My Ladder of Success

In my 52 years of life, I have done many things.
I have also NOT done many things.

For instance,
I have never dived head first off a diving board.
I never went on Space Mountain.
Or the Tower of Terror.
When I became a mother, I would not fly in an
    airplane unless we went somewhere as a family.

I would say that I am probably more fearful than
       the average person.
I always think about the "what ifs".
What if I fly somewhere without my kids and the
       plane crashes and my kids have no mother?
What if ???????????????????

It's funny - I consider myself an optimist.
The glass is always half full, not half empty.
But in reality, perhaps I don't really live my life that way.

Over the years, I have conquered many fears.
This usually happens when the benefit of facing
        the fear out-weighs the fear itself -
like flying alone to Florida for my Dad's 70th birthday,
    or flying to be with my parents when they were
    in the hospital.
Being a parent also forces you to do things that you
    might have previously feared because of your love
    for your children.

TODAY I CONQUERED ANOTHER FEAR.

Until today, I have never climbed higher than
   maybe 8 rungs on a ladder.

But I was painting my living room and my husband
   was away on a business trip.

Before he left he asked me how I was going to paint
    the high parts of the wall.  He reminded me that he
    has a bad knee and wouldn't be able to climb up
    and down the ladder.

I really wanted to finish the room.........

So I went up a little higher
    and trimmed more of the side walls.
Then I went up another rung.

And another.

And another.

Before I knew it I was at the top of the ladder!
I was painting the highest part of the wall!
I wasn't shaking!
My legs didn't feel like jelly!
I DID IT!
I was SO PROUD of myself!

My living room used to be gold. 
Now it is "Persimmon".


This is the time of year that many kids are headed off to college.  They are forced to deal with things by themselves, without their parents.  For some it will be harder than for others, but I'm sure they all have fears.

And they will be forced to face them.

And they will conquer them.

One rung at a time.

"If you are distressed by anything external, 

the pain is not due to the thing itself, but to

your estimate of it; and this you have the 

power to revoke at any moment."
                                        ~Marcus Aurelius

 
 

A Good Screw

Nothing makes me happier than a really good screw.

Have you ever been screwing when it's really difficult to keep it in the hole?  It keeps slipping out no matter how hard you try to keep it inside?

I am about to paint my living room and I am in the process of removing all of the switch plates, vent covers, and brackets for window shades.  Many of them are attached with those idiotic single slot screws that are basically worthless!

 

This is the absolute WORST.  It has a single slot and the slot is so shallow that the screwdriver slips out before you can even turn it one rotation!  SO FRUSTRATING!!!!

 This one is not as bad.  At least the slot is deeper!

It is my opinion that we should do away with ALL SINGLE SLOT SCREWS.

Like in all aspects of life,  when something better is invented, the old technology is phased out and before long you can't even buy it anymore.  

Who would ever use a cassette tape if a CD was available?

How about a black&white TV?

As far as I'm concerned, as soon as there were Phillip's head screws, the old single slots should have been retired!

This baby is George Clooney of all screws.

Or Robert Pattison, Bradley Cooper, Clive Owen, Ryan Reynolds, Chase Crawford, Gerard Butler......

This is a good, solid screw.  Nothing will ever slip out of this screw.

 So if they stopped making single slot screws, what would we do with all of our flat head screwdrivers?

All of you who manufacture screwdrivers, don't fear.  

You can always market them for many other uses, 

including:

To stir paint. 

To pry things open.  

To get things out of the crevices in your hardwood floor.

To get the mud out of the bottom of your shoes.

You can also use it as an ice pick.

It can also be used as a weapon.

What other things do YOU use flat headed screwdrivers for?????

See What the Cat Dragged In

My cats have brought many little creatures into the house over the years.  We have a cat door from the deck to a screened-in porch and we sometimes leave the sliding glass door open from the porch to the house.

Mice, moles, and even chipmunks have been found running around INSIDE the house.

I can usually tell that something is awry when I hear the dogs' nails scraping on the floor as they run at high speed trying to catch whatever critter has been deposited in the house.

