Mc Minutes

2012-02-05T16:06:00.002-07:00

As promised, here are some more recent pictures of the Angels in the tree:

These 2 above are from 2010. I am not sure if that is when I "rediscovered" them or if that actually occurred earlier.

All Decorated for Fall 2011.

Decorated for Valentines Day - January 2011.

Angel in Old Mesilla

2012-02-03T09:17:00.000-07:00

OK. Back to the blog again. I will really, really try to be more consistent with my posting! I thought I would share some old pictures I took with my film camera, about 10 years ago. I took them soon after we moved to the west side, but didn't get them developed for a couple of years. At that point, I simply could not remember where they were! So, for several years, I tried to find out where I had taken them but was not successful. Then one day a couple of years ago we were walking around in Old Mesilla and there was the tree! I was so excited to finally know where this was. The Madonna figurine in the bottom is long gone of course. This store has expanded quite a bit and is one of the best places for taking pics - I will post some more recent ones later.

Random Pics - Old Vehicles

2011-11-09T10:23:00.000-07:00

I like to take pictures of all kinds of things. Old Cars and Old Trucks are fascinating because they are so ornate compared to the vehicles of today. Here are several pictures I got in October.

Random Pics - Tile Storefronts

2011-10-19T14:02:00.000-06:00

In addition to old signs, Abandoned buildings, churches, flowers, etc, etc, I have ended up with quite a collection of pictures of old storefront mosaic tile. I think they are so cool and I love to find them.

This is not the typical mosaic tile but I think it is really neat! This is in Chicago, in an area that seems to have once been quite the furniture sales mecca!

Here is one in Chicago that is almost totally gone.

Another one in the Chicago area.

Again, this is in the Chicago area.

This is in front of a Hotel in Downtown Fort Worth. It was almost totally dark when I took this picture. The tilework extends from the door all the way across the sidewalk to the curb!

Another one in downtown Fort Worth, taken with very little light.

Here is another view of the tilework at the Ashton Hotel in downtown Fort Worth.

This is a close-up of some tilework - but I cannot remember where it was! I will have to look it up later.

This tilework is in downtown Georgetown, TX.

This tilework is also in downtown Georgetown, TX.

Another one in downtown Georgetown, TX.

This tilework is in downtown Georgetown, TX. Looks like Neumans?

Here is one from Taylor, TX.

This is a closeup of the John Boles entryway shown above.

This tilefront in Georgetown, TX looks a lot like a quilt!

Another quilt-like entryway in Georgetown, TX.

This entryway is in Taylor, TX. The lighting was awful but the tilework was beautiful!

This is in downtown El Paso at a storefront in the old Caples building.

Another tile entry in downtown El Paso. I need to get there during the day so I can see it without the secutiry gate!

This is in downtown El Paso - the store was "The Central" Furniture Store. This is another one I would like to get without the security gate.

This tile entryway is in downtown Roundrock, TX.

This is a closeup of the above entryway in downtown Roundrock, TX.

Random Pics - Cinderblocks

2011-10-04T21:32:00.000-06:00

I love taking pictures of Fancy-Patterned Cinderblocks. Makes me think of my childhood!

Random Pics - Oklahoma Flowers

2011-10-01T15:04:00.000-06:00

These pics were taken a few summers ago when I went to Wade, Oklahoma with my mother for a reunion. It was not a family reunion, or a class reunion, but a kind of town reunion. Wade, OK hardly exists any more! But quite a few people lived there in the past.

Random Pics - The old silos

2011-09-18T16:46:00.000-06:00

We used to pass by these old silos all the time when I was a kid on the way to visit some friends way out in El Paso's lower valley. I was always fascinated with them for some reason. I always thought they were abandoned but now I am not really sure if they were or not. I am pretty sure they are now!

Random Pictures - Door and Window

2011-09-08T22:03:00.000-06:00

I took these pictures on Monday at the Socorro Mission. I thought they were really interesting - brick-surrounded door and window on the old Adobe Mission!

Random Pictures - at McKittrick Canyon

2011-09-07T22:22:00.000-06:00

Wilson!

Random Pics - Evening in the Dona Anas

2011-09-06T07:19:00.000-06:00

A couple of years ago I went 4-wheeling with my dad to the Dona Ana Mountain area North of Las Cruces. As the sun was setting, I took these pictures.

Random pictures - Montreal

2011-09-03T16:50:00.000-06:00

In March of 2010, I got to go to Montreal for a training class for work, so of course, I took Lee! We went a couple of days early and got to spend 2 days in Montreal before my 3-day class. It was awesome. We stayed in a hotel in Old Montreal and relied on public transportation to get around. Here are just a few pictures from that trip. The beautiful church is the Notre Dame Basilica in Old Montreal, built in 1824 and finished in 1840.

An interesting window grate in Old Montreal.

Outdoor Winter arrangements in Old Montreal.

This camera shop was a real life-saver! I forgot my camera battery charger at home and was desperate to find another one. We asked around and were directed to this very cool, old camera store right in Old Montreal, within walking distance of our hotel. The business was started in 1937. Thankfully, I was able to find a universal battery charger there which I still use to charge my batteries because I never did find my other one!
Here is a link showing the history of the store:
Photoservice History

Random Pictures - Carved Bear in Cloudcroft

2011-09-01T11:08:00.000-06:00

Happy Bear in Cloudcroft, NM. The first saw one of these bears being carved with a chainsaw, I wanted one. I have no idea where I would put it and it probably wouldn't even make sense to put it in my yard in the middle of the desert. But they sure are cute! Here are some logs that were not so lucky to be made into bears:

testing phone blogging

2011-08-31T11:27:00.001-06:00

Yesterday Joel and I saw this truck for sale on Doniphan. He really wanted to buy it and drive it to school. The price was $28000 so it did not happen!

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Random Pics - Toledo Faces

2011-08-30T22:42:00.000-06:00

Back in December I went to Toledo Ohio for a week for a software installation go-live. I chose to work the 2nd shift so I could get out during the daylight hours and explore (and take pictures of course). I found these interesting architectural faces in an old Polish neighborhood. The faces are located on the outside of "Tom's Carry Out" on Lagrange street. I wish I could find some more information on the history of the store. A sign out front says "Tom's - Established 1932". They are some very interesting faces!

