Discarded (59/365)

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“All discarded lovers should be given a second chance, but with somebody else.”
~ Mae West

TIME: 10:00 AM
PLACE: Home Sweet Home
SUBJECT: Discarded

I am always fascinated with our society's ability to just discard items ... and sometimes people. I look at this tricycle and think about how excited the little girl must have been the day she first saw it. Was it her birthday? Did she pick flowers and put them in the basket?

And now it has been left in the far corner of a backyard, rusting and forgotten.

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Angel Food (58/365)

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“When angels visit us, we do not hear the rustle of wings, nor feel the feathery touch of the breast of a dove; but we know their presence by the love they create in our hearts.”
~ Unknown

TIME: 10:30 AM
PLACE: Home Sweet Home
SUBJECT: Angel Food Ministries

As many of you know, I have been struggling with what they now call "food insecurity" - or what I like to call "Where in the hell am I going to find money to feed my kid." It's getting better as I figure out my monthly budget, but if something unexpected turns up (like a deer runs into my car, or Cam needs oboe reeds) I'm in trouble.

I recently found Angel Food Ministries - a non-profit, non-denominational organization dedicated to providing food relief to communities throughout the U.S. There are no qualifications, minimums, income restrictions, or applications. They use their national buying power, and minimal overhead expenses, to allow people like me purchase what you see in this photo ... for $30.

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Curtain (57/365)

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“My greatest trouble is getting the curtain up and down.”
~ T.S. Eliot

TIME: 7:30 AM
PLACE: Home Sweet Home
SUBJECT: Curtain

I picked these curtains up last weekend and although they might look like ordinary kitchen curtains, they really are more than that. They represent progress. The progress of now having only two windows covered with bedsheets and thumbtacks. The progress of starting over. The progress of making a safe home for Cam and me.

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Friends (56/365)

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“The best things in life come in threes, like friends, dreams, and memories.”
~Unknown

TIME: 4:00 PM
PLACE: Portillo's
SUBJECT: Friends

I have had the pleasure ... no ... the privilege ... of meeting several blogging friends over the past years. Today I added three more notches to my bedpost. I feel like I've known all three of these people for years, and in a sense I have, but meeting them face was a gift - a much needed gift! Thank you Burl, Annie and Kim!

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Reflection (55/365)

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“The beginning of love is to let those we love be perfectly themselves, and not to twist them to fit our own image. Otherwise we love only the reflection of ourselves we find in them.”
~ Thomas Merton

TIME: 7:30 PM
PLACE: Church
SUBJECT: Reflection

We have an art wall in the church that is pretty amazing. Everything is done by church members and they change the display about every two months. I was noticing tonight, as I was looking out the window to see just how much snow we were getting (again), that the reflection was quite amazing. I was a little surprised I was actually able to capture it!

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Hi-Fi (54/365)

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“The people recognize themselves in their commodities; they find their soul in their automobile, hi-fi set, split-level home, kitchen equipment.”
~ Herbert Marcuse

TIME: 7:30 PM
PLACE: Home Sweet Home
SUBJECT: Hi-Fi

Well, he might not have the automobile, the split-level home, or the kitchen equipment, but Cam can now recognize himself in his hi-fi! My son is all about the music. His iPod is filled with Rap, Hip-Hop and R & B with a spattering of 80's rock (he's a huge Journey and Ozzy Osbourne fan), classical and contemporary Christian (which he usually listens to every morning) thrown in for good measure.

Cam's 14th birthday is Monday, and grandma sent a birthday check. I promised Cam I'd match whatever grandma sent (*note to self* remind my mother that she is on a fixed income 'cause she about broke me this year) and he knew EXACTLY what grandma needed to send so that he could pick up this Sony System. It sounds great, even when it's playing Maxwell.

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Snow (53/365)

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“To appreciate the beauty of a snow flake, it is necessary to stand out in the cold.”
~ Unknown

TIME: 7:00 AM
PLACE: Podunk Illinois
SUBJECT: Snow

No, we're not done with the snow yet. We were expecting 6"-8" last night, and Cam was counting on a snow day. Neither happened, but it was a beautiful, heavy snow that held on to everything it touched.

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Bench (52/365)

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“Love is what makes two people sit in the middle of a bench
when there is plenty of room at both ends”
~Unknown

TIME: 8:30 AM
PLACE: Podunk v2 Illinois
SUBJECT: Bench

I love trains, and The Milwaukee Road Depot and Museum lives in Podunk v2. This is a small museum - a single building - a single caboose parked outside - but this passenger-freight depot was a cornerstone in the development of Podunk and Podunk v2 in the late 1800's and early 1900's. This bench sits outside the museum.

