YOURSELF

Pamper Yourself!

Today after work I treated myself to a massage on a Migun table. The far-infrared heat in jade balls roll up and down your back from head to heel, with your body weight supplying the pressure to roll out the tension and knots. I so needed it! Afterwards I stopped at a Thai restaurant and picked up my favorite Tom Kha soup - veggies and tofu in a lemony, savory, coconut milk broth. I don't normally pamper myself without someone making me do it, but what you won't do to get your PhotoaDay picture!

DOWN

I'm tired of having to look down as I tread carefully to avoid slipping on ice or pick my way through slush or snow banks. So I found photos from a sunnier, more colorful time:

Looking down from the Ferris Wheel with grandson Brian.
He braved his fear of heights!

                       Granddaughter Lindsay heading down the slide.

                                                            Don't look down now!
                                                          There's a snake in the path!

GROW

All my poor houseplants (which weren't in the best shape to begin with) have gone leggy, limp, or dead in the low winter light gotten through cold single pane windows! Exactly why people go poring through seed catalogs in January, imagining how it will be to plant and grow something lush and colorful in warm soil and sunshine.

Which would you choose? Reality or imagination?

THROUGH

 Exactly 3 o'clock on this clock-face moon through the trees.




                          I might not have gotten through this snow at Lexi's
                             if Kelli hadn't shoveled a path.



SUN

It seems like we haven't seen too much of the Sun for a long time. Lots of snow and smog and cold, but we do get smatterings of sunshine - this day it was struggling to shine through the fog and clouds.

So the best thing to do is have a glass of Sunshine Juice -

Orange, Pineapple, and Carrot.

Reminiscent of the Sunshine salad my mom used to make with grated carrots

and crushed pineapple in lemon or orange jello.

TOGETHER

One of my favorite Leaf Pictures my daughter Ali has made

represents our family the way I wanted it to be:

Together! The Mom and the Dad, Four Daughters and Five Sons.

LANDSCAPE

Clouds Embrace the Mountain

(Sad that we have to look around that electric line.)

STRIPES

Strips of Stripes frame this quilt made for me by my friend Pam. The warmth of friendship adds to  its coziness as I nap on the couch or read in my chair.

 

Some other stripes I found in my house: 



Candy Stripes

Red White & Blue Stripes

Wall Stripes

 

ELECTRIC

Out of the corner of my eye I noticed these little spears of light on my shower curtain. I soon realized they were refractions from my glasses of the four electric light bulbs over my bathroom counter. I'm often amazed at things I see just because I'm looking with a word in mind. How grateful I am to have the convenience of electric light through the long dark winter days!

DELICIOUS

Always delicious, the food at Cafe Molise is eye candy too.

I had a vegetarian dish - eggplant 'meatballs' or, more deliciously said,

Polpette di Melanzane in a shallot and tomato cream

with grilled fresh summer squash and polenta. 

My friend Sherrol had Scampi alla Diavola,

gulf shrimp sautéed in garlic tossed with fettucine

in a spicy tomato and onion sauce.

 

Both dishes tasted as delicious as they sound!

CORNER

Many Americans are concerned these days about the state of our country, its politics and economy, its Constitution, its ability to survive as a blessed nation under God. When the flag is unfurled, there are many corners visible in it - its own outside edges, the blue background for the stars, as well as each stripe having four. The photos I took today show the flag drooping, with hardly any corners showing, a sad symbolism of the way this nation is headed.

WHAT YOU DO

When people ask you what you do, it often means for a living. I was a stay at home mom for many years, fixing meals, doing laundry, cleaning up messes, organizing, paying bills, calming tempers, reading stories. When I needed to get a job a few years ago, those were my qualifications. Rather than go to college for years to start a new career (at 59), I took a 5 week course to help me get a Nurse Assistant certification. Working in a home was more my style than at a care center or hospital, so my first and only job is here at Lexi's. She is bed bound with MS, legs amputated, one arm useless from a stroke. A brilliant mind, a good case of OCD, and only 51 years old, Lexi keeps me hopping, ordering me around to do some of the many things she would do for herself if she could. I can't imagine the frustration, and admire her attitude and independence. She stays alone except for the few hours a day that I or another CNA are there, or occasional friends or family drop by. You go Girl!

SHADOW

Love in the Shadows - it sounds like a torrid book title. But here it was, graffitied near my local grocery store. Interesting that you have to have light to have shadows. I'm glad we had a little sunshine today.

READY

On my way to work today, I could see that we are enshrouded in haze again, as evidenced by this photo of Mt. Olympus (I promise it's there). I decided I'm READY for winter to be over!

TWO THINGS

Two kinds of berries:
Black and Blue!
In January! Can it be true?

Two Kids of mine:
He and She.
From a past Time
Bring joy to me!!

SURPRISE

It's not such a surprise that kids would be delighted with a thrift store toy. But this one has made my toddler visitors giggle over and over as they turn the crank ("Dis way?") anticipating Jack jumping out at them. They pinch their fingers trying to close it up to do it again and again, always happily surprised when he pops out. 3 year old Corban goes straight for the Jack in the Box, even after six months between visits.

AN ORDINARY MOMENT

Mmmmmmm. So warmmmmm. My cherry pit bag is ready to toast my feet so I can sleep.

It's an ordinary, necessary moment for these cold winter nights.

I think it's the best gift my former husband ever gave me!

CIRCLE

My neighbor, Jeffrey, was eager to show off the mask that he made at the library story time. If you get those circles in the right place you can see right through them!!

SOMETHING YELLOW

I work as a CNA for Lexi, who is bed-bound with MS at the young age of 50. One of her aides painted this picture, symbolic in several ways. Lexi loves the sunny color yellow. Though her legs are amputated, she continues her climb to improve herself, and her relationships with family, friends, and Heavenly Father. She looks forward with patience and faith to her 'next life', when her body will be restored to wholeness, and she can cook and sing, play the guitar and coach softball, run and swim.

WATER

Water stopped in its tracks by the cold!

 



PAPER

    At a Relief Society activity we used Scrapbooking Paper to make refrigerator magnet goal lists for the new year. My favorite part was the magnetic tape that comes on a roll like scotch tape.

Who knew?!

 

SOMETHING BEGINNING WITH 'T'

TREES in winter show off their shape, especially in snow.  ^This one had dark berries and pods that contrast nicely with the puffs of snow piled on the horizontal branches. The hazy January sun made a soft silhouette effect.

*~*+*+*+*+*+*~*

This Tall pine Tree provided a perch for a jay sending warnings about the camera to its mate.

STREET

Busy 900 East Street is right outside my front room and bedroom windows. They're both 10' tall and single pane glass so they let in heat in the summer, cold in the winter, and noise 24/7. Well, maybe 19/7. I can tell if it's raining (splashy), snowing (quiet), big truck (quaking), 5:45 AM (traffic starts), or normal and dry (hardly notice anymore).

MINE

This youngest son of mine wrote a song for me about my young love with his dad, and then my lost love. It's called 'Mine'.

It brought tears to my eyes, and still does, when I think about the loss.

(I will post the song when I learn how to post something to youtube.)

MOVEMENT

This video is the most amazing controlled movement I have ever seen! Ray Bethell is in his 80s. He flies the kites to music, formerly from headphones he would wear, but now that he's completely deaf it's to the music he remembers. I can't even describe how this affected me when I watched it the first time. He practices many hours a day, never tiring of perfecting his self taught skill.

THE VIEW FROM HERE

Living in Utah, you usually experience an "inversion" for several days or weeks in the winter. High pressure holds the cold, fog, and smog in the valley; some people have trouble with breathing or their eyes burning.  When it's gray and dreary on top of the piercing cold, it seems unbearable.  The View from Here is a little foggy (and a lot chilly) today, but happily we can see blue sky and sunshine.

HEART

Wish I had drawn this Zentangle Heart!

Christmas is barely over and the Valentine (Heart) stuff is on the store shelves. But also at the store were colorful displays of Heart-Healthy food. So I thought I would try a panoramic photo with my new camera. I got this one, but then failed on other attempts.  I haven't quite got the hang of it yet...

SOMETHING NEW

No question of what to take a picture of today! My new camera!