Day 121 - July 31st

Another full day in St. Louis - I am loving family vacations! This is what I've always dreamed of. Mom, Dad, and kid in the car checking out new things to all and having a great time together, taking pictures for the scrapbook (and for Facebook) and getting on each other's nerves when we're tired.

We spent several hours, more like 5 hours at The Magic House. It's a hand's on kid's museum. That was the coolest thing I've ever seen. At first I thought we were in for trouble, I thought it was too young for Ginger. But as we got deeper into the museum the cooler it got. We heard several times from Ginger, "This is the best day of my life!" Ginger had the greatest time. Our feet felt as if there were knives going in them, our legs were throbbing, and we were starving. But Ginger was no where near stopping. Every exhibit was her favorite.

They had an awesome construction room showing how houses and buildings were designed and made. They had a mystery floor where the kids had to use clues to figure out the mysteries. She had to go through a secret passageway through the fireplace and hold up clues in a mirror to read secret messages.

Then there was the town that kids ran. It was like a huge playhouse....play town. They had a library, grocery store, car shop, pizza shop, bank, post office, TV station, electric company, and so many others that I can't remember right off hand. It was just plain ol' cool. I had a great time...I mean, Ginger had a great time!

Day 120 - July 30th

Wow did we sleep good last night. We all slept in and it's a good thing too, we had a full day at the arch. Well...full day starting at noon. We have a kitchenette in our hotel room which is just the most wonderful thing a family could have in their room. We had muffins, cereal, eggs and toast for brunch today. For dinner we had hot dogs and chips. And after Russ & Ging went swimming we had our favorite family snack, frozen grapes.

But during the day we went to the Gateway Arch. WOW! There is just no way to explain it unless you have seen it yourself in person. It absolutely amazing. We decided to go today to beat the weekend crowd, we thought a Thursday would be less crowded. And I'm sure it was, but if this was a Thursday, I'd hate to see what a Saturday was like. It was very busy and crowded and they don't have a great air conditioning, if they have one at all. We were hot the whole time. But talking about it after and looking at our pictures, we did have a great time. Ginger loved it and loved going to the very top to look out the windows. Those are priceless moments, those times where you can show your daughter something brand new and discover it at the same time she does. Ginger liked the little trams we rode up and back down the arch, it's like a diagnal elevator. They were made in the 1960s with the arch. They are supposed to fit 5 people, but I'm guessing people were a lot shorter in the 60s than they are now. That little pod was tiny, but it was fun looking out the little window and seeing the inner arch all the way up. I would do it again...on a cooler day...with less people.

Day 119 - July 29th

Today is the day we surprised Ginger with a little vacation! We had been planning a cruise to Alaska, but our attorney ate up that money, so we scaled it down a little. I was able to get all packed up in the car and her have no idea. We went and grabbed lunch at Sonic and picked up Daddy at noon from work. We hopped on the highway and that's when the questions of "Where are we going?" started. The screams of excitement of going on vacation and staying at hotel were worth the wait of telling her until we were on our way. It also helped the questions of "How many more days till we leave?" completely not even exist. Then when we told her we were going on a 6 hour drive to get there, the excitement didn't last long. We took a little detour to Branson to pick up a perfect little gift from the Gilbert family. Thank you April & Alex, you totally rock! We made it to St. Louis about 7:45 and were exhausted. Ginger fell asleep in the car just as we were coming in to St. Louis and only slept about 10 minutes before we got to the hotel. But I guess that was just long enough to giver her some energy. We were ready to crash, but Ginger got her second wind. We watched a little TV, unpacked, and had some peanut butter & honey sandwiches and popcorn. These are the pictures of Russ trying to get her into bed. What a great room! She loves her secret bed that hides in the couch, and we love our own separate bedroom. Already, a great vacation!

