february photo a day--day 27 & 28 & 29

i am such a procrastinator!  nothing like waiting till the very last minute to get my last february photo challenge pictures posted...and 3 of them to boot!

my only excuse is that i am moving my office at work and have been busy going thru stuff, procuring furniture, moving walls and finally moving some of my stuff.  i still don't have power in my new cubicle, but the extension cord and power strip to the one next door is working fine for now.  maybe next week i will have my very own power.  probably not.

alright, my last 3 february pictures...

via fatmumslim

i have real issue with the assignment for the 27th.  "something you ate" implies past tense.  heck, it is past tense.  it implies something that was either thrown-up or otherwise deposited post-consumption.  i was sorely tempted to take a picture of my poop.  very tempted.  but i decided that wasn't really what i wanted to put out there in the world so i resisted.

this is my oatmeal from breakfast on monday.  pretty basic stuff.  i eat the same stuff every morning at work.  heck, i even keep the box of oatmeal and the bowl at work.  i eat much more adventurous breakfasts at home on the weekends with the fam.

the assignment for the 28th was "money".  like i said, i have been extremely busy at work and very uninspired when it comes to my photos.  i am thinking that for next month i will have the kids help me be a little more inspired.  here is my money shot...

it's the 86 cents that i had in my purse.  yep, i need inspirational help...and a massage!

leap day. today. something you're listening to.  easy one for me...

pandora.  always pandora.  i luuuuuuuuuurv pandora.  i listen on my computer at work all day.  i listen in my car via my phone blue tooth'd to my stereo on my drive to and from work.  i listen at home sometimes via my phone or my laptop.  my favorite station is my "bon jovi" station...except during the holidays i listen to my "trans-siberian orchestra" station.  only after thanksgiving (dinner at least) is over. i have a few other stations, but those are the primary ones that i listen to.

well, that about does it for me for february.  this has been fun and given me something to use this poor ol blog for.  guess i will do it again next month!  here is the march list from fatmumslim:

guess that's ttfn.  till tomorrow anyway...

~michelle

february photo a day--day 24 & 25 & 26

been a super busy weekend on mount wormley.  mostly laying hardwood floors in our bedroom (super big yay!!!) and trying to fend off a cold.

here are my assignments from the weekend from fatmumslim

friday's assignment was a picture of my bathroom cabinet...

the good news is that having to post a pic of it, i was inspired to clean it up a little bit.  threw out a few old things and dusted the shelves.

saturday's challenge was green...

i have been having a real love affair with green lately.  i find myself sneaking it into just about every room.  my newly painted kitchen walls are sherwin williams "independent gold" but it's actually a pale olivey sorta color.  there is some green in my kitchen curtains and the stuff i have accumulated on the window sills.  there is also green trim on the railing outside and, heck, the trees are even green!

sunday's assignment was "night".  i was very tempted to sneak in and take pictures of my kids sleeping, but didn't want to risk waking them up.  the bean was fighting a cold all weekend and shorty seemed to be coming down with something yesterday.  thought it best if i didn't "flash" in their faces.  so here is my bed...

it is shoved up against the wall currently and the carpet has been cut away everywhere except where the bed sits.  what you can't see is that we are almost halfway done with the hardwood floors in our room.  i just hope we can finish them up without taking the bed apart!

there you have it. my weekend in pictures...sort of.  happy monday!!

~michelle

february photo a day--day 22 & 23

whew!
the last couple of days have been heck-tick at work.  it's all self induced because i want to get some stuff done, but still rough on this ol' gal.

anyway, my assignments from fatmumslim the last couple of days have been pretty straightforward...

wednesday's assignment was "where i work"...  this is where i work...

this is actually the back of the building, but it's the entrance i use most often.  that dapper gentleman at the bottom is my bosses boss.  he's an ok sorta guy....really on our side when it comes down to things.  he doesn't know i took his picture.

since you can't really read the sign in the picture i will let you know that i work at frontier communications (formerly verizon and before that it was gte).  i work in a fun little department called coei (central office equipment installation).  we install all the equipment that makes everything else work.  we get the new technology first and things are never boring!

yesterday's assignment was "my shoes".  pretty easy one!

