Tag Archive | Self-portrait

It’s Sunday

And that means Self Portrait Sunday! If you want to participate, grab the button, click a pic, and link it back here.

Back in, what was it? 2008? When I started this meme, I was a regular church attender. That’s pretty much why I chose Sunday–it was the one day of the week I was pretty much guaranteed to be dressed and “fixed.” Well, I don’t do church anymore, but I’m sticking with Sundays anyway. Just be prepared for whatever you get, because you might get “real,” like today. And also, just throwing it out there, I was doing selfies before selfies were cool.

I took this picture right after meditation. Looking at it, it is fairly obvious why I have been having so much trouble with my shoulder. Even accounting for the lifted arm to snap the pic, shoulders do not belong this close to ears. Even in meditation time, I can’t let it go. I’m noticing that I am having a hard time sitting still, my breathing is way too shallow, and even a half lotus is out of the question. Girl be stiff. Out of practice in my practice. But I’m there. I’m doing it. I’m assuming the results will come, as they have before. It’s funny. When I start to get stressed, meditation flies out the window. I spend the time stewing over whatever is on my mind instead. Ruminating, we call that. It’s not a good thing because it is focusing on problems instead of solutions.

Anyway. I know you have seen this particular spot in my home several times. It is one of my favorites, and stoves (my other favorite spot) are not very photogenic. Still, you haven’t seen ME in this spot before, and I thought it was time. This is the one spot in my home that is always guaranteed to be CLEAN. Nobody EVER lays anything on it, except me. And I only put things there intentionally. I can clear my kitchen table, and as soon as I am through someone walks in the door and lays something on it. I can wash all the dishes, and someone is going to need a drink of water. I can catch up the laundry and there they are, wearing more clothes and refusing to be naked. But this…this is mine. The only thing I don’t like about it is that it is right by the bathroom door, and no one has joined me there since I moved it. They can’t see me there, because it’s on the other side of the bed, and the bed is taller than my sitting self. When it was on the other side of my bedroom, I would get an occasional child guest, still and quiet and cuddly. When I move and set it up again, the sitting place will be more out. Still in a quiet corner, but visible and available to everyone in the house.

OH SNAP. See, sometimes rambling on and on is not a bad thing. I just realized that the spot where the Christmas tree now stands is exactly the right size for this. Of course, it’s also in the main traffic pattern to the living room. Still. I’m thinking. It might happen. If I can figure out how it would even work to try zazen with the television on and the verbal sparring in the background and…..yeah, maybe not. But. Maybe I can find a way to bring it back to the other side of my bedroom.

Yeah, yeah, I know I was in the middle of a series of goal posts. You can expect that to resume tomorrow. It takes time to think these things through.

SPS 7/11/2010

Jul11

Me on my first “Artist’s Date”.

I had such a good time. I took me shopping and bought organizer bins for the cubbies in my room, a storage ottoman for my room, 6 count them SIX books, a ball of ridiculous yarn suitable only for making That One a hat, a vanity box and some hair bobs. And ice cream for dinner!!!

I went places I don’t normally go, Target and Mayfaire. Those aren’t steel buildings behind me, as you can see, but the nice facade of some fancy pants store. Mayfaire is a neat, neat place. Lots of specialty shops, a huge theater and apartments above all the stores. If I were single and as young as I look in this picture, I could so see me living there. Oh yeah, and rich. Mayfaire is spendy, people.

So tell me, how have you been good to yourself lately?

June 23-27 Mostly About People

Jul1

This set of pictures is a little different from most I publish. Usually I show you pictures of things, and not very many faces. This time, it’s the opposite. Lots of faces I love and only one thing. Well, two, but one of them has my face under it.

June 23 Stuntman just because we were sitting and chatting.

June 24 Diva on her birthday

June 25 Lots of Books Somebody has a lot of reviews to write, and that someone is me. I pulled them all out to work on and stacked them ever so neatly on the bed. And then I didn’t get to them. When bedtime rolled around, I had to move them to the floor. Since that time, I have managed to review a couple of them, but I still have quite a stack. No, this is NOT the time for ya’ll to start sending subliminal “sell books” messages. Aint gonna happen.

June 26 New Hat That One picked this up for me on his travels this week. It makes a nice driving hat. On the way up to to Polkton, it kept my frizzed out hair out of my face, and on the way back, it preserved my small and curly hair from being blown about. I never realized a hat could actually protect your hair as well as hide it. Yay for hats!

June 27 Baby You’ve seen this one before, but it’s worth a repeat.

Holy Crap! Will you look at that?

Jun27

This, ladies and gentlemen, is a Whi-Fro. There can be no other word for it. And it is how my hair looked at approximately 7pm on Friday, June 25th.

Go ahead! I DARE you to show me your worst hair.

May 31-June 4 Flowers, Friends and Me

Jun18

May 31 Migraine Medicine On this, the 3rd day of my unsister induced migraine, I attempted a cure. The headache did not go away, but the ice cream sure was good! And easier to swallow that prenate vitamins with dha.

June 1 Day FOUR Yeah, on this day, the headache was still there, only worse. My options were to call in or wear shades all day. I opted for shades, but I had to repeatedly prove that I wasn’t hungover. The day with shades did help with the headache, and talking to Mama did away with the rest of it. Of course, the 1,600 mg of naproxen sodium I took throughout the day probably helped, too. And made me sleep like a baby, to boot.

June 2 Diva Gets A Phone Which was supposed to be for her birthday, but she did all the things she had to do to earn it and That One is a sucker for a pretty face.

June 3 Nope I didn’t buy this one, even though I love purple. It just wasn’t my look.

June 4 That One and Micheal This is absolutely one of my favorite pictures. That One rode in on his white horse and fixed the water for us, and here he is shown in the closet, pausing to explain things to Micheal and I. By that time, we’d been without running water at all for a couple-three days because of the stupid glue issue. What makes this a favorite, besides the fact that I love the people in it, is the memory associated with it.

That One and I were bantering back and forth as we usually do when we are together, laughing and joking and playing off one another. We are somewhat like Abbott and Costello or Punch and Judy, or whatever. Maybe a barrel of monkeys??? Anyway, at one point Micheal was looking back and forth and back and forth as we were horsing around and he said, “You guys are different……you’re like…….younger.” And we looked at him and laughed and said “yeah.” Because, somehow, together, we are still about 16. This is my friend.

May 6-10 Time for more pictures

Jun4

May 6 Restful I really like this picture. I was sitting on the retaining wall at the ballpark, leaning against the built in post, enjoying the feel of the evening sun, relaxing, thinking of everything and nothing, cat-like in my solitude, surrounded by people. It was just very pleasant, right up until my neck cramped from the angle, rofl! Sometimes when life gets hectic, the thing I miss the most is the quiet pleasure of my own company.

May 7 Ouch This part of the day was no fun. I was mending hoses at work, using the pruners as a screwdriver to tighten the clamps, when they slipped and gouged a hole in my thumb. I was not impressed.

May 8 CAMP!! No picture, because I am lame. We woke up early and hit the road for Jones Lake State Park. It was a quickie trip, but really fun. No ab workouts, but plenty of laughing and time in the water.

May 9 Breakfast That One did all the cooking while we camped. Fire is, apparently, man work. Although I am going to note that he did allow, nay, encourage, me to make coffee. Which I did. Let me ask you something. How long do you reckon it takes to fry 3 pounds of bacon and 2 dozen eggs on a 9×18 inch griddle surface over a gas grill? Yeah, a really long time. I’m thinking the meal lasted an hour and a half, from the time we served the babies until the two of us finished eating around 11:30. And then? Then, they had the nerve to ask about lunch! We bought them off with a trek to the lake, and had dinner around 5 instead.

New rule: camp means two meals a day, not three.
Bonus: I got to spend Mother’s Day hanging out in a stress free environment with my kids and that boy I like…somewhat.

May 10 Perpetual Flowers This is a gift from That One, I’m not real sure if he meant it for Mother’s Day or not, or if it was coincidental. When he gave it to me, he said that I always talked about people killing my plants at work, and here were some that wouldn’t die. Awwwwwwwww.

May 1-May 5 At least we are now in the current month!

May27

Picture-wise at least! For today. I know you came here thinking I’d be talking about force factor, but you are wrong. I am going to talk about pictures, instead.

May 1 My other new hat I am totally buying this one, too. On Saturday, it shall be mine. And I will be wearing a hat and ridiculous shoes to church on Sunday. Period. Because I can rock a hat and the pictures prove it.

May 2 Do they make this in Hot Wheels? Cause, this truck, it is totally suh-weet, and I want one.

May 3 Oops Sometimes it happens.

May 4 Grandmother’s rose is blooming This is the rose bush in my yard. I planted it in honor of Grandmother the summer after she died. Interestingly enough, I woke up Christmas morning to find one perfect bloom at the very top of it. But this picture is actually from like, 3 weeks ago, just like the date says. I didn’t snap the other one. When I took this, there were actually 5 roses on the bush, all fully opened and stunning. Which I know doesn’t sound like a lot, but there are still only 2 real stems on my “bush”.

May 5 Butterfly Again, I shoot what I see, and on this day, I saw an orange butterfly on a very red car and it amused me.

April 26-30 I Should Post Some More Pictures

May27

Geez, am I ever gonna be caught up catching up? Apparently, this week was mostly about me. Three of the five pictures are of myself. It’s kind of interesting that the better I feel emotionally, the more often I am willing to take pictures of myself. Not surprising, but lots of things that one understands on a knowledge level are interesting when applied on a personal level. Let’s hope that all these self portraits don’t leave me wishing I had purchased the extended service plan for my crackberry.

April 26 Silly Me I just love this picture. I snapped it to make That One smile, because he was having a rough day. Those of you who are friends on facebook will recognize it. And by the way, I decided last night that I am totally buying this hat, if it’s still at the store. And also another one, which I haven’t shown you yet. Time to live some dreams, people!

April 27 Crafty Me I finished another hat. I was sure this one would be too small for him, but knitting stretches. Apparently, it stretches a lot.

April 28 Amish Cockscomb I think I spelled this right. Correct me if I am wrong, please. My Grandmother used to grow this in her flowerbeds, always red. This year, for the very first time, I saw it in other colors: this light pink, and also in cream. I wonder if the other colors have always existed, or if they have engineered them through selective breeding. Err, selective cross-pollination. Err, screwing with nature.

April 29 Working Me Yes, this is what I look like out in the garden shop. It’s not quite fashionable, I know. But so far, my crow’s feet aren’t any deeper, my face is still white, and my hair in undamaged. I’ll take it.

April 30 Leeeeezard! Yet another lizard. Hey, I shoot what I see, k? K.

And, yay, a post without drama!

Midlife Musings

Reflections on life from 50-something