Two Weeks Ago

My babies became college graduates...

 A friend of theirs took this photo. I love it. No need to say more.

 On a grey and drizzly Saturday morning, we gathered outside to watch the first ceremony - the graduation of the Schools of Business and Education.  Rachel has a Bachelor of Science in Marketing and Communications.  The red cord denotes honors in her major.

The second ceremony, for the School of Science, began just past noon. And the sun had finally put in an appearance, so we were all stripping off the layers of clothing we had needed to survive the morning.  We got to listen to another round of all the same speeches. Then I missed getting Becca during the recessional because she was way earlier in the pack than we anticipated.  But she was happy to recreate her victory moment.  She graduates with a Bachelor of Science in Exercise Science.  One very tough and demanding major.  We couldn't be prouder!

And we got through the day with a minimum of drama!

Now the girls are moved back home and we are still working to integrate their stuff and their schedules into our home and daily routine.

Dusting Off The Microphone

Tap. Tap. Hello?  Is this thing on???

By now all my readers have likely moved on to more interesting and updated hotspots or are sitting back in wonderment at how eerily quiet things have been in my little piece of real estate in the blogosphere.  Is the place vacant?  Did she pack up and move in the middle of the night?

No, I'm still here. Well, sort of still here.  I've planned so many posts in my brain, but have had such precious little time to translate any of them to words on a screen.  I think about writing. Then I don't. Then I feel guilty. I've let myself down. I've let my readers down. My little home on Planet Internet has been left lonely and neglected. The weeds are growing rampant, the dust lies thickly on every surface. The place looks abandoned.  All that is missing are the shuttered windows and the crooked hanging sign that says "closed".  

What could have possibly kept me away for so long?  Hmmm.  Life?  A series of unfortunate events?  Yes, and Yes.  Remember how back in February my computer DIED suddenly and without warning?  And I had to wait until March 10 to get my new one? And then all the time spent setting it up?  ... Well, I had barely owned the thing for a month when it somehow caught a nasty virus and we had to restore it back to factory settings.  All that time I spent setting it up ... all the programs loaded.... all the preferences checked... ALL GONE. Again.

The virus happened around mid-April... so it isn't a surprise to me look back and see that I haven't blogged since April 4th.  We got the discs and did the whole reset on April 25th and I started loading programs again. But this time, my heart just hasn't been in it.  I still don't have PSE and LR set up for my preferences, and I'm still finding Windows 10 a bit confusing to navigate. And the computer is still a bit fussy and temperamental.  So it is hard to get photos to go with posts since my editing capabilities aren't fully functional yet. And I really hate to post without photos.

So here are some photos:

 These first three are layouts created for Rachel & Becca's School of Life albums for 7th through 12th grades.  I did all these at the ALS Charity Crop on April 22 & 23.  I found it very hard to digi-scrap on my laptop computer.  The screen just isn't big enough!

This two page spread is of Sarah's high school graduation party - it will feature in all three girls' albums as it is a great example of what it looks like when extended family & friends gather! That was really all I could handle for a day & a half crop, but still happy to have them done!

I will endeavor to stop back at some point during the weekend and catch you up on other doings in my life. But please don't hold me to it - life is crazy busy right now!

Documenting The Everyday - Week 32

Flap closed. For this week, I wanted to go with a softer, almost vintage palette. The background color is a cheap acrylic paint - french vanilla. I received a number of items in Happy Mail that were perfect for this week as well.

The challenge for the week was to add a fortune from a fortune cookie. I didn't have one, but did have the little banner (from happy mail) that says "many hands make light work" which sounds very fortune cookie-ish and kind of looks like those little slips of paper.  Jay and I celebrated our 29th anniversary during this week and I journaled a bit about that - blurred it out because it is a bit personal. This was a nice change of pace for me, but I know I can't stay away from the bright colors for long! :)

Documenting The Everyday - Week 31

Here is week 31 with the tip-in closed. I got some happy mail from two gals in the group, so all of the pasted in elements on the right-hand page were created by other women.

