Joy

We visited Butterfly World recently and they have a cool exhibit that lets you feed Lorries. These colorful birds are so full of personality and they love people! John loves feeding them and the bird on his shoulder had just flown up from the bird bath and shook water all over him. John has a real affection for birds. He once volunteered at a local aviary and had the really fun job of socializing the baby parrots. We've been visiting Butterfly World for many years and I came across a picture which is obviously old - but here's the teenager as a little tyke enjoying the Lorrie exhibit even back then...

The Lorries are only one of many exhibits at Butterfly World. Obviously, there are butterflies! They have a laboratory where they provide miniature habitats for caterpillars to weave their cocoons. Then they attach the crysallis' to a hatching area.

They open the hatching area a few times a day to let out the newly emerged butterflies to enjoy the absolutely gorgeous gardens. The butterflies spend their entire lives inside the enclosures, and there are many opportunities to interact with them.

They have two other aviaries where you have a good chance at spying some beautiful birds...



It's a great place to visit and a lot of photography opportunities! These are just a few of the photos I took and I'll be uploading the rest to my Facebook and Flickr photostreams.

I hope everyone is having a great week. God Bless!

Gossip Birds...

Overheard at the aviary...

Blanche: You'll never guess what I saw yesterday...

Harriet: Hmmm...? What?

Blanche: I saw Ralph feeding mealworms to Roxanne!

Harriet: {gasp!} But Ralph and Fiona are nesting together!

Blanche: I know. It's terrible.

Harriet: Are you sure it was Ralph? Where did you see them?

Blanche: Yes I'm sure. I was over by the banana tree looking for grubs. I don't think they saw me.

Harriet: I was just at Fiona's yesterday. She says Ralph is such a casanova - bringing her exotic nesting materials! Their nest is quite modern.

Blanche: Well, their nest is going to be the scene of a pecking disaster if Fiona gets wind of this!

Harriet: Ya know, I've rubbed beaks with Roxanne and she's nothing special. What does Ralph see in her?

Blanche: I don't know, but she sure does over extend her wings when she does her mating dance - {rolls eyes} such drama, really!

Harriet: Oh dear, this flock just isn't what it used to be...

Catching up - again!

I am so very sorry for being away from the blog, my dear friends. Life has been in fifth gear lately and I think I must have ADD as I cannot seem to keep everything organized!

Last week we attended a karate tournament in Ft. Pierce. John wanted to try the experience and see if he liked it. We got up very early - and those of you who know me, know I am NOT a morning person. Pat was getting dressed and discovered that he packed MY Gi pants, instead of his! He couldn't even get them over his legs! LOL! The real downside to that was that he couldn't be a coach on the sidelines unless he wore Gi pants and a coaching shirt. We were hoping they would be selling Gis at the the tournament, but no luck. He approached one of the tournament leaders and was able to find someone who could loan him some pants. Whew!

After getting there at 8:00 a.m., we pretty much waited around until the afternoon before any of the students from our dojo started their competitions. Besides John, there were two other students. They both did excellent! Florencia, who is 13, earned a Silver medal in kumite (sparring). Jason, who is 17, earned a Gold in Bo (weapons), and Silver in both kata (forms) and kumite.

John finally went into the ring at 4:10 p.m. His sparring partner was a 14 year old six foot kid. John is 12 and about 5'5." They ended up in a tie at the end of the match and unfortunately, the older kid won the tie breaker. But I have to say that John did fantastic! Having never competed before, waiting all day with little to eat, and then having an older and larger opponent - he did great! He'll be competing in that division for a couple of years and it's quite competitive. There were about 16 kids in his group. John is looking forward to competing in the next tournament in April. Our Shihan has also approached me and convinced me to compete as well, so I'll be doing some extra training to get ready. Tournament karate is different than traditional karate. It should be interesting!

