For Gleeks and others who enjoy a capella music. And really, who among us doesn't enjoy a good a capella medley every now and then?
7.27.2011
7.23.2011
Skypeey Birthday to You!
My Baby Girl blew out her nineteen candles this afternoon, and modern technology brought her Big Sister & Company from 800 miles away right into the middle of the festivities via Skype. It was kinda chaotic with the improvised audio and little blonde cousins waving and blowing kisses back and forth, but what a thrill!
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| Blowin' Kisses at Cousins |
There are footprints on the moon and I can have live video of my family on demand.
Makes my head spin.
Next thing you know they'll be having birthday parties on the moon and sending me live images to my living room through a wormhole in another dimension.
When that happens, you heard it here first.
Plus and Minus
Feeling like the headless chicken these days. Lots of busy. Little to show for all the running around. Adding delights to my life. Subtracting non-essentials. Experiencing the gamut of human emotion.
Small sadness about the eight library books that I've had for six weeks which are being returned this afternoon with only one that I can really claim to have read.
The single book I finished was not a demanding read. It was fiction with only a paragraph or two of text on each page, mostly white space, so I was able to conquer a handful of pages each night in bed before drifting off into oblivion.
Can't renew the pile of eight a second time. Already did that once, so I have to return them. No sin in that. But some sadness that my quiet time with books is so easily crowded out of my life. And further sadness because reality dictates I should not borrow others this afternoon since they are not likely to receive adequate time or attention from me in the coming three weeks. Ah, me. *heavy sigh*
Bigger sadness about what I miss having in my daily life. Several things. But not least of which/whom is this guy:
Yes, Charlie Brown, happiness IS a warm puppy.
And, yes, this one's all grown up now and he's really not mine, his heart belongs to Mr. Last. He's only temporarily boarded with a kind and loving family member far away while until we acquire our permanent housing, but the weeks have stretched into months and the doggy-shaped hole in my heart aches more every day.
It's getting perilously close to me grabbing Mr. Last and abducting DoggyBoy for some of this:
And maybe we three will run away together and never come back. House-hunting is exhausting and makes me fantasize about such behavior. We continue to perform due diligence by walking through everything that looks slightly possible, but the place we'd like most is overpriced so we are watching for it to drop while we continue the search. Good thing we are not on a tight timeline.
Also, in the "plus" column, I am thinking about shifting the focus of this blog. Or starting a second. So I can have TWO blogs to neglect.
Writing posts for this blog is an enormously satisfying hobby for me that serves a multiplicity of purposes. Foremost, it is a collecting place to keep my thoughts, and photos, and memories. Second, it is a connecting place where I share some of me with anyone who cares to check in. Third, it is a reflecting place where I check in with myself to review the accumulated thoughts and experiences and memories gathered here. And it reflects out to the world how one human being perceives this wild ride that is life.
Collecting. Connecting. Reflecting.
Oh my, Oma! That's a lot for one little blog to do.
So perhaps the cell is about to divide. I'm still developing my ideas about what will be contained here, and what form the overflow might take.
Until my next dispatch -- be good. And if you can't be good, please be careful!
Small sadness about the eight library books that I've had for six weeks which are being returned this afternoon with only one that I can really claim to have read.
The single book I finished was not a demanding read. It was fiction with only a paragraph or two of text on each page, mostly white space, so I was able to conquer a handful of pages each night in bed before drifting off into oblivion.
Can't renew the pile of eight a second time. Already did that once, so I have to return them. No sin in that. But some sadness that my quiet time with books is so easily crowded out of my life. And further sadness because reality dictates I should not borrow others this afternoon since they are not likely to receive adequate time or attention from me in the coming three weeks. Ah, me. *heavy sigh*
Bigger sadness about what I miss having in my daily life. Several things. But not least of which/whom is this guy:
Yes, Charlie Brown, happiness IS a warm puppy.
And, yes, this one's all grown up now and he's really not mine, his heart belongs to Mr. Last. He's only temporarily boarded with a kind and loving family member far away while until we acquire our permanent housing, but the weeks have stretched into months and the doggy-shaped hole in my heart aches more every day.
It's getting perilously close to me grabbing Mr. Last and abducting DoggyBoy for some of this:
And maybe we three will run away together and never come back. House-hunting is exhausting and makes me fantasize about such behavior. We continue to perform due diligence by walking through everything that looks slightly possible, but the place we'd like most is overpriced so we are watching for it to drop while we continue the search. Good thing we are not on a tight timeline.
Also, in the "plus" column, I am thinking about shifting the focus of this blog. Or starting a second. So I can have TWO blogs to neglect.
Writing posts for this blog is an enormously satisfying hobby for me that serves a multiplicity of purposes. Foremost, it is a collecting place to keep my thoughts, and photos, and memories. Second, it is a connecting place where I share some of me with anyone who cares to check in. Third, it is a reflecting place where I check in with myself to review the accumulated thoughts and experiences and memories gathered here. And it reflects out to the world how one human being perceives this wild ride that is life.
