Day Twenty Five - Y is for...

Yellow - with a little help from photo shop!

The photo project is quickly drawing to a close and while I have dutifully completed my entry each day, I am not thinking that any of the entries are going to really put me in a photography hall of fame.  There is some creativity and thought to the process, but since I am using a phone camera for most of the shots, the execution is just OK.

Y is for yellow.  I decided that first thing this morning and was pretty clear in my mind what that needed to look like.  There is a courtyard outside the building that I work in, with a fair number of plants and flowers, including a yellow hibiscus that I have admired multiple times.

The photo that I took and you see here (in a somewhat enhanced state)  was lovely, but the yellow was pale at best, thanks to the fact that I waited until the late afternoon to snap my shot.  I considered pinch-hitting with another item, like a post-it note, but that bored ME, so I can't even imagine how you the reader might feel!

Fortunately, Microsoft Photo has a few settings that can be modified and manipulated, taking the pale yellow flower to something that looks like it grew up out of a nuclear reactor.  Too bad radioactive doesn't start with the letter Y!

Day Twenty Four - X is for...

An X-ceptionally challenging letter to capture!

Science and abbreviations.  That is what the letter X is all about, at least in my cursory review for options.  I really thought about and actually researched the letter for a bit of inspiration today, but there wasn't a lot to be had.

Things I could have done but refuse on principal include the representation of Christmas with X-Mas...that takes the whole point out the season!

X-Ray, thankfully I don't have a need for one of those right now. Xylophone, don't have one of those lying around. Then we get into Roman numerals and a lot of scientific sounding ingredients that I am pretty sure are mostly artificial and I have no idea what they really are...xanthide, for example.

I was starting to feel a little desperate by about 8 pm...I was at Farmers Market/The Grove for our company Christmas party and I knew that my options were getting slimmer by the moment.  I was scanning the area, looking for something to spark my creativity, when I saw a sign on the American Girl store, touting their American Girl experience.

I bring you the letter X, this is as good as it is going to get today!

Day Twenty Three - W is for...

The world wide web is a wonderful thing

The photo itself is a bit lacking in imagination, but the functionality is INCREDIBLE.  I would estimate that I look something up on either my computer or my phone an easy 4-5 times per day, sometimes even more!

It sounds cliche, but I really don't know how we made it without the instant gratification of a search engine at our fingertips.  I have a set of encyclopedias that David and I bought when we first got married - we might have busted them out a few times when Holly first started her school career, but I have to admit that the web served as a far greater resource for her from about 4th grade on.

It makes me wonder what amazing thing will exist in 20 years that we will all declare as hard to imagine living without.  That will admittedly be here faster than I might like to admit!

Day Twenty Two - V is for...

Pluto, our guest Vizsla for a few weeks

The Newton home for wayward dogs has taken on a new charge.  Pluto, a 4-year old Vizsla (and featured V photograph!) has been hanging out with the pack for a week, and will likely be here for another 2 weeks or so, while his owners take care of some things in New York.

Pluto is quite the pup and has fit in nicely with our pack.  His first day at the house would have been overwhelming for most - he first met Charlie and Doug on the front lawn, then went into the backyard to run around a bit with them, before Shaggy came charging out and Penny sort of just said hi.

Pluto played the perfect balance with the pack - not too aggressive, but not a complete pushover either - he held his own!  Pluto loaded up with everyone else to go on a walk the next morning, went to work during the day and by dinnertime it was as if he has been a part of the pack for years.

He is a sweet pup, we will be sorry to have to give him back - this is the fundamental reason why fostering does not work for us, we always want to keep all of the nice dogs that come to stay with us!

Day Twenty One - U is for...

A glimpse at the Underwater world, courtesy of my Camelbak

U was a bit elusive, at least in the ideation phase. I landed on the whole underwater thing, which I thought would be pretty cool, but without an actual underwater camera or an aquarium or other way to catch a glimpse of the blurry world underwater, I was a bit stuck.

I typically have a water bottle around, and realized that the color of the bottle, combined with the water and the light made for a different look and angle on the underwater concept.

Now that I see it here, it is in my opinion a little blurred, not too unlike how things look when I am swimming without goggles!

Day Twenty - T is for...

A customized TREE. handmade by my new friend Carter

I spent the first half of today helping to watch a group of kids, ranging in age from 4 to 8 years old at the "Drop and Shop" event held at church.  The idea is the parents drop their kids off for about 4 hours, giving the parents the freedom to Christmas shop, decorate, or just enjoy a little time away from the little ones.

When I saw the message go out looking for volunteers, I thought that it would be a lot of fun to play with a group of kids for a few hours and give their parents a morning off, given it has been a long time since I have had to worry about looking after someone under 10 years old!

I will have to admit that the task itself was far more challenging than I originally thought it would be (not helping was the fact that I was coming down with a cold), and I was pretty wiped out by the time 2:15 rolled around and the last kid was picked up.  I did, however, have a nice keepsake in the form of a tree ornament that one of the boys made for me.  After he completed the ornament, he asked me how to spell my name, then wrote it on the back and signed it, "from your friend Carter".

There was no guesswork about what my T entry would be for the day, after all, it was customized just for me!