Happy Fourth of July.

Hope for peace.

Hope for pride and honor.

Hope for yourself.

Hope for your neighbor.

Hope for change.

Photo and poem by Piper H in flickr. Better view here.
I love this Holiday. Sometimes (frequently acctually) it shocks me how little it means to other Americans. My husband for instance, his family grew up only occasionally celebrating. He is very patriotic, but his family just doesn't a high emphasis on this day. I on the other hand, grew up just about revering this day. My family put a lot of focus on this day, and as I grew up, on my own, each year my mind turns to those who served and died for our country. To they original ones who fought in the revolution, and I think of how enough thanks can not be given. Our country is completly FREE. I don't know if it has to do with how close I am to citenzenship coming into my family. On one side, it was just 1 generation ago (my ma). On the other side, it was 3 generations ago (my dad's grand mother- interesting story, I should tell it one day). With the way things are in Mexico, and with visa rules and such changing, if I where on the other side, I'm not sure I'd make it over. I'm very thankful and grateful to be an American.
God bless America!

Mission Status: Accomplished

Well I'm back. This time I really did go somewhere. Colorado. Vacations are great! Hubby had to work the first half, otherwise we probably wouldn't have gone. I've already been putting up some pics on Flickr gonna put up more soon. Its gonna take a while however, I took over 700 pics. Gotta luv 'em didital cams.This shot is from the first leg of the trip. (Pic #46) Let me tell you, the Texas Panhandle is flat!
But even there, the unmistakeable beauty of Texas shines through...

Pic # 47

This last one is acctually from early in the second day, still in Texas. (click on the pic for a larger view)

A, last but not least, say good buy to shaggy little Shorty. Pic #48

No, he's not leaving. Gotcha goodd didn't I? Nope, its all the extra hair thats leaving. He's getting shaved next week. I wonder if it'll be easier to tell what mix of dog he is?
See ya later.

I'm sick :P

I'm supposed to be at our church's VBS today, but I got stomach problems. This really stinks, I was having such a good time, the kids seemed really interested, and comprehensive(zat spelled right?) of what we where talking about. Hopefully God will plant his word deep in their heart, and it'll grow into a longing for him. I pray that what they hear today propels them into a desire to be saved.

Here's a child's point of view of the parking lot as they first approach the church. Pic #45

Oh Shinny!

Hubby says I get easily distracted by shiny toys, and sad to say he's right. The other day I caught a glimpse of the New Mexico state quarter, and it was verrrrry shinny.

Nice detail huh? Pic # 41. I busted out the macro setting on my dinky point-n-shot, zoom in snag a pic, then get this dawning revelation. I can see the reflection of my Dr. Pepper in the coin. New mission. Get a shot of the DP. Here are my results.
#42 Kinna fuzzy
#43 Bit sharper# 44 Much better, I like it.


I can't wait to try my next idea's.

Tada!

Hey every one! Its time for my favorite game. Extreme catch up time! Been a long time since my last personal post. I didn't upload anything in May, I haven't even organized any of the pictures I took in May.
We did keep the stray, His name is now Shorty. Pic# 38

We have no idea what mix of breeds he might be, even our vet just says, "well, he's a cute mutt!"
If you have an idea of what breed he may be let me know (I kinda wanna see what others think he is.
Our second dog, Dooley, (who we only had for a little while before the third) has settled in quite well. Pic #39We got him from Furever Friends, a local rescue agency. They said the was found running loose in a field, matted hair, burrs everywhere, thin as bones, and DIRTY! I believe 'em. His ribs were sticking out still when we got him. That was after a week of good feeding.
So now we permanently have 3 dogs in the house. I call them the 3 Headed Dog Hydra. I need to upload the vid of them in action. It truly is a mass of swirling dogs.

In other news, an old friend from MD came down to Texas. However his reasons for coming were different from past visitors. (J sorry I didn't get a pic of ya'll when you came down. I even had my camera in my hand at one point.)
He got engaged.Congrats Drew~n~Sarah!
Pic #40


Tata for now!

Thank You!

