02-05-09 Happy World Nutella Day!

World Nutella Day was created by Ms Adventures in Italy and Bleeding Espresso and is a great idea. We buy Nutella in large jars. It lasts a long time without going bad. And it tastes divine! Chocolate and hazelnut. Mmmmmm.
Here is my jar of Nutella. I had a Nutella sandwich for lunch to celebrate. Mmmmmmm.
Until next time....

02-04-09

This is our lost boy. Bovi was found on our doorstep in the middle of a move in December 2001. He quickly became a part of the family. Bovi is short for Bovine (note the cow-like appearance). He was noisy and an attention hound. He cuddled if you were sitting still and slept in my armpit. He was 16 pounds of fluffy love. In the spring of 2007, he was ill. We feed our cats only dry food, but when they are sick we indulge them with canned food. Unfortunately for Bovi, the canned food was tainted. We didn't know. We just thought he was getting sicker. We took him to the vet and proceeded to treat him for chronic kidney failure. We didn't know it wasn't CKF. We took severe steps including my spending 20-22 hours a day with him for four days. On February 13, 2007 at 9:40am Bovi breathed his last.
I spent the rest of that week pouring my grief into a memory book. I must say that Art Therapy works. My emotion was raw and it showed in the book. Everyone who read the book cried.

Afterwards, the house felt empty. Our other cats, Putri Dewi and Mata Hari, did not vocalize as much nor did they seek attention at the same levels. And they missed him too. After a month, we visited the rescue group from whom we adopted Mata Hari. We had planned to take Mata Hari to show them how well he was doing. We ended up coming home with Mata Hari, Pala and Hammie. Thank you Gwinnett Humane Society for expanding our family.

We still miss Bovi. We always will.

Until next time....

02-03-09

Hammie is good at posing. I couldn't decide which of these typical cat poses I liked better so I posted them both.
Until next time...

02-02-2009

We went grocery shopping on the way home. This is the candy display at the register. I resisted tempation even though most items were on sale.
Until next time...

02-01-09

We are not football fans but we do love the commercials. My hubby even told me to stay near the TV while he chopped veggies so I could tell him if a commercial came on. The game was actually pretty good and most of the commercials were disappointing. Not a big surprize. Here is our spread of Superbowl snacks. Fresh veggies, chicken sausage, chips and four dips for everything. Yum.
Until next time...

01-31-09

I saw a challenge on other people's blogs that I thought would be fun. The challenge was to go to your photo folder and post the sixth photo in the sixth folder. Here is mine. This is after the closing ceremonies in the Breast Cancer 3-Day walk in Atlanta in 2002. My title for the photo was "Honey, take me home." I walked this by myself and was exhausted. I have asthma and made an agreement with my hubby. I could use my inhaler once and keep walking. The second time I needed it, I had to stop for the day. I didn't manage to put in all of the miles each day, but I still managed to do 32 miles in three days. Good enough for me. I still do marathon walks for breast cancer but now my hubby and Dad do them with me. We also have switched to the 2-day format as it is much more do-able.
Until next time...

01-30-09

Everyone should have a few odd collections, right?

My mom is English and is fussy about her tea. The only tea she has found that "tastes like English tea" is Red Rose. Mom does not like herbal or "perfumey" tea. Red Rose tea has a figurine in each box. There is always a theme and of course there are extra pieces you can buy. I have a wall with printer's drawers with figurines filling them. I have more drawers to go on the wall because I do not have any empty spaces left and Mom is still drinking tea. Taking the current drawers down and putting all back up is on my hubby's honey-do list. Here is the current arrangement.
Until next time...

01-29-09

I have been collecting digital scrapbooking files for a while although I do not consider myself a scrapbooker. I have done a few layouts, but I mostly work in journals and memory books. I either create digital files to print for the books or print elements on sticker paper. Here are three of my books. The one in the upper left is a brag book of the furr family that I made when we still had Bovi and didn't have Pala or Hammie. The upper right is a daily journal that I used until I ran out of space. The lower book is for a trip we took. The left and lower books are fabric covered. I discovered that if I ran fabric through my zyron that I could cover books easily. The other has paper and elements and is then covered by contact paper. I like the fabric better. I can find fabric that I would not think about wearing that makes great book covers.
Until next time...

