Photo taken by Jim Koenigsberg

Mushroom Pictures

Due to the rains we’ve had, mushrooms of all shapes and kinds have been erupting in my yard. I’ve found them fascinating and have taken way too many mushroom pictures.

What I enjoy about mushrooms is that they seem to just appear out of nowhere. One day, there’s nothing and the next, there’s this.

JC took this picture. He decided to join in my photographic study of the mushrooms in my yard and grabbed my camera to take his own picture.

Both of us really liked this picture because we each saw different things in it. I saw an elephant and he saw a person’s face.

Picture Story Challenge

I thought it would a perfect “what do you see” challenge. I haven’t done this type of challenge in awhile. Remember, the idea is to just just stare at this picture for a few minutes and then see what comes to your mind.

You are allowed to use any part of the picture. For example, at the top of the picture, I see what looks like a set of bottom teeth.

So, have at it.

What do you see in this picture?

You get bonus points for how many different things you can see.  Oh, and mushrooms don’t count:~)

Have fun, be creative and enjoy!

About two dishwashers

JC and I have a pretty good arrangement for our meals. He is a chef and does all the cooking. I’m not a chef or even a very good cook for that matter, and I do all the cleaning up. To be perfectly honest, I use the dishwasher.

This all changed when my dishwasher went belly up recently. Granted, it’s rather old like everything else in the kitchen and it was probably its time to go. Of course this annoyed me.

I hadn’t hand washed dishes in AGES!!! Even when I was a kid in the early seventies my mom had a dishwasher. Spoiled brat that I was:~)

JC, who’d never had a dishwasher before he moved in, bought me a scrub brush and said, “Learn. You can do this. It’s actually very calming.” I can’t say I found any peace in washing dishes, but I did it for several weeks.

We were both busy and didn’t have time to shop for a new dishwasher. In addition, we had conflicting ideas about what to buy. We did our research and knew to get an energy efficient dishwasher, but remained undecided about the appearance of our new dishwasher. This had a lot to do with a show called “House Hunters” on the Home and Garden Network (HGTV).

Influenced by “House Hunters”

I’m addicted to “House Hunters”, a show about people shopping for a new house in the States. Some are buying gigantic homes and others are buying more modest ones, but these shoppers have one thing in common; the kitchens must have stainless steel appliances and granite countertops.

When a couple on the show sees a kitchen without these items, they shake their heads and sadly say, “Well, I like the kitchen, but we’ll have to replace the appliances and countertops with stainless steel and granite.”

After watching the show, I began to believe what I had learned and when we started shopping, I emphasized how essential it was that we buy a stainless steel dishwasher. JC was less certain, feeling we should just go with what we like.

Off to Lowe’s we went. We liked a solid black dishwasher better than the stainless steel one because it matched our other appliances. Since both were equally energy efficient, we decided to buy it. Still, I had doubts. I believed that if we were to sell the house at some point, a stainless steel dishwasher would be a better option.

Second-guessing doesn’t pay

I bugged JC so much that one of his gremlins came out to play. He has this interesting habit: when he buys something, he researches it thoroughly and usually makes an excellent choice. Later, he will often second-guess himself.

He called a friend who is a house appraiser to check things out. Knowing how difficult stainless steel can be to clean, he was confident his friend would tell him “House Hunters” was just free advertising for the stainless steel industry.

However, his friend disappointed him by telling him it is true that houses with stainless steel appliances and granite countertops sell better.

So, we switched to stainless steel, which cost us a lot more money! Making this change also meant I had another two weeks of hand washing dishes before the new one arrived. When it was finally installed I was disappointed.

Now, don’t get me wrong. This is a great dishwasher. I can fit so many dishes in it that we’re down to our last two plates before I have to turn it on. It runs quietly and has an eco-friendly wash and dry cycle so I feel less guilty about using a dishwasher.

However, to be perfectly honest, it doesn’t fit the décor of our kitchen. The dishwasher is bright and shiny, making my 30-year old cabinets and countertops look drab. This new dishwasher stuck out like a sore thumb.

