Photo Dump V.4

Again, I've spent too much time away from this place.  There have been so many times I've sat down to blog only to think.. I don't have much to say.  Today, is no different.  I don't have too much to say but I can show you what I've been up to over on Instagram.  I have been taking, at least, one picture a day and posting to my Instagram feed.

I've become almost obsessed with taking these electric tower pictures.  I've never noticed how many I have around my immediate neighborhood.  All of these were taken within less than 2 miles from my house.  I just think there is so much beauty in the simple architecture of these towers.  

Every now and then I do realize it's 8pm and I haven't grabbed one shot for the day!  Usually that will happen if it's a rainy, cloudy day.  In those situations, I scan my phone gallery and hope I can stumble on a picture I may have forgotten to post.  That was the case with the upper right picture.  It is a left over shot from the Demon's confirmation.  I'm glad I found it!

The Demon and I spent Friday the 13th exploring a local cemetery (lower left).  I can't wait until I finally upload and edit all the pictures I took from that afternoon.  There is something about cemeteries that I find so peacefully beautiful.  I really find such comfort walking the grounds and appreciating the time that must have been spent on some of the large headstones.  I am so glad we finally went.  I want to make it a goal of mine to visit more local cemeteries, especially this Fall.  The changing leaves as a backdrop.... love it!

Enjoy your Wednesday!

my week(s) on instagram.

01.  {street}

02.  i love taking empty track pics.  that usually means i've not been waiting around for a stupid train. :)

03.  {an ordinary moment}

04.  {paper}

05.  mao has an unhealthy relationship with wanting to eat my iPod.

06.  we spent a rainy day at children's filled with check ups.

07.  the demon and i took a walk and i went photo crazy.

08.  this dog STINKS.  thankfully, he is getting groomed next week and the following week his teeth will be cleaned.

09.  {stripes}  

i haven't been as regular with posting these recaps as i would like and i have no other excuse but i'm forgetful.  

i hope everyone has enjoyed their weekend.  i have a day ahead of me filled with laundry a watching my DVD set of Harper's Island.  fantastic day!  i'm not looking forward to heading back to work tomorrow.. we're crazy busy!

top ten v.21

wow!  it's been over 2 months since i've posted a top ten.  besides that, it's been a couple days since i've posted at all.  so.. let's see what i've been doing since last checking in here.

01.  the demon wants to start a little instagram "project".  he wants to take gumby and/or pokey and stage them in funny random pictures.   

02.  we spent last friday running around to various doctor appointments.  our first stop was children's hospital.  i saw these big letters - indicating the different parking areas - and thought they were pretty cool.  he first saw the surgeon and then GI.  thankfully, he was checked out and everyone is happy with where he is right now!  we stick with what we're doing and return in a few months.

03.  our last stop of the day was a trip to the oral surgeon.  the demon has to have braces ASAP and he has 9 "baby" teeth in the way.  he also has an impacted canine - and he's freaking out about the whole situation.  nothing i can say can ease his worries.

04.  i spent the rest of the day/evening friday cuddling with this monster.  he's so cute!

05.  the demon came to visit (grab a video game to take back down to his dad's house) and scared the bejeezus out of me! 

06.  i've avoided trains.

07.  i've found faces in strange places.

08.  we've had some couch cuddle time.  

09.  i've napped!

10.  because we had a stupid warm weekend (last weekend) we ran into some drying issues with my basement.  it's almost finished and once it's organize i will post some after photos!

enjoy your tuesday... i'm about 3 days late for dying my hair!

my week on instagram

01.  i knew mc donald's was being stingy!

02.  trains!

03.  another prompt was "tree".  i see this tree everyday at work - i love it more when it's bare.

04.  the jeep was the subject for the "vehicle" prompt.

05.  my brother and i were shopping and i told him of my "big" prompt.  he quickly said "big blue balls."

06.  truck!  

07.  this horrible christmas sweater caught my eye.  i almost bought it to just have my picture taken wearing it.

08.  this freakin' train was stopped...blocking 4 lanes of traffic.

01.  i finally set the tree up and, since it's new, had to "fluff" it a ton.

02.  "on the wall" led me to these two pictures that we've had hanging on the wall for as long as i can remember.

03.  december #fmsphotoaday !  i think you all should join in on the fun.

04.  Mao.. he's still doing great!

05.  i am loving my new christmas tree.  it reminds me of the tree we had growing up.

06.  the 12/1 prompt was 8 o'clock.  i just had to grab the pic with the tree in the background.

i've been really trying to post more on instagram.  i love looking back at my pictures and remembering the moment.  i hope everyone is enjoying their sunday.  what's on tap for me?  laundry, bengals, decorating my tree and setting up and decorating grannie's tree.  have i mentioned, i strongly dislike (i probably shouldn't use "hate" to describe) setting up christmas trees?!?!?  well, now i have. 

my week on instagram

well, we did it.  we got through thanksgiving.  the day was filled with lots of people watching at cracker barrel, a bunch of yummy foods, and loads of laughs.  i love browsing the country store as we wait to get our seat.  i refrained from buying anything!  a big win when it comes to me and my impulsive shopping ways.

i found myself taking more pictures this week..so let's see!

01.  my hair is getting crazy long!

02.  as soon as we walked out of the house last tuesday i noticed how beautiful the sky was and had to snap this shot.

03.  i've been reading Thirteen Reasons Why.  it's a great book- but it's been difficult for me to follow the style of writing.  (silly when you consider it's meant for teens!)  the demon asked for this book for his birthday and i wanted to read it first.  

04.  the demon made me a new thanksgiving turkey!  i love these and i regret not having him do one each year.

05.  spike!

