recliners

recliners, originally uploaded by MNicoleM.

First of all - ignore the carpet! Chris didn't vacuum before he left for the airport (and of course, I didn't vacuum either!) so there is dog hair EVERYWHERE ... but anyway...

I had a lovely picture of the sign at Johnny's Pizza, where we had dinner tonight, but I left Rebecca (my camera) in the rental car which is now at the airport. Thankfully Chris noticed her and packed her into his backpack. So now that picture is headed for Florida so I decided to use Pinky (my classroom camera who just happened to be in my purse) to take a picture of our "new" addition to the bedroom for today's shot.

We got grandma's recliners from her living room (we actually picked them up last weekend but ddin't unload them out of my truck until today!) to go in our bedroom. With the treadmill and the two dog crates, it's not as aesthetically pleasing as it could be but sometimes you have to sacrifice aesthetics for functionality, right? Now we need to get a floor lamp to go between them and we're good to go.

How will I survive without my camera until Thursday?!?! Thankfully I have no photo shoots scheduled until Saturday, or else I'd be in big trouble! And I do still have Cammie, who - though not a dSLR is still a pretty nice camera, and Pinky who takes a decent snapshot ... and my phone, of course ... so I guess I'll be OK.

Addison

Addison-10, originally uploaded by MNicoleM.

Today was sweet little Addison's 9 month portraits ...She is the first baby I did brand-new newborn portraits of, and I can't believe that she is nine months old!! And isn't she PRECIOUS?!?!

Bonus Pictures:

Chris, Gigi and Jackson (and of course, blue puppy)

dinner-2, originally uploaded by MNicoleM.

Havd dinner tonight with our friends and their two youngest at our favorite Mexican restaurant in town (the oldest was at a sleepover).

Cousins

M-1, originally uploaded by MNicoleM.

Tonight was a busy photo shoot ... four cousins, age 9 months, 5 months, 9 months and 3 years all in one picture. We had 2 or 3 happy kids at any given time but at least one was unhappy, which made a group shot difficult. But their Grammy only has them all in town for a few days so we did the best we could! Aren't they adorable though?

Bonus photos:

Oops!

I forgot to take a picture today!!!

daddy

daddy, originally uploaded by MNicoleM.

My daddy has been out of work for almost a year now and he is going STIR crazy. I guess he's run out of projects at his house, so he decided my photo studio (in our unfinished basement) needed to be fixed up. So he is putting up some paneling, laying down some linoleum, painting the concrete wall and trimming around the doorways. He is also installing shelves, another light, and who knows what else. I'm kinda enjoying his boredom. :-)

100th day

100th day, originally uploaded by MNicoleM.

Today was the 100th day of school and my class went on a number search around the school. We found about 60 numbers - here is the number 100 on a sign in the front hallway.

Bedtime?

bedtime?, originally uploaded by MNicoleM.

I went to brush my teeth and saw that everyone is already in bed waiting for me - and they weren't too pleased that I turned on the light to take their picture. Buffy's not in focus, but Soleil flew away before I could adjust my DOF and take another picture, so oh well.

Big Brother Ben and Little Sister Sarah

Big Brother Ben and Little Sister Sarah, originally uploaded by MNicoleM.

Ben's mom works with me at KES and I've been taking Ben's portraits since he was 3 months old. Today I took his two year portraits ...and because Ben has a 3 week old baby sister, Sarah, I also did her newborn session and a new family portrait session. I couldn't pick just ONE photo! They're all just too cute! So today I have bonus pictures.

Golfers

golfers, originally uploaded by MNicoleM.

We are keeping our friends' kids tonight while they go out for Jeff's birthday. I had doc seminar tonight so Chris was entertaining them - I came home and Jackson (the 3 year old) met me at the door saying "Nickel Nickel!! I'm playing GOLF and I won by myself!" (for the record, he didn't "win", he got the ball in the hole, but he did do it himself) They are now playing Mario Party.

Finally hopped on the wagon ...

finally hopped on the wagon, originally uploaded by MNicoleM.

I went to the door to find a package from Amazon, but I hadn't ordered anything ... Surprise! My mother in law sent me and Chris each our very own Kindle :-)

pretty, neat, and organized shelves :-)

pretty, neat, and organized shelves :-), originally uploaded by MNicoleM.

