Day 182: Symbols and Reminders

Don't forget...

I've been thinking of the different symbols we use to help us remember things, and the different symbols behind objects.  For instance, my friend Kim posted on her blog the other day about a lucky penny she found.  A penny isn't worth much, until you find it all alone on the ground, waiting to be picked up.  Then it suddenly possesses great power and charges us with luck.

The same goes with a bit of string.  Alone, it's nothing but a nuisance that gets stuck to your clothes.  But tie it on your finger, and it suddenly becomes a needed alarm clock.

I think it's all about perspective.  Like maybe if we look at things with a different eye, we'll see the worth in them.  Then something that once was a negative in your life could turn out to be a positive.  I think it's always a good idea to find the positive side of life because then you become the powerful object.  Because if you can find a bright side to a bad situation, you have the power to make any outcome a good one.

Day 181: Home Again

Georgie

I'm home from vacation and back to the grindstone.  Yesterday's drive may have been grueling, but at least we got home safe and sound, without any accidents.  Plus, it made me appreciate my daily routine...as boring as it may be, it gives me a sense of stability.

And the cats in my house...they're excited for a return to routine as well.  :)

Day 180: Endless Driving

A view from the road.

Today was endless.

The beginning of our drive home was beautiful: snow-laden trees by the thousands lined the road like a guard of honor saluting us home.  The fog was laced through the tree-filled mountains and the snow provided a beautiful contrast to it all.  The landscape around us made the trip so exciting and fun, but by lunch time it faded into barren, rolling hills that felt like an arctic wasteland.

And this is saying nothing about the storm that seemed to follow us from Washington all the way to Utah.  The storm was no fun.  The traffic was no fun.  The roads were no fun.  The 13-hour-long drive that stretched into 21 hours was no fun!

Day 179: The Lake

Rattlesnake Lake

Christine and I took a short drive up to Rattlesnake Lake today.  We went last year and loved it.  This year was even better for 2 reasons:

1. There was snow and a lot more water to capture, and
2. I had a better camera and more experience with landscape shots.

I still feel like I can't ever quite capture landscape shots, but I'm slowly getting better.  I love this shot because it shows the stark contrasts between the bright white snow and the blackened tree stumps, rippling water, and foggy tree-scape.

Washington is such a beautiful place!  It's freezing right now, but beautiful!

Day 178: Tree Hunting

Mom at the tree farm.

So we're still in Washington for the holiday, and today we got to go pick out a Christmas tree with Vic and Mona!  We got to come with them last year and it was so much fun.  This year Mom and Dad came, and we had a blast trudging through the snow, looking for the perfect tree.  Unfortunately for me, I was wearing the wrong shoes for wet snow puddles.  After about 15 minutes I couldn't feel my toes, so I left early to warm up in the front store.  But not before I got some cute shots of the family walking among the trees.  Mom was so cute in her snow outfit!  I especially love the Santa hat beanie!

Great day!  I'll be sad to leave on Sunday.

Day 177: Happy Thanksgiving!

Thanksgiving Dinner

Yesterday may have been a bit of a nightmare, but I was worth it just to be here with the family.  We had a great day today hanging out, watching a little football, watching some movies, and eating our yummy turkey dinner!  The food was so good and I ate way too much, as happens on Thanksgiving, and I loved the whole day.

Today I'm thankful for cars that work, safe journey's, and the ability to visit family - even in tough economical times. :)

Day 176: A Roadtrip of Epic Proportions

My car's silhouette in the sunset.

So...the most interesting day.  We left for Washington (state) at 4am, the usual time.  We checked the weather before we left to make sure we were clear of the "storm," and we packed the car to the brim with provisions in case we got stuck by the weather.  We were prepared.

Then, on the border of Utah and Idaho we got suck on a closed freeway for 4 hours.  I have no idea why it was closed, but they had it scheduled for closure until 8am.  Too bad they didn't actually open it until 11am.

Frustrated as we were at the huge loss in time, we carried on, hoping we wouldn't be too late to get to our destination before sunset.  We were doing fairly well until my tire blew outside of Boise.  Luckily for Christine and I we were able to pull over quickly before the rim got damaged.  We had to fish through our tightly packed car to reach the spare tire in the back, and then when we got it out with the jack we realized we were missing a part.  It was nothing we couldn't handle though...we made do with what we had.  We got that baby changed in about 20 minutes, which we were pretty proud of considering our circumstances!  When we got to Boise, we started shopping for a tire place to get a replacement for the doughnut.

I'm not sure why, but every single citizen of Boise decided that today was a great day to get their snow tires installed for the season.  We found 3 tire stores within a mile of each other, and they all had a 2 hour wait.  We were blessed to get the nicest technician at one tire store who managed to push us up to the front of the line, but gave us the bad news that my tires aren't in stock.  Also, because my car is all wheel drive, I can't just replace one tire, I have to replace at least 2.  And, since they didn't have my tire, I had to replace all 4.

So..one hour and $700 later, we were back on the road to Washington.  We didn't leave Boise until 4pm, when we're usually in the middle of Oregon by Noon...so frustrating!  Once we left Idaho, we had no problems and made it to Vic and Mona's house in record time (for how long we had to go).

I officially hate Idaho.

Day 175: Storm Warning

The calm before the storm

We heard all sorts of very scary warnings about the storm today I mean, I was waiting for the next snow apocalyps the way they were talking about it.  We were supposed to be snowed in for three days, and then...

a few snowflakes and a lot of wind, for about 10 minutes.

But hey, let's close all the schools and businesses just in case it blows us all away!

At least we had an awesome sunset because of it.  Unfortunately I was driving on the freeway during the awesome sunset, so this is as close as i got to it.  It turned out to be a blessing for me and my sister though.  We didn't have to postpone our trip to Washington.

Day 174: Self-Conscious

The wall of shame.

So this week I finally gave in to my mom's requests to put my pictures on the wall in our living room.  We already have a shrine to my photography on the wall in the entry way, so I was concerned about putting any more pictures up.  But each month I've been trying to get a large print of my favorite shot of the month, and I haven't put any of them up on my wall downstairs.  Mainly, I haven't put them up because I ran out of room on my wall downstairs and I was wondering what to do about it.  But since they've just been sitting stacked next to my shrine, Mom thought it would be a good idea to put them up on the wall in the living room.  I don't know what I was thinking when I agreed to it, but now it's too late I guess.

Anyway, now they're up there, gigantic and staring everyone in the face, and I'm completely embarrassed by it.  It's like I'm saying, "look everyone!  I think I'm the coolest photographer ever, and I want you to praise my outstanding work...all the time!"

Day 173: Great Grandma is My Friend

Mom and Baby Davis.

Robert and Lindsey came over to visit tonight, and mom got a hold of little Davis and wouldn't let go.  He was perfectly content to stay on Mom's lap all night as we made faces at him and visited with one another.  I was lucky to get this shot, when he suddenly  leaned in to Mom and grinned right at me!  What a happy boy!  He loves his great-grandma.

It was so fun to hang out with the family tonight and talk about nothing, really.  Sometimes the best evenings are spend doing the most normal things.

Tonight, I am grateful for quiet evenings at home with the family.

Day 172: Play Time

Maleah (sp?)

"Take a picture to me!"

That's what she kept pleading as we sat on the stage in the cultural hall today.  We were waiting for her brother and sisters (and the other children) to finish their Primary activity, and she was so happy to be running around and playing in freedom.

Every time I took her picture she would want to see it on my camera, and then immediately start again with her plea, "Take a picture to me again!"  It was so fun!

When I tired of taking pictures of her with the same expression on her face, she got tired of me and moved on to Christine.

"Do airplane to me!" she cried, and Christine would swing her into the air and spin around while she had her arms spread wide.  She giggled and squealed and grinned against the wind as she spun over and over again.

What a joy little children are!!!!!

Day 171: White Trees

A tree with a few leaves left at the top

Tonight I went out to dinner with my family before heading back to work to finish a project (I know, really fun Friday).  When we walked out of the restaurant, we noticed this awesome tree!  I did not use a flash on this tree.  It was literally glowing white with what looked like flaming red tipped branches.  I wish this shot better emphasized the red leaves, because they were really what made this beauty stand out, but I still like the way looks.

