Shells that my hubby and I collected on our honeymoon. Viewed through a glass vase/jar.

Shoulda woulda

Ok, so I didn't post this cause it's an outtake from the Abstract challenge. Looks NOTHING like what I submitted, and in retrospect I wish I had entered this one instead. Not that it's super fabulous, cause it could certainly be more interesting. But I think that I like it better than what I entered.

Meet Tucker

This is one of my two cats :-) Her name is Tucker! Yes, strange name, especially for a *girl* cat....but, it is as it is.

I know that February is themed as Emotions for me, and looking over the month so far, most of it fits. The stuff I took about my grandpa, certainly. The excitement over buying a house.

So it wouldn't be very proper if I left out Tucker. I got Tucker on a trip to visit my grandma and grandpa several years ago. It was a rough part of life for me. I was dealing with failing health of family members, a long distance relationship with my boyfriend, and finding out that what I had dreamt of studying in school wasn't as fulfilling as I thought it would be. Definitely one of the lower points of my life....which is why this little (ok, she's not so little anymore!) kitty means the world to me.

I've always loved cats, and we had three when I was growing up. Loved them with all my heart! But this one....this one is different. Not only do I feel a bond with her, but it's obvious that she feels a bond with me too. My husband laughs because Tucker will come sit on my lap, look straight at me, and talk to me....ok, maybe the odd looks are because I'll occassionaly talk back to her ;-) Tucker knows just what I need, depending on my mood. If my hubby is out of town, she'll ALWAYS come to sleep with me. If I'm feeling sad or crying, she rubs up on my leg within moments.

Even though I know it may seem like "just another pet picture," this one represents love and empathy to me. Many a times I've wondered where I'd be without the steadfast company of this cat :-)

Oh people of the PAD world....

I beg your forgiveness!!!

But, in all truthfulness, I'm not a slacker (though one might think so from lack of update so far today!). I've been busily and steadily editing some photos for the Hurricane Katrina Volunteer Photo effort thingy. Yeah...thingy...that's about as much as my brain will give me right now. Too much patching, cloning, healing, etc for today...

If the world were perfect, I'd have time to shoot some stuff, edit it, post it here, AND do the volunteer work. But I kinda figure that these people might need their photos more than I need mine right now :-)

So, I'll hop back on hopefully tomorrow. Should have the last pic done by then and be back on track here!

Spent most of this evening trying to nail down some abstract shots for the challenge this week. I think I maybe got one, so I posted all of the ones that didn't make the cut....many of them for obvious reasons ;-) I'll have to keep trying tomorrow and monday and see what I get. Finding that it's VERY hard to take an abstract photo that still looks like a photo as opposed to digital art. Very difficult indeed. I'm imagining that those which are more "photo-esque" will probably score better than those that look more digital in nature, but who knows? Had a good time anyways!

I'm gonna hope that I'm not jinxing myself with this one.....

But we put an offer in.

Now it's just crossing fingers!!

*edit for more details*
Yup, it's new construction, hence no lawn yet :-) There's seed down, but seeing as how it's winter....We're pretty excited though! Still hammering out offers, as our lease on our apartment doesn't run out until July. It was pretty overcast the day I took the pic, so that's why it's in B&W.

I chose today to continue the tribute to my grandpa with another photo :-) As the oldest of the grandchildren, my sister and I got to spend the most time with Grandma and Grandpa before they fell into bad health--something I'm profoundly grateful for. I have years upon years of great memories with them. Trips to the zoo, the movies, Show Biz Pizza, the mall, the pool.....everywhere a kid would ever want to go!

Grandma taught me how to knit when I was about 6 years old. She helped teach me to swim.

And Grandpa taught me a lot too, something I realized even more after he had passed. He was a loving and gentle man with a certain touch of stoicism. It's not that he was ever afraid to cry, but more that he preferred to look at the happy parts of any situation. He had a gift for remembering people and all kinds of details about their lives--who they were married to, the names of their kids, their most recent golf score. I suppose it came from his work as a lobbyist....or perhaps he had that job because of his ability to connect with people.

One summer when my sister and I were visiting, Grandpa sat us down at the kitchen table and handed us each a large manila envelope. Inside were some stamps and several pages of a stamp collecting kit. He showed us how to affix the stamps to the pages, and how to patiently soak stamps off of envelopes to expand our collection. After that, every time we went to Grandma and Grandpa's, he would give us each some stamps he had set aside and we would spend at least the better part of one day doing nothing but fiddling with our collections. As we grew older, it slowed a bit. I think he tried to give the same experience to the other grandchildren, but I don't know that anyone else really had the same interest in it.

So, when he passed away and I was asked what I might like to remember him by, it took me less than 5 seconds to reply. The stamps. They somehow categorize the time I spent with him. He also collected coins--more than stamps actually....but to me, the stamps were more representative. One of my cousins took a small portion of the collection, and the rest came home with me.

It may sound dorky :-) Not too many 25 year olds have stamp collections in this day and age!! lol But I absolutely treasure them. Still working on trying to get them all cataloged and organized....but I'll finish some day. And then I'll be able to pull them out and show my children. And tell them how wonderful it was to spend time with my Grandfather, share stories about him, and tell them what kind of a man he was. Who knows? Maybe they'll like it :-)

A couple nights ago my computer was really acting up. I had to restart it about 6 times, all my programs were taking forever to launch....I don't know what's wrong with it! It's very unusual because I don't have problems with my computer very often at all. After putzing around with it, I finally managed to fix it, but it was a trying night to say the least! So I helped myself to a little of the above ;-)

And today I took a shot of it and am posting it--not only because it's good at fixing computers, but because this particular bottle has sentimental value as well. This is a 1969 bottle of Cutty Sark. Why do I have this?? Well, it had been my grandfather's. He was a lobbyist in Iowa for many years, and though he and my grandma never really drank, they always had a full bar available for entertaining. They had apparently moved their entire stock with them from Iowa to Arkansas many years ago. My grandpa passed away two years ago this March, and while we were going through the house my family was surprised to come across a large collection of unopened liquor. So, weird as it may seem, it's a memento from my grandpa. Luckily for me, I happen to enjoy scotch :-) Now whenever I raise a glass of my "grandpa scotch" I can think of him.