WEEKLY PHOTO CHALLENGE – INDULGE

INDULGE

My Nikon D3000 - YAY!

I’ll have to admit I was a little stumped with this week’s challenge.  Indulge.  What does that mean to me?  Is it chocolate cream pie and cafe mocha, 4 slices of pizza and a root beer float, mint chocolate chip ice cream and then more mint chocolate chip ice cream? No that’s not indulgence.  That’s a normal day.  So I did what I tell my first grader’s to do.  I looked it up in the dictionary.  Here’s the definition I’m going with:  verb: to yield to a wish or desire: allow oneself to follow one’s will.

Man, Oh Man, OH MAN!  Thank you, Word Press!

This girl went out and got herself a camera!  Talk about indulging!  Not having two nickels to rub together, with bills haunting me from all angles, staring down two mortgages, and retirement ( and fixed income) just around the corner, my husband and I walked into a camera shop and said, “We’ll take that one.”  Like it was a puppy at the pound.

I’ve been wanting a real honest-to-goodness camera for 35 years!  Now, I went and did it.  I’ve been clicking on blog posts left and right and each one is better than the last.  Writing, photography, jewelry.  You name it. I see people following their dreams and doing things I only talk about doing, and now it’s time for me to indulge.

Thanks to all that have inspired me.  I’m off to point and shoot!

WEEKLY PHOTO CHALLENGE – DOWN

DOWN

Sitting pretty - looking down from the sea wall

Word Press is handing down the challenge.  They will suggest a topic once a week.  The challenge is to post a blog and a picture with an interpretation of that topic.  This week’s topic is DOWN.  The key word, as I’m understanding it is ‘interpretation’ so here it goes…

If you’re from Jersey, specifically, outside of Newark where I was born, the word DOWN meant one thing:  Down the shore.  When I was a kid growing up, getting to the shore was tantamount to getting to the moon.  Fuhgetaboutit!

That was 50 years ago.

I’m making up for it now.  I went and got me a place down the shore. I’m livin’ in the space age, baby and shooting for the moon.  Now I’m down the shore every chance I get and lovin’ it.

Live the dream.

Valentines, Friends, and Love

Love.

What do you think of when you think L-O-V-E?

Family? Friends? Husband? Wife? Partner? Pet? Food? (Ok, maybe that’s just me.)

Where do your allegiances lie? Who do you love? Who are your friends? What does all that even mean? And who killed Cock Robin? (Sorry, I digress.)

My friend of almost 50 years told me something once and I never forgot it. I was complaining about putting on weight. I was telling her that I can’t trust my husband because he always tells me that I look beautiful. I grumbled, “How am I suppose to know when to stop eating if he keeps telling me I’m beautiful?” Her reply: “We both think you’re beautiful. We see you with our hearts, not with our eyes.”

Ahhhhhhhhh. But WOW!

Unconditional love. Like my pets. They love me, no questions asked. If they could even ask questions, that is. Mostly they meow and bark.(And fart. Maybe they don’t really love me.) There are a few people (and animals) in my life that look at me with their hearts. Thank goodness. Not everybody has that. I am very lucky.

And friendship. What’s that about?

I’m understanding there are different degrees of friendship. You have friendships with people you work with. You can be friends with your neighbors. You can make friends with your mailman, your accountant, your hairdresser. You can even be friends with a friend of your friend. What stinks is when you think you have friends, and it turns out they’re just people you know. Not really friends at all.

When you’re a friend, in the true sense of the word, love included, you stand by each other. Unconditionally. There’s no judging. You believe in each other. You trust and trust IN each other. There’s not too much you wouldn’t do for one another. You certainly would never turn your back on a friend. Shame on you if you do.

Tuesday is Valentine’s Day. Send your mom a box of chocolates. Give your man a (fill in the blank). Get your dog a gourmet canine cookie.

Send a friend an over-the-top, sentimental, love-you-like-crazy, Valentine’s card.
But before you shell out the dough (a card could cost upwards of $5.00 these days!!) be sure you know who your friends are.

If you’re among the very few and very special, I love you.

Sis - Proud of you

Laura Meesh - Always missing you

Love you guys

You keep me SANE!

Love, Licks, and Hugs

Like my own - xoxoxoxox

Tank. You ROCK! xoxoxoxox

Everyone else, Happy Valentine’s Day.