Body Parts, Photo Challenge

Body parts - at least no one specified whose body parts!

I have no body parts worth showing so I looked to some others in the house.  First, I got a pic of Ron's neck.  Poor guy is just FORCED to play my reindeer games whether he wants to or not!  He made a great model though!  See?  Here's his neck!

Nice neck, honey!

I know this is going to be a huge surprise to y'all but I am fascinated by everything about my cats.   I try to take a ton of pictures of them and here are a couple of my favorite shots.  This one is Benny's back paw as he was napping.

And not to be outdone, here is one of Penelope's front paws.

I love my cats!

This is the end of another month's edition of Photo Challenges.  Please make sure you go check out what Lisa, Georgia and Taia were up to this past month.  Thanks to all of them for playing this month!  And thanks to all of you for coming by to check up on us.

On the Ground, Photo Challenge

I was hoping that making a concerted effort to look down while I walked for this challenge would net me some free money.  No such luck.  I netted some free goose poop though.

This was all over Settler's Watch the other day as I was down there taking pictures.  I guess with that many geese milling around, there was bound to be goose poop.  Aren't y'all glad I took a picture of it??!!

Then, I had happened to see this little ditty.  Based on the size, I am really hoping that the little gosling that was living in here was done with this temporary home.  I don't want to think that someone stole that egg for a fast meal.  Even though I couldn't see where the nest was, I'm still hoping that this gosling is ok.

Lastly, this butterfly was just flitting all around me as I was taking pictures.  As soon as he landed, I pulled out my camera and I swear this little guy sat there and was posing for pictures.  As soon as I shut my camera off, he flitted back away.

So, while I didn't find any money, I think I got a couple of good shots for the challenge.  On the Ground.  You know the drill . . . make sure you check out Lisa, Georgia and Taia and see what was on their ground.  The links to their blogs is on the right.

Curves, Photo Challenge

I had a hard time with curves.  All I could think about was taking a picture of my hips and heaven knows, no one needs to see that yet!  So, I had a hard time coming up with a Plan B.  But luckily, I did find a few things.

The steeple from the closed Church on Elyria Avenue.  The steeple is definitely curved. 

I love this Church.  I've never been in it, but I sure do take a lot of pictures of the outside of it.

Then, on my way to where I was going, I stopped at Settler's Watch.  These wooden chains are curved.

Curved and not one picture of my hips! Go me!!

Make sure you check out Lisa, Georgia and Taia.  You know where their links are!

Wet, Photo Challenge

How lucky for me that it was raining today.  Today, when the challenge is "wet"!  Timing is everything.

This was as I was stopped behind a bus this morning watching it stop again and again and again on the same road picking up the little snowflakes for school.  For real, has Ohio never heard of a bus STOP instead of five stops in three blocks?  But, I digress.  Wet. I was sitting in the rain, behind a school bus.

Then, the other day I was taking pictures at Lakeview Park.  Lake Erie = wet.  Get it??

That's what I have today for wet.  Please go on over and check out Lisa, Georgia and Taia and see what they posted.  The links to their blogs are on the top right.

Playing With Light, Photo Challenge

When I thought of playing with light, I thought of shadows.  So I sort of played with shadows!  First, on my neighbor's house.  I like how the tree and the support for the awning were shown in shadow against their house.

The tree out front made a great shadow in the street.

While I replaced the leaded glass windows in my house this year, I kept the original front door.  In the morning, the sun coming through this door leaves prizes all over my living room!  This is just one of the gifts the sun left the other day.

And that is how I played with light.  Please make sure you go check out Lisa, Georgia and Taia and see how well they played with light.

Words, Photo Challenge

Words.  They can heal, they can hurt, they can make us laugh.  They can even make us scratch our heads.  Here are a few words that made me scratch my head.

This sign used to be at Route 57 and Detroit Road.  Roni Deutch had enough money to saturate the market with TV commercials, too bad she didn't spend a few bucks on a grammar checker.  "Opened" is past tense.  Open is present tense.  Although, now that I think of it, perhaps the sign is correct since this business is no longer in this building.  So, it WAS opened, but it is no longer open.  One of those things that bugged the heck out of me every time I drove by.