Since Thanksgiving is on it's way, I've been trying to keep in mind the things that I am grateful for.  Even the little things that make up each moment of each day can be really good.  And well, today I'm grateful for freakishly white trees and family time.  I may have to work late, but I don't mind at all because I got to hang out with the family a bit and take a break. :)

Day 170: Mo Bros

Steven's 'stache

So I guess there's a thing promoting cancer awareness for men during the month of November.  It's called Movember, and it's worldwide, believe it or not.  Apparently during the month of November, guys are growing out mustaches and somehow that's supposed to remind people about men's risk of cancer.  I tried to read up about it on the Movember website, but I'm ADD and didn't last long.  Take a look for yourself for more info.

Anyway, I had lunch with my sisters and my nephew Steven today and heard all about it when I asked him who was going to save that girl he tied to the railroad track (OK, I didn't actually ask him that, but I did ask him why he was going for the pedophile look).  After some serious thought about the great idea that Movember had, I starting trying to remember some of the funny one-liners I've heard about mustaches...as I said, I'm ADD, plus I like to make fun of my nephews.

And since a bunch of my nephews are doing the Movember challenge, I've just got to wonder, is this like a contest?  Because even if you win, you still loose.  ;)
I'm going to have to start calling them new names, like D'artanian, Magnum P.I. or maybe Amber Alert.
And for you single guys out there, was meeting women not challenging enough for you?  Because even if they're saying what a great idea this is and how awesome you are for stepping up to the challenge, all they're really thinking is how to politely remove themselves from your company and secure they're houses at night. ;)

But seriously, all joking aside.  It's a great cause, and if it gets people thinking about men's health and getting awareness out about cancer, it's worth a few babies getting scared. ;)

*Note: Since there's no such thing as a sarcasm font, I put little winking smiley faces to indicate that I'm just poking fun and am in no way being serious about these little jabs at mustaches.

Day 169: Self-Portrait #9

My hair...it looks longer than it is.

I'm thinking of chopping off my hair again.  I haven't decided for sure - I keep going back and forth about it - but just in case I make a split-second decision, I wanted to take a picture of how long it's gotten since the last time I chopped it.  Now, this picture makes it look super-long because I was tilting my head back, but still.  It's a good length.

A little too good, actually.  It's driving me crazy.  And I end up wearing it in a bun 90% of the time lately, so it feels pointless to have it this long and not show it off.  Plus, I hate the cut.  From the back, all trailing behind me, it looks great.  But from the front it's frizzy and limp at the same time.  It's my own fault though.  I tried to trim it myself.  Anyway, it's really annoying and it doesn't make me feel cute.

But, there's always that little voice in my head (usually my brother's voice from when he was in high school and wanted to indoctrinate me with his wisdom) saying, "Guys aren't attracted to girls with short hair.  It makes them look manly, and that's not what guys like.  Guys like long hair...it attracts their attention...you want their attention, don't you Valerie?"

It's a sneaky little voice, and 80% of the time it wins out...mainly because it's been whispering that to me since I was 7 or 8 years old.

Thanks Dave.

But, we'll see.  I've ignored the voice before.  Once I even went so far as to attempt a pixie cut (it wasn't a pixie cut, but it was definitely boy-short)...I'll never do that again.  But I do have a few favorite short cuts, so I might decide to "carpe diem," as they say, and do what I want.

Or I might not.

Day 168: Day Glo

Protective eye gear for tanning

So fall is giving way to winter, and I'm already feeling the winter blues set in.  One of my little tricks to fight it is to go tanning once a month or so.  Artificial sunlight is better than none, and when it's winter, the sky is dark when I leave for work and dark when I come home.  It's not necessarily that bad yet.  I still see great sunsets right now, but in a few weeks I won't be so lucky.

So a tanning I went.  I always feel a little bit radioactive after going tanning (for obvious reasons), so I thought it would be fun to take a picture and make it a little "glowy" to represent how I feel.  :)

But I have to say, the second those bulbs came on, I imagined laying out by the side of a pool and a smile spread across my face.  I may glow in the dark now, but at least I'm happy about it! :)

Day 167: Mountain Light

Sunset on the mountains in PG

Poor Christine was home sick today from the stomach flu.  I thought I was having sympathetic symptoms at work because I was a bit nauseous all day (and I can't have gotten sick from Christine since she's been out of town until last night), but I came home to find out that Mom had the same problem.  It turns out that we weren't suffering from sympathetic illnesses, it was the cake Mom made last night.  I guess the sugar-free ingredient, Maltitol, has some undesirable side effects when consumed in high quantities.

