Day 121 - I love...rain

the warm summer kind more than the cold winter brand.

I also love that I have a porch now, so when it's raining I can go sit outside and listen to it come down. 

and in Louisville, that's exactly what it does. it pours. drops buckets. blinding buckets that you can't see through if you're driving.  I've had to pull off the road several times, because when you can't see two feet in front of you, it's probably a good idea to just pull over until it lets up.

rain has always been soothing to me. the sound. the smell. it's refreshing and reviving. and sometimes, when it's a nice warm rain...I've been known to run out and dance around a bit.

one of my favourite memories was when Riley was about five or six years old. I was picking him up from his after school care and while I was inside it starting pouring. and I do mean POURING.

we didn't have much choice but to go out and make a run for the car - which was parked only about 10 feet from the door - I took his little hand in mine and said, "ready baby?"

we took off running, but it didn't matter. within seconds we we completely soaked.

we got in the car, both of us dripping like drowned rats and laughing hysterically.

it was like walking under a waterfall. not a dry stitch on us.

it was rather awesome.

Day 120 - I love...lilies

all day I've been feeling that something is amiss.

off.

a day behind.

and I don't like it.

so, in an effort to make up for my missing post - I present this...

Day 119/Day 120 - love...the Hoppman's

I had every intention of posting yesterday - but I didn't get it done before I went to work at the track. then there was a severe thunderstorm rolling through, which delayed the races. and we didn't get out of there til much later than expected. by the time I got home at 1:30am, I had a quick bite to eat and promptly went to bed.

I'm just posting a two-fer today. apologies to my loyal daily readers, but I can hardly muster the strength to type one post...much less, two.

Friday afternoon I received the most amazing news and gift from my little brother, Hoppy. (not blood related, Hoppy is the man who married my best friend, and he is very much a brother to me. He's family, just as Kaci is.)

Kaci and Hoppy will be transferring from Minot, ND to Little Rock, AR in June.

Kaci hates driving.

Hoppy decided this move might require a Karen-and-Kaci road trip. so we worked out the dates, I took the time off, and Hoppy purchased airline tickets for me to Minot and from Little Rock.

I get to spend nearly 5 WHOLE DAYS with my Kaci!

Hoppy might just be one of the very best people in the world.

:)

Day 118 - I love...welcome home

I'm a sucker for the soldier homecoming videos.

I may have mentioned this before...

I'm addicted to them. and I cry like a baby. but I can't get enough of them.

it's the love.  it floors me.

and there is a whole website dedicated to it!

Day 117 - I love...even more space spectacular-ness

set to more soul-moving music.

I am in love with the Milky Way. I mean, seriously! it's an arm of our galaxy! and we can see it! our GALAXY, people!

it's been far too many years since I've been in a dark enough place to see it.  and I long for that view. I need to be in the middle of the desert. or the middle of the ocean. or high on a mountain-top in Peru. gazing at the stars...

bliss.

Day 116 - I love - planetary awesomeness

If you've been following this blog you already know I am completely head over heels for Astronomy. If this is your first time visiting "Things I Love" well...let it be known...I have a ridiculous soft spot/obsession with all things space-related.

Today, I stumbled across this article and fell in love. with the video...and the music. the ethereal, other-worldly music.

sigh.

swoon.

Saturn. 

Day 115 - I love...this

This is ridiculously precious and wonderful to me.

big kitty love.

Day 114 - I love...thesaurus.com

Thesaurus. it's like a dinosaur. a word dinosaur! like, Thesaurus Rex.

okay, perhaps not.

but I do love my Thesaurus. and thesaurus.com.

I grew up with my word-mama. a walking dictionary, thesaurus, encyclopedia. 

she gave me a love of words.

one year I asked for a Thesaurus for my birthday. I still have it. and I still refer to it frequently. there are just those time when I can't think of the word I want, but I can think of a thousand other words that are almost the word.

so I flip through my book until I find the word that is just on the tip of my tongue.

words are magic. words are emotion. words are beautiful.

Day 113 - I love Karma Police

I have been in love with this song since the very first time I heard it.

I don't ever tire of it.

Karma Police - Radiohead

Day 112 - I love...Thunder!

Thunder over Louisville.

it's a big day.

Airshow.

Fireworks.

omeyegawd!

