Family Portrait

I took my children...my two labradoodles, who I have noticed since being a little more conscious around my roommates I talk to constantly.   Not in that baby talk kind of way you hear people do and instantly want to kick in their teeth, or politely ignore them....but in a "I think you are on my intellectual level and I am going to talk to you like a peer", except I don't often talk to my peers about their breath and fuzzy ears (that would be weird).  I digress...anyway, I took my dogs with me to take some pictures of a oil derrick on the trinity river - I was scared to go alone since i tend to get into "shooting mode" and pay NO attention to what is going on around me...which I have been told over and over and over and over again is a cardinal sin for a young woman, I would never be able to fend off an attacker (again I digress).  Anyway while waiting for the sun to sink a little lower behind the horizon I took some photos of my family...and I quickly learned that when your family has four legs, a nose million times more sensitive than my own and thinks it is sooo exciting that mom is standing OUTSIDE of the car instead of sitting in it with us it is hard to get them to sit still. I guess I was wrong to think a long run down the river would wear them out.  Well this is as close to a family portrait as was obtainable tonight...

Here are some portraits of the pooches as well...

Bradie Girl

and the ever mellow boy O.P.

October

I don't know what it is about the month of October, but I like it.  I like the way every day feels like a Sunday when I was a kid.  I don't know how to explain it but it feels good.  It's like the air feels different, like nothing can go wrong.  There is a warmth in the air even when the wind leaves your nose with a hint of the biting cold which will come in the near future. 


With the month of October comes Holiday scented candles, Orange vanilla being the favorite of the moment, pumpkins, weird little corn husks and FOOTBALL - GO HORNED FROGS!  But the thing I might like the most about October is the plethora of  scary movies that are on t.v.  I like sitting in a dark room and watching scary movies, not the kind where small children are possessed by the devil but the kind where babysitters get murdered, the ones that could actually come true (When a Stranger Calls...hands down the best scary movie EVER and pretty much ruined my teenage years with the fear of a creepy ventriloquist who undoubtedly was waiting behind every knock on the front door - but that is beside the point.)I am scaring myself just thinking about it..... and I like it, I guess it is the adrenaline.


October also presents wonderful photography opportunities...although I have not had the chance to take advantage of them it seems like the light of each fading day is tempting my lens to take advantage of the show it is putting on.   There are festivals all over town, whether celebrating the arts, trying to find a cure for cancer or my favorite event Barktoberfest.  Yes this is a dog festival at the dog park and yes people humiliate their dogs, which I DO NOT, and dress them up in ridiculous outfits and yes I go every year.  It's fun and I think the dogs like it.  Speaking of which,  even they seem to be different, the are extra excited when I walk in the front door and seem extra frisky on Monday night when I take them to run on the golf course.  By the way, O.P. taught himself to swim...yay!


Today was the perfect October day too... I worked a little, preparing for P.J. O'Rourke to come on Tuesday...hurry up Wednesday and lets keep our fingers crossed for a disaster free Tuesday.  Went to a movie with Rachael, my roommate, and washed my car.  And it felt like a Sunday when I was a kid.  Like love and family and hope and bliss.  So, thank you God for another October Sunday - I hope everyone enjoyed it as much as I did! 

No more staples

I think you know your stressed when your stapler runs out of staples and you not only cuss under your breath but begin to cry...in your office, alone, pretty hard....for quite a long time.  I hate staplers today.  That is all I have time for - October 13 could not come soon enough.

Bad Week in a Day

I stole the above title from http://baseballsbutterfliesblessings.blogspot.com/ one of the most encouraging blogs I have EVER read, and I read it EVERY day. 

We can all have bad days and here is a little encouragement from good ol Ralph Marston

Every day, life gets better. Because every day adds more substance to the outstanding experience of life. On some days it may seem like your life is falling behind instead of getting better. But that's just because you fail to consider the real value that is always building within you. At some point you'll come to appreciate and even treasure the setbacks and disappointments. For although they are painful, they give you the opportunity to grow stronger.The difficulties are blessings that haven't fully developed. The joys are well-deserved rewards that encourage you to keep moving forward. No matter how good life has been, it is getting even better. No matter what challenges may push against you, each moment brings more of life's goodness. Feel that goodness as it accumulates in your experience. And live the possibilities that become more rich and meaningful with each dawning day.Ralph Marston

Just wanted to say thank you to all of the encouraging people!

Cecilia Frances McCain

Hello friends!


It has been a long time since I have taken the time to write anything about.... well anything really.  Another milestone is responsible for this post, a baby!  One of my best friends since I was in Kindergarden, Blythe, had a baby girl today...Cecilia Frances McCain.  Her name is as fabulous as I know she one day will be.  With Blythe as a mother there is no doubt in my mind she will be a stylish infant, toddler, kindergartner, middle schooler, highschooler and college  student...hahahaha - and I am so glad that this little nugget is in my life and I will get to watch it all unfold.  I have been obnoxiously and irritaitingly showing ALL of my coworkers every single new picture I get of baby Cecilia...I am so overkill I can not even imagine what I would be like if she was mine, although I kind of feel like she is!  I have known Blythe since Kindergarten, I have grown with her - she in pretty dresses, me in t-shirts and umbros - and experienced all of the ups and many downs our lives have had to offer.  She is my first "kindergarten friend" to have a baby...it is so amazing!  I can't beleive we are old enough to have babies of our own!


Growing up proves to be a funny/emotional thing.  You go through life thinking you will never look "as old as the senior girls", "old enough to not get carded" or ever BE "old enough to drive", "old enough to get married" much less to "have a baby".   Everyone says college is the most fun part of life, and though I definitely had fun...I would have to disagree.  This time, these moments are what make life special and meaningful.  The merging of two seperate lives to make a life together and eventually to make an entirely new life all together.  I just got finished with wedding rush number 3...mid twenties marriages I like to call them.  And, in the matter of two months three more have emerged, which to my absolute delight I get to take part in.  Thank you Kern, AMV and Cathleen.  Although at times I am sad that I am not caught up in my own whirlwind romance, (patience I know) I cannot help but feel overwhelming joy for those who have found it! The months ahead are going to be filled with parties, showers and lots of weddings!!!

These weddings too, in time will result in babies as well.  Now this topic I am not too knowledgable about but I do what I can.  I do know one thing for sure, the love you will have for a baby (even if it is not yours, yes I cried when Blythe had her baby...actually when I heard  her water broke, though I would like to think my emotional breakdown was a result of my hormonal surge I was experiencing this particular week) changes your entire life.  I love Cecilia and I have not even met her, but I love her because I love her parents...what an easy way to gain supporters...which is what I will be! I am so prepared to love and support and watch that baby girl grow that it makes me cry just to think about it. I guess a lifelong friendship with her mother is to blame for my irrational attachment/obsession I have for her already - but hey, everyone needs a crazy aunt!!! 

 CONGRATULATIONS BLYTHE AND CLAY!!!! I know you will be amazing parents and your baby girl will grow up to be an amazing young lady!


p.s. this might be the most scattered post EVER, sorry....

o and this is the BEAUTIFUL GIRL!!!! Cecilia Frances McCain

My Best Friends Wedding

As the titles suggests this weekend was just about the best weekend I have had in a LONG time.  My best friend since I was in the first grade got married to the love of her life.  Right now she is sitting on the beach with her husband enjoying the sand, sun and surf, while the rest of us have returned to the everyday routines of life...BOO.  I want to extend my gratitude and undying love to Mr. and Mrs. Camden Pierce.  I want to thank you both a million times over for including me in this special time! I have had more fun getting to know you as a couple over the past two years and I look forward to making many many more memories in the future.  


This weekend was a little bitter sweet for me.  I know that Ellen is entering into a new part of her life and I could not be more happy but I am selfishly going to to miss having her all to myself!! I know that Cam is going to make the perfect husband and eventually father!  I hope that God continues to bless them in their new life.  


It was so wonderful to see all of my friends and family (thank you mom and dad for coming).  I got to connect with old friends I had not seen in a while and got to know each other in the lives that we now live.  I got to laugh and dance with friends I get to see often.  The weekend was PERFECT.  Ellen was the most beautiful bride and Cam was a handsome groom! 


