Five years ago...

friends of mine were married....

a lovely wedding 

in a garden,

with friends,

family,

and 

children.

It was wonderful,

and 

I in no way 

was responsible for the photos 

on this day.

Another "shooter" was 

in charge of the 

documentation...

so,

whatever I walked away 

with 

was mine.

I love this photo.

It exemplifies

them...

private,

intelligent,

sweet,

and 

so in love...

They have a beautiful child now.

She is more beautiful than

any other little girl

(my opinion, of course)

and 

I am so proud of the 

path that they both take...

it entails,

honesty,

integrity,

hard work,

spiritual growth,

and

love....

smiles.

Soap Box Friday...

I love Fridays...

I love azaleas.....

I love warm spring breezes....

I am bored with politics...

no, to be more precise...

I am annoyed.

Really.

I am usually able to ignore the rantings and ravings of

so many people that seem to think that they 

have all the answers.

Got news ...

No one person has all the answers.

No one party has all the answers.

No one nation has all the answers.

Well,

here is a thought....

one idea embraced by all the 

religions, and many cultures...

it is known by many names,

such as,

Karma,

the Golden Rule,

"what goes around...."

you get the idea.

I have learned a thing or two....

one thing I have observed

is 

that people,

regardless of origin,

faith, politics, etc...

tend to react in an 

extreme manner when they are scared.

Fear causes all sorts 

of bad behavior.

Behavior that we regret 

in retrospect.

Something I have noticed lately,

is that my friends (and some not so much)

are using the social media outlets

to express feelings of outrage.

Extreme feelings.

Feelings that sound like a riot when I read them.

Who are these people?

When did they develop these extreme views?

Why didn't I notice before?

What's up, Doc?

I don't have the answers.

But I am curious my bloggy friends,

have you noticed this too?

What do you think?

Why is it suddenly so obvious to me?

I would love to get your input,

insight, 

and feelings regarding this phenomenon.

Thank you,

smiles.

More pearls

More pearls, originally uploaded by ellenmr.

I know...
this man must be crazy.
He didn't have to bring me a thing,
just come home to me in good shape.
But ....
he must have eaten the mushrooms
or
something like that....
as he brought me these too....
How lucky am I?

Easter pearls

Easter pearls, originally uploaded by ellenmr.

My life is so good that you would think I would feel guilty for receiving these....I don't (smiles). My sweetie was away in China for entirely too long....and now that I have him back....I am thrilled....and wearing gorgeous pearls!

Tulip love...

Aren't they wonderful?

Easter always makes me think of tulips.

And 

now,

there are so many choices...

These "parrot" tulips were used at 

a wedding I covered years ago...

and I was fascinated by them.

I hope your weekend is filled with sunshine,

breezy warm weather,

and 

love...

smiles

Be inspired!

smiles.

I had plans...but....

all sorts of fun things to do....

but 

you know 

how life sometimes just 

doesn't go the way you'd planned?

Actually,

my plans had nothing to do with the photo

above...

But for those of you who have wondered if 

my sweetie made it back from China,

he did...

and he brought pearls! 

I will photograph them soon....

In the meantime,

 this is the Chinese version of my little car,

a Honda Fit, even the correct color,

(But my little car has no bumper stickers, and is not 

souped up like this one)

but that's not really the reason to show you this 

photo...

see the air (well, the pollution...)

remind you of LA in the 70's?

Sweetie said that you could

smell,

taste and feel the pollution 

in Shanghai. 

It was thick enough to make you feel sick.

And most young professional people that

he met, saw or observed smoked also...

Now what does this all have to do with

my plans?

I had just finished my first cup o' joe this morn...

and went down to the laundry room,

when I noticed a strange smell emanating 

from our downstairs bathroom....

a really bad, putrid smell....

So..

I peaked in, thinking someone had forgotten to flush,

and no,  the toilet and the bathtub were filled with 

sewage....

Now let me just say right here that I have an 

excellent nose as I have mentioned before

"a nose like a huntin' dog"

and my coffee was not sitting real well at this point.

Plumber called...

249 feet of snake down the clean-out line,

and problem solved...

except,

that someone had to clean all that up.

Where is Mr. Clean when I need him?

So, that is what I did today,

how about you?

sorry no smiles....