Zazzle You!!

Wonderful night's sleep last night...NOT!  But now that I am up and starting to move around it's time to start getting in gear and explore what's out there for my next chapter in life...time to look for the blessings hidden in the outcome of yesterday.

Now that I have a bit of spare time I'm hoping that I might 'zazzle' some of you...well okay...all of you out there with my newest venture I just started days ago.  Kind of ironic that I would venture into marketing some of my photographic art but that's just what I have done.  So...if you'd like to be 'zazzled' head over to my store 'Stuffed Monkey' located on http://www.zazzle.com/ for a look at one of kind items you wouldn't find in a retail store.  If you're into unique and individualism I'll see you at Stuffed Monkey!

Here's a link to Stuffed Monkey for your convenience getting there:  http://www.zazzle.com/stuffedmonkey 

Now...until next time...wherever you are...have a great day!!

Paying Some Dues...Again

"Mistakes are part of the dues one pays for a full life."

~Sophia Loren~

I posted this quote earlier today on Face Book not knowing how close to the heart it would become in no more than a 30 minute span.

The past 6 months I've been contracting at a large company here in the Twin Cities and had just completed a project that lasted 5 long and sometimes horrendous weeks.  There were more than my share of bumps and bruises in those 5 weeks but not to the point where I expected the end result would not only be the completion of the project but also the end of my contract.

Almost 3 years to the day I find myself once again facing the holidays unemployed with many emotions swirling in my foggy brain.  It used to be when you heard the phrase 'tis the season' it would conjur up childhood memories.  Now, when I hear that 7 out of 10 times I find myself thinking of who got laid off or are there upcoming layoffs.

Sure didn't expect this today and I guess I will need to do some regrouping (again).  Wish mom was here but, even though she isn't I can hear what her words would have been to me as plain as day.

"Gute, things will get better."

So with some blind faith here I'm going to believe that they will and that the upcoming season is about friends and family and holiday memories.

Until next time, wherever this may find you, have a great day!! 

"The greatest glory in living does lies not in never failing, but in rising every time we fail."

~Nelson Mandela~

Who'da Thunk It!!

It's November 3rd and no snow yet here in 'Minnesnowta' as my Aussie friends like to call my adopted home state.  I have yet to see a snow flake this fall so far but rest assured it'll happen sooner or later...later preferably but I've no influence on the weather. 

Even though we haven't gotten any snow here where I live unbelievably Hawaii has beaten us here in the Twin Cities and the first snowfall of their season has hit the Hawaiian Islands...more specifically up at the summit of Mauna Kea on Hawaii's big island.  Sure the snows were at 13,000 feet + but even so...who'da thunk it that Hawaii would have snow before us? 

hhmmm...wonder what my nephew in the Air Force stationed in Hawaii thought about that?? 

Anyways...until next time...wherever you are...have a great day!!

PS...thought I'd post a pic of me at around 3-4 years old on God only knows what brand lawn mower that was but I actually do remember riding with dad on it as a little girl and just loving it!!  Dang...the world was sooo small back then!!

Tam around 3-4 years of age.

Still Hanging on to Fall

While Denver is digging out from their first snowstorm of the year and the East Coast is getting ready to be pummelled by their first snowstorm here in the upper Midwest we're doing okay...so far.  Though the peak of fall colors has come and gone it seems we are having yet a second peak with the oak trees showing brilliant reddish brown colors and the tops of the birch trees are still golden and holding on to their leaves.

Late yesterday afternoon I made a run to Springbrook Nature Area which is a 5-10 minute drive from the house and dashed around to the west end of the small lake to take in the glimmers of sun we had been experiencing off and on during the day.  Okay...dash is really the wrong word but I walked as briskly as I could through the woods on the wood chipped trails strewn with fallen leaves trying not to stumble over some hidden object on the path.  I said try...I managed to find several tree stumps that had been cut down to the edge of the ground but still managed to catch a toe.

To say I succeeded on getting to my destination in time for the primo light of the fast approaching sunset just wouldn't be true.  I missed it by just a few minutes but since I was there on the wooden walkway crossing the lake I decided to experiment with taking some pictures with the aperature remaining open for 15-20 seconds and see what I'd come up with. 

As I'd neglected to bring any of my tripods in my haste I used my cell phone case to help prop up my camera on the railing and started taking some pictures.  So here's one picture from my experimentation...I think I just might keep trying this only next time I'm gonna have to grab a tripod.

