LittleJoe

A real cowgirl

Makayla, our awesome little niece is going as a cowgirl for Halloween. As she explains it: "the kind of cowgirl that rides a horse, not a cow that is a girl."

I'll try and get a pic from my sis to post :)

Home net adjustment

Been real busy with work and work around the home, so very little time lately to post. BUT... I was doing a little tuning on our home network, and decided to change the name. So in honor of His Noodly Appendage, our home network is now named fsmnet, in reference, of course, to the Flying Spaghetti Monster. It brings a little smile to my face every time I see that fsmnet on my screen :)

10 on the Too-Cute-Ometer

Here's a shot of my niece, Makayla, who is apparently really loving her dance classes :)

Has it already been 25 years?!?

Today is our 25th wedding anniversary! Wow!! I just can't believe this much time has already gone by. I love you Shirley; thanks for still laughing at my dumb jokes (most of the time, anyway). More posted at my other site.

Giving thanks and working on contentment

I was chatting with a friend earlier and we got to briefly discussing levels of satisfaction (or lack thereof) with things that work, but don't happen to be cool anymore. Hmmm...This leads to several thoughts:
It's perhaps overquoted, but not realized enough: Happiness lies not in having what you want, but rather in wanting what you have. We need to appreciate all that we are fortunate enough to have. No need to rush out (especially in this American season of Holiday Shopping Frenzy) and buy the latest junk ...if it's not needed.

That gets me to thinking that the environment - and our pocketbooks - would be much better off if we would keep our current cars running well, rather than going into debt to buy a new car. OK, I'll admit I'm quite fortunate that my car is paid for, is running well, and has only very minor body scars after 7 years. So it's easy for me to talk. But I'm thinking I will see how long I can keep this baby humming. It's a LOT cheaper to pay some bucks every once in a while for maintenance, vs forking over the monthly payment for a new vehicle. I hereby publicly pledge that when the day comes that my car dies beyond repair, I will only buy a hybrid or better....meaning no SUV or other gas-guzzler. The ideal to me would be one of these. Their web site ...we saw a lot of these around Paris a few years ago and they are awesome ...and quite safe, actually. Why the heck do folks think they need to drive around in a Hummer? What are they compensating for? :)

Makayla on Halloween

Makayla on Halloween

Here's a pic of my niece on Halloween. She is one of the most joyful kids I know (most of the time, anyway ;-)

Bee

Here's a pic of my neice in her favorite dress-up outfit:

Pure joy from a 5-year old

The pic on the left is of a painting called "Aquarium". The artist is 5-year old Marla. This BBC News article talks about the little girl who has fun with paint. So far, at least, she is happily oblivious to the stir that is being caused by her play. Already US$40,000 has been paid for her paintings. A fellow blogger, Chris Byrne had emailed a few of us about this story. If you'd like to see more of Marla's vibrant colors, you can go to Marla's web site. Hopefully, the money is going into a trust fund and her folks and others are just letting her have fun. Childhood is for children, and ideally is a time of lots of play and exploration and joy of life. These paintings express that spirit.

Easter egg

Here's a great pic I just received of my niece coloring Easter eggs: