Lounging*

This is the chaise lounge. Shawn's mom gave it to us a few years ago but it's been within the last year or so that we've come to know it's lounging ability. Or rather it's ability to suck you into lounging on it. The persian blanket also sucks you in. It's so soft and warm.

I often find it hard to lounge. There's so many things I have to do and that I want to do. But sometimes I just need to let that go and lounge and relax. It's one of the best ways to rejuvenate and restore. So today I lounged.

Today was a great day for lounging. It was chilly and gray out. We were up very late last night so napping would be required today anyway. Between Shawn and myself the chaise lounge was occupied for the better part of the day.

We Have Buds*

We have buds!! Daffodil and crocus buds have emerged. I've been taking photos of the garden about every two weeks. Here is where we started almost a month ago. That was the first time I noticed little sprouts peaking out of the earth. Two weeks later there was more growth of those sprouts. And now 12 days later there are buds! I love watching the garden grow and by documenting it with photos I can see how far we've come.

In the summer we grow moonflowers. The vines grow all summer and about the middle of August you start to get some buds. The moonflowers bloom in the early evening and they last one night. That's it. By morning they are crumpled up. I have watched moonflowers bloom, actually unfurl into beautiful, white flowers. Being present for that is just amazing. Being present and watching every little stem and flower and sprout in our gardens grow is amazing.

The pic below is a preemie bud. It's a hyacinth and its buddies are just starting to break the earth so it's clearly moving too fast but seems to be making it. Little guy should slow down and savor its time to awaken and grow. Sounds like a good idea for all of us.

Warrior 2*

This is from a recent yoga class photo shoot. I was a little nervous about taking photos during class. I didn't want to be obtrusive, I wasn't sure how the lighting would be and I knew to get the shots I wanted, I would have to pretty much do photography yoga. Lay on the floor, lots of squats, crouch and move.

This pose is Warrior 2, Virabradrasana 2. It teaches strength, power, stillness and focus. It fires up the legs and core, opens the hips and chest and stokes the lower 4 chakras. Practicing Warrior 2 gives us the strength to endure and make our way through life's battles, small and large.

The Spot for Now*

This is the spot du jour. The bottom of the stairs that lead to the 3rd floor. This is Lucy's new spot to chill, to wrestle, to play, to get pets. It used to be on the base of the ficus tree. This silly little kitty has her own little idiosyncracies and habits. Thankfully I'm present enough to know what they are.

My Mala*

This is the first mala I made, the one I learned with. It's not perfect and that's ok. After I made this mala, I made another for myself and one for Lisa and one for Melissa. The malas are awesome. The smooth, roundness of the beads as you touch them and the energy from the gem stones and the charms make them so sacred. It really is hard to stop touching them.

This mala is made from carnelian beads. Carnelian reminds us to be in the present moment. It vitalizes the physical, mental and emotional bodies and aligns the physical and etheric bodies. It also enhances attunement with the inner self.

The charm is Ganesha. Ganesha is the remover of obstacles. I have started a new 40 day cycle which includes meditating with this mala and calling upon Ganesha to remove the obstacles in the way of my goals. I touch each bead and mentally recite the mantra, Om Gaum Ganapatayeh Namaha. Hopefully this will help with the mental obstacles that don't want me to not drink caffeine for the 40 days!

Winter's Grip*

It's official ... I am over winter and the cold. I'm the kind of person that can see the value and necessity of winter. It's part of the cycle and without it how would we ever know the beauty and warmth of summer? And winter has it's own beauty for sure.

But I am done with it. It's the end of February and I'm ready for consistent warm days. Sadly, I have a long wait ahead. It won't be consistently warm, flip flop warm, light jacket warm until May, maybe the end of April. It will be warmer soon, where maybe I can not wear a turtle neck and not freeze to death. Oh, and according to the Washington Post, this area can average up to 6 inches of snow between now and April 1. Ugh ...

It's been freezing with wind chills the last few days and it's supposed to stay that way for a few more days. Guess I'll just keep bundling up.

Goodies for the Girlies*

This weekend was girls weekend with 3 of my girl friends of the last 20 years. We were all roommates in an apartment for about 4 years or so. Now of course we are all in committed relationships and live anywhere from an hour to 3 hours away from each other. So for the last three years we have been doing girls weekend at least twice a year.

We've gone to the woods, we go to Maria's home, we've gone to the Renaissance Fair and we've gone to a ski resort. We get together, drink and party, make and eat kick ass food and hang out.

When we have girls weekend, there are almost always presents and goodies for each other. Usually it's been a few months since we have all seen each other, so there may have been a birthday or two or maybe christmas. There's always just the reason that we like to give each other stuff.

These are the malas I made for Lisa and Mo and Maria's charm necklace. We love the girls weekend goodies.

Scenes from a Saturday*

Scenes from Maria's yard. Winter still has a grip ...






























































... and the Mr. before I left this morning.

One Step Closer to Spring*

Another sign that spring will be here soon ...

Headache*

I had a pretty bad headache today. It felt like a knitting needle jammed into my right temple, piercing my brain around my right eye and then pushing through my skull right above that right eye. Ugh. It's probably from having sugar and coffee back in my diet. I haven't felt quite right all week and I'm sure that's it.

I wanted to get a picture that would visually represent the headache. The photo above isn't necessarily how I see when I have a headache like this but more like how my brain feels. Hopefully it will be gone in the morning.

Shaking It Up*

Shaking things up with some photoshop ...

Shadow Kitty*

Miss Lucy Poo is a hard kitty to photograph. She's all black except her little patch of white on her chest and belly. So you either get all black, no face kitty, or maybe all black with yellow eyes. Or if the sun is shining on her, it just washes everything out. Every once in a while you get a little lucky.

An Extra Day Off*

The possibilities when there is an extra day off ...

Progress*

Everything is making progress. Just two weeks ago, these crocus and daffodils had just broken through the earth. And look at them now! Everything changes in a matter of days. It just shows us that change is the one constant in this universe. In just a few weeks these flowers will have bloomed and their cycle for this year will be over.

Even the pansies have bounced back. Winter had them down for a short time ... but even winter can't last.

Happy Valentine's Day*

Happy Valentine's Day! Today was our 10th V-Day together and it has been a perfect day.

Yesterday was day 40 of the 40 Days of no coffee and sugar treats that began January 5. It was timed purposefully to end the day before Valentine's Day so I could celebrate with my hubby by indulging.

So it was coffee and donuts. Yes, they were as good as they look. Oh. my. god. And we put some in the microwave as learned from 30 Rock and again Oh. my. god. It was a sugar orgy.

Also got some shots of the house with all the pink, red, hearts and fun stuff.

Valentine's Eve*

It's Valentine's Eve. I know, a lot of people hate Valentine's Day. But I love it. And I love it because I have an amazing and wonderful partner to share it with. The bonus this year is that it falls on the Saturday of a 3 day weekend.

We like to decorate with hearts and valentine's day type stuff. We get each other some presents and we stay in and make an awesome dinner with good cocktails. In years past we have had oysters at home, I decorated Shawn's van with heart stickers while he was playing at a gig so when he came out he saw the surprise, Shawn decorated the front door with heart stickers for me to be surprised by when I got home and we've made kick ass cupcakes. It's a fun day for us to do fun things for each other and honor each other.

In looking around and taking pics tonight of the Valentine's decorations I also found that we have a lot of heart magnets on the fridge. So it seems we have year round Valentine's decorations.

We heart Valentine's Day!

Yoga*

Yoga teaches us that we are one with the source, whatever that source is to you. You can call it God, Buddha, Brahma, the Universe, Mother Nature, the Goddess, whatever/however you identify the higher power.

In yoga we learn that we are not our stuff or lack of stuff, our thoughts, our drama, our emotions because all of this is fleeting and impermanent. By quieting our mind through yoga we come to understand that we are really divine, pure light and love. Everyone should be doing yoga. Imagine the possibilities if everyone did.

The Mr.*

I found Mr. in a box May 3, 2000, outside of 7-11 and Lucky #7 Chinese restaurant in Norfolk. It was definitely his lucky day. It was like 95 degrees outside and it was him and two of his siblings, panting, no food or water in this box. There were a few people checking out what was going on so I checked it out as well. I tried to get some water for the kittens from 7-11 and when I came back out two people were taking two of the kittens and someone else was standing with their Pit Bull making comments about dog food. I had never been in this position before and haven't since but there was no way I could leave that kitten in that box. So I scooped him up and took him home.

It took me over a week to think of a name for him which was Diablo as he was a little crazy and devil like. But it never really fit. When I moved back to Northern VA and my friend Melissa met him she started telling him how handsome he was ... "What a handsome fella, you Mr. Man." Well Mr. Man stuck and then Mr. stuck even more. For a while it was Mister but somewhere along the line he clearly became The Mr.

M r . (period)

More Abstract*

Another abstract. Processing to black and white helps but its still not quite the abstract I'm looking for. More to come ...

Abstract*

Inspired by this challenge at Shutter Sisters. Shoot something close up so you can't really tell what it is, thus is becomes abstract. What's funny is as a painter and print maker the majority of my work is abstract but this was truly a challenge. I had a hard time getting something really abstract through the lens. While there is an abstract value to each image, I can still make out what it really is. Maybe that's because I know what it really is but I think it's time to play more with this concept.

Play*

So today I played with the new lens a bit. I'm loving how sharp the images are. Found two new buds popping that weren't popping last weekend. Some tulips and hyacinth in the side garden. Now I know these won't bloom until early April but it's fun watching them grow little by little. The crocus and daffodils should be blooming within 4 weeks.

Got the tree out front with all it's little buds. And then a reminder that it is still winter, the holly with its red berries. Not that the holly dies in the summer or anything, it's just associated with winter.

41 days until spring. Sounds like a good time to start 40 days of something.