A Different Age

All of my girls have digital cameras. Even the 11 year old. And they take a lot of pictures. This was brought home to me recently as I was looking at FaceBook. A large percentage of the old pictures (from high school and college days) of my friends are formal pictures: group shots of certain clubs, bands, choirs, etc. Not so with my children's pictures. They are taken everywhere. And not only are they taken everywhere, they don't have to be taken anywhere to be visible. They are instantly available on the camera itself and shortly thereafter are on a computer, in a digital frame, and only occaisionaly on paper.

I remember waiting 2 weeks for pictures to come back when I was a kid. When same day development became available, we were thrilled. Some of the options today just blow me away. Last summer, I missed seeing El in a pirate musical when I was out of town with my mom. The eldest took some pictures, uploaded them to an online site for 1-hour prints to be printed at a store just around the corner from the hospital. I went to pick them up and was able to frame one for Mom to set on her bed tray in just over an hour. Wow!

I also love the fact that if a picture is bad, out of focus, has unflattering expressions, or whatever, you can just delete that sucker and never have to have it floating around in an envelope of pictures. And getting prints of the 5 or 6 pictures that you really want is ever so much more economical than printing all 28 or 36 on a roll of film, only to find that none are exactly what you wanted.

Our kids don't know how good they have it!!

I've Been Adopted!

This weekend I was adopted by some sisters. My eldest and I were invited to join them at a Women of Faith Conference in Shreveport. I rode over there with 2 of the sisters and 1 of their daughters. Another sister (who is the only one of them that I knew until now) and a sister-in-law and her daughter drove over from Texas. My daughter and the daughters of my friend drove down from MSU.
Here we all are in the hotel lobby just before heading home. The 3 tallest ones on the back row are the actual sisters. The blond in the white shirt is their sister-in-law and the short one is me. The cousins and my eldest (2nd from the left) are on the front row. I think she knew all of them from her long relationship with her buddy. They have been best friends for 12 years, even though the family moved to Texas. They are reunited at State. Thanks to Rachael (in the green shirt on the end of the front row) for organizing the entire adventure: not an easy feat when you're expecting and your brain is busy growing a baby! We had everything we needed.

I enjoyed the conference, but I think I enjoyed the time with my eldest the most. We had time to talk without her sisters being there, and sometimes that's important. And we got to see, from the inside, how another family operates. I've discovered that families aren't much different in some ways and are all different in other ways. I think almost everybody knows that, but sometimes we need to be reminded.

Odd Sign

As we were leaving the conference center tonight, announcements were showing on the giant screen. Some were about where certain speakers would be signing books tomorrow, what things were available for purchase. This one just floored me:

Nursing mother's room is located in the




Bacardi Bar.

There was just something WRONG with this.

Yes, I know you were expecting great spiritual revelations as a result of this trip, but tonight, this is what comes to mind first.

Good night. Deeper stuff tomorrow.

Girls' Weekend

This weekend I'm going to do something that I don't think any of my 3 daughters would do: drive to a virtual stranger's house then ride with her and her sister to pick up her daughter and ride for 4 more hours. But by the time we get there, I bet we won't be strangers anymore!

A month or so ago, my eldest asked me if I was interested in attending a Women of Faith Conference in Shreveport. I have been to one other many years ago and really enjoyed it. I jumped on the chance to go again. In addition to the 2 of us, the group will include my daughter's best buddy and her mom (who is a friend of mine and the sole reason I have the job I have) and sister, 2 of the mom's sisters and one of their daughters. I have met the sister whose house I'll be driving to (and her daughter), but only once, I think, and that was probably 10 years ago.

So much of what I do is aimed at kids: mine and other people's. This will be a chance to gather, on a small scale and a large scale, with other adult women. I can't wait!

Song Bird

The minute I walked out the office door, I could hear this guy singing. I had to walk right past him to get to the mailbox. He didn't move when I got close, but just kept singing. I decided to go back and get the camera.

I stopped to take the first picture and he just looked at me. I slowly took a few steps closer and took another one. That's when I crossed his line of safety. He flew up into the oak tree and continued singing from up there.

Train of Thought

This morning, my eldest and I were talking about google maps. She likes the satellite view, but thinks the street view is a bit stalkerish. I have used the street view before. I couldn't remember the name of a restaurant in Cincinnati, but I did recall the name of the art gallery next door. I found the street address of the gallery, looked it up on google maps, and then pulled up the street view. I moved along the street until I was in front of the restaurant and could read the sign. Pretty cool, huh!

When the street view photography was done of Mr. H's mom's house, we were visiting, because our car is parked in the driveway!

Anyway, we were talking about the different areas that have clear satellite images and those that don't. Our house, which is out in the boonies, has a clear enough image (1 in. = 50 m) to pick out our propane tank and tell where the grass is beaten down for our driveway. The church, however, which is on a state highway, doesn't get anywhere near that close (1 in = 800 m.) That lead us to wild speculation as to why.

Is something going on out our way that they are keeping an eye on? Maybe it's the other way around: something is going on in the area around the church that they don't want anyone else to know about! You know: black ops, that sort of thing. Like maybe that explains why the carpet is getting bleached spots in the atrium: chemical weapons testing! And maybe not everyone that works at the church is who they say they are! Maybe the least likely person is really a government agent. You know: a really DANGEROUS individual like Jack Bauer, who can disarm nuclear weapons and defy death, in general. Maybe when this person says they are going on a hunting trip, they are really traveling to Prague to hunt international terrorists.

Don't you think a rural church staff employee would be the perfect cover for a spy? It just opens up so many possibilities. I'll never think of our church custodian quite the same way again, all because google maps doesn't have a clear image of the church.

Power Desk

Yesterday when I stopped by Wal-Mart, I remembered to get some batteries to put in my desk drawer at work. El asked what they were for. I told her they were to go in my desk.

"You have a battery operated desk? What does it do?" she asked.

She is such a literal child. I had to laugh. She has seen this desk on a very regular basis for 8 years now. The desk itself is probably close to 20 years old. It doesn't DO anything. It has 2 drawers, the upper of which holds stamps, staples, spare glasses, a bottle of hand lotion and (usually) spare batteries for anything that might run on batteries around here: most likely wireless mice and remote controls.

Mark came in earlier this week and got the last 2 batteries (and told me he was taking the last ones :) I love that in a person), so I knew that we were out.

What would a battery operated desk do anyway? Clean itself off...nah, I'd never find anything.