Random Old Pictures - Reflections

2011-08-29T21:55:00.000-06:00

This is a picture I took on the very first and only work trip I ever got to take to Milwaukee in 1990. I loved seeing the old architecture. But I was particularly fascinated with the contrast between the old and new buildings. Here are a couple more shots of the same buildings:

Random Pic - Sunset at Western Playland

2011-08-26T15:55:00.005-06:00

I took this picture at our local amusement park (Western Playland) awhile back. I thought it came out pretty nice.

Random Pictures - Chicago Flowers

2011-08-25T21:40:00.001-06:00

When in Chicago in April, my mother and I took a mini bus tour all around the city. We had a quick potty stop at the Lincoln Park Conservatory so I ran in and took a few pictures of some of the beautiful flowers. It was still very cold outside and nothing had really started budding yet so these were really nice to find!

Random Pictures - Junk Horse Sculptures

2011-08-24T10:15:00.000-06:00

I saw these "Horses" several years ago in Durant, OK. They were set up all around a bank and they were really cool!

Random Picture - St. Patrick's Cathedral, El Paso

2011-08-23T13:03:00.000-06:00

I was actually parking my van, getting ready to take pictures of this church when I glanced up through my windshield and saw this view. I liked what I saw so I took a picture of it :) This was taken December 2010.

Random Picture - Acorn

2011-08-22T12:30:00.001-06:00

I took this picture a few years ago at my mother's cousin, Freda's house in Arlington, TX. Since we don't have too many acorns here in the desert, I thought it looked really cool.

Random Picture - Ascarate Drive In Theater

2011-08-21T19:28:00.000-06:00

Every time I drive by this I am amazed that it is still standing! I remember when I was a kid, they used to show Spanish-language Movies here. I was always fascinated by that! It was still there yesterday - when I took this picture.

Random Picture - Niagara Falls

2011-08-20T15:09:00.001-06:00

This is one of my favorite pictures from our trip to Niagara Falls in April 2009. I wish I could take total creative credit, but there were similar pictures in our hotel room - so I copied the idea! This was a really nice weekend trip - I had to go to Detroit for a week for work. Lee flew up about Wednesday and joined me. Then, Lee's brother, Mark, and his wife Amy, flew up from Austin on Thursday night. Friday, we all drove across Canada to Niagara Falls for the weekend. Then we drove back to Detroit and flew home on Sunday! Oh - and Sunday morning, it was so foggy you couldn't even see the falls - just hear them. We were very lucky to have beautiful, clear weather Friday and all day Saturday. We had so much fun!

Random Pictures

2011-08-19T10:57:00.000-06:00

I have decided that since I have not been doing much digital scrapbooking and therefore have not done much posting on here lately, I am going to try posting random pictures as often as possible (I will not try to commit to a daily posting because I just know that will not happen.)

Here is the 1st such picture:

I took this picture sometime back in the 1980's and it is still one of my favorites. This is in New Mexico on a road you can take out of La Luz up that will eventually take you to Cloudcroft. My dad and I used to drive up here occasionally because it was so pretty. Unfortunately, I have not been on this road in many years. I remember there used to be a Blue Spruce tree farm up there. I wonder if it still exists?

?

2011-04-05T08:58:00.003-06:00

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test

2011-04-05T08:58:00.001-06:00

Testing this droid app.

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Old Scrapbook

2011-02-15T08:52:00.000-07:00

I was so thrilled to find an old scrapbook of mine in my garage this weekend! It is one of those old-style ones with the brownish paper tied into it with strings. (that paper is pretty brittle so I am kind of afraid the pages will tear out) I didn’t even remember that I had it!

It looks like it covers about a 2 or 3 year period starting about a year before Lee and I got married going to about a year or two afterwards. I have ticket stubs from concerts in there as well as concert programs. There is a lot of memorabilia – including some from our honeymoon trip to San Diego and Disneyland. I have some old Viva El Paso programs in there. The big thing I noticed is that I didn’t write anything on any of the pages – just taped the stuff in there – with scotch tape! I also didn’t put any pictures in it – but I do have pictures I took at many of those events – so maybe I could add some to the pages – or scan the memorabilia and create new pages. I just don’t know. If I was to add the pictures I would make sure to note that I added them later – but then the original would have been changed so I probably won’t do that. I could just add a new page in between with pictures. That way I would not change the original. I am brainstorming as I write this.....

I also have another older scrapbook (same type with the pages tied in with string) from when I was in elementary school. (This one I never forgot because I have kept it in the house all this time in a drawer in my room) In it, I have a birthday card from my great-grandfather. There are also class pictures from elementary school – Pasodale did not have a yearbook until about the time I left in the 7th grade so we all got a year-book style page with pictures of our own classmates and teacher and principal, Mr. Harlin – but not any other classes. I think I have a piece of net and some rice from a wedding I was in for Mary Ann Walker when I was really small. I am so glad to have saved it all these years.

I will scan a few pages from both scrapbooks and add them into here later. Now – the big dilemma – do I leave them as is and worry that the pages will fall apart or maybe try to put them in 12 x 12 Page protectors. Hmmmm – I am not too sure what to do about that.

I also have an old scrapbook at my house that belonged to my Grandmother - Me Ma. I borrowed it from my parents so I could scan the pages. It contains pictures from a vacation trip my Grandparents took when my father and Aunt Paula were very small. After looking through it several times, some of the pages have torn out. It is the same type as mine – the brittle pages are tied in with string. I really would like to somehow preserve it but I also don’t want to mess it up. Maybe the pages could be laminated (not sure I would really want to do that) – or again, put into 12 x 12 page protectors. I am not sure of the page size – I will have to check them! For all I know, there is a product out there made specifically for preserving these kind of scrapbook pages. That would be awesome. I need to check into that.

Cold Spell

2011-02-03T09:49:00.000-07:00

Oh my goodness did we get some cold weather! I don't remember it ever being this cold here before. It has been quite an adventure with Rolling blackouts (the electricity going on and off) and the gas not working so we have not heat a lot of the time. At least, so far, we have no broken pipes that I know of. Here is our pool this morning:

Bad Blogger

2011-01-23T15:03:00.003-07:00

Wow - I have been a bad blogger, haven't I? I decided to give it a try again. I have been concentrating on paper scrapbooking instead of digital, but I honestly probably have enough digital pages that I never uploaded to last for awhile! I will post some pics on here soon!

