Road Trip

Every Thursday during the school year, I make a 32 mile trek that takes close to an hour. A few hours later, I turn around and return home again. Why do I go? I meet with other military wives for Bible study and shop at the Commissary.

It is a beautiful drive. Here are some pictures I took on the way home a few weeks ago:

staying legal!

"Smells like money!"

I got some weird looks somewhere around here, since I was driving with a camera in one hand. *Do not try this at home, kiddies!*

G-man is totally going to give me a bad time because I teased him on Tuesday about snapping and driving for his WWC pics.

looking east

looking west

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Tomorrow I’m off on a different kind of road trip: it is time for the annual girls’ weekend. This year my BB down in Dallas is hosting us. I don’t like flying, but I do love getting together with long-time friends. I’ll be back in time for the Weekly Words Challenge on Tuesday.

Have a great weekend, y’all!

Meme for May

I found this meme on Dr. John’s blog on Monday and filled it out then and there, but I waited until today to post it. It is suggested that you replace one question you dislike with a question of your own invention or add a question of your own. In other words, make it yours. 🙂

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What is your current obsession? I’d have to say blogging, although my husband believes it is everything related to the computer. There is something addicting about that machine!

Good coffee place? My kitchen. I’m cheap frugal that way.

Do you nap a lot? I did before I got my CPAP machine. Now I stay awake during the day (most of the time).

What part of your body hurts the most? My feet: 6 years of plantar fasciitis, with varying degrees of severity. 😦 If I drive for a long distance or go hiking, my arthritic knee lets me know all about it. Yes, I do pop Ibuprofen like tic-tacs. Years ago, a friend over 50 told me, “Getting old sucks.” I now understand what he meant.

Who was the last person you hugged? My husband

What’s for dinner? Good question!! Thanks for the reminder.

What are you listening to right now? The ticking of the cuckoo clock

What is your favourite weather? A windy Autumn day with fast-moving clouds and sunbreaks, and the temperature just right for sweatshirt and jeans

What’s on your bedside table? A small stack of books (including my devotional Bible and the current book I’m reading aloud to my youngest son), an anniversary clock, a box of tissues, and my CPAP machine (a.k.a, the reason I no longer nap all day long)

If you could have a house totally paid for, fully furnished anywhere in the world, where would you want it to be ? I think a lake home adjoining protected forest acreage would be incredible. Fish Lake or Lake Wenatchee in Washington State come to mind.

What is the last song you listened to? I don’t know the name of the piece playing on classical NPR this morning in the car, so I’ll go with the “Traveling Companion” CD by David Harsh. We were listening to it in the car yesterday.

Favourite vacation spot? For years, I answered this question with the simple phrase, “My MIL’s living room!” When the kids were very young, it was truly the most relaxing place for me to spend time; other relatives were there to help with the kids and I could rest, go for long walks with my husband, and enjoy evening card games of “Oh, Heck!” Now that the kids are older and able to entertain themselves, I might just have to change this answer (much as I still love my in-laws) to the beach and/or the mountains (preferably with water nearby). Camping is good — a comfortable cabin is even better. 😀

What is something you’d like to do in the next 6 months? I’d like to meet a few fellow bloggers in person. I have hopes/tentative plans in place to meet at least 5 of them!

What would you like to get rid of? 75 pounds!

If you could go anywhere in the world for the next hour, where would you go? Right now? A good reputable spa for a massage!

What did you want to become as a child? I always wanted to be a mommy. The pie-in-the-sky dream also included being an artist of some kind; the medium varied –voice, paint, words– but the mommy part of the dream has always been the most important. This makes me one of the luckiest people on earth: I am living my dream!

What do you miss? the Pacific Northwest

What are you reading right now? Undaunted Courage, by Stephen Ambrose

What do you fear the most? Losing loved ones

What designer piece of clothing would you most like to own (new or vintage)? I’ve never cared much about labels, so I really can’t think of a single one. It’s hard enough finding “talls” for my long arms and legs!

What did you last watch on television? The Weather Channel at 5:27 AM …just in time for my “local on the 8’s” 🙂

Are all the answers you gave on this meme true? All but one!

WWC #84: Purple Arch

This past week, the still-unemployed and very talented Tink went on a pre-planned and prepaid cruise. In my mind, that gives me permission to post additional pics from last week’s WWC because I took 2 really decent shots over the weekend:

HEART SuperDad made this for me a few years ago. It’s too pretty to use as a stepping stone.

BOKEH Just a little May azalea bokeh from our front garden 🙂
(definition of bokeh)

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I was happy with the pictures I took on Sunday at the arboretum.  Columbine is the top left, then purple azalea, followed by iris, some pretty flower I can’t recall the name of, a purple martin (bird peeking out of its birdhouse), more iris and a few arches.  If you have one you’d like to see in larger format, let me know and I’ll post it tomorrow.

ARCH & PURPLE

And a few pictures from my archives (because I had this post ready before our Mother’s Day jaunt):

A brilliant arching rainbow (with purple) over my old house: colonial blue with white trim and purple accents and a purple door. (We didn’t choose the colors — it came that way. The new owners have long since painted it something else.)

Watermelon ARCH

upside-down ARCH

Christmas ARCH

The Weekly Words Challenge is a photo meme published each Tuesday. Come join the fun and be challenged by photographers with more talent in their pinkies than I have in my entire body.

At the Arboretum

After 2 weeks of really crummy weather, we finally had a gorgeous spring day on Mother’s Day. My family treated me really well: the boys each made me a card, SuperDad gave me the Mary Kay gift basket he had won (highest bid) at the silent auction, they swept the floors of the house and vacuumed the van… do I sound like I’m bragging? Then we headed out to the state arboretum! 😀

The parking was a little crazy because they were hosting the annual Mother’s Day weekend plant sale. Tons of vendors with plants and garden-related stuff for sale. They even had little wagons you could use to haul your plants around until the end of your shopping spree.

This one sat still while the proud shoppers were taking a break under the tents with some refreshments.

We quickly browsed through the outdoor shopping area and headed for the “back 40” — or in this case, the back 700+ acres.

This isn’t just an arboretum; it also serves as an experimental farm for a state university. The last time I was here (on a field trip last June), we observed some of the staff hand-pollinating flowers in the “pollination garden.”

This design on the gate caught my attention, with its circles and horseshoes.

I’m saving the purple and arch pictures for tomorrow’s WWC post, but here a few photos I can share with you today:

White Iris

White Azalea

I brought the older digital camera with us and practically begged someone to take some pictures! No one else has ever shared my hobby (although SuperDad has been known to grab the camera to photograph the various birds that frequent our yard). MusicMan finally obliged.

When I went to look at the pictures he took, he had already deleted them from the camera! I thought they were GONE until I uploaded my own pictures and noticed that he had created a file of his own.

MM took this picture of iris (my favorite flower)

my wonderful sons

After walking through fields, we swung past the herb garden and on to the car. Within 2 miles, the little ones in the backseat discovered 3 ticks. Ewwwwww!!! Out the window they went (the ticks, not the boys).

We ate here for dinner (using up coupons we had “won” at the silent auction. [This Mother’s Day has been brought to you by winning bids from the silent auction.] I had enough points to enjoy a burger with provolone, onions, and mushrooms 😀 and then we back headed home.

For all the moms

May your memories be full of moments like this

and may your reality be a little more like this

Happy Mother’s Day! 🙂

Weight Watchers, day 2

I hate dieting. It’s all about discipline and deprivation.
It’s die with a ting on the end of it.

So I have been mildly surprised that I haven’t gone off the deep end of the emotional hunger pool (at least not yet). I haven’t even used up all my daily points! Somehow, just knowing that I could have that slice of bread AND a glass of Chardonnay AND an Italian Ice dessert and STILL be within my “points” range… well, it all makes me feel more in control. Perhaps even more disciplined?? I didn’t deprive myself of those extra things tonight; I chose to not have them — because I was satisfied with what I had eaten already.

The asparagus is from our garden. I even had 6 additional shrimp, for a total of 18.  A mere 3 points!

Plate by Gary Rith 🙂

WWC #83: Heart & Bokeh

From the 2009 archives.. because my WWC friends –including Tink— are a wonderful, understanding, and forgiving bunch of photog nuts.

I give you bokeh (or possibly not, since the background is not awash in light)

and heart:

Quick update

I’m still reeling from last Thursday. I am thankful that I can be with my friend during this time. I’d feel awful if I couldn’t be there, and I cannot fathom anyone trying to deal with this alone. He clearly intended for her to witness it. Absolutely Evil.

Healing comes slowly, especially when a person is subjected to such violence.