I seriously turn giddy over Thunder.

ridiculously awesome fast LOUD jets.

the most spectacular fireworks display.

I gotta go!

no time to write.

It's Thunder day!

Day 111 - I love...scents

hot earth after rain. freshly mown grass. wild honeysuckle. moon flower. magnolia trees in bloom. brown basmati rice bubbling in the rice cooker. English roses. lilac. lavender. made-from-scratch chocolate cake baking in the oven. homemade vanilla. charcoal barbeque. roasted garlic. apple country in the fall. matches. campfire. hot tar. creosote soaked pylons of the ferry docks. candles after they've been blown out. zippo lighters. wisteria. juniper.

Day 110 - I love...beautiful places I dream of visiting

One day...I want to go here.

Fingal's Cave - Staffa - Inner Hebrides - Scotland

Day 109 - I love...road trips

especially with my Kaci.

we've had some fabulous adventures together.

short road trips that took us to concerts.

longer road trips to New Orleans and Port Aransas.

short jaunts to get matching tattoos. 

there are always songs and games...and lots of laughter.

and I may get to have a road trip with her again very soon. Minot to Little Rock. my heart is jumping up and down in anticipation.

Day 108 - I love...more quoting of Anais

She's fabulous.

"I am an excitable person who only understands life lyrically, musically, in whom feelings are much stronger as reason. I am so thirsty for the marvelous that only the marvelous has power over me. Anything I can not transform into something marvelous, I let go. Reality doesn't impress me. I only believe in intoxication, in ecstasy, and when ordinary life shackles me, I escape, one way or another. No more walls." ~ Anaïs Nin

Day 107 - I love...Mallomars. and Lori.

so...about a week ago I got a mad craving for Mallomars.

My friend Lori's husband, Stephan, posted something about Better Cheddars on his Facebook page...which made me think about Mallomars...and I freaked right out.

Lori, being the amazing creature she is, quickly messaged me and told me to send her my address and she would send me Mallomars. because they are in New York. and they can get them. because Mallomars are really a New York thing. East Coast thing.

(I found them in Kentucky a few times many, many years ago on a spastic fluke.

I've never seen them since.

I stroll the grocery store aisles staring longingly at the Nabisco section...silently begging the Nabisco gods to send Mallomars once again.)

Lori messaged me a day later...she had to find my cookies in Connecticut.

When I arrived home from work tonight. sitting in the foyer was a nifty little parcel. I squealed. "Mallomars! There's more than one box in there!"

~grin~ She sent me two boxes of cookies! and a copy of her most recent novel "The Dirt," which she tried to send to me months ago, but it somehow got lost and redistributed and wound up in the hands of the younger sister of a fella we went to high school with. weird, but funny.  funnystrange, really.  which is perfect, because that's Lori's blog. (if you haven't checked it out, you should. now.)

so tonight. I am enjoying my cookies. my glorious marshmallow-y, dark chocolate-y, cookies. all the way from Connecticut.

yes, the box is open. I am enjoying my delicious cookies.

Day 106 - I love...the reminder of spectacular-ness

sometimes, we all need a reminder. 

a reminder that we are perfect. and imperfect. 

so today...this. 

“You’re fucking magic... But you’re human magic. Give yourself a break.” ~ Jenny Blake

Day 105 - I love...Ballet (still...again)

We went to the 60th Anniversary Celebration of the Louisville Ballet today.

so much beautiful dancing. sigh. I always long to be on stage with them...

one piece paricularly struck me. "After the Rain." the music. the movement. the intimacy.

I found it on youtube - with the dancers who performed it today - Wendy Whelan and Craig Hall. This video doesn't do it justice...

Day 104 - I love...Elephants

I rode an elephant at the circus when I was five.

I've been in love with elephants ever since.

I have a fairly extensive collection of elephant figurines and books. most of which are in storage at the moment.

a few days ago I found these photos online.

and I squee'd a little bit.

Day 103 - I love...anticipation

I have been waiting to see "Melancholia" for almost a year.

and tonight is finally the night.

I'm so stinking excited!

I hope it lives up to my expectations.

Day 102 - I love...Folsom Prison Blues

I've heard a LOT of covers of this song.

and Johnny Cash is still the very best.

but this is a close second.

it is like a little taste of sweet perfection and true badassery.

