Photo replay: Purrfect poser

With no children or similarly obliging subjects regularly available in my nest, practicing portraits with my new camera means my animals are the primary subjects.

The dogs usually think I'm offering a treat when I try to photograph them, so most shots of Mickey and Lyla are blurry shots of them speeding toward me in hopes of nabbing a treat or of their noses sniffing out the camera in search of snacks for their service.

Which leaves the cats as my primary posers.

Isabel doesn't care too much for the position foisted upon her and makes no bones about cussing me out for it.

My sweet tabby Abby, on the other hand, happily lends a paw any time I need, posing perfectly for shot after shot—in color, black-and-white, macro and more.

One more reason she's likely my favorite feline ever. (Just don't tell Isabel as it'll give her even more cause to complain.)

Today's question:

How would you rate the portrait-posing probability of your pets?

The Saturday Post: National Old Rock Day edition

Thought the holidays were over? Think again, for today is a holiday of a special sort: It's National Old Rock Day!

In recognition of National Old Rock Day, here is a video of some of the oldest rocks in town, my town: the glorious rock formations of Garden of the Gods. And to double your pleasure for National Old Rock Day, the video is accompanied by a rendition of a popular tune by some old rockers themselves, Led Zeppelin. (If you don't like Zeppelin—or if the rendition grates on your nerves as it did mine after a mere moment or two, despite being a huge Zeppelin fan—just mute it; the imagery is worth viewing in silence.)

Not only is Garden of the Gods mere minutes from my home (25 to be exact, per Google), it's where Preston proposed to Megan in 2005...at sunrise. Sweet!

Happy National Old Rock Day!

Today's question:

What does the term "old rock" make you think of?

Friday field trip: Denver Downtown Aquarium

As previously mentioned, we visited the Denver Downtown Aquarium during Bubby and Baby Mac's Christmas holiday visit. Here are some of the highlights:

As we were leaving, the caricaturist at the exit approached us to ask if Bubby could pose for him, for free, in hopes of drawing some attention and business for the vendor. Now, thanks to the unexpected kindness of that talented stranger, I can clearly mark the exact moment my grandson made the transformation from Politely Posing Bubby... 

into none other than Super Hero Bubby... 

Interested in taking a similar field trip? Find details here:

Denver Downtown Aquarium • 700 Water Street, Denver, CO 80211 • (303) 561-4450

Today's question:

If you could be any water-living creature, what would you like to be?

One word

No improvement needed here—perfect as they are.

Improvement. That's my one word, and I'm sticking to it.

That one word is my response to a question posed yesterday on Facebook by SITS Girls, a network of bloggers I—and several other Grandma's Briefs readers—belong to, a network built around the idea that "The Secret to Success is Support".

The question SITS Girls asked its members yesterday: "What's the one word you hope defines 2012?"

I hemmed, hawed, considered (but never consulted) the thesaurus. Then I settled on improvement. Mostly because I desperately want, desperately need 2012 to be an improvement over 2011...and 2010 and 2009—the years that became so tough in so many ways since losing my job. The years that have been so tough for so many since losing jobs, losing retirement investments, losing savings of all sorts, and, for many, losing hope.

I thankfully never lost hope. Ever. And my hope for 2012 is that it's marked by my chosen word: improvement. Not just improvement in year-over-year as a whole, but improvement in nearly every single sector of my life.

I hope to see improvement physically. I need to eat better, exercise more, feel fit to function in far better ways than I have been.

I hope to see improvement financially. I have little gigs here and there that foster this improvement, but I need to improve my numbers—of gigs, of words written, of options. Mostly, I need to improve the numbers in my bank account.

I hope to see improvement in my home, and I have more home improvement projects on my plate than I care to admit. Accomplishing even just one or two would surely be an improvement, so success in this sector is a given. I hope.

I hope to see improvement in my piano playing, picture taking, recipe making, wrinkle erasing, and more.

I hope to see improvement in the quality of relationships I have, the friendships I maintain.

I hope to see improvement in the number of hours I spend reading—for enjoyment, not review or research.

I hope to see improvement in my ability to relax...without guilt...without reservation and unnecessary explanation.

And I hope to see improvement in the amount of time I devote to gratitude, thankfulness, appreciation. Of all I already have. All I already am. All I already can do and give and be.

Improvement takes work. And persistence, motivation, perseverance. And the ability to overcome frustration, as I'm sure I'll get frustrated along the way to improvement—frustrated with myself, with others, with circumstances beyond my control. (Especially with circumstances beyond my control, which makes me consider that I should really work on improving my need to control everything, too.)

With work, persistence and more, paired with hope—humongous heaps of high hopes—that one word will be mine. Improvement. In all areas. In this year over years past.

Improvement. That's my one word, and I'm sticking to it.

Photo of Bubby and Baby Mac: Shamelessly stolen from Megan's Facebook page.

Today's question:

As the SITS Girls asked, "What's the one word you hope defines 2012?"

Meet the (great) grandparents

Bubby and Baby Mac arrived to Gramma and PawDad's house on Christmas Day for their extended holiday visit. Awaiting their arrival were their maternal great grandparents—my mom as well as my dad and stepmom, Ann.

My dad and Ann had met Bubby before, of course, but this was their first introduction to the ever-curious (and ever expressive) Baby Mac.

Baby Mac didn't give a hoot about introductions and photos; he wanted only to grab hold of Ann's hair. Which he did:

Also ready to hand out Christmas hugs though both boys had seen her in October was my mom, aka Nonnie Kelly to them. (Not to be confused with the Nonnie Kelly Grandma's Briefs regular who, although awesome and someone I'd love to have in my family, is not our Nonnie Kelly. No, my mom is the Grandma's Briefs commenter Ann...not to be confused with Ann who is my dad's wife. Yes, things get a tad confusing around here at times.)

Anyway, when Bubby and Baby Mac visited with our Nonnie Kelly in October, I realized far too late that I had forgotten to get a four-generation photo of the gang while we were all together. Thankfully I had a chance to rectify that on Christmas Day:

Just one more reason (or technically three, I suppose) my new DSLR from Santa came in handy.

Today's question:

When did you last have a photo taken with one or more of your grandparents? What about great grandparents?