Inner Peace Is For Losers

I like to take pictures. Every once in a while, I'll see something and wish I had a camera on me. Yesterday I was out walking with Akiah

who is a very energetic young lady. Snow does not slow her down. On the contrary; if she had her way, we'd do the distance at a dead run, and then we'd do it again. It's not easy to get her to hold still for a portrait, and she seems to always want to give me a profile. Maybe that's her good side.

Anyway. Winter is a pain in the ass, but it's very pretty. It looks like this will be a rough one. We've been under nearly constant winter storm warnings for about a week and a half, and now they're saying we could get 18 more inches of snow by Sunday.

So, yikes. But we're tough up here, and we'll deal. I just really wish I didn't have to work on Sunday.

While Akiah and I were out, I saw this lovely image of snow and red berries.


Add a cardinal, and that could be a Christmas card. Here they are, close up.


White Christmas? It's in the bag.

On the Weight Watchers™ front: I am 8 pounds lighter. No spring in the step just yet, but I'm getting there. The structure seems to be working well for me. I like their points system. It's got a lot of flexibility and helps me figure out what the good stuff is. I'm definitely eating healthier. I also walk with Akiah two miles most days. She's an energetic dog, and would go around a couple more times if I was willing.

At the kids school: I have become a band mom. I'm not as involved as some of them, because that just seems crazy, but I'm there at the edges and it's fun. We've gone to the home football games and have seen the halftime show each time. Recently the schools held a marching band expo at the stadium, featuring bands from all over the area. We weren't there for the whole thing, as it went for 5 hours, but we saw the last bunch. It was very cool to see what the other schools are doing. At the beginning of most performances, the announcer asks the drum majors if their band is ready, and they do a little choreography. Sometimes it's just hand signals ending in a salute, but some of them got cute with it. One band did Star Wars music, and their intro included light sabers. Another did Riverdance numbers, and their drum major did a little jig.

Our school? The drum majors tossed out handfuls of glitter in school colors. Pictured below, some of the kids in their groovy uniforms.



On the home front: Fall colors are now past their peak. They were lovely. New England has nothing on Michigan.

Halloween is approaching. We're not quite up to speed for that yet, but I've decided that any kid dressed like Hannah Montana or the Jonas Brothers is getting Jolly Ranchers. Or an apple.

Finally, Rick saw this and couldn't resist. We aren't normally the kind of people to dress up a dog, but Akiah as Darth Vader was just too good.



She was amazingly tolerant of our shenanigans.