Pictures

This is the time of year where I start thinking about my family Christmas card picture. I appreciate receiving cards from my friends showing me how big their children and animals are getting. But, I like to include the entire family, preferably decked out on Yankee regalia, except my oldest daughter has denounced baseball and is now wearing all black. How New York of her. So, any chance I get when all of us are together I try to get a family shot. I am particular in that I don't want this shot at a restaurant with a table of dirty dishes. It would be nice if it could be a shot of a place we shared a great memory, but really the hardest part is in getting everyone together at the same time for a group shot. I have reverted to staging something in my driveway where my neighbor came and took the shot. It was a good card but not my ideal location. In order for all of us to be in the shot assistance is required from a friend or stranger. If you looked inside my photo albums, or now in my iPhoto file, you would see great pictures of my family, sans me. I'm the picture taker, the documenter and most women in the family are. Especially new moms, they love to take pictures of their kids. Facebook has allowed her a good reason get some lens time. When logging on and looking back she sees that she's not in the picture and I know she'd like to be in a few. Sometimes you'll hear the excuse "I look awful". When she's 80 years old and looking back over memories she won't care. Get mom in the picture.

She Buzz Words

• Costume
• Cider
• Leaves
• Rake

Right now she could be

• Ordering Flowers
• Putting her grill away for the winter
• Cleaning winter coats
• Organizing the medicine cabinet
• Taking out the trash

She's watching TV...

The Parents Television Council now offers a website that shows how much she is paying for cable. A calculator is included that shows how much her cable bill would be if she were able to pick her cable network. www.howcableshouldbe.com

She's watching

• Dancing with the Stars
• Modern Family
• The Good Wife
• CSI: Miami
• The View
• Oprah

She talks...

• New fall shows, fashion, baby issues , bully issues. Sports: NFL, NBA

She surfs...

• www.crayola.com: Check out the new audio ruler, and erasable markers

She likes it when...

• Her kids bring home artwork made just for her.

She accessory

She is carrying a shiny silver clutch or purse.

She'd be queen for a day if...

• She did not eat three Reese's Peanut Butter cups from her Halloween stash.

She observation

She got stood up last week and she's tired of dating. Hearing she'll meet Mr. Right when she least expects it does not cool the burn.

A famous BBQ restaurant treated our station to a delicious catered lunch, with ribs, chicken, beans, mashed potatoes, cornbread, coleslaw, the works. This was a substantial meal. After lunch there was so much food let over that the staff was allowed to bring home the leftovers. The mothers quickly snatched up as much food as they could, especially one mother of five. She was overjoyed with the fact that dinner was taken care of for her that night. She gushed as she loaded up her goodies, stating that it was awesome because it was meaningful food, not another pizza. Plus, this was a meal she could bring home and serve her family, which is so much easier than getting everyone washed up and rushed off to a restaurant. The moral of the observation...freeing a woman from a regular responsibility will come back to you with gratitude, refreshed loyalty, and sincerity.

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