Jammin' in Jammies

Check out Dave's post from today about Zach's budding musical talents. http://worldofwild.blogspot.com/2008/10/pitch-perfect.html

Then read our brother Mark's (Wildman) comment about his guitar from Mexico. Ok, here's the best part. I found a photo of Dave, age 2 kicking out the jams on Mark's guitar. If you can stand one more (possibly politically incorrect) picture, here's Dave again a year later complete with the sombrero and cowboy boots. Isn't he cute!?

Happy Birthday, Carol! Oct. 25

Too Much Cuteness??

Cute, cuter, cutest??

I take too many pictures. The editing and deleting process can be excrutiating. Who could ever say which is the cutest or (gasp!) least cute image of Maddie after her bath?? So I often make a "filmstrip", photo series, or scrapbook page of similar ones and they become a collection or maybe even tell a story. It's not redundant, it's just more of a good thing!

One day last winter Erik, Linda, and I picked up some Guinness Stout and Harps and were having a good time relaxing when I started taking a few shots (pictures, that is). It looks like Linda enjoyed the 'Liquid Irish Heaven' as much as I did and I can almost taste a real live Black & Tan when I take another look at this series.

Equally cute!

My neighbors, James and Dean

I had an audience while working in the yard after work today. Aren't they cute??

Back to the "Old Me"

It took a lot of guts (no pun intended) for me to post these "before and after" pictures. I did it hoping that humbling myself might inspire (or scare) someone else to better health. I've been tall and lean most of my life and that was my self image. So it took me quite a while to realize I no longer was. I'm physically active but I love food. I love to cook food, to photograph food, to experiment with new food combinations. Most of us enjoy using food to celebrate , to commiserate, to fill time, to spend time . We like to eat whether we are happy or sad, bored or busy, stressed or relaxed. There is always a reason to eat and it doesn't necessarily involve hunger.

My ultimate motivation to get back to the old me was health. I knew I didn't look my best, it was harder to find clothes I enjoyed wearing, my favorite sports took more effort and on and on. But when it came right down to it I'm in my fifties now and I just want to be as healthy as I can be.

Once I resumed eating with more focus on nutrition it was actually easy. My favorite foods are all the nutritious ones. The hard part is sugar, but I've been increasingly satisfied with substitutions and portion control. It's habit. My goal was 30 lbs in 3 months and I lost almost 40 lbs in 4 months, keeping within 3 lbs for 4 more months. And counting. The big SECRET? Decreased portions, increased activity. No secret at all.

I encourage comments but don't say, 'you look good' because this is about good health. I'm old enough to know the value of it!

P.S. Have you ever mixed a little cake mix with some water and eaten it with a spoon? No? Uh, yeah, me neither.

Zach and Maddie as Lego People

Happy Birthday, HB!!

The many faces of Heather, one of my favorite people!

Ferocious Feline Feat; Just one more Fraidy Story

Anyone who knows me is aware that I complain about our cat, Fraidy. He really belongs to my boys so I pretend to be constantly annoyed by his quirks. The truth is Fraidy is pretty loveable and often entertaining. He spent the first 7 yrs of his life indoors so he's afraid of most animals and doesn't wander too far, but he must follow his instincts and put on a good show. Following is a picture story of one of his tentative backyard adventures with 5 wild turkeys... "Relax. You're safe now. I chased them away for you without a single thought to my own safety. You're welcome."

Does anyone know how to train a cat?

Does anyone know how to keep a cat out of the bed? I've been trying for 13 years to no avail. Every now and then he sneaks under the bedspread, sometimes without even wrinkling the fabric even if I tuck it in tightly . I've never seen him do it but when I find a lump under the cover, and it sqeeks when I touch it, I know what it is. Always right smack in the middle of the bed. When I lift the cover he gives me that sleepy, innocent "Whaaaat?" look. I suppose he's just too old to change now. (I keep the guest room door closed so my company has nice clean sheets free of cat hair!) P.S. I do keep my thermostat low. Maybe that's it.

Happy Birthday Fraidy!

Fraidy Cat

Peanut Butter and WHAT?

Lindsay posted about good old PB&J's last week which elicited a huge response. It seems to be a lifetime favorite food! No matter how many gourmet, ethnic, homemade, organic or exotic foods we try in life we still love our PB&J's! Well, I grew up with another version: Peanut Butter and Dill Pickle. Mmmmmm. I still get teased at work but I have converted a small army of PB&P lovers over the years. So dig in! Lindsay's post: http://kohlerfamilynj.blogspot.com/2008/10/pbj.html

Simple Pleasures #1

Time to wash windows. A wonderful sunny October day. After running the squeegie over the last window I admired the sparkling surface and a bright, colorful image of fall colors reflected back at me. What a grand reward for doing a mundane autumn home maintenance job! I just had to share! I've always been a big believer in appreciating life's simple pleasures. Some days are tough and it's difficult to do this but those are the days we need it most. This one is called #1 because I intend to share more of them over time. Feel free to share yours!

October Calendar Page

TV's 'Mr. Clean' Dies at 92‏

As he was one of the icons of my childhood, I wrote a little tribute:

WARNING: PUNS ABOUND.

Please join me in remembering a great icon of the disinfectant community. MR. CLEAN died yesterday of ammonia. He was 92. Clean was buried in a spotless dust pan. 409 celebrities turned out to pay their respects, including BRAWNY, his Aussie friend FLOOR MATE, LYSOL, and the SWIFFER family. EUREKA, HOOVER and BISSELL could not attend, which really sucked. The church was floral and lemon scented and the grave site was an immaculate pine GLADE in the valley. DOVE bath bars were released as the KABOOM of fireworks filled the air, which was freshened by AIRWICK and FEBREEZE in an unprecedented joint effort. CLOROX delivered the eulogy and lovingly described Mr. Clean as a man who was a real DIRT DEVIL. Our dear friend led a squeaky clean life. He started slowly in show business, and his roles were largely antibacterial. But a CASCADE of floor work turned the TIDE as he grew in popularity and became the PRIDE and JOY of every kitchen. He was certainly a household name, a hero of germ fighting proportions with peers like the great PINE-SOL and ARM & HAMMER.

Mr. Clean is survived by his wife DAWN, their children SPIC and SPAN, and many little SCRUBBING BUBBLES. He was preceded in death by his parents, PROCTOR and GAMBLE and Uncle WINDEX, clearly his shining role model.

The funeral was held at 4:09 in a ventilated area, then the casket was closed to avoid releasing toxic fumes. A FANTASTIC luncheon followed polished off by ALL.

Pumpkin Art

It's October and time for pumpkins and Halloween and all things autumn, including Pumpkin Art!