3 Guesses...

Word Play by Rob & Sarah

What is the opposite of an impediment?

A pedicure!

This Day, 2011

Rooftop at Villa Rose 

I look especially rested, as I slept for 15+ hours.

Debrina and Marigold had to wake me up or I might have missed

this beautiful first-day experience on the roof.

We can relate...remember tennis??

Feel old?

Nienie posted this on her site today:

Remember Burt Bacharach??
He was the entertainment for the evening.
He was amazing and 84 years old. It was very impressive!

This Day, 2011

Antique Memory

One year ago today I was flying to Italy.

Bella...bella!

Rob and I puttered around in the Antique Depot 

this afternoon...then Subways and movies, 

with Olympics to come this evening.

Nice way to spend a Sunday

Why must antique manikins be limbless?

Just wondering...

Sleepover

Cup-in-Cake

Popcorn

SunnyD

"Underdog" on the screen

Pillow Pals

and

The Picnic Towel

Good times were had by all!

(Especially Mommy & Daddy)

This picture collage personalized with Smilebox

Last Day at the Lil JJ

Today was the last day at the Lil Jumping Jungle.

Unfortunately, a big old brand name shoe store 
will be replacing it in a few weeks.

The JJ has been one of our regular hangouts for a couple of years now,

and as you can see, the boys were in mourning 
for this place of wild and wooly fun.


They also made lots of friends-for-a-day here.

Now we'll have to go all the way across town to the
GIANT Jumping Jungle 
which is enormous and has lots more to do,

but it just won't be the same!

Expensive Bird/Priceless Memories!

Free picture collage created with Smilebox

Aha!

Customize your own free digital collage

'Lil Rascals

This is the gang from today's session at the Jumping Jungle,

Jude (Mortechai), Boy-in-Blue-Shirt, & Caleb

Note the small red bird under Caleb's chin...the squishy Angry Bird,

purchased earlier in the afternoon at Hobby Lobby 

for way more than it was worth,

that kept them entertained for two and a half hours.

The highlight of the afternoon was when it got stuck on the ceiling, 

and the boys spent at least thirty minutes throwing 

a white Angry Bird at it...to no avail.

Finally, they were forced to confess to the employees that they had been 

"throwing something"

and therefore had to ask for 

"something" 

to help them get it off the ceiling...

whereupon 

the very nice dad of Boy-in-Blue-Shirt hoisted his son onto his shoulders 

and, wielding a mop, pinata-style, successfully disengaged the bird 

from its perch on the ceiling tiles... 

resulting in a rather less than dramatic 

PLOP 

onto the floor.

(You had to be there!)

BGC-O, Day 3

Ye Olde Bag-o-Grief

Well, we made it through another morning of garage-cleaning,

and we are quite pleased with our progress.

WHEW!

It feels so good to let go of all the stuff that collects 

when you're not looking and either discard it or find a place to put it 

that enhances rather than burdens daily living.

(Where IS that blankety-blank screwdriver!?)

The bag in the photo represents just such stuff--

a time in my life that was so very real and needed to be owned.

At the time.

I have kept the bag and its contents in the garage, opening it

only a couple of times in almost three years.

Perhaps I hadn't parted with it because it had become 
a shrine of sorts to a season that taught me so much about life and loss.

It contained lots of valuable information and props to help me talk 
about something that is almost impossible to put into words,

(You just know it when you're in it.)

and to help others navigate the waters I was swimming in.

It was so very relevant.


At the time.

AND

Now it is just excess baggage.

Emptying its contents and discarding most of them 

and then putting the bag in the back of the pick-up for delivery 

to Goodwill felt especially liberating.

HA! Goodwill, indeed!!

Sometimes we have to let go of things that were significant 
in the past, to have the space necessary 
for the new things that want in.

PS: I have a feeling Frank nodded a quick blessing-of-the-bag
as I passed him on the way to the dumpster.

Satellite captures stunning images of Earth

Double doozy...

And then...lo and behold...if Nepo doesn't say the same thing,

in today's reading, with different words, of course.

"Cracks of Light"

The human soul is to God is as the flower to the sun; it opens 

at its approach, and shuts when it withdraws.

Benjamin Whichcote

God, like the sun, emanates on all: on the hill exposed in the open, on the plant growing in the window, even on the weed getting cracks of light under the porch. The same source of spirit emanates on our different lives, regardless of our circumstance. Thus our experience and perception of God in the world may be limited and different, may even change, but that doesn't define or limit the Source.

And thought the sun appears to disappear every day, it is the Earth that turns away, causing night. Likewise, when it appears that God is nowhere to be found , it is we, in the turmoil of our lives, who turn away or are turned away and back, again and again.

But unlike weeds that grow under the porch, we can move back into the light.

It has been rather cloudy here lately.

Maybe my M.E. role right now is simply this:

to keep inviting my little buddy back into the Light, 

again and again, each day we are together.

LIGHT

WOW!

Again...just in time.

Thanks, Sus!

There always is light for us to access. I wish you light in your darkest hours.  When life seems to be confusing or empty, and when your path seems to be hidden in the shadows of pain, doubt, despair, or unrest, may you find the light inside of you that will help you to see things as they truly are, for every night comes to an end, every storm runs its course, and light and peace always return to us. I wish you the power of a perspective that allows you to see the beauty of the darkness, no matter how threatening your current situation, or how uneasy you may feel.  There always is light for us to access, whether it be the light of God or the light of a close friend, or even the light within ourselves that is the power and the strength with which we've all been blessed to one extent or another. I wish you the ability to develop the light that is within you, to strengthen your spiritual faith, to help your faith in yourself to grow and thrive.  You have the gift of self-sufficiency, and the possibility of growing into a person who is strong and able.  But may you not grow too strong, though, so that you reject the help and love and caring of others who wish to be there for you.  Balance your strength with your needs and the needs of others to be helpful and to show their caring.

enhanced photoART sculpture

Nite-Nite, Frank...

Marriage, an Owner's Manual | Parade.com

Marriage, an Owner's Manual | Parade.com

I don't usually go for these "advice columns", but I liked some of what Daniel had to say...especially the last item. Perhaps procrastination is the friend of long-marriages...ha!

Life Is Risky Business

To Risk

To laugh is to risk appearing the fool.

To weep is to risk appearing sentimental.

To reach out for another is to risk exposing our true self.

To place our ideas--our dreams--before the crowd is to risk loss.

To love is to risk not being loved in return.

To hope is to risk despair.

To try is to risk failure.

To live is to risk dying.

Anonymous

Speaking of funky...

Lobstermen finding more odd colors 

in the catch

These lobsters are NOT enhanced photoART by M.E.!

They came this way.

Frank

Today was the first day of the BGC-O,

(Big Garage Clean-Out)

and I'm happy to report we are still alive and well.

We made great head-way on this daunting task, 

and I have to give credit to Frank for blessing us thus far.

 Just Frank

Why he would still be in a blessing-mood is beyond me, given 

that he's been left out in a dusty, crowded garage 

for nearly three years now.

 The Blessed Frank

But I guess that's the way it is with saints, especially those who have

a gentle spirit and patience with all living things.

(That includes us!)

Shiny (Patient) Frank 

Rob had Frank delivered (in pieces) to celebrate a long ago

wedding anniversary, and Frank has had a special place in every back yard

we've had since...except for this one!

And now, Frank has been lovingly carted OUT of the garage

and INTO the back yard.

I can only imagine how he'll find his special place

IN TIME

 right here at 6116 16th Street

(The Sweet Sixteen House),

just like the rest of us!

Funky Frank

Photo compliments of Carol

5x7 Folded Card

View the entire collection of cards.

Nothing Wasted!

Choosing...

"It is so amazing to me that after having 
such a horrible accident

we have just picked right up where we left off--
mostly anyway."

Another on-the-mark blog from Nienie.

There's ALWAYS tomorrow!

Thanks, Nienie... 

The rest of the story...

Check out They Came to Play, an amazing video 

that will introduce you to this charming physician, family man, 

and amateur concert pianist. 

He certainly doesn't fit the stereotypical eccentric musician mold at all. 

Enjoy!

And then there's this!

"Night Songs"

Source: youtube.com via Dawn on Pinterest

On the loose...

This was Caleb's idea...all of it!

Probably the last time he'll want me in a photo-booth with him;

before long it will be very, very un-cool. 

I can already feel it coming.

Hmmmm...

Caleb helped Sawyer make more "cup-in-cake" today.

I told Caleb he was the chef, 

and Sawyer would be his sous chef.

"So will he sue me?!"

(Ha-ha!)

More Pieces

"If somebody were to cut me into a thousand pieces,

every piece of me would say that it loves..."

Chris Lubbe

This & That

 Auntie Tenna's Cake-in-a-Cup

 YUM!

 Caleb's second one...

 Sawyer shoots up!

 Shoe cleaning...

In the good ole summer time...

Origami Illusions

When you think 'origami,' you probably think of three-dimensional paper cranes

 and the like -- elegant, but abstract.  

But New Mexico's Kumi Yamashita has found a way to make origami strikingly lifelike 

by relying not on the sculpture itself, but on the shadow it casts.

Working in various media -- including resin and traditional origami paper -- 

Yamashita is able to turn subtle pinches and folds into distinct visages.  

In 2011, she was commissioned by American Express to create a wall installation 

that included the shadow-portraits of 22 employees.