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Friday, July 31, 2009

Photo 25 - "Mommy, I Love You" Song


Short Person playing the guitar and singing the "Mommy, I Love You" song for the first time. I video'd this version, but it was hard to hear her voice over the guitar playing.

Wednesday, July 29, 2009

Photo 24 - An Injured Finger


This photo doesn't do the injury justice. I was carrying in camping stuff and landed my finger in the armoire on the way to the bedroom.

Tuesday, July 28, 2009

Photo 23 - A Very Hot Day


This one speaks for itself. It was taken at 1pm, and still about 3 degrees away from the hottest it got that day.

Monday, July 27, 2009

Photo 22 - A Clean Campsite


Packed up and ready to go. I had made breakfast, cleaned everything, packed up everything, and it was only 10:45am and already about 90 degrees. Ugh.

Sunday, July 26, 2009

Photo 21 - The Worst Shower Ever!


The sign says 3 minute showers, but what it doesn't tell you is that the showers really only last a minute. You see, the water is freezing cold. You can have that free. Freezing cold water, so cold it takes your breath away, all the time. When you plunk in the quarters, it sends a signal to the pipes somewhere to let you have hot water.

So imagine that you turn on the cold water, you plunk in your quarters. It takes two minutes to travel to you. You scrub as fast as humanly possible and then... click... IMMEDIATELY freezing cold water!!! You plunk in two more quarters and another two minutes go by while you are shivering and trying to breath, hot water for one minute while you furiously try and rinse your hair... and then you hear the click and it starts all over again.

Worst shower I've ever had in my life!!

Saturday, July 25, 2009

Photo 20 - Our First Campground


The first campground I've ever been responsible for setting up. I think it went pretty well-- especially since December did most of the tent =)

Friday, July 24, 2009

Photo 19 - Lil' Cooperstown


Eating at Lil' Cooperstown. Our favorite restaurant.

Thursday, July 23, 2009

Photo 18 - Photo of a Photo that Should Have Been


This is a photo of the photo that should have been. Right where you see the coffee grounds sat a bag of trash waiting until morning to be carried to the end of the driveway. It was late at night-- probably 10pm-- and I was taking a laundry basket to the dryer. I opened the door and the bag of trash had been open and dragged across the floor. There were pieces of garbage leading about half way out.
LJS was in bed. He had closed the garage door, taken a shower, and gotten in bed. I went in and asked, "Did you check to make sure the skunk wasn't in the garage when you closed the door? Or, some other wild animal?"

"No. Why?"

"The garbage has been torn into."

He got up, walked to the garage door, looked out, and said, "That's weird. Wasn't like that a minute ago."

We spent 5 minutes searching dark corners of the garage for rats, skunks, and racoons. Nothing. We bagged it back up and I took it out the front door... where I found a trail of trash extending in single pieces half way through the yard.

I should have gotten a photo of the trash, but didn't think of it until after it was cleaned up. Thus, a photo of the photo that should have been.

Wednesday, July 22, 2009

Photo 17 - New Contacts


New contacts. They are much bigger than my last ones and much more powerful. I can see things so far away that I'm amazed things existed past the 50 feet I could see before. The colors of the world are just vibrant.

Tuesday, July 21, 2009

Photo 16 - My Office


My office at work. I'm really excited because the carpet is being replaced and at the same time, I get to paint it. I have big plans and with luck it will not look like this again-- ever. (I get my own storage room too *grin*)

Monday, July 20, 2009

Photo 15 - Mini Market Tradition


I'm not sure when the tradition started, but every so often we will walk up, or ride bikes, to the little market in town and Short Person will buy herself a treat. It's her favorite store. Today, we walked up and got those little ice cream cones from the bin and walked back home.

Sunday, July 19, 2009

Mel vs. The Coleman Stove

In the world of OCD, irrational fears are our business. I have fears about bugs, needles, the State of Arizona, and in our house we do not have service with the gas company because I have an irrational fear of exploding. In preparing for our camping trip, it was only natural that this fear of the big kaboom translate itself to a, let's call it, "heightened awareness" of how easy it would be to blow up our campsite while using the Coleman stove.

I was completely resistant to using it. I didn't know, exactly, how cooking would work, which translated to a secondary fear that I would somehow starve Short Person, but I would find a way! I had visions of cooking things over a campfire, rationalizing that since the Indians, cowboys, and twelve-year old boys participating in Boy Scout activities had done it, well... how hard could it be, right?

I poured over recipes and websites all specializing in recipes for foil cooking and cast iron, but realized that the food you could cook this way not only took a long time, but took an innate talent for cooking. I have no talent. So, I cruised the stores looking for some magical ways to cook. Until finally, I thought I had a solution to the problem. I was going to buy this candle waxy looking thing in a can called Sterno. It looked easy! You light it, stick it under a grate thing, put a pan on top of the grate... and Walla! Hot food.