Denver Trip

2010-09-26T11:40:00.003-06:00

Last weekend, Lee, Joel, Jenna and I went to Denver for a quick weekend trip with our friends the Johnsons. Here are a couple of scrapbook pages from that trip:

More old stuff

2010-08-15T12:08:00.003-06:00

On day 2 of our vacation, we had left Thousand Oaks and were going thru Oxnard and saw this awesome place off the freeway:

So from this point forward, I was totally hooked on finding abandoned businesses.

The beginning of a new hobby

2010-08-03T21:29:00.010-06:00

While on vacation in July, somewhere between Tucson and Phoenix we came across these abondoned Motels. I quickly got a shot of the signs thru the van Window because I thought they looked interesting:

Then outside of Phoenix, we saw what appears to be an abandoned Race Track:

Totally fascinating. So then I started keeping my eyes open for more abandoned businesses.

It's kind of hard to tell but this is a circle of very tall palm trees. There were about 3 of these but we were passing so fast I had a hard time getting my camera ready fast enough to get a pic. Not sure what they would have been - maybe a fancy RV park?

Somewhere in eastern California, not too far past the palm trees, I barely caught this abandoned gas station:

So then I decided I was going to try to capture all of the abandoned businesses I could along the way.

Texas Canyon AZ

2010-07-07T12:06:00.004-06:00

Well, belowwas my first attempt at uploading a picture from my phone. Too TINY! So I re-uploaded it above and it seems much better!

Texas Canyon - panoramic picture taken with my phone!

This message was sent using the Picture and Video Messaging service from Verizon Wireless!

To learn how you can snap pictures and capture videos with your wireless phone visit www.verizonwireless.com/picture.

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Chicago Day 4 - Part 2

2010-05-27T17:19:00.016-06:00

While my mother rested after the morning show and before the evening show, I took the opportunity to meet Adrianne again at the train station and once more, we rode downtown. This time we walked from the train station over the River Walk and then up Michigan Avenue by the water tower and along the Magnificent Mile – ‘One of the Great Avenues of the World.’

On the way to the River Walk. The reddish building is the Encyclopedia Britannica headquarters:

Another view of the river with the Tribune Tower in the center:

How would you like to park in one of these parking spaces?
Kind of funny the way the two signs in the background lined up :)

Tribune Tower: (the most awesome building!)

Interesting bas-relief on the corner of a bridge:

A beautiful live-flower arrangement:

We walked into the entry courtyard of the Wrigley Building – which was strange because from the outside, it looked like you were going to go inside, but once you went through the doors, you were still actually outside.

View from within the courtyard looking West:

Trump Tower:

Then we got into the Magnificent Mile - where all of the expensive stores are: SAKS, Bloomingdales, Cartier. Wow!

It was amazing that this picture even happened because there was so much foot-traffic by here.
In fact, the man who offered to take our picture had actually walked into another picture that Adrianne was taking of me.

The Drake Hotel - Where guests of the Oprah Winfrey stay or used to stay (I think!)

Here is the old water tower and Pump House:

I'm not sure exactly which building these heads are on but they are very interesting and look pretty old!

More beautiful tulips:

I absolutely loved the Chicago Tribune tower:

Not sure what the purpose of these blue trees outside the Fourth Presbyterian Church was!

Inside the courtyard of the church:

This building is really cool and I wish I had gotten some pictures of 'special' stones used in the building from around the world, ie. stones from the Great Wall of China, The Alamo, the Roman Colosseum, Westminster Palace, and The Great Pyramid, among others.

The entry to the Chicago Tribune Tower:

We stepped into the lobby of the Chicago Tribune Tower and I got a few pics.

I love the contrast of the old-style buildings reflected in the ultra-modern Trump Tower:

Chicago Day 4 - Part 1

2010-05-08T17:05:00.009-06:00

Day 4 – Opening day of the Independent Miniature Artisans show – in Schaumburg again, but this time we rode on a chartered big yellow school bus to get there! We were on the first bus of the day so everybody was very excited and the noise level was quite high.

It was interesting riding alongside the train that I had been riding on so often in the last 3 days!

Here we were:
Once we got to the show, we had to wait in a long line to get our tickets.

This show was larger than the 3 blind mice show and had even nicer items!

I took a little break from the show to look around the hotel:

This was when I began to realize just how famous my mother is in the miniatures world! She has a website ( www.wannainelpaso.com ) and she also does a lot of posting on different blogs (or groups or something – I'm not sure exactly where she posts) I forgot to mention that we had a hard time just getting to our taxi last night because a lady recognized her name and wanted to introduce her to her friends. Then, we came close to missing the first bus this morning for the same reason!
It hadn't occurred to me earlier to take pictures of these people but it hit me at this show - I should be recording this!
Here are some people who “knew” my mother:

After awhile we decided to go back to our hotel to rest up for the big show that night. The bus was late so I went around and took a couple of pictures (surprise, surprise!)

Here are some more people who knew my mother. They really did know her - not just by reputation - because they had met at a prior show:

Here are people waiting for the very late bus:

I didn't know quite what this thing was but later figured out it must be where they store road construction equipment or maybe snowplows because I saw another one on the highway. I thought it looked interesting.

We took the bus back to our hotel at about 2:30 and my mother went back to our room to take a nap and get ready for the Special Preview Night of the Chicago International Show that night.
I had gotten ahold of Adrianne again to see if she would be interested in going back downtown with me again to walk along the Magnificent Mile while my mother rested.
So we met again somewhere around 3 o'clock at the train station and off we went!

Chicago Day 3 - Part 2

2010-05-08T16:09:00.007-06:00

My mother was finished with her workshop and ready to go to the first of 3 miniatures shows. Here are some pics of her project at the end of the workshop:

That evening, my mother and I took a very expensive taxi ride over to Schaumburg to go to the opening night of the 3 Blind Mice Dollhouse & Miniatures show. The taxi ride over there was quite tense because our driver was a very nice Italian man who liked to talk with his hands – while driving! And he constantly looked in his rear view mirror to make sure we were listening and understanding what he was saying. All of this in rush-hour traffic – quite unnerving! We did, amazingly, get to the show in one piece. He only had to slam on the brakes once to keep from hitting the car in front of us :)

Here we are just after we got in the door. A very nice lady offered to take a picture of the two of us.

