This week was trying for me for a variety of reasons.  Up and down and round and round...menopause will not come lightly for me, I can see it already.  So, this Saturday morning as I listen to the Ray Lamontagna Pandora station, I find myself downing Advil to help ease the pains of being a woman, cleaning up a huge pile of vomit from my 3 year old dog who on Thursday ate my wallet while I was having a grand time sloshing through puddles in the rain at the Posilipo market and having a delicious cappuccino with a couple of friends.  Thankfully she only ate ALL of the leather, but none of the contents.  American dollars must not taste that good to her; coins either.  

I'm staring at my Christmas tree that just hasn't been taken down yet, mostly because I truly enjoy the twinkle lights in the evenings-the plastic wrap solution is looking pretty good now.   I've fallen off my course work bandwagon this past week and it bothers me, yet I've had a nice week.  I've lost my schedule, due to what I can't say.  I took my camera last weekend to Gaeta, yet before that hadn't picked it up since we got back from Paris.  There in lies my problem.  It's hard to carry my camera around when I'm constantly worried about pickpockets and being so focused on getting a shot, that I don't realize someone's hand in my purse.  All thoughts I conjure in my active imagination.  

Spring is approaching and I have no portraits on my calendar which is OK, but so different from the previous five years.  I am not marketing at all here because I know that I need to focus on perfecting my skill, but I can't do that if I am not picking up my camera or if I'm up to my eyeballs in portraits.  My brain can hardly focus on getting a load of laundry done without thinking about a story, a blog post, what I learned in my devotional, am I following God's path for me, this image or that image popping into my head.  I see others creating amazing photos and I don't compare myself, I just appreciate their ability to see beautiful photos before they take them and to make the photos in their mind become a reality.  

Do I have a solution for myself today, no, I do know this too shall pass.  But as I listen to Adele croon on my phone, watch my Emma bear paint with her watercolors, feel the sun shining through my windows, listen to Adin's sound effects while he plays with his Legos, rub IcyHot on my poor husband's neck because he drove a computer for 12 hours yesterday; I feel joy, content, love, hope.  Three years ago, this would not have been the case, but today through God's grace and love...it is.  Just wanted to share in case anyone else was having this kind of week...you're not alone.

So, since there's no real theme to this blog just some ramblings, here's some pretty things to look at...flowers always make my brain happy like eating a big bowl of pasta is like giving my belly a big hug.

Found while walking around Montagna Spaccata, I love the life that can spring forth out of rock. Lily of the Valley at our house in Maryland. Transported from my mother's garden in Ohio and her favorite flower.

           The cherry blossoms on the Tidal Basin at sunrise are definitely a site to see. Just this morning realized I have a monument in this picture...can you find it? Pretty.

Grazie amici!

Mackenzie