by Sarah | Oct 11, 2011 | All About Me, Crap, Random
[flickr id=”6234929839″ thumbnail=”small” overlay=”true” size=”small” group=”” align=”left”]On those weeks when everything happens at once.
When you are certain that if one more thing happens, you’ll just cease to exist.
Even the most together person, the strongest person can snap.
Have a bad day.
I’m not the strongest person.
I play it well.
But I’m not.
Yesterday was the day I snapped.
Almost threw my expensive camera…at someone’s head.
It wasn’t pretty.
Today I’m recovering.
Feel a million times better.
But it lingers.
Tomorrow will be better.
I won’t accept less.
by Sarah | Oct 9, 2011 | Photography, Scavenger Hunt Sunday, Weekly Winners
All taken w/ Canon Rebel XS.
Yet another crazy week w/ sick kids everywhere. Still, I had little fun with a couple of the Scavenger Hunt Prompts.
1. Landscape
Every leaf speaks bliss to me, fluttering from the autumn tree. ~Emily Bronte
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Happiness is a Swedish sunset; it is there for all, but most of us look the other way and lose it. ~Mark Twain
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Autumn is a second spring where every leaf is a flower. ~Albert Camus
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2. Complementary/Triadic Color
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I really struggled with this one. Didn’t help that I was trapped inside for most of the day & the one clear cut option I did see when I was out…well, I would have had to stop in a not-so-lovely part of town. Down to the wire I saw these berries & leaves…and while they push the prompt a little on the “almost” side…it’s close enough for me.
3. Black & White
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My sneakers. They aren’t purely B&W so I edited it to B&W. I love the lines of them, and had to use them for a shot this week.
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This is the umbrella I bought for my hubs so he didn’t have to deal w/ my “Dunkin’ Donuts” umbrella. I saw it on our wall surrounded by tons of color, peeled away the color and snapped this stark B&W pic.
4. Food
My advice to you is not to inquire why or whither, but just enjoy your ice cream while it’s on your plate. ~Thornton Wilder
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Ice cream is exquisite. What a pity it isn’t illegal. ~Voltaire
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5. Blank Space
A word is a bud attempting to become a twig. How can one not dream while writing? It is the pen which dreams. The blank page gives the right to dream. ~Gaston Bachelard
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We do not raise our hands to the void for things beyond hope. ~Rabindranath Tagor
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A Simple Thing:
My simple thing for this week is this photo. Brandon and I went on the annual photo walk at our local nature park. While we were nearing the end, I saw this small seedling tree in the crevice of a larger tree, and the moss on it just added something else. The picture came out just how I’d hoped, and it’s SOOC. It’s a simple thing, so small…but so lovely.
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You can find more pictures over at my flickr account.
Scavenger Hunt Sunday is run by the beautiful Ashley. Head on over to see more Hunters.
by Sarah | Oct 6, 2011 | All About Kennedy, Cystic Fibrosis, Special Needs
[flickr id=”6217579492″ thumbnail=”small” overlay=”true” size=”small” group=”” align=”left”]It was inevitable when we sent her out into the great big world of public interaction and the germ festival that is school. We knew that the possibility of increased occasions of illness were going to happen.
I guess we didn’t expect it to happen this fast.
Six weeks in and as of tomorrow we’ll be at 7 days absent. It’s about a 20% absence rate.
But this recent bout of illness this week has us baffled. There’s only a low-grade fever. No respiratory issues. A loss of appetite. Although who can blame her when the second she eats more than a small amount of food it all comes back up later?
And what comes up? Well, you don’t want a physical description. Let’s just say it’s cause for concern.
So tomorrow is the first sick visit of the year to the pulmonologist. We’re at an increased amount of “shaking” (percussion vest) per day because it seems there is an excess of mucous happening somewhere. Just not in her lungs. That we can tell.
Let’s hope it’s nothing serious. And that nothing serious comes as we get closer and closer to cold & flu season.
Were crossing our fingers for no hospital visit this year.
by Sarah | Oct 5, 2011 | All About Denver, All About Erik, All About Family, All About Home, All About Kennedy, All About Marriage, All About Me, All About Molly, All of Us, Crap
[flickr id=”5293689107″ thumbnail=”small” overlay=”true” size=”small” group=”” align=”left”]Cross Country season is drawing to a close. The final (County-wide) meet is in less than a week. Coming up there is nothing but PTO meetings, Parent/Teacher Conferences and life in general.
This also means that the teen will be home before 4PM every day.
I always thought once the girls were both in school I’d go back to work. Nothing so dramatic as full-time day jobs (and definitely NOT banking again ~gag~). I figured I would return to waitressing. With the teen old enough to babysit in short spurts, I’d be able to get a job at a real restaurant with real tips since I could now actually get into work before 6PM. Maybe we could get a (slightly) steadier increased income. Maybe we could leave SSI and its unreliable, and ever decreasing, amounts behind. Become self-sufficient again. Maybe even one day live the dream of giving up Child Support (or actually putting that in savings).
Now that day is here.
Yet we hesitate.
Last year Angel ended up in the hospital for the first time ever. It was five days where our only focus was her and making sure we saw the other two kids. Last year she wasn’t even in school. Only exposed to those hundred of viruses on the periphery.
It could happen again at any time.
We are six weeks into the school year and Angel has already missed five days due to illness. That’s one week out of six. Most of them in the past three weeks.
So now we toss up in the air whether I would even be able to maintain a job or if I’d constantly have to take off for illness or hospital stays or whatever.
I know, we can’t live life hanging by that ‘what if she gets sick’ thread…but it is a fact and a factor in everything. Having to weigh the consequences of not just being away from home several evenings a week – versus the likelihood that I will have to call in at least a couple of times, maybe more.
The thought of working again only scares me peripherally. I actually like the thought of having adult interaction, even if it is only as server to customer. I worked in banking for about eight years. It sort of ripped out my soul and stomped on it and I never wanted to work again after it. But I did, and I found a job at Bob Evans (the only place that would hire me w/ the hours I could work). The tips weren’t horrendous, but they weren’t top of the line. BUT. But…I loved my job. Even when I didn’ t like my new manager, and the employee turnover brought in some people that weren’t my favorites…I loved what I did. It was fun. It was interactive. It made me happy.
There are positives, many of them, to me going back to work…
But there are so many balls up in the air I’m afraid tossing in one more would be too much. Plus, I’d really hate to get a job I love, maybe even start earning enough to lose SSI…only to lose that job because of things well beyond my control.
We can’t live in the what-if’s…
But we can’t ignore them either.
by Sarah | Oct 2, 2011 | Photography, Scavenger Hunt Sunday, Weekly Winners
All taken w/ Canon Rebel XS.
Yet another crazy week w/ sick kids everywhere. Still, I had little fun with a couple of the Scavenger Hunt Prompts.
1. Inspired by a Book or Movie
Push the button! ~Woody
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This week was banned books week. I was shocked to see on the books listed for 2011 the book “Speak.” It’s a stunning novel. I did this picture in honor of it. Surprisingly it’s my favorite this week…and I never say that about a self portrait.
I have survived. I am here. Confused, screwed up, but here. So, how can I find my way? Is there a chain saw of the soul, an ax I can take to my memories or fears? ~Melinda Sordino (Speak – Laurie Halse Anderson)
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2. Brown
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I could think of no better way to capture brown than with these brown badges of honor on my son’s uniform. Being in scouts has made him a better young man.
3. Hazy
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4. Coffee or Tea
Good communication is as stimulating as black coffee, and just as hard to sleep after. ~Anne Morrow Lindbergh
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For her own breakfast she’ll project a scheme, Nor take her tea without stratagem. ~Edward Young
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Thank God for tea! What would the world do without tea! How did it exist? I am glad I was not born before tea. ~Sir Philip Sidney
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5. Linger
The song is ended, but the melody lingers on. ~Irving Berlin
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A Simple Thing:
Another linkup I found that fit w/ a picture I took & loved this week, but didn’t fit into the SHS theme. It’s the “Simple Things” link up over at Simple as That. Every week, if I can, I like to buy the flowers in the half-off bin at Krogers. They still have life in them, and they don’t hurt my wallet as much. This flower burst open part way through the week & has kept us all smiling with its vibrant beauty.
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You can find more pictures over at my flickr account.
Scavenger Hunt Sunday is run by the beautiful Ashley. Head on over to see more Hunters.
by Sarah | Sep 28, 2011 | Random
[flickr id=”5026756140″ thumbnail=”small” overlay=”true” size=”small” group=”” align=”left”]Baking bread.
Roasting pumkins.
Apple festivals.
Apple pie.
Cool, crisp weather.
Colorful world.
Welcome beautiful fall.
(Now please stop raining so I may enjoy you thoroughly)
