Back to the Beginning

A new year...

A new look for the blog....

Same me!

I'm still not sure what I'm thinking with the blog, but I find myself remarkably unwilling to pull the plug on it. So I'm determined to try to make it a little more alluring and see what else it has in store for me.

At the same time, I find myself dragging my feet on posting. I'm not sure why...

But if I'm going to begin, when better than the start of a new year.

I'm picking this picture because I remember how I felt when K3 took it... happy, giggly, fun! It's a good start!

I'll be making a new start with my asthma this year as well. February will mark 9 years since my onset. As much as I was in denial on my initial diagnosis, I'm unable to deny how crappy my lungs have become. I've determined that I need to go in for further evaluation by a specialist. If there is a way to get my asthma back under control, I need to embrace it. I've almost become accustomed to being chronically short of breath and exhausted and that is unacceptable.

In the meantime, I'm going to dwell in a postive attitude. Perhaps my lungs will find it contagious!

Wishing all of you a very Happy New Year and hope this finds you healthy and joyful!

Warmly,

AG

It must be done

Because in spite of my crap lungs, it just isn't the holidays without a picture of the Brute Squad in their holiday gear!

Right now, I'm sipping coffee in my jammies with the girl dogs laying on and around me. While not a traditionally festive moment, I'm feeling very full of holiday spirit. The house is quiet, the family is sleeping. My lungs are pushing air in and out. It is very peaceful and joyous.

If I had an ounce of ambition, I would get up out of the chair and turn the channel from the murder mystery/forensic evidence/cold case file programs that are on.

But:

a. I have no ambition unless it involves another cup of coffee!

b. It would take a lot more than these programs to harsh out my mellow.

c. The dogs are really comfortable!

Peace.

AG out!

The View

Remember that old saying about not saying anything at all if it wasn't nice?

I find it the easiest thing in the world to ignore my blog at times. Because I like sharing good news and if there hasn't been much, I pull back. I think I may be a turtle with my head in the shell. Except without the "pond smell".

The lungs are turds. They've been turds. They continue to be turds.

And that's all I have to say about my stupid lungs.

How are things in your world? Are you ready for the holidays?

Do tell! I shall live vicariously through your good news!

A Break in the Clouds

It's been pretty chilly in the area lately and mornings have been thick with an ice fog that requires car scraping, gloves and the butt warmer in my car turned on. Whoever invented butt warmers in car seats deserves an award!

Yesterday morning, we had a break in the clouds and the mountain made an appearance. I had not seen it in days and stopped to take a shot as the sun was rising. I often think that winter shots of the mountain are somehow more magical than summer shots. Perhaps it is the rareness of that great winter photo op that makes me think so.

Wishing you a beautiful day in your neighborhood!

AG out!

Taking a moment

We have so much to be thankful for this year...

• Our trip to Ireland and the UK
• The health of our kids and grandkids
• A comfortable home
• Both of us being employed
• Our Boo Boo dogs
• My asthma being as functional as it is
• All the friends we've gotten to meet and spend time with this year
• All our virtual friends that enrich our lives

If you're reading this, you're someone that I'm thankful to have in my life.

Wishing you a wonderful day with family, friends and abundant food!

Yours in Turkey and Stuffing,

AG

Take 2! Auction!

Although I didn't decide until the very last minute, these are the two shots I selected and framed for the auction.

Some good friends of ours that attended the auction bought the set of prints which made me very happy.

I like to think that whoever hangs them on the wall will really enjoy them!

As we head into the Thanksgiving holiday, I am wishing you and yours the happiest of times with your family and friends.

Peace

My other love is a pigskin!

Photography is a huge one for me.

But my other love is football. It has been since I sat next to my dad as a 4 year old and he explained why Notre Dame was going to win the game he was watching. I may have been the only girl in my 5th grade class who did a book report on the Johnny Unitas book I bought from scholastic book club!

Yes, I'm a football dork.

This week, in order to satisfy my inner dork, I submitted a writing sample of a football article to a sports website and much to my surprise was accepted as a staff writer.

No, it doesn't pay. No, I don't care.

Writing sports articles is just one more way to flex my writing muscle and the pay off is getting to write about a sport I love so well. Even better, I don't have to be an expert, I just have to have an opinion!

I'll be working on my secret dork handshake and decoder ring!

Hut! Hut!

AG out!

This time last year...

I had this print and it's sister shot ready for auction.

This year? I'm still deciding which prints to enlarge for auction. And the auction is in 6 days.

No rush.

Hoping you have  a wonderful not-wrestling-with-auction-details day!

AG out!

Precious

• My daughters, all three of them
• Ben in all his newborn glory
• My goofball dad
• my stepmom (who stopped cleaning long enough to have her picture taken)

Some things are just so precious...

These are the MOST precious...

Just sayin.

Traveling Light

One of the ironies in my marriage to TOG is that he has very strong ties to his friends and family... and this area of the world. While I've been aware of that throughout our marriage, I didn't fully realize until this summer how different our connections are to those around us.

While TOG has spent virtually his entire life in this area, my family moved around regularly due to my dad's work. While TOG can name all his friends from school and keeps up with them regularly online, I have only a few that stand out in my memory and no idea of their married names or where they are. While TOG can drive by a corner here and tell you what used to be there 30 years ago, many of the remote sites we lived at in Alaska are now gone.

TOG can sit with his family and tell stories about people they knew for years or reminisce with his sister about people they went to school with. Those joint memories give them fertile ground for many conversations and I think are valuable connections to each other and to their identiy as adults.

In contrast, the only person in my life that shares a common memory of my childhood is my father.  While I love seeing my childhood through his eyes, that valuable component of a peer that shares memories of childhood friends and places isn't there. Likewise, I didn't keep track of the people I knew from my first marriage... even friends from early in TOG's and my marriage are gone, like our old roommate and our best man both of whom passed a few years ago.

I do sometimes wonder what it would be like to have those  ties to people... places... youth... Whether it's a physical move or simply a change in my life, I seem to have mastered the art of moving nimbly from here to there... packing light emotionally and settling in happily.

Except for my family... TOG and our girls and the grandbabies. I can't imagine what it would be like without them. Just like I can't imagine what it was like for my grandmother when my parents up and moved to Alaska when I was a toddler.

Of course, that was before the technology of today. Smart phones, net books, email, IM, texting, Facebook, etc. It's so much easier to stay connected today.

So... Do you hang onto relationships and nurture them? Do you keep moving forward and enjoy the people in your lives in the moment?

How light do you pack?

PS - Photo above is part of the ruins of Blarny Castle in Ireland