FeeFiFoto Blog

Don't Make Any Sudden Moves

I got a comment from Bossy. 

I'm shivering.  I'm swooning.  I'm kvelling.  I'll never wash my blog again.

Have you ever gotten a comment from Bossy?  Are you jealous of me?

Visit FeeFiFoto and create a personalized Mother's Day gift with a photo of Bossy.

Baseball: The Ultimate Pick-Me-Up

The Scene:
Home, about 8:30 p.m., Tuesday night

The Dramatis Personae:

• FeeFiFoto, a serene, youthful and attractive mother
• Robespierre, her gorgeous, talented and adoring 11-year-old son
• Cleopatra, Queen-of-the-Nile, her stunning, brilliant and adoring 8-year-old daughter

The Setting:
The family has just arrived home from Robespierre's triumphant band concert, at which he played Mozart's Eine Kleine Nachtmusik on the clarinet, solo, resulting in adulation and thunderous applause.

FeeFiFoto:
Robespierre my Darling, what's your homework situation?

Robespierre:
I have math and Current Events.

Cleopatra, Queen-of-the-Nile:
Yawn.

FeeFiFoto:
Better get moving, my Treasure.

Robespierre:
I'm really tired.  I'll just do the Current Events and go to bed.  I'll make up an excuse for the math.

Cleopatra, Queen-of-the-Nile:
Yawn.

FeeFiFoto:
Ah.  It's a shame you're so exhausted my Sweetheart, because the Ten-Time World Champion Cardinals are winning 7-0 in the fourth inning.

Robespierre:
What?!  I'm awake!  Really!

Cleopatra, Queen-of-the-Nile:
Yawn.

The Conclusion:

• Robespierre completed his homework in less than 15 minutes.
• Cleopatra, Queen-of-the-Nile retired to her boudoir for the evening.
• The Cardinals won, 7-2.

Do you use baseball as an incentive?

Visit FeeFiFoto and put pictures of your kids playing the clarinet on a roomy tote bag for carrying music and reeds.

Wordless Wednesday: Breaking The Rules

Moms -- they're all around us.  Remember, Mother's Day is May 11.

Since the subject of the picture is so difficult to make out I'm breaking the Wordless Wednesday code.

See the bird that might be a mourning dove?  She and her significant other built a nest on the downspout outside my bathroom window.  For nearly a week she's been facing the other direction so all I've been able to see is a birdy tushie, but this morning she turned around and I saw for the first time that she wasn't a robin, as I'd expected.

Here's how I think she might look in real life:

Considering that I took the photo in the morning, it might actually be Dad sitting on the nest, because according to the Cornell Lab of Ornithology:

"A Mourning Dove pair rarely leaves its eggs unattended. The male usually incubates from midmorning until late afternoon, and the female sits the rest of the day and night."

The nest is in the best of all possible places because we can observe the little darlings when they hatch; their chirping won't be an annoyance because I'm not in that bathroom during the day when they'll be awake, and by the time I go to bed they'll be long asleep.

There should be two babies; I think I'll call them "The Coo Coo Pigeon Sisters."

Even if they're boys.

See more Wordless Wednesday

Visit FeeFiFoto and create photo books with all your best nature photographs.  Great Mother's Day gifts!

This One's For My Friend Kristen

From Not Always Right | Funny & Stupid Customer Quotes; the image is from the Big Site Of Amazing Facts:

Me: “Good morning, sir, what can I get for you?”

Customer: “Ehhh…I’ll have a coffee.”

Me: “Excellent choice, sir. What kind of coffee? Our menu’s up there on the board if you’d like, or perhaps our house coffee?”

Customer: “What other kind of COFFEE is there? This IS a coffee shop, right?”

Me: “Well sir, we are a specialty coffee shop, and have many different varieties. If you’d like–”

Customer: “NO! This is so STUPID! Why would anyone bother having DIFFERENT kinds of coffee!”

Me: “…”

Customer: “Ha ha! Just kidding. I always wanted to do that.” (He skips out of the store. Yes, skipped. Keep in mind this is a middle-aged man.)

Personally, I've always wanted someone to spill wine on me in a restaurant so I could say: "Drink up everyone -- the wine's on me!"  What have you always wanted to say or do?

