Red Leaves of Autumn

© Les Taylor Photo (Thanks, Leslie!)

What exactly would be the seasonal opposite of "Spring has Sprung"?  I'm not sure what cute name it would be given, but I saw a lovely example of it today.  See, here in the South we have relatively mild falls and winters, and many of our trees never do the color change routine that is so common to places farther north.  To see a tree in full fall "bloom" is somewhat of a rarity here.

It rained—well, drizzled—for most of the day today. There was very little blue sky, and what did show was in little bits that were quickly swallowed up again with more dark clouds.

Shortly before our school dismissed today, the rain finally let up in that part of town.  As I was loading my bags into my car to head home, I glanced over at a tree in the center median of the faculty parking lot, and immediately wished I had had my camera in my purse.  There, in the parking lot of the school, one of our small and normally-green trees had burst into a full coat of red leaves for fall.  I took a picture with my phone, the only camera I had available, and wanted to share it here along with a poem I discovered a few years ago!

Bumper Stickers 2012

People who know me know that I have long been a fan of bumper stickers.  I last blogged about my bumper stickers back in September of 2010 in this post.  Back then, I was still driving my Nissan Sentra.  Sadly, courtesy of a lady (not myself) who decided to run a red light, that poor little Sentra ended up like this just 6 weeks later:

These days, I'm driving an '02 Chrysler Voyager, and it has a whole new collection of it's own stickers that get a great deal of attention.  When stickers get old, they are rotated out for new ones.  A few of the current stickers are almost ready to be replaced, so I thought I'd document the current collection before making any changes.  And I decided to show them off to my readers!  Take a look!

Hometown Happiness: Blue Angels Homecoming Air Show

On November 12, 2011, Dad and I took Kaleb to the Blue Angels Homecoming Air Show at Naval Air Station Pensacola.  I had seen the Blues in the air practicing plenty of times, having grown up here in Pensacola, but it was only the second time I had attended an official performance.

At last year's show Kaleb managed to take a 45-minute nap on the ground (see photo, left)—surrounded by thousands of strangers, 50 feet from a crazy-loud speaker tower, in the bright sunlight, with the roar of various aircraft directly overhead.  It was amazing, and baffling, to discover that anyone could sleep in such a noisy, chaotic environment.  We all had fun, though, and Kaleb still remembered last year's show vividly when I began talking about attending the show again this year.  In fact, he spent plenty of time over the past two weeks talking about the Blue Angels to anyone who would listen.  It was clear he has been excited.

This year, I was afraid there would be no nap happening at the show, and I hoped that Kaleb would stay interested.  We had thought ahead and had remembered to bring along a blanket to sit on this time, and the weather was much warmer than last year.  After a bit of walking and looking a some of the static aircraft displays, we picked out a patch of grass, spread out our blanket and sat down to watch the early acts.

It was a very sunny day, and I was glad that we had all sunblocked before leaving the house.  I had brought along Kaleb's hat, but hadn't considered how I would handle the bright sunlight myself.  As someone who neither owns nor wears sunglasses and hats, this just isn't something that often comes to mind for me.  During the course of the show, we ended up having to buy a hat for me, just so that I could keep my eyes open long enough to see the show!

The Faces of American Presidential Hopefuls

As I've said before, I'm already certain who I'll be voting for in the November elections.  However, I got curious about who the "lesser" party candidates were, so I pulled up my sample ballot to have a look.  I know the options might vary some from state to state, but here are the 12 options available to me in the 2012 Presidential race (V.P. candidates not included).

Barack Obama
Incumbent POTUS (Democrat)

Mitt Romney
Republican

The American Way

Yeah, I know, it's too early for Halloween pics already.  What can I say?  I adore this child, and when we tried on his costume tonight, I just couldn't resist.  Besides, it's not like my blog readers are going to get to see him live and in person on Halloween night...

♥

The Wisdom of the Heart

Throughout my teen years and on into my early adulthood, I was on an on-again/off-again search for something that would show itself to be spiritual truth.  Every step I took in researching various religions of the world too me farther and farther from the narcissistic, dictatorial, puppet master God of the Bible and closer to the ancient spiritualities of Europe and Asia.

