Jonna's Life in Shelby County

Super Bowl XLVI and then some

2012-02-07T23:57:00.000-05:00

A couple of weeks ago, I went to the Super Bowl Village in Indy. I had sworn off going, but the draw was too great. I am very glad that I didn't listen to myself and hiked my butt to Indy with my sister.We had about as much fun as one could have for free. Indy put on a great show. Everything was extremely well organized. I wrote about our experiences here.

The feel of Indy was light. It was almost like getting reacquainted with an old love. Things are comfortable and familiar, yet there's a new, fresh excitement.

We had secured a parking spot earlier in the day online (imagine that, reserving parking online LMAO). We were fairly close to Lucas Oil Stadium. The first surprise was the NFL/Lombardi Trophy wrapped around the JW Marriott. Not only was it breath-taking, it was simply beyond cool. Call me a hick, but I was truly impressed by the image against that blue, blue sky.

My sister told me The Giants were staying

at the JW. I thought how nice, Eli Manning can look out his window over at the stadium where the Giants will meet the Patriots again for the Super Bowl. Peyton Manning spruced it all up for him. Let's face it, almost every Colts fan knows that Lucas Oil is "the stadium that Peyton built.' And, because of the new, swanky stadium, Indianapolis got a shot at hosting the Super Bowl.

We ate at the Indianapolis Colts Grill. This restaurant is fairly new, and has a lot of really interesting burgers and other food. My hamburger and sweet potato fries were delish, and I'd go back there any time. It has a great atmosphere, and interesting layout (everything was in a circle. Like a huddle, I guess) and great tasting food and beer.

After lunch, we walked over to Monument Circle. My sister was sort of warning me not to be too shocked by the Roman Numerals. I thought she was full of crap. Those things have to be about 200 feet tall by the way they look on TV. They say TV puts 5 pounds on you. It must add tens of feet to the Roman Numerals. They were impressive, don't get me wrong. However, I really thought they would be about 30 feet taller than they were. But, to put them right in front of the Soldiers' and Sailors' monument was an awesome photo opportunity.

One of my favorite things was the line-up of the Indy cars with the NFL team logos. As they were all in the traditional 3 car rows, the impression of the Indy Car Racing meshed with NFL combined for some kind of ultimate sport for certain fans.

I pressed my way to the front of the line and shoved my sister in front of The Giants car, since Colts fans hate The Patriots. The perspective of the cars against the Roman Numerals against the Soliders' and Sailors' Monument should be enough to make any true Hoosier's heart skip a beat or two.

We wound around through the Super Bowl Village, checked in on Foursquare, watched the Zip-line scream above us and wishing we had preordered our rides there, too, stomped on real astro turf, walked around pointing at all the football helmets, photos, and everything else the NFL had slapped on the buildings and stages. We made our way to the souvenir stand and made our magnet and Super Bowl cap purchase for the parents, all the while smiling even though it was absolutely freezing the day we went.

I didn't realize until too late that I did not take enough pictures of the Super Bowl Village itself. But, I'm pretty sure that Indianapolis will host the Super Bowl again soon. There was just way too much fun had by everyone. And, I would definitely go there again! Indy showed the world that it is a sports capital. It can host the Greatest Spectacle in Racing, NCAA Final Four tournaments (which most Hoosiers hold near and dear to their hearts) and now, the most watched and the most anticipated championship in the world, the Super Bowl.

Yea, I'm taking a little pride in calling Indy home. I may curse the traffic and scream when they change all the names of the streets for these sporting events, but it's like an old flame. You can love 'em, but they know how to push your buttons.

Points to live by....

2012-01-17T10:21:00.000-05:00

Just a short post, but one that I wanted to record before I forgot. Ever since I was a little kid I have been fascinated with Native Americans. If I were to believe in reincarnation, I am sure that in another life I most likely was one.

As I made my daily prowl on Google+, I came across this video. All great points to remember now, as they were in 1854.

New Year, new ways to resolve

2012-01-03T21:23:00.002-05:00

I have to admit it. I'm depressed. 2012 has not been good to me, and it's only 3 days old. I'm not going to waste anyone's time, nor my own, lamenting about things are going my way, that lack, or just a general trials of life.

I'm not going to make any New Year's resolutions. I have decided that in years resolutions are too easily broken. Instead, I'm resolving to make new lifestyle changes for the new year.

I came to this decision after seeing the following video which was posted on my Google+ wall.

In this video the guy worked 70 hours a week, has three sons, is married, several cats, and he still made time in his week to work out and lose a phenomenal amount of weight.

I know what my limitations are. I don't want to make the time. I don't want to plan my meals. I don't want to go shopping for the food that I know fuels my body correctly and not what I like to eat.

Just thinking about how much this guy has accomplished in nine months should inspire me to change my lifestyle. So, I'm going to get started. I'll let you know how it goes.

Merry Christmas to all from me and my pups.

2011-12-23T22:59:00.002-05:00

Thanksgiving Thoughts

2011-11-23T12:36:00.001-05:00

I've been writing blog posts for the company I work for, and therefore, have let my own blog go by the wayside. And, the dogs are saying that again, I am keeping them from blogging on their website, so I am in big trouble.

But, today I just finished writing up a short post about how Thanksgiving came to be on the fourth Thursday of November.

I knew that Abraham Lincoln had proclaimed it a national holiday during the Civil War, but I did not know some of the other facts.

The following was originally published here. If you enjoyed the article, I'd appreciate you "liking" it on original post page on the ParkSleepFly.com post page!
I know I personally have many, many things to be thankful. I am blessed.

Now, about Thanksgiving......

Some facts regarding Thanksgiving. Did you know that on August 6, 1863, Abraham Lincoln declared a day of thanksgiving after Union victories in Gettysburg and Vicksburg. After receiving a letter from Sarah Hale, he declared the last Thursday of November as the national holiday.

Sarah Hale (the author of Mary Had a Little Lamb) was the driving force for a unified day of thanksgiving. The holiday was primarily celebrated in New England, but each state had a different day for its celebration ranging from October to January. She started campaigning for a national holiday in 1846. Sarah wrote letters to several presidents, Zachary Taylor, Millard Filmore, Franklin Pierce, James Buchanan and Abraham Lincoln.

President Lincoln felt that a unified national holiday would bring the country together after the stress of the Civil War. Therefore, he declared the last Thursday of November as Thanksgiving Day. Lincoln stated in a proclamation entreating all Americans to ask God to “commend to his tender care all those who have become widows, orphans, mourners or sufferers in the lamentable civil strife” and to “heal the wounds of the nation.

Thanksgiving was held on this date until 1939 when President Franklin D. Roosevelt moved Thanksgiving up one week to extend the retail period during the Great Depression. However, due to massive public outrage, Thanksgiving was moved back to its original time period, the fourth Thursday in November.

These are the times that try men's souls. Or, things are just weird.

2011-10-28T00:01:00.001-04:00

For the past few months I have been surrounded by weirdness in direct relationships and those involving people close to me.

I am not knowledgeable in astrology, other than the passing glance at an occasional horoscope. But I have heard in the past of "Mars in retrograde." I think this kind of thing is supposed to put fear in the hearts of even the most brave men.

If I knew then what I know now, I most likely would had paid heed to the warning.

This summer I saw friendships disintegrate before my eyes, like when one is falling in what seems to be in slow motion and there's nothing anyone can do to stop it.

I felt the pain of a very dear friend's realization her marriage was over.

I experienced a strain on a relationship that is holding on only by the slimmest of threads, and most likely will not last.

I feel the loss of the presence of an online friend, someone I never met in person but whose death is mourned.

But, even though all this grayness has transpired, there's still new relationships that are forming and growing.

So, if makes me wonder as always, did these old relationships had to end to make room for the new? An age old question with no answer, but only speculation.

Whatever the answer is, we do need to celebrate what we had to prepare for what is coming. Good luck to us all.

An important read...

2011-10-04T10:01:00.004-04:00

A long absence from the world of blogging. It's not that I haven't though to post idea, or even started a few. It's more or less my life got in the way. However, today my friend read to me his sister's post. It's about school bullying. It's a heart wrenching post. I urge everyone to read it. Please click here.

Sashimi Tuna Salad - Dr. Weil's Healthy Kitchen

2011-08-12T10:06:00.000-04:00

Sashimi Tuna Salad - Dr. Weil's Healthy Kitchen

29 WAYS TO STAY CREATIVE

2011-07-26T11:30:00.001-04:00

To inspire me..................................

Yowsa

2011-07-13T22:08:00.000-04:00

Ever had one of those days... ass over tea kettle.

Much ado about nuthin'

2011-07-13T22:03:00.000-04:00

“Finish each day and be done with it. You have done what you could.” Ralph Waldo Emmerson.

I'm a worrier. I worry about everything. It is part of my nature. If I don't have anything to worry about, I'll worry that something is wrong and I better START worrying.

When I was a kid, I had a worry stone. My grandmother gave it to me because it was made out of a rock. I loved rocks, and for a few years of my life wanted to be a geologist. She explained the basic principle of a worry stone to me. Ugh, that was a mistake. I worried that I would eventually rub through the stone and it would be ruined.

I often wish that I could just finish each day and not worry about it any longer. I guess I can continue to hope. Of course, after I finish this post, I'll worry that I haven't posted in so long it will look like I am a slacker. I'll worry about what total strangers will think of my worrying....

But, at least for a few moments I will finish my blog post and be done with it. I did the best I could.

Dare to be bold by Matt Cheuvront

2011-06-09T01:30:00.001-04:00

Our arts, our occupations, our marriages, our religion, we have not chosen, but society has chosen for us. We are parlour soldiers. We shun the rugged battle of fate, where strength is born. – Ralph Waldo Emerson

Today, let’s take a step away from rational thought and dare to be bold. What’s one thing you’ve always wanted to accomplish but have been afraid to pursue? Write it down. Also write down the obstacles in your way of reaching your goal. Finally, write down a tangible plan to overcome each obstacle.

The only thing left is to, you know, actually go make it happen. What are you waiting for?

---

For several years, I have wanted to write a children's story book. The characters are based on my dogs, friends' dogs, etc. The main character is a terrier that tends to get himself in trouble throughout history. I imagine this to be a series to teach young children some of the high points of history.

Obstacles:

Time
Research
Nervousness about doing this project
will it be received well from friends/acquaintences
not being able to work through a block.

How will I overcome these obstacles?

I'll need to set aside a little time each week
Decide what the first book should be about and just start the research
Just Do IT
Who cares? They are the ones pushing you to do this
I always work through blocks, so this will not be any different!

Oh boy, now that it is writing, and on the internet it must be true!! Good luck to me.

RWE Prompt - Come Alive by Jonathan Mead

2011-06-09T01:15:00.000-04:00

Life wastes itself while we are preparing to live. – Ralph Waldo Emerson

If you had one week left to live, would you still be doing what you’re doing now? In what areas of your life are you preparing to live? Take them off your To Do list and add them to a To Stop list. Resolve to only do what makes you come alive.

What do I like to do that makes me come alive? There are so many things that I love to do, that get pushed aside in the way of "life." Hiking with my dogs and taking massive amounts of photos makes me feel alive.

Painting on a canvas makes me come alive, but I have not done that in years, due to life. Why shouldn't one do what makes them come alive, rather than get down in the minutia of life

Travel by Chris Guillebeau - Ralph Waldo Emerson Challenge

2011-06-06T23:42:00.000-04:00

If we live truly, we shall see truly. - Ralph Waldo Emerson

Not everyone wants to travel the world, but most people can identify at least one place in the world they’d like to visit before they die. Where is that place for you, and what will you do to make sure you get there?

I love to travel. This love was instilled during my childhood via the "family trips." Every summer my parents would pack up the Ford with my sister and me and off we would go on an adventure. We traveled to most of the continental US, stopping at roadside attractions along the way that piqued my curiosity with every visit. Yes, as a family we would stop to see the world's largest rubber band ball if it was close.

At this time of my life, my travel goal is to see Alaska. In fact, maybe I would just drive across Canada and do a flyball tournament if I could in Alaska. I'm an avid photographer, and I foresee that this trip could take a few weeks. :)

Post-it Question by Jenny Blake

2011-06-06T23:21:00.000-04:00

That which each can do best, none but his Maker can teach him. Where is the master who could have taught Shakespeare? Where is the master who could have instructed Franklin, or Washington, or Bacon, or Newton? . . . Shakespeare will never be made by the study of Shakespeare. Do that which is assigned you, and you cannot hope too much or dare too much. – Ralph Waldo Emerson

Identify one of your biggest challenges at the moment (ie I don’t feel passionate about my work) and turn it into a question (ie How can I do work I’m passionate about?) Write it on a post-it and put it up on your bathroom mirror or the back of your front door. After 48-hours, journal what answers came up for you and be sure to evaluate them.

I was away from the computer for a few days, but I did keep track of the challenges, and thought of how to rise to the challenges.

Lately, one of my biggest challenges has been to maintain my long-standing relationships with some of the best people I have met in my life. I tend to work too much, focus on things in my immediate life, and let those relationships I hold dear to dwindle away. Therefore, what do I need to do to to change this?

I need to prioritize actually touching base with my friends, not just a note on Facebook, an email, or a text but actually taking time to TALK to them on the phone, or MY GOSH - face to face.

After spending the weekend with very good friends I realize that work and some annoyances of life do not replace championship and conversation with good friends!

Self Reliance - The Road Less Traveled?

