Picture Roulette #4

Jacinda and Evia sharing moment.

Directions to here:
Also could be called "when the puppy was new."
Stolen from Luke and Tammy??

Flashback Friday...Our Friend and Cousin

Louetta Childress Potter

1925-2009

For the last ten years, whenever I would see Louetta Potter, my eyes would get a little misty and my heart would grow very tender.
It may have had something to do with the way she would break out in with a big smile and say "oh Nancy, how are you?" while reaching out her hand. It may have been because I've always liked and enjoyed visiting with Louetta and Bud. But another reason is, whenever I see Louetta, I'm very aware of my mom's memory and presence.

It's probably because of the many telephone conversations I heard while growing up. Or the laughter, bordering on girlish giggles, I heard when they were told stories on each other. Or the many, many cards and notes I read that they exchanged over the years. But most of all that when they got together, no matter if they were talking about the good old days or friends or their kids or family, or church, or Grange, or health concerns, or vacations or simply just sharing a recipe, they had the special bond that told me they had been and were life-long school girl friends.

Louetta was also related to Dad.
Their mothers were sisters. They shared the same childhood memories, the same grandparents, the same family reunions, the same aunts and uncles. And believe me as Janet and I tried to place who belonged to who...it is a family tree that would make Dave go cross-eyed.

Louetta passed away last Thursday.
And as I heard the news, I was sorry.
Sorry to see her go.
Sorry that I won't see that welcoming smile and quick laugh.
Sorry that I they slipped by me at Dad's funeral and I didn't get to say hello.
Sorry that I didn't hear more stories about her life, her family and her friends.

One of my favorite memories of her is, of she and Bud at Dad's 80th birthday party. They were getting ready to leave and I stopped them before they got in the car. I said, "Oh don't go yet, I need a picture of you two!" Louetta laughed and said "of us together?" "Yes, you two together," I said. She put her arm around Bud and said "Take a picture of me and my lover!"

They were lovers for 62 years.
(They were married one week before my mom and dad).
They have a beautiful family.
She was my dad's cousin.
She was my mom's friend.
I will miss her.

Picture Roulette #3

This mini escape from winter

brought to you by
justagirlon_41

Directions to here:
West Palm Beach Florida, from the Highway 41 trip.
This is all I can muster, since my internet provider is driving me crazy.

Picture Roulette #2

Directions to here:

Three bugs in a purdue rug.

In memory of Louetta

Flashback Friday...LTR update

Verna reminded me the other day that it's been one year since I got the HHR and entered into a LTR (long term relationship) with Harris.

So far, I must say it's been a pretty good run.

About a month after the commitment, I experienced the first scratch (probably from someone at the bar next door) and later a door ding (while I was still in the car, mind you).
Public parking is...well, public parking.


Two months in, I was leaving work for the night and opened the door to find the rearview mirror like this. And I thought, "and so it begins." I get a car and it has to start falling apart. I think it was the dealer's fault in Chicago, cause it was missing a part. I took it in for a safety recall repair here in Indy and the Chevy dealer attached it for free.

Then about 5 months in, I, of course discovered the obligatory chip in the windshield. Does this have to happen to every car I own? I guess so.

The only major breakdown happened on I-65 and it was no fault of the car. A car in front of me ran over something and when I think about the large piece of whatever it was flying toward the windshield, I guess it was a blessing that it ended up dropping at the last second and taking out the radiator instead of my head.










Farmer Jerry's crew were there 20 minutes flat to load me up and thanks to Tom had me back in business within the week.





There are a few quirks that I've had to get used to. The price of the "gansta" style windshield is less visibility for taking "drive by
shots," but I guess one should not be taking pictures while driving anyway.

There was a bet as to how long it would take before there was something in the back to haul around. And I think Phil at the store won. He guessed 20 minutes. But really it was more like 1 hour. The first thing that went in the back was the girl's arm. It just felt right.
And yes, the back is full right now (but it's all stuff that is going to the thrift store, well, most of it is going to the thrift store, the Santa head is staying with me). And by the way, Bobble loves it cause he has a place on the dashboard when we are on a trip and when it's sunny, a "house" that he can go in to stay out of the sun so he doesn't fade away.

I've only taken one road trip so far, but have managed to add 14,000 miles to the odometer : (
And as far as Harris goes...we've had thirteen dates...with only 47 to go.

Directions to here:
And all this time, I still don't have a name for it. I've been a little hesitant, cause once you give a car a name, it has a soul and if it has a soul, it can then break your heart.
I'm up for suggestions.

Introducing Picture Roulette

So, I've got 2 folders on my desktop.
The file size of these folders is huge.
They both contain pictures.
One is of pictures that I've scanned or have stolen from elsewhere.
The other contains digital pictures that are waiting to be labeled.
Another folder within a photo program contains all the digital pictures I've labeled and organized.

Most of you have similar files.

It is the digital revolution.
It's changed the way we take and deal with pictures.
And it's a good thing.
But here's the deal.
Sandy is the only one I know that prints pictures anymore.
I miss sitting down and flipping through the pictures you just got developed.
And it makes me a little nervous that you all have 1,000s of pictures that I'll never see and vice versa.
It makes me even more nervous, that all of our computers will eventually crash.
But that is another issue for another post.

Back to Picture Roulette.
I'm playing a new game.
I got a new mouse that has a non-click wheel (sort of like a roulette wheel) and I'm placing it at the top the of file list and giving it a spin and where ever it lands, that's the picture I'm gonna share.
Step right up and spin the wheel!

Here's our first winner:

Directions to here:
Lake house: Floating Sisters. Stolen from Sister Susie

Good Luck to 44

Flashback Friday...Windchillin'

When I left for work on Thursday, it was negative 6 degrees with a frigid wind chill.
Now, if you grew up in the midwest, you know what happens to the inside of your nose when it's that cold. You can actually feel the hairs inside your nose, cause whatever is in there freezes upon breathing in the cold air.

That's the kind of cold it was on Thursday and as soon as I felt the nose thing, I thought of my good friend, Stacy. (the girl in the middle) Stacy is a California girl and found herself living through her first Indiana winter in 1993. She made me laugh all the time, but I'll never forget the day that we went outside together on a day like this past thursday and she had a shocked and concerned look on her face and frantically wanted to know what was wrong with her nose! Being a surf and sun girl she had never experienced the "nose hair freeze." I still laugh out loud everytime it's cold enough for the nose freeze and think of her. And Stacy? Well, she's laughing too, at us, because she now, once again lives in California where the temperature was positive 73 today. However, she is suffering through a severe weather alert. San Diego is under a high surf advisory in effect until Saturday afternoon. I mean the waves could get 5 feet high, on the beach, where you can go, cause it's warm.

Here's a few shots from back in 1993 from a trip to Lowell with Stacy and friends.

Sometime in the winter of 1993, I recruited Stacy, Rhonda, Craig and Norma to come to Lowell with me and help me speak at a service at Range Line. I bribed them with a trip to the Art Institute of Chicago.

We then met up with the family at the River to use Mom and Dad's Christmas gift certificates.The next morning was the church service.

Rhonda, Craig and Norma did the readings and talked about Paragon (the group that made slide shows), I spoke about change. And Stacy sang one of my favorite songs called "You remain Unchanged." (It was this trip, where we started talking about doing a Paragon show to this song and that summer we premiered it at our staff training).

You all came out for the service. (Thank you, by the way)!

And then we headed to the farm to play in the snow!

Jeremy and me.
(look at that big pool in the background)!

Trouble Trio

Jeremy and Stacy

Bob was still rider, not yet a driver

The Sled and sledders.

More sledders. It was tied to Dave's truck.

And being pulled by a truck over a bumpy field.

A rough ride. I was in the back of the truck trying to keep the camera steady!

Now they got the hang of it.

I love the dogs in the background (Buddy and ?? Codiac, maybe or one of Shanna's)?

Directions to here:
If I recall, Dave's transmission went out the week after we took this ride!

Welcome back!

Welcoming the beachcombers and the Alamo visitors back to the Frozen Tundra.
Hope your body doesn't go into shock!

I haven't been posting here...but you can see the daily photos here.

and you can add Alene & Cody to the 365 Project list.
Bookmark them and pay them a visit!

Directions to here:
The people who wish and hope for snow, have garages.

Flashback Friday...The Original Wild Bunch

According to my records I owe you two Flashback Fridays.
One for Jan. 2 and one for Jan. 9.
Not a very good start on the New Year.

Anyway, here's rebate #1.

If the Ponderosa Generation thought they were the original partiers,
or the Ponderosa Junior Kids think they know how throw a party,
they don't have nothing on the

Original Wild Bunch.
Here they are:

New Year's Eve
Friends
party hats, noise makers, games
and a Poloroid.

Directions to here:

The writing on the first three shots says New Year's Even 1954. I recognize Dad in the first shot, Mom (dancing) in the second shot and Faith Little in the third. Anyone else see anyone they know? Any guesses on where they are?
The next three shots seem to be from a different party and as far as I can tell, it's in our basement, before the toy shelves were built and Dave's room was added. I can tell this because of the fabric on the wall, covering the shower and the black trunk in the last shot, being the trunk that held all the dress up clothes (that's a whole other Flashback Friday in its self).
I see Mom in the first shot, is that Biss and Inell, and Vernon Childress in white??? Actually the second shot looks more like Biss. Verle in shot three, but who else? Double click on the images, they will be a little bit bigger and start sending me your guesses!

365 Project update

Wanted to give you some links to see the work and the fun that has been seen thru the viewfinders this week.

My Facebook 365 Project group has 40 members!
Not sure how many are already taking the challenge, but these links are to the one's I know of so far.

There is some nice eye candy so go have a look!
(on photoblog if you click on the date on the calender...it will move it to that date)

From the family:
Nancy
Susie
Verna
Patty
Stephanie
Shelby
Cori
Sarah (is on her facebook account)

From friends:
Heather
Denise
Ken
Jen

Hopefully there will be more to come!

Keep on shuttering!

An Unexpected Visit

I was on my way to work today and put in Carrie Underwood's "Carnival Ride" cd.

It has the "Wheel of the World" on it, the song I used for the Christmas video.
It also has the song that I used for Levi's video, "So Small."

I was thinking about Levi and how good he has done since the surgery. And I remembered how much I liked the line that says:
"When you figure out love is all that matters after all,
It sure makes everything else seem so small."
And then I thought of how true it is.
And how for the most part, I get it. And how our family "gets it" and what a great thing that is to show to the next generation, who will hopefully see us model it.
I listened to another song and then saw that the Wheel song was the last track and I felt like hearing it, so I skipped ahead.
Now, I'll tell you.
You know a song is good, when after hearing it thousands of times, broken down to second by second increments, you still like it. And I still like this song. I listened to it and as I did, I could see pictures of you all flash before me. I chuckled as I went around one of the many round-a-bouts I drive through and at the same moment she was singing about "turning around and around."
I got to work and was at the light waiting to turn left into the parking lot and the song was ending. I thought, this is where the song "Taps" starts in the video. But this was the real cd, not the video and not wanting to hear the next track, I hit the eject button and the radio came on.
That is when I took my eyes off the light and stared at the radio with bewilderment.
The radio was a little staticy and seemed to be between two stations, but there was no mistaking it.
The song the radio was playing was "Taps."

I was at first, confused, but as I made my turn and parked the car I realized that it was one of those moments that are so surreal you will wonder later if it really happened. And as I sat listening to a somewhat peppier version of the "24 notes that tap deep emotions," my eyes filled with tears and I said out loud:
"well, hello, Dad."
No sooner had I said that, when the song went into sometime of march song with the singer singing in Spanish. I went from tears to laughing out loud as I remembered how we would laugh at Dad because he would sit watching the Spanish channel for hours (mostly for the dancing girls) and how Mike even got in trouble for taking it off the channel scan when he reprogrammed the VCR.
I was sure by this time that this was really happening and I could see his mischievous smile and I thought of the questions he always asked when I was leaving.
"You doing okay?" "Do you need anything?" and "Do you need some money?"
I gave him my standard answers out loud.
And then I remembered that look sly proud smile that mom would get when she was successful at surprising you. And I thought, they are together again and smiling at me.

By this time, I was a mess and late for work even tho I was just outside in the parking lot.
The last thing that came to mind was the image of the day that mom and dad dropped me off at Ball State for the first time. When it came time to say goodbye, Mom got in the car and barely said goodbye. I suppose, I understand now, that she didn't want to draw it out and lose it in front of me, because I probably would have lost my nerve and ended up wanting to get back into the car and go back home with them. Dad stood outside the car and the man of few words gave me the assurance that I needed that day and have held onto for a lifetime. He raised his hand, waved and said "You'll be alright."

And I swear, as I sat in that parking lot laughing and crying at the same time, I heard him say those words once again as clear as if he were sitting next to me.
It was an unexpected visit on a regular Tuesday.
But a good and needed one.

Directions to here:
"Love goes out, out like a light. Out like a flame and you cant find it anymore.
Just when you think its lost in the rain, it comes back knockin' at your door."

500 miles to nowhere

500.

As in five hundred miles.
On a bike.
A bike that goes nowhere.
As in stationary.
As in for exercise.
500 miles.
You think I could have lost one pound.
Yeah, you would think.

Directions to here:
That's all the way on Route 66 to Springfield Missouri. Where, if the bike had wheels that touched the ground, I could be resting here (again).

Time to make it right.

Dear Blog,
(and anyone else who is listening in)

It's a new year and it's time to come clean.
I have a confession.
I've been cheating on you.
You've been good to me and I have been running around on you.

It all started when those foreigners came for a visit and lured me away.
I resisted.
But they took over and registered me and I got sucked in and before I knew it,
time I could have been spending here, was spent there.

To be fair there have been other things going on.
Movies to make.
People to visit.
Grieving to do.
All legitimate things.

But the main one has been that other site.
I think it's the instant gratification.
The constant updating.
The ability to see a lot of faces at once.

If you haven't figured it out by now,
the other place is facebook.
Yes, common, blogging for the masses facebook.
In its defense, it has helped me renew connections with lots of faces I otherwise would not see.
It has helped me keep more update on family and friends.
But alas, it has kept me away from spending time with you.

So there you have it.
I'm sorry.
I'm working out a plan to treat you right.
I'm making resolutions.
And you're on the list.
I want it all.
To have the best of both sites.
When I update my status on the other, I'll update you too and vice versa.
It might just be a line or two, but no more two timing.

There are great things in store.
Photos, resolutions, family updates, Bobble updates, family history, movie moments, stories from bookland, road trips, media reviews, video clips, found stuff, favorite things and of course, flashback fridays. The sky is the limit.

Keep talking to me and I'll keep talking to you.

Directions to here:
register for facebook and when you get sucked in, you will find it in your heart to forgive me.

365 Project

Here's where I'm posting the

365 Project

When I remember how to post links on the side, I'll list the rest of the groups.

Directions to here:
I don't know if you have to register to see the pictures...sorry if you do.

Happy New Year!

and Happy Birthday, Jerry!

Directions to here:
365 Project info coming soon!