Which means Mom and I had a little too much cake between last night and this evening...heh.

I like cake, dang it!

Day 166: Cake and TV

Sugar-free cake that Mom made

I spend most of my afternoon and evening in bed today because of this weird leg pain that I've had for...ever. Some days it's just a dull ache, and some days (like today) it hurts so much that I can't concentrate and it makes me writhe and to try and ease the pain.  When that happens, I've found that the best thing to do is to take a few (or more) Advil and lay in bed with a heating pad on the aching muscles.

So that's what I did after church today.  I took some Advil, set myself up with books and remotes, and stayed in bed with my heating pad.  After a while I got bored and turned on my TV (something I don't normally do on Sundays anymore).  I watched this show called "Amazing Wedding Cakes."

I'm a big fan of "Cake Boss" on TLC, so I thought this show would be fun, but it just made me like "Cake Boss" even more.  The people on "Amazing Wedding Cakes" are understaffed and not quite as talented (in my opinion).  Aside from solidifying my status on Team Buddy, it also made me in the mood for some cake - obviously.

Lucky for me, Mom decided to make some cake tonight, so when I went upstairs to refill my water bottle, there sat the bowls of home made cake, drizzled in melted sugar-free frosting.  It was SO GOOD!  What a great way to sate a craving!

Day 165: Good Fortune

The bingo ball.

I inherited this awesome little ball from Kim.  It's a bingo ball that has magic 8 ball answers instead of numbers.  It's super fun to play with little kids, which is probably why we're missing half the balls in it. :)

I spent the day with my parents today and it was so fun!  We hung out around the house in the morning and then went to lunch.  After lunch Mom and I went to the nail salon for some mani-pedi's.  Well...Mom got a manicure while I got a pedicure. We ended the day by dinner at home and then a sappy chick flick.  It was a great, relaxed day.

Now, if only I'd remembered to do any of the chores I planned on...

Day 164: Babysitting

Gracie

Kim is out of town this week and asked me to check on her cats yesterday and today.  Tonight when I came to check on them, they were so cute!  After I made sure they had enough food and fresh water (and after I cleaned out their litter box - ew), I found myself sitting on the living room floor, surrounded by the cats.

And I don't mean "surrounded" in the Catwoman sort of way (you know, that scene from Batman when the cats "surround" Catwoman and it looks like they're making a meal of her, when really they're just making her a bit crazy in the head?).  First of all, Kim doesn't have enough cats to recreate that scene - not nearly enough - and secondly, they weren't right next to me.

As I surveyed the room from my floor seat, I was able to spot a different cat in each corner.  All of them were sitting in different positions, but they were all making sure they were in the same room with me, which was so cute!  Lewis, who usually whines to death and doesn't let me pick him up, was the only one who wouldn't stay away from my side.  In fact, at one point - as I was taking this shot of Gracie, and positioned on my stomach to get the right angle - Lewis was laying on my legs.

It was fun to spend a little time with the kitties.  I've been feeling a bit down today, and seeing the cats made me feel a little better.  There is something so comforting about having a pet around!

Here are the other three cats (Cray wouldn't pose for me, so the best I got was his backside in the picture of Lewis):

 Lilly

Lewis

Day 163: Puppy Love

Clare and Lucy

A few weeks ago, Clare asked me if I would take a few pictures of her and her dog, Lucy.  I was excited to do it, not only because I've never taken "portraits" of pets before, but because I haven't seen Clare in ages and I was excited to catch up.  We drove out to this park near Utah lake.  I forget the name, but it was great!  It had such varied landscaping that we were able to walk around it and get tons of different backgrounds.  Of course, all my favorites shots turned out to have the tree-lined sunset in the background, but that's not really shocking.

It was really fun to take pictures with Clare and watch her very hyper puppy run around and try to jump out of her leash.  We laughed a lot.  I froze my fingers off because I forgot my gloves.  Little Lucy almost had a fit of excitement over the ducks in the duck pond.  And poor Clare literally got knocked onto her back, feet flying through the air, as Lucy sprinted towards something while still on her leash.