Thank you to all the veterans of D-Day. So many acts of heroism started on that one day. Yet that one day was merely the start of a huge invasion to rid wrest Europe from the grip of German Nazis.

P.S.
Summer officially started at 4:08 P.M. today!
Yay!

I love days off!

I'm not working today. Since the school didn't use any of our bad weather days during the winter, we get a free day off today. The school never closes, even when power went out for a WHOLE day thanks to an early spring thunder storm. Dark hallways, classrooms with no windows, scared two year olds. No problem, but I'm over it, no really.
But seriously, I got some much needed grocery shopping out of the way, and I got to see a quick shower run over the area. I started sprinkling on me when I left the store. Drove with the front edge, 'til I turned homeward. Followed along just behind the storm until I reached a local playground. There I parked, jumped out of my car and snapped lots of pics. Once I got home I stitched them all together. The end result is pic # 37.

Panoramma

Our living room, this is an experiment. I downloaded the windows software- Windows Live Photo Gallery. It's actually pretty good, but then I have the XP version, not Vista. I have no idea what it's like. this is pic # 35. This is 3 Pictures stitched together.


And this one is 13 stitched together. It is the view you get while sitting in the our sectional sofa. Pic #36.

News Flash!

There is another dog in the house. That makes three. Hubby came home from the store Friday, and as he opens the door of his truck, this little dog tries to jump in it. When he checks for its collar, it started licking his face. The dog didn't have any tags, or a collar, but looked recently groomed. Hubby put the dog back on the ground and took the food back in the house. 'Bout 30 min later when he came out to pull the truck into the garage the dog followed him in. We've taken him in for now. I made fliers and put them all around. Already other people who want the dog are calling, but no word from the original owners. I'm afraid that he may have been dumped. He is a cute little bugger. I almost want to keep him, in fact every day it gets harder to think about letting him go. But if his family calls for him , thats a different story.

Pic #34

I'm Back!

Lots to catch up on, but only posting some for now. I mentioned last time that I might get another dog. I did :) ! We got a Basset Hound. He's Droopy Dog! The name he came with is Dooley.
He's sweet, calm, (a.k.a. lazy) very slow paced. His running speed amounts to the fast walk on our other dog. Simba literally runs circles around him. But he's a good dog. Pic# 33.

Where to start?

So I've been behind. I have been taking pictures, and thinking of things, and scribbling things, just no typing. Its been well over a month, probably best to start where I left of. Letsee, there was a beautiful sunrise...

• Pic # 20
  

• An Origami Money Bird with a large tail, #21

• The Lunar Eclipse, #22 & #23

• A sign with good advice, #24

• Sending off a friend to Iraq, #25

And that was Febuary (Izat Spelled Right?)
Now March.

• A flat tire outside Bennigan's, giving lots of time to take pics of the Roadhouse, #26

• And experiments with macro, on the same day, #27.

• A largish brown spot appeared below my eye, # 28.

• And then it snowed in Texas! #29

• The next day school opened late, and my dog refused to touch the snow, #30

• A few days later buds appeared on our tree, #31

• Then I saw some longhorn cattle on a detour home, #32.

Its a lot to one in one day, but I might be getting a second dog, so it was either catch up now or wait for an even longer period of time. Hopefully soon I'll get these up on Flickr, so that the larger size is available for viewing.

Shameless Plug

I've heard that for good product placement you get free stuff. So if I where to display some brand name, fine quality chocolate, maybe I could score some for free?

This is my attempt at macro, not the closest, or sharpest, but this is without support from a tripod. Some more shots are on my flickr stream. Oh my, was that another shameless plug?
Pic # 19

Yay!

Go Giants! Go Eli Manning!
I didn't get to see the game, I was sick in bed all day with a temp ranging from 101-104. And that was with meds. Hubby DVR'd it for me, but my DVR wont play it now! And what a game it was! But, I DID NOT SEE A SINGLE THING! Wish I could see it. Oh well.