There were a lot of pretty miniatures there but I was very tired and just ended up finding places to sit and rest.

I could see a pond out the windows of the conference room where the show was so I went outside to sit for some more and caught a picture of the sun going down.

The ride back to the hotel was yet another adventure! Somehow, the dispatcher told the taxi driver ‘Ohare’ instead of ‘Marriot Ohare’. (or maybe he just didn't understand the dispatcher – who knows) We were already on our way into the airport when he asked us which flight we were taking. We were not paying attention to where we were going because we had been talking (and we didn't know our way around so we probably wouldn't have noticed anyway). We told him – no – no - we were not going to the airport but to the Marriott Ohare Hotel . So he drove around a bit more and took us to the Hilton at the airport. Again, we had to tell him that was not where we were going. My mother finally gave him the address of the Marriot Ohare – and he took us to the Marriot Suites – not the Hotel. Thankfully it was on the same street and not too far away but I had to tell him how to get there (luckily I had paid some attention when the Hotel Shuttle took us there the 1st day – it had stopped by the Marriot Suites before going to our Hotel.)
Quite an interesting couple of taxi rides!

Here is our trip back to the hotel. We simply needed to get from Point A to Point E!

Chicago Trip - Day 3 - Part 1

2010-05-04T20:53:00.023-06:00

My mother was off to Day 2 of her workshop so I walked with her up to the classroom and then I pretty much had the whole day free again. Adrianne picked me up to drive me around to places that were too far to walk to the day before. While waiting for her, I got a few pictures of blooming trees on the hotel property.

Before heading downtown, Adrianne took me by to show me her house. On the way we passed this interesting church. I have since learned that it is a Ukrainian Orthodox Church - named St. Joseph's Ukrainian Catholic Church. I has a 13 domed roof with 12 domes symbolizing the 12 apostles and the largest center dome symbolizing Jesus Christ.

Once we headed east towards downtown I really enjoyed seeing the Chicago skyline getting nearer and nearer!

There's the old Sears Tower – now called the Willis Tower. I had to take 3 pictures to get the entire thing!

There were some glass balconies recently added way up on the 103^rd floor. Not sure if I could bring myself to go out on one of them or not!

I zoomed in to see the glass balconies:

Luckily, Carmine got finished early with a downtown appointment so we picked him up right after we got there. We had just driven around a little while more when Adrianne’s son, Trey, called and said he had gotten released from school early. So we picked him up too. They drove me all over the place - by the McCormick Center, Soldier Field and we even ventured into a part of the Southside where they have torn down some projects and are trying to revitalize the area.

How would you like to have one of these parking places located right inthe heart of downtown?:

Here is a pretty cool looking modern skyscraper:

View looking up out of Adrianne's sunroof:

This building was in one of the Batman movies:

I like how this old building was preserved when they built the new one on top of it:

There were several big clocks in downtown. Here is one of them:

Here is another side of the Library my mother and I had seen from the train station the other night. From this angle you can tell that these are definitely owls:

When I got back to work after my trip, my friend Jenny asked if I had seen the buildings that look like corn. I knew exactly which ones she was talking about:

This is the famous Chicago Water Tower on Michigan Avenue (the magnificent mile): I believe it was one of very few structures left standing after the Great Fire.

Here we had headed towards the southside. These are some "projects". I ha always heard bad things about projects but these actually look pretty nice to me:

More southside:

Here is an old church down there:

Detail from old church:

Here is Soldier field. The last time I was in Chicago (1999) that big new structure had not yet been plopped in the middle of the old structure!

Here we are passing multi-million dollar condos located right on the waterfront:

Next, we headed up north to Evanston, the town where Adrianne said she would really like to live. It is a really nice, quaint town right on lake Michigan. It is also home to Northwestern University and Loyola University:

I really liked this window? door?

We ate Spanish “tapas”, which I had never eaten before.

I got a good picture of Adrianne and Carmine:

I tried to get a picture of Trey but the background was too bright.

Then we walked around a bit in the small downtown of Evanston.

In the downtown area I noticed several overhangs like this:

And like this:

Adrianne and I knew Carmine and Trey did not get enough to eat at the Tapas restaurant so we decided to eat again – this time Adrianne and I split an Italian Beef Sandwich and Carmine ate the fries. Trey had a full meal – hamburger, Fries and soda. I had never had an Italian Beef Sandwich before.

Look closely at the "B" in "Beef":

There's a bird in it!

I just liked the look of this fire truck so i took a picture of it!

We went back to the beach where some construction work was being done – who knows what they were doing. Possibly in the future if I ever get back, I will see!

We also saw a dog beach – where the dogs can run free and play.

Here Adrianne and I are again courtesy of Carmine:

Adrianne was smiling all pretty and look what the mischevious guys were doing:

Then we headed back and they dropped me off at the hotel. All in all it was a wonderful day!

Now I was ready to head off to the 1st of 3 miniature shows with my mother - the 3 Blind Mice Show.

Chicago Trip - Day 2

2010-05-03T20:59:00.026-06:00

Day 2 – I got up early this morning and walked over to a nearby grocery store - where I found a styrofoam ice chest for 4.99. Needless to say, we called the hotel front desk and asked them to come pick up the $30-dollar-per-day fridge. My mother’s workshop started at 9:00 AM. I went with her to see what it was all about and take a few pictures.

Then I hopped on the train again and rode several stops away towards downtown to see what I could see - because the night before we had passed some really interesting-looking neighborhoods. Well it so happens I got off on the totally wrong stop – undergound, walked out of the station, took about 2 pictures and promptly walked back in and went back to the hotel – because I was meeting Adrianne and her husband Carmine for lunch.

I ducked into my mother's workshop to get an in-progress picture of her workshop.

Adrianne and Carmine picked me up at the hotel and took me to eat Chicago style deep dish pizza which was really delicious.

Then we parked at the train station and took the train downtown. Carmine graciously offered to take Adrianne's and my picture (as he did several more times during the day!) This was the first time Adrianne and I had seen each other in about 26 years! And as she said "but it felt like we picked up right where we left off. Really cool."

We walked all over the place, going to Millenium Park, the Chicago Art Institute
(where Adrianne's son Trey goes) and over to Buckingham Fountain. It was great having somebody to show me around – it just wouldn't have been nearly as much fun all by myself!

