I’m writing this from the recovery room of Covenant Hospital’s SurgiCenter via my iPhone (I needed to try posting from my phone).

My daughter, Alex, just had her tonsils and adenoids out. Man, that’s some crazy kind of everyday surgery (Alex would probably say no to that ‘everyday’ comment and say this is the worse pain she’s ever had). But it’s really cool what it’ll do for her.

So, to tide you over till my next post, here’s a quick pic of her getting ready for surgery and then the results, her tonsils (yep, we get to keep ‘em).

We took the girls to Dallas a few days ago to see two of their favorite things: The American Girl Store and The Jonas Brothers. Yes, I was there. Was it fun going to something that had absolutely no possibility of any sort of “male-ness” involved? Uhhh, well, uh, let’s just say I had fun watching my girls have fun. So, without further adieu, evidence…

“THE” Store

“Hey Dad (eyelashes batting), come in and spend some money!”

Yes, they have it all.

Notice what this doll has in her hand. Then look at the next image.

Says it all.

Yes, that’s $20 to put your doll’s hair in a braid.

But Alex is happy.

And so is Taylor.

Everybody was signing one of the Jonas Brothers’ bus.

My girls.

An image from the back, just to give you an idea of the massive number of screaming girls. My guess is that there was 1 male for every 100 females (probably not an exaggeration).

That’s Nick singing. The one thing that’s nice is that they’re still humble. They love the audience and really work hard (tons of sweat) to put on a good show.

Toward the end, they were elevated on these little platforms. It I were Disney (their owners), I’d have a harness attached to each one of these guys. Too much $$$ at stake.

Here’s a quote from Charles Darwin that’s of interest in thinking about working on ourselves (now don’t get all crazy based on what you think of Darwin, truth is truth when you find it):

“It is not the strongest of the species that survive, nor the most intelligent, but the one most responsive to change.”

I was reading a friend’s blog recently and and he was discussing what was the BIG SECRET to becoming a better person? A better photographer? Better wife/husband, employer, sister/brother, friend, neighbor, parent, whatever…???

The answer is…

Are you ready. Like me, and like most folks, we don’t like the answer.

Which is…

We need to work at it. The key word being work. Ugh! What an ugly sounding word that is.

But the truth is right there in front of us.

To be truly progressive and always growing, prospering, we need to work on ourselves. We need to be learning, and over time, we grow upwards, climbing, and enjoying the view the higher we get.

Just experimenting with a quicker way to post on my blog. I’m writing this post on my iPhone. May not be able to post images with a posting but the developers of the magic that is allowing me to do this are working on it.

So maybe, just maybe, I’ll be able to publish on here.a bit more frequently.

I’m also asked what point and shoot camera someone should buy and after responding to an email of a friend asking that question, here’s my answers:

Get one of Canon’s newest cameras (even though in the big professional cameras, I’d recommend a Nikon; just buy based on budget any of these).

Here’s the model numbers to try, in order of my favs:

Canon Powershot SD890 IS
Canon Powershot SD790 IS (just like 770 but bigger screen)
Canon Powershot SD770 IS

Taylor, my 7 year old, participated in what has become an regular event for Honey Elementary Second Graders, Grecian Day. They spend weeks researching the ancient gods and goddesses of the Greek world and then present to classmates and family their findings. On top of that, they get to go dressed as their favorite character. Taylor picked Athena and you wouldn’t believe the costume she prepped. She finally stood in front of the class and spoke of the qualities of Athena. Great work Tay! Check out her teacher!

Alex, my 9 year old, participated in her school’s science fair. She came up with a pretty interesting hypothesis connecting age with lung capacity and how all that works. She won a place to participate in the regional fair (only 5th graders can progress to state). And then she wound up walking away with a First Place. Yay!! She’s excited about participating next year and maybe expanding her project. I walked away feeling proud but also excited that I’m planning on sponsoring an award next year, something big, stay tuned.

By the way, it was really sad that no media was there to support these kids (4th - 12th graders). We had the brightest minds in the region, all in the United Spirit Arena, and anyway….

One of my daughters, Taylor, lost a tooth yesterday and wrote the following letter to the Tooth Fairy. What can one do? It’s pure sweetness.

I was talking with a good neighbor tonight (hey Jana!) about life and she mentioned how her family loves to do trips together. The whole family. Her parents, her siblings and their kids. And someone asked her how you all get along and she said something great. She said, “We just love each other anyway.” Not “in spite of,” not “just because.” We should just love anyway. Wow! That’s good stuff.

• Own fewer things

• Do fewer things

• Sleep enough