The hand of my God

Today, as I walked out the garage, I saw a deep dense fog. At first the fog was eerie, even scary, I had been expecting it to be cold and damp out. Noises were muffled, quite. Visibility was at a bare minimum for driving safely. But it was warm, close, quite honestly, safe. It made me think of this song.
I Know Who Holds Tomorrow
words and music by Ira Stanphill

I don't know about tomorrow,
I just live from day to day.
I don't borrow from it's sunshine,
For it's skies may turn to gray.
I don't worry o'er the future,
For I know what Jesus said,
And today I'll walk beside Him,
For He knows what is ahead.
Refrain
Many things about tomorrow,
I don't seem to understand;
But I know Who holds tomorrow,
And I know Who holds my hand.

Ev'ry step is getting brighter,
As the golden stairs I climb;
Ev'ry burden's getting lighter;
Ev'ry cloud is silver lined.
There the sun is always shining,
There no tear will dim the eyes,
At the ending of the rainbow,
Where the mountains touch the sky.

Refrain
Many things about tomorrow,
I don't seem to understand;
But I know Who holds tomorrow,
And I know Who holds my hand.

I don't know about tomorrow,
It may bring me poverty;
But the One Who feeds the sparrow,
Is the One Who stands by me.
And the path that be my portion,
May be through the flame or flood,
But His presence goes before me,
And I'm covered with His blood.

Refrain
Many things about tomorrow,
I don't seem to understand;
But I know Who holds tomorrow,
And I know Who holds my hand.

Pic# 18

Good Quote

“Be yourself; everyone else is already taken.” - Oscar Wilde
So does that mean I'm just left overs?
Honestly, I like being myself. It truly is a good Idea to be yourself, being someone else can be trying, as well as an easy cop-out. Being yourself can bring such a flavor to life.
In the Holy Bible, Jesus said "Ye are the salt of the earth: but if the salt have lost his savour, wherewith shall it be salted? it is thenceforth good for nothing, but to cast out, and to be trodden under foot of men."
I know many Christians who are very interesting. I count it a priviledge('sat spelled roight?) to be a part of the family of God. It is also a priviledge to know my numerous odd, and outlandish traits accepted.Picture #17

Guess What?

I've been thinking about getting Flickr account for sometime now. So I go looking around to see just what the difference is between the free and Pro accounts, and discover that I have a free account already. How is that?, you ask. I have a Yahoo! email, ans since Yahoo! owns Flickr, I have access to Flickr. So this is what I've come up with, http://www.flickr.com/photos/archnemesis_goldenhair/ I hope you like it.

Ooooh, almost forgot, picture # 16.

Farewell Christmas

Here's my little army of nutcrackers. By the time this picture gets posted they will be all packed up and waiting to be stored in the back room closet. Kinda sad to see them all go, but there is a time and place for everything. And their time is up. Soon flowers and trees will begin to bloom, children will flock to the park, daylight hours will return to a proper portion of the day (try 13 out of the 24). And that means Summer is just around the bend! I can't wait, and that was picture #15

Cable Orginazation Redux

I don't know why I had to put Redux into the title, it just sounded good. So the other day I straightened up the ALL the wires behind, beside, underneath, and between our computers. By the way we've got two of them on our living room. I forgot to get a before picture, but trust me, it was bad.
By attaching some peg board to the back of the computer's shelf, I could run cable ties around the cables and hold them in place. I also used cable clamps. The clamps have an adhesive tape that allows them to stick anywhere. The plastic loop that holds everything can open on one side, it's generally best to have that side aimed upwards. Behind this computer are printer cables, speaker cables, monitor cables, router cables, and wireless mouse and keyboard sensors.I set up the pegboard on the side of my computer desk. Here I have the router itself, modem, ethernet wires, internet cables, wireless mouse and keyboard sensor, plus power cables for modem and router.
This is the finished result. Only two cables viewable. Both of them are power cords which attach to the wall, it's a pretty sweet setup, which allows for the dual viewing I posted about last time. Picture #14.

Dual Surfing

I've had this setup for a while now, but thought I should share. Its quite nice. Surf the net, surf the tube. Rarely have to get up. You can barely see my army of nutcrackers guarding the big screen. The holidays are wrapping up here, hope every one had a good Christmas and New Year. Third day into '08 and here's picture #13.