Mother's Day Gift Ideas!

Need some ideas for Mother's Day gifts? I've got 'em, really I do!
Thats what I'm working on today... here's a sneek preview.

Remember... I do personalization & requests too...

Camera Critters (my 1st one! Two firsts today!)

I'm in trouble... look what I found. A meme that is all about critters!

What exactly is a "meme" anyway, can someone give me a definition on that one?

So the rules are - I have to take a picture of a critter. I don't know if I can do that, do you?

Funny... I took one today. Let the 13 year old demon join Facebook today. Mainly so I could have another member on my Oregon Trail wagon and so someone could help me take care of my baby, Ayla. You gotta be there to understand, I guess. Well, she didn't have a decent picture of herself for her profile picture so she asked me to take a picture of her and "Buddy", who is Oliver but she refers to him as "Buddy" - and it's said in a really high pitched scream/whine. I cannot believe the cat answers her. It's her cat.

Weekly Winners: April 5-April 12

My first Weekly Winners submission.

Mickey in my living room..

Poor robin... where's the sunshine?

Serena

a paw, a reflection and a dusty floor

Enjoying the last snow day!

PhotoHunt - Twist(ed)

I walked around the house this morning trying to find something twist(ed) for this week's PhotoHunt. I didn't want to do a rope, because I'd seen that had already been done, so I kicked the dog's toy rope to the side and kept looking. Then I saw it. My daughter.

Twisted.

She is. But we are going to go at it from a different angle.

"Here, pose for me"

"Not again, Mom!"

She has normal fingers & toes, btw. I just torture my kids for photographic purposes!

You Still Smoking Or What?

Day #84....

... just in case anyone was wondering.

*pats self on back*

Mom, your salad looks yummy!

While we were eating dinner last night, Demon #1 picked up the camera. It's always laying around within reach.

"What are you going to take a picture of?" I ask her, irritated because it's a rule that NOBODY touches Mom's camera. Even the husband needs special privileges to bring it along on snowmobile trips and such.

"Your salad. I want to take freaky pictures like you always do."

I think I've created a monster.

She's not getting her own Canon Rebel, though. Not at 13.

It's a damn good picture of a salad though... she has a good eye! I only resized & framed this, I did not crop it or anything.

"Mom, they are playing 'Let It Snow' on the radio!"

Lemme run and check the calendar... April 11th. I'm not dreaming. Didn't they say spring began a couple weeks ago?

They are playing "Let It Snow" on the radio?

Yes they were.

And they were, for good reason. Yesterday morning it was bare ground, yesterday afternoon it was raining. Last night they canceled the spring concert at school (Demon #2 was not happy!) and at 9pm last night it was thundering & lightning.... but it was snowing.

Yes, we got snow... and there is more coming yet. Too bad the husband is at work... hopefully it will stick around until the morning so he can do some last minute snowmobiling before it all melts away.

Oh yeah - and there's no school today. Poor mommy.





Got one more to add to the mix....
I just took this... this is the door from the garage to the backyard where the doggie-door is. I couldn't figure out why the dogs wouldn't go through the door this morning... then I opened it. Saki "plowed" her way back through the door later on so it's useable again.

A rose on a Wednesday. Just a normal, everyday Wednesday

If anybody remembers this post, they will remember how I feel about a husband buying roses on Valentine's Day. I haven't changed my feelings on the matter.

Holidays such as Valentine's Day were put on the calendar for those who don't think, to think.

My daughter, Demon #1, is not one of those people. She's not the smartest person when it comes to common sense (thats another post), but she makes it up in many other ways.

Last night at her church confirmation class, someone was either going to throw away a couple roses or something, I didn't get the whole story, but Demon #1 spoke up and said that she wanted one.

What did she do with the rose? She gave it to her favorite mother, of course!

This helps me explain the basics of romance, gift giving and thoughtfulness. Anyone can buy flowers, candy and a card on Valentine's Day, Mother's Day or someone's birthday. It's expected. Do it when it isn't expected... trust me, it will mean more than any Mother's Day card given on that Sunday morning. Give Mom an "I love you" card for absolutely no reason other than you love her... you'll send her to tears, I promise.

The husband stopped his semi truck on the side of a road one day, jumped out (cut the side of his leg wide open) and ran into a field because he saw a bunch of wildflowers he knew my heart would melt over. They were wilted by the time he got home and thankfully the blood clotted in his leg, but just the thought that he did what he did on some odd summer day meant the world to me.

When you see something at a store or on the side of the road that make you think "Gosh, she would really get a kick out of this" or "she would just love that" or "her favorite color is pink, next Mother's Day I'll have to remember to get pink roses"... do it then, right that second. Don't wait. Do it.