John on the left

I've taken tons of photos lately and just finished processing the tournament shots. I was able to score a press pass and had floor privileges. I'm going to be providing my work to the tournament sponsors for marketing. How cool is that?

Have a fabulous day!

Hey - It's Fat Tuesday!

54/365. Can you believe I've been at this for 54 days already?

Happy Mardi Gras! Just having fun today.

Fun Facts about Mardi Gras:

• Mardi Gras is always scheduled 47 days before Easter (the 40 days of Lent, plus seven Sundays.)
• In 1857, the first krewe was organized. The Comus organization coined the word "Krewe" and established several Mardi Gras traditions: forming a secret Carnival society, choosing a mythological namesake, presenting a theme parade with floats.
• In 1872, Rex, the King of Carnival, selected the official colors of Mardi Gras: Purple, Gold, and Green Rex assigned a meaning to each in his 1892 parade, entitled Symbolism of Colors.
• Purple represents Justice
• Green stands for Faith
• Gold signifies Power
• The colorful worlds of Greek, Roman and Egyptian mythology are the sources for many krewe names.
• A visit from the Russian Grand Duke Alexis Romanoff was the partial inspiration for the first appearance of Rex in 1872. The King of Carnival immediately became the International symbol of Mardi Gras.
• The final year of the past century (1899) saw snow in New Orleans on Fat Tuesday, which fell on St. Valentine's Day. Legend has it that Rex paraded with a frozen mustache.

Tomorrow is Ash Wednesday and the start of 40 days of Lent. Catholics practice denial during this time period. We "give up" something as a way of repentence and cleansing. In the past I've usually given up soda, because it's one of my vices. However, seems this past Lent really helped me kick the habit, so I'm now having to think of something else to give up. Still thinking...

On our way to black belt...

Hello my dear friends. It's been too long since I've posted and I promise to catch up! On Saturday, Pat and I tested for our 1st KYU belts in Shito-Ryu karate. This is a belt between brown and black. From this point, we must wait six months before we can be invited to test for our black belt. During this time, we'll review all 18 katas, take downs and self-defense moves we already know, learn one new kata and bring all of it up to black belt level.

Pat and I both are just thrilled to have reached this level of karate and we would have never predicted we would have climbed this far. We both have backgrounds in Shotokan and even studied under the same Sensei, albeit at different eras in our lives. I really believe that our training under that Sensei gave us an advantage when learning Shito-Ryu. We've grown to truly love this style of karate and I believe a lot of it has to do with the fact that our Shihan is an excellent model and teacher of the art. He not only teaches us the katas, but also the bunkai - which is applying the techniques into "real life" applications. Our tests include kata (also called forms), terminology, take-downs (my favorite), self-defense and kumite (sparring). We managed to get a few videos of our test - thank you John! Here, for your viewing pleasure, is Pat sparring one of the black belts known as "Sempai Spidey" because he moves like Spiderman...




Shihan's wife was commening on how quickly we've risens through the ranks. It hasn't even been two years since we started training in this style. Because of our Shotokan experience, Shihan allowed us to test for three belts our first test. This, obviously, gave us a huge jump start! I'll never forget that first test. An orange belt watched me do my take downs and when I stepped off the mat (to the standing ovation of parents) she asked me "how did you learn to do that?" I may only be 5'2" but isn't there a saying that "good things come in small packages?"

I have to admit that I was really worried about my back during this test, having re-injured it about three weeks ago. I definitely was not my best during kumite. I was telling Pat that I think I have a subconscious self-defense mechanism in my brain that prevents me from letting loose when I fight. I'm so afraid I'm going to bring on that excruciating pain that I get when my back gives out! Every time I pass a test, I give myself an assignment to work on one special thing to improve in karate. This past time, it was my kumite. I know I improved, but I feel I let myself down during the test. I'm my worst enemy being a perfectionist, I know. But I want to be the very best I can be.

