The Road Toward Christmas

It was Thanksgiving when I last wrote and now we are only seven days away from Christmas.  Over these last three weeks there were days that seemed to go on forever - mainly those where I was so tired that all I could think of was a nap; but for the most part, time has whizzed by.  Until the last week, I wasn't sure that I was going to get my act together for Christmas.  There were moments over these past few weeks where I had to talk sternly to myself, saying that it would all be okay, really!

Throughout the month of December, all of the Capture Your 365 photo prompts focused on holiday preparations.  Until last weekend, I had done none.  Continuing to take a photo a day during this time despite having little holiday cheer at my house kept me from completely panicking over the fact that I was so far behind.

Today, thanks to Amazon.com and my school semester being over, I now think that I will make it.  

Focusing on Advent, the time of waiting, has also helped me to maintain some sanity and a sense of calm throughout the first weeks of December.

I missed photographing the lighting of the third candle last Sunday.

Thanks to the new landscaping that we had done earlier in the fall, our backyard, which was normally nothing but brown at this time of year, is full of color.  The yuletide camellias began budding a few weeks ago and now are full of brightly colored red and yellow flowers.

Piper, the newest addition to our family, is full of love for us and for her big dog brother and sister.  Even the cat has decided that things are going to be OK.  It is hard for me to even imagine that this poor little thing was abused.  

Even amidst the craziness of the season, we have made time each week to spend time with friends. Regular "diner dinners", the wedding of two of our dearest friends, and a few theater productions have been some of the best times this month.

And now, it's beginning to look a lot like Christmas!

Piper is not so sure about that Santa Claus fellow.  I think she has been talking to her youngest human sister who, from a young age, has thought Santa Claus creepy.

Though she does like napping under the Christmas tree.

I am thankful to have the next month off with time to spend with family and friends.  I also have lots of things on my 'want to do" rather than" have to do" list and the time now to actually do them.  What a wonderful feeling!!!

Thanksgiving and Shopping

Over the past few weeks there have been different lists of retailers going around on social media, A list of those retailers  that will be open for shopping on Thanksgiving Day and another of those that will be closed.  This information has been shared and shared and shared in an effort to get us to boycott those stores that believe that consumerism is more important than time spent with friends and loved ones.  Until this morning, I was on board with not giving in to the rampant consumerism, exhibited by shopping on Thanksgiving Day,  in our country - not that I had any plans to shop today, but I was willing to commit to spending my money only with those stores that remained closed today when I was ready to shop.  So what changed?

As we headed to church this morning, I was especially thankful that in a few hours I would be sharing a home cooked meal with my whole family.  I was keenly aware of the fact that many people would not be spending their Thanksgiving that way.  Too many people are lonely and have no one to call family or even friend.  Too many people have no means with which to prepare a Thanksgiving meal.  For many people the holiday season is marked by sadness and despair rather than joy and hope.  These are the people who volunteer to work on holidays such as today.

For those who have no family or friends, working on holidays is a way to conquer, or at least dull a bit, the loneliness that today could bring.  It is a way to be out among people,  sharing in the excitement as the Christmas season officially gets underway.   The good wishes that are exchanged between customers and employees may be the only thoughtful words that these people hear today.

Some people may choose to work today to earn money to pay their rent in a few days, or put any meal on their family's table, or buy that one special Christmas gift for their child.   It is quite the conundrum that society has created for itself.  In an ideal and compassionate world,  today would be a paid holiday for all retail workers and public Thanksgiving tables would be available and open to anyone who wished to eat in communion with others.  Maybe someday...

Until then, remember that you do not know the story of the person who checks you out at Target, or finds the correct sized shirt for you at Macy's, or prepares your order at McDonald's.  You could make that person's day with a smile and a genuine "thank-you."  Isn't that what today is about, giving thanks?

I still am not going anywhere near a store today, but I have softened my rather judgemental attitude toward stores that are open and the people who have chosen to shop.  It is always advantageous to be able to look at multiple sides of an issue and at least try to understand the perspective of both parties. I think that today I matured to that point at least on this issue.

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I am thankful to have shared a meal and the afternoon with my family.

This year, Weber smoked the turkey and Brooke prepared everything else.  My only responsibility was the mashed potatoes.  Well, and cleaning.  There is a real possibility that the amount of dog hair that I vacuumed up outweighed the turkey!

It is a long sad story, but we are without a dishwasher right now while we wait for an ordered part to come in so that it can be repaired.  This is probably the worst week of the year to be in this situation!  Brooke has been good all week about washing dishes as she goes.  After dinner this afternoon, Weber washed, Jason dried, and I put away.  With a little team work, it all went quickly and smoothly, with the exception of the one broken bowl.  :-)

With all of the terrible, scary, ugly, painful things that are going on in the world right now,  we all need to remember to count our blessings.  We need to give thanks for what we have and we need to makes sure that we tell those close to us that we love them whenever we have the opportunity.  Nothing is certain in the world.

Happy Thanksgiving to all those in the U.S. and to those of you who don't celebrate this holiday, I pray that your day was blessed  and for that, you are grateful.

Thankful To Be Grateful

Sunday began November and the season of Thanksgiving.  I love this time of year - the falling leaves, the cooler temperatures,  big pots of warm soup, and the flannel sheets back on my bed.   I also like the idea of being intentional about giving thanks, but, it's confession time, I don't really like the Thanksgiving holiday.  It always seems like way too much work resulting in way too much food for way too little enjoyment.  By the time we get everyone's "one favorite" Thanksgiving dish on the menu it seems that we end up with enough food to feed eighty rather than the eight of us.  And of course I feel obligated to taste at least o little bite of everything and before I know it I have "tasted" way more than I needed or wanted.  Over the years I have tried to find ways to simplify the Thanksgiving feast, but none has been particularly successful.

In an effort to perhaps prepare myself a little better spiritually for Thanksgiving Day,  I decided to take time each day during the month of November to acknowledge something for which I am thankful.  I started on Sunday by first considering what it means to be thankful.  I realized that in my own thinking and writing, I tend to use the word "grateful" more often than "thankful."  This sent me on a mental expedition in search of what the difference between these two words is.  I had a hard time coming up with something concrete ton my own hat distinguished the two, so I turned to the dictionary.  I was surprised by what I found.

Thankful is defined as "pleased or relieved" and  grateful as "feeling or showing an appreciation of kindness."  These definitions seem to have totally different connotations, yet each definition also gives the other word as a synonym.  It is the word "relieved" used in the definition of thankful; that feels a bit odd to me.  Even when I do choose to use the word "thankful" rather than "grateful," it is never because I am in need of expressing relief.

I am thankful for my family.  I am relieved  by my family.  Um...no.  This doesn't even begin to make sense.  I am grateful for my family.  I am  appreciative of my family.  I can live with the latter.

Thinking on these two words has done nothing to help clarify for me the distinction between them or their proper usage.  Fortunately, it is only November 5th.  Perhaps by the end of the month I will have better sense of each.  For now, I am thankful that there is no reason that I have to be clear on the subtlety of these words and I'm grateful for the opportunity to continue pondering what is most certainly an extremely important concept, I'm sure.

Here are the things that in these first five days of November for which I am thankful/grateful.

November 1: I am grateful for who I am.  I have lots of imperfections, but they all contribute to making me who I am.  I am blessed by my family, friends, and by the work that I do.  I do my very best to be in a light in my small corner of the world, but I also strive to keep that light from shining on me.

November 2: I am grateful for the newest member of our family and for Brooke's help in training and loving this little pup.

November 3: I am grateful for a peaceful backyard where the dogs can play and I can kick off my shoes and relax.

November 4: Though the time change leaves me little light for photography when I get home from school, I am grateful for the quiet of the long dark nights.

Grateful for the calm

Of the dark and quiet night.

Day's long lullaby.

November 5: I am grateful for comfortable clothes - my duck jammies, a sweatshirt, Crocs, and tie-dyed socks.  I am also grateful for a husband who loves me even when I am wearing duck jammies, a sweatshirt, Crocs, and tie-dyed socks.  I am also thankful for that husband who, after dropping me off at school at 7:15 this morning, went home to get my lunch that I forgot and brought it to me on his way to school.

I need to remember that often the little things are the big things and the big things are just little things.

95/365-3 Gathered Together

"Easter Afternoon"

Between six church services in the past few days, dinner last night with family, and lunch this afternoon with friends, there has been much gathering together in our life over the past few days, but none of it did I photograph.  This afternoon, once Jesus was raised and all else was said and done, it was a quiet afternoon with just the two of us at home.  I managed a few shots before Weber took a nap in the recliner and I spent way too much time on the computer.  Such is life.

Happy Easter!

93/365-3 In the Garage

"Good Friday"

This has nothing to do with today's prompt and everything to do with today.

45-53/365-3 Another Round of Catching Up

February seems to have whizzed by and I have no idea where it has gone!  All month I have been making lists of things that I need to do and I have actually crossed a goodly number of them off, but it seems that I am adding new things faster than I am removing accomplished tasks and the lists continues to grow.  The good news in all of this is that I have gotten a lot done, both things that I need to do and a few that I want to do.  I'll continue to work to whittle down at the rest trying to be gentle with myself about the places where I have fallen short.

As I write this tonight, I have a wicked cold that is not doing anything to help my productivity.  The good news is that due to an impending ice storm, school has been cancelled for tomorrow.  That gives me some to get some extra rest in the hope of defeating the cold and some time to catch up on other things.  I consider the ice and cold to be a gracious gift from Mother Nature, just what I need right now.

And now to catch up on the daily photos so that I can scratch that off of my list.

45/365 Valentine

"Edible Valentine"

We celebrated a simple Valentine's Day sharing bagels and coffee.  That evening, We went to see Book of Mormon with some friends.  That show is so wrong but so hilarious!

46/365 Depth of Field

"Bones"

The dogs supervised this shot in case any props happen to be dropped along the way.

47/365 Flowing

"Goofy Grapes"

This was a last ditch effort taken and edited very late at night with my phone.

48/365 Wide

"Rainy Afternoon"

Standing out in the rain taking this shot reminded me how much I love rain.

49/365 XOXO

"XO"

A late night photo of a late night snack.

50/365 Isolate It

"Quiet Life"

51/365 Colored Bokeh

"Signs of Spring"

On the way out to the mailbox on Friday afternoon we noticed the first dandelion of the year, the first sign of spring.  I felt like I needed to document that, but I also felt a bit guilty about our dandelions and seventy degree weather while so much of the country was immobilized by snow and bitter cold temperatures.  And now it is 28 degrees here and we will wake up tomorrow morning to a blanket of ice.

52/365 Indistinct

"Wishes"

This was not the photo that I intended to take for the prompt, but it was my favorite photo of the day so it became my daily photo.

53/365 Looking Forward

"Frankie"

Nothing was happening for me creatively today.  Though I am usually a positive person, always preferring to look forward rather than backward, I just couldn't muster any enthusiasm for the day's shot.  Perhaps this is because of the cold that has taken up residence in my head.  Now that I think about it, I really don't feel well.  On the up side, I did get a picture of Frankie for this month.

For what it's worth, I am now caught up here...one less thing on my list!

And, there is a new Pixels, Plates, and LOLs! post.

365/365-2 Party

"No Dancing Shoes!"

Yes, I forget to post this "yesterday," but it was after midnight when I got home so technically it would have been today anyway...

This is not the photo that I would have liked as my final image for the conclusion of my second year of a picture a day, but this is what my life was today.  And the point of this project is to document my life, so here it is.

My leg is not fractured.  It is as injured as it can be without being broken.  The good news is that it is not broken.  The bad news is that the injury is potentially more painful and takes longer to heal than an actual break.  Oh well, I don't have to go back to work until the 20th of January so I have some time to rest and recuperate.

We did spend a quiet evening with friends to usher in the new year.  It wasn't actually a party, but it was a joyful celebration - food, friends, and watching the ball drop in NYC.  It all made me happy!

Happy New Year everyone!

332/365-2 Thanks for Traditions

Stand Back and Watch"

For me there has been nothing traditional about Thanksgiving this year.  Because of my schedule and things that needed to be done here in Delaware, I have spent my first Thanksgiving away from home and away from the girls.  Weber and I were graciously invited to my aunt's house for the holiday meal.  It was nice to be with them as we have not seen much of each other lately except under stressful conditions.  Still, it was not like being at home.  So, photographing tradition today was kind of tough.

After taking care of a bunch of business this morning, Weber and I went to the beach this afternoon.  It was so cold down by the water.  Weber actually stayed in the car.  I bundled up and headed out with my camera and tripod.  The wind was strong that even with my camera on a tripod, I couldn't keep it steady.  None of today's pictures were very sharp, but unlike the fuzzy photos that I took in Dover, today I know why.

On this Black Friday, I kind of feel like these gulls, watching the crashing waves and being glad that I am standing on the sidelines.  The thought of going anywhere near a big shopping area today was not appealing at all.  I don't like big crowds of people and there is nothing that I want or need that is so important as to necessitate me having to deal with the mayhem that is Black Friday.  I will get my holiday shopping done, probably sitting at home in my PJ's late at night.  I love online shopping!!!

Being on the beach was not without its discomforts.  In addition to the wind, it was super cold.  My hands got so cold that I could no longer feel the shutter release button on my camera.  That is when I had to quit.  Even having bone cold hands that hurt once they were no longer numb was a more pleasant experience than shopping today would have been!

185/365-2 Bursting

"Fireworks"

Today was bursting with friends, food, fun, and fireworks.  

In all of those "f" words, there was also favorite fail.  I don't even know what happened with this foto photo, but there is something kind of funky about it that my weird sense of aesthetics kind of likes.

Some of my favorite shots of the evening were surprises.  I think it is their simplicity that appeals to me.

The next one reminds me of a sunflower.

I loved all of the different colors in tonight's fireworks.

I hope everyone had a fabulous fourth!

166/365-2 Dear Old Dad

'Father's Day 2014"

I warned dad that he had the honor of being the subject of today's POTD.  His response, "When did you decide to make it your mission in life to embarrass me?" My response, "Um...December 28, 1961."  I  ended up taking paparazzi shots so none of them are very good technically or compositionally; however, this is perfect in the more important ways.   Dad is sitting in his chair doing the day's puzzles from the newspaper like he does every day and reflected in his glasses are his beloved Phillies on TV.  And then there is the Navy sticker on his clipboard.

Weber got to share with dad what life is like with me and my camera on a daily basis.  I'm not sure whether dad took pity on Weber or not.  And we had a laugh over the fact that despite being in the midst of chemo treatments,  dad has more hair on his head than Weber.

I'm glad we were able to be in Delaware this Father's Day.

Happy Father's Day to all of you who are fathers or have been a father figure to someone.  

I pray that everyone had happy moments with or happy memories of their fathers today.

131/365-2 Motherly Love

"Silent Love"

After our big graduation celebration yesterday, we all needed a quiet day today.  

This morning in church the pastor called all of the mothers forward and gave us each a rose.  He offered a prayer for all of us, but did not stop there.  Prayers were then offered for those who have lost their mothers, for those who want to be mothers, and for those who have or had a broken relationship with their mothers.  By the time he was done there were very few dry eyes in the congregation.

Though we had no big family deal today, Brooke did make me a delicious dinner - peach and raspberry stuffed french toast and baked eggs with spinach.  It was perfect!

Truthfully, I don't really need a special "mother's day" celebration because my girls are pretty good to me every day!

I am proud and happy to be the mother to these two!

110/365-2 Gathered

"Happy Easter"

This year's Lenten journey was a meaningful one for me, filled with much opportunity for prayer and reflection.  That makes the Holy Week liturgies all the more meaningful and the celebration of Christ's resurrection a time of pure joy.  All that said, by the time I had sung the seventh service in five days, three of which in a period of sixteen hours, I was exhausted.  

We did have a family gathering for lunch after the second service this morning.  Brooke prepared a tasty brunch - baked eggs, roasted asparagus, salad and homemade biscuits that did double duty first with butter then with strawberries. Yum!