06.  this was our thanksgiving day picture.  i've been wanting to get a picture with the both of us for awhile.

07.  freakin' trains.

08 & 09.  some of the goodies i saw as we waited for our names to be called at Cracker Barrel.

01.  one of the prompts for #fmsphotoaday was "awesome".  what's more awesome than a new pair of sunglasses?

02.  the beast and i had dentist appointments on friday and the demon was bored.  i looked over at him trying to get comfortable to take a nap.

03.  spike!  (again... trying to avoid the camera)

04.  the demon had a check up at the dr's office and he was sleepy.

05.  the two of us having some camera fun while waiting for said doctor appointment.

06.  i've been trying a different look with the part in my hair... it's not easy trying to "retrain" your hair!

07&09.  the beautiful trees that are on display in the store at Cracker Barrel.

08.  the demon pretending to be asleep.. we both love lazy saturdays.

i hope everyone has had a great week.  it's back to work tomorrow.  i suppose i should start thinking about christmas shopping and decorating the house?

my week on instagram.

We had such a great time at the farm yesterday.  I can't wait to post some of the pictures.  Last week was filled with nature, beautifully perfect Autumn weather, some Halloween goodness, and of course.. trains.

I hope everyone is enjoying their Sunday.  Soon, I am returning the Beast to his home and the Demon and I will resume our regularly scheduled Sunday programming.  Programming that consists of laundry, cleaning house and preparing for the week. 

i'm lazy.

yeah, yeah.  i never posted about our outing on the thursday during our vacation.  i will get to it but i took a crap ton of pictures that afternoon and have yet to finish editing.  because of my total laziness, you all get random pictures i've taken over the last few weeks (with my cell)  that i thought were worthy enough to post on their own with not too much explanation.

and of course, a random picture blog would be incomplete without a train shot!

my sincere hope is to finish editing and post about our COSI trip tomorrow. enjoy your monday!

the funny faces of b-ball.

source

see the face of the best basketball player ever?!

anyone that's ever seen him play has also seen "the tongue".

source

i'm thinking there's something to this whole "funny basketball shooting face" thing.

now, maybe if the boys can master this whole  "crazy legs while shooting hoops" thing.. they too can be as great at basketball as  

the michael jordan!

enjoy your weekend.

oh, before i forget... it's been a few days since i've "trained" ya'll.

just the tracks.

it's strange.  

since i made this post, i have only seen one train - and - i only caught the tail end of that one.  

therefore, this is what you get today.

not gonna lie, even though i could obviously see there was no train in sight, stopping on these tracks to snap this shot had me feeling totally paranoid!  like, out of the clear blue a train would appear and i'd be obliterated.

don't try this at home kids.

i don't have too much to say today.. i'm feeling the funk a bit.  

enjoy your weekend!

splish splash.

it's been a year since we've all been to the water park section of Kings Island.  because of the demon's surgeries we didn't go at all last summer.  the park did a lot of work on this part of the park.  there are new water attractions and a whole new wave pool! the above picture is from our first trip.  

after the first trip i was pretty sunburned - especially my back.  we decided on sunday that we would shell out the money for a cabana and i can't explain how much i appreciated the shade.  it was the first time we splurged and it was well worth it if for no other reason than it was crazy packed.  reserving the cabana guaranteed that we'd have chairs, tables and basic personal space.

i love the above picture!  i could have done without the weird border but that's what is standard with the "retro camera" app on my phone.  eh.  this was taken as i was lounging in the shade.

i think it's safe to say that the boys enjoyed themselves...

finally, i went to walgreens, the day before our first trip, in search of a small, handheld fan.  unfortunately, they had none and the only smallish fan that they did have was $10!  i caved and purchased the fan and couldn't be happier at my decision.  

i don't know how i ever lived through a water park visit without this little gem...

seriously.  i may even take this thing with me on normal trips to kings island on those extra hot days.  it's wonderful.  if you don't have one of these water fan things, you have no idea what you're missing!

pssst... another train picture.  this one was a last minute decision.  i wasn't the first in line for this train so i figured it would be extra hard to grab a shot.  this was the best i could get...

better late than never?!

as promised, albeit late, here are some recent pool pictures.

this is how the demon spends a lot of his time in the pool.  he is tossing the ball on the roof.  why he enjoys doing this, i have no idea.. but it keeps him outta trouble.

soon, the beast joined in the fun.

i assume the roof has been turned into a "basket" and as the ball comes down from the roof the boys fight for the rebound.  again, it keeps 'em outta trouble.

and no summer in the pool can be considered complete until i get the standard "handstand shot".  after many failed attempts, this was the best shot i could get. 

as we were going to the pool store for the third time, in as many days, i was stuck by another.freaking.train.  it was then that i realized.. if i took a shot of every train that stops me throughout my week, i wonder if i would have enough train pictures to post a random train one in every post....

maybe i'll try that challenge sometime soon!

trains, trains & trains.

it never fails.  if you live anywhere around where i do and have any intention of making it to an appointment on time, be prepared to leave early.  very early.  yesterday we were leaving a doctor appointment and going to grab a bite to eat.  thankfully we didn't have a deadline to hit taco bell. as soon as we get on our way the freakin' train bar goes down.. we were first in line so i took the opportunity to snap a few a lot of pictures.  as soon as i saw the different graffiti i knew that's what i wanted to focus my attention to.... 

enjoy!

i know they aren't the best pictures but that's what ya get with my phone.  i think i've said it before but i firmly believe that it should be mandatory that each train car have some form of art plastered on the side.  not only would it give people a job, but,  it would also make me smile when the train bar starts to go down down...instead of sigh, moan and groan "ugggh, not another train!!"