305/366 Ready for trick or treaters

Mili hates to get dressed... but I love my doxie dressed as a hotdog for Halloween.  So, I torture her for just a little while every year.

We have a bowl full of candy and so far no trick or treaters.  It's a good thing I don't like any of the stuff we have to give out.  Looks like the candy is headed to my treat jar at school.

304/366 Weekly organic love

Each week, I pick up a box of locally grown fruits and vegetables from a little grocery store near my house.  I love being able to buy foods locally and I love the variety (and the surprise!) each week.

303/366 No place like home

This view from my garage is one I see almost every day.  While I had a great time being on vacation and visiting with my youngest son, I was so happy to get home early this morning.

Props to JetBlue for not canceling our flight.  It was hard to hear about so many other flights getting canceled while we kept our fingers crossed that our flight would still make it.  Also, it was the roughest plane ride I've ever been on.

We are all okay and very happy to be home!

302/366 Oddly enough

We are used to the effects of hurricanes in south Georgia.  How'd we end up dealing with one in NYC?

Please don't cancel our flight.... please.... I really do love NYC but I am ready to be home, too.

301/366 A little piece of Brooklyn

On Saturday, we first went to the 911 memorial.  Then, we went to Brooklyn to spend the day with my niece and her puppy named Taco.  We spent a long time walking around in this cool flea market not far from her apartment.

I can't tell you how happy it made me that Dalton still likes toys.

300/366 Walking the High Line

On Friday, we spent the morning gallery hopping in Chelsea and then walking the High Line.  The High Line was once a railway but now it is a fabulous little park 30 feet above Chelsea.

We spent the rest of the day walking about and shopping in Chinatown, Little Italy and Soho.

I love NYC!

299/366 An Empire State of Mind

While in NYC, there was a daily charge for use of the internet ($15 a day!).  I'm a cheapskate and I was not paying that much money for internet.  At the moment, I'm sitting at JFK hoping they don't cancel our flight... and using their free internet.

On Thursday, we traveled from New Haven to NYC.  After checking into the hotel, we walked around and shopped and talked and ate.

Originally, Dalton was going to stay with my niece but the hotel upgraded us to a bigger room and he got to stay with us.  It was a great room and only a couple of blocks from Central Park.

This picture reminded me of double exposed pictures.  I love the way Dalton was chilled out on his bed and I was snapping a picture of the office building that was the view from our room.  It was late on a Thursday night and people were still working.  I wanted to knock on the window and yell for them to go home -- but I'm sure they wouldn't have heard me.

298/366 "Great art picks up where nature ends.' ~ Marc Chagall

Although the skies were gray all day, my heart was happy!  We spent the day walking all around downtown New Haven and Yale -- including the Yale University Art Gallery and the Peabody Museum of Natural History.

"There is a three-tiered system of pizza in New Haven and I think that Modern Apizza is a one, which is the best," said Dalton.

So, we went there for lunch.

On the way, I asked about another pizza place we visited the last time we came to New Haven as I wondered where it fell on his three-tiered system.

"I'd probably rank that place a four."

Sheesh!  And I thought that pizza was pretty darn good!  I think South Georgia pizza places have left me with low standards.

297/366 "There are only two kinds of people who are fascinating -- those who know absolutely everything and those who know nothing." ~ from The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde

We traveled ten hours by planes, trains, and automobiles to get to New Haven.  What a great evening to see the boy!

We went to dinner at a great Thai restaurant and then got a tour of the dorm room.  Perhaps I should upload a picture of the United States of Bacon hanging over the mantel.... Funny how the boy never mentioned that two of his suite mates (out of four) were girls.

Boys will be boys, eh?

296/366 Just one more sleep

Tomorrow, my husband and I fly to visit my son in New Haven.  I haven't seen the boy for a few months (since May 29th to be exact) and I can't wait to see him!

Also, I can't wait to spend some time with my husband.   Life has been really busy lately.  It'll be good to have some alone time.

295/366 Pumpkin carving time

My husband and I love Indian food and we are very fortunate to have a great family owned restaurant near our house.  We go so much that the owners and their children great us with hugs.

This past week, my husband surprised the kids with pumpkins.  Today, we went back to carve them -- after we ate some curry and naan (you know, for energy).  