Now a long and arduous process begins to see if we can make it to black belt. Wish us luck - these two middle aged old farts are gonna need it! =D

One more thing - on the way home from our test, John, our son the black belt, made it a point to tell us how proud he is that his Mom and Dad have come this far. That was the best thing I heard all day!

Catching up...

It seems like time has just gotten away from me the past few days - I can't believe it's Wednesday already! Pat and John and a couple of guys from the dojo drove up to Ocala this past weekend to attend a seminar given by Soke Koze Kuniba from Japan. They really enjoyed it, although Pat said it was somewhat frustrating because Soke would speak in what he though was fluent English, but in reality, nobody had a clue what he was saying! LOL! Other than that and a cold shoulder from one of the instructors, they had a great time. Here's Pat with Soke...

John was so fired up from the seminar, that he asked me to take a few photos with his new sword. Having just built a backdrop last week, we put it up and went to work. The backdrop kept falling over! Guess we need to do some re-inforcing... Here's the result of our photoshoot...

There's more, but you get the idea...

Then yesterday I did my daily photo for my Project 365. Pat has been bugging me to do some "sexy" pictures, but I've been resisting. So, I went outside my comfort zone to shoot a self portrait for the Self-Portrait Tuesday group and here's what I came up with... kind of a prelude to Valentine's Day. I'm not all that great in photoshop, but I managed to add a filter to the photo to make it look more artistic. I think my friends on Flickr who follow my photostream were left a bit speechless! LOL! It's not my usual style. I think I'm getting the hang of taking a self-portrait, although I really would love to get a wireless remote.


Oh and I almost forgot! While the guys were out of town for the weekend, I went to the Fakahatchee Strand boardwalk in hopes of finding some wildlife to photograph and I managed to get an awesome shot of this Red Shouldered Hawk:

Pretty cool, huh? Well I hope you are all having a decent week. I'm off to figure out what to photograph next...

I Miss You...

Today is the one year anniversary of my dear Devo's death. I'm amazed it's already been a whole year since we had to say goodbye to him. I still feel the loss deeply. Being an animal lover, I've had many pets through the years, but none have captivated me like Devo.

He was the most amazing dog I've ever known. We bought him when he was 9 months old from a prominent show breeder. She actually cried when we took him, even though she had 25 dogs at the time. She knew he was special and that's why she had kept him so long. He was from a long line of champions that included a Best in Show at Westminster.

Devo was a gentleman in the truest of ways. He always waited for permission to jump on the bed or hop in the car. He would sing for us, forming his doggie lips into an "O" and woo woo wooing - it was a riot! He loved my Garlic Chicken and actually stole the entire chicken off my plate more than once... He had a stubborn streak, and would huff and puff if we did something he didn't approve of. He'd lay under covers until he was panting and pink all over. He was the perfect Alpha - gentle but firm. He kept the other dogs in order and accepted the rescues we brought in from time to time. But the single most thing I miss about him is that he was "connected" to me in a way I can't explain. He could sense when I was upset and wouldn't leave my side. He would try to nudge me and give me solace as if to say "I'm here, it'll be alright."

When we found out he had hemangiosarcoma (cancer of the blood vessels), I immediately drove through the night taking him to an oncology hospital to see what we could do. The news was devastating. His only chance of survival was if we removed his leg and part of his pelvis, and even then, he would probably only live six more months. I would have done anything to save him, but there wasn't anything anyone could do. He wasn't eating and he was in pain. I brought him home and found a vet who agreed to come to our home so that he would leave this world in a peaceful and familiar place. His favorite spot was to be next to me on the bed. I laid his favorite blanket down and laid him on top. I made him a big pan full of scrambled eggs and, even though he refused to eat anything for days, he gobbled them up - almost as if he knew this was the last pleasure he would enjoy. The vet arrived, and as we told him how much we loved him, he left us.

It was the single most difficult thing I've ever had to do.