Day 118- July 28th

Ginger went to work with me today and got to run some errands with me. It turned out to be a fun little field trip for her at NeoSource/Water Jet. When we got there the guys working thought it was great that she was there. They were all excited to show off their work to her, it really is quite fascinating and I've been wanting an up close look for awhile. NeoSource uses high powered water jets to cut through plastic and metal. they cut the lenses for our streetlights and we were picking up a new batch from them. But then the questions started, "How do they cut through metal with water?" That was a great question and these guys jumped all over it to show her. They even brought her over a step ladder so she could see better inside the machines. They use 50,000 pounds per inch to cut through several inches of metal. The design they were cutting out of the sheet metal (that was about 1 inch thick) was going to take about 6 hours to complete. They use the power of erosion and slowly cut through the metal like a knife through a tomato. It slices, it dices, it makes pretty patterns in steal. We decided these machines were like huge water guns that were really really fast and powerful. This little field trip couldn't be more perfect for Ginger, especially all we hear is, "How do they make that?" about EVERYTHING.

Day 117 - July 27th

It was a typical Monday, lots of work and exhausted afterwards. Mom and I decided to skip the drive to Talequah for our Cherokee class because Chuck was out of town and I needed to get ready for our St. Louis trip this week. We've got the material and the books, we may just teach ourselves.
Russell brought home a remote control car for Ginger. You would of thought she won the lottery when she saw it. It was a promotional thing he got at work from HP. Wow, we get a flyer in the mail with a business card attached. But the car is great! It's fast and has blinkers and back-up lights. It works great on our wood floors. She had blast with that silly thing for hours, including crashing into my feet while I was cooking dinner. I was relieved when the battery died and it had to recharge overnight.

Day 116 - July 26th

After staying up until 4am scrapbooking, I was sure I'd sleep till noon. NOPE! Not me! I was feeling oh so good and in a mood to crop. I woke up about 8:30 and cropped and cropped until I had to stop to take my family home and feed them. We would have stayed another night if we could. Ging and I were happier than a snail on a skateboard when we're scrapbooking and Russell had spent the weekend gaming with Tim and the other husbands. But work tomorrow, so we headed home about 7pm. Got Ginger fed and in bed and I headed over to Chuck's house to feed Scarbo. Chuck is on a mini vacation with his Mom to Mississippi, even though he just did that 2 weeks ago. So we're watching Scarbo again. Scarbo loves to play, he's a happy puppy and reminds me of Chuck but I can't put my finger on it why he does.

Also at Chuck's house is his new tenant, Charolette. She fascinates me. She only comes out during night and hides during the day. Chuck told me she had moved in, so I knew what to expect when I came over. She's very focused on her work and never looked up at me. But she didn't seem to care that I was photographing her. I even used my macro and got really close to her. It didn't bother her one bit, but my heart was racing. I really did not want to startle her.

Day 115 - July 25th

This weekend was packed full of fun plans. A crop-a-way at Joy's house, Mike & Janette Sumner's Wedding, and a wedding reception for the Tulsa friends and family for Rick & Annie Thomas. Well guess what? Last night I got sick. Real sick. I don't know what happened or what caused it. But I was just plum-ol-sick. I fell asleep without cropping, slept through Mike & Jeanette's wedding, and still feeling pretty much icky when I finally made it to Joy's at 2:00. I was sluggish and my tummy still hurt, but it wasn't as bad as last night. I slowly started to feel better, but I still missed Rick & Annie's reception. I started to feel better and better and better and ended staying up until 4:00am scrapbooking!! I had so much fun! I did a page that I had been looking forward to doing, "Literally Speaking" I should have taken a picture of it, but you can see it on the table in this picture of the girls and our Heavenly crop room.

It ended up being a great day, once the icky's were through my system. Mom, Laurie, Joy, Amber, Carol, Shelley, Ginger and I had a great time and got lots done. Yep, even Ginger! She loves scrapbooking.

Day 114 - July 24th

Today was Uncle Mike's Memorial Service. How incredibly sad. It was wonderful to see all my family again, some I haven't seen in years. I love my family. I miss Uncle Mike. What a great man he was. I know funerals are full of fond memories and how great a person is, but Uncle Mike was really that great. He had the calmest most relaxing voice. He would give anyone anything they needed. He was truly working for Christ and putting Christ first in all he did. I am so blessed that I got to talk to Mike on the phone about a month ago, and for nothing more than he called to check on me. I am really going to miss you Uncle Mike. But we'll see you again soon, we are all looking forward to the day we can all party in Heaven. One thing is for sure, I really don't want to see Grandma cry again. That broke my heart.