I look forward to celebrating many more marriages in the future...it is only the beginning!!  

More Bluebonnets...

O.P.'s first haircut!

The boy FINALLY got a haircut...He and Bradie have been staying with my parents because I have been out of town every weekend for the past month, so this is the only picture I have of him.  They are coming home tomorrow and we will be moving into our new house SOON!! I cannot wait to have new roomies and a YARD with a PATIO...o the evenings of drinking on the patio are in my near future, I am sooo excited!  Well here is your pic, he is so BIG!

He looks like an adult dog now...so sad! The picture below was his last puppy pic...

Bluebonnets

All Saints' has the most beautiful Bluebonnet fields in all of Fort Worth... Here is a pic of me sitting in them (yes I am that corny) last Friday afternoon.  I took some more that I will hopefully have time to put up soon...I just LOVE wild flowers...and don't forget Bluebonnets=NO MOW ZONE!

hahahahaha, enjoy them while they last...I hear there is only about two weeks left to enjoy their beauty!!

Honor this day!

Wonderful words by Ralf Marston.... READ IT...LOVE IT...LIVE IT!

Feel what a privilege it is to be alive today. Consider all the possibilities available to you, right now.See the wonder and the beauty all around you. Let yourself ruly love who you are and where you are in this moment.


Sense the eagerness within you to get started, to make things happen, and to create value. That eagerness comes from your genuine excitement about expressing yourself through your accomplishments.


Look at all the new ways that this day gives you to express
who you are. Even the troubles, even the problems, and even the obstacles give meaning to life because they give you something to build upon.


Life's many circumstances and situations give you a way to pull yourself up, and rise to a new level of being. Whatever comes your direction gives you a way to create value that will last beyond this day, value that will be with you always.


Honor this day, honor the possibilities in this day, honor the love and the beauty in this day. Look around at all you have, and in this moment make it, in your own way, into something truly great.

Easter

I watched an old man (probably in his late 80's) walk his wife down the isle of the church to communion today.  He was bent over, rocked from side to side with each shaky step, his hands were twisted with arthritis, his skin was thin and covered with bruises, he had no hair...but when he looked at her and smiled you knew he felt just as he did when they first met and that smile made him young again.  I did not know these people but watching them filled my heart with warmth and joy.  


I think, sometimes, I tend to get swept away in the every day bustle of life.  Checking my e-mail, if not from the computer then from my ever handy phone, texting friends, thinking about what I need to do when I get back to Fort Worth, worrying about work and what I am to do with my life, I forget to be "in the moment" and enjoy what is right in front of me.  Today I took the time to enjoy my family, the miracle of the resurrection of Christ, nature and let my mind rest.  It was a great day.  (As I write this I am sitting at my dining room table, french doors open, listening to the birds chirp.  My parents and dogs surrounding me (literally) and a beautiful arrangement of flowers in front of my face.  It fills my heart with the same feeling as when I was watching the true, deep love that old man had for his wife. Funny.)


Be adventurous, have passion, BE in the moment, enjoy life.

Bradie

Bradie
Originally uploaded by brooks1985

Bradie was totally unamused at the fact that I made her stay on the blanket instead of roaming amongst the crowd...such a free spirit!

O.P.

O.P.
Originally uploaded by brooks1985

We went to the Magnolia Haiti Benefit on Saturday. It was such a beautiful day and I enjoyed spending time with my wonderful friends and puppers! this is O.P. chillin on the blanket with Cody.

Happy Day

Happy Day
Originally uploaded by brooks1985

blue bonnets

blue bonnets
Originally uploaded by brooks1985

orange

orange
Originally uploaded by brooks1985

palest pink

palest pink
Originally uploaded by brooks1985

Horoscope

I don't much talk about the crazy antics of my youth (my friends, loved ones and most of all my enemies know what I am talking about) but when I read my horoscope today I felt the need to share.  Those who are close to me know that I have held on to the feelings of annoyance and most times dissapointment in those around me who choose to talk without knowing.  For six years it has burden me in one way or another and although I know I learned invaluable lessons sometimes you need someone else or something else (in this case) to give you permission to let go... it may be stupid but I read it and a sense of calm washed over me.  It is a time and area of my life/persona that has always had a little control over my future, but have no fear it is no more! I AM FREE - I love you all!

