Rome Feet

Here is the latest post in my Feet of the World Series.

My husband and I took a vacation to Italy in September of 2010. He thought it would be a good idea for us to get away at that time because he knew I would be suffering from Empty Nest Syndrome big time. My daughter had left for college toward the end of August. The only thing we didn't realize is that I would be sad, and she would be sad, and it would all be so much more difficult to take because we were so much farther away from each other. Lesson learned.

I've decided to break the three weeks of Italy up into several different posts - I'm not sure if I remembered to take photos of my feet in every town in which we found ourselves, but you can rest assured that I have a million shots of food! This was the BEST pizza I've ever eaten. They bake the crust separately covered in olive oil, and then just add fresh buffalo mozzerella (made the day before. uh huh, yeah.) and cherry tomatoes and fresh basil. Sublime.

Something that I've never done before this trip is photograph my hands - but I am a SUPER tactile person, and the fact that I could walk up to all this old architecture and actually touch it was too much of a temptation for me.

Loved this old building with fresh vegetation growing out of it.

And this last photo is one of my favorite photos ever taken of myself.  We were meeting up with some friends, who also happened to be in Rome, and I was talking with Yvonne on the phone trying to figure out how far away from the Spanish Steps they were. She's really funny, hence the laughing. My husband snapped this pic and it never fails to make me really happy to see it.

Happy New Year!

Half Moon Bay Feet

One of my husband Wayne and my special and favorite places is Half Moon Bay in California. We went 9 years ago for his birthday and came back engaged, and then we spent our honeymoon there. The last time we went was 3 years ago, again for his birthday. This is the only foot photo that I could find of that trip, not exactly on the ground, but close enough.

Above is a photo of the ocean from the golf course, and below is The Ritz Carlton hotel, where we stay.

 If I had all the money in the world, I would live there, gloom and all.

Beach Feet

This is where I am happiest.  On the beach.  This photo was taken many years ago at Huntington Beach in California. I grew up about 30 miles north of there and whenever I am back in California, I have to go to the beach. It's like Prozac for me. The smell of the ocean, the sound of the waves, the feel of the sand between my toes. True peace.

Russia Feet

Continuing on in my feet of the world series...Above is a photo that I took of one foot on a makeshift planter in Russia.  We were just outside of Moscow in what was once a USSR State volleyball school. It is used today as a volleyball camp where kids of all ages live, attend school and train.

My daughter's club volleyball team was invited to participate in an international tournament there, and I was invited to accompany them as chaperone.  It was a wonderful experience for everyone involved.

Here is another one taken on the streets of Moscow.  And below, some amazing meatball soup that I ate there - I also love taking photos of food.

Below is a photo of Dani's volleyball team. Love this one.

And one more of the ubiquitous feet shots...me and Dani on the subway in Moscow.

Told you I had tons of these photos!

These were taken with my Canon 5D and a variety of lenses.

Notre Dame Feet

I haven't posted again for a while, so I decided that since I don't seem to have much to say, I would show you a bit of me and my likes.  In case you didn't figure it out, this is a photo of my feet.  I have TONS of photos of my feet.  I try to remember to take them every time I go somewhere new.  I've actually made paintings of the photos I've taken of my feet, but that's a whole other story.

In this photo, my feet are on the campus of the University of Notre Dame, where my daughter is currently going to school.  I went to visit her right before Thanksgiving.  She was working and couldn't come home for her Fall break, so my mom and I went and visited her.  On my feet are my favorite Old Gringo boots.

The photo was taken using my Canon 7D with my 28-135mm lens. It's pretty much my go-to lens.

Happy Birthday Dani!

Dani & Maggie Brindock in Hawai'i

Today is my baby's 19th birthday.  Hard to believe I can be that old, and yet, so it is. She is the very, very best part of me.

Gratitude Party

I haven't written in a  while, the reason for which I won't go into here, but let's just say that I felt stymied by circumstances, and every time I thought about writing a post, I froze.  I'm slowly, but surely working through and trying to find my way back to my blog. I love it here, and I've missed it so.

