It’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas

Posted on December 10, 2012December 10, 2012 by Dusty Roads

Around the office the elves are busy pinning and taping. Various displays are beginning to come together. The early birds add the finishing touches to their cubicles while watching in awe as the late-comers throw themselves into their project with deadlines looming.
Every where you look there’s a tree or snowman or wreath or so it seems.

Management concluded that the department supervisors couldn’t be the judges (probably a good choice) so 3 supervisors from another department are being coerced into the role of judges. I wouldn’t want to try to choose. All of the displays are beautiful or symbolic and everyone contributed work, idea, or decorations.

Happy Thanksgiving

Posted on November 22, 2012November 22, 2012 by Dusty Roads

Happy Thanksgiving everyone.

What are you thankful for?
I’m thankful to be alive and relatively healthy. There’s so much to see and do in this big wide world.

I’m thankful for my furry friends…Rocky and Smokey.

They keep me company and cheer me up when I’m down. They are loyal and give me unconditional love. Sound like a dog? They are about as dog-like as cats can be. Rocky follows me, comes when called and plays fetch.Smokey will flop over for a belly run any chance he gets and wants to be wherever I am.

I’m thankful for the family…even if we don’t see each other a lot. I know they “have my back”. And since some of them live in the country I’ll have a place to move if the “Doomsday Preppers” are right. 🙂

I’m thankful I have a job. So many people are out of work. I joke about retiring but somehow I think I have few good years left.

I’m thankful I have a roof over my head. I’m not homeless even if I came close when the real estate market tanked. But thanks to the new rules and mortgage modifications that resulted, I still have my home.

I’m thankful that I am still on a spiritual journey. It keeps me from becoming close minded and intolerant. There is truth in every religion as well as mystery. No one has all the answers in this life.

I’m thankful for the friends and acquaintances that I meet along my path. Some for a short time, some travel the path with me for a longer time. They are a network of friendship and support, constantly changing yet always there.

I am thankful for the beauty I see around me every day and the hobby that allows me to see it with new eyes.

I’m thankful for so much more as well but what is it that you’re thankful for?

Rocky Holiday Photo..Take 2

Posted on November 21, 2012November 21, 2012 by Dusty Roads | 2 Comments

We’ve only been “clicker” training for 2 days so I wasn’t even going to bother trying to get the picture of my “vision” but When I turned my back there he was…right in the middle of the picture set up I was working on.

Ok he was ready and willing. I decided to try again.

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

We’re getting closer but we’re not quite there yet.

Photo of the week~ Week 46

Posted on November 17, 2012November 17, 2012 by Dusty Roads | 2 Comments

Happy Labor Day

Posted on September 3, 2012September 3, 2012 by Dusty Roads

Here we are at September 3, 2012, Labor Day. Are you grillin’ and chillin’ in celebration or are you one of the folks who have to hold the fort at your job while the rest of us enjoy the unofficial end of summer?

Just think, all of you parents out there, your little ones will be headed back to school in a few days.

The air is starting to have a bit of a nip and we can actually open the windows at night with temps into the 50’s. Soon leaves will change and the “leaf peeping “season will begin. Stores already have Halloween, Thanksgiving and Christmas displays started. (There is no season in retail)

Believe it or not the first big Labor Day in the US was celebrated September 5, 1882. Oregon was the first state to make it a holiday 5 years later in 1887. It became Federal Holiday in 1994 and by then 30 states were celebrating the day.

Although Labor Day was meant to support and celebrate the Labor movement it is more likely to be thought of as the symbolic end of the summer with cookouts and parties. It is also the date when fashionable women stop wearing white.