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Glasses (51/365)

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“Words, like glasses, obscure everything which they do not make clear.”
~ Joseph Joubert

TIME: 4:45 PM
PLACE: Home Sweet Home
SUBJECT: Glasses

On the weekends, I do my best to be nothing like I am during the week. I seldom wear make-up. I take out my contacts and throw on my glasses. I wear mismatched sweats. I don't wear a bra. Sometimes I don't even take a shower. I become somewhat of a recluse. This is how I recharge so that I can spend Monday through Friday being the person everyone expects me to be.

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Alcohol (50/365)

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Everybody should believe in something; I believe I'll have another drink.
~Author Unknown

TIME: 5:30 PM
PLACE: Home Sweet Home
SUBJECT: Alcohol

Although I might elude to drinking frequently, the truth is that seldom do I have the freedom to just let loose. I've always felt that my first responsibility is to be here - 100% - for Cam, and I can't do that if I'm drunk.

Tonight? Cam is spending the night with a friend ... and I'm hitting the trifecta!

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Trash (49/365)

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“Marriage is not just spiritual communion and passionate embraces; marriage is also three meals a day, sharing the workload and remembering to carry out the trash”
~ Dr. Joyce Brothers

TIME: 12:00 PM
PLACE: Podunk Illinois
SUBJECT: Trash

Thursday is trash day in Podunk. The streets are lined with the green containers on wheels - a village mandate for all homeowners!

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Gas (48/365)

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“Kilometers are shorter than miles. Save gas, take your next trip in kilometers.”
~ George Carlin

TIME: 6:30 PM
PLACE: Podunk Illinois
SUBJECT: Gas

We have several interesting businesses in town. A few of them have come in trying to make this one of those kitschy small towns that folks flock to in the summer. They've never been able to convince the "old timers" that there was any benefit to that and get very little local support. Randy owns Ross' Gas Pump Garage - a business that buys, refurbishes and sells old gas station signage and pumps. He has some amazing stuff and one of the most interesting storefronts on the main drag.

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Froth (47/365)

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“Life is mostly froth and bubble, Two things stand like stone,
Kindness in another's trouble, Courage in your own”
~ Adam Lindsay Gordon

TIME: 1:00 PM
PLACE: Cubicle Hell
SUBJECT: Froth

Maybe I'm just ready for winter to end, but when I looked at the pile of plowed snow in the parking lot, melted by sun and wind, I could almost smell the froth of the ocean!

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Melting (46/365)

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“Begin doing what you want to do now. We are not living in eternity. We have only this moment, sparkling like a star in our hand-and melting like a snowflake...”
~ Francis Bacon, Sr.

TIME: 12:30 PM
PLACE: Home Sweet Home
SUBJECT: Melting

For a few hours, before the flakes began again, there was a hint of the spring thaw.

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Basket (45/365)

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“Amazing, isn't it, how some see the basket half empty and others see it half full? Some see life hopeless, some hopeful. Even when things are less than perfect, if you can think of the good, the beautiful, the hopeful, you'll be more than sustained,”
~ Unknown

TIME: 9:15 AM
PLACE: Laundromat
SUBJECT: Basket

The Podunk v2 laundromat has ten of these baskets. Is it odd that I have an enormous amount of appreciation for the functionality of such a simple object?

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Feed (44/365)

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“There is always something to do. There are hungry people to feed, naked people to clothe, sick people to comfort and make well. And while I don't expect you to save the world I do think it's not asking too much for you to love those with whom you sleep, share the happiness of those whom you call friend, engage those among you who are visionary and remove from your live those who offer you depression, despair and disrespect.”
~ Nikki Giovanni

TIME: 1:00PM
PLACE: Ginger Creek Church
SUBJECT: Serving

Cam and I volunteer, in some capacity, at least once a month. Today we traveled to Ginger Creek Church in Aurora, IL where we participated in a food packaging project for Feed My Starving Children. 18,000 children across he world die each day from starvation. Cam and I do these projects because we know that wearing a hairnet for two hours while scooping rice, soy, dehydrated vegetables and a vitamin/mineral/vegetarian chicken flavoring into a bag, does make a difference.

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Plug (43/365)

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“Electricity can be dangerous. My nephew tried to stick a penny into a plug. Whoever said a penny doesn't go far didn't see him shoot across that floor. I told him he was grounded.”
~ Tim Allen

TIME: 8:00 AM
PLACE: Home Sweet Home
SUBJECT: Plug

It's been a little unseasonably cold this week, and when temps go down into the single digits, I resort to plugging my car in. I'm guessing most of you have never seen a car with an engine block heater. I bought Cavy when I lived in Minnesota. She came with an engine block heater and this week I've been quite grateful for that.

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Paper Airplane (42/365)

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Sally Brown: This Christmas I'm making everyone Christmas presents. You know what I'm giving everyone? Paper airplanes.
[She throws a paper airplane; it lands on Charlie Brown's head]
Sally Brown: You're lucky. You got yours early.