While my studies of Buddhism were merely a stop-off on my journey, I find that many of the teachings of Buddhist leaders still hold, for me, some very perfect bits of wisdom.  Among my more favorite selections of Buddhist teachings is "The Wisdom of the Heart," by His Holiness the 14th Dalai Lama.

"The Wisdom

of the Heart"
 from the

14th Dalai Lama*

Nobel Peace Prize Laureate (1989)

1.  Be kind whenever possible. It is always possible.

2.  Open your arms to change, but don't let go of your values.

3.  Sleep is the best meditation.

4.  Spend some time alone every day.

5.  We can never obtain peace in the outer world until we make peace with ourselves.

6.  Remember that not getting what you want is sometimes a wonderful stroke of luck.

7.  We can live without religion and meditation, but we cannot survive without human affection.

8.  Happiness is not something ready made. It comes from your own actions.

9.  If you can, help others; if you cannot do that, at least do not harm them.

10.  The ultimate authority must always rest with the individual's own reason and critical analysis.

*The 14th Dalai Lama, Tenzin Gyatso, is the spiritual and exiled leader of the Tibetan people. Born in northeastern Tibet, he was recognized at the age of 2 as the reincarnation of the 13th Dalai Lama. After the suppression of the Tibetan national uprising in 1959, His Holiness escaped to India where he was given political asylum. Dalai Lama is a Mongolian title, which means "Ocean of Wisdom". "Dalai" means "ocean" in Mongolian, and "Lama" (bla ma) is the Tibetan equivalent of the Sanskrit word "guru", and is commonly translated to mean "spiritual teacher".

Weekend DIY Project: Fixing Up a Tiny Bathroom on a Tiny Budget

I have a tiny bathroom.  It measures 5' wide (I can easily touch both side walls at the same time) and 7' from the door to the back wall (with the back 30" of that being occupied by the bathtub/shower).  Like I said, it's a small bathroom.

When we moved into this house 4 years ago, I thought it would be so bad having a small bathroom, as long as I could figure out a way to work in enough storage space.  So, in addition to the built-in cabinet under the sink, I brought in another small cabinet and shelf, stacked them, and positioned them in the only available floor space which happened to be directly across from the toilet.  This worked and gave me the storage space I needed, but it left everything feeling even smaller because it shrunk the open space in front of the toilet down to about 24".  And it was in that tiny cramped spot that I had to kneel to bathe Kaleb try to dry myself off after showers without stubbing my toe on the cabinet or toilet.  But lacking any better ideas or the funds to find something better, I worked with what I had.  And I'd lived with it that way for the past 4 years.

A few weeks ago, I had mentioned to my good friend Jack that I had almost broken my toe while getting Kaleb out of the bath in that tiny little space.  Little did I know that, a couple of days ago, a Visa gift card would show up in my mailbox, a gift from Jack with a note telling me to use it to fix my bathroom.  So that's exactly what I did!  I took that $200 gift card and put about $150 of it toward supplies for a bathroom fix-up.  I even had enough left over to fill up the gas tank in my car!

Check out how far the money went!

A Bit of Truth

Hello, neglected readers.  I realize it has been far too long since I have been here faithfully, and I am preparing for a proper return to regular writing.  However, just for today, I have found this little picture item while browsing a series of websites, and I wanted to share it with you all.  I "found" (translation: stole) this image on another blog called Analyfe, and I do not know if it was original to that blog or if that blog's author also "found" the image as I did.

It's the type of thing you come across online, and the moment you see it, you instantly realize that it holds a definite truth.  See for yourself, and let me know what you think.

I'll be back with more new things for you to read very soon.  ♥

Taking a Ride on the Etsy Bandwagon!

So, I may not be any professional artist, but I've been experimenting a lot lately with paintings inspired by Japanese Sakura (cherry blossoms).  I've worked out a technique that I think produces lovely results, so I thought I'd see if anyone else might enjoy them as well.  As of tonight, I've opened an Etsy Shop, figuring I might make a little supplemental income.  Couldn't hurt, right?  So, check it out, or tell your friends.  Thanks!

PcolaRedHead Etsy Shop!

Pensacola-area residents who wish to make a purchase and pick up their painting can contact me directly for a "free shipping" coupon code.  Then you won't have to pay for shipping, and we can work out a meeting to get your painting to you!