Pisces:


It might not be possible to entirely understand a past event that affected every aspect of your life. Try not to play the blame game. It's time to let go and live, because thanks to them, you learned something invaluable.

Life is GOOD

I received this e-mail from a co-worker...Life is GOOD - I hope this makes you laugh...

If you are 30, or older, you might think this is hilarious!

When I was a kid, adults used to bore me to tears with their tedious diatribes about how hard things were. When they were growing up ; what with walking twenty-five miles to school every morning....Up hill... Barefoot...BOTH ways… yadda, yadda, yadda

And I remember promising myself that when I grew up , there was no way in hell I was going to lay a bunch of crap like that on my kids about how hard I had it and how easy they've got it!

But now that I'm over the ripe old age of thirty, I can't help but look around and notice the youth of today. You've got it so easy! I mean, compared to my childhood, you live in a damn Utopia!

And I hate to say it, but you kids today, you don't know how good you've got it!

I mean, when I was a kid we didn't have the Internet. If we wanted to know something, we had to go to the damn library and look it up ourselves, in the card catalog!!

There was no email !! We had to actually write somebody a letter - with a pen! Then you had to walk all the way across the street and ut it in the mailbox, and it would take like a week to get there! Stamps were 10 cents!

Child Protective Services didn't care if our parents beat us. As a matter of fact, the parents of all my friends also had p ermission to kick our ass! Nowhere was safe!

There were no MP3's or Nap sters or iTunes! If you wanted to steal music, you had to hitchhike to the record store and shop lift it yourself!

Or you had to wait around all day to tape it off the radio, and the DJ would usually talk over the beginning and @#*% it all u p ! There were no CD players! We had tape decks in our car. We'd play our favorite tape and "eject" it when finished, and then the tape would come undone rendering it useless. Cause, hey, that's how we rolled, Baby! Dig?

We didn't have fancy crap like Call Waiting! If you were on the phone and somebody else called, they got a busy signal, that's it!

There weren't any freakin' cell phones either. If you left the house, you just didn't make a damn call or receive one. You actually had to be out of touch with your "friends". OH MY GOD !!! Think of the horror... not being in touch with someone 24/7!!! And then there's TEXTING. Yeah, right. Please! You kids have no idea how annoying you are.

And we didn't have fancy Caller ID either! When the phone rang, you had no idea who it was! It could be your school, your parents, your boss, your bookie, your drug dealer, the collection agent... you just didn't know!!! You had to pick it up and take your chances, mister!

We didn't have any fancy PlayStation or Xbox video games with high-resolution 3-D graphics! Wehad the Atari 2600! With games like 'Space Invaders' and 'Asteroids'. Your screen guy was a little square! You actually had to use your imagination!!! And there were no multiple levels or screens, it was just one screen... Forever! And you could never win. The game just kept getting harder and harder and faster and faster until you died! Just like LIFE!

You had to use a little book called a TV Guide to find out what was on! You were screwed when it came to channel surfing! You had to get off your ass and walk over to the TV to change the channel!!! NO REMOTES!!! Oh, no, what's the world coming to?!?!

There was no Cartoon Network either! You could only get cartoons on Saturday Morning. Do you hear what I'm saying? We had to wait ALL WEEK for cartoons, you spoiled little rat-finks!

And we didn't have microwaves. If we wanted to heat something up , we had to use the stove! Imagine that!

And our parents told us to stay outside and play... all day long. Oh, no, no electronics to soothe and comfort. And if you came back inside... you were doing chores!

And car seats - oh, please! Mom threw you in the back seat and you hung on. If you were lucky, you got the "safety arm" across the chest at the last moment if she had to stop suddenly, and if your head hit the dashboard, well that was your fault for calling "shot gun" in the first place!

See! That's exactly what I'm talking about! You kids today have got it too easy. You're spoiled rotten! You guys wouldn't have lasted five minutes back in 1980or any time before!

Regards,

The Over 30 Crowd

(Send this to someone you'd like to make smile)

Nose

Nose
Originally uploaded by brooks1985