Lesson 348: It's All There in Blue and Black and Gold and White

It's the last weekend of February, Readers!

Feeling blue with all this snow and cold?

Hang in there!

Spring is not far away.

Find any ray of golden sun you can,

and bask in it for a few minutes.

Even if the thermometer only reads 10 degrees.

You will be seeing plenty of quotes from Ann Voskamp in the next several weeks.

I am reading her book I received in my Taylor Made Wellness Package

from Coach Jennifer Taylor.

The book is a life changer, and I mean that from the bottom of my heart.

I have some projects I'm working on that have developed from this book.

I'm sitting on the eggs now, and when the projects hatch,

I'll let you know.

Meanwhile, while I nest through the remainder of the winter, 

I'll be reading this book slowly, 

sentence by sentence.

The words written in black help me see the world in shades of colorful joy.

As per Voskamp's recommendations, 

I, too, have been on a hunt for one thousand ways to say thank you to God---

and while I was looking,

I found these.

They appear to be snowshoe tracks,

or maybe I struck gold and finally found the elusive Yeti.

He walked right through parents' yard and into mine,

sat down to my bird bench,

and headed back!

I hope he didn't frighten my friends.

Have you seen this dress hype circulating social media?

What did you see?

Gold and white? (Eloise)

Blue and black? (Louie)

Both? (Ellen Louise)

Neither?  (Sam won't look at it because it's a dress)

Whatever is the last one mentioned? 

(Natalie--kids with autism always pick the last choice of two)

 CLICK HERE for one explanation to this mystery.

Here are a few sentences from the Wired article posted above:

This image, though, hits some kind of perceptual boundary. That might be because of how people are wired. Human beings evolved to see in daylight, but daylight changes color. 

Eloise is certainly glad to see the daylight creeping back.

Another excerpt from the Wired article: 

“What’s happening here is your visual system is looking at this thing, and you’re trying to discount the chromatic bias of the daylight axis,” says Bevil Conway, a neuroscientist who studies color and vision at Wellesley College.

A neuroscientist says that,

and Ann Voskamp says this:

I see blue eyes.

I took Mini Me to my Team Adrenaline workout on Thursday.

We shot hoops...

kind of.

My family has been holing up in the Lamp Post, 

riding out another week of subzero temperatures.

Eloise has made her predictions for the American Idol Top 4.

They are all here for you in the black and white.

They are my perceptions as to which musical artists are the best this year.

 Riley Bria

Marc Andrew

Alexis Gomez

and Jax 

Great talent this year!

Another fun to watch show is Survivor.

The teams are divided by 

White collar

Blue collar

and

No collar

groupings.

My Mother is the show's biggest fan.

She's created this game system for my family and friends.

We've been playing our own spin off game based on the show,

for 30 seasons now!

We all get folders with the contestants' bios,

and draw for contestants to follow throughout the show.

We contribute $20 to a pot,

and if you have the winner at the finale, you win it all!

I've won it a couple of times,

once on a b&^%hy girl named Jenna from Pittsburgh.

She didn't seem so b&#^hy though, after I had $80 in my purse.

I'm sure that I won because all I need to do is refer to my mother's stats sheet

she includes with every folder.

Grandma even keeps stats on win totals,

as well as by gender.

You can see why I harbor serious doubts as to if these are my birth parents.

I always wanted to be a contestant on Survivor.

I've applied before, and will continue to do so.

If I do get picked someday, my mom is going to be my visiting family member.

I figure I could win it. 

I'd be the unathletic one they'd keep around because they think I'd be a chump to beat.

I'd conceal my Tough Mudder headband until the very end.

When it was down to the final 3, I'd turn my brave on
and start jumping off of high stuff,

and rolling around the the mud catching everyone off guard.

I'd kill everyone on the final puzzle and take home the gold.

Eloise would pull off the ultimate blindside.

Sam was happy to get his hands on his first LOOTCRATE box.

If you recall a couple of posts ago,

I got my girls a subscription to Birchbox--

a monthly shipment of free samples and new beauty products to test out.

LOOTCRATE is the same concept,

but geared toward gamers.

Sam got the newest Hex Bug,

something called a Munny,

a young adult novel,

(he is either fake-reading or his eyes are severely crossed)

and a Superfight deck.

This game is FUN!

I can't wait to play this at camp with my nephews.

Golden sunlight in a world of white, 

sure is a glorious sight.

A special snapshot deserved one of my favorite quotes.

Natalie must have sneaked a peek at my blog draft,

and followed Martin Luther's good advice.

Ellen Louise was all smiles this week.

Her t-shirt design was chosen for the Harbor Creek School District Team Shirt

for this year's Erie Walk for Autism on Saturday, April 25th.

Here is the link if you would like to register to walk:

NWPA-ASA Walk for Autism Registration CLICK HERE

Professional graphic artists are working out her design now.

I'll let you know when the shirts go on sale if you would like to purchase one.

Natalie, not to be outdone by her sister,

rallied back with her newest form of "Natalie's People."

Seneca Art teacher Bill Rzodkiewicz, 

affectionately known as Mr. Rocky,

works with her every day.

Flower noses

and birthmarks sure make me smile.

My beautiful Lake Erie has frozen all the way across.

Here she is, all glorious in blue and black and gold and white.

 For more photos of Frozen Lake Erie

CLICK HERE

There are conflicting reports as to whether it is safe to try to walk across.

That's just the thing--

what information do you trust?

With information so readily accessible, 

much of it as uncensored as this blog is--

what is one to believe?

To trust?

To rely on?

Special interests infiltrate the media.

They push.

They cloud.

They sway.

Instead of a photo video this week,

I'm assigning this homework instead.

The following Ted Talk was posted as food for thought on the Team Adrenaline page this week,

and I thought it was excellent.

Please pour yourself a cup of something warm,

and sit down for ten minutes and listen to this.

Really listen.

Click the link below for an idea really worth spreading.

WATCH THIS! Click here

Since you don't have a tune this week,

instead I'll end with a smile.

Sam plays his final basketball game of the winter season on Saturday morning.

Can you tell which one is Sam?

Thank you for the joy you bring me, Readers.

Enjoy your weekend.

ELOISE