I decided to do a quick post add some pics to the blog. I guess I haven't been feeling very wordy lately.
DS enjoying a popsicle. DD and our friends daughter who has the best smile ever.

May daughter has her own sense of style.

She's a goofy kid.

I started a 365 picture a day project and belong to a Flikr group to keep me honest. They can be found here http://flickr.com/photos/25121555@N08/. I'm hoping to improve my phtography skills and get some great pictures of my family and my life. Check it out every now and then.

Happy New Year

It's January 1, the first day of 2009. Here's a little bubbly for you all to enjoy.

I know I should be reflective and thinking about goals and whatnot for the upcoming year, but I'm not. I usually totally dig that kind of thing. Just not feeling it this year for some reason.

For the following year, I know I want to continue my practice, to meditate more and work on being more mindful on a daily basis.

I joined a 365 Flikr group, so I'm hoping to do a pic a day for the year. I found that when I've done this in the past for a month, I have improved my photography skills and gotten some killer photos. Let's face it, some of the best photos don't come from holidays and birthdays.

And of course, I want to lose weight and get healthier. Yada, yada, yada.

Happy New Year to you and yours. :)

My Homework

My sangha is currently working on wise speech. I have two homework assignments:

1. Focus on being in the body. This allows us to think more carefully about the intention behind what we're saying. The goal is to be at 50% in the body, 50% in the conversation.


2. One week not talking about someone not present. This isn't an exercise in how we should all live, but rather an exercise in mindfulness. It makes us more aware of how much we talk about others.

I will be reporting on my homework over the course of the next week.

On a completely separate note, I have had fun playing with my new camera's macro feature. I can get some pretty close pictures. of the week.

Pic Happy

I love taking pictures of my kids. Here are a few from preschool grad and from the Ashland trip.

Not Such a Baby Anymore

DD turned 5 this week. Definitely made me stop and reflect on how quickly they grow up. She'll be in kindergarten next year. DS is a year and a half and has officially reached toddlerdom, moved out of babyhood. They won't be babies for ever, I guess.


I thought this was a funny pic of DS. He dropped his pacifier into the sand and apparently didn't care for the texture. This summer, we'll be breaking the paci habit.

On a side note, this pic was a bugger to fix the coloring on. He was under a tree, and a green shade was vaguely present. The normal Adobe fixes weren't working, so I had to go into more advanced settings.

As an aside to my aside, DH bought me a new camera for Mother's Day. Finally got it connected to the computer today and have been playing nonstop since.

One-Day-a-Week Ordination

So I'm still reading the essay collection called Hooked. This one essayist, Ajahn Amaro, in his essay "Three Robes is Enough" explains one of the Buddha's teachings for lay practioners who want to "deepen their practice." We have the five precepts for lay practioners, but this idea of one-day-a-week ordination suggests that every "lunar quarter," we accept the precepts given to monks. Amaro lists them as follows:

1. Do not kill
2. Do not take was is not freely given
3. Abstain from sexual activity
4. "Abandon false speech"
5. Abstain from intoxicants
6. Eat once a day and not at night
7. Abstain from music and shows, as well as from wearing "adornments"
8. Sleep in a low, not soft bed

I kind of like this idea. It intrigues me. I'm not exactly sure what is meant by "Lunar quarter." Weekly maybe? I'm not sure I want to take this on weekly as this point, but once a month would be a good start.

On another note, I got a new camera for Mother's Day, which is a relief. I have been taking pictures, but haven't loaded the software onto my computer, so I haven't been able to upload pics yet. Hopefully this weekend I'll get that settled.

A couple more pics

. . . from my photo shoot yesterday.

Lots of Pics

This picture was taken at my friend's wedding. It was a lot of fun. She's from the Ukraine, and he's from Uzebikstan. We were pretty much the only nonRussian-speaking folk at the wedding. The Russians were funny and had a lot of fun wedding traditions. We were lucky enough to have a Russian sitting at our table translating and explaining. I'm the one in the center.
I took way too many pictures yesterday of my kids as they played in the spring-like weather.