Slightly snowy day and two sleepy boys called for a warm, made-from-scratch breakfast. Pancakes… …followed by a trip to Hobby Lobby with Tanner to pick up materials for a school project — and some stuff for me. Today’s project (while doing laundry and listening to college basketball) was to develop a lighting contraption so I…

From time to time, the kids and I have seen random sneakers dangling from power lines or (my personal favorite) single shoes on the side of the highway. (Seriously, how does one lose a single shoe out a moving vehicle?) The single shoe seems more accidental — a random act of dumbness. But the sneakers…

Given my line of work, I usually love visiting our hospitals. Except, of course, when the visit isn’t work-related. Today brought a trip to the hospital to see how Drew is doing. We have to go back for a few scans, but today’s results were great. His hearing and vision are normal, which is good…

Subject quote is from the “locksmith of love” himself, Pepe Le Pew — my other black and white animal love, second only to the panda. I informally collect the larger Pepe glasses (Hardee’s Collectibles, circa 1973) to repair the emotional damage done when my beloved Pepe glass broke in the dishwasher when I was a little…

After an entire night of Drew’s coughs echoing throughout the house, all of our sleeping patterns are turned upside down. (Including Violet, who twisted and turned across the foot of my bed. My tossing landed poor Murphy on the floor several times.) Today I worked most of the day from home so I could keep…

When the kids were little, if you hid a toy and reintroduced it later, it was like giving them a brand new toy. As it turns out, the same thing happens with the cats. This Ikea cat house (uncovered from basement storage) made Violet uncharacteristically bonkers this afternoon.  Trying not to think about the fact…

We’ve had cats cackling at both the front and back doors this morning. A light dusting of snow has sent the birds to the feeders, so little bird tracks are all over the place.  The story out front is a gaggle of robins. They are everywhere. At one point, we had more than a dozen…

So next week, both Tai Shan and Mei Lan are headed to China. The two biggest sources of my beloved panda porn are boarding a plane bound for Chengdu. I’ve been reading all day about the big shin-dig they’re holding for Tai Shan in D.C. tomorrow, but I’ve kind of wondered why people want to…

Taken in the parking lot during a quick trip to the grocery store. I was immediately reminded of a blog post from my friend, Amy, that I absolutely loved. Not as cute as the boxer that Amy saw (also in the parking lot of a grocery store – how weird is that?), but this puppy…

Still missing you, Spring.

“I’ve always found this a trying time of the year. The leaves not yet out, mud everywhere you go. Frosty mornings gone, sunny mornings not yet come. Give me blizzards and frozen pipes, but not this nothing time. Not this waiting room of the world.” – C.S. LewisWhat looked like buds on a tree outside my…

Murphy’s new favorite spot — he even naps here. This box has been sitting on the counter since the holidays because I don’t want to adios his perch. (Okay, the box is still sitting there because it’s cookware and I, well, haven’t cooked anything more complicated than a crockpot meal. Murphy is currently getting more…

At first glance, a trip to Powder Valley seemed to be another study in browns and grays… But color could be found if I looked hard enough. There seemed to be a lot of this stuff on the felled trees. Looked like nature’s petri dishes. And just briefly, the clouds parted to show the best…

After a perfectly brutal work week, Lorraine started our department’s Friday on the best note — with cupcakes! Yay! We are all total cupcake monsters, so these were very much appreciated. Red velvet for me. Thank you, Lolo. (Red velvet cake: Steel Magnolias flashback.) Now that this crazy week has come to a close, hopefully…

If I hadn’t looked at Twitter today, I wouldn’t have been able to observe two very important occasions: Squirrel Appreciation Day and National Hug Day. After a few seconds of consideration, I gotta tell ya, I’m not inclined to break out the noise makers. Appreciate squirrels? Yah, not so much. And National Hug Day? That…

An AP photo* of a little boy and his cow (Treat) at a Pennsylvania farm show. This is everything I love about photography. An entire story can be communicated in one frame. This one says “love” without saying a word. And it doesn’t even matter how the story ends. For this one little moment, this…

Hope begins in the dark, the stubborn hope that if you just show up and try to do the right thing, the dawn will come.  ~Anne Lamott Right now my stubborn hope is that, if I just show up to work tomorrow, the above image will not be the view from my window. From the…

http://www.ustream.tv/flash/live/1/317016Free video streaming by UstreamI’m so excited — there’s a new litter of Shiba Inu puppies being live streamed on the Web! The mamma had a new litter of five a few days ago! Just what I need. Puppy porn to add to my panda porn. (Figure I should say it before my coworkers do.)…

This blog post turned me into a puddle. And we’re not talking a tiny kleenex-dab at the corner of the eye puddle. No, this was a mascara-destroying, red-faced from nose-wiping puddle. It’s called “Shoot to Live: What do your photos teach you?” After reading her story, I don’t know how to answer her question —…

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It’s Christmas all over again! A new app for my phone has me taking photos of everything in the house — including the above. This is SO unbelievably cool. Lenses, filters, the whole nine yards — can be changed with just a finger swipe across the screen. As I was searching for something on the…

Another tennis tournament brought another trip over to Illinois this weekend. But I got to drive through the Shrine of Our Lady of the Snows again, which is always a good thing. I left my beloved Canon in the car and opted to play with my iPhone camera (above photos) and my little Holga. The Holga…

A t-shirt at an airport gift shop in the Sooner State. Dare to dream, kids. Cow Pies, Cowboy Nuts, Buffalo Patties…there was a lovely variety of farm animal excrement-related souvenirs. Funny how airports reflect their states’ personalities (as demonstrated through gift shop merchandise). But no matter where you go, people watching is a trip. I’m…