Photo of the Day - May 25, 2011

Nothing Ever Happens in Lauderhill

Yeah, right!

So, I am on my way home with Adina . . . we had to go to the chiropractor . . . and about a block away from our house, we see a line of traffic cones blocking most of the traffic.  I squeezed through (where someone else had knocked one down) and as I approached my guard gate I see fire engines, police cars, ambulances and people everywhere!  There was this one car that looked like it had caught on fire.  It was a melted, twisted piece of metal.

I know that we missed whatever caused it.  So as we got inside the guard gate, I saw Rachel walking toward the gate.  She said that she heard a loud explosion and that Joel was stuck at City Hall because they blocked Inverrary Blvd. near Oakland Park Blvd.  So instead of going around Rock Island Road, he just waited there.  And he had our Chinese Food dinner.

Oh well.

I parked my car, grabbed my camera and ran out to snap whatever I could!  Not my best work, but hey, it is what I saw.

But I made a new friend!  He is the Battalion Chief for the City of Lauderhill's Fire Rescue.  We started to talk about photography.  He is a wealth of knowledge.  He used to be a Miami Herald photographer and still contributes to the Getty Images.  He was throwing all sorts of information out at me.  Way too much for my brain to process all at once, but it will come back as I let it sink in!

 

Rachel and Adina came out to watch too

I just had to take this girl's photo.  Loved the hair!

Photo of the Day - May 17, 2011

Gallery Night at Nova High School

I am a dedicated mom.  I knew on Tuesday at about noon that I was coming down with a terrible cold.  I was at work, sneezing and blowing my nose.  As the day went on, I felt worse and worse.  But I knew that if I went home, I would never want to go out again, and Tuesday night was Gallery Night at Nova High School.

So I stuck it out at work even though everyone was begging me to go home.  I kept spraying my office with Lysol and washing my hands with rubbing alcohol so that I wouldn't share my germs.  So 4 o'clock FINALLY came around (seemed like the longest day ever) and Jose drove me to my car because he had to put three boxes of brochures in my trunk.

Jose decided that he wanted to follow me there so that he could see Adina's artwork.  We arrived a little early and they wouldn't let us in to the Media Center until 5 p.m.  When I am sick, ten minutes can feel like hours.  But it gave Jose time to meet Matt, Adina's friend, and to tease Adina a lot!  I snapped a few photos of him giving Adina a hard time.  You can tell that Adina wanted to crawl under a rock!

Finally we were able to go inside.  Adina had so much art work on exhibit that she had her own table and then two additional pieces on chairs placed around the room.  The weird cartoon drawing with the big mouth and the eight sets of lips are Adina's drawings.

Two of Adina's teachers came over to me and raved about her and what a unique and talented kid she is and a joy to have in their classes.  Boy, did that make my day!!

I entertained myself by taking lots of photos and then as I was fading and feeling even worse, I found a nice rocking chair in the corner of the room and sat there until about 7:30 p.m. when I finally texted Adina and said to meet me in the car.  I knew I needed to get home and into bed with a bowl of hot soup and medicine, but seeing Adina in her element and hearing all of her friend's and teachers' comments, well that was just outstanding and makes me feel ever so proud of my child.

Project 365 - Photo of the Day - May 5, 2011

Fast Friends

I have been home all week . . . a little under the weather.  But it has given me opportunities to catch up on this blog, rest, and clean up Rachel's room for her return next week.

While I was sitting in Rachel's room today, I leaned over and saw these two sleeping next to each other! I thought, there it it . . .the Photo of the Day!

Oh, and by the way, I feel a lot better now.

Project 365 - Photo of the Day -April 30, 2011

Another Long Day

Thanks to the accident that we had on March 5 . . . we have all been going for treatments at the chiropractor at least three days a week.  This week I had to go for an MRI on my neck and spine.  They said it would take two hours, so I will be doing this again next week because there is no way that I could possibly stay in that machine for two long hours.  And of course, the second they say, don't move, don't even swallow . . . that is the first thing I want to do!  This first photo was taken at the MRI place while waiting.  Speaking of waiting, why is it that we always have to wait in a doctor's office?  What ever happened to keeping appointments?