01-28-09

My hubby picked me up after work because he was in the area due to an interview. He had to wait for me to be ready to leave and was hungry, so we went straight to a restaurant to eat afterwards. This is the table display at Steak 'n' Shake. Yeah, I know this is not the healthiest place to eat, but it was fast (mostly) and it is where hubby wanted to eat.
Until next time...

01-27-09

This photo is taken from the same pedestrian bridge as the previous day. This is looking diagonally off the bridge from the opposite side. The university (Emory) is constantly tearing down things and building new or renovating what is already here. The buildings that have lots of windows are dorms. Two dorms were torn down to make this big pit and now they are building something here. I do not know if the new buildings will be dorms, accademic buildings or labs.
Until next time...

01-26-09

At the end of my work day, I cross over a pedestrian bridge to get to the shuttle bus that takes me close to home. The bridge spans a railroad track. Those of us who work here are very glad of the pedestrian bridge and the road bridge seen in the photo. Traffic on the main road through the university is busy enough at rush hour and doesn't need the complication that stopping for a train would cause.
Until next time...

01-25-09

My hubby was being silly and picked up the cat bed with Hammy in it. I grabbed the camera and took some photos before he jumped down. This is Hammy with the half asleep, confused look.
This is Hammie fully awake and realizing that he was up in the air.

I took one more with his jumping out but that one was just too blurry to post.

Until next time...

01-24-09

I have been a rubber stamper for 10 years. One of the stamp groups that I have remained in is the Crazy for Cats Card Club or CCCC. We send cards to other people in the group. Any received are to be reciprocated although there isn't a time limit. Each card or other stamped item must have a hand stamped cat on it. This is a stand up desk calendar that I received. Isn't it cute?
Until next time....

01-23-09

We have a very large and diverse lab group. We often have social events to allow/force folks to deal with each other in a non-lab setting. One of the social events is monthly birthday. January's party was on the 23rd. Here is the table before being demolished:
Only two of the three birthday people were in on the day of the party. They wanted to have a photo with the professor/principle investigator. He was only too happy to oblige. I thought it was great to have another photo to post.

The first shot was blurry so I took another. I like the expressions better in the first shot. They all look so happy. The girls were happy to have the photo and he was happy to be asked. Before anyone comments, yes they are both pregnant.

Until next time....

01-22-09

I was scheduled for a follow up MRI. Several months after scheduling they realized that my MRI had been scheduled for MLK day. Big oops as my appointment was scheduled at Emory in Atlanta. They rescheduled for the 22nd but had to send me to the hospital instead of the clinic to have it done. The hospital set up is a little odd. After checking in, I was sent to a little waiting room that had this table:
The sign says call X-XXXX to let us know you are here. The good news came a few days later from my doctor. Everything is stable. This is a case where no change is a good thing.

Until next time....

01-21-09

I noticed that a lot of project 365 folks are posting reading material. This is what I am reading now:
I love science fantasy. This book is humerous short stories. My complements to the editor as these are pretty good stories and very funny.

Until next time....

01-20-09

Time for another furrbaby. This is my baby; I have had her since before I met my husband. This is Putri who is 16 1/2 years old (putri means princess). Putri was adopted from the Montgomery County Pound in Rockville, Maryland in 1992. I didn't meet my husband until '94.
Before we got Hammie, we had another male cat named Bovi. Bovi was lost in the tainted pet food debacle in 2007. I will eventually write about him here. Anyway.... Bovi and Mata Hari used to pick on Putri eventually keeping her away from food and litter. The Vet suggested isolation for Putri. She lives in our bedroom. Since she had a spot on the bed before hubby, she has always slept between us. We let the other cats in the room at night and because Putri is between us, she is protected. Isolation has been good for her. She is very healthy for her age, her fur is sleek and soft. She isn't very good at posing for pictures since she just wants attention.

Until next time....

Waaaaaay behind

Ok so I am waaaaay behind on posting, but I have been taking pictures. I just finished getting them ready for blog loading and will load them one day at a time this time. It is getting late and I will load what I can tonight then continue tomorrow.

Until next time.....

Photos January 10-19, 2009

I fell behind on posting, but continued to take photos. This is a long post as it has 10 photos.

