Change Is Hard

…but change is certain.

Category Archives: fun stuff


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New photo challenge

Scott, over at his blog Views Infinitum, has challenged photographers to do a food photo shoot; to photograph food in a manner that makes your stomach growl with longing, your mouth water, your nose twitch in the hope of catching the scent.

I’ve taken pictures of food.  Usually when I’m somewhere eating something outside my comfort zone.  Like when I was in New York City eating Indian food at a neighborhood buffet.  I had no idea what anything was, but it all looked interesting.

Or the time I was eating at the American Indian museum in Washington DC.  I picked out several items, each from a different Indian tribe or region.  It didn’t necessarily go together, didn’t really make a meal, but it was all good!

Then again sometimes I take a picture of food as part of a story, eating a meal prepared by my brother…

…or breakfast at a diner with a friend.

But none of these photos look like a photo shoot that belongs in a food magazine.  So this is going to be a challenge.  Guess that’s why he calls it a “photo challenge” huh?

Anyone have any suggestions?


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93 meets 2 weeks

Christmas weekend we had my husband’s extended family here for dinner.  More than thirty people, including 2 newborns and the oldest member of the family, the 93 year old aunt, arrived the day after Christmas to celebrate family.

After a big meal of roast beef, ham and all the fixings we sat around the living room in a big circle while the two oldest members of the family told stories about their history.  Most everyone, except the little kids playing with new toys,  listened and asked questions about what it was like to grow up on a cold, rural Minnesota farm more than 80 years ago.  Though my husband and I have heard many of these stories before most of the younger generation, those we only see once a year, have never heard them.  One of the young fathers videoed the discussion because we all realize as family members get older our chances to hear these stories first hand become more rare.

So this holiday weekend we prompted them – drawing out the stories that made us laugh, made us think, made us grateful for the lives we have now.  It was a magical evening, one we’re lucky to have shared.

And as I watched my husband’s aunt that evening I wondered what it felt like to be 93 and spending an evening with young people and their even younger children.  What does it feel like to have 93 years of history in your head?  Are you wistful when you hold a newborn?  Are you transported in time when you watch a toddler more entranced with the box than the new toy he unwrapped?  Are you memorizing new memories or are you overwhelmed with thoughts of times gone by?

When the youngsters became too tired to play and started to head out for home, they each gave the eldest among us a hug.  Four generations sitting in one room telling stories, laughing, talking, remembering.  A special evening during a special weekend with special people.  Priceless.


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Seeing grass

Yesterday we had a heat wave…temps in the 40’s and lots of rain.  Even thunder.  As the snow melted I tried to convince myself the rain smelled like spring, but it didn’t work.  Somewhere in my mind the truth lurks…that we have weeks and weeks, months even, of winter still ahead of us.

But today, with the backyard bare and the grass still faintly green, Katie and I went out to play.  Twice.  It was soooooo cold, with temperatures in the teens and the wind blowing, that each of our play times was short.  But Katie needed to run, and I needed some fresh air.

We explored the yard the first time.  I asked her to sit for me in front of one of our backyard Christmas trees…she did, but she was much more interested in those noises from the woods where all the rabbits and squirrels and pesky deer lurk.  So we investigated, and though we never actually saw anything interesting…there were plenty of good things to sniff.

Later in the afternoon, with tiny little snowflakes gently floating we went out again, this time to chase the frisbee.  She loves her frisbee.

We didn’t stay out long because it was freezing, but we had a good time running around the yard.  Apparently catching a frozen frisbee isn’t that comfortable so she mostly let it land, then picked it up and brought it back.  Or not, depending on her mood.  Sometimes she waited for me to walk over and get it, then she’d get all excited to chase it again.  I guess it’s all about the chase, not so much about bringing it back to her Mama.  Silly girl.

And so the first weekend of the year passed peacefully, quietly, with plenty of naps and a few spurts of activity.  All good as Katie and I get ready to start the next week.

Next weekend maybe we’ll explore a bit further than the yard.  This weekend we had all we needed right here at home.


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Aftermath

The holidays are almost behind us.  This year everything seemed more stressful than usual.  I don’t know why.  It’s not as if I  haven’t done all of this before.   But I don’t remember being so very tired after.  The kind of tired where you come home from work, skip dinner and go to bed.  Where even after a long night of restless sleep you drag yourself out of bed to navigate the icy streets back to work thinking only about how many hours it is until you can go back to bed again.

Maybe it’s an aging thing.  Maybe I just get myself involved in too many things for my age.  Maybe I should say no more often.  Or maybe not, because everything I did this holiday season was fun, and I wouldn’t want to skip any of it.  The shopping and wrapping and visiting family, the holiday concerts, the cookie making, the planning for the big family dinner, the decorating and the hosting…it was all wonderful.

But now I need a nap.  Maybe a four or five day nap.  Oh yea, I forgot about that job I have to go to.  And this week we have to work all five days!  What were they thinking?  So that’s why this hostess gift we received at Sunday’s big holiday dinner will come in so handy.  The name of the wine says it all.