294/366 Abstract reflections

Some of our very good friends got married last month in NYC.  Today, we had the reception in their backyard.

I worked with my husband and we've been on our feet all day.  As we were setting up, I really liked the abstract sky with trees reflecting in the chafing dish cover so I took a quick picture.

It was an exhausting but happy day!

293/366 I voted today!

I dressed as a cowgirl for Book Character Day today at school.  Since I had no time change, I just wore my cowgirl attire to the polls.

No one seemed to notice.

292/366 Crunch, crunch

I love the way the leaves sound in the fall.

I put on the boots just for the picture.  Afterwards, I changed back into my flip flops.

That's how we roll in the deep south.



Dealt with more crazy challenging parents today.  Funny how they want to argue the dress code as if I wrote it.  I don't even walk around with a ruler -- but when the girl's buttocks are all but hanging out of the shorts... I probably don't need to say anything more.

I can't wait for my last year in education.  I'm going to spend that whole year saying exactly what I think.

291/366 Sometimes a girl just needs a little glitter

In my mind, a glittery headband gives me super powers for when I run.  It's a fun world in my mind.

Today was a challenge.  By 7:30 a.m., I had already dealt with two different challenging parents.  The kids are fine.  The parents make me paste on a grin while I'm sighing on the inside.

And so it went all day long.

On the way home, I listened to Aerosmith.  With the volume all the way up.

290/366 Eatyourveggies

Just playing with my food.

289/366 In the morning...

The coffee gets me going.

Mornings in my house are quiet. I traipse around in the dark getting dressed to go run or work out.  Once I'm home, I creep around quietly so that I don't wake up the man or the dog as I get showered and ready for the day.  Now that the season has changed, the drive to work is in the dark, as well.

In my dream world, I'd have a job that would allow me to wake up as the sun is rising.  The crazy thing is that even when I get a chance to sleep late, I still usually get up well before the sun does.

288/366 Late lunch

In my world, Sunday means long run day.  These days,  I get up at 4 a.m. so I can eat a little breakfast and then I meet the girls at 6 a.m. to run.  Basically, I'm training for another marathon -- and I haven't even signed up for the race yet.  I'm not even sure I want to sign up for it.  I ran my first and only marathon last December and swore I'd never run another one.

Certain friends have reminded me of the text messages I sent out after finishing that run.  There may or may not have been some comparisons to child birth.  Without drugs.

But still, there is something that keeps pulling me towards doing another one.  I guess I will be trained and ready in the event I do make that leap again.  

My appetite has been voracious today.  My garmin shows that I burned over 3000 calories and I guess that could be one reason I'm hungry.  Truthfully, I'm almost always hungry.  Since I downed too many potato chips on the way home from the grocery store, I opted for a salad at home.

It is all about the balance, right?

287/366 Wind chime notes

My husband got these wind chimes in a round-about way and was pretty excited about it.  The chimes were made by a local artist, Wilby Coleman, and he doesn't like to sell his stuff.  With a bit of cleaning up and new chain, they are a great addition to the backyard.

Tomorrow, I am going to talk my husband into sitting for a bit and listening to those chimes.

286/366 Dessert for supper

Technically I ate my dessert first and then my salad.
 

At school today, we had a "Read in the Dark" time set aside for the students.  Everyone got a flashlight and we stopped what we were doing to read for 30 minutes.

In my office during this time, a little one sat with me after creating a ruckus on the playground. He was flipping through some of my books when he noticed that I was wearing cowboy boots.

Wild boy: "Oh!  You are wearing real cowboy boots."

I nodded and kept reading.

Wild boy: "You should put your feet up on your desk like they do in that movie."

I glanced at him and smiled and then leaned back and put my feet up on the desk.  And then I promptly slid right out of the slick, leather chair onto the floor.

285/366 Indian Summer

Each fall (or at least what we call fall in south Georgia), I see these yellow wildflowers bloom all along the edge of the highway.  And each fall, I think about stopping and taking a picture.  But then I let time get away from me and I never seem to get the picture.

This evening, I did.

A special thanks to my oldest son for going with me.  It was great having that time to talk.

By the way, is it politically correct to call it an "Indian Summer?"  It just didn't sound right to say "Native American Summer."  My relatives were Cherokee Indians and I'm not offended.  So, if someone is offended, my apologies.  It wasn't intentional.