Here is another one.  How do I "prepay in advance"?  If I am prepaying, is that not IN advance of service?  How do I "prepay in advance"?  Does this mean that I need to go in today if I need gas tomorrow??  I think this is a little redundant at the Circle K on Broadway. 

And, this sign I saw in the plaza at Route 611 and Leavitt Road.  A big empty plaza.  Why is this sign telling me that I am not allowed to TRAP on these premises?  For real?  What would I be trapping here?  Rats???

I love words.  I know I'm not the best writer or speaker, but I think I know silly when I see it.   Here are three pictures of silly.

Please make sure you go check out our other challenge participants, Lisa, Georgia and Taia and see what words they are posting today.

Sky, Photo Challenge

A beautiful sunny sky.  Yes, this is from the archives.  Unfortunately, the weekend we had this weekend was NOT good for finding a nice, sunny sky!  Hopefully, we will see THIS kind of sky soon!

And, this was on Ron's birthday last week.  We had a beautiful night that night at Jackalope's.  This is right as the sun was going down.

The sky.  Make sure you check out Lisa, Georgia and Taia and see what they saw when they looked up into the sky.  The links are on the right.

Headshot, Photo Challenge

Headshots.  I went out and found some!

First, a couple of shots of geese.  This is not the same goose, they just look the same!  You ever try to get a goose to smile for a camera?  I came close with the first goose but I'm telling you, it's not easy.  The second one just couldn't be bothered with me.

The statue was a better subject to photograph.  He stood very still and held his pose until I was done snapping my pictures.

And. lastly is my Benny.  I caught just waking up from a nap on his cat tree.

There you go, headshots!  Please go over and see what Lisa, Georgia and Taia posted today as well.  The links are on the top right.

People, Photo Challenge

I am stuck in the past right now.  I am thinking of people in my life and how fast they have passed through my life.  Today's subject is people, so here are pictures of people that have been very important in my life.

This is a picture of my Mother's parents, my grandparents.  I was very close to my Grandmother but my Grandfather had passed away before I was born.  

This picture has always made me a little dizzy when I look at it.  My parents with FIVE kids.  The youngest in my mother's lap is my brother Jim, who is FIVE years older than I am!  How can this be a family without me?  I was not an idea in any one's head yet in this shot!  What the heck!!

What a nice looking family.

I was going through my pictures the other day and came across this picture.  My file says it's 1980 which I KNOW is not true.  This happened shortly after I moved to Ohio which would have been the end of 2001 so I am guessing this is the summer of 2002.  As you can see, my Dad is still standing on his own two legs before the amputation.  I miss him.

I have been looking through all of my pictures and I have none of my Mom. Me taking digital photos came after my Mom's time.  Too bad, I could use some good pictures of my Mom.

People.  Gotta love them.  Make sure you check out some of my other favorite people, Lisa, Georgia and Taia and see what people they found!

Casual, Photo Challenge

I had to dip into the archives and I got myself in quite a melancholy mood.  Too bad, as I was going for casual.

This is from April of 2009 and it's Ron and his son Vince.  Vince, who has just recently had his first son and made Ron a Grandpa!  But back in 2009, this is father and son, being casual and just chillin'!

Up to July of 2009.  No one is more casual than my brothers Jim and Phil!  They could write the book on casual!

And, then from tonight.  We went to dinner tonight and call me silly, but I say casual dining is at a restaurant where none of the silverware matches.  I felt like I was eating at home!  I have a bunch of mish-mash stuff so to me this is very casual.  The first setting was mine the second setting was Ron's!  Out of six pieces, I don't think ANY of them matched!

Make sure you check out Georgia, Lisa and Taia, the rest of the challenge participants.  The links to their blogs is on the right.

Squares, Photo Challenge

Some days you just need a little extra time to finish a challenge!

I took this challenge literally.  I was amazed how many rectangles I found, but very few squares!  I had to search high and low.  After so much searching here is what I have.

