I am not going to bore you with the details, but I will tell you that Ben had to work last night and therefore Trip was a living terror.

However, as indicated by my mood setting, I'm not going to let it ruin my day. I had a crappy night, but I am determined to make the day a good one.

I want to accomplish a lot today; I am going to drive to see Patty & Jacqueline and give Patty the copies of the pictures I took this weekend. Jacqueline is so photogenic. Actually, so is Patty. We were discussing how both of us have similiar toothy grins and how we both tend to push our tongues to the front of our mouths, pushing against our

teeth when we get our picture taken. :-)

She told me last night that when she was in elementary school, she didn't know how to really smile. As a result, her mom stopped sending her school picture to relatives until after she was in the 6th grade! The poor girl! School pictures were pretty smooth for me in elementary school.

Except 3rd grade.

The night before Picture Day, my mom had picked out this hideous purple and white dress. It was hideous because it had this atrocious Elizabeth the first collar on it. It was elastic and came up high on my neck and just looked plain ridiculous. I was pretty good at wearing whatever my mom picked out for me, but not that next morning. I tried to hide it in the back of my closet and tell her that I couldn't find it so I wouldn't have to wear it and then be allowed to wear something else. No such luck. You know how mothers are! Especially my mom! She dug it out of the closet and handed it to me. I threw a fit and cried and cried and cried. I wore it, but as revenge, I didn't smile in my picture. Ha! Of course, she didn't order any pictures that year. I don't think so, anyway.

Sorry, Mom for the above paragraph, but now looking back ya gotta admit that it's pretty amusing!

One of the best school pictures I can recall was the one taken of me in 6th grade. I had my hair slightly feathered in the front and it curled just right on top of my shoulders. I had a cute smile and a bright purple flowered top on. The shirt was actually a matching set with a pair of "shorts" that my step-mom, Marty had sewn for me. It wasn't long before I stopped wearing her homemade clothing because of the teasing and taunting I received at school.

The very next year in 7th grade, I don't know what the hell happened to that picture. My goodness! It was just awful. When friends saw that picture of me (it was also on my school ID at the time) I would lie and say that that day I was severly ill and threw up right after the picture was taken just to get sympathy for such a terrible picture.

8th & 9th grade pictures were dorky, but in a cute dorky kind of way. 10th grade was another horror story. My hair looked pretty, but my face didn't even look like me! It was frightening. But my 11th grade pictures......

Now there's something to talk about. Back then I was Queen of AquaNet! And I had "wings". My hair winged out on the sides. Some people in school called me Lioness because of the halo of blonde hair that circled my head. (*Note to Ree: if you have this picture on disk, please email it to me so I can post it up!) Still, I did look pretty in this picture. I had a tan from the summer and my face was golden and seemingly glowing in the picture. My flaxen tresses also contrasted well with the deep purple sweater I chose to wear that day. I think it's definitely my fav school picture of myself!

My favourite thing about pictures is when I look at them, I can remember what was going on at that time in my life and recall good or not-so-good memories. Pictures are like a key to unlocking the Memory Box in your head!

Thought Of The Day:"As memory may be a paradise from which we cannot be driven, it may also be a hell from which we cannot escape."--John Lancaster Spalding, Aphorisms and Reflections

Until next time... peace, love, & HEALTH!!!