Unsolved mystery and dredging ancient history

Remember my trip to the walk-in clinic for a shot and some antibiotics the weekend before last? Well, my "little" sinus infection just rolled right over that stuff (laughed at it actually). By Monday my voice was down to a croak and my temperature up to a bad joke. I wound up going to my regular doctor for stronger antibiotics and missing two days of work (he ordered me to stay home). Approximately ten days and 2,364 tissues later, I am finally starting to feel better. Yeesh. I suppose the blessing is I only managed to ruin my birthday and not Christmas (wouldn't that have been a bummer? ;o) Please accept my apologies for not responding to comments left on the last post (you all know that is not my standard M.O.). We're now out for the Christmas break (and anyone that thinks teachers and faculty are "lucky" to have such great vacations I can only say it is soooo earned). School dismissed early Friday, and after peeling a bajillion hyperactive elementarians off the ceiling to board the buses [or get in cars], we all went home to stare at the wall; too fried to do anything else. Hopefully, I can play some major catch up this week starting with a tree (and I'd better get a move on, don't you think? *rolls eyes*).

I did get a chance to catch up on some movies I wanted to watch; most of which I'd discovered in sale bins over the past few months. Since I was temporarily relegated to couch detail, it was as good a time as any to play catch up. I made one $15.49 splurge on the movie "Tangled", have you seen it? My interest was [big surprise] in the horse Maximus, who, in my opinion, totally made the movie. I had to turn it off a couple of times because I was laughing so hard it was causing me to cough like crazy. Although we have a Maximus (a.k.a. Mad Max) he was nothing like our boy at all. No, the Maximus in the movie was a dead ringer for none other than our Bella. Mad face and all. DD and I decided that this movie was a total case of art imitating life; and have our suspicions that Bella may have acted as an outside Hollywood consultant regarding Maximus's character.
Allow me to clarify via photographic evidence. First, Exhibit A:

And now, I offer you Exhibit B:

Need I say more?
As always, thanks for reading this far ;o) Have a blessed week everyone, and be sure to remember the real reason for the Christmas season: Jesus.

 

Never a dull moment - who has time?

First things first; my biopsy came back clear which is kind of weird (but in a happy way :o) For those of you wondering why cancer was suspected - aside from my BC history, that is - it was due to an unexpected blast from that five year distant past: Auntie Flo. Author's Note: For those of you who are mystified by the preceding statement, please feel free to skip this paragraph. To the rest of you, I will only say that Auntie Flo boarded the chemotherapy bus five long years ago and left town. I was, however, kept quite busy entertaining her decendants (namely Holly Hotflash and Nelly Nightsweat). Well. Imagine my surprise when Aunt Flo suddenly showed up out of the blue and distinctly UNinvited (talk about three being a crowd - yeesh). All I can say is I sure hope she's not planning to stick around...five years of Holly and Nelly are more than enough for me already.

Although I am thankful to have dodged a bullet with the Big C, I got whacked between the eyes with a different C; namely "The Crud". I have a whopping sinus/chest infection that has turned me into a hacking tissue wadding machine and utter waste of space this weekend. I spent Saturday morning at the walk-in clinic for hypo to the hip (joy) and a trio of medicines. I am sitting here totally bleary eyed trying to focus when my head is giving every indication there may be a large explosion in the very near future. I kind of thought this picture of Taya summed it up pretty well. Believe it or not, this was her response when I told her we were not putting hay out until after supper. Isn't that a hoot? Sometimes it's eerie how animals just seem to do things that appear to be in direct response to you; have you noticed it? Just the other day I asked Max if he was being a good boy and he shook his head vigorously. Coincidence? Possibly. But truer "words"? Probably not. *grin*
I have to tell you about the last little piece of storage space in my office/craft room. My note card stash is rather large (the clearance queen had a hey day - or two - there ;o) and they just didn't seem to fit anywhere all together. I had one little space left next to my desk that was 12" x 24" so I thought I'd see if I could find some kind of little shelf unit or something to stick there that would hopefully hold all my cards. I found an absolutely perfect solution, and you are not going to believe what it was... An old videotape cabinet! Isn't that a riot? DD and I ran up to the mission store last month and I was poking around to see what they had that might work when I stumbled across this cabinet. Would you believe it measured exactly 12" x 24"? What are the odds? Not too bad for 17 bucks, eh? Check out the inside; it's perfect:

