Taking a break from the AWintL...( not from doing it but posting the photo's for it...) to have a word from our sponsor....

Its Love Thursday and I'm feeling quite...Love-full, LOL as I listen to that song by Ruben Studdard's Together...very pretty song....




Today, Okoye had an interview so while he did that I sat out in the car...I looked up the street and seen this couple.....



He was so gentle with her...it was so sweet. They were crossing the street, a kinda busy street...when I first spotted them they were in the middle lane...he protectively holding her back a little bit so she was behind him...

when they crossed he held her hand...although he was noticeably taller than her and had longer legs he kept his pace with her...when they got across...he walked kinda bowed over...so that he can hear her? so that she would be comfortable with his height? so that he could be close to her?

I dont know why but it was so very tender...so very....love-full...

and he never let go over her hand...

so very love-full....

Wednesday photo's....

I usually make teriyaki for dinner on Wednesdays...funny how I get into a schedule (read: rote...boring boring rote) and dont even realize that I'm in one....



Miyagi at his post AGAIN...this time he's waiting for the boys to come back from the courts...

This can happen on every given day of the 365 days of the year...Jalil shooting hoops and Miyagi running along the fence line as he shoots...hmmm my yard needs cutting...

today was NOT a good day for AWintL...just couldnt get into the grove of taking a lot of photo's...

bleech

A couple weeks ago Ali Edwards annouced that she was starting her project, A Week in the Life. I love love LOVES this idea. Have I told you that I love this idea?

I admit when I scrapbook, I tend to scrap the big occasions...the special occasions...the "newsworthy" events....this project emphasis the day to day events...the meat and potatoes that make our lives, well, our lives...And they are just as important.

I didnt do this project last year and this year...well this year when she annouced it, I really was not in the mindset to put the energy into it that this project deserves. I guess better late than never so I started it on Saturday...here's a couple 'out-takes' from my photo's...

SATURDAY

I start my day, Monday through Sunday with a cup of coffee in front of my computer to check my flickr account really quick...dont ask me why, just a habit....



My sweetie Miyagi at his post...he sits right at this window ALL THE TIME and watches the coming's and going's of the neighborhood and to make sure no animal uses his domain as their personal portapotty....

Saturday we went to a play in St Louis where it rained, hailed, and basically Mother Nature acted a complete fool....why does it look like there is only one way out of the arena and WHY does it look like there is about 500 people trying to get down one flight of stairs....BECAUSE THEIR WAS ONLY ONE FLIGHT OF STAIRS OUT OF THE ARENA....

Sunday afternoon...time to catch up on house work...so in between my naps...I mopped the floors....

Okoye has tutoring Monday, Wednesday and Friday for Geometry. After tutoring he comes home to try and 'do it myself'.....yeah...it wasnt working out very well as you can tell from his expression....

One of my favorite shows...The Office...BUT I do not watch the current shows...I only watch the reruns from the prior seasons...I couldnt tell you what has happened on it currently but I can tell you what happened on the 3 season.....Anybody know why that band shows when you take a photo of a TV or computer screen????

Kinda got in trouble with my diabetes a couple weeks ago... my A1c level is at 8 % so my doctor is threatening insulin....so now I'm back to REALLY REALLY monitoring my levels...this was this afternoon...TOOOOOOO High...the notebook underneath is a log I keep of my levels, what I eat and when I take my medicine. All that stuff underneath goes by the bad name of Work....

I could spend hours taking photo's of clouds...OMG I feel a peace that passes all understanding when I look at these. I probably took about 50-60 of these...(okoye said I took 300)....

My guilty pleasure...The Biggest Loser...need I say more...

Moon shots...its the same sickness as the clouds...over and over and over again until I get the perfect shot.

Watching and waiting for plants to bloom is the perfect medicine for the soul...when I feel down and feel like I can't do anything right but alot wrong...I get a huge thrill out of making something thrive and grow...accomplishment is a good thing...

I always knew looking back on my tears would bring me laughter, but I never knew looking back on my laughter would make me cry ~ Cat Stevens

My boys....gotta love 'em...I sure do...when I see them this happy...it does a wonder for my soul....

ya'll....I'm dealing with a lot of unforgiveness and....hatred....in my heart right now. I'm doing a lot of soul searching, reaching deep down and trying to deal with a lot of unresolved issues... I know that eventually things will work out for the good but for right now... photo's are my best medicine...

stay blessed!

Its love Thursday via Chookooloonks.....



They have grown up like brothers and sister....my niece Angela and my two boys. For starters....Angela and I have a strange relationship. We've grown up like sisters. My parents were awarded custody of Angela when she was a few months old...in my junior year of high school. So that she could be closer to my parents, I moved out of my room and down to the basement. But for the most part, when I was home, she was with me. When I graduated from high school, my parents said 'my house ..... my rules' so I moved out ( I moved back a year later...being grown was hard ya'll ) but even during that time, she stayed with me every once in awhile. She grew up with my ex being her uncle and when we got divorced she quietly asked if it was okay if she still called him Uncle Kerry. It was and it still is.









She grew up going with me to early Saturday morning hair appointments (which we still do.). When she became continuously sick with urinary tract infections...I pushed the doctors to find out WHY and come to find out she had a birth defect called hydronephrosis. I sat with her through doctor appointment after doctor appointment, a surgery and then a corrective surgery performed on her kidney. She moved in with me her Junior year of high school and stayed until her sophomore year in college. We ran the pendulum of conversations where, I do believe she forget I was Aunt Jakki and not just Jakki...

So needless to say she grew up like she was my niece/friend/daughter which made her a sister to my boys.....

They horse around a lot....annoyingly so. Where I still find myself yelling 'stop it!!!' She comes over to do homework and they are usually all grouped downstairs on the computer, doing homework or hanging out. She takes them to dinner. She buys them things and amazingly enough...!GASP! never asks to be paid back. She talks to them (when she feels they need a 'calmer/cooler' ear). Cheers them up and cheers LOUDLY for them at their games. They are overly protective of her and automatically place her in the middle at any/all/ and most moments.

They know that when a shirt is missing....she is the one to blame. When they know she is spending the night they get the set-up ready with blankets, movies and popcorn. And they worry when they havent heard from her in a few days....

I love their relationship. We cant just put one label on it BUT it is deep. Precious. And strong. And we wouldnt have it any other way....

there is nothing like a babies fingers or a babies toes....ESPECIALLY when they are chunky!



My niece Angela holding my great niece, Annika, which
makes Annika her niece....

I may not have everything I want but I have everything I need. Life...is good.

"The true secret of happiness lies in taking a genuine interest in all the details of daily life
and elevating them to an art." - William Morris

Five things I’m lovin’ today courtesy of Chookoolonks….

1. Spring….I tell you..I fall in love with her more and more every year!

2. My camera…it tells my side of the story so well…..

3. Family and friends…for understanding me better than I give them credit for.

4. Reading…reading…reading… goodness I love you so….i’m sorry it took me so long to come back to you

5. Love…it IS a marvelous thing…

This is my great niece Annika...believe it or not she is 6 months old...she is constantly watching me! I think she's wondering....... 'WHAT is that THING connected to her face all the time?!'





And this is my dad and Ms Mia...Ava Rae's little sister, another great niece....sooooooo alert and focused! I warn my niece about that with that old wives tale...you know...if a baby seems well advanced for their age that means they are getting out of the way for next baby.....she always gives me alook when I say that...

Okay...this is for the grandparents out there....what is UP with you??? You change when you have grand kids! I swear you do! Case in point...this is my dad....and he's blowing bubbles....I dont remember him EVAH blowing bubbles with me! He showed me how to fix a flat tire but nevah evah blowing bubbles....this was after 'Mylie, my niece, got frustrated with her bubbles being 'broke' and my dad preceded to show her how to 'fix it' ....

My niece 'Mylie upset because her bubbles weren't workin' right....

she just kept trying and trying and finally frustration set in....

