50/365-2 Two

"Two Socks"

I hand knit most of our non-athletic socks.  The problem is that I often get bored after the first sock and the second one does not get knit in a timely manner.  Many people have received one sock and the promise of a second one "soon" as gifts.  Weber got sock number two of his 2012 birthday socks for Christmas in 2013.  Better late than never, right?  

I have vowed to do better this year.

So far, so good.  I started and finished this year's first pair in two weeks.  He got two socks, a whole pair, on Valentine's day!  

49/365-2 In the Front Yard

"For Makenna"

Erin's longtime friend, Makenna, yesterday lost her courageous four year battle with cancer  at age 22. They were in school together from age 4 through the eighth grade.  Because they went to a very small private school, they were in the same class through all those years as well as teammates on the volleyball and basketball team.  They went to different high schools and then then college but have kept up with one another via social media.  

Makenna will be missed by many.  My prayers are ascending for her family and friends.

48/365-2 Where I Stand

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'Crossing"

I love the fact that I can walk to and from school, especially when the temperatures are perfect like they were today.  It has been a fews weeks since I have walked because it has been so cold, windy and wet.  This time last week we were bracing for a potential ice storm; fortunately, it did not materialize in our area.

Today's prompt, "Where I Stand" is one that repeats each month, one that is intended to paint a picture of literally where we stand throughout the year.  As I was walking home this afternoon and thinking about what I wanted to photograph, I realized that I spend a lot of time on my trip home standing and waiting for traffic lights to change.  At one of these stops I noticed my reflection in the button that triggers the walk light.  Kind of cool.  

I tried to take this shot with my phone, but the sun was so bright that I could not see the screen.  When I got home and looked at the images, they were terrible!  I went back to the nearest corner with my DSLR and tried again.

In many ways there is nothing spectacular about this photo, yet it does represent a very real part of my nearly everyday.

47/365-2 A Visit

"Sunshine"

I'm a little short of inspiration today.  We had a visit from sunshine and warm temperatures - highs in  the 70's after days earlier in the week with highs in the 20's.  The weather is so crazy these days.  Anyway, these two decided to take advantage of a beautiful afternoon outside.

An observation:  It is a weird feeling to realize that you and your husband look like the Lego mini figures and your Bitstrip avatars.  When we start to look like our passport pictures it will be time to take drastic measures!

46/365-2 Geared Up

 "Erin and Leo"

Today was a busy day around our house, but it was the good kind of busy!  Erin wanted us to watch our "grand puppy"  so that she and Edgar could go run some errands.    The agreement was that we would do that as long as they were back before our out of town guests arrived.   The kids and the puppy arrived just as I was finishing the last little bit of sweeping.  Perfect timing!

Leo is such a cute little guy, and well behaved too!

I'm pretty sure he knows that he is adorable!

I like the fact that you can see me and my camera reflected in his eye in these photos.  He was a little wiggly when it came to being photographed, but we managed a few decent shots.

Leo's mom and dad were respectful of our time table today and arrived back at our house fifteen minutes of so before our guests arrived.  Erin took a few shots of me and Leo.

We had a lovely visit and shared in a surprise birthday celebration this evening.  It was a darn good day all the way around!

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.

44/365 - 2 Conversation

"Nose to Nose"

My favorite conversations are those that require few words.  After a long and somewhat stressful day at school, we enjoyed some quiet time and a little sugar.