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the big orange house
Summerside, PE
902-439-4562

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  • who am i
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dear candy....i kinda like you...

April 7, 2019 Arlene Giddings

this candy reminds me
of the little yellow corner store
that used to be
next to my grandparents house…
lois’s
”run over to lois’s and get a can of chicken gravy”
”can i go to lois’s? i have a quarter.”

this was always my favorite
penny candy
(back when penny candy was really
a penny
and pennies
really existed)…

i got stitches just under my eye
from this penny candy…
my cousin & i found a pop bottle
in the backyard
when i was like…5…
he would throw it & whoever got to to it first
could take it to lois’s….
and me being me…i ran out in front of him
just before he threw it…
it hit me in the face and i had to get stitches…
heeheehee.

(i normally just tell people i got hit the face
with a bottle during a fight…it sounds more interesting.
heh.)

they said my biggest concern
was that my cousin william
wasn’t going to get in trouble…
heeheehee.
he was my favorite.
which is pretty obvious from these photos…heehee

In back when, she's so weird, we are family, unfold2019, words Tags candy, looking back, memory is a funny thing, corner stores
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tuesday truths....the random edition

April 2, 2019 Arlene Giddings

i went all morning thinking today was Wednesday
it’s not.
it’s Tuesday.
sigh.

toaster strudels
for supper
is my
new favorite thing.

my pen bled a little on this card
which made me sad
but the ballerina bunnies?
oh….
they made me incredibly happy!

heeheehee.

this sunshine just makes me think
of beaches and bare legs,
ice cream sundaes and parades,
birds chirping outside my window,
dirt roads, air shows,
getting lost on hiking trails,
bonfires and music outdoors…
sleeping with the window open,
driving with nowhere to go
and no one expecting me…
sigh.

In words, unfold2019, tuesday truths, she's so weird, island girl, i take pictures Tags tuesday truth, pei, pei blogger, finnegan, toaster strudels, spring fever
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spring-sunday...

March 31, 2019 Arlene Giddings

i made a list
of all the things
that i needed to get done today…
not wanted…
needed.

things like
laundry
and kitty litter,
dishes
and the sweeping up never ending
furballs…

and had thought that if
i crossed everything off
my need-to-do
list, i would reward myself
with a drive with the camera
and maybe (most definitely)
a stop at the dairy bar.

well…i crossed everything off the stupid list
and i did get out for a drive
and the sun even made a few short appearances
while i was out so that was a nice surprise.

i ended up at this wharf/lighthouse
(as i often do)….
spring always brings me through st nicholas
where i grew up,
where all my best memories are still vivid
and driving through there
always stirs up
strong emotion…
happy and bittersweet/sad

and then to our beach…
(yes, yes, I know…it’s a public beach…)

where the sun started to set

and i remembered I hadn’t gotten my ice cream yet!
but as i got close to the dairy bar,
i realized there were 682 cars and 3 trucks and possibly a snowmobile
ahead of me so
i settled for the next best thing…
a happy meal with a new robot toy!

my “i kinda wanted ice cream but i’ll settle for a new member of the robot army” face.

all in all
a very good spring-sunday!
:)
(well, it would have been better with a sundae.)
sigh.

In i take pictures, island girl, she's so weird, spring, the adventure continues, words, unfold2019 Tags robots, dairy bar, ice cream, i wish i had ice cream, union corner
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daylight savings apparently makes me wordy....

March 10, 2019 Arlene Giddings

i don’t know why
but daylight savings weekend
always makes me incredibly happy.

the days are getting longer.
spring is coming.

i am like a plant…i need light
to survive,
to grow,
to thrive.

without it
i just want to sleep
bundled up in blankets…
i want to cocoon and nest,
hibernate and burrow.

but when the days start getting longer
i feel like i am ready to shed
those layers
and suddenly i start to find energy
that has been missing
throughout the cold dark winter months.

it’s a damn good feeling.

i took the dog for a walk in the park today
and let him off his leash
and watched him run with abandon
(well, with as much abandon as his short little
pug legs will let him go in deep snow)
and the warmth on my face
made me feel like stretching
into the sunshine
awake again finally.

In words, unfold2019 Tags spring is coming, hoping for spring, daylight savings time
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2019::Unfold

January 5, 2019 Arlene Giddings

every year
i choose a word for the year…
a word to help
push me or gently guide me
depending on the need.

some years,
it has worked amazing…
other years, i may or may not have forgotten
what the word was
before the last sunset in
the first week of
january.

and that’s ok.
i don’t worry too much about it.
if it works, that’s great!
and if not, well, maybe i just picked the wrong word for that year.

looking back::

2018::Embrace - yeah…not so much. But, in my defense, the year kinda sucked no matter what word i would have chosen.
2017::Adventure - this one went really well for me…it was when i started my Friday Adventures :)
2016::Happy
2015::Risk - the year i decided it was time to cut back/stop shooting weddings
2014::Balance
2013::Brave
2012::Leap
2011::Connect
2010::Play/Expand
2009::Dare - this was another one of my best years related to my word
2008::Focus - looking back, I think this was helpful for the following year…

and this year, 2019, I am choosing a gentle word.
unfold.
a passive verb, if there is such a thing…
i need to let go a little, to relax, to stop holding on so tight
to what used to be….
and let a new beginning unfold.

i don’t want to force it or plan it or rush it or demand that it match
some preconceived picture in my head….
i just want to take my time and allow things to happen
as they happen.

which does not mean that i won’t be setting goals and
creating habit trackers and devising blueprints for taking over the world… :)
i do have a lot of things that i want to shift my focus to this year.

mainly in the creative areas of my life.
that’s where i feel excitement and fire and butterflies in my belly….
(all in a good way)…

but…in other areas, the areas that are murky and blurred and
sometimes, a little scary…the areas that involve change
and transition and how do we do this now when we are no longer “we”…
what happens next? how does one move forward?
what does moving forward even look like for me?
well. that part i am going to let go of.
i think that going through our first Christmas apart
might have taught me that it is ok to let go of any expectations…
to just let it happen….don’t worry about what new tradition should
replace one that you feel you lost…let the new tradition find you…
maybe it will be jamming a christmas tree in the back seat of the car
every year…maybe it will be picking up breakfast at a local gas station
coffee shop and then laughing about how you froze in the
drive through and ordered everyone some sort of weird (but good) vegetarian garden bagel…

maybe it will be playing a rousing game of parcheesi at the end of the day.

regardless, i have resolved to just let it find me.
and the same with new relationships and friendships…
i am going to stop panicking that i will be alone for the rest of my life
because i am incredibly awkward and far too forthcoming on social media…(this post is proof of that)
and
just
let
whatever
happens….
happen.

let it unfold.

In unfold2019, words Tags 2019, 2019::unfold, word for the year, you got this, still a little sad but thats ok, resolutions, maybe too much truth, i talk too much, awkward phase
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