Gmornin’ folks…another weekend gone and a new week beginning….LIFE IS GOOD….not because of anything spectacular…its just…..GOOD

Friday I ended my work day with a pedicure…I had been thinking with my Charlie horse issues, a massage would do me good so when Shells thought we should do it…why not. We chose to go with her pick, not going with where she or I usually go, but she got to pick where we went and I was pretty happy with the choice (psssssssst…I might even start going there from now on). We laughed quite a bit while we were there so it was all good….

Friday night I ended up going to see Tyler Perry’s movie Why Did I Get Married Too with my sister and a couple of my cousin’s from out of town. The boys wanted to go too so I gave them movie money and told them to go forth and have fun but they ended up sitting with us anyway. While we were there, we ran into 3 other friends so we all sat together. Pretty good movie. Tyler went out there a little bit on some scene's and dialogue and I worry it was too grab a wider audience but I’m going to see one of his plays on the 24th so this made me a lil more excited to see the play. He looks really tall and ummmm I like tall men….so its all good….

Saturday we had Okoye’s car (my old car) fixed so he can have it. It needed a fuel pump but I just was not ready to have it worked on yet. Number one…it cost money and I can budget (not squeeze, thank you very much) the hell out of 10 cents. And number two…that parental control option is my LIFE LINE… so its fixed but until his dad gets it insured, he can’t drive it. He washed his car and mine inside and out so its all good…

Saturday night we all met up over to my niece’s apartment for bbque and a movie. After I made a huge salad, we all sat down to eat and watch The Blindside. Loves Loves LOVE Sandra Bulluck! The movie didn’t grab me as much because it didn’t flow for me. It seemed like a bunch of good scenes’ but not enough dialogue to support what was going on. I think they could have explained more of what I figured was a learning disability…more of what the teenage girl was going through and more of his mother’s story….but it was all good…

And Sunday…Sunday, ya'll...I did not make it to church…NOT AT ALL GOOD…(mom said since we didnt go to church, no Easter Egg hunt) but we did have dinner down at my parents house. My Lord, the sun was out, the sky was baby blue with wispy clouds, there was a beautiful breeze blowing and no one was inside. Some of us were on the deck…some of the boys (plus Ava Rae) was playing football…some were down on the patio and some were just walking around in the backyard and I felt so much warmth come over me…as I looked at everyone, I could see peace in the smiles… happiness in the laughter..fun in the heated ‘discussions’ and lives just.being. lived and I knew that THIS is what it is all about. He promises peace that surpasses all understanding…doesn’t mean there won’t be some hardships but we do have the promise of peace. And THAT, my dears…is all good.

!LIVE!

It’s the weekend and I have to say this week has been pretty awesome in the way of weather. BUT folks…I am getting old. Since the weather has been absolutely gorgeous, I have been walking all week. Last night, a friend that is looking to move here called me up to say hello. She was looking at apartments not to far from my neighborhood and wanted to know if I wanted to go to dinner or something…I picked the ‘or something’ and she was game for it and we ended up walking and talking. All in all….we walked almost 5 mile…of course there was strolling, stopping to sit, power walking, strolling but over all we walked almost 5 miles. And lemme tell ya’….

I woke up in the middle of the night with a Charlie Horse

Oh my Lord those buggers are painful. And still is. My leg muscle aches EVEN as we speak. So today, I parked pretty close to my building instead of parking away from it to get an early morning walk in….as I limped in, I had a mantra going through my head…

‘I am not this old. I am not this old. I am NOT this old. I am not THIS old.’ Over and over again.

Sayin’ it didn’t make a bit of difference…

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I took off half a day yesterday to run Okoye around looking for a job. I swear…we probably went to about 15 places to pick up application but was told ‘NO’ at least 9 times. He was told ‘NO’ because most places do not have paper applications. You have to apply on line. Good Lord, I’m all for technology but c’mon…aint this a lil to far??? He was playing photographer yesterday so he had my camera as we were driving and photographing the scenery…I will post his photo’s later….

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Its Easter weekend..enjoy it! Hopefully you will have sunshine, beautiful skies and sweet sweet spring weather. And please do not forget what Easter is all about…

Stay blessed and above all else…

!LIVE!