Photo Challenge: LUV

This was a funny one and it yielded some results that are really brightening my day. I hope they do the same for you. New prompt at the end of this post!

When I saw this from Our Sara with her niece, Olivia, I felt like it was a bullseye on the LUV prompt!

Realized as I was posting this that I used this same photo in Ed's birthday post but kept it because I think it shows how much I LUUUUUUUUUUUUUV him.

Our Cindy says Tulips have always been her favorite. I did not know that but I'm glad I do now.

Love, LUV, Lurve, Our Janet has them all.


I've been highly attuned to other people's selfishness lately. I hate to think what that means about what I'm not seeing in myself. To combat that the new prompt is ELSE. I'm thinking of it as someone ELSE but it could be or ELSE or frankly anything ELSE you can think of! I trust you. You're going to surprise me.

Please enter by 9am Tuesday March 10th for posting on March 11th. Tag your photos with PHOTO CHALLENGE and ELSE. Check out the wonderful work in our Flickr Pool for inspiration. Also, let me know if you have any questions. The  appropriate email for that is Kizzbeth117 at gmail dot com.

Alpha & Omega

Yesterday is the day I chose to celebrate Ed's birthday. He spent a lot of the day alone but he got plenty of treats and love and I even sang him happy birthday. That part, I'm sure, was the weirdest for him. He's 6 now. Sort of. As best we can estimate.

I estimated at the very oldest age possible given the clues so that he'll always seem young for his age. I'll always be able to say he had a good run. In the afternoon that sort of logic played out. My good friend, Steph, posted that she'd had to say goodbye to her first dog, her boon companion, her little old man, Charlie. Charlie, truly, had a good run. In fact I'd say he had a great one. He was a big personality who found exactly the right family, people with long enough arms to embrace every inch of him. He loved and was loved in return in a way some people (and dogs) only dream of.

I'm so happy for my guy hitting his stride and I'm devastated for Steph because I've been in her shoes and, it seems, I'll be there again...someday.

You folks know the drill. This is another one of those times that call for Treats for Everyone. Please give your pets food and love and play and songs just for existing. It's the only thing we really require of them and they're doing it well.

Photo Challenge: SWING

I think I might just be getting in the SWING of this whole 2015 thing we seem to be intent on doing. What about you?

My picture makes me a little nostalgic and it seems that Our Janet's does too!

I can just picture Our Sara swinging down the city streets as she passes this scene by.

This actress is part of a production that I saw in its beginnings over 20 years ago. Girls like her have been swinging their arms through the park like this all that time.

Our Ana should know never to swing the car when I'm on the ride. Even if the bar clicked tightly shut!

Leave it to Our Cindy to produce one shining moment of clarity in a slightly fuzzy set. We need that.



This just came to me and I'm going to trust the instinct. The prompt is LUV. And specifically LUV and not love so whatever makes that different...if it is different. I'm open to hearing that it's not.

Please enter by 9am Tuesday February 24th for posting on February 24th (I'm leaving town on the 25th so the challenge will go up early.) Tag your photos with PHOTO CHALLENGE and LUV. Check out the wonderful work in our Flickr Pool for inspiration. Also, let me know if you have any questions. The  appropriate email for that is Kizzbeth117 at gmail dot com.

Another of Those Days

I ran into Michelle on my way home from our early morning dog walk on Sunday. She asked me if I was coming into the park.

"No, we're on our way home. I've got 3 dog training clients in 3 different boroughs then I have to get home to walk Ed again before I go over to Putnam's and rehearse with Carolann 'cause I'm singing a couple of songs in her set tonight."

"Wow, long day."

"Yes. Woof." GIANT PAUSE. "But, you know, it's all stuff I say I love to do so I better sac up and enjoy myself!"

And I did.

Idealism in Days

My life coach used to have us do this exercise where we'd write up our perfect day. It was always a little thorny for me because I tend to set that sort of thing in stone which leads me to gigantic emotions when they don't come to fruition exactly as I'd imagined. I did the exercise, though, and I enjoyed it. Dreaming those days even felt really good. And on days like today...

7:30 alarm goes off

7:35 respected colleague offers chance of a new client

7:50 out of bed

8:05 long, mostly uneventful walk with the dog

9:00 feed pets and self 

        check email and social media

10:10 nail salon

10:45 bank

11:05 vocal warm up and run through of current show

12:15 water, tv, check email and social media

12:45 lunch

1:10 blog

1:30 power nap

2:00 check email and social media

2:30 long, mostly uneventful walk with dog

3:30 shower

        prep for show

4:50 head to venue

5:00 arrive at venue for set up

6:00 change into show clothes

6:15 sound check

7:00 doors open

7:30 show begins

8:30 drinks and nibbles with audience

10:00 home, feed pets

10:30 short walk with dog

11:00 bed, read, sleep, dream of a perfect day