How Many Friends Can You Have?

People have soooo many FRIENDS these days!

And the number of FRIENDS we have grows larger every day...

OR DOES IT?

The average Facebook user has 130 FRIENDS.





A leading anthropologist, Professor Robin Dunbar claims
the maximum number of FRIENDS a person can have
at one time is 150.  He says our brains can't keep track
of more FRIENDS than that.

Aristotle had much to say about FRIENDS.

 "The desire for FRIENDship comes quickly.
              FRIENDship does not."

"A FRIEND to all is a FRIEND to none."

Aristotle also said there are 3 kinds of FRIENDships:
         FRIENDships based on usefulness,
         FRIENDships based on pleasure,
   and genuine FRIENDships.

The first two last only as long as the person is useful
         or gives us pleasure.
Genuine FRIENDS are those who sit with one another
         across the course of their lives.

FRIENDships take a lot of time. 
I don't think it's possible to be a good FRIEND to more than 5 people at one time.
That's just me.
I can be "FRIENDly" with lot of people though.

What do you think?

How many FRIENDS can YOU have?

Where Has the Time Gone?

It's the first day of school today for Annie. 

It's also the first day she drove to school - by herself!

My baby got her driver's license yesterday.

After posing for our yearly "first day of school" pictures....

She climbed into the driver's seat of Papa's truck, gave us a wave,

  
and drove away!

It wasn't too long ago that she was the passenger.

It wasn't too long ago that they ALL waited for the bus.

It doesn't SEEM like that long ago...

 

 

As the days, months, and years slip by so fast, how can these moments seem like just yesterday?

The human mind is like a time machine.

It can take us WHENever we want to go.

Isn't that nice?

See How They Grow

Over the past week, I have been working on a very important project. 

My family has been going on vacation to Lake George every summer for the past 17 years.

The very first year we went, 1995, we went for a ride on the Minnehaha, a paddlewheel steamboat that gives one hours cruises on the lake.  Before you board the boat, each group poses for a picture.  After the cruise is done, the pictures are available for purchase.

We bought that first picture back in 1995, and that started a tradition that has yet to be broken.  Even after the kids no longer had any interest in riding the Minnehaha, we went back JUST to have our picture taken. 

Each year I would come home from vacation, frame the picture, and hang it on the wall in our living room.  When I painted the living room last week, I took all of the pictures down and noticed how discolored many of them were.  We only have that one copy of each picture and it made me sad to see them that way.

My project this week - photo restoration.

Here is a before and after.

 

I finished all of the pictures!

Here they are in order.  Watch them grow!  (click on each one to see it larger if you want)

And finally, this is the picture taken this summer.  I didn't really want to get it taken because Adam wasn't with us on vacation this year, but Adam insisted that we should not break the tradition! 

We may not have had Adam, but Jojo joined our family this year!

Logo Mojo

I am currently in the process of setting up a
small photography business.   One of the things
that has been slowing me down has been my
search for a logo.

Keeping in mind that a logo would be around
long term for the life of my business, I felt it
was worth much consideration (kind of like
choosing a husband).

It had to be something I wouldn't get tired of.
It had to be something simple.
It had to be something colorful because I LOVE COLOR!
It had to be easy to read.
It had to be easily converted to a watermark.

After finding the design that I liked, it was another
whole issue to find a font(s) that I liked.

There are many thousands of fonts out there!
I must have looked at most of them!

So.........................................................

I HAVE A LOGO!

I have actually had it for a few weeks now, but I
wanted to try it on and wear it for a while to make
sure it feels right.  And it does.

The font for my name has a unique flair to it, with sweeping tails on a few of the letters.  I also like the shape of the letters, somewhat looking like calligraphy.   It contrasts nicely with the very simple round font of "Photography".

 The image in back of my name makes me think of a flower, or possibly a dandelion.  Since I love to garden and I love flowers, this felt right.

 At first I thought I had to choose one color for the background, but then I asked myself why?  Why not keep the graphics the same but vary the color of the background?  So I plan to mix it up instead of keeping it the same. 

And it even looks nice as a watermark...

 Now that I have a logo,  I can make a website and business cards.

I am deciding what items I would like to offer to my customers, and getting samples of each one to show what it will look like.

I am determining what I will charge for my services.

There are so many little things that must be considered.

It will all come together soon. 

I'll keep you posted.

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?????