So I went outside to take a few pictures of Katie before we head out to trick or treat....




And I took this picture.

And when I looked at it on the screen....

it reminded me of something...




Are you talkin' to me?




What?





Donna 1973
Katie 2008

My sister Nancy came down for a visit. I made her sit on a curb in the shade of her car just before she left.

"On the curb?" she queried.

"Your eyes will look fab, trust me ;o)"





Here is the table she brought me. I do love it.

And I have decided why I love it. It is warm and inviting. It is comfortable to sit at and is perfect to doing puzzles.
You can schooch your bottoms real close on slippery benches.

Thank you so much, Nancy!



We ate at a Thai restaurant and then shopped around town.

I wanted Nancy to see The Century House in Madison.
She loved it!

And bought me a very cool, soft scarf for my birthday.

It is pleated fleece. Pleece, I think.

Really.

She also bought Katie an advent calendar with chocolates in it!
We are all set for Christmas!

Then we went to Target :o)

She doesn't have a Target in her area.

We walked around and gathered this and that...I grabbed some feetie jammies for
Katie and then Nancy paid for them.

She is like that. It's like shopping with Aunt Dorothy.

I highly recommend it.


Southern Wisconsin showed Nancy her best in fall weather yesterday and every time we stepped out side we were greeted with a warm fall breeze and bright colors.

It was one fine afternoon. My heart is full.



*****


Friday Five


1. Did you carve your pumpkin yet?
2. What decade would you like to represent in costume?
3. Favorite coffee?
4. Have you ever worn a wig or had extensions?
5. Have you started your Christmas shopping yet?




Do you know how banks used to have give-aways?

China, Silverware....Wigs?

Do you remember that?


Well, I will never forget it!

Back in the 70's our grandpa gave money to each of his daughter in law's. (It may have been in his will)

And so...when our mother took her money into the bank she got in on the 'wigs for savings plan.'

She came home from the bank with about 13 wigs.

All different colors and styles!!!

I can remember her at a party changing her wigs throughout the night and just having a blast with the whole thing.

It was like living with Lucy, I tell ya!




Happy Halloween Everyone!

Have fun, be safe, and make some new memories!


Encourage one another,
Donna

Parade of costumes.




The children followed Mrs. Vitale around and around the playground.






We all loved this costume. (His mother made it.)





They made a big circle and danced the hokey pokey.

It's always difficult to be the bearer of sad
news, but you'll probably want to know about the
great loss today in the entertainment world. The
man who wrote the song "Hokey Pokey" has died.
The horrible part is that they had trouble
keeping his body in the casket. They'd put his
right foot in, and... well, you know the rest.

hahahahohoho

I love that joke.


***

Then last night was the Halloween dance.

Two dollars to get in. Dj playing tunes and children dancing for an hour and a half.

It was super, super fun!


****


But I must say, my Uncle Don was right.
Kind of.


Uncle Don would tease my mom that her children were never sick...because they never went anywhere.

And we didn't have all sort of activities away from the home...and we rarely went shopping with our mom...and we didn't eat out at fast food restaurants. We spent a lot of time together and at home....

(But we all went to school starting in Kindergarten)

My point being....

Katie has her second cold of the school year.

:o(

We usually have one cold a year at the most around here.

Like my childhood home. We have very few colds and flus.

But, until this fall....we didn't leave the house much.

So perhaps Uncle Don was right.

WE will be upping the hand washing since I think that is the best thing you can do to prevent illness.


What do you do to stay healthy?


I just remembered something. When we were sick. We were basically quarantined.

How smart of our mother to put the little sickies to bed so they couldn't spread the germs...and so they would get plenty of rest.

There was no cuddling up on the couch and watching tv with the family when you were sick.

It was IN BED with the Door closed...and food brought to you on a tray.

Boy was my mom smart.

Nobody wants to be surrounded by seven sniffling, hacking, puking children.

Do they?

Do any of you take this wise approach at your home?


*****

Okay. Gotta run. No school today and my sister Nancy is coming down from the North with a dining room table for us.

Woopie!!!


Encourage one another,
Donna

The Holy Grail



Yes. Yesterday was a really great day.

Besides having a wonderful, interesting discussion in the comments, (my favorite thing about blogging)
this came in the mail.

All the way from Portugal.



What could Donna be ordering from Portugal, you wonder?

Tungsten? Textiles? Cork?












Textiles, it is!

This ribbon, this long sought after Rosa Pomar ribbon.