Ginger had a great time after the funeral with her cousin Jenny. These two have become pretty good friends while becoming little fishies over the summer at Papa's house. They have arranged a swimming and sleepover party this Tuesday at Papa's. I wonder if Papa knows what he's gotten himself into? These are two pretty great girls that get along pretty good.

Day 113 - July 23, 2009

Long day at work, hot day outside, and productive night at the Tulsa house. I definitely like mudding much better than sanding. But I'll be so glad when it's all done. On the way home I held my camera in my hand, exhausted and searching for a subject for my POTD. Almost home!! What do I photograph? There...about this?We getting a new hospital in Broken Arrow. It's just around the corner from our house too. Hopefully though, we won't be at that house long after it opens though. We'll start hearing ambulances soon and helicopters. This thing is huge and they put it up real fast. They are going to also build some retail shops there in a strip mall. I think it would be a great place for a studio some day.

Day 112 - July 22, 2009

Ginger had an eye appointment this morning before starting 3rd grade in a few weeks. She did so good. They went ahead and dilated her eyes to check thoroughly since she had been complaining of blurry vision and not being able to see the board at school unless she was in the front row. I'm pretty sure it's more of just not being able to pay attention unless she's on the front row. Turns out she has a very tiny case of near-sightedness but not enough for glasses. So she's good to go.

On the way back to the office after her appointment we got a flat tire. Russell was at a company lunch and had ridden with someone else so he couldn't come to our rescue. (I still love you baby). We managed to hobble across to a gas station to see if the tire would hold air. It did. Turns out it's another air valve injury, but a different tire. It held just long enough for us to make it Sam's. They fixed it for free, just like they did in Tennessee, last time I injured an air valve. A couple of weeks ago I got a letter from Ford saying that air valves were faulty on the tires. Really? I'm not sure yet, I still have 2 good ones, so we'll see before I jump to conclusions.

Ging had fun sliding and dancing up and down the tire aisles and then we walked around Sam's for an hour. But that turned out to be good because I found lots of good stuff I didn't even know we needed.

Day 112 - July 21, 2009

Wow. Am I tired today. Lots of emotions with my Uncle passing, working all day, and not sleeping much the night before. In fact, Ginger left for my dad's to go swimming and I went to lay down for just a minute and I passed out. Yep, straight to sleep, skipped dinner, and was out for the night. 10 hours of sleep is awesome!!

And guess what else...it happened. I forgot all about the POTD today. I can't believe it. Didn't even cross my mind to take a picture today. Ok, that's not completely true. I actually have this one photo I took when I needed to remember my mileage. So technically, I'm still ok. I do have a picture. So here it is...TA DA!! My POTD!! My mileage and my nose in the reflection as an added bonus. Can you believe how high my mileage is? My car is only one year old! 2008 Ford Escape! And, I really need to dust it.

Day 111 - July 20, 2009

I took a picture of this sign while crossing the line into Broken Arrow today. This is the new city logo. Is it just me or is it quite stupid? I loved the old logo. Maybe because my Girl Scout troop got to help pick it out. Why the change? We live in Broken Arrow. Where is the "Broken Arrow" on this logo? I see a un-broken arrow. I don't get it. Really? I don't see it.

Tonight our Cherokee class got canceled, but that's no excuse not to get together still. Mom, Chuck, Ginger, Russ and I had Charlie's Chicken then decided to educate me in some Harry Potter. I haven't seen any of them. I saw the first one but fell asleep about the time that little Harry was buying his stick.

Chuck bought the series so he could get caught up before he saw the SIXTH movie that just came out. Seriously? Six movies. Is it really that great? We decided to watch the 4th movie. It wasn't 1/2 bad. I'm actually surprised that I got into it. I'm not sure if I'll ever watch the others, but it's baby steps.

Tonight though turned rough. We got a call from Phyllis and I immediately jumped to the conclusion that something was wrong with my Uncle David that has been in ICU for the past couple of days. But no, it was about my Uncle Mike, my Dad's oldest brother. He had a heart attack and died suddenly. It wasn't expected at all. We are all in such shock. I don't get it. I talked to Uncle Mike about a month ago, he was helping me with some questions he saw on my Facebook and called me. It was great to talk with him. If you are reading this please keep our family in your prayers. My dad seems to be the pillar in the family that everyone runs to and he really could use the continued strength. And then of course, my grandparents and Aunt Judy and Mike's kids needs prayer too. They all do. Mike was a pastor in Arkansas and just turned 63 years old.