That's all for now; my head is just too heavy to hold up anymore (or should I say "eddy bore"?) That's about what I sound like at the moment - ugh. Oh! I do have just one more thing...the tags. Ready? Congratulations to Dreaming! If you'll email me your address (and real name ;o) I'll get these in the mail to you in the next year or so. Sometimes I'm a little slow. Well, okay maybe a lot. *laugh* Have a blessed week everyone, and don't forget the real reason for the season!

Thanksgiving: Not just for the day

Well, it's here; December (and eek). Are you ready? Believe it or not, I'm almost there, which is quite bizarre (but in a really good way). *grin* I even got to cross "Endometrial Biopsy" off my bucket list, although I can't say I remember actually putting that one on there ;o) Seems there might be cancer in there somewhere; dunno. The results are due back on the 22nd so we shall see (either way, God is awesome). Although the hospital must have gotten the green memo about paper (it was down to half a tree), they must have missed the part about the plastic as I got one bracelet the day before surgery for my anesthesia appointment and another the day of (couldn't we just use one and save the planet guys?) I have to say, though, that what never fails to make my right eye twitch is the sticker on the antibacterial soap they give you to wash with before surgery (next photo). Does this label scare anyone besides me?

The fact that there's a warning on there means that someone, somewhere along the line, actually drank the soap instead of washing with it (eeeew!) Boggles the mind, doesn't it? Blech.

I think (I think, I think) I may have just discovered the source of Shadow's colic. It seems to be stress-related. He had another, milder case yesterday morning and while we were strolling around the pasture looking for poopin-spiration (post mineral oil dose) I noticed something that definitely didn't belong in one of the sandy patches. While DH is our resident hunter, I was pretty sure I had this particular puzzle solved all by my lonesome (although I did take a picture and show it to him just to verify my suspicions). The hoof print the arrow is pointing to is Max's, which should give you an idea of the size (although Max's feet are on the small side). Can you guess what they are?

Here's a closer look:

There's a copse on the other side of the fence(s) at the top right corner of the pasture, which is where I'd bet the owner of these foot prints originated. I'm guessing those new little sprigs of green stuff you can see popping up in the photo - otherwise known as winter rye grass - provided the motivation behind the invasion. Looks like Champ and Max aren't the only ones capable of midnight raids around here (and over two fences no less - wow). Should make for an interesting winter, eh?

I have a tag fetish. Aside from the whole color-coordinated wrapping paper thing- doesn't everyone? - I love to play with the gift tags every year. Can't seem to help myself (and I don'wanna either, so there ;o) Since I have yet to put my hands on my favorite program - the Creative Lettering SuperCombo - I'm having to wing it this year. I had previously downloaded the font "Angel" from daFont's website (awesome place), but didn't like that particular font for whole words. It did, however, look fabulous used for first initial only tags. Aren't they fun? A heart punch rescued from a clearance pile someplace was the perfect place for the string. Looks pretty cute on scrapbook paper too, doesn't it? It didn't show in the photo, but (in keeping with my obsession) there is a narrow green outline around the letters which matches the green string. Since I only made these for this photo and it doesn't match anyone's initials around here (I was playing; I'm sure that shocks you ;o) how about I give them away? If you'd like the L-O-V-E tags, just leave a comment about this post and I'll choose the winner from the list of commenters. Follow the blog or fan us and comment and I'll toss your name in the random hat twice (just be sure to tell me what else you did please). Yay! From today until Saturday night - fair enough? It's gonna be a beautiful day...

Have a blessed week and a wonderful day everyone!