I love this ribbon better than any ribbon I have ever seen in my life.

Funny thing is. I am not a collector of ribbon. I don't intend to sew with this ribbon.

I do intend to tie it on my little 5 x 7 boxes for my clients tho.

I think.

If I can part with it.

But that's the plan.

I think.

Isn't it CUTE!?


****


Today is Halloween party day at Katie's school.

They will wear costumes, parade around the school, have healthy snacks and watch a short movie.

Katie is a girl from the 50's this year.

She wore part of her costume this morning and will put the rest on this afternoon.

I bought her some fun pumpkin earrings at the local pharmacy (which doubles as a huge costume shop this time of year)
With a push of a button the pumpkins light up and flash.

They are dangly earrings.

I told Katie she could wear them today.

And then I took it back.

One look at those heavy earrings and all I could see was INJURY.

I was too scared to let her wear them to school where they could accidentally get....ripped from her little ears.


eww....

I'm sorry about that. But the image was too real to me to let her out of the house.

So I told her I would bring them to the party this afternoon and she could wear them just for the party and the parade.

I don't know if I was being overly cautious, but once that morbid mom thought entered my mind...
there was no going back.

It wasn't gonna happen.

Not as long as she still swings on monkey bars.


*****


Every once in a while a person leaves a comment and leaves their name...and I don't know who it is.

If they have a link....I follow it and say hello or lurk around at least.



Yesterday, Josh left a comment.

A funny, cute comment.


And I don't know who Josh is.

And the fact that Josh is a boy, I think, makes me wonder all the more.



Is it Josh as in cowboy Josh?

Is it Josh as in the guy my son Patrick lives with?

Is it Josh Grobin?

Those are the only Josh's I can think of.


If you happen to stop by today....say hi again and leave us a little clue as to who you are.
Cause I am just sure you are a cowboy learning to use his new laptop....and
I want to know if I am right.




And this skinny pickle wants to know too :o)



Encourage one another,
Donna

Art is a funny thing.
Beauty is in the eye of the beholder....it is true.

This picture is not art.

But I like it and I cropped it like this for a reason.

I put it on Flickr where I find creative and wildly cropped pictures that I really find interesting.

In half a day I had eighteen views and not one comment.

So I took it down.

I thought. Well. I guess I really didn't get this one right.

Although I thought I had...cause I wouldn't have put it on flickr if I thought I got it wrong.



But I'm still thinking about this picture today.
And I still find it interesting.

And that should be okay.

If I am the only one who likes this picture.
THAT should be alright.
THAT should be enough.

I like the light on the hair on her neck.
I like the color of her lips.
I like the way she is grabbing and stretching her sweater.
And I like her skinny shoulders.


So it shall be the picture that stays in the back of my closet.
(In the files of Photoshop)

The odd little cropped picture that was once shown.
But not loved.

The oddly cropped picture that makes me wonder and ponder and think about style and art.

Very few people possess true artistic ability. It is therefore both unseemly and unproductive to irritate the situation by making an effort. If you have a burning, restless urge to write or paint, simply eat something sweet and the feeling will pass.
~Fran Lebowitz

Well.

That's a snarky comment.

Who is Fran Lebowitz anyway?
A comedian? A writer?

I shall try to forget I read THAT.


Seriously. How do you know,
Unless you try?






Perhaps a Butterfinger will help.



Encourage one another,
Donna

LOOK WHAT I FOUND ON YOUTUBE!






This was by far my favorite part of High School Musical 3.

I love that Gabriella wears dresses almost all the time.
I just think it is a sweet choice.




Did you see the movie?
What did you think?

We went before noon on Saturday and it was only $10.00 for the two of us.
Pretty nice, huh?
I didn't know about that deal.





On the way home from Green Bay last night I took some pictures.
My camera on auto focus was having fits not knowing what to focus on...so I put it on manual focus and
experimented.

The yellow blob..that kind of looks like a creepy face; the golden arches :o)


****





You can only be composed and still for so long when you are eight years old.

The elastic heart of youth cannot be compressed into one constrained shape long at a time.
Mark Twain

Have you read Tom Sawyer?

You should.


Encourage one another,
Donna

When we lived in Marinette Wisconsin, we got the daily newspaper.
My husband liked getting the local paper.
I read three parts of the local paper.

The obits
The births
and
The blotter

Just call me nosey.

I was in the season of life when I knew lots of people having babies
and in a small town you know the names of people in the obituaries and the blotter.


We don't get a local paper since we moved to the Madison area.
I don't know many people around here. At all.
So no need to keep track.

I think this is the worst part of being church hoppers.
You don't put down roots and become a serious part of the community, even at church.

Now that Patrick has joined us in the church going, I think we have stopped the hopping, and hopefully
those roots can start to grow. Having Katie at the church school will also aid in this feeling of community.


I am thinking of obituaries today because my sister in law, Susan lost her dear father this week and we will be going to his funeral in Green Bay this weekend.

Susan's father was so kind and gentle and loving and hard working.
He was a man among men.
He was a most beloved father and husband for 61 years.

He loved well and was very well loved.

God bless you Ren.

And as Susan says when we pray...

And may the souls of the faithful departed,
rest in peace.

****




Linen/Flax hand towel.
Hand knit gift for Sue.
My design.



And as it happens in this world....

It is a day to celebrate too!

Sister Sue was born on this day!



Sue is in the middle.

Not only is she beautiful, she is smart as all get out and is funny and extremely gifted.
She teaches gifted children on a daily basis.
Good fit :o)

Happy Birthday Sue. I love you.


Life of the party, Cindy, is eating some grapes right off the vine :o)

She is all around wonderful, too, as is The Amazing Nancy!

I am blessed with sisters.

Thank you God.


***

And The Blotter.

I will tell you the mystery I was trying to solve.

But it is still not solved.

I had two checks sent to me in the week of Oct 9th.

One coming from Chicago and one coming from Oklahoma.

Neither check made it to my house.

Thankfully, neither check has been cashed.

So either the mailman lost them or they were mixed with the junk-newspapers that come to our house and were tossed unknowingly.

I suppose there are many different scenarios. But these seem the most probable.

Seeing that we have dealt with check fraud and someone stealing mail out of our mailbox in the past,
you can imagine I was very worried. Hearing neither of the checks was cashed was a huge relief.


Phew.

So far.



And so...

To everything there is a season,
a time for every purpose under the sun.
A time to be born and a time to die;
a time to plant and a time to pluck up that which is planted;
a time to kill and a time to heal ...
a time to weep and a time to laugh;
a time to mourn and a time to dance ...
a time to embrace and a time to refrain from embracing;
a time to lose and a time to seek;
a time to rend and a time to sew;
a time to keep silent and a time to speak;
a time to love and a time to hate;
a time for war and a time for peace.

ecclesiastes 3:1-8

Encourage one another,
Donna


p.s. Praying for Jody and Junebug...and for Rosa who my be giving birth right at this very minute.

Friday Five


1. Is it dark out?
2. How old were you when you got married?
3. Curly hair or straight hair?
4. V8 or Orange Juice?
5. Favorite late night talk show?


It is so dark out this morning.
When does daylight savings start?

I had a senior photoshoot yesterday afternoon and the clouds were so thick I could not see any light in pretty Leah's eyes...so we packed it up and are waiting for the sun to come out.







I cheated a little and lightened her eyes.

Sesame Ellis Actions for the photographers out there.

2. I was 23 when I got married.

3. I love curly hair. There is a little boy at Katie's school with curly hair and I think it's the cutest thing since
sliced bread. Is curly hair as rare as red hair?

4. Fresh squeezed Orange Juice or none at all. V8 once in a while. (like this morning when I am OUT of Dr. Pepper. How did that happen???)

5. I like David Letterman. And I like Chelsea Lately, lately. ( I am sure you never heard of her and you wouldn't like her,
but she is funny- rude in a very, very bad and funny way.)




So the weekend is almost here.

I have finished my sister Sue's birthday gift and will block it today and show it to you all tomorrow...
on her birthday. We are the same age until tomorrow. I can stay up as late as her...until tomorrow.

Don't have any other plans than that....

perhaps we will sleep in....past seven....


"In winter I get up at night
and dress by yellow candle-light...."






Encourage one another,
Donna

I know. It's been done.

But I have a slightly different take on these pictures




I like how I look with the odd hairdos much better than how I really look.

Perhaps the editing machine on youryearbook.com helped in the chin area and that makes me look prettier....

But seriously.

I'm ready to take these pictures into Heather and tell her I'd like to give it a go.




What I like best about this picture is how much I look like Janet.
I never thought I looked like Janet before.
But here I really do.

And Janet had big hair once upon a time.



Here I look just like Aunt Betty.

I lived with Aunt Betty when her hair was exactly like this in 1976.