This is a photo from last March on Mike's birthday party. Mike is on the far right, those are my grandparents down front. My dad is one of 13 kids, Mike was the oldest.

Day 110 - July 19, 2009

I love road trips with my awesome hubby. We always have the greatest time wherever we go. But when it's time to head back home, IT IS TIME TO HEAD BACK HOME! It's all about making good-time on the way home. He claims he tried to wake me up several times this morning, but to me it was like he had robbed a bank and we had to make a get-a-way. Go! Go! Go! But still...we had time to stop at Sonic on the way out of Great Bend.

We made it to Wichita and had fun texting to Ginger all morning. We are really missing that girl! We met a friend, Roxy, at Chicago, a pizza place in downtown Wichita. Roxy has been a friend of Russell's for about 10 years and she came to our wedding. Now I'm getting to know Roxy and she's just as cute as a button, I can't help but to just watch her. She's got a boyfriend that she's smitten over and just glows and blushes over when she talks about him. And she put their date off a couple of hours to have lunch with us. For us!!! I know!! We are so special! I might have to steal a picture off her Facebook to put on here. With permission of course. I'm all for artist's copyright laws. And people, I know it's tempting, but don't make copies of professional portraits. There are a lot of photographer's out there that put hard work into these portraits. It's more than just a point and shoot for them. It really hurts to see our work copied somewhere else.

Here is the approved picture from Roxy! Thanks Roxy!!

Without getting off our good-time-makin-track, we finished lunch on schedule and were back on the highway in no time. We got back in to town and raced to the door to get our girl. Wow! I swear she's grown while we were gone. She's losing her baby face, she's a beautiful young lady.

Exhaustion and all, we got right back on the turnpike and headed to Owasso for dinner with the Parrish family. It's Tammy's birthday! Cliff made excellent grilled chicken, potatoes, and corn on the cob, just the perfect summer birthday dinner.

Ginger, Aubrey & Lauryn are inseparable. I am so blessed they clicked and get along so well. The one with the bag over her head is artistic and creative Aubrey. Isn't she beautiful? And the one on Jason, her Daddy's lap is Lauryn, she is so funny and just as cute as grasshopper's knee. Lauryn is 9 and Aubrey 11. They are great girls. And that's a sticker that the girls thought would look great on Jason's head, in case you were wondering.

Day 109 - July 18, 2009

PICTURE COMING SOON

Annica Westphal and Rick became Mr & Mrs. Rick Thomas today. What a sweet wedding. And nothing went wrong with what I could see. I LOVE photographing weddings. Photography is my passion, and I think I'm somewhat sorta 1/2 way good at it. I see life through a view finder. Photographing weddings is so fun and such a blessing to do. I have enjoyed every one of the weddings I have ever photographed. But there is just something extra special about photographing friend's weddings. To be involved in the details of a friend's love is just so stinkin' fun. Sometimes sitting around and waiting for the bride to be all gussied up can get boring for a photographer, but we're usually paid by the hour, so it's worth it. You can really have so many shots of someone getting their hair done. But with Annie, I loved every tiny little second of it. I was honored she wanted me there from the beginning moments of primping. It was fun to be included with the elite.

Her wedding was beautiful and as sweet as they are. Rick couldn't stop smiling all day, he was just having the time of his life. Annie floated around like an angel making sure everyone felt special and welcomed. These two couldn't be more perfect for each other. They got married in an old country church that Annie grew up in. It had always been her dream to get married in that church. And she found her night in shining armor to make all her dreams come true. Their reception was fun, complete with delicious little candies and a Lego cake topper on the groom's cake that the ring bearer had made.

It was a perfect day. I'm sure Rick and Annie were exhausted, but they didn't stop smiling one bit. They headed to Wichita for the night and on Monday they are leaving for a cruise to the Bahamas.

