My Blog

Making money on the photos

Getty Images which is a major stock photo company, through Flickr, has invited 6 of my photos into their collection. Pretty cool. I am finally part of the exclusive Getty club on Flickr and have my stuff for sale on at a prestigious stock photo house. Here is my set on Flickr that shows the pictures they selected. The pool and the farm photos need property releases which I may never get. Now I can only hope someone can “buy” or license the photos I did get up there.

Hurricane Ike

Two weeks before Hurricane Ike hit Texas, it first showed up in the Atlantic and was named Ike as a storm. It was Labor Day weekend and we were over at mom and dad’s. Dad was proud of his storm and wished it would be a good one.

Well two weeks later it is was a “good” one.  The day after it hit Texas, Ike made its way to dad’s house. On Saturday the Chicago-land area got 6+ inches from TS Lowell that came from the Pacific coast. On Sunday Ike made it to the area and really dumped on NW Indiana, more so then it did in the parts of Chicago that got the 6″s of rain the day before.

According to the news, Crown Point got 10.5″ of rain! It has taken 4 days for them to open again 80/94 from the flood (just opened tonight) and pretty much the town of Munster is under water. RAW had lots of fun trying to get back home from Fort Wayne getting through NW Indiana because so many roads were closed.

Back in Crown Point, besides a lot of streets being closed, Lake Seven made up to the fence, nearly in the back yard.

Yeah dad, looks like hurricane Ike was trying to pay you a visit

RAW's new toy

Because remodeling a kitchen doesn’t keep him busy enough . RAW bought himself a 1973 MG convertible.

It is such a tiny car, my Hyundai Elantra looks like a moose next to it.

Don’t look too closely at the backyard, there is a lot of kitchen debris that still needed to be discarded. Next years project is to make an oasis out that postage stamp backyard

The Next Adventure of Whose the Man

While I was typing out my last post, Emma came down the stairs yelling, “There’s a mouse, there’s a mouse, there’s a mouse in my room.”  Since the rest of our family was in the living room, I sent one of my previous “Men,” Shawn upstairs to be “The Man.”  My son, Jeff, a certified mouse catcher (He’s never been “The Man” for me, but he did share credit in a catch for his aunt.), ran from the room to fight for the right to be “The Man”  So off they went to play the next exciting game of “Catch That Mouse!!”

Of course, I did NOT follow them to watch.  Mostly, I do not want to know where the mouse is if  neither contestant wins.  I did hear strange noises coming from upstairs.  I heard a victory shout, and down the stairs came the winner.  Jeff is “The Man!!!!”  He comes into the room with a mouse dangling by the tail.  His little paws squirming.  I had my husband take a victory picture and then he gave directions on where to release Pablo the mouse.  Jeff left the house and sprinted down the street and around the corner.  Jeff stated that he thinks Pablo was “freaked” out by the sprint.  During the run, Pablo curled into a ball.  He placed the mouse in the grass, bent down and petted the mouse and said, “You can go now.”  Jeff gets an honorable note added to this story.  After he dropped off Pablo, he was walking home when he noticed a dog had gotten loose from his owner.  He stopped a car to make sure the dog was not hurt, and helped him get back home.  Even though at some point he may not be the current title holder.  We all know he will remain honorable.

Tim also gets a mention on the subject of mice.  During the first part July, we had a strange smell in the house.  We thought there was a problem with the air conditioning.  Tim went down to check the ducts to see if they needed to be cleaned, before we tried calling someone to look at the whole system.  He found 7 dead mice in a pile.  Apparently they took the wrong road on there migration into the house and got stuck.  Unfortunately this did not solve our problem.  We still had the strange smell, and had to call someone.  We found out that we just didn’t know how to use the system correctly.  The filter system was different from anything we’ve ever had.  They just needed to be sent through the dishwasher.  I was hoping that with 7 dead mice, I wouldn’t see anymore, but it appears we are still not past our problem.  Stay tuned….

An Important Lesson for Guys and Car Salesmen.

I’m taking a moment to post a note about Michael.  Michael is now 5 years old, but is wise beyond his years.  Men and boys of every age should take note. 

A few months ago Michael started to pay compliments.  One day I came downstairs after taking my shower, and Michael came up to me and said “Mother, you smell wonderful!!”  He was very sincere with his little face smiling at me.  Makes a mothers heart warm right up.  The next day, I went to get my hair cut.  I don’t get my haircut very often, and normally when I get home, I don’t get much of a response unless I ask someone for it.  On this day, I came home and as soon as I walked in Michael came up to me and exclaimed, “Mother, your beautiful!!”  This earned my son, BIG hugs, and a hearty “Thank you, Michael!” 

Compliments became a normal part of Michael’s day.   He not only regularly complimented me, but I noticed that his Aunt Pam and his sisters recieved compliments as well.  I thought to myself, “Wow, Micheal will have no problems getting the girls.”  I also thought that Michael could teach my older boys a thing or two.  I mentioned this to my oldest son (Jeff) and he told me that he was not going to follow Michael.  I told him I didn’t think that was too smart.  He told me that he already told his track friends that Michael was a player and a babe magnet.  So maybe Jeff wasn’t too dumb after all.

Last week I was sick.  I woke up, feeling horrible.  I got up, called my work to let them know that I wouldn’t be in, and then went back to bed.  Michael came in and asked me if I was going to work.  I told him I was not feeling well and that I would be staying in bed.  He left quietly.  A few hours later, he came back to ask if I was feeling well.  I told him that I was still feeling terrible.  He told me that maybe I should drink some water.  I told his I would get some water later.  He left the room.  About 30 later, he came back in carrying a plastic cup filled with water.   It wasn’t just warm tap water.  No, he went into the fridge and made sure I had cold water.  The water didn’t make me feel better, but the thought sure did.  As soon as I took a drink, he was ready to take my cup.  I told him not to worry about the cup, that I would save the rest of the water.  A few hours later, Michael came back into my room and told me that I should have something to eat.  Since I was feeling a little better, I asked him to go tell his sister (Sarah) to make me toast.  He left and came back a few minutes later.  “Mom, do you want one piece or two?”  I said, “Two.”  He left and came back.  “What do you want on your toast?”  I said, “Butter.”  He left and came back.  “There is no butter.”  “Tell Sarah to use stick butter.”  Out he goes, and a few minutes later, in comes my youngest daughter (Emma) carrying my toast.  She said, “Michael thought you would like to see Sarah or me.”  So I ate my toast and went back to sleep.  When I woke up, Michael came in again to ask how I was feeling.  I told him I was feeling much better.  He told me he was going downstairs to turn on the TV and put on the Olympics for me, so that I could come downstairs.  I told him I would be down a little later.  After about 30 minutes, I got the energy to go downstairs and see what every was up to.  I walked into the living room and there was Michael sitting on the couch waiting for me with a previously recorded showing of the Olympics running on the TV.

Now doesn’t that story just make you want to want to coo “OHHHHHH!!”?  You may also be wondering what this has to do with Car Salesmen.  Well, his compliments are still wonderful.  I get a daily statement of “Mother, I hope your first call is wonderful.”  At first his compliments were heartfelt, and most of them still are, but just recently I feel they are taking a more calculated turn.  Micheal’s Aunt Pam came in the house and I heard Michael say “Hellllo Beautiful.”  I heard that and thought, well, he’ll get the girl and sell a lot of cars. Of course, I can always hope that maybe he’ll be a doctor with a wonderful beside manner and a great girl.

4th of July weekend

Pam, Shelby, Cindy and Tim took the opportunity on the 4th of July weekend to leave mom with 9 kids and get a room at the Radison Hotel. I obviously wasn’t going to be a 5th wheel on their get away but I did go to dinner with them and check out their room. They had Sleep Number beds. You know we are all getting old if this was excitement. We all took note of our sleep number. I think mine was about 40.

Walking down the hall to get to their room we see a guy walking down the hall with crazy hair. I didn’t connect that it could possibly be Weird Al since he was playing at the Holiday Star theater that night. As we turn the corner, Cindy said, that’s Weird Al. Shelby ran back down the hall after Al and said “Al”. He turned around and Shelby got a few pictures of him. And me without my camera. I got to start carrying that thing all the time with me again.

Boy was Will jealous, he is a big Weird Al fan.

Tim, just so you know….

this web page does LOVE you

Lets try this again

Once upon a time I put together a simple family news blog. I got the sibs set up and we were on our way. Then my web site host hosed that blog so I am now starting over.

This is my test post.

I will get in the months worth of posts from the ill fated previous blog. They will be republished on their original dates.

Whose the man!!?

I have a problem in my new (used) home. I have mice. It started when Emma woke up one day for school and ran into my room to let me know there was a dead mouse in her room. This is not the most pleasant way to start the day. I grabbed the broom and went to collect the recently departed. Since Jax (our cat) has never caught a mouse before, and since the mouse was not chewed, we figures there was just a freak circus accident. I swept the mouse and the incident aside and didn’t think about it again. UNTIL…

The day after Easter, everyone had the day off, except me. I was sitting at my desk (for anyone who doesn’t know me, I work from home) taking my 15 minute afternoon break. I was reading my book and felt something tickling my toe. I looked down and screamed my lungs out. There was a mouse chewing on my toe. I thought for sure this would bring someone to my assistance. Nope. I had to yell for Tim, my husband. Who came running to my rescue. There sitting under my chair was a baby mouse. He called for my son, Jeff. They caught the mouse in a rubber maid container with a slightly curved lid and proceeded to scoot it out of the office, so that I could go back to work. I was very proud of them for saving me from the mouse, until my son came in and said, “It wasn’t my fault.” and quickly left the room. When my husband came in, he told me that they had lost the mouse. He also told me not to worry because they had chased it out of my bedroom and into Sarah and Emma’s room. The door was then shut, with the cat on the inside. Eventually we had to let the cat out, the mouse had won that round.

A few weeks later or mouse problem reappeared. Again, I was working, and noticed a mouse walking toward my desk. My original hero’s, or almost hero’s, my husband and Jeff were not home, but my nephew Shawn was. I called him in and asked if he was brave. He said he was, and proceeded to catch the mouse by the tail. No rubber maid for him!! He then escorted the mouse out of the house. I sent my husband an email titled “Shawn’s the man!!” The next day, I wake up to Sarah telling me that Jax caught another mouse. This time it was no freak circus accident. There was a big blood spot on Emma’s sweatshirt. Sarah was responsible for clean up this time. I sent time a new email titled – ”Jax is the man!!”

During my break that day, I went to get the mail, and noticed a dead mouse sitting under our tree in the front yard. I was upset with Sarah for not bagging the mouse, and for just throwing him out the front door. When she came home, I told her I was not happy. She said that was not her mouse. She put hers in a bag in the garbage. I think this was the mouse that Shawn caught. I think it got too cold, and he froze. So three mouse dead. Unfortunately, I know that this is not the end of the story, because at lunch the next day, another baby mouse and I had a staring contest in the kitchen. I sent out a new email titled – “Where’s the man?” I am so NOT Happy about this. Jeff has decided that this is a mexican mouse family, he wants to catch Pablo and keep him for a pet, I hoping the cat gets him first. Stay tuned for the next exciting adventure….

We finally started our kitchen….

well sort of. We spent 3 hours with a kitchen designer on Friday to establish what we want. The guy comes on Wednesday to do a fine measure then we go from there. It isn’t cheap but it seems to still be within budget. Now RAW has 3 weeks to do that darn floor.