Most of the fountains were not yet in operation for the season - when this one is on the water spouts out of the mouth of continuously changing faces:

There were trees and tulips blooming everywhere! It was beautiful:

Blooming trees and sky scrapers - Millenium Park:

This interesting sculpture is officially named "Cloud Gate" but most people just call it The Bean:

Duck and Canadian Snow Geese in Lake Michigan:

I was lucky to be there during the Tulip Festival. Just one shot of many beautiful Tulips:

Here we are at Buckingham Fountain - which unfortunately was not on for the season yet :-(

Not sure why these trees are painted yellow and orange but they look cool:

Like I said before, the blooming trees were absolutely beautiful!

We spent a lot of time in this park:

I love the contrast of this old building with the sleek new skyscrapers behind:

This is the BP Bridge. It curves back and forth over the very busy Columbus Drive. Carmine said they could have just made a straight one - it would have been shorter and cheaper! Ha!

Here are Adrianne and Carmine again:

Adrianne's son Trey got out of school at 4:30 so we met him by the school and all rode back on the very crowded train together.
Here are Trey, Adrianne and Carmine:

I went back to see how my mother was doing and took a picture of her project in progress.

I still had time before dinner so I got back on the train to go to the area that I had tried to get to that morning – the stop is called Damen and the area is called Wicker Park/Bucktown. What a cool place that is! Old, beautiful houses. A great park with a section especially for dogs. Lots of restaurants. A really cool train stop.

These are the stairs out of the train station:

One of many beautiful buildings in the Wicker Park/Bucktown area at the Damen Train Stop:

Cool Old House:

Another Cool Old House:

Yet Another Cool Old House: (this one looks like it is empty and available!)

Still Another Cool Old House:

A shot of the business district:

Cool Building in the Business District:

This is the Damen Train Stop. I was absolutely awestruck with the view towards Downtown. I think I also happened to be there at the perfect time of day.

The tracks:

This building backs up on the train stop. I just love the architectural details:

Here I was trying to get a picture of the sunset while on the train. This is the best one I got:

Back at the hotel:

Afterwards, my mother and I ate a late dinner at the hotel restaurant and got ready for the next day.

Chicago Trip - Day 1

2010-05-01T21:23:00.014-06:00

Day 1 – Our flight took off without a hitch. In the air, we saw some interesting clouds hovering over the ground not too far out of El Paso. I figure that had we been on the ground, we would have been in fog!

As we were descending in Chicago, it was a lot greener than I expected.

We arrived at the Hotel before lunch so we went ahead and ate lunch at the Hotel Restaurant. My mother had requested to have a refrigerator in our room but it was not there when we checked in so I called the front desk to remind them. They said it would cost an extra $30 and were we aware of that fact? When I mentioned this to my mother she was not too happy (can you say livid?) because the online site for the hotel says they are complimentary. She talked to somebody at the front desk who said the reason they were charging for them was because of the high demand during the miniatures show. We thought this was totally ridiculous but my mother had brought food and we had to have a place to put it!
Later that afternoon after a nap :), we peeked in on several workshops that were already in process.
That evening, we went ahead and “hopped” on the train (the train station was very close to the hotel) and went downtown to see what we could see. The funny thing was that about 2 stops later we realized that we didn't know the name of the stop where we had started. I looked at the map on the train and figured it out and then remembered that I had taken a picture with the name of the station that we could refer to if necessary.

While on the train we had no idea what stop to take so my mother asked some women riding with us who told us a good place to get off. We got off there and ended up in a sleek new-looking mall. It was very nice but not exactly what we were looking for. While in the mall we did have a delicious cream puff. I had never actually had one before (aside from miniature frozen ones at parties here and there).
After our snack we got back on the train and transferred to the Loop train (which takes a small loop around downtown - hence the name) and rode it around downtown and got off at a couple of stops. One of them was near the Harold Washington Library – there was some beautiful ornamentation way up on the corners and in the middle of the building. We thought the ones on the corners looked like owls, or dragons, but we really couldn't tell. (I found out later that they are owls surrounded by foliage).

By this time it was starting to get dark so we couldn’t see much of anything because the lights were on in the train, creating quite a glare – so we returned to the hotel.

This is the view from the train station right by our hotel. It is in the middle of the freeway!

Brown Belt

2010-04-04T14:16:00.003-06:00

Still trying to get caught up here. Jenna has made it to 3rd degree Brown Belt! We are so proud of her for sticking with it all this time.

Spring

2010-04-02T08:34:00.000-06:00

When the wind is not blowing, it can really be pretty around here!

Albuquerque - Japanese Garden

2010-02-21T14:25:00.002-07:00

We went to Albuquerque last spring with our friends the johnsons for a concert. Lee and Jeremy johnson actually went to the concert on a Friday night. Chrissy, the kids and I all stayed at the hotel. But then we had the whole weekend to do other stuff. So we went to the Rio Grande Botanical Garden, Aquarium and Zoo. It was beautiful I have always loved Japanese-style lanterns and they had plenty! It was a really nice weekend trip.

Green Belt!

2010-02-17T18:19:00.000-07:00

yes - this is a bit late. But here is Jenna receiving her Karate Green Belt!

Golf

2010-01-28T19:02:00.001-07:00

Jeff and Josh

2010-01-23T08:57:00.004-07:00

I really like this picture! This is my brother, Jeffrey, talking to my oldest son, Josh.

Ben F. Newman (my great-grandfather) and family

2010-01-18T18:53:00.002-07:00

I scrapped some of the pictures my cousin Kerry emailed to me. I just love getting to see these old family photos! I hope that some day my descendants appreciate the fact that I took lots of pictures too! (Of course I take way too many but they won't have to keep them all)

More Summer Vacation Pages!

2010-01-14T18:17:00.003-07:00

Finally getting around to some more Summer Vacation Pages!

As cold as it is right now it's hard to remember how hot it was in Death Valley! But really beautiful too...

Josh and My dad at McKittrick Canyon - a while back!

