Even squirrels -- jcarolek

Nothing was out of scope for my camera on my recent California excursion. Not even the squirrels who inhabit the park were too common to be overlooked. As I make my way through more than 3000 digital images captured by me and my friends during the past two weeks I find myself laughing at some of the less suspecting subjects of our focus.

One of the little fellows that caught my interest was a furry little squirrel who seemed completely oblivious to me. I snapped at least a dozen shots of him as he went about his everyday business, leaving the observation of the inspirational views of Yosemite to me. And little did he know that his very existence was part of that inspiration for me. The grand

How things have changed -- jcarolek

This afternoon, having spent more than nine hours glued to my office chair, having returned to the rigors of everyday life here, I decided I needed to get outside and do something constructive. The fact that it had been raining here for more than 24 hours, and flash flood warnings peppered the area was no deterrent to me. I wanted "out" and I offered myself a perfect project outside. Weeding my front "garden." OK, I have to be honest. My front garden is REALLY just a swale cut into the land to direct the flow of water AWAY from the house's foundation, but I plant flowers and ornamental

Safe and Sound and Inspired -- jcarolek

It was a perfect trip -- like a dream in many ways and so very real at the same time.  As I resume my "everyday" life, I am left with the memories, the beauty, the vastness of it all and the realization of a little bit more of "me" that I found in her majesty.

I'm off to my normal Sunday activities, but will be back later with more from a time which, I am certain, has had a profound effect on my perception of "my" world.

Photos hardly do it justice, but they do trigger the memories and with the memories, the reliving of those feelings.

We Played -- jcarolek

My trip to California was a business trip. I am used to such trips. Typically, I spend very little, if any, time at all seeing the area where work takes me, opting to focus on the "matters at hand" and assuring myself that I will take time to enjoy the "places" later in life, when I am not under pressure of the "corporate world." I do usually try to have at least one "fun" evening with someone I know from the area, or with one of the other attendees.

This business trip though, I had already decided was going to be the first of my "new" approach to business travel. I was going to see what there was in the world outside of the confines of my hotel. And a friend attending the same conference provided the catalyst for this new approach.

On a "jet plane" -- jcarolek

I finished packing for my trip to CA last night. I will depart from here in the wee hours of the morning tomorrow. As has been the case recently, this morning I awoke with a song on my mind and tongue, and I had to laugh...No mystery on this one! The song? Leaving on a Jet Plane (Peter , Paul and Mary version).

What's funny about this to me is that it WAS one of my favorite songs WAY back in about 1970 while I was in school at Charlton Park Convent in Cheltenham, Gloucestershire,

It was a beautiful Wedding -- jcarolek

The "crowd" gathered for the moment of truth...the committing to each other of their love, their dreams and their lives. The crowd was small, to be sure, consisting of the bride and groom themselves, mother of the bride (me), father of the bride, grandparents of the bride, two friends of the the bride/family, and the Justice of the Peace. The ceremony was to be held at the couple's cottage they rent in Louisa, VA, a beautifully rural town near Charlottesville.

Jen had selected her "spot" as a rock out in the field behind their cottage.....we "walked" the several football field lengths through the soft, bramble covered terrain, and I only lost my shoes about eight times!

Yesterday we remembered and laughed (again) -- jcarolek

Yesterday was the first time I had spent any real amount of time with my ex-husband in ten years. Similarly, it was the first time in those same ten years that my dad and step mom had spent any time with him. And, of course, over those many years, certain things are forgotten....the way he says his words...the urgency with which he approaches everything, and the impatience he has with others.... mostly, I like to remember the better qualities. And yesterday was Jen's day and we happily attended her simple, but lovely wedding.

As we headed out the door to make the journey through the pasture to the rock upon which the wedding ceremony was to be held, James, (my ex) told Jen she should ditch the umbrella, because it wasn't raining. "No," we all agreed. That is not an umbrella, it's a parasol! And it will look great with her wedding "gown."

"Oh," he said, almost to himself, "a parasol....."

I finished staining the deck, at least -- jcarolek

I finished staining the deck that afternoon, frustrated that the labor pains I had been enduring for three solid days, had come to a screeching halt, seemingly without producing that long anticipated birth, the birth of my second child. I resigned myself to the fact that I was not in control of this situation, but that the child within would dictate arrival time, and I might as well just get on with business….at least I’d be able to sleep that night.

And sleep I did…for three and a half glorious, lovely hours….before I was bolted out of slumber with back searing pain…they were back and with a vengeance!

Shendandoah in my top desk drawer -- jcarolek

Yesterday afternoon I was looking for some things. I had lost track of a DVD recorded of a concert we gave a couple of years ago....I wanted to find it, to listen/watch it. So, I was on a hunt. In my top desk drawer in my office, I found a LOT of interesting items. There were the usual -- paper clips, pens, pencils, free AOL discs, stick-it memo pads, a single shoelace......

And no DVD.

Just as I was about to move on to my NEXT hunting ground, I spied something lying quietly at the very back corner

My favorite April Fool's trick -- jcarolek

The best April Fool's joke I ever saw was about 15 years ago. My then-hubby and I were watching the 10PM news on April Fool's Day and they were interviewing people about the best jokes played on them or that they had played on others. Hubby thought one was so funny, he just HAD to use it.

So right then and there, he hopped up out of his recliner (very few things were worthy of this level of energy exertion) and headed to the kitchen. There, he took a rubber band and proceeded to the sink. There, he pulled the vegetable sprayer up and placed the rubber band around the handle,