I am sure it would fit in beautifully if we remodel our kitchen. Then, if we decided to sell the house, potential buyers would walk into our upgraded kitchen like they do on “House Hunters” and say, “Wow, this kitchen is perfect! It has granite countertops and stainless steel appliances.”

Trust your instincts

We can’t afford a complete kitchen makeover right now and, as we both love this house, we aren’t intending to move any time soon. So, the stainless steel dishwasher wasn’t really necessary.

The truth is that both JC and I got snookered by our own selves. Instead of paying attention to what we liked and what fit our kitchen today, we bought our dishwasher based on what we thought other people would like and what might happen in the future.

The moral of this story is simple. Live your life for today and not for what might happen in the future. Follow your instincts about what you like and not what someone on a TV show tells you. Believe me, you’ll be happier (and richer) if you do. :~)

What about you?

What has the most influence on you when you buy something?

What preparation, if any, do you do before making a big ticket purchase?

Photo by Sara B. Healy

This is a photo of a flower in my garden. I took it after we had a rainstorm. I kept looking at the picture and wondering who is she? I saw the flower as a “she” and knew she reminded of someone, but it took awhile to figure out who it was.

Puppet Sock

Then one day, I realized she sort of reminded me of nature’s version of the puppet sock, Lamb Chop. Those of you old enough might remember the ventriloquist, Shari Lewis who created Lamb Chop. I used to love watching the interaction between Shari and Lamb Chop.

Lamb Chop and Shari Lewis had a major influence on me. Perhaps because I tended to be kind of shy and enjoyed the fact Lamb Chop would often appear to speak her mind, even, at times, shocking Shari with her comments.

In refreshing my memory of Lamb Chop and Shari, I came across an old interview with Shari Lewis about her career and in it she talked about her relationship with Lamb Chop. It also explained why I enjoyed their interaction so much. Here’s one of the questions from the interview:

Q: What was your most unusual experience with Lamb Chop?

A: Lamb Chop is so much my alter ego that she sometimes gets out of hand and says things I wouldn’t even dare think to myself. When she first met Desi Arnaz, he was sitting with his feet up on the table and was rather rude. She told him so in no uncertain terms. And that was the first time I really had to stay aware of what she was going to say, because she speaks for herself.

Actually, now I think about it. Lamb Chop sort of reminds me of Izzy, my muse. She has that same spunky quality and definitely speaks her mind.

Story Picture Challenge

Let’s get down it – the story picture challenge. As I often like to do, I’m giving you choices for this challenge today; some simple and others a bit more complex. You get to pick. You can:

1) Pick a name for this flower and explain why you picked it.

2) Tell a few things about her personality.

3) Pick her partner. Lamb Chop had Shari Lewis. Who would partner with this little flower? It doesn’t have to be a ventriloquist. In pretend time, they could talk to each without ventriloquism.

4) Last, but not least, you can answer all of the above. I like over-achievers:~)

If you want to play, leave your thoughts in the comment box. Have fun with this flower and the challenge.

Happy Week to All:~)

Photo by art-4-art

The Diagnostic Mammogram

This Saturday is Halloween and I’ve already had my Halloween scare. After a screening mammogram, I was called back for a diagnostic mammogram, which checks for suspicious areas found on the screening mammogram.

When I received this call, I was terrified to say the least. I was lucky that I was able to get the diagnostic exam done the next day after the callback. However, this meant a weekend of uncertainty until the results were read on Monday.

I felt immobilized and couldn’t seem to get anything done. I cried and jumped to different conclusions; typical for me. I tend to let a small snowball roll until I’ve created an avalanche:~)

Waiting fed my worry monster. I didn’t have a choice about the waiting, but I did have a choice about how I handled it. I didn’t have to let my worries take over, but instead I could look at this scary situation in a different way. Following, is the path I chose to take:

1) Worry Less

Worry is one of my persistent gremlins. Somehow, I feel that by worrying I protect myself, but realistically I know that’s not true. Worry just makes me feel badly and jump to all sorts of conclusions about what may or may not happen. Worry doesn’t change a thing.