2010-01-10T15:48:00.004-07:00

I just love this picture! (Josh is now 24 years old)

Old Pics as Promised

2010-01-09T10:49:00.004-07:00

Here are a couple of pics Kerry sent to me - which I have never seen before! It is so awesome getting back in touch with family!Left to Right: Me, Tom with Deni, Jeffrey, Kerry (1975)

Left to right: 4 L-R Opal-1903, Ben-1888 (my great-grandfather), Lura-1885, Aubry-1898, Joseph-? (my great-great-grandfather) Dora-? (my great-great-grandmother) Grady-1900, Ivy-1894 (Newmans) (much earlier than 1975!)
There is one brother missing from this picture - Uncle Ted, the youngest (1906). He must have been away at college or something at the time. Uncle Ted and Aunt Mable were awesome! They used to have a cherry orchard in Montana and after they sold it they moved to Tucumcari New Mexico. It was always great fun to visit them.
My great-grandfather Ben lived to be 103 years old and (as he promised when I was born) - he was around to bounce my first-born on his knee! Joshua remembers Granddad bouncing his cane to entertain him. When I was young, he used to come visit us with a suitcase full of honey (he raised honeybees) and he would get off the bus one stop before ours so he could walk the rest of the way. He was always a walker. I guess walking is a good thing since he did live so long! And honey is supposed to be pretty healthy too - hmmmmm....

Facebook Connections

2010-01-06T07:40:00.002-07:00

I recently got in touch with some (kind of) lost cousins through facebook. I say kind of because I basically knew where they were and they probably knew where I was but we have not been in touch with each other for MANY years. It has been really fun getting back in touch with them and their families! They are actually my grandfather's (Paul Newman) sister's (Aunt Edith) children - but they are closer to my age than to my father's age. They grew up in Truth or Consequences and we used to make day trips at least once a year to go visit them. I absolutely used to love going there! My Uncle Pat (Aunt Edith's husband) always had the most awesome gardens - both flowers and fruits and vegetables. He also always seemed to have a jigsaw puzzle in-progress and did not seem to mind us helping him with it. I always thought my cousins were so smart and cool and handsome and talented. We would always take a side-trip to the lake and marina with them which was so much fun for a kid like me! Anyway, it has been a lot of fun trying to catch up with them and what they are doing now and all their kids (which I still do not have straight!) . My cousin Kerry sent me some really neat old pictures which I will try to post in awhile.

Holiday Fun!

2010-01-03T17:58:00.002-07:00

This is what we did the day after Christmas. It was a post-Christmas stress relieving get-together and it turned out to be a lot of fun!

Roxy and "my" lounge chair!

2010-01-02T11:00:00.004-07:00

I got this lounge chair and cushion for mother's day - I love it - BUT - I think Roxy loves it even more! I am pretty sure I will have to get a new cushion for it before summer!

Some Beards

2009-12-31T11:42:00.001-07:00

A little over a year ago, my dad decided to grow a beard. It has just continued to get longer and longer. Here is what it looked like in April. It has since gotten even longer than this - and Jeremy shaved his off. Lee and Josh still look pretty much the same!

Christmas Day Games

2009-12-31T06:54:00.005-07:00

Dinner in Dearborn (middle eastern food)

2009-12-30T14:59:00.004-07:00

While in the Detroit area in November, a co-worker (Adnan) from Michigan took us (Victor, Tatsuo and I) to eat dinner and ice cream in Dearborn, Michigan. Dearborn has a huge population of immigrants from the Middle East, so there are a lot of Middle Eastern Restaurants. The one we went to - Al Ameer - was Lebanese (I think) At Al Ameer we were served a huge whole fried fish which was very tasty - but it still had the head - which I had never actually seen before. (I didn't eat the head!) After we had eaten I was disappointed that I had not remembered to take a picture of it! The Shatila Bakery and Cafe where we had ice cream after dinner was absolutely beautiful inside - and they had some delicious ice cream. It was a very interesting trip because many of the signs there are in Arabic or other languages that i am not familiar with.

More snow in the desert!

2009-12-29T08:05:00.001-07:00

oops - forgot one!

Snow in the desert!

2009-12-29T07:50:00.003-07:00

Here are some pictures I have taken this winter of the snow in El Paso. We sure have gotten a lot of it this winter. And it is actually snowing AGAIN today - for the 4th time this winter season!

A Perfect Santa Claus

2009-12-28T10:48:00.003-07:00

While in Carlsbad, NM waiting to go on the River Boat ride (Christmas on the Pecos), this Santa Claus was posing for pictures with the kiddos - so we just had to get the family to take a picture with him. Isn't he great?

Another Milestone Birthday

2009-12-18T21:29:00.001-07:00

It was a co-workers birthday (a few months ago - ok - I'm kind of slow). But it's strange when the youngest person in your department is 40 years old. I guess it is a sign of them times. the younger people get laid off and no new people are hired!

Game Night

2009-12-06T12:14:00.004-07:00

Amy and Dave are moving to Virginia in a few weeks and Amy wanted to have one last game night. It was at her house and unfortunately, we girls lost, but we had a great time anyway!

McKittrick Canyon

2009-12-02T20:47:00.002-07:00

We went hiking in McKittrick Canyon in the Guadalupe Mountains this year. It was a little early for the peak colors, but it was beautiful nonetheless!

Drive-By Fall colors

2009-11-27T14:40:00.001-07:00

Boxing

2009-11-15T09:30:00.004-07:00

Jeremy had his first boxing match in July. Here are some pictures from that bout. His trainer was shocked to find out that his opponent was a southpaw as he had not trained Jeremy to fight against a lefty! Unfortunately, Jeremy did not win, but it was pretty close! And now he knows what to expect from a southpaw!

Butterfly Conservatory - Niagara Falls, Canada

2009-11-07T11:22:00.002-07:00

While in Niagara Falls last April, we took a whirlwind tour. One of the stops along the way was this Butterfly Conservatory, a place we probably would not have even taken a second look at without the tour. It was so neat seeing all those butterflies up close!

Black Crowes

2009-11-04T21:19:00.002-07:00

We recently went with some friends to a Black Crowes concert. It was a lot of fun. They are such a throwback to the bands I used to see in the 70's. They look like a bunch of hippies, but not as old as real hippies would actually be!

Fantasy Football Upset

2009-11-02T22:21:00.002-07:00

Ha! I just won my fantasy football game. I was predicted to lose by a lot of points but I actually ended up winning by a few points. YAY! I didn't even watch my score yesterday because I was supposed to lose so badly - so imagine my surprise when I checked tonight and was ahead!
I am now 3-4-0 for the season - and not in last place.