these are the ones that i currently am wearing to work.  they are birkenstock's.  guess that's about it for shoes.

have a great friday!  i plan to stay busy (more hectic-ness) so the day goes quickly.

xoxo

~michelle

february photo a day--day 21

yesterday's assignment confused me a little...

via

a fave photo of me?  taken today? i am generally not my best self on tuesdays.  certainly not when i didn't sleep well (again!) the night before.  how can i possibly take a fave photo of me today?

then it hit me...take a pic of a pic!

so that is what i did.  went thru my iphoto pictures and found this gem...

it was taken in march 2004, after a year of weight watchers and before kids.  oh to be that slender again {sigh}.

speaking of kids...it was exactly 7 years ago today (ash wednesday) that i officially found out that i was going to be a mommy.  never thought it would happen!  my how things have changed...

~michelle

february photo a day--day 20

just a quickie today...lots of work to do and it's an easy one!

yesterday's assignment from fatmumslim was..... {drumroll please}....

handwriting!

i really wish i could have taken a pic of the bean's handwriting because it is so much more exciting and newer than mine, but, alas, it wasn't to be.  monday's are our crazy night and yesterday was no exception!

so without further ado...you are stuck with my handwriting...

this is the to do list i started at work yesterday and am carrying over into today.  many work-related errands to run (yes, every one of them is for work!)

have a great tuesday!!

~michelle

february photo a day--day 19

or more aptly titled:

the death of the pink


i really thought i would have trouble with yesterdays assignment:

via

and now that i look at the assignment again....i totally missed it.  well, not totally, but i certainly didn't hit the nail on the head.

as i was looking over my assignment (during my pedicure) yesterday morning, i missed the "to do" portion of it.  so this is a post about something i hate...

now don't get me wrong.  i don't hate shorty (for sure) and i don't hate that she is playing weebles on my bedroom floor.  i don't hate that the bean is laying on the floor in the closet watching a movie. i don't hate the huge mess that my bedroom is or that the furniture is all. over. the. place.  (that's the back of my nightstand in the corner of the picture).  what i hate is the carpet.  it's pink.  i like pink as much as the next gal, but this dusty rose carpet has been the bane of my existence since i moved in with the hubs 13 years ago.  i hate it.

the good news is that this weekend this happened...

i came home from my class on friday to find that carpet removed from the sink area of the bathroom.  so on sunday we continued with the removal of carpet.  we are now 1/3 done with the removal.  the plan is to put the new bamboo flooring down and then move the bed over onto it.  thereby redoing the floor without ever having to take the bed apart and sleep somewhere else.

so that is the story of what i hate and the exciting news of it going away!!!

~michelle

february photo a day--day 16 & 17 & 18

having a little date nite with the hubs here...a movie at home after the kids are in bed is as good as we get these days.  i am 3 days behind on this blogging thingy so it's a quicky for ya.

via fatmumslim

ok. day 16 was on thursday...something new

this is my valentines gift from the hubs.  i (mistakenly) told him years ago that i didn't want him to get me flowers.  they don't last very long and then they die.  i would rather have plants or something else.  this gift is the greatest flowers ever!

day 17...time

i took this during my class that i was in this week.  10:15 has always been my favorite time.  it's my birthday.  october 15th.  since i was a little kid i have always said "it's my birthday" at 10:15.  i was very tempted to take a picture of my clock collection, but decided to photo my favorite time instead.

day 18's assignment was a drink.

it's been a busy day...lotsa errands to run.  my usual drink these days is water.  this is my water that i carry around the house.

back to my movie...later.

~michelle

february photo a day--day 15

you lucky folks are getting my usual morning post the night before.  why? you ask.  because i have training tomorrow (blech) and won't have any free time to do my blog post.  i also will be starting my "work day" FOUR HOURS later than i am used to.  way to mess up a girl's schedule!!!  i won't get home until almost my usual bedtime.  should be a fun 2-days!

enough of that rant (for now).  day 15's assignment from fatmumslim

is phone (in case you can't read that for yourself).

i have 3 pictures for you today.  the first 2 are the primary phones in my life.  the last pic is just mass cool.  gotta throw a mass cool one in there now and then.  kinda like the red pants, but with less soul train.