I once wrote a post about handling worry monsters. They’re tough little gremlins! You can’t kill them off even if you want to, because there’s always a nugget of potential truth in worry. You can find a way to quiet the worry monster. I negotiated with mine by writing the following affirmation:

I accept that you are here because I am scared, but I will not let you rule my thoughts and/or hurt my body by creating constant stress and fear. You cannot change the current situation in any way and do more harm to me than good. I choose to see myself as healthy, strong and capable of dealing with this situation without your assistance.

This was a helpful affirmation because it didn’t deny my worry and it reminded me that I could handle the situation. I reviewed this affirmation every day over the weekend.

2) Be Positive about the “What If Questions”

When I’m in midst of a crisis (especially a health crisis), I find it hard to deal with the “what if…” questions that invariably come up. I tend to dive immediately into the worst case scenario. My challenge was to find something in this scary situation that I could see as positive.

One of the ways I cope with the “what if…” questions is to do my homework. I do research to learn as much as I can about whatever is worrying me. This helps me find a way to focus on the positives. This is not easy when you’re talking about breast cancer!

Doing my research helped me move away from saying “Oh my God, I could have cancer,” to “I may or may not have cancer, but if I do have it I am lucky because”:

• It was picked up on a screening mammogram, rather than a felt lump.
• I get annual mammograms, which according to research helps the survival rate.
• The survival rate for breast cancer is much higher than it used to be.
• The diagnostic tools for breast cancer are improved and less invasive.
• The place where I have my mammograms done has the most modern diagnostic tools.
• Women over 50 often have cancers that are less invasive than younger women.
• I have handled health crises before and I will find a way to handle this, if need be.

Waiting for the call

I cannot tell a lie. The waiting was difficult; even with the worry affirmation and positive spin on the “what if” questions. It was not an easy weekend for my partner, JC, or me.

However, by putting these steps into action, it was better for me. I was clearer about the choices I was making in handling this crisis. With that being said, when I got the call that the mammogram was okay, I cried.  My waiting was over, but I was acutely aware that for too many other women, their call might deliver different news.

Annual Screening Mammogram

Next year I will return for my annual screening mammogram. Once again, I will sit in the waiting room with women of different ages and ethnic backgrounds; all waiting just like me.

In this room we are sisters, united by a disease that primarily attacks women. It is up to us and those who love us to keep fighting for a cure, and to make sure that ALL women have the medical care necessary to detect this cancer early, including access to a mammogram, if needed.

A friend sent me this video and I wanted to share it you. It’s a reminder that there are more and more survivors of breast cancer each year. It’s a message of hope.

Last week I had my annual screening mammogram done. A few days after, I was called back for a diagnostic mammogram, which means the radiologist wants to check something out. I will not know until later today if more tests are needed. Needless to say, this is a pretty scary time for me.

Since flowers always have a way of cheering me up, I decided to put up a few of my favorite flower pictures. I think they tell their own picture story. I hope you enjoy them as much as I do.

I don’t know how much I’ll be able to blog this week and therefore comments will be closed for this post:~)

UPDATE: Yesterday was the longest day I’ve ever spent, but I am okay. The test was normal. While I feel happy about these results, I am also very aware that there are too many women who did not get positive news. For example, I opened AOL  today to see the news the Elizabeth Edwards is not doing well. So, I ask all of you to send a prayer or a special thought out to Elizabeth and the many other women struggling to survive breast cancer.

Beyond the writing

While preparing this announcement the song “Hey Look Me Over” started playing in my head. It’s been ages since I’d thought of this song and I realized how much it illustrated my feelings about blogging and the new header design.

Blogging encourages my natural voice to be expressed. It gives me a freedom with writing that I never had before. I can write AND share. This is exhilarating!

