Winter

This was exactly what I needed to read today.

"There's a point where you can give up on winter--when temptation can enter your soul, prying its way in like cold air through the cracks in your cabin--around January sixteenth or so, and this can make you realize that February's coming, and beyond February, March.See, I don't yet realize that March will be the hardest month. Early February's the coldest, and often the snowiest, but March, strange, silent March, will be the hardest.

The danger in yielding to thoughts of spring--green grass, hikes, bare feet, lakes, fly-fishing, rivers, and sun, hot sun--is that once these thoughts enter your mind, you cant get them out.

Love the winter. Don't betray it. Be loyal.

When the spring gets here, love it too--and then the summer.

But be loyal to the winter, all the way through--all the way, and with sincerity--or you'll find yourself high and dry, longing for a spring that's a long way off, and winter will have abandoned you, and in her place you'll have cabin fever, the worst.

The colder it gets, the more you've got to love it."

~Rick Bass fr. Winter -Notes from Montana

Trembling.

I had a photo shoot of a newborn today. I knew the family and there were no outlined expectations. No promises. No real intense pressure. Nothing I couldn't handle yet I was still aflutter. While I'm not sure if it was obvious, I was trembling. I drove around the block twice wondering if just maybe I should call and tell them to call a professional but then I remembered that everyone has to start somewhere. I jittered all the way to the door and blamed the cold for my shaking when I walked in the house (Thanks Mother Nature! For once, I didn't mind the frigid temperature.)
I made sure to have a fully charged battery and the lens I planned on using ready to roll. I had ideas in my mind of how it might go and then I remembered that I was at the mercy of a newborn. He was wonderful. So calm. So patient. A few times I'm sure he was looking at me thinking Lady, get that black thing that keeps going CLICK CLICK outta my face. I came home, loaded up all the images, and spent the better part of tonight editing away. I'm very proud to say that tomorrow it is off to print.
Despite the nerves, the self-doubt, the trepidation I felt, I did it all on my own. I can't pretend it was perfect and I can't say that I knew what I was doing always but I do know that I kept seeing more. When I left, I was confident that I had something usable. I want to do this again.
Perhaps my favorite from the day:

Spring Ahead.

There is something about losing an hour of sleep with a baby in the house that seems like a twisted joke. I am very thankful that my baby child sleeps very well. But take an hour away and yikes! I have been dragging my butt around all day. I did sneak a short nap this afternoon and now I'm trying to keep myself awake. It's not working. My clean sheets, cozy comforters, and cloud bed are calling to me - LOUDLY!
Catch you on the flip!

Shake Awake.

Half of this house has been up since 7AM on this fine freezing Saturday. Half of the house is still tucked away snug in bed. You guess which half is which.
The washing machine has been roaring and the dryer was been zipping around in circles so much I think I'm dizzy. The vacuum and I have been trying to be patient and not wake the whole house. Today is a day to accomplish.
Plus, I have a few cards to make! I think there needs to be a nap penned in somewhere, too.
Run away with me, Saturday!

Let's Play #114

I tripped across this place and am excited to play along. Won't you?
Drop me a line with a link to your version.

1. __Volunteering to send some homemade goodness to help this cause___ was my last random act of kindness.
2. Another place _I would like to be is nestled in a comfy chair beside a warm flickering fire reading____.
3. __Proceed with reckless abandon___ in matters of the heart.
4. Coffee, tea or __cookies___.
5. ___The walk of life and the walk of work are not__ separate paths.
6. Our __togetherness (mine and hubby's)___ reminds me that there is __promise___.
7. And as for the weekend, tonight I'm looking forward to __a movie___, tomorrow my plans include ___a smooth evening with my kidlets__ and Sunday, I want to __shop with my sister___!

Video Time

She does this nonstop. The video really doesn't do it justice but you get the idea.

Top of the Day to You.

