20:365

Inauguration day was a big day for many people. Many people choose to commemorate the day by taking a picture of their local newspaper, advertisements from Obama's campaign, their family members watching the inauguration and some just the TV itself. I set up my camera remotely to capture me watching it on my computer at work and discovered the added benefit of having also captured a shot of Mr President himself in the middle of his oath. The smile on both are faces are because of the blunder the Chief Justice made in delivering the oath. OOPS! Just goes to show you that we're all human, prone to simple mistakes in moments of excitement.

19:365

When I chose my word for the year on Ali Edwards word for the year challenge I picked the word Hope. Emotionally, the last nine months have been difficult. When She issued the challenge, I originally that that HOPE was something I needed in my life. Hope for the peace we all wish for, hope for better outcomes in personal situations...HOPE. I wasn't sure how I would scrapbook it, but I wanted this word. Imagine my surprise when I found it all over the place!

18:365

LISTEN HERE MISSY! He looks so serious doesn't he. He was still sick and just now getting over his tooth extraction from the previous day. He actually texted me while I was gone and said "Vanilla & Chocolate Ice Cream Pops an puddings please" When I got the message I was weirded out. I didn't recall asking him anyting because I wasn't ready to head home yet. But I called him I discovered that he was being preemptive.

This is a picture of him just pointing the drumsticks at Katie during an evening of Rock Band. What a fun game! When you were a kid, do you recall playing that game with your siblings where you look at them and tell them that "I'm not touching you!"? That's what he was doing. Being his normal screwball self. Without the pain from his tooth, he's a much more jovial person.

17:365 In where I get the Fat Boy to cry.

Meet my nephew Aiden-Ikaika. He's a natural ham for the camera and the unfortunate part of that is that getting a picture like this is hard to get. You can literally get him to calm down by just pointing a camera at him. I love playing with my nephews and watching them grow. Watching Aiden grow hasn't been anyless gratifying than his older brother 9 years ago...

Did I mention I have no regrets in making him cry? ;) nothing serious, just teased him into it.

16:365

PENS?!?! why PENS? you ask? I was preparing for my first show of the year, my first live show in over two months. I had my fliers printed, and I even made sure that all my pens could WRITE! I was excited and nervous at the same time. The bad thing about taking a break from your Direct Sales business, is that you're nervous about getting started again. Thankfully, it was a great show and the hostess was very appreciative. The even neater part is that I made my first freeway drive. I also discovered that I have a very heavy foot and once I get more comfortable behind the wheel, I'm going to have to watch that carefully.

15:365

Before you start thinking this is an odd picture, let me explain. I carpool to work. The night prior to the 15th, Jack had a problem sleeping due to tooth pain. He didn't immediately communicate that it was tooth issues though until THAT night. He had gone home early on that Thursday and went to the dentist finally. But he fought the idea because he didn't want to leave me rideless. Thankfully one of the things my work provides is a Guaranteed Ride Home program for registered carpool members. I choose to take advantage of it because I ALSO had pool that evening. I didn't want to spend all evening on public transit either though. It was my first cab ride and it's NOT as big of a deal as I thought it would be. Just a guy driving me home and I sat in the back getting some reading done for work.

14:365

Most people won't say that the post office is the bane of their existance. I think I go AT LEAST every two weeks to mail of large envelopes or pkgs. On this day, the 14th day of the year, I FINALLY made it to the post office. Now despite the fact that I just now said that I go every two weeks, I haven't managed to go or even get my husband to go in over two months. On this day, I mailed off three pkgs. One for a swap, another a return and the third a gift for a friend. I felt REALLY really BAD because that swap was the one that was two months late. Thankfully though, she wasn't mad at me. I'm driving though, so it's been sooo much easier to get those packages off on time!

13:365

Meet the Weightloss Wonders! Wonder how the weight is gone, wonder how I'm going to accomplish my goals..wonder, wonder, wonder, wonder....Who wrote the book of LOVE! lol.... ok so back on track. This is our weight loss challenge team at work. We've got goals we want to accomplish and we home that this challenge will help keep us on track, we hope that we can encourage each other to reach our goals. It doesn't always work for everyone, and I'm sure WE ALL have a similar type challenge at your workplace. The problem for many people is in the follow through. Whether the "lack" of motivation comes from disappointment, or from lack of encouragement differs for many people. Given that it's my "only" goal this year, I hope I can make it. I've lost about 3 pounds so far, and hope to lose about 9 pounds by the end of march beginning of April, but we'll have to see.

