Gitz Bits 2010: Week 22

Friday, May 28, 2010

Riley is always excited when a package arrives. Which is ridiculously optimistic because most of the time there is nothing for him in the box. But every now and then I'm a really nice dog owner and order a few little treats for him as well.

Lucky dog. :)

Saturday, May 29, 2010

This has been my favorite stand-by lunch since I was a very little girl. Actually, it was the only thing I ever wanted for lunch growing up, and I would eat a peanut butter and jelly sandwich with Mom every day before the bus picked me up for afternoon kindergarten.

For me, this sandwich is comfort food. I’m sure for my mother, this sandwich was what came directly before a few hours of peace and quiet in the house. :)

Sunday, May 30, 2010

I could hardly look at this photo long enough to crop it and put it on this page. Imagine how completely freaked out I was when I took the picture.

BUT WOULD YOU LOOK AT THAT SIZE OF THAT FREAKING SPIDER?!

I am still looking under pillows and blankets for fear it had babies.

There was HAIR on that thing.

You have no idea how much wadded up toilet paper it took for me to grab that sucker and flush it. But I wanted the photo so when I tell people I killed the largest spider known to man, I have proof.

Monday, May 31, 2010

I know, you’ve seen pictures like this of Riley a thousand different times. And people are always commenting how well he poses for pictures. But what you never see is this:

He poses so nicely because the minute he hears that first shutter click, he is diving at me for the inevitable Cheerio that follows. There’s no free lunch around here, people.

Tuesday, June 1, 2010

On Tuesday, the girls and I had our rescheduled birthday dinner... and when I mentioned the word camera, it was met with a resounding “NO.”

I think they’re over the whole blog thing.

So before I went to bed I grabbed the camera and took a picture of the only evidence that they were here...

:)

Wednesday, June 2, 2010

And this... well, I may or may not have eaten this little bit of leftovers for breakfast the next morning.

We won’t even talk about all the Cushing’s weight I have yet to lose. I mean, it was mostly fruit, right???

Thursday, June 3, 2010

Is there anything better than beautifully colored pictures from little people?

Marla’s sweet, lovely, youngest daughter Nina showed me her artistic side and sent me some new artwork for my fridge. I always say that life is just a little happier with Eyore around. :)

Thanks for once again sharing my week with me! Click on the button below if you want to go to Jessica’s site and check out the other participants showing off their weekly photos as well:

Flashback Friday: Memory Lane

I’m skipping a few years of Memorial Day celebrations so I have the space to show you all the layouts for 2007.

We may have taken a few photos that year. :)

I love capturing moments, and my sister Laura had just gotten a DSLR for Mother’s Day, so we had a hay day with the cameras. I also took a lot of pictures that year because I had this nagging pull on my heart the entire time. It was one of those weekends that I was purposefully taking in every moment because it was becoming very clear to me that it would be my last year traveling home.

I had no idea my health would continue to spiral like it did, as quickly as it did. I just knew my limitations were escalating. I remember standing in the kitchen with mom, after everyone else had left to go home, and saying that it was the perfect weekend to end on for me. The kids were all so good and played so great together, everyone was relaxed, there was no schedule. It was calm. And happy. And I felt so blessed in that moment to have it.

I think Mom was still a bit in denial at the time about whether or not I’d be making any car trips after that, but she agreed that it was a lovely time. I hope you can see in the photos the kind of happy it left with us.

I look back on these pages often.

[2007]

Memory Lane

I think I’ve mentioned it a little bit before, but do you all know I used to be a compulsive scrapbooker?

Like, I’d start one layout in the evening and then stay up until four in the morning trying to finish an entire book. I loved it. It was like once I started I just couldn’t make myself stop. Obviously, in the past couple of years I haven’t done a lot of sitting at the computer for hours on end, and in the past year I’ve done… let’s see… zero pages.

I really started faithfully scrapbooking for my family in 2001 when we had our first big Memorial Day get-together because we had family pictures taken. All of my nieces and nephews had such a great time playing together that we decided to make it an annual event, and I love that I have my scrapbook pages so I can look back, remember and see how much the kids have changed.

Want to see some? :)

I’ll post a few layouts today and a few more tomorrow. I’m warning you, I’m no Jessica or Ali Edwards… but I do love putting a page together. Just click on the photo and it will open to a bigger shot so you can see them better.

Feel free to tell me how cute my nieces and nephews are. I’m not going to argue with you…

[2001]

[2002]

 
[2003]

Oops.

So, last Friday I had every intention of blogging.

