do you feel the same way, too?

our neighbor asked if I would take some photos of little miss E.
she's making valentines that you can find right here.

i'm not quite certain this is the face that her mom was hoping for.
do you feel the same way too?

have a fantastic weekend!

be blessed.

t

ramblings

i haven't blogged in over a week.

my gumption is about as lost as it can get.

we didn't get the house we put an offer on. (foreclosure)

we are looking in several different places.

which probably is frustrating to our agent.

but it's going to be OUR house, not his.

where is the magic button?

i started a diet.

like hardcore diet, so it would seem to anyone i talk to about it.

it's only day 2, so i am hoping for some real progress by day 26.

keep us in your thoughts and prayers.

be blessed,

t

last minute visitors

saturday night fights were on.

an hour before they were televised, J invited NJ & Co. over to our house.

with nothing baked, or stocked up in my cupboards, T and i quickly got something mixing.

but not without a hitch, of course.

i didn't have the correct butter, so i switched recipes.

then, when i went to put in the last little bit of oil i DID have,

i didn't shut off the mixer, and the attachment hit the measuring cup, and oil flew everywhere.

i think that was a sign i should NOT have been making sweets at 730 at night.

but i did anyway.

and these little munchins loved every bit, even the homemade whipped cream.







their older brother became jealous, and wanted in on the action, too.

and before you knew it...

someone else was jealous too.

so we got one of him lookin nonchalant. (we must have taken a photo like this several times to get the 'hanging out, looking cool' framed perfectly for him.

and this one didn't want to hear what momma had to say. he hammed it up pretty good.

so silly and scary faces continued on for a better part of an hour.

Momma was happy because they never hugged in front of the camera before, and they did it all on their own.

it was nice to have last minute visitors sharing the evening with us.

i miss having little ones in the house, and it was made perfectly clear i could have them anytime i wanted.

be blessed,

t 

missing smiles

i don't miss black eyes.

i don't miss getting spit on.

i don't miss endless hours of paperwork.

i don't miss room searches.

i don't miss restraints.

i don't miss working on a wing by myself.

i don't miss the heartbreak when you lose a resident.

i don't miss shitty parents.

i don't miss packing lunches for kids on home visits, knowing it's the only nourishment they will get all weekend.

i don't miss runaways.

i don't miss broken bones.

and what i do miss....

seeing the smiles that are created from the difference you've made in someone's life.

O's friend reminded me of that this weekend as he opened up about his family.

our children are truly blessed!

be blessed

t

that's life

rain. rain. go away.

enjoy the weekend.
it's supposed to rain here.
it might be a long one!
i guess that's life.

be blessed,

t

Jamestown

we live in a community that has an abundance of history.

today i drove to Jamestown.

i have taken the drive once or twice before, but apparently i never complete the Jamestown Island drive.

i discovered that there is a bald eagle trail along the James River.

J sees at least one when he goes into work.

today. i didn't see any.

what i did see though was some amazing nature.

it's an e for emmons.

and this one looks like it has warts on it.

everyone has warts, whether they wear them on the inside or out.
yesterday was an anniversary for my dear friend K.
her mom passed away 5 years ago to cancer.
and although i was sad for her yesterday, i was also very. very. very. happy.
for us.
during that oh so very hard time, we let our warts hang out, and rekindled our friendship.
our sisterhood.
i love you, K.

it almost looks like a bow in the trees hair.

and somewhere in between the first two photos and the last two photos, there must have been a switch in birds.

it quite possibly occured when Ms. Snootie Park Ranger Pants asked me to kindly get back in my car and go park in the turn off about 500 yards up the cobble-stone road. (i was on the other side of the road, and had my hazzards on.)

or....

 it could be quite possible that i do really need to go get my eyes examined.
because at first, i thought the bird was a blue heron.
and then coming from across the bridge, from where i had to go park, it looked like a bald eagle.
but now i view them more closely, it appears to be a cormorant.


i caught this guy, as i slowed to a crawl, being sure i wasn't stopping on the side of the cobble-stone road.

he had a partner in crime.

there is just something about getting out, and doing your thing, that makes your day feel right.

be blessed.

t