Sunrises

I loved watching the sun rise and light up Pikes Peak.  It was my favorite part of the day, and that Pikes Peak view was one of the best things about our Colorado Springs house.

We moved to the woods, and because of the trees, I could no longer see the sun rise or set.  Oh, I could tell that it was up, but those trees were so thick and tall that I sometimes wouldn't see the sun come up through the trees until 10 a.m. For two weeks a year, the sun set at an angle where I could see it drop down behind the hills.  I desperately missed seeing that.

Now I see the sun rise almost every day.  If I'm on my computer in the morning, I'll notice the color of the sky changing right through the window.  I step out and take a lot of photos.  It's always gorgeous--not in the same breathtaking way as Pikes Peak, but still gorgeous.

Random shots from the end of January.

 January 22

 January 25

January 29

 January 31

January 31, 5 mins. later

Sleeping dogs . . . and cats

Kota always goes to bed before me.She likes my spot.  If I am not careful, I'll come to bed and find this, with her little rat head on my pillow.  Ugh!  Notice that when I catch her, she ignores me and refuses to look at my face.  As if I'll just go away.

Sometimes I'll remember to stand my pillow up so she can't lay on it.  I came in a last week and found this.  The pillow had fallen on her, but she still didn't move.  And she still refused to look at me.

Sleeping kitties enjoying the fire.

Pumpkin is laying on top of me.  Clearly, she has lost her mind, because she has done a great job if ignoring me for the past nine years.

Trevor snapped this one of her.  Angel face. Demon heart.

Jim Zenk, 9/20/1967 - 1/24/2014

Beloved son, brother, uncle, friend. Recovered addict who then devoted his time helping others recover.  Self employed general contractor, respected by clients, admired by employees and peers.  Passionate body boarder who hit the water whenever he had the chance.

Lover of Christ; humble servant of the Lord.  Eternally in His presence. 


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One decision can change your life. For ever.

Separated at birth, part 2

A few days later (also in April), while I was watching American Idol, Trevor came out of the bathroom looking like this. 

Hilarious!  He has Keith's voice and accent down very well too.

Separated at birth, part 1

Holly took this selfie while in a class. (I was not sure I wanted to know more, so I did not ask!) We laughed so hard that we cried. The date on this picture is actually 4/2014, but I swore to her that I would bury it my blog so no one would ever see it.

 We were struck by her similarity to Jason Castro, who was on American Idol several seasons ago.

Deer in my backyard

Oh, they're here. You just can't always see them well.  (But you can see Robert's reflection, with his arms crossed at his waist.)

But if they've got to be somewhere, better my yard than on the street in front of my car.

Judy, Lovely Judy

Whenever she comes for dinner, she always brings dessert.  She always brings FABULOUS desserts that even Holly looks forward to.  She famous around here for her trifles, her cakes, well, anything she brings.  She throws whatever together, and it always turns out just right.

I think we need to have her over again, really soon.

Trevor

He's always good at getting a smile or laugh.  Being silly, he sent me this while I was at work:

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Do you get tooth aches every time you go to work?

Because I realize you always come home when it's "tooth hurty."

Holly's Good Deed

Alternative title: Lucky Comes Undone

Holly can't it when Lucky has tufts of hair coming off of his hips. He's an old dog and surely has some hormone imbalance that causes this.  He loves when she brushes him out.

I love it too, and I love it even more because she takes care of all of the leftover dog.
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Remembering Roger Miller

(Which title has nothing to do with his death.)

An online friend shared an old Roger Miller song on Facebook.  I commented something about remembering Roger Miller as one of the few albums my parents had when we were kids.  Oh, it was a small but motley group of albums--the ones I remember are Roger Miller, Kenny Rogers and the First Edition, Rolling Stones Through the Past Darkly, Hair, and Bing Crosby's White Christmas.  Memorable.  Obviously, as this is 45 years later.

So Judy sent me the Roger Miller Greatest Hits CD.

Even without opening it, just looking at the songs brought back instant recall of the words.  Robert experienced the same, and we spent several (often painful) days, trading lines back and forth and inflicting lines of songs upon each other.  True love, I guess!

Blinded

THIS is the jar of pickles I could not find in my "pantry."  My pantry is a cabinet that has four shelves and is about one foot deep and one foot wide.  This jar was probably the second biggest thing IN the pantry, and it wasn't hiding behind anything.

Sigh.  At least I didn't go out and buy more!

DQ run

Squeezing in a few last minute favorites before taking Holly back to school as winter break draws to close.

Prophecy

Trevor ordered a wireless USB adapter for his new computer.  He checked the tracking today and found out that it was already delivered:  tomorrow.  Incredibly, Amazon even knows where it was delivered tomorrow!