Russ and I drove through Taco Bell and Sonic (for the drink of course) and headed back to the hotel. He rubbed my feet that I had been on for 9 hours and I had the greatest nap. There was no way we could have driven back home after the wedding. After any wedding, it takes awhile for me to recoup, it just plain wears me out. But it is oh so worth it and I look forward to the time in my life where photography is my full-time career again.

Day 108 - July 17, 2009

There is just never a dull moment with us. We laughed and laughed and had just the best time on the drive to Great Bend, Kansas for our friends' wedding. We stopped in Wichita and Russell showed me where he used to work and live. He had a really cute house there and downtown Wichita has been rebuilt and is adorable with lots of fun little shops, cafes, and old buildings turned into lofts.

We are Sonic drink fans. Plain and simple. Nothing beats a Sonic drink. We were in McPherson, Kansas and I was in desperate need of a Sonic drink. We couldn't find one. We found corn field after corn field, but no Sonic. Now depending on who you ask you will receive two different stories. Let me tell you the... ummmmm... "truth".

While changing my Facebook status to something about trying to find a Sonic I looked up and at that exact moment behind some trees that Russ was just about to pass, I saw a Sonic!

...Ummmm...I mean...

...I peacefully looked up and noticed about 1/2 mile down the road a Sonic shining in the sunbeams glowing down from Heaven.

His story makes no sense at all and is nothing like me what so ever. And is it really my fault that my darling husband cannot tell the difference between the screams of, "THERE'S A CHILD RUNNING OUT IN THE STREET!!!" and "AHHHHH!!! THERE'S A SONIC!!!! QUICK TURN!!! TURN!!!!"

Ummmmm...I mean, what I really said was, "Honey, if it doesn't disturb you too much my lord, there is a Sonic down the road. If it isn't too much trouble for you, I would be honored to buy you a drink to quench the thirst of your pallet that I'm sure is parched." This is of course after I raised my hand and he called on me to speak. Yeah, that's more like what happened.

This man of mine has excellent control when he is behind the wheel. He managed to keep control as my hand pointed across his face at the Sonic while gasping in fear of missing another Sonic. (these are of course his opinions again of what happened) He stopped suddenly, while still obeying all traffic laws, and we made the turn in to Sonic safely. Which I believe is no reason to feel the need to remind me not to startle the one-eyed driver. I know better than to startle him, he has limited vision, there's no need to keep repeating himself every time he mistakes my calm suggestions as emergency warnings. He handled the crazy Sonic addicted woman in the passenger seat much better than I would have. We would have surely ended up in an accident.

We got a little something to hold us over! Wacky Pack meals for grown ups!!! WHOOO HOOO!!! But I was so excited about the new funky straw that I got as a prize (and that I don't have to share with Ginger) that I dumped my bag from my lap and all my fries ended up in my shoes that I had taken off an hour earlier. And my grilled cheese was so greasy and burnt, but my large cranberry Diet Dr. Pepper was perfect.
...and we missed Happy Hour by 4 minutes.

Day 107 - July 16, 2009

Today is our Friday! It's a long weekend because we're going to Great Bend, Kansas to photograph our friend's wedding. But before we did that we had dinner with Baga (my mom) and Ginger because we wouldn't see her for a couple of days and we spent several hours tonight working at the house in Tulsa.

Today is just one of those days that happen not near enough but I absolutely love them when I do. It seemed like every time I looked at my watch, it was an hour later. Today went by so fast! Working on the house was fun tonight. I continued my project of sheetrocking the sills of the windows and I learned how to mud! I'm really good at it, I think I'm better than Russell. Although, it's a very messy job. But I love it.

Day 106 - July 15th

I don't think I slept very well last night. Today was so long and by noon I was fighting with everything I had to keep my eyes open. I just got more sleepy and crabby as the day went on. I woke up early and was wide awake, so I thought I slept good. But a couple of hours later, that didn't seem to be the case. I had to leave work early, my whole body was aching I was so tired.

Ginger went to work with me today. She's a great kid and loves to come to work with me. But when I'm exhausted any kid will make the day that much longer. I ran to go get us lunch and she stayed at the office with Joy. When I got back, I found this on my desk. I love it that she writes "your kid" on things to me. It makes me giggle. Ginger loves to draw and she's recently discovered shadows. Then she told me that I could take a picture of her picture for my POTD. So I did.