I feel fortunate to have known such a wonderful, giving animal. I still have one of his nephews that lives with us and he reminds me of Devo in many ways, so I feel that I still have a part of him with me. There have been many times when I think I hear Devo barking or feel his presence. If you have a special pet, give them a hug and cherish them...they're only with us for a very short time.

Sausage Biscuits

For those who know me, I'm a pretty good cook. My specialty is not froo froo gourmet foods, rather, it's just good ol' southern comfort food. Naturally, sausage biscuits fall into that category. We have these far too often, but their so quick and easy and make a great little breakfast.

John woke up and asked if he could have some, to which I replied - "as long as you make them!" He did the entire cooking process without my being in the kitchen!




I came in at the end just to make sure he wasn't burning down the house. =)

He cooked the biscuits perfectly...



And he even added just the right touch to make them extra tasty...


Yep, as soon as the biscuits come out of the oven, run a stick of butter over the top... just a little and it will make such a difference in how the biscuits taste - flaky and buttery!

Well, I do believe I have me an apprentice chef in the house. How cool is that?

One more look before they disappear...

24/365 - Brown Pelicans

I woke up at an ungodly hour to drive an hour and half to Ding Darling Wildlife Refuge on Sanibel Island and meet a group of photogs for my first organized nature shoot. I absolutely hate getting up early and questioned myself - why am I doing this???? I now know why... the morning light is so magical!

I've never, ever been able to capture a flying bird without it being a complete blur and I am very pleased with my progress.

This photo represents to me a huge improvement in my skills and I'm just so thrilled! Can't wait to learn more.

If anyone is interested in taking photography classes, I highly recommend the Photography Institute of Naples.

My computer is on the blink and I'm having a tough time with loading any photos. Hence my spotty appearance the last couple of days... It seems my older processor and small storage capacity are not liking my recent photography sessions. I hopefully will be finding a solution this week.

23/365 - The Other Woman

This is my husband's passion... the other woman.

She's a classic Italian beauty - shows no age...

She's got a perfect, hard body - she's red hot...

She's high maintenance - only accepts "premium" treatment....

She enjoys going topless - has a reputation for being "fast"...

She lives a pampered life!

21/365 Just a flower...

Hello my sweet friends! I just didn't take the time to do a proper, meaningful photo. I'm just so tired today!

Pat and I are about a month away from our 1st KYU test and decided to add an additional day or hour to our weekly training. We did two hours last night and that second class was a real killer! We trained another hour tonight plus our usual weapons class and I'm just exhausted. I'm not particularly enjoying my weapons class yet, but I'm hoping eventually I'll warm up to it.

In homeschool today we watched a documentary on Reconstruction. Boy, I must have been really tired, because I found myself nodding off! LOL! John had "home economics" today. He wanted sausage biscuits, so we turned it into a cooking class. He says he really enjoys cooking with me. Speaking of home economics, last time my friend Kim was visiting, we "cooked" up a plan to have her daughter come over once a month so I can teach her how to cook. Maybe I should start a "Little Chefs Academy" - what do you think?

I hope everyone had a good day.

Special prayers to my best friend Steph - I'm thinking about you girl - good luck tomorrow!

This is My Flag

This is my flag. "Old Glory", the "Stars and Stripes," the "Star-Spangled Banner" and "Red, White and Blue." I have a deeply patriotic soul.

Having the privilege of homeschooling has given me a chance to re-learn about the history of America. There are so many rich details that never get taught in school and it saddens me. I am constantly in awe and reverence of the ordinary individuals that undertook extraordinary measures to give this country birth and ensure everlasting freedom.

Inauguration Day in America is always an historical event, however, today is more symbolic than most. We are inaugurating an African-American president. His inauguration represents a narrowing of the chasm of hatred and prejudice. Whether his presidency inspires hope in some or fear in others, we can all stand together and be proud of the "process." Our Constitution and Bill of Rights have stood the test of time and the process works every time.

There's no place in the world I'd rather be than the home of the brave and land of the free. This is my flag...

God Bless all of you!