That is just what I’m going to do this New Year’s Eve…RELAX!  If I stay up till midnight to see the ball drop in Times Square, well, that’s cool.  But the odds are stacked against me, and really, how many years do I make it awake till midnight?  Not so many.  And I think I’m not alone, judging from the cubicle chatter today.

So maybe it’s not an age thing.  Maybe it’s just an over committed thing.  Maybe I’m just like everyone else.  And maybe we all need a four day nap.  Makes me feel less old to think of it that way.

Here’s hoping you all have a wonderful and safe New Year’s Eve, and that we all get a little more sleep in 2011!


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A box…and it's not even Christmas yet!

Guess what?  Katie and I got a present from Reilly and his Mom!

How exciting!  Katie got a beautiful bunny rabbit!

She could hardly stand it, having to sit still while I took a picture.  And then it was all about killing that rabbit!

She’s in love!

And Bree sent me a pile of really beautiful hand made cards.  One of which I am sending to my Aunt for her birthday right away!

What a lovely gift, all of it, including the CD booklet filled with pictures of Katie that I can take with me to work.  In case I miss her during the day.  Which you know I do.

So thank you Bree and Reilly!  That was really thoughtful of you!

Katie’s sleeping with her rabbit right now.  🙂


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Can I help?

We put the tree up last night.  Though I grew up with fresh cut trees and I miss the smell, I don’t miss the mess.  Ours comes out of the basement in a big bag.

While husband and I were setting up the tree Katie thought she’d help. Silly dog.

Later in the evening we found her curled up in the bag taking a nap.  It’s hard work to be a helper dog.


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Are you ready?

Ready or not Christmas is coming!  My husband and I were in a retail store the day before Halloween this year and were shocked to see it all decorated with Christmas trees and enormous ornaments.   I meant to go back and get a picture, but I didn’t.  Time just slips away.  Now the big day is just a couple of weeks away.  Are you ready?  I’m not!

Today we put some lights up outside.  I love to see houses all decked out in lights.  I love to drive through neighborhoods after dark and look at all the colors.  Makes me feel all warm and fuzzy; sort of  Norman Rockwell-ish.  Here in Lower Michigan we’ve had lots of warm early winter days when we might have completed this task but our holiday lights didn’t venture up from their basement bins.  Today, with a big snow storm headed our way we couldn’t put it off any longer.

Remember last year when I put everything away in their holiday bins?  I was so proud of us, being so organized, everything in it’s red and green bin, labeled and ready for next year.

We packed all the lights and outdoor cords neatly away, so as to make this year so much easier.  I don’t know what happened.

Somehow the Grinch must have gotten into those bins over the summer, because the lights and cords were a tangled mess this morning!

But after much work I got most of it sorted out.  Katie helped.

And now I’m anxiously waiting for the evening to fall so that I can enjoy my very own holiday lights.  This year we put some on the smaller trees in the backyard. Can’t wait to see what the neighborhood deer think about that!

Have a wonderful rest of your weekend everyone!  Katie sends hugs.


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Random thoughts

There are all sorts of thoughts bumping around in my work and holiday distracted brain.  None of them are significant enough to write a blog entry of any substance.  So here are some random thoughts I had this week.

While walking down the 4 flights of stairs at the end of a very long day of work:   If I had my druthers I would be living on that island  Kathy talked about over on her blog.    And that walking up and down the stairs each day isn’t really about the exercise.  It’s about avoiding conversation in the elevator.  Yep.  I’m a hermit.

While working in my cube:  I overheard a woman across the aisle bitterly dissing her parents  who were driving two days to visit her, but wouldn’t provide her a specific arrival time.  She thought they were so thoughtless, that they didn’t care that she had to have things ready for them but didn’t even know when they would arrive.  I bit my lip and didn’t tell her that I’d give a lot to have my parents driving cross country to visit me.  And that it wouldn’t particularly matter exactly when they arrived.  Just that they arrived safely.  Silly woman.   Someday she’ll know, like we all know eventually, what it’s like not to have any parents at all.

While driving to work early in the dark morning:  Note to high speed driver in dark sedan who passed  five of us traveling down the  narrow,windy dirt road in the last 1/2 mile before the stop sign.  What was so important that you had to be moving that fast?  That caused you to pass each of us individually, whether we were on a hill or a curve?  To risk your life, all of our lives and the lives of some innocent going the other way?  And when we all got to the stop sign and you, at the front of the line, had to wait while a string of cars went by on the main road, all of us lined up behind you, did you recognize how little time you had made up?  Tomorrow will you risk less?

This morning, while playing “where’s Mama” while attempting to distract Katie-dog from wanting me to get up and take her out in the dark early hours of a weekend:  I flung the sheets up over my face and waited; still, hardly breathing, I waited in anticipation of Katie’s pounce.  Except she didn’t pounce right away.  Not even a little bit more than right away.  I could hardly stand it.  I was just going to move the sheet a little bit, check on what she was doing, when I realized I had less patience than an almost 4 year old Sheltie!

And finally, Katie’s thought for the week:  Sometimes if you are very short you have to lick the condensation away from the front door in order to see out properly.

Have a great weekend everyone!