POTD - Ten Years

POTD - Ten Years

©2011 Kristin Corlett

This is for my Mom.  She is involved with the Peace Movement in her community and this weekend is the 10th anniversary of the war in Afghanistan.   They have made up ten signs, to represent the ten years.  (I'll write a whole blog post on that later today) The handles of the signs are vintage - they are lathing strips that came out of an old house.  The tops are painted white to match the white posterboard, but the handles were left original.  I like the age of the wood and the nail holes on the ends of some of the pieces.  My Mom had these all laying out on a table and I saw them as I was coming down the stairs yesterday morning.  I told her thanks for helping me choose what my photo of the day would be! 

Enjoy!
Kristin

Tottie, do it again!

I have had two wonderful days.  I arrived safe and sound and without incident in Flint on Tuesday morning.  My sister Hillary picked me up and we sped off to East Lansing, MI.  We had lunch with my Mom at the Peanut Barrel - one of my Mom's favorite places and a neighborhood bar/restaurant and then Hillary went home and I went to Alison's to see her and the kiddos. 

Yesterday is pretty much a blurr because I had so little sleep the night before, but Stella and I played together and Alison and I talked and talked.  I got updated on a lot that had been going on.  Alison convinced me I should take a nap while I had the chance and I was out in a matter of moments.

I slept from 10pm until 6am without moving.  My hand was still holding onto the corner of the pillow and the covers hadn't moved an inch.  Guess I was tired.

Today was a different story.  I arrived before Scarlett napped and the three of us played in the playroom for quite awhile.  I brought my camera up there and pretty much all I heard was, "Tottie, do it again," "Take my picture, Tottie," "Take it again!"

I figured out the timer so we took a dozen or two shots of the three of us.  Most of them were complete duds, but the one above was a keeper and the best of the lot.

This one is just barely passable, but Stella wanted us to have a picture of us on the couch.

Zora is at school all day, so the big event is going to pick her up after school.  There's a little hill right by the school where Alison and the kids wait for Zora.  It's quite a bit of fun for them and it's out of the way of the buses and lines of other cars waiting for children.

Zora was reading over her homework as I was sneaking pictures of her.  She caught me and wasn't too pleased about it...

so she rushed the paparazzi!!  I thought it was a fun picture of her.

I'm going to have to share some of the pictures Zora's drawings.  They don't look anything like a 7 year old's drawings.  Coming from my talented sister and talented brother in law, I don't know why I'd say such a thing.  Of course the kid is crazy talented.

Zora told my Mom tonight that drawing is easy, it's all just lines.

Riiiiight.

I could draw lines all day and never get as good as she is already. 

That's a teaser to keep you coming back.  


Hope you have a GREAT day!

Kristin

Tottie = Auntie in kid talk

POTD - Hotel Entrance

POTD - Hotel Entrance
©2011 Kristin Corlett

I've always gotten a kick out of this hotel entrance in Jacksonville Beach, just a block away from the ocean.  It looks like a garden gate, not the type of gate to a hotel.  I've only seen the gate open once but I wasn't close enough to peek inside.  I'm not sure if I'm going to have to stay here to get the official tour or if I can find someone who will take me through.  So far, I've never seen an employee or anyone going in - but the OPEN sign is on...  I wonder if that means "the light is one but no one's home" ?  Stay Tuned.

Enjoy!
Kristin

The Mitten State

I'm leaving in just a few hours for one of my favorite places in the world!  I was asked where I lived in Michigan by someone here in Jacksonville and I put my hand up to point.

I pointed to Lansing, MI.  and she looked a bit confused.  I said, "Didn't you know that Michigan is shaped like a mitten?"  She didn't know.  tisk tisk!  So I'm here to give you a teeeeny bit of education.

Lower Michigan is shaped like a mitten.

The state of Michigan can be formed by using two hands.  I usually don't do the UP one (the Upper Peninsula) because then I'd need another hand to point to Lansing.  But I usually do demonstrate the entire state at some point in my conversation.  I was born in the UP, so I'm not one of those who forgets that part.

There's even a book about my beloved mitten state.  I didn't know about this book until I started finding photos for this post.  Guess I'm going to have to find the book and see if it's something my nieces might like.

There's even a clothing company called "The Mitten State" and they have some very cool items.  I could even become an affiliate and for everyone who goes through my link and buys something, I get a little money.  Hmmmm.  Well for now it's just a link to their place :0)  I'll look into the affiliate thing later.


So all of this is to tell you that I am letting my husband & kitty fend for themselves for a few weeks, while I go to the airport and get on a plane destined for Michigan, where I will stay for two weeks.   I am normally excited to go home, but for some reason the past two days I've been nearly spinning with JOY!  I want to go home, I want to see my parents, my sisters and my nieces!  I want to see some friends and BOB is coming out this weekend for a two and a half day visit!  I'm just overjoyed.

I bet that my blog posts will be hit or miss the next two weeks, but be prepared to be overloaded with pictures of my nieces.  I'm taking all of my lenses and am looking forward to annoying the heck out of them with the camera and without!

Have a wonderful beginning of October and I'll be back in Jax for my birthday.

I'll be waving at the U.P. and Annie!

Kristin

All the photos were pulled from Google Images and the second picture was altered as the line wasn't going to where I lived, it went to whomever designed the photo lived - and I just couldn't have that!

POTD - Florida Cypress Trees

POTD - Florida Cypress Trees

©2011 Kristin Corlett

Cypress trees like the wet swampy areas that Florida has in abundance, but I've never seen such a tiny little patch of them before.  I was driving through this neighborhood to get to a friends house when I spotted them...just hanging out in the middle of the little stream.  The Cypress leaves here are already turning color, so I guess fall has indeed arrived in Florida.  I think I'm going to keep an eye on this little grove of trees and see what they look like year round.  I am just so glad that I spotted them!

Enjoy!
Kristin

The 927 Building

I left the convention center in downtown Jacksonville, FL as the sun was setting.  I was so excited seeing the gorgeous clouds behinds the palm tree fronds, that I nearly missed the newly painted building just down the street. 

The last time I saw this building it was just a boring beige.  Now it's a riot of color with blues and oranges.  I adore the arches above the windows - it really turns an average three story building into something special.

I went to 927events.com and I'm really impressed with the way the interior was renovated.  I bet it's a great place to have a party or corporate event.  The metal work is fabulous, don't you think?  It really is great branding. 

Here's the hanging sign out front of the building.  I like that the numbers are cut out of the metal, so depending on where you are standing, the numbers can take on a variety of different colors or textures. 

In case you didn't see the 927 building, you obviously didn't see the awnings, the front door, the side of the building or the hanging sign!  I understand, it's the name of their company, too, but it does seem a bit excessive. 

I used this as my photo of the day (POTD - Viking) on Friday.  I wanted to make sure that I used it with a picture of the building so it could be seen in context. 





This is just a taste of my city on this glorious Sunday.  For more Sundays In My City and in many others, please head on over to Unknown Mami.  She's the hostess for this fine event.

Have a great day!
Kristin

POTD - Palm Trees

POTD - Palm Trees

©2011 Kristin Corlett

We had a gorgeous day in Jacksonville on Saturday.  It was in the middle 70s, no humidity and a cool breeze.  I decided to high tail it out of the house and take a drive.  I found myself at the beach on a street that I had never been down before.  I found this little park with two rows of palm trees and all of them had these bright orange seed pods.  Since it wasn't too hot, I was able to click, click, click away and get dozens of angles.  This was a favorite, but I love photographing palm trees, so the more the merrier.

Enjoy!
Kristin

Friday Fragments

It's Friday Fragments Day!!

It's Friday Fragments Day!

It's Friday Fragments Day!

It's Friday Fragments Day!  

It's Friday Fragments Day!

Welcome to Friday Fragments!  This is the place where we're able to put little snippets of fun or interesting things together without having to stretch that idea into an entire blog post.

Mrs. 4444 is our lovely host and I am so grateful for her continued hosting of this fun carnival.  For more Friday Fragment finds, please head on over to Half-Past Kissin' Time.  Thanks!

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I celebrated my 2000th blog post yesterday.  I really am proud of myself because in the things that I want to do for myself I tend to flake out after a little while (exercise anyone?) and I really wanted to blog.  I had to set a few 365 day goals to get it to be a daily habit, but I did it.  The neat thing is that I still love blogging and can't see ever giving it up at this point. So Happy 2000th to The Goat!! Yay!

 

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Our liver transplant community just had a huge turn over.  Nearly all of the folks that arrived last winter and spring were transplanted within the past six weeks.  Our group went from a group of about 40 (Patients and caregivers) waiting and wondering to a group of 40 looking forward to all of the things they can start doing again and enjoying the new life that they have been given.  We've got about four more pre transplant folks (and their caregivers) that can't wait to join that group of 40.  It's exciting and I can't wait to see them all healthy and heading home, but I'm really going to miss all the friendships I've made.

 

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I have this couch I've been trying to sell on CraigsList.  Here's the ad that listed and the email I received about said couch. 

FOR SALE:
Beige sofa with rust and green pin stripes. The two floral designer pillows are included. The sofa is in really great condition as it was hardly used, but it does have some stains. All offers will be considered.

EMAIL:
What is the condition of the item used or new?

MY RESPONSE:
We bought the sofa new, then we used it.

They didn't send any other inquiries!  haha

I never did get the couch sold so we gave it to the son of the owner for his new bachelor pad.  He probably won't even notice the stains.

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My photo of the day was quite timely.  About an hour after I posted it on my blog, the fire alarm in our condo started going off.   The power of suggestion is strong today.  I think I'm going to post a picture of money next!

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I have to admit that I have taken the smoke alarm off in our master bedroom.  The alarms are SO earpiercing and in our small condo we have 6 alarms, plus one for the building.  At one point when we first moved in, the alarms would go off three and four times a day.  The sun shine was directed to the garage alarm somehow and it would go off.   This went on for weeks and weeks.  I wasn't going to leave the building every time from my 5th floor condo.  So I took off the detector in our bedroom.  The condo is still pulsing with the alarm noise, but at least the ear splitting ringing is muffled a bit in there.  This morning I even grabbed my kitty and brought her in there with us.  Turns out that someone turned the leaf blower on in the garage, which always sets off the alarm.

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The photos are of a gator mural I saw on a local craft store.  He's really cool!

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More cool stuff can be found at Mrs. 4444's place though, as the Friday Fraggers are linking up there.

Have a great weekend!
Kristin

POTD - Viking

POTD - Viking

©2011 Kristin Corlett

I was immediately drawn to the black VIKING cut out on the red cover of the alarm on this particular building.  It's funny how something so little can catch your attention, especially when that something little is on a newly painted orange and blue three story building. 

Enjoy!
Kristin

POTD - 2000th blog post

POTD -  2000th blog post

©2011 Kristin Corlett

The photo is of the Beach Bowl in Jacksonville, FL.  When I saw this part of the building I knew that it would be a great backdrop for some text. Little did I know it would be for my 2000th post!  The colors are fabulously Florida and the palm tree hugging the side of the building was a real bonus.

I can hardly believe that I have written 2000 blog posts.  The very first year that I started The Goat blog I wrote two posts.  The next year, I wrote one.  At that pace I would have never made it to 100 let alone 2000.  I'm so happy to have jumped into the blogging world and met so many great folks.  Thank you for coming by, for commenting, for reading, for looking at my photos and for being interested.  Some of you have even become real life friends.  I am truly blessed. 

Thank you!
Kristin

Lifeguard chair

On the weekdays you can look down the Florida coast in Jacksonville and see the tall orange lifeguard chairs standing silently.  No one inhabits the chairs when the beaches are nearly empty, but they still exude an air of safety. 

It's like they are watching the waters.  Reminding the swimmers of the rip tides and to not swim too far out.

Their size and color make them hard to ignore.

They are exclusive chairs, only for a lifeguard.  Not even the birds sit on them. 

I really don't think I've ever seen a bird stopping for a rest. 

Maybe it's the color.

Have a great day!
Kristin

POTD - Curled Up

POTD - Curled Up

©2011 Kristin Corlett

I'm starting to get excited about going home to Michigan.  My nieces are growing up so fast that this photo I took six months ago is way out of date.  They have both gotten taller and their chubby kid features are getting more and more refined.  Zora, in pink, looks like she has a very soft face here and the photos of her I saw the other day she looks a lot more lean and grown up.  Stella, in the aqua pants, looks so much older than just a six month span.  Scarlett, who isn't in this photo is keeping up with the big kids I hear.  I can't wait to see them.  I just hope they don't take too many days to warm up to me.  I've only got two weeks with them instead of the month I've had the previous two Octobers. 

I have always enjoyed seeing kids piled into chairs.  These two look so uncomfortable and yet they hardly moved.  I'll try to get all three of them together this next time.  I can just imagine a squirming Scarlett tossed in the middle of this mix!

Enjoy!
Kristin

Daytona Beach

When my husband and I lived in Daytona Beach we pretty much moved there without having been a tourist there first.  At least I did anyway.  We had been to the speedway for the races a few times, but never actually stayed in Daytona Beach.  When we moved down there, there really wasn't an opportunity or a need to stay in a hotel on the beach.

Well this past weekend my husband had his Monkey Bars Garage Storage System booth at the Daytona Beach Home Show for three days.   It was a great excuse to get a room on the beach, across from the convention center, and enjoy being a semi-tourist.  The beds were comfy, too!

I only went down for one night, as I had quite a bit of things to do that weekend in Jacksonville, but it was nice to hang out there again.  We had only lived in the Daytona area for three years, so we've actually been gone longer than we were there.

This was view outside our window.  It was the city view.  Pretty neat sunset.

Saturday, Tom and I had breakfast across the street from the hotel and then he went to the home show and I drove a curvy, non direct route through town to the expressway to go home.  Taking photos as I went along.

Skips is a Western Wear store.  I do believe it's been around forever.

I've always liked this particular building.  I can't remember what used to be in there, but it looks like it's still in great shape.  Daytona Beach has (had) a lot of cool 50s - 60s buildings, hotels and homes but in an effort to get rid of of the run down look that was happening to a lot of these places, they have been systematically torn down.  I can understand because a lot of the old motels were pretty seedy or scary looking - the old Florida look though, with those places gone, is just not there as much any more.  I'm so happy to see that some of the buildings, even if they aren't occupied, are kept in good condition. 

When I lived in Lansing, Michigan, I lived above a fur shop.  You don't see too many fur shops anymore, so I was happy to see this one was still around -- and yet thought it was quite odd that there would be a fur shop in Florida.  Since we are known for our long winters here! (Ha!)

This house is on a pretty great piece of land about a mile from the beach, but I'm pretty sure that this place needs to just be razed.  It was in a pretty sorry state, but I liked that someone painted the windows on the plywood. 

Daytona Beach has a little arcade/amusement area - Very Touristy and I don't mind saying - It's a bit cheesy.  I did like the Ferris Wheel all lit up at night though.  That was cool.

I would like to go back again and stay at the beach when Tom and I can stay the whole weekend and just be a tourist.   He got enough estimate sign-ups at the home show to make it worth it the trip, so that's all that really mattered this time.

Hope you have a great day!
Kristin

POTD - 1970 Ford

POTD - 1970 Ford

©2011 Kristin Corlett

1970 Ford Pickup - Funny story... I was driving in Daytona Beach when I saw this truck and I wanted a picture of it. We kept stopping side by side at light after light. I turned to my husband at one point and said, "Can we ask this guy to come have dinner with us? I really don't want to miss taking a picture of this truck!" My husband just laughed and said no. Next thing I know I am getting out of my car at the restaurant and the guy driving the truck was walking in, in front of us! I asked him if I could get a picture of his truck and he said sure. He told my husband that he gets asked about his truck several times a day.  I just wish it wasn't so dark out, but I got a great story!

Enjoy!
Kristin

Gift Card Holder

I've been on a crafty kick lately and my spare bedroom shows it!  It's scattered from end to with paper, drink cups, magazines, newspapers, ribbons and junk mail.  I've been making journal pages, usually one page a night, but a few nights ago I just wanted a small project. 

I was standing in line at a store and noticed the not-so-cool gift card envelopes on display and a lightbulb went off in my head.  I could make some that would be fun and interesting and for a great price.  The gift card envelope I saw was $4.  I think that's a great price for mine, too! 

So I came home and immediately started playing around with making a gift card envelope.  It took me a few hours to get this one made - so at $4 each I wouldn't be making much money per hour!  BUT now that I've put one together that I like, I could certainly make them a bit faster.

The best part of the gift card is that I incorporated a portion of one of my photos on the back.  For the recipient, I bet the best part would be the gift card!  I just hope that the gift card holder gets passed along for years and years. 

This specific holder was made from a security envelope, scrapbook paper, a photograph, a cut out image from a soft drink cup,  a scanned image of a baggage tag and a cut out from an aviation map.  Oh and lots and lots of sewing thread.  I think a velcro dot will be placed on the tab so that it can be kept closed.  I  can't quite decide if I want it to be fastened closed or just left as is.

When I get a few more made I'll put them for sale on Etsy.  I think a dozen would be a good start.  Better get back to the sewing room!

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I went to Daytona Beach this weekend with my husband, that's why I have been absent so many days in a row.  It was nice going back.  I do miss Daytona.  More on that later! 

Hope you have a great day!
Kristin

POTD - Dive!

POTD - Dive!

©2011 Kristin Corlett

This is one of my favorite Jacksonville signs but the only photos I have of her are on cloudy days. I could never seem to get the timing right to get a blue sky as I was driving by.  This weekend I was able to make all my dreams come true, if only I would have noticed that I clipped off the a in Florida.   So, here's a repeat, but a new shot, with blue skies.  I like it.

Enjoy!
Kristin

Friday Fragments

It's Friday Fragments Day!!

It's Friday Fragments Day!

It's Friday Fragments Day!

It's Friday Fragments Day!  

It's Friday Fragments Day!

Welcome to Friday Fragments!  This is the place where we're able to put little snippets of fun or interesting things together without having to stretch that idea into an entire blog post.

Mrs. 4444 is our lovely host and I am so grateful for her continued hosting of this fun carnival.  For more Friday Fragment finds, please head on over to Half-Past Kissin' Time.  Thanks!

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If you are a Facebook user you might have noticed a change in your page the past couple of days.  If not, that change is coming.  If you aren't happy about the new changes, get ready because it's changing again!  If you'd like to see a video about it, click here.  That will take you to a few videos on Mashable that explain things.  It looks cool! (even though I'm never crazy about change.)

Thursday (Sept 22) is day number 265 in the year 2011.  That means that there are only 100 days left in this year.  100 days!  What are you going to do with your last hundred of 2011?  I've got 100 more photos to take, one per day.  I think I will also  do some kind of exercise for the next 100 days.  Maybe one minute of leg lifts or sit ups or maybe I can just make it a minute of general moving.  This will hopefully lead me to doing more than a minute, but won't be scary to start if it's just a minute.  I have a minute a day.  I've already got my photo taken today and about 5 minutes of intentional exercise, so I'm good for day 265.

I was involved in putting together Big Fun Boxes that are being delivered to children around the U.S. who have been hospitalized.  I wrote about it the other day and it really made me think about how easy it is to create a small gift to take to someone in the hospital - little kids and big kids, too!  (You know, those adults in your life.)  I think several of my liver transplant friends would have liked to have something like this, too.  The squeezable stress toy is truly a great idea to have in your hand when getting a procedure done that makes you nervous. 

I "liked" the Facebook page MyPublisher a few weeks ago and because I did that I was given the opportunity to order a mini book for free.  This included free shipping, too.  All it took was my time to figure out what 21 photos I wanted in my mini book and to get them in the exact order that I wanted.  That took me a few hours, I have to admit.  The free mini book is only available for three days after you like their page so I did have a deadline.  The book arrived today and I love it!!   You can see what it looks like from the photos I interspersed in today's Friday Fragments post.  I now want to make one of my nieces for sisters and mom.  I want to make some for our transplant friends who come to Mayo Jacksonville.  I have so many ideas for that little mini book or even the bigger books, too.  I am just shocked at how much I liked the mini book.  I was just sure it wasn't going to be worth the effort, but the pages are thick enough and the colors are great.  I'm sold --- as I guess MyPublisher thought I would be, that's why they wanted me to get my free mini book!

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Hope you have enjoyed my fragments this week.  Oh and all the hype I gave about My Publisher - they didn't pay me a thing to write that review.  I was compelled to do so when I received my mini book.  :0)

More cool stuff can be found at Mrs. 4444's place though, as the Friday Fraggers are linking up there.

Have a great weekend!
Kristin

POTD - Vintage Sea Oats

POTD - Vintage Sea Oats

©2011 Kristin Corlett

These aren't exactly vintage oats or even a vintage print, but the look sure is.  The wispy looking stem at the bottom of the photo reminds me of the cracks and scratches that happen on old photos.  I went down to the beach yesterday.  I've been spending so much time running around that I thought it might be nice to just take a walk along the waters edge.  It was indeed very nice.

Enjoy!
Kristin

I'd like to unkink my spine please

 The Spine.

You know it's there when it hurts, that's for sure. 

Something happened to me over the weekend and I pulled, pinched or tore something around the C5 - C7 area of my spine.  I have bent and twisted and tried to get the kinks out, but there's no unkinking it.  My problem is that I have this spot of pain that doesn't go away no matter what type of pain reliever I take and my arms have been going numb intermittently.  Today however, my right arm has been numb all day. 

I've never been to a Chiropractor and have always been very nervous about anyone touching me - anything more than a hug and I'm freaked out.  I don't like my shoulders rubbed, my back scratched or my feet worked on.  When I realized that I needed to go to the Chiropractor, I swear my heart started beating out of my chest.  I'm such a pansy sometimes.

I went for the evaluation, a few xrays and consultation.  Tomorrow (Thursday) I'm going back to see what the xrays showed and hopefully something can be done.

I'm used to being the caregiver - I'm not liking this "being the patient" kind of thing.  Here's to hoping that it's purely temporary and that within a few days the kink can be unkinked.  I'll surely let you know!

Have a great day!
Kristin