Well, well, well...Methinks Fall finally fell (coffee and a donut post)

I hope y'all (er, you all) had a wonderful Thanksgiving Day (and to my friends outside the US, a good old fashioned fantabulous weekend). I wore myself out on Wednesday and Thursday in a flurry of activity and I guess I'm a little slow to bounce back. I had a marvelous day though ;o) You know, between the cancer and all of my other medical misadventures, I have found myself becoming increasingly more thankful for the many blessings in my life every day; not just once a year. I'm thankful for many things that I never even used to consider, or even acknowledge. You know; the small stuff. I will admit to being disappointed in myself (well, okay maybe more like disgusted, ashamed, annoyed, etc. *rolls eyes*) that it took all those doggone medical misadventures to make me see things clearly: with a grateful spirit first and a jaded heart last. I can count it a blessing as well, that the Lord allowed a slow learner like myself such a large learning curve (otherwise known as the refining process). I readily admit that I needed a LOT of refining, and I'm pretty sure I'm nowhere near soup yet either. *grin*

It is for those many misadventures that I find myself in the odd position of being thankful beyond measure to God for allowing me to suffer them. Yeah, I said it: Thank you Lord for my cancer and other medical maladies (and - in case you're wondering - I'm completely sober ;o) Am I nuts? Nope, just finally figured out that "my world" is much improved for having had them. So many things I would not have taken the time for before; now I do. A phone call, a visit, a note, or even a small hand-made gift for friend or family. I would have thought about it of course, maybe even mean to, but I would have missed the opportunity because of a busy schedule and excused myself because there just wasn't enough time. So many little things that I never thought of before; now I do. I did not truly appreciate being blessed with excellent health - why would I? I'd never been seriously ill. I'm sorry it took the loss of that health for me to even notice. Never once did I give thanks that I could walk - why would I? After all, my legs have always taken me wherever I wished to go (at a very rapid pace). Too bad I had to lose the use of them for awhile to realize I should be thankful for them (and you'd better believe I am now - even in their reduced capacity ;o) Hard lessons, yes, but I will remain thankful for them anyway and continue to work at [and pray away on] my Christian self. I'll work harder on making the time and taking the time too, which probably means I'll be late for more stuff (but don't worry; it'll be for a good cause ;o)
I'm sure most of you have read the poem by Red Foley called, "Lord Forgive Me When I Whine" (here). I'm embarrassed to admit that when it came through my inbox waaay back when, I read it and thought, "Wow, we should all have that perspective" before forwarding it to several friends and then forgetting all about it. If you haven't heard of it, it is quite moving and reflects that "attitude of gratitude" we should all aspire to. Several years ago I began starting my days with a thankful prayer for another day/another chance and the request that I might be a blessing to someone that day. It took a little while, but these days that is usually the first waking thought of my mornings, followed by my daily ritual: a cup of green tea with a big blop of honey (Lipton's Blueberry Pomegranate today - yum!), and a chapter in my daily devotional (this year's on my Kindle). The pumpkin candle is, of course, optional. *laugh* That is my Thanksgiving prayer for each of you; that you approach every day you're given with a smile on your face and thanksgiving in your heart - even when you are less than sure that's how you feel inside (it's the effort that counts, after all, and eventually you'll find yourself much happier for it ;o)
Shadow had a terrible bout of colic last night, which left me more than a bit scrambled this morning. Over the course of two hours I gave him two doses of mineral oil, which generated four rounds of poo (not to mention we walked about 650 miles around - and around and around - the pasture). Although each "pit stop" seemed to make him feel better initially, he reverted to miserable a short time later. I did get this shot of the moon during one of our rest stops/intermissions. Thought it was neat, although a full one would have been nice considering the amount of tripping yours truly did bumbling around out there in the pitch dark pasture (and yes I had a flashlight, but that doesn't always help when you have G2 incorporated into your DNA - aka the Graceless Gene ;o) After almost three hours, we ended up giving him a shot of Banamine which we rarely do anymore (it's always my last choice as it is not really good for him). We finally left him when he was resting comfortably, and DD made several trips back out to the pasture before bed to check on him. He was, I am very happy thankful *grin* to report, right back to his sassy self this morning. And what a glorious morning it is...