Day 105 - July 14, 2009

While waiting for Papa (my dad) to get off work, Ginger helped us on the house a little bit after work. She absolutely loves helping Daddy do anything. She follows him everywhere wanting to know if she can help him. She was very happy to "build a house" with him for a little bit tonight. And Russell loves showing her how to do things. He's very patient and is very good at explaining things in "kid words". Ginger only got to help for a few minutes before Papa got there. Then she quickly put down her tools to go swimming at Papa's house. Russ and I continued to work. But just long enough for him to finish sheet rocking this hall and run electric to the bathroom. I got to demolish a few window sills. It's really fun knocking stuff down. This house is really coming along great. We think if we can work on it every chance we get, we should be done in a couple of months. It was so stinkin' hot today...again, that we didn't work long. We headed home when we were hungry and too hot to go on. We ate dinner then worked on a budget. Oh what it is to be a grown-up. (I haven't decided yet if that's sarcastic or not)

Day 104 - July 13, 2009

Mom and I headed to Telequah for our Cherokee class tonight. Chuck was on his way back from his family reunion in Mississippi. So it was just a couple of gals on a little road trip. Just East of Coweta we heard a "ding" and noticed mom's temperature gauge was all the way up to HOT! We quickly pulled over and under the hood there was water spraying everywhere with hot steam coming up. Thank the good Lord for AAA. Because 1 1/2 hours later, they came to rescue us from the side of the road with a tow truck.

It was a cool day at 104 degrees at 6:30pm. We sat on the side of the highway in the car with no air conditioning for 1 1/2 hours waiting for the tow truck that was "on it's way". Several people stopped to see if we needed help or water. But we told them all the same thing, the tow truck is on it's way. A couple of officers even stopped and looked under the hood, they said it was a hole in the air hose and it should be easy to fix. For some reason mom felt the need to hide her bag of dried sage though. Then she thought it was a good idea to tell the cops we were singing Christmas songs in an attempt to stay cool. The cops asked us if they could do anything for us. We told them we could use some air conditioning. They laughed like we were kidding and left. We were dripping sweat from places that I didn't know sweat could drip. But finally, the tow truck showed up and we rode shot-gun in the truck to the mechanics. We missed our class.

Day 103 - July 12, 2009

After church Ginger had lunch at McDonald's with her dad then went over that afternoon to Ted's to have dinner with Baga Kathi and Papa Jim Kaseman. They don't come to town to often, and she loves to see them and spend time with her Kaseman family when they do. Russ and went and worked on the house again just a little while Ging was at Ted's.

Later Russ and Ging decided to wash my car while I mowed. What a great idea! Somehow though, soap never made it to my car. It turned in to a 2 hour water fight. I love the picture of her looking at the camera. I can just see it on her face. This is the moment she realized, "I can squirt you with the water." Car washing was over at that time. The two chased each around the yard with the water hose. Then snuck up behind me and soaked me. It felt so wonderful while mowing, it was still about 101 degrees at 7:3opm. They kept me wet and cool while I mowed and they were pretty much soggy to core when they were finished. And my car...still dirty.

Great job on the pictures Russell! Thank you!

Day 102 - July 11, 2009

Big work day. Ginger spent the day with Baga (my mom) and Russ and I, along with Nana (Russ' mom) spent the day at the Tulsa house working on it. We got so much done. It was a lemon house. Every time we pull off Sheetrock we find some way the builders many years ago cheated, cut corners, and did things wrong. Russ is amazing and is working very hard to build it back right. We can't out of good conscious just cover it back up with Sheetrock. So that means we have added walls, fixed electrical, fixed the air vents, puts supports up where there were none. In fact, today when we took the sheet rock off a wall in a tiny hallway, the ceiling fell. It wasn't screwed or nailed up at all. It was just resting on the piece of sheet rock we tore down. Then the 2x4s in the wall weren't screwed in either, they were just balanced there and offered no support what so ever. I have no idea how this house stood for so long. But rest assure, this house is built right now and nothing is going to knock it down.