It was a good evening!

Day 162: Snow!

Snow outside my office.

This isn't the first snow of the season, but it's the first snow I captured on my camera.  It only lasted 20 minutes or so, and it didn't stick (awesome!), so I was pretty lucky to get a few shots in the middle of a work day.

I'm feeling more than a little overwhelmed with life lately.  There are too many details to keep track of at work, and at home...and just as it usually does, my brain doesn't have enough hard drive space to fit it all, so it starts deleting random data.

(That's geek talk for, "I'm forgetting a lot of stuff lately.")

The problem is, my brain doesn't drop useless trivia (like the address of the home I grew up in), or unpleasant memories (like my worst first date, or that time in high school when I threw a huge party and no one showed up).  No, it drops important things, like the due date on my credit card bill, or a time-sensitive phone call I was supposed to make last week.

And with all this "data dumping" that my brain keeps doing, all it does is add to the stress of each day, instead of easing it.  Because I notice whenever my brain drops something.  Suddenly I get a pit in my stomach and a feeling of unease and I realize I'm missing something but I can't remember what.  So then I stress out trying to remember what it was, meanwhile forgetting even more important stuff and missing even more deadlines.

It's a deadly spiral.

Luckily, I know how to get out of it.  It's just really hard to do in this state of near-panic.  The solution is to stop thinking and start working.  I just need to pick up the next thing on my to-do list and start doing it, regardless of what else I'm not doing or what other deadlines are hanging over my head.  But man, is that tough to do!  I can't accurately explain just how difficult it is do just ignore the stress cloud hanging over my head.  It's a battle I'm constantly fighting all day.

It will go away eventually.  Once I've ticked off enough items on my to-do list that it doesn't feel overwhelming anymore, the stress cloud will disperse and my brain will stop doing random data dumps.

Until then, I just have to keep on keepin' on!

Day 161:

Tonight's sunset.

This is what happens with daylight savings.  I was at work at 4:30PM.  I was walking by one of the windows and saw a spectacular sunset.  At 4:30PM! 

I tried to get outside to capture it in time, but the streams of sunlight that I saw originally had already faded.  Still, I got a few good shots.

Dang that daylight savings.  A week ago I would have been able to get that shot from home.

Day 160: New Perspective

A piece of my new desk.

This weekend Mom, Christine and I did a major deep clean of the desk and TV area in Christine's and my room.  We planned it all out, bought new bookshelves to hold the expected volume of carry-over from our old shelves, moved furniture around, got rid of other furniture, and threw a lot of junk away.  It wasn't our biggest deep-clean by far, but it felt like a monumental task to me.  And when we finished, the fruits of our labor paid off with this awesome new "media center"!

Now - instead of having my TV crammed in between two large pieces of furniture, the miniature we called a desk shoved between our beds, the now-ugly red rug tripping us up every time we tried to walk in the dark, or the broken dresser wobbling precariously every time we made any sudden moves - we have one long desk that holds the TV, my laptop (which was previously homeless and stuck on or under my bed most of the time), Christine's computer, the printer we inherited, all my movies, and the A/V equipment.  And it looks much better than the old setup!

Sure, it's not completely perfect, and sure I'm still stuck with a few ugly bits of furniture, but it's progress.

Plus, now I can write my blog posts without popping my hips out of joint by sitting cross-legged on my bed for hours!

Day 159: Goodbye Old Friends

The bush in my front yard.

I'm saying goodbye to the plant life in my front yard because it's all fading away, and I'm certain it will all be gone by the end of the week.  The leaves pictured above are just barely hanging on.  One strong wind, and the little bush holding them together will take one small shudder and drop them all at once.  I'm sad to see them go, but I'm trying to get excited for the next season.

I just wish I had more time to really enjoy the fall colors.

Day 158: Omelette's

Christine's Avocado Omelette.

This was my lunch today.  Christine made up this omelette recipe last year and it's AMAZING.  It's got a little bit of cheese, salsa, avocado's and sour cream.  It's really rich and none of us can eat more than a half at a time, but it's so good!

Day 157: Autumn

One of the trees outside my office.

Now that the weather is changing and the trees are starting to shed their yellowed leaves, I'm really starting to miss the Autumn's in California.  I grew up in a town that had the perfect weather, year-round.  We had very mild seasons that seemed to blend together.  It was as if we were in a perpetual spring or fall.

