My girls' school has a "pancake breakfast" every December. And the school's head custodian is also a professional Elvis impersonator. So of course he (and Santa) performed at the breakfast.

Another picture of someone taking a picture.

Autumn and Lily make us save these pull tabs to recycle and they accumulate on the kitchen window sill. Since we have so few of them, I thought it was silly - until I went to the kid's church the other day and saw a huge fish tank almost filled with the things.

There was something profound that I was going to say about this, how it related to something on a higher level or larger scale, but I forget what it was.

I should probably clean that window sill some time.

I'm thinking about money this morning. I'm thinking about keeping employees. I'm thinking about paying bonuses and what those should be. And if I can afford it.

And I'm thinking about that bare patch in my backyard where the herb garden used to be and why haven't I called to get topsoil for that since it's been like that for several months now.

Maybe I'll start shooting all my stuff with the iPhone. I kind of like the "fixed focus" idea.

Monday morning. My office is a wreck. Why can't I take a few seconds to shift some things a few inches that are on the floor so I don't have to walk around them? Why don't I spend a couple of minutes to gather all the papers on my desk into one pile so I can move my elbows without knocking something over? Why do I put myself through that? Why do I create that kind if mini-stress in my life?

And why do I pay MONEY for this space and keep it like this? And this photo is just of my desk. You should see what the rest of the suite looks like. Or maybe not.

I bet I'd be more productive if I had an organized space. Or even just a tidy one.

I can't believe how much a different attitude can help to change things.

Say cheese

I like to take pictures of people taking pictures. Somebody analyze that for me please.

I LOVE THIS PHOTO! It was taken accidentally, but it's SO Lily! She's non-stop.

I have two places that I take the girls for lunch on a semi-regular basis, where we have "our table". This is at a Taco Bell. The other place is Skyline (Cincinnati-style) Chili, where Keith, the owner, keeps us entertained while we sit at his counter. Why doesn't Taco Bell have counter seating?

Lily always gets the Burrito Kid's Meal (burrito with cheese and beans ONLY please). I get the Crunch Wrap Supreme. Mmm... I love Crunch Wrap Supremes. Autumn takes half an hour to decide everytime.

This photo says so much about how I've feel I've been treated lately. And I'm not even in it.

So it seems that when one of them is sick, the girls play together more. Which, of course, is the one time they probably shouldn't be close to each other.

I think I'd rather have them getting along and both sick.

And what's with this hat that Autumn never takes off now? Well, except at school where kids aren't allowed to wear hats because the teachers told them it was disrespectful. Is that still a rule of etiquette? Wow.

Lily's turn

It's now Lily's turn to stay home from school. She came home from school with a fever yesterday and went straight to the couch and fell asleep. We let her sleep there until about 10:00 and then I carried her to bed. Lily rarely doesn't feel well so she seems so fragile when she's sick.

Inspiration

It's interesting where people find inspiration and clearness of mind. I find a lot of mine in this shower. It's where things have just come to me - those "Eureka!" moments. I've had so many of them while standing under the hot water here. Sometimes they are things like realizing what I have to do to make my business succeed. Sometimes I'm enlightened as to how to make a relationship succeed.

Oh, and I also find inspiration here. Cathy taught me I could use this blog as my journal and gave me the confidence do this for me. Plus she has excellent taste in photographs. :)

The warm spot

We have a heating vent in our kitchen that is now known as "the warm spot." On cold mornings, Lily stakes her claim to that space for breakfast.

Cathy decided to paint a fireplace mantel around it.

This is not a photograph of a chair

This is a photograph of a space. This is where Autumn got badly burned on her chest by spilled hot coffee when she was 6 years old. It's at a Starbucks and I think last night was the first time I'd been back there since the accident. I'm not sure what to think about it.

Raking

My arm hurts.

morning

I hate losing things. But it's the only way I ever get around to picking up and organizing. At least until I've found what I'm looking for.

This has nothing at all to do with the photo. Maybe I'll get into that later today. I have gotten a lot better at holding the camera still during slow shutter speeds though.

Maybe I need to not have rules about this blog. Maybe I need to do whatever I feel like doing with it whenever I feel like doing it. So if I want to come back in a few minutes and write something else, I will. Yeah.

It's Toasty Woasty day!

There were six kids in my family growing up and we made a pretty good mess at the supper table. So mom always spread out newspapers on the table before we ate to make for easy cleanup. One day in July she (or some family member) decided to have a day when we didn't use the newspapers. That became "Julius Day" - our made up family holiday.

I told this story to my kids a few years ago and they asked what our family holiday was. I was cooking breakfast and said the first thing that popped in my mind - so now every November 20 is Toasty Woasty Day.

So we had toast this morning. And "dippy" eggs.

So now Lily decides that she doesn't like to have her photo taken. I've decided I'm not going to get a really good shot every day anyway, since I only have a small window of time in the morning and the evening in which to shoot my family on weekdays. I've also decided that since I'm using this as a journal, what matters more is capturing a moment that I'll remember and relate to, regardless of how well the photo works. Because I'm doing this for me. Right?

So what exactly is my responsibility to the viewer anyway? Nothing?

Lily lied to me last night about having brushed her teeth (as she often does). So I told her she'd have to show me, her sister or her mom everyday for the next week when she's brushing her teeth morning and evening. She's getting better at lying I'm afraid.

Must avoid the appearance of contrivance.

home. sick.

Autumn REALLY wanted to go to school today. She's a rule follower. She was afraid of the repercussions if she missed a day because of threats made by her teacher to her class at the beginning of the year. Cathy had to explain to her that those comments were directed to those students who made it a regular habit to miss school. Autumn wants me to take her homework in to the teacher anyway.

She had already dressed and even started walking to the bus when we decided she should come back in and go to bed, despite her objections. She laid (lay?) there for a while reading an American Girl catalog and was asleep by the time I went to work.

My dad was so cool looking.

I took this photo of Lily a long time ago and posted it on altphotos.com. Several months later when I was doing a Google search of my name, a website in Europe appeared in the listings. I clicked on the link and found someone had used this photo on their blog (with proper crediting). I was flattered and stunned. Someone else, a complete stranger half a world away, had found meaning in something I had done. And what was especially cool was it was something I had done only for myself.

My wife doesn't like to have her picture taken, so I always have to be quick when i take a candid shot of her.

I'm just realizing how freeing this blog is. The other site I upload photos to allows "voting" so I'm always thinking "will people like this image? Will it get many points?". How stupid is that?

Cleaning the tv/craft room today. Well, yesterday too. And probably tomorrow. I keep way too much and have apparently taught that to my children. Must start hitting the "delete" key in my life.

My oldest daughter, Autumn, 11, takes photographs of her feet. I'm not sure why, but I've got a lot of them on file. I should do something with them.

I try way too hard to make "art".

I should photograph my children more.

This is one of those "I better add a photo to my blog today" photos.

Listening to music that I was re-introduced to by a new friend. Why'd it take someone 1981 miles away to get me to listen to a local band?? Thanks new friend.

Some things can't be fixed and never will be fixed. You live with them or you don't. I live with them.

The thought that life could be better is woven indelibly into our hearts and our brains.
-Paul Simon

Hey.

I've been inspired. I know no one follows this blog, but that doesn't matter. I've been inspired to write and create for me.