I noticed that the door to my gas cap on my dirty car was square!  Hey, that counts, right?

This is an object d'art or something like that.  This was in a public place and I sat there and snapped some pictures.

Actually I am cheating a little bit since the actual wall hanging was tilted so that it was actually a diamond!  But what is a diamond if not a square that can't stand straight!

Whatever.  Squares.

Last is the clock in my dining room.  Definitely a square.

Squares.  I know Georgia had a very unusual take on this challenge!  And Lisa went out there and found a gem in town that was full of squares.  Go check them out!

Small, Photo Challenge

I was so excited tonight when I left work and I checked out the nest I posted for yesterday's challenge and saw FOUR small birds!!  Go little bird family!!  Here are my four (I think) small birds!  If you click on the picture you can enlarge it.  I think I see four little beaks in there!

And, I found some small seeds.  Unfortunately, these darn small seeds are EVERYwhere in my yard.  I need to get some weed killer this weekend and kill them! 

That's what I have for small.  Please go and check out Lisa, Georgia and Taia.  Remember, the links to their blogs are on the top right.

I'm Walking Here!

Mike is back from China after four weeks on the road!  Yahoo!  While I missed him as my brother, I missed him even more as my boss.

Until today that is.  Today is day two of him being back and we are back to business as usual.

I get to work first in the morning.  I have everything up and running and I am working away in my office.  I hear Mike coming in the front door and what is the first thing out of his mouth?  Not hello, not good morning but "do you REALLY have the heat on today???" And I yelled back "YES!  It's 43 freakin' degrees outside so I have the heat on!"

Aaah, I've missed him and his aversion to having the furnace on at work!

Then, one small part of my job is laminating some labels.  I print the labels, put them in the plastic holders and then run them through the laminating machine.  There is no way to speed up this last step in the process.  When I have the laminating machine on, I try to get everything that needs laminating so I usually have eight to ten sheets to do at a time.

The old me used to just stand there while the sheet ran through the laminating machine.  It's a slow process, but the machine is melting that plastic to seal it so I guess you don't want to rush it.  I came up with a new trick while Mike was gone.  I put the sheet in the laminator, turn and walk to the closet (7 steps), turn and walk to the end of the hall (25 steps) turn and walk back to the closet (25 steps) and from the closet back to the laminating machine (7 steps) for a total of 64 steps per sheet to laminate.  I figured I could get some activity points in while getting paid at work instead of just STANDING there watching the sheet go through the machine.  I know exactly how fast I have to walk these 64 steps so that as I end up back at the machine, the sheet is just finishing.  I do this for eight to ten sheets for a total of 512 to 640 steps.  C'mon people, I thought this was GENIUS!

I told Mike about my little thing I do now when I'm laminating. I told him I get some steps in while doing laps in the hallway as I wait for the sheets to go through the machine.  I thought he was jiggy with it.  Did I mention that his office happens to be IN the hallway I use to do these laps?

I was busy laminating today.  I had two sheets to go when Mike finally said something about me walking to and fro in front of his office!  Hey, I'm walking here!  I'm getting steps in here!  This is one time it was good to have a brother as a boss.  I may have irritated him but he let me finish my walking, I mean my laminating!

No sense in wasting time just standing there doing nothing just like why throw out my apple core in the wastebasket under my desk when I can walk that core all the way out back to the dumpster?  Steps, baby!  They all add up, even if it's on company time!

So, Mike is back two days now and he's irritated with me already.  Man, no wonder he spends four weeks at a time in China!

Gem, Photo Challenge

During my short lived photography class, I spent part of an evening in downtown Lorain snapping pictures.  There was a jewelry store just down from where my class was and I was in the window taking pictures of all the pretty stuff.  This was one of the pretty gems for sale at Nielsen Jewelers.

Another interpretation of "gem" is a treasure.  I thought this was a treasure, when wildlife chooses to share our space with us.  Here, some birds have made a nest against the building at work.  I keep watching trying to get pictures of the new home owners but so far, nothing.  This nest is still gem in my opinion.

