Please Help Me Choose A Toosh

Each week, I try to stretch my photographic skills, learn a little more about photography and I practice as much as I can. One way I do that is enter photography contests like the one at iHeartfaces. It’s just what I like to do.

This week’s photo challenge is We Love Tooshies. I was very intimidated. But I was looking through some of the entries this morning and I started to feel a little better about the theme. They mean “tooshes” not “butts.” Or worse. Even my grandmother would be okay with that word.

As it turns out, I have some tooshie pics. Go figure. Can you help me choose? Remember I’m trying to win a contest, not shock anyone. Though they are artists over there at iHeartfaces so I’m sure that shock is a part of the discerning process.

Alrighty, here I go.

Entry 1 – Man On Waikiki.

I shot this photo last June during our trip to Hawaii. I thought he was very interesting, looking out to the water. I think he might be lonely. But I wasn’t about to start a conversation with him.

Entry 2 – Afterglow

This was during the End Hunger concert last October. I felt guilty taking it then. I still feel a little guilty now. But I’m putting aside my reservations and posting it. You can’t tell who it is anyway. It could be my toosh for all you know.

Entry 3 – Tooshies and Pigtails.

Here is Little Afton on her horse last September. I like the pigtails.

Entry 4 – Low Overhang

This is Little Alexandra at our home meet last October. She really is that little. It’s actually my favorite but I don’t want to influence the massive amount of votes that will be coming in.

Entry 5 – Juvenile Delinquency

This was at our homeowner’s picnic this summer. These little girls were trying to crawl into the tennis courts. Instead of stopping it, I took photos.

Entry 6 - Blue Ribbon Toosh

And this is the girl last year at her very first meet. She was good wasn’t she? This was her first blue ribbon at an event. I was so proud I was pratically crying.

Thanks for letting me walk down memory lane. But I’m serious about the vote everyone. Please help me. I have until tomorrow night (Tuesday) to decide which one to enter.

This is my fourth post today and though I have more to say, I must get started on my day. I have a ton of things to do. But this is so much fun! Wish I can sit here and ramble all day.

Leave me a comment and tell me which one you like. Please?

16 For Dinner Please

I am posting this so that my family can see some snapshots from Thanksgiving dinner. I understand if you want to leave now.

This photo makes these two look conspiratorial.

 

That’s my niece behind the girl.

 How can you tell a true Thai girl? She puts fish sauce on everything.

Speaking of fish sauce and nieces, this is Chloe-girl. She’s my other niece with fish sauce running in her veins. Her mom is mulatto. Her dad is a happa. But she’s Thai through and through. One day, I’ll explain my very confusing family tree. It’s confusing even to me.

And here’s my nephew Bobby. He’s not Thai. He’s a meat and potato guy. He asked the boy if he was going hunting on Monday, the first day of deer season. Because you see in parts of Pennsylvania, the schools  take the first day of deer season off so that the kids can go hunting with their dads. Well, here in Maryland, we’re a lot more liberal than that. We don’t even take Columbus Day off because we don’t like him. I can go on and on about the lifestyle differences in the different parts of the US geographically speaking. It’s actually a fascinating study in cultural America.

But I won’t. When I write my book, you can read all about it.

The boy ain’t huntin’ today. He’s in school, hopefully payin’ attention.

He helped set the table too. It was very sweet. Him and his cousin Bobby both.

And there’s the brother picking on the girl again. She is a true introvert. For some reason, people make it a personal challenge to pick on her until she laughs.

Human chaos. Lots of people. Lots of food. Small kitchen.

Animal chaos. Lots of dogs. One cat. In the same kitchen as the humans. The cat looks peeved doesn’t he? Wonder why.

Chaos in the livingroom too. Holidays are pretty chaotic, it’s their charm.

There’s my other nephew, Harmon-monster. We call him that in love. He gave the best speech about what he was thankful for at dinner.

And this is my sister with her children. She started losing the capability to speak clearly about a year ago. At least that is when I started having quite a hard time understanding her. The niece, Leala-girl, is the one who does most of the translating since she she understands her mom the best. She’s only ten. I don’t know which is more sad, the fact that her mom can’t speak, or the fact that her ten year old daughter has to translate for her.

And here I am with my sister last Thursday. Photo courtesy of Leala-girl.

And I don’t know what I would do without this man. Photo courtesy of Chloe-girl.

I hope you had a wonderful time with the ones you loved.

Posted on Gayle’s Monday Memories.

Trains

As we start decorating for the Christmas season, the boy asked if he could take out his trains. We haven’t done that in several years. What a great time he had. He may be fifteen years old but it seems that boys never outgrow their toys.

The engine was his dad’s as a boy and it still works. I hope that one day – and I can’t believe I’m saying this – I hope the boy will pass it on to his son. But not too soon.

Posted on Mosaic Monday.

November 30, Fa La La

November 28, Thanksgiving’s End

The boy took this photo on his cell phone and thought, “Mom’s going to like this picture.” He emailed it to me and he’s right, I love it. It’s nice to see that he’s getting a little bit of my sensibility.

It is of my mother’s backyard taken last Wednesday when the sun was low in the sky on an early Thanksgiving evening.

This officially ends my favorite season, the Thanksgiving season. It’s the season of giving thanks to God. It’s not over commercialized, there’s no presents to give. It’s special.

Not that I don’t like Christmas, I do. But I do stress a little bit over gifts and money and whether or not the Christmas lights are going to work. I am a procrastinator when it comes to accomplishing things outside of my talents and I tend to over commit, a deadly combination during Christmas time.

So I believe some perspective is in order. Have a great weekend.

November 27, Black Friday Morning

I’m up, I’m up.

I hope I make it back alive.

Thanksgiving Red Cabbage

Take some real bacon. REAL chunky bacon. Lot of it. And fry it up. The smell was fantastic. The boy came running in and said, “Is that bacon?” He loves his cured meat.

Chop some fresh red cabbage into thin slices.

Put the cabbage into the fat of the bacon and stir. After the cabbage cooks a little, add balsamic vinegar. One head will take about a half a cup. Scientifically speaking.

Fry it up, stir it well. The nice bacon smell is going to be replaced by vinegar smell. Don’t worry, it’s temporary.

Add about 1/4 cup of brown sugar.

Stir it up. Stir it up.

Salt and pepper to taste.

Get your dietary fiber now!

We are also having creamed cauliflower, mashed potatoes, gravy, stuffing, the turkey(s), pumpkin pie…etc.

I don’t know if I can document all of this.

Wonder why I can blog today? Because the girls are helping Nanna with the meal. And because we’re not eating until tomorrow. Poppop is working on Thanksgiving. What a downer man. So we’re making the side dishes today so he can eat with us tomorrow. The turkey’s not even in the oven yet.

I know that right now you are eating and having comaraderie and fellowship with your family and friends. That you are looking around your Thanksgiving table and counting your blessings. And it fills my heart.

Happy, happy Thanksgiving. Words cannot express how full my heart is.

Thanksgiving Sweet Potatoes

Start with this…I think I peeled about 8 pounds…

Melt an entire stick of butter. An entire stick.

Put in about two cups of light brown sugar. You can use dark sugar if you like.

Put in an entire bottle of dark karo syrup. An entire bottle.

Stir…

Now…are you ready? Put in about half a cup of dark soy. Or as my mother said, about 10 – 12 shakes.

This dark mushroom soy sauce. You can get this in your supermarket…my mother did. It’s an essential ingredient to this recipe. And it’s a secret.

Now shake in some corse black pepper. How much? To taste. We put in a lot.

Shake in some salt…how much? I don’t know. To taste.

Look at it bubble. It’s awesome. Make sure you use a non-stick pot unless of course you want to build some biceps and burn off some calories because you’ll have to scrub for days to get the sugar off the bottom. Remember, non-stick pot.

Put in the potatoes. It’s crazy delicious. Cook the potatoes until they are soft.

This is not a great photo but it tastes much better than it looks. After the potatoes cook, turn off the heat. Let them sit for a little while, the longer the better. Before you serve, put it on low heat and let it seep through the entire pot. It’s wonderful.

This is actually my favorite thing for Thanksgiving. My mother has been making this for as long as I can remember.

Wow, I just heard someone say, “Let make the pumpkin pie now.”

They are moving way too fast for me.

Thanksgiving Red Onions In Balsamic Vinegar & Wine Reduction

Start with this…

Then do this…

Reduce balsamic vinegar, sugar and red wine. Keep stirring!

Add the onions…

And add some more…

It’s yum.

Thanksgiving Cranberries

From this…

To this…

To this…

48 oz. fresh Dole cranberries
4 cups of water
4 cups of sugar
salt to taste

Boil sugar and water together. Throw in the cranberries and cook.

It’s starting to smell good in here.

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