I’ve grown to realize that blogging is about more than writing. It’s about marketing a blog and its voice. A blog needs to illustrate what a blogger is about in just a few seconds.

It goes beyond the writing and the name of the blog. The “look and feel” of a blog is what catches a reader’s attention even before they start reading.

I found the right designer for this creative project with the help of my social media goddess, Kathy Hendershot Hurd.

My first conversation with Richard Leach lasted more than an hour. We spoke about everything from the blog’s header, to his art and our lives in general. My intuition told me that he was the right person to design my header and I hired him on the spot!

It wasn’t long before Richard emailed me a series of different designs. It took me only a few seconds to make my choice.

The person behind the blog

This header is how I like to think about myself: light-hearted, warm and fun. The two hearts hint at “the sharing”, while the sunglasses and the bit of my face you see shows off my playful and teasing nature. Richard captured the essence of who I am as the person behind the blogger.

Most importantly, this header makes me smile. Its playfulness and sense of humor pleases me. It is happy and positive and this is why I think the song, Hey Look Me Over, popped into my head.

The last few words of this song tell my story:

I figure whenever you’re down and out,
The only way is up.
Up like a rose bud,
High on the vine,
Don’t thumb your nose folks,
Take a tip from mine,
I’m a little bit short of the elbow room,
But let me get me some,
And look out world,
Hear me shout world,
Hey look out world,
Here I come!

So, look out world, here I come:~)

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p.s. If you want to contact Richard, here’s his contact information. I highly recommend him:~)

Creative Edge Design
Richard Leach, Designer/Illustrator
Toll-Free: 1-866-213-3330

As most of my regular readers know, my daughter lives in London. Even before she settled in London, she made many trips in England as she was student of British history. On several of those trips, we visited her.

Coming from “over the pond”, we were fascinated by the beauty of England, the wonderful people, and the amazing history. In addition, being typical Americans we found the signs in England unique and interesting.

Recently, while looking through some my old photographs of our trips to visit my daughter in England, I found some pictures of road signs I had taken.

I thought these were interesting and sort of fun. Some of you may recognize these and know exactly what they’re for, but others may find them as unusual as I did when I took the pictures.

Your picture story challenge today is to guess the meaning of these signs or have fun and make up your own meaning. You are welcome to include the headline photo in this challenge.

Have fun, be creative and enjoy yourself:~)

Graphic Illustration by Jason Berg

We bloggers tend to think alike.

One thing I love about blogging is the synchronicity between bloggers in my community. Many times I visit my Google Reader to find the authors have written about similar topics, even though the blogs are from places all around the globe. I believe there’s an energy that connects us and it comes out through our writing.

This happened to me recently when I visited Lance at the Jungle of Life and learned that Kristin Tennant of Halfway to Normal had come up with a fantastic idea called The Love List Project. Her idea is to develop your own “love list” and keep it going. She also came up with the idea of sharing our “love list” progress on her blog every Friday.

I loved this idea. But that’s not what amazed me.

That day I happened to be struggling with finding something to write about for an upcoming post. I turned to my “works-in-progress” file and, to my amazement, realized that I had already started a “love list.” I guess like minds really do think alike!

While I plan to share my progress with this list on Kristin’s blog, I realized that the list I currently have would not fit in her comment box :~) So, I decided to share my love list with you today.

My Love List

My kids
The evening sun shining through the leaves of a tree
People who make me laugh
My boyfriend and his cooking
People who make me think
The wonderfully creative people I’ve met while blogging
The sound of the wind as it blows winter leaves
My family of friends, especially those recently found
The feeling I get when I hit “publish”
Strawberry shortcake with ice cream
Watching birds frolic in the bird bath
People who say hello to me when I’m out walking
The sound of waves at the beach
Taking photographs that surprise me
Watching horses running loose in a field
People who never give up
Dolphins playing in the Gulf
Hawks flying high in the sky
Putting my feet in cool water on a hot summer’s day
People who like to laugh
The first bite of chocolate
Moss swinging from an oak tree
A wildflower beginning to bloom
The sound of wind chimes
Candlelight creating flickering shadows around a room
Looking at the stars on a dark winter’s night

When I read over this list, each item evokes a memory and makes me feel happy. I encourage you to develop your own list and watch it grow.

