How Will They Get There?
by Lynn Daniels on Thursday, June 18, 2009 at 12:12 pm
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I’ve been dying to do some writing. Not romance or women’s fiction, but I want to finish the crazy story I started during NaNoWriMo. I want to finally close out Chester & Rube. Problem is I’ve hit a wall. 
They’re close. Chester & Rube are so close to the lair of the evil Centipig, they can feel it. Centipig’s footprints are too small for giant Rube to follow, so little Chester has been wandering in what seems to be aimless circles through Thorny Thicket, following prints he hopes will end at the doorway to Centipig’s headquarters. To the place where he’s secretly plotting his coup of Feckerson Forest with the pigapedes. We’re thisclose to the big battle scene that I’ve already decided MUST end in a squish.
I know the entrance can’t look like the entrance to an evil lair. It has to be a place most critters would walk right past and never notice.
My problem is how do my heroes find this entrance without it being a total letdown? Does Chester trip over something… oh, wait. Hey, that might work. Chester trips over something and falls on his bill, his blue felt fedora goes flying. Which makes Chester mad. So after he retrieves his hat, he goes back to kick the offending object. A tree root maybe. Which they probably should have noticed since there aren’t any trees right there. But he kicks this tree root and it moves and reveals the entrance to the lair.
Hm. I should have blogged about this sooner! I can write this scene while LittleDude’s at his doctor’s appointment today.
Maybe tomorrow I’ll complain about how neither Chester nor Rube can actually get into the lair because they’re both too big…
Saturday Shot 13 JUNE 2009
by Lynn Daniels on Saturday, June 13, 2009 at 11:58 am
Just got home from a day in the mountains with the family followed by a night at the dirt track, so I’m sliding this Saturday Shot in just under the wire. It’s another photo from our recent romp at Tallulah Gorge State Park.
I seem to really be into flowers lately, and I’m not entirely sure why. Flowers and clouds. This is a closeup of a couple honeysuckle flowers — not necessarily my favorite flower, but one that has a lot of great memories attached. I remember walking home from school in the first grade and passing a wall every day covered in honeysuckle vines. I also remember stopping every day to suck on a few of the flowers.
When there weren’t any bees around, of course.
Is it any wonder I was often in trouble for taking too long to get home from school?
Saturday Shot 06 JUNE 2009
by Lynn Daniels on Sunday, June 7, 2009 at 3:35 pm
Once again, I’m a day late for the Saturday Shot. I considered just not posting, but decided a day late is better than no shot at all. Don’t you agree?
On Memorial Day, we packed up the kids and rode up to Tallulah Falls Gorge in Northeast Georgia. At it’s deepest point, it’s over 900 feet deep, and is billed as the deepest canyon east of the Mississippi. We used to walk the trails quite frequently, but had been exploring other areas in recent years. On Memorial Day, though, we thought it’d be fun to head on back.
I only brought my little camera; next time, I think I’ll be bringing Fred & George (those are the names I gave to my dSLR bodies). But even with the little camera (dubbed Oliver), I got some wonderful shots.
The sign near the lookout I got this photo from reads:
This view is of L’eau d’Or (French for “water of gold”).
Top of Tempesta Falls, and Hawthorne Cascade and Pool. Hurricane Falls Bridge loop and Staircase begins here. There are 1099 stairs total.
Gorge depth 350 feet.
I did get the regular photos of this view from the lookout, but decided I wanted something different. When I saw these flowers, I thought they might look good in the foreground. I like the way it turned out. What do you think?
Mine All Mine
by Lynn Daniels on Thursday, June 4, 2009 at 9:00 pm
A few weeks back, MiniMe came home with a permission slip, but not for a field trip. She took art her first semester this year, and her teacher was asking for permission to auction one of her pieces during the Good Arts Festival (in case you’re wondering, the name drives me insane) at the school, with all proceeds going to help fund the Art Department.
I figured What the heck. I mean, it was going for a good cause; we may as well donate it, right? Besides, I figured we’d be the ones buying the piece at auction, so we’d essentially be donating money to the school. Still — good cause.
Good Arts Festival day came. SoundGuy and I bid on her artwork in the silent auction. We wandered the school, looking at all the displays. Proud parents that we were, we returned just to look at MiniMe’s drawing, especially since we’d seen all the other offerings and we wanted to talk about how much better our daughter’s work was.
Did I mention we’re proud parents?
