Whatever happened to ....

... the weekly self-portrait challenge that used to take place each Tuesday at Lelly's Musings? Well, I'm not sure either, but I know I sure miss it!

Lelly took a recent break from blogging, which I can certainly understand, because Lord knows I go through phases myself where I can't think of a darn thing to write and nothing amusing or exciting or interesting has happened and I wind up blogging about something stupid like dog poop. For me, though, normally I write something along the lines of, "Woe is me, nothing amusing or exciting or interesting has happened, whatever shall I blog about if not dog poop?" and then the next day someone in my family gets cancer. (PS. Thanks to those of you who have asked ... my mom is recovering nicely from her cancer treatment and the broken foot is healing well; my sister is 2/5th through her radiation, with clean margins on her lumpectomy, thank goodness; Blaine had all his oral implants removed yesterday as part of his ongoing prosthodontic work; and Kendrie, as I type this, is on the sofa with a friend, kicking Mario Cart's ass on her DS, as best I can tell from the giggles and shrieks coming from the living room.)

But I digress!

I was so happy to stumble upon the 2009 SPT Challenge and jumped in feet first back in January. Most weeks I didn't have a clue if I was doing it "right", but the important thing is that I was doing it, and I appreciated Lelly coordinating it for us. I even went out and bought all the supplies I needed to scrapbook the year and create an entire album around this ongoing process. Title ideas for the scrapbook: "A Glimpse of Me and Mine in 2009" ... no, that's stupid. "All about Me, with SPT!" ... no, even stupider. Well, I'll come up with something. I've still got five months to think about it, right?

Then, while I was on vacation, Lelly announced she was taking a break from blogging. By the time I got home, dug my way out from under the dirty-laundry mountain, realized what day it was, and looked at a real, live, calendar, well, an entire month had gone by and I hadn't posted a single self-portrait, nor had she updated the challenge portion of her site.

And my album and scrapbook supplies sat in the corner, mocking me.

So! This SPT Challenge is apparently something Lelly has done for at least the past two years, if not longer. Since I didn't take part last year, I decided to simply go back and do *those* challenges for myself for the second half of this year. If she decides to re-start the challenge this year, great! And if she doesn't, again, I certainly understand. As long as she doesn't challenge me to self-portrait about dog poop, I think I can still make it work.

Since I missed the entire month of July, here are those challenges, which dealt with SUMMER last year, in all its shades and nuances. It should come as no surprise that they are primarily vacation photos, since we were on vacation half of the month. Speaking of vacation .... (sigh) .... when do I get to go back???

July 7th SPT Challenge: Incorporate Sun

Brayden and I on the sunny deck of the cruise ship. Ironically, it started raining about two and a half minutes after we took this picture.


July 14th SPT Challenge: Incorporate Water

Well, I'm not sure I can get a much bigger body of water than the ocean. This is us on one of the formal nights on the ship, with the large porthole window behind our dining room table.


July 21st SPT Challenge: Incorporate Shade

Shade? Shade???? We were in the Caribbean, for pete's sake, the land of abundant sunshine. And since Blaine didn't offer to let me share his hammock that day under the trees in Haiti, this photo will have to do. Me, in my SHADES, on deck. What you don't see in the photo is that just a few seconds before this, the ship's horn blew, signaling departure. Have you ever HEARD one of those horns? They are deafening, and always guaranteed to startle people. Kendrie jumped so high she almost fell down, and I laughed so hard I almost wet my pants. Because I am an AWESOME mom.

July 28th Challenge: Incorporate Ice Cream

OK, I know, I know. I'm supposed to be watching my weight. So what am I doing eating ice cream? Well, um, it was a challenge. A direct challenge from Lelly. And I am nothing if not a rule follower. So, if we're being honest, I was simply following direction. Taking one for the team. Making a sacrifice. I mean ... it's clear .... it only makes sense ..... well, you know ..... oh, forget it. Chocolate almond, my favorite!!