to pick them up again.

1. "Projects for Community Knitting" pub. by Cottage Creations
2. "The Lathe of Heaven" by Ursula K. le Guin
3. "The Creative Family" by Amanda Blake Soule
4. "The Best American Essays - 2001" edited by Kathleen Norris (yes, 2001, I know)
5. "Why We Garden" by Jim Nollman
6. The September 2007 issue of "Smithsonian" (again, I know, but there it is)

Tier 2: Crosswords and other fun things I do when I don't want to read

1. Sudoku puzzles
2." The New York Times Crossword Omnibus, Vol. 10" edited by Eugene T. Maleska
3. "The New York Times Big Book of Holiday Crosswords" edited by Will Shortz
4. My fabulous crossword puzzle dictionary
5. "The Daring Book for Girls" by Andrea J. Buchanan and Miriam Peskowitz

Tier 3: Books I'm actually reading because it's easier to set them on the floor as I'm falling asleep

1. "What to Expect: The Toddler Years" by Eisenberg, Murkoff, and Hathaway
2. "Complete Book of Women's Running" by Dagny Scott Barrios
3. "Mother Nurture" by Hanson, Hanson, and Pollycove
4. Barnes and Noble's "The Complete Book of Woodworking" (I'm not actually reading this)

Some of these books have been sitting on my table untouched for well over a year, that also probably says something about me.

I thought I'd do this for my husband, too, since he's a better reader than I am and he always has an interesting collection going. I did not straighten his side.

1. An issue of "The Planetary Report"
2. An issue of "Cooks Illustrated"
3. A journal
4. "Bloom County: Babylon" by Berke Breathed
5. "The Rough Guide to Climate Change" by Robert Henson
6. "The Blind Watchmaker" by Richard Dawkins
7. "The Dangerous Book for Boys" by Iggulden and Iggulden
8. "Dark Sun" by Richard Rhodes
9. "Tales from the Brother's Grimm" compiled by Cooper Edens
10. "Rolling Stone Album Guide"
11. An issue of "Newsweek"
12. "The Fellowship of the Ring" by J.R.R. Tolkien (always has one of these going)

See? A Ph.D. thesis in the making.

Kids Cancer Crusade Needs A Little Help

I know it's been awhile, I'm sure you're all anxiously awaiting an update. It's coming and it will be grand as it's been a busy busy busy couple of weeks. For now, you'll have to wait because I wanted to get the word out on something I think deserves a little visibility.

If you've spent any time at all on the blogosphere, you'll know that upping the visibility of your blog and increasing the number of comments is the name of the game, and people do all sorts of things to get your help. My favorite is give-aways, people give a prize to a random commenter or hold a little contest. You also see people asking you to advertise a give-away on your blog for an extra chance to win (this is kind of like shooting yourself in the foot, of course, since it means more entries). There are also all sorts of awards floating around, which are also a lot of fun. I received one and never did anything about it, thank you so much, Bug, for thinking of me (I love your new holiday look, by the way)! Maybe once I catch up on baby stuff I will follow through with that.

Up until now I've refrained from doing any solicitations on my blog and I'm kind of proud of myself for that as the temptation is very large. After this I will no longer be able to say that, but I think it's worth it. This is a really simple little thing, and I don't get much traffic here. But my hope is people who do get more traffic will pick up on it and repeat it and maybe this little organization will get the support they need.

Here's the dealeo (copied and pasted from their petition site):

To: Kids Cancer Crusade Supporters

For two years the purchase of the domain http://www.kidscancercrusade.org was kindly donated to Kids Cancer Crusade, a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization by the owner of NgiNeThemba Designs & Domains. The company was recently sold and the new owner felt that since the company purchased the domain for the organization, Kids Cancer Crusade should be required to purchase it from him for $2000 (matching another offer he had received for the domain) in order to continue its use.

However, the new owner agreed to the terms that if Kids Cancer Crusade could supply a petition obtaining 1500 signatures declaring that, although not illegal, what he has demanded of the organization was unfair and hurts the organization and the services they provide, a judge can rule that he must repay the $2000. He agreed to the terms because he doesn't feel Kids Cancer Crusade has the support. Please help us to not only show him he is wrong but to get the money back so it can go to where it should - to our children and their families.

Sincerely,

The Undersigned

To sign this petition please follow this link http://www.petitiononline.com/kcc08/petition.html
Here is some information on what Kids Cancer Crusade is http://www.kidscancercrusade.org/
And a link to a blog where they track kids' progress http://www.crusadingforacure.blogspot.com/
And finally a link to the petition site's FAQ page so you can see exactly what this is. I've signed one other petition and have never received any junk mail resulting from it. http://www.petitiononline.com/petition_FAQ.html

I understand this new owner doesn't have a responsibility to donate the domain, and I suppose a better way would be for them to find a new donor. But something about the way the new owner appears to have treated them makes me want to show him they can get the support they need.

Thanks for reading this! A baby update is coming soon, I promise.

Google Tag

Another fun idea from Emily. How to play:

* Do a Google image search on the answer to each question
* Choose your favorite from the first page of the results
* Leave a comment here so I can come see what you came up with

{my age}


{where I'd like to travel}


{my favorite place}


{my favorite object}


{my favorite food}


{my favorite animal}


{my favorite color}


{where i was born}


{where i live}


{a past pet}


{a past love}


{my best friend's nickname}


{my screen name}


{my first name}


{my middle name}


{my last name}


{a bad habit}


{my first job}


{my grandma's name}


{my college degree}


{what i'm doing now}


You're it!