"It sure seemed like a good idea to lick that metal pole that was frozen with ice on it...."

My oldest son and my mother, his Nana...the coolest relationship I know. They talk once a day...I mean, he calls her. None of that me talking to her and then forcing him to talk to her. She gets on him worse than I do but he keeps coming back for more. She is not an athletic person yet she will 'play' at shooting hoops with him. He tells his friends 'nah...I'm hanging with Nana today.' And because he talks about her quite a bit, they know who Nana is. Gotta love it....Picture taken Thanksgiving 2009

Some more of CJ...his dad plopped him into my lap at first to which I had the pleasure of realizing that CJ has a powerfull set of lungs on him. These beautiful eyes filled with tears so fast! I hurried up and tossed him back in Nicks (dad) lap. What do babies love more than mom and dad??? Flashing yellow and green lights on camera's. I kept doing my zoom on my lens which makes lights flash on my camera and I instantly had a friend in Mr CJ...do I feel guilty for inticing him? NOPE.....

CJ is the youngest son of a high school friend of mine.

i dont think this plant realizes it is supposed to be dead. Most certainly not blooming....



up until last week,this plant was sitting in front of my house. It is some speciality mum but right now the actual name of it is the farthest thing from my mind



... i brought it in because i thought that even though it only had a few blossoms on it, the leaves were so deep and dark I thought maybe it can survive a little longer.



each day it seems like ANOTHER blossom blooms. It sits by my computer which sits right beside my patio doors so it gets ton's of sunlight and there's lots of warmth.



it is december. i have beautiful pink blossoms.



there's always hope...always.

My great niece, Anika

I SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO overstand the need for a nap, right now.......

Thanksgiving has come and gone and I so hope that everyone was blessed with family, friends, love and laughter. Thanksgiving has always been my favorite holiday. I'm sure when I was younger, Christmas was ranked pretty high but anytime a kid gets a ton of presents ON ONE DAY...it is bound to be a favorite. But I can always remember looking forward for Thanksgiving.

Our home was always The Spot. The Spot where everyone went to unwind and get away from the city. Holiday dinners were always jam packed because everyone would come the night before, stay up all night cooking so that we could eat at least twice the next day. The night before our little kitchen was always filled with someone making cornbread for the dressing, someone making sweet pototoe pies, someone cleaning 'chittlins'...everyone had a job to do. Our job as kids was to go in and either beg or sneak a bite of something. Thanksgiving Day more family and neighbors would come all bringing more food. It was always fun. There was always laughter. And it was always....so damn good.

This Thanksgiving, I wanted that feeling of....completeness that I felt back then. I wanted to feel that 'home' vibe. I NEEDED it. And I had that...at first.

This past Thanksgiving...things happened that hurt my family in the worst way. Intentionally and un intentional. I struggle with wanting to dive head first into my 'cave dwellers' mode but I will not allow myself to do it. By cave dweller I mean that I want to shut the world out. I find myself just wanting to be alone. Most who know me know that this is the worst of the worst of me. But I am not going down that road. Well, I'm struggling to not go that route...

I believe that everything that happens, happens for a reason. Good or bad. Big or small. There is a reason. Sometimes the reason is shown from the beginning....sometimes it takes years but eventually we get that aha! moment and realize that it WAS for a reason. I think my recent chose of certain blog's is no accident. No coincidence. If it werent for realizing my important simple things or finding the beauty in life or just trying to find my peace...I do believe that I would have went into hibernation and retreated the Friday after Thanksgiving.

This is a learning process...life is a learning process. Any one who says they have learned pretty much all there is to learn, does not know ANYTHING.

And so I turn to what I hope speaks louder than my words and go back to posting mainly photo's...