Isn't that cloud formation awesome? Looks just like frosting, which reminds me of something I find a total piece of cake to be thankful for... Dessert. Oh my, that was bad ;o)

The cake on the left is pumpkin spice (Mom's favorite) and the one on the right is carrot which is DH's favorite (from scratch, of course). Dad's favorite is chocolate, which he'll have at Christmas. The clay basket holds a mixture of candy corn and peanuts, which is unbelievably yummy for those of you who like the taste of Payday candy bars. Yikes! I'd better run...before I'm late for church (again ;o) No worries though; it's for a good cause, right?
I didn't get to the rest of the photos from the fair - stay tuned for them though! As always, thank you for reading this far and have a blessed week everyone!

November? Really? Are you sure?

Some of you may remember last year's post from the fair - with DD utterly captivated by Woodworking Dude and his impressive (albeit alarming ;o) skill with a hunk of wood and a chainsaw (here). Guess what? It's that time again! The temperatures have started dropping and the trees are finally turning, as they always seem to do in conjunction with the fair. I was SO happy to see the tigers come back this year; Mr. Wambold seems to not only care deeply for his own animals, but also the preservation of the species. This is Pearl; a white tiger with beautiful blue eyes. Isn't she absolutely gorgeous? His show is a cross between circus-style entertainment and an educational program. One thing I really appreciate is his food-based rewards, but then you all know I am a firm believer in treats (as long as the trainee can "handle" it, that is). Oh-oh-oh Wait! You guys have to see this photo...

The only thing better than a happy accident [imho] is a prayerful on purpose (yeah, I felt a little silly but I did it anyway). I spotted this hawk perched atop one of the posts as we worked on the fence the other day (and moron that one later - seriously ;o) I sent DD down to the house to get my camera and asked the Lord if He would maybe keep him (her?) perched there until she got back with it. Now, for those of you questioning whether or not there was really any Divine intervention involved here I should like to note that DD walks slower than a three-legged lame turtle and had quite a bit of distance to traverse (we were near the top of the pasture, so she had to go about the length of two football fields for there and back). As you can see he was still there, gorgeous backdrop and all (for which I gave thanks and praise; Woo! ;o)

Okay, back to the fair here. I was very excited to see this billboard as we entered the grounds. Of course we had to stop and watch the show, which had just begun. Most of the photos I took were awful - between the floodlights set up around the perimeter and the motion of the horses, virtually every shot was an out of focus disaster. Raspberries. I did manage to get a decent photo of the Arabian she had, performing the Obesience (inset below) as he remained still for a moment. The demonstration was conducted by a renowned dressage trainer who entered the ring on a breathtaking Freesian stallion. While the lady was lovely and had a brilliant patter, I winced when I saw the expression of discomfort and excessive foaming at the mouth of her stallion. It smacked of Rollkur; he was otherwise magnificent.

For those of you unfamiliar with the term "Rollkur", it is also referred to as "Hyperflexion" and is used by some as a training method. Definitely not my cup of tea; but pretty easily recognized. Aside from an exaggerated head position (with the head tucked in to the Nth degree) the horse will also drool and/or foam at the mouth a LOT, as the unnatural head position renders him unable to swallow properly.  
Although his head was not all the way down to the Nth degree, it appeared to be well past the point of comfort. Frothy white foam was rapidly collecting on his mouth and dripping from his lips in long ribbons. It spattered the ground, his chest and

 his legs, so I'm thinking that if it wasn't from Rollkur, then he had some MAJOR teething issues ;o) In short, if I did not know much about equine body language - and don't misunderstand me; I don't know all that much - I would have loved every minute of it. As it was, it seemed to me that although the horses and ponies did their jobs fairly well, much of it was under protest (quickly squelched) and they just did not seem to enjoy themselves very much. I had a really tough time getting past that. I think the tigers had a lot more fun, to be honest - which is kind of weird if you think about it. *grin* I snapped a [only slightly fuzzy] shot of these two little mutineers; they popped out of the ring, turned their backs and announced they were "all done". Ha. Bet?