ON MONDAY MORNING THERE WAS NO SUCH WARNING.

And I was definitely not prepared.

We had just gotten back from vacation and I had loads of laundry to do.
So I went down the basement stairs.

It was a nice day outside, so I was very surprised to see Momo and Tigger laying in the dark at the bottom of the basement stairs.  I talked to them in a high, sing-songy voice, "What are you guys doing inside?  It's a nice day!  You should be outside!"

THEN I PROCEEDED TO THE LAUNDRY ROOM.

IT WAS DARK,  SO I REACHED AROUND THE CORNER AND FLIPPED ON THE LIGHT SWITCH.

Both cats had followed me into the laundry room.  I'm sure they wanted to see my reaction up close!

I SAW RED.  Lots of red.  Too much red.

I screamed.  I screamed so loud that I woke up the girls two stories above me.

My laundry room looked like a crime scene.

I will spare you the gory details (I blurred the bad parts of the pictures - I realize some of you might be eating your breakfast as you read this!)

So here it is................................

A very large rabbit!

 This is a very content Tigger watching over his 2nd breakfast of the day!

 There were little tufts of rabbit fur all over the floor, along with the red stuff.   There was even fur stuck on the front of my dryer.

 Oh, and here is one of the missing body parts!




 I was very happy that my husband had taken Monday off from work.  We put it in a ziploc bag and into the garbage.

We are wondering just how this cat managed to bring
a 3 or 4 lb. rabbit into the house and down the stairs
to the laundry room.

Did the two cats work together.

Did they wait until the coast was clear, or were we
in the kitchen eating our breakfast and just didn't notice?

Was the rabbit alive hopping around the house for a while
like all the other creatures that came before it?

Only one person can answer these questions.

And he's not talking.

Shining, Gleaming, Steaming Flaxen Waxen

Give me a head with hair, long beautiful hair, shining gleaming steaming flaxen waxen. Give me it down to there, hair, shoulder length or longer, here, baby, there, mamma, everywhere, daddy daddy hair! Flow it, show it, long as God can grow it, my hair! 

Annie has had long hair for just about as long as I can remember. 

Over the past few years, it has been like pulling teeth for her to agree to let me trim an inch off the bottom.  She loves it really long so she can wear it in a ponytail, braid, french braid, messy bun or just plain down straight.

Over the past few months, however, she has voiced a desire to maybe get her hair cut - not just trimmed.  It seems like as soon as she says it, she changes her mind and decides against it.

Last night, we talked about it again.  When she woke up this morning, I asked her if she wanted me to make an appointment for her to get it cut.  She said YES.

We went to Studio549, where she consulted with Linda Pelletier.  Linda has been cutting our family's hair for many years.  They came up with a plan.

Annie was a little apprehensive before she made the first cut.

In a matter of minutes, her long hair was gone.

Linda showed her how to blow dry her new style...

And voila!

So beautiful!

Annie was verrrrry happy with her new look.

 Sooo pretty!

The last time her hair was this short, she looked like this...........

.......but now my little girl is so grown up!

A Horse of Many Colors

 I took a LOT of pictures when I was in Alaska and I have been happily working on them since I got home, getting them just the way I want them.   My niece, Emily, really wanted a picture of her kissing  her horse, Tucker.  I have the picture, which I love, but it seems to call out to me that it needs a different feel to it.  So I have been experimenting with different color effects and I don't know which one I like the most...... What do you think?


 (Click on each photo to make it larger and it will be easier to view the full effect.)

Original photo without any effect

 

Effect: Anime  (has a little more contrast and a slight glow)

        
Effect: Blue Dawn  (colors not so bright)

 Effect: Fade to Black and White

 Effect: Halftone (it has a little grain to it)

 Effect: Antique

Effect: Diffuse Glow

My Cheatin' Heart

I left home last week and spent 5 days at my sister's home.

My husband stayed at home.
So did my 2 dogs and 3 cats.