Visit FeeFiFoto and put your kid's photo on a travel mug -- bring your own mug to Starbucks and reduce waste.

Is Your Birthday In May?

Make personalized calendars even more personal with the addition of peculiar dates; here are some for May.

FeeFiFoto has been producing personalized photo calendars as a core part of our business since we were established about five years ago.  Recently we added a bunch of new templates, a thousand or so pieces of clip art, and the capacity to arrange photos in collages instead of being limited to a single photo per page.  We've always had a feature that lets you enter your own family birthdays, anniversaries or special events.

Here, for your listening reading pleasure, is a list of May dates that will make your personalized calendars just a touch more ridiculous interesting.

Make personalized calendars even more personal with the addition of peculiar dates; here are some for May.

FeeFiFoto has been producing personalized photo calendars as a core part of our business since we were established about five years ago.  Recently we added a bunch of new templates, a thousand or so pieces of clip art, and the capacity to arrange photos in collages instead of being limited to a single photo per page.  We've always had a feature that lets you enter your own family birthdays, anniversaries or special events.

Here, for your listening reading pleasure, is a list of May dates that will make your personalized calendars just a touch more ridiculous interesting.

Bleah

I know it's hard to believe, but today marks the first time EVER that my kids have passed their germs to me. 

I don't know if I should thank them or spank them.

Cleo went back to bed this morning at about 9:00 and slept until 1:00, when she stormed into my room to declare that she'd missed breakfast and lunch.  As my eyes rolled back in my head she announced that she'd have a chocolate chip banana pancake and then something for lunch half an hour later.

The Cutest Thing On Entrecard

See the cute little thing in the Entrecard box to your left?  That's my kid, Hannah Fanna.  Go visit her blog and send her some love.  I sure do.

Gifts For Customers

Even exterminators can gain business by distributing logo mouse pads to prospective customers.

See the square button at the top right of this page?  The one that says "Do You Need Marketing Campaign Ideas and Pricing?  Contact Me."   It looks sort of like this:

Do you have any idea what the text inside that little square means? 

It means that if you need marketing campaign ideas and pricing you should contact me.

Duh.

Seriously, it means that my web site, FeeFiFoto, can help promote and brand your company or service similarly to the way Coca Cola promotes their brand, but for a lot less than the half billion dollars it costs to sponsor the Olympic dressage team and a lot more expeditiously than the approximately half century Coke needed to burn its name into the world's collective retinas.

Here Kitty Kitty

We are a dog family, but the more we see of cats, the more useful and tempting they seem.

Thanks to the wonderful Twitfall, which I did not find through Entrecard, no matter what anyone says.

Which would be more pleasant and useful to have around the house -- an engineer or a cat?

Visit FeeFiFoto and put pictures of you favorite kitties on a cookie tin for kitty treats.

My Life Must Be Very Boring ...

because we had an earthquake here this morning and I thought it was exciting.

I thought I had a life, but I guess not.

Do you have a life?  Is it more interesting than mine?  Can you share yours with me?

Visit FeeFiFoto and put some excitement into Mother's Day with a personalized photo handbag.

Blogroll Friday: Ken's Trees

We all have some favorite blogs we read before anything else.

How often do you check out someone else's blogroll?  It's easier to make contacts this way than trying to meet someone on a blind date at Starbucks where you sit in the back against the wall facing the door pecking away at your Blackberry trying not to look like you're looking for someone while furtively glancing at the door trying not to look like you're glancing at the door and praying please not him please not him either oh please let it be that one no wait no sorry this seat's taken ...

Wordless Wednesday: Isn't There Enough Confusion Already?

This one's from Frostfire Zoo:

I took this one myself.  Drove by it about four times with Robespierre hanging the camera out the window, until we finally gave up on getting a clear picture, parked the car a block away, and walked.

I Had A Point Here But I Forgot It

I feel like I forget everything.

I'm tired of being forgetful.  It's bad enough that I forget where I put things, or where I'm supposed to be, or to bring my purse when I need to buy groceries.  Sometimes I remember what I'm supposed to be doing, write it down, enter it into my computer, and then don't believe my notation because I'm convinced I must be missing something.

