choices . . .

love when my friends send me anything slothful.  thanks, sue.

found myself a new tut . . .

i really like the tutorials from BLTV.  they are really easy to follow and are fun to play with.  so kidlet was my guinea pig for this watercolor portrait:

i think it's time for another photo shoot. 

tails from the cave . . .

so my granddaughter is graduating from high school june one. 

kidlet and i, knowing she did not have the funds for a yearbook, decided we would sneak over to her school and buy her one.  what are the chances that with 2000 kids, we'd run into little k?  slim to none, right?

just as we turn the corner to the activities office, bang, we run right into her and her best friend jessica and of course they want to know what we are doing there.  oh well, at least she is one very happy camper and that is all that matters.

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we are dog sitting this week.  a very loveable pooch by the name of dez.  but i have renamed her 'baby lamb' because, she, being an australian shepard, only needs a lamb skin thrown over her back and it's baa baa black sheep all the way.  she came over to visit as is par for the course, but this time my 25 pound maine coon cat got sight of her and poof we had ourselves a fifty pound maine coon cat running up the stairs.  it's unbelievable how big they can make themselves look.

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kidlet finished her calc class with an 82!!!

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mother's day brought me spring flowers and a minion hat.  she is so flipping creative.  pics to follow.

just a reminder . . .

get your mammograms done ladies . . . i just did.

in between grocery shopping, getting the cr-v in the shop, the above mentioned mammogram, and running errands, i decided to chill out with photoshop.

i stole this shot of a friend's husband and dog from facebook . . .  and no, nothing is sacred with me . . and went to town:

i'm on a roll with the kayaks these days. 

oh, and a most happy birthday to roo!!!!!

like today . . .

some days are more productive than others.  occasionally, i actually get things done.  like today.  i went and stretched my old bones in yoga, got cleaned up, went out to lunch with my next door neighbor and friend, stopped by Ace Hardware to pick up some flood lights, came home, wrestled with the ladder, my yellow polka dots boots and cleaned all the gutters, changed out the broken flood lights, replaced batteries in the alarm zones, replaced the front door light, ate dinner and poured myself a double.  now that's a pretty good day. 

home sweet home . . .

did i tell you i went camping?  in the true sense of the word, i think i would have some hecklers but since i wasn't snuggled on my tempurpedic mattress, i claim camping rights. 

robin and i headed for Blue Springs west of Orange City for a little 24 hour r&r and stayed here:

ok, so it has air conditioning and a fireplace and a full kitchen and a full bath and two bedrooms and . . . and . . .  and  . . .

thursday afternoon, we took a boat ride to check out the local flora and fauna:

and then there was this guy and if you think i was going to hold the camera steady as he eyeballed me, think again:

and this young fluffy fellow who was luckily a little large for the vulture's dinner:

so after spying a few pairs of shoes on the hoof and some feathers for fascinators, we disembarked and headed back to the cabin for some stuffed grape leaves, olive tapenade hummus, stuffed eggplant sammies, couscous salad and wine.  lots of wine:

as a matter of fact, we decided to walk the run with wine filled coffee cups . . .  much classier than brown bags don't you think? and ran into mama and her babe:

and then back to build a campfire . . . see, i told you we camped:

and then we stumbled off to our respective beds, aspirin in hand to snore until morning.  after a quickie breakfast, we rented some kayaks and ran the run from the water.  a-freakin'amazing!!!!

and finally packed up our stuff and headed home. happiness. the end.

dear roo . . .

few things in this world overwhelm me.  losing the 9TS and confirmation of kidet's DSM analysis . . .  diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders . . . aside, my boat floats pretty darn well on the high seas.  or so i thought.

yesterday in the mail, arrived a package from tennessee.  as i read the cover letter, my heart opened and my world shifted.  the letter was from the daughter of a friend who is now pushing three years of NEDness. in the world of stage iv melanoma, that is two degrees above a miracle.  but if anyone was ever going to rock it, it would be les.

by way of explanation, and i quote, "this year, i participated in a class whose goal was to create a short book of poetry.  i tried to write a book about cancer, i ended up writing about dragonflies.  according to legend, the last thing that came out of Pandora's box was hope in the shape of a dragonfly".  

under the cover letter was a hand made book of poetry. a project from the heart.  a project of great courage and determination.  a project from the goodness of a soul so pure.  a project from roo.

that cancer effects the patient is bad enough.  that it is determined to undermine faith, family and finances.  that it creates gaping holes in the universe.  that it effects the lives of people like kidlet and roo is untenable.  but clearly, here is a young woman who has found her strength and is holding on tight.  i am so proud of her and her parents.  they just don't take no for an answer.

from the bottom of our hearts roo, thank you for the ode.  thank you for the dedication.  thank you for being you.  thank you being a keeper of the dragonfly.

jeanne and kidlet