I intended on blogging in the same way I intend on blogging every week day. Except, some week days it just doesn’t get done. I was really tired on Thursday and not really moving so well, and the thought of sitting up and saying something sounded like a lot of effort, so I just didn’t do it.

I skipped. It happens.

I just happened to skip writing on the two year anniversary of starting this blog.

Oops.

Hey! Thanks for sticking around for two years you crazy people!!!!

Thanks for sticking around while I ramble on about the antics of the most ridiculous blog dog.

Thanks for sticking around while I sometimes write about things that probably only seem important to me.

Thanks for sticking around when I pour out my heart and am feeling less than completely thrilled with my life.

Thanks for sticking around when I write posts about choosing joy … posts that are a reminder for me just as much as they are for you.

Thanks for sticking around while I tell you silly stories about my childhood that I write simply so I won’t forget them.

Thanks for sticking around even when I’m not around. For those days when I’m not well enough to blog and you all are here for me anyway. For those moments when you all have been my lifeline to a world I want to be a part of and sometimes just don’t have the energy to be in.

Thanks for all of that. And all the other stuff I haven’t mentioned.

Just, thanks.

For being you.

Gitz Bits 2010: Week 21

Friday, May 21, 2010

*I* got this great new pillow for my birthday from my friend Shannon. *I* am thrilled with it because it makes laying on the couch more comfortable, and that means I’m not spending all day every day in bed. *I* can now prop up my legs and take pressure off my hips and *I* love it!

That is, when *he* isn’t claiming it as his own. *He* may be just a little possessive of everything that enters *his* domain.

Don’t let that innocent look fool you. He’s a manipulator, that one.

Saturday, May 22, 2010

I obviously didn’t take this photo, Josh the brilliant photographer did, but it perfectly represents my favorite part of Saturday. A ridiculous number of my good twitter friends, friends who are really more like family to me, all got together on the Oregon coast to witness Jenni and Brian renew their wedding vows.

Theirs is a beautiful story of forgiveness and redemption, and for those of us who couldn’t make it to Oregon to be a part of it in person, they had a live video feed of the ceremony and reception afterward. So, Saturday night I was sitting in front of my computer watching them read their vows off of their iPhones [so fitting] and celebrating with all the people who love them.

Sunday, May 23, 2010

And Sunday I sat in front of my television to say goodbye to that face.

*sigh*

Will I miss LOST or will I just miss looking at Sawyer? It’s a toss up.

Monday, May 24, 2010

Have you seen a more pitiful look?

This poor pup is usually trying to peek his head between me and the iPad these days, but he’s obviously not above giving me the old, “You should feel guilty for depriving me of my God-given right to attention” look when I’m working at the computer either.

The poor computer is what has really been lacking in attention since Padma came to live with us, but it is still the go-to technology for all things photography. Which means when a photo gets put on the blog [especially on Mondays in preparation for Gitz Bits] and I sit myself down at the computer, Riley has no problem plopping himself in my eye line and staring me down until I show him proper respect.

It’s like living in The Godfather. Except without the horse head on my pillow.

Tuesday, May 25, 2010

This photo probably seems random, but there’s something comforting for me to look out my window and see my neighbor Laura’s car sitting there. I don’t actually get to see her that often, but knowing she’s in the building is just a nice feeling.

And isn’t it a cute car? It fits her personality perfectly.

Wednesday, May 26, 2010

I often get asked by you all what I eat now that I’m allergic to whey. Because, as you all have come to realize, whey is in almost every freaking food on the planet. So I thought I’d show you some of my main dishes over the next few Gitz Bits.

This is my favorite salad to have for lunch… it’s coleslaw from a bag [I like it because it’s crunchier than lettuce], topped with craisins, sunflower nuts and a sweet red wine vinegar dressing I make myself.

I would let you all be impressed by the fact that I make my own dressing, but really it’s just a whopping three ingredients that I put in a jar and shake. I’ve often wanted to cut up a hard boiled egg to put in the salad, but I don’t really trust that I wouldn’t screw up hard boiling an egg… I leave those complicated things to the Becky Homeckies of the world.

Thursday, May 27, 2010

This was a present from my friend Eliana, who is 5 1/2. She made the bracelet herself and it’s my new favorite accessory. I’m pretty sure she has a future in jewelry design, so I’ll let you all know when she decides to start selling them. But for now, I alone have an El-original and I love it. :)

Thanks for once again sharing my week with me! Click on the button below if you want to go to Jessica’s site and check out the other participants showing off their weekly photos as well: