Progress, Progress

After the emotional roller coaster ride I've been on lately, I'm so glad to finally feel like I'm making progress. Yay me!

My Help! page is done, minus the actual P.O. Box number. Just slightly an important piece to leave out, but I couldn't wait until I got myself over to the post office before I added the page. I wanted to feel a sense of accomplishment. So, for now, it is what it is.

Also, I completed the first week of my 365 days project! I've been trying new things with my camera; manual setting, no flash, etc..., and I've been playing with the editing process a lot more. So, so far, it's been fun, and I've really been enjoying myself. God knows I've needed the outlet! Go check it out, and let me know what you think!

Madison's birthday is on Tuesday, so I'll be busy thinking about that for now. I hope you have a nice weekend! It looks like it's going to be a sunny one. I'm so done with the rain!

Quote of the day - Don't wait until everything is just right. It will never be perfect. There will always be challenges, obstacles and less than perfect conditions. So what. Get started now. With each step you take, you will grow stronger and stronger, more and more skilled, more and more self-confident and more and more successful. - Mark Victor Hansen

A Boost

I always add a quote of the day at the end of every one of my posts. Early on, I asked myself...why?...do I really need to add a quote every time?" Well, the answer is, I don't...I don't have to, but I want to and here's why...

When I started my blog back in January of this year, my kids were big into playing Mario Kart on the Wii. If you've never played before, it's simple...the Mario characters drive funky cars around funky racetracks, and, obviously, the objective is to cross the finish line first. As an added bonus, every so often along the track there are things that you can run into to give your racer an extra boost.

I don't know what made me think of it, but metaphorically, I think of my quote of the day as that extra boost. A little "Woo-hoo!" if you will.

Yesterday, over coffee, I met Julie at Snips and Snails, and I haven't been able to get her, and her beautiful family off my mind. She posted a picture of her youngest son in a Mario costume, and seeing that cute little munchkin, and learning about all he's been through this past year, reminds me that I have things to do.

I haven't really said too much about the purpose of my business before, because I wasn't ready yet. I'm still not ready, but meeting that little Mario yesterday may be just the boost I need. (I told you I believe in signs.)

My goal is to use children's artwork to raise money for children's charities. I'll tell you more about it another day...soon. Today, I just hope you'll take a visit over to Julie's blog by clicking the link below, and say a prayer for her baby boy, and her family. He will melt your heart.

Quote of the day - If children have the ability to ignore all odds and percentages, then maybe we can all learn from them. When you think about it, what other choice is there but to hope? We have two options, medically and emotionally: give up, or Fight Like Hell. - Lance Armstrong

Virtual Coffee

...umm...is this Tuesday?...'cause it sure feels a lot like Monday to me, actually, it feels like yesterday never ended...hmm...but of course it is Tuesday, 'cause I checked up on Amy, and I realized that I was about to miss our coffee date, and I really look forward to getting together every week. :)

So...I made it, but I'm not much in the mood for talking today. I hope you have a lot to tell me, 'cause I AM in the mood for listening...

I've been really melancholy lately. I guess it's the weather... I've been thinking a lot about the past (which is never a good thing), and dreaming about the future (which is also not a good thing), 'cause I need to live in the now!...but I'm not really liking the NOW too much...(isn't that a terrible thing to say?)

It probably didn't help much that I pulled out the big bin of old pictures from the closet this morning, and I'm sorry, but if we were really meeting for coffee today, I might want to show them all to you...

I really miss the days when my girls were little, and we were a family, and my life made sense. I know that we ARE still a family...just a broken one...and I hate that. I know I have a lot to be thankful for...but, sometimes it's just hard to see through all of this...

...and all of the other stuff piled on top of that.

Griffin ran away from me at the school the other day, and after I caught him, and we were walking back the other way, a woman passed us, smiling, she said, "I remember those days."

Those days...those days...I remember those days too...and now these days are my those days, just like they are for all of us. Sometimes it's hard to see through all of that, and I kept thinking...will I really miss them? Really? And I know that I will...'cause I remember thinking these exact thoughts seven or so years ago...and this bin full of pictures confirms that "yes", I will miss them...a lot.

Thanks for having coffee with me today. I guess I had a little bit more to say than I thought. :)

And thanks for sharing this space with me, 'cause someday you will be part of my those days, and I will miss you too.

Quote of the day - The past may be gone forever..and whatever the future holds, our todays make the memories of tomorrow. - Unknown

Yucky Monday

It's a cold, and rainy Monday. Two of my kiddos stayed home from school today, with colds and such. Yuck.

I wish we could have stayed in our pajamas all day, but we had to take a trip to the doctors. Double yuck.

Everyone is fine and dandy; sick but fine. Don't you hate that...the unnecessary trip to the doctors, where they tell you your sick, which you already knew, and then send you on your merry way? It must have been great back when doctors made house calls.

We're home now, snuggled up, and enjoying the very first day of having the furnace turned on. I made another pot of coffee, 'cause it's totally that kind of day, and I've been playing with Picnik. I just signed up this morning, and already I'm completely obsessed!

Do you use Picnik? There are so many possibilities...it kind of feels like cheating.

Here are a couple before and after shots. What do you think?

(through the window at the doctor's office...I liked the reflection of the lights)
Before

After

(sitting in the car)
Before

After

I might just go a little crazy with it all, and if I could ever figure out how to use photoshop, I'm sure I would NEED a house call!

Quote of the day - The sky was the color of Edgar Allan Poe's pajamas. - Tom Robbins (I don't know...it just seemed appropriate for today)

Doing the 3-6-5

I did it! I finally linked up with Maegan at Madeline Bea: Life Set to Words to do the 365 Days project; taking at least one picture every day for a year. I've been watching other people's progress, and really wanting to be part of it, but I'll admit, I was kind of dragging my feet. I wasn't sure if I could add one more thing to my proverbial plate. The more I thought about it though, the more I realized that the 365 project was something I WANTED on my plate, so I did it, I joined, and I couldn't be more excited about it!
Yesterday was DAY ONE, and these were my choices...I think I'm going to go with the mailboxes as my shot o' the day.

It seems like a great community, and I'm really looking forward to pushing myself, and improving my skills. I'll be doing this from October 1, 2010 to September 30, 2011. Wish me luck!

If you're interested in taking a "365 day photographic journey", click on the link below and join us!

Quote of the day - To the attentive eye, each moment of the year has its own beauty, and in the same field, it beholds, every hour, a picture which was never seen before, and which shall never be seen again. - Ralph Waldo Emerson