284/366 Nothing creative going on here tonight

Just me snapping a photo in the mirror under the whore house lamp.

That lamp previously belonged to my mother-in-law -- who did NOT run a whore house.  I've never actually been in a whore house but I imagine that if there are lamps inside, they are as gawdy and bedazzled as this one is.  Maybe the jeweled part will be part of a picture one day.

283/366 A river runs through it

Today, I took a moment to remember.  If my dad were alive, he would have been 69 today.

I think about him each year on his birthday. I can't remember celebrating his last birthday when he was only 36 and that bothers me.  Truthfully, I don't remember any of his birthdays.  Yet that date is imprinted on my mind.

Sometimes, I can only visualize him as I've seen him in pictures.  I don't remember the sound of his voice.  And I don't remember what he looked like when he talked to me.

I just remember the head cocked smile in his pictures.  The sureness in those pictures.

And it makes me sad that I just don't remember the reality that once was any more.

282/366 Running isn't the most important thing in my life

But I spend a lot of time doing it.

It clears my heads and gives me time with my thoughts.  With running, I've learn to set goals -- some I've reached and some I haven't.  The camaraderie with running friends has been a wonderful perk, too.

I wanted the word 'Run' to really stand out.  It doesn't.  In fact, the capital 'R' bothers me because it looks like a cursive 'L'.  Perhaps I should have set up this picture on the asphalt or in the driveway.  I may try to do this one again...

281/366 Apples, football, and dreaming of cooler weather

It has been a lazy Sunday afternoon spent watching football and spending time with the family.  My youngest son took time out of his Hermit-like existence to call me.  Also, we've already heard from the oldest girl as she has been traveling through the various states.

A soup is simmering on the stove and I'm thinking about making an apple crumble.

Sometimes it feels like my whole world centers around my family and friends and food.  Priorities, right?

280/366 First thing this morning

I decided to make a Death by Chocolate cake to celebrate my oldest step-daughter's last night at home.  She'll be leaving in the morning for her job in St. Louis for the next seven months.

Man, it is hard to have these kids I love so much move so far away.

279/366 Festival time

The Honeybee Festival is full swing this weekend.  We'll go back tomorrow for the parade and to walk around and look at all the booths.  I'm sure we'll eat a fried thing or two.  

On a different note, tonight, I cooked and ate polenta for the first time ever.  Where has polenta been all my life?  I realize that I live in the sticks but I don't live under a rock.  What else am I missing?

278/366 Hummingbird sightings always make me stop and look

Even if they are made of metal.

I wish I were good enough -- or the hummingbirds were slow enough for me to catch with my camera.

277/366 The memory chest

When I graduated from high school, my grandmother made a big production of buying a hope chest for me.  She discussed how I could save away special outfits and towels and things I'd need when I got married.

I remember smiling at her and then turning to my sister and rolling my eyes.  We both dubbed the chests we received  as "The Hopeless Chest."

Fast forward almost thirty years ahead... My grandmother had wanted me to carefully fold and tuck away things for marriage.  Instead, I folded and tucked away memories.

The Shutter Sisters prompt for today was Family -- and I thought of this chest as a stand in for the family since I don't have all my kids under the same roof as me anymore.  It was surprisingly emotional to go through this chest and I think I could spend hours doing so.

I'm really proud of my kids but I do miss that time when they were little.  When they were little, I remember feeling overwhelmed at times because they needed me so much.  Now that they are grown, I miss that they don't need me much at all.


Really, the picture with notes is better here.

276/366 Comfort

While Mili can annoy me at times (all that barking... and the peeing problem), I still cherish the fun and quirky parts of her personality.  Whenever we are cooking in the kitchen, she is there at our feet.  Wherever we go in the house or yard, she is right there wanting to play.

And as we wind down each night, she snuggles in a blanket in my lap.  There is so much comfort in those moments.

275/366 Orange leaves are my favorite

Happy October!  I found this leaf in the yard and it made me happy!  Orange leaves are the best!

Today, we had a meeting that reminded me of all the reasons why you never want to be the one that says, "My kid would never...."  -- because despite all the good you've done, the great role model you've been, the great programs you've sent your child to.... There are just times when they will do something you won't be happy about.

And that is okay.

They are still learning.