Not only is Russ building it back up to code, where it was supposed to be all along, he's making everything better and stronger. Instead of a 4 inch foundation, he poured a 6 inch foundation with supports. He pushed the refrigerator into a custom built box in the garage. That way the refrigerator is flush with the wall, so much more kitchen space now. He even widened the kitchen entry and put arches in. Not to mention all new appliances and cabinets. He's added so much to everything, this really is a brand new house. It's going to make a great home for a family someday. It's going to be beautiful. I learned how to sheet rock and did the inside of a window all by myself! I love power tools! It was fun working with Russell all day. We make a great team and work really well together.

Day 101 - July 10, 2009

FINALLY FRIDAY!!!

I am so glad it's Friday. Nothing exciting to do on this Friday evening, but bask in the glory that the week is over.

Russ and Ging have a wonderful game they play in the evenings. Russ learned it in school as a brain exercise and Ginger thinks it's just fun, especially when she wins. Every night Russ gives her a word to remember, she has to remember the words the next night. He adds a word to every night and the list to remember gets longer and longer. When she gets it right, she gets to blow in his nose. That is a pastime of mine that my cousins used to do to me. Hold me down, cover my mouth and blow in my nose as hard as they could. Now Ginger does it to Daddy. It started out cute and fun, but now she blows and blows until his sinus' can't handle it anymore. I should step in, but it's funny to me. Isn't that awful. It's a father/daughter bonding moment.

Day 100 - July 9th

DAY 100!!! That's just all sorts of an amazing miracle for me!! I've stuck to it for 100 days!! WHOOO HOOO!! Now on with the blog...

Day 100 had to be special. Why? I don't know why, it just seems like the cliche thing to do. What to photograph? This morning on they way to work I watched a storm roll in and it was absolutely amazing. You could actually see the line between the storm and blue skies. I just wanted to park my car and watch it roll in, but I didn't. I opted for shooting the storm while driving down the road. I know, I'm the poster child for car safety.

But tonight was Bunko!! What better way to spend Day 100 than with the women I've spent 8 years with. We had a scare that Bunko might be canceled. Valerie's sweet little Henry is very sick. (I hope he's feeling better today Val, we've been praying for him. He'll be up and running circles around you in no time.) Valerie was hosting Bunko tonight, but she was kind enough to protect us from the germies in her home and either cancel it or find another hostess.

DUHHH DUHHHH DUHHHH!!! (that's the sound of trumpets blazing!) JOY TO THE RESCUE!! Joy opened up her home and we had Bunko as planned! I took several shots eager to get the perfect POTD, but all I ended up with was a bunch of silly shots...which I realized...was perfect. Again, I love you gals! Oh and guess what!?! Ellen is pregnant! Congratulations Ellen! These are Val's hands, as "The Praying Hands", a gorgeous picture of our Pretty Tiffany, and Laurie didn't like the way she looked in this shot, so I cropped it a little, is that better La? (La, after staring for several minutes at the other picture of you and looking at your...ummmm....I decided it didn't make the cut) :o)

My Bunko girls exchanged names a couple of months ago for Secret Sisters. I won't give any clues here to who I may or may not have in case she does or does not read this blog. But my Secret Sister ROCKS!! She has totally spoiled me with a great organization book from Pottery Barn, an awesome frame, a smelly good thing that has kept my bathroom at a more tolerable level of breathable air, then tonight she gave me an awesome paint can filled with all my favorite goodies!! LOVE YOU! She keeps trying to fool me with ransom-type letters cut-out that I have to arrange into secret messages. She's clever. And funny thing is, she could be the one sitting right next to me helping me figure out the puzzles. AHHHHH! WHO ARE YOU??

Tonight when I got home and went to bed, something happened that happens every night...we couldn't go to sleep. Every night we are exhausted and turn in, then once we start talking in bed we become wide awake and goof-off for at least an hour. It's so fun but it makes us so tired in the mornings. We decided that our realities are finally better than our dreams, that's why we find it hard to go to sleep. It's a fun time full of laughter and catching up from the day. I wouldn't trade it for anything, not even an hour of sleep.

Side note...After Russ fell asleep, I was still awake and needing something to read. I grabbed my iPhone and caught up with the news and then played around on WebMD. According to WebMD, I have second degree burns from the sunburn. No wonder it's still so painful and red hot after a whole week. I'm on my 2nd layer of peeling and basically it feels like my skin is ripping open. I fell asleep before I could read on pain relief.