Well after the MRI I was hungry so we were close to Denny's and since it was still really early in the morning, I really wanted pancakes!  Little did I know that there was a bacon festival going on!  Did you know that there is a bacon pyramid?  And did you know that they actually serve a bacon sundae?  Yuk!  Sorry, that one doesn't sound appealing to me at all.

While we were at Denny's, I saw a man, clearly inebriated and in need of food.  So we called the manager over and asked him to please let us buy the man breakfast.  The manager came back a few minutes later with change because he said that he didn't want a full breakfast, only a biscuit and coffee.  So this photo is of my change.

Later in the day I went to an artist's studio in Oakland Park because she needed some photos of her working on her art.  Adina came with me as my assistant.  We spent a couple of hours there and really had a ball.

Afterwards we stopped at the Goodwill store that is on Oakland Park Blvd.  We found out that they are moving to a new location.  It is sort of sad because this store is a bit of a landmark.  Although I found out that the building won't be leveled, it just will not be the store for the public anymore.  

When we got home, Joel was hungry so we didn't even stop, we just picked him up and drove to Scutto's -- a favorite place of ours.  It is owned by Joey Scutto, a City of Sunrise Commissioner.  It is always fun to go there because not only does every single family member work there, they all sound like they just stepped out of Brooklyn.  And then you never know who you will run into there.  On Saturday night we ran into Broward County Commissioner Ilene Lieberman and her husband, daughter and daughter's fiance.  Ilene and Joel have known each other for about 20 years because she used to be a City of Lauderhill Commissioner before she became a County Commissioner.  The funny thing is that she almost didn't recognize Joel because Joel lost so much weight!

After dinner we dragged Joel to Tate's Comic Store because upstairs in the Bear and Bird Gallery there was an art exhibit opening and we wanted to see the art.  The theme was fairytales and there were some extremely interesting twists on the stories.  My favorites were the pen and watercolor.  My dream is to learn how to do watercolor.  I would like to paint some of the images that I have shot over the years.  But I don't want to start this until both girls are out of the house so that I can create an art studio in one of their rooms!

The surprise of the evening was the pot belly pig who came out of her cage but the poor thing was terrified of the people.  She did take a liking to me and stuffed her snout into my face while I was trying to take her photo!  

The Leshinskys can take an ordinary Saturday and fill it with mundane things but make an event out of it!

Project 365 - Photo of the Day -April 24, 2011

Visit with a Great Friend

Our former neighbor and really great friend, Ros, called us and said that it had been way, way too long and that we needed to go out to dinner.  So we made plans to go to dinner at a nice restaurant in Coral Springs.

First we went to her home which she shares with her mom.  We met her puppy, Coco.  He is almost a year old and is a Schnoodle ( Schnauzer and Poodle mixed breed).

Coco is the cutest thing.  His fur is unbelievably soft and he looks like a teddy bear.  I just wanted to cuddle him, however he had other plans for me!!  He got a little too friendly with my leg, my arm and any other appendage that he could get near!!  It was funny, but enough!!

We had a wonderful time catching up on our lives, our kids and her grandkids!!  It is so hard to believe that her son, who I met when he was 11 years old, is married, is a lawyer and has two children!  Rachel used to tell everyone that Ronnie was her boyfriend.  Of course Rachel was about seven at the time and Ronnie was about 18!!!

Life has a funny way of getting away from you but reality hits when you look at your children.  They really do ground us.

Project 365 - Photo of the Day -April 16, 2011 Part II

April 16, 2011 Part II

It was a busy day, filled with lots of fun activities.  After lunch at Joy's Roti, Joel and I went home and our friend, Richard (yes, the Mayor of Lauderhill), came over (with the mid-life crisis car of course . . . with the top down) and the two of us drove up to Delray Beach to attend the Delray Beach Affair (it is an annual festival).

Unfortunately, Lynn couldn't join us since she was up in North Carolina helping a dear friend.  Of course this was the day of the TERRIBLE tornados.  Here we were driving in a convertible on a beautiful, sunny, South Florida day and poor Lynn was hunkered down with her friend, scared to death and calling Richard, but he didn't always hear the phone ring because the top was down on the car.  We started to feel guilty, but we did continue up to Delray Beach.