And The Winner Is ...

Mother's Day Giveaway winner(s)

Okay, contest entrants -- do you recognize yourself in these words?

"I think my mom would love anything on your site, so it's pretty hard to choose! I would probably go with a photobook for her with pictures from us as kids up until now...I'm also going to post this on my site :) great contest idea!"

If you're Chelle, Cleo has chosen you as the winner!

Congratulations Chelle!  You've won a $50 gift certificate from FeeFiFoto.  Start designing that photo book.

But wait!  There's more.

Since so many people entered this contest, I'm issuing $5 gift certificates to everyone else who entered.  Keep your eyes on your email to find your GC code.

Don't panic -- I'm planning a similar giveaway for Father's Day.  Won't that be great?

Visit FeeFiFoto to spend your contest loot on special personalized photo gifts for Mother's Day.

Noodling About Doodling

Wonderful, unique doodle calendar

These are amazing!  I happened upon them at a site called Doodlage while Entrecarding (not that I'm blogging about Entrecard) and I had to write about them.  The artist's name is Lisa Congdon and she lives in San Francisco.  Take a look:

 

Excuse Me -- Do You Know Where SoHo Is?

How can you find your way around New York City without looking like a hick?

Artypants, Curley and the Man from D.A.D. have taken their trip to New York City to visit the THE SCHOOL.  They've tried to navigate an encyclopedia of neighborhoods under the guidance of an 18-year-old who thinks she knows everything.  So they wander in search of a restaurant Artypants visited a year ago, and she's determined not to consult a map or ask for directions because that would definitely brand her as a Not-New-Yorker in an instant.  Instead she leads them in zigzags and concentric circles on the theory that sooner or later they'll have to stumble across the place unless darkness or Tuesday or the next Ice Age should happen first; in any case, if she's a good enough faker she can pick any restaurant and pretend she's been there before ("We sat at that table in the corner ... I think that's our waiter ... I'll have the usual.")

testing

Simple Meme For My Simple Mind

Seven things about me that will make you a better person for knowing me

Julie at the Health and Wellness Post has tagged me for a simple meme that my simple mind can most likely handle; I was never good at tag because I was too slow and whiny, but this kind of tag I can play because it involves only words and I have lots of them.  Here are the rules:

First, link to your tagger . . . i.e., FeeFiFoto Blog . . . and post these rules on your blog.  Share seven facts about yourself on your blog.  Some random, some weird, whatever you are brave enough to share.  Tag seven blog friends at the end of your post by leaving their names, as well as links to their blogs.  Let them know they are tagged by leaving a comment on their blog.

1.  I have a dimple in my right cheek that's the result of falling out of bed when I was a baby and hitting a nightstand on the way down.  People don't believe me when I tell them this, so I have to refer them to my parents.

How To Decide?

Now the game is on: How does Artypants choose the college she'll attend?

 

First, she can most likely eliminate the three that said "No, thanks", including Bupkes University, The College of Dweebs and Nerds, and the School of Don't Recognize a Good Thing When They See It.

This leaves the other six, all of which must be revisited online and in person and on the phone and in her dreams sometime before May 1, when the final decision must be set in stone.  And as much as I love Artypants and I'd love love love to accompany her on visits to these colleges on the East Coast in the spring time away from my kids, I'm simply not going to be able to go because I wasn't invited.

So -- next weekend Artypants, Curley and the Man from D.A.D. will fly to New York (not that it's one of my favorite cities in the entire universe or anything) and spend three or four days making like East Coasters while Schpilkes, Cleo, Robey and I attempt to sooth our ruffled feelings and pretend we're in New York by actually going to see the Harlem Globetrotters play.

I'm not worried.  I'm sure they'll bring back some cool souvenirs.  Hope they remember my sizes.

Do you think the Harlem Globetrotters are a fitting substitute for a weekend in New York?  Me neither.

Visit FeeFiFoto to design custom graduation gifts for Artypants or anyone else on your list, including beautiful porcelain tiles suitable for graduation photos.

Wordless Wednesday: There Are Almost No Words To Describe It

Again with the Frostfire Zoo (I love that place!)