Better Glimpse

Emma is mad at me today

for not knocking on the neighbors door

to see if she could play.

I sent her up to the door by herself.

While I watched.

Emma said she's telling Heavenly Father on me.

And he's gonna be REAL mad.

I laughed.

Then she cried,

"You don't like me!"

My heart broke!

I professed my love.

And made her walk up to the door alone anyway.

I may, or may not, be in trouble with God.



Slightly better quilt photos than last night:

Note: Hornets no-likey being covered by quilts

Hearts & Stars

Better photos will come, but it's late at night and my quilt is FINALLY finished.

It's not my favorite.

In fact, I've hated it and swore at it . . . repeatedly.

But now that it's done

I tolerate it

Maybe even like it.

Which one of my 5 quilting projects shall I finish next?

Yes, 5 is NOT the actual number of unfinished projects,

but let's not go there.

Updated Funeral Plans

I've received new insight for my funeral plans.

Please follow these guidelines per my instructions:

1. Pallbearers wear baseball caps

In memory of the ball caps I always use to wear. I think this is a better choice than having them wear pajama pants which I have a passion for also.

2. Pay the crowd control police officers out of my estate.

I hate to see the toll that MJ's funeral had on the state of California, so please use the money from my estate to save Pleasant Grove from the same situation. I figure we'll need officers to channel overflow parking into the rec center and the drag. That will probably mean some crossing guards on 2nd south and closing a few other streets for the procession.

3. Have the speakers all say that I meant the world to them or that I was everything to them!

This seems to work especially well if you get some fabulous athlete to come and spout these lies about me. Apparently true, sincere sentiments aren't necessary at a funeral service.

4. T-Shirts!

Yes, print lots of T-shirts!! I want my name and photo for sale the minute I die. Nothing would please me more than my name plastered on everyone's chest.

I'll keep pondering other instructions for my funeral, but that's good so far.

Under Pressure

I'm embarking on a new journey this week.

It's incredibly scary to me . . .

And it requires 11 friends to do it with.

In finding 11 crazy wonderful people to join me

I inadvertantly traded Pressure for Encouragement.

Stress bucket that I am, feels bad my words were poorly chosen.

**************

What I meant to convey was:

I think you can do this

And this journey will be rewarding.

I would like you to join me.

But trust yourself to tell me no if you can't do it.

******************

I had no idea that the line between pressure and encouragement could be crossed so easily.

Have you ever found this line to be delicate?

Tradition

Can it be a holiday tradition

that I never seem to do the same thing each 4th of July?

Josh wondered if we even had a tradition for the 4th.

After recounting everything we've done the past few years . . .

I realize we never do the same thing.

We don't watch fireworks from the same place,

we don't have a picnic each year, we don't always see our extended family.

I felt guilty . . . but then decided I'm really not the

"Keeper of Tradition" type of mom.

I admit, I wish we did more tradition things --

but it's hard to get it all organized

and match schedules with everyone.

I was pretty darn happy this year

with making last minute plans

with my parents and chillin' at the park.

I think it turned out pretty good!


(Plus a great opportunity to try out more photo taking skillz)

Freedom of the Press

After starting my July 4th Holiday with a browse of my favorite MSNBC website I came to realize just how much freedom of the press means to me.

I can't imagine that if I lived in any other country there would be so many 'intriguing' stories to be read in the news.

For instance:

1. Students get X-rated surprise in class DVD

In this story a teacher made an end-of-school-year video for each of students. Unfortunately, she forgot to remove a clip of her having sex. What an education each student got! Melanie, I put this in here for you. Aren't you glad you didn't make a video for each of your students this year?

2. Police: Arizona woman led sons on crime spree

Here you can read all about how to get your house payment and car payments made
by driving the get-away car for your pre-teen boys. I can imagine what
these boy's chore charts look like: Monday - Rob a Bank / Tuesday - Steal
Cell Phone / Wednesday - Take Candy From a Baby.

3. Dognapper Demands Sex

This is just WRONG for so many reasons. Maybe the thing that bothered me
most . .. the dog's clothes!

Visit msnbc.com for Breaking News, World News, and News about the Economy

4. Father Says He Shot Sons for Refusing Chores

Let's just say that each of my boys have been made aware of these new
consequences for not doing chores. Also, I noted that maybe my 20+ year
old children should MOVE OUT!

Visit msnbc.com for Breaking News, World News, and News about the Economy

Ah . . . Freedom of the Press. It's just one more beautiful part of this holiday!

Swimming Lessons

Emma's in swimming lessons this summer.

I sit by the pool snapping photos or reading a book while she plays in the water.

Except for this week . .. .

She's gone up a level and swims in the deeper water.

I can't bear to watch.

Or take photos.

I go to the furtherest corner of the pool and bury my nose in my book.

Trying to forget that she's swimming

In water too deep.

Learning HDR

I've been playing around with photomatix and HDR photography today.

I've not gotten great results since I've got wind blown foliage in all of them, which gives a weird ghostie effect.

Otherwise, I think it's pretty cool. You should see the HDR that Greg and Jacquie have done . . AMAZING!

P.S. On the photos in the previous post these are my camera settings:

Silhouetted: ISO: 100 Exposure: 1/1600 sec Aperture: 5.6 Focal Length: 194mm

(this shutter speed definitely makes it too grainy)

Non Silhouetted: ISO: 100 Exposure: 1/160 sec Aperture: 5.6 Focal Length: 194mm

Photo Homework

A study in Backlighting:

Not sure if I did these right, but they seem cool.

Don't Rain on My Parade

Very rainy parade days for Strawberry Days this year.

But I'm counting the children's parade as a SUCCESS!

I'd claim myself to be the winning entry --

But they didn't give out awards this year.

Too bad, cuz we were ADORABLE!