Christmastime Fun

Our Group Originally uploaded by lelliekinThe day is getting close, the traditions have been kept, and fun has been had. I've gotten lots of great cards from friends far and near, been blessed by so many yummy goodies, and enjoyed the season greatly....

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Runaway

I was a runaway this weekend. A truant, an escapist. I was a veritable Houdini from my everyday life. It was wonderful and restorative and worthwhile. I have not a single photo because I once again, could not find my camera charger in the place where...

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Yays and Nays

The Drama That is Life...Yay!I got to go to an awesome party on Saturday night and hang out with friends and laugh and feel the true warmth of the holiday season. It was awesome.Two ortho appointments that have been rescheduled more times than I can...

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Book Review

Socialism is Great! by Lijia ZhangMemoirAdult Non-FictionThe title of this book comes from a Mao-era refrain sung to engender national pride. What it is actually about is a young woman's coming of age in the 1980's in a large city in China.Lijia is...

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Second Place!

Sam's team, the Hammond Bears, came in second at this big tournament down in Calvert County (about 2 hours away from home). Sam ended up 6-3 for the tourney, which is a great start to his season as a junior wresting varsity. Click on it to see his...

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Props to the Offspring

Here are a few things I'm feeling fiercely proud of right now:Sam just won 3 out of 4 matches in his first wrestling tournament of the year. He is really focused during the wrestling season and I'm glad for him to see some results.Our dishwasher is...

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Shopping Fun

Well, I did my shopping and decided to help the economy after all. Just a little. We all have to do our part, you know. For inquiring minds, the catalog that sent me the gift card is Sundance. It was started by Robert Redford and has all sort of gorgeous...

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Something fun from Simple Mom

One of my favorite daily reads is SimpleMom. Right now she is doing a very fun giveaway of some beautiful jewelry that not only puts lovely things into her readers' hands, it promotes businesses run by moms, which is cool. To enter, she asked readers...

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Reality Comes Crashing Down

Okay, so yesterday, I wrote that the economy had not yet affected my life directly. I probably sounded smug about having been steeped in the principles of provident and frugal living all my life. I didn't mean to sound smug if I did, nor did I mean...

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Completely Blocked

I've written and discarded at least 7 posts over the last week. They all seemed so lame. They were all about nothing, which only works if you're a writer for the Seinfeld show. Which is off the air, so that won't work. Today I'm going to keep writing...

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Time to Get Your Holiday Groove On...

You've probably seen this, but it is new to me. I think it is cool and fun and quite amazing in its technical brilliance. Enjoy.....

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Book Review

How the Garcia Girls Lost their Accentsby Julia AlvarezI was very interested in this book group pick (I read it for The Nook, my beloved online book group) and enjoyed aspects of it very much. It is the story of the Garcia de la Torre family and their...

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On to Chile

Right about now, if everything went okay, my second son is boarding a plane in Dallas bound for Chile. I'm not sure which city he's flying into-Santiago or Valparaiso, but no matter. He's in the Lord's hands and he'll be fine. I'm so excited for his...

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Sick Days

The cough came on a week ago, with little surprise, as Sara and Sam are just barely finished with their two weeks of coughing. It is one of those insidious viruses that leaves one feeling mostly okay, but sounding awful and not fit for human society....

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Recent Fun Times

Mixed in among the anti-procrastination efforts and the drooling over Daniel Craig, this last week has been chock full of fun times with friends. Here is a quick run-down:So You Think You Can Dance Concert: This was so fun. I am a poser of a fan of...

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Me and James Bond

I love James Bond. And, as if I'm not geeky enough about other stuff, I can tell you way more about the whole Bond Thing than you'd ever want to know. It is one of those shallow, completely useless indulgences that act as the whipped cream on my chocolate...

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4 Mailed Boxes, 3 French Hens, 2 Turtle Doves

And a Partridge in a Pear Tree...Yes! I got the 4 packages out the door. They are currently on my porch awaiting carrier pickup this very day. I used all recycled packaging, so my shelf full of boxes and envelopes in the basement earned its keep. I...

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Book Review

Child 44 by Tom Rob SmithAdult FictionThriller/Drama/MysteryThis book is about Leo, an MGB (Security Police) officer in Stalinist Russia. The principal action takes place in 1953. While the story is excellent-a thriller about trying to stop a serial...

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Anti-Procrastination Week

I'm back from one of my three weekends a year where I play a working woman. This time, I was just 15 miles up the road in downtown Baltimore, but it is easier to just pretend I'm out of town and stay in the hotel rather than commute to the conference....

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Eagle Project

Eagle ProjectOriginally uploaded by lelliekin Here's Ev doing his bit for the trees and scouting. It was a hugely successful day with 67 volunteers (a large number of which were members of the Oakland Mills HS JV football team.) 220 trees planted, and...