Review: Crayola Color Bath Dropz

On Sunday, Kaleb received a basket filled with new toys and other fun things (and a very little bit of candy).  One of the items the "Easter Bunny" included in his basket this year was a jar of Crayola Color Bath Dropz.  I was a little worried that they would leave some permanent color on our tub or towels—or the kid—but after 2 nights of use, I'm happy to report that they seem to have no negative effects!

Our Color Bath Dropz came with three colors of tablets: RED, YELLOW, & BLUE.  Here's what Crayola has to say about their product:

"The Crayola Bath product line brings the color, fun, creativity and imagination of the Crayola brand to bath time. Crayola Bath Dropz are fizzing water color tablets that turn ordinary bath water into colorful, fizzy water. This jar makes up to 30 baths! Mix and match the tints to create all the colors of the rainbow."

Sunday night, Kaleb wanted a RED bath.  We used one red tablet under the running faucet, and within minutes, the tub looked as if a gruesome homicide had taken place there.  But when bath time was finished and we drained all the water from the tub, there appeared to be no color left on anything.  Kaleb, the tub, and all his bath toys were unaffected by the color, as was his bath towel once we had him all dried off.

Tonight, we tested out mixing our primary colors.  We mixed one YELLOW tablet and one BLUE tablet and the result was a bath tub full of very GREEN water.  Kaleb played with his toy boats for at least a half hour before it was time to get out and head to bed.  Once again, when the water had been drained, there was none of the color left anyplace.

Overall, I'd say these are a simple and affordable way to add some fun to your kids' bath!

P52, Somewhat: Week 15, "Tradition"

I grew up in a family with traditions.  We knew, more or less, what to expect at every major holiday, and it was nice to know what was coming.  Now that I'm a parent myself, I want Kaleb to benefit from these same types of traditions.  But the pressures of wanting him to have the perfect Rockwellian holidays, as I remember having in my own childhood.

What I have discovered is this: I probably actually never had a holiday that went perfectly according to my parents' plans.  My family holidays with Kaleb will probably never go perfectly either.  And that's ok.  Just as I never had any sense of things going wrong as a kid, Kaleb probably won't either.  In fact, the most important tradition is to simply spend time with Kaleb and do things to make his holidays special and memorable, just as my parents did for my brother and me when we were kids.

This year, for the first time, Kaleb and I dyed eggs.  Assuming I already had all the supplies we'd need, I didn't bother to read the directions of the egg dying kid my dad had given us.  I bought some eggs, and hard boiled 20 of them.  18 of them survived the boiling without cracking, and they were set aside to be colored.  On the day we were to dye the eggs, however, I realized we had no vinegar to add to the dye water to help the color adhere to the egg shells.  A quick glance around Google hinted that I might be able to use lemon juice instead, and I decided it would just have to work.  Kaleb and I spent some time dying the eggs, six at a time in three rounds.  They came out with plenty of imperfections, not at all what I had hoped for my first attempt at sharing this activity with Kaleb.  But you know what?  He didn't notice those imperfections at all!  He was overjoyed to be able to help, to get to participate in something new and fun.  When it was all finished, I couldn't pry Kaleb out of the kitchen.  He actually wanted to stand atop his stool and watch the eggs drying on the counter.

My Boys

It's not at all unusual for me to see a few raised eyebrows when I make reference to "my sons" or "my boys."  Most people know that I'm a single mom with a little boy, but those plural nouns often throw people for a loop.  However, even when I was pregnant with Kaleb, I already had one fuzzy child—my big orange cat, Morris.

In 2002, I was married and living in PPV military housing in a little town in Northern San Diego County called Ramona, California.  One day while I was home alone, there was an unexpected knock at the door.  I opened the door, and there stood a sleep-deprived Navy wife with a Radio Flyer wagon containing a basket of mewling orange furballs and several dozen cans of kitten formula.  She told me that her cat had had these kittens and had taken off and not returned.  She had been trying to take care of all 6 kittens herself, but was finding it impossible to keep up with them and her own children.  She was looking for families to adopt the kittens.  I had always wanted an orange cat—it seemed a redheaded woman should have one—so I agreed to take one.  We already had 3 cats, and I knew my then-husband would be none too happy when he came home....but he was rarely very happy anyway.

What'll I Tell My Son About Tattoos?

