It's Smiling at You

Day 173

22 JUNE 09

My son had to have a pack of mini Altoids. I'm not the pushover my husband is, but I got them for him, anyway. That itty bitty tin looked kind of cute. Imagine how we felt when we got home and realized it was smiling at us!

Okay, so it wasn't really smiling, but doesn't it kind of look like it is?

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Happy

Day 170

19 JUNE 09

When my daughter was a toddler, she used to love the Wal-Mart commercials. They had that yellow smiley face that would fly all over the store and "rollback" the prices by knocking the numbers down. Remember that? My daughter would see the commercial, smile, point, and say, "Happy." A decade later, we still tease her about it by saying happy the same way she used to.

On Day 170, we were heading out to Watson Mill Bridge State Park for an afternoon of trail walking and water playing. Suddenly, I hear that old familiar "Happy" from the foyer.

When I got there, my teenaged daughter was standing there with a giant smile on her face, pointing to the floor. Sure enough, the way the sunlight was coming in through the windows made a giant happy face on my foyer floor. Isn't it cool?

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Happy Doggie

DAY 8

08 JAN 09

Day 8 came, was ready to go, and I was in a panic. A picture to represent today is what I'd told myself all day as I pointed my little camera here and there. Just one little shot to remind you of today. It sounded easy enough.

I got home last night, downloaded the pictures from my camera, and started to go through them. That's when the panic set in. It was all crap! I'd shot all kinds of things: the line behind me at my daughter's school, my iPod playing as I waited for my son, the lines in the parking lot next to my truck, a self-portrait or four, my son's Leaf Buddy, my "waiting for my kids" kit, dinner on the stove, and a couple of other things along the way. All crap. I didn't have a thing to post for Day 8, and it wasn't for lack of trying.

My mind whirling, I looked around my house. What to shoot? I wondered. What to shoot? Just then, my daughter let our dogs in for the night, and they pranced around the first floor of the house, excited to be there. They darted this way and that, visited each family member looking for acknowledgement, foraged around the floor for any food the kids might have left behind.

The dogs! I'll shoot the dogs!

Not literally, of course. I would never hurt those guys. But I will take pictures of them. And I did. With my daughter's help. The shot I chose (out of about 20), was the first where one of our dogs looked at me and smiled. I had pictures of them looking sweet, pictures of them looking innocent, pictures of them looking angelic, but when I saw this one of our older dog smiling for the camera, I knew I had my post.

Doggie pictures. Always great in a pinch when you don't know what to photograph.