Remembrance

I was really pleased to see so many tributes to Veterans today on Facebook. I created the above image by taking one of my photos from the Iwo Jima memorial and doing some post-production on it. Then I added the text over top. It's what I posted today.

I think more often than not, we forgot about all sacrifices our members of the military make -- as well as their families. As more and more vets from WWII get older, I think it's vitally important to recognize them and thank them for their service.

In September I was teleworking. Since the weather was gorgeous, I was sitting outside working on my laptop in front of the library, when I noticed a very elderly gentlemen sitting at a nearby table. I felt compelled to say hello -- he had on a Seabees hat, so I assumed he was a vet -- but had no idea what I would say. I just kept typing along and coming up with possible introductions, without actually saying anything at all. 

After a while, his wife walked out of the grocery store with a couple of bags of groceries. He slowly got up, held her arm, and using his cane they walked toward me. I made a passing comment about enjoying the weather . . . and it led to me hearing a hilarious "how we met" story, how they've been married for 65 years (!), their move from the northeast to Oklahoma, and her love of the ocean. It was certainly the highlight of my day -- and I'm so glad the opportunity arose to talk to the couple for a while. I think, though, that we all need to make those opportunities arise on our own. I hope next time, I go up and make sure that happens. 

Thank you to all who have served and are currently serving. 

Cat says "Meow" . . . But what does the fox say?

 

Each year, my mom and I get together and carve pumpkins. This year we went with an animal theme -- she carved out a cat (Did you know that tomorrow is actually National Cat Day? Did you know that there even IS a National Cat Day??) and I made a fox.

Despite having had this tradition for decades now, I just realized that you can cut the BOTTOM off the pumpkin instead of the TOP. Why? Well, several why-didn't-I-think-of-that reasons I came to find out.

1. It makes for an even base instead of a round one, so no balancing act on the pumpkin's part.
2. You can place a candle on the ground -- flat surface, no tipping risk.
3. You can light that candle FIRST, and then place your pumpkin over top of it. No burning fingers. ((mind blown))

After you cut out the bottom and scoop out the insides (once I get better at this blogging thing I'll remember to take pictures of each step), it's time to carve. Personally, I like to sketch out my idea on paper and black out the areas I'm cutting out. Then, I draw directly on to the pumpkin with a washable marker. It comes right off when it's wet! Although my hands did markered up, that didn't really bother me since we have soap and water at my parents' house and I can wash my hands . . .  Then, I got to work sawing away. Another big pumpkin carving tip: buy those kits. Totally worth the four bucks -- even if you break a tool mid-way like I did (pro tip: go slow).

I always like to test out the pumpkin with a candle to see the effect before I declare it complete and demand an audience. And I do demand an audience. I called Jeremy and my dad back in to the kitchen (several times) to see the pumpkins in their full glory with lights off, candles glowing.

Next stop: front porch!

Moneyball

"I am totally using the big red bat," I thought as I selected the larger "girl bat" when it was my time to step up to the plate. I channeled everything I could remember about how to hold a bat that I had seen my brother do when he hit home run after home run going back for as long as I can remember. Jon is an AWESOME baseball player. He played in high school, college, and professionally post-college. But, I am not my brother. While I can row, run, and yoga flow with the best of them, baseball was never my sport. Heck, I never even wanted to play on a kickball team -- all those people watching you while you're up to bat?! No thank you. The idea of batting struck fear into every bone of shyness in body.

But somehow Katie had convinced me this would be fun, and who doesn't like fun? I had already survived being picked last for the team (granted, the captains didn't actually know my name since I was meeting most of these people for the first time), so how much worse could batting be? As I placed my feet next to home, I repeated the "keep your eye on the ball" mantra, bent my knees, put my right elbow up, and tried to breathe like a normal person.

And guess what?! I scored the first run for my team! Boom. Up to bat six times, hit the ball six times, AND got on base six times. That's right, batting 1,000. So apparently my younger brother isn't the only one in the family who got the hand-eye coordination genes after all. What is it they say again? Only the best play in October? Yeah, not a bad way to spend a Saturday.

tbt - Jumping Pics

Steph and I invented jumping pics. Truth. This was from 2006. Who knew how to jump and catch that moment in [digital] film before 2006? That's right -- no one.

That was an epic trip across the country to Oregon. Here we are on Mary's Peak in Corvallis. Steph found a tree stump and we put our automatic timer (and legs) to work. As we traveled around that Pacific Northwest state we stopped at pretty much every overlook along the coast and took pictures at each one. Love that girl. Loved that trip.

(Hey, when are we traveling again?? I'm sure the "where" we can make up as we go . . .)