19/365 - Florida Gator

I went out to check on the status of one of my geocaches and then thought we'd hit some of the other really remote caches out here. Man, we were out in the middle of freakin nowhere! We wound up at Dinner Island Ranch, which is thirty-four square miles of pastures, sloughs, pine flatwoods and oak hammocks that connect the Caloosahatchee River with the Big Cypress Swamp fifty miles to the south. We saw a plethora of wildlife, including deer, wild boar, wood storks, hawks, egrets and several pastures full of cows.

Oh yeah, and we also came across this guy. Scary!

I often ask myself why I go out in the middle of the woods and swamps, battling scary spiders on spiderwebs, ants, bees, mosquitoes and other various agitators. Being such a girly-girl, it's really opposite of all the things that I am. I don't recall being so adventurous when I was younger... maybe I've decided my life needs a bit of excitement - even if that means running into an alligator or two!

Whatever the reason for this new found insanity, all I can say is that I'm just having a blast!

We came across some white-tailed deer... Venison anyone? Look at the size of that doe!



We also saw a couple of nice, fat wild boar... then we went to Rib City for some baby back ribs - what can I say - they made me hungry!

Just so you have some brain food for the day, here are some interesting facts you may not know about alligators:

• In ancient times, the teeth of an alligator were believed to be a magical ward against snakebites, as alligators were thought to be immune to the bite of poisonous snakes.
• It has been said that an alligator can outrun a horse for a distance of 30 feet, due to the fact that they can run up to 20 mph for short distances.
• Alligators have a specialized valve in their throat called a glottis that enables the gator to capture its prey underwater. However, in order to swallow its food and thus keep itself from drowning, an alligator must lift its head out of the water.
• The courtship rituals of the alligator are quite complex, involving touching, rubbing, the blowing of bubbles and some vocalizations.
• The American Alligator (Alligator Mississipiensis) is found only in the southeastern part of the United States, from the Carolinas, down to Florida and over to Texas.
  

I hope everyone had a great day!

Rum Cake

My good friend Kim always asks me to make this when she visits. She and her family visited today for an afternoon of football and delicious food. When dinner was finished, we ate the whole cake! It's that good! Try it.

Cake:

1 cup pecans or walnuts
1 18 1/2 oz. package yellow cake mix
1 - 3 3/4 oz. package Jell-O Instant Vanilla Pudding mix
4 eggs
1/4 cup cold water
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1/2 cup Dark Rum

Glaze:

1/4 lb. butter
1/4 cup water
1 cup granulated sugar
1/2 Dark Rum

Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Grease and flour 10-inch tube or 12-cup Bundt pan. Sprinkle nuts over bottom of pan. Mix all cake ingredients together. Pour batter over nuts. Bake one hour. Cool. Invert on serving plate. Prick top with toothpick. Drizzle and smooth glaze evenly over top and sides. allow cake to absorb glaze. Repeat until all glaze is absorbed.

Glaze: Melt butter in saucepan. Stir in water and sugar. Boil 5 minutes, stirring constantly. Remove from heat. Stir in rum.



General Cooking Tip: Whenever a recipe calls for eggs, break the eggs into a separate bowl, or break them first into your mixing bowl. That way, if you accidentally get a piece of egg shell in the mix, you can remove it easily.

17/365 - I found it!

Today was absolutey gorgeous weather and I took the opportunity to go on a 3.4 mile hike in Picayune Strand State Forest. I have a hobby called geocaching. Being the techie/gadget girl that I am, I like hunting for "treasure" with my gps. Geocaching is world wide and its such a blast!

Today I did what is called a "multi-cache." You are given one set of coordinates and you have to find the treasure, which in turn gives you another set of coordinates, and so on. This one had five stages. I didn't have any paper, so I had to write the instructions on my hand. In the end, I found the "treasure," in this case, an ammo can. Once you find the cache, you sign the log to say "I was here." Sometimes, there will be trade items inside, as well as special coins for tracking and something called travel bugs. Travel bugs are in the shape of a dog tag and are meant to travel from cache to cache. Sometimes they have a mission, such as, "I want to visit every state capital in the country." Then people will take them to a cache near their state capital, then the next person, and so on...