We walked the entire length of the festival which is on their main road.  It is a great festival, lots of art and crafts and food products that we, of course tasted all along the way.  From flavored olive oils on slices of bread, to sauces and dips, there was something for everyone.  Then Richard and I found the beer tent!!!  Okay now we were really in heaven.  We had a wonderful beer that was on tap out of the side of a truck and this beer you squeeze a lemon into it.  Mmmmmm!

After a couple of hours, we headed back to my house, picked up Joel and Adina and went to this new restaurant called "Lime."  It is a chain, but there aren't many in Florida yet.  This one is located in the Plantation Fountains Mall.  The food is fresh Mexican and there are more chairs outside than inside and I love the atmosphere.  It has a hometown feel and then the owner comes over and chats with you to make you feel right at home.  His name is Nick.  Go and enjoy and tell him that Jody and Joel told you to come there!!  We need to support our businesses.

 

Love Adina's Eyes! Catlike and so blue.

 

Adina being goofy!

 

Self-Portrait

 

Love the dining al fresco

 

Love what the sign says!

Project 365 - Photo of the Day -April 12, 2011

A Trip Back in Time

So since Joel is serving on the Housing Authority Board for the City of Lauderhill, he had to make an appearance at a mortgage event at the Lauderhill Mall.  These folks came out to learn about their options to buy a home in Lauderhill.

However, Joel and I wandered around the mall and I thought about what this place looked like in 1979 when we first moved here.  There was a Jordan Marsh and a Zayre's and a Bagel Nosh (not attached) and all sorts of fancy stores.  Now this place is like a ghost town and still has stores but no anchor stores.  

There is one place that I love though . . . it is Joy's Roti!  If you have never tried Roti . . . you need to.  It is yummy and is an island food with many spices in it.   I washed my food down with an island beer.  You can hear all sorts of island sounds in Joy's . . . the Jamaican accent. . . the beat of Reggae . . . a drum beat that happens to be stored next to the bathrooms.  It is an experience.

Project 365 - Photo of the Day -April 12, 2011

Adina Cooks Dinner!

If anyone has ever had dinner with the Leshinskys . . . you know the phrase that you will hear at each and every meal . . . "Adina, eat."

It is just a fact of life that Adina will never eat her meal.  Don't know why.  Sometimes she wolfs the food down and other times she will just push it around in her plate until we get frustrated and just dump the food.  This is nothing new, it has happened for the past 15 years of her life.

So, Joel's new theory is that if Adina cooks the food, then perhaps she will eat the food!  These are a few of the pictures I took while she was preparing an Italian meal for us.

In addition, take a look at what her apron says!  She and Joel entered a contest at ForestTrace -- an assisted living facility near our house.  It was a matzoh ball contest!! Adina came in third place.  Not bad for a 15-year-old, huh?

Hope you like these photos.

 

 

Newton was watching as they were cooking .

Project 365 - Photo of the Day - April 11, 2011

A Walk in the Neighborhood

I am just playing catch up.  I have had the camera in my hands but I haven't uploaded anything recently.  Today I was a little under the weather, nothing serious, but enough to keep me in bed most of the day.  So tonight I decided to work on my editing and uploading.

This particular day, I came home and was so excited that the sun was still up and it was not too hot out, that I grabbed my camera and walked around the complex looking for whatever caught my attention.

The first photo was just a nice long shadow that I liked.  I decided to change the image into black and white to work my magic on the contrasts and exposure.

This second photo is of a street lamp that is completely covered in spiderwebs and leaves and bugs.  I loved the contrast with the deep blue sky and somehow the image looks like it came out of a Hitchcock film!

These two kids were riding back and forth on the main street while I was walking around.  They must have passed me at least ten times, so I finally decided to take a few shots of them and of course, the hams that they were, they started waving at me!  They live down the block from us and I see them everyday.

I liked this one because you can see the muscles bulging on this guy's arm and I followed him with my camera to blur the background.  One of the techniques that I learned in my first class with Jeremiah!

And I loved the colors and textures on this rusty chain.  I wanted a very shallow depth of field to make the photo more interesting.

This tree is not far from my house.  I felt like the leaves were a canopy, yet felt like lacy against the sky.  I like the image better in black and white than in color.