 Speaking of fun, right after the tigers (and yes I know I'm all over the place here *grin*) was a dog act with a woman I assumed was Mrs. Wambold. Now that was fabulous! She had a tiny truckload full of four-legged ping pong balls (disguised as terriers) that were just adorable. Pretty sure she said they were all shelter dogs. They looked like little furry bullets as they shot out of the truck, performed their trick with wriggling enthusiasm, and then zipped right back into the truck. It was quite a marked difference coming from the horse demonstration; everybody just looked so doggone (ha) happy to be there. I love the inset picture of her hugging the dog (not the best of shots; but definitely a winner in the smile category). The dog was rubbing his head all over hers in delight, and she was hugging him and laughing like a loon (it was great ;o) I don't know if it was a new trick or what, but they both appeared to be ecstatic with the result. Here is the photo of the trick he did that prompted the hug; he's the one on the top of the tube and there was a second dog darting back and forth through the tube:

Living in the South, I can appreciate the fact (rule?) that all things can and must be fried; BUT - fried Kool Aid? Really? Anybody besides me find this rather disturbing? Not to mention disgusting. Our hospital actually serves fried everything in the cafeteria. I had a really hard time wrapping my brain around that one when I first ate in there, but then I realized they were probably just drumming up some new business. I passed on the Kool-Aid, and opted instead for a *cough*cough* healthier snack: the funnel cake. Hey, whaddaya want? This IS the fair, after all...mmmmm - Yummeh ;o)
I stopped a time or two to gaze at the moon which looked really cool; glowing mysteriously, though shrouded somewhat by the clouds. I was torn somewhere between alarmed and amused to note that it was full. Kind of redundant considering the weirdos that were already out of the woodwork and wandering the fairgrounds. Yikes. I got a picture for you though (of the moon, that is, not the weirdos ;o) The white dot to the right is a star; isn't that neat?
The highlight of our visit was a trip to the Blacksmith, but I think that and the remaining photos I have to share will have to be a topic for next time considering I missed my Sunday evening deadline - BIG time (and raspberries to that :oP
Would you like to know WHY I missed my deadline? To say this has been a wild week is definitely an understatement. How about we make it a fun little guessing game? (I just love those!) We'll call it "What's wrong with this picture?" I'll even give you a hint (though regular followers and friends are probably already laughing). Below is a photo [taken after I secured the perimeter, of course] of one of the boys at O'Dark-Thirty showing how my week began. I dashed outside amid sounds of mass hysteria and thundering hooves (and me still in my jammies *rolls eyes*).

And next we have a photo depicting that same young man's line of thinking a short time later (I speak Blockhead in addition to Southernese):  
"Hot DAWG that was some fun! Crazy biped done locked me in this here stall tho. Hmph. Well. Ya know, long as I'mah stuck in here I may as well open that [snickers] horse-proof gate jes' sittin' right thar. Hah! Got it. Dang ahm havin' me some FUN tuh-day... Whaa-hoooo! *snort*..."

Standing on the patio shivering and grinding my teeth, I reverted to an all-too-familiar refrain:
   "MAAAAAAAAAAAAX!"
And finally, congratulations goes to... "Clancy" for winning last week's giveaway - I'll be sending her a print of "Misty's Twilight". *Applause*Applause* Yay for you! ('bout time you won something girl ;o) As always, many thanks for reading my ramblings, and have a blessed Thanksgiving week everyone!

Hey Hay Dude! You are SO wrong.

Anybody besides me feel like they have entered a time warp? Geez - where in the heck did October go? Wait I know...it went *POOF!* Sometimes I am quite alarmed by the speed of the days going by; I can't help but wonder how much faster they can go since time passes more quickly as you age. Scary stuff indeed; so we're just not even gonna go there (how's that for a coping strategy? Ha.) Hopefully, the rest of you are not as freaked out about the fact that Thanksgiving is hurtling towards us at the speed of light with Christmas right behind (and eek ;o) I love this autumn photo. It was actually taken last year, but I never did get around to posting it. Remember the tragic accident that befell my old camera? This was right after I got the new one; I was experimenting very early in the morning (hence the mist) with some of the fancy-schmancy photo settings on my new toy (if you weren't here then or want a refresher, you can read all about that particular tale of woe and its happy ending here and here). They are - if it matters - two of my favorite posts (is it tacky to say that? Oh well, I can be tacky ;o)

Since we're there (at tacky) we'll just throw in some shameless self-promotion too and offer up a link to one of my Squidoo lenses. I did one for a non-profit challenge awhile back, and although we lost, it has some of my favorite ideas and recipes. I am always looking for new Fall/Thanksgiving recipes so I thought maybe some of you might be interested in them too (including the silly little turkey in the photo). The lens has a little of everything, so don't worry if you're not a genius in the kitchen (me either ;o) There are "real" recipes as well for those of you who like confectionery challenges; like a scrumptious white chocolate cake complete with cooked frosting. It's called Treats for the Tall and the Small if you'd like to pop on over and visit me in the kitchen - but don't forget to come back!