I organized my bedroom bookshelves - cleared off (tossed, stored or donated) 3 boxes of books/magazines - ain't it pretty? This is the first thing I see in the morning and the last thing I see at night, and it was SO cluttered ... now it makes me happy :-)

GSU

GSU, originally uploaded by MNicoleM.

This is by "my" parking lot at school. I am currently taking my last class (ever!) at Georgia State University. Then my dissertation and I will soon be "Dr. Mays". Though there are days (usually the days I have class LOL) that I question whether or not I really *need* or *want* my PhD - but I imagine I'll be glad I persevered when (if) I finish.

Dentist

dentist's tools, originally uploaded by MNicoleM.

School holidays are very convenient times for me to catch up on doctor's appointments. After my allergy shot and doctor's appointment to go over my bloodwork, I went to the dentist this afternoon - no cavities :-)

A new friend

doggy head, originally uploaded by MNicoleM.

I'm crocheting a little puppy dog (though he is looking a bit more like a bear). I think next time I need to make the stitches a little tighter so you can't see his stuffing ... but for my very first try, I don't think it's that bad! Once he gets a body, legs, a tail, and a mouth I think he will be quite adorable :-)

Grace and Lilly

Grace and Lilly-3, originally uploaded by MNicoleM.

A few years ago, I got really interested in phtography. As people saw the photos I took of my students, they asked me to take pictures of their children. I eventually created a studio in my basement and now have a tiny little photography business. I have done a couple of weddings and parties but usually just do portrait sessions in the evenings and on the weekends. The majority of my clients are coworkers, coworkers' families or people who have seen photos I've taken of coworkers LOL.

Today I had a photoshoot with a coworker's granddaughters, Grace and Lilly. They are both very sweet, adorable girls. And don't they look so pretty in their matching polka-dot dresses?!

Happy Birthday Cassius!

Happy Birthday Cassius!, originally uploaded by MNicoleM.

Cassius's birthday was actually yesterday, but I had an IEP meeting and wasn't in the classroom for a lot of the day -so we celebrated today. It took about 25 tries to get a shot before he took the hat off (see his hand on the way up there?) so I didn't try to re-take when we noticed the hat was backwards LOL.

Brushing Teeth

Brushing Teeth, originally uploaded by MNicoleM.

I hope that a collage counts ... I forgot to take a photo specifically for the 365 challenge, but I did take these pictures of brushing teeth for our class blog. The three students here have learned to complete all of the steps to brushing teeth independently so I was taking pictures of them to use to make picture prompts for some of my other students.

clean desk #3

clean desk #3, originally uploaded by MNicoleM.

The last in this sequence of fascinating pictures, my desk at home! On top of the desk, if you see the Elmo up there - that's from my student teacher last year - he's wearing a KES shirt (where I work), carrying a CEC bag and holds in his hand a little bitty tiny boardmaker CD and IEP folder.

Clean desk #2

Clean desk #2, originally uploaded by MNicoleM.

I took a picture yesterday of my clean desk in the back of the classroom, this is my clean desk in the front of the classroom - this is where I plug in my laptop and has stuff that I may need or do during the school day. This desk gets MUCH messier than the one in the back of the room LOL

Clean desk #1

Clean desk #1, originally uploaded by MNicoleM.

I am so proud that I got my desks cleaned off in my classroom :-) This is the desk with the teacher computer in the back of the classroom. This is where I work when the kids aren't here or if I have paperwork to do and my paras are handling the kids. It's really kind of like my "office" only it's not separate from the classroom.

byebye Chris!

byebye Chris, originally uploaded by MNicoleM.

Since we met -- the entire time we dated, were engaged and were married (up until last year) -- Chris has traveled for work. Between 45-48 weeks of the year, he was only home about 2 1/2 days a week. This is all we knew and it worked very well for us. I jokingly (well, half-jokingly) told everyone that when we started to get on each other's nerves too bad, we knew it was time for him to go to the airport. But seriously, him not being here on weekdays enabled me to go to school, work late, go to bed early, etc. without feeling guilty for neglecting him. And we had Friday nights through Sunday nights together, which is when I have the most time anyway.

For a little over a year now, he has been mostly working from home. This was an adjustment, to say the least LOL. Not that I didn't enjoy having him home, it was just totally different having him home during the week!

After a little over a year of mostly working from home, Chris is back on the road. There are pros and cons to this! I'm trying to focus on the pros :-) I get the whole bed back, less laundry, less cleaning (When I get home in the afternoon/evening, the house will be just as I left it in the morning!). But I'll miss him. I kinda got accustomed to having him around here (and he cooked, most nights!)

New Sup-er Mario Brothers, Wiii-hiiiiii!!!

New Sup-er Mario Brothers, Wiii-hiiiiii!!!, originally uploaded by MNicoleM.

I'm obsessed with this game! All of a sudden, I'm a little girl again - only I don't have my mom making me turn off the Nintendo and get productive!! I've spent WAY too much time playing this game LOL

Snow Day!

Snow Day!, originally uploaded by MNicoleM.

This is the view from my front door this morning - when I first woke up at TEN AM :-) If I decide to get dressed and actually step *outside* the door later today, I may replace it with a better picture LOL

What a great day for a snow day, I was exhausted from the funeral and the trip. We got home Thursday around 2am, so I wasn't the best teacher I could be on Thursday - and by the end of the day I was even more exhausted - the three day weekend will be good for me (and I can even catch up on some of the work I had planned to do the last week of break that didn't get done).

Snow

snow, originally uploaded by MNicoleM.

I was going to get a pretty snow picture, but it didn't start accumulating until well after dark. I was already in my PJs and decided I didn't want to go outside, so I took this from the back door LOL. Shortly after taking it, I got the phone chain call that Friday will be a snow day!

Josh

Josh, originally uploaded by MNicoleM.

Our oldest nephew, Josh, lives in Birmingham with his mom and we don't get too see him *nearly* as often as we'd like. His mom drove him up to Memphis because he wanted to come to his great-grandmother's funeral. Getting to see him and spend even the short time that we spent with him brought a little happy balance to the sorrow and sadness of the trip.
Isn't he just a great lookin' kid (practically adult)?He is a senior in high school, and he's a "band nerd", which makes me incredibly proud :-)

Memphis

Hamtpon Inn and Suites, originally uploaded by MNicoleM.

We made it to Memphis safe and sound. (This is our hotel room)

Grandma's funeral is tomorrow - the weather and other issues delayed her body getting to Memphis so we've been waiting almost a week for the bit of closure that a funeral service provides along the grieving journey. Tomorrow, Grandma will be buried one day before what would have been her 92nd birthday.

a new hobby

new hobby, originally uploaded by MNicoleM.

While visiting grandma at the hospice home a couple of weeks ago, I was watching Aunt Pat crochet an afghan. I decided I wanted to pick it back up (I had crocheted years ago) so I asked for a hook and yarn in my stocking - and Santa brought them :-) I have almost finished a small red afghan (just while riding to and from visits with grandma and while she napped during visits) that I'm calling my "Grandma blanket". I also thought knitting sounded like fun, so I bought some knitting needles too, and have about a third of a scarf knitted.

Lazy Day

my Sunday, originally uploaded by MNicoleM.

Today was the last day before going back to work after the break and I've been trying to enjoy every last moment of laziness - I've been in my PJs all day and spent the vast majority of it sitting right here on the sofa by the fire - messing around on my laptop, playing wii, reading, crocheting, napping, etc. and it has been wonderful :-)

happy bird-day Soleil

happy bird-day Soleil
Originally uploaded by MNicoleM
January 2, 2002 was the day I had my wreck and almost died - it was also the beginning of a new era in my life, literally. In 2002, I met Chris, graduated from college, met Andrew, changed career paths, began teaching, and discovered happiness within myself that had been missing since childhood. January 2, 2002 also happens to be the day that my babybird was hatched! I adopted her in April of 2002, but when I saw her hatch certificate and noticed the date was the same as the date of my wreck, I knew she was meant to be mine, to bring sunshine into my new life :-) And now, 7 years later, she is still bringing me sunshine. Happy Bird-Day, Soleil!

To a better year in 2010

To a better year in 2010
Originally uploaded by MNicoleM
After sitting at the hospice home literally watching grandma pass away, the end of her suffering was almost as much of a relief as it was heart wrenchingly sad. 2009 was full of tragedy and death in our family so Chris and I toasted the beginning of a new year, hoping 2010 brings less sadness!