The energy level amongst us was quite low.  Not only was I tired, Erin was dragging after spending her morning in the church nursery with sugared-up kids and so was Brooke after all of the meal preparation.  I had hoped top take a photo with all of us, but it was happening today.  When I am too tired to take pictures, I am really tired!

After everyone left, I took a nap, a several hour nap.  I awoke with just enough daylight to snap a few quick shots.  Because we were all so tired, we didn't even touch the Easter candy, not that I bought much.  So, these ignored chocolate eggs were gathered up for today's photo.

Happy Easter, everyone!

109/365-2 Welcome

'Welcome

Not much time for picture taking today, but part of our house now is clean!  We are off to church for the Easter Vigil.  It is a beautiful service though long.  It feels even longer knowing that I have to be right back there tomorrow morning for two more services.  Come the Monday after Easter, Christ is risen and church musicians are dead.

Easter blessings to all!

104/365-2 The Chicken Or The Egg

"Knowing What To Ask"

I'd like to say that this photo is the result of being tired, but in all honesty it can only be attributed to a  warped mind.

76/365-2 Shamrock

'Shamrock Boxers No. 2"

St. Patrick's Day barely gets a blip on our radar thus we have nothing in the way of decor adorned with shamrocks.  Last year when this prompt came up, I remember it being late in the evening and struggling to find something to photograph for the day's prompt.  I dared Weber to let me photograph him in his shamrock boxers.  To my surprise, he accepted the dare and   this was my POTD.  Throughout the year, many jokes have been made about the shamrock boxers photo.  

When the prompt came around this year, I knew that the boxers would again have to appear.  It is kind of difficult to shoot "G" rated boxer pictures, but here you go.  I am lucky that Weber is such a good sport!

63/365 Party

"Happy Birthday CY365!"

Today marks the third anniversary of the launching of the Capture Your 365 website.  This community has become such a big part of my life over the past year and a half.  We had no sweet treats with which to celebrate so my cupcake became a fruit cup.

Today is also Shrove Tuesday or Fat Tuesday, another day of celebration in preparation for the forty days of Lent that begin tomorrow.  We had pancakes at church, an annual tradition on this day.  

I think someone's fruit was a little more fermented than mine was:-)  How can you not love this face??

45/365-2 Amore

"Real Love"

Over the years I've written some rather cynical posts on Valentine's Day.  I still find it kind of an odd "holiday" to celebrate.  We should show our affection for those we love every day.  Though there is a piece of me that is a hopeless romantic, I am not one who wants chocolate and roses on Valentine's Day.  So what did we do?

After school we did the normal Friday evening shopping run to Sams for the girls' Saturday bread supplies.  Not being ones who like big crowds of people, we had our Valentine's dinner at Wendy's figuring that would not be a popular destination for those in search of a romantic dinner; although, the red ketchup did add a nice festive touch.  We also went to Target, more red.  We were behind a cute girl in line who was buying gold sparkly shoes and panty hose to wear on her evening out as she and her sweetheart celebrated their first Valentine's Day together.  The checker was trying to share in the girl's excitement.  What did we buy?  A doormat that says, "Woof" to go under the bowls of our sloppy canine diners.  It doesn't get much more romantic than that:-)  I have to admit that it was kind of funny watching the line of people trying to find an appropriate Valentine's Day card at 5:15 this afternoon.  As any reasonable person would expect, the pickings were mighty slim.  Target did, however, have bouquets of roses in the impulse buy racks at the checkouts for those who were too lazy to walk all the way to the back of the store to search through the picked over candy.

When we got home, we had an evening of chores to finish in preparation for a visit from an out of town guest tomorrow.  The best Valentine's Day gift, in my opinion, is help with those mundane aspects of life that are no fun but have to be done.  Weber did the vacuuming and I followed behind with the mop - and the camera.  We got it all done relatively quickly, in time for Brooke and I to watch the men's figuring skating finals.

This is not a good photograph technically, but it does depict true love.  I love this guy with every ounce of my being!

Happy Valentine's Day to each of you.