I miss her.

Sister Sue wore her hair like this too.



I have always been a straight hair girl.
Some times with bangs.

But usually pulled back in a pony tail cause the hair in my face gets on my nerves.
Although, I know I look better with it down.
With some mascara.

I have a hard time spending time on my appearance.

I have tried a few times to wear a hairdo and I can't do it.

It wears me out.




But really!!!
How cute would I be with this hair???

This is my mother's hair! I love this picture. I love how I look like my mom so much.
And it's the prettiest one.


Remember how I wanted those cat eye glasses so badly.

I was on the something there.

My next pair will look like this!
No kidding!!!



Heather....

Oh Heather....

I have a question for you...





Encourage one another,
Donna

Don't those leaves really look like they are blowing.






4 Things Meme

A) Four places I go over and over

1. Blessed Sacrament School
2. Miller Grocery Store
3. The Mobil Station
4. Outside to take pictures


B) Four people who e-mail me regularly

1. My husband to say he will be late.
2. Lynn
3. krg
4. The Tammys


C) Four of my favorite places to eat

1. I like to eat the onion rings at Quivey's Grove
2. I love Biaggi's, especially their bread and oil thing
3. Outback
4. Bagels Forever. Fresh Salt Bagels.


D) Four places you'd rather be

I'm pretty content. But if we're talking vacay...

1. Maui Hawaii.
2. Paris France
3. Arizona to visit Janice and Janet. It's been too long.
4. New YoRk, NEW YORK.


E) Four TV shows I could watch over and over

Are we talking reruns?
If we are talking reruns;

1. Andy Griffith
2. Seinfeld
3. America's Next Top Model (I can't look away)
4. Amazing Race


Spotted at my friend

Melene's blog.


***

I have a photoshoot tomorrow.
Kris and I are still deciding on the time....

But Kris. I think we need to do later afternoon.

And here is why...


The light.

It's so beautiful in the late afternoon.








3:00-5:00??

Can you manage that?
Katie would have to be with us,
but she and Katie could play while I shoot Leah.

Your thoughts?



***

Who is voting for Cloris L?
I wanna know.


You are welcome to take the meme if you need something to talk about on your blog.
Or you can answer some or all of the questions in the comments.


Off to take Katie to school, go to Mass and solve a mystery.


Encourage one another,
Donna

I am growing younger and my mind is growing stronger every single day.

And it is all because of photography and photoshop.

Above you see my first attempt at using a card template.

I think I can get there...eventually.

I would love to be able offer cards to my clients for graduation and Christmas and baby announcements and this is the first step in that direction.

But seriously, I have never stretched my grey matter so much in my whole life.

So while it hurts like all get out, I know it is good for me in the long run.

And, shhhhhhh, it's kind of fun :o)


HEY! And guess what I just thought of...I can order these cards in two different papers....and it can be a business expense :o)

Samples, don't cha know.


****For those of you still sticking with DWTS, oh how I loved the jitterbug last night.

Wasn't that fun!!! And how cute was Julianna in that Lucy get up!!

I thought Brooke's dance was more difficult and better.
But I completely enjoyed both of the jitterbugs.

And the hustle!!!

How great was that?










And do you want to know something really fun???

I asked my husband after the show last night, when he came up from the basement where he was watching football;

Would you like to take dance class with me?

And he said.

Yes. He would do that with me.


Yippee!!


Now I need to find a nice dance studio here in Madison.

Any ideas?


***

We're fools whether we dance or not, so we might as well dance. ~Japanese Proverb

Encourage one another,
Donna

Any guesses as to what the college girls are spelling?




Emma, Larissa (Emma's roomie) and Talia (local homie)

Fall break for Moody.

The girls requested a photoshoot.

A fallen leaf is nothing more
than a summers wave good bye

~anon

Hey! I've only got a minute...but how about some fall time Haikus?

You are all so good at those!

Catch you later!
Donna

Word on the street is that when you see those spots in pictures...
you are seeing angels.

I think in this case,
it may be true.







p.s.

BTW, I was not looking thru the viewfinder for this shot.

Let's help Jolie out.

She mentions in the comments that she can't remember the title to a favorite childhood book.
It is about a little farm girl during the depression who receives a homemade doll.

Any ideas? I just know one of you will think of it!



***

I am re-reading Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisters.

In the book, Vivi calls exclamations points, bats and balls.

Isn't that cute and funny?
I don't remember ever hearing that term.

I, like Sidda, enjoy those cute little bats and balls.