2011-06-02T20:40:00.000-04:00

It is easy in the world to live after the world’s opinion; it is easy in solitude to live after our own; but the great man is he who in the midst of the crowd keeps with perfect sweetness the independence of solitude. - Ralph Waldo Emerson, Self-Reliance.

What does that snippet of Ralph Waldo Emerson's writings mean to me? It's great is the man who lives in the moment. To embrace life as it comes and live it to the fullest. To embrace the joys and harships and take the experiences without any prejudice.

This is what I believe, I try to emulate, and fail to deliver at times.

One sentence

2011-06-01T19:35:00.000-04:00

I watched a tree grow from nothing to 40 plus feet today as the day slowly went by.

Reliance - A Writing Challenge - 15 minutes to live

2011-05-31T20:08:00.000-04:00

The challenge is as follows, I have 15 minutes to live. During that time, I must write what needs to be written.

The timer starts now:

As my life is slowly ticking away, I look back on what I have done with my life and I must say that I am pleased with what I have accomplished. I have had many jobs/careers in my life, and although I haven't nearly completed all my goals, I feel few regrets in leaving in such a short time.

My only regrets are that I leave my family and friends. We haven't had enough time together. We haven't had enough laughs, enough silliness, or enough companionship.

My dogs and cat have not had enough pets, hugs, play, and treats, even though I spend nearly 24 hours a day with them.

I love living out in the sticks, in the country, in Indiana. I am glad that I made decisions that lead me to stay here and not go to other places. The more I traveled, the more I realized that home really is where the heart is.

I leave my life knowing I did the best I could at the time. I don't dwell on what coulda, woulda, shoulda, as it is all pointless now. But, I am proud in the fact that I have left some kind of a legacy in my wake. I've known a lot of people in my many lives that I lead in this one whole contained. I tried to treat each one with respect.

I did the best and I'm proud of it. I love my family - I love my friends - I love my pets. Thank you God for my life - it was worth living. I don't want to waste the rest of my 15 minutes writing, as I want to hug everyone I can before I go. Especially who am I going to con to keep Katie?

Continuing quest for healthier lifestyle

2011-04-30T20:36:00.000-04:00

Just a short post tonight.

Probably one of my favorite dishes is a REALLY good hamburger. But, as we all know hamburgers aren't the best thing in the world to eat. I've slowly been combining ground beef and ground turkey together to cut down on some of the fat. It's worked pretty well for meatloaf, but I tried just a hamburger recipe today.

I really don't like ground turkey, but figure I can get used to it with some "additions." I mixed 1 lb of turkey with 1 lb of the leanest chuck I could find. Then, I added one large red onion, 3 cups of spinach, and 6 cloves of garlic. I mixed it all together and placed in the fridge for about 2 hours. I find ground turkey sticky and thought this may help the conglomeration all fuse together to make the patties.

Surprisingly enough, I though it was pretty tasty. At least, enough that I didn't sit and wish it was a big, juicy hamburger just off the grill. : ). I added a few yam fries that I made and it's much healthier than the really big burger with lots of additions and fries.

Next time, I think I will add some cilantro to the patty mix and give it more of a Mexican flavor.

As a side note, I did find that the only way I can keep to my healthier eating is to plan all my meals for the week and stick to the plan. When I follow that, I can keep on track and succeed.

Go Fly A Kite!!!

2011-04-03T23:10:00.002-04:00

Spring is springing up all over. Thank goodness!! Today was a windy day. It may seem odd, but windy days in spring always make me think of my Grandpa. Every spring, he would buy a brand new kite and he and I would attempt to fly it.

I remember many kites from my childhood. As soon as the weather turned warmer, and there was a good breeze, my grandpa would produce a kite kit and off we would go to build it. We had dragon kites, box kits, kites that were glued, kites that were huge. Blue kites, red kites, rainbow kites. I remember kites with long tails and the frustration of trying to get the tail just right to help keep the kite up in the air.

We flew kites so much that we had a special winder he made. I still remember his explanation. "We can really let the kite go up high faster with this." It was a small piece of plywood with 2 dowel rods on the ends so we just wind the string around it to go higher or bring the kite in when we were done. I still remember the excitement when we would let the string almost completely out. It seemed like the kite was up in the air so high that surely airplanes would see it. In reality, the kite probably wasn't higher than 100 feet, but it was soaring high to me.

Well, today, I was in my neighborhood Walgreens and went past the kite section. Nostalgia set over me and I could not resist buying a cheap kite. I think I've only flown a kite once or twice since my grandfather passed on. I noticed on the package it said not to use in high winds. Actually, it said to use in 5 to 10 mph winds. What? Not sure how brisk the wind is, but I wanted to get the kite going.

Since it was a CHEAP kite it only took 2 seconds to put it together. I only had to insert the crossbar and tie the string to the kite. After a couple attempts, the kite was up in the air. I couldn't believe I was having such luck. It was flying nicely. No need to worry about a tail. I unwound the string until it was about 15 feet in the air. Still going good. I unwound a little bit more, a few more feet. It was dipping and dodging. I released the string a little more. Still going good

Then, I hear a SNAP. The kite crashes down to the ground. Oh yea... Other things came back to me. Like... my grandpa and me fixing kites. It was fun going down memory lane today. Maybe next time I'll buy a kite that cost more than $1.49. When they say 5 to 10 mph, they don't mean 20-25 mph winds. :)

This is chicken salad?

2011-03-21T20:41:00.002-04:00

I love food. I've been trying to lose weight and have a healthier lifestyle for about 3 years. I've managed to lose (and keep off) 35 pounds and I still have more to go. I have no intention of writing about the ins and outs of dieting, lifestyle changes (If anyone has questions about weight loss, you should checkout my sister's blog. She has been chronicling her life and times of weight loss and exercise here.)

So, since I am trying to live a healthier life, I browse a lot of healthier eating websites, read my healthy eating newsletters, and pa ruse cookbooks. I enjoy the entire process from picking out the ingredients, to preparing the food, to finally enjoying the fruits of my efforts.

This is a great recipe for Asian Chicken Salad.

1 head Chinese cabbage
1/2 (small) head red cabbage
1/2 Tbsp sugar
2 cups chopped or shredded cooked chicken (freshly grilled or from a store-bought rotisserie chicken)
1/3 cup Asian Vinaigrette
1 cup fresh cilantro leaves (rough chopped)
1 cup canned mandarin oranges, drained
1/4 cup sliced almonds, toasted
Salt and black pepper to taste

* Slice the cabbages in half lengthwise and remove the cores. Slice the cabbage into thin strips. Toss with the sugar in a large bowl.

* If the chicken is cold, toss with a few tablespoons of vinaigrette and heat in a microwave at 50% power. Add to the cabbage, along with the cilantro, mandarins, almonds, and the remaining vinaigrette. Toss to combine. Season with salt and pepper.

The above is how the recipe was written. I found the salad was sweet enough without any sugar. I left out the sugar and the almonds. I also added more cabbage to cut down on the calories, etc per serving. I made this the night before to let the cilantro and vinaigrette meld. I took it to a get-together and everyone seemed to like it. So, if you're looking for a relatively light dish, you may want to give this one a try. It tasted great plain, alone or on a low carb whole wheat flour tortilla.

Why a Wii Fit is better than a personal trainer

2011-01-17T19:41:00.000-05:00

Why do I like my wii Fit better than a personal trainer.

I don't have a set time to meet Wii Fit. I can go flip on the TV whenver I want
If I get ticked off at the Wii from snarky things it says, I can turn the sound off.
When doing the exercise, my mii is skinny, thus motivating
I don't have to drive to get to the gym
I can exercise alone and not be in a class or where others can see how stupid I look when yelling at the Wii Fit.

This is in response to my sister's recent blog post.

New Year, new gadgets, new goals

2011-01-12T00:19:00.002-05:00

Ah yes, a new year has dawned. We all have a ton of resolutions that we promise ourselves we will follow to the "T." I gave up making resolutions a few years ago because they never lasted more than a few weeks.

About 3 years ago I decided to really change my lifestyle and learn to eat better and exercise. My sister was committed to the same thing, so it was easier to have someone to share your goals.

Unfortunately, since October or so, I wasn't making time to exercise due to my work load and I was disgusted with my lack of motivation. So, in an effort to hep me get-off-my-bum-and-move, my sister gave me this cool little gadget for Christmas, the S2H Replay.

This is a S2H Replay. This little device not only serves as a watch, but its main purpose is to track your movements. It doesn't count how many squat thrusts you achieved or how many miles you ran, but it simply monitors movement.

I wear it whenever I am going to be involved in a lot of activity. The first day I wore it was at a dog agility trial. Sprinting around after your dog can really make the bars go up. Sitting around in a chair waiting for your turn, does not.

The goal is to complete all four bars on the screen. In the photo above, I have completed 2.5 out of 4 bars. Now, this activity isn't just general walking. You have to MOVE. I wear it when I do my daily exercise torture, and I find that ZUMBA really gets the bars ticked off nicely.

When you move, you get this....

When you are a slug and not moving around, you get this....

I know what you are thinking... Do you think I'm going to move around just to get a #$######$ HAPPY FACE? See, this is where they get you. S2H knows that we need goals and rewards. So, the tracker generates a Reward Code for every 60 minutes of accumulated activity.

This code, once uploaded, gives you 60 points. You can redeem points for items such as ringtones, Amazon gift cards, game cards, Toys R Us, etc. As you can see, I have 180 points. Most have come from the past week. So, it's fairly easy to accumulate points if you really move around (and do Zumba). I'm going for either a Lowe's gift card of $10 for 1,600 points or I could go for an Xbox for 12,500. Either one, I'm shooting for a goal.

It is motivating. Even though I'm trying to exercise and get a more healthy body, watching those bars tick off gives me immediate gratification. And, my sister being my sister could not stand that I was getting awarded for exercising that she had to go and get one for her use!

These little babies sell for $19.95, plus shipping and handling. Not a bad price to pay while you're waiting for your waistline to shrink. After all, you get immediate confirmation that you were exercising and working toward your fitness/weight goal, instead of that long, drawn out process of waiting on the scales and tape measure to show your progress. They are supposed to last for about 18 months, so we'll give it a go. I think it's better than the arm-shaker-things on tv.................

My grandpa gave me a dog, and another, and another.

2010-12-09T22:43:00.000-05:00

I know what you're thinking. You're thinking that I don't need any more dogs. And, you are right. I don't. Also, my grandfather passed on from this life long before any of these dogs were born. But, you cannot convince me that he didn't have some kind of a hand in bringing me this crew:

Members of my family are huge animal lovers. My grandfather always had a couple dogs, a few cats, and never met a dog he didn't like. Both my parents had animals growing up, so its only natural that I should continue in that family tradition. Family stories are filled with antics of dogs and cats. Growing up on a farm, I had a wide variety of pets which included a chicken, several pigs, calves, and the neighbor's horses.

For the past few months, I've been off honing my skills as an amateur flyball teammate. Flyball is one sport that my dogs and I are currently participating in. All of my dogs play in varying degrees. As I think of the journey that all four of us have been on in this odyssey of training and competing, I think about some of the lessons that I think my grandfather has been trying to teach me through my dogs.

It started with Katie, a loose dog that my sister found and I adopted. As certain people know, Katie is quite the handful. To say that she is hard-headed, willful, stubborn, and just downright obnoxious barely scratch the surface of her personality. We were recruited for flyball because she is very fast. However, being fast is only when she WANTS to. We have tried multiple sports. Although she can excel at any sport, she usually just does enough to get by, except for lure coursing. More about that in another post.

Trying to find that little spark that will motivate her is always challenging and ever changing. I think my grandpa brought her to me to teach me patience and negotiation. Katie and I are constantly negotiating on what is acceptable behavior and what is not. It really boils down to what I am willing to live with in her behavior. She's pushy, obnoxious, wants to be the center of attention at all times, and bullies her way to the front. However, Katie is a good leader of the pack. She accepts the responsibility of leading. She keeps the pack inline, and when needed hands out discipline to Zorra, Sam, Calvin and Honeycomb. She worries when one of the dogs isn't feeling well, corrects them when they are wrong, and plays with them at her whim. Through negotiation, we normally come to a level ground we can both co-exist without much of a battle.

A couple years later, my sister gave me Zorra for my birthday. Ahh, I thought... at last a dog that I can train to be a great flyball dog. I started off with all the right steps with her. Tugging, chasing, fetching balls. There was a reason she was let go out of a hunting family. It took a few months before I realized how soft she is. She worries about everyone and everything. She is timid. Or, she was until she turned 5. I don't' know what really happened, but she suddenly has confidence, struts on the agility field, and recently actually acts like she wants to compete in flyball. I think my grandpa brought her to me to teach me that I need to understand how moods can affect another being. A raised voice, a loud sigh and Zorra is right there with a worried look asking when is the world going to end. She takes her moods from me. If I am confident and strong, she is willing to try at any costs. If I am unsure and nervous, she wants to turn tail and run back home.

Then, four years ago, I adopted Sam. He was a complete mess when I got him. He had the run of his first home. When I got him at 9 months old, he was not housebroken, undisciplined and crazy. Taking out the "terrier" portion he was almost too much for me to handle. But, with consistency in training and a lot of activity, he's making a name for himself in performance sports, simply because there are not a lot of wire fox terriers in flyball or agility. Sam loves to run and do what I ask. He has come a long way from the unruly puppy and we receive a lot of praise for his accomplishments. I am sure he was brought to me by my grandfather to teach me persistence, discipline, and consistency.

I also found what works for one dog, doesn't always work on the next dog, or the next. They each have strong personalities. Learning to read them, as they learned to read me has been a nonstop journey. Our experiences have taken us several places, Michigan, Illinois, Florida, Texas, Oklahoma and all places in between. I never have any qualms about packing everyone in the van and going. I've had experiences that I never would had dreamed of, without them.

I hope all 4 of us can continue on this journey for years to come, as we are not at all done learning from each other. I just hope my grandpa holds off for a while bringing me a new puppy for new life lessons for me to learn.

ærəɡənt

2010-08-10T01:14:00.013-04:00

arrogant (ˈærəɡənt)

— adj

having or showing an exaggerated opinion of one's own importance, merit, ability, etc; conceited; overbearingly proud: an arrogant teacher ; an arrogant assumption.

I allowed myself to get into a mood. I wrote a whole post about ignorance and arrogance. Then, I realized that I may be misrepresenting my point of view, so I started over.

This week, I am very intolerant of anyone who is overstepping his/her own merit and/or ability. To those people, I say this:

Humility in Knowledge, Arrogance in Ignorance.

And, if these people still don't get it, refer to the image. "Because however good you think you are, the sun don't shine out of your ass."

Electric Storm

2010-08-05T00:48:00.001-04:00

There was a very, very cool storm off to the South of my house tonight. I took this small video of the lightning. I didn't do any editing to the video. What you see is what I saw.

Mother Nature put on a very good show tonight.

Construction Part deux.....

2010-08-04T01:55:00.000-04:00

Yes, I am obsessed with the ongoing construction in front of my house......

They are making a sloping ditch in front of my house. I can only hope when this becomes the Shelby County Autobahn that the ditch will save cars from ramming into any vehicle that may be in front of my house, or God forbid, actually hitting my house.

As you can see, the road is completely stripped down to just dirt in some places. They made about a 10 foot lane to go in front of my house. However, if you venture off that lane, you're going to be in for a bump. Look closely at the tilt of the barrel.

Here's the view to the East.

Here's the view to the West.

Her'es my driveway. It's about 8 feet across and you have to line up to get on and off the road.

Everywhere I go, Road Closed. No thru traffic. In my rear-view mirror and...

through my windshield. I go through no less than 3 sets of these barricades to get to my house, yet, large trucks still come down the highway and wonder why they get stopped by the PO-leeeece. Hmmmm.

I must say that it is nice and quiet when the big construction vehicles aren't hammering on the road, keeping my dogs worked up. At times, it makes my cushy job of working at home quite difficult. It also makes going anywhere a pain in the neck.

However, we mark this all up to the progress of "Man." I still hear Bruce Springsteen's Darlington County screaming in my head. LOL.

Construction

2010-07-29T00:15:00.000-04:00

My life is totally under construction...... The above was one of the latest photos I've taken. It is for something in Chicago....

My company's website is under construction.

And, the road in front of my house is totally under construction.

Its a long summer................

Happenstance

2010-07-26T15:28:00.000-04:00

I was just looking over a few old blog posts, trying to get inspired. I am making it a point to do at least one creative thing every day that isn't directly related to work. This can include photography, drawing, working on a website (personally related), writing, anything as long as it is creative.

I came across the post that I wrote about what I considered to be a faux paux on Barak Obama's website several months ago. It is listed here. So, I returned to the site, curious if any changes were made. On a quick go through of the site, thankfully, "log into my B.O." was gone.

Since I am paid to dissect websites and pay attention to details, I saw this quote on President Obama's website.

Personally, I think it will take many, many more people other than President Obama or me to bring about any real change in Washington, but that is not the point of this post.

I'm asking you to believe. not just in my ability to bring about real change in Washington... I'm asking you to believe in yours.

If you can apply this message to other things or problems you may be facing, what an inspiration those few words can be. I'm asking you to believe in your own ability. How often has anyone felt that he or she is up against the ropes, against the wall, etc. We all should really just look inside ourselves and believe in our own ability, no matter what.

This quote was what I needed today, with my own interpretation. As I start on some new endeavors in the future, I just have to believe in my own ability that I can accomplish what my goals are, that I can be successful in these new ventures and I can pass on words of wisdom to others.

I am neither for, nor against, the President, but this quote was what I needed today.

You can tune a guitar, but you can't tuna fish.

2010-07-22T22:38:00.000-04:00

This image doesn't have anything to do with my blog posting - I just like it. I remember a friend printed this image off along time ago, and when I worked in an office it hung on my pod wall. I'm sure it's stuck in a dictionary, or English reference book somewhere in my office.

As usual, I have immersed myself in dog sports, traveling to flyball tournaments, agility trials, and now lure coursing.

Katie is my first "performance" dog. I didn't even know too much about dog agility, flyball, or any other dog sports until I adopted her. She's a "high drive" dog, meaning that she is very active and needs a job or everyone suffers. We went through 3 rounds of obedience training and the teacher suggested agility classes for Katie. My reaction was ummmm, ok. Where do those take place?

So, off we went to agility classes. We spent the first 8 weeks of class mostly off to the side because she continually circled me and barked at other dogs. Six months later, the teacher kicked us on up to the advanced agility class, because in reality Katie was more than the teacher could handle. Katie is one fast dog. As a result of a "go to" agility trial, I found out about flyball. Someone came up and talked to me about this dog sport called flyball and Katie would be a natural... ummm ok. Where do those take place?

So, we started flyball classes. There were 2 instructors and 2 others who were taking class. Al our dogs had "issues." Katie was a dog aggressive, unfocused, out of control dog. There was a golden retriever who didn't like to retrieve balls, and a husky that had long, gangly legs who didn't like to be touched. We made up quite the eclectic group. But, it was another leg to our journey.

Katie and I struggled through agility and flyball classes. Katie doesn't like to "train." She finds it boring. She always stretches my limitations both mentally and physically. She has the ability to do everything perfectly, but doesn't. She walks through agility courses, acts like she's never seen any of the obstacles before, and sighs as I am cheerleading her through the course. In flyball, instead of racing down to the box and back, she lopes down to the box and races back to me. However, race her against another dog and she runs quick.

My other dogs love to do agility and flyball. I take Katie along and enter her mostly just to keep myself humble, as she will knock me down if I get too "upity." At one flyball tournament, there was a lure course that dogs could try out. It was there Katie found her true love.

Kaite can run full out. She can just let loose and chase a bag around a course and be happy. After 8 years.... I have found her sport. Then, someone told me, hey, now there's a venue where dogs other than whippets and greyhounds can lure course for titles. ummm ok. Where do those take place?

I found out that a trial was taking place where Katie could go try lure coursing for real. She pulled me to the course and tried to rip my arm off waiting for me to release her. She raced around the course chasing the bag. She ran fast and clean, having the time of her life. Not only did she have a great time, I had a great time watching her do something she truly wanted to do. And, not something I asked her to. So, now we have a new venue to compete in. No use asking Katie to do something that she doesn't really have fun doing. Because ultimately, she won't do it. Therefore, you can tune a guitar but you can't tuna fish..... especially a hard headed Nova Scotia Duck Tolling Retriever.

Good ole southern Bar B Que

2010-05-27T22:21:00.000-04:00

I recently went on a trip to sunny Florida with some friends to participate in CPE (Canine Performance Events) National Agility.

We were traveling through Tennessee and came across this local bar-b-que place by accident. We all were hungry and decided to stop in for a quick bite.

I loved the sign. Nothing screams bar-b-que like a pig on the outside of a building.

Don't let the sign confuse you, I'm not sure what the "convenience store" part of the business meant. It was a good, ole Bar-b-que pit that served up really good food. It served all varieties of bar-b-que and the sauce was extremely tasty. Not only that, all the sides were pure southern cooking. To top it off, a glass of sweet tea. All tasted just like my grandma's cooking and I was in heaven.

I wanted to write just a bit so I could remember this little gem of a stop.

Long Time Comin'

2010-05-18T19:08:00.000-04:00

Wow, who woulda thunk it that I would remember how to write and/or post? My life since my last post has been a learning experience. I've grown in every aspect of my life, personal, professional, and everything in between.

I've faced highs and lows in my career. I've had to bite the bullet and hire and fire workers.

A family member and friends have passed - all of them too soon.

I've traveled 1/2 way around the world and back.

I've trained and watched my dogs to incredble things in dog sports. And, I watched them crash and burn from stress of the situation and the heart that they have to still try to do what I asked.

So, you all are saying Ok.. what is the point of this post? The point is, I am leaving tomorrow for a short vacation. I haven't really been on a vacation for two years, mind you. I'm scared taht while I am going to Florida with a couple friends to compete in the CPE Nationals, I'm leaving the 2 bad dogs here with my sister.

She jokes that she's going to sell them for the few days I am gone. I'm not too worried about that. People would bring them back after a few hours. What I am worried about is coming home and finding that Katie and Sam have tied my sister to a post. If any two dogs could figure that out and pull it off, they could!

Twofer Tuesday

2009-10-12T23:18:00.000-04:00

My days have been filled with work, work, work. I recently came back from a trip to Conneticut for business. Luckily, I have had some time to spend time with the dogs and do some activities. This past weekend, we had a USDAA agility trial.

I cannot take credit for the following photos. They were taken by our friend Mary and they turned out great. She took these great photos of Zorra during some of her runs this weekend. We hadn't trialed for a while and hadn't had an outside trial for a couple of months. We had a few good runs and actually had 2 qualifying runs.

Katie also attended, but no photos. Just as well, she was out for a good time and really didn't care if she ran well or not. As I say, Katie is Katie is Katie. She decides right before the run whether or not she wants to play. Sam, maybe next time. USDAA has more difficult runs that some of the other venues we participate in. Maybe next time for Sam. I am not up to his caliber yet. LOL

Zorra takes everything VERY seriously. She rarely knocks over a bar when she runs, as she is concentrating as hard as she can to do everything perfectly.

I love Zorra's ears when she is running agility or flyball. They are always flapping around and they bring comic relief to her "game face." That is one determined look on her face, there.

She isn't a big fan of the A-Frame or teeter totter. Some dogs (including Katie) actually jump completely over the apex of the A frame. Not Zorra, in this photo, it looks she probably had all 4 paws on the apex. You just can't be too careful, I guess.

And, she normally is very, very careful to get completely down the frame. You must have at least a toenail in the yellow to score on the A frame. You can see that she is concentrating very hard to ensure she will score.

Zorra is a funny girl when she is competing. LOL.

Twofer Tuesday

2009-09-29T10:04:00.000-04:00

Oops. I forgot to post for a while, bad me. I have been busy with work, and things for the flyball team and dogs. My apologies. :(

The Flagg Coal Company Steam Engine came into Metamora for 3 weekends recently, and I always enjoy their visit. I found over teh last few years, that I enjoy riding these old trains. Sure, it is slow and dirty, but it is still a lot of fun.

This steam engine ride offered a variety of entertainment over the 3 weekends. There was a special Cowboy ride where the train was robbed and hoodlums and cowboys fought it out on the train. Unfortunately, there were a few of the younger riders who had a hard time with the reality vs. fantasy that this scenario brought. In my strolls through town, I heard many mother and father explain to their 5 or 6 year old that it was just make believe, and didn't they see the cowboy later walking around?

Metamora was never a true "railroad town." But, the railroad did lay tracks down next to the canal after the canal business died. Now, part of the rails are used as a tourist ride from nearby Connersville, IN.

It is quite exciting when the engineer lets out the steam right before the train starts its few mile journey through the Indiana countryside.

After I took this photo, I thought this was what it must have looked like when the train did come into Metamora so many years ago.

I cannot vouche for the accuracies of my post, as I did no research. But, I like to imagine things as they might have been.

September 11, 2001

2009-09-11T16:28:00.001-04:00

I remember exactly where I was when one of my co-workers came into the office and told me the first plane hit the World Trade Centers. I remember being shocked at that. I had just been at the top of that building a few months before. I couldn't imagine what could have happened. I actually thought a plane might have tipped the cell/tv towers that were on the top of the building.

I was wrong........ No words can describe the rest of the day.

I had this photo hanging on my wall in my old office, at the last place I worked until I left. I still can't look at it without flashing back to that day and getting swept over with emotion.

True Colours Thursday

2009-09-10T00:28:00.000-04:00

Today's color is lilac or mauve.....

Although I love to take photos of flowers, I am very bad with their names. :( But, these are my contribution to the colors' theme today.

This is one I took in Maui, which has both lilac and mauve. Double shot on this one!

For additional thoughts on this, please go to the original home of True Colours Thursday here.

To join True Colours Thursday, all you need, is to post a photo/photographs & text, or better still both, on the specified colour of the week.
If you simply want to use the idea as a 'prompt' for a post, as I do now, with many memes, that's fine.
But, if, you'd like others including me, to visit you, please leave a comment below, so we know you are 'IN'!

My new musical instrument

2009-09-08T21:03:00.002-04:00

Everyone knows that I love music. It doesn't really matter what kind, I can almost listen to all. This past weekend, there was a Music Festival in Metamora, IN. I wrote the first installment here. I'm trying to keep a blog of activities for Metamora to gain interest, etc. And, I genuinely enjoy writing about my experiences in that little village.

The Metamora Music Festival wasn't just limited to listening to good music. There were also music workshops to take. I purchased a ukulele last year when I was in Hawaii. I play the guitar, dulcimer, violin (learning), and of course the piano. But, that little, bitty 4 stringed instrument intimidated me. Lucky me, though... there was going to be a workshop in Metamora. Coolio.

It was on Sunday and it was raining. I was just hoping the workshop was going to be under a tent to keep the rain off my uke. I arrived right on time, and there was the instructor, John Anderson and Kelly Ann (his girlfriend). He thought it was sort of funny that my name is Jonna. Anyway, I was the only student for a while and I learned quite a few things.

Another guy came in late, and my sister was walking by so she joined the workshop, too. John gave us some good tips and a cheatsheet (thumbs up on that for me). And, I felt a bit more comfortable with my smallest stringed toy.

One of the high points of meeting John and Kelly Ann was they told us about the Ukelele World Congress which meets in June in.....

BROWN COUNTY. Who woulda thunk it. These are ukulele aficionados from all over the world, and they descend on Needmore in Brown County. I used to live only 4 miles or so from Needmore. Next year, I may have to attend.

Here's a video of John Anderson, ukulele player at this year's Ukulele World Congress gathering:

Twofer Tuesday

2009-09-07T22:47:00.000-04:00

Ahh, yes... she looks sweet, doesn't she? Meet Honeycomb, my sister's youngest dog.

As near as we can tell, she is a beagle/lab mix. My sister found her when she was about 5 weeks old. Her mother was no where to be found, and she was in a barn. My sister had been alerted to her existence by another dog, Sweetie, who would escape the yard, catch a rabbit and take it to the puppy.

My dog, Katie, took over puppy-rearing and, unfortunately for us, seems to have taught Honeycomb most of her bad habits. She has one heck of a hound dog howl, and thank goodness I don't have any close neighbors, else we would be in a lot of trouble for the noise.

Honeycomb is the youngest of our dogs and has recently started flyball and goes along with Katie, Zorra, and Sam to lessons weekly.

True Colours Thursday

2009-08-26T23:03:00.001-04:00

My sky blue images are all from the Pacific Ocean. Almost every day we were in Maui, the weather was beautiful and the skies and ocean were a beautiful shade of blue. In the photo above, it was getting along later in the afternoon and the bright blue was starting to change.

However, the morning had a much lighter hue, as shown in this photo.

The photo below was taken on the plane, out the window. The various colors are merely clouds. Funny how sometimes you can't tell the sky from the sea.

From Poopsie Blue, who originated True Colours Thursday here:

To join True Colours Thursday, all you need, is to post a photo/photographs & text, or better still both, on the specified colour of the week. If you simply want to use the idea as a 'prompt' for a post, as I do now, with many memes, that's fine.
But, if, you'd like others including me, to visit you, please leave a comment below, so we know you are 'IN'!
For this meme only, I lift my 'Comment Moderation' to help players connect with each other.
Everyone, who to my knowledge has participated recently, is named in the TCT Roll Call in my side bar.
And, I will try to up-date throughout the day.

Twofer Tuesday

2009-08-25T00:00:00.002-04:00

Last week, I went to the Indiana State Fair with my sister. It's a family tradition to go to the fair. We have been going since we were kids in strollers, even. We stay all day, look at all the livestock, the weird - quirky things, listen to music, people watch, eat, drink and generally have a good time( big breath), go to the Merchants' Building, look at 4-H entries, eat, drink, people watch, (big breath), ride the tram around the fairgrounds, watch dancers, play the lottery, eat, drink, discuss what we are going to eat next, my sister watches me take photos, go to the Pioneer Village, discuss how we can make better scarecrows than those that won, (big breath) walk along the outskirts of the midway, then drag our tired bodies back to the car to go home. In other words, we go to see all we can see, and have a great time.

Due to our busy lives at the moment, we were unable to spend the traditional Saturday or Sunday at the fair, but had to opt for just a few hours after work. This required a new mindset. We gotta HUSTLE through all the things we normally do in 10 hours. We were up to the challenge. The first thing we encountered was the tractor parade.

We stood and watched all the antique tractors go by, John Deere, Farm All, International Harvester. Some were pulling wagons filled with people, while others may only had the driver or one passenger.

This year, the Red Hat ladies were in the parade as well. There were quite a few of them, but don't step off of the curb. I am not too sure a couple of them wouldn't try to run a person over for points!

We ran all over the fairground at breakneck speed, but soon came to the realization that we were all day people, and not those who could only stay at the fair 3 or 4 hours. We had to abandoned many of our favorite haunts (like the Pioneer Village, the livestock buildings, 4-H buildings) due to the lack of time.

So, that left us with people watching and eating and people watching.

I started to randomly take photo and snapped this one. These ladies looked like they were having good time at the fair. I love candid photos of people, I think you can really see their personalities.

Since I started trying to live a healthier lifestyle, eating at the fair isn't the prime focus, but I still LOVE fair food. However, this year I opted to take photos of food I liked instead of eating it.

These were just a few of the photos that I took regarding some of my favorite fair foods. And, no, I did not eat any of these!

For once I didn't return home feeling like a big, fat, ........

Twofer Tuesday

2009-08-18T10:52:00.004-04:00

I attended on conference about social media (blogging, twitter, linkedIN, etc) last week. My brain is overflowing with ideas, and I'll share what I learned in the coming posts.

The conference was set on a college campus, in a relatively new building. The landscaping was quite lovely. I snapped a few photos with my camera phone.

Here's some nice ornamental grass blowing in the breeze.....

I thought this photo would be a good inspirational piece. "Sometimes, it is hard to see the path."

I am a sucker for Black-eyed Susans. There were thousands of them along the paths and buildings.

And, one of my infamous "arty shots," as some of my friends call them. I have the photo settings on my Blackberry set sort of weird so that it takes odd-colored shots. I plan on working with the photo below some more, since I liked the way it turned out.

Well, as my boss is always telling me. "Onwards and upwards!"

True Colour Thursday

2009-08-13T23:03:00.004-04:00

Very late post to Poopsie’s meme of True Colour Thursday. I was out and about expanding my mind today, learning about blogging and tweeting and SEO and keywords and other things that were crammed into my mind today that I cannot remember at the moment. Good thing that I did take notes. 8)

Today’s color is Chocolate brown. I didn’t want to just give the same old chocolate, etc. After the conference today, I ended up at Border’s Book Store to rest my mind and revive before the after seminar for networking meet-up.

Looking around, I noticed I was sitting in a chocolate brown chair and the grid work behind me was also chocolate brown. Perfect!

I also enjoyed a nice latte, but drank it before I realized that I should have taken a photo of it for another example.

Alas, the photos were taken with my cell phone and are not the best quality.

Twofer Tuesday

2009-08-11T09:41:00.005-04:00

I haven't written about music in a while. The other day, while mustering up the courage to fire the ex-employee, I went searching for some music.

I hadn't heard Norah Jones in a while, and I eventually ended up listening to her pay tribute to Johnny Cash. Who hasn't been to the Home of the Blues a few times, themselves? My favorite line is "But the place is filled with the sweetest memories. Memories so sweet that I cry."

Whenever I hear Johnny Cash, I get reminded of a friend who told me that he loved Johnny Cash when he was a kid. He also is a big fan of the late Waylon Jennings, which lead me to this song. I love this as a good cry in your beer song. :) There's nothing like a juke box full of songs that can help me through the blues.

Which, reminded me how much I love Bluegrass/Appalachian music, and I wanted to hear the following song from O Brother wherefore art thou?

In turn, this lead me to the first family of Country/Appalachian/Bluegrass/old timey music.... The Carter Family. I think I got this love of this type of music from my paternal grandmother. I remember her humming and singing this music, and I think Wildwood Flower, in particular.

I had fun listening to these. All the songs I picked today have strong memories for me for various reasons. Not much content in today's post, just my memories locked in the music.

Frustrated? Annoyed? Overwhelmed? Nawwww

2009-08-07T00:00:00.004-04:00

See that guy? I must be honest and say that expression is on my face so often lately, it is a wonder that the age old threat... DO YOU WANT YOUR FACE TO FREEZE LIKE THAT.. did not finally come true. This face normally accompanies the phrase WTF or Ya gotta be kiddin!

I work for an internet based business. It consists of two companies, and a third will soon launch. I feel that I really am pretty lucky to be able to work at home, I don't have a lot of office politics to deal with, I do NOT miss the commute, and I can wear my jammies all day if I want to.

But, those perks sometimes come with a high price. Don't get me wrong. - I enjoy my job. But, if I knew I wouldn't give myself a concussion, I would bang my head against the desk hourly. I have hired a few people over the course of my tenure. And, I have always been lucky so far that when an employee did not work out, they at least had the decency to quit. But, this past week, I had to make an adult decision and fire someone. Unfortunately for me, I thought that my boss would fired said Employee. Ummm no. The exact words were, "Well, you hired 'em. You fire 'em." (See face above - insert WTF).

I knew I wasn't going to get out of this one, so I started practicing firing people. I fired all my dogs, my cats, and finally I fired my sister. (None of them took the hint and are still around.) The employee in question was a thorn in my side with everyone complaining about their work ethic, etc. I knew the firing must be done. The employee wasn't working or working out, period. I felt like a cartoon character with everyone sitting on my shoulders, talking at the same time, and telling me Employee had to go.

The voices in my head immediately took over -

Logical Mind: Call Employee up and GET IT OVER WITH. Thank GOD we work from home and as soon as you call, this will all be over and you will never deal with Employee again.

Soft Illogical Mind: Oh, Employee is really going to feel bad and is still adjusting to working at home. Maybe they deserve the 88th chance to get it right.

Logical Mind: WTF. Did you talk to Employee a couple weeks ago about steps to take to become successful at this job? Did Employee try to throw you under the bus with Boss? Did Employee cry hysterically and you gave Employee chance #44?

Soft Illogical Mind: Well, yes. But, this really is going to be a blow to Employee's self esteem and they are going through a rough time, maybe, and... and.. and..

Logical Mind: WTF. Give me the damn phone (grasping). I can do it RIGHT now. Just tell me the number!

Soft Illogical Mind : Let's just think this over some more. We haven't fired Mom and Dad yet. Holding phone above head.

Logical Mind: GIVE ME THE PHONE. Grasping phone again.

(Brief 3 minute conversation with Employee).

Employee = Ex-Employee. Weight lifted. World saved.

True Colours Thursday

2009-08-06T09:41:00.002-04:00

Today's True Color Thursday is RAINBOW.

This time last year, I was returning from my trip to Maui. So, I chose a few photos with nature's rainbow.

Here are coffee beans in various stages of ripeness.

Dusk and some light rain always make great colors.

And, of course, what photo from Hawaii would be complete without a rainbow.

This meme is proudly provided by Poopsie. The rules are simple -

To join True Colours Thursday, all you need, is to post a photo/photographs & text, or better still both, on the specified colour of the week. If you simply want to use the idea as a 'prompt' for a post, as I do now, with many memes, that's fine.
But, if, you'd like others including me, to visit you, please leave a comment below, so we know you are 'IN'!
For this meme only, I lift my 'Comment Moderation' to help players connect with each other.
Everyone, who to my knowledge has participated recently, is named in the TCT Roll Call in my side bar.
And, I will try to up-date throughout the day.
Next weeks TCT colour - CHOCOLATE brown - think comfort food!

Twofer Tuesday

2009-08-03T20:42:00.004-04:00

Today's twofer is very different. I am writing about last Saturday. I had two important events to go to. Both had been in the planning for months, and I couldn't miss either one.

The first part of Saturday was spent at a Dog Freestyle seminar. Yes, I was learning to dance with my dog. When my mom was in the nursing home for rehab a couple of years ago, I took my older dog Katie in several times, and we did tricks for the patients on my mom's aisle. It even got to the point a few times where we were special requested to go visit someone. We knew a few dance steps, but I wanted to learn more.

Here is a video of one of the other participants. Katie and I are in the square dancing sequence. For those of you who don't know Katie, or me, Katie is the smaller looking golden retriever type dog. (I am dressed all in blue). You can fast forward it to about 4 mins left to see the square dancing. Any of my school friends should laugh, since we were all forced to learn square dancing! Yes, I learned a doggie version! What fun that was.

indy and gracie freestyle workshop @ Yahoo! Video

The second half of my day was going to the SWHS all class reunion. I wrote my feelings about it in a previous post, and won't spend any time rehashing. I had mixed feelings, I was so very glad to see my classmates and friends from other classes. Some whom I had not seen since the day we graduated and others many years had passed since our last meeting. Of course, we didn't have enough time to really catch up with all friends and all that really mattered to us. But, for those of us who did attend, the feelings were genuine.

Sure, we were all a little older, a touch more gray in our hair (for those without the use of a dye bottle, LOL), and our laugh lines may be bit more pronounced than the last time some of us were together. But, gone was the underlying, nagging (perhaps) stigma that is often the gorilla in the room. For me, at least, the gorilla wasn't there. However, for others who may not have attended, the gorilla might aways be there unless they go up to it and shake its hand. I think that at this point of our lives, it doesn't matter what you do for a living, whether or not you are married, how much money you make, or whether you aren't as skinny as you were when you were 18. What matters, I believe, was to just remember the time when we were still innocent of life's little tricks, curve balls, and just roadblocks. I think if a couple of people that I suspect didn't attend for the above reasons would have overcome that nagging doubt and attended the reunion, they would have been better for it.

Life normally comes up and kicks me in the arse when I least expect it, and the reunion was no different. I must admit, that I was blindsided at the reunion when a brother of one of my good friends that has passed came up to talk to me. I had just been thinking of my friend and I turned around and his brother had his hand on my back. I am not one to be emotional in public, but wave of emotion rushed over me and I found myself in tears for a minute. I am just taking that all as a sign that my friend also came to attend the reunion, if only for a brief moment, to visit his brother and me. However, I am glad it happened, and I am glad he came over to my table to talk to me. He could have easily stayed away, and I would not have known, as there were close to 1,000 people attending. But, my life experience grew and I dealt with it at the time, and I am better for it.

