Just Like a Koala!!

Don't you just wish you could fall asleep like this? 

Just wrap your body around a branch or limb and drift off!!

Happy Mother's Day to all my
friends, family and blogging buddies!! 

I'm so very grateful for your visits and comments!!

I'm Still Here!!

It's been nearly a week since I've posted!  I'm so sorry!!  It's state testing week in Illinois, so it seems all my energy goes to ramping up for it!!  Haven't worked on photography, haven't worked on scrapbooking or cards, haven't posted anything on my blog! 
BUT, I have had time to read some other blogs, as I fall asleep at my computer at 6 p.m.!!   There are some incredibly talented bloggers out there!  Check out some of my links on the right.  And there's more that I've found that I'll need to add!!
My son-in-law posted this picture on Facebook, so I felt compelled to grab it and share it with you. 

No doubt Cormick is telling Ava that he loves her!  This is an everyday occurrence with this little guy.  He just adores his little sister and is just so kind and gentle with her.  And it looks like she's enjoying the attention.  She's starting to really smile at things!  Y'know... I get goosebumps when I look at my grandkids!!  I'm just embraced in serenity when I look at them!!
I've got a long list of photos I need to take for my Picture Spring class at BPS.  Good thing I'm not being marked down for having late homework!!  I'll have to take advantage of what looks like will be a beautiful day to take some pictures after work, in order to catch up with my homework.  I'll be sure to post some of the nicer ones here!!  Have a great Tuesday! 

Movies and Award....No, Not an Oscar!!

Have you ever had a time when you have so much rolling around your mind that you don't know where to start??  That's me today!! 

First, let me tell you about this award I got a couple days ago.  As much as I tried to get some time to write a post to tell you about this, I just didn't have enough time!  But I received a Happy 101 Award from Leanne at From Chaos Comes Happiness, who got hers from Leslie at Words of Me Project.  (I'm assuming the cupcakes will arrive shortly, Leanne?????)

The idea behind the award is to give it to someone who makes you happy and they can do the same to others.  So without further ado, I award this Happy 101 award to:

Michelle at So Wonderful, So Marvelous who just ran a RAK challenge to celebrate her 34th birthday.

Leslie at Running with Scissors who makes the most wonderfully beautiful cards you could imagine.

Betty at Bossy Betty who, although she's received this award before, I can't NOT tell others just how happy her Monday Morning Flower Delivery makes me.  Thanks, Betty!!  Your flower deliveries inspire me!!

And on Leslie's post on Tuesday, she asked about our favorite movies.  Movies you could watch over and over again.  I commented with this list:

Runaway Bride
Schindler's List

Fried Green Tomatoes
Steel Magnolias
Pretty Woman
Moonstruck
My Fair Lady
Somewhere in Time
Final Countdown
Lake House (There's a theme here...I love time travel movies that aren't gory or scary).

But at work, I thought of more. 
Sleepless in Seattle
The Truman Show (if you really give this one lots of thought once you've seen it, you can get into some really deep thoughts)
50 First Dates
Elf
Up  (a whole new experience when you watch it with a 2 1/2 year old who gets very active during "scary" parts).
I don't do blood and guts movies.  I know there are some suspense movies in my "really likes" but I can't think of one right now.  I mostly like chick flicks and time travel.
 
How about you??  What's your favorite movie?

Whale or Mermaid??

Although this post is not personal in nature, I was quite entertained by the story I received in an email recently and thought I'd share it...

Recently, in a large city in France, a poster featuring a young, thin and tan woman appeared in the window of a gym. It said, "This summer, do you want to be a mermaid or a whale?"

A middle-aged woman, whose physical characteristics did not match those of the woman on the poster, responded publicly to the question posed by the gym.

To Whom It May Concern,

Whales are always surrounded by friends (dolphins, sea lions, curious humans). They have an active sex life, get pregnant and have adorable baby whales. They have a wonderful time with dolphins stuffing themselves with shrimp. They play and swim in the seas, seeing wonderful places like Patagonia, the Bering Sea and the coral reefs of Polynesia. 

Whales are wonderful singers and have even recorded CDs. They are incredible creatures and virtually have no predators other than humans. They are loved, protected and admired by almost everyone in the world.

Mermaids don't exist.
If they did exist, they would be lining up outside the offices of Argentinean psychoanalysts due to identity crisis. Fish or human? They don't have a sex life because they kill men who get close to them, not to mention how could they have sex? Just look at them ... where is IT? Therefore, they don't have kids either.  Not to mention, who wants to get close to a girl who smells like a fish store?

The choice is perfectly clear to me: I want to be a whale.

P..S. We are in an age when media puts into our heads the idea that only skinny people are beautiful, but I prefer to enjoy an ice cream with my kids, a good dinner with a man who makes me shiver, and a piece of chocolate with my friends.

With time, we gain weight because we accumulate so much information and wisdom in our heads that when there is no more room, it distributes out to the rest of our bodies. So we aren't heavy, we are enormously cultured, educated and happy.  Beginning today, when I look at my butt in the mirror I will think,

“Good grief, look how smart I am!”

Little Mermaid picture courtesy of:  http://top-10-list.org/wp-content/uploads/2009/08/The-Little-Mermaid.jpg

Whale picture courtesy of:  http://fallengirl.files.wordpress.com/2009/03/killer-whale.jpg

A sweet, very short story

My grandson has been waking up early lately...really early... 4 a.m. early!!  But Mommy and Daddy don't get him up until 5 a.m.  So he spends the first 15 minutes calling "Ris-tene".  When that doesn't work, he spends the next 15 minutes calling "Maaaameeeee".  Today, he slept til 5 a.m. and gave Mommy a big hug when he got up.  This is the conversation that followed:

Mommy:  Did you have nice dreams? 

Cormick:  Yes

M:  What did you dream about?

C:  You.  I dream 'bout you.

M:  Oh, honey, that's so nice.

C:  You my best friend. 

Pretty cool, isn't it?  Mommy's his best friend.  Tomorrow, I'll post related thoughts.  But I just needed to share this story with you today.  Life is good.  I am lucky!!

"I hope you smile today!"

I received some sunflowers from my son, soon-to-be daughter-in-law (I really call her my 2nd daughter), grandson and grandpuppy. The card read "I hope you smile today! The world needs to see it!" It caught me on a particularly emotional day so, of course, I briefly wept - with joy. (Although it's not completely true, some that know me are convinced I cry at birthday parties).

But it made me think about smiles. You can comb the internet and find all kinds of quotes about smiles. One of my favorites is one of my daughter-in-law's favorites. Not sure who to credit it to, but it was in a compilation book titled P.S. I Love You by H. Jackson Brown, Jr.: "Today, give a stranger one of your smiles. It might be the only sunshine he sees all day." Smiles are gifts you give to others that don't cost you a thing. Yet when you take the time to think about it, you get the same feeling of satisfaction as you would if you gave them a nicely wrapped gift. Hmmm... so easy to do!! Who will you give a smile to today?