Done with Stressing Myself Out

I was seriously stressing myself out trying to come up with the *perfect* picture for our Christmas cards.

We took pictures of our feet in socks with Christmas lights thinking this would be a cute nontraditional Christmas card, saying something like 'sending warm thoughts or trying to stay warm'. I went to several online sites to create a card, but when the image uploaded it cropped out half the picture = FAIL.

Then I thought family pictures, again = FAIL, then I was thinking a picture of just Hoss and Sprout or the cats in Christmas hats or cats playing with ornaments or the dog with something 'Christmas' or or or - Do you see why I was getting stressed?

I finally said 'screw it, let's buy generic Christmas cards and send those out' (talk about Christmas Spirit).

We (as a whole) typically stress over the 'Perfect card' and hope not to upset someone by them not getting a card or the card not getting there in time or...

Then a light bulb went off - we spend money on cards + postage to send to family, friends, co-workers, etc - Said person enjoys them for 3-6 weeks and then takes them down to (hopefully) put in recycling or *gasp* the trash = throwing away hard earned cash. I don't know about you, but I don't like throwing money away.

*LIGHT BULB*

Take the money for the cards + postage and give to charity! As soon as I came to that realization...*waves to the stress going bye bye*.




I posted on FaceBook that we were doing this in lieu of cards this year (so family/friends would know not to expect a card) and my lil step-sis also took the money + postage and donated to a charity.

*I am not trying to pat myself on the back, just saying it feels good to GIVE.

5 years later...Katrina

This is not going to be a blog about New Orleans, because frankly...I dont care about New Orleans. Not to be racist, but for the past 5 years it's always been about New Orleans. Very rarely do you see a come back story about Bayou la Batre, Al or Fairhope, Al or Gulf Shores, Al or Pensacola, Fl or Mobile, Al or Dauphin Island, AL or Biloxi, Ms or Pascagoula, Ms. The people from these cities and places in between put on their big undies and got to work, they didn't sit around waiting for a hand out. They did what was needed to do to get life back to 'normal'...Do Not get me wrong....they lost their share of residents too. Even after the BP oil spill....it was always about New Orleans...I want to shout out to all news media 'WHAT ABOUT THE ALABAMA AND MISSISSIPPI COAST?!?!?' but would it do any good. Seriously, my blood pressure rises when all I hear is New Orleans, New Orleans....New Orleans....F--- New Orleans!

Here are a few shots of Before and After...







The day before Katrina hit, hubs spoke to his dad on the phone (we moved to the PNW almost a year before Katrina hit..thats about 2400+ miles away form the MS/Al coast). So, hubs spoke to his dad...his dad being that he stayed during Fredric decided to rough it out (if you are from the south you drop the 'hurricane' part and just go with the name of the storm - everyone will know what you are talking about: Fredric, Camille, George, KATRINA). Aug 19, 2005 we got up and hubs was frantically calling his dad to tell him to 'leave, get out of town as fast as you can....it's bad, it's a bad storm!' But, the warning didn't happen because all the phone lines where dead.

Over the next several days...hubs would go back to work and I would stay plugged into the computer listening and watching for any news from there (watching the local news stations and listening to the local radio stations down there).

We would try calling family and friends to see if anyone could get out and check on his dad --- but they couldn't, either all the roads were blocked off or there was no gas...Nothing.

It was a week that went by before we finally heard from his dad...a cousin found a way over to his house and got him out (Phew).

Much as I hate to watch/look at pictures of any and everything related to 9-11 (I enjoyed Remember Me, but after the ending....I wont see it again). As much as I hate things to do with 9-11, I also hate to see pictures or news or anything to do with Katrina.

WOW

We had a nice little storm come threw tonight; Hoss asked me to take pictures...








Then I went around front and saw this:















...it's a double rainbow. Second time in a week we have seen a double rainbow, first time however, to see a rainbow at night (8:45p Aug 5, 2010).








An awesome storm and a double rainbow = Beautiful.

doppelganger

We were suppose to go to a music festival (Bret Michaels and then some) yesterday. Middle of last week we got to thinking - 6 hour drive (round trip), 2 kids to try to settle and chill for 12 hours of music, having to possibly rent a car and then maybe a hotel --- did not = 'fun' to us.

A girlfriend of mine asked us to go camping instead = FUN!

We stayed in the state and just 2 hours from home is BEAUTIFUL, mountain views and HUGE lakes! We have been here 5+ years and have never been to a lake here (coming from the gulf coast, it just seemed wrong).

Spent a couple hours yesterday at the lake and then today about 4 hours (that is something I realized about us and our friends....we come from the gulf coast, there you go to the beach for a few hours and leave....our friends that grew up on the west coast can spend ALL DAY at the beach). Anyway---

We even went canoeing! Last time hubs and I did that we kept going in circles (that was about 12 years ago). Found out today that hubs doesn't much like canoeing...something about 'small' boats easily flipped. So, he and I took the boys out once and he didn't get back in the canoe after...poor guy.

We saw bald eagles! 5+years here and never have we seen a bald eagle in this state...go away for the weekend and we see about 20. At the lake we could watch them hunt/fish and hear their songs...it was very cool!

This morning we took our tent down and we were sitting on the picnic table waiting on our friends, when this woman walked by.
I see her and watch her, I whisper to hubs 'that looks like ma', he replies 'I was just thinking that'. Everything about this woman was ma. From her reddish hair pulled back in a ponytail, to her white capri pants, to her stance, to her build, to her walk, to her chin! OMG! I watched her and I was wondering why ma wasn't coming to talk to us. She looked more like ma's TWIN than her actual twin looks to her (no offense). A few moments later she was in the passenger seat of a truck that went by and she even smoked! This woman was the exact image of what ma was about 10 years ago (which is how I remember her). NO JOKE! Not until after she had come and gone did hubs ask 'did you take her picture? Because no one will believe us otherwise'. Do you know what??? No I didn't take her picture, now I am wishing I had thought of it.

Here are just a few of the pictures I did happen to take---enjoy.



*ACTUAL SIZE* big, BIG BumbleBee



I love birch trees.



I always have to take pictures of flowers wherever we go. Here are a few flowers and a baseball size dandelion.















This here is 1 of 2 of the snake friends we met. We first get to the lake and hubs reaches down and picks one up...a while later, Hoss does the same thing! (ma would have been so proud! There were many times where she would just reach down and pick up random snakes...)







In the 8+ years its been since we last went camping...the ground has not gotten any softer.



I call myself a 'hotel type of girl'(<~ that could be taken way wrong), but after the fun we had this weekend, I might consider going camping again.

Fun with my camera