Or be the first to speak up and say "I want it", only to go home and hand the rose to your mom. It's priceless. It's worth more than any dozen roses someone could buy me at a flower shop.

St. Cloud Times | Local News

St. Cloud Times | Local News: "forecasters are now predicting between 10 and 15 inches of snow from a winter storm expected to hit Central Minnesota later today.

St. Cloud State University meteorologist Bob Weisman predicts 10 to 15 inches and the National Weather Service predicts between 12 and 15.

A winter storm warning issued Wednesday takes effect at 1 p.m. today and runs until 7 a.m. Saturday.

About a foot of heavy, wet snow is expected to fall in an area that includes St. Cloud, Hutchinson and Redwood Falls.

The warning begins at 7 p.m. for Little Falls and Alexandria.

The record snowfall for April 10 in St. Cloud is 6 inches set in 1992 and the record is 2.5 inches on April 11 in 1993."

What the hell is this? 15 inches of snow? Seriously, Mrs. Mother Nature... or are you a Miss? I've always assumed that you are either married to Old Man Winter or Father Time, one of the two... whoever you are - can you stop with the fricken snowstorms already? I've already cleaned out my flowerbeds, been on walks with the dogs with no coat and, don't tell my parents but, I've already gone barefoot outside!

... there's some rule that says you can only go barefoot in the months that don't have an "R" in them. I break it every year.

Either give me a real winter... blast me with 24 inches of snow in November and keep dumping it through the end of February... then let it slowly melt and let me tend to my rose bushes.

Not this stuff shit. I hate it. And even for the snowmobiling husband that I have... it sucks. By the time he gets it all plowed off the driveways that he has to do, it will be melted (it is supposed to be in the 50s on Sunday) and he won't get to go sleddin' anyway.

Enough!

How my brain works

Tuesday's blog assignment is/was "when is your mind in full working motion? And what have you been known to accomplish during that time of day?" Yes, I know it's Wednesday. I'm slacking, sorry.

The reason for my slacking is the answer to the question. My mind works best in the morning... we are talking early morning, right when I wake up. People have hated me for it and my family has learned to live with it. Yesterday morning when the topic was created (by me) I was also in full working mode for designs... and fish, which I have been blogging about. I just couldn't bring myself to type about doing it without doing it. Didn't make sense to me.

I've been known to do quite a number of things in the early morning hours - cleaning, designing, laundry... all done by 9am. It's happened, honest.

But the sad thing is, most days my brain shuts down around 10am. I can still function, but any bit of creativity or ambition to do anything else is usually in the next county by then.

Randomness through a lens

It's just a glass of water under a dripping faucet... nothing more, nothing less.

Chico thinks he's a wolf.

So yeah, Demon #1 says I'm not quite right in the head on this one. When she saw that I took a picture of her shoes, she lost of faith of any sanity she thought her mother had left.

Not sure what Chico is trying to accomplish here. It's Saki's toy - maybe he's trying to figure out if he should try to play with it or not.

So then... I took a picture of her hands.

... and now you all think I've lost my mind I'm sure. Sorry for no warning on this one, but meet my baby. This is Jake and he's not as freakish as he looks :)

Coroner rules Diana unlawfully killed

Coroner rules Diana unlawfully killed - Yahoo! News: "A coroner's jury has ruled that Princess Diana and boyfriend Dodi Fayed were unlawfully killed through the reckless actions of their driver and the paparazzi in 1997.

The jury had been told that a verdict of unlawful killing would mean that they believed the reckless behavior of their driver and paparazzi amounted to manslaughter. It was the most serious verdict available to them Monday.

The couple died when their speeding car slammed into a concrete pillar while it was being chased by photographers in cars and on motorbikes."

I've read a few blogs this morning since this news broke, along with some comments on different websites. Many people are basically saying "so what? It's over 10 years ago" and other negative blurbs of nonsense. To an extent I can agree with all that... it has been over 10 years, but I'm hoping one thing... that maybe, just maybe, now there will be some sort of new "rules", "laws", whatever you want to call it when it comes to paparazzi chasing down celebrities like wild animals.

You can argue all you want about them being celebrities and them choosing to be famous and all that other crap, but regardless of that - they still deserve not to be in danger when driving down the road. Everyone deserves to follow their dreams, have employment in the field they choose... that doesn't always mean that they have to give up their rights to privacy and the privacy of their families. And it doesn't give away their right to safety either.

What happened to Diana was unspeakable... they did chase her down like a pack of wild animals going in for the kill. And they succeeded.