Love and Marriage

Life isn't a sprint, it's a marathon.   

That's my take on forty years of marriage.  There are a lot of other sayings that provide advice and insight to marriage.  Don't go to bed mad.  Don't sweat the small stuff.  Choose your battles.  Great advice and certainly something to keep in the back of your mind.  However, the sprint vs. marathon concept is one I try to remember daily.  Marriage isn't about the finish line, it's about the journey.  Sometimes the terrain is flat, it's easy to keep right on moving.  Time flies, everyone's happy.  But sometimes, the trek is uphill.  You get tired, your shoes are worn and you're ready to quit.  That's when you have to remember to pace yourself, catch your breath, put one foot in front of the other and keep on moving.  And when the person next to you stumbles, you stop and help.  You lift them up, help them find their footing and you walk side by side until you're both ready to run again.  It's not a sprint, so take your time.  Stop and smell the flowers, sit for a moment.  Run when you can and crawl when you must.  Just make sure that you haven't left anyone behind.  That's how you win the race, by crossing the finish line together. 

If you make it to forty years of marriage, you've figured that out.  For those of us that are just starting the race, we have to be reminded of it every once in a while.  And for those that haven't met the love of their lives yet, they need to have something to reference when times get hard, it starts to rain and the finish line seems so far away. 

Happy Anniversary Mom.  Happy Anniversary Dad.  I'm sorry I can't be there to hug you in person, but know that my thoughts have been with you all day!

Bluebell, MS

I'd like to move to Bluebell, Mississippi.  Actually, I may prefer Mystic Falls, Virginia.  Of course, there's always Chance Harbor, Washington.  Maybe I should just stick with New York City. 

I'm sure that moving won't cure my addition to CW shows, but it's worth a shot.  I'd love to be Damon's neighbor.  I'm sure all of the boys wouldn't mind it either.

If you're not watching Heart of Dixie, Ringer, Vampire Diaries or the Secret Circle, you should tune in.  If vampires and magic aren't your thing, you can't go wrong with the Heart of Dixie.  I'm just waiting for the evening that we'll have time to catch up on them all.  Maybe after Christmas.

If you build it, they will come.

That's the quote that Jeff used on me when I was wavering about opening the studio.  Since we're busier than ever this holiday season, I guess he was right.  Isn't that always the case, though? 

Anyway, it's the same quote I used on him when I found a DIY project for him to build.  The "name brand" version of the project was going to cost $600 and that was just too much out of my studio budget this year.  So when someone posted a DIY version, I thought it was worth a shot.  Unfortunately, I can't build a thing, so the project was laid on Jeff. 

About 15 minutes later, viola!  A king size soft box.  Hi Key pictures will never be the same again!  And the final cost.....$78!!!!

I know I've said thanks a million times, but just in case I'll do it again.  Thank you Jeff!

The Season

Christmas.  The day we celebrate the birth of Jesus, enjoy time with family and friends and exchange tokens of love and appreciation.  When we were kids, Thanksgiving weekend kicked off the Christmas season.  Sales ran the week or two before Christmas.  Holiday lights brightened neighborhoods from mid-December until New Years weekend.  Advent calenders were the only way to countdown to Christmas and they only listed 25 days.  Black Friday was normal, day off of work, sleep off the abundance of food you consumed the day before Friday.  Somewhere along the way, that all changed.  I blame it on the Cabbage Patch Kids. 

But really, it was a simpler time.  Wow, I sound like Grandma Ray.  Now, Christmas season starts showing its face when back to school season ends.  Long before we trick or treat, the plastic pumpkins are have been replaced with shiny bulbs, a rainbow of Christmas trees and baby's first Christmas personalized stocking/hat/diaper cover/bib/socks/teddy bear/onsie.  And you can buy  matching one for mom.

Unfortunately, I think it makes some of us immune to the season.  Pretty soon, there will be Santa blow ups in yards as the tulips bloom.  My only hope is that as the boys grow up and start traditions of their own, they remember the reason for the season and that the season isn't supposed to start until Thanksgiving!

PS.  Who buys this stuff?  Really, a 20 foot blow up snowman?

300

Can I just take a minute to say how excited I am to have made it to day 300?  The good news - I've made it without skipping a day.  The bad news - there are only 59 days until Christmas and I haven't even started shopping!  It was fitting that on day 300, the annual arrival of the blacks occured and the sound was defening.  I'm not sure that I was able to count them all, but there were definitely at least 300 of them.  However since I didn't know they'd grace me with their presense today, I had wanted to share what I learned today.

Significant 300's

July 2011 - Midland, Texas hits the 300th consecutive day without rain.
April 1930 - St Louis Cardinals are the first team to start the season with all 8 starters batting .300 or better.
March 2007 - The movie 300 is released in theaters.  It grossed $70,000,000 its opening weekend, breaking the record for biggest opening weekend in the month of March.
October 2006 - US Census releases report estimating the US population has reached 300 million.
November 1998 - Eddystone Lighthouse, Britain's first automated lighthouse, celebrates its 300th birthday.
June 1844 - John W. Jones and four companions began their 300 mile journey from Virgina to New York to escape slavery and live free.
October 1955 - The Chrysler C300 makes it's debut.
September 2010 - McDonald's celebrates the opening of the 300th Ronald McDonald House.
September 1935 - Malcolm Campbell is the first driver to reach a speed exceeding 300 mph.

Can You See Me?

The rain will be here at any moment and along with it the colder temperatures.  It's only going to be a high of 49 on Friday so here's to the band performance being cancelled.  Just kidding, I would have sat in frigid temps (with my Alaskan winter hat) to see them play.  But I digress.  It's getting colder and my time with the little ones outside will come to a rapid halt.  I love the wild life, but am only willing to stand outside with a camera when it's warm.  So here's the last (or one of the last) pictures of the critters....the one that was playing hide and seak with me in the grass this morning.

The Handsome Ones...again!

I love to see the boys all dressed up.  It rarely happens on the same day, usually it's only for the banquet (which is underway, but that's another blog!) or a wedding.  But today, it was a band concert for W and senior pictures for H.  H lucked out, no tie for him today.  Did I mention that W had a band concert?  It was the shortest concert on record, three songs.  Just long enough for W to complain about the tie.