With the tip-in flap opened. Again most of the elements (except the bar code tags) were provided in happy mail, but went great in this layout! I'm really happy with the messy background. And the hummingbird card was perfect - been seeing a little hummingbird feeding on the hanging plants on my back deck. Just wish I could get a photo, but the little guy only stays for a few seconds and is gone.

Documenting The Everyday - Week 30

The week 30 challenge was to document Smash Style.

I started with this beautiful textured background:

And then proceeded to almost completely obliterate it with the stuff of everyday life!

No tips-in, pockets, or add-ons this week. Just a simple two page spread.  It felt liberating not have to write something every day, but just to layer on some little piece of my life from that day. Seeing this page done, I think I want to work on lettering and making those little notations more interesting to read. I could also add a bit more texture on top of all of this "stuff"... hmmm....

Documenting The Every Day - Week 29

DLP Challenge - journal your wishes
SOC Challenge - Raspberry, Tangerine & Lemon

First off, I LOVE this citrus inspired color scheme! It was fun to work with.  I used a thank you card that I received from Karen as part of the art work because it went so beautifully with the theme. I had to trim it down just a tad to fit and I added the word "give" to acknowledge that I want to be grateful for all the things I already have before I start wishing for more!

When you open the flap, my "wishes" are revealed:

1) Make a living as an artist.
2) Live near the ocean (right now we are 2 hours from the shore, I'd like to be 10 minutes or so! Maybe even ocean view!)
3) Have a fully functional home office with REAL furniture.

Obviously #3 is shorter term and more easily realized, but someday I hope it is all three!

Documenting The Everyday - Week 28

DLP challenge - add a small photo
SOC challenge - red, royal blue, a pop of light blue

In my overly literal mind, this color scheme would have worked so much better for last week with Independence Day. But I mad it work for me anyway and went with a real collage style presentation. The "normal" photo is clipped from a magazine and just seemed to fit my mood for the week.  You can't tell from the photo, but the numbers are sparkly holographic stickers from a very old set of sticker letters. So glad to have a perfect use for them! This journal is definitely helping with some stash busting!

Documenting The Everyday - week 27

DLP challenge - add a crossword
SOC challenge - pink and apple green

I added my crosswords each day throughout the week, with a word that represented that day. Great use of some old sticker letters that I happen to have about 8 sheets of. Now I will have to get creative if I need anymore e's, t's, n's etc.  The "tip in" for the week is the back side of my full month of July calendar (which I just printed from Outlook).

Crazy Hail Storm

We had a crazy hail storm last week. The skies got dark and within minutes it was raining, then hailing... like crazy.  In the 23 years we've lived in this home, we've never seen hail like this:

Literally bouncing off the ground when it hit.  And so loud. I went out to take photos and got hit with just one - more than enough to convince me I didn't want to be out walking or driving in this nonsense!

The Aftermath.  And off in the distance, the neighbors out checking their cars for damage. We keep ours in the garage!

Those hail stones in Jay's hand. Some were the size of giant gumballs!

Even the smallest ones were bigger than the normal pea-sized hail we get on rare occasions.

And within minutes, the whole thing was over.

Catching My Breath

I don't even know where to begin.

I had the most fabulous weekend!

I'm still trying to catch up to everyday life again (the price you always pay when you go away, right?). The laundry seems to have multiplied exponentially while I was away. Kind of like tribbles.

My girls' weekend destination was beautiful Cape May, New Jersey. 

Just being there slowed me down.  Brought me peace.


We stayed here: Rhythm of the Sea Inn.  Even the name sounds beautiful. It is a 1915 craftsman style home turned Bed and Breakfast.

I'll introduce you to my girls in another post, but here we all are!

I had a few truly lighthearted moments like this one.  Totally goofing on the beach.

And today I'm so grateful that we had this weekend. And I'll fill you all in later. 