I've lost count of how many times people, upon learning that I am a single mother, have asked me "how on earth" I'm going to explain tattoos to my son.  Frankly, I don't see what the big deal is.  Granted, I'm usually asked this by someone who remembers the way-back-whens when tattoos were only something worn by sailors and hookers (or, more recently, by bikers and hippies), but seriously....it's 2012, people!

I realize that single moms are far more common these days than they were just a couple of generations ago.  Divorce rates have grown exponentially and the rate of children born to unwed mothers—like myself—has risen as well.  But let's face it: even back in the "good old days," parenting has never been an easy undertaking.  Throughout history, parents have always been faced with the decision of how to raise their children, what lessons to teach, and what morals to instill into their offspring.  My case is no different.

Yes, I have tattoos.  They are visible.  And Kaleb knows that I have them.  However, until very recently, I only had tattoos that had been on my body longer than I had been a mother.  Now, however, I have fresh ink at a time when Kaleb is old enough to be aware of it and curious about them.  The one on my forearm, especially, has gotten a lot of attention.

Today, Kaleb asked me if he could have a tattoo, too, "like Mommy's tattoo."  We had a talk about tattoos—yes, my 3-year-old and I—and how they become a part of you forever.  I explained to him that real tattoos are something only for grown-ups, because they are an important decision and because you have to be old enough to take good care of them.  [For the record, I have this exact same opinion on piercings.]

Ink.

Photo: 3-19-2008

On March 19, 2008, I began my second tattoo.  On that day, I met with my preferred tattoo artist and had the outlines inked for a tattoo that would take several follow-up sessions of coloring to complete.  I was very happy that night with the results, and couldn't wait for it to heal enough that I could go back and get more work done.

I called back a few days later to schedule an appointment a few weeks ahead for my first coloring session.  The original design for this tattoo was very intricate and would have lots of detail and shading and bold colors.  The healing process went well, and I was on track to color within a month.

Then, as it often does, life got in the way.  Three days before my appointment, I found out that I was pregnant.  Of course, there are several reasons you can't be tattooed while pregnant, so we decided that it would just have to wait.

4-6-2012 — Before

A week ago, I found out that I would have the opportunity to finally go back and have the color added today, after only 4 years of walking around with a half-finished artwork upon my back.  I pulled out the file with the original plans for the tattoo and started thinking about what details to have added this session.  But the more I looked at the plans, the more I realized that my desires had become much simpler since the birth of my little boy.  So, I loaded the file into my photo editing software and set to work reworking the old plans to suit my current desires.

The outlines, obviously, were already set and had healed beautifully.  All that needed to be decided was what would be put into them.  In the original plans, the entire design would be filled with color, inside the lines and also in between the rings.  It was bold and color-heavy and very complicated.  It would take hours upon hours of coloring and shading and blending, and I knew there wasn't much chance I could get it all done today....and I sure didn't want to wait potentially 4 more years to have the chance to have more work done.  Once I had simplified the design, I was much happier and got even more excited.

Incredible Imagination Meets Developing Motor Skills

In case I haven't said it often enough over the past week or so, let me tell you now: my kid is really, really amazing.  Sure, I know most parents say that about their children.  But you know what?  We're actually all correct!

Children are the most amazing little people, always changing and developing and gaining new skills.  It's one of the most fascinating things in the world, especially with young children who are changing with every blink of the eye.

Last night, while I was preparing our supper, Kaleb called out to me to "Come look, Mommy!"  I walked into the living room, and Kaleb was standing there, beaming from ear to ear, holding the Lego creation shown in the picture to the left.  Only half paying attention—I know, it's terrible, but we're all guilty of this from time to time—I said "Oh, neat," and turned to go back to the kitchen to continue working on our supper.

Kaleb, however, was completely dissatisfied with my response (and, honestly, he was totally justified to feel that way).  He said, "Wait, Mommy!  Take my picture!  Take a picture of my Legos!"

Now, I should say here that I fully believe that there must be some little bit of human DNA—yet unidentified, of course—that passes down the outgoing nature of a parent to their child.  My brother and I got it from our parents, along with the "performance" gene, and Kaleb has apparently gotten it from me.  He wants to be noticed when he has done something worthy of note, and he will not give up until he has the recognition he feels he has earned.