Anyway, we get back to MiniMe’s drawing… Somebody had outbid us! We couldn’t believe it! Not that we don’t think her artwork’s worthy (proud parents, remember?), but to be honest, I wouldn’t be bidding on the middle school artwork of some kid I didn’t know. Yet, there was somebody out there who felt differently. Somebody who didn’t share our last name, somebody who wasn’t a teacher at the school, and they had actually put in a bid on the artwork. Of course, we upped our bid and won it.
MiniMe’s pencil drawing is pictured above. Yes, I took a picture of it. As soon as we have a little extra cash, we’ll have it framed so we can hang it in our home for all to see.
Yup, it’s another proud Momma moment.
As it Comes to a Close
by Lynn Daniels on Wednesday, June 3, 2009 at 11:39 am
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I’m referring to the school year, of course. And apparently only in my county. It seems the rest of the world is already enjoying their summer break. But we aren’t yet, and the past couple weeks have been crazy, prepping for the start of summer.
This morning was MiniMe’s award ceremony. A 10am ceremony that she told me about at 7:30am. Thoughtful, isn’t she? Anyway, I just got back, and I gotta say — despite her occasional inconsideration (2-1/2 hour warning? REALLY?), I’m pretty proud of her. Admittedly, she dropped the ball in her language arts class this year, but she wasn’t the only student who had problems, so I won’t ding her too hard for that one.
She received three awards this morning. Her full year of all As & Bs on her report card won her the honor of Merit Roll. She was Honor Roll last year, but we’ll settle for Merit Roll. As long as she brings those grades back up next year. 
Her second award was Outstanding Jazz Musician in her school band. She was presented the official award, which included a plaque, at the last band concert. Still, it was nice her band director chose to honor her again in front of her entire grade.
The last award is one I’m really proud of her for. She was honored for exceeding standards on the Georgia Middle Grades Writing Assessment. During the school year, all middle grades are given a writing test. They’re to write a certain type of composition, and they’re graded in three areas on it. One student received a perfect score. MiniMe was one of a handful who scored “exceeds standards”. After the ceremony, she told me she missed perfect score in each grading area by two points. TWO POINTS! Yeah, I’m definitely proud of that one.
After the ceremony, students were sent back to class unless they were with a parent. MiniMe and all her friends gathered around me and we talked about the awards, the upcoming year in marching band, and other things. Until the principal came over and sent us to class. All of us. Me included. Until she realized her mistake. “I’m sorry,” she said. “I thought you were a student.” Of course, I thanked her profusely.
I think it was the sunglasses on my head that gave me away. 
Tomorrow morning is the awards ceremony at LittleDude’s school. Somehow, I don’t think I’ll be mistaken for a student there.
Mi Vida Loca
by Lynn Daniels on Tuesday, June 2, 2009 at 3:08 pm
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I know school is out for the summer almost everywhere else, but here in my little county in Georgia, we’re in the middle of our final week. My kids are going nuts, I’m going nuts; we’re all just ready for it to be over.
This morning, I got up like I always do. I hit the bathroom light, hit the foyer light, hit MiniMe’s light, then dragged LittleDude out of bed (literally!). I got LittleDude to his feet, walked him to the bathroom, then went back into his room and laid his clothes out for the day. When he finished brushing his teeth, I left him in his room and went back to MiniMe’s room to let her know the bathroom was free so she could start to get ready.
It’s a daily routine. I’ve done it every weekday since last August, with the exception of Fall Break, Christmas Break, Spring Break, and various holidays. But what happened next made this morning different from all other mornings.
I went back into LittleDude’s room, and there he sat. He wasn’t doing anything, just sitting there. Looking at me. At least, I think he was looking at me. Let’s just say he was looking in my direction. I say that because I couldn’t see his eyes. I couldn’t see his eyes because he had his underwear on his head.
Yes, you read that right. My son had his underwear on his head. Pulled all the way down to where the waistband was on his chin. And he was just sitting there. Patiently.
I couldn’t help it. I laughed. Called MiniMe over. “I think you’re brother’s having a little trouble this morning,” I said.
After she came over and laughed appropriately, I went into LittleDude’s room, told him to get his underwear off his head and get dressed, then settled in to read my book. That last part was a return to my routine. But LittleDude wasn’t ready to give in. He put his arms through the leg holes and wore his underwear like a dysfunctional halter top.
Lucky for me, he did finally get dressed and off to school. And he had a really good day.
Saturday Shot 30 MAY 2009
by Lynn Daniels on Sunday, May 31, 2009 at 4:18 pm
Welcome to the Saturday Shot on Sunday!