After I'm done catching up with life. 

And catching my breath.

Because today word came that made it official.  Jay's position (that he has held for ten years) at work is being "eliminated" effective May 31st and he is joining the ranks of the unemployed.  We're making adjustments already.  And hoping that he can find a new job quickly.

In the meantime... if you could all add your prayers and/or positive thoughts to the Universe that the right job for Jay will come along, I would really appreciate it!  Quickly would be nice.  A positive work atmosphere would be great.  Closer to home would surely be a bonus.  But most of all, whatever and wherever it may be, just let it be a position that will make Jay happy and fulfilled.  That's what really matters in the end.

Photos Without Words Don't Tell The Whole Story

I've learned that photos without words can be very deceiving.  After all, yesterday's post made my Tuesday look pretty darn sweet, right?

It started off that way. Breakfast. Strength training session. Shower. But that single shot of the computer?  Hours and hours of work on contract revisions. Tedious, but productive. Then at 2:00 in the afternoon, my day fell apart. I had to pick up R & B for a dentist appointment. I forgot my camera.

Do you know what else my photos failed to document?

The photos failed to document...

...the fact that one of my offspring was in a particularly bad mood.  Cue ominous heavy black clouds.

...the first dinner in over four months where the whole family was present.  The dinner that began with said offspring's comment: "Well, at least this looks edible." Peppered heavily with teenage snarkiness and referring back to a dinner a few nights earlier that said offspring did NOT consider edible.  Are you beginning to get the flavor of dinner? Dinner should have tasted like yummy grilled filet mignon and baked potatoes, but instead tasted remarkably like drippy sarcasm and foul temper. I told said offspring that her attitude was getting on my nerves. She took her dinner plate and stormed out of the room, trailing a few choice words as she went. Cue thunder and lightning bolts.

...DH high-tailing it out of the house, dishes not even finished, to head to the gym. Cue sudden gust of wind and slamming door sound.

...me lacing up my sneakers and heading out the front door. Can I cue screeching tires here? What sound do screeching sneakers make? A casual observer might have thought I was late for an appointment. The truth was I couldn't get out of there fast enough. I had to escape the darkness that had enveloped my home. I had to run away from the negativity storm clouds brewing right over my head and in my heart. Cue a gentle lonely rainfall.

My photo walk did document this.  Which for some strange reason made me think of my snarky offspring.

And this. How I felt when I stepped out the door. Like the lowly dandelion - just a weed. Some people  don't feel guilty for even a second for stepping all over it.  But the beauty is there if you take just a moment to really look.

My walk was restorative. It cleared my head. And lightened my heart. And soothed my soul. So much so that I was able to enjoy the blooms. I was gone over an hour. Today my back is killing me. But I'm proud of myself for remembering to choose happiness.

And for recognizing that you simply can't reason with raging hormones.

Project Simplify - Week Five

If you've been keeping track, no, I didn't skip Week Four - it was pantry/fridge declutter time and since we keep up with this pretty regularly I didn't have much to do.  About 1/3 of a kitchen trash bag of freezer burned opened & partially used foods (french fries, chicken nuggets, etc.) that my darling offspring left in the bottom bin of the freezer made it to the trash. I had already reorganized the shelves following a shopping trip the week before.  So before/after photos would have looked identical.  Therefore, no post.

But here we are at Week Five - which was a "choose your own" hot-spot.  And I chose the one thing that has been bothering me the most lately - the excess virtual clutter on my computer! I was just getting way too many gigabytes for one girl and knew I needed to let some go.  The beauty of this kind of clean-up is no mess - nothing to sell, donate, or put out at the curb on Tuesday morning.

I started with my email in-box.  It went from this:

 See how far down that scroll bar is?  I had about four screens worth of "stuff" just sitting in my in-box!

To This - aaaaahhhhhhhh - white space!  As you can tell from the calendar, I did this on Monday.  I'm happy to report I've kept it clean! My in-box still has white space!