I hope that more of my friends can attend the next reunion. It's good to get back to your roots occasionally. After all, some of these people may know how you really are..... better touch base, just to get them to keep mum!

These are just my opinions only, and was only meant for two or three people who don't even know I have a blog or a Facebook account. So, all of those out there who were in my class, and are on Facebook or read the blog AND didn't attend.... You are safe. I didn't call you out! LOL.

Class Reunion time

2009-07-31T15:41:00.006-04:00

This weekend, I am both excited, and a little nostalgic going to the first annual all-school class reunion of my old high school. It's actually celebrating the 50th year the school as been open.

I went to a very small public high school in Indiana. Most the the classes that have graduated in the past 50 years, have had between 45-60 students graduating. Very small in the eyes of most people I met later in life. In college years, people marveled at the small class size "Oh, did you go to a private school? Wow, how does that school stay afloat? Is it really in the middle of a cornfield? Oh, you went to the "hick school" or we were called "farmers." I learned to take all these quips without too much thought.

I come from a place where corn and soybeans are money, and basketball is the way of life. Life revolved around the farming community and who was playing where on Friday or Saturday nights at the basketball gym. My friends and I would go to all the basketball games at the school gym, and also would travel to watch "away" games too, if we could. I think back on those times and have to smile at the things that we did, got away with, and lived to tell about today.

When I was in college I often thought, if only I had gone to a bigger school, I would have received a better education. There would have been better resources and advantages for me. I would get a twang of jealously now and again because someone had an experience in their high school education that I KNOW would have helped me gain an edge.

But, looking back now, I realize that I learned much more than some new technique, some new way of thinking about things, or any other fancy that I may have had. What I learned in the small, rural school was how to forge life long friendships, how to value those friendships, and more importantly become a member of a community.

This weekend, I will get to see, talk, and laugh with people that I knew from the very first day of first grade. I will always have ties to these people, and no matter how the winds scattered us, we still have those bonds. This weekend, I am going mostly to support one of my oldest, and dearest friends in the reunion. If it had not been for him, the first all class reunion of Southwestern High School would not have taken place. I'm going to go and see at least 5 other people I have known since the first grade, and a few I didn't meet until we were all tranfered to the 7th grade (so, I don't know them as well). I am going because I am a member of this pretty unique community of graduates - I am going because I have know so many of these poeple most of my life, but mostly I am going because I value the things we all learned together through trial and error - I go for the continued, ongoing friendship. It certainly doesnt matter if we only see each other every 5, 10, or 15 years, we are still bonded and still linked through the same experiences.

Not many people can actually say that they went all the way through school with 20 people, nor can too many people say that they went to elementary, high school, and college with a couple people. I never realized what strong bonds and ties we have until we lose one. Here's to my classmates and friends of Southwestern High School in Shelby County Indiana. May SWHS go on for 50 more years, and I hope and pray that these ties still remain as stong as the ones that I found with my friends.

True Colours Thursday

2009-07-30T14:55:00.002-04:00

Today's theme was red, white, an blue....

All these photos were taken on the Red, White, and Blue day of July 4th.

The stars and stripes....

The July 4th parade in Metamora, IN. This little girl was all decked out in the colors!

And, Sam (aka Uncle Sam on July 4th) looks very dapper with his red, white and blue hat!

Two fer Tuesday

2009-07-26T20:19:00.011-04:00

Last week Walter Cronkite passed on. Why am I writing about him? He's had some wonderful eulogies from his friends, fans, etc. I'm sitting here watching a mini series that he did covering his career. The series is only up to WWII and there's so much more to go, that my mind is about to explode just from the mass of information that Walter Cronkite passed on during his career. He reported some of the greatest moments of the 20th century.

In the 60s. I was just learning how to walk, talk, color, write, read, and basically learn how to be a human. One thing I did develop was a vivid imagination and vivid recall to memories. Here's Walter as I always think of him in my memories.

More than anything, Walter Cronkite reminds me of my maternal grandparents. Every summer, without fail I went to go stay a WHOLE week with them. A huge amount of time for a preteen. Weeks went on forever back then, and I enjoyed every moment. Every night, after supper, Grandpa would warm up the old RCA tv and watch "Walter" as he was known in my grandparents' house. I got the most important job of switch the tv station to CBS, or channel 8 as I knew it. The tv had a dial, and I would twist it around and around, even if it didn't need to go that far. From what I remember, the tv didn't vary too much off of channel 8.

All through my memories, my grandfather was the best thing, ever. When I was younger, he smoked cigarettes. He rolled his own, and I used to watch with amazement as he pulled out the papers, sprinkled just the right amount of tobacco and finish rolling it up. He had this sliver zippo lighter. I used to watch him fill it very carefully with lighter fluid. Then, one day he quit, never to roll another smoke again.

Grandpa drove too fast, called all my friends by the wrong name on purpose, was quick with a smile and had a habit of reading every billboard along the side of the road in a sing-song voice.

Here's a photo taken sometime in the 1960s. My grandfather, Basil, is on the left - My grandmother, Blanche - my grandfather's youngest sister Thelma - and her husband Lowell. This photo is exactly how they live on in my memories. They have all passed on now. I may write about them at a later date. Now, I just wonder if my grandpa is chatting with his pal, Walter, in heaven.

Twofer Tuesday - The cats

2009-07-14T14:05:00.003-04:00

My two cats are today's Twofer Tuesday's post. As you can see, I prefer gray and white kitties.

Here is Harley.... a mamma's boy, no doubt. He is on at least his 8th life. I found him near death when he was a kitten and hand fed him. About 4 years ago, he caught pneumonia in the middle of the summer and almost died. In fact, the vet had pretty much resigned himself that Harley was a goner. I, thought not. I took him from the hospital and gave him IVS and hand fed him again until he was better. Everyone at the hospital was amazed that he pulled through.

A few months later in the middle of winter, he escaped from the house and lived with a rabbit in a rabbit hole for 9 days until I finally found him. I was sooo mad, but so happy to see him. There was 9 inches of snow on the ground, but he was clean and dry.

The cat sitting up is DaKota. She is a rescue from Iowa. She didn't seem phased at all by the ride to Indiana, and I wanted a name with some spunk. DaKota was raised with dogs, and tends to think she is a dog. She shows NO fear into going into a room full of dogs, cuddlying up to them, letting a terrier bounce off of her, or trying to eat their food........ She is not right in the head.

DaKota doesn't seem to be all there most of the time, but she is very, very loving and is the baby out of all the animals. Here Harley was grooming her ears for her, which seemed very sweet. Of course, knowing how they are I waited for the fight to start.

But, none did on this afternoon. As you can see, they are quite the pair.

BO - what does it mean?

2009-07-10T18:13:00.006-04:00

Disclaimer: This post is neither an endorsement OR a rant against our president. It has NOTHING to do with President Obama personally, or his policies, or his dog Bo. Nor, does it have anything to do with the Democratic Party.

As readers of my blog know, I mostly talk about garbage... nothing too relevant. I write about my dogs, photos, things that pop in my mind. I used to blog a lot more than I am allowed to now, unfortunately. I am too busy at work for much blogging.

Part of my job is to cruise websites and see if there may be an innovative idea that we can modify for our companies' websites. I am always looking for different ways to handle content, social media, testimonials, all things web, etc.

Today I eventually linked my way around the internet until I was on the unsubscribe page at http://my.barackobama.com/page/unsubscribe/ .

I have been working in customer service via the internet for about 12 years. I have a fairly trained eye and I do take into consideration things that others might take for granted.

When I saw the following, my eyes bugged out of my head. Please look down at the login button.

My first reaction was ARE YOU KIDDING ME?? Who let this piece of crap go up on a website. LOGIN to myBO?

Now, after the initial shock, I thought of sending the link to David Letterman. Look Dave, you can log into your B.O. remotely. No more carrying it around with you. You can remain fresh smelling while your BO is kept in a remote portion of the world in a lock box. Wanna tick somone off, or get back at them. - just login to MyBO and I bet you can shoot the stench to someone in an attached file or email!

All companies have their missteps when it comes to putting things online. But, I think most Americans refer to body odor as BO. In fact, I am sure that President Obama probably took a lot of flack when he was a kid with his initials.

Of course, I commented on this to the webmaster. I don't expect anything to come of it. Perhaps I am the only one with a sick mind who would notice. But, nevertheless, it bothers me. I mean, everyone knows they are on my.barakobama.com site anyway. Just the word LOGIN would be sufficient. Not Login to MyBO. If you look at the logo itself, there is no "B." The original artist who did the logo at least had a clue.

Hey, MyBO webmaster... maybe you should have a few other people look at the final product before the upload. It would save emails from smartarses like me giving you jibe on a blog.

Of course, these opinions are just my own and are in no way those of my dogs........

Twofer Tuesday

2009-07-07T10:30:00.002-04:00

Lately, I have had a pretty busy life, between a very hectic work schedule, I also have been doing a lot of things with my dogs.

This past weekend, we went to a flyball tournament in Sandusky, OH. My beagle mix Zorra now competes in NAFA tournaments, but Katie has issues with other dogs racing in the lane, so, this past weekend, she was just along for the ride.

The fairgrounds where the tournament was held was quite well kept, and there were beautiful flowers everywhere. I decided that Katie and I would have a photo session....

I found some pretty photos and Katie was sitting quite nicely. She is normally quite the ham and will pose, etc.

Ok, Katie... look at me. Over here....

Drats.. eyes shut

Let's try again, and smile.. :)

Unfortunately for me, the model was a bit tempermental and we had to settle for the more "serious" look. LOL. She is actually getting back at me because she didn't get to race. LOL. Maybe next tournament, Katie!

Twofer Tuesday

2009-06-30T08:13:00.003-04:00

Over Memorial Day weekend, my friends and I normally go to Carb Day at the Speedway in Indy. This year was no exception, and is today's Twofer Tuesday's focus.

We normally always sit in the same spot for Carb Day, so we can get a really good view of the Pit Crew races later in the day. We sit near the top in the front straight away. As you can see, right before the pole.

The Speedway is celebrating 100 years in racing. It is quite exciting actually. One hundred years of the Brickyard.

Here are a few cars going by in practice.

Going to the Speedway is a lot of fun.

Delay

2009-06-22T22:20:00.000-04:00

My post for Twofer Tuesday will be delayed. I am traveling, and will post later.

True Colours Thursday

2009-06-17T23:48:00.004-04:00

This is an postscript to my post of Twofer Tuesday.... Sam was quite put out by my post and responded here....

I stand beside my original post. The terrier terrorist strikes again. He is a true terrorist. This happened today.

I am not sure that this actually qualifies for the same tan and black of Maggie and Mitch, but....

For true Airdale Black and Tan colours, go visit Poopsie, the true originator of True Colours Thursday!

New toy

2009-06-17T10:00:00.002-04:00

Below is an image of my new toy. I am sure we will become fast friends, but getting used to the bells and whistles (literally) will require getting some used to.

Amazon (where I purchased it) calls it Polar F55 Heart Rate Monitor Watch (Ice Aluminum). My sister purchased a similar model in her quest to become more fit and healthy. (You can read about it here) So, after she suggested several times that I obtain one myself (she even suggested this specific model) I bit the bullet, spent the cash and ordered it from Amazon.

I am not overly geeky, meaning I don't live for the next gadget to come around. I have all the normal techy things, ipod touch (my favorite thing in the world), a blackberry, a couple computers, a WII, etc. So, when I decided to buy the watch to help me track my exercise, I thought it was a semi-good idea. The only downfall was now I HAD to exercise.

Mr. Postman delivered my order and I always hate when I see several instruction booklets in the box. One was written in perhaps Finnish, since this is where the watch originated from and at least the other booklet was in English. Of course, the type was so small and my glasses are in such bad shape, I had to take them off to read. Not a good sign.

It took a while to set it up. You must wear a band that goes around your chest. You must make sure the electrodes are damp so it can measure your heart rate or something like that. There's a device that talks to the watch to send information regarding your heart rate, etc. So, after about 3 times of trying to get some decent information (user error only, nothing to do with the watch) and punching in various data, it came back that I was in the ELITE status. Whatever! I was generally praying that I would be classified in the GOOD status so I could feel minutely better about myself.

Ok, I decided to gloss over the Elite status remark. I am sure it is just to boost my self esteem so I can really get a good workout. After all, my sister loves her watch and annoyingly tells me every single, flipping calorie that she burns a day. If I could just burn more than one calorie with this watch, I will be happy.

I am feeling irritated at the watch already, since it seems to have already taken over my life, and I had better start exercising, as I do not want to disappoint it on the first day . Ok, the watch then tells me my workout schedule for the week. I hate it already. Can't I just goof around and burn calories? Where is that commercial where a person doesn't have to do anything to lose bad fat and inches?

I climbed on my bike and start up. The watch is beeping at me. WTF is all I am thinking. Well, my sister is there and chimes in - you aren't in your heart rate zone, so it is telling you by beeping. I was thinking, doesn't it give you a minute or two to gear up. I was already pissed because I was going to have to ride the bike for 45 minutes. So, for about 5 minutes, I tried to get in the zone, and as soon as I thought screw it, the beeping stopped. I either had killed my heart, or we had reached the magical zone. Not bad. But, how can I stand another 37 minutes?

