120/365

MY MILKSHAKE BRINGS ALL THE BOYS TO THE YARD...

I must have one of those faces that makes all old people want to talk to me. This lady had to be 140 years old. She stopped me in the middle of the cereal aisle in the grocery store to tell me she was freezing even though she had three sweaters on. Aunt Gloria was with me and immediately came over to talk to her because that's what you do when you are that age I guess. Glo said we should all go to a bar and get a drink to warm up. The lady said when she was 18 or 19 years old her five sisters took her out. The sisters would go out once a week and leave the kids with the husbands. She didn't know they were taking her out for her "first" drink so she said she sat on the bar stool, got all comfortable and the bartender came up and asked her what she wanted and she said a MILKSHAKE! He said "we don't serve that kind of stuff here..." and all the boys in the place laughed at her. She said she'll remember that always. She said when she has a drink now it's a tablespoon of something in some ginger ale. She just never liked anything. I told her I feel the same way. I'm with you little old freezing lady in Giant Eagle wearing a lot of sweaters... and next time I have a milkshake I'll think of you. ;-)

119/365

I couldn't find a plane with a banner. ;-)

118/365

Too tired to post anything new... 1 1/2 hours sleep today is not enough!
Came across this picture today... Lily back in her puppy days.

117/365

WHAT IF?

It is National Infertility Awareness Week (NIAW) this week. There is something going on in the infertility community called Bloggers Unite: Project IF. It was the idea of Melissa Ford, blogger of Stirrup Queens, an infertility and pregnancy loss blog along with RESOLVE. The concept is to write about your biggest "what if" in regards to infertility. In her words, "take out one of the "what ifs" that keep knocking around inside your heart, keeping you awake at night, and allow the larger community to commiserate, empathize and help you carry your burden by reading your words."

Here are a few of the posts from OTHER people...

"what if I regret buying the larger car because the empty seats remind me of the child we might not have?"

"what if the reason I'm infertile is because I wasn't meant to be a mother?"

"what if I can never just be happy with what I have and stop being angry, bitter, and sad about what I do not?"

"what if people would never utter the phrase "God must not mean for you to have children" ever again?"

"what if I am forever bitter about women who get pregnant "naturally" and then treat their kids like shit?"

"what if it never became 'we' in our infertility struggle, would there still be us?"

"what if infertility stole our Happily Ever After?"

And here is MINE:
"what if I didn't miscarry the three times I did? I would be sitting here 13 weeks pregnant with a 9 month old and a 3 year old. How would I/We be different?"

I haven't really talked much about this except to those in the IF community. For those of you that don't know, IF is online speak for infertility. There are many "what IFs" listed on this project and I'm sure many more unsaid and unheard. Visit the links on Project IF - Part Two to read more...These bloggers are way more profound than I can be at this time. I really don't have the energy to elaborate much on this right now - maybe someday I will... Just NOT today!

I guess it if I learned anything from this it's that at some point you have to stop focusing on what could have been and redirect to what could be... that's the reason for putting my "what IF" statement out there today.

Check out these links for more information:
Project IF ("what IF" statements)

Project IF - Part Two (blog posts)

RESOLVE (The National Infertility Association)

116/365

QUEEN FOR A DAY

I was playing around with Photo Booth this morning... I never realized you could do a 4 up collage of consecutive pictures! Lily was giving me a kiss here... and YES I have a tiara on!!! I bought one the other day and I plan on wearing it when I paint pictures and clean - stuff like that. Maybe if I wear it while I wash clothes I'll actually LIKE doing laundry!

115/365

FIRST HOLY COMMUNION

It was our godson Jake's First Holy Communion today. Here he is getting ready to go down the aisle... and probably looking for his buddy Dave!

114/365

UNDER NEW OWNERSHIP


I keep passing by here and seeing this sign and decided to stop and take a picture... It just made me think. There are no guarantees that your life will turn out the way you planned but it is possible to make a change... I mean you can't change what came before you but you can change what comes from now on. From this point forward - you can take a new ownership of your life. And, I guess, have a grand (re)opening... Now I want a pulled pork sandwich! ;-)

113/365

MY NAME IS JEANNINE AND I LIKE TO BUY HOUSEWARES
I really don't have many vices. I don't like to drink or smoke or do drugs (that aren't prescribed by my naturopath.) My biggest weakness is probably Prandtl's Almond Torte or mashed potatoes. My drug of choice is going to TJMaxx and Marshall's. I just had a long conversation about this with another addict in the store today... I take it I'm not alone with this addiction and I'm sure there is a 12 step program for us somewhere out there. She was just like me - didn't look for clothes or shoes or purses... we go straight to the housewares section. I bought FOUR flower pots today (I didn't really need any) and I always look at the picture frames (even though I have boxes of them - still with the price tags on them) and I always look at the dog beds - Lily has five + an outdoor one and a beach cabana and would rather just sleep on top of the nearest person than in any of them. I have enough serving dishes for the entire neighborhood but still had to have the cute little raised dish I bought today for the next appetizer I make. I am always looking for anything snowman, pug or pig. Sadly, I just about have everything made that's snowman, pug or pig! That probably means I have too much but it's a hard habit to break. That's why I HAD to get these. A mini pig whisk (for all those little tiny things that need scrambled) and a pig timer (that I'm not 100% sure I don't already have.)