After the e-mail folders, I moved to my "C" drive (the internal computer drive).  I try to keep as little personal stuff on this drive as possible because the computer actually belongs to my employer and I have to give it back if I ever leave.  Still, just like with physical "stuff", virtual "stuff" does seem to accumulate where it doesn't belong!

On the "C" drive, specifically "My Documents" I started with 6.5 GB of data in 1296 files, 179 folders.  After some ruthless deleting and transferring my online class files to my external drive, I ended with 4.5 GB of data in 409 files, 140 folders.  I even defragged the drive!

Next stop - Kay.  or "K" drive - my external hard drive. She houses all my photos, digi scrap supplies, online class materials, completed albums and digiscrap layouts.  In other words - my life. Everything important to me.  I use ACDSee to tag and organize all this virtual wonderfulness. But when I lost my first beloved external hard drive  last year, although we were able to recover all the files, all of my tagging and organizing was gone. Gone! Countless hours of work vanished into thin air.

I never had the heart to go back and recreate all that work.  Which also means, I really haven't done much digiscrapping in the last year.  In fact, my last art journal layout coincides with the loss of all that tagging.  So Kay was in dire need of some love and attention. I have spent the last three days tagging with kit name and author and starting to tag with categories. It is a long and tedious process and right now I'm still in digi kits. I haven't even touched photos yet.

I have also been ruthlessly deleting digi products that I know I will not use (I used to download every freebie that came along - kept Kay fat and happy). As a result, Kay has lost some virtual weight, going from 150 GB down to 134 GB. Not bad for a few days work. Wish I lost weight that easily! Where is the button that deletes fat cells???

Final stop on my virtual Spring Cleaning was my Google Reader. With Shimelle's Blogging for Scrapbookers class, my Google Reader subscriptions had soared to well over 200.  I had been slowly deleting throughout the course, but was still at 175 this morning.  After about an hour, I am down to 75 blogs in my reader - which is still 25 more than I usually allow at any given time (I have to keep this in check as my time for blog reading really is limited).  But I've added some great new blogs to my "tribe" folder and will continue to cull what is left in the BFS folder over the next few weeks.

Now cross your fingers that my computer's virtual loss of excess fat will help it gain some energy. The sluggishness of late has been infuriating! :)  What about you? Do you keep your computer on a healthy weight limit? Or does it prefer to be fat and happy?  If you go the "save everything" route, how do you keep it all organized so you can find files when you need them?

Groundhog Day

I didn't realize it until I pulled February 1 off my Happy Bunny Page-A-Day calendar this morning.  But there it was February 2 - Groundhog Day. 

Given the fact that we had yet another ice storm last night:


Sure it is pretty to look at the trees all coated with ice.

 

but look at the havoc it wreaks. Broken branches from the weight of the ice.  Branches that are normally above my
head are nearly touching the driveway.  The driveway is coated in ice (thank goodness I don't have to be anywhere
today).  The roads are a mess.



              And the girls are home from school AGAIN today. 

So forgive me, but it is a little hard to believe that Spring is ever coming.

image sourced here

But Punxsatawney Phil saw no shadow this morning (um, could that be because there is NO SUN???) which predicts an early Spring.

I'll take it! Bring on Spring!

Happy Groundhog Day.

Thundersnow

Thundersnow?  I've lived in the very snowy Northeast U.S. most of my life, but had never heard of this.  No small wonder. According to Wikipedia, Thundersnow is a rare occurence and in the U.S. happens mostly in the Great Lakes region and in the mid-West.  I experienced it first-hand last night.  Someone here in Perkasie shot a [sideways] video and posted it on You-Tube, so I'm borrowing to share:



It was kind of wild and crazy, hearing the loud and long-rumbling thunder while it was near-blizzard snowing outside!

This is what we woke up to in the morning:

15 or 16 inches of new snow on top of what was still left on the ground from previous snow, ice, snow storms.