Most of the time when I ride my bike, Sam my wire fox terrier, is attacking my feet, Katie is doing everything bad that she possibly can, and Zorra just looks like the world is coming to an end because that strange machine may attack her. But, thankfully, they were at least decent for most of the ride. I became an incessant clock watcher and counted down the minutes. Finally, when the watched ticked over to the magical 45:00 I was ecstatic. But, what I really wanted to know was my calorie expenditure. I had burned 580 calories on my ride. THAT made me happy.

Good thing because the watch says I have to burn 2500 calories this week in 5 sessions. Oh, and by the way, it already has my next exercise routine set up and ready to go. It also let's you know how many squat thrusts, reps, sets, etc to do. wonderful.......

Twofer Tuesday

2009-06-16T09:37:00.005-04:00

As everyone knows, at least half my blog posts are about dogs/animals. And, there are my three dogs. Boy, don't they just look cute in this photo. One would never know about the little secret that we hide.

I was perfectly happy with my two girls, the two on the left, Katie and Zorra. But, a rescue call was sent out and I ended up with Sam, a wire fox terrier. This week Sam will celebrate his 4th birthday (June 19th). This made him just one month younger than Zorra. So, I had TWO puppies. (Insanity does run in our family).

Now, I admit. I didn't know anything about terriers when Sam joined the pack. I always wanted a dog like Asta from the old Thin Man movie series. So, I was excited when I went to pick him up. I knew that he was energetic and a handful, but I thought.. really how bad can he be? I have a decent background for handling dogs. I already had a difficult dog in the house, Katie. She surely tested (and still does) my patience daily. I can train him to be a productive member of society.

Once again, the adage "You may get what you wish for" was SCREAMING in my head. Sam came to live in Boot Camp Hell, (as he refers to my house) when he was 9 months old. I took this photo about a week after he came. This was just when I was learning about the secret of terrier terrorist. It was Boot Camp Hell for me, as well.

Doesn't he just look cute? Well, at the time I took this photo, I didn't like Sam. Keep in mind, I had no idea what a terrier terrorist was like. He came to me untrained (yea.. NOT housebroken) and had been allowed to do as he pleased. This included running all over, not listening, bouncing off the walls and peeing and pooping everywhere. Oh boy, was he and I in for a shock.

Now, out of kindness to a friend, I took in a Sam and my life and his was....

... turned upside down. I had entered a black hole. A terrier terrorist was now part of my life and there was no way to free myself of it. I was in for life. Who would kill whom first, was still a mystery. I had many things to learn and I also entered the number for Wire Fox Terrier rescue on my speed dial.

Little did I know that terrier terrorist do not walk on four feet when attached to a leash, I found out quickly. Now, terrier terrorist must walk on their back two legs and pull, gasping for air as they are going to die at any moment if they don't reach their destination. Ok, well, that had to change as it was annoying. Try to walk 3 dogs on a leash with one acting like a fool. It drove me AND Katie mad. Even Katie gets irritated with Sam, and showed him who really ran the roost around here, and it was not, nor ever would be, Sam.

Alternative training measures were taken, and now he only walks on his back two legs only 1/2 the time. That is an improvement, believe me. Not exactly what I had hoped for, but terrier terrorist walk to the beat of a different drummer. Life involves compromise, and terrier terrorist and I had reached one.

Sam stayed in a crate for most of the first few months he came to live with us in Boot Camp Hell. He managed to learn housebreaking rules for the most part. But, again, terrier terrorist sometimes slip up if their mom leaves the house for more than 2 seconds. The problem with spending all your time with your dogs - they miss you even more when you leave. Again. a compromise was reached and now, only pooping in an extreme emergency (ie human leaving house) on the linoleum is allowed on the terrier terrorists part. Human, can get upset but for no more than 5 seconds, then revert to terrier terrorist are allowed to poop in extreme emergencies.
Also, as part of the compromise, terrier terrorist will wear goofy hats or clothes. Every July 4th, he wears his Uncle Sam hat.

Sam is known in my house as a dirty rat bast*rd when he decides to make mud pies, etc. He adds a whole new meaning to the phrase dirty pig. But, again, I did not know about terrier terrorist and how they wrote the original rules of dirty dogs. I know all subsections of code book now. Some compromise was made, but we are still hashing out the rules.

Terrier terrorist also like to dig holes anywhere at any time. I fenced in a big portion of my backyard for the dogs to play. I had grandiose ideas of also being able to practice agility and flyball back there. Again, I did not know about terrier terrorist and their need to dig to China and beyond. My backyard looks like a war zone. Some of the holes are several inches deep and are developing into trenches. Sam also will eat anything that he finds in these holes, mice, worms, moles, etc. This has caused some embarrassing situations at the vet office, but terrier terrorist take worming all in stride, unlike their moms.

Terrier terrorist also do NOT have a medium button. It is either all or nothing, fast or slow, on or off. NO in between.

But, after 3 years, Sam and I have reached agreements and compromises between terrier terrorist and humans. We have learned from each other to channel our focus into constructive things, such as agility, rally, flyball, and earthdog trials.

Sam has even managed to earn some agility titles, and is getting better every week.

Now, after all this time, Boot Camp has gotten easier for Sam. And even though terrier terrorists are still a big portion of our lives, I am much better dealing with the constant surprises. Who knew that after 3 years, I could actually like him. After those first few months of terrier terrorist initiation, I never thought I would see that day. I deleted the Wire Fox Terrier rescue number from the speed dial on my phone.

Threats to him regarding his health are now down to 3 or 4 times per day instead of 100+.

Now, I am not sure what we would all do with out Sam, the terrier terrorist. Happy "barkday" to Sam.

True Colour Thursday

2009-06-11T11:14:00.005-04:00

My contribution to True Colour Thursday is ivory colored buildings from Pune India.

Twofer Tuesday

2009-06-09T12:27:00.005-04:00

As you know, I love taking photos of my dogs. I get a lot of compliments on "how well they behave for photos." Well, let me tell ya... they ain't that well behaved. I will give everyone my secret. Put your digital camera on the sport setting. That way, IF you are lucky enough to get one decent photo out of the one hundred you took, you are ahead of the game.

It's to the point where if I can't take my dogs with me on a vacation, I normally don't go. Not, that I haven't left them behind for a recreational vacation, but I prefer not to. They can be a handful, and since I took on the responsibility, I try to live up to planning dog friendly spots.

One of my favorite dog friendly places is the Smoky Mountains in Tennessee.

On this trip, I was with my sister and we spotted a great place to take their pics. Out of the car we went, and in theory, this would be great. We could tie their leashes to the sign and we wouldn't have to be in the photo with them..... Remember, this is - in theory- a win/win situation.

Katie.. look over here....

Ok, Katie is looking but Sam and Zorra are paying attention elsewhere. Ok, no problem.

Sam, GET OFF THAT. (Zorra is thinking Sam is in BIG trouble. Katie is just saying take the #$#$#$ photo!!)

OH so close. Sam, please look this way...

Oh boy. Now, no one is cooperating.

Ahh, after 10 minutes and a ton of rejected photos, (and my sister in the wings with treats), we have a winner!

Twofer Tuesday

2009-06-01T23:28:00.003-04:00

Cross your fingers that I will be able to actually post. :( Blogger has NOT been nice to me over the past couple weeks. But, BJ Roan gave me advice which I will try. Upload, then walk away. LOL

I did.. and it actually worked. So, here are today's shots.

I have been taking a lot of photos of Metamora's flowers. I love taking photos of flowering bushes, trees, plants. I always get an extra big kick out of it when I find bugs or bees. I don't think I was able to catch any insects on my last trip.

Some lone Iris....

Of course, I am TERRIBLE with flower names. :(

Except for the Poppy. This photo does not do the color justice.

Twofer Tuesday is easy. You may post whatever you wish, but it must be in pairs.

Blogger

2009-05-19T21:14:00.001-04:00

OK>>>> when I have time and WANT to blog... Blogger won't let me upload any photos. :(

Twofer Tuesday

2009-05-18T23:27:00.002-04:00

Today's Twofer Tuesday is about Zorra and the goats......

I took these photos in Metamora a couple of weeks ago. The farmer who owns the land behind the town let his herd of goats graze. Zorra had never seen a goat before, and found them quite interesting.

WHAT THE HECK ARE THOSE THINGS??

They have long, floppy ears like me.....

They sure smell funny...

They even wear a collar like me? They are sure weird looking pups!

Zorra is not the bravest dog in the world, but she did manage to muster enough courage to get within a few inches of them. I really think she thought they may have been dogs.

Twofer Tuesday

2009-05-12T10:13:00.003-04:00

More shots from India...

Ganesha: Lord of Success. I was told by my Indian friends that this is the major god in India.

The Lord of Success
The son of Shiva and Parvati, Ganesha has an elephantine countenance with a curved trunk and big ears, and a huge pot-bellied body of a human being. He is the Lord of success and destroyer of evils and obstacles. He is also worshipped as the god of education, knowledge, wisdom and wealth. In fact, Ganesha is one of the five prime Hindu deities (Brahma, Vishnu, Shiva and Durga being the other four) whose idolatry is glorified as the panchayatana puja.

Significance of the Ganesha Form
Ganesha's head symbolizes the Atman or the soul, which is the ultimate supreme reality of human existence, and his human body signifies Maya or the earthly existence of human beings. The elephant head denotes wisdom and its trunk represents Om, the sound symbol of cosmic reality. In his upper right hand Ganesha holds a goad, which helps him propel mankind forward on the eternal path and remove obstacles from the way. The noose in Ganesha's left hand is a gentle implement to capture all difficulties.

The broken tusk that Ganesha holds like a pen in his lower right hand is a symbol of sacrifice, which he broke for writing the Mahabharata. The rosary in his other hand suggests that the pursuit of knowledge should be continuous. The laddoo (sweet) he holds in his trunk indicates that one must discover the sweetness of the Atman. His fan-like ears convey that he is all ears to our petition. The snake that runs round his waist represents energy in all forms. And he is humble enough to ride the lowest of creatures, a mouse.

How Ganesha Got His Head
The story of the birth of this zoomorphic deity, as depicted in the Shiva Purana, goes like this: Once goddess Parvati, while bathing, created a boy out of the dirt of her body and assigned him the task of guarding the entrance to her bathroom. When Shiva, her husband returned, he was surprised to find a stranger denying him access, and struck off the boy's head in rage. Parvati broke down in utter grief and to soothe her, Shiva sent out his squad (gana) to fetch the head of any sleeping being who was facing the north. The company found a sleeping elephant and brought back its severed head, which was then attached to the body of the boy. Shiva restored its life and made him the leader (pati) of his troops. Hence his name 'Ganapati'. Shiva also bestowed a boon that people would worship him and invoke his name before undertaking any venture.

Ganesha, the Destroyer of Pride
Ganesha is also the destroyer of vanity, selfishness and pride. He is the personification of material universe in all its various magnificent manifestations. "All Hindus worship Ganesha regardless of their sectarian belief," says D N Singh in A Study of Hinduism. "He is both the beginning of the religion and the meeting ground for all Hindus."

Various sites were used to gather this information.

Monochrome Monday and Odd Shot Monday

2009-05-04T15:39:00.005-04:00

In my walk around Metamora this week, I found this quirky little display next to a shop. I thought it was more funny than odd. A very clever idea!

And, for blogger pal, Aileni, I am ever eye-ful for b&w shots that are interesting. Here a a potato masher on top, with the odd-looking calf weaner. I almost cheated and entered this photo for both blogs, but felt that was just a little too lazy on my part. :)

Yuck

2009-04-29T08:48:00.004-04:00

Looking at this photo of my dogs, you may get the feeling that they are sweet, happy and would never do anything wrong. I have a lot of fun with them and I humanize them way too much. Yes, I am crazy. I give my dogs their own voices whereby they communicate back to me with words that I think they are saying. Now, in my own defense, if they could speak English to me, I am pretty positive that they would tell me exactly what I say for them.

Katie is a Nova Scotia Duck Tolling Retriever (aka Toller). My sister found her running around and I decided to take her in. We are pretty sure that she came from a house about a mile away, but the people didn't want her back. And, I can see why - Katie is a handful. She's got a mind of her own and although she wants to be a good girl and do as I request, sometimes she just has to hop over to the darkside and do her own thing. And, even though she knows that there are consequences for her actions, she doesn't care. Our agility teacher says Katie is more of a terrier than some terriers are. Ain't that the truth! And, yes, she does have a reputation about being Katie. "Katie is just being Katie, right?"

Zorra is a beagle/foxhound mix. My sister found her at a flea market and bought her off a guy who had Zorra and a pitbull puppy. She had originally bought Zorra as a gift for a friend of hers, but things didn't work out and I got to keep her. She was a cute puppy and I realize why she was not kept by her original owner, a hunter. Zorra is a soft dog. She hates loud noises, which would not be a desirable trait for hunting dogs. She is very serious in everything she does and wants to do everything correctly. But, that hunting instinct is deep in her, and she loves to track. She also loves rabbit scent. Good thing if I were to be a rabbit hunter, which I am not.

Sam, well, he's a terrier. Anyone who has ever had a terrier can understand/sympathize/laugh. Oh yea, he makes new friends wherever he goes. People all love Sam, but only because they don't have to live with him. Sam loves to dig trenches out in the yard. My backyard is a virtual minefield where he digs up mice, moles, grubs, etc.

So, that is the background of my story.