Day 101 - I love...prezzies for me

I'm buying myself a gift.

I've been carrying my camera around in an old, gray, plain camera bag.

several weeks ago The Bloggess posted this site.

so I am buying myself a gorgeous, fancy camera bag.

I believe it will even make my camera smile.

I know it will make me smile.

Day one hundred! I love...projects and projecting

today is a gold star day. or silver star. I don't really like gold.

Day one hundred.

I'm like, almost a third of the way through this project. which is kind of a big deal, because honestly, the thought of posting every day scared the crap out of me. I kept trying to come up with alternatives...once a week...once a month. but at the 11th hour, I decided to do it.

a daily project.

it's daunting for sure, but I'm happy to be doing it. it's a good reminder to me every day. there are things that make me happy. little things. big things. without this blog project, perhaps I wouldn't recognise some of those things. 

I've been thinking about what I might do for next year. keep up the thing a day. I have some ideas.

but knowing me...

I'll probably wait til the last minute to decide.

Day ninety-nine - I love...urban art

I've always been in love with graffiti.

good graffiti. artistic graffiti.

I'm impressed by the detail some people are able to achieve with a can of spray paint...

a few years ago, while driving around Seattle, Anna, Kathi and I came across this. Nearly every inch of this building was covered. It was like Christmas morning for Anna and I...photo candy for the taking!

Seattle - September, 2010

Seattle - September, 2010

Seattle - September, 2010

"I'm not tall enough" Seattle - September, 2010

Day ninety-eight - I love...Peeps

it's true.

marshmallows covered in sugar. coloured sugar. hello!

this just made me giggle today. it's terribly wrong, and ridiculously funny at the same time.

Day ninety-seven - I love...the moon

The moon is stunning tonight.

after a less than stellar afternoon, I left the house tonight to run out and pick up my sweetheart from work...rounded a corner and was greeted by THE most gorgeous, breathtaking, gloriously gigantic moon.

as I was driving and could not take a picture, I had to cheat a little and find something online.

it was a little like this (this colour. this big-looking. but peeking through Louisville trees.)

Day ninety-six - I love...dance

I could post a million different dances here...and wear you out with links...but today I will post this.

this is the kind of beauty that makes me miss dancing so much!

it is sensual. and lovely. It makes me long for my dancing legs. 

Day ninety-five - I love...Honeysuckle

The honeysuckle in the back yard has been blooming like crazy.

and when I walk outside, it's the ONLY thing I can smell.

it is throwing off the most intoxicating scent; saturating the air.

it's incredible.

Not my photo - I had to borrow one from the internet.
Thank you, Ken Thomas...I don't know you, but I appreciate your photo.

Day ninety-four - I love...Texas Country/Red Dirt Music

When I first moved to Texas in 2003, the first person I met was Kaci.

we were instant friends.

Kaci, born and raised Texan, is a huge Texas Country fan. and one day she said, "Cross Canadian Ragweed is at the expo center Friday. wanna go?"

I was a little reluctant, but said yes.

It was...the...best...time!

We proceeded to go to every Cross Canadian Ragweed, Kevin Fowler, Pat Green, Roger Creager concert that came through Abilene for the next several years.

we had a reputation as the girls with the best cooler at the expo center...people would come to find us, because we usually loaded it up with jello shots, and a variety of liquors and mixers.

it was a fun time spent with great friends and great music.

lately, I've been a bit nostalgic for my beloved Texas...so I've been listening to my collection of Texas Country.

and today, I discovered that Cody Canada and The Departed are playing in Lexington tomorrow evening.

so we're going.

and I'm super excited.

Day ninety-three - I love...Texas

some of the best memories of my life were made in Texas.

some of the best friends I've ever found...were found in Texas.

I love my birth state of Washington.

I love the "home" I've always felt in Kentucky.

but a piece of my heart...

will always be...

in Eastwick. 

in Texas.

Day ninety-two - I love...a poetry challenge

It's April.

National Poetry Month.

and that means it's time for the 5th annual Poem A Day Challenge with Robert Lee Brewer at Poetic Asides.

I'm pretty excited. I always get a wee bit giddy when it's poetry challenge time. April and November.

it's the best way to jumpstart my writing...which sometimes gets a bit stagnant in the first couple months of the year.

so here I go...off to the races. Day One.