Every now and then I like to take a look through the images I’ve collected on my cell phone, and while most of them are of the Whimsies, and end up on their Whimsieville blog, I sometimes take pics of other things that are going on in my life. Here, in no particular order, or some of those other pics.
First, I have to say: isn’t it wonderful these days to have access to a device that so quickly takes pictures that can so quickly be uploaded and edited? Remember the Not-So-Good-Old-Days when you had to purchase FILM, which you put into a camera, which you then had to carry around with you in addition to all your other stuff, and take it out when you saw something worthy of snapping? And then, since you only had 24 shots on that roll of film, you were very particular about what you used your film for. Because afterwards, you would have to bring it to the store to be developed, and you paid for that too! And if you had sub-standard pictures in there, oh well. After a while, the stores got smart and gave you the option of not paying for the “prints” you didn’t want to keep, but you still had to pay for the film you used to take those bad pictures. All in all, it was a very expensive and inefficient way to capture images.
Because of all the potential pitfalls in picture taking, unless you were a professional photographer, you usually just took “snapshots” of people, posing and smiling. Nowadays, even with all the great convenience of my camera phone, I find I don’t do that as often as I should. I take way too many pictures of things (and Whimsies!) and not enough pictures of people. But I think I’d like to start making an effort to do that more. But in the meantime, I mostly I take pictures of odd moments and strange things, and that’s usually what I share here. A brief glimpse into a unique moment in my otherwise hum-drum life.
So, with all that being said…let’s get started!
One morning I’m making Russ’ sandwich for work, and the bread has a “hole,” as bread sometimes will. To me, it looks like a heart. So, this is strange, right? And worthy of capturing on film. Well….maybe not. But I did. So here it is.
I went on to complete the sandwich, and did not try to sell the slice of bread on E-Bay. Wait. Maybe I should have??
Now here’s a little story that leads up to this coffeemaker. When Russ and I recently visited South Florida, we stayed at Mary and Ken’s house while they went to visit her dad. We had the whole place to ourselves, watching their cats. We got to sleep in their bed, which is much different than our bed. It’s a foam mattress, and at first I thought it was going to be entirely too soft, but the weird part is that once you get settled, the mattress conforms to your body, and you end us sleeping very well, very comfortably.
Every time I visit my family in South Florida, I always come back with some good ideas. This time, the idea was: we need this mattress! And Russ was in hearty agreement. And here’s the best part: though you can spend thousands of dollars on a mattress like this at Tempurpedic, Mary and Ken actually bought this mattress at Wal Mart, for about $400. No brainer! Our mattress, at about five years old, was already showing signs of age and wear, and was nowhere as comfortable as it had been at first. So we went to the Wal Mart website and purchased a Spa Sensation for ourselves, and they delivered it to our door.
It comes all rolled-up and compressed, in a big box, and once you lay it out on the boxspring and cut off the protective plastic covering, it expands, like a liferaft. It’s actually pretty amazing. We didn’t tape ourselves doing it, but here you can see a video of someone else setting up this bed. (People will document just about anything on You Tube.)
So anyway…what does any of this have to do with a coffeemaker? Well, when you set up the bed, you’re supposed to give it 36-48 hours to fully expand, before you sleep on it. With that in mind, and with us having a day off work for Martin Luther King Day, we decided to spend the night at Pearl River Resort, about two hours away, and do a little gambling. We’ve been before, and sometimes we come out a little ahead, and sometimes a little behind, but mostly we just break even. The hotel room was not too expensive, and this gave us the opportunity to have a mini overnight vacation.
Well, the gambling did not go as well as we would have hoped, and we ended up on the “sometimes a little behind” end of it. Of course, if you’re going to play the slots, you have to be willing to lose a certain amount of money and call it “entertainment.” This was not money earmarked for food or utilities or a mortgage payment, so it’s not really a big deal, though we both decided we could think of a lot more entertaining ways to spend our fun money. So, for the moment, I feel I’m somewhat cured of “Gambling Fever.” Trip to Las Vegas just dropped several notches on my Bucket List.
But while we were staying in the hotel room, I used this cute little one serving coffeemaker, and thought it worked just dandy! I’m not a big coffee drinker, but like to have a cup every now and then, and this was just so cute! At work we have one of those Keurig things, and I’ve tried using it, but to me the coffee always comes out tasting very weak. But when I used this little Cuisinart, the coffee tasted great!
I haven’t been able to find the Cuisinart on Amazon, but did find a similar Black and Decker for only $20. I haven’t bought it yet because, as I say, I’m not a big coffee drinker, and I already have a little coffeepot at home that works just fine. But when I’m ready for a new one, I’m keeping something like this in mind.
That was a long story to tell, just to get around to a picture of a coffeemaker. Maybe this one will be more direct. I’ve had this Christmas Cactus for about a year now, and was looking forward to blooms in December, and even did what the online experts say, locking the plant in a dark bathroom overnight. But that didn’t work. Christmas came and went, and no blooms. New Year’s came and went, and no blooms. But finally…finally! Some time last week, in the middle of January, I actually got a bud. Only one. And now it’s become a flower. And it’s beautiful!
The strange part of all this is that I’ve seen Christmas Cactus that other people have, and they leave them in a sunny window, and never lock them in a dark bathroom, and those plants bloomed like crazy at the correct time. So why is it that I’ve followed the advice of experts and get less than spectacular results? From now on, I’m just leaving this guy in the window. And maybe next year we’ll have lots and lots of blooms.
Russ goes to get his hair cut every 6-8 weeks (like you’re supposed to) and if I go along, I look at the books full of hair pictures, and sometimes I see something that intrigues me, and snap a picture of it. This is the one I saw last time. I love it!! Maybe it’s because my hair is so straight that the idea of all these crazy curls is so appealing. I’m beginning to make plans for when I’m going to stop coloring and let the gray take hold, and I wonder if a crazy hairstyle like this would be just the thing for my gray hair. Of course, for me it would have to be perm, and I’ve heard that gray hair is notoriously difficult to perm. But then, I also heard that you should lock your Christmas Cactus in a dark bathroom if you want it to bloom and bloom, and we can see how well that worked out for me! So maybe, instead of assuming the experts are right, it wouldn’t be a bad idea for me to try this out for myself. This is one hairstyle I might like to try.
So, a recent trip to South Florida, and as I’ve already confessed, I don’t take enough “people pictures,” but I did have enough sense to ask my two favorite men to pose together for this shot. I call this one “My Two Favorite Men in All the World,” and I wish I had had enough sense to ask my dad to join to picture as well (instead of being seen only in the background), then I would have a picture of “My Three Favorite Men in All the World.” Well, I guess this just means Russ and I will have to be making another trip to South Florida some time soon! 🙂
Last year for Christmas one of my co-workers gave me a Cat Calendar, which I used through the middle of September, but then it got really busy, and I stopped pulling off the pages. This year she gave me another Cat Calendar, and I’ve set it up on my desk in such a way that I look at it every day and get to enjoy “The Office Cat.” This one in particular really intrigued and amused me. “With his nearly horizontal ears, this fascinating fellow has a style all his own.” Oh, yes indeed!
The weather’s been relatively cold (though we haven’t had any snow yet this Winter), so I’m always wearing my comfortable boots, along with big, fluffy socks. The other day as I was tying up my boots, the thought occurred to me that wearing comfortable boots with big, fluffy socks is one of Life’s Chief Joys. I’m serious. There’s nothing better than feet that feel good. 
I know we should never say never, but I’ll temper my next statement with I hope I never have to be in a position where I’m expected to wear stockings and high heels for too long. I would be simply miserable! When Russ and I talk about where we might like to move when we retire, one of the things on my “Wish List” is a place where I get to wear big fluffy socks, comfortable boots (and flannel!!) for a good portion of the year.
Going back to our recent trip to South Florida, Joey gifted us with some original works of art. He’s gotten involved in “spray paint art,” which, if you ask me, sounds like graffiti, but here’s what the finished product actually looks like:
It’s nice to have an original piece of art, rather than a simple “print,” like all the other art in our house. I got this one, and Russ got a smaller one. The small one is a standard size for framing, but this bigger one is 11 X 22″ so it’s going to be a bit more difficult finding a frame. We’re thinking we’ll hang these in the master bathroom because…well, why not? The bathroom does not have an established “theme,” but I try to incorporate a lot of color, and this art is nothing if not colorful!
Finally, can’t get through a “My Life in Pics” post without visiting Mr. Squee! Here he is between Christmas and New Year’s, “helping” me put away the decorations. Good boy!
New Year’s is over, and we’re firmly into 2015. So far, so good! And I’m sure this coming year will yield many more opportunities to document my life…in pics!