Last night on the last go out of the evening, I sent Katie and Zorra first. When I opened the door to let them in, they came bursting through the door and I noticed that Katie had something sticking out of her mouth. I thought, oh great... she has a bird. Katie has a fascination with birds, but since she is a bird dog, we have learned to deal with it. Zorra is right with Katie, right next to her mouth. Zorra is NOT a bird dog and doesn't really pay too much attention. I told Katie to DROP IT.

Well, it wasn't a bird... ... ... and this is the part where I turn into a girl. Sure, I think I can handle most situations, but I have kryptonite. It is called dead things...... I have a dead mouse, or anything like that I turn into a squeemish little girl who wants her daddy to fix it.

It was a dead rabbit. I guess the girls went a-hunting and the rabbit didn't get away. And, now, there was a dead rabbit on my kitchen floor. Katie and Zorra are saying Let me have it.. let me have it.. let me have it..... Sam is saying from another room, I wanna see, I wanna see....

All I can think of is this: GROSS. There's a F#$#$# dead rabbit on the kitchen floor! Now, my friend Sharon would have picked that dead rabbit up, skinned it, and given it to the dogs for breakfast. I am not a he-woman. Although I live in the country, I have never skinned anything in my life, and I didn't plan on starting last night. I had to buck up and be an adult. There was no one else to do this nasty deed.

So, with orders to go to another room, Katie and Zorra are anticipating a very special treat. I pick up the rabbit and dispose of it outside and go let Sam out to do his business. He is sniffing around like crazy, then Katie and Zorra break free and are sniffing around. Katie was very upset that I took her prize and was still searching for it this morning.

When they went out this morning, I only can assume where the scene of the crime was, since all 3 went to the same place. YUCK. RIP rabbit. Katie has her own version of the story on her blog.

ABC Wednesday - O

2009-04-29T00:00:00.000-04:00

Today's submission for the letter O.

Here is Zorra, my beagle mix, sitting next to ORANGE washtubs set to look like a pumpkin. (Maybe I should have held this for next week?)

Orange pumpkins from last fall.

Two Fer Tuesday

2009-04-28T13:56:00.004-04:00

Hi to anyone who is still around to read my posts. :) If not, no worries to me. We'll just all start over. :)

I have been unindated by work and dogs. I had to hire people, train people, and am now training myself for a new job, traveling to and from India, etc., so time has been limited.

We have started going back down to Metamora on the weekends to open up my parents' store for the year. I recently walked around with Sam and camera. I thought a good post would be to compare a few things that I took in the winter as compared to now.. full spring.

The old Coke bottles made it through the winter. Here is a photo from last weekend.

And, here they are on a MUCH colder day.

Antique and Uncle Junque's store decorated in full Christmas mode.

And, here they are on a nice, warm, spring day.

The profile of the old Christian church steeple against blue skies.

And, against the gray skies of Indiana in the winter.

Two Fer Tuesday

2009-04-28T09:07:00.002-04:00

Post will come later today. :(

True Colours Thursday

2009-04-16T18:21:00.004-04:00

Sam makes an appearance with his lime green moon. He is happy because he managed to steal it from his sisters. Bad boy!

Two Fer Tuesday

2009-04-13T22:12:00.004-04:00

Wow, I have been so busy that I forgot to post last week. Sorry. :( My schedule should be slowing down soon, and I will be able to spend more time on hobbies like blogging.

More about India.....

Our new friends took us to Karla Caves, which are about an hour away, or 40 km, from Pune.

The caves of Karla date back to the 3rd and 2nd century BC and are known for their Chaitya Hall, intricate sculptures and pillars with ingenious architecture.

A number of sculptures that are cut out of rock, are based on numerous animals as well as different forms of human life, adorn the caves of Karla.

To look at all these carvings, one can only imagine how many manhours were spent carving. Our friends indicated that the caves had been started by the Chinese.

These are all carved out of stone, and were spectacular to see. I cannot even describe how much in awe I was to stand up and look at these sculptures. It was like stepping into an art history book; it was so surreal.

One of the pillars of Karla Caves, with four lions at the top, now forms the national emblem of India. A number of sculptures cut out of rock, based on numerous animals as well as different forms of human life, adorn the caves of Karla.

Two fer Tuesday

2009-03-31T00:02:00.002-04:00

Traveling to India was my first trip overseas to another country. To be immersed in a culture so different from my own was both educational and eye opening. I truly enjoyed my visit to India and will enjoy a return trip to see my new friends and learn more about India.

My hotel room overlooked a busy street. Traffic was fairly heavy from early in the morning and then, trailing off around 11 PM. The first thing I was mesmerized by were the large trucks which were decorated with garlands, small statues, etc. They sped down along the street daring anyone to play a game of chicken with them.

After this truck sped by, I saw an elderly woman sweeping the street. She continued as cars, rickshaws, trucks, scooters, motorcycles, bikes, and pedestrians walked by her.

As you can see, her section of the street was very tidy. I am assuming that she was tidying up her area and roadside stand (noted by the blue tarp in the lower right of the photograph).

The stand sold some sort of foodstuffs, but I am not sure exactly what it was. The stand was open from early in the morning until well after dark. Every morning, this lady was outside sweeping the street in front of her stand.

Two fer Tuesday is easy. You just have to post about a pair of photos that have a theme, like Autumn, cars, a trip. The theme can be of your choosing. The theme may be direct or implied. You must explain how they are related, if implied. You must post at least 2. If you must post more than 2, they must be in pairs.

Monochrome Monday and Odd Shot Monday

2009-03-30T20:51:00.003-04:00

Monochrome Monday

This was taken at Karla Caves in India. It was a door way into a temple.

Odd Shot Monday

Also taken at Karla Caves. I found it odd, yet humorous that a goat would eat the offering.....

Shaniwarwada

2009-03-25T22:11:00.004-04:00

Shaniwarwada was the stately mansion originally built as the residence of the Peshwas. The foundation of the mansion was laid by Bajirao 1 in the year 1730 AD and construction was completed in 1732 AD at a cost of Rs. 16,120. Several additions were made to the palace like fortification walls with bastions, gates and court halls by his successors.

What was once a seven storied structure was gutted by a fire in the palace. Only the remains can be seen now like the fortification walls with five gateways and nine bastions that enclosed the entire palace. The principal gate is called Dilli Darwaja (Delhi Gate); the other gates are called Mastani or Alibahadur Darwaja, Khidki Darwaja, Ganesh Darwaja and Narayan Darwaja.

The walls in the palace were painted with scenes from Ramayana and Mahabharata. A sixteen petal lotus-shaped fountain stands reminiscent of the exquisite work of those times. The historical structure which stands as an important chapter in the history of the Maratha empire, is now maintained by the Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC). Around 1,000 people used to stay in the palace.

Twofer Tuesday

2009-03-24T01:49:00.004-04:00

Any readers of my blog know I love to take photos of sunsets. I was delighted to have the chance to get out of Pune and actually see an Indian sunset.

Our Indian friends took us to Karla Caves, which I will elaborate in a later post. On the way back to Pune, we stopped by shrine dedicated to Ganesha — the elephant-deity riding a mouse and took some photos of the sunset.

As you can see, it is very beautiful. The road in the distance connects Pune to Mumbai (Bombay). There was also a railway in the distance, which makes daily treks to and from Pune.

The atmosphere of the temple, combined with the beauty of the sunset, made it a truly spiritual moment.

Shopping in Pune

2009-03-22T04:25:00.003-04:00

Kirian, the delivery manager, on our team took his mother, Boy Genius, and me shopping yesterday. Kirian wanted to make sure that we were immersed in authentic India. The street where the shopping occurs mostly is Laxmi Road. Laxmi means wealth, which is a pretty decent name for this shopping district.

You can get just about anything on this street. The stores are jewelry stores, clothing, etc. Kiran's mom took us to several jewelry stores to find just the right thing for Boy Genius' girlfriend. Talk about a shopping master.....

She took us to several stores and got us deals at every store. One thing learned... do NOT go up against Kirian's mom when she is haggling.

the density of the population on this and area is amazing. The streets are fairly narrow, and as Boy Genius and I have learned, drivers in India are NUTS. At stop lights, cars and larger vehicles stop, then "two wheelers," rickshaws, and smaller calls jocky for position. As soon as the light turns green, the two wheelers take off, followed by rickshaws, cars from smaller to large, and then buses. Then,, it is still a free-for-all all the way up the road, cars, two wheelers, and rickshaws going as tast as they possibly can until the next stoplight where the whole process starts again.

Pune is filled with shrine in even the oddest places, including this small shrine along the street.

The small vehicle on the right of the photo is a motorized rickshaw. These vehicles are similiar to 3 wheeled motorcycles. They look more dangerous than they actually are. Kirian and Boy Genius put Kirian's mom and me in one and we raced around a few blocks in the rickshaw. The ride pretty much is reminiscent of the Scramble ride at an amusement park. Not too bad, in my opinion. The rickshaw driver signals using his hands and goes as fast as he possibly can to the stop, and scours the streets for his next fare. There are thousands of these vehicles on the streets of Pune. They transport kids to school, workers to their jobs, consumers to stores. They are the most common mode of transportation for those who can affort a private driver.

You can see motorcycles parked by the hundreds together. Since so many look alike, I often wonder how the driver knows which one is his?

Besides the vendors, there are many streetside vendors selling various products. Watermelons, grapes, and other fruits are the most common sold. (At least as far as I can tell).

So far...

2009-03-19T23:28:00.005-04:00

So far, I find the Indian people I have met very hospitable and friendly. They certainly have made this trip more tolerable.

Below is a photo of only part of my new Indian friends (l to r) Pushpan, Rajiya, Hiral, Rekha, and Rekha's son.

They have been very supportive of Boy Genius' and mine education on the Indian Culture and supply good humor in taking jabs at us when our 2 languages don't mesh. For example, here in India they say mob-ILE phone, and in the US we say mob-ILL phones. It cause a good round of laughter when Rekha didn't understand what Boy Genius was trying to say.

This week, they have decided to introduce us to all sorts of Indian sweets, and suggest we take some home. I like most of them, but one was not to my liking.

So, this weekend we are going to an engagement party and to a park a few hours from Pune. I am looking forward to having a nice time.

On Tuesday, Boy Genius and I were invited to a cocktail party at the hotel. They were absolutely adament that we attend and I assured Sweet desk clerk that Boy Genius and I would be there. Sweet Desk Clerk again asked me Tuesday morning if we were going to attend the party later that evening. Again, I assured her that we were leaving work just a little early and would be there, no problem.

We arrived at the bar just a few minutes after 7 and Bartender, who we have had many conversations with over the past few days, escorted us to a table. Then, he brought over appetizers and drinks. I told Boy Genius that we must be the only ones to show up. After about ten minutes, the manager of the hotel came and sat with us. We actually were the cocktail party. Shortly after that, a man staying at the hotel came to sit with us. He was from New Delhi, and used to work for Delphi automotive. He had even been to Indiana.

We had quite the enjoyable visit with these two, and it really broke up the monotony of the hotel room.

Of course, I do miss my office mates in the US..... (This was taken immediately after they ALL got in trouble for something LOL).

View from the 3rd floor

2009-03-17T22:33:00.003-04:00

For the next week, I am staying on the 3rd floor of the hotel (which is actually the 4th floor, but who is really counting).

I found myself becoming intrigued with the geometry of the buildings outside my window.

The colors of the buildings are much lighter than those we have in the US.

The rectangles, cones, etc all set against each other makes very interesting photos with the shadows.

At breakfast yesterday, we heards some birds flitting around on the awning above our heads. A few seconds later, a snakeskin slid from the awning and dropped to the floor about 6 feet from me. We all sort of looked dumbfounded at it, and wondered if the snake was up above.

The waiter looked up and told me there wasn't anything there. At least nothing fell on my head until I left shortly after that.

Tonight, they are having a reception at the hotel and we have been invited. It gets so dark here so early, it will be nice to have something to do that doesn't require taking your life in your hands walking down the crazy streets of Pune.

Twofer Tuesday

2009-03-16T20:25:00.005-04:00

Last Saturday, the part of the team that has been put into place for our company took us to an Indian Cultural park. It was quite fun.

Although I have had a henna tattoo before, it was nice to actually get one in India. This one wasn't cured, so it will only last a few days. The woman did all this design in probably less than 3 minutes.

Music was everywhere and this man was beating drums at the playground. He had a partner that wore a horse costume around and danced with the kids, or came and made fun of the adults. (The costume is laying on the ground in the photo). He snuck up on me and whinnied in my ear and about scared me to death. LOL.

I am so enthralled by the cultural park that I forgot to take more photos, but this little girl amazed me with her dancing. I believe she was representing the northern region of India.

She and her family were very entertaining. It was hard to believe all that music came from 3 people (her mother is behind her, and she sang).

They did about 2 songs before relinquishing the stage to bamboo dancers.

However, she was my favorite.

Also, don't let the sad eyes sway you. Although I did not get any photos of her smiling or laughing, she had very expressive eyes and a very expressive face.

India

2009-03-14T21:17:00.004-04:00

And, my absence from blogging is due to traveling halfway around the world to Pune, India. I am surfering from jet lag and a very confused internal clock, but I am starting to acclimate to the correct time.

I left Indiana on Tuesday and stayed the night in Hartford, Ct., to pick up my co-worker and get last minute instructions.

I had a few hours to kill after my internet connection was over in Hartford, and I set out on a little walk around my hotel. I found a few little brick covered streets around the original part of the city.

We left for JFK around 5 PM on Tuesday. The driver for the car service was amazed how well the trip went since there was "little" traffic, and we did not get into any grid lock. Of course, this "little" traffic would be heavy traffic in Indy, so I was glad for that.