TIME: 7:00 AM
PLACE: Home Sweet Home
SUBJECT: Paper Airplanes

In Cam's school district, all 8th graders must participate in the Illinois Junior Academy of Science (IJAS) Science Fair. If you haven't done one of these (and I hadn't) it's a HUGE, 3-month long project that includes formal research, experiments and presentation of results. Cam's topic? Paper Airplanes - Effects of design on flight length. This was one of the 47,365 40 or so paper airplanes that I have been living with these past few months ... but it is the last day I'll live with it! Science Fair poster boards were due today. I've never been so happy to see a project reach completion!

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Rust-cicles (41/365)

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“Honesty is like an icicle; if once it melts that is the end of it”
~ American Proverb

TIME: 1:20 PM
PLACE: Podunk Illinois
SUBJECT: Snow

In addition to our earthquake early this morning (shuddup Kimmeh) we got about 8" of snow too! These steps are right outside of my front door and seldom get cleared of snow or ice. I'm glad I live on the first floor!

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Snow? (40/365)

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“No snowflake in an avalanche ever feels responsible.”
~ Voltaire

TIME: 1:20 PM
PLACE: Podunk Illinois
SUBJECT: Snow

I was hoping to catch a few more flakes in this shot, but didn't succeed. We've had a relatively mild winter this year; below average snowfall and just a few weeks of bitter cold. Today, we are in the middle of the heaviest snowfall so far this winter, and yet the sun was desperately trying to peek through the clouds.

Squirrel (39/365)

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“Even a blind squirrel finds an acorn sometimes”
Proverb

TIME: 12:30 PM
PLACE: Home Sweet Home
SUBJECT: Squirrel

One of my neighbors keeps the "birds" fed throughout the winter. I'm thinking this squirrel doesn't much care that he isn't supposed to eat the bird seed!

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Barn (38/365)

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*CLICK* this one to appreciate the full story

When a man gives his opinion he's a man. When a woman gives her opinion she's a bitch.”
~ Bette Davis

TIME: 7:45 AM
PLACE: Podunk
SUBJECT: Barn

I pass this barn on the way to the laundromat in Podunk v2. It always makes me giggle ... and then I wonder about the story is behind it!

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Feathers (37/365)

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“Rooster today, feather duster tomorrow”
~ Russian Proverb

TIME: 8:30 AM
PLACE: Home Sweet Home
SUBJECT: Feather

I'm guessing this was a meal rather than a feather duster ...

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Mailbox (36/365)

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“Two of the cruelest, most primitive punishments our town deals out to those who fall from favor are the empty mailbox and the silent telephone.”
~ Hedda Hopper

TIME: 1:30 PM
PLACE: Home Sweet Home
SUBJECT: Mailbox

I kind of miss the "old" days, where people wrote letters instead of sending email. There is something quite intimate about holding a written note in your hands, seeing the impression of pen to paper, and knowing someone did that thinking only of you when they did.

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Gizmo (35/365)

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Gizmo: "Bright light. Bright light."

TIME: 1:00 PM
PLACE: The House
SUBJECT: Gizmo

There are very few things I miss about the house, but this is definitely the one "thing" I miss most - my Gizmo kitty! I had a brief visit with her over my lunch hour today. She came running when she saw me come in the front door. Notice her ears? Looks like maybe I caught her in mid ear twitch doesn't it? Nope! My Gizmo kitty has a bit of a birth defect. Her right ear is always pointed out to the side while her left ear acts like a normal kitty ear. She's the bestest kitty ever!

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Ceiling (34/365)

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Laughter is the valve on the pressure cooker of life.
Either you laugh and suffer, or you got your beans or brains on the ceiling.
~ Wavy Gravy

TIME: 8:30 PM
PLACE: Church
SUBJECT: Ceiling

I have a bit of a fascination with structures, and the ceiling in the area where the middle schoolers hang out before chapel is naked to the world -
beams and heating ducts out there for everyone to look at.
I sometimes wonder if they ever do!

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Steeple (33/365)

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“I still say a church steeple with a lightening rod on top shows a lack of confidence.”
~ Doug McLeod

TIME: 5:30 PM
PLACE: Podunk Illinois
SUBJECT: Steeple

Here in Podunk we have FIVE churches within a 1/2 mile radius. There is the First United Methodist Church, the United Methodist Church (does that make it the second?), the Bible Church, the Lutheran Church and, of course, the Catholic Church. I pass the Catholic Church on my way home, and tonight it was looking exceptionally beautiful!

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Signs (32/365)

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Sign Sign everywhere a sign
Blocking out the scenery breaking my mind
Do this, don't do that, can't you read the sign
~ Written by Les Emmerson
~ Performed by Five Man Electrical Band

TIME: 8:25 AM
PLACE: Podunk Illinois
SUBJECT: Cubicle Hell

It's hard to believe that I work as an accountant for a manufacturing facility. This is more like the "welcome" I would expect if I were employed as a prison guard!

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