And, you know how I love to add some cat shots to any photo challenge!  But for real, this one fits!  These two ARE the gems in my life!  I love them!  Penelope in the basket and Benny not giving her any peace.

Make sure you check out the other challenge participants, Lisa, Georgia and Taia.  The links to their blogs are on the right.

Ok, That Hurt!

I've mentioned in the last post that some days I need a handler or a babysitter.  For real!

I decided to buy myself something.  I'm a big fan of Amazon so that I don't have to actually go INTO a store to shop.  I've wanted a stick blender, or immersion blender, so I finally bought one.  It came today in that lovely Amazon box with a smile on the side!  How can you not love that!

This is the blender I ordered.

All I did was try to open the box to LOOK at the blender.  I swear, that's all I did. 

Do you have any idea just how sharp that freakin' blade is in the bottom???

I have no freakin' idea how I got my finger in the way but as soon as I touched that blade I knew it wasn't going to be good.  This litter bugger bled a LOT.  It's not a long cut but it sure is deep.  And the blender isn't even out of the bag it came in yet!

Once we stopped the flow of blood, Ron put a tight bandage on for me.  Now I'm going to have to clean the hell out of the freakin' blender to get the blood off and it isn't even out of the BAG yet! 

Yeah, I need a babysitter.  Or rubber bumpers on everything.  Or all sharp objects removed from the house!

Bubbles, Photo Challenge

We're having one heck of a windstorm today.  So, for a challenge of bubbles, where do you think I headed to for some bubble shots?  Hot Waters, of course!

I thought that the water would be churning in the bad weather so much, I just HAD to get me some bubble shots.  What did I learn?  There is a reason I don't go places by myself.  That wind was so bad, I almost was blown off of my feet down there.  For real, the wind was THAT bad.  At least I got a shot of not only bubbles in the water, but a photo bombing bird, too!  Lisa, be proud of me!

Then, as I was leaving, I saw the shot that I posted over on Lorain 365!  I was so excited to see this shot after my post yesterday, that I nearly DROVE down the boat ramp!  Yeah, I really need a handler or at least a babysitter when I leave the house.  But, I think I ended up with a good shot.

After surviving that, I headed home to see what other bubbles I could find.  I made some frozen pizza for supper (am I a great cook, or what!) and was washing the pizza pan afterwards when I snapped this picture.  I had some good bubble action going.

And, the best for last.  I asked for Ron's help on this challenge.  I told him I didn't know exactly what I was looking for, but I asked him to wash his hands with some dish soap.  I think that makes better suds than the hand soap I had by the sink.  So, Ron started to play in the sink and this is what he came up with!

Bubbles.  That was a fun challenge!

Thank You, Kid Rock

I am a weird person.  I  know that, and I'm jiggy with it.

The older I get, I'm developing a bigger and bigger crush on Kid Rock.  The crush I used to have on Bruce Willis is shifting.  After all, Bruce is remarried and just started yet another family.  Too much baggage although the guy is still a cutie patootie.  Kid Rock is not the kind of guy I'm usually attracted to but lately, he's definitely giving old Bruce a run for his money!

One of the things I really like about Kid Rock is that he motivates me to move my ass.  When I am walking on the treadmill, I like to play some Kid Rock.  A little self titled CD love or maybe the Rock and Roll Jesus CD.  The man can definitely make my toes tap and my butt move.

I am still following the Weight Watchers doctrine pretty heavily.  One of the parts that makes WW successful is that they push you to earn Activity Points.  (AP)  Activity Points is basically what you get for moving your ass, no matter how little.  Just about every activity earns AP.  What makes WW work is that it's just common sense.  Healthier eating and exercising or Activity Points. 

One subject they talked about at the last meeting is varying your work out so that you don't get bored and your body doesn't get bored with doing the same thing over and over.  I feel I limit myself as I am not going to join a gym, I'm afraid to be out by myself most places, so my exercising is going to consist of what I can do close to home.  The treadmill is ok but it gets boring.  I have a zumba CD that is a lot of fun and I'm also doing some circuit training with the Wii Fit Active.  I am always looking for new things to do though to earn my AP.

