a year in pictures: January 2010

Thursday, January 28, 2010

293/365

Today I am cold and tired and I have had a terrible headache since I woke this morning. Several times today the thought of sitting on a warm beach listening to the waves crash and the gulls squawk has popped into my head. So I am posting a photo I wish I had taken today but actually took last June.

Tuesday, January 26, 2010

292/365

I haven't posted photos of the girls in a while. I have not been carrying my camera to work as often since Oliver started. His diaper bag has taken the shoulder the camera bag usually rests on. My new camera backpack arrived today so hopefully that will make carrying multiple bags easier but that is a post for another day.

Lilly is looking so grown up.

Chloe has another ear infection but is still smiling.

And of course we need one of Oliver...

He loves his pirate doll.

Monday, January 25, 2010

291/365

After dress shopping Kate and I went over the bridge to the Kent Manor Inn. My sister Merri was married there. Kate has remembered it all this time and wanted to look at it as a possible venue for her wedding. Since she and Matt are planning to have a January wedding in the evening we timed our visit just right.

The back of the Inn.

The Garden House.

Thompson Creek runs behind the Inn. It was so still it was like glass.

Saturday, January 23, 2010

290/365

Today Kate and I went to Priscilla of Boston to look at wedding dresses. We found THE ONE!

This was a picture of her in THE dress. I of course had to crop the dress out of the photo but the smile and the sparkle in her eyes says it all.

289/365

The convention center about an hour before the start of the marathon.

About thirty minutes after the start of the race.

The window on the second floor where I was able watch the goings on in the convention center hall.

I am not sure why but very few people were in the second floor lobby. That was fine with me. It gave me a nice place to grab some shots of the crowd and a quiet place to sit and read a bit during the race.

288/365

The quilter in me loved this building in Discovery Green Park in downtown Houston. It is the entrance to the underground parking at the GRB Convention Center. There was another at the opposite end of the park that was done in red tones.

Friday, January 22, 2010

287/365

Tonight Patrick and I watched the Hope for Haiti Now concert/telethon. I clicked the guide button on the remote trying to find another station broadcasting this program hoping they would be showing the names of the performers on the screen. It was amazing how many television stations the show was on. Patrick encouraged me to grab the camera. He said, "There is your picture." He was right. I don't think I have ever seen anything like it; not even a Presidential speech gets this many stations. It is awe inspiring to see people come together to help the victims of this disaster. It is an important and worthwhile thing to do. I wonder though why we didn't come together to help this impoverished nation before the earthquake? Why does it take a natural disaster to open our eyes to the needs others? How many of us, myself included, thought about Haiti and her starving peoples before their homes fell?

286/365

This photo was taken about a quarter of a mile from the finish line. He was still smiling when he passed me.

Patrick ran the Houston Marathon in 4:19:19.

Wednesday, January 20, 2010

285/365

Race day! Of course we have to be there before the sun even rises. Patrick went to the area designated for runners and I wandered towards the start.

On the way to the start I passed a viewing stand and grabbed this photo of a photographer at work. Yes, I do have a bit of lens envy.

284/365

Friday in Houston was rainy and chilly. Saturday was warmer but still rainy in the morning. This is my first look at downtown Houston. It is not like an east coast city. By all appearance the city was a place to go to work and then leave nearly empty at the end of the day. There didn't seem to be a lot of night life like you would find in Baltimore or DC. In my brief tour of downtown I didn't even see a grocery store.

taken from a moving car

Notice the lack of people on the street.

The reason for my visit was to support Patrick as he ran the Houston marathon. Above is a picture of the George R. Brown Convention Center and the Avenida de las Americas. We spent Saturday morning picking up Patrick's race packet and visiting the marathon expo.

283/365

Last Thursday morning, as the sun was coming up Patrick and I sat on Pier D at the airport. I was finally going to Houston. Patrick goes often but this was my first time. For eight years I have dropped him off at the airport kissed him goodbye and wondered what Houston was like. I was about to see the cooler winter time version. It is not lost on me that my husband is in sales and that seeing Houston for the first time in the dead of summer might make me never want to live there if the opportunity ever presented itself.

Tuesday, January 12, 2010

282/365

A few beach shots.

281/365

A glimpse of my New Year's Eve mystery quilt focus fabric.

280/365

This past weekend Connie and I packed up our sewing machines and headed to the beach. We spend a weekend every January at her beach house sewing, watching chick flicks and eating way too much. This year we worked on the 2009 New Year's Eve mystery quilt that we were unable to do on December 31.

Monday, January 11, 2010

279/365

When babies make faces like this one don't you wish they could tell you what they were thinking about? Oliver sat in the exersaucer for about 20 minutes talking. It wasn't the usual jabber. His tone was more serious and the faces he was making were wonderful. I just know he was contemplating something great.

278/365

Miss Chloe has joined the "don't take my picture" club.
Last week Chloe and Oliver were both sick. The days were long and I was never without one or the other, even sometimes both of them in my arms. I didn't get many opportunities to play with my camera and when I did no one else wanted to play.

277/365

I just love those cheeks!

Wednesday, January 6, 2010

276/365

Well it has been just over a year since I started this blog and unfortunately I have not reached my goal of a photo a day. I am still learning a great deal about taking photos and I am going to continue until I reach 365 posts.

Monday I went back to work after ten days off. Oliver has a cold, Chloe has a fever and Lilly doesn't want her picture taken.

Sunday, January 3, 2010

275/365

I am working on cutting the fabric for the 2009 New Years Eve Mystery Quilt. I had intended to do the Mystery on New Year's Eve but with a house full of company that could not happen. Instead Connie and I are planning to complete this quilt top on our annual trip to the beach next weekend. I have my pieces all cut out I just have to sew two hundred eighty eight half square triangles and trim them before we go.

274/365

We had an incredibly busy week. My sister Monica and her family as well as my sister Pam's kids were all able to come from North Carolina to celebrate the New Year with us. Usually it is just Patrick and I on New Year's Eve but this year we had about twenty two people over for the evening. Twelve of those woke up in our home the next morning. Friday afternoon my sister Mindy and her family came back over after taking all the kids to the mall. Ian, Christy and Oliver also joined the fun. I think I cooked for nineteen that evening. I did not manage to take very many pictures and the ones I did were definitely snap shots but here is a mosaic of of shots. I am sorry not everyone who attended is included. I wish I was better at hosting and clicking at the same time.

a year in pictures