12:365

Meet Dale. He's one of my co-workers and a great outlet for venting and questions. Many times I feel extremely naive with the questions I ask him, but he doesn't usually mind. He'll quip a quick joke and ALWAYS has something to say. Recently, we both started to make diet changes and are adding exercise to our "diets" in order to lose weight and feel better about ourselves. It's working so far, we've lost some weight and made positive changes in our daily habits, but it's a slow process. I'm glad to have a good friend at work like him. Like him, I enjoy a small snack and a good book during break time. I think it's an important thing to take your breaks at work. It gives you time to yourself in order to recenter and also gets you away from the stressors at work.

Dale and I both work in a very phone-centric department. People call ALL DAY LONG. It can drive you crazy to see ear your phone ring after ring after ring. Sometimes I come home and don't want to TOUCH my phone much less pick it up and talk on it. That idea doesn't help my Partylite business much, but I'm working on it. Do you have a friend like Dale at work?

11:365 Souper Sunday!

I think I fell in love with Safeway when they introduced the soup center a few years ago. Hot soup AND in serving sizes? I usually get a Medium, but with my new fitness and health kick, I decided all I really needed was a Small. Originally, DH and I were supposed to go ACROSS town to visit friends. But he was in a foul mood, tired and complaining of a toothache. He never complains about tooth issues. And frankly, until this came up? I thought that the times he did were more to evoke emotion during arguments. I didn't realize that he was conveying feelings over actual pain. Turns out one of his wisdom teeth was curling into itself. Not quite impacted, but treated the same way. He got pain pills (which reminded him what it was like to be free from his various bodily aches and pains), the tooth pulled and I'm happy to say that how to pay for it wasn't a moment of stress for us.

oh yeah, and the soup was italian wedding soup and other than being salty from sitting all day, it was DELISH!

10:365 On the Road Again...

I LOVE that phrase. Everytime I hear it, I see Willie Nelson in my head. But he's too old for me. In fact, I sometimes wonder if he isn't just too old for EVERYONE... But the song invokes such squishy happy feelings doncha think? I saw him on TV recently and smiled. But I think the real shocker was seeing Dick Clark on TV looking so feeble. Kinda puts things in perspective for ya, huh? I choose to shoot this photo, which in actuality was a series of photos so I could get one with my foot in the picture, because like many people I'm on a new venture. Get fit, get in shape, lose some weight. I weighed in the beginning of this year at 174.6lbs which was a shocker for me. I'm considered OBESE by BMI standards, and even when I buy new clothes, I quickly "outshape" them. I can't say outgrow, because grow wouldn't be appropriate. I'm happy to say that I've done pretty good so far. I'm exercising and enjoying it. I'm still not a sports nut, but I found a good reason to exercise and I find it relaxes me. I joined a Yoga class that gets me away from my desk at the J.O.B. that's sponsored by my employer and not only is it invigorating, it has helped a lot with my discipline. Here's hoping I last past the first quarter of this year!

9:365 What a Mess!

I'm sure we've all seen kitchens in this state before....It's borderline disgusting to look at, even in retrospect. How fitting that it is yet again Thursday when I write this! Mine tends to get like this either when I'm baking up a storm (sometimes, not always) or when dear hubby is left to his devices. The difference is that when I'm cooking something long and involved or when I'm baking I try and clean up as I go. Leaves less of a disaster when you're finally done. Plus, what else is a dishwasher for but to hide it all? At any rate, I left for work Thursday morning with only the items on the left. For the record, that's a level, 1 baking sheet, a gladware dish, a 2 cup measuring cup, 3 cooling racks and a roaster pan under it. I CAME HOME to everything else this morning.

yes I said came home this morning. I had pool league playoffs on thursday and didn't get home until almost 1am. Pool nights tend to run long. I literally leave as soon as I get home and our team plays 5 matches. If we're lucky, I'll be home before midnight. That's not always the case though. BTW, can I say that I'm not happy with the "watermark" in the image below? I did it using GIMP and I truly don't like it. GIMP's been good when I need quick edits at work, but that's about it. I'll stick to Photoshop thankyouverymuch.

8:365

Most people don't know I'm a pool player. Let's qualify that statement. ;) I am a pool player. I'm not a shark and I do not hustle. I enjoy playing, but don't play spectacularly well. I'm also not that dumb blonde you hear about it Gretchen Wilson's song....*I* can shoot combos just fine thankyouverymuch! I think this will stay one of my favorite shots EVAR! I play on a pool league competitively. For shot 8:365, I knew I wanted one of pool. We were in session playoffs and it's an important milestone IMO. While one of my team members was playing, I was learning my new camera. I zoomed in and caught this shot of the Opponent trying to decide how he was going to shoot his shot. We were playing APA 9-ball, so the leave wasn't the greatest. I'm also working to learn photoshop, so this will be the first watermarked image you'll see. I'm not sure I like it so much, but it's a start.