112/365

IT'S NOT EASY BEING GREEN
Earth Day is 40 today... I wonder if this world has changed for the better in all those years???

Personally, I use my cute little eco-friendly Whole Foods bags to go grocery shopping and I use the backs of paper I printed... I recycle - most of the time. I pick up my dog's poopie when we go for a walk... We threw away our plastic containers and only use glass... I buy organic... Lily knows that when we are on a walk and I scream "POISON" she has to run really fast because someone just got their lawn sprayed with chemicals... I use "green" cleaning products... I do leave the water running when I brush my teeth but I guess you can't be perfect all the time.

I was always enamored by Marty McConnnell's spoken words - "Instructions for a Body" and have been starting this project for awhile... I figured today would be a good day to get moving on it. I still have some work but it's a start...

DO NOT LET - THIS UNIVERSE - REGRET YOU.

111/365

♥♥♥♥♥ YOUNG LOVE ♥♥♥♥♥
How cute!
I'm seeing these pop up everywhere...
I took Lily for a walk today and we ran into this... I don't know if this is readable without enlarging but it says Prom? Lucie. (wow - Lucie is old enough for prom!?!?)


and here's another one...


They just remind me of Laguna Beach... I wonder what Stephen and Talan and Dieter are up to these days????

110/365

COINCIDENCE? I THINK NOT...
Yesterday we found a box labeled "My treasures made by my children - ckd"



We opened it and right on top was this:

109/365

CLEAN HOUSE
My mother died almost 16 years ago. I was 23. Memories are starting to fade a little, unfortunately, even in that amount of time. I guess there's no other loss like that of your mother - though I can think of a few that are close... It's sad that my mother wasn't there to help me choose my wedding dress or decorate my first house - all the things and events that were missed... but the worst thing for me is that I feel like I can't remember her voice. It's strange but sometimes I can't remember what she sounded like.

My mother-in-law passed away two months ago yesterday. Two months already! My sisters-in-law and I spent the day today going through her things. I think this may have been the first time I've been back in the house - since the day after the funeral... the day I found out I was pregnant. I'll miss her smile and calling her with gardening and recipe questions and hearing her say "Hi, Jeannine (and David and Lily)" when we walked in the door.... One day I'll probably forget the sound of her voice too - though it still seemed like I heard it when I walked in today.

Will the treasures and trinkets that you save in a little box or jar mean anything to anyone else when you are gone? We went through the cupboards and the closets and the drawers and separated and threw away and boxed up... How do you go through a lifetime of possessions? How do you decide what's worth keeping?



When you die - what do you want people to remember about you?

108/365

MICHAEL, IS THAT YOU?

For days, every time I've been on the computer in the bird room I've heard this strange noise coming from what I think is inside the wall... I thought it was the computer desk moving but it seems to happen even when I'm still. I think there may be a bird or a squirrel nesting or stuck in what's left of the back gutter... or maybe it's just my old friend Michael coming to pay me a visit.

107/365

DO YOU WANT FRIES WITH THAT?
I'm irritated today...I spent the day shopping and returning in (rundown) Monroeville. Traffic was tied up because there were five hundred people trying to turn into McDonald's on 22 at three in the afternoon. Almost everyone I saw in their cars was eating or drinking something. The other day my Dad and I went to Sam's and the majority of people shopping in there were riding those electric carts. Now maybe they just had a quadruple bypass and were told to take it easy or recently had their hip or knee replaced, if so forgive me. I highly doubt it, though. They didn't seem to have much trouble getting up out of their hover rounds to get the GIANT box of frosted flakes or other industrial sized not-so-good-for-you item. I felt like I was in the movie WALL-E with all these people floating around in their hovercrafts because they were too lazy and fat to actually walk. From this day forward I vow to not turn into one of "those" people. Lily too! I weighed her and she needs to lose a couple pounds! Don't we all?

So, since we're speaking of gluttony, here's a picture from yesterday and our overindulgent breakfast at Pamela's for Aunt Gloria's 82nd birthday.



(random funny thing - I went to download this picture and the file name for it is IMG_1928.jpg.... that's the year she was born - and Mickey Mouse too.)

106/365

Gather ye rosebuds while ye may,
Old Time is still a-flying
And this same flower that smiles to-day
To-Morrow will be dying.

The glorious lamp of heaven, the sun,
The higher he's a getting,
The sooner will his race be run,
And nearer he's to setting.

That age is best which is the first,
When youth and blood are warmer;
But being spent, the worse, and worst
Times still succeed the former.

Then be not coy, but use your time,
And while ye may, go marry:
For having lost but once your prime,
You may for ever tarry.

< To the Virgins, to Make Much of Time - Robert Herrick >

LOVE THE BUD! We'll love you and miss you forever!

RoseBud's Blog

105/365

AIR TRAFFIC CONTROL

If your plane was crashing and you had time to make one phone call... who would be the person you would call with your last goodbye???

104/365

HALF EVIL

I don't like to do anything or be up between 3:00 am-3:59 am. The "bewitching hour" or whatever they call it and wouldn't you know probably every night this past couple weeks I was UP during that time. On occasion I would wake up thinking and hoping it was morning to find out it was, in fact, my least favorite hour of the day... Several times I woke up to this number greeting me and telling me I still had some time to go before I could get out of bed. I took this photo a few days ago.

103/365

A BEAUTIFUL DAY IN THE NEIGHBORHOOD
It was a yucky, rainy day this morning but it turned out to be okay by late afternoon so I decided to take a walk. People were out working in their yards and the kids were out running around playing... just a normal day at somebody's house, I guess. I always drive by this house a few blocks up and am mesmerized by this swing. I know the people that live here have a pug and a strangely short fence in their back yard and I think I remember seeing a kid or two at one time... But I remember clearly when the single swing became a double one. And I remember not feeling that great about it. Sad? Disappointed? Jealous? I don't know. But I think I realized THAT day whenever it was (it was awhile ago) that kids are going to get taller and bikes are going to lose their training wheels and swings are going to multiply at somebody's house all the time.

102/365

I LIKE RUSTY SPOONS...
I admit it, just like Salad Fingers, I do like my rusty objects! I actually like greasy spoons too! My sister-in-law and I went to breakfast at one today.

101/365

JUST LIKE A DREAM
I was coming back to the house from taking Lily out for a walk and it looked like there was a heart shaped cloud in the sky - by the time I ran in to get the camera and came back out I didn't see it anymore... (I edited this to what I thought it looked like - thanks photoshop!) Speaking of clouds, though, I remember being slightly disappointed with my first plane ride... I remember looking out of the window and we got above the clouds and I thought to myself, " where is heaven?" I mean I always thought it was up there in the sky - ABOVE the clouds.

You
Soft and only
You
Lost and lonely
You
Just like heaven.

100/365

She reminds me of RoseBud sometimes... ♥♥♥

99/365

PEEPING TOM
I like to look in people's houses. Like when you are driving by at night and the lights are on and the curtains are open... I wonder what's going on in there. I wonder what people think is going on in this rundown house when they drive by.



I mean, seriously, what kind of people have chairs with no seats?

98/365

Signs, signs, everywhere a sign...


This isn't my photo - I "took" it from a blog I frequent... It's from a parking lot in a little eco/shopping area in Costa Mesa, CA called the Camp. The parking spaces have slogans and affirmations painted on them and I kind of liked this one.

A few days ago I came across this "sign"



and wondered if you are "here" - how did you get there and is "here" really where you want to be???

97/365

"Without you, the ground thaws, the rain falls, the grass grows.
Without you, the seeds root, the flowers bloom, the children play.
The stars gleam, the poets dream, the eagles fly, without you..."

96/365

My poor exhausted puppy dog! She's been waking up in the middle of the night and barking, whimpering at the top of the steps and sometimes forgetting she shouldn't go potty in the house. Lily finally slept through the night after Easter dinner - I guess playing with all the kids wore her out. Last night was a different story... Neurotic dog + 3 AM lightening and thunder +no gutters = not such a good night! Someone needs a nap!

95/365

...There's nothing where he used to lie
My inspiration has run dry
That's what's going on, nothings right, I'm torn...

94/365

HAPPY EASTER
Hope your baskets are full of all kinds of surprises!

93/365

THE ONLY THING TO DO IS JUMP OVER THE MOON

92/365

BLOOM WHERE YOU'RE PLANTED
Lily has become an earlier riser these days... When we went out this morning at 5:45 am we were greeted by these guys.

"People deal too much with the negative, with what is wrong... Why not try and see positive things, to just touch those things and make them bloom?" ~ Thich Nhat Hanh
Vietnamese Monk, Activist & Writer

91/365

Fool me once - shame on you... Fool me twice - shame on me...
I've been fooled all these years by something...

My mother always told me the nursery rhyme was:
Ladybug, Ladybug fly away home... Your house is on fire and your children will burn.

The truth is - it really goes:
Ladybug, Ladybug fly away home... Your house is on fire and your children are gone.
All except one and that's little Ann, for she crept under the frying pan.

Still disturbing nonetheless and I never knew about Ann but it's still one of my favorites regardless of being fooled.

HAPPY APRIL FOOL'S DAY!