P52, Somewhat: Week 14, "Toys"

The photo topic this week is "Toys," and toys are definitely something I know plenty about.  Why?  Because I'm a parent, and my son has a particular talent for making an absolute mess.

A few days ago, I blogged about my son's new Jobs Chart, mentioning that one of his jobs is to clean up all his toys every weekend.  When I was this topic coming up, I knew in advance what the photo would have to be this week.  So, when we woke up yesterday morning, I snapped a pic of our living room floor before all the toys got cleaned up.

And, rather than writing a lot this week, I have decided to let the photo speak for itself.

2 Neat Google Features Most People Don't Know About

Most of us know that Google can do hundreds of really neat things thought the many applications integrated into the Google website.  Recently, though, I have discovered 2 Google features I had never heard of and plan to make good use of for the benefit of this blog.

Google Alerts

is a Google feature that allows you to receive notification from Google when they discover new content on the internet that meets your set criteria.  Want to know when someone writes a new article about the Wizard of Oz?  No, you probably don't.  But if you did, you could set up an alert for it, and Google would let you know any time it came across new websites or webpages with Wizard of Oz subject matter.  Better yet, you could set Google to let you know any time it comes across your name online....but beware of that if your name is John Brown or any other common name!

Google & LIFE

(the magazine) have partnered and Google now hosts the entire photo archive of LIFE, including hundreds (thousands?) of photos that were never published in the magazine.  These photos are available to everyone through Google for personal use....you know, like blogs!

Go check out these really awesome features!

Kaleb's Jobs

No matter what I do, Kaleb is growing up.  He has learned to identify colors, count objects, and sing numerous songs.  His vocabulary continues to grow, and he is getting better and better at communicating with those around him.  He's also developing his own opinions and learning how to express them.  As a preschooler, many of his opinions are expressed through defiance, so I'm constantly looking for new ways to inspire Kaleb to do the right things: follow directions and follow the rules.

And I'm trying to accomplish this with as few tears (his or my own) as possible.  When several of the incentives I had offered weren't working, I started looking for a new strategy.  What I have ended up doing is actually recycling a tactic I used last summer when Kaleb was potty training: a sticker poster.  It's so simple, yet so effective.

During potty training, Kaleb would get to stick a sticker onto the poster on the bathroom door.  He was always so proud and excited to add a new sticker to the poster.  Last week, I created a new poster which is now hanging on the wall in Kaleb's bedroom.  It's a little more involved than the Potty Poster, but it also covers more jobs and is divided into one-week columns—enough columns to last us until school starts back next Fall.

Each job is labeled in words, for me, as well as pictures that Kaleb can interpret on his own.  They are lines up on the poster, from top to bottom, in chronological order as they occur during the day.  Most are jobs he will do every day, while a couple are jobs that occur less often.

So, what are Kaleb's Jobs?

P52, Somewhat: Week 13, "Accessory"

This week's post almost had me stumped.  We have been given the topic "Accessory."

Let's face it: I'm totally not a girly-girl.  I don't wear make-up, I don't usually have the most trendy jewelry, and I don't really accessorize much at all.  I do own many little items that would qualify as accessories, but none of them were things that I felt were really all that important to me or things I thought would make a good photograph.  So when I hit that brick wall mental block, I did what any natural lexophile would do: I turned to the dictionary for ideas.

Here is what the dictionary told me:

That single definition lit up many areas of my mind, but it was this part that stood out the most: "Contributing to or aiding an activity or process."

I knew immediately what to photograph for this post.

A Fine Balancing Act

Tuesday (2 days ago) was the Spring Equinox.  I remember several time, during middle school, when the science teacher at my school would balance an egg on the table at the front of his classroom on the day of an equinox and leave it there all day.  Supposedly, this trick is only possible on an equinox because of the perfect balance of the earth and its gravitational fields, or something like that.  Anyhow, I thought it would be a fun thing to attempt myself, and I was pleasantly surprised to discover that, after 15 minutes of delicately trying to make a raw egg stand on it's fat end, I was finally able to accomplish it!  As soon as it was in place, I quickly snapped a photo, as I was afraid even breathing too hard would ruin what I had done.  I was right.  Within 5 minutes, the egg had rolled out of its upright position (and was punished by becoming part of my lunch).

As I mentioned, however, I did manage to snap several photos.  This is the best of them: