I met Angel 8 years ago. We met quite by accident one night when I was surfing the Internet looking for something/someone. Our first conversation is definitely one neither of us will ever forget though I'm not going to tell you about it....just think of a conversation you've had with an old friend that is etched in your memory bank and will never be transferred to another account. That is the conversation we had.

We have witnessed a great many things through each other over the years. We've become closer than many couples who have known each other for as long...perhaps longer...and Angel is someone who I entrust my life to. She has done an unbelievable job, through the years, of rescuing me from the depths of Hell or worse. While I can say that I have been there as much as I possibly can for her, I can also say that I have dropped the ball, as well, and that is not something I am very proud of. (When I have dropped the ball, it was through my own stupidity, of course, but I can honestly say that I have promised myself I won't ever do that again.) Though I did "fail" her at one of her most dire times, she forgave me...and that is a true friend.

One night, when I just happened to looking into one of my 5 email accounts last February, there, at the top of the inbox, an instant message was blinking orange. It said "Angel" on it and when I opened it, as if I had been struck by lightning, my hope was lifted up unlike anything I had ever felt before! Was it really her? Was it that woman I had forsaken so many months before?

When she had forgiven me, what do you suppose she did? She gave all of her Love...and she has as much Love to give as the Sun has warming rays...to me when I was at the depths of my despair...when I thought the sun would never shine again. She filled me with a hope and a purpose to climb out of that hole I was in and look over the top. That pit I was in was pretty deep but her words of optimism with the insight of what can be, along with her dreams of a life that make believable an anticipation for moving forward without fear woke me out of my stupor.

After what I had done, she could have just as easily let me circle the drain and be swallowed up by whatever happens to be at the bottom of that drain!

But she didn't.

It was as if what had happened had never happened. And that IS what a true friend is...someone who puts something negative from the past where it belongs. Despite her own circumstances, she gave me the energy that she didn't herself have at the time...whatever reserves this unbelievable woman had, she gave to me selflessly, compassionately, and, above all, with the purest Love that one can imagine.

She gave me the power and the energy to look at the world through a different set of eyes and to appreciate what I have. What I have...what I physically possess...is nothing compared to what she means to me.

If there is nothing else Angel and I agree on, we agree that we are the soulmates we have always known ourselves to be, through the tests of will and whatever forces have ever tried to cast our Love asunder, through the timelessness of Eternity...

We are One.

A few months ago, Angel told me that she wanted to fill her walls with pictures of orchids...fill her house with the aroma and the beauty of orchids. While not all of the photographs here are of orchids, several are, anyway. The next time I can get into the orchid greenhouse at Denver Botanic Gardens, I'll fill her walls with photographs of them since I can't fill her house with their scent.

But what I can do, save for the few orchid photos I've got, is let her have every photograph I've ever taken of an emerging bloom, a blossom, the inner workings in all of their sexual power, the fading essence of the flowers' intensity, and the seed head that will create the life force of the next bloom.

There is so much more I could say about Angel...but she knows what those things are and they don't need to be voiced. I expect that whoever is reading this has some inkling of what I am talking about.

All of the words that are left unspoken live in a place we both know well and they sing each others' praises each moment.

And if it doesn't happen in this lifetime....

I KNOW we will meet, face to face, in the next one.

You see, in the 8 years we have been the Soulmates we know we are, we have never met...we have never had the opportunity to physically hold one another, to share, in person, the hopes, dreams, pitfalls, tribulations, and the soaring and ever-encompassing Love that we hold for one another.

But, I'll tell you what...

I hope to God and Goddess that I don't have to wait until our next lifetime!

For you, Angel, virtual orchids for your walls.

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Programme du jour : Crèche.

Je fais la grasse matinée et ne me réveille qu'à 8h. Je suis de très bonne humeur. Maman a juste le temps de me faire un gros câlin avant de partir au bureau. Papa me donne ma douche, me prépare et me dépose à la crèche vers 9h15. Depuis le début de la semaine, je pleure quand on m'y dépose. Ce matin pareil, mais Papa m'explique que je ne suis plus un bébé. Le problème est que mes camarades ont changé de classe depuis quelques jours et il y a peut-être un rapport de cause à effet.