A true "winter wonderland" complete with Jack Frost on the windowpanes.

And of course - school was cancelled.  So my girls have spent more time OUT of school this month than in it!

Spring will be so welcome here!

Frequently Asked Questions

At this point in my life, there aren't many questions that I get asked "frequently." In fact, none that I can think of off the top of my head. But there was a time...

As a new mother of twins, perfect strangers seemed utterly fascinated in the most intimate aspects of my life.
Although sometimes the attention was appreciated, more often, taking my girls out in public (such as to the grocery store) became a chore, as I would be stopped in nearly every aisle by someone wanting to coo over my babies and then ask the inevitable.  All while I was trying to rush through a quick shop so I could get them home before feeding time and the impending meltdown.

Although most people were well-meaning, at times, I literally wanted to make a sign and hang it from their stroller! Because in all honesty.... it got old. Fast. Sometimes the questions were stupid. And sometimes they were grossly inappropriate.  But here, in no particular order, are the most frequently asked questions...

1. Do twins run in your family?
No, but they do run in my husband's family.

2. Boys or Girls? [Ahem. I'm all for not playing into gender stereotypes, but I always took them out dressed in pink, usually with little ribbons in their hair.]  Oh, girls. 

3. Are they identical or fraternal?
[Seriously?  Did you even look at them before you asked me that?]  Rachel and Becca are decidedly fraternal. They did not look alike as infants, nor do they look alike now - other than the normal sibling resemblance.  Rachel's face is now more narrow and long with a squared off chin (like Dad), she has small delicate ears, and her hair is blonder.  Becca has a rounder face, larger ears, and darker hair, although she didn't have any hair to speak of before she was two! Their noses are different, their eye color is different. Personality wise - night and day! And we have never referred to them as "the twins" ~ they are two separate human beings who happen to share a birthday.

  4. Natural or C-Section?  I had Rachel and Becca C-section (unplanned)  because when I went into labor Becca was positioned breech and up under my rib cage. After the fact, the doctors said she was small enough that they probably could have turned her once Rachel was out. Too late for that.  If you ask my husband he'll tell you that it was for the best. Apparently he didn't relish the experience of me screaming my head off during Sarah's delivery! Having done it both ways, I can't say I honestly recommend one over the other. They are just different experiences.

5. Who was born first? Rachel. By one minute. And since she was the one properly positioned, she would have been born first anyway.

6. How big were they when they were born? Rachel was 6 lbs 7 oz., Becca was 5 lbs, 7 oz.  They were born 3 weeks early which is normal with twins and I was HUGE. They came home from the hospital weighing 5 lbs, 11 oz. and  4 lbs, 11 oz. respectively. Becca was such a tiny thing, she wore the outfit off a cabbage patch doll!

7. Nursing or bottle feeding?  [No kidding, COMPLETE STRANGERS would ask me this!  Well, if it is any of your business...]  Both.  I nursed until their first check up. They weren't putting on weight, so after that I supplemented with formula and switched between them who got to nurse. At least that way, Dad could help with the feedings. They were weaned to formula when I went back to work.

  8. How do you handle it? I swear I never knew how to answer this. I still don't. When you have no other choice, you just DO.

I don't get asked these questions any longer. Although occasionally when I'm out with all three girls, we'll get asked if they are triplets. That drives Sarah nuts. It is hard when you are 20 to be taken for 17!

Now the most frequently asked question is directed at Rachel and Becca...

9. What is it like being a twin?  To which I can only hope they respond, "What is it like not being a twin?"  Because honestly, being a twin is all they have ever known. How can they compare that to not being a twin?

Give Yourself A Break!

