October 14

Luke's fifth grade glass arrived home this evening from a three-day trip to the Teton Science School. I am grateful he had this incredible learning opportunity, but I didn't realize I'd miss him so much! I am so happy he's home again.

October 13

I'm grateful that the boys decided they had to finish out the week with a game of shoes. All of the Lilu landmines were taken care of in very good time by the Potty Patrol.

October 12

I'm grateful for the time to sit and watch the these two dogs tussle. Their antics provide for some side-splitting entertainment.

October 11

This morning sort of sucked. I had taken a few shots of Swedish fish the night before and downloaded them to my computer to take a closer look. Each one of my photos showed dark spots in the same place. I quickly took my 100mm lens of my camera and looked through it. Yup, little shavings of something or other were lodged inside the middle of the lens. I am finally being forced to send it in for work.

I popped off an inquiry email to a repair shop and put my other lens on my camera to check it. Much to my dismay, I discovered more spots on my photos. These turned out to be dust bunnies on my sensor. After googling and asking fellow photographers what I should do, I bought a wonderful little blower, said a little prayer and opened up my camera for cleaning. It worked pretty well. There is still a baby bunny left, but I'm confident I'll vanquish it tomorrow.

I'm grateful for the help of my friends and that cute little blower. And I'm sure at some point, I'll be grateful that I have to send my 100mm in for work because it will force me to use my other lenses, but I have to admit I'm not terribly excited about the prospect right now. I miss it already.

October 10

I'm grateful that by marrying Hart, Kate became my sister-in-law. Happy Birthday dear Kate! You and your family are so very special to me.

October 9

Today I'm grateful for my maternal grandmother, Meredith. From early on, she encouraged me to express myself creatively in all sorts of mediums. She taught me how to embroider sent me tons of patterns and books when I picked up cross-stitching. She gave me the best recipe for non-baking clay (one of the ingredients was white bread -- which, according to Gram, was the only use for that type of bread as it certainly wasn't fit to eat!) and taught me the secrets to painting miniature fruits and vegetables for my dollhouse. I made her a tiny white mouse out of that clay one year and she kept under a tiny glass bell jar on display for years.

The earliest photo of Gram that I could find was this one. She was pregnant with my Mom, and I believe she was about 22 years old. That air of elegance she exudes in this photo is still a part of her. Happy Birthday, Gramma! I love you and we send our best wishes for this wonderful day.

October 8

After a week of rain, I am so unbelievably grateful for blue skies.