151/365 Sunglasses

 "TGIF!"

It's Friday, the last day of the work week and the day of the month of May.  It is also my last week off before starting summer school next week.  I could have done without that realization!  Oh well, it is only five weeks.  It will go quickly.

We had a fun evening with friends tonight - pizza, fireworks and ice cream.  Good, clean, adult fun.  

Carrollton, the city adjacent to us is turning 100.  To celebrate they had a fireworks display tonight.  We sat in the park and watched the ten minute display.  It wasn't the fourth of July, but it was fun to see.  It was really humid tonight so the smoke was hanging in the air.  That did not make for an ideal photography situation, but I got a dew respectable shots.  They will certainly serve to document our evening with friends.

Welcome, June!

150/365 A Butterfly

"Not A Butterfly"

. . . but pretty nonetheless.  

I noticed today that first of our day lilies has bloomed.  These are my favorite!  I love the shape and I especially love their color.

149/365 A Smile

"A Family That Smiles Together . . . ."

Today was a great day to capture smiles at our house.  Brooke is home with us to stay.  Yah!  We spent her first day back shopping and eating.  What better way to celebrate a homecoming?  Before Erin and Edgar headed off to work this evening, all three of the kids agreed to help me out with today's prompt.  It was even fairly easy to get Brooke in front of the camera.  

As usual, Erin, Miss Photogenic, was in charge of posing.  I like the above picture because, although everyone is not looking at the camera, they all have a genuine smile.  It took us a few shots to get there.  And, Erin had to employ some antics to get cooperation from her sister.

"Come on you guys, smile and look happy!"

"If you don't smile, I'll pinch your rear."

"Next time you'll take me seriously."

"So how's this for serious?"

In a few short minutes, we had a lot of fun.  Though the kids are all sporting big smiles, probably the biggest one is not seen here in any of the photos - mine.  I'm so lucky that they all get a long, enjoy being with each other and will even humor their mom with silly photos.  

In spite of all the silliness, I did manage to get a few decent shots of each of them.

"Offspring No. 1"

"Offspring No. 2"

"Edgar, the good sport who spent his day shopping with a bunch of girls."

And before all was said and done, I got a good picture of all three of them looking pretty darn good!

Thank you!  I love you guys!

148/365 State the Obvious

"Warning, Warning, Warning!?

Who knew that making that morning cup of coffee could be so dangerous?  Not one, but two warnings alerting me to the presence of sharp needles.  I never would have guessed that it took something sharp to poke the holes in the otherwise sealed K-cup to allow the water to be forced through.  And, oh my gosh, I never would have expected that it would take very hot water to make my intentional very hot coffee.  Ya learn something new every day!  I guess that is why I need adult supervision to make my coffee.

Seriously, if you are really stupid enough to need all of those warnings, are you actually going to read them?

BONUS: Creepy shot with a macro lens.

I think the thing that makes this a little creepy is that I can see my reflection in the chamber where the sharp needle resides.  The creepy feeling has nothing to do with how many coffee grounds seem to be running around loose.  Really!

147/365 Catch Phrase

"Wisdom for Today"

I don't know that this is truly fitting for a catch phrase, but it is the quote that came in my daily email of meditations.  I like it a lot and find it to be true for so many people.  It also gave me an appropriate opportunity to photograph my new Lego clown.  My apologies to Erin and Weber; I know how you two feel about clowns.

How much different would our lives be if we all used our energy to embrace what we have instead of using it to mourn what we don't?  In striving so hard for what society tells us will make us rich or happy or successful, how many people really stop and look inward and ask themselves if indeed those things will make them happy.  And what is successful or rich anyway?  

146/365 In the Kitchen

"A Clean Kitchen:"

Today's prompt asked us to focus on what goes on in the kitchen - food being prepared, consumed or just displayed.  As you can see, nothing is going on in our kitchen today; that is the point of my photo.  At this moment, the kitchen is clean.  There is nothing being prepared, cooked or eaten.  This is definitely not its normal state.  Though it is usually clean with regard to sanitation standards (except for an occasional cat on the counter), it usually shows evidence of some interaction with food.

So why this picture?

After six years of being away at college and then culinary school, Offspring No. 1 is moving back home this week for good.  Yah!  She and her sister are going to try their hands at starting their own bakery business.  They are hoping to start small with farmer's markets and eventually move to a permanent structure.  At least that is the plan right now.  Offspring No. 2, the one with the number and business sense, has another year of college so they have a year to figure out a long term plan.  The girls should make a great working team - one of them likes to stay hunkered down in the kitchen baking for hours on end and the other has the people skills and organizational skills necessary to create a successful business.

Until the girls get all of their respective ducks in a row, my kitchen will serve as the test kitchen for potential recipes.  The good part of this is that we get to be the taste testers.  The downside is that the kitchen will most likely always be in use.  Or, waiting for me to clean it.

We will all adjust to a system that works for all of us.  As long as we can get to the coffee pot in the morning, most other obstacles can be overcome.

145/365 Her

"Harley'

Harley is the only "her" around today.  The her children are out of town and the her cat wants nothing to do with us because we cleaned out "her" closet today which disrupted her napping routine.