FF: Playing Catch Up

Wow! It is that time again. I had hoped to be all caught up and off to a better start once I returned from my trip to Arizona. But as you can see by the lack of posts I am a little slow on the come back. So here it goes.

Fragment 1
I was a little disappointed that when posting using my cell phone I could not control the layout of multiple photos. As can be seen with this rather messy post.


In addition to coaching my in-laws through the various post gastric bypass operative diet stages, I helped out with a few other things….

 Fragment 2

My mother in law has been wanting new valances for their dining room for seven years now so making those valances was 2nd on our must do list.
We purchased the fabric at the SAS Fabric Superstore in Phoenix Arizona the day after my Father-in-law had his surgery. At first I thought we had gotten a really good deal and was impressed that we found a very nice material in a store that somewhat resembled a Goodwill. (Imagine if you will a thrift store full of materials and notions, and that is what this store was like.)   Then a few days later when I set to cut out the panels for the valances I realized that the supposed 7 yards of fabric was only 4 1/3 yards, and that they had charged us for 6 1/3 yards. It was too late to take it back as days had passed and I had already cut a number of the panels, so after a few major changes I made it work. So be warned, when purchasing yardage watch the clerk closely when she measure your yardage!


I also helped out with their dogs…..

Fragment 3

The dogs were so very happy to see my mother in law when we got home after being gone for 15 hours the day of my father in laws surgery. She brought a yard lounge chair in to the kitchen so she could relax watching TV with six of the ten dogs in her lap. It wasn't long after that she had eight of the ten resting peacefully on her. Now I like dogs but boy I am doing good to not throw the one dog I have outside when all he wants to do is sit in my lap.

I have to wonder what this one thinks being the only pug in a group with 9 Pomeranians. I wonder if she realizes she is adopted, or if she thinks she is also a Pomeranian.















Fragment 4:

View from above:
Here is a shot from the plane on the flight to Arizona. I have always wondered what makes the circles on the ground that you see from an airplane.








Fragment 5

How is it that when I wanted to take a screen shot on my new phone I couldn't figure it out, but when I was trying to call my Father-in-law I took this screen shot instead of calling him.

Have a fabulous weekend!

Friday Fragments: Arizona

It's hard to believe it is already Friday! The week has gone so fast. My flight to Arizona went smoothly. Next week I will share photos taken with my camera, but for now here are a few from my phone.

My Father in law had surgery on Wednesday, and is now home and doing great.

My in laws little dogs are cute, but wow, keeping track of ten little balls of fluff is quite a task.

My mother in law and I went out to dinner last night at an authentic Indian restaurant.  It was my first time trying Indian cuisine. I really enjoyed the food and atmosphere.

Although it has been in the 60's and 70's where my in laws live there is a bit of snow on the ground at the hospital.

Choosing Your Coffee Cup

Last week a Chad with 1140 KSOO Sioux Falls talk radio shared this message on his Facebook page. I had heard the story before but it is a good one with an important messages, so I want to share it here along with the Inspirational design that it inspired.

"A group of alumni, highly established in their careers, got together to visit their old University professor. Conversation soon turned into complaints about stress in work and life. Offering his guests coffee, the professor got up and went to the kitchen and returned with a large pot of coffee and an assortment of cups - porcelain, plastic, glass, crystal, some plain looking, some expensive, some exquisite - telling them to help themselves to the coffee.

When all his former students had a cup of coffee in hand, the professor said, "If you noticed, all the nice looking, expensive cups were taken up, leaving behind the plain, cheap ones. While it's normal for you to want only the best for yourselves, that's the source of all your problems and stress. What you really wanted was coffee, not the cup, but you consciously went for the best cups and were eying each other's cups. Now consider this: Life is the coffee, and the jobs, money and position in society are the cups. They're just tools to hold and contain life, and do not change the qualify of life. Sometimes, by concentrating only on the cup, we fail to enjoy the coffee. So, don't let the cups drive you. Enjoy the coffee instead."

Friday Bits & Pieces

TGIF

That is right, it is Friday again and I am ever so thankful that Mrs 4444's has a great little meme that is just perfect for rounding off the week and sharing those little bits and pieces that didn't quite fit in the scheme of things during the week.

Here are my bits and pieces for the week:

Artists that caught my eye this week.

I really have to give this artist a big shout out. His name is M. Bengamin Herndon and he creates some rather unusual and wonderful art pieces. You can click on his name to visit his website and see his other art pieces. I find his newer pieces very intriguing, however it is his older pieces that I really love, especially the one below titled 'Diorama for Orpheus and Eurydice'. 

Simon Beck is the next artist I would like to tell you about. He is totally amazing! I get a headache just trying to imagine all the mathematical calculations that go into the planing of each art piece. Which in itself blows my mind without the added amazement of the cold conditions he works under while completing his artwork. Obviously this is one artist that doesn't hibernate during the cold season. I wonder though what type of art he does when mother nature doesn't give him a blank snow covered canvas?  

compliments of Simon Beck's Facebook page Snowart8848

 Now on to Music:

I happen to be a big fan of shows like The Voice, The X Factor and now of the Sing Off. This was my first season watching the Sing Off and let me tell you it was really enjoyable to watch. I was also very happy my favorite group 'Home Free' won! I swear the bass singer's voice just makes me melt!

b

Not to jinx myself or anything but I am rather glad to say I think I am officially out of Hibernation. In addition to getting back to posting on all of my blogs I created two new inspirational designs and worked on my book plus finished a few verses of poetry (poetry post to come next week). The first inspirational design can be seen in this POST. I will be sharing the second design in a post this weekend. Both designs should be available in our gift shop by the end of the weekend. 

This week I have also been practicing using ZOOMTEXT which is a program that not only magnifies but also reads text on any computer. This should be a big help this coming week as I will be taking a 10 day trip to Arizona and be without my large screen Mac, instead all work will be done using my phone and my small 10 inch netbook. In preparation I also decided to test out posting with my cell phone.

 If you read my New Years Resolution post you know that I am focusing on the word Healthy this year and that my goal for January is to drink more water.  After I had set my word for the year and my January goal I saw this in the doctors office. Now increasing my water intake and reducing my Mt. Dew intake I can agree too. However, I can guaranty I am not working towards Sodabriety! Thankfully my doctor didn't even suggest I give up soda completely.

 

And that folks are my bits and pieces for this week. Now go out, enjoy your weekend and of course make some great memories! And don't forget to visit Mrs. 4444's.

 

Galaxy to the rescue

Yesterday was my first day posting using my new galaxy S3 phone. I really think I am going to have fun with this. You can see that first post here. 

The only down side so far is that there is less control over the post layout, but I can always edit later.

Here is a little sample of what can be done with photos  right on the phone using the basic editing program that came on the phone.

 

Do you publish posts from your phone?

Language and the Family Historian

How a person uses words tells others a lot about them. The first thing that probably comes to mind is how we can get a good idea of what country a person is by their accent, for example if a person speaks with a strong British accent it is pretty safe to assume they were born and raised in the United Kingdom.

Along with an individuals accent there are other aspects of language that reveal clues about the speaker, such as; variations in pronunciation, how certain words are put together in a phrase, as well as variations in meanings to a single word or phrase. For example "Knock me up" in England means "wake me up" while in the United States it has a completely different meaning. Language can also give us an idea of the individuals level of education, and to some point their social economical status.

Although I have long known how language is a key clue to an individuals level of eduction and geographical location, I never gave it much thought beyond that. Especially considering my oldest daughter who had never been to New York, for some unknown reason spoke with a strong New Yorker accent until she was in second or third grade. (Believe me I have no clue how that happened)

However, after taking this QUIZ and seeing how close it was to pinpointing not just the State in which I was born and raised but also the general location with in that state, it got my gears spinning. 

I was born and raised within a 60 mile radius of Riverside, CA.

So I took the quiz again this time using my second choices on questions that I use more than one word to express the same thing. Low and behold the second test results although less accurate put me in the Midwest where I have spent nearly 20 years of my life.

Talk about a pretty accurate quiz. 

Taking this quiz reminded me of some of the various odd terms and phrases my Grandmother use to use when I was a little girl. Then I got to wondering with all my enthusiasm of maintaining a detailed family history for future generations why have I not considered making a written or audio record of some of our speech patterns. Most likely it is because to us they are just how we talk.

Do you make a written or recorded reference of your family's colloquial diction?

If you are a vocabulary nut like I am you may also find the quiz's HERE a lot of fun.

Poetry Review: "I lost myself in the mall then found myself in a thrift store"

Are you a poetry lover? I know I am! So when I had the opportunity to get Joshua S. Kangley's book " I lost Myself in the Mall Then Found Myself in a Thrift Store" I jumped at the chance.

Although my personal writing style leans more towards a rigid metrical structure, Joshua S. Kangley's primarily free verse format captivated me throughout this collection of heartfelt poems.

As I read this small book packed full of emotions; happy, silly and sad, I felt myself joining Joshua on his journey of self discovery. His words took me through the joys, sorrows and adventures that have shaped his life. From a place where he refers to mall shoppers as 'shopping zombies' in a 'brick and mortar bubble', past heartache and wonder, to a Thrift store where he left me wondering about the treasure he found.

If you are looking to go on a poetic adventure I suggest you pick up Joshua's book HERE or HERE. I truly enjoyed reading this book and found the poems moving and entertaining, however, my two favorites are: "That Old Boot Box" and "15 Minute Break". 

I wish Joshua well on his literary journey and will be watching for his next book.

To learn more about Joshua or connect with him you can visit his website here or find him on Facebook here. I also strongly recommend visiting his website and reading about his Christmas Card Project.