Screwed the pooch... SORRY MEL!!

So, I got a note form my Mother saying that I'd screwed the pooch on one of my blog posts and she's so right. This blog for me is a rambling delightful trip through the finer parts of my days. The way I build it is that after I make a ton of pictures all day (or all week), I look through them, pick out my favorites, or the ones that make me want to talk about them, pull them into photoshop, one by one, cut them to web size and save them in a folder. I then write a small paragraph on the new post to warm up, and then I upload all the images. Then, I pull the images into place one by one and talk about them or use them to illustrate my narrative. It's simple, thoughtless, easy fun. Well, that is until I do something stupid like forget to mention someone important...
So, Mel, this post is all about you (and a winky bit about Ron L.). I'm sorry that I didn't make a single picture of you having fun at the Miami gathering. I guess I just got to talking in circles and I'd make pictures of everyone I was speaking to, and with you kind enough to give everyone their first dibs on me, I never got around to talking to you at the party... lame right?! OK, so here's some fun stuff about Mel...
Mel and my Mom have been together for over 12 years and they finally eloped like teenagers at the local mall, this past November. That's right, they got dressed, called in a notary, went to a local mall called 'The Falls' that has a lovely winding man made river of water and waterfalls running through it, and they gosh darn got married!! HA! I love it! My Mother and Mel were Morning Mall Elopers! hahaha!! There's a country song in that somewhere! Although Mel and I have completely opposite personalities, I am so happy to have him be a part of my life because he makes my Mother so happy, and I love anyone who does that!
*sigh* this is the only image from the gathering that Mel is actually in... hahaha!!! Oye vey! Anyhoo, Mel's got two great kids, and heart full of love, he's bright and can speak on almost any topic, he loves sports and one of his quirky things is that he claps at the State of the Union addresses, in unison with the other clappers at the address. There just happened to be a State of the Union address while I was down in Miami. I was engaged in making pictures of Eric and 'Veronica' so could only partially pay attention, but one of the things that made me giggle, was that at one point early on in the address, Mel started clapping fervently at something that was said, and my Mother, just gave a few golf taps on her palm. Well, Mel looked over at her and said, why aren't you clapping!! That was a good point (this all said while he was still clapping loud enough to be mistaken for thunder), and so my Mother picked up her game and clapped in earnest. Hahaha, Mel clapped every time that the folks clapped in the address, and then he clapped at things he approved of even if they didn't clap. That man was a clapping machine and how can there be anything wrong with that. Clapping at a president's speech, clapping for the spoken promises for the betterment of this country, that's a good man. It's silly things like that that make me smile when I think of Mel. He's a fervent American, he's passionate and intense, he's got a sense of humor (which I totally don't get ) but when he laughs, which I can almost never get him to do myself... hahaha we are so different!! When he laughs, it's a great sound, and it lights up his face, and his eyes twinkle!! Really, they sparkle! It's really cool to see! So, anyways... it was an oversight on my part, and of course not intentional. Oh, and another thing he does, which I can't thank him enough for, is that every time I put up a blog post, he always tells my mother, so she knows to get online and read it. If not for Mel, My mother would be a sporadic reader of my blog... and I don't think she'd get as much enjoyment from it because she'd have to read through all the back posts and with my endless words and images, even I would get bored trying to catch up! So thanks Mel, for keeping her up to date!!

So, the other person I forgot to get a single image of, other than the group shot, is Ron L. Ron and Joan have been family friends forever. As a kid, I do recall that Joan would test out my knowledge with a thousand endless questions that would sometimes make me mad because I couldn't figure out the right answer to them... Hmm, recalling that makes me think that hanging out with Joan probably made me smarter... or at least more logical... huh, thanks Joan!! Joan was always more outspoken than Ron and she has always had long beautiful black hair that went past her waist and Ron was always the silent man that I was afraid of as a kid because he was just so soft spoken. Now as an adult, Ron reminds me of Paul Simon. He's thoughtful, and his voice is so soft and melodic you want to lean forward in the hopes that he speaks for a long time and you catch every word. Ron was kind enough to come out for the gathering even though I haven't seen him for years, and I thoroughly enjoyed speaking with him. The only reason that I can think of as to why I didn't make a picture of him, is that I was leaned over listening and enjoying myself so much that the only image I could have made of us was our feet, as that's the way the camera was facing... Hahaha!!! So, here's that group image again. I did manage to get Ron into the group image! YAY!
The Miami gathering (or what was left of it by the time I could round everyone up) from left to right, kind of: Michael, Rachel, Mel, Mira (all the way in back), Jenna (in black), Susie (in yellow), Ron (all the way in back), Chris and Bree (smoochers!!!), Grandma Fran, Teddy (hahaha, nice face!), Janet, Eric, and the two shorties in the middle are my Mother (front and center) and Patti (behind her). What an amazing group of people!!
Cheers!