Normally this page-a-day calendar sits on my desk and I use it to mark the day (because it is so easy when you work from home to truly forget what day it is!).  And as I rip off each page, the back side makes great scratch paper to have handy. I rarely give much attention to the message. Because although it is about slowing down and enjoying life, the messages tend to be preachy, judgmental, or just off the mark from what I need to hear.  But every once in a while...

the message is right on target! This one made me laugh out loud when I read it this morning. Yes, I need a break. So as soon as I hit post, I'm getting off the computer to do my physical therapy exercises and yoga. Yeah me!

The Sounds of Silence

Do you hear that?  Listen..... That's right. Silence. Sweet Blessed Silence.

This morning dove has been keeping silent vigil over her nest for about
a week now.  Photo shot through the window screen in our bedroom.

It is 7 a.m. and I have the house to myself. Children and spouse off to school and work. This day has finally come. I have been counting down the days and hours, holding my breath, waiting for this moment to arrive. So blissfully sweet. So full of promise.  

After the most ridiculously crazy busy month I can remember in a long time, we are finally at a place where some semblance of order will be returned. Some degree of routine will be back. I will be able to bank on some "me time" that is not devoted to Mom as chauffeur and bank.  You think I jest?  Oh no.  I jest not.  This is my last two weeks in a nutshell:

8/13, 14, & 15 - visit Jay's Mother at RV park. Roughly 4-5 hours each day including drive time.
8/16 transport girls to Driver's Ed and shopping at Kohls - 5 hours
8/17 transport girls to Driver's Ed and shopping at Ross - 3 hours
8/18 Go to work for meeting; spend evening juggling girls to soccer practice and work and me to gym.
8/19 transport girls to Driver's Ed - 3.5 hours. Test passed.
8/20 call insurance company; double cost of auto insurance to add two newly minted drivers (Seriously, $2300 to add both girls with NO CARS). Take my car to shop for repairs.
8/21 take Sarah to Mall for back to school shopping. Rachel & Becca both working. Spend remainder of day helping Sarah organize and pack for college. Literally 12 hours.
8/22 while Jay & Rachel drive Sarah to college, take Becca shopping at Mall and Marshall's for back to school.
8/23 Dr. appt in a.m.; take Becca to work and Rachel shopping at Mall and Marshall's for back to school in p.m., pick up Becca on way home - 3.5 hours
8/24 take the girls to Rice's Market in the morning - 3.5 hours round trip
8/25 take girls to BJ's (Becca in desperate need of contact lenses) and Target for back to school shopping - 2 hours.
8/26 At office all day, meetings from 9:30 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. Rush home to take Becca to work. Make dinner. Take Rachel to salon for haircut. Drop her off to go pick up Becca from work. Take Becca to salon for hair cut. Another evening shot.
8/27 & 8/28 - I know my short-term memory is failing me. I can't even remember what I did for these two days. Um...laundry, house cleaning, oh yeah - MAJOR kitchen filing (paperwork since March - ugh), pay bills.
8/29 - take Rachel & Becca to Plato's closet for my final round of B2S shopping - 3.5 hours round trip. Grocery shopping; laundry; more house cleaning.

Realize this itinerary is what is happening while I am still trying to a) work, b) maintain my household, and c) get to the gym five days a week.  So I'm looking forward to a little slow down. Can you blame me? I'm tired of shopping. And I know three separate trips to the mall sounds like I have lost my mind. But my girls each shop very differently and have different expectations regarding my attention while shopping. Take my word for it when I tell you that I can NOT shop with them together. It just creates more problems than it solves.

My "me time" will not be granted immediately. I know that. The first two weeks of school the girls are off almost as many days as they are on thanks to Labor Day and Rosh Hashanah.  And the first few days are always insane with more homework for Mom than the girls, as every single teacher sends home their individual course requirements, class rules, yada yada yada and wants a parent signature that the materials have been reviewed. Honestly - what an immense waste of trees!  But I know that my time is coming. Two weeks from now, the routine will have begun to settle in. A rhythm will be established. I'll be able to breathe again. In the meantime, I'm just basking in the silence.

Sunrise in my backyard.