If you're looking for a fun hobby that takes you to places you would otherwise not visit, then you should try it! If you want to learn more, go to geocaching.com. Type in your zip code and you'll be amazed how many are close to you.

14/365 - Kaelee

14/365 - Kaelee, originally uploaded by Sassygeogirl.

We have a girl in the house! Yay! I'm no longer the only female! Everyone, I'd like you to meet Kaelee. She is a six month old whippet. In November I was asked by Whippet Rescue to do a home inspection for Kaelee's prospective family. I gladly went to their home and gave them all the information they needed to happily raise a whippet. This family had two parrots - conures. Whippets are very prey driven - it's genetic. No matter how well trained a whippet can be, they can never ever be trusted around something they would consider prey. Now, before my whippet friends protest, I know - there ARE exceptions, but to be safe, I very strongly informed the family they needed to be alert to this tendency. I also told them if they had any problems whatsoever, to call me right away, before they made any decisions about the dog, as many problems can be worked out before they become a permanent habit. Fast forward to Saturday. I received a message from the husband of the family saying they wanted to give her back to rescue. My heart sank. I spoke to the husband and he proceeded to tell me that Kaelee almost got one of the birds and every time he's walking her, she wants to chase after birds, lizards, frogs, squirrels, etc. She also wants to be outside all the time and they don't have much of a yard. And because of THAT they can't keep her. Grrrrrrrrrrrr.... First, she's a PUPPY! Second, I TOLD them to expect this. I'm just so pissed about this I cannot tell you. After our trail ride on Sunday, we went to pick her up. The wife started to cry as soon as she went to speak. Hmmm.... I think there's more going on than meets the eye or what they told us. I think the husband must be the bird lover and didn't like the fact they couldn't be out whenever they wanted. What were they thinking - that dogs don't chase birds? It goes without saying that there could have been a happy medium, but they didn't even want to try.

This sweet dog is amazing! They taught her to ring a bell when she needs to go out, she's friendly, loves kids, loves other dogs, listens well, will sit on command... all in all a wonderful dog! My dogs, even my old, grumpy rescue, immediately accepted her and she has fit in as if she's always been with us. My son was wiping her off the next morning, as she was wet from the grass, and I said to him "Don't fall in love with her now..." He said "Too late! I'm totally in love with her!" Sigh. This is the hardest part of rescue.

Well, yesterday I was informed by the Hub that he and the Kid have decided that they just can’t live without Kaelee. So, after considering having 3 whippets again and “sleeping on it,” I contacted rescue to see if they would allow us to keep her and we got an answer back today saying that we could! So, here’s her first photo all snuggled up on my bed… Isn’t she adorable?

DOG... the Rabbit Hunter

DOG... the Rabbit Hunter, originally uploaded by Sassygeogirl.

"Shhh... Be wary, wary quiet... I'm hunting wabbits"

I'm brushing my teeth, getting ready to go into town and my son comes in and informs me that Shiraz caught a rabbit. "Is it dead?" I ask. "Yes!" "Are you sure Shiraz caught it?" "Yes! I saw him." Oh geez... This dog has chased hundreds of rabbits on our property and never actually caught one. He has, however, taken down a coyote along with two of his compatriots, so I know he has some hunting skills...

I look down to see that my son has allowed the dog to come into the house with blood all over him and the dog is now rubbing his bloody face on my pants! Ack! I hurriedly remove the offending dog outside and trudge through a wooded wetland area on our property (we have 5 acres fully fenced) to where the poor little rabbit bit the dust. His tail had been removed and was laying a couple of feet away and the rabbit had a big chunk missing with all his wonderful insides exposed. He was also missing a leg, which, I can only assume was eaten by my dear dog because I couldn't locate it anywhere.