We boarded the plane and I was dismayed that we were assigned 2 out of 3 seats, and I was to sit in the middle seat. But, fortunately for me, the plane was far from full and we could move. So, Boy Genius and I went back further in the plane and took up 3 seats in the middle row. Ahead was 14 hours of a plane ride that was going to be painful no matter how you viewed it.

Some people were lucky enough to go right to sleep. I tried watching tv, fiddled with my ipod, fiddled with my computer, and was mentally clicking off the hours. Boy Genius was trying to find where we could plug our computers into the power cords so we didn't use up our batteries. He asked a minimum of 5 flight attendants before he got down on the floor of the plane and finally found them. At least I could so some more work, I thought.

Going through customs was a breeze until I was behind an Iranian man who was having difficulties getting past the Indian immigration.

We finally got to Mumbai (Bombay). Both of us tired and neither of us slept much on the plane, I scanned the crowd looking for the placard that was to have our names and take us to the hotel. For 45 minutes we walked around this small roped off area looking for the driver who never came. We ended up at another hotel, and I took the following photos from the room....

The traffic, I will explain in a separate post.... These drivers could put Nascar drivers to shame. All I can say at the moment is it is INSANE! Even the CRAZIEST driver in the US could not hold a candle to these guys.

Mumbai is hot and humid. Arriving at midnight was not a relief. We got off the plane and immediately we were soaked with sweat.

We are now in Pune and in a nice hotel and have had personalized tours from various colleagues from the company. More later.

True Colours Thursday

2009-03-05T21:04:00.002-05:00

As a note, I am getting ready for a trip overseas to India. I am getting excited about going, and hopefully, will have time to blog and post photos. So, if I am even more late with my posts, everyone understands...... :)

Here is a nice, golden sky....

The yellow of the flower petal...

And, the yellow of autumn leaves....

Yellow is always so beautiful in nature.

Two Fer Tuesday

2009-03-03T09:05:00.004-05:00

Today's Two-fer is about MY feet. My feet in Maui.

At some point, I thought it was funny to take photos of my feet while on vacation.

Here are my feet on top of the volcano Kalikula. It was a bit chilly up there, but the volcanic rock and soaked up the sun and make my tootsies quite warm when we sat down.

Here they are on Polo Beach. I kept my surf shoes on most of the time because I didn't want sunburned feet! So, even now, my feet are totally white and there is a slight color change starting at my ankles from last summer's tan.

Here they are on the lawn at the condo. I was in bad need of a pedicure!

Here we are at a beach on the other side of the island. You can see the sand change. We had been out wading in the ocean and we were covered with sand!

Two Fer Tuesday is easy. You just need a pair of photos that are somehow related. Post as many as you wish, but they must be in pairs!

Two Fer Tuesday

2009-02-24T09:44:00.004-05:00

Today's post is about boats on the water. Everything is still frozen here, so I am thinking of warm weather.....

Such a short post today. I am bombarded by work in planning a trip overseas and hiring a new employee.

True Colours Thursday

2009-02-19T00:43:00.003-05:00

All the photos in today's meme are from "blue" Hawaii......

The above were quite vivid in real life.

Blue from the Lavender Farm, which I wrote about often. I can still hear the buzzing of the bees and the smell of the lavender.

Nothing is as blue as the Pacific Ocean!

Mr. Peacock has all sorts of blue hues. I could get him to follow me around, but could not get him to show off his feathers.

Go visit Blue for other players.

ABC Wednesday E is for...

2009-02-18T08:25:00.002-05:00

Entourage. I often take my entourage with me everywhere.....

(l to r - Sam, Katie, Zorra)

Life

2009-02-17T17:40:00.006-05:00

You know how when you get up in the morning and you KNOW it is going to be a bad day? I think I felt it long before I "officially" got up out of bed this morning. For the past few nights, I have tossed and turned and tossed and turned.

I am going to go on a business trip to India within the next month. Not only am I going overseas for the first time, I am going on the company's dime. Not a bad lot, as they say. In one way I am looking forward to absorbing a new culture, taking photos, and gnerally expanding my thoughts and horizons. I've told a few friends I will come back knowing transcendental meditation and playing the sitar like the Beatles (who are still one of my favorite groups).

Mostly, I am concerned about the plane trip over. When I do fall asleep, I normally dream I am in India or on the plane. The plane is the problem.... The plane... the plane...

By some accounts, it will be a 14 hour plane ride from Newark to Mumbai, India. I barely made it the 8 hour flight from Maui to Dallas last August, so adding six more hours on to the trip has my heart racing and breath shallow.

So, back to why today was a bad day. One of the workers that reports directly to me resigned today with a bare minimum of a two weeks notice, leaving a week before my scheduled trip to India. So, now, I will probably (when I am fortunate enough to sleep within the next month), I will be dreaming of Tattoo screaming THE PLANE, THE PLANE, while I continually type on my laptop, getting a henna tattoo, talking web geek talk, pulling out my hair, all the while my boss asks me to look up some telephone number (his location.. US my location.. India.)

The timing of her departure leaves me wondering on many levels. Some, I'll gradually learn the answers to those levels, but other levels... the jury will remain out for quite some time.

Twofer Tuesday

2009-02-16T22:31:00.004-05:00

The following photos were from a couple of weeks ago when we had our last snowfall. February is usually the worst of the winter months here in Indiana. We went from a foot of snow on the ground to warm, spring like weather.

The snow falling certainly made it very pretty and peaceful. These two photos were taken outside the front of my house. As you can see, the flakes were quite large on this day.

I love taking photos of icicles. My parent gave me the windchime a few years ago for Christmas, and like the way the icicles also play into the long thin tubes.

Two fer Tuesday is easy. You just have to post about a pair of photos that have a theme, like Autumn, cars, a trip. The theme can be of your choosing. The theme may be direct or implied. You must explain how they are related, if implied. You must post at least 2. If you must post more than 2, they must be in pairs.

Monochrome Monday and Odd Shot Monday

2009-02-16T12:23:00.004-05:00

I recently went to Indianapolis to meet a friend for dinner. I always love neon signs, and thought this one was very funny and could be my odd shot for the week.

Old tractors should always be photographed in B&W. Here is an old Farm-all tractor I spotted in a barn in Metamora.

Blossom Dearie

2009-02-15T11:47:00.004-05:00

I am sure not many people (at least where I reside) have heard of Blossom Dearie. I was only introduced to her music myself about 3 years ago by my boss, a fellow music lover.

She passed away last weekend and silencing a truly unique song style and voice. In my opinion, she epitomized the cook, New York hipster.

I only have one of her albums at the moment, but predict I will have more before too much longer.

If you are interested, here is a link to a brief synopsis of her life.

Abe Lincoln's 200th birthday

2009-02-12T10:55:00.004-05:00

I just realized that today is Abraham Lincoln's 200th birthday. When I was a kid, I was absolutely fascinated by Abraham Lincoln. I think it mostly stemmed from the fact that he lived part of his life in Indiana.

Our mother was a 4th grade teacher and she enjoyed history. Also, for 4th grade Hoosiers, history class is "Indiana History." Since this was our mom's favorite subject, we traveled to many of the landmarks in Indiana, Kentucky, Illinois, and Ohio.

We often went to visit places that involved Abraham Lincoln's life. I remember I would get a thrill when I saw we were traveling down the Lincoln Heritage Trail, which is an auto route marked by signs with the Lincoln head penny pictured. I was always a little sad when I saw the ROUTE ENDS sign.

One of my prized possessions for a long time was an Abraham Lincoln comic book. I remember that it was really big for a comic book. much larger than my usual Archie and Veronica comics that I spent 25 cents on. The colors of the book were vivid and I would sit for hours in the car reading it over and over again.

The comic traced his entire life through his birth in Kentucky, his teenage years in Indiana, on to Illinois, and eventually Washington D. C. My imagination went wild thinking of how he did arithmetic on a shovel, read by the flames of the fireplace and taught himself from borrowed books.

I often imagined Abe Lincoln splitting railing for fencing, working as a clerk, and walking for miles to return money to a customer he overcharged. I always thought he had to be and was of the utmost character.

Many scholars consider him the best president in our country's history because he brought the country back together after the Civil War. Ironcially, he wasn't very well liked by his constituents during his presidential terms. I doubt if they would have ever imagined that he would become one of the country's most beloved presidents.

Sadly, the comic book eventually fell apart from being a well worn, read, and loved item. I loved that comic book and between it and my mom aided in my now love of US history, but especially Indiana and Abraham Lincoln.

By the way, my dogs found out that Abe Lincoln also owned a pooch, Fido.

True Colours Thursday

2009-02-11T23:37:00.004-05:00

Today's color is Silver. I had to scavenge for photos, since I could not even think of one silver photo I had ever snapped. LOL

Here is a photo of the plane that took us over to Maui. I will be traveling a lot on planes in the next month or so, so I will get used to silver birds.

The plant pictured below had the word silver in its name, and I will have to try to look through my Hawaii plant book to match it up. This photo was taken at the lavender farm, and the guide also had on silver jewelry!

Here are the grain bins that are across the road from my house. They used to belong to my dad when he was a farmer, but he recently sold the land to my cousin to help him start big farming.

For other participants go to see Poopsie.

Twofer Tuesday

2009-02-09T22:29:00.005-05:00

I think I have stated before that I love to wander around cemeteries. We have found some interesting monuments, tombstones in our travels.

Of course, the marker below is not a gravestone. This is located not far from my house. The marker says it all. The road divides around the grave to this day. When I was a kid, I always thought it was very mystical.

A child's grave....

The following marker is from a Calvary solider from the 3rd regiment . Indiana had a calvary during the Civil War in the 1860's. My family had not yet moved to this part of Indiana during the Civil War. They were still in the south (TN), at that time.

The more grandiose the memorial, the more money the mourners spend toward the monument.

Tribute to the Civil War soldiers from Rush County, Indiana.

This is my favorite memorial so far. I love the face on this angel/woman.

Two fer Tuesday is easy. You just have to post about a pair of photos that have a theme, like Autumn, cars, a trip. The theme can be of your choosing. The theme may be direct or implied. You must explain how they are related, if implied. You must post at least 2. If you must post more than 2, they must be in pairs.

Odd Shot Monday and Monochrome Monday

2009-02-09T12:25:00.002-05:00

Late as usual!

The following photo is from Cadillac Ranch near Amarillo, TX.

I have visited the site 3 times in the past few years on my way to Lubbock. The cars get graffitied often, so it is always changing.

We received a significant amount of snowfall last week, and I went out to snap some photos while the snow was falling. This is a pine tree near my house.

Twofer Tuesday

2009-02-03T08:34:00.004-05:00

Today, I am comparing mountains in Twofer Tuesday.

Below is a shot I took on one of my recent trips to the Smokey Mountains near Gatlinburg, TN. I like to stay in this cabin where dogs are allowed, so there's no problem with a dog friendly vacation. I took this one morning fairly early in the morning.

This photo was taken from Halekala, the volcano that formed Maui. We are looking over the dome of the volcano, and the clouds are rolling in right before sunset.

Two fer Tuesday is easy. You just have to post about a pair of photos that have a theme, like Autumn, cars, a trip. The theme can be of your choosing. The theme may be direct or implied. You must explain how they are related, if implied. You must post at least 2. If you must post more than 2, they must be in pairs.

Monochrome Monday

2009-02-02T08:42:00.003-05:00

Here is my addition to Monochrome Monday.

A stack of old windows made a nice b&w photo for today.

To showcase other b&w photos, please go here.

Super Bowl Ad

2009-02-01T22:29:00.002-05:00

If I wasn't so morally opposed to Dennys.... I would be having breakfast there on Tuesday.

Cool Site

2009-01-30T10:54:00.003-05:00

Just a quick note for bloggers out there..... Here is a cool site. Give it a view.

I adopted a word, sospital. It means, preserving from danger. "Superman often played it cute: The "S?" It stands for sospital.

And, you get a certificate of adoption.

Best of all, you expand your vocabulary for free.

2009-01-29T18:16:00.001-05:00

becoming increasingly frustrated.

True Colours - Pink

2009-01-29T09:46:00.003-05:00

I actually had my post ready for today.... but forgot to POST! oops! Here are my contributions for today's post.

Various shades of pink in the Pacific Ocean at sunset.

Pink Impatiens from last summer.

Pink flowers from Maui....

The name escapes me at the moment for this flower, but it's pink! :)

For other pink participants go to see Poopsie.

Twofer Tuesday

2009-01-27T09:12:00.002-05:00

Hello. Again, I am late. :( Hopefully, soon I will learn how to allocate time better for my hobbies.
This week I have been inundated with work and a sick pooch.

Poor Katie seems to have contracted an infection and as a result her eyes were horribly red and irritated. I didn't take any photos of it because it was just too sad.

After a couple visits to the veterinarian, she is almost back to normal. Her eyes are mostly back to white and she is back to bossing everyone around.

Two Fer Tuesday

2009-01-19T20:43:00.004-05:00

I've returned from my trip to very, very cold Conneticut, but am still behind in work and life.

Today, I am posting a few photos from last fall taken in Nashville, Indiana.

These photos are all from one store's display of lawn ornaments.

I loved the different colors of the glass globes, along with the color of the flowers in the garden.

These glazing balls made a colorful display along the front of the shop.

This lantern and ornament were both handmade in the store.

I'll get to everyone's postings within the next day or two. I am so far behind in everyones' posts!

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