Ninja, daredevil, kook, whatever

Thanks, Karen! Now I feel the need to explain yesterday’s random picture selection… the one of me, on the grass?  Well, give me a fraction of a millisecond and I can post it again since I am on my lightning fast new bloggie best friend.  This feature alone is worth the $800!

Ok, quiz time! 

This would be me:

a.  fallen-down drunk on some super sunny wine-y afternoon while the kids are ….hmm, where are the kids?!

b.  at my hush-hush photo shoot for Vera Wang sunglasses; you know, honestly, I felt I needed to keep it a secret since, down deep, I am a little fearful of fame.

c.  “hanging” on for dear life off the 100 foot Monk’s Mound at Cahokia Mounds last summer on a little family outing, à la Grand Canyon trick photography that apparently didn’t really come through.

Look, I found this shot, too.  Maybe this makes you second-guess your original answer? 

Well, just scroll down and the truth will be revealed. 

Hey, I just discovered a size feature on here!  Too much size?? 

Well, here’s your quiz answer in black blue and white.

No alcohol involved.  I know, you can’t believe it!

Cahokia Mounds are, in fact, near our house and very important historically.   

Check out this view of St. Louis from the top.  And with the combination of past farming and erosion, the mound is not nearly the size it was originally when built by the Mississipians a thousand years ago when this was a huge city.  Vedy, vedy intewesting stuff.  Amazing, really! But, the most memorable part for the kids that day was playing with a baby bird they found with some Hispanic kids that were there having a big party.  My mom was with us this day in May.  Here she’s holding the bird.  Julia, I know you are absolutely freaking out that we are playing with a found bird. 

Goofy pictures seemed to be in the air that day. 

 

There, that explained it? 

New Computer Test. This is only a test.

Ok, got the new computer and it’s like learning how to read and write all over again.  Except this time there’s no fat pencils, rest time, letter people, or chocolate milk in a little carton. 

Only Leo from Dell Support that, funny, doesn’t sound like a Leo. 

So, working on my own without a HinduLeo net, I find our new Windows has a blog feature, so this is a trial run on seeing if this works better than my old way.  So far, so good.  The typing is going well.

Let’s try adding a picture and see. 

OH YEAH!!!

This is good!  I just set my cursor and clicked on a picture and it added it to the right spot.  It took many more steps to do it my old way.  This blogging thing just got even easier.  Watch out!

It’s so fun and immediate, I want to try another picture.  

And another… I’m liking it!!

And here’s wishing Mom safe travels today and strength, but we all know she’s good in that department.  Never hurts to get a little extra boost sent your way, though.  (Hug)

My Big Discovery

Last post, I was telling you all about snapping pictures while we were buzzing down the road coming home after Christmas. I snapped a few of Gary sitting there in the passenger's seat beside me. In most of the pictures, he's showing the mushed up Crunch and Munch contents of his mouth, I know~~ so juvenile, but there were a few just plain hunky ones like these.

The short and serious hair, check.

Dark glasses, check.

Black mustache, check.

Mr. All Business look, check.





And then it hit me! All these years and I just realized







I am married to Travis Junior.



He's gonna have to perfect that horizontal hairline but otherwise, he's there.

All I can say is Thank Gah it ain't Jim Dangle,

although I can attest to the fact that Gary did in fact wear Dangle shorts like this. Two occasions, just off the top of my head, 1984 in High School and 1991 Current River trip. And I still have the little Current River numbers in our basement. I like to call them Proof.

Clay County Christmas

Christmas lasted about week for us this year! Here we are in Clay County on Dec 29th.

Caroline either thinks it's summer or it's Christmas in Miami?


Here's Sam's new tractor blanket. He's in there with his head tucked into the pocket designed for feet.

Ok, good, he made it out alive.

Debra has such a laugh going on here.... hmm, what could it be about? Looking cool, Bjorn.
This year we drew names for a family gift exchange with a fitness theme.

In case you didn't already know, Karen was born to run.

Grant, what's up with the pop eyes lately?
We had some happy kids.
Caroline- self portrait.

Some cool Illini stuff!

And the leather jacket from 1985 returned home to its original owner. That jacket has some real significance.

Flashback: May 1985, Gary leaving his leather scent through the halls of our high school, just days before our graduation. And yes, it was rather warm in southern Illinois by May that year.

You know how a smell can bring on a flood of memories? This jacket equals instant memory trigger of really good times some 24-25 years ago.

Aunt Debra seemed to like her SpongeBob tennis balls from Grant.

And Grandpa got his favorites, too.

Warm clothes for everybody. Or some hot cash~~thank you, Ebay.

The Snuggies made an appearance, or two.

We had a great time with lots of family fun...Qwirkle/Uno/New Year's Eve. We hung around for a few days, but then it was time to head home.

I snapped some shots to see what was going on in the back of the van, and to, you know, add some excitement to cruising a 4500 pound van down the highway while doing that pesky boring driving thing.

And then someone realized I was taking pictures.

And then Sam started singing his "My name is Dorf and you'll do what I say."

"Whoop, whoop."

Emphasis on the whoop, whoop.

Check back later to see what else was discovered on the van ride home.