Yuck. Yuck. Yuck! I hastily washed the dog outdoors and he didn't even shiver from the cold water - he was so hyped up on the "thrill of the kill!"

I swear, this is a very sweet, obedient dog and it was a real shock to see him actually do what his breed was bred to do so long ago.

Such excitement we had today! And no, we didn't have Hassenpheffer for lunch. =o

I've blurred the yucky portion of the rabbit. Sorry if this offends anyone!

UPDATE: We found the missing leg - one of my other dogs was discovered chewing it. I'm actually relieved he didn't eat it - I was worried about him trying to digest a bone and don't know if the rabbit could be sick. =P

12/365 - Girls Night Out

12/365 - Girls Night Out, originally uploaded by Sassygeogirl.

I made a new friend recently - the gal in the middle - and she called me out of the blue yesterday and invited me for drinks "and maybe dinner." Since one of my goals this year is to really work on developing better friendships, I decided to take her up on her invite. I didn't have any time to change, since it was last minute and thank goodness I had dressed nicely today. (That's me on the right - yes, I'm wearing a tank top in January in an outside bar - ha ha).

This is the first time I've been out on a "Girls Night" since I moved to this part of the state over 4 years ago. I've had a really hard time making friends, since we live in a very remote part of the town. We did a little bar hopping - my friend, who's husband ran for a local election recently, knows half the county and it was a constant stream of people saying hi. What was the most fun for me, is I had several offers from "visitors" for everything from a motorcycle ride to a golfing date. Too bad they had to learn that I was married! Hee hee - it definitely boosted my self esteem, something I constantly struggle with now that I'm getting older and cut my beautiful long hair short. (I'm letting it grow back out - can't stand it short). Anyway, one of my "visitors" saw my camera on the bar (aren't you all proud of me for remembering?) and asked to take our picture. So here it is, the girls having a very fun night, but being good girls too... =D

I got home a little late last night and couldn't upload till today. Thanks for stopping by!

10/365 Naples Pier

10/365 Naples Pier, originally uploaded by Sassygeogirl.

So I inform my family I'm going to the pier for sunset photos and they want to go too. I almost didn't go, there was so much bickering and fussing in the car on the way there I wanted to go home. >/ But, cooler heads prevailed and got there in plenty of time to set up. The kid went fishing and caught a lot of fish - he was a happy camper.

I hooked up with a seasoned photographer who was also there and he helped me with my exposure settings - I'm still learning... Took about 130 photos - but liked this one the best. I'm thinking now I may have cropped it weird. I *did* set up the thirds grid in PS and it looked good on there. Oh well. Any suggestions would be helpful. I want to improve!

The weather was clear today and I was happy to see some clouds as the sun set. This was about 20 minutes after the sun went down.

Nothing like going to the beach in January!

The hub was waiting for me in the car and said "what were you doing for so long?" Sigh....

We stopped for ice cream on the way home and picked up a movie from Blockbuster... "Hancock." After the grumpiness today, we needed something happy and funny!

Visit to Dr. Needle

Visit to Dr. Needle, originally uploaded by Sassygeogirl.

And no, I'm not joking, the doctor's name IS Dr. Needle - FOR REAL! LOL! Now can you just imagine, here's a guy who goes through all the medical training to become a doctor with a name like that, and then, to top it all off, he specializes as a pediatrician =o Seriously, what was he thinking? That kids are just going to be so excited to go see "Dr. Needle?" I have to believe that at some point in his career, someone has pointed out the irony of it all.

The Kid had to get a flu shot today. He's a big boy, but of course, is milking the sore arm for all it's worth! They gave him a Snoopy bandage, which isn't really "cool" at his age, but he didn't complain all that much.

He talked me into getting him a "special snack." Can you guess what it was?

Just paint...

Just paint... 7/365, originally uploaded by Sassygeogirl.

