Lets101 - Free Online Dating

This was an interesting little horoscope generator... though all on the positive side! Lol! You'll have to go here to find out all the layers of a Cancerian: Cancer I tell ya, this one's right on with Cancerians being more energized and creative at night! I'm a night owl for sure!



Lately, I've been working on my digital photography and getting ready to enter one of my photos in the Vernal Equinox PhotoShop Competition. It was difficult trying to decide which photo I wanted to use, and working with a certain photo painting tutorial, but I finally did enter mine. My husband entered too! There are so many really great photos, that I know I won't get picked to be in the top 12, but it was fun creating! You can see the photo contest submissions page here: Contest Photos

Ahhhhh! I just finished looking at the "Enchanted Forests" photo pool at Flicker... so beautiful! Now I'm inspired to run out into the redwoods and shoot my own enchanted forest photos!!! It's time I also begin planning how I'm going to plant my own faery garden! I've been searching the web for ideas, although I've got a pretty good idea what types of plants and flowers I'll be planting... mostly shade and partial shade plants. I saw some bleeding hearts and lillies of the valley bulbs at our local nursery, and I'd like to find some purple foxglove too.



I'm taking 2 weeks off from voting as I've been so burned out from it... still trying to decide if I want to continue or not... probably not. I've enjoyed being a team leader at Heart-N-Soul, so I know I'll be staying with that! It's just that as the Spring comes, I'll want to be outside more and more gardening and going on photo shoots! I'm looking at all the dead plants from the Winter frosts, and I know I'll have my work cut out for me. My outdoor muse is calling me!

Glitter Happy New Year Graphics





My New Year's Resolution is to keep up my blog/journals better than last year! We'll see! Rotfl!

We had a wonderful, yet poignant Christmas this year. Hubby & I drove down to L.A. to celebrate the holidays with my Mom & Dad and sisters. My folks are pushing their late 70s now, and a host of health issues are settling in with them. Mom underwent a single mastectomy last August and is on a low-dose chemo/radiation medication regimen. There seem to be no side effects with them, but her legs have had painful swelling since being taken off Prednisone last summer. Dad is well into the beginning stages of Alzheimer's, and during our visit, we took the first steps to switching finances and financial decisions over to my sister so she can help him when things get too fuzzy for him. Two weeks before Christmas, Dad took a fall off the ladder while putting up the Christmas lights on the eaves. He broke 3 ribs, and now ladders are a thing of the past for him. Still, Mom & Dad continue to stay upbeat, so we're blessed about that!

Not much work is taking place on my websites at this time, and I'd really like to get going on them. Life's been very busy as of late, even during the holidays! I will be going back to subbing next week in our local school districts, however, I think I can manage to continue competing in a small number of comps if I don't get too obsessed over winning! Haha!

It's 4:00 PM, and the sky is darkening as a storm is rolling in tonight from the north... and another storm on it's heels! Waaaaah! Nothin' but indoor sports ahead for us!

Gads, I woke up late this morning... almost 9:00 AM!!! That will teach me for staying up late reading the latest Harry Potter book! Rotfl! Shucks, I missed the dogs' playgroup this morning. :o(

After wandering out to the kitchen, giving the dogs their suppliments and treats, I saw that my hubby had made coffee for me before he left for work... but it was now luke-warm. So I popped my mug in the microwave, grabbed some breakfast, and headed to the computer for the morning. Looking outside, I see that it's become cloudy and windy like a storm may be blowing in. It would be the first of the season for us. I should go pick some pears off our tree before it rains today!

Today, I have an appointment in Eureka with the Humboldt County Office of Education to discuss collecting my retirement. It will be nice to have that money coming in! I wish I could've taught 2 more years though... my retirement checks would've been larger, but with health issues and the long distance I was driving, I just couldn't deal with it anymore! The best that I can do now is to collect my retirement and do some subbing! That alone will bring in half of what my take-home pay checks used to be, and we can live with that nicely! My hubby will retire in 6 more years, but he loves his job being a high school Art teacher.

I've been visiting new journals/blogs, and here is a little something I picked up on my visits:



Thanks Annette! I'm off now to vote for my friends!

I'm feeling sleepless, probably because it's full moon tonight. I stepped outside into the 41 degree air, and the moon was brilliant even though the ground was sending up it's foggy mist. I always feel energized in the moonlight. It makes me recall taking full moon walks in the woods by moonlight when I lived on a 60 acre forested ridgetop in Southern Humboldt County. I never minded the fact that bears and mountain lions may be ambling through the woods as well. Moonlight nights were always magic, and the firs and meadows were frosted with silver! I wonder if today I'd feel so fearless? Yeah, I'd do it again if given the opportunity! One has to live the moments that take your breath away!