Look at this photo I took of Shadow the other night; isn't it wild? Sometimes I just can't take in all of God's handiwork; nor can I quite seem to capture its magnificence through the lens of the camera (not for lack of trying though, is it? ;o) We've had some unbelievable skies over the past week or so; I've probably taken a hundred pictures or more. Last Sunday evening was phenomenal. I made the mad dash back indoors to grab the camera, and when I came panting back up the hill I let out a "Holy cow!" (a favorite phrase *laugh*) at the spectacular range of colors splashed across the sky. I guess it was a little louder than I'd intended, as Shadow made a beeline across the pasture to see what all the fuss was about and this is what I got. Would you like to see a few more? Maybe we should have another giveaway (an itty bitty one this time). And DAISY? If you and your mom are reading this, I'm still waiting for your address from the last giveaway (unless you don't want it). 
Rules? Simply leave me a comment telling me which one of the following sky shots is your favorite and I'll pick the name from my commenters next weekend (I'll shoot for Friday night) and announce the winner Saturday or Sunday.  If you like my Autumn tree (the first pic), you are welcome to choose that one instead. The winner will receive a 3x5 or 4x6 print (your call) of the photo you liked best. I'll take the date stamp off first though; these came pretty much straight out of the camera. Sound good? Well allrighty then, here we go...
I named this one "Daydreams", because it was reminiscent of my childhood and those long afternoons spent laying in the grass gazing at the clouds in a brilliant blue summer sky;

Wasn't sure what to call this one; "Misty's Twilight" was all I could think of (and meh). If you have any suggestions, I'd be happy to have them.

This one is "Twilight's Dawning". Doesn't it look more like a sunrise than sunset? If you look carefully at the colors, you can tell it is actually the setting sun;

Here is "Heaven's Purl" (did you know that purl is also a synonym for swirl, in addition to a knitting stitch? I didn't; I just learned that - yay ;o)

One more and I think we're good...Um, let's see. How about this one? It's one of my favorites. I added a piece of scripture to it from Isaiah 60:1 because it seemed to fit perfectly:

Holy cow! I can't believe I actually finished my post on time (and I'm not even late for anything *grin*). Have a blessed week everyone!

Whether you have horses or not, I'm pretty sure all of you will relate to this one way or another. We spent a large portion of the past week shopping for hay (yes, you read that correctly). We are down to the last three rolls from the hay we purchased in July. Sadly, our little corner of the state is running a close second to Texas with this terrible drought (so we've gone through far more hay than planned). In any case, the man we bought the hay from lives right up the road - literally (in Southernese "right up the road" can be anywhere from a couple of miles to: gosh I hope you packed a lunch ;o) Anyway, when we told him we would need about 30 more rolls to get us through the winter, he said he'd be glad to put us down for that (he was trying to presell as much as he could) and he would give us a call as soon as he made the next cutting. He and his wife own a local business and have a very good reputation in the area, so it was a huge load off my mind that we wouldn't have to worry about hay this winter. 