Hiking

2009-11-02T20:20:00.002-07:00

The kid who loved water

2009-10-31T12:06:00.001-06:00

Old Ski Trip Photos

2009-10-25T08:57:00.001-06:00

Jeremy in the Gila

2009-10-18T15:35:00.001-06:00

Found some more old pictures and just had to scrap them. I had forgotten how blonde Jeremy's hair actually was.

Still More Summer Vacation Pages

2009-10-17T11:30:00.003-06:00

I just love the way old downtown Las Vegas has been revitalized. A couple of blocks of Fremont Street has been closed to traffic and is now kind of like an outdoor mall. It is a fun place to take the whole family! If you can't tell, these pictures are from the overhead screen that covers the whole street.

A Family Bowling Outing

2009-10-11T11:57:00.003-06:00

One day out of the blue, Lee said "Let's go bowling". So we did and we all had a great time. Sometimes spur of the moment outings are the best!

Fantasy Football

2009-10-09T10:20:00.005-06:00

I am currently 2 and 2 in my fantasy football league so this weekend is a determining one! I started out great, winning my first 2 games, but the 2^nd two weeks were not so kind to me. I play in a league with some guys at work – the name of our League is actually “Good Ol Boys”, so I made my logo as “girly” as possible – it’s a light Pink fancy M on a Darker Pink Background :-] .

Hee hee…

Unfortunately, I am predicted to lose big-time this week LOL.

Stock Car Races

2009-10-08T20:02:00.005-06:00

We went to the Stock Car Races in Las Cruces this past Saturday after not going for about 20 years. So of course Joel had never been before. He kept saying things like "This is awesome!" So I think maybe he enjoyed himself. Lee had actually taken Jeremy and Josh more recently than 20 years (but I wasn't there so it doesn't really count :) ) so Jeremy remembered going before. He had a blast too. Now Lee is all inspired to start Stock Car Racing. I figure why not? Over the years he has done Soccer, Softball, Mountain Biking, and more recently gotten into boxing, not to mention being in a Band, so he might as well race! Ha - we'll see what REALLY happens with it...

More Summer Vacation Pages

2009-10-06T20:00:00.004-06:00

Summer Vacation - continued

2009-10-03T17:55:00.002-06:00

Summer Vacation - continued

2009-10-02T20:43:00.004-06:00

I'm slowly but surely getting our summer vacation pics scrapped. We really had a great time. We spent the first night in Las Vegas and went downtown to Fremont Street to watch the Fremont Street Experience. Really neat show - on a huge screen over the street that's about a block long.

High School Reunion

2009-09-28T20:43:00.003-06:00

High School Reunion

2009-09-28T20:30:00.003-06:00

This weekend was my 30 year high school reunion. It is really hard to believe i graduated that long ago - wow! Anyway, we all had a great time getting re-acquainted with one another. I took a lot of pictures (like I always do) and i made these pages.

Summer Vacation 2009

2009-09-18T13:43:00.005-06:00

Finally getting around to Scrapping summer vacation photos! I thought I would go ahead and put some on here even though I have not scrapped beyond day 1...

Josh's Teddy Bear

2009-08-06T19:25:00.003-06:00

Wow - another one I didn't post. I wonder what got into me? Josh did love this teddy bear and it has been passed down to all the other kids. Jenna has it now.

Jenna's Blue Belt

2009-08-06T19:20:00.003-06:00

Somehow, I had create this page but never uploaded it here! So here it is

Unplanned Detour

2009-08-02T13:10:00.016-06:00

Jeremy's New Boxing Gym

2009-08-01T14:33:00.006-06:00

OK - I realize I am a month late posting this. I will try to be a better blogger in the future! Anyway, Jeremy started training at San Juan Gym on the 1st of July and he had his first fight last night - 30 days later. I will post something about the actual fight real soon!

Jenna at Animecon

2009-07-16T21:26:00.004-06:00

Jenna and her friends went to Animecon this past weekend. They entered into a skit contest at the last minute and won 2nd place. She found a video of their skit on utube. I have not seen it yet!

A Day at the Zoo

2009-07-03T18:22:00.005-06:00

The other day, I planned to take Jenna and her friend Kristen ice skating. We made sure we wore pants because it is supposed to be pretty cold in an ice skating rink! When we got there, we saw a sign that said they are closed until some time in August. Since we were already out, and the zoo was just across the street, we decided to just go to the zoo instead. We all sure wished we had had shorts on! We had to buy hats and sunscreen, but it turned out to be a very nice visit to the zoo! They have made a lot of improvements recently and are adding a new section which is almost as big as the entire existing zoo is now!

Niagara Falls Trip

2009-05-09T20:51:00.005-06:00

A couple of weekends ago, Lee and I met his brother Mark and sister-in-law Amy in Detroit and drove to Niagara Falls for the weekend. I had been in Detroit for the week and Lee flew up Wednesday. Mark and Amy flew up Thursday night. It was very interesting because we drove through Canada to get there. We also stayed on the Canadian side. you get a much better view of both sets of falls from there.
Here is a quick page I did.

Milestone Birthday

2009-04-12T14:21:00.003-06:00

We recently celebrated a co-workers' BIG birthday. Tatsuo turned the big 40 on April 9.
We went to lunch at Villa y Zapata Restaurant (delicious Mexican Food). They brought him a piece of cake and plopped these sombreros on everybody - and me - being the one ALWAYS with the camera - just had to get pictures!
Aren't they hilarious?

Jenna's Happy Picture

2009-04-10T17:39:00.002-06:00

I just love this picture of Jenna. She really looks happy! This was back in the days when she would actually let me touch her hair (ha ha) I loved the curls. She recently had me buy her a straightener because she hates her curls! Oh well, isn't that the way it usually is? Those with straight hair wish they had curls and those with curly hair wish it was straight!

4 Generations of Newmans

2009-04-05T18:12:00.006-06:00

I didn't even know this photograph existed. I found it while looking for something else. I knew some 4 generation photos existed with me in them but this is my brother, so it is 4 generations of Newman men. I thought it was a very cool picture. Granddad (Ben F. Newman) actually lived to be over 100 years old. I can only hope some of his good genes got passed along to me!!

Dinner with Grandpa

2009-04-04T12:30:00.004-06:00

Just a quick post today.

Jenna's Karate Picture

2009-03-31T18:36:00.004-06:00

I just love Jenna's most recent Karate picture. She picked the background, pose and prop. I think it is totally awesome! She says the wolf reminds her of Jacob from the Twilight series, which, by the way, she read quite awhile after picking the background.

Wierd weekend

2009-03-26T18:12:00.002-06:00

Last Saturday, or really Sunday, I had a strange experience. I worked outside most of the day Saturday, pulling weeds (more like prying them out of the ground!), pruning plants, laying some cement pavers, scraping cement off of our window from back when the pool was poured (the pool builder never bothered to clean it up), then finally, Lee and I went for a walk Saturday evening.
So, about 2:00 am Sunday, I woke up to excruciating pain in my hands, knees and feet - and they were all stiff and swollen! It was pretty scary because I had no idea why. We thought maybe I was having an allergic reaction to the Rye Grass I pulled, or the cement dust from the windows, or even the wine I drank - or a combination of them all...
I slowly got better as the day went on, and then Monday, Lee insisted that I go to the doctor. I was almost back to normal so I felt silly, but I went anyway - Joel and Jenna both ended up sick so we all went together. The doctor kind of chuckled and said he sees this all the time - people just overdo it and the body responds like that. He was very kind and didn't mention that my age might have been a contributing factor. I guess I learned a lesson and will be a bit more careful about what I try to tackle in a one day period!!

Oh, Joel is a lot better now, but Jenna actually got a bit worse as the week progressed, so I took her back to the doctor today. They did a strep culture Monday - negative. So today, they did a flu swab - also negative. The doctor said she has an ILI - Influenza Like Illness. It is a virus, but not the flu. But the treatment is the same as for the flu. She actually seems to be feeling better this afternoon, thank goodness.

Twins ? (34 years apart!)

2009-03-07T14:55:00.003-07:00

Credits: Rub On Alpha by Digitreats; Torn Paper Alpha by retrodiva; Background Paper, Stamps by SweetDigiScraps; Mom's Typewriter Font

My mother had always told me that in this picture of my dad holding her, Jenna looked just like me when I was a baby. Well, I was recently looking through my parents' old slides and found this picture of my grandfather holding me and I think my mother was right!!

Old Photos at the El Paso Aerial Tramway

2009-03-07T13:17:00.009-07:00

Credits: Background Paper, Flourishes - My Boys Kit by Heather Watson; Index Cards - Something's Cooking Kit by Atomic Cupcake; Stringed Tag - Saturday in the Park Kit by Linda Walton; Stapled Tag - Blue Spring Kit by Marcee J. Duggar; Frames - Katie Pertiet

I was scanning some old slides the other day and came across one that really surprised me. I already knew about the one of me with the handkerchief on my head - I remember seeing that one a long time ago. But I had no idea there was a second one!!
I am so thankful that my parents took so many pictures when I was growing up! I am also thankful for a scanner that will scan slides.

Bad Blogger

2009-03-05T21:57:00.003-07:00

OK- So I've been a really bad blogger. But I'm back. It's been a kind of difficult winter with all this horrible ecomomic stuff going on. We had a week-long unpaid furlough in January. It wouldn't have been too bad but it came at the tail-end of our 2-week Christmas shutdown. I wish I could have just gone into work then and taken the time off say about - NOW! Ha ha. Oh well, I am just thankful to still have my job. Since October, my company has lost about 400 people - with a very generous voluntary severance package and then an involuntary layoff. Scary times!!
In January, I was in a car accident. It was not too bad - a dog ran out in front of me and stopped! So I stopped - the lady behind me also stopped - but, the guy behind her did not. He must have been going really fast because the front of his truck and the back of her SUV were really crunched. The back of my van was also crunched, but not nearly as bad as theirs. Thankfully, nobody got hurt (not even the dog). I did get a lot of calls from people wanting to fix either my van or me!! amazing.
Oh well, the van has been repaired and looks good as new.

Polish Pottery!

2009-01-09T11:44:00.002-07:00

As promised, here is a scrapbook page.

New Year

2009-01-09T08:20:00.003-07:00

Wow - I haven't posted since Thanksgiving! Shame on me. Actually, I was working on Christmas Books for my parents and Lee's parents (which actually came out pretty good), then I came up with what I must call 'Mouse Shoulder' - from working in an un-ergonomic setting. I have been trying to let it heal but it really hurts!! Then, some friends talked me into getting into Facebook and I have been having a blast getting back in touch with old school-mates and relatives. So I am a bad blogger. I will try to get a scrapbook page up here later today.
I am on my third week off from work. We were shut down for 2 weeks for Christmas (paid - with Holidays and Vacation) then at the last minute, we got shut down for another week (unpaid) because we are an Automotive Manufacturer supplier - they are shut down and don't need our product so we don't need to make it! Scary. I hope next week when I go back to work everything is OK. We will see.

Joel-In-The-Box

2008-11-26T17:51:00.002-07:00

Credits: Paper - Summer Blooms Kit by Kelly Miller; Frame by Katie Pertiet; Fiber by A-liya; Tag by Lenas Scrap Design; Comic Sans MS Font

I'm not sure what it was with boxes and laundry baskets but all of our kids really loved playing in them. Here is Joel playing in a box we used to keep in the living room for toys. He spent hours playing in it. What a look of pure joy on his face!

Cool Kids

2008-11-23T21:35:00.005-07:00

Credits: Torn Memories Kit by Lauren Bavin; Sam's Handwriting Font

This is another picture I scanned at Lee's mother's house last summer. I love the 'cool' sunglasses that Lee, his brother Mark, and his sister Judy are wearing. Notice that the lady in the car also has her sunglasses on. I think she is Lee's Grandmother...

Jeremy and James

2008-11-20T19:09:00.007-07:00

Credits: Tag, Star Brad - Raspberry Road Designs, Stamp Frames - Gloria Val Verde; Paper, Ribbon - Creative Scrap Treasures; Overlay - Lauren Bavin; OctemberScript Font.

Jeremy and our neighbor James, became good friends almost immediately when the Dunns moved into the neighborhood. They were pretty much inseparable. Jeannie, Mark, James, Jessica, and Jackie lived just down the street for several years until they moved to the Austin area. James is now in the Marines, I believe!