I loved it.

My favorite seasons are spring and fall.  I love to watch the blossoms forming on the trees, and the new flowers and grass start to emerge.  But more than spring, I love fall.  I love the brightly colored leaves, the crisp air that is always a relief after summer.  I love the smell of wood smoke and baking.  Fall signals the time of year when all the great holidays arrive.  It signals the end of summer, but also the end of many things.

But in Utah, fall lasts a matter of weeks.  Most of the time the weather can't decide if it's really done with summer or not, and when it's finally decided, it's suddenly winter, and we're breaking out the snow tires and the big coats and the ice scrapers and the boots.  There's no easing into winter here.  It's just not fun.

But today I saw this tree, still struggling to not only hang on to its leaves, but to stay green.  I feel a kinship to this tree.  He knows that it's not time for winter yet.  He knows that fall should last longer.  He gets it.

I don't know what made me decide this tree is a "he."

Day 156: Swamped

My inboxes (yes, plural).

This week has been amazingly busy for me at work.  To illustrate just how much time I'm spending there and how consumed I am, I took a picture of my inboxes before I left the office tonight.  Just to point out, this is a picture of the state of my inboxes after I stayed late tonight to clear some of it up.  That thick stack of paperwork is what I've left to do tomorrow...and it will probably grow to twice its size overnight, like a perverted magical bean stalk.

Also, with how busy I've been this week, I keep working over my alloted 8 hours each day and telling myself I'll take time off the next day to even things out.  Unfortunately, I keep repeating this every day and have yet to take any time off.

My problem is this: I'm too busy to take any time off because I'm already a few days behind in my workload, but I'm not technically supposed to work overtime so I'm technically required to take the time off.

Conundrum...

Solution:  DELEGATE!

I'll just hand off some of my workload to unsuspecting coworkers tomorrow so that I can clock out before my overtime hits.

Another problem:  The work that I delegate can only be performed by a handful of people, none of whom will be in the office tomorrow.

Hmmm....

This is hurting my head.  As is the picture of my weighted inboxes.  I'm going to bed to worry about it tomorrow. :)

Day 155: Packages

A several-times reused gift box.

You may think this old periwinkle blue gift box looks pretty.  You may think it looks old and scuffed.  You may like the way it is positioned, or you may not.  But what you don't realize is that this box can hold almost anything.  It's a mystery, what's inside, and that's what makes this box so desirable.  Who cares what kind of shape it's in, or how many Christmas's, birthdays, Mother's Day's or Father's days we've used this box.  Who cares what it first held or what it last held.  The only important thing is what it holds now.

The mystery.

Sometimes I feel like that is what the world is selling.  The mystery.  The secret thing that no one but box owners know about.  And everyone buys into it.  Everyone wants to know.  Everyone feels that nothing is special if it doesn't look provocative and mysterious.

But to me, this box is special for all the reasons I dismissed above.  I like it because of the scuff marks, because of how many uses we've gotten out of it, because of all the times it was an instrument to bringing joy to someone, because of it's color and the bow and the perspective.  All these things make it beautiful to me, but I didn't realize that until I stopped to think about it.

How often can we say the same about the people we meet or the books we pass up, or the chances we miss because they didn't look interesting or alluring enough to stop and consider?

Just food for thought.

Day 154: By The Wayside

Some wild flowers growing on the side of a building.

I saw these flowers while I was out at lunch today and decided to stop and take some pictures of them.  I couldn't get as close as I like to get with flowers this small, but I was still able to capture a few of them.

On another, more exciting note: today is the first day of month SIX!  I've made it FIVE WHOLE MONTHS on this project (if you don't count that one time)!  That's HUGE!  In fact, I would go so far as to call it GLORIOUS!  Yea for me!

Now back to your regularly scheduled programing.

Day 153: Holiday Decorations

Mom's Thanksgiving Decoration.

I'm not sure if my mom made this thing herself or if she just bought it at a garage sale, but...I'll leave it at that.  I had fun taking pictures of it from different angles to try and find the worst one.  I think I did a pretty good job of capturing the scariness of it when viewed at a very close distance. :)

Happy Fall Everyone!

Gobble, gobble!