Three Things

1. Check this out! I am the featured student of the month over at Big Picture Scrapbooking!  Now, to be fair, I filled out the questionairre over a year ago. So I'm 49 (not 48) and Jay and I will be celebrating our 25th anniversary this August! But otherwise, all the answers are still valid.

2. Why was yesterday's "perfectly contented moment" so worthy of a blog post?  Because of this:

This is the new laptop I just got from work. I traded in the old desktop and the old laptop, for this single machine and a docking station.  Why?  Because the old desktop had gotten so painfully slow, despite defragging, deleting, storing all of my images and scrapbooking stuff on a separate external hard drive, and every other clean up I could think of.   Neither of the old machines had a processor or RAM sufficient to operate the programs I play with on a daily basis. So it was time. 

Anyone who has purchased (willingly or under forced circumstances) a new computer knows all too well that it takes time to get the new toy up and running the way the old one was. Even if the old one was crap.  I got this baby on Thursday. I spent Wednesday backing up all my emails, internet favorites, documents, etc. so it could all be transferred to this new baby. Then I spent more time deleting everything from the machines that were being returned to the office.  It sounds like I had it all under control and getting up and running should be simple right?

Ha! It never is! My first rookie mistake was thinking that because I had my ACDSee database stored on my external hard drive that I didn't need to do a backup of that. Apparently I was wrong.  All the tagging and organization that I've done to date is gone. I have to start over. :(  And my email is totally messed up. My personal mail is going into my work folder.  And I can't see my work email unless I sign into remote serv. The tech guys at the office tried to put it all into one Outlook profile.  Guess what? It didn't work! Hopefully Jay can fix that for me this weekend.  And the docking station? Never had one before. And it didn't come with instructions. I thought it was plug and play. Um, not. Turns out you have to install a driver for it.  And I still can't get the resolution on my big monitor correct.  With all this "stuff" going on in the background of my life, it is no small wonder that yesterday's perfectly contented moment was blog-worthy!

3) I took Karen's advice on the "aperture" issue that was totally confounding me.  I went outside, sat in the grass, and shot consecutive photos of the same flower from the same position, changing the f.stop one click between each photo. I took a total of 48 shots - 3 series. I noticed that as the aperture number got smaller (wider opening, more light - so counter-intuitive!) that my camera automatically increased the shutter speed to make up for the extra light coming through. Smart camera. I could not see any difference as I took the photos, but when I loaded them up to my computer,I could literally see more and more of the background coming in focus as the aperture number gets larger (smaller opening, less light).  So here are just a couple from one series to illustrate:

This first one was taken at 1/160s, f/32. Almost the entire photo is in focus. This aperture setting would work great for landscapes when you want it all in focus.

Second shot - 1/1000 s, f/13. You can see the background beginning to blur, but almost all of the flower remains in focus.

And finally, 1/4000s, f/5.6. The entire background and even some parts of the upper flower are out of focus. For me this is the best shot for flowers - or anything when you want good detail, but don't want the distraction of the background.  So thanks Karen! I get it now!

A Perfectly Contented Moment

I had gone to the gym and had a marvelous workout - 2 miles, 300 calories burned on the elliptical, 2 miles and another 50 calories on the bike.  I had stopped at the grocery store and picked up bananas, orange juice, milk - just a few items that couldn't wait for a full-on grocery shopping trip. And I was on my way home, feeling pretty good about what I had just accomplished. When on the radio comes Shania Twain "Man, I Feel Like A Woman"

and there I was with the music cranked, driving home, singing "Shania karaoke" at the top of my lungs (hey, I take advantage when there is nobody in the car to hear me!). And for a few moments all was right with the world and I felt perfectly content.

49 Things (and a give-away in honor of my birthday)

*This birthday list was inspired by Cathy Zielski and Stacy Julian

Today I am 49.  Today is the first day of my last year of being "40 something."  Turning forty was okay - I'm wondering if I'll feel the same way in one year when I am turning 50, entering a new decade of life. Not sure. Ask me next year. :)  In the meantime, here is my list of 49 things that I know, that I believe, that I ponder.  Yes, I'm sharing the wisdom of the ages!  Most links are to prior blog posts where I expand on the idea or thought mentioned in the list.

1. Always wear sunscreen.
2. Be kind to yourself. And others. ALL others, without exception.
3. Brush and floss daily. It is that important.
4. Laughter is indeed the best medicine!
5. I am not a happy camper.
6. Naps are not just for toddlers. In fact, they may be entirely wasted on toddlers!
7. Happiness is a choice, not a destination.
8. Damaged toenails can take a VERY long time to regrow.
9. Silence is golden, but the sound of my childrens' laughter is PRICELESS.
10. LOST was one of the best television shows. Ever. I miss it.
11. Daily application of Cherry Softlips reduces the incidence of cold sores.
12. Exercise is not optional. It is vital.
13. Is my lucky number. Seriously.
14. But in the overall scheme of things, numbers (weight, age, etc.) don't really matter. Attitude does.
15. I love to blog.
16. I believe in life long learning.
17. I never cease to be amazed at how much I learn from other people's blogs. Thank you.
18. Live in the moment. Be present. Be aware.
19. Chocolate is a food group. Make sure to eat some every day.
20. Practice Gratitude.
21. We are all children of the Universe. We are all connected. And we are all in this together.
22. Everything is better in moderation. Even scrapbooking supplies.
23. And yet, you can never have too much toilet paper!
24. Reading is a fantastic way to escape into another world - temporarily. It's like a vacation from your life!
25. "Whether you think you can, or think you can't, either way you are right. " Henry Ford
26. Insomnia, headaches, inability to lose weight - all negative aspects of being perimenopausal. Can someone please tell me what the positive aspects are???
27. Sometimes you just have to see the humor in the absurd.
28. Motherhood is one of the most thankless, yet most gratifying, jobs available.
29. Happiness can be purchased at a garden center.
30. I am addicted to online classes. And sugar. Which reminds me... please join me in Picture Summer. It is sure to be a sweet class!
31. Laundry is one of those chores that is never finished. Accept it. Resistance is futile.
32. Above all else, be yourself.
33. Hard drive failure is inevitable. Back up!
34. I believe in abundance.
35. With all due respect to Kermit, I LOVE being GREEN!
36. Comfort is key when it comes to clothing. I am far too busy to be "designer."
37. Clutter sucks life away.
38. Perfection is highly over-rated.
39. "Because I said so" is an acceptable answer... only if you are a parent. But "if you don't stop crying, I'll give you a reason to cry" is never acceptable and is probably the stupidest thing a parent ever said to me.
40. The media-generated portrayal of beauty is a sham. An unobtainable, air-brushed, digitally enhanced lie. Told only to sucker us into buying products that are supposed to make us feel better about our imperfections. Be sure your daughters know this. I think maybe they should teach this in school, along with the "Just Say No" campaigns.
41. Teaching teenagers to drive is a parental right-of-passage. Thankfully, I have survived.
42. Cameras, once out of auto-mode, are a confusing and complicated piece of technology.
43. Barefoot is best. But maybe not in the snow?
44. I'm still waiting for the aliens to return my sweet daughters to me.
45. Validation is comforting.  Which probably explains why I adore comments on my blog!
46. When life blesses you with abundance, be sure to "pay it forward."

47. If you made it this far, you must really love me!
48. I AM ENOUGH.
49. Life is Good.

In the spirit of paying it forward, and in honor of my birthday, I am giving one of my blog readers the gift of Brene Brown's "The Hustle for Worthiness" DVD. I won this DVD recently on Brene's blog. I watched it and would now love to pass it on. My hope being that whoever wins it, would watch it and then pass it on again.  Just leave me a comment and I'll announce a winner on Tuesday! I'll send it anywhere, so all my international friends can play too!