You don’t have to develop a long list. Just start out with one or two items and keep adding more. Once a week on Friday pull out a few of your favorites and pop over to Kristin’s blog to share them. By the way, the illustration I’ve used for this post was created by Kristin’s husband. Isn’t that cool:~)

Have fun with this list. I think writing it will rapidly become one of the things you love!

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Mark your calendar for next Thursday, October 22, 2009!

You’re invited to the unveiling of the new header for my blog. I love it and hope you will also. It’s different, funky, and lighthearted and fun :~)

Copyright: Sara B. Healy

More than a simple photo

I took this picture while traveling by cab to a train station in London. It was one of those “grab the camera and shoot” pictures. I don’t even think I put my reading glasses on, which means I basically took it blind.

To be honest, I was shocked this picture turned out. I had to put my zoom on max; something my camera does not like. It’s not quite that sophisticated and gets annoyed when I ask it to capture images that it thinks are too far away.

But there it was; a moment of kindness in the huge, bustling city of London. That’s what I thought when I first saw this man sitting on the sidewalk, reading his paper and holding his dog.

There was something about the way the sleeping dog was tucked into the man’s arms that was touching to me. I was glad I looked out the window of the cab at that moment.

More than words

I am a blogger who uses pictures a lot to accent my posts and draw a reader visually into my chosen topic. I see the pictures as a window to my post. My hope is that my readers will find what they see in this window interesting enough to continue to read what I’ve written.

Sometimes I use my own pictures and other times I use the wonderful stock photos that others have taken. I always try to give the photographer credit, even though I have the rights to use the photo.

Generally, I try to pick a picture that will accentuate whatever headline I’ve chosen for my post. This leads me to today’s story picture challenge.

Instead of me choosing a picture to match the headline, I’m asking you to create the headline to match the picture.

What headline would you write to accompany this picture? Can you put it into words?

PLEASE NOTE:  This headline does NOT need to be a keyword headline. This is just for fun :~)

Hugs to you

Ever have one of those weeks when everything seems to go wrong? Well, that’s been the case for me. In addition, I’ve not been feeling well and when I don’t feel well, neither does my muse Izzy. So, I haven’t been able to write and that’s always frustrating.

I did what I usually do and turned to my “works in progress” file. Unfortunately, the bits and pieces in it will remain “in progress” as I couldn’t seem to get one to move forward – perhaps this is a reflection of where I’m at right now!

So, I did what most bloggers do and started to search for something to post. I found something that did more than I expected.

I’ve been wanting to post a video on my blog and decided this would be a good time for it. Almost immediately I found a YouTube video that I knew would be perfect.

Not only did I find something I believe you will like, but it helped me as well. The universe does work in amazing ways!

There were tears in my eyes while watching this video. I realized it was exactly what I needed during this difficult week… a hug.

If you have seen this video already, it’s worth another viewing. Everyone needs a hug now and then.

p.s. I had never heard of the band “Sick Puppies” and given their name, would probably not have listened to this song if it wasn’t for the video. It reminded me to look past labels and not make hasty judgments about things:~)

I looked up the lyrics of the song, All the Same and after reading them realized they can be interpreted in different ways. I see it as a song of acceptance of a difficult relationship.

How do you see it?

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Taking care of myself

After my trip, I’ve been totally exhausted and that’s made me realize that I need to take better care of myself. Therefore, I’m taking a brief blogging break starting Monday, but it will only be for a week! JC and I managed to scrape together enough time and money to make a trip to our favorite beach.

Therefore, there will be no posts up for next week. I will be back…hopefully fully healthy and eager to visit and chat with everyone on Monday, October 12th…and I will have a photo story post up that day. I appreciate everyone’s support:~)