Aaaaah... always the moon child!

Ahhhh! The sun came out, and the great outdoors lured me outside and away from the claustrophopia of being pent up indoors for too many rainy days! I grabbed the mutt, hopped in the Explorer, and headed for the Rockerfeller State Park for a hike in the redwoods... brought my camera too, just in case new mushrooms were up to take photos of. After 35 minutes of driving, off we went into the forest.

It seemed so dark and soggy in there, but the sun was out. It just wasn't getting down to the forest floor, so on and on we went looking for any spots of sunlight shafting through that might make for cool photography. After 2 and 1/2 miles, we got nothing! We turned around and headed back.

That's when my nasty heelspur acted up, and it turned my hike into a tortuous ordeal the last 2 miles of walking! Dammitall!!! I just hate it when the spirit and the body decide to war! I look forward to getting that sucker surgically removed... then I'll be back in action again!

Leaving you here with some funny truths. (I personally like ..5!)



GREAT TRUTHS THAT ADULTS HAVE LEARNED:
1) Raising teenagers is like nailing Jell-O to a tree.
2) Wrinkles don't hurt.
3) Families are like fudge...mostly sweet, with a few nuts.
4) Today's mighty oak is just yesterday's nut that held its ground.
5) Laughing is good exercise. It's like jogging on the inside.
6) Middle age is when you choose your cereal for the fiber, not the toy.

This morning, I woke up to the sound of rain falling! As much as it can get old in the Pacific Northwest, I love the sound of it when it first arrives! People's wells are replentished, there's more water at the marshes for the ducks, geese and swans, and I don't have to water the yards! The leaves are nearly off the deciduous trees now, and thus begins another seasonal cycle of the earth as it spins away from the sun. I look forward to going on a mushroom photo shoot in the woods after the storm leaves early next week!

What's new is that I've subscribed to Flicker, where I've been posting photos as I practice with our digital camera! You can see what I've uploaded already at this link: http://www.flickr.com/photos/61769013@N00/ Now that I'm retired, I'd like to practice my photography with some guidance from my hubby who has taught courses in it.

Alas, my poor pup won't be able to go on any walks for a few days. What a bundle of energy she can be when she's pent up too long! Being a golden retriever, she's always in need of exercise!

I'm off to work on my Flickr photos, sip my coffee, and listen to the rain!

The innocent victims of Internet child abuse cannot speak for themselves.

But you can.

With your help, we can eradicate this evil trade.

We do not need your money.

We need you to light a candle of support .

We're aiming to light at least One Million Candles by December 31, 2006.

This petition will be used to encourage governments, politicians, financial institutions, payment organizations, Internet service providers, technology companies and law enforcement agencies to eradicate the commercial viability of online child abuse.

They have the power to work together. You have the power to get them to take action.

Please light your candle at lightamillioncandles.com < http://www.lightamillioncandles.com> or send an email of support to light@lightamillioncandles.com.

Together, we can destroy the commercial viability of Internet child abuse sites that are destroying the lives of innocent children.

Kindly forward this email to your friends, relatives and work colleagues so that they can light a candle too.

This was interesting to take! Glad to know I'm not perfect! Haha!

Disorder	Rating
Paranoid Personality Disorder:	Low
Schizoid Personality Disorder:	Low
Schizotypal Personality Disorder:	Low
Antisocial Personality Disorder:	Low
Borderline Personality Disorder:	Low
Histrionic Personality Disorder:	Moderate
Narcissistic Personality Disorder:	Low
Avoidant Personality Disorder:	Low
Dependent Personality Disorder:	Moderate
Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder:	Low
-- Take the Personality Disorder Test -- -- Personality Disorder Info --

It's just another lazy August day, and I'm lovin' the sunshine to the fullest! After, working on websites and such, I needed to wander out into the yard and lay in the grass... just soaking up those rays! Then I got up and started pruning the shrubbery and pulling weeds. Lots of bird action is going on at the bird feeders currently, and the roses look wonderful.

It's quite a change from the beginning of Summer with the rush to get ready and leave for our trip to Italy & Sicily, but what a trip it was! Lot's of sunshine there! Once home, we had my sister's family come visit us for a week from L.A.. What a busy yet joyful time it was to have my little niece and nephew here to spoil! We showed them the country side of life with hikes in the giant redwoods, trips to the beach and a "little" zoo. Uncle Scott even showed them how to shoot a beebee gun in the back field! I've included a little film loop of their visit!