A random shot for my Day 7 of the Project 365. I had another shot in mind to take for today, I brought in a big tin of home made fudge to share with everyone at our dojo since we made so darn much over the holidays. My hope was to shoot the tin with a bunch of little hands in it, the timing of catching them eating it didn't work today. Oh well, life doesn't always go as planned, and, in my case of late, never does. At least my photo is a bit more cheery today!

Not Giving In...

Not Giving In..., originally uploaded by Sassygeogirl.

Well, here it is, my first self portrait.

We've been dealing with unemployment for 8 months now and can no longer pay our mortgage. We saved and saved for 8 years for retirement and now it's just about gone...

We learned yesterday that our mortgage is not owned by our bank, but Freddie Mac, the bank just manages the account. Even though the government has a "mortgage assistance program" we were told that you must be employed and making close to what you were in order to get assistance. If you don't have a job, you're out of luck. Freddie Mac received a trillion dollars from the government for a bail-out, but they won't provide assistance to those who need it.

So, unless a miracle occurs, ya know, it's raining money, or somebody gives us the winning lottery numbers, we're going to lose our house. Soon.

We moved to this part of the state for a job promotion and it's been downhill from the day we moved here.

It's depressing. Everything we've worked so hard for, for so long, is going to be gone. All of it.

I'm determined to not let this situation bring me down and drag me into the pit of depression. I'm going to fight it. The demons are at me... I can't sleep, I'm hyper-emotional, and very blue. But no, I will NOT let them win. I will survive somehow...

I'm reminded of Scarlett O'Hara in "Gone With the Wind" ... "What will I do? Where will I go?"

And the government says... "Frankly my dear, I don't give a damn."

Eye See You!

Eye See You!, originally uploaded by Sassygeogirl.

I was playing around with my 50 mm lens which I never use and decided to photograph the dogs. I got some cool shots, but this one was just different. It's my Day 4 photo for my Project 365.

Eli has been out of sorts ever since Devo died in February 2008. He turned nasty and bit poor Shiraz a few times and just became quite difficult and destructive. He really missed Devo. He didn't accept our new puppy at all and Shiraz took to having to guard the puppy and it just caused so many problems. We had to find another home for the puppy. I was afraid she wasn't going to survive if left alone with Eli.

As long as there isn't a thunderstorm nearby (and no puppies in the house) he's okay. Whatever happened to him in his puppyhood really has messed him up. He's come SO far since we adopted him almost 7 years ago, but still has the scars emotionally.

All we can do is love him and love him we do.

Project 365

Yipee - it's the new year! Rather than setting out a list of resolutions that may or may not be kept, I've decided to try ONE major goal for this year. It's called Project 365. It's taking one photo each and every day of the year. The goal is to see your life in a different way and a new perspective. The upside will be to record life's every day comforts that we take for granted, as well as the ones more memorable, and maybe just help me broaden how I see my "own little Idaho." It will definitely make me a better photographer and push my creativity to it's limits.


Why do it? Well, imagine being able to look back on any given day in the year and see what I was doing - or just remembering that fabulous winter day hiking while we're waiting out a hurricane in the summer... I'll be able to recall who I've met, or what I've learned, what I had for dinner last week, or just a funny moment lost in my vast brain files of memory.


I'm not the only crazy to take on this challenge, oh no, I'm not THAT clever... If you want to join in the fun, you can check out the Flickr 365-1 group pool (479 members and rising) and sign up to stay motivated, or just look through all those participating and showing their photos. Either way, it will be a fun and interesting project! Won't you join me in this challenge? I think it would be great fun to share our pictures with each other!


I'm hoping that I'll be able to create at least one scrapbook page a week documenting the highlight photos and that way, I'll at least keep up with my scrapbooking instead of always being behind.

And so, I'm off to upload my first photo - you can follow my Project 365 photos by clicking

www.flickr.com Have a blessed day!