Collecting. Connecting. Reflecting.
Oh my, Oma! That's a lot for one little blog to do.
So perhaps the cell is about to divide. I'm still developing my ideas about what will be contained here, and what form the overflow might take.
Until my next dispatch -- be good. And if you can't be good, please be careful!
7.19.2011
A New Obsession
Ummm, no, it's not Angry Birds on the iPad. It's Pinterest!. I highly recommend it for hours of pleasure.
If you are part the fun, you can join me there at http://pinterest.com/omajulie/. If you are not yet part of the fun, you might want to request an invitation and join in. Then you, too, can hang a sign like this:
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If you are part the fun, you can join me there at http://pinterest.com/omajulie/. If you are not yet part of the fun, you might want to request an invitation and join in. Then you, too, can hang a sign like this:
7.17.2011
High Sierra Adventure
Lodgepole Campground, Sequoia National Park
Beautiful scenery, interesting wildlife,
unparalleled company, delicious food,
some laughter, some tears...
In a few years we'll plan a bigger gathering for all the cousins to be together in the wilderness. What a hullaballo that will be!
7.09.2011
7.07.2011
Mother/Daughter Date Night
Been enjoying Thursday evenings with my Baby Girl for some time now. It started a few years back when I moved away from the old hometown. I have a new hometown now, and she does too, really, but we both enjoy catching up and having a treat or visiting some of the old familiar places.
Tonight we hit Main Street Visalia for the Farmer's Market and started the evening off with snowcones.
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Sour Apple for her; Lime for me. We were feeling Green.
Look how perfectly the orange fingernails and purple scarf coordinate with the neon green. Crafty Child has mad accessorizing skillz. She made the scarf all by her Crafty Self. And though her sparkly turquoise toenails are not photographed for posterity here, they further accented the ensemble in that special way that only sparkly turquoise toenails can.
We entertained ourselves looking in the shop windows as we walked a couple blocks down to El Tarrasco. We took turns pressing the crosswalk button with the man in the cool hat. He said we were playing Tortoise and Hare with him because we leapfrogged past him crossing at the first corner, but he caught up with us at the next stoplight.
We were still feeling Green for dinner and salad it was.
Shimp for her; Taco for me.![]()
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Tonight we hit Main Street Visalia for the Farmer's Market and started the evening off with snowcones.
Sour Apple for her; Lime for me. We were feeling Green.
Look how perfectly the orange fingernails and purple scarf coordinate with the neon green. Crafty Child has mad accessorizing skillz. She made the scarf all by her Crafty Self. And though her sparkly turquoise toenails are not photographed for posterity here, they further accented the ensemble in that special way that only sparkly turquoise toenails can.
We entertained ourselves looking in the shop windows as we walked a couple blocks down to El Tarrasco. We took turns pressing the crosswalk button with the man in the cool hat. He said we were playing Tortoise and Hare with him because we leapfrogged past him crossing at the first corner, but he caught up with us at the next stoplight.
We were still feeling Green for dinner and salad it was.
Shimp for her; Taco for me.
After dinner we browsed the library for a bit and tried to recall if there had once been a fountain out front, or just a sculpture. I seem to recall a roundish abstract mother/child sculpture, but there is now neither a sculpture nor a fountain.
The grounds and the newish library are welcoming nevertheless.
Baby Girl and I agreed we quite like summer in the Valley. Fresh, fragrant fruits and veggies at the Farmer's Market. Flipflops, fancy nails, snowcones and salads. Of course temperatures have been dipping in and out of the triple digits lately, but that's to be expected. It's July.
The month starts out with a bang and just gets better as it goes along.
Don't you think?
7.03.2011
7.02.2011
Celebrating Independence
You know our most famous birth announcement, right?
The Declaration of Independence?
"When in the course of human events..."
"...certain unalienable rights..."
"...life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness..."
Blah, blah, blah...
Wait a minute!
There is no "blah, blah, blah..." in the Declaration of Independence. It is an inspiring statement and every American should know all the words. The entire text, not just favorite phrases.
Read the text here. Be patient, be deliberate, read the words aloud. It was meant to be read aloud.
Think about it.
Read it aloud every Fourth of July.
Or listen to others read it aloud.
The Declaration of Independence?
"When in the course of human events..."
"...certain unalienable rights..."
"...life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness..."
Blah, blah, blah...
Wait a minute!
There is no "blah, blah, blah..." in the Declaration of Independence. It is an inspiring statement and every American should know all the words. The entire text, not just favorite phrases.
Read the text here. Be patient, be deliberate, read the words aloud. It was meant to be read aloud.
Think about it.
Read it aloud every Fourth of July.
Or listen to others read it aloud.
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