The grass needed mowing and one of the people at last week's meeting suggested leaving the riding mower in the garage and just mowing the grass by hand.  I thought that was a winner for today. The temps were beautiful, the breeze was blowing, and the grass needed cut anyway!  I have a LOT of grass that I cut but I thought I could hang!

I get a headache from the sound of the mower after awhile so I bought some noise reduction headphones that I wear when I'm mowing the lawn whether with the hand mower or the riding mower.  Today I got the great idea that if I was "working out", I needed to grab my ipod nano, my headphones and put the noise reduction headphones OVER my music headphones.  BONUS!!

I was rockin' Kid Rock and then I ended up going through most of the rest of my music library.  Ok, it's not a huge library.  Whatever.  I pushed the mower for 75 minutes (8 AP!!) and had enough.  I'm just not in that kind of shape yet.  But, while I was pushing that mower, I was singing.  I was really hoping that the sound of the mower was drowning me out.  I don't care much if it didn't.  I was having fun and besides, my neighbors already think I'm nuts.

I walked behind that mower for 75 minutes and just couldn't do it any more.  Actually, my shoulders gave out on me.  So, I put the push mower away and got out the riding mower to finish.  Now I really let loose!  I rode all over my lawn, dancing in my seat and singing at the top of my lungs!  Oh yeah, air drumming!  Let's not forget air drumming!!  Have I mentioned that my neighbors already think I'm nuts??

So there you go.  I spent the afternoon with Kid Rock.  I love that man.  My neighbors probably don't care too much for him at the moment but whatever.  Thanks, Kid Rock.  With your help I got the grass cut and I earned 8 AP.   I think I'll charge up the nano and next weekend you can help me clean the house!

Blue, Photo Challenge

Blue is my favorite color.  I think.  I'm color blind, remember?  At least what I see as blue is my favorite color!

This morning on the way to breakfast, I was telling Ron what the daily challenge was and that after breakfast I needed to go try to find some pictures.  The first thing off of the top of his head was that the shrink wrap on his boat was blue and perhaps we should run out to the marina for a picture!  Ok, I know he's jonesing to get back on his boat so after breakfast we headed to the marina.  This shrink wrap is definitely blue!  Thanks for the idea, honey!

Here is another shot from the marina.  Ok, it has nothing to do with blue, but I liked the shot and wanted to use it!

This is a business that has made me scratch my head since I've lived here.  Broadway Brake & Tire.  It's on West 21st and Leavitt.  It is NOT on Broadway.  Broadway Brake & Tire that is NOT on Broadway.  That should be their new name.  At least their logo was blue as was the Pepsi machine out front.

Lastly is a house in my neighborhood.  I LOVE blue and this house is BLUE!  I love that their house is so blue and it's in my neighborhood!

Blue.  Hopefully, all of my pictures are actually blue!  Well, except for the geese.  What can I say, I liked the shot and wanted to use it.

Make sure you check out the other participants, Lisa, Georgia and Taia.  The links to their blogs are on the top right.

The Five Senses, Photo Challenge

We were supposed to pick one of the five senses, but you know me.  I hate making decisions!  So I chose a couple of them!

Sight:  This morning, Penelope was laying on the window seat and the way the sun was coming through her fur, it looked fabulous!  Out of 20 pictures or so I didn't quite capture what I wanted, but hopefully you get the idea.  What a great sight!

Touch:  The feeling of some Benny love as he was laying across my legs.  This is a feeling that can't be beat!!  Yes, I love my cats and I love how it feels when they are touching me.

Taste:  After today's lunch at Phil the Fire, I had to add taste to today's challenge!  Too bad you can't taste this through your monitor as this is Phil the Fire's home made birthday peach cobbler!  Pictures don't do it justice!!

Please make sure you check out Lisa, Georgia and Taia and see which senses they chose to blog about.  The links are on the right.