first up is my phone at work...

it's extremely hard to see in this picture, but the base of the phone is under my monitor in the lower center of the picture.  stuck to the top of the monitor is my headset and charging base.  you have to ignore the headphones and random paperwork stuff in the background.  i like my phone at work because i can walk around with the headset on and do my business.

the second phone picture i have today is my cell phone...

this is obviously the back of my phone.  it's much prettier than the front.  the hubs bought me this case a few months ago.  it was on my wish list so he only gets partial credit, but it's better than no credit.  i get sooooo many comments on this case.  i love it!

my last phone picture is our home phone.  for a long time we didn't have a land-line at our house and only used our cell phones.  we have a land-line these days, but never use it.  i think only 3 people outside of the residents of our house have the number!  when the land-line rings at our house we know it is a solicitor calling and we pick up the handset and set it back down.  at least i do.  the hubs just lets it ring.

this is an actual rotary phone from way back in the day.  it belonged to my grandmother who would be at least 92 if she were still alive.  it still has her old phone number under the handset.  the old style with 2-letters and 5-numbers.  it also has all the emergency numbers on a metal plate on the back of the phone.  it still works great....mostly just for the kids to spin the dial around tho.

there you have it.  my phones.

wish me luck in class tomorrow!  i am kind of looking forward to meeting people i have worked with for years but never actually met.  should be an interesting day!

~michelle

february photo a day--day 14

my assignment (from fatmumslim) for valentines day was, of course, a heart...

it ended being a fairly busy day and mostly like every other tuesday of the year...

i went to work, just like normal.  the hubs had a pretty rough day.  he wasn't feeling very well and the kids were pretty rambunctious.  it will be nice for him next year when the bean is in school all day!

anyhow, i left work a few minutes early in order to attend the kindergarden valentines day party...actually i was there to help out.  another mother and i helped the kids distribute their valentines and then we dished up ice cream and helped them with chocolate syrup, sprinkles and whipped cream.  the kids loved it, but the added sugar in the middle of the day really didn't help out matters at home!

when we got home i helped the hubs out with some online research and then we opened our little valentines gifts.  i got him a gift certificate for some classic car parts (he is determined to have his 56 chevy on the road this year).  he got me a bracelet that has roses all the way around.  i should have taken a picture, but i just wasn't thinking about it.  whiney kids'll do that to you!  the kids got me an angel figurine for my garden.  bean broke one that i had a couple years ago and now i get them for every occasion!  actually, the original one, that i got from a friend, has been broken twice and glued back together, but is currently broken again.  a tree branch fell on it in the snow storm last month and broke the poor things arm off.

after dinner we all just lounged around on our bed.  bean and i played cards...i taught her war (i think) and crazy 8's.  then we had a bit of our valentines treats and off to bed.

wow!  that's a whole lotta not about my assignment!  i think the point is that i was busy and not in the mood to take pictures much.  the only heart picture i got is this one...

can you even see the heart?

can you guess what it may be?

you'll never guess, so i'll tell.  it's a hair heart i left on the shower wall for the hubs.

he didn't see it either!

i had to tell him about it and then he went back and looked.

"cute" is what he said.

oh well.


today's assignment...phone....hmmm.

~michelle

february photo a day--day 13

happy valentines day!!!


my assignment for yesterday was to take a pic of something blue...

via fatmumslim

as i thought about the color blue (totally avoiding the blue emotional thoughts!) a few things came to mind...blue is the color of the sky(when it isn't cloudy).  blue is my bean-bean's favorite color.  blue is the color of the walls in my cubie land.  jeans are blue...i wear jeans constantly!  blue, blue blue.... how do i take 1 picture (or 2 or 3) when alllll this stuff is blue.

then i got home from work and this is what met me...

shorty wearing he favorite blue dress and sitting on the ottoman of "my" blue chair.  hubs even has a blue shirt on in the background (underneath his rain coat).

so there is my blue for the day.

shorty was doing a little typing on my computer, so i will let her finish off this post...

vdhsgs3=-0987531 000077777442222211111````2222wwwwwwwwwwwllllllllllllliuuu,.hvech hpouuh bhhhhhhhhhhhhbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbhhhhhnkm hhrrd21111111111113aq qweetrf6y666kjsdgh rbrg56rfntgrfgedfntfcfrf brtgvrfg4rfghtrfgbytbterfgbyt56ytg4rd5 vr     mj            ghjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvv .bxvgwghhgrvfdx                                                                                                           ,CHFJVJ    C      JYHBYE3R7YHHHHGEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAeeeeeeeeejjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjoooooooooooooooooppppppppp[[[[[[[[[[[\\\\\\\=p5

yep. that's exactly what she said!

have a great valentines day!

~michelle

february photo a day--day 12

day 12 was super super easy...the easiest yet, for sure.  i just had to remember to take the picture.

via

so, without further ado...my horrendous, hideous closet...

i absolutely hate (don't tell my kids i used that word) our closet, but believe it or not, it's better than it was.  when i first moved in, the closet was all those cheapo wire square boxy things and wire hanging rods and everything.  at least now there is wood shelves and hanging rods.  there is still some wire present, but hopefully not for too long.  plus the closet desperately needs to be painted!  i believe it is the only white-walled space left in the entire house!  good news is that the baseboards have begun coming up in our nasty-pink-carpeted bedroom, which means new floor is coming.  sooo excited!!!  new floor in the bedroom means new floor in the closet too.  which means everything's gotta come outta here and i can slap some paint up really quick and maybe make some other improvements too!  we'll see....one step at a time.  (if i keep repeating that maybe i will have a little patience!)

off and running...lots to do!

~michelle

february photo a day--day 10 & 11

oiy!
what a weekend and it's only saturday night!  (i will get to the dete's momentarily)
for those following along at home, here is my assignment from fatmumslim:

day 10 was a self portrait.  that was yesterday and i forgot to take one.  i did take one early this morning (when i remembered).  please pardon my long night / 6 am / no makeup wearing self!

i was preparing to make pancakes for the 3 kids (yes, that's 1 extra) that woke me up at FIVE THIRTY on saturday!  hopefully they sleep in a little longer tomorrow morning.  for their sake and mine!

i pronounced day 10 done.  on to day 11...

makes me happy.  that's a no brainer. easy peasy one.  my kids.  except this weekend they aren't making me very happy, so i looked elsewhere.

this made me happy today...

driving. i like driving.  that's as good a shot as i could get while actually driving.  what you can't see is the stereo cranked waaaaaaaaay up.  and if we're talking utter bliss, the speedometer would need to say about 80! (with no chance of a ticket or any other repercussions)

this made me happy today too:

that's the same door as yesterday's post.  i cut out about 75 of those suckers and stuck them on today.  i need to do a couple more for the very top and then i can remove that cellular shade and fill the nail holes tomorrow.  very happy.

my last slice of happiness today came from this guy NOT having to go to the hospital

he's been waiting a week or so for some heart meds to come in the mail and they haven't arrived.  this evening he got a "funny headache" and his blood pressure skyrocketed to somewhere near 190/120.  of course this is all after urgent care and the pharmacy are all closed.  why oh why does he do this to me?!? he was able to call the consulting nurse and she was able to call in a prescription to our local fred's and he is back on his pills.  thankfully fred's pharmacy stays open til 7 on saturday!  and thankfully my mom was able to come over and stay with the kiddos when i thought we would be headed to the hospital.  she ended up picking up the meds and having dinner and a nice visit.  yay for mom!!  anyway, happy to not be spending the night next to a hospital bed.

that's my happiness for today: driving with loud music, a faux etched door, and not at the hospital.

oh i have to do it.  i wasn't going to, but i just can't resist...

this picture doesn't really make me "happy" because, undoubtably, i will have to be in public with those pants at some point in my life.  it does make me smile because they are just sooo not my hubs style.  i have been instructed not to ruin them in the wash...dang.

i think the pants need a nickname...