I know it’s been a while since I’ve posted — with the advent of Twitter and Facebook, I’m actually finding myself posting to the blog less. I also find myself visiting fewer blogs. I suppose everything goes in waves, and these things will be no different, right? Anyhoo, let’s get to the business at hand.
This is another photo from last year’s vacation at Yellowstone National Park. Here’s the story behind it:
It had only been three months since our accident; we’d only had Stella two months. Of course, Murphy’s Law dictates that if something was going to go wrong with the truck, it would happen while on vacation, right? Right. In accordance with the law, that’s exactly what happened. While driving through the park during a big ol’ thunderstorm, the check engine light began to glow.
The next morning, we made a few phone calls from our cabin and found a Ford dealership in Cody, Wyoming. We could have taken our normal route to Cody, which would have been back over the Chief Joseph Scenic Highway, and that would have been just fine because that’s a beautiful drive. It was also a drive we’ve seen a number of times before. Every time we come into Cooke City (our normal vacation home base) we come via the Chief Joseph. Whenever we leave Cooke City and head toward home, we do that via the Chief Joseph. So on this day, we decided upon an alternate route: The East Entrance of Yellowstone National Park.
Yes, it was a longer route, but we really didn’t care. We were on vacation, after all. Plus, that was the only entrance we’d never used. Which meant we had yet to explore that area of the park.
Along the way, we passed Sylvan Lake. There was still a tremendous amount of snow surrounding the lake, and look! It’s still partially frozen! Absolutely photo-worthy. The East Entrance of the park did not disappoint. I was, however, disappointed that we didn’t make it back over that way again for more photos. Hopefully, next time.
As promised, here’s your bonus shot — another photo of Sylvan Lake, from a different angle and converted to black & white:
We won’t be able to return to Parkadise this year, so all I’ll have to sustain me are my photographs and memories. Fingers crossed we’ll see another trip out west in the future.
In case you’re wondering — the problem with Stella was some sort of blockage, the details of which I don’t remember. While serious, it wasn’t serious enough for us to have to spend money and fix it right then. We brought the truck home and into our local dealership, where it was fixed under our service contract and cost us nothing.
Coming Soon
by Lynn Daniels on Saturday, May 30, 2009 at 11:57 pm
Big night tonight; LittleDude drove in his first race at the dirt track. He placed third in a field of six or seven go karts. SoundGuy and I are extremely proud. More details — including possible video — will be coming soon.
In the meantime, I had intended to finally return to posting to my blog with an all new Saturday shot. Unfortunately, time got away from me in preparing for the race. I’ll make it up to you tomorrow. Saturday Shot will be posted one day late, and I’ll even give you a bonus picture!
Hope you’re having a great weekend, and I’ll “see” you tomorrow.
Saturday Shot 09 MAY 2009
by Lynn Daniels on Saturday, May 9, 2009 at 8:58 am
I can’t resist. Today’s Saturday Shot is another from the Georgia Aquarium. I gotta admit, I was pretty fascinated by the alligators. Took lots of pictures of them.
It could be because this guy in particular stayed so near the plexi. He didn’t move much, yet I still enjoyed shooting him. I took full body shots. Photos like this one of his eye. Pictures of his feet. The whole time, he kinda looked like he wasn’t really enjoying it. That one eye looking at me seemed to say You are SO lucky we’re separated by this plexiglass; if it wasn’t here I would TOTALLY eat your ass.
Seriously. Look at that eye! Can’t you see it?
Now THAT’S Confidence!
by Lynn Daniels on Friday, May 8, 2009 at 2:48 pm
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This morning, SoundGuy and I took a drive up to Ellijay, GA to look at a couple go-karts. We opted to avoid the freeways, which are a pain in the ass, and keep mostly to the two-lane roads. Less traffic, prettier scenery, a win-win all the way around.
We were about halfway to our destination when we came across a bird in the center of the road munching on roadkill. The bird looked up, saw our truck approaching. Under normal circumstances, you would expect a bird with a truck bearing down on him to fly away, right? Not this one. He looked up at us and then calmly — CALMLY — strolled across the double-yellow line. Yes, he took a few slow birdie steps to the other side of the road. Not all the way across, mind you. This guy walked to just on the other side of the double yellow. And he stood there. He waited for us to pass.
Once we passed him, I couldn’t resist. I turned around and looked out the back window. And saw him CALMLY cross back over the yellow line and return to his meal.
Talk about a bird without fear! I laughed until I nearly cried. I’m still laughing. I wonder what he would have done if there was a car coming the other direction. Would he have just stood smack dab in the middle of the road?
Random Photo
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NaNoWriMo