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Pentagon Memorial, Nov. 3, 2008

Pentagon Memorial, Nov. 3, 2008Originally uploaded by lelliekin Our visit to the Pentagon Memorial was really nice. It is an easy metro ride down-we caught the green line at Greenbelt, then changed to the yellow line at Ft. Totten, which took us all...

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Catching up

I have a lot of post titles with those words in them, apparently. Oh well, that's what I'm doing. Today is November 3rd. The Election is tomorrow. I'm sure many of you didn't know that. We'll be out of limbo one way or the other.School is out today...

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Out with the Old, In with the New

Yesterday marked the New Moon, so today, everything is starting over, at least from a lunar standpoint, which is just fine with me. This entire last month has been punctuated by a collection of stupid mistakes, uncomfortable moments, missteps, misunderstandings,...

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Saved by the Meme

Once again, I was having trouble figuring out what to write about , when Melissa over at Book Nut, a talented writer and also my pal from the Nook, came to the rescue and tagged me for a meme. This is a fun one for me.The rules: go to your pictures folder...

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The Best Thing About Being a Married Man is...

When, after your wife cooks you a delicious dinner, you sit down with your son and play board games, while the smiling wife and daughter clean up the dishes. I don't usually get email forwards worth sharing, but this was rich. At least we can be grateful...

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More Election Silliness

Now, in the final days, the election funnies are just flooding my inbox. So, I present for your enjoyment, in case you haven't seen this yet, the lastest contestants on Dancing with the Stars...

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From a knitting pal-make your own president!

From my darling, fun friend, comes this bit of political activism I can get my hooks into. Budump bah! Hold Your Own DebateWith Presidential Finger Puppets ...

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8 Things

I got tagged by Christie, relieving me from the task of trying to find something to write about since all I want to do is complain about my painful nose. The bridge of my nose is mysteriously swollen, feels like someone hit it, and it really hurts to...

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What I Love About America: A Stubbornly Positive, Non-Partisan Salute

The election is almost here. There is bad news all around. The campaign managers on both sides are getting desperate. It is hazardous to one's blood pressure to turn on any media outlet. I choose to transcend rather than submit. No matter what happens...

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I See the Moon and the Moon Sees Me

Canon 70-200 zoom lens, f2.8, 1/30 sec.Tonight is one of those great skies that happen when the seasons start to change. The perfect, full moon is still out there, drifting in and out of beautiful clouds, making the most interesting, moody night. It...

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Vampire Night

The fact that Eric is gone overnight has combined with the fact that I fell asleep in the car for a 90 minute evening nap at Evan's soccer practice to completely mess up my sleep cycle. So, in the spirit of productive sleeplessness, I got completely...

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Photo Tips

I just wrote up some of my top tips from the Photography Retreat here. I'll try to share more as I accumulate images that reflect the techniques...

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Back from CPR

Creative Photography Retreat, not Cardio-Pulmonary Resuscitation. It was held in Connecticut, hosted by the folks who publish all those Creating Keepsakes Magazines. My wonderful pal and I got to spend 3 lovely days together learning so much about our...

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Catching up on the Family

Here is the latest on what everyone is up to. Pardon the odd mix of complete sentences and weird fragments.Jeff, at Brigham Young University: Found a job-started today-really likes it. Cooked his first crock-pot roast yesterday-it was a bit dry, but...

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Simplifying

One of the fall instincts is nesting, so I've been putting a fair amount of regular effort into lightening up. Seashells have always been powerful symbols for me-they are beautiful just as they are, even when they are broken, and I like to look to them...

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The Secret of Roan Inish

I have a real, important knitting deadline (test knitting for a soon-to-be-published book), so I've been queuing up movies to watch and audio books to listen to while I race to get something done quickly and in a focused manner (not my usual method)....

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Photos from the trip

Here are a few views of the trip.The BoysThe moment before the big momentMy boy becomes a missionaryJeff's awesome college digs-note the couches in the yardAutumn in the Wasatch FrontMy brother with his gorgeous new family and my folks. We call them...

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Up Early in Flagstaff

I'm here in gorgeous Flagstaff, AZ now. I'm up at a ludicrous hour, so maybe I'll see the sunrise over the moutains. My luggage came to Lisa's house on Wednesday night and on Thursday afternoon I flew down here. Eric headed home. So, I got to wear jammies...

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Howdy from the Everlasting HIlls

I'm in Midway, Utah, and the title comes from a nickname I've heard for the mountains of Utah. I'm at the lovely home of my friend Lisa. My suitcase is lost, I slept in my clothes, haven't managed to snag a toothbrush yet and the Southwest folks are...

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