Something I saw the other day on my telenovela, Cuando Me Enamoro, which I'm terribly sorry to say is about to end, really stuck with me and I thought I would share it with you. Bear with me, please, as the story is incredibly convoluted, as only telenovelas can be.

The main character's name is Renata and she was stolen at birth by a woman, Pepa, who was having an affair with Renata's father, Roberto. Renata's real name when she was stolen was Regina. Regina's mom, Regina (I know, right?) has been searching for her for 25 years, while Pepa (really Josephina) has raised her alongside her daughter, born the same day as Regina (Renata), named Roberta, after her father. Pepa was waiting until Regina/Renata's 25th birthday, when she would come into a fortune from Roberto, who left money in his will for Regina but not Roberta. Oh, and Pepa killed Roberto when she found out about the will...and then she killed about 20 other people, but that's a totally different plot line.  So Pepa gets Regina to pay a bunch of money in ransom, and then falsifies the DNA samples, so that she thinks her real daughter is Roberta, who is totally in on The Plan, so that they can make off with the money, and leave Renata & Regina, whom they hate, with nothing. 

When Regina finally finds (who she thinks is) her daughter, she calls everyone together, family and friends, to meet at the basilica in Mexico City to offer prayers of gratitude to the Virgin of Guadalupe, to whom she had been asking assistance for 25 years, and then has a little party at her house afterwards.  

I have thought about that scene several times since I saw it. What strikes me is the idea of a Gratitude Party - to get together with loved ones for no other reason than to be really GRATEFUL for all of the good in our lives, and then to celebrate it with food and drink. Can you imagine the positive juju that would flow from an event such as this?  It might sound a lot like Thanksgiving to you, but in my mind it's so much more (and less work) than that.  Maybe even making some sort of ritual, like lighting a candle or something like that, and sending out a prayer or strong thought of thanks out into the Universe.

I'm going to think on it some more, and if anyone has ideas that would make a super duper Gratitude Party, I'd love to hear them!

Long Lost Friends

A while back I wrote a post about my old friend, Cassi with whom I had lost touch about 12 years ago. She meant the world to me and I lost her, I let her go.

After searching and searching for her I finally found her - she has a website and through that I found her on Facebook and sent her a message in which I apologized for being such a jerk and asking for another chance.

at Cassi's apartment many, many moons ago!

She wrote me back and we've been in close contact ever since!!!  She missed me too and our friendship that had such deep roots. She even started a private blog for us to write life messages to each other - she titled it "Long Lost Friends," and that is the perfect name for it.  We were long lost, but I am so happy to say that now we are found! We write about the daily things happening in our lives and talk to each other about some of the deep stuff too. It's such a grand blessing!

In August I'm taking a trip to visit her for a week - I'll get to meet her husband and her two little boys and I absolutely can't wait!!! I'll also get to visit with her mom and step-dad, whom I think the world of.  I'm over the moon excited to have this second chance with Cassi. Honestly it was like no time at all had passed.  I mean, obviously we had a lot of catching up to do with what has gone on in our lives for the last decade, but our friendship was so much the same - the way we talked and could talk for hours and hours, just like in the past.

She is such a special person and now to get to know her with the element of Mother added in has been absolutely incredible. She's such a wonderful mother to her two little boys - she loves them fiercely and takes such great care of them. I always knew she'd be a marvelous mom and it's so fun to see her in that role.

I feel so lucky to have her back in my life and to share the things that we have been sharing with each other. I'm looking forward to sharing many more years of close friendship with her.

My wish for you today is lifelong friends.

Happy Father's Day

Just over seven years ago I married my husband, Wayne Jacobsen, and he became my daughter's step-dad.  Up until that point Dani and I had either lived with my parents or by ourselves.

It was a difficult adjustment: being married, having a man in the house when we were used to running around unclothed and not shutting doors, and having a dad actually in the house.

I was telling Wayne this morning that I'm so grateful for the man that he is - being such a wonderful dad to Dani and also such a great example of what a good husband is, so that when she gets to the point where she's looking for that - she'll know exactly what it looks like.

I hit the jackpot with this man and am grateful every day of my life for the perfect husband and amazing father that he is.