DH drove by the field earlier this month and noticed that they were in the process of cutting it. I called our new best friend (herein anonymously referred to as "Hay Dude") and he assured me that he had not forgotten about us and would call me back in a day or two as soon as they had finished in the field. He mentioned that someone had already stopped by with a flatbed wanted to buy the entire field, which caused my heart to thump painfully. Thankfully, he told the man that he could not sell it all because he had already promised some of it to two other customers. Relieved that he was not going to go back on his word, I thanked him profusely and we hung up. Well. After several days passed without a word, I got twitchy and called him back. Uh-oh; voice mail. I left a message. When a few more days went by without a word, I began to get this terrible sinking feeling. You know the one? I called again and this time left a slightly panicked message, even though I had already surmised what had happened. Sure enough, he finally called me back a day later full of apologies and explained that the man with the flatbed had returned and offered him enough money that he just couldn't turn it down. Sold him the whole field. Surely I could understand (um, no dude, actually I don't; you shafted us). So here we are with temperatures dropping rapidly and without any winter store. I think (I hope, I hope) we may have found someone else. The hay is more expensive than what we would have gotten now that winter is looming large, but that's how it goes with supply and demand. Now the only thing left to do is to repent all of the very ugly thoughts I have had about Hay Dude. This is one of those things that makes it hard to remember I'm supposed to be a Christian. Workin' on that forgiveness thing. Since he's supposed to be a Christian too - and don't even get me started on that part - I can't help but wonder if it means there's a free slap in there for me somewhere (I mean wouldn't "turn the other cheek" mean I'd get to take another whack at him?). Okay, I'm sorry. I forgot I was supposed to be repentent here; the whole thing just really frosts my cookies, is all. I'm slowly working my way toward forgiveness; but since I still have the overwhelming urge to haul off and slug him, I may have a little ways to go yet...*sigh*

I spent more time than I care to admit yesterday, paintstakingly reinstalling all of the bazillion fonts back on my PC. I suppose I should go ahead and confess: I have a font fettish (it's just terrible :o) I love them! If you remember the sunrise maze book I made for my friend (this post), you may have noticed that each of the quotes was done in a different font. I love little touches like that; it makes things just a little more special - you know what I mean? Anyway, I'm sure all of you know about DaFont (here). They have fonts for just about any occasion you can imagine and they are grouped categorically, which is great. Some of the names are funny and some alarming. I got a kick out of "Girls Are Weird" (which I'd already had), and laughed out loud when I found the new follow up font of "BoyzRGross". Somebody's got a good sense of humor. *grin* Now I just have to find my Creative Lettering CDs which are AWOL. Bet most of you know about that, too (here).

One of the things you may not know about, however, is a marvelous little program called Font Wrangler. If you are a Fontophile (and yes, I just made that up ;o) you'll love it. You can print out this handy-dandy little reference list of all the fonts - complete with typeface sample - that are on your computer in alphabetical order. Now I have a pretty good idea of most of the fonts in my system, but when you have over 500 of them (and eek! Do I really have THAT many???) it's hard to remember the name of every single font. Most of the time, I use this little printed list when searching for inspiration and/or the appropriate font for a specific task. It's really been a lifesaver, though, when I am hot and heavy into a creative bender and have the perfect - but nameless - typeface pop into my head. For me, it's far easier to grab and scan this printed list than it is to try to scroll through every one of the fonts on my computer. You can download a free trial (which is what I did for the second time yesterday after I'd finished reinstalling all the fonts) through Cnet here if you're interested.

Well, I finally caved one day last week, and threw my camera in the car before heading to work. It has been killing me every morning to head east and see God's glorious handiwork in the sky over and over again; and me without my camera. I just couldn't stand it any more. Although I left extra early to compensate, I was (of course) late for work. It was the second church steeple that got me. I did manage to get some wonderful photos to share with you though, would you like to see them? These are straight out of my camera; I haven't even erased the date stamp yet.

Here's the first church steeple; it was just before the sun crossed the horizon and the sky was absolutely unbelievable (isn't it beautiful?)

Below is the second church steeple, after the sun broke the horizon. It's kind of weird that the blue stayed almost exactly the same, but the rest is dramatically different. This is the shot that made me officially late, but you can see why I just HAD to stop, can't you?

I think I will add some scripture to either this one (or the first one) from Isaiah 60:1 "...and the Glory of the Lord is risen upon you."

The last one I shot on my way home; it's a field of cotton. I used the poster setting on the camera which adds a slightly surreal quality to it. Although I really miss the first snow each time winter rolls around, I've decided to look at it from another perspective. I'm entitling this one "A Southern Snowfall" (or something like that - ideas anyone? :o) This is as close to snow as this misplaced Yankee is going to get, I think.

That's all for this week; 'cause now I'm late for church. *slaps head* Have a blessed week everyone!