We went to Charleston, SC to visit hubby's sister while their parets were visiting. This was in lieu of our holiday visit. We did a little tourist stuff while there. This photo is from the Charleston Tea Plantation, the only tea plantation in the US. The "factory tour" was very interesting. We all learned something new about how tea is processed in the US.

This next photo was taken in downtown Charleston. This is the top corner of the visitor's parking lot where we parked. It's amazing what Mother Nature can do.

This photo is my hubby working on a commissioned piece. He is knitting a baby hat in UGA colors for a co-worker. When done, there will also be a blanket.

This photo is of another of our furr-family. This is MataHari. He is going to be ten years old this year. Some of you history buffs may be wondering why we named a male cat after a female spy. He is not named for the spy MataHari. In Indonesian, Mata Hari means Sun (literally "eye of the day"). MataHari is our golden boy and sun worshiper. His furr is gold and ivory and his eyes are gold. He finds the first sunbeam in the morning and the last at night. Whenever he cannot be found, we look for sunbeams.

A lot of folks doing project 365 are taking photos of everyday life. I am trying to do a little of that. This is the side table on my side of the couch. The first thing to note is that scrapbooking organizating tools can also work for non-scrapping. There are craft tools and items in these, but not much for traditional scrapping. My hubby and I often sit side by side working on our laptops.

As I got ready for bed, the boys nearly knocked me over rushing to the window. They jumped up on this cat jungle jim and began to stare out in to the dark. I couldn't tell what they were looking for, but knew I needed to grab my camera.

This photo is an attempt to show a little color in my office. My office is full of paperwork, file cabinets and binders. The vase on the right is covered with polymer clay (by me). The one in the middle is a promo from a vendor (I love the splash of color!). The bottle on the left looks fantastic with light shinig through it. Unfortunately the version of this taken in daylight didn't work because of the light shining through the window.

This was extracted from a photo taken of MataHari snuggling against hubby's legs on the LazyBoy loveseat. When there isn't a sunbeam to be found, snuggling with Daddy is a good source of warmth. I extracted part of the photo, because I wanted to rotate it slightly.

This is another member of our furr-family. This is Dewi. Dewi means Goddess. Dewi thinks she is Kali. Kali is usually depicted with multiple arms all holding knives. Dewi can be a little on the wild side, often viscious, though rarely with us. She is not fond of strangers and can shred the vet staff. Dewi is mellowing with age; she is 12 1/2 years old.

This is my hubby of 11 1/2 years. He is not only the love of my life; he is my best friend. He had an interview today and I asked if I could take a photo while he was dressed. In the first photo taken, he pulled a face. Then he started laghing at the TV behind me. That's when I got this shot. This is the face I love.

Until next time.....

January 9, 2009

Here is another photo of a random part of my life. I have a tendancy to seek out order in my life where I can. There is so much I cannot control that it is nice to control a few things. This is my spice rack. My husband put up the shelves to my specifications and lovingly puts the spices back on the shelves alphabetically to please me. I see in the photo that there are a few items on the bottom shelf that need to be put back where they belong. Having my herbs and spices alphabetized makes it easy find them and easy to tell that I do not have something. My hubby likes to make new things and instead of having to ask if we have something, he can easily find out.

Until next time.....

January 8, 2009

Yeah, I know it's actually the 9th. I took this photo yesterday but got home incredibly late and didn't get it resized to upload. I have been spending very late hours at work, so I thought I should show some images of work. This one is much better than the rodent trap. I decorate my ofice door for the seasons. Later this month is Chinese or Lunar New Year. Two thirds of our lab group will celebratethe Lunar New Year. I found these hanging strands of dragons and coins. On the door they are haning free so they move with the door movement and also when someone comes rushing in or out of my office. This happens a lot.
Thank you for the nice comments and emails about my dad. I think he is one of the cutest people in the world, but then I am Daddy's little girl. My Dad has done a lot of international travelling in his career. Whenever he was travelling in November and December, the Embassies would ask him to play Santa Claus or Saint Nicholas. The Foreign communities in most of the places he travelled were close regardless of nationality, so most of the time it was not the American Embassy asking. The most common Embassy to request this would be the Canadian Embassy.

