Flying Toward the Future: Thoughts On the Eve of the Eve of the New Year

I'm already thinking hard about the New Year so I just can't wait till Thursday or Friday to write about it. I love this photo of my nephew on the swing. I'd like to take that image of joy in the moment as an inspiration for the new year. He's not worried...

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A Very Merry Arizona to Maryland Christmas

I decided not to keep sending little updates from my phone because I was taking so many photos with my camera. Then for most of the rest of the week, my only internet access was through my phone, so I took a break from blogging. Overall, it was a glorious...

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3 hours, 40 degrees and 5000 feet later

Here we are in Flagstaff in the aftermath of the storm they had recently. The boys had work for an hour to make a parking space. I do love that Arizona in the wintertime offers an all-season experience...

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Arizona!

So, while all my friends and family brace themselves for a major winter storm on the east coast, we are eating outside, at a Sonic, in the very warm sun.In a couple of hours we'll be in Flagstaff in the snows and cold of 7000 feet of elevation, but...

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The Story of the Very Large Tree, Part 2

Here she is, all decorated, except for the tinsel, which we'll save for Christmas Eve. As you can see,  we have a scrapbook tree, meaning the only theme is memories. I have every single little crafted paper or yarn or ribbon or wire ornament that...

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The Story of the Very Large Tree, Part 1

About 8 years ago exactly, I started teaching seminary, an early morning religious education class for teens in my home each morning. I have a smallish home, so this always presented some challenges and my family always rose to the occasion by being...

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Whew!

The big week is over! I was writing my son in Chile this morning and realized that I had something going on every day and evening last week.  I opted out of the Saturday night option that I could have done and just stayed home. But every other day...

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High School Reunion!

Last night, for the first time, I attended my high school reunion. All the other years I had some excuse for not going. At 5 years, I was living in Seattle. At 10, I'd just had baby #4, Eric was in law school and life was crazy. At 15 and 20, I'm not...

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Photography Blather

Here is another shot from my trip to NY last month. I really liked the reflections there at this little pond we visited and made a bunch of similar images. It is a good lesson in the difference in power between direct and reflected light. Notice how,...

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Happenings

I'm getting real live prescription glasses because my eyes are just bad enough to need them but, get this, the drugstore readers are TOO strong for the time being (not for long the dr. said). That's why they weren't working. I asked the doctor if I am...

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The Week of Watching

For those of you who kindly and supportively followed the story of the demise of my computer on facebook, thanks and feel free to skip this post. This week, I watched computer screens a lot. I watched as they didn't turn on, or as they turned the wrong...

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Overheard

I'm still working on getting more beautiful Autumn foliage photos posted from my trip. Three words: My Computer? Dead. In the meantime, posting from the family PC, here is a transcription of a conversation between all of us at our weekly family council...

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Good Times on the Road

Here is my view from earlier today as I drove from Connecticut to West Point NY. I taught at Stitches East all weekend and am in the second half of bookending my working trip with a pleasurable ride through the awesome autumnal splendor of the northeast....

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Not the Weekend I Had Planned: A Story of Serendipity

This past weekend, I was going to be visiting my sister in Tennessee. We were going to spend Saturday at Great Smoky Mountains National Forest. I would be able to see my three darling nephews that I haven't seen in over a year. For various reasons, I...

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Two Posts in the Wee Hours

I dozed off earlier this evening, then I had to wake up and drive Ev's friend home and pick up Sara. So, my sleep cycle reset and now I'm all wakey-wakey at 1 am. The weather's horrid so I'm not going running in the morning and since I was supposed to...

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8 Ways to Be a Lifetime Learner as a Parent

I loved this from one of my favorite blogs, Simple Mom. I'm still thinking about this a lot, and these are things that I can consciously incorporate into life, even with teenagers. I know it pertains mostly to we as adults keeping ourselves sharp while...

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The Post Where I Write About Family

This has become the Me Blog. So much so that you may have forgotten that I don't actually live alone. I have 5 children. I'm one of 8 children. Sometimes those statements still amaze me, but yet they're true. And really, they capsulize some of the most...

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