I rushed home to tell LJS about this splendid find, excited because I wasn't going to have to approach the propane canister one single time.

"You're going to learn to use the stove, Honey. It's easy." He responded, setting off my inner alarm bells. HIS mind was set, which usually meant there was no stopping him. No turning back! Danger, Will Robinson, Danger!

"Okay, but not today."

I managed to put him off a full week, but the weekend before we were set to go camping, he announced that it was "the time" to learn.

*****************

I forget what Short Person and I did that day. I only remember that when I got home, I was exhausted and hot. The temperatures were steadily climbing and it had been nearly ninety degrees for far too long a stretch. I remember too that LJS was in "a mood". Nothing good comes from LJS being in "a mood" when trying to do something.

I have only to look at our first day in our new house, preparing to paint and finding that the previous owners had used a huge nail to hang something up. LJS got mad, got the hammer, and pulled and pulled and pulled to get it out-- not realizing that as he was doing that, the blunt end was knocking an even larger hole into the wall. Until finally, the nail was out and there was a newly established crater the size of a tennis ball below it.

I have only to look at the day LJS wanted cable in the garage. He split the cord, he hooked it up, it still did not work. He attempted to get it done for hours, until finally, he headed up to the attic. Angry, he managed to do a little too much stomping on the rafters and fell straight through the ceiling, dropping nicely into the living room right in front of his recliner. A message, I think, to sit his butt down and chill. Although, I didn't say that. I was too busy laughing.

But, I digress. The point is that nothing good comes from LJS being in "a mood" when attempting to do ANYTHING. As you can guess, when it comes to teaching me how to cook with GAS and a MATCH, I was a bit more reluctant than usual.

I got home, put things down, and was immediately greeted with, "Okay, Woman, get out here. I'm going to teach you how to use this."

I looked at him. "Honey, I'm really tired... and you're in a mood. I just don't want to do it now."

Immediately, he is exasperated. "You're not going to blow yourself up. Now get out here."

I stepped timidly onto the step just outside the garage door, not willing to get any closer to the stove than I had too.

"Get over here. Nothing is going to happen. But, you do have to watch and see how it's going to work."

I took one, then two little steps closer, now only a foot or two away from the washer, where the stove sat innocently enough on top. I watched as LJS showed me how to hook up the propane to the arm, hook the arm to the stove, and then open the canister. Immediately, I took a step backward, which incurred the wrath of rolling eyes and a sigh. But, I stood my ground.

I watched as he fiddled with the knobs. First, on the stove, then on the propane tank. Then, he clicked the lighter and put it gently against the burner. Nothing. Again, he fiddled with he knob on the stove, the knob on the tank, and again clicked the lighter. Still nothing.

Inside, I'm doing the happy dance. Maybe, it was broken. I wouldn't be able to take it, after all. I'd even have an excuse other than my completely insane fear. I was all but calculating how much Sterno I'd need.

LJS started fiddling with the arm, adjusting how the tank sat, then again fiddled with the knobs. I could smell the gas, but for some reason he couldn't light the burner. Things were going my way!

But then, he said he thought he got it figured out. "Woman, get over here. You need to see how this works. You're not going to blow up." He looked at me hard and I took a step forward. He clicked the lighter, put it against the burner, and...

KABOOM-WHOOSH!!

Flames from the stove shot three feet in the air, burning angry. Too stunned to do more initially than just watch, we looked at each other in amazement, then back at the stove, then at the chemicals and rags on the shelf behind the washer and dryer.

LJS chuckled. "Oops." I watched him fiddle with the knobs and finally extinguish the impressive flame.

"I thought you said it wasn't going to explode! Forget this! I'm not taking it! No way!"

"No, no. It's all good now. I've got it figured out."

I laughed. Was he kidding?! "I am not using that thing."

"Come here. It's fine. See?" He turned the knobs, and clicked the lighter, and I walked backward until my butt crashed into the door. But this time, nothing happened. A blue flame ringed around the burner, dancing prettily.

I walked forward to look, somewhat mesmerized.

When I was pregnant with Short Person, I got mesmerized by another light. It was a light fixture with a globe on top that danced in pretty colors. I thought it would be perfect for the baby's room and picked it up-- not realizing that the globe was glass, weighed a ton, and was not affixed to the base. I picked it up, it rolled off, and at seven months pregnant, I broke my big toe. The pain was so intense, it was all I could do not to toss my cookies in the middle of Fred Meyer.

So, although pretty, I'd learned my lesson about shiny, beautiful lights. That blue flame might have been magical, but it wasn't for me.

LJS turned off the stove, handed the lighter to me, and then insisted that I try. Over and over and over.

In then end, I took it camping with me. I didn't want too, but wanted to pretend like I'd use it. My bravado lasted right up to breakfast the next morning, when I tried to make pancakes in a cast-iron skillet, over an open flame.

