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Happy September!!!

New game plan for my favorite time of year: K.I.S.S.  i have been having a rough time organizing time between work, school, and house/yard work...oh, yeah, and sleep. this month i get sent to my FAVORITE shift (insert hideous smirk and sincere sarcasm here)....second (3p-11p)(for. the. rest. of. the. year.), and have two classes that are DEFINITELY not in the 'passive learning' category. so, i sat down and attempted to do a 'time sheet' for my life. it was comical, actually. i suck at time management. always have, hopefully always won't...but i seriously have my doubts. to add to all this, everyone in dispatch is starting a diet today...including me. yep. chunk o' chick gonna try to carve a layer or two off. now, i ask you...won't it be LOVELY to be at work with us? ::::tightening my seatbelt:::: this should be festive....

A sign of fall...

Ahhhh, mums. a sign of the "fall of the year"... my favorite time (even over spring....). Leaves turning, cooler temps, HALLOWEEN, COLLEGE FOOTBALL (GO GATORS), pro football (GO TITANS), oktoberfests....i swear, i thought the mums were never going to start blooming this year....

August Full Moon....sorta

Try as i may, this was the best i could get tonight. just wasn't in the cards...funny how the flare is exactly the detail i want, just kinda...strange. i have no idea how it happened, or why (thus the 'amatuer' billing). i just thought it was kinda cool...

Full Fruit or Barley Moon - August The names Fruit and Barley were reserved only for those years when the Harvest Moon is very late in September. (AOL)

For anyone who does not believe in the truths surrounding full moon madness, just let me say that tonight was---for a sunday---maniacal. strange how you get engrossed with something at work, then come home and see it on the news. funnier still how something happens at work, and the media has it in their hands an hour later. i believe the headline was 'decomposed body found under house in shallow grave'. yeah, that was it. they knew what it was before our investigators did...hmph. nothin' but madness around here tonight....nothing but...

Here, girl...

isn't she gorgeous?

My Aunt's Back Porch

They always say backdoor friends are best... i think my aunt took this to heart. She created this outdoor-with-the-indoor feel for guests that often grace her home for Sunday dinner or Friday night cookouts. off to the left (out of view), there is a table set for four, complete with gingham and wreaths and all the comforts of home. i just love the way she has this decorated, and wanted to share that with everyone.

Log Fence

This "fence" is really cool looking. it is built in front of one of the oldest "plantation" homes in this concentrated area...the house looks like a regular run-of-the-mill place in comparison with the other homes here now, but i am sure in its time it was magnificent. the grounds are now a flower/shrub/landscaping business, but the fence has been there as long as i can remember.

ack!

I was snapping the pretty flower, and this mug skittered out from underneath and scared the bejesus outta me. since i had already taken its picture, i just took a few steps back before running away. anyone that knows me well knows that i turn into the ultimate girly-girl when arachnids show their googly eyes and fangs. ack!

Bethany's Rose

The rosebush that was a gift from a friend to the Mother on Valentine's Day this year... we went to Opryland Hotel and stayed in the Cascades right beside the waterfall---slept with our veranda door open every night to the sweet music of rushing water and Nashville's most awesome place to stay. She was like a kid on Christmas morning, and said she had never seen anything so spectacular. This is the first bloom, late summer. My mom is in love with this plant, and has babied it since she got it. I am in love with it for the memories it evokes.

Jasper

Remember the lil' kitty you guys named for me? Here he is, much stronger and resiliant...he still has respiratory problems, but you would not have guessed that to see him playing in the back yard this afternoon. He loves to get outside! He was originally supposed to live outside...but of course he doesn't. He is destroying the inside little by little as kittens do (argh). Oh well, at least the Mother is happy... hehehe I don't think he will ever grow into those ears...I told mom if a good wind came up he would be kite kitty...poof!

