So long...

See you again, October! You were definitely pack full of adventure.

This is how you ended. The day was exciting. The evening was fun. Three cheers for October!

November will see the reinstatement of a Missions list. Mark you calendars and for those of us on the time change hoopla, set your clocks back tonight!

Let's Play #148

You're playing too.........right?

1. It was a dark and stormy night, __we were alone___.
2. _____No one wanted to volunteer______ so I offered to take the books myself.
3. Rushing out, ______i just knew i was forgetting something_____.
4. ____No jokes!_______...I think I heard a howl!
5. Shhhh... ____i've got a secret_______.
6. _____Trick or Treat______ give me something good to eat!
7. And as for the weekend, tonight I'm looking forward to __gearing up___, tomorrow my plans include __a photoshoot___ and Sunday, I want to __chill___!

Write Away Seminar: Post Card from Philly

TravelinOma is off on an adventure this week. Are you doing your homework?
Being that I've been a part of the blogging world for a while, I do have a few things that I wish everyone would agree to entrench in the Blogger's Book of Etiquette:

1. Spell check your posts. Spelling is a pet peeve of mine.
2. Comment on blogs you visit. I love reading comments. They make me all warm and fuzzy.
3. Do LinkLove posts where you show people things or people you are talking about. I don't know how many times I've googled things people have referred to in posts.
4. Have fun with your blog. It's a new kinda weird but cool way of meeting people, making friends, and enjoying life.
5. Show pictures. They are as enticing as words. I know I slip in this section.

Let's Play #146.

Show Janet some love. Play along. Let loose.
1. So are we going __to start that rock and roll band___?
2. ____Success, my way,_______ is what's up ahead.
3. I love to _____dream big______.
4. _____I'm not sure how to end a sentance with______ of some sort.
5. I walk a ____dog_____.
6. _____Happiness______ is the true elixir of life!
7. And as for the weekend, tonight I'm looking forward to __prep___, tomorrow my plans include __my first ever trade show___ and Sunday, I want to __have four children that cooperate and produce one fine picture___!

Family Matters Seminar: Ghost Stories

She's making me dig deep into me. TravelinOma is going for heart. She is asking about things today that are very meaningful to me. Grands and Greats. Family is my absolute most important value. Every family has its skeletons and its ghosts. Do you know yours?

While pictures of them are few, each one that exists tells a story of the person it portrays. The names are very alive for me. I am very lucky to still have two grands alive and even luckier to have met my three of my greats. I can still hear the way some of them laugh or the melancholy song breathed out when they spoke.
Willard Solomon 1914 - 199X
Grace Adelaide
Gennaro 1935 -
Ilde 1938 -
Rosa April 20
Mose Feb 13
Giuseppe
Anna
Maria
Antonio

Fall Photo Blitz!

Let's rock this house!!!!!!!!!!!!!

The weather is less than what we would wish for. The days are shorter than we would hope. Life is busy as can be but let's not let that stop us.

I am running a FALL PHOTO BLITZ! Take a chance on me. Let's get together, dance around a bit, smile some, laugh a whole lot.

$75 gets you an hour and a disc of 20+ editted images with printing rights. *

Hurry fast! We need to roll this out soon. Contact me at kmswoodATliveDOTca.



*Offer valid in Winnipeg only.
**Photo taken by my son (age 5).

Book Shelf Seminar: Scary Tales

TravelinOma has been here. She comments. Why don't you?
Today, in TravelinOma's School Days seminar, we're talking about scary stories. While there are a number of them that perk up in my mind - the childhood recount from Germany, the smokey roses, the white lady, the burial ground that lays under the cold house that bay, the heebies from Savona, the open mausoleum plot...oh the list is long for me - there is only one statement that resonates loud in my ears.
My Nonna respects the dead. It is something that she has taught me, frightened into me. As part of this Life Lesson from Nonna, she also maintains that it is not the dead that we need to fear but rather the living. In her words, "Kristina, The Dead, they are dead. The Living can still kill."
case (or perhaps casket) closed.

Write Away Seminar: Happy Trails

TravelinOma is still going. School Days are rolling around. You are doing the homework, aren't you? Are you at least thinking about it?

All I have here is time. I've decided that I will absorb the air deep into me. I will return to the five basic senses and let them guide me along. My eyes see through the glass of my lens. My fingers capture the moments as they digitally transfer to my card. My ears hear Nature calling. She wants us to hear her songs. I smell the cleansing of my soul. I taste the salt of my tears as they silently slip off my cheeks to the ground. I am united. I am whole. I am humbled.

Let's Play #145.

You just know rolling out the weekend includes Friday Fill In's for me. Play, too. It's fun.

1. Sweet dreams __my precious child. ___.
2. _____Memories are beautiful______ especially for me.
3. Silliness ____is essential every so often. _______.
4. _____I have a super fun safe give away plan for______ this Halloween.
5. Outstanding or not _____it is what it is______.
6. ____A pumpkin spice latte_______ is what I want right now!
7. And as for the weekend, tonight I'm looking forward to __dinner with the ladies___, tomorrow my plans include __pedis___ and Sunday, I want to __get my cabbage rolls made___!

October.

Run away with me.
Missions have slipped. Is is not because they aren't here but rather because there are so many that the available hours are spent trying to catch up with a month that is otherwise running away.
A bit of a rundown between now and the end of it:

• A very warm welcome back home to my gpa. Praying is working. Don't stop now.
• Skating and swimming lessons with my #1.
• A super awesome visit from my sister, future bro-in-law, and dogphew, Rookaroni!
• Thanksgiving and whatever dinner indulgences it will lead us to.
• A Trade Fair. = watch for details =
• A half way mark for my course which I am staying mostly on top of. It is twice as hard to find the time but squished somewhere in most days I find a few stolen moments to give it.
• A retreat with these ladies and more. I've never done anything like this. Me + 15ish relative strangers in a cabin for a whole weekend. I can feel the power within the walls of the cabin I've never set foot in. I can hear the formulations of conversations yet to unfold. I am already absorbing the energy and am shocked to learn it is my own. I can't wait!
• I'm pushing myself - hard. I'm digging deep. I'm internalizing. I need to think more, this much I know.
• Where this sidewalk ends, Halloween is waiting. It's a dark ghoulish party wanting to be lit. It will be just me, my #1, and our fearless pooch. Baby K (while not so baby anymore) won't be out and about with us. Neither will my super sister, whom has trekked through this every year since #1 came to be.

Let's get out there. Feel the season change. Absorb the transition. Live in the now.

Write Away Seminar: Personal History.

TravelinOma is at it again. She declared a break last week. There was some stuff happening for her. I hope she's better. Oma, are you?

First child, grandchild
Daughter
Rebel
Curious
Determined
Unsure
Searching
Questioning
Mother
Wife
Explorer
Humbled

What are you twelve words?

Let's Play #144.

Let's go. Let's do this. You can play, too. Go here.

1. I have a history of ___being neurotic with my thoughts____.
2. ___The secret to best parenting___ is something I wish I knew.
3. I'm eating (or recently ate) __grapes__.
4. ___The chicken is___on the road.
5. So that's it, that's ___all___.
6.___Something isn't always___ better than nothing!
7. And as for the weekend, tonight I'm looking forward to __the bookstore___, tomorrow my plans include ___a photo shoot___ and Sunday, I want to ___sleep in___.