Papa vient me chercher avec sa décapotable vers 18h15. Je saute de joie quand je la vois, j'adore cette voiture. Nous passons faire un peu de balançoire avec un de mes copains, Sean pendant que nos papas discutent.

Nous rentrons ensuite à la maison et j'insiste pour dîner en terrasse malgré la température automnale. Mon repas pris, je commence à fatiguer un peu, je pleure pour un rien. Nous montons dans ma chambre, Papa me met en pyjama, Maman arrive, je me brosse les dents, on lit un livre avec mes parents, et Papa me couche. Il est 20h. Rédacteur : Patrick-Robin, mon Papa.

Programme du jour : Crèche et soirée très sympa avec Papa.

Ce matin, c'est un matin "Maman". Je me réveille un peu avant que ma petite lampe fleur ne soit éteinte. Elle vient me voir, me fait un câlin, et me recouche.

Quelques minutes plus tard, la lampe est éteinte, et j'appelle mes parents. Je veux que se soit Maman qui s'occupe de moi. Elle me donne mon petit déjeuner, pendant que Papa se prépare. Je prends ensuite un bain rapide avec elle, Papa m'habille, et elle me dépose à la crèche vers 8h30.

Comme d'habitude, Papa vient me chercher vers 18h... mais pas de balançoire ce soir, il pleut. Nous rentrons donc directement à la maison, et nous montons jouer dans ma chambre. Papa commence à sortir de mes armoires les vêtements d'été. Cette année ici au Luxembourg, l'été n'a duré... qu'une semaine, et il peu probable que je remette mes petites robes à bretelles d'ici les 10 prochains mois. Pendant ce temps, je suis toute contente de jouer avec ma dînette et mes petits animaux en plastique. Je suis d'excellente humeur.

Mon repas est un vrai moment d'échange avec Papa. On discute de ce que je j'aimais et de ce que je n'aimais pas quand j'étais petite. J'aurai 3 ans en novembre, donc je suis "une grande petite fille" maintenant et je déteste que l'on me traite de "bébé" quand je fais une bêtise.

Maman a beaucoup de travail aujourd'hui donc Papa me met donc au lit vers 20h15 en me faisant un gros câlin de sa part. Rédacteur : Patrick-Robin, mon Papa.

Helianthus annuus - auringonkukka

Espoo 3.9.2008

Parsons, Kan.
August 2008

Programme du jour : Crèche.

Je me réveille vers 7h15, j'enlève ma couche toute seule, me nettoie avec une lingette, remets mon pyjama et ouvre la porte de ma chambre.

Mes parents m'accueille. On se prépare et Maman me dépose à la crèche.

!!!

Vers 18h, Papa vient me chercher, quelques jeux dans le parc à coté, et nous rentrons à la maison. Je joue un peu sur la terrasse du 2ème étage, et prends mon repas avec Maman. A 20h15, Papa me met au lit. Rédacteur : Patrick-Robin, mon Papa.

Our garden however....  We had already brought up and used the earlies which were ok, and with the wet weather decided to get our main crop haul in rather than unpack from the holiday! It was quite wet but starting with the tyres we were immediatly smug and joyous esp with the comparison with the Spain outcome.

  In the basket is the yield from two potatoes in one of the tyres (about 20-25 i think)

We had some other good growths over our holiday period including a bumper crop of jalepeno peppers, a reasonable haul of cherry tomatoes, two pretty good sweetcorns, a forest of carrots at last, another nice big marrow (our third and we planted squash seeds!!),  and two stonking sunflowers:

Programme du jour : Crèche et Cargolux.

Matinée classique, je me lève à 7h30, et Maman me dépose à la crèche à 8h30.

Ma journée se passe à merveille et Papa vient me chercher à 18h. Nous allons comme tous les soirs faire un peu de balançoire et de toboggan. Ashley (un ex-camarade de crèche) a un geste malheureux et me pousse du haut du toboggan. Je tombe, glisse, et me retrouve au sol la tête la première. Je pleure, Papa me console. Evidemment, Ashley se fait punir par le sien (de papa) qui m'offre un Tictac pour oublier un peu l'incident. Je ne suis pas rancunière, et joue ensuite au ballon avec mon copain.

On sent bien que je fatigue un peu tout de même. Je fais ma petite colère au moment de monter dans la voiture, et nous arrivons à la maison.

!!!

Je demande d'aller directement dans le jardin. Nous habitons pas très loin de l'aéroport de Luxembourg-Findel, alors bien sûr je peux observer les avions. Je reconnais les gros avions de Cargolux, la compagnie aérienne de fret nationale. Ils ont des Boeing 747 remplis de 120 tonnes de marchandises... et on les entend. On aperçoit d'ailleurs depuis notre terrasse du 2ème étage leur immense hangar de maintenance de 200m de long. Ils peuvent y faire rentrer 2 Boeing 747 en même temps.

Bref, après quelques "regarde Papa, un Cargolux !!!", nous retournons dans la cuisine pour mon dîner. Encore une petite colère pour me laver les mains, mais tout revient rapidement dans l'ordre. Maman arrive, je termine mon repas, et Papa me met au lit vers 20h15. Rédacteur : Patrick-Robin, mon Papa.

World of macro photography.

One of the stems had snapped off halfway down, so I hacked it off and brought it up to our house level so that we could watch the fun from a closer vantage point. The squirrel soon reappeared and ate the entire huge head of seeds. "It's like it's a big feast!" was my daughter's comment. Guess fall must really be here.

So ANYWAY, long story short, I have shorter hair than I thought I would, it's pretty much ok now, yesterday it seemed worse but after a shower and sleeping on it, it pretty much went back to normal, just a bit shorter lmao.

So here's a little quick graphic I made showing my haircut:

Now as you may notice, my hair is lighter in the 'After' image. This is because my hair is much lighter on the bottom, closer to the roots, than it is toward the top. So when I got my hair got, the first thing my mom said when she saw it was "Omg your hair is so much lighter!!!" Lmao. She never knew I had that much lighter hair. I love my hair color because depending on how I comb it, how short or long it is, and how the light hits it, it can change color. I get that from my dad who had the exact same hair type and color as I did when he was younger. So yea, my hair can range from various shades of jet black, to chocolate brown, to chestnut brown, to golden brown. However my hair also has its days when it has plain ashy brown but it's still good lol.

So yea.

Ok second topic, Picnik! I must've been living under a rock or something but Picnik is this great website where you can edit pictures right in your browser. It has great effects, clip-arts, shapes, and text tools that you can use to edit your pictures and it's all for free! I found out about it because two of my friends on facebook have Picnik albums full of fantastically edited photos.

So I immediately signed up, it only takes moments to enter a username, password, and your email address.

So take a look at this:

Above is a picture I took of a huge sunflower outside my house.

And below is the same picture, edited with Picnik:

\

Pretty cool huh?

I love it! So yea, go head over to www.picnik.com and sign up! You won't regret it :). Or if you already knew about it, then, good for you lmao.

----------------

Okay, I had saved this post as a draft earlier and then went out and bought some last minute school stuff. I got a string bag/sack pack/those book bags with strings instead of straps lol. And some pens and pencils etc. Anyway, as I was in the car, listening to Z100, they played two flashback songs, Britney Spears - Baby One More Time and Backstreet Boys - I Want It That Way. So that was just interesting to hear some of that old stuff again. Btw, I feel really bad for Britney because she was so popular back then, she was pretty, she had talent, I mean, she was THE star for a long time. And now everything in her life is really messed up. No matter how it happened, or even if it is her own fault, it's just a shame to see such a pop superstar like her hit rock bottom. *sigh* Well that's my two cents.

And lastly, I know this is old news, but I never blogged about it before. I'm sure you've heard Chris Brown's ad for Doublemint Gum. It was a genius idea since it starts off just like 'Forever' so it makes you listen and catches your ear and then all of a sudden your like..huh? did he just say doublemint? And since most people already like the song and have it stuck in their heads, the ad gets stuck in their heads too.

Now, they sure must've paid A LOT of money for that ad. First they have to pay to get Chris Brown AT ALL. So thats one thing. Then is paying him to SING the advertisement. Ok two things. And they have to pay to use the first few lines of 'Forever' since the song is copyrighted. Three. Ok so that takes care of the RADIO ad. But there is also a commercial so they have to pay for him to appear and use his face in the commercial! That's definitely a lot of money.

Here's the full radio ad:

And here's the shorter TV commercial:

Sunflower with blue sky      I have a new website,,, Greatlakesexposure.net

Work has picked up in recent days; the month started gently but it's making up for it now, and some days I can't quite keep on top of things. Although when 'work' means getting to spend an afternoon chilling out in Brighton, it seems silly to complain that it's all getting too much... After all, if we hadn't gone in that cafe for lunch, Lloyd might have gone his whole life believing my theory on single serving sugar packets; which is that manufacturers fill them with around 3/4 teaspoon of sugar rather than a whole teaspoonful, in order to save money. This idea intrigued and annoyed him so much (I think he felt cheated) that he can't bear for the packet to be emptied into a spoon before it's stirred in; if there's any hint that it's less than a teaspoon of sugar, he gets the sulks. So naturally, what did I do with the sugar for his coffee?! But this time... ah. :) He's happy now. His faith in single serving sugar manufacturers has been restored, all thanks to these dinky little things.

This sign in WHSmith made me do a double take - and then giggle. Do you think people dream of their book one day being stocked in this section!? I think it was funny because all of the other shelves were pretty general; health, reference, travel... and then this. :) I guess it must be a popular local choice.

its the time of the year where all kids/students celebrates the day of the greatest contributor to the education of children. what a mouthful i've typed. anyway, its teacher's day celebration, my mom got lots of presents as usual, of which, chocolates/sweets/edibles are the most popular gifts of all time. yumms, i can eat them all :) mugs are the next most popular (bearing happy teacher's day), and how to give them away next time! we got no use of all the mugs!! but i liked this the best.

more photos available, email marcjoseph@marcjoseph.com

See much more Mark Venaglia here:  www.marcjoseph.com/venaglia.html

Programme du jour : Crèche et foire.

6h45, je pleure à chaudes larmes : sûrement un cauchemar. Maman me console, et du coup, je me lève et descends prendre mon petit déjeuner avec Papa pendant qu'elle se prépare. Il est presque 9h quand Papa me dépose à la crèche.

Comme tous les vendredis, Maman vient me chercher, et c'est l'occasion d'aller faire un peu de balançoire avec mes copains de crèche : Ashley (dont c'est le dernier jour) et Maxey.

Nous partons ensuite à la Schueberfouer de Luxembourg. C'est une immense fête foraine avec plein de manèges et de petites brasseries. Je fais quelques attractions et gagne un ballon à la pèche aux canards.

Papa nous rejoint en Quad vers 19h. Le temps de manger un sandwich saucisse oignon, de faire un peu l'imbécile sur la machine de Papa, et c'est l'heure de rentrer.

Arrivée à la maison, je prends mon dîner et vais directement me coucher vers 20h30. Rédacteur : Patrick-Robin, mon Papa.

Programme du jour : Crèche et balade avec Papa.

Mes parents se sont couchés tard hier soir (tôt ce matin !), du coup, à 7h30, après avoir mis mes chaussons, je viens frapper à la porte de leur chambre. Quelques câlins, petit dej, douche, habillage, et Maman me dépose à la crèche un peu avant 9h.

Papa vient me chercher vers 17h45. Comme tous les soirs, je lui demande de faire de la balançoire dans le parc juste à coté. Comme il ne pleut pas encore (vive le Luxembourg !) nous en profitons pour nous promener dans le petit village où se trouve ma crèche : Moutfort. Nous saluons l'équipe de foot junior du F.C. Moutfort en plein entraînement, sur un terrain où "Les coupables seront poursuivis pour les dégâts causés à la légère aux installations".

Nous longeons l'église et "admirons" devant une maison, d'horribles petits animaux et nains de jardin en céramique. Encore quelques descentes de toboggan et c'est l'heure de rentrer.

!!!