 

Refreshed

Hmmm....the lillies are blooming again.... had a nice refreshing pm shower today, they looked especially pretty.

wheelbarrow

i know this is simple... but i thought it was cool. my cousin had been working in the yard sunday, and when he went inside, he left the wheelbarrow beside the HUGE mother oak in his yard. the setting sun hit it, and it caught my eye. not quite as brilliant in the picture as it was to the eye, but still...

Covered Drive

Saw this yesterday on a trip to a friend's house... can you imagine having a driveway to long and chopped by a creek that you had your own covered bridge on it? do any of you have this pretty addition? hehe, not me! man, i would go NUTS with the christmas lights on this mug if it were mine. it is surrounded by gorgeous pasture land.

The Boy

here he is, the sweeeeet boy... this is nick, my new nephew---and the infamous google's baby brother. what a chilled-out, laid back baby...he just goes with the flow. hold him, rock him, put him in his swing, in his little bouncy chair...whatever. he is one of the best-natured little'uns i have ever seen. shelby is doing fine with her new sibling, except for the occassional bump or elbow in the neck whilst hugging him (hehe...it's too cute). just had to show the little man off a bit...i'm sure this won't be the last time, either....hehehe

Divine

sunrise starts to break through some rainclouds behind the belltower of a local presbyterian church... this is at the bottom of a winding mountain road on the way to work. gorgeous.

peaceful

trickle trickle... this is a wonderful, peaceful, tranquil place to spend a few hours on your day off...except for the mosquitoes...judi, where's that citronella candle you were talking about earlier??!?!?!!

americana

one of the older houses around here. i love how it is built and how majestic and so american it looks sitting on its little hill with the flag blowing out front. it is gorgeous.

Kiddo

new google snap.... she is getting so BIG!!! (and growny!!)

Sunny

It was a beautiful sunday here in alabama....unfortunately, i was stuck inside catering to the needs of those guys that comprise the thin blue line.... sure wish i had been out enjoying it (but then again---i'm sure they wished the same thing...)!

Blue Skies

A new fence for an old pasture...this has been put up sometime since i moved to tennessee and back. nice to see some things haven't changed, only updated. i got an email from Ann in Florida (ann7inflorida), and she said there was lots of damage, but everyone was ok. thought i would add that for those of you who correspond with her and were worried...i know i was terribly worried. hope everyone who has anyone in that area is hearing the same good news (of health...i know most of the news of property is bad). also, thoughts go out to those who have lost anything or anyone in florida or other areas of bad weather due to these storms...hope you see blue skies again soon.

sunflower

Pistils

this was growing along side the road in a pretty shady area...i have no idea what it is, but it was absolutely GORGEOUS. there were several of them growing in a cluster.

all you folks in florida, i hope you are battening down the hatches and have a safe ride-out if you are staying....and a safe drive-out if you are evacuating... my thoughts are with you all!!! [ a [

S

This is back on a one-lane road---one of the few that are left---in one of the areas that is still owned by families of the people who first settled this area. the woods are safe until they are gone, and hopefully their children will feel the same way about this land. most of the woods in my area are being ravaged to build new subdivisions and golf courses with quarter-mill homes scattered throughout... it is good to be able to go back in this area and just chill every once in awhile (even if it is posted no trespassing...hehehe).

Lazy Day

Late Afternoon Sun

The Baaaad Kitty

Close-up of Kansas (the baaaaaad kitty), or as my google Shelby says, "KIIIIIIIII!!!!!!!!" Just playing around with the camera and thought this was different and kinda cool...have a great Tuesday!! c

Forgotten

I'm sure this used to be a useful place, but it looks like the owner has either passed on or thrown it by the wayside. it is kinda cool, because it sits off to one side of a busy intersection...i have passed it a hundred times i know, and only saw it the other day. wierd.