The night was as anticipated. We were up and we slept and at 7 we decided to just be up. We being Kamila and me. Steven is still snug away in Dreamland. Thank goodness one of us is doing well!
This morning we created a list of things that we must get. I stole a shower while Missy May steamed in the awesome mist. I have a cup of Go Juice that is just waiting to be swallowed. I've cracked open the windows in the bedrooms just a slice to allow the Sick Fairy an escape route. I've cycled through my must-reads and am now thinking of moving the computer to the new desk my brave friend brought over last night. Let me mention that she was aware of the state of disarray and the potential of the Sick Fairy following her home. Everyone is getting fair warning before walking into this place.
Since I seem to have almost completely lost my voice...=insert a brief pause for the crowd clowns to comment and laugh =...There may be a few projects that I want to tackle. I see a couple cameras winking at me wanting to be let out of the cages/cases I keep them in.
Middle-of-the-Week-Wonder-Day, let's work together please. Keep it simple for me and I'll rock it out!

Banish Thee Sick Fairy!

Get Serious! Get @#$%$#@ SERIOUS!
My son is hot off a string of the sick bugs. First bronchitis, then a chest infection with a dash of ear infection. Thank you to our great doctor who medicated him to health. Another thank you to my dear son for not fighting us when needing to take the medicine. For some weird reason he decided that he liked this one and did not require profuse bribing. HEY! A parent's gotta do what a parent's gotta do.
My daughter gets the sniffles but was otherwise clear. OK. Today, she is warm with a runny nose and coughing. With a little bit of help from King Tylenol and his army, we're working on this.
Hubby is fighting something with all his might. I applaud his determination. Vitamin C, some funky pills, slather on a pound of Vicks, GO!
Our roommate decides today that he is coming down with something. Now, thanks to yours truly, he is on some OTC meds to hopefully get back on his feet.
I had the doctor confirm for me today that my self diagnosis of strep throat was, in fact, correct. I am now taking antibiotics that will make it better. (Can you feel my Law of Attraction powers emitting in this declaration?) I am also trying to remember that I can't expect to feel better within hours of taking the medication when I ran a fever for two days and was otherwise incapacitated. I am again thankful for the doctor and to be functioning again even if it is at a semi-pathetic level.
Just moments before having everyone settled for what may prove to be a trying night, the dog starts puking! Get real! Not only does she puke but she also had a second issue though I will spare you the details of that one.
If the cat starts puking or otherwise expelling bodily matter I might be fit to be tied.
Enough already. Sick Fairy, thank you for the visit but it is time for you to MOVE OUT OF THIS HOUSE!
Tomorrow----or rather later today, when I've had something more than a migraine-relief Advil, the washing machine is going to be in full tilt. In my delusion, I am also considering skipping the dryer and perhaps laying the wash outside to freeze the sickness away. In that same delusion, I'm sitting here blogging rather than sending my tail to bed for some serious rest. Suck the marrow out of the bone.
Let's do this!

Shopping Fun.

Can't shopping always be fun? I normally enjoy getting out and doing the weekly shops or the monthly shops or the random retail therapy shops. Given that my last shopping day with the kids was perfect, I have no want to shop again. Our day was wonderful together. We had fun. I don't want to ruin that. I don't want to forget how it felt.

Mission: March

This month's missions start with a bit of a roll over from last month. Let's plan this one carefully. Let's set some deadlines. Let's have the time of our lives!

1. Update those documents. It MUST get done.
2. Organize a quote book.
3. Get shelving for the kids' rooms. (I LOVE the way that sounds....kids! plural.)
4. Wrap up stamp club.
5. Find journals for Baby Love Letters and start playing along.
6. Get taxes done.
7. Read a book.
8. Get all my textbooks together.
9. Rearrange our bedroom.
10. Print pictures from February.
11. Watch one full movie that I want to see and have not seen before.
12. Start closet cycling.
13. Get new tires for the car.

Entirely doable. Let's get started.