The co-worker Christmas presents for 2009 are finally finished ... with two hours to spare! I'm off to shower and meet them for a late lunch, but I thought I'd share the gifties, in their favorite colors:

I can't believe it, but I actually signed up ...



50,000 words in 30 days. I must be insane. You can find me HERE. But I'm not in this alone ... Becca Thornhill is joining me. She's actually the one who influenced me in this decision. But don't worry ... I'll get even with her somehow.

In other writing news, I'm currently working on a story for the Writer's Digest Short Short Story Contest. 1500 words or less by December 1. I'm also considering the 79th Annual Writer's Digest Writing Competition. 4,000 words in a genre short story by May 14. Totally doable. Also in the running is the Central PA Magazine's writing contest. 1500 words or less by January 16.

All this on top of NaNoWriMo.

I'm certifiable.

Summer in the United States: hamburgers on the grill, baseball games, swimming, fishing, catching fireflies in a jar. And invariably for a lot of people, this also means a family vacation.

I'm mandated in my Bank employee handbook to take five of my vacation days in a row at some point during the calendar year. And since my children, now teenagers, won't be children much longer, I thought a few days away from the humble abode, especially since we'd just painted kitchen cupboards, would be a fun-filled and refreshing change.

Never again.

( Why )

( Corning Museum of Glass )

( The Rest of the Trip )

Today's forgotten word from The Word Museum:

peppering shower -- One in which the rain descends like hail, or like the pepper from the peppering-box. Also known as falling-weather.

Indeed it is.

Hard to believe that it's the middle of June ... chilly, rainy ... the temperature right now is 61F/16C and everything is damp, damp, damp. Not that I'm complaining, mind you. I'd much rather have this than scorching heat and unbearable humidity. It's just mind-boggling how much the weather has changed since I was a kid. Weather was predictable then. The Dog Days of Summer encompassed the last two weeks in July and the first two weeks of August. Last year those Dog Days were in June. This year ... who knows? I guess I'll just take it as it comes, one day at a time, and be thankful I didn't choose meteorology as a profession.

Most of my time today, when I wasn't waiting on customers, was spent clipping coupons. Not just any coupons, but coupons for Coupons To Troops, a program which gets manufacturer's coupons to service personnel and their families overseas. Post commissaries and exchanges allow the use of coupons up to six months past their expiration date, so the "girls" at the bank got together and donated their unwanted and expired coupons to this worthy cause.

( Amy and I finished up this evening. )

Check out the Coupons to Troops website and consider giving your unused coupons a second life.

And in tribute to our "falling-weather" ...

Today's forgotten word from The Word Museum:

teemful -- Pregnant, heavy, fruitful, brimful.

And for those of you who need a visual:



Sadly, this is what happens when one chooses to wear 15-year-old seersucker pants made fragile by having spent several years in the extreme temperatures of one's attic and taken beyond their endurance by a bottom which sits slightly broader than the last time it resided in their confines.

What makes this even more tragic is that I was at the supermarket at the time of the rending. Fortunately, it's a store I visit infrequently and I'm sure that if I return any time in the near future, it won't be my face that the guys in the meat room remember.

Sigh.

Since it's Photo Sunday, I've decided to post some pictures from my great outdoors ... specifically my front porch, which has become the haven where I decompress after a long day, and my daughter's garden, which is an experiment of sorts, but of which she is most proud.

( Let's start with the porch ... )

( Let's head out back ... )

We interrupt this Live Journal to bring you this special announcement ...

12-year-old Sam has just competed in his first track meet, wowing parents and sisters alike with a superb performance. Master Sam received a 1st Place ribbon for the 100 meter dash, clocking in at 17.8 seconds. His relay team took 1st Place in the 400 meter relay. He also claimed a 2nd place award for shotput, throwing 50 feet 7 inches. And finally, he longjumped his way to a 3rd Place honor with an 8 foot 7 inch jump.

The action news team has the day off, but we caught up with the junior athlete after the awards ceremony and he had this to say ...

"Aw, Mom!"



And now back to our regularly scheduled posting.

... is now shorter. Yay!

Created new LJ to parallel new blog ... check.

Have all links linked to all journals/blogs/web pages ... check.

Revamped original fiction outline so I'm more pleased with the plot and actually have a pretty good idea where the story is going ... check.

Made progress on Michelle's baby blanket ... check.

Polished off the strawberry shortcake ... check.

It's raining now and, in light of that, I bring you a tribute to "heavy dew."

The sun is shining, but there's a stiff, chilly breeze reminding those of us in Pennsylvania that the troll of Winter is still guarding the bridge and Spring hasn't answered the riddle yet.

It's been a long, long week, the second consecutive week of working six days. By Friday evening, I found myself frustrated and frazzled, and practically weeping for a vacation. When you're in that state of mind, you tend to become careless and do things that you might otherwise be able to ... avoid. For example:



Honestly, I didn't see the white panel truck against the white brick wall just over my left shoulder, in my blind spot! Fortunately (or maybe unfortunately, I haven't decided yet) the driver is a bank customer and didn't seem too concerned with the minimal damage I inflicted on his truck. I drove home sobbing, "I broke my taillight! I broke my taillight!"

Are there any cheap flights to Cancun???

Anyway, Timber and I hope you have a blessed Easter!

... of a rainy, gloomy weekend is here all too soon. The sun has finally come out just in time to sink below the horizon, and I don't have a camera handy to take a photo of the colorful sky beyond the lingering dark rain clouds.

Instead, I offer some spectacular pictures here: Extreme Ice Survey. (Thanks to Al Gore's Twitter page!) The photo gallery has some phenomenal shots of glaciers and calves. There's also something very compelling in James Balog's statement that landscapes are changing and disappearing, and the photos he's taking will be the only record that they existed. There's also a one-hour NOVA special Extreme Ice. Our world is rapidly changing, not often for the better, and I can't help wondering what life -- and this planet -- will be like for my grandchildren.

Weighty ponderings for a Sunday night. On that note, I'll leave you with a little trip back to the late 70s.

Hard to believe that it's taken five days, but the wallpaper is off the main wall.











As you can see, the paper took a good bit of drywall along with it. (Yes, it was the wallpaper, not the person removing the wallpaper!) One more wall to go, but that won't happen until the weekend, at least.