I have to admit something.  I cheated!

Vinny was so handsome!
So was Gus.
Mr. Kits was a bit old, but he still had needs.
Junior reminded me of someone back at home.
Benz was a bit large for my taste, but we had a little bit of alone time.

So many men to pick from and so few days to get to know them!

I couldn't resist taking their pictures almost every chance I got!
Sorry Benz, I didn't get one of you!


This is Vinny, the youngest and most enthusiastic of the group...

And this is Gus...

And Mr. Kits...  (Notice that he has a slightly long eye tooth that is very attractive!)

 

And this is Junior...

Oh, and on the last day of my visit,  another furry creature was seeking me out...

My Sister, My Self

I just got back from Alaska.  I was visiting my sister.

My sister is pretty special.

I can't think of a single person in this world who knows me better than my sister.

She knows the child that I was, the teen-age that I came to be, and the adult that I am.

She is your mirror, shining back at you with a world of possibilities. She is your witness, who sees you at your worst and best, and loves you anyway. She is your partner in crime, your midnight companion, someone who knows when you are smiling, even in the dark. She is your teacher, your defense attorney, your personal press agent, even your shrink.
-- Barbara Alpert

My memory is not the greatest these days, but I honestly can't think of a time when we have fought with each other.

When we disagree, I have to think about it really hard because it's like disagreeing with myself.  We are so much alike that it's impossible not to give great consideration to her point of view.

Yet we are very different too.  But differences that might drive me crazy in someone else don't seem to bother me in my sister.

A sister can be seen as someone who is both ourselves and very much not ourselves - a special kind of double.
-- Toni Morrison

My sister lives far away from me, but that doesn't matter.  She is only a phone call away.

I couldn't imagine what it would be like to go through the ups and downs of life without her.


“There can be no situation in life in which the conversation of my dear sister will not administer some comfort to me.”
 --Mary Worley Montagu


Oh, I just remembered something.
We did have a fight one time.
I have a scar above my eye to prove it.
Don't get Lori mad when she has a baton in her hand!  :)

Spilled Paint and Grey Grout

I have been putting my daughter, Kerry, to work around the house this week for my sake and for hers. 

Today she was given the job of painting some trim in my bedroom that has been bothering me for about 3 years.  You see, I painted the rest of my bedroom 3 years ago, then got sidetracked by life and I left a few windows (I hate to paint windows!) and door trim undone.

So I went down to the basement and found the can of paint, stirred it up, put the cover back on,  and carried it up to my bedroom.











I carried it through the unfinished part of the basement,
through the laundry room,
through the finished carpeted basement,
up the carpeted basement stairs,
through the tiled foyer,
up the carpeted stairs,
and into my bedroom. 

I had brought along a big piece of cardboard to put the paint can on so nothing would get on my bedroom floor.  I set it down on the cardboard and proceeded to show my daughter what she needed to do.

It was at this point that I noticed there was paint on the bamboo floor and paint dripped on both of my feet.

I looked at the paint can and there was nothing on the outside of the can.  It was clean.

I picked it up and there was a pool of white paint collecting underneath the can. Oh S@!&%

The paint had been drizzling out the bottom of the can all the way from the basement!

I won't bore you with the details of the clean-up, with the exception of an amazing discovery!

The grout in the tile of our foyer really isn't dark brown!!!!!

After cleaning a patch of white paint off the grout with a toothbrush,  I discovered the grout is really grey!  Imagine that!

Since the floor was laid back in 1988,  I have washed it many times.  But I have never noticed the grout was changing color.

It made me wonder, what other things in my life have gone unnoticed?

And what will it take to make me notice them?

Thank you, Summertime.

"Your life is a reflection of how you sleep, and how you sleep is a reflection of your life."
-Dr. Rafael Pelayo

I feel good.  Real good.  

Why?

It's summertime.  

And in the summer,  I sleep until I wake up.

I sleep for 8 hours.

I have soooo much energy.

I have a greater sense of inner peace.

I feel so creative.

Thank you, summertime.