~michelle

february photo a day--day 9

day 9 proved to be a very easy day for me to knock out.  i altered the assignment (of course, i always do), but could have done the original just as easily.  day 9's assignment (via fatmumslim) was "front door".

my front door is currently a big ol hunk o'wood that faces the back of our property (the whole house faces the back, acually).  the only time the front door is used is during warm weather when we bbq/eat/swim/play/read/work/party on the front deck.

our big huge back deck is west facing and you can literally fry an egg on it in the summer!  so we hang out on our "little" front deck.  here's a pic of the front deck a mere 3 weeks ago...

hard to believe we had 2 feet of snow and i was hiking out to catch a ride to work.

anyway, during inclement weather (which is most of the fall, all winter and a good chunk of spring around here) my front door is crowded with picnic tables and chairs seeking shelter from the weather.  you can technically get to the door, but it's a challenge.  plus we had a stretch of nice weather last week so the bikes were brought out and are crowding the front door now too.  it makes a good obstacle course for the cats!

so i guess i do technically have a picture of my front door, except that i didn't take it yesterday, so it doesn't count.  here's the door that i shot yesterday (that didn't sound right).  it's the one that everyone uses.

please ignore that 20-year-old cellular shade hanging in the window.  poor thing is so old and strecthed out that it won't even pull up anymore.  well, it will pull up, but not all accordion style like it should.  i have begun the work to do something new and fabulous with this door and will hopefully get started this weekend...depending on how the valentines prep work goes.  hopefully it will soon resemble this window from 7thhouseontheleft:

i just have to find some time to sit and cut our allllllllll those little shapes.  i have the materials so it's started...technically.  if i love how it looks i will do the same thing with our little side window by the front door also!

oh, and did you catch that wreath on my door???

hard to see in the pictures, but the pink things are hearts.  my little shorty decided she wanted a pink hearts theme for her birthday last month.  so close to valentines day=i was stoked!  2 birds with 1 heart-shaped stone!!  i did a bunch of heart crafts that i found on pinterest (including this one) only to have to cancel her party due to massive amounts of snow.  poor kiddo.

anyhow, the wreath is actually a piece of pipe insulation from good ol home depot.  it cost a couple bucks for 3 of them.  i just wrapped it in grey yarn.  glued on my hearts. then criss-crossed the grey yarn over the hearts for the argyle appearance.  easy peasy!  no tutorial from me tho.  i will leave that to the experts!

anyhow, there's a super long post about my front door (and a million other little side stories!)

tgif!!!  have a good weekend!

~michelle

february photo a day--day 8

this day was the hardest day yet!

sun? really? this is western washington.  the pacific north-wet!  we don't do sun except for 5 weeks or so in august!

contrary to the northwest norm, we have had beautiful weather for the last week.  no rain.  ton o' sun. temps in the 50's or maybe 60's (i didn't check).

i totally blame fatmumslim for the fact that after an entire week of unusual brightness, today we have our usual rain again.

"gray skies smilin on me..."

i don't mind the rain and the gray.  i grew up here and am used to it.  the week of sunshine was a nice break for february, but back to reality now.

~michelle

february photo a day--day 7

button was my assignment for day 7 (found at fatmumslim)

i thought and though about buttons..the buttons on my phone, my computer, the easy button we have at work (it doesn't make anything easier!).  i tried to think of what was my favorite button.  mute?  snooze? like?  or more traditional buttons?  i have a hat i made when i was a teenager that is covered with buttons.  it's kinda cool, but heavier than heck.  gives me a sore neck to wear it very long.  not to mention that i got in major trouble for using up my mom's button stash!

then it hit me......belly button!!!

my little shorty has THEEE CUTEST belly button EVAH!!!  i have thought that since her little umbilical cord fell off pretty close to exactly 3 years ago!

One of her many, many nicknames is "beebo" (from sandra boynton's belly button book).

when i asked her if i could take a picture of her beebo, she said "no". but i did it later on without asking (see, i learned).  she didn't even object.

i'm not sure what it is about her little beebo that i love so much, i just do.  it's just so stinkin cute!!

and then on the subject of belly buttons, i had to take a picture of one of the most interesting belly button's i have ever met (not that i've met a lot of them).  this was a fun conversation leading up to this photo...

this is the hubs' belly button.  if he weren't laying awkwardly on the couch it would be perfectly round.  no joke. a perfect circle.

he was born at home in the projects of birmingham in the 40's.  i have no idea what they did with baby's umbilical cords back then, but he says it's round like that because his mom stuck a nickel in it...wha..huh???

~michelle