Overlook

This is the lowest overlook point on Mt. Cheaha....my house is nestled just over the 4th row of hills....see it? hehe we had a real scare tonight...my sister was visiting and we smelled something burning---all of a sudden the house starts filling with smoke. i called 911 and told them i thought my house might be on fire, and here came the calvary!! five minutes later there were four full size fire trucks and a small pumper outside my house...not bad for the sticks, eh? LUCKILY, the Mother had thrown out some cigarette butts into the trash and had forgotten (give her a break, she's eighty!), so the only casualty was the trash can. i don't think i have ever been so angry and relieved at the same time in my life. homeless does not appeal to me... the firemen were gracious, and jumped in their big trucks and drove away. meanwhile, back at the ranch, the Mother's allowance has been suspended for at least a month. no red hat luncheon for her in august!! ::::spank spank:::::

summer sunset

after 12 hours in a dispatch hole, this was a welcome sight for sore and tired eyes.

white plains sunrise

A co-worker was having some car trouble this morning, so i agreed to drive out to her house to pick her up for work...and was greeted with this on the way. we were almost late for dispatching the po-po because i had to find a place to park and take pictures of this sight...  talk about a soul-filling experience... i was more than ready to take on the day after seeing this for a few...

small falls

this is just a spill-off to one of the local reserviors, and it is NOT a pretty place (not ugly, mind you...just kinda muddy and dull)...but this little area was a piece of zen heaven...trickling water, naturally cut rock, and lots of greenery just out of view of the drudgery of the aforementioned.

mandy---mommy-to-be

is there anything more beautiful than a pregnant woman? i honestly DON'T think so...out of all the gorgeous things i see that i need to preserve for myself on "film", i think this was the most precious ever. mandy was absolutely glowing, and although it COULD have been from the near 100 degree need-scuba-gear-to-breathe-in-alabama-humidity weather that day, i honestly think it is because this sweet girl (ella grace, by the way) is about ready to make her entrance. ahhhhh, i love babies....

american sunset

sunset over oxford lake's freedom park. we and the kids had a blast at the water park/playground this day...good memories.

make a wish

 

this is part of the landscaping at a nearby home. i went to school with some of the kids that grew up here, and their mom has one of the coolest yards in the entire community. she was nice enough to let me wander around and indulge my hobby. this is a shot of the well in front of the manmade pond/fountain. too cool.

ethan

this is ethan, the grandson of my co-worker, gail. he is absolutely beautiful, and was so much fun to photograph. he would look at me and say "cheeeese.... cheeeese.... cheeeeeese.... are you taking my picture?" we had a blast. he is such an energetic and sweet child, and has a stunning aura about him. i was in love the instant he got out of the car...

mommy

this is one of the shots i took today for a co-worker... her daughter wanted some pregnant shots with her son, and needed them by a certain time, so i agreed to try and take some decent photos for her. this is one of the keepers...i love the way he is looking up at mommy and holding baby sister. precious.

Black and White

B/W shot of the creek that winds through our area. this was taken the other evening on the 'baby rounds'.

Shelby Dawn and Dylan

i think out of all the pictures of the new baby (and trust me, there were a million), this is my favorite...  this is shelby dawn holding "her" baby for the first time, actually being still enough to photograph, and giving a hard-earned little grin (she is a MESS). the last two i posted were the family's favorites...this is mine.

Blue Moon

The full moon on July 31st, the second one of the month, making it a "blue moon."  i think i took about 8 billion photos of this moon, and it was so bright that i got lens flares on almost all of them, or it came out blurred because it eventually got very misty/foggy out. this is the only one that came out right, and only because i took a picture of its reflection in a puddle on the ground and then blacked out the water glare in corel.... it was a gorgeous moon, and i wanted a photo of it any way i could get it.... hahaha

Welcome, Little One...

here is the reason for my hiatus....  welcome little dylan! he is my extended family's (you know, the one YOU pick for YOURSELF...) new baby boy, and he is sooooo precious! long black hair, gorgeous complexion, and looks as if those eyes will be as blue as the sky. he was exactly 12 hours old here... big brother and sister are VERY happy that the little bun is out of the oven, they can't keep their hands off of him:

the dynamic trio: timothy, shelby (not my google, we have two), and baby dylan.