The Live In

My granddaughter, Bailey has been living with me since late August, I won't go into any detail about the whys because she wouldn't want me to, but needless to say it has been a journey for her. She has had her ups and downs but I see her getting herself back on track both physically and mentally. In the past year or so Bailey had gained too much weight but now she is being diligent in watching her calorie intake as well as going to the gym for cardio exercise every day. That's the physical part, and now the mental or emotional part which has been shall we say, a bumpy ride. Somedays good, somedays bad, somedays really bad. As much encouragement that I can offer, it has to be Bailey that makes her mind up to shake off the history and look to the future.

When I was in Phoenix in November with my Focusing On Life girls (we get together every year to have fun, take a ton of photos, talk and laugh) Bailey sent me a text with a picture of an adorable kitten.

She had been begging, yes, begging me to let her have a kitten. I kept saying no, I'll think about it, don't know how the dogs would do with a cat etc etc  Finally the girls (pictured above) convinced me that Bailey needed someone to love, someone to snuggle with, someone to grab her attention. So I relented

And now we have.....

His name is Boone with a middle name of Daniel, because everyone has to have a middle name.  He and the dogs sort of get along. Boone has these very sharp teeth and razor like claws (and yes, we have been talking about de-clawing, I know some people think it is in-humane but my furniture thinks otherwise) and sometimes he gets too rough and the dogs (kids) are not crazy about those teeth and claws. Telling a cat that he needs to lighten up on the claws and the biting is like talking to a wall. You cat owners must know what I am talking about.

He looks so innocent, but in reality he is ready to pounce.

But he has given Bailey that someone to love, someone to cuddle with and someone to look forward to coming home to.  And that is the reason we have "the live in."

"Dogs come when they're called. Cats take a message and get back to you."
- Mary Bly

Until next time....

Friendship....A Beautiful Thing

I think maybe, just maybe, my life is going to slow down to at least the speed limit now.  These last few weeks have been crazy with activities....new fence, clean out (major big deal) office, have said office painted and new furniture purchased, computer crash and purchase of new computer along with all the re-loading that goes along with that, have the ladies from Focusing On Life here for a whirl-wind first annual gathering, along with various other activities along the way and now, can you hear it....a big huge sigh.  

I have about a zillion pictures that I have taken in these last few days/weeks that I have not posted or even edited for that matter...so posting all of them would be ridiculous, I mean really ridiculous. When the computer crashed and I had to re-load all of my software, I decided to load Elements 11 which I have had for awhile but never jumped in to use it.  Felt so comfortable using Elements 9 and had all of my actions loaded into that, that I just kept putting off diving into 11 or for that matter, Lightroom.  So along with all of the above happening, I have been easing into Elements 11 and Lightroom....phew.  Almost too much for this tiny, over-loaded brain to handle.  I really think in order to make room for learning all of these new processes, something has to spill out....just hoping it is not something really major that I should remember. Don't you feel like that sometimes, when that learning curve gets stretched to the limit??  But I do so believe that an active mind is a healthy mind.  

One of the ladies from Focusing On Life, Kelly, sat down with me one evening and very slowly and carefully (I need that slow and careful) began to teach me a little about Lightroom.  So I have been doing some of my editing in Lightroom.  I wish Kelly lived next door, there is a lot more to learn, but at least I have my big toe in the proverbial water.  May have to do a conference call soon. 

On Tuesday evening I picked Kim up from her Mother's home after her visit with family to bring her to my house so we could spend some girlfriend time together prior to the other 4 that arrived on Thursday afternoon.  Wednesday I took Kim to the Morton Arboretum that was filled with blooming flowers and blue skies.  I love my Arboretum and I love sharing it with others.  

Along with all of the gorgeous views...it also has some pretty spectacular flowers in bloom right now, along with a huge collection of crawling critters....

Kim always has an amazing way with nature, she managed to coax this critter on to her and I was able to catch this shot just as he was descending onto her hand...

And how about this?? Hello you...

Then she spotted this guy....

I am just glad we didn't find any snakes or she would have them crawling on her too....yipes

Everyone arrived on Thursday evening and then the fun began....We had such a good time together, spending time on the back porch....trekking out to the country to get some barn shots, taking them to the Riverwalk and going into the city of Chicago for some all-day fun.  We packed alot into that brief time together.  The next time we agreed it had to be for a longer stay, we needed more hang time. 

A little country church we found along our country travels and I decided to try b&w on the stained glass windows....I like the effect.

And Saturday was Chicago day.  It was beautiful and almost perfect weather.  Carol had booked a room at the University Club via her sister who lives here and we were allowed to go on the 12th floor balcony and take these shots.

After this we grabbed a couple of taxis and we were off to Navy Pier....

While there we took the Architectural Boat Tour which is always such a fun way to see Chicago...

After lunch on Navy Pier we hopped on a water taxi to take us to the Museum area in order to take more shots of the Chicago skyline...

Arriving at the Museum area, the crowds began to grow with young girls walking around with shirts on saying "we will never, ever forget this night"....then we realized Taylor Swift was in town for a concert at Soldier Field....!!!  YIKES.  But we stayed long enough to get some shots of the skyline, then it was time to grab a taxi to head for the train and back home again.

Just a wonderful time with some truly wonderful women.  Ya just never know when you can develop a sweet relationship with a group of women that all share a common passion, photography.   It is a beautiful thing.

Until next time......