Until next time.....

January 7, 2009

Ok so I took these shots on Christmas night, but I really wanted to post them. After dinner on Christmas night, the family sat down to play dominoes. My dad's uncle arrived with more presents. This is Dad holding up his present from Uncle William. I just love the expression in the shot on the lower left. Dad wouldn't let me get a photo of the trap door.
I love you Dad!

Until next time.....

January 6, 2009

Ok so I didn't have time to post last night. I left work very late. I did however take a photo yesterday to be posted. We had a bit of excitement at work. I work with a research laboraory at Emory University. One of our lab members saw a mouse in the lab. We work with mice but this was not a lab mouse. It was what we would call a wild type or wild mouse. There is construction going on next door and the exterminator says that the rodents are being chased inside. This wasn't the first time the evidence of rodents appeared. Over the New Year's Holiday the Orkin man put down traps. Yesterday the two sticky traps were missing. To make sure that the traps do not get dragged away again, the Orkin man put down these:
This sticky trap is about 12 inches by 15 inches. They are the rat equivalent. As of today we did not have anyone in the trap.

Until next time.....

January 5, 2009

Day 5, Photo 8 WooHoo! Keepin' up so far! This is Pala; she is 4 and a half. Pala means nutmeg in Bahasa Indonesia. I spent 6 years in Indonesia as a child so all of our cats have Indonesian names. Pala is a black calico and is very cuddly. Pala doesn't like having her photo taken and makes ugly faces to the camera. The best photos I have of her are either asleep or a surprize. It's hard to get good ambush shots with a digital camera.

Until next time......

January 4, 2009

This is the baby of our family. Bajing, aka Hammie, is three years old. He acts like a three year old boy insteadof a three year old cat. He races around the house, dive bombs his siblings and races to the top of bookshelves. This is a rare calm moment.
He is sleeping on the top of a cat tree built by my hubbie. It's made of a carpet tube and is five feet high. There is a platform inside and another next to the hole so the cats can climb inside. I have some photos from when it was built. I need to fid them on my EHD.

Until next time......

January 3, 2009

Posting a bit late because we got involved with something. This photo was taken earlier tonight as we came out of Michael's Arts and Crafts. It was foggy and beautiful.
I realized that I had been posting a lot of dark photos, so I though I would add in a colorful one. This is the display of silk flowers at Michael's.

Until next time.....

I've decided how to keep my photos

In addition to my blog, I wanted something a little more permanent for my photos. I often bind my own journals or memory books. I found a calendar template that will allow me to comment on each day's photos. The following will be printed on semi-gloss leaflet stock, cut in half and bound using my bind-it-all. Now I just have to see how many pages I use to decide whether to bind quarterly, semi-annual or all at once. I'm pretty sure that all at once will be too many pages. The next weeks will have the entire week's journaling together and may need more than once page to showcase the photos best. I also need to decide whether I will embellish before or after printing. My current templates are in MS Word so that the journaling will be easier as this is the most important part for me. In order to upload the version below, I created a pdf then saved the pdf as a jpg. This is not the most elegant way to do it, just fast.

Until next time....

January 2, 2009

I took this photo on Christmas night, but I really like it. My parent's dining room furniture is made of wormy chestnut. This is seen in the table under the wine glass.

In the background, you can see the log walls of my parents' house. They have a Lincoln Log Home in the North Carolina mountains. This is a photo my mom took of the house last spring.

Until next time...

January 1, 2009

Photo 1, Photo 2, Photo 3
Happy New Year!

As mentioned in my first post, I am going to attempt project 365. That is a photo a day or seven photos a week. Today's photos are from our dinner last night. We were very cautious with money for the past six weeks because my husband was laid off. We decided we needed to splurge a little for New Year's Eve. We went to the Melting Pot in Duluth, GA. It's a fondue restaurant.
Here is the entree pot steaming away:
Here is dinner waiting to go in the pot:

Here is desert waiting to be dipped in flaming turtle fondue:

Until next time.....

Welcome!

Welcome to my new blog. I plan to join Project 365 and attempt to post a photo a day or seven photos a week. I received a new camera for Christmas and hope that this will help me to learn to use my camera.

Now I need to go edit the first photos to be posted......