Now...until next time...wherever you are...have a great day!!

Suck it up???

I really should have known better to whine about the upcoming winter to Natalie, a.k.a. the Tour Guide, in Australia...or should I say whinge as she would put it?!  But silly me I whined about the predictions for the upcoming winter of colder & wetter than last year and her response made me laugh!

"Suck it up princess...you live in Minnesnowta!"

Nothing like getting right to the point!!  So I guess...at least until the first snow flake falls I'll suck it up but expect whining in the future! 

Until next time...wherever you are...have a great day!!

Just Not Ready Yet...

Do you ever wish you'd just shut the tv off and not pay attention to the weather?  Trust me...I love living in a part of the world where there are 4 true seasons but I just can't help grimacing and moaning and maybe...just maybe...whining a bit when the weather person mentions that first snowfall of the year and yup...it happened tonight.  This coming Tuesday night into Wednesday morning there is a fair chance of snow...not the accumulating type mind you as the ground temp is too warm yet and will melt any snow that falls shortly after it reaching the ground. 

Oh well...not much I can do to prevent snow from happening and when that first flake does fall I'm sure the voice of one of my great aunts Inger will echo in my mind..."it had to come, it did, it did." 

Now...until next time...wherever you are have a great day!!

40 Years Later...

I was the youngest of three and the only girl born into a family that pretty much lived, breathed and dreamed sports...at least it seemed that way.  My big brothers were active in about every sport offered back in the '60s and I was right there standing in as the batter so one could practice pitching baseball to the other or strapping on their oversized football pads and hiking the ball so they could practice passing the football.  You name it, if one of my brothers played it, I at least tried it and suffered many a lump and bruise for my efforts...and usually came back for more!!

My brothers had set up a modified half court for basketball up the hay mow of the barn and every fall they would make sure the hay bales were strategically stacked so that there would be enough space for that basketball court.

As there was almost 8 & 9 years between me and my brothers we never competed against each other in basketball with the exception of playing many a game of horse up in that barn.  

In my earlier years I was relegated to sitting on the haybales watching they and their buddies play by the one light bulb that dimly lit the haymow.   From time to time I'd call out encouragement, advice or even a foul which usually resulted in the person I called the foul on scrambling up the hay bales to toss me into the loose hay in mock anger.  I think I tried to keep quiet so it would be a long time before one of them would realize what time it was and send me to go to bed much to my chagrine as I idolized those guys and hated to miss out on anything.

Years later...okay...many years later I still have a love for the game of basketball and can get talked into a game of horse from time to time but the game as I grew up knowing has evolved to almost being unrecongnizable with the amazing feats of athleticism by the women athletes on the court these days.

I couldn't have been prouder this past Saturday to stand with hundreds of other basketball fans of the WNBA as we welcomed home our Minnesota Lynx as the WNBA Champions after 13 years of struggling in the league and I doubt if I was the only one who had tears in their eyes as these amazing women athletes came down the escalator at the airport to the roar of "We're Number One!!' 

The fans parted like the Red Sea for the players but in amazement I watched as the players waded into the midst of them to give many hugs, high fives, pose for pictures and sign a multitude of autographs.  At one point I watched as a little girl who couldn't have been more than 5 years old tug at Taj McWilliams-Franklin's shirt trying to get her attention.  Taj didn't feel the tug so I shouted out her name and as she looked at me I pointed downwards.  She immediately bent down to see what the little girl wanted and obliged her by autographing her tshirt and gave her a big hug.  As Taj stood up she looked at me and gave me a high five almost as if she were saying 'thank you' for pointing out the little girl.

What awesome role models these women are...so unlike many of their male counterparts in the world of professional athletics.  Who knew back in the day that I would become part of a fan base for women's professional basketball and be standing there welcoming home the WNBA champions witnessing a bit of history...and because I and countless other girls wanted to play the game at the high school and college level we would see the game slowly but surely progress to the game it is today.  Only difference now is that I am old enough to recognize and appreciate history in the making.



Alexis Hornbuckle of the MN Lynx
with the WNBA Championship trophy.

I wonder just how many little girls went to bed Saturday night still wearing their tshirts with the autographs of their favorite players?  I'll bet you there were quite a few and years from now I hope the players still remember who they are and how much of an impact they make on their fans like they did Saturday as they slowly shuffled through the crowd of people...as the WNBA champions!!

Now...wherever you...until next time have...a great day!!