A la maison, je suis très sympa. Je mange peu (et comme tous les soirs, renverse sans faire exprès mon verre d'eau), et Papa monte avec moi dans ma chambre. On lit un livre et à 19h45, je m'endors après une chanson et de gros câlins. Maman est de sortie ce soir. Elle sera à la 668ème Schueberfouer de Luxembourg avec ses collègues d'Amazon. Rédacteur : Patrick-Robin, mon Papa.

Just because it's in the swath where I scattered sunflower seeds doesn't mean this is a sunflower. I can understand mistaking a syrphid fly for a bee, or hemp dogbane for milkweed, or the various other misidentifications I have made. But you'd think I'd recognize a Black-Eyed Susan when every summer I walk around admiring the grand drifts of bright yellow flowers in everyone's yard. Everyone's but mine. Now I don't have to feel so left out.

For one thing, the plant looks totally different from a sunflower: multiple stems (not one thick one), long leaves (not broad ones), and not nearly the bucket loads of pollen the sunflower was dropping during its week of glory. Also it's been flowering for a couple weeks now, and more flowers keep coming. (Still no bees, though.) And it's pretty hard to miss the way the the disc pops out instead of the center sinking in.

Like the sunflowers and so many other plants, it's a volunteer, and one I've been hoping to see for years. It's welcome to stay.

Programme du jour : Crèche et soirée.

Je ne fais pas de bruit, et à 8h, j'enlève ma couche toute seule dans ma chambre, mets mes chaussons, et sors dans le hall. C'est la que je croise Maman. J'ai un grand sourire aux lèvres.

Elle part au bureau, et moi j'attaque mon petit déjeuner avec Papa. Une heure pour boire un biberon et manger un pain au lait et 2 barquettes à la fraise ! Du coup, il est 10h quand Papa me dépose à la crèche.

Il revient me chercher à 17h30. "Tu n'as pas pris la décapotable ?". "Non, j'ai pris l'autre voiture, pourquoi ?". "Ben, il y a du soleil !". Pauvre enfant !

Je fais un peu de balançoire, et nous rentrons à la maison en même temps que Maman. Pendant que mes parents terminent les préparatifs de la soirée (10 personnes à table !), je joue sur la terrasse et prends mon repas.

Maman a invité son équipe et quelques collègues d'Amazon à dîner. Je les salue en anglais, c'est plus simple. Il faut dire qu'il y a des anglais, des allemands, des américains, des français et même un luxembourgeois. Bienvenue au Luxembourg ! Ce soir, la langue de communication sera donc l'anglais.

Je leur fais visiter la maison (et ma chambre dans le détail !), mais je commence à faire mon intéressante et à devenir toute excitée.

Je dis Goodnight à tout le monde et Papa me met au lit. Il est 20h30 quand je m'endors. Rédacteur : Patrick-Robin, mon Papa.

a girl in a white dress, sitting on a heavenly blue bench making soap bubbles, told me that everything will be ok, but only if I accept the sunflowers and the red, heart shaped lollipops along the road.

one day, she told me, you will meet someone and you will be mistaken for a stranger.

Borrowed some visiting grandchildren and had adventures (more about THAT in a post of its own). 

Acquired quite a collection of skunk smell remedies (more about THAT when we see how the latest one works).

Picked up my CSA share at Providence Farm and found Angie Drogt buying corn from Seth Merrifield.  Since the Romeyns don't grow them, Seth had brought sweet corn and organic wild blackberries from the neighboring Merrifield Farm on Farrell Road.  It was a delicious collaboration.  My blackberries were gone before I got out of the parking lot, and I got to see a couple of really cute little kids, too.

Took Miss Sadie and the Cowboy for a ride and let them romp in the Kings' orchard, where they startled a deer, chased some crows, and found something smelly to roll in while I was taking pictures.  Orchards tend to be planted in beautiful places.  The Cowboy tends to ignore the view in favor of smelly things. 

Found a butterfly garden over at Owen and Gail McDowell's place.  They raise AKC labs, too, and sell firewood—all that in addition to their day jobs of course.  Gail told me all their seasoned hardwood is already committed to longstanding customers.  Demand is definitely up as people are worried about their heating bills during the coming winter.