I also happen to like 'bread crumbs'...

What else could you call ellipses?



***

On Thursday I arrived 30 minutes early for the volleyball photo shoot.

Katie helped find the nice light and then flitted around the grounds exploring and pretending to sing like a rapper.



I love my Elastigirl :o)




I thought the light in the garage would be sweet. And it was if you like orange.
I expected blue light in the cool garage. But instead got orange.
Yuck.

Black and white seemed to be the best way to go.



We did take a picture on the OUTSIDE of the garage.

So tuff!


***



Is it any wonder I love taking pictures of people.

Shiny, happy people.

Look at the chubby little hand!



Did I tell you? I rode on this little train.


Life is short!

Enjoy!!!

******This just in. Thank you Ashpags.




Sarah Palin sounds like lots of people I know ;o)



Encourage one another,
Donna


p.s. Learn God's truth and pass it on, too.

And now for something completely different.





Laura and Sandy are helping with the Friday Five this week.
Isn't that nice?

1. What is a facorite family tradition-either from when you were a child or now?
2. What new-or nearly new-TV showor series have you seen this season?
3. Which three books would you like to read in the next three months, and why?
4. Are you changing Christmas plans due to economic news?
5. What was the most important thing you learned in Home Ec.


I was wondering about Home Ec the other day. Do students still take Home Ec?

I get emails and comments from young women pretty often. I think it is so sweet that they like it here.
Let's encourage those younger women, shall we? :o)

I learned to turn pan handles to the side and not have them sticking out toward the room where they can be easily bumped
and tipped over. I think about this tip every single time I cook.




*******

I shot a girl's volleyball team yesterday :o)

(Lynn loves when I say that)




Removed by donna

Every single one of them!



And they were so clever! I would never have thought of this. They did. And I love it.
It's out of focus. But what cha gonna do?



Silliness.





*******

Life in Mars won the night for best show....in my opinion.

(But, I haven't watched Ugly Betty yet and I hear Gio is on. And Gio and Betty are my favorite couple on television. Bar none.)

Bar None. What does THAT mean and where does it come from??

Back to Life on Mars.

It's really really well written.
Beautifully acted.
Great music.
Funny!

And there was a touching, delightful dance.

Sam and a hippie girl danced to I am a rock.

Love it. It's up there with Lost when it comes to mystery!

You may not know that I never watch cop shows. Never have.
I always love the medical shows.

But for all of you who have dropped Grey's Anatomy, pick up Life on Mars.
(It's even better than Pushing Dasies. Which I think is struggling to find it's way since the writer's strike for some reason)

It's really something special.
And the men in your life will like it too!





Go answer the questions....


I've got a lot to learn.

Encourage one another,
Donna



For Steph and those of you who have moved away.
The New Blackhawk Church.
Nevermind the slant, it doesn't do that in person.

Katie lost her coat.
She spent all afternoon on Tuesday looking for it.
I would not let her play until she found it.
It's her good coat.
Not a hand me down like her other coats.
They always lose the good things.
Or get holes in them.

So yesterday morning on the way to school, I told her to check the
lost and found. She said there are many lost and founds.
I said, check them all.

I said, I will dance a jig if you find your coat.
She said she would, too.





















Encourage one another,
Donna

Katie's first big project at school was to write and illustrate the creation story.

A little illuminated manuscript :o)

She was very proud to show me the completed project.

How cute are Adam and Eve innocently drawn by an eight year old.

No details, thank you very much.

Just as they should be.

Some of her classmates didn't draw Adam and Eve and some of them drew the first couple with clothing on.


I happen to think it's adorable that Eve is a redhead.

When God created woman....He made her a redhead...according to Katie :o)

A morning at the zoo and a sneak peek!








Oopsie Daisy!





This little guy was on the move for two and a half hours! His mommy was very smart and brought along snacks and we took three breaks.





I was totally delighted to see that polar bear in the background!!!

How cool is that?







Beautiful family on a perfect fall morning.

Temps were in the 50's but we were all on the go-go-go so we were all quite cozy.

What a great session! I'm so happy I have so many fun images to choose from!!!

******

A few of you asked if my fingers were cold. Nope. Not a bit.


I'm glad you had fun with the Mr. Darcy question.
Thanks Rechelle.

Mr. Darcy is always a very pleasant diversion.


Thanks for hanging out and enjoying the comments,
even when I'm preoccupied!

Love you guys!

Encourage one another,
Donna