Three of them wound up in the fire before I finally caved. The Coleman stove worked splendidly the rest of the weekend, and if you are reading this, you know that I neither blew myself nor the campsite up.

Photo 14 - A Passion Quote


I liked this quote. Resonated a little bit with me.

Saturday, July 18, 2009

Photo 13 - Infant Needles


Diabetic follow-up appointment. I'm terrified of needles, so about a year ago, one of the nurses suggested I switch to an infant needle. It's amazing how much a difference it can make in the psyche. My A1C was down a full point (8.1), so it was a good day.

Friday, July 17, 2009

Free Coffee (Photo 12)


I went to get gas, and at the front counter where I paid were these cute, tiny, coffee cups. They were giving out free samples of coffee. A cute cup and free coffee, my dream come true!

Thursday, July 16, 2009

Slumdog Millionaire (Photo 11)


I loved this movie, which I finally got to watch tonight... after renting it a month ago from Netflix. Amazing story that leaves me wondering why I can't write like that.

Wednesday, July 15, 2009

Coloring (Photo 10)


I had a late night meeting. When I came home, this picture was greeting me at the door. It says, "Mom, please finish coloring the rest of this picture. Love, Megan"

Tuesday, July 14, 2009

Ripe Tomatoes! (Photo 9)


Celebrating the first garden ripe tomato and the traditional meal that we eat with it (bagels with cream cheese and salmon).

Monday, July 13, 2009

Transformers (Photo 8)


I was going to take a photo of the poster, with Kim in front... but there was no poster.
I was going to take a photo of Kim and I eating our smuggled goodies... but the movie was starting when we got there.
I was going to take a picture of us afterward, but I forgot.
So, I took a picture of the tickets... at 11:13pm... because I nearly forgot to take a photo at all!

Sunday, July 12, 2009

July Rain (Photo 7)


Raining. In July. Suck an elf! Grrr....

Saturday, July 11, 2009

Hot Chalk-o-lot (Photo 6)


A favorite monthly tradition... hot chocolate from our favorite coffee shack.

Friday, July 10, 2009

Everything but the Kitchen Sink (Photo 5)


This is my bag. I had to take a picture because I'm always amazed at the unbelievable amount of shtuff I can carry in it. As of this picture it held my dayplanner, a composition book, my ds, my wallet, my meter, a book, a few ads, my medicine, my mp3 player and headphones, a few other random things, and up until I took it out, my camera.

Thursday, July 9, 2009

Street of Dreams (Photo 4)


I want to live on this street. I drive on it twice a day, three times a week, and every time I do, I long for a home here. There's not a bump or crack in the road. Perfectly flat and new, it looks like every street you see in a movie about American Dreams.

Course, on the flip side, it also looks like the street you see in every horror movie, right before the monster jumps at you. I choose not to think about that part.

Wednesday, July 8, 2009

123456789 (Photo 3)


Marking the momentous occasion of the day. At 12:34:56, the time and date read as 123456789 (without the 200 of the 2009).
I was really nervous I was going to miss the shot. It didn't occur to me until later that I could have just taken the clock off the wall and faked it. Oh well, at least I have the knowledge that my photo is "authentic".

Tuesday, July 7, 2009

My Favorite Sweatshirt (Photo 2)



My favorite sweatshirt. I loved it. It was perfectly comfortable, perfectly worn, and the kind you could just throw on with jeans and flip-flops. I accidentally left it at the school yesterday, on the playground where I was hitting a tennis ball against a wall, and someone ripped it into shreds.

Monday, July 6, 2009

Pieces Of Me (Photo 1)


The thing that bothers me about starting something like this, is that there's no back story. You jump right in and hope people can catch up. Since I imagine the photos I take are going to be a reflection of me and what I find curious or interesting, I figured I'd do my best to give you more insight. MY back story, if you will.

Obviously, my computer is a huge part of my life, as are the books on writing, the books I read, LJS, Short Person, and copious amounts of caffeine. The little polk-a-dot suitcase holds all my diabetic supplies. Who says scary can't be cute?

Sunday, July 5, 2009

My 365 Project

One of the things that came out of my breast cancer scare was the realization that if anything happened to me tomorrow, my daughter would have little memory of who I am or what we did together. I love scrapbooking, but there isn't much in terms of our life together. There's lots on her birthdays and her birth, there are great moments with her father, and while I have Short Person's blog and the stories of her antics, I wanted more.

I came across a blog that, incidentally, I haven't been able to find again, where the woman was embarking on the 365 Project. After more research, I decided to embark on my own. It took a little while. I had to find the perfect 1st shot. After polling a few of my facebook friends, I